Author: John Nest
Date: 2016-01-18 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy
Description: After killing two out of the three Witches of Wysteria, Smoke was deceived by the last Witch, Horrabelle. Despite this setback, his private army was still bolstered with Tikbalangs and Werewolves. He was now one step closer to finding a cure for Sierra. However, the Brandals have made their intentions on conquering Centzo City evident. Smoke had no choice, but to put everything aside for the moment and lend a helping hand towards the encroached city.
Publisher: Jawz Publishing

ZECTAS VOLUME FOUR

The Salubrious City of Centzo

This book is dedicated to my fellow dreamers who love Zectas as much as I do.

Table of Contents

Chapter 01 - The Vigliantez's First Strike

Chapter 02 - The Monstrosity of Foudre

Chapter 03 - To Heed a Warning

Chapter 04 - A Semblance of Strength

Chapter 05 - A Drop-in Meeting

Chapter 06 – Arrogance Leads to Downfall

Chapter 07 - Living Out Your Dream

Chapter 08 - The Salubrious Centzo City

Chapter 09 - The Vigilantez's Nascent Dominance

Chapter 10 - A Dearth of Power

Side Story – To Live and Forget

Smoke and Sierra's Status Windows

Appendix

Chapter One:

The Vigilantez's First Strike

Gloomy clouds loomed over Verbrannt as a red werebear was pacing back and forth on the balcony of Rauch castle. It had been two days since Sierra received a call from Smoke, telling her that he needed some time alone and that he will be back in Verbrannt shortly.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she leaned on the ledge of the balcony and looked at the landscape in the distance. With Smoke on her mind and a frown on her face, she suddenly said out loud, "You know, sometimes I wonder if I should just forget about you. I’d stop playing Zectas and never come back. But I can’t...." Her voice trailed off as she thought about her situation with Smoke. It frustrated her that he wouldn’t let her help him deal with his negative feelings.

"Stop ‘playing’ Zectas?" asked Sharur as he interrupted her private musings, clearly oblivious to what she meant.

She was taken by surprise by the OrkElf, who was standing in the corner the balcony.

"Er...I mean ‘living in it’." Sierra answered quickly while thinking on her feet. "You gotta live your life here in Zectas as if it were a game in which you always want to win." she hurriedly added.

"I see. Never thought of it that way before." answered Sharur. "But going back to what you said, about never coming back to Zectas...please don't ever do that." he pleaded, "You know how Smoke is—he does his own thing, but he always comes back to you. Besides, there's plenty of other people here who would be brokenhearted if you left."

"I know, I would never abandon you guys. I'm sorry for worrying you, Sharur." said Sierra as she patted the OrkElf's broad shoulder. "It was just a slip of the tongue, I didn't really mean it. I know how Smoke feels about me, even though he doesn't say it. He's just made that way, I guess." she said with a deep sigh.

Suddenly, she received a call she had been waiting on for quite some time. It was from her mentor, Nenek.

"I know that I've asked you about this before, and I know that you've already given me an answer. Still, I can't help myself but ask you the same thing again." Sierra tried to speak in a calmly manner, but her voice revealed her annoyance. "Why in the world would you send a novice who just got a Job change to Acolyte out to Repormatl village? And have her run into the Witches of Wysteria, no less?"

"Sierra, Sierra, Sierra, as I told you before, I had a premonition that you could one day defeat the Witches of Wysteria. We’ve already had this conversation, just drop that topic already." said an exasperated Nenek.  "Anyway, let's move on to why I called. It took far longer than expected, but I have finally completed your request. I may have only managed to train sixty of them, but they all have my seal of approval."

Sierra felt bad for criticising a person who just did her a favor. "Thank you so much for this, Nenek. I really appreciate it. I'll send someone to pick them up right away." she replied sheepishly.

"No problem. I'm always happy to oblige my most promising student. Even though she's stubborn and irritating at times." Nenek said with a chuckle, "Alright, I'll leave you to your little village. Although, I guess it isn't so little anymore, is it? I think I might come visit one day."

"Yes, please, do visit. You're more than welcome to stay here anytime you like." Sierra said with a big smile on her face.

CLICK

Sierra then quickly called Gandiva and Laernea, who were out on a run and delivering weapons from Nanahuatl to Centza.

"Alright, we'll stop by Nenek’s and pick them up. Hmm, taking a detour to Centeo means that we'll probably get back in three days." replied Gandiva after Sierra gave them information on how to find Nenek in Centeo city.

"No problem. Just get here as fast as you can." replied Sierra. She would have wanted them to arrive sooner, but she understood why the Lioumereans' needed that much time. As the gears in her head were turning, working out what to do with the new units she was about to acquire, Sharanga suddenly came bursting through the balcony door.

"Espion just returned. He's been all over the place ever since he got that new acinonyx cheetah of his. He says he has some vital information on the Brandals." said the WoodElf enthusiastically, "He's asked for all of us to gather in the war room."

The three of them immediately headed there.

* * * * * *

Adder, Ledur, Thyrsus and Espion were standing at a massive rectangular table as they looked over the map of Centzo that was placed on top of it. Ichaival, Vijaya, Jinggu, Ehrlich, Stark, Weise and Rasant were behind them and listening to their discussion. As soon as Sierra walked into the room, they paused their deliberation.

The core members around the table made room for Sierra, as her cursed form took up quite a bit of space. After Sierra, Sharur and Sharanga took their places at the table, Adder turned to Espion and said, "Alright, you can start now."

"Right. From what I’ve gathered, it appears that the Sonstwelters in Centzo have united into one massive alliance. They're led by an Arch Bishop named Incitant." stated Espion, "Not only that, but he has also managed to convince the Zectians in the area to fight alongside them."

"That's impressive!" said Ichaival with a whistle.

Sharanga, who stood beside him, elbowed him immediately in the stomach and made him stop being a nuisance to the meeting.

"It appears that their alliance had been timely formed, because only a week afterwards, Duke Burmistrz ordered a full-on assault on the city." said Espion and began to describe the atrocities that the Brandals had done in the surrounding area.

"They created a wasteland in the circle of ten kilometers around Centzo. The homes and shops located outside the city walls were completely decimated. I saw dried-up bloodstains in the remnants of the houses; often, there were children’s clothes next to them. Thankfully, their bodies were absorbed back into Zectas, and hopefully they’ll find peace in Mictlan." Espion lowered his head as he thought about the lives that ended too soon.

Everyone in the room was taken aback by what Espion reported. This time, it was Sharanga's loud gasped that interrupted Espion. She covered her mouth in disgust and turned away from others. Ichaival hugged her in order to comfort her, and she allowed it.

"Calm yourselves." said Sierra in a difficult voice, as she herself had trouble taking in the description of Brandals’ atrocities. "This is the reason why we must overcome these scoundrels." Sierra remembered how she thought she lost Sharur and Jinggu when the Brandals attacked their wooden fortress in the past. "Don't worry. One day, we'll avenge everyone whom the Brandals have hurt." she said with strong conviction.

After everybody settled down, Espion resumed his report. "A lot of the city residents died when the Brandals and Centzo's alliance clashed. Incitant lost more than thirty thousand men that day, twenty thousand of which were Sonstwelters, while the rest were Zectians."

Espion paused again, as a low murmur spread across the war room. The core members started talking to each other after they heard about such a high death toll. The Spy had to speak louder to get back everyone's attention, "However, this turned out to be a big failure on the part of Duke Burmistrz, as Incitant’s forces successfully defended the city. Not only that, but they also killed about forty thousand Brandals in the process."

"Serves them right!" shouted Vijaya. The war room was filled with similar reactions after they heard the good news.

Sierra clapped her paws loudly and said, "Alright, alright, everybody settle down. Espion isn't done yet."

Espion nodded at her and said, "After suffering such a blow to their numbers, the Duke's legions have been reorganized. He kept the number of legions at ten, and because of that, most of them consist of less bandits than before." He pointed to the map on the table and said, "Every single one of the eight legions surrounding the city are now seven thousand five hundred strong, while the two legions assigned to transporting supplies remain ten thousand strong."

Ledur held his chin with his hoof. "That is indeed a favorable development, but we still can't handle a legion of that size." he said and pointed to the map, "Even if we did manage to defeat one, the other two legions adjacent to it would easily crush us afterwards."

"Agreed." stated Adder. "We would need at least three strike teams, and hit three of their legions here." he said and pointed to the left side of the city, "If we could do that, the other legions wouldn't be able to react in time."

"For that to work, we would need an army of at least twenty five thousand men, right?" Ledur consulted Adder.

"Actually, I was hoping to have more than that." replied a disheartened Adder, "That's why I was going to suggest we keep saving village after village, in hopes of increasing our numbers."

Sierra raised her paw and interjected, "We already have Mamelon and her regiment assigned to that. They're also out hunting for more mounts we could use for our men. But we can't wait for us to grow to that size. Who knows how many more innocent lives will be lost by then."

Anxious, she tapped her foot rapidly. "We have to take some sort of action now, but I just don’t know how."

"If only Smoke were here..." said Rasant out loud.

Everyone instantly turned to the orange Maneator and stared at him with pitiful eyes. He just then realized that he had entered the realm of taboo as he stared at a motionless Sierra.

"Yes, if only he was here, maybe he could come up with something. But he is preoccupied at the moment, so we will have to make do by ourselves." said Sierra flatly.

Everybody averted their eyes and focused on the table. They blankly stared at it in silence.

Suddenly, Thyrsus came up with a question, "Espion, what exactly is the route of the two legions that carry supplies?"

"Well, they mostly stay in Braucht Hilfe village, here." he said as he pointed to a place on the map north from Centzo, "From there, they take turns at traveling back to Coatl. Upon their return to the village, they split up into four groups and then head to different directions towards the battlefield, delivering supplies to their comrades." He then pointed to the plains, mountains and forests through which the smaller groups of bandits travelled through.

Thyrsus promptly asked a follow-up question, "Have you ever seen them split up into even smaller groups afterwards?"

"No, not really. They stay in armies of two thousand five hundred men, although I haven't stayed long enough to see them get back to Braucht Hilfe village after delivering the supplies." answered Espion.

"Hm. Maybe we could use the mandragora flowers against them?" thought Thyrsus out loud, "Although, we only have a small amount of them left, and the flowers haven't grown back in the Mandragora forest for a while now."

"That's not a completely bad idea, Thyrsus. I like what you're getting at, but we can't use the mandragora flowers." said Sierra flatly. Slowly, a devilish grin formed on her face. "This will be where we make our first move." she said while pointing to the forest near the village.

Thyrsus nodded and said, "I think three thousand Mercenaries should suffice." He then turned to their Comptroller, Ehrlich. "How much do you think that would cost us?" he asked the elderly Dwarf, "I think we could get a discount from the Avendre Mercenaries if we ask for that many of their men, right?"

Ehrlich quickly did some fiddling with the abacus in his hand and replied, "According to my calculations, it should cost us fifty-two million zecs. However, I think it will take them more than a month to assemble that many Mercenaries."

"No, no, no." said Sierra strongly, "We can't wait that long. Besides, Verbrannt needs all the money it’s earning."

She slammed her red furry paws on the table. "We'll do it by ourselves!" she shouted, "With Ledur's brothers now numbering ninety-six and my werewolf pack numbering fifty-two, we can do this."

Adder, Ledur and Thyrsus were about to object, but as the rest of the core members cheered in support of Sierra, their voices were drowned out.

Finally, after the war room calmed down, Thyrsus got a chance to speak. "Sierra, even if a legion is split into four groups, that's still two thousand five hundred bandits in each of them. This sounds like a difficult mission for us, at the moment."

Sierra didn't respond, but it was clear that she was adamant about her decision, which made Thyrsus try to persuade her once more. "Do you remember what happened the last time we faced off against that many Brandals? We lost Mitleid and almost a thousand men that day."

"Thyrsus has a point." said Vijaya, "We also had the help of eight hundred Knights from Coatl during that battle."

Sharur clapped his hands loudly and caught their attention. "Come on, everyone, let’s hear her out. This is Sierra we’re talking about; I’m sure she has something planned."

Thyrsus raised his hands in surrender and said nothing more.

"Vijaya, Sharanga, Ichaival, Jinggu and Sharur, please assemble a thousand of our finest men. Tell them to make preparations; we'll be leaving in three days’ time." said Sierra. She then turned to Adder, Ledur, Thyrsus and Espion. "I’ll need you guys to help me plan this out effectively. I’m sorry if I sounded brash earlier, but rest assured, we'll have some much-needed reinforcements soon. I think this could be a game changer."

Sierra, the three strategists and the young Spy remained in the war room and brainstormed ideas for their upcoming operation.

* * * * * *

Even though Sharanga strongly objected, Ichaival managed to tag along with her to pick out members for Sierra's mission. As the two of them walked out the castle gates, they spotted Billig arguing with Sympa, the representative of the Banalite volunteers. Ichaival just recently changed the twenty-seven Banalite volunteers' Jobs to Archers.

"Like I said, no one is an exception." said Billig with his Merchant face on, "Composite bows are 10,000 zecs each."

"I understand that, but can't you give me a discount? I'm gonna buy twenty-seven bows, after all." said Sympa in a sweet voice as she tried her best to convince Billig.

"If I’m going to give discounts to everyone who asks, then I'd better just give my fortune away and live like a beggar." scoffed Billig.

Sympa then knelt down in front of Billig and begged him, "Please, all of us are excited to see what we can do with composite bows."

"I'm sorry, my dear, but these prices are set in stone." said Billig with finality.

Upon hearing this, Ichaival decided to help out and rushed to where Sympa and Billig were. "Billig, my good man, can't you bend those prices a bit?"

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Billig asked Ichaival.

"Come on, Billig. It's me, Ichaival." he said with a big grin on his face and did a little bow.

The Gnome Merchant shook his head and said, "Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell." He then turned to his cart and started to put the bows away.

Ichaival quickly grabbed one of the composite bows and said, "Stop joking around, Billig. I'm one of Smoke's core members, one of the only four Hunters here." Billig still shook his head. "I'm a battalion commander, too. Ah, I know! Maybe you don't recognize me because my falcon isn't here." Ichaival shouted his falcon's name, "Ichai! Ichai! Come here for a bit."

Billig stopped stowing away the bows and waited for the falcon to come. However, no falcon came flying at all. "Ha!" said Billig and continued on.

"Billig, stop. I really am Smoke's core member." said Ichaival.

Sympa patted Ichaival's shoulder and said, "It's okay. Maybe we'll be able to buy them next time, when we save up more zecs."

"Ah! I could cover the remainder of the price for you. How much more do you need?" he asked Sympa.

"Let me check." Sympa quickly got out her zecs and said, "We only have 162,000 zecs. So just a little over a hundred thousand, I guess?"

"Oh, I got that much." said Ichaival, but as he was about to reach into his bag, Sharanga stepped in and stopped his hand.

"Hello, Billig." she said calmly.

"Oh, Miss Sharanga. A pleasure to see you, as always."

"I'm sure." she replied with a smile, "So, how much are these composite bows again?"

"Well, I'm selling them for 10,000 zecs each." replied Billig with a nervous smile.

"Hm. That's odd. Three weeks ago, you were dying to get rid of some composite bows, and you sold them to the Bowed Fishermen for only 4,000 zecs each." said Sharanga pleasantly, "Now, you're not trying to con these good Archers, are you?"

"Me? Of course not, Miss Sharanga." said Billig and shook his head furiously. He then displayed the bows in front of her. "You see, these particular composite bows, that the girl there is interested in, have somewhat unique features." he said smoothly and kept moving the bow about, never allowing Sharanga to inspect it carefully. "But, seeing as they can't afford these special bows, I think I might have some left over from three weeks ago." Billig speedily took the composite bows on display and stowed them into his cart. He then appeared to be rummaging through some things inside of it before taking out the same exact bows. "Ah, yes, these ones should be 4,000 zecs each."

Billig then placed twenty-seven composite bows in front of Sympa and she paid him the exact amount. She then bowed to the Gnome Merchant and said, "Thank you so much for these, Mister Billig." Right afterwards, she turned to Ichaival and hugged him. "My friends will be so happy with these. Thank you so much, Ichaival." she said and kissed him on the cheek.

Sympa then bowed to Sharanga and walked away with the bows. Billig also swiftly took his leave and carried his wares elsewhere.

With her arms crossed, Sharanga said to Ichaival, "Nice girl. So that's the leader of the Archers you organised in Banal, huh?"

"Yeah. They're still rough around the edges, but they're hard workers." answered Ichaival proudly, "By the way, thanks for helping me out there."

"Sure. I thought I should help, since you looked really concerned with her." she said in an irritated voice, "Although, I don’t see why she kissed you; I was the one who helped with the price."

"Why, Sharanga, if I didn't know any better, I would think you're jealous." said Ichaival teasingly.

Sharanga swiftly got out her five-trap system and threatened him with it. Ichaival reflexively covered his head with his arms and prepared for the worst. Seconds passed and nothing happened. He looked up, only to see Sharanga walking away.

* * * * * *

Sierra and the members chosen for the strike force spent the next three days training inside a forest patch near Verbrannt. The sycamore trees there were well-spaced and resembled the forest near Braucht Hilfe village. The core members of the guild were each designated to lead specific teams, although there were some exceptions: Espion was sent to the forest patch near Braucht Hilfe in advance, while Thyrsus and Vijaya were left in charge of Verbrannt due to their long-range scouting abilities which proved useful in detecting potential attacks.

Their specific teams were as follows:

Adder : Balance
=> 21 Condortlian Warriors & 30 Centaur Rangers
Sharanga : Illusion
=> 220 Bowed Fishermen (Mounted)
Ichaival : Strafe
=> 100 Bowed Fishermen & 27 Banalite Archers
Stark/Rasant/Weise : Bulwark
=> 120 Iron Knights
Jinggu/Sharur : Gate
=> 400 Armored Farmers
Ledur : Mutilate
=> 96 Tikbalangs
Sierra : Slaughter
=> 52 Werewolves

Strafe, Ichaival's team, was trained to scale the sycamore trees quickly. Their posts were well-spread—only eight to twelve members per tree. They were divided into two groups on opposite sides of the forest, directly across from one another. They practised accurately hitting their targets from above without hitting their allies.

Gate, Sharur and Jinggu's team, was divided into northern and southern groups, each consisting of two hundred Armored Farmers. They learned how to fight defensively inside a forest, equipped with round shields that were bigger and heavier than usual but covered more of their bodies. Their main task would be to hold the bandits inside the entrapment while staying in an upside down ‘U’ formation. The Armored Farmers would rotate positions and take turns on the front lines.

Illusion, Sharanga's team made up of mounted Bowed Fishermen, disciplined themselves to shoot while riding and accustomed their aardwolves to running fast between the trees. They practised riding back and forth between the two Gates day in and day out. They needed to be able to create an impression that there’s more of them than there actually was. Since Illusion was assigned to cover the sides of the entrapment, Sharanga found herself running back and forth between the two sides during their drills.

Bulwark, Rasant, Stark and Weise's team, was divided into three smaller groups. Weise and Stark were in charge of thirty Iron Knights while Rasant was in charge of sixty. Each group was told to maintain a square formation, as if defending something important within. Weise's group positioned itself inside Jinggu's northern Gate formation, Stark's group within Sharur's southern Gate, and Rasant's group was placed smack in the middle of the battlefield. They would stay hidden on the sides of the entrapment at first, and then carefully make their way to the center of the battle.

Mutilate, Ledur's Tikbalangs, were to jump down from the trees and initiate the assault on the guards around a Brandal Captain. They were split into groups of four. After taking out the guards, they would go after the bandits farther away from the Captains and create an opening for the Slaughter team.

Slaughter, Sierra's werewolves,  would be scattered between the North and South Gates. As the werewolves were swift and agile, they were expected to deal with Captains once a path was made clear for them. Sierra organised her werewolves into pairs, each meant to hunt down a specific target.

Both the special teams of Mutilate and Slaughter then trained to periodically run to Rasant's Bulwark at the center of the battlefield.

Balance, Adder's team, were trained to do almost everything except scale trees. They were meant to play both the defensive and offensive role on the ground and provide support all over the battlefield. In case of emergency, they were to help out any of the other teams. However, the Condortlian Warriors didn't have enough time to acquire the ability to ride mounts; only Adder rode on a dirus wolf. Luckily, the Centaurs, innately fast on their own, offered themselves for the Warriors to ride on. Gone were the days when the proud Centaurs of Pferde would not allow anyone to ride on them. As soon as Adder heard this, he asked Tragar, the bulkiest of the Centaur Rangers, if he would be willing to carry his shield for him. Tragar happily agreed and found no problems with it.

All teams repeated the exact same drills for three days, until the Lioumereans' arrival. Sierra immediately ordered the strike teams to gather at the plains outside of the forest.

She stood right beside Gandiva and Laernea. "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet our secret weapon: our eight team, called Life." said Sierra and drew everyone’s attention to the Lioumereans’ carriages. Twenty men and forty women got off both carriages. All of them were dressed in Acolyte robes. The whole strike force cheered when they saw that they now had healers.

Sierra clapped her furry red paws loudly. "Alright, let's do another day's worth of drills, but this time we'll have our Acolyte friends positioned inside Bulwarks."

After their final day of training, the strike force set off on their mission in high spirits.

* * * * * *

Sweat drenched Nash's sleeveless shirt as he repeatedly struck an old tire hanging from the garage ceiling with two eskrima sticks. Thirty minutes in, he finally stopped and started to do his stretching exercises.

Done with his eskrima practice, Nash was about to head up to his room when he saw a forlorn Donny, with his head on the kitchen table. He was surprised to see his youngest brother looking so sad, so he stopped and asked, "What's up, little bro?"

"I'm twelve! I'm not that little anymore, Nash." exclaimed Donny.

"Hey, what's with the attitude?" Nash asked and sat next to Donny.

"Sorry," said Donny sincerely, "it's just that Seth's been avoiding me lately."

"Weird, I thought I heard you guys earlier this morning. Weren't you doing eskrima training?" asked Nash with concern.

"We did, but he left right after we finished the basic exercises. I was hoping to train some more, but he just left, saying that he had to read a book on 'Data Lakes'." said Donny sourly, "If he wanted to do research on some lake, he could have done it after we trained some more." He then crossed his arms and shook his head. "I’m telling you right now, Nash: there's no way Seth is going to make it past the second round of eliminations of the upcoming AUTOMATA competition."

"Donny, I think you misunderstood. ‘Data Lakes’ is probably a book related to the elective he's picked up, not a book about an actual lake."

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Donny curiously.

"You see, I think that Seth realised at a young age something that most people don't realise until they're much older." replied Nash.

"Still in the dark here." said Donny, "You’ll have to do better than that."

"What I mean is, I feel like Seth already knows what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Maybe that'll change, maybe not, I'm not sure. But for now, it's best that we support him."

Donny nodded and tried his best to understand. He then asked, "So what's Seth going to be?"

"A Computer scientist, like Dad was." answered Nash with a smile, "The road to getting there is rough, so do you think you could cut him some slack?"

Donny shrugged. "Fine. Guess I'll have to get used to training on my own. I still want to become the national champion of AUTOMATA." he said with conviction.

"And that's great too. Let's just be supportive of the things each of us wants to pursue, okay?" said Nash. He stood up and ruffled his youngest brother's hair. "Okay, I'll let you plan out your training. I'm going back up to my room."

Once back in his room, Nash comfortably sat on his computer chair and rolled its wheels over to his desktop computer. He started scrolling through his latest video feed. After spending some time editing, he did a final check on his latest video and finally clicked the ‘publish’ button, uploading his video for the month.

Nash couldn't decide if he should include Crucibelle in the video or only show the defense of Banal village. In the end, he included the fight with Crucibelle, but erased the parts where he managed to block her attacks with his perlite chain and sickle and the parts that showed that he had high resistance to her flames. He only showed that his life bar was low, and that he was rescued by Mamelon and the Elemental Knights.

He understood the importance of always hiding your aces. After all, that was what Horrabelle demonstrated—she made it seem like she was meeting up with him to negotiate, when in reality she was only there to rob him of his abilities.

'A fool doesn’t realise that he is being deceived, while a clever man would merely play the fool.' thought Nash to himself as he remembered how foolish he was to take Horrabelle's words at face value. However, he was no longer beating himself up over it.

Darius reminded him that it is best to accept your mistakes and grow from them. Taking a self-discovery trip along the Murray river gave Nash the time he needed to get some of his confidence back and think things through. He was now focused on the future, rather than the past.

After he checked his published video on Zectas’ website, Nash turned off his computer and stretched his arms. He drank a glass of water and stepped into his game pod. While getting comfortable, he smiled, as he was looking forward to seeing Sierra's face again. He was less than an hour away from Verbrannt.

* * * * * *

Seated comfortably on board the five-by-three-meter rowboat he borrowed from Darius, Smoke was slowly making his way towards Verbrannt's docks. He waved to some of the Fishermen casting nets over the river as he passed them by. As he reached the docks, the Gondoliers cleared a path for him and helped him with his rowboat, tying the ropes securely. Smoke thanked them and headed straight for Rauch castle.

On his way there, he met a pack of aardwolves being led by two one-meter-tall Halflings who were mounted on aardwolves themselves. Due to their small stature, they made the aardwolves around them look bigger.

'Sonstwelter Halflings? Now that's something you don't see every day.' he thought, amused.

Smoke stayed out of their way, when he suddenly recognized a beautiful, mounted Aqua Knight with her faceplate lifted up some distance away from him. He remembered that he promised Mamelon he would meet with her as Ilad, his Flame Knight alter ego. He briskly searched for an empty alley and donned the Gora armor set he won back in Coatl.

Smoke, disguised as Ilad, walked towards Mamelon. Yet, before he could reach her, an aardwolf blocked his way and he was stopped by one of the Halflings. "Halt! Just because you're a Flame Knight doesn't mean that you can get near our boss."

"Wait, Louche. Maybe he's one of Mamelon's men?" said the other Halfling.

"Don't be stupid, Earat. I made sure to memorize all the Flame Knights under her, and none of them wore such dilapidated armor." said the one called Louche, “Besides, how will I be able to make my move on Mamelon if you allow more suitors to her side?”

Just then, Smoke remembered that he had Igniz's flames coat his armor to disguise its tattered appearance. "Bud, a little fire please." he said in a whisper. Instantly, Smoke's armor lit up with dark purple flames.

The two Halflings reflexively pulled back their aardwolves.

"A purple Flame Knight? I've never seen one before." said the one called Earat, "Are you perhaps one of Mamelon's friends?"

Smoke tried to speak out to clear the misunderstanding. "Yes. I'm not one of Mamelon's Knights, but I do know her. My name is..."

"Ilad, is that you?" cried out Mamelon excitedly. She rode her mount straight through Earat and Louche's aardwolves. She hastily got off her bronze jackal and walked up to him. "It's been so long, and I kept missing you."

She then blushed and quickly added, "Uhm, by that I mean that we always seemed to be on different assignments, not that I missed you. I mean, I did miss you, but I wasn’t thinking of that. I mean—"

He couldn't get a word in at all, as Mamelon spoke excitedly fast. He had to tap her shoulder, and she finally fell silent.

"Sorry about that." he said in a forced deep voice. Smoke thought he should differentiate his alter ego's voice from his own. "I've been detained by various activities."

Mamelon raised her eyebrow. "Why are you talking like that?"

"Talking like what? Oh, you mean like this? I just thought it would help me seem more charismatic." he said innocently and let out a fake laugh.

Mamelon shook her head and said with a frown, "No, it doesn't."

Smoke quickly tried to change the topic. "Anyway, about my share from the mounted race. I'd like you to have it. Think of it as my welcome gift to you for joining our guild."

"Are you sure? But it's so much money. Why would you want to give it to me?" Mamelon's cheeks blushed a bright red.

"I just want you to know that I deeply value your contribution to the guild." said Smoke sincerely.

For a few seconds, the two of them stood quietly facing each other. Smoke was waiting for a reply, but Mamelon was silent the whole time. Finally, the blazing Flame Knight broke the awkward silence and spoke out. "Well, it was good seeing you." He then started walking in the opposite direction.

Mamelon slowly snapped out of her daze and called out to him, "Wait! We just got to see each other again. Why are you leaving already?"

"I have a new mission." quickly answered Smoke, but paused shortly afterwards while thinking what it was.

"What mission? Maybe I could join you?” asked a hopeful Mamelon.

Smoke looked at the purple flames on his armor and said, “It’s to search for the remaining temples of Vigilantez.”

“I see.” she replied and nodded, “ That sounds dangerous. You could definitely use my help.”

“But, Mamelon, we have to do what Sierra told us.” interjected Louche.

“Oh...right. I have my own mission. Sierra asked for backup on the Braucht Hilfe campaign."

"Campaign?" he asked worriedly.

"I think it's our first official strike against the Brandals encroaching Centzo." answered Mamelon dismissively, "Anyway, you might want to eat first before going on your next mission. I know a great place here; I've got high Intimacy with the chef there, so the food would be special." she said with a hopeful smile.

"That sounds lovely, but I really have to go. Maybe next time?" said Smoke hurriedly and ran towards the castle.

The Aqua Knight wanted to call out to him once again, but stopped herself. She stood still and stared helplessly at Ilad’s back.

Suddenly, Smoke looked back at her and yelled, "I'll see you around, Mamelon. Take good care of yourself!" He then disappeared into an alley.

Mamelon couldn’t help but make a wide grin and talk to herself in a whisper. "So you do care about me, after all…." she said as she put her hands to her chest.

She then turned around and was about to reprimand Louche and Earat, when she caught a glimpse of Smoke gliding in the air, headed for Rauch castle.

"Hm. Smoke and Ilad must have received an emergency call from Thyrsus." she thought out loud. She then turned to the Halflings and told them to next time show Ilad the proper respect he deserves.

* * * * * *

THUD

Smoke landed in front of the main castle doors. He entered briskly and found a villager cleaning one of the castle windows.

"Excuse me," said Smoke with a brash voice, "who's in charge?"

The villager stopped wiping the glass and smiled at him. "Why, that would be you, lord Smoke...and lady Sierra, of course." he replied and gave him a respectful bow.

Smoke smiled back and spoke in a calmer tone, "No, what I meant was, who did Sierra leave in charge when she left?"

"Oh, that would be Sir Thyrsus. I believe he is currently in the war room." answered the villager politely.

"Thank you." said Smoke and gave the villager a small bow before running up to the war room.

The door busted open and a worried Smoke stepped inside. He noticed a large map with several small boxes and figures placed on top of it laid out on the massive rectangular table.

"Thyrsus! Where are you?" shouted Smoke as he searched for his core member left in charge of Verbrannt. He looked around the war room and found Vijaya sitting on Thyrsus' lap as they were hastily breaking away from what looked like a passionate kiss. He instantly turned around and coughed loudly, "Ahem. Sorry to intrude on you two like this." said Smoke loudly.

It took a few seconds for Thyrsus and Vijaya to fix themselves up before they answered him. “Ah, Smoke, we didn’t see you there.” said Thyrsus in an awkward voice.

Embarrassed of what he witnessed, Smoke looked down and stared at the map. Then, he remembered why he came rushing in the first place.

"How could you let Sierra leave with such a small strike force?" Smoke asked Thyrsus strongly, "And why wasn't I notified?"

Thyrsus scratched his head and averted his eyes. Vijaya put her hand on his shoulder and responded for him, "We tried to get in touch with you a hundred times, but you never answered any of our calls." She paused and took a deep breath. "Also, didn't you want only to be the figurehead of the Vigilantez, and have Sierra act as the real guild leader?"

Smoke opened his mouth but couldn't give her a proper response. He knew that she was absolutely right—he did receive numerous calls from them, but he never answered. He needed that time alone to sort out his feelings and heal his self-esteem.

He nodded in agreement. He then turned to Thyrsus and said, "Tell me Sierra's plan."

"Of course." replied Thyrsus quickly. He promptly pointed to the small boxes placed on the map. "Each of these boxes represents a team of the Vigilantez..."

Thyrsus described the plan Sierra proposed and that was then refined by Adder, Ledur and himself. It took almost an hour for him to finish his explanation, as Smoke was coming up with questions about every phase of the plan.

"...In conclusion, we mostly agreed to this because of the Acolytes." said Thyrsus proudly.

"Hm." said Smoke as he scratched his chin, "And they left three days ago?"

"Yeah. They should be arriving at their destination anytime now." answered Vijaya.

"Alright. Thyrsus, give me the coordinates of where they plan to set up this trap." said Smoke hurriedly.

Thyrsus scrambled to find a piece of paper, and laid it down in front of Smoke. Immediately afterwards, a notification window popped up.

MAP LOCATION: Braucht Hilfe Forest

Coordinates: Latitude: 34°54'35.95" N, Longitude: 109°48'24.45" W
Note: One thousand eight hundred kilometers away from current location.

"Thank you, Thyrsus." said Smoke, "It should take me about twelve hours to get there if I glide at my top speed."

He then hurriedly headed out of the room. As he reached the doorway, he turned around and awkwardly said, "Sorry again for interrupting you guys earlier."

* * * * * *

Hidden among tree branches in the forest near Braucht Hilfe, Ichaival waited silently for the Brandals to arrive. Suddenly, a girl his age with short black hair and tanned skin moved to the branch next to him.

"Sympa, what are you doing here?" asked Ichaival in a hushed voice.

"Sorry, I know you told me to wait over at the next tree, but I got bored." replied Sympa with a coy smile.

"You need to get back to your tree." ordered Ichaival and turned his back to her.

Sympa pouted. "Alright, but before I go, I just wanted to thank you again for the composite bows. Our damage has greatly increased. Of course, the one I’m holding right now isn't as big as yours, but it's perfect for me at the moment."

"Don't worry about it. Now go." Ichaival said more sternly.

"I hope I didn't cause any trouble between you and Sharanga." said Sympa innocently.

"It's fine, Sharanga is just…. Just go already, please." said Ichaival as he feared that Brandals would come running into the forest anytime.

"But, uhm...if she were to throw one of her traps at me—for some reason—how would I get out of it?" asked Sympa in a flirtatious manner.

"Why would Sharanga throw her trap at you? And there's no escape if she uses her five-trap system. Not unless someone else is there who knows how to deactivate it." Ichaival shuddered as memories of him being getting caught in the traps came to him, "You know..."

Ichaival wasn't able to finish because he heard Ledur's voice over the commanders' channel. "The Brandals are entering the forest! I counted twenty-five Captains and I have some good news." Ledur paused for a few seconds, which made Ichaival wonder what favorable event did Cuezaltzin create for them. "It appears their losses also included their mounts, as there are only a little more than a thousand black ctenosaurs. I repeat, most of the bandits are riding in tandem. I'm heading into the forest now. Ichaival, it's your turn."

After Ichaival heard Ledur's detailed report he turned his attention to the forest entrance. Thousands of mounted Brandals came into view. They were riding on black ctenosaurs, giant iguana-like mounts with a length of two and a half meters. The intimidating scene of charging bandits was sure to make a commoner freeze with fear. However, the Vigilantez were composed of individuals who were trained to face such daunting forces.

After the last of the bandits entered the forest, Ichaival released a well-camouflaged green flare in the air, which sailed across the treetops and blended in with the leaves. Only the individuals who were straining their necks looking up had any chance of detecting it. This was the signal for Gate and Illusion teams to take action.

Unfortunately, a mounted Sharanga was still out in the open, as the Illusion team was divided on opposite sides and were still getting themselves into position. Even though Laernea and Gandiva were assigned to watch over the western side of the forest, she still felt the need to be there and help direct the Bowed Fishermen. As soon as the last Fisherman was settled in, Sharanga immediately headed to the eastern side, but not before six throwing knives stabbed her in the back and damaged her for a total of 4,200 points. The Brandals had spotted her.

Posthaste, the Brandals in the lead gave chase. The sight of injured Shranga angered Ichaival and made him release his arrows too soon. Shortly afterwards, all members of the Strafe team followed his lead and attacked the Brandals with a torrent of arrows. The bandits tried to block the arrows with their arms, but there were too many of them. Out of desperation, those who shared mounts hid behind the ones in front of them and used their comrades as meat shields. A constant volley of more than a hundred arrows assaulted the bandits.

However, Ichaival's premature strike made the Brandals in the rear turn back and try to escape out of the forest. This mistake gave away the position of Jinggu's Gate team.

Tasked with closing off the bandits' escape route, the Armored Farmers under Jinggu were still scrambling into position when fifty mounted Brandals led by a Captain charged right through them. Taken by surprise, the Armored Farmers weren't able to hold their formation, and five of them were trampled by the black ctenosaurs. Jinggu hastily retaliated by firing a volley of his poison bolts and dismounted four of the bandits, whereas some of the Farmers who came to their senses clung onto the bandits who rode at the back of their mounts, and pulled them to the ground.

A total of twenty Brandals were instantly stabbed by sharp tridents (enhanced versions of Farmers’ pitchforks, made by Verbrannt’s Blacksmiths) and perished while calling out to their comrades for help. The Brandal Captain and thirty remaining ctenosaur riders escaped out of the forest without even taking a look at them.

A few seconds later, Adder and his Balance team arrived at Jinggu's location. Adder quickly told five of the Centaurs, "Take the injured to Weise. Be careful to stay out of sight, and return here once they're healed."

Each of the five Centaurs hurriedly put an injured Farmer on their backs. They carried them carefully towards the Life team that was behind them.

As Adder scanned through Jinggu's team, he saw the OrkElf give him a nod. They called out to their teams and prepared themselves for an incoming wave of bandits.

With Jinggu's northern Gate secured and Weise's Bulwark and Life teams in position behind them, the Brandals in front of them were desperately trying to break through their makeshift gate. However, multiple Heal Balls were hitting the Armored Farmers, steadily replenishing their lives.

As these bandits were farther away from Ichaival's Strafe team, they were out of range of their arrow attacks, which made the seven Captains leading them complacent. Without delay, they signaled their men to escape to the sides of the wall of Farmers. However, as black ctenosaurs moved to the sides, water arrows were fired at the Brandals from the direction of their flanks. The Bowed Fishermen of Sharanga's Illusion team assaulted them with a volley of arrows.

Jinggu and the Centaur Rangers followed suit and used their own ranged attacks from behind the Armored Farmers. The force of Jinggu's bolts knocked down his targets from their mounts, while the Centaurs' arrows kept on withering their life bars.

Adder and the Condortlian Warriors squeezed their way through the Gate and charged into the throng of Brandals. With their bastard swords in hand, they fought bravely. Heal Balls came flying straight after Adder and his men, as they were now the ones most targeted by the bandits.

Members of Weise's defensive Bulwark, tasked with protecting the Acolytes, held their ground and were always on the guard for potential bandits who could break through the Gate. Once in awhile, two to three black ctenosaurs would smash through, but the Armored Farmers on the outer edge of the upside down "U" formation would immediately go after them.

After a few minutes, the gray Maneator confirmed that everything was going according to plan. He left the side of his Bulwark and joined Adder and the Condortlian Warriors on the front lines. As a Maneator, he had the Scourge of the Beast III ability, which allowed him to deal 50% more damage to beast-type monsters. Equipped with a flamdius and Gora shield, he started to slash the legs of the black ctenosaurs, forcefully dismounting the Brandals who were riding on them.

* * * * * *

The main part of the Brandal’s army , made up of 70% of it, had seventeen Brandal Captains in charge. They were continuously assailed by the arrows of Ichaival's Strafe team, which brought down the life bars of the ordinary bandits to 90%. Although their life bars were still high, some of them either had Poisoned or Bleeding status. The Brandal Captains also observed that their comrades in the rear had difficulty breaking through the wall of Armored Farmers.

Then, one of the Captains yelled, "Charge through the front!" But they were met with Sharur's southern Gate team, blocking their path and steadily closing in on them.

"Stop! They have the same formation in that direction." said one of the Captains.

"To the sides!" yelled another, but before they could make their move, Rasant's Bulwark of sixty Iron Knights and twenty Acolytes emerged out of the trees. Rasant led his team right through the middle of more than one thousand seven hundred Brandals.

"Kill them!" shouted the Brandal Captain in front of Rasant's Bulwark, and the bandits immediately directed their black ctenosaurs towards the orange Maneator.

WHUPPSSH CRACK WHUPPSSH CRACK WHUPPSSH CRACK WHUPPSSH CRACK

Sounds of Rasant's barbed whips echoed through the air as the orange Maneator went after the ctenosaurs’ legs. His whips turned into a blur as he stood in front of his team of Iron Knights. The charging ctenosaurs were falling down one after another as the scales on their limbs couldn’t withstand the force of Rasant’s attacks.

The Brandal Captains felt insulted, as whips were their signature weapons. All seventeen of them threw knives at Rasant and inflicted a total of 30,400 points of damage to the Maneator. Some of the knives embedded themselves into his body, which made the orange Maneator momentarily stop. Still with his barbed whips in hand, he removed the knives, and Heal Balls hit him from behind and restored his life bar to full capacity.

The enraged Captains ordered their subordinates to leap over the injured men and go after the Acolytes hiding behind the Iron Knights. Some of them started to move to the sides of the battlefield in order to flank the Bulwark, but were met with arrows coming from that direction.

Amidst the commotion, Ledur was busy organising his Mutilate team. It took him three minutes to assign each of the four-man groups to a specific target. Finally, he gave the signal for his Tikbalang brethren to jump down and mutilate the bandits defending the Brandal Captains.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD

The forest echoed with the sound of hooves stomping the ground as all ninety-six Tikbalangs simultaneously leapt down from the trees. The bandits surrounding the Captains were dismounted from their black ctenosaurs, while the mounts themselves were kicked hard in their bottoms and forced to run away. The bandits who tumbled to the ground were pummelled by the Tikbalangs’ hooves.

As Strafe’s onslaught of arrows never stopped, it took a few seconds for the Captains to detect that they were getting surrounded by the Tikbalangs. All of them reflexively took out their whips and swung them at the Tikbalangs who had their backs turned to them, but the Tikbalangs’ mane made out of sharp black spines blocked most of their attacks. As the Captains were focused on lashing and scourging them with whips, they failed to notice the pairs of werewolves that were coming after each of them.

Sierra's Slaughter team blitzed their way through the crowd of Brandals and squeezed through the gaps the Tikbalangs made for them. One of the werewolves in the pair ran in front of the targeted Captain and captured his attention, while the other one swiftly approached from behind and sunk his claws into the bandit's back.

The Brandal Captains who were farther in took notice of this in time and stopped attacking the Tikbalangs. Seven of them tried to escape to the sides and brought along four hundred of their bandits with them. Together, they braved the water arrows coming from that direction. Four of the Captains took to the east, while three headed to the western part of the forest.

* * * * * *

The three Brandal Captains in the western part of the forest were in charge of a hundred twenty injured bandits and their black ctenosaurs. They resisted the water arrows and pushed onward until they met two Lioumerean Pathfinders, each riding on the back of a stag moose.

"Well, well, well. Looks like some kittens are here to play with us." teased one of the Brandal Captains while riding towards the Lioumereans.

"Leave the cute one to me." said another Captain and followed after.

Straight away, Laernea and Gandiva set their sights on the Captain who spoke last. Simultaneously, the two of them fired their poison arrows at the bandit. The moment they did, Gandiva turned to her best friend and said, "What's wrong with you? He said he was going after me!"

"What are you talking about? He clearly said he was going after the cute one." replied Laernea. Both of them whistled, and shortly afterwards, four Durcules beetles appeared at their sides. These one-and-a-half-meter-long black armored monsters had horns that were almost the same length as their bodies.

"Aim for the one we just attacked." said Laernea and the four Durcules beetles flew straight into the Brandal Captain and impaled him with their horns. Afterwards, they flew up and disappeared into the treetops.

Laernea immediately aimed her bow at the dying Brandal Captain and released several arrows, depleting his life bar. The Brandals in front of Laernea's target raised their swords and charged at her, wanting to avenge their leader, but her stag moose lowered its head and defended her with its antlers. With a strong plowing motion, Bilis impaled the two bandits in front of it.

The impaled bandits tried to break free, but their attempts to pull themselves off of the antlers only resulted in additional damage. They looked to their sides for help, but found that the other stag moose had performed the same attack and impaled three bandits. As the impaled bandits were raised to a higher elevation, they finally saw the source of the water arrows for a brief moment, before the numerous mounted Bowed Fishermen finished them off.

Laernea and Gandiva intentionally aimed for the ordinary bandits. Thanks to their stag moose’s high movement speed and agility, the Lioumereans easily weaved in and out of the trees and suddenly appeared in front of black ctenosaur riders. They attacked them with their longbows at almost point blank range. At this distance, the front riders couldn’t react in time, and the Lioumereans were accurately hitting their eyes.

However, this recklessness made them prone to attacks from the side. As the Brandals kept a close eye on the stag moose, they appeared from their blind side the next time they came around for an attack and slashed them with their swords. The stag moose's antlers tried to drive off the bandits while Laernea and Gandiva counterattacked with arrows. The Lioumereans would hastily retreat, but would get significantly injured in the process. Outside of the Acolytes’ reach, they used their advanced knowledge in Herbology and applied healing herbs to their wounds.

This impetuous attack slowed down the Brandals’ charge and made them hold their ground. The Lioumereans only appeared to be impulsive; their real plan was to keep the Brandals occupied until the southern Gate arrived, and have water arrows steadily dwindle their life bars. At this point, the surviving bandits in the western side of the forest were left with 60% on their life bars.

Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the forest, Sharanga and a hundred Bowed Fishermen prepared themselves to face four Brandal Captains and two hundred eighty of their underlings.

Sharanga stood some distance away from the mounted Bowed Fishermen. Aiming at the Brandal Captains, she released four poison arrows, wanting to draw their attention to her. The Captains promptly ordered the bandits to storm the lone Huntress.

SHRILL

A cry of a single falcon came from above the battlefield, and Ranga swiftly dropped Sharanga's five-trap system on one of the Captains.

FA-THUD

Immobilised, the targeted Brandal Captain dropped to the ground together with his black ctenosaur. Sharanga remained unperturbed despite seeing more than two hundred Brandals rushing towards her. She steadily kept attacking one of the Captains with her poison arrows, and lowered his life bar to 40%.

BTOOOM BTOOOM BTOOOM BTOOOM

Several exploding traps were triggered by the Brandals and sent many of them flying through the air, black ctenosaurs and riders alike. The explosives also killed Sharanga's targeted Captain and inflicted Burning status on all of the Brandals in the eastern side of the forest.

"Halt!" yelled one of the remaining two Brandal Captains, "I bet there are more traps in—" He wasn't allowed to finish as Sharanga fired several arrows into his throat and made him choke.

Unlike the Lioumereans, she didn't intend to wait for Sharur's southern Gate to arrive. She planned to finish off the Brandals by herself. As she still stood in the same spot, Sharanga continued with her arrow attacks, while the mounted Bowed Fishermen behind her kept up with her pace.

SHRILL

FA-THUD

The last surviving Captain and his black ctenosaur fell down, caught in Sharanga's five-trap system. She didn't have any fancy attacks, like the other core members; she only had Ranga and her traps to rely on. However, that didn’t make her any less effective in battle than others.

With the last of the Brandal Captains disabled, the bandits were indecisive about what they should do. Not willing to go back and face the werewolves, or stay still and slowly die to arrow attacks, some of them tried their luck against the traps and blindly charged forward.

BTOOOM BTOOOM

The Brandals' life bars were left with less than 30% after they triggered more explosive traps. Sharanga, together with a hundred mounted Bowed Fishermen, proceeded to finish off the catatonic bandits that were left standing in front of them.

* * * * * *

The strike force’s morale was at an all-time high and spurred them to fight the Brandals aggressively. In general, the bandits had less than 50% on their life bars at the moment.

The ten Captains who were in the middle of the entrapment were slaughtered by Sierra's werewolves, which left the bandits disorganised. They aimed their swords and knives at the gaps between the round shields of Armored Farmers, but even when they managed to inflict significant damage to them, Heal Balls would mend the wounds of the injured Armored Farmers no less than a couple of seconds later. Realising that they could not win against them, the bandits caught in Sierra's trap fought desperately to escape with their lives.

The black ctenosaur riders in the front suddenly felt sharp claws trample over their shoulders, as their comrades' mounts were trying to climb over them and use them as stepping stones to get past the wall of Armored Farmers. One of the lizards that managed to leap through was instantly met with a red Maneator's glaive. Stark's glaive pierced through the black ctenosaur’s stomach and sliced its body in half. The other Brandals who got past the Gate immediately went after Stark, but they were quickly blasted away by Sharur's bolts. Supported by Stark's Bulwark and the Acolytes inside it, Sharur's southern Gate plowed through the struggling bandits.

They arrived at the western side of the forest just in time to witness the Lioumereans killing off the last surviving Captain in the area. The Armored Farmers shouted as they advanced and took the Brandals by surprise. The Bowed Fishermen used this opportunity to release more of their water arrows, which penetrated the backs of the black ctenosaur riders. The Lioumereans and the mounted Bowed Fishermen moved to the sides closer to the center of the trap.

Sharur took a glance at the eastern side and found that Sharanga had already subdued most of the bandits there. He then heard Stark call out his name, "Sharur, Stark can't believe how easy this is." The red Maneator let out steam through his nostrils and huffed, "Stark remember Brandals to be stronger. Stark must have became really stronger instead. Hmmpf!"

"Well, this is Sierra's plan, after all." said Sharur with a proud smile on his face.

"Rasant is doing good at the center. Stark can't believe how he survived on his own." said the red Maneator.

Sharur then pointed to Adder and his team of Centaurs and Warriors, "They had the support of Balance team the whole time."

The red Maneator let out a boisterous laugh. "Does Sharur think next battle will be this successful?"

"Definitely! With Sierra leading us, I'm sure the next fight is going to be a breeze. When we get more Acolytes, we'll be even..." he stopped mid-sentence after he saw Adder and his team charging towards them at full speed. He searched around to see what made the Balance team look so rattled. Then, when he turned around, he finally saw the reason. A pack of werewolves was almost upon the Bulwark team behind him. And these weren’t Sierra’s.

The open area in southern Gate’s formation was filled with bloodthirsty lycanthropes in no time at all. Forty of them engaged the Iron Knights who were protecting the Acolytes, while twenty jumped over them and went straight for the healers. The Armored Farmers on the sides of the formation instantly went to help the Bulwark, but forty more werewolves spread out and slaughtered them. Once a werewolf got its claws on an Armored Farmer, it wouldn’t stop slashing his body until it finished its job.

Enraged, Stark swung his glaive with both hands and severed the arm of one of the werewolves. The lycanthrope screamed in pain, and before it could retaliate, Stark's glaive came at it once again and relieved the monster of its head.

Even though werewolves are Therianthropes, they are still classified as beast-type monsters. As such, they are susceptible to the Maneators and the Hunters' Scourge of the Beast ability.

The Strafe team quickly fired their arrows at the werewolves slaughtering the southern Gate, but their attack speed was slower, as it took them longer to aim properly and avoid friendly fire. Members of the Illusion team followed suit and came to the aid of the southern Gate. Sharanga's falcon steadily released its master's five-trap systems on the monsters, while Sharanga herself was steadily firing her arrows. Laernea and Gandiva's stag moose and Durcules beetles put their antlers and horns to good use and impaled some of the werewolves with them. The Lioumereans rode closer to the werewolves and fired their arrows at them at close range, drawing their attention away from the dying southern Gate members.

As soon as the extraordinary fighters killed a couple of lycanthropes, the werewolves started to huddle together and backed away. After these core members of Vagrant Vigilantez secured the Bulwark, they checked the number of casualties and found that ten Acolytes, twenty Iron Knights and a little more than a hundred Armored Farmers were missing from the battlefield.

Adder and his Balance team members finally arrived as the Vigilantez and seventy werewolves were at a momentary standstill.

Sharur hurriedly asked Adder, "What about the Brandals at the center?"

"Don't worry, Sierra and Ledur's teams are there to help Rasant. There are only less than two hundred bandits left." replied Adder, with his eyes fixated on the new enemies.

The number of Vigilantez members in the southern part of the forest was a little over five hundred. Although they had the advantage in numbers, the Armored Farmers and Bowed Fishermen were no match for Werewolves in one-on-one fights.

Slowly, the werewolf pack moved to the sides to make way for a brown and a black werebear to step forward.

ROAAARRR

The black, female werebear let out a loud roar before speaking. "Werewolves! Today, I, Vexant, your Alpha mistress, shall lead you to glory! We shall feast upon Smoke's army and leave nothing behind but their bones!"

AWWWOOOOOOOOOOO.

The werewolves howled in unison. Vexant then turned to the brown werebear and told him, "Tracas, you deal with the Warrior riding on a dirus wolf."

The brown werebear nodded and fixated on Adder.

Vexant then yelled "Charge!" and the therianthropes all rushed towards the Vigilantez. She decided on Stark as her target. The three-meter-tall red Maneator swung his glaive in a wide arc but missed the werebear's head. Vexant counterattacked with a Double Slash and knocked Stark back into the Armored Farmers behind him.

The brown werebear called Tracas blocked numerous arrows with his arms and came face-to-face with Adder. He took a wide swing at Adder with his claws but hit nothing but air, as the Condortlian Warrior had already leapt off of his mount.

Adder brought down the full force of his BlitzSturm on the brown werebear's left shoulder. Tracas reflexively countered with his right claw, slashing Adder across his chest and knocking him to the ground.

The Centaur Rangers and Condortlian Warriors tried to help their team leader, but forty-five werewolves were keeping them occupied.

Adder hurriedly stood up and faced the brown werebear while his subordinates around him fought frantically for their lives. He charged straight for the werebear, with his massive BlitzSturm over his left shoulder. His double-bladed sword slashed the werebear's paws and forced him to take two steps backwards. Adder finished his attack by slashing the tip of the werebear's front leg and sliced off two toes.

Tracas roared in pain. The brown werebear raised his claws over his shoulders and they came crashing down on Adder. BlitzSturm blocked one of the claws, but the second one scratched Adder's right shoulder. The werebear's claws got drenched in Adder's blood and he followed up his successful attack with an uppercut. Adder got blown backwards once more and his life bar now displayed (175,185/217,750 HP).

Adder could clearly see a smirk on the brown werebear’s furry face. He got up and taunted the werebear to come at him.  As the therianthrope rushed forward, Adder met his attack with his double-bladed sword. As soon as he felt the werebear's claws parry his weapon to the side, Adder followed the direction of that force and turned his body in one fluid motion. BlitzSturm slashed the werebear’s arms twice as it completed a full turn. He felt it make contact with his opponent’s bones, but failed to slice through them.

He instantly backed away as he had learned the timing of the werebear's counterattack, but was still taken by surprise when the therianthrope managed to reach him despite his injured toe. Adder was blown backwards again and hit one of his Centaur subordinates behind him. Frustrated, he stabbed the werewolf his comrade was fighting and hurried back to face his opponent. He proceeded with caution and observed the therianthrope's life bar, which displayed (328,901/360,000 HP).

While Adder was thinking about what to do against the brown werebear, multiple Heal Balls hit his back and filled his life bar to 100%.

"Life team, please focus on healing the other guild members." ordered Adder, as he observed that most of his allies had life bars below 50%. Even with a full life bar, he still had less HP than the brown werebear. Despite thinking that he still needed more training to properly handle his new fighting style, Adder decided to use it now.

"Trager, my shield please." he shouted to the bulky Centaur. Immediately afterwards, Trager kicked away the werewolf he was fighting and threw Condortl's Emerald Tower Shield in his direction. Adder easily caught the griffon-embossed shield with his right hand and brought it to the ground with a loud sound.

CRASH

Equipped with his massive BlitzSturm in his regrown left arm and the Condortlian shield in his right, Adder dashed forward with the shield in front of him. The brown werebear tried his Double Slash attack, but Adder held his ground and wasn't pushed back at all. With the werebear's claws still on his shield, he lifted it up and swung his double-bladed sword across the therianthrope's stomach. The brown werebear brought his arms down in defense, but his already-injured arm was then targeted once more. This time, Adder's BlitzSturm sliced through the bone.

The brown werebear's mouth widened and instinctively came down on Adder. However, the werebear's teeth were met with an emerald and obsidian-colored shield.

TWAANG

Adder used Emerald Bash and stunned the werebear for three seconds. With his opponent immobilized, Adder then used his shield's strongest ability—Emeridian Slash. A green light radiated from the embossed griffon. For a brief moment, Condortl's legendary creature came to life and slashed the brown werebear with its claws. As the therianthrope's defense was temporarily reduced to zero, Adder quickly brought down his heavy weapon and made a deep cut across his opponent's body. He was about to perform another attack when the brown werebear finally came to and raked his claws across Adder's face, forcing him to back away.

Blood flowed down Adder's face from where the werebear's claws left their mark. He checked the therianthrope's life bar once more and saw that it was quickly brought down to 30%. He steeled his resolve and charged towards the brown werebear.

Suddenly, Tracas spoke to him. "You're as impressive as ever, Adder."

This made Adder stop in his tracks. He had to stab his BlitzSturm into the ground to support himself from falling.

"Why do you know my name?" asked Adder cautiously.

The brown werebear snickered. “Lady Horrabelle was right! You guys really took the bait of the divided supply lines. Who would have thought that my pack would be the one lucky enough to find you.”

“This was a trap?” asked a dumbfounded Adder, “Be that as it may, I still want to know why do you know my name?”

"How could I ever forget you? How could I forget one of the men who failed to save me back in Condortl!" said the werebear condemningly.

Adder frowned, puzzled by his opponent’s response. "Condortl? What are you talking about?"

"Ha! Of course you've already forgotten about me." said Tracas and let out a sarcastic laugh, "How convenient for you. Just sweep Tracas under a rug and forget about him."

Slowly, Adder's eyes widened as he finally realized who this brown werebear was.

"Yes, Adder. It's me, the boy you and Smoke failed to save from the mutated Centaurs!" Tracas screamed at Adder.

Chapter Two:

The Monstrosity of Foudre

A drop of blood trickled down Adder’s chin and fell onto his body armor. Before him stood an opponent he never imagined he would have to face.

"You have to believe me. Smoke and I did everything we could to try and save you," said Adder sincerely as he slowly lowered his BlitzSturm. "We fell down a pit and couldn't get out in time to—"

"Enough!" yelled Tracas. "Do you think I'd believe anything you say? You even managed to get your arm back after abandoning me, and now you have the audacity to slice mine off!" The brown werebear waved his left arm.

"I didn't know it was you. If I'd have known, I wouldn't have..." stammered Adder apologetically.

Out of each other's reach, the two of them stood still. Guilt-ridden, Adder's strength began to wane as his mind was overtaken with contrition. Slowly, he loosened the grip on his sword and shield. This scent of shame was easily picked up by the brown werebear.

"Oh, what is this? Does this mean you'll stop fighting me?" Tracas let out a forced laugh. "Do you perhaps intend to save me from this cursed life I now live?!"

Disheartened, Adder didn't answer. He remained stoic as he stared at Tracas with remorseful eyes.

"Stop acting all innocent!" screamed the brown werebear and made a sudden dash towards the frozen Adder. He gashed Adder's chest with his claws. More blood spilled out of the Condortlian's body as multiple claw marks covered his torso. The brown werebear then grabbed a hold of Adder's shoulder and pushed him down.

Adder couldn't believe that he was speaking to the same young Condortlian they failed to rescue. Tracas spoke as if the last three months of his life were only filled with baleful experiences.

"You think this act of yours can cleanse my sins?" said the werebear with a quivering voice. "Do you think it can erase the memories of all the atrocities I had to commit?"

Adder shook his head and a tear trickled down his cheek. His weapons were lowered as he allowed himself to be attacked by the brown werebear. "We couldn't find any more clues as to where you were taken to. All we found in Pferde was Terrabelle transforming the mutated Centaurs into Tikbalangs."

Tracas sunk his claws deeper into Adder's flesh. "And now you have them as allies! Do you know what Terrabelle did? She feasted on some of the children. She sipped out their souls and left them as nothing but empty shells. Then, she sent the rest of us to lady Horrabelle, who performed experiments on us."

Involuntarily, Tracas shuddered as he remembered the torture he endured. "Most were turned into werewolves, while the special ones transformed into werebears. All of us now serve lady Horrabelle."

"But we could help you! Sierra, one of our leaders, is a werebear and she isn't under Horrabelle's control. In fact, she's brought some of the other werewolves to our fold. I'm sure we can figure out—"

ROOOAAARR

"Shut up!" yelled Tracas. His voice sounded unnatural, as if two persons were speaking in unison. He opened his mouth wide and took a bite out of Adder's shoulder.

Adder bit his lip as he muffled his pain. Tracas' bite reduced his life bar to 50% and inflicted him with Bleeding status.

"Werebears are special! As a Sonstwelter, that rogue werebear is even more so," he said in a confused voice, mostly composed of a child's, after spitting out a chunk of Adder's flesh. "She was never meant to be one of Lady Horrabelle's creations."

Tracas suddenly released his hold on Adder and turned away from him. Bewildered, he paced in front of him and began talking to himself in a hushed voice. "Snap out of it. Snap out of it." Tracas slapped himself and said in a child-like voice, "But he could save us. We don't have to be a monster anymore."

ROOOAARRRR

Tracas scratched himself across the chest as he spoke to himself in his regular voice. "Be quiet! The Tracas who lives now is the one who lives for lady Horrabelle."

A confused Adder stared blankly at the brown werebear as he kept scratching and biting himself. Tracas finally stopped and calmed down. With a trembling face, he turned to Adder and said, "I beg of you...kill me. Free me from this body. End my curse!"

"No! We can still save you," Adder replied hurriedly.

Tracas continued talking in a child's voice, "There is no cure for a werebear Zect—" Without finishing his sentence, he suddenly roared and charged straight for Adder with his remaining paw arched over his shoulder, about to perform a strong attack.

SLASH

Adder's BlitzSturm was propelled backwards. If it weren't for his Death Grip ability, his weapon would have been knocked out of his hand.

Tracas' claws swiftly came around for one more attack and left another set of claw marks across Adder's chest. The brown werebear followed up with a kick to the stomach, which knocked Adder three meters back and made him lie flat on the ground. The therianthrope then stepped on Adder's chest and kept him pressed down.

"Our last massacre wasn't enough to erase you, huh?" sneered Tracas as he spoke to himself. "We are stronger. I’ll show him the animal we’ve become because of him!"

The Condortlian Warriors around them were oblivious to their conversation; all they saw was Adder getting intentionally hit. One of the Warriors who was fighting a werewolf near them yelled out, "What in Cuezaltzin's name are you doing? You can't die here, Adder!"

"Stay out of this, you loudmouth!" Tracas yelled at the Warrior and charged straight for him. The Warrior reflexively tried to block the werebear’s attack, which gave the werewolf he was fighting an opportunity to grab hold of his arms. Tracas' claws went straight for the Condortilian's heart and yanked it out. The Warrior's life bar instantly dropped to zero.

With a bloody heart in his paw, Tracas raised it above his head and yelled to the Condortlians nearby, "This is what I'll do to all of you!" He opened his mouth wide and wolfed down the heart in a savage manner.

SCHIK

The moment he gulped it down, Adder's BlitzSturm appeared out of nowhere and went straight through his stomach.

Adder's body moved on its own. His double-bladed sword sliced sideways and exited out of Tracas' body.

"Forgive me…." Adder spoke with sorrow as he stared at the blood dripping from his sword, unable to force himself to meet Tracas’ gaze.

The brown therianthrope dropped to his knees, clutching his cut side. "Liar...I told you he was a liar," he spoke to himself as blood gushed out of his mouth. "Just like when he promised he’d keep Condortl safe."

The brown werebear's life bar dropped to 5% and was steadily going down at a fast rate due to Bleeding status. "You're a hypocrite, Adder. You pretend to be a hero out to save the world, but you can't even protect your own people."

Adder fell silent and stood motionless. He couldn't find it in himself to finish off Tracas. Then, the anger in the brown werebear’s eyes started to fade and his body collapsed to the ground.

"Thank you, lord Adder....Horrabelle still holds some children captive...in the crater on Mount Foudre. Please...save...." Tracas spoke his final words in a soft, child’s voice before his life bar displayed zero.

Slowly, Adder knelt down next to Tracas' body and let go of his sword. With a heavy heart, he wiped the blood on the sides of Tracas’ mouth.

"You may be right. The promises I made might have been just wishful words born out of confidence or hope,” he said quietly while closing Tracas’ eyelids. “But I ask of you, believe my words one last time. Because I promise you, I will save the ones on Mount Foudre."

With Tracas' body starting to disappear, Adder stood up, tightly gripping his sword and shield.

“And that damned Witch who made you suffer will be brought to justice.”

* * * * * *

The two towering figures of a red Maneator and black Werebear overshadowed the werewolves and members of Vagrant Vigilantez surrounding them.

It had already been several minutes, but none of Stark's attacks dealt significant damage to Vexant. However, the same thing could’ve been said for her, as she couldn't get pass Stark's defenses. Their life bars were almost on par, with Stark at (342,298/389,000 HP) and Vexant at (376,190/392,000 HP).

Looking to gain the upper hand, Stark gambled with a wide strike with his glaive.

SLASH

Stark's glaive gashed a long wound on Vexant's shoulder, but his successful attack came at a price. The black werebear swiftly took a step forward and sunk her claws deep into his stomach.

While trying to pry open the red Maneator's abdomen, she felt a strange, draining sensation. Her Strength was greatly decreased.

Stark used this opportunity to release himself from Vexant's clutches and attacked her from the side. The black werebear backed away and saw that the werewolves around her noticed the same effect she did.

All members of a pack of Therianthropes receive a significant stat boost if the pack is led by both a male and a female Alpha. Vexant knew that having her power suddenly reduced could only mean one thing: Tracas died.

"Werewolves, slaughter the man who killed your Alpha! Gardes du Corps, you stay behind," she roared and pointed to where she had last sensed Tracas’ presence. Almost all of the werewolves near her hurriedly left the enemies they were facing and scrambled through the Vigilantez in order to hunt down Adder.

AWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOO

The irrepressible group of werewolves howled menacingly in unison as they moved towards their prey. A bright purple light in the sky then caught their attention as it passed straight through the treetops and came crashing directly at them.

CRASH

Molten rocks flew everywhere. Smoke had landed smack in the middle of the werewolf pack, stunning and damaging ten of them with his Comet Crush ability. Equipped with Digger's Wand, he pointed it directly under his feet and created a wide pit.

Smoke and the stunned werewolves lost their balance as they went free falling down a depth of a hundred meters. As they were falling, the stunned werewolves came to and went after the DarkElf. He used his Claws of Chiropterra to hold onto the side of the pit and stop his rapid descent. The werewolves tried to do the same, but Smoke used his Earth Manipulation ability to make sure that their claws don’t get a proper hold.

Once the werewolves hit the bottom of the pit, he created layers of earth bars above them and locked them up. His Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed that there were no more werewolves waiting for him outside of the pit, so he quickly scaled out of it. With Adder leading them, the Vigilantez had made sure to clear the path for their guild leader to safely come out.

Adder was fighting against three werewolves, while Laernea and Gandiva—on the backs of their stag moose—were each faced against one. Sharur was firing his poison bolts at the lycanthropes as he stood beside Sharanga, who had already immobilized two of the beasts with her five-trap system.

Meanwhile, the Armored Farmers split into groups of four, each group trying to contain one werewolf while the Bowed Fishermen dealt damage to it from afar.

ROOOOOAARR

Vexant cried out as soon as she saw Smoke climb out of the pit.

"Gardes!" she yelled and five werewolves started fighting Stark in her place.

Freed from the red Maneator, she hurriedly plowed through the Vigilantez blocking her way. The black werebear was set on killing the flashy DarkElf who ruined her revenge.

However, before she could reach him, a red werebear blindsided her and tackled her to the ground. Sierra unleashed her feral claws at Vexant's throat, but despite her surprise attack, the black werebear managed to push Sierra off and regain her balance.

"The famous rogue werebear..." Vexant snarled as the two circled around each other. "Lady Horrabelle has a special message for you. But first, I will make you pay for getting in my way."

With her claws at the ready, Sierra replied strongly, "I don't care what—"

Not letting her finish her sentence, Vexant lunged through the air and tackled her down. The black werebear's canines sunk deep into Sierra's left shoulder. She cried out in pain and forced Vexant off of her with a knee strike. The Lady of Verbrannt instantly turned the tables and mounted her opponent.

SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH

Blood and fur flew everywhere as Sierra's claws scratched Vexant's face. She quickly brought down Vexant's life bar to 70%. Then, she stopped her claws midway into another attack as her Animal Instinct ability detected two werewolves heading towards her.

Sierra looked up and got clawed across the face by Vexant in response. She was forced to release her hold on the black werebear and backed away. She did a quick scan of her surroundings and estimated that there were about fifty enemy werewolves left, ten of which were trapped inside the pit Smoke created. She was already having a hard time against Vexant alone, and now she would also have to face two of her werewolves that were coming to her aid.

She looked at Smoke and found him fighting against three werewolves at the same time. As he was about to kill one of them, she yelled, "Vigilantez! Don't kill the werewolves! We just need to kill this black werebear."

Shortly after Sierra's order, three poison bolts pierced Vexant's back, followed by four Durcules beetles' horns, forcing their target to the ground.

A torrent of arrows and bolts rained down on Vexant, and her life bar was quickly reduced to 45%. From among the crowd, a charging red Maneator leapt forward, with his glaive aimed at the temporarily-immobilized enemy.

However, before his weapon could pierce the back of the black werebear, Adder's Condortlian Shield blocked it.

"Stop! We can't kill her yet," said Adder as he defended Vexant. He needed her alive in order to get more information on Horrabelle's hidden lair.

As soon as the black werebear saw the murderer of her mate, she swiftly got up into a crouched position and used Double Slash on Adder, knocking him back.

Smoke, who had leapt away from the two werewolves he had been fighting earlier, wondered what Adder was doing. At the sight of the black werebear rampaging once more, he called out their master trapper.

"Sharanga, use your eight-trap system!"

The WoodElf Huntress and her falcon Ranga threw a series of traps onto the black werebear. The individual traps stuck to Vexant's black fur and instantly interlocked with each other, creating a cumbersome weight of one metric ton.

The alpha werebear tried to break free, but found herself unable to move at all. "Werewolves, run for your lives and report to lady Horra..."

KLONG

Adder bashed his shield into Vexant's face and stunned her, but she had already given her last command to the forty werewolves remaining in her pack. All of them scattered and successfully escaped out of the forest.

Sierra was about to call out to her werewolves and order them to group up at her location, but they were still engaged with the remnants of Brandal forces caught in the entrapment.

With the swift escape of the enemy werewolves, the conflict in the southern forest had been resolved. Only the members of Vagrant Vigilantez were left, with the exception of a pinned-down black werebear.

Smoke quickly joined Adder, who was standing beside Vexant.

"Where is Mount Foudre?" angrily asked Adder as he pressed the tip of his blade against Vexant's cheek.

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" smirked the captured Werebear.

Adder clicked his tongue. "If I hurt you just right, then the little girl trapped in that body should come out."

Smoke pulled Adder back as he wanted to understand what was going on.

"Wait a minute, who is this? And why do you need to torture her?" he said while holding back Adder's arm.

The confounded Condortlian wasn’t sure how to respond.

"I killed him..." He paused, as he still couldn't accept what he was forced to do. "There was another werebear that attacked us. It was Tracas, the boy we couldn’t save from the mutated Centaurs."

Smoke instantly remembered the nine-year-old boy he met in Condortl when they were building up its defenses. He recalled how they failed to pursue the mutated Centaurs because they fell inside Mount Aeriloc.

He released Adder as the Condortlian's eyes displayed strong conviction to redeem himself. Although he didn’t get the answer to his question, he let Adder be.

As soon as Smoke released him, Adder's blade cut into Vexant's cheek. "Tell me! Where is Mount Foudre?" he yelled into the black werebear's ear.

Vexant's life bar started to wither to 39%.

"You are not wrong,” she said. “The girl….I can hear her. She is shouting, daring to oppose me."

Adder smirked and slowly deepened the cut on Vexant’s cheek.

Yet despite her captured state, the black werebear grinned back at Adder. "However, lady Horrabelle thought of everything."

She stuck out her tongue and bit it. Multiple lightning sparks erupted from of her body, and her black fur started to glow bright red.

As soon as Smoke saw this, he pulled Adder away from Vexant and shouted to the Vigilantez in the area, "Run!"

BTOOOM

Vexant's body exploded, discharging electricity all around her. Pieces of rock and chunks of Vexant hit the backs of everyone who was caught in the blast radius, sending them tumbling to the ground.

Most of the knocked-down Vigilantez then groggily sat up and looked around in confusion, while others had been knocked unconscious.

After the cloud of dust created by Vexant's suicide attack settled, Smoke turned to Adder.

"Tell me everything."

* * * * * *

The Vigilantez's first strike wiped out more than two thousand Brandals. They also obtained their weapons, equipment and the essential supplies they were transporting. The mission was a success, but it cost them the lives of six Condortlian Warriors, ten Acolytes, twenty Iron Knights and one hundred eighteen Armored Farmers.

Smoke and Sierra were joined by the other core members of Vagrant Vigilantez as Adder started explaining the situation.

His remorseful retelling of Tracas' tragedy conveyed the importance of their next mission.

"...That is why I needed Vexant alive. No matter the risk, I have to find those children," stated Adder to his gathered friends.

“What happened to Tracas was very unfortunate,” said Smoke and crossed his arms, looking concerned. “Hopefully, we’ll get to the other children in time to ensure that they don’t share the same fate.”

He continued, “Aside from that, based on what happened here, it’s safe to assume that Horrabelle has joined forces with Duke Burmistrz. I don’t know why she chose to do so, but we will have to deal with her soon, otherwise the Brandals will only grow stronger.” Thinking about the Witch made him cross his arms tighter against his chest.

Everyone in the group fell silent as they pondered on the conundrum. While deep in thought, Smoke noticed that a young Spy was nowhere to be seen. He turned to Sierra and asked, "What about Espion? Where is he?"

Sierra didn't respond, and Sharanga quickly answered for her, "He was sent to Centzo to look for Incitant. Sierra wanted to arrange a meeting with him in hopes of coming up with a joint attack plan against the Brandals."

Smoke nodded to Sierra in approval, but she still didn't respond to him. "Rescuing the children comes first, though. We’ll need to find the location of Mount Foudre."

Everyone agreed and the silent brainstorming session resumed.

After a couple of minutes, their discussion only resulted in rejected suggestions. Since there was still a lot of loot to be gathered, Smoke decided to momentarily pause their meeting.

"Perhaps we'll think of something while we keep ourselves busy," he said loudly, for all of his core members to hear.

As they broke off into smaller groups, Smoke calmly walked next to Sierra. Together, the two of them started picking up the items laying on the ground. He had told his private army members they should try to think of a solution for finding Mount Foudre, but the only thoughts that occupied his mind were those of talking to Sierra.

"Great thinking, by the way. Getting Acolytes for the guild, that is," said Smoke as he tried to make light conversation.

Sierra only answered with a passive grunt.

Smoke was aware that it was selfish of him to run off after the battle at Tromperie plains, but he needed that time alone to restore his confidence. He had always kept to himself whenever bad things happened.

He knew that although Sierra understood that, it wasn’t the right thing to do and she had every right to be angry at him. He was already grateful that she didn’t tear him apart limb from limb, but getting the silent treatment felt even worse. He wanted to convey his feelings to her.

With two quick steps, he moved in front of Sierra and held her by the shoulders. Her werebear form towered over him, and he had to look up to gaze into her eyes.

“Look, I—”

Within a second, Sierra pushed his arms to the side. For a moment, Smoke thought that she was going to use Double Slash on him, as her arms were still in the air, but she didn’t. Instead, she threw herself at him and tightly hugged him.

“So many died,” she said, almost sobbing. “I never thought we’d run into a trap. I should have thought of that. I should’ve been prepared for anything.”

Smoke was taken by surprise. She wasn’t angry; she was sad.

He had a hard time wrapping his arms around her cursed form, but he hugged her back as tightly as he could. “It was a sound plan. Don’t blame yourself. They knew they were risking their lives.”

“But I knew them! I know their families! Some of them even have children!”

Smoke had been so absorbed in trying to put his feelings into words that he forgot that Sierra was a lot like him. Zectas was her sanctuary as well. When her mother passed away, she had to rely on herself, and didn’t have anyone close to her except for her uncle. Everyone whom she had met in Zectas must have been important to her.

“And we will tell them how their parents fought bravely to keep them and everyone else safe,” he said while gently stroking the fur on her back.

She was about to respond, when a loud howl interrupted her.

AWWWOOOOOOOOO

The two of them broke away from each other and looked in the direction the sound was coming from.

“Oh. Right. Those ten werewolves are still trapped in the pit,” said Smoke. He turned to Sierra and touched the back of her waist. “Do you think you can convert them?”

Sierra answered while wiping her teary eyes, “Yeah. With their alpha gone, it shouldn’t be a problem. We should go.” She started walking towards the pit.

Once the other core members met up with them there, Smoke and Ledur started slowly raising the ground beneath the caged werewolves. The lycanthropes snarled and growled as soon as they came into view. They tried to reach out and attack with their claws, but Smoke and the others were standing at a safe distance.

Sierra approached the cage and started assimilating the werewolves into her pack. One by one, they all got down on one knee and yielded their will to her. With this, Sierra's werewolf pack numbered sixty-two.

While looking at her newest subordinates, an idea came to her mind. “Engage Pack Mental Link!”

Pack Mental Link Established!
Pack Name: <<Default: Sierra's Pack>>
Pack Members[62]: <<Default: All>>
. . .
Facile
Indice

Sierra accessed the Information folder of one of the werewolves in front of her.

“Jackpot!” she exclaimed happily. A map notification popped up and she shared it with the rest of the core members.

MAP LOCATION: Infernal Crater of Mount Foudre

Coordinates: Latitude: 105°23' N, Longitude: 202°54' E
Note: Five hundred eighty kilometers away from current location.

Smoke grinned widely. “That curse might be a blessing in disguise,” he said and winked at the red Werebear.

Sierra smiled back at him. He then turned to his core members and gave out their next mission.

"Alright. Sierra’s, Adder’s and Ledur's teams will be continuing on to Mount Foudre. Only Laernea, Gandiva and I will accompany them, while the rest of you will return to Verbrannt with the supplies," stated Smoke calmly.

Sharur instantly objected, "Wouldn't it be better to send the entire strike force there? We don't know how many monsters Horrabelle has in that place."

Smoke nodded and replied, "True, that would be better, but we need to get there fast, and traveling with the entire army would slow us down."

"But the Werewolves and Tikbalangs are also on foot," countered Sharur, as he didn't sound convinced.

This time, Ledur answered the OrkElf. "Yes, but those two groups can easily keep up with dirus wolves and aardwolves."

"At least take some of the Acolytes with you," the OrkElf continued to argue.

Smoke walked over to Sharur and patted him on the shoulder. "There’s more of you and you can't travel fast. It's best that you have the healers. We don't know if there are other enemies nearby that are lying in wait."

Sharur finally gave in, but still crossed his arms in protest.

After Sharur's proposal was strongly rejected, Ichaival meekly raised his hand.

"Yes, Ichaival?" asked Sierra.

"Just to be clear, I don’t have a problem with only a few members heading to Mount Foudre. I wanted to ask about Braucht Hilfe. What do we about that place?" asked Ichaival, as one of their objectives was to liberate the villages the Brandals occupied.

"Unfortunately, we can't save them right now," said Smoke flatly. "That reminds me, I’ll have to ask Espion to check out that village. With Horrabelle involved, it will most likely be a trap."

Ichaival quickly nodded, seeing that Smoke had a point.

After Ichaival's question, the Vigilantez began making preparations to depart. Before going their separate ways, Smoke thought to visit each of the groups and commend them for a job well done. That was his way of maintaining high Intimacy with them.

After they said farewell to everyone else, Smoke and his selected members rushed towards Mount Foudre.

The figurehead of Vagrant Vigilantez pondered on the development of his private army after their latest mission. Their first strike against the Brandals might not have netted Sierra's ideal result, but along with wiping out two thousand bandits, they also managed to increase the levels of everyone who participated in the battle.

Both Smoke and Sierra reached level 105, with Adder right behind them at level 104. Sharur and Jinggu were level 102, Sharanga and Ichaival level 101, and Laernea and Gandiva had finally hit level 100. Lastly, far above everyone else, the Vigilantez with the highest level was Ledur, being level 181.

Smoke wore a satisfied smile. His private army was steadily growing alongside him.

Sitting comfortably on the Lioumereans’ carriage, he and Sierra simultaneously logged off to get some rest in the real world.

* * * * * *

Two days passed in a blink of an eye. Smoke and his men finally reached the forest patch at the foot of Mount Foudre. To keep up with the Lioumereans' fast pace, Werewolves and Tikbalangs  had been running non-stop for periods of several hours, taking fifteen-minute breaks in between.

They avoided most of the monsters they encountered, except for the ones that forcibly attacked them. These monsters only met a quick death as Smoke's elite members made short work of them.

From where they hid, Smoke took out two flat round shields and placed them next to his legs. He used his Telefax Vision to examine Mount Foudre and Twin Vision to display on the shields what he saw. This way, all of his companions saw what he did.

Smoke looked up at the silver mountain. It wasn't as tall as Mount Gliseloc; he estimated its apex to be about five hundred meters high. Yet despite its lower stature, he felt more intimidated by this place. Not one tree nor a single blade of grass grew on its slopes. It only had black and silver metallic boulders scattered everywhere.

Above its peak was a gathering of storm clouds, with bright lightning bolts that kept hitting the top of the mountain. He finally saw the place they had been looking for, the Infernal Crater of Mount Foudre.

He looked farther up and discovered three black chimneys protruding out of a black mansion. Horrabelle's mansion of torture stood dominantly at the peak of the mountain.

Its structure looked like it was made out of the same black metallic boulders that were scattered on the mountain. He couldn't see any sentries, but he knew that there had to be someone or something guarding her house of horror.

After cancelling both of his abilities, Smoke turned to his core guild members. "There's a high chance that Horrabelle is up there at this very moment."

They nodded in response and it was clear to him that they had reached the same conclusion. He drew a sketch of the mountain on the ground.

"We’ll have to take her by surprise, but there's nothing to cover us while climbing up," he said as he pointed to the stick figures at the bottom climbing to the top of the mountain.

"You and I could fly up and capture their attention," suggested Ledur and readied his black wings for the flight.

"No, they might have a long-range weapon that could target us. And those lightning bolts don't look very friendly to fliers either," replied Smoke flatly.

He waited for more suggestions, but no one else spoke up for quite some time. So, he decided to share his idea.

"We could make something like a camouflage to help us remain undetected."

Smoke used his Earth Manipulation ability and fashioned a shield-like item out of the earth. He created a two-by-three-meter rectangle with black and silver metallic rocks sticking out of it.

After creating four of these items, Smoke demonstrated how he planned to use them. "Each of the stealth team members would carry two of these," he said while lifting one of the shields over his head and another one to his side.

He then asked Adder to copy what he did, only with the opposite hand. Together, the two of them created a section that somewhat looked like the slope of the mountain.

"I see, but that won't really hide us well," observed Sierra as she tried to take one of the shields, but her claws could not grasp it. "And...I can't use this shield." Her cursed Werebear form prohibited equipping such items.

Smoke gave her a wide grin. "I know that, which is why I was going to ask you to lead your Werewolves and the Tikbalangs in a frontal assault on the mansion. Those who can wield these shields would follow me to the side and rush the gate."

"So, I'm the bait while you take all the glory?" Sierra smirked as she finished Smoke's plan for him.

He smiled and winked at her. "Well, this plan would only work because you'd be there to grab the enemy's’ attention," he said and pretended to be a Werebear, waving his arms and roaring.

"Fine!" replied a smiling Sierra and shook her head in surrender.

Smoke and Ledur immediately started working on the earth shields, while the rest of the army set up camp and prepared their defenses and meals.

Since they only needed the earth shields as camouflage, they didn't need them to be strong. Due to this, it only took Smoke two minutes to make one, while Ledur, with higher level of Earth Manipulation than him, created one in less than a minute.

In a little over an hour, the two of them created forty-seven pairs of earth shields. The members of the stealth team were Smoke, Adder, Condortlian Warriors and Centaur Rangers, as they were the only ones capable of equipping the crafted disguise.

After they were done with the shields, Smoke and Ledur joined others for meal. Adder, Laernea and Gandiva had prepared the collected meat from the monsters that blocked their path to Foudre and offered their lives to them.

The Vigilantez were happily eating a hearty ancient bison stew and grilled war echidna.

Smoke took a big chunk of meat and happily asked, "Whose idea was it to hunt the ancient bison, again?"

With his mouth full, Tragar raised his hand and briefly smiled at Smoke. Afterwards, he resumed eating his share of the juicy morsel.

At the sight of Tragar devouring his meal, Smoke remembered a Simiavulg book he read about the Centaurs. It described them as barbaric nomads with no sense of dignity whatsoever. Since the book was written by a Simiavulg, he assumed that it was biased. Despite them being transformed into monsters, Ledur and the Tikbalangs were clearly dignified in how they carried themselves.

However, Tragar and the other thirty Pferde Centaurs were a different story. They were normal Centaurs, but they sometimes acted even rougher than the book's description of them. Nonetheless, Smoke smiled at them sincerely.

Out of one hundred abled-bodied Centaurs in Verbrannt, only these thirty signed up to fight. He knew that the Centaurs in front of him might look rough, but they are pure-hearted and brave enough to risk their lives on the front lines.

Once they were all well fed and rested, the selected Vigilantez began making preparations for battle. Smoke ordered his dark ember sprite to enchant the Lioumerans’, Condortlians’ and Centaurs’ weapons. This gave them bonus fire damage for the next ten hours.

The Vigilantez left their unnecessary baggage behind and readied themselves to face whatever awaited them on top of the mountain. Smoke and Sierra took charge of their teams and went their separate ways.

* * * * * *

ROOOOAARRRR

The massive red Werebear roared as she led the charge. Two Lioumereans on stag moose accompanied by Werewolves and Tikbalangs speedily followed after her, while a single winged Tikbalang flew above them.

After five minutes of uneventful running and making as much noise as possible, Sierra decided to slow down. She stopped and turned to the other Vigilantez. "Looks like there’s no enemies this far out."

At a vigilant pace, they carefully hiked their way up Mount Foudre. As they climbed, they could feel the wind getting colder and the lightning bolts striking the mountain getting closer.

After an hour and thirty minutes, Sierra and her group finally saw the main gate of the black mansion.

ROOOOAARRRR

She roared once more. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Thinking that the guards were probably inside, she led her group towards the gate.

Suddenly, her Animal Instinct picked up a hundred hostile creatures around them, but she couldn't see anything there except for the black and silver metallic boulders.

Sierra stopped running and others stopped behind her. "There are enemies nearby."

As soon as she finished talking, the black and silver boulders started to move and take shape. They turned into two-meter-tall golems.

With sixty-two Werewolves and ninety-six Tikbalangs at her side, Sierra still had the upper hand in numbers. All of them scattered and paired up to fight the metallic golems.

Werewolves and Tikbalangs alike battled hand-in-hand as they faced the mansion’s guardians. One of the Tikbalangs pounded its hooves on a silver golem's chest, but it only did 2,500 points of damage and left a light imprint of its hooves.

On the other hand, the partnered Werewolf used its claws and aimed for the joints. However, its claws were met with a strong metal covering that repelled its attack. After being pounced on by the two Vigilantez, the golem countered with a telegraphed one-two-punch aimed at them.

The golem's retaliation was extremely slow, which enabled the Vigilantez members to dodge the counterattack with ease.

Despite their combined efforts, the two of them only damaged the silver golem for 9,000 points and its life bar displayed (191,000/200,000 HP).

The two friendly monsters gave each other a knowing nod and took in a deep breath. They steeled themselves to fight the silver metallic monster in a drawn-out battle of endurance.

While her subordinates were struggling to inflict damage, Sierra had no trouble fighting a black metallic monster. Her strikes were inflicting 3,000 points of damage despite not penetrating through its hard armor.

As the golem's slow punch came at her, she decided to block it with her shoulder in order to gauge the actual damage of these monsters. It only dealt a small amount and revealed her life bar to be at (471,733/473,733 HP). She smirked as her claws resumed the onslaught on the golem.

At the same time, Laernea and Gandiva released their fire arrows at the golems in front of them. Both of them then discovered that their ranged attacks did little damage to the black and silver monsters.

With four Durcules beetles flying at the sides of their stag moose, they charged at one golem each. Laernea chose a black one, while Gandiva chose a silver one.

Bilis and Tulin, the Lioumereans’ stag moose, used their antlers and stabbed the bodies of the metallic monsters. After they bucked their heads and pulled out their antlers, a bright blue light emanated from the monsters’ bodies.

The Durcules beetles speedily followed their lead and rammed their horns into the arms of the golems, quickly pulling them out and exposing the same blue light.

Sierra, who had just knocked back a golem with her claws, saw the Lioumereans' skirmish. It made her recall a story Smoke told her one morning at the diner, about how he had to deal with Darius’ “problematic” creation.

"Aim for the power source inside their bodies!" she yelled at them.

At once, Laernea and Gandiva struck the holes in the golems with fire arrows. They smirked as soon as they saw them take damage of 7,000 points on each attack. They kept firing their arrows until the monsters’ life bars were completely depleted.

They were about to hunt down their next pair of golems when four metallic monsters rushed them from the sides. The mansion's guardians hurriedly went after Bilis’ and Tulin's antlers.

CRAACK CRAACK CRAACK CRAACK

Two of them ganged up on each antler and used their tremendous strength to break them off. Bilis and Tulin were instantly brought down and made a loud dull sound upon hitting the ground. Laernea and Gandiva had to jump off their beloved mounts, otherwise they would have been crushed by their heavy bodies.

Each of the Durcules beetles flew behind the golems surrounding their masters and pierced the backs of the metallic monsters with their horns. Yet despite their attack, the golems still continued pummeling Bilis and Tulin.

Laernea and Gandiva desperately tried to draw their attention by attacking the eyes of the golems, but their arrows would only bounce off and do almost no damage at all. A bright purple flame then appeared, shining directly above them, and fired four fireballs into the holes in the golems' backs.

Thanks to Igniz providing them with covering fire, Laernea and Gandiva hurriedly helped their stag moose up and moved them away from the heat of battle.

Sierra, who just saw their situation, roared loudly and ordered her Werewolves to protect their backs and help the Lioumereans escape.

While the Lioumereans fled, Ledur was astute enough to notice the metallic golems’ weakness. He used his Earth Manipulation to create earth spikes from the ground and attacked a golem’s torso, revealing its power core.

With the monster impaled, he then shoved both his hooves into the golem’s body. After feeling up the power core, he smashed it by joining his two hooves together. The golem slumped down, lifeless. Slowly, its body began to fade.

The winged Tikbalang then went on to fight two golems at once and continued using earth spikes to impale them.

Sierra quickly scanned the situation around her. Aside from the injured stag moose, most of the Vigilantez still had more than 70% of their life bars. She then observed odd movement near the gate and realized that Smoke and his team had just discarded their camouflage and entered the mansion. Although there were still eighty golems to deal with, Sierra knew that they could easily handle them and catch up to Smoke soon.

* * * * * *

Smoke and his men got through the gate without a hitch. He observed Sierra's battle with the golems while holding the door open for his team to enter the mansion. He assessed that she got it covered even without him sending Igniz over, but he felt more at ease with sending his dark ember sprite over to her for backup. Even though she wasn't looking, he smiled at her and then joined the rest of his team.

Once inside, they were greeted by a large stairway leading to the second floor and two doorways on opposite sides of the lobby. Smoke's Cunning of the Dire Fox detected many monsters confined to the rooms of the mansion. The only room without enemies in it was in the direction of the west wing.

"Alright, I think we're still undetected, since none of the monsters are rushing towards us. Let's take the stairs and turn left," said Smoke in a hushed voice.

The four-legged Centaurs scrambled on the stairs, as their legs couldn’t properly move between the small steps. The Condortlian Warriors helped them by holding their horse halves from the sides and stabilized their balance.

Smoke led the way as he dashed towards the door. He opened it and was taken aback by what he saw. Human, Lioumerean and Centaur children were tied up in chains and forced to lie on the floor, inside black casting circles.

Their life bars were below 50% and there were numerous runes carved into their skin. He counted twenty of them in total being tormented inside the vastly expansive room.

The room had several windows, each one with metal bars on it and a lightning rod sticking outside. Smoke saw that these things were connected to several black wires that traveled to the ceiling.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt came crashing down on the mansion. The eyes of everyone in Smoke’s group followed the sparks that the black wires emitted as electricity flowed through them. They looked up only to see that the wires were attached to another casting circle directly above the children, which had been gathering the lightning's energy.

After a few seconds, the casting circle on the ceiling lit up. It sent several smaller bolts of lightning towards the casting circle below it and created a tube-like barrier. The children cried out heart-shattering screams of agony as they were encased in the lightning bolt's energy.

Instantly, the children's bodies began to transform. For the Humans and Lioumereans, their bodies grew three times their sizes and fur covered them completely, while the Centaur children instantly lost their lower horse halves and gained a horse’s head instead.

Then, the children's screams died out. The lightning bolt's energy finally dissipated. Smoke and his men saw the children slowly revert back into their original forms as the tube-like barrier faded out of existence.

Without waiting for orders, Adder and the rest of Smoke's men immediately started freeing the children from their their chains. Smoke took out his weighted chain and sickle and cut the wires that were connected to the iron rods. His men angrily bashed their weapons against the metal that bound the children.

Smoke then went to one of the bound children currently being freed. While they were removing the metal chains, the young Condortlian girl with black hair spoke to him, even though she obviously had a difficult time breathing.

"I knew it. I knew you'd come save us." she said in between breaths.

Smoke took out a water canteen made of clay from his backpack window and helped the girl get a sip. "You should rest now."

Despite being told to regain her strength, she still continued talking. "Tracas always said you'd come save us no matter what...." She paused as she seemed to recall the tragedies that befell her after she was captured. "Although he kept saying you abandoned us once he changed, I knew that it was just the monster inside him talking."

Smoke held the girl's hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, but I'll put my life on the stake to keep all of you safe from now on."

She smiled at him gratefully and involuntarily closed her eyes. Fatigue had overcome her and her body forced her to rest.

Smoke looked at the other children and found that most of them were already sleeping from exhaustion.

In under five minutes, all of the children were freed.

Smoke then turned to Tragar. "Can you take the children out of this hell and down the mountain?"

"Sure. But you're going with us, right?" asked Tragar as he helped the children get on the backs of his Centaur brothers.

Smoke shook his head and stared at the wall towards the opposite wing. His Cunning of the Dire Fox still sensed Horrabelle's tormented creations. "Not yet. Adder and the Condortlian Warriors are going to help me deal with the monsters that Witch left behind."

"Then I'm staying here with you. There are only twenty children and I'm sure you could use all the help you can get," replied Tragar flatly.

Smoke nodded. "Very well. Let's get to it."

The chosen Centaurs rushed out of the mansion with the children, tasked with taking them to safety and giving them immediate medical aid.

Meanwhile, Smoke, Adder, fifteen Condortlian Warriors and ten Centaur Rangers carefully opened the door of the room in the east wing. Their weapons were raised as they prepared for the worst. The room was identical to the one the children had been kept in, but instead of children, light green monsters greeted them.

A hundred monsters were set up in a similar manner to the tortured children. Smoke and Adder looked at each other as they found that they recognized the monsters lying down in front of them. They haven't encountered their kind since the first time they met Sierra.

They were Varanus Indicus, a larger and more armored version of the Virile lizards that once enslaved the village of Condortl.

Smoke's first meeting with them was a horrifying experience, as a thousand of them had charged at him when he only had Adder and Igniz with him. However, the monsters that were laid out before him now looked completely different.

They were strapped to the floor, inside a red casting circle. Their dark green scales had turned to a lighter color and their crocodile-like tails were no more. Their life bars displayed less than 20% but their maximum life showed an alarming value of 240,000 HP.

"Do you remember these monsters?" he asked Adder as he pointed to the Varunus Indicus.

"Of course. I'm sure we would have died if it weren't for Sierra arriving in time," replied Adder as he tightened his grip on his BlitzSturm.

"I don't know what they're mutating into, but I do know that it’s not going to be good," said Smoke. He walked over to the black wires connected to the lightning rods and cut them.

He then stared intently at the Varanus Indicus chained inside the casting circle. They were helpless and defenseless. It felt wrong to kill them, given the circumstances, but he knew that these monsters would only do more harm if left unchecked.

"Everyone, kill them before they completely transform," ordered Smoke as he stabbed his sickle into the Varanus Indicus next to him. In a little over ten minutes, all one hundred Varanus Indicus were killed.

Smoke and his men quickly went to another room downstairs and found a similar setup—another set of one hundred Varanus Indicus laid strapped inside a red casting circle. However, this room had a desk placed against one of the walls.

While his team relieved the mutated Varanus Indicus of their lives, Smoke busily searched through the stacks of paper that were scattered on the desk. He hoped to find a book left by Horrabelle, but unfortunately there was none.

He settled for acquiring the knowledge of the papers. In a matter of seconds, the progress would complete itself.

+ Acquired Knowledge: Horrabelle's Werewolf Transmutation [Page 24 of 200]

[BLOCKED: Information Window will not be displayed until all pages have been read]

Smoke grinned as he quickly took a piece of a paper in each hand and started acquiring their information.

'Pfft. Two hundred pages is nothing,' he grimaced to himself.

Four minutes passed and he still stood excitedly in front of the desk with the scattered papers. He had read almost 90% of all the pages.

Focused solely on gathering information, Smoke failed to notice that he had triggered a short black wire to appear out of the wall beside him. The black wire attached itself to a lightning rod outside of the room.

Since there was a constant lightning storm outside, he paid no mind mind when a lightning bolt struck the rod near him. That is, not until he noticed the sparks coming from the black wire that was connected to the wall.

At once, the wall shook and a secret doorway opened. A pair of Tikbalang hooves held onto the sides of the secret passage.

Smoke's Cunning of the Dire Fox instantly warned him of the monster that had just awoken. Instinctively, he leapt backwards towards his men, who were still busy killing the tied-up Varanus Indicus.

ROOOOOAAAARR

Horrabelle's monstrosity stepped out of the secret room and roared loudly at Smoke, stunning him for a full second.

As soon as his consciousness came back, he jumped back and carefully observed the grotesque monster. It had the body and legs of a Gargantuan Goblin, the arms of a Tikbalang and the head of a Werebear. It stood at a height of over three meters.

Smoke equipped his weighted chain and sickle and sent it flying towards the stitched-up monster. Its sharp edge nicked the side of the monster’s arm and displayed its name and life bar: Schrecklich (695,200/700,000 HP).

If the monster had not roared, Adder and the rest of the team wouldn't have noticed it step out of the secret chamber. They were focused on killing the mutated Varanus Indicus, which still numbered thirty.

"Tragar, throw Adder his shield!" shouted Smoke and watched as his comrade easily caught the thrown shield with his right hand.

Smoke then turned to Adder. "Let's end this quickly."

Adder nodded and led the charge with his shield in front of him. Ten Condortlian Warriors followed after him, carrying their bastard swords and round shields.

Simultaneously, the Centaurs fired their arrows at Schrecklich while the Condortlians were still rushing towards it. Yet, even with Igniz's enchantment, their arrows only dealt 599 points of damage each.

Smoke switched to his power chainsaw bow and joined the Centaur Rangers in their ranged attack. Eight poison arrows soared through the air and each dealt 2,400 points of damage.

Schrecklich put up its Tikbalang arms in front of it and blocked the arrows being fired at it.

ROOOOOAAAARR

Seconds before Adder and the Warriors reached Schrecklich, it roared once more and stunned all the Condortlians around it.

It launched its hooves in a straight punch and bashed the skull helms of four Warriors. They were blown away and tumbled to the ground. Fortunately for them, their headgear was the only thing that got smashed.

Adder and the rest of the Condortlians snapped out of being stunned. With his tower shield in the lead, Adder used Emerald Bash and his shield was instantly covered in a green light. He smashed it into Schrecklich’s torso, stunning him for three seconds. With the monstrosity stunned, he then used Emeridian Slash and reduced its defense to zero.

Six bastard swords plunged into the monster's body from all directions. Their attack did not stop, and was shortly followed by numerous arrows from Smoke and the Centaurs. In the span of three seconds, Schrecklich took a total of 65,000 points of damage.

Despite taking heavy damage, the monstrosity remained unfazed. It roared once more and stunned the Condortlians surrounding it. It quickly became a battle of who could stun first. This time, Schrecklich specifically targeted Adder and drove its hooves into his chin, sending him crashing into the ceiling.

Smoke unequipped his bow and leapt to catch Adder before he dropped to the floor. Together, the two of them moved out of the monster's range.

The Centaurs continued attacking from a safe distance, but their damage was not enough to stop the monstrosity from pummeling the Condortlians near it. Their life bars quickly went down to 75%.

The Warriors who weren't targeted stabbed their bastard swords into the monster and dealt more damage than the Centaurs’ arrows. However, as soon as Schrecklich's stun ability was ready, it used it again and stunned the Warriors.

As Schrecklich was about to attack the immobilized Warriors, Adder's shield bashed into its side and stunned it. The Condortlian leader could not allow it to continue damaging his brothers. Instead of attacking with his BlitzSturm, Adder backed away out of the range of the monster and readied his shield to stun it again as soon as he was able to.

Schrecklich was attacked by arrows and swords. Even though its life bar still displayed 85%, it knew that the situation was not in its favor. It retreated to a corner of the room where more black wires converged. There, it joined its hooves together and created a ball of electricity. Before the Warriors could reach the monster, it pushed the charged ball towards the black wires. Sparks flew everywhere as the electricity travelled through the wires, headed for the remaining dormant Varanus Indicus.

SPARK SPARK SPARK SPARK SPARK

The straps that held the mutated Lizardites down were incinerated by the electricity. Slowly, thirty light green monsters stood up. Their life bars were at around 120,000 HP, half of their maximum value.

Smoke quickly assessed the situation.

"Everyone, fight the half-dead monsters. Adder and I will deal with that abomination," commanded Smoke decisively.

The Centaurs focused on the Varanus Indicus nearest to them. Each of their fire arrows damaged the mutated Lizardites for 1,500 points.

Groggy from the sudden awakening, the Varanus Indicus were sluggish and took the arrows to their bodies without defending. The Centaurs killed one of the experimental monsters in a matter of seconds, but they regained their senses after the first Varanus Indicus fell.

The mutated Lizardites charged at the Centaurs with their sharp claws protruding out of their five fingers.

SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH

The Condortlian Warriors arrived from the side of the monsters and slashed their green flesh with bastard swords. The Varanus Indicus may have increased their life bars, but their defenses had clearly been lowered.

Ten Varanus Indicus continued their charge at the Centaurs, while nineteen faced the outnumbered Warriors.

The Centaurs kept firing at the charging monsters. When the mutated Lizardites got too close for comfort, they used their front legs and attacked the monsters, knocking them back a few meters. They used their arrows once more and waited for them to get closer for another kick.

Concurrently, the Warriors had a difficult time facing two monsters at the same time. Luckily, their round shields were large enough to give them protection from one monster while they hacked their bastard swords at the other.

Yet despite this, the Warriors' life bars were steadily being chipped away as the Varanus Indicus’ claws scratched their arms, legs and shoulders.

Adder, who was distracted watching his brothers' difficult battle, was smashed into the wall when Schrecklich’s electrified hooves rammed against his Condortlian shield. After it produced the electricity to awaken the Varanus Indicus, its hooves retained the electrical charge.

Smoke stepped in and threw his sickle at the bizarre monster, slashing its right arm.

"Focus, Adder!" he yelled out as he stood between the two of them.

ROOOOOAAAARR

Schrecklich roared once more , aiming to stun Smoke, but the DarkElf expertly leapt backwards while throwing his sickle again, attacking the monster and escaping the range of its ability.

Due to the confined space, Smoke couldn't safely use his Cyclone of Slaughter. He thought about using his Manatl, but he wasn't confident that it could block Schrecklich's stun attack.

He briefly checked on the rest of his men and found that they were slowly being overpowered. He knew he had to defeat Schrecklich soon, but he couldn't think of how to do it. He unequipped his weighted chain and sickle and decided to risk it.

"Stun him!" Smoke ordered Adder while he leapt up and scaled the wall of the black mansion.

Adder charged his shield for a frontal attack, only to be pushed to the side by Schrecklich's hooves. He dug his Condortlian shield into the floor and stopped himself from moving farther away. Yet, this proved to be a grave mistake, as Adder was still within the range of the monster’s roar.

Schrecklich used its stun ability and immobilized Adder. As it moved in closer and readied its hooves for another attack, Smoke leapt from above the abomination and tightened a noose around its mouth with his perlite chain.

"Adder, now!" shouted Smoke as his legs locked around Schrecklich's neck, while both his hands tightly gripped the chains. This prevented the monster from shouting and Smoke hoped that this disabled its stun ability.

Adder lunged his massive BlitzSturm into the monster's stomach and it went cleanly through its body. He then tried to pull it out to the side, but a charged hoof smashed into his chest and sent him flying towards the wall. Due to Adder's Death Grip ability, Schrecklich's attack forced the BlitzSturm to come out of its side and accidentally damaged itself.

Inflicted with Bleeding status, Schrecklich's life bar displayed (525,450/700,000 HP) and was losing 500 HP per second.

With his legs locked around Schrecklich's Werebear neck, Smoke checked on Adder's life bar and found that it was already at less than half, as it displayed (89,337/220,750 HP). He knew that Adder couldn't take much more of the monster's beating, but he had to stay where he was in order to prevent the monster from using its stunning ability. He was even more troubled when he saw that the rest of his men were still struggling with the Varanus Indicus they were facing.

Deep in thought on what to do, he almost failed to notice the warning that Cunning of the Dire Fox sent him when both of Schrecklich's charged Tikbalang hooves went over its head and were about to flatten Smoke’s body. Luckily, he was able to dodge one of the hooves and took the other with his shoulder and was knocked off of the monster's neck.

He tumbled on the ground and immediately switched out to his power chainsaw bow once he recovered his footing. He fired eight poison arrows and finally inflicted the monstrosity with Poisoned status. Coupled with Bleed damage, Schrecklich was now losing 600 HP per second.

With its long Gargantuan Goblin legs, it took large strides and was almost in front of Smoke in no time. The DarkElf was only able to fire another round of arrows before he was within range of the monster’s stun ability.

ROOOOOAAAARR

Smoke was stunned. His firm grip on his bow loosened and stood helplessly in front of Schrecklich. As the monster’s hooves were about to crash down on him, Condortl’s Emerald Tower Shield struck the monster's back.

KLONG

After Adder stunned the stitched-up three-meter-tall monstrosity with Emerald Bash, he leapt forward and brought the full weight of his BlitzSturm down on Schrecklich’s right shoulder with the intention of severing its arm, but he only reached halfway when the left hoof came straight at him.

Due to its long arms, Schrecklich could reach abnormally far. Its charged hoof was met with a Condortlian Shield, as Adder managed to raise it in time. He was blown away from the monster, but took no damage from that exchange of blows.

As Schrecklich was about to go after Adder, Smoke's chain and sickle came flying through the room. It looped around the monster’s right shoulder, with the sickle digging deep into the open wound Adder had made.

With all his might, Smoke turned around and pulled as hard as he could. He heard Schrecklich scream out in pain as he felt the tension on his chain disappear. He smirked as he looked back at the monstrosity and found its right arm lying on the ground next to it. He was about to pull back his sickle when the monster stepped on it with its foot.

Schrecklich then used its remaining Tikbalang arm to wrap the perlite chain around it and pulled the DarkElf towards it.

Smoke used Earth Manipulation to create an inclined foothold on the floor to support his weight and prevented himself from being pulled by the monster. However, the chain felt painful, as the monster yanked on it stubbornly and with great strength. He was forced to release his weighted chain and sickle and watched it fall in front of Schrecklich.

Even though both Smoke and Adder were out of range, the monster roared for the sole purpose of taunting the two of them. Before it was done, eight arrows stuck themselves into its chest. It hurriedly broke off the shafts with a single stroke of its arm and then shifted its gaze between Smoke and Adder. After seeing that Adder had less HP, it went straight for him.

Emerald Bash was still on cooldown, but Adder charged forward with his green and black shield in front of him and his BlitzSturm stretched behind his shoulder.

TWANG

Adder's shield resounded when Schrecklich's charged hoof made contact with it. He planted his feet firmly and stabbed his BlitzSturm into the floor. He was able to prepare for the impact and was not blown away by the monster's attack.

The monster then continued pummeling his shield with its hoof. He tried to launch a counterattack, but his sword was still stuck in the floor. Schrecklich would attempt to attack his side, which made him move his shield around. Simultaneously, he yanked his BlitzSturm hard with his left arm, but it still wouldn't budge. He stared at his regrown limb and concentrated on using all of its strength.

SLASH

Adder moved his shield out of the way as he pulled BlitzSturm out in one fluid motion. He sliced through Schrecklich's left arm and it dropped down as blood gushed out of its body. He still held his double-bladed sword over his head, as he couldn't believe the power of the attack he performed. He was smiling, when he suddenly noticed the monster's head coming straight at him with its mouth wide opened.

Schrecklich sunk its teeth deep into Adder's neck. With his left arm still pulsating from the newfound strength, Adder brought back his sword and severed the monster’s head. As it rolled across the floor, its life bar displayed zero.

Adder dropped to one knee, and a notification window popped up.

+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to Horrabelle’s Monstrosity: Schrecklich.
+ Your party killed Horrabelle’s Monstrosity: Schrecklich.
+ Your party gained 1,800,000 experience points.

Smoke dismissed the window and ran to where Adder was. Along the way, he swiftly picked up the items dropped by Schrecklich.

+ Acquired Elemental Stone: Electro Stone [3 Pieces]

+ Acquired parchment: Horrabelle's Notice on the Red Scamp

+ Acquired parchment: Ultimo's Request - Three Troublesome Villages

Smoke didn't pay much more attention to the items, as he was more concerned about Adder. His friend was Bleeding and only had 5% of his life bar left. Despite Adder’s increased health regeneration granted by his Self-Heal ability, he was still losing HP.

He always reminds his private army members of the importance of their lives, but Adder has a tendency to fight to the brink of death. "I told you not to overdo it,” said Smoke while supporting Adder’s back and helping him lie down. “I'm not letting you die on me, Abaven."

With his open palm pointed at Adder, Smoke used Life Share. A small ball of white light formed in front of his hand and launched itself towards the injured Condortlian, hitting him in the chest and healing him for 3,640 HP. At the same time, Smoke’s life bar went down and displayed (149,765/181,997 HP).

Thirty seconds and fifteen balls of light later, Adder was out of critical condition. However, he was still Bleeding. “Hold still, this will hurt,” said Smoke. He took out a fire arrow out of his backpack window and pressed the arrowhead against the wound on Adder’s neck. His friend cried out in pain as the arrowhead inflicted a small amount of Fire damage upon contact with his flesh, but understood that it served to cauterize the wound and remove the Bleeding status.

Seeing Adder’s life bar slowly starting to fill up on its own, Smoke heaved a sigh of relief. Turning his attention to the other side of the room, he saw that the Centaur Rangers had 25% of their life bars remaining, while the Condortlian Warriors who hid behind them had less than 10% left. They were cornered by thirteen green monsters that still had 39% of their life bars..

Fortunately, none of his men had died yet, but he needed to act fast to ensure it stayed that way. He equipped his white metallic staff and dashed towards his team.

With the aid of his Lunar boots, he leapt over the green monsters and stood between them and his men. He then created a flat vertical Manatl as wide as he could manage, leaving only his head and feet exposed. He ducked immediately afterwards, as the Varanus Indicus wasted no time in reaching for his head.

Due to the numerous Life Shares he gave Adder, Smoke was left with (95,165/181,997 HP) on his life bar. With most of the mutated Lizardites now going after his feet, he had to constantly jump around to avoid their attacks.

"Centaurs, use your arrows!" ordered Smoke while desperately dodging.

The Centaurs immediately followed his command and fired their arrows, while the Warriors took out pieces of grilled ancient bison meat to recover some of their HP.

Only two minutes passed, but Smoke felt exhausted from evading most of the Varanus Indicus' attacks. His life bar had already whittled down to 33%, but most of the green monsters still had 25%. Meanwhile, most of the Warriors had recovered 10% of theirs.

Smoke waited for the right opportunity to order them to attack. He knew that the Centaurs' arrows alone could not kill them all, as well as that his Manatl wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

Suddenly, Adder's BlitzSturm came crashing down on one of the Varanus Indicus and sliced its torso in half.

"Warriors, now!" shouted Smoke.

Simultaneously, ten Condortlian Warriors climbed onto their Centaur comrades' backs and jumped over Smoke's Manatl. All of them delivered swift strikes across the backs of the Varanus Indicus behind them.

At the same time, Smoke canceled his Manatl and drove his charged white metallic staff into the chest of the nearest Varanus Indicus, instantly depleting the monster’s remaining HP.

Smoke was about to attack the next closest mutated Lizardite, but Adder's BlitzSturm beat him to it and sliced through its body. Meeting Adder’s gaze, he acknowledged his desire to keep fighting despite his weakened state, but still stayed close to him to ensure his safety. As the battle continued, Smoke’s team overpowered their enemies.

After almost an hour since they entered, Smoke and his men finally cleared the third room of the black mansion. They all dropped to the floor from exhaustion and took out their emergency rations to replenish their HP and MP.

While eating a piece of jerky, Smoke stood up and gathered the remaining pieces of paper on the desk. He then turned to his men and said half teasingly, "Alright, we have one more room. Remember to stay alive."

Adder and the rest of his team groaned loudly, but knew he was being serious. After all, they all swore to wipe this black mansion clean of Horrabelle's wickedness.

CREEEEEEEAK

Slowly, the door of the room they were in opened.

Smoke’s men tightly gripped their weapons and prepared themselves for the worst. Most of their life bars were still below 50%.

A sigh of relief escaped from them as Sierra and her team entered through the door. Smoke walked over to Sierra and Ledur in order to greet them.

"Glad you finally made it inside," he said.

"It was all thanks to Ledur. He was all over the place, impaling golems left and right with his earth spikes. The rest of us were mostly just cleaning up after him," chuckled Sierra.

Ledur then went over to Adder. "Thank you, brother. I saw the Centaur children that were rescued earlier."

"We should have gotten here sooner," replied Adder somberly. "I can't even imagine what they must have been through."

Smoke placed his hand on Adder's shoulder. "They are safe now. In time, the new memories they make in Verbrannt will help them lead normal lives again."

Quickly, he scanned all the Vagrant Vigilantez present and found that all of them had over 50% on their life bars. He then looked at his gathered friends and said, "There's still one room left.”

Sierra, Adder and Ledur nodded in agreement.

They soon arrived in front of the door of the last room in the black mansion. Smoke could sense at least two hundred monsters on the other side of it. He told Ledur to get ready to seal the door, in case the monsters look too tough for them to handle.

CREEEEEEEAK

He opened the door slightly and took a peek inside. The room was as spacious as the other three, but instead of casting circles with monsters or children strapped inside them, there was a massive cage with one-meter tall green monsters inside it. The cage was filled with Gobble Goblins.

The goblins instantly looked at the DarkElf. Most of them backed away from the cage door as he slowly walked over to them. Only a handful of elderly goblins were prepared to confront him.

"Greet you me. I Smoke. I friend you," said Smoke in crude Gobberish.

One of the goblins answered him, "You must be one of Crucibelle’s underlings. She also used our lovely tongue and deceived us with her words."

Smoke energetically shook his head and waved his hands. "No, no, no. I kill Crucibelle. I friend you."

He then showed them the Berserker's Ring of Flames.

The elderly goblins looked at each other and nodded curiously. Then, one of them spoke in Lacerta, the most common language in Zectas. "Please stop talking in Gobberish. My ears bleed from your poor attempt to speak in our intricate language."

Smoke was taken aback, as he didn't know that Gobble Goblins could speak normally. "I'm sorry if my poor Gobberish has offended you, but what I'm saying is true: I am not your enemy. I’d even be willing to release you from this cage if it would help convince you of that."

"Release us? Or will you just put us in a different cage?" asked the same elderly goblin skeptically.

"No, you'd be free to go. However, it'd be dangerous for you to leave on your own, with Horrabelle still out there and all," Smoke answered sincerely. "If you would come with us to our village, we'll be able to protect you."

He then remembered the other Gobble Goblins left in Verbrannt, the ones that still didn't trust him. "You could also help me convince the goblins we freed from Crucibelle’s clutches that we mean no harm."

The elderly goblin spoke in Gobberish to the other goblins before he turned to face Smoke again. "There are others of our kind in your village?"

"Yes, and it would be a great help if you could make them understand that I'm just trying to protect them," said Smoke in an imploring voice.

"That remains to be seen, but I suppose leaving this horrible place would be better than staying," replied the elderly goblin. He then spoke with the other goblins once more. After a few minutes, he faced Smoke and nodded in agreement.

After giving a nod in return, Smoke told the Tikbalangs to free the goblins. While they were waiting to be released, the goblins were spreading the word to the rest of them who were hiding in the back portion of the cage.

While waiting for the goblins to be liberated, Sierra spotted a desk filled with papers. "Smoke, over here."

Smoke walked over to her and found that the stack of papers was similar to the one in Schrecklich's chamber.

"Thanks, this could be helpful," said Smoke and gave her a smile.

He grabbed one of the sheets of paper and found an expected notification window.

+ Acquired Knowledge: Horrabelle's Gargantuan Goblin Transmutation [Page 12 of 20]

[BLOCKED: Information Window will not display until all pages have been read.]

In less than a minute, Smoke read all twenty pages and the Information window finally popped up.

+ Horrabelle's Gargantuan Goblin Transmutation

Step-by-Step Ritual:

1. Gather 250 Gobble Goblins in a confined space.
2. Inflict Berserk status on them (Terror Spell works fine, too).
3. Watch the magic happen.

Smoke sighed. He thought it would be something he didn't know already. He was familiar with the ritual because he had observed Crucibelle perform it near Banal village a while ago.

Sierra noticed his disappointed expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I just thought I'd get some new information," he replied passively.

Unwilling to give up on getting what he wanted, Smoke took out the parchments Schrecklich dropped earlier. He immediately started acquiring the knowledge of the parchment entitled “Ultimo's Request - Three Troublesome Villages.”

After a few seconds, an Information window popped up.

+ Ultimo's Request - Three Troublesome Villages.

Salutations,

My Brandals have tried occupying the villages of Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama.
These three places are close to and support each other, making the task difficult for us.
Each time one of my battalions attacks one village, the other two send reinforcements to it.
Perhaps you could assist me in conquering them?
I hear that there are a little over a thousand people residing in each village, a fair part of them being children.

Here are their Map Locations:

Tatlong: Latitude: 95°23' N, Longitude: 234°54' E
Lugar: Latitude: 93°23' N, Longitude: 232°54' E
Pinagsama: Latitude: 95°23' N, Longitude: 232°54' E

I believe cooperation would be mutually beneficial to our endeavors.

May the bloodline of Vinceretus rule forever!

Respectfully,

Ultimo Maire

The date on the parchment was from four days ago. After processing the information he read, a worried Smoke turned to Sierra. "They’re targeting three villages this time," he said and quickly shared the contents of the parchment with her.

"This was sent four days ago. We know that Horrabelle’s Therianthropes were still patrolling the area around Braucht Hilfe two days ago, because you encountered a group of them,” explained Smoke while holding his chin. “Since the werewolves that escaped must have notified her of their failure, it’s possible that she has reassembled her army since then and is on her way to the three villages as we speak."

He continued, “We need to hurry and stop her from capturing any more children. We might be able to get to the villages before she does.” Sierra nodded in agreement.

"Do we need to send for the others? Because we better call them now if we do," she asked.

"No, there’s no time. It would take too long for everyone to organise and travel to the villages.” Smoke paused, deep in thought. “Ledur and I are the fastest. The two of us will fly there and try to convince the village residents to evacuate. The rest of you return to Verbrannt with the children.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sierra gave him a worried look, clearly not fond of his plan.

"It’s the best chance we have,” he replied, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. “Can you please tell Adder and Ledur about this? I still have one more thing to read."

"Sure," answered Sierra and went to them. Smoke then took out the parchment entitled “Horrabelle's Notice on the Red Scamp.”

In a matter of seconds, he acquired the information and a window popped up.

+ Horrabelle's Notice on the Red Scamp

Subordinates,

As you may know, a red Werebear, the last one my sisters and I created together, has gone rogue.
Her body contains information that is vital to improving the effectiveness of my Werebear Transmutation.
If you find her, bring her to me.
In the event that you are unable to capture her alive, bring back a piece of her flesh.
A small enough piece shouldn’t disappear with the rest of her body.

Your Creator, Horrabelle

A grim look appeared on Smoke’s face as his eyes dilated and his eyebrows met. He angrily crumpled up the parchment and stored it in his backpack window.

He stared at the cursed form of the red-haired girl he held dear. He feared for her safety.

Chapter Three:

To Heed a Warning

A bright sunny morning greeted Sherry's neighbors, who were preparing to go to work or drop off their kids to school. It was time for them to start a new day.

However, in her house, it was time to get some sleep. It was night time in Zectas, at least for the next three hours in the real world. A red game pod opened and she grabbed tight onto the ergonomically-designed armrests. She stepped out with her eyebrows raised and lip curled.

"Argh! Why does he do always do this to me? One minute he’s all sweet and charming, the next he’s flying off somewhere," she said, voicing out her frustration.

She had just logged out of Zectas as her character was safely riding on Gandiva's war carriage. Flustered, she unfurled her ponytail and let loose her curly red hair. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to get a hold of her emotions.

Sherry knew that Nash's decision to immediately head to the three villages was the right one, but she was still upset about how little time they got to spend together.

'Is he doing this on purpose?' she thought to herself.

After another deep breath, she stopped trying to clear her mind and stormed out of her room. Her footsteps echoed loudly as she headed for the kitchen.

There, Sherry prepared the ingredients for her latest Zectas-inspired dish: her own version of the ancient bison stew. She stretched her hands out and cracked her knuckles.

She poured a cup of water and some cooking oil into a large pressure cooker. While waiting for the water to boil, she started chopping garlic, onions and tomatoes.

‘When he gets back, I’m definitely going to—ouch!’

Sherry stared at the blood flowing down her finger.

A year ago, she would have made a commotion over a cut like this, but after diving into the world of Zectas, she got used to seeing blood and gore. She rinsed her finger over running water and waited for the bleeding to stop, after which she continued cooking.

She sauteed the chopped ingredients in a pan and left them to cool down. She then added a whole ear of corn into the pressure cooker, along with salt, pepper and parsley. For the final ingredient, she added a whole beef shank.

Sherry excitedly sealed the pressure cooker and left it alone, as the stew needed an hour to cook. After putting a Band-Aid on her finger, she thought about doing some light yoga exercises, but opted to read posts on the Zectas forum instead.

A thread entitled "Sonstwelters and Zectians" had received a lot of attention lately. It was written by someone named ProfessorXectas and described how the NPCs in Zectas refer to themselves as ‘Zectians’, while calling the players ‘Sonstwelters’.

Sherry thought it was foolish to openly share such information. It must have required a high level of Intimacy for him to obtain it, and he just shared it with everyone else without a second thought.

Next, she clicked on Nash's latest video, which displayed a total of six million views. She took a look at the comment section to see what the viewers thought of it.

CrazyKillaZ: I used to like Smoke. Like, he used to fight tons of bandits by himself, but now he's just being rescued by his guild members. Has your guild weakened you, Smoke?

ProfessorXectas: I don't know. I mean, have you ever faced a monster with that much HP? My level is in the high 80s, but I don't think I could last even a minute against that Witch.

PurrFex: Meow!

Hilot: Be that as it may, I think Smoke and his guild did okay in the battle against that monster. If he had managed to defeat it by himself at his level, I would have seriously sent a letter to the Moderators, asking them to inspect if he has a hack enabled or something.

CatatonicKing: I've got no problem with him. I like the two Lioumereans that are in his private army. Prrr!

DetectiveRonan: I don't think we should judge him based on the ending of the video alone. Crucibelle's life was already significantly damaged before the rest of his guild arrived.

UrLogicSux: Can't say I'm all for this fight as well. Smoke, bring back your deep video tutorials. It's been awhile since you released one of those.

Madara: Meh. He has better videos than this one. Right now, I think Amahan's videos are the best. He’s only one piece away from completing his djinn. Though, I could honestly say that even this is better than Tristan's videos. That guy just delivers the finishing blows and does barely anything else.

SmoKING: I know, right? I even heard talk that the city of Tonaci is about to be taken away from him. He's been in Grand Malodorant Dragonis for so long that his own city is about to disown him. LOL!

TriTank: @Madara and @SmoKING Clearly, you two don't know what you're talking about. The only reason Smoke was able to fight that Witch was because he had a perlite weapon. Where in the world could he have gotten that?! If it wasn't for that weapon, I bet he would have been fried. And FYI, Tristan's city still belongs to him. Those are just rumors being spread by those who envy him.

After reading the comments, she made a mental note to talk to Nash about the type of videos he makes. Looking at the clock in the corner of the screen, she found that she still had forty-five minutes to kill.

Sherry snuggled into her bed and set the alarm clock for forty-five minutes. Her being constantly in Zectas has altered her sleeping pattern. Unlike Nash, who had done research on sleeping patterns, she discovered on her own to take as many naps as she can and to sleep whenever there was nothing to do in the virtual reality world.

BWEEP BEEP BWEEP BEEP BWEEP BEEP

Her hand searched for the source of the annoying sound and finally pressed the clock's button.
Groggily, Sherry went to the kitchen to check her experimental dish. She took a teaspoon out of a drawer and tasted the stew. She cringed at its bitter taste.

'What the...did I put too much garlic?' she wondered to herself. She slumped down on a chair and contemplated on a way to save the dish.

Sherry breathed out a heavy sigh and laid her head on the kitchen table. She was hoping to add another dish to her menu and take a step forward towards her dream of a Zectas-themed restaurant, but now it felt like had taken two steps back instead.

In Zectas, she was the Lady of Verbrannt, a respected owner of an entire village who could command dozens of Werewolves with a snap of her finger. However, in the real world, she was a college dropout whose dream was far from becoming a reality. That was her life at the moment.

She stared hopefully at her phone. Nash rarely called or texted. The only time they talked was inside Zectas. Her uncle was out of town again, looking into a supposed business opportunity, but she knew that he had only away with his girlfriend.

BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT

Suddenly, her phone glowed and vibrated, as it was in silent mode.

Swiping the screen, she excitedly read the digits of an unfamiliar phone number from which she received a message. "Argh! Not another scammercial!" she said out loud and lightly threw her phone across the kitchen table.

She shook her head and proceeded to add more spices to her experimental dish. While doing so, she thought about how her life was going.

'Should I go back to college?' she asked herself. Unlike Nash, she wasn't earning anything from playing Zectas. Even though she could live off the money her mother left her, Sherry still felt the need to earn her own.

Then, she remembered something her mother used to say to her.

"Remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes hard work, tenacity and courage. The path to your goal will never be easy, but that’s exactly what makes the things hardest to obtain the most precious."

She looked out the window and gazed at the fluffy white clouds drifting across the blue sky. She put her hair in a ponytail again and took out more ingredients from the pantry. After adding the new spices, she took a teaspoon and tasted the stew. Her lips curled into a smile.

"Thanks, Mom," said Sherry and took another sip.

Happily, she tidied things up in the kitchen and headed back to her room. She had time to get another power nap before logging back into her realm of inspiration.

* * * * * *

Dazzling rays of the rising sun greeted another day in Zectas. The returning Vigilantez were sleeping under the cool cover of trees.

Sierra opened her eyes and saw the back of Gandiva's carriage. She was joined by half of the rescued children, among which was one of the eldest—a Lioumerean girl.

Out of curiosity, Sierra observed her and found her to be very brave. She guessed she was probably still in her mid-teens, even though she acted mature for her age. While the other children still quivered in fear, the pantheress Lioumerean covered them with blankets.

Sierra wanted to stay with the children and show them that she was friendly. She had some success in talking to the older ones, but the really young children were clearly still terrified by her cursed form. The red werebear grabbed the other blankets on the side and followed the girl's lead.

"It's very sweet of you to take care of them," said an inspired Sierra to the young pantheress.

The girl did not answer and only stared back at her. Five seconds passed and the girl just kept staring. Sierra felt uneasy and tried to change the subject.

"Have you eaten yet? I'm sure you're famished," said Sierra with a smile and tapped on a sleeping Gandiva's shoulder.

The tigress Lioumerean strained her neck to look behind her carriage. "Hey...welcome back, Sierra, good morning," replied Gandiva groggily.

"Morning. Has someone prepared breakfast yet? I think the kids could use some pick-me-up," said Sierra with a smile. "And how's Tulin doing?"

"He's getting better. If taken care of, the antlers should grow back in about two months," Gandiva said in a troubled voice.

"Don't worry about it," said Sierra. "You two are the best at taking care of a stag moose. I bet their antlers will grow back in no time."

Gandiva nodded and replied, "You don't have to worry about breakfast. I think Adder and his team took care of it. At least, they said they would before I switched lookout with Laernea."

"That's great," replied Sierra energetically. "I'll let the men know that it's time to eat. Can you tell the children that the food is ready?"

"Sure, will do," answered Gandiva.

As Sierra was about to leave carriage, she drew closer to Gandiva and whispered in her ear, "By the way, who's the pantheress Lioumerean?"

"Oh, that's Vrai," Gandiva responded all knowingly. "She reminds me of myself when I was younger. Apparently, she's like the their mother, and the children also have a father-like figure as well," she said as she pointed to a young cheetah Lioumerean over on Laernea's carriage.

"Thanks, I think I'll talk to those two during breakfast," replied Sierra as she left to investigate their encampment.

Werewolves were scouting the area, while the Tikbalangs scattered to specific positions around the central camp. The Vigilantez made a circular formation and kept the rescued children and goblins inside the inner circle.

Together with Adder, Laernea and Gandiva; Sierra only had ninety-six Tikbalangs, sixty-two Werewolves, thirty Centaur Rangers and fifteen Condortlian Warriors with her. They were tasked to protect two-hundred-twelve Gobble Goblins and twenty rescued children of different races back to Verbrannt.

Although there were many goblins, Sierra did not count on them to fight. Aside from the fact that she didn't have any Intimacy with them, she also felt uneasy around them.

All in all she only depended on the Vigilantez members alone. With these numbers, Sierra felt confident that they could fight off a werewolf pack or two. If escape wasn't a viable option.

As Sierra walked around the encampment, two large werewolves, almost three meters tall, appeared before her. "Phen, Rear, how's everything?" she asked.

Phen, the gray werewolf only grunted and bowed. Whereas Rear, the black werewolf, was the only who spoke to their alpha. "The area's secure...but I have some troubling news," she reported flatly.

Sierra raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Even though their HP is almost on par with our weakest clansman, it seems that the new werewolves who joined our pack are significantly weaker when compared to our original pack members," replied Rear respectfully.

"Maybe that's because they haven't undergone our training methods?" answered Sierra dismissively.

"Perhaps, but my instinct tells me something else is wrong with them," replied Rear.

Sierra nodded and acknowledged her black werewolf. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind, but for now just continue to observe them. As long as they don't pose any danger, then I'm okay even if they are weaker."

Phen and Rear bowed down before their alpha and left towards the outer area of their encampment.

She then proceeded to where Adder and his team were. They were busy finishing their meal preparations.

"Good morning, Adder," she said with a warm smile.

"Morning, Sierra," replied Adder and stopped what he was doing as he walked over to her and pulled her away from the rest of his team.

"Sierra, one of the children asked me if we're gonna take them home," stated Adder flatly. "Of course, I told her the truth, that they're going to live with us now," he paused and looked uncomfortable.

"And? What seems to be the problem?" asked Sierra as she sensed Adder's unease.

"Well, I promised them that they'd have a house especially for themselves. I thought that it might be awkward for them to join with anybody else," explained Adder.

It took a few seconds for Sierra to realize what Adder was actually saying. "I see. You promised them a house, but you don't know which house to put them in once we're in Verbrannt?"

A wordless Adder silently nodded.

"Don't worry about it. I'll have Thyrsus prepare a beautiful, relaxing house for them." said Sierra as she patted Adder's shoulder. "Also, I think Smoke has already contacted someone to take care of them, and should be arriving in Verbrannt the same time as us."

"Really? Who's that?" asked Adder curiously.

"Don't know. He just said that it's a person who has a lot of experience in dealing with troubled children," retorted Sierra.

After their conversation, everyone was gathered and ate the meal Adder and his men prepared. For the goblins, who liked raw food, they gave them slightly grilled ancient bison meat. As for the children, they skewered onions, potatoes, bell peppers and tomatoes into a kebab. Adder thought that the children shouldn't have any meat, as one of them explained that they had a gag reflex towards it.

While they were eating, Sierra resumed her observation on the two Lioumereans the children looked up to. She watched them feed the young ones and made sure that the rest who could feed themselves were eating properly.

Inasmuch as she didn't have any luck with the pantheress before, Sierra tried talking with the cheetah Lioumerean instead. She walked over to him while he was filling up his plate to feed the children.

"Excuse me. My name is Sierra, and I'd just like to tell you that you're doing a really good job," she said sincerely.

The boy faced her and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for rescuing us from that wretched place."

"Don't mention it. No one should undergo..." Sierra stopped talking as the boy immediately left her hanging and went back to feeding the youngsters.

The red werebear crossed her arms and shook her head in disapproval.

'Looks like I have to teach these kids some manners,' she thought to herself.

Before she could walk over to the young cheetah Lioumerean, a pantheress stepped in front of her.

"Please forgive our rude behavior," said Vrai humbly and lowered her head until it almost touched the ground.

"No, you don't have to do that," said Sierra hurriedly and helped her up. "I just wanted to get to know you guys better."

"I understand, but I don't think anyone of us is ready for that just yet," retorted Vrai. "I'd also like to apologize in Ardu's behalf as well."

"Ardu? Oh, the boy earlier. It's fine." said Sierra pleasantly and waved her claws in dismissal. "Thank you for telling me. I'll stay out of your hair from now on."

Vrai bowed again and went back to the children.

Sierra shrugged her shoulders and decided to respect Vrai's request. She let the children be and ordered for everyone to break camp and resume their journey back to Verbrannt.

* * * * * *

Sitting beside Gandiva, Sierra watched the stretch of trees before them. They continued on the covered route and avoid detection from traveling through the plains. In exchange, they were moving at a much slower pace.

Only the rescued children were in Lioumereans' carriages. Due to the Gobble Goblins high numbers, they were forced to travel on foot. Fortunately, their kind was more than suitable enough to endure such a long and arduous march.

They encountered monsters such as stone deers and once met a family of hell boars once. But the monster that plagued them the most in these forests were the epicyon, a one and a half meter long wild dog. They moved slower than the aardwolves, but they made up for it in brute strength. These wild dogs would form groups of three and knock down medium-sized trees by simply pouncing on them.

Whenever such monsters appeared, the Gobble Goblins displayed their nimbleness as they quickly huddled within near the Lioumereans carriage. They patiently waited for the Werewolves and Tikbalangs to finish off the monsters before continuing to move forward.

They traveled for the rest of the day without much incident. It was getting dark and Sierra decided that it was time for them to break camp. At the rate they were going, they still had four days left before they could reach Verbrannt.

As Sierra was about to give the order to make camp, she felt multiple cold eyes staring at her back. She turned around, but could sense nothing with her Animal Instinct.

Abruptly, she heard werewolves howling.

AWWWOOO AWWWW AWWWW AWWWWOOOOOO

It wouldn't have bothered her normally, but Sierra gave her werewolves strict orders not to make a sound. As her eyes searched from beyond the trees, she saw them. Werewolves that didn't belong to her pack surrounded them.

Instantly, the Gobble Goblins ran next to Sierra and the Lioumereans' carriage. The elderly goblin who could speak Lacerta ran next to Sierra and asked. "You can fight them off, right?" he asked, shaking with fear.

Sierra didn't answer and only kept her eyes on the enemies encircling them.

As the enemy werewolves moved in closer, her werewolf pack slowly backed away towards her and made their circular formation smaller and smaller.

Two black werebears appeared in front of them and stepped in front of the werewolves. Sierra then observed some movement from their rear and glanced towards them. Two more brown werebears appeared in the back of their formation.

Aside from the four werebears, Sierra estimated the enemy werewolves to number almost four hundred. Almost twice the maximum limit she set for their current battle strength.

Given the dire situation, Sierra tapped the elderly goblin and said. "I'm sorry to do this, but I need you to fight with us."

Still trembling, the elderly goblin shook his head strongly. "No! There's no way we'll fight. You can't make us," he replied with finality.

As Sierra was about to argue the obvious, she heard the black werebears' loud voice.

"Red Scamp, we've come to take back what you've stolen!" said the male black werebear in a grim voice.

Sierra surmised that he was talking about her, considering she was the only thing red in the forest.

"Walk away, and your lives will be spared," replied Sierra in a calm but loud voice. "Threaten us one more time, and I swear to hunt all of you down!" she bluffed boldly.

"Bold words for someone about to die," snapped a female voice. It came from the brown werebear behind Sierra.

"No, we shouldn't kill her," added the male brown werebear. "We need her alive, and don't kill any of the goblins or the children as well!"

Sierra didn't understand what the werebears were saying, but one thing was clear to her, she needed to think of something fast if she wants to survive.

She caught Adder glance at her. His eyes darted to the right side, an area without the werebears. She nodded, as she understood that he wanted to clear a path to the side and escape into the plains right next to the forest.

Even though Bilis and Tulin were still recovering, their top speed is still beyond a Werewolf's. Adder's plan assured the safety of the children, but it would mean risking the lives of all the Vigilantez in the group.

While Sierra was still contemplating on following Adder's suggestion, the enemy werewolves were steadily drawing in closer to them.

"Phen, Rear!" Sierra called out her trusted werewolves and pointed them to Adder. The black and gray werewolves bowed in acknowledgement of her orders.

She then spoke with the elderly goblin. "We will need to make a run for it. Be sure to keep up."

The elderly goblin nodded in response and began spreading the word to his kin.

As their space was rapidly decreasing, Sierra gave Adder the go ahead and watched him and his team make a dauntless charge towards the side. Werewolves and Tikbalangs alike charged after Adder and protected them from their flanks.

"Gandiva, Laernea, follow Adder's lead," ordered Sierra softly so that only the Lioumerean Pathfinders could hear.

At once, their stag moose steamed after Adder. The children held on tightly as the carriage greatly wobbled through the forest.

As they were escaping, Sierra noticed that the goblins were running towards the opposite direction. She jumped off Gandiva's carriage and grabbed the elderly goblin with her claws before he could run away from her.

"What are you doing?" she asked angrily.

"Let me go! These monsters are after you. It's best we survive on our own," he said hurriedly and bit her hand, forcing her to release him.

Sierra watched the goblins flee to the left side of the forest.

She then noticed that both brown werebears and their werewolves ran after the Gobble Goblins to capture them. Sierra shook her head and barreled back to Gandiva's carriage. The goblins may have deserted her, but at least they split the enemies in half.

While she stormed towards the carriage, dozens of enemy werewolves broke through the Vigilantez defensive line and targeted the children.

For the moment, Sierra forgot not to harm the enemy werewolves and clawed right through them. She quickly knocked them back to the sides. Regardless if they could be potential allies, they still posed a clear and present danger to the children.

Unexpectedly, she reached Gandiva’s carriage sooner than she estimated. She hurriedly climbed it and checked on the children. looked in front and found that Adder's advance was blocked by two black werebears.

Laernea and Gandiva stopped their carriages right next to each other. The two Pathfinders stood up and fired their poison arrows at all enemy werewolves. They changed focus to the front as soon as Sierra arrived and left the back of the carriages for her to defend.

From on top of Gandiva's carriage she observed Adder take on the male black werebear by himself. Despite being smaller, Adder clearly overpowered the black werebear with his BlitzSturm and Condortlian Shield.

Sierra wanted to run to the front and help him, but she couldn't leave the children unprotected. "Adder, watch out!" she cried out from afar as she saw the female werebear launch a back attack at her friend.

Fortunately, Phen and Rear arrived in time and blocked the female werebear's back attack. Due to Sierra watching Adder's battle closely, she failed to notice that one of the children had been taken by a brown werewolf.

"Sierra, help!" cried out Vrai. The pantheress leapt from the carriage onto the back of the werewolf. She choked it with her arms as she desperately cling on to the beast. Her desperate attack made the werewolf momentarily stopped on its tracks.

Sierra immediately scampered after them, but not before Ardu arrived and struggled with the werewolf to release the little girl in its claws.

The girl scurried back towards the carriages and climbed back safely.

With the girl released, the werewolf had more mobility. It grabbed Vrai by its claws and freed itself from her.

The pantheress was forcibly thrown off, but Ardu caught her safely before hitting the hard forest ground. The enraged werewolf forgot its orders not to harm the children. It was about to attack them when a red werebear stepped in front of them and blocked its claws with her arms.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked while blocking the continuous onslaught of claws. Ideally, she would have liked to convert this werewolf, but considering its alphas were still alive she couldn't. She hardened her resolve and withstood the werewolf's attacks, as long as she could confirm that the two of them were safe.

With each attack of the werewolf, Sierra's blood splattered everywhere. Vrai and Ardu who stood behind her were covered in it.

"Oh, no. Did you get clawed?" asked a concern Sierra as she saw them covered with blood.

"No, we're fine. This is your blood..." Vrai stopped talking as the two of them unexpectedly fell to the ground. Both of them instantly started convulsing.

Sierra didn't understand what was happening. She used Double Slash on the werewolf and knocked the beast away from them.

"Vrai, Ardu, what's happening?" she asked worriedly.

The two Lioumereans' bodies and limbs twisted and contorted into painful positions. Sierra had to turn away from them as she noticed six more werewolves heading towards them.

"Laernea, Gandiva, we've got incoming!" she shouted to the two Pathfinders and asked for their help.

"Sorry, but we've got our hands full at the moment as well," replied Laernea as she fired her arrows at four werewolves heading towards them from the front. Due to their injured stag moose, the Pathfinders' attack power was almost halved.

Sierra glanced towards the front of the carriage and understood what Laernea meant.

'Six werewolves against one werebear. I still got the upper hand,' she thought and psyched herself up.

ROOAAAAAARRR

ROOOOOOAARRR

Suddenly, two distinct roars came from behind Sierra. She turned around and almost fell down as she saw a black werebear and a brown werebear.

'How did they sneak up on me?' she wondered to herself and instinctively curled up into a defensive stance.

She knew she had to push them away from the carriage where the children were kept. Yet, she also had to face six more werewolves about to pounce on her.

Shaking her head out of frustration, she was about to lunge an attack on the two werebears when they rushed past her and each took on two enemy werewolves.

Sierra was completely astonished at what was happening, but she didn't have the time to question it. She focused on the two remaining werewolves and grabbed each one of them by the neck and slammed them hard to the ground.

After she killed the two werewolves, she looked at the brown and black werebear in front of her and stared at their names and life bars; Vrai (394,250/400,000 HP) and Ardu (389,000/400,000 HP).

"Sierra, what happened?" asked a confused Vrai, looking at her cursed black werebear form.

"I don't know, but we'll figure this out," she answered sympathetically. She then heard Ardu's voice.

"Are you alright?" Ardu asked Vrai and placed his brown werebear claws on her shoulders. Vrai strongly shook her head in response.

"Vrai, Ardu, I know you're confused right now, but this isn't the time for that. Right now, it's time to survive." stated Sierra and helped them back into the carriages.

Instantly, the children backed away when they saw the two werebears that wasn't Sierra, but she quickly explained that the two of them were Ardu and Vrai.

The newly transformed werebears expected the children to be afraid of them. Yet, in spite of their cursed forms, the children rushed towards them and hugged them dearly.

Then, Laernea turned around and faced them. "Alright, time to go. Hold on..." she paused and looked at three werebears behind them. "Sierra? Those two are allies, right?"

"Yeah." replied Sierra flatly. "Well, let's go you two." she said and pointed forward.

It was all thanks to the efforts of Adder, Phen and Rear. They were not able to kill the two black werebears, but they did manage to critically wound them and drive them off.

Due to this, Sierra and the rest of the Vigilantez were able to escape out of the forest and sprinted across the plains.

She watched the enemy werewolves flee with their alphas. She smiled and let out a deep sigh of relief, but then her eyes went to Ardu and Vrai. Instantly, her smile faded and her eyes moistened with tears. She hoped Smoke would arrive in time to evacuate those three villages. No one else should fall to Horrabelle's curse.

* * * * * *

Smoke squinted his eyes as the wind speed was extremely strong when gliding at his top speed. He glanced over his shoulders at Igniz and Ledur and scowled as the two of them seem to be unaffected.

Smoke had a wide view of the landscape below him. He could clearly see the mountains, valleys, forests and plains of Wysteria. As they were still far from their destination, he ordered his group to descend and take a quick break. They needed to satisfy their primal need and fill up their satiety bars.

They landed safely on the outskirt of a forest patch. Ledur expertly created a table, chairs and a fire pit with his Earth Manipulation. Igniz then lit up the fire pit. They got a campfire up and running in no time at all.

While Smoke was cooking a grilled veal, his Cunning of the Dire Fox picked up the creatures from inside the trees. This was not new to him as his ability's range had greatly increased, but the notification window that came afterward was.

+ Ability Advanced: Cunning of the Dire Fox
(Passive)
Level: Master Level 1
Experience: (0/100,000,000)

You've reached the Master zone of this ability.

Effect: Detects enemy presence from 500 meters away.

+ Learned: Cunning of the Dire Fox II - Extra Sensory
(Active)
Effect: Detects things beyond the physical realm within half a meter of caster.
Notes:
> Consumes 100,000 MP per use and additional 10,000 MP per second after activation
> Range will increase as ability level increases
> MP consumption will decrease as ability level increases

"Whoa!" exclaimed Smoke. He was taken by surprise at the newly gained active ability.

"What's the matter?" asked a startled Ledur as he searched around their area for any potential danger. "Are we being attacked?"

Igniz hurriedly flew higher and orbited around their campfire, looking for their enemies.

"No, no. My ability just reached master level. Sorry, for worrying you guys," replied Smoke excitedly. He didn't think about anything else but trying out the new ability.

It took so long to increase this ability from Advance to Master that Smoke stopped paying attention to its experience bar.

Posthaste, Smoke stood up and used Extra Sensory. At the same time, Igniz returned and circled around him. At once, his eyes turned golden and became that of a dire fox's. For the first time, he could see the energy flowing out of Igniz and Ledur.

Igniz's dark purple flames left a trail of where he had flown through. He could also see the energy used on Ledur's
Earth Manipulated tables and chairs.

Smoke smiled. The visual effects of the ability were quite impressive, but he had a feeling that this ability had something else to offer.

However, he temporarily set the idea aside and checked on the other two hidden abilities that he first acquired in Zectas.

His smile grew even wider when he saw that his Agility of the Horned Rabbit was almost at Master Level 1 as well. He then checked his Armor Break of the Armored Armadillo. His smile faded as he found that it was still at Advance Level 3, but that didn't keep him down long.

His excitement to discover the Master Level of his Agility of the Horned Rabbit's was the only thing in his mind right now.

"Ledur, Igniz, I'll be right back." said Smoke eagerly and headed for the forest patch.

The winged Tikbalang stepped in front of him and asked. "Wait, where are you going? I thought there were no enemies?"

"Yup, I'm just gonna train a bit," answered Smoke with anticipation. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

After he tried out his Extra Sensory ability, his MP was halved, but that didn't matter as he wasn't going to need it.

His Cunning of the Dire Fox picked multiple monsters hiding behind the trees. However, this forest patch only had low level creatures. Monsters such as stone deers, iron owls, rabid racoons and poisonous skunks.

Despite this, Smoke still wanted to train his Agility of the Horned Rabbit. He chose a nearby pack of rabid raccoons. There were ten of them altogether. Given these many opponents, he thought that it should result in some significant experience.

He grabbed two fallen branches from the ground and sneaked up on the rabid racoons. Dual wielding the two branches, he struck each one of the rabid racoons, but made sure not to kill them.

Aggravated, all of the rabid beasts came at him at once. Their claws came at him from all directions. He braved the pain as some of the attacks scratched his flesh. While dodging most of the monsters' attacks, he delivered eight swift strikes to one of the rabid racoons and accidentally killed it.

His mouth twinge after killing the monster. The experience bar of his target ability practically didn't move at all. He wished he had books to hold onto instead, but he had acquired the knowledge of all his books.

Ten minutes into his training session and the experience bar still did not budge at all. Smoke sighed and realized that this was pointless. He switched to his weighted chain and sickle and instantly killed the remaining nine rabid racoons.

He only wanted to gauge how much longer it would take him to raise the Agility of the Horned Rabbit to Master Level, but clearly the rabid raccoons were not the monsters capable of doing that.

"You should have said that you just wanted to practice dodging." Ledur's voice came out of nowhere.

Startled, Smoke looked up and searched for his friend. He found him standing on one of the tree branches behind him.

"You know, I know of a more efficient method to train your dodging ability." stated Ledur.

"Really? How?" asked an intrigued Smoke.

"Follow me," replied Ledur and flew out of the forest back to their encampment.

Igniz greeted Smoke warmly and orbited around him when he returned. "Calm down, bud. I wasn't gone that long." As his symbiote flew around him, he then realized that his dark ember sprite was only closing the claw marks of the rabid racoons.

Smoke patted his dark ember sprite. "Thanks, bud, but I've got some real training to do." He stared at Ledur who stood some distance away from them.

He walked over to the winged Tikbalang cautiously. After all, he had no idea what Ledur's efficient training method was.

Ledur stared intensely at Smoke. All of a sudden, the winged Tikbalang spoke out. "Due to our constant battles, I never got to properly thank you for saving my fellow Pferdians," he said gratefully. "Now, you even rescued the captured children."

"Think nothing of it. I was only doing what I know is right." replied Smoke sincerely.

Ledur's bat-like wings expanded to its full size and he then bent his body slightly, giving Smoke a bow. "Allow me to thank you now, by helping you out with some light training."

"Yeah, about that, what exactly do..." Smoke stopped talking as multiple earth spikes came at him from the ground. While he dodged six of them, four earth spikes grazed his back and damaged him for a total of 2,400 points.

In that one attack, Smoke received more damage than when he fought ten rabid raccoons. It took all of his focus to dodge more earth spikes coming his way.

Smoke was reminded of how large their gap was with the mastery of the earth. Ledur's attacks were swift, unpredictable, but calculated.

He bobbed, weaved, twisted his body body in all directions in order to avoid Ledur's powerful attacks. Sensing thirty spikes aimed at him, Smoke leapt up and glided farther away.

'My earth spikes are no where this fast. I wonder if Crucibelle could have dodged Ledur's earth spikes,' he wondered to himself as he tried to catch his breath.

Unexpectedly, an earth pillar rammed into his back and sent him flying back to where Ledur was.

"Time out!" Smoke cried out as he breathed heavily.

Ledur's attacks instantly ceased.

Smoke eagerly checked the experience bar for the Agility of the Horned Rabbit, and found that it increased by 0.1%, he smiled as he ultimately found some progress. Their fight lasted less than fifteen minutes, but he could already see the result.

"You're right. That was more effective. I finally got some experience points, but we don't have time for it now," explained Smoke as he did some rough calculations and realized it would take more than a day of such practice to fill the remaining 10% to Master level.

"Let's finish eating and head for those villages afterwards," said Smoke with conviction. "My ability can wait. Those people are far more important."

Ledur nodded and flew towards the campfire. Smoke winced as he watched his body covered in multiple cuts and bruises.

'And he didn't even use his full power,' he thought to himself as he praised how strong Ledur was.

While eating, his thoughts were disturbed by the one he was thinking of, Ledur abruptly spoke out. "Smoke, about the other three villages. I think it's best if lie low. We wouldn't want to scare them with my cursed appearance."

Smoke strongly shook his head in disagreement. "No way is that going to happen. They'll eventually meet you and other Tikbalangs in Verbrannt anyway. So, it's better for them to deal with it now than later."

"Very well." Ledur dropped the topic and continued eating.

In less than ten minutes later, Smoke, Igniz and Ledur were back in the skies. With their satiety bars filled, they were on a direct flight to the three villages.

* * * * * *

Airborne for more than an hour, Smoke was determined to reach the villages before the end of the day. Yet, his plans were foiled by nature itself as storm clouds gathered and poured heavy rain on Smoke, Igniz and Ledur.

"Igniz, inside," called out Smoke to his symbiote as he pointed to orb chamber on his chest. The dark ember sprite instantly disappeared and positioned himself comfortably within the metallic orb.

"Ledur, I can't continue in this weather. The rain’s too strong," stated Smoke flatly.

Without a word, the winged Tikbalang nodded and started to descend.

As their journey was stalled due to their tempestuous weather, Ledur created a small shelter with Earth Manipulation which protected them from the heavy downpour.

While waiting out the storm, Smoke finally received a call he had been waiting for almost a day now. In the middle of Espion's original mission to meet Incitant, Smoke sent him to investigate Braucht Hilfe village and confirm whether there was a trap waiting for them there. That was the last time he had spoken to the young Spy.

Smoke answered Espion's call.

"I've got some good news and some bad news," spoke the young Spy in a hushed voice.

He heard Espion take in a deep breath which assured him of a lengthy explanation. "I found Horrabelle in Braucht Hilfe village. She's gathered twenty Werebears and almost two thousand Werewolves. Now, she's just waiting for the remaining eight thousand Brandals of the supplier legion to reassemble and join her." Espion confirmed Smoke's suspicion of a trap. "But since you didn't continue to Braucht Hilfe. I heard that they were now headed to Pinagsama village. Once all of them are gathered, they should reach the village within two days."

Smoke sighed and allowed the troubling information to sink in. "Alright, what's the good news?"

"That was the good news," replied Espion. "The bad news is Incitant and his alliance aren't what we thought they were."

"What do you mean?" asked an alarmed Smoke.

"In my earlier report, I said that Incitant's alliance has over thirty-thousand Sonstwelters," stated Espion. "However, I was misinformed of their actual levels. As it turns out, the alliance has less than a thousand members who are above Level 100."

Smoke's eyebrows met. "And the rest of them?"

"All below Level 80. Ten thousand of them are above Level 50, while the rest of them are barely Level 30," responded Espion.

"Level 30? But's that a level you can gain in less than a week!" Smoke raised his voice out of frustration.

"Sierra ordered me to meet with Incitant, hoping that his alliance could launch a strike of their own." Espion described why he was originally sent to Centzo. "But I don't see that happening any time soon. Apparently, none of the Sonstwelters below level 50 ever came back."

"So how many men does Incitant actually have?" asked Smoke while shaking his head.

"A little over seven thousand," answered Espion somberly. "But they can't leave or else the city will be undefended as well."

"Incitant is just playing defense?" Smoke asked in disbelief. "That man has to do something!"

BAROOOM BAROOOM BROOOM BROM

The loud thunder and torrential rain dampened his mood even more.

"What about the mayor of Centzo? What does he have to say?" asked Smoke.

"I wasn't able to meet him," responded Espion quickly. "He was injured from the last Brandal attack and is still recovering. I'll check on him again and see if I could meet him."

Smoke took a deep breath and decided on the new orders to give his Spy. "Alright, keep your eyes on Horrabelle for now and tell me the moment she leaves for the villages."

He wanted to make sure the exact time they had left before Horrabelle reaches them, but before dropping the call he had to remind his friend of their most important rule in Smoke's private army. "Espion, remember to stay as far away as you can. Your life is more important than any information."

"Got it," answered Espion with complete understanding.

Huddled in the small earth shelter, Smoke shook his head in disappointment and stared angrily at the blustery clouds overhead.

'I've got to reach those villages soon!' thought a frustrated Smoke.

* * * * * *

After almost twenty hours; Smoke, Igniz and Ledur finally reached the three villages. All three places were situated inside a deep, expansive valley. The tall mountains encircling it looked volcanic, as such he guess the land was blessed with rich fertile soil.

Due to their high aerial view, Smoke found that the mighty Murray river had been forcibly redirected towards a colossal dam of architectural marvel, creating a massive man-made lake. A towering earth-dam smack in the middle of the three villages. He estimated that it must have stretched for almost three-kilometers and was at least ninety-meters tall.

+ Entered Gitna Dam

Located in the middle of the three villages of Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama. It is Wysteria Continent's largest dam. No one knows how old it is, but everyone agrees that it is an ancient wonder. It is currently being shared by the three villages and is the reason for their great agriculture success.

Smoke assumed that the ancestors of all three villages must have worked together to create such an outstanding spectacle. He thought that it was another proof of how well these three villages cooperated with each other, and now wondered whether they weren't originally just one big village.

The three villages situated on lower grounds than the dam relied on the large waterwheel carrying the river waters into irrigation canals and redistributed them into their expansive farmlands. He could tell that the three villages were highly invested in agriculture.

With his Telefax Vision, Smoke followed the flow of the irrigation canals and found multiple smaller waterwheels along it.

Smoke could only let out a whistle as he was at a loss of words in their technological advancement. He envied them and was now more invested in having them move to Verbrannt, hoping that this technology could be transferred there.

He intended to visit Pinagsama first as it was nearest to the east side, where Horrabelle was coming from. The three villages were small and really close to each other. So small that even with all three of them combined, Verbrannt would still be larger.

Flying directly over Pinagsama, he assessed that the village walls were well made, but he instantly noticed something missing. They were lacking Archer towers in the entire village.

Even though they could land inside the village, Smoke and Ledur landed outside of the village's main gates with Igniz still hidden in his metallic orb. He did this in order to show them proper respect and steadily increase their Intimacy.

+ Entered Pinagsama Village

One of the villages sharing Gitna Dam, purely an agricultural village. Its residents were forced to take up arms due to the recent Brandal attacks. The current population is 1,206.

Two men and two women in their late twenties immediately rushed towards them. All of them had black hair and were clothed in hard leather armor. They pointed their three-pronged iron-spears, they were carrying at Smoke and Ledur.

Smoke was hoping for a more pleasant greeting, but settled with the fact that they weren't being attacked.

"Easy now," he said calmly and raised his hands in the air. "My name is Smoke and this is my friend Ledur." he said with a smile and pointed to the winged Tikbalang."

Ledur shook his head and gave him a knowing look, which he understood as an 'I told you so.'

"We're not here to make trouble. In fact, we're here to prevent it," said Smoke strongly with his hands still raised.

The four villagers looked at each other and quickly turned back their attention at Smoke. "That is exactly what a Spy would say," shot back one of the men.

Abruptly, one of the female villagers asked out loud. "But would a Spy wear such shabby clothes? He doesn't look like he’s had anything to eat in days."

Upon hearing this, Smoke thanked his ragged appearance for once. Seeing as there were four of them, he gambled on using his Beggary. He observed the girl and could see the pity in her eyes. He had a feeling that the girl would be susceptible to his ability.

"Just hear me out. I just want to talk to your village chief. Horrabelle is coming with a legion of Brandals and all of you must evacuate," pleaded Smoke imploringly.

"You can even tie us up if that will make you feel better," said Smoke and lowered his hands and crossed them over to each other, offering it to the girl who spoke out earlier.

BEGGARY ABILITY SUCCEEDED!
> You have convinced this person to take pity on you. Your intimacy with her has temporarily increased to 80%.
Note: Intimacy levels will only last for 24 hours.

The girl turned to her companions and said. "Let's just tie them up and take them to the elder. How could they possibly fight us? I mean, we got them outnumbered."

The three villagers started whispering to each other and eventually agreed with her suggestion. They tied up Smoke's and Ledur's hands in chains and led them to the home of their village elder.

"My name is Dalaga, and I'm on the line if you two cause any problems," she said glaringly and pointed at Smoke.

He raised his chained up hands in surrender. "Of course. We won't do anything like that."

As they walked through the village, Smoke trained himself to scrutinize everything he could find. Be it as a hero or a captive, every time he was paraded through a village, he could already gather vital information. There were some children playing outside of their homes, but only one or two.

Their homes were made out of light material. Bamboo for the walls and floors, and thatched up hay for their roofs. Basing from the colossal dam and the several watermills, he expected more advance houses, but he concluded that they must have focused all their efforts on agricultural architecture rather than their housing.

Despite their less impressive residences, Smoke found them very dependable. All of the adults were clothed in the same hard leather armor. Men and women alike appeared to be battle ready at a moment's notice.

As they were still heading for the elder's home, they passed through one of the farmlands. There, he found the villagers stacking up piles of hay, using their three-pronged spears as pitch forks.

'Even though they're only farming, they're still prepared for any attacks,' thought an inspired Smoke. 'The residents in Verbrannt should be like this as well.'

While still heading for the village elder, Smoke received his anticipated call from Espion.

"Excuse me," he said while tapping the young girl with his chained up hands. "I've got to take this. It won't be long."

Dalaga nodded and allowed him to take it. They stopped. Dalaga and the villagers surrounded Smoke and Ledur.

"Smoke, they've left. You've got exactly forty-eight hours before Horrabelle gets to those villages," reported Espion hurriedly. "I'm going to head back to Centzo and see if their mayor has healed."

"Thanks, Espion, and be safe," replied Smoke before their call ended.

He hurriedly opened a customized window and created a countdown timer.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 47H:59M:00S

He minimized the window and pushed it to the side of his peripheral vision.

"Dalaga, I'm good to go," stated Smoke hurriedly. "Now, let's hurry up and meet your elder."

He was almost pushing the villagers to walk faster as every second now literally counts.

Despite their hastened pace, it still took them ten more minutes of walking until they eventually reached the elder's house.

"Wait here, while I'll call the elder," said the girl who was influenced by his Beggary.

Seconds later, she came out with an old man in his early seventies. Smoke thought that he looked friendly and was hopeful that his conversation with him would go smoothly.

"Good day! I'm Smoke," he said with a Smile but in a hurried manner. "I'd offer my hand, but I'm currently tied up at the moment." He then made a strong gesture with his bounded up hands.

The old man looked to the two men next to Smoke and said. "Dagdag, Labis, remove their chains. Those things won't be necessary."

The two villagers immediately followed his orders and freed Smoke and Ledur.

"Thank you so much," he said gratefully and rubbed his wrists where the chains had been. He then extended his hand to the village elder. "Nice to meet you..."

"Utusan. My name is Utusan," replied the old man cheerfully and shook Smoke's hand back.

"My granddaughter tells me that you've come to warn us about an invasion?" asked Utusan while patting the young girl whom Smoke managed to convince.

"Yes!" responded Smoke eagerly. "Horrabelle has joined with the Brandals and are coming to wipe out your village and the other two villages near here."

Utusan stared at him blankly. "I'm aware of the Brandals cruelty," he spoke out of personal experience. "But who is this Horrabelle person?"

Smoke stared back at him in disbelief. "You don't know Horrabelle? Have you heard about the Witches of Wysteria?"

Utusan shook his head in response.

'I thought they were well known throughout the entire continent?' he wondered to himself.

"Anyway, she's a very bad person and her powers are even worse," Smoke proceeded to describe how horrible Horrabelle was, in hopes of convincing Utusan and his entire village to leave with him.

"...So, that's why I'm urging you to migrate with us to Verbrannt. We've already migrated dozens of villages and Verbrannt can more than accommodate all three of the villages here."

Utusan was mumbling and scratched his chin while he was pondering. "Horrabelle does indeed sound terrifying, but I'm afraid I'm not the one you have to convince."

Smoke's eyebrows met with confusion. "What do you mean? Aren't you the village elder of Pinagsama?"

"Village elder, yes. But I take my orders from someone above me," explained Utusan. "And the village elders of Tatlong and Lugar will only tell you the same thing as well."

He took in a deep breath and asked with a hint of frustration. "So, who do I have to talk to in order to save your lives?"

"You have to speak with Guro," retorted Utusan. "Guro lives in a small house on top of Gitna dam."

"Alright, any significant markings on Guro's house? Or do I just ask around?" asked a somewhat annoyed Smoke.

Utusan waved his hand in dismissal. "It should be easy to spot. Guro is the only one who lives on top of the dam."

Smoke shook Utusan's hand and thanked him for the information about Guro. He turned to Ledur and gave him a nod. The winged Tikbalang spread out his black bat-like wings and soared to the sky. He then saluted Utusan and the rest of the villagers gathered and leapt up, spreading his hooded cloak and gliding towards Guro's house.

* * * * * *

Posthaste, Smoke and Ledur soared to Guro's house on top of Gitna Dam. He used his Telefax Vision to search the dam's surface until he finally spotted the house he was looking for. It was right in the middle of the dam.

It was a small brown house made out of thick lumber, large stones and a tiled roof. The house's materials blended well with the earth dam and slightly camouflaged it. One would have needed to know the house's location in order to find it.

Both Smoke and Ledur landed softly in front of the house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" asked Smoke loudly.

He tried walking around the house and shouted Guro's name, but there was still no response.

Smoke scratched his head and wondered whether Guro was sleeping. "Should we go in?" he asked Ledur.

From out of the blue, his Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed a large monster heading his way. He looked up and saw a three-meter-lengthed bull shark crashing down from the sky. Its horns would have scratched him if he didn't dodge it in time.

Smoke took out his weighted chain and sickle and prepared himself to fight the large lake monster, but then he saw that its life bar (1,163/300,000 HP). It was steadily going down.

"Who are you and what are you doing near my home?" asked a stern female voice.

Quickly turning around, he spotted a middle-age lioness Lioumerean carrying the a three-pronged golden-spear. She stepped out of a rowboat from the man made lake and easily pulled it to rest next to three other rowboats placed on top of the dam.

Upon closer inspection, Smoke realized that the water in the dam was filled with creatures belonging to the expansive Murray river. This horned bull shark may have been smaller than the ones he met in Saruras, but it was clearly no pushover either.

He paused as he was surprised to see a Lioumerean. "Hello," greeted Smoke and waved at her pleasantly. "You must be Guro. Utusan told me to talk to you."

Smoke stepped back as Guro suddenly threw her spear pierced the head of the bull shark, depleting it of its final HP.

"I don't normally entertain strangers, but something about you seems familiar," she said with an intrigued voice and walked over to the body of the bull shark. As the monster's body started to disappear, Guro knelt down and picked an odd looking knife in the shape of the bull shark's tooth.

"So...talk," retorted Guro haughtily. "I don't have all day," she added while she collected the other items dropped by horned shark.

"Right, my friend and I came here to warn you about Horrabelle's incoming attack. She's got two thousand Therianthropes and eight thousand Brandals with her...." Smoke began to describe what atrocities Horrabelle has in mind for the three villages if she reaches them.

After a few minutes of Smoke's winded explanation, Guro stopped him from talking any further.

"I've heard about Horrabelle and I know about the Brandals, but I don't know anything about you," she stated plainly.

"Why should I listen to you?" she asked inquisitively. "Did you expect me to uproot three villages just because you told me?"

Smoke thought about using his Beggary ability on her, but decided not to. He didn't want to risk the chance it would fail and lose his chance of convincing her completely. He smiles at her, but had his arms crossed while still thinking about what to do next.

Then, Guro stood up and walked over to her house. "Follow me," she commanded airily. "And you can let out that ember sprite in your chest there," added Guro as she pointed to the metallic orb on his chest.

Smoke looked at Ledur with a raised eyebrow. He then opened up Igniz's compartment and signaled both of them to follow her.

She opened the door to her house and left it open for Smoke and Ledur to enter. Once inside, she got a pitcher of black gooey beverage and helped herself to a glass.

"If Horrabelle's army is indeed that many, then Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama has no chance of surviving," she said and clicked her tongue loudly.

She then looked at Igniz and said. "Dark ember sprites are rare. This is the only the second dark ember sprite I've seen."

Guro then sat down at the kitchen table while Smoke and Ledur remained standing. "At least you've got enough manners not to sit on your own," she said and pointed to the two of them to have a seat at the table.

Only Smoke sat down with her while Ledur stood in his place.

"Did you know that those three villages used to be in shambles," she said while clicking her tongue once more. "They were victims to the Brandals long before they started their invasion on Centzo city."

Guro took a deep breath. "It wasn't until I gathered all of them and trained them to be Ranseurs that they were able to get back their normal lives. They're safe within their walls, near the Gitna Dam, which their ancestors built. And they've done fairly well until today..."

"A Ranseur? Is that an Advanced variation of the Warrior Job?" Smoke asked as he was eager to learn a new Job.

"Ha!" Guro exclaimed mockingly. "A Ranseur isn't a Warrior. A Ranseur is a variation of a Gladiatrix who specializes in using three-pronged spears," she explained proudly.

"Gladiatrix? Is that a female version of a Gladiator?" he asked innocently.

Unbeknownst to him that he opened a sensitive topic.

“No! You have it backwards!” Guro suddenly shouted for no apparent reason. “Gladiators are male versions of Gladiatrix!”

She glared at Smoke and pointed her finger at him. “Do you understand?”

“Of course I was just trying to...” he stopped mid sentence as he could feel Ledur's eye glaring at him.

The winged Tikbalang gave Smoke a look that meant to wrap things up, as Horrabelle was going to arrive in less than two days.

Smoke nodded and tried convincing Guro once again. "Sorry, I digress. Like I said, Horrabelle will be here soon. So, please, let's all migrate to Verbrannt. We've got more than enough land there to build another Gitna Dam."

"Even if you did have the space, none of the current villagers knows how to make a dam. I heard that it was from the time of the Lizardites' rule. Their ancestors were enslaved and instructed to build it."

"Alright, can you just tell me how I can help you save their lives?" asked an exasperated Smoke.

Guro took a sip out of her black gooey drink and stared at him intently. "Let's say I do believe you. We move to this...Verbrannt, and what then? What's to stop Horrabelle from attacking us there?"

Smoke was about to slam his fist on the Guro's table, but forced himself to stop and touched it lightly instead.

"Verbrannt has me and my private army protecting it. Everyday it's defenses are being strengthened and more people arrive to band together against the Brandals," he paused as and took a deep breath to compose himself. "If these three villages join us, you won't only be saving them, but you'll be helping us defend the other villagers that we've already migrated."

"Hm, but I don't know how dependable you are." Guro took another sip out of her cup.

"The boss of this dam has been constantly plaguing the villages by its discharges. Legend says that only a true leader can conquer Aral. If you manage to slay it, then maybe I'll consider it."

As expected, a quest window appeared in front of him.

+ Quest: Slay the Dam Boss
Monster Hunting Quest
Level: B

Guro, the secret leader of all three villages, requested that you eliminate Aral and prove your worth.

Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]

"Consider it dead," stated Smoke confidently.

Before walking away, Smoke's assertive voice became meek. "Mm. Any clues on what type of monster this Aral creature is?" he asked Guro.

"Now that won't be much of a quest if I help," she scoffed.

"Was just wondering, that's all," he said in positively."Then how about if we borrowed one of your rowboats? Would that be alright?"

Guro shrugged and nodded dismissively. "Just get it back in one piece. Now, go, I've got a lot of things to do."

Smoke, Igniz and Ledur bade her farewell and left the lioness Lioumerean's house. Smoke then checked the countdown timer.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 46H:10M:03S

'Still plenty of time left,' he thought, as he forced himself to think positively.

* * * * * *

Before they left, Smoke sharpened his weapons against his electro stone and enchanted them with Lightning property for the next ten hours.

Rowing expertly in Guro's rowboat, Smoke rowed farther away from her house towards the central portion of the dam. Meanwhile, Igniz orbited five meters away the boat searching for the monster.

After thirty minutes of rowing, Guro's house looked like a dollhouse. Yet there was still no sign of Gitna Dam's Boss.

"Smoke, why did you borrow the boat? When we can easily look for the monster from above?" asked Ledur flying directly over him.

"I wanted to get this Aral business done and over with. That's why I thought it would be faster if I used myself as bait. But I guess I was wrong," explained Smoke while looking into the murky blue waters of Gitna Dam.

All of a sudden, his Cunning of the Dire Fox picked up six monsters coming fast towards him. He looked in the direction of the monsters and found the water in the dam boiling with a dark yellow glow. With his chain and sickle ready, Smoke waited for the monsters to come out of the water.

SWOOSH

A three-meter long elongated eel with amber stripes, pointed snout and underslung mouth leapt at him. It was long, but incredibly thin as its body's girth was less than half a meter. As it soared through the air like an arrow, fire came out of its stripes, increasing its girth to three times its original size.

Confident of his high Fire resistance, Smoke thought to test the monster out and blocked the eel's attack with his left arm while his sickle was poised to strike on the right.

The monster opened its mouth wide and revealed four sharp teeth. It took a bite out of the DarkElf's arm and damaged him for 300 points. It then tried to burn him with fire blazing out of its markings, but Smoke took zero damage from its fire attack.

As the monster finished its attack, Smoke slashed his sickle across the eel's elongated body and revealed its life bar and name, fire eel (67,500/80,000 HP).

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH

He was about to do another attack on the fire eel, but five more were heading his way. He leapt up and attacked with his sickle. It sliced across the monsters' bodies as he swirled it around rapidly.

With his Lightning enhanced weighted chain and sickle, all six fire eels dove back in the water with 84% left on their life bars. The rowboat rocked wildly as Smoke landed. He instantly threw his sickle in the water after them and damaged three more before they dove in deeper.

'A water monster with Fire attribute. Now, that's something you don't see everyday,' he let out an amused smirked.

Smoke noticed Igniz attacked the fire eels with his fireballs, but it had no effect on them at all. "Don't worry about it, bud."

He also realized that Ledur who was flying above him, could not to attack as the fire eels were out and into the water in less than a few seconds. This time, Ledur was preparing to dive in, and waited for the fire eels to come out again.

However, Smoke had another idea. "Ledur, can you and Igniz fly farther away? I'd like to try something out."

Boiling water surrounded his rowboat as the fire eels encircled around it. He placed his feet firmly on the rowboat and activated Cyclone of Slaughter. Sixteen afterimages of sickles and iron balls encircled around him. He pointed the blurring chain and sickle into the water. A flurry of water erupted and ripped out chunks of the fire eels flew up along side it.

'Wonder what these fire eels taste taste like,' he thought to himself while smirking.

He could see the life bars of the fire eels rapidly decreasing to below 40% in less than three seconds. The fire eels tried to swim away but his weapon's ability created a strong vortex, pulling the monsters closer to the rowboat and prevented them from escaping.

As the fire eels were constantly being damaged by the sickle and iron ball, they instinctively found refuge directly under Smoke's rowboat.

Cornered, the fire eels started attacking the bottom of his rowboat. Smoke almost went overboard due to the fierce rocking motion. Any more violent movement, and his Cyclone of Slaughter would have been canceled. Despite this, Smoke continued attacking anything in the water. However, the fire eels refused to go down without a fight. The monsters jumped out to the sides of his rowboat and scorched the dry wood of his boat by scraping their flaming bodies against it.

The rowboat caught on fire. He would have started taking Fire damage if it weren’t for his high resistance to it.

Smoke focused on the jumping monsters and slaughtered all of them in pairs. In no time at all, the fire eels were no more, but so was his borrowed vessel.

"Now what do I tell Guro?" he asked himself while placing his palm on his face.

Even though he set out on her quest to increase Intimacy with her, he went and got her rowboat destroyed instead.

Ledur patted Smoke’s shoulder as soon as the DarkElf glided to shore. "Don't worry about it. As long as we get that Aral monster, I'm sure she won't mind the missing boat."

"Right." said Smoke and nodded positively. "But what are we gonna for bait now?"

Smoke scratched his head while thinking of a solution.

Abruptly, Ledur zoomed towards the central portion of the man-made lake.

"What are you doing?" Smoke shouted out to him.

"Looking for the Dam Boss," stated Ledur flatly.

Before Smoke could talk him out of it, the winged Tikbalang was already back in the middle of the lake, flying closely above the water, randomly tapping it with his hooves to lure the monsters from deep within.

It wasn't even five minutes, and a horned bull shark launched out of the water. Ledur easily dodged the attack and struck the two-meter monster with his hoof before it plunged back into the water.

Lightning enchanted arrows sailed through the air as Smoke could only attack with his power chainsaw bow from the shore.

Eight arrows struck the bull shark, but its life bar still displayed (227,420/250,000 HP).

"Igniz, fly out there and light up that shark," he ordered his symbiote.

Posthaste, the dark ember sprite flew straight and gave Ledur cover fire.

Together, they spent the next ten minutes dealing with the bull shark before ending its final HP.

Smoke then angrily called Ledur back to the shore. "Don't pull a stunt like that again," he said strongly. "You could have been killed."

"I was only luring a monster, and I only  followed what you were doing earlier. Besides, we don't have time to spare," argued Ledur back at him.

Smoke knew Ledur was right and conceded. "Alright, but we've got to do it together."

Ledur nodded in agreement. With Smoke, Igniz and Ledur in concurrence, the three of them set out and flew over the man-made lake. The winged Tikbalang still flew near the water's surface,  whereas Smoke readied his chain and sickle to strike at a moment's notice.

Ten hours went by and the sun had already set, but they still didn't see any signs of Aral. They've already killed over three hundred fire eels and a dozen bull sharks. They only fought against those two creatures, due to the fact that the other monsters in the dam were too afraid to go near them.

Since it was a moonless night, Smoke ordered them to take a break and created a small campfire near the shore. The fire was only there as a source of light as the meat of the fire eels they collected were already good enough to eat raw. Their meat was always warm as if freshly baked out of the oven.

After eating, he thought to get some rest and was about to log out of Zectas for a proper sleep. He had already skipped the scheduled power nap four hours ago.

"I'll be back. I think I'll be a while," he said to Ledur while stretching his arms and yawning. "Don't do anything reckless while I'm away, you hear?" he said to Ledur.

Smoke stood up and prepared to logout, but before leaving, he checked his customized countdown timer.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 35H:58M:59S

'I have to get back soon. Time is running out,' he thought to himself and disappeared from the virtual reality world.

* * * * * *

Smoke groggily opened his eyes. He only slept two hours in the real world as eight hours had already passed here in Zectas.

However, his sleepiness instantly disappeared after he saw Ledur's severely wounded body lying down near their encampment. Igniz was helplessly orbiting around him with a worried expression.

At once, Smoke ran to him and checked the damage on his winged friend. Ledur's life bar displayed (50,212/403,992 HP).

He helped Ledur sit up and quickly assessed his situation. 'Good. His life bar isn't going down.'

"What happened?" asked Smoke while inspecting his friend. He then found a large cauterized wound behind Ledur's black wings. He presumed that it was Igniz's handiwork. He feared that Ledur was inflicted with Bleeding.

"I found it..." said Ledur in agony. "Aral came out at exactly midnight."

Smoke nodded guiltily. 'I should have considered Aral was a nocturnal creature. I knew I should have slept for just an hour.'

"It came out from the middle of the lake," he said while trying to raise his hand but could only muster the strength to point with his index finger.

"What kind of monster was Aral?" Smoke asked as he wanted to know what they were up against.

Ledur could only blink as he didn't have enough strength to move most of his muscles.

"It was an olm...but I've never seen one that large." Ledur had a difficult time talking.

"What's an olm?" asked Smoke as he had never read about them in the monster books he acquired.

"They're...dragons...but..." said Ledur as he tried to explain, but it was clear that each word he uttered was painful.

Smoke could no longer watch him suffering. "No, it's alright. Just rest now."

Ledur blinked twice and closed his eyes to sleep. Smoke then placed medicinal herbs the Lioumereans gave him. He hoped that it would help recover Ledur's lost HP.

He walked away from Ledur and called the person he could always turn to when he was in trouble.

"Hey, how are you," said Smoke pleasantly. "I didn't catch you at a bad time, I hope."

"It's okay. I'm fine. Everyone's fine. Now, what can I help you with?" replied Darius, the legendary Beggar Legati.

Smoke was taken aback. Darius was usually friendly no matter what time he called.

"Are you alright? Is there a problem in Nanahuatl?" asked a worried Smoke.

"Like I said, everything's fine. We're not in any imminent danger. So, just get on with what you want!" he stated strongly.

Smoke couldn't understand what was wrong with Darius, but decided that learning about the olm was more important at the moment.

"I was hoping you could tell me what an olm is?" said Smoke bluntly.

"An olm? Is a subspecies of a dragon," Darius voice slowly became calm as he started explaining about Smoke's unknown monster. "It's really interesting because although it is classified as a water dragon, it is also a lightning dragon. It has two black metal rods coming out of its ears that can fire lightning bolts."

"Really?" he said with clear interest. Smoke decided to ask his follow up questions while Darius was in a good mood. "How big do these olms usually get?"

"Olms grow to a size of about one meter, but I've seen one reach up to two meters," explained Darius.

"Interestingly enough, olms become the strongest monsters in a lake because their lightning bolt ability easily subdues the rest of the creatures." described the old Beggar whose love for sharing knowledge overcame his irritability. "Instead of having 100% Affinity to Water, they have 75% Affinity to both Water and Lightning."

Smoke listened to him intently as he too loved hearing Darius talk about his extensive knowledge in Zectas.

However, Darius voice instantly changed after he finished talking about the olm. "I assume that's all you need from me?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Given Darius' temperament, Smoke decided it was best to cut their call short. "Yes. I think that's it for now..."

CLICK

"...Thank you for your help," said Smoke but his last sentence wasn't heard as Darius had already dropped their call.

'I wonder what's wrong with him? I better visit Nanahuatl when I have some free time.' he thought to himself and made a mental note to do so.

Thinking back on the task at hand, Smoke couldn't imagine how a two meter water dragon with lightning ability could injure Ledur to that extent.

'He did say he had never seen an olm that big before. So I guess it's bigger than two meters.' thought Smoke to himself while deciding on what to do before midnight.

Smoke checked the time. He still had seventeen hours before Aral was suppose to come out, but then he checked the his customized countdown timer.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 27H:58M:59S

If he waited for midnight to kill Aral, he would only have ten hours left before Horrabelle's army storms down on the three villages.

He shook his head strongly and decided that killing Aral was not the answer.

"Watch over him, bud," he said to Igniz. "I've got to go back to Guro's house and reason with her."

Smoke leapt up and hurriedly glided back to the house on top of the dam, in front of the man-made lake filled with powerful monsters.

In less than thirty-minutes, Smoke reached Guro's house. He landed softly and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He called out her name, but not a living sound came out from the house.

Due to Aral's expected arrival set for seventeen hours from now, he changed his mind and thought to risk it. However, with Guro missing, his plan to use Beggary on her was now out of the drain.

While standing outside of Guro's house, he found ten torches laid against the wall. Since Aral was supposed to come out at midnight, he decided to "borrow" the torches as they could at least help increase their visibility of the area.

Smoke returned to where Ledur and Igniz was. As he had no idea how to set a trap for a creature with unknown size, he planned to meet it with brute force.

In preparation for Aral's arrival, he used his Earth Manipulation on the grounds near the shoreline. He started constructing two earth towers. He planned on them having a height of twenty meters, a width and thickness of seven meters.

Hours went by and he had finished his first tower. This tower was a standard square tower, but with one eye-catching twist. On top, it had a ramp pointing down towards the lake. He then started creating one meter boulders and with his Earth Manipulation lifted them to the top of the tower.

While doing so, he found Ledur and Igniz standing behind him. His dark ember sprite was orbiting around Ledur as if trying to help him walk. The winged Tikbalang was limping a little and tried to sit down against a tree.

Smoke found that Ledur's life bar was already fully healed and that his motor skills were almost back to 100%.

"What are you doing?" asked Ledur as he pointed to Smoke's earth-based structure.

"It's our secret weapon against Aral," he said proudly with a wide smile. "Are you feeling better?"

"I am. Thanks to you and Igniz." Ledur smiled gratefully at the two of them.

"Do you think you're up to telling me exactly what kind of olm this Aral is?" asked Smoke eagerly.

"Sure..." replied Ledur. The winged Tikbalang proceeded to describe his fight with the olm boss of this dam.

After Ledur's detailed retelling, Smoke realized that setting a trap for Aral was out of the question. Meeting it head on was their only course of action.

Given the new information on Aral, Smoke updated Ledur on his battle plan for their midnight battle. Smoke then whipped up a quick and easy fire eel meal and ate with his friends. After filling their satiety bars, Ledur was fully recovered.

Together, the two Earth Manipulators built Smoke's second tower in no time at all. The towers were spaced ten meters apart. They've loaded each tower with at least twenty boulders.

After which, he told Ledur that he would leave for a while and get some rest in his other world. Smoke wanted to be fully charged before facing Aral.

* * * * * *

Ten minutes before midnight, Smoke was sitting on top of an earth tower. He was busily coating his weighted chain and sickle with poison.

Ledur was standing next to him, watching the man-made lake.

"I think the paralysis I got from being shocked by its lightning attack lasted for more than ten seconds," stated the winged Tikbalang as his hoof scratched his chin.

"Yeah, but that was a direct attack." Smoke nodded as they continued on reviewing their battle plans. "Besides, you said its whole body lights up before it uses it. We should easily be able to..."

BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT

He stopped talking as the alarm he set went off. "It's time!" declared Smoke. Ledur, Igniz and himself all flew towards the center of the man-made lake.

Before reaching the center Smoke, Igniz and Ledur broke off into different directions. Ledur went slightly right, Igniz went slightly left and Smoke descended.

All of them started making loud noises on the surface of the water. Igniz used his fireballs and created loud splashes as it hit the water surface. Ledur flew lower and used his hooves as he did before, tapping on the water surface. Whereas, Smoke used his white metallic staff and strongly smacked the lake with it.

Two minutes till Aral's arrival; Ledur flew back to the two towers in preparation for the next phase of their plan while Smoke and Igniz remained soaring above the center of the lake. Their vigorous disturbance on the lake's surface brought the monsters deep within to its surface and they searched for the culprit who perturbed them.

Thirty fire eels emerged and created an uneven circular formation of fiery glow on the lake. Four horned bull sharks joined them shortly after.

Smoke had hoped for more monsters, but this was still better than nothing. The monsters were getting restless and started to dive back into the lake's depths. Hurriedly, Smoke used his poison arrows and Igniz his fireballs to aggravate the monsters once more.

As they were harassing the lake monsters below, a light bluish glow started to rise from the center of the lake. It rose rapidly and leapt out of the water. Aral's serpent-like body had a length over twenty meters and a girth of two meters. Its bluish-white scales gave it an eerie glow and greatly illuminated the entire lake. It had four dragon-like limbs that looked like it would have trouble holding up the massive water dragon.

As it was falling back into the lake, its one meter head attached with the two black metal rods, stared directly at Smoke before it dove back down.

SPLASH

A colossal column of water rose up and lightly reached Smoke as Aral's massive body made contact with the lake's surface. The Boss of the lake remained swimming on the surface, while the other monsters started to dive down.

However, before the other monsters could flee, Smoke used his Berserker's Ring of Flames on top of the water and created an upside-down red casting circle on it, catching Aral and the rest of the lake monsters.

Instantly, the lake monsters started to take a red color as they were inflicted with Berserk, but Aral's bluish-white scales remained unsullied.

'What? Is Aral immune to my ring's Berserk?' Smoke couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Despite Aral's immunity, the rest of the monsters still performed as he planned. All of them caught in his casting circle attacked the mightiest monster and went after the blue glowing monster.

SHRIEK

Aral let out a loud, high-pitched piercing sound as all of the monsters attacked it. The fire eels and bull sharks lost all their sense of fear and flung themselves towards Aral, taking out chunks of its bluish scales. Whereas the horned bull sharks charged their horns deep into Aral's elongated body.

Nine seconds passed, and Smoke canceled his casting circle. Even though he could have kept it up to fifteen seconds, he didn’t use all of his mana as a precautionary measure.

The monsters' were freed from their Berserk status and dizzily swam around the giant olm.Yet despite their joint efforts they only dented Aral's life bar as it displayed (742,150/800,000 HP).

On the other hand, Aral glared directly at the DarkElf gliding above the water. Its entire body started to glow even brighter.

Smoke knew that it was time for them to leave. He signalled Igniz, and together they hurriedly soared away. While gliding away, his eyes were focused on Aral and saw two lightning bolts aimed directly at him.

Fortunately, he evaded the two lightning bolts and was steadily nearing the two earth towers he had built.

A constantly glowing Aral remained near the center of the lake as it began electrocuting the monsters that attacked it earlier.

Smoke stopped midway towards the tower and ordered Igniz to fly back with him. He equipped his power chainsaw bow and released a barrage of poison arrows at once, while ordering Igniz to attack Aral with his fireballs. Yet, their ranged attacks could not go beyond 200 points of damage.

Despite their low output, they still kept attacking Aral with their ranged attacks. The gigantic olm glared back at him. It charged another lightning attack and its body glowed once more. It launched two more lightning bolts at Smoke. He quickly closed his cloak and instantly plummeted, only to open it up again and glide upward.

As Smoke was able to avoid its lightning bolts twice now, Aral left him alone and resumed attacking the groggy monsters. These targets barely moved as they had not fully recovered from the after effects of Smoke's Berserk.

BOOSH

In under ten minutes, Aral devoured all of the monsters on the surface of the lake. Whereas an ignored Smoke and Igniz inflicted a total of 54,820 damage points.

Smoke smirked as he watched Aral's life bar display a value of 86%.

Aral's body glowed once more and attacked him with the same set of lightning bolts. As he had seen this attack for many times now, he was easily able to dodge it using the same trick of closing his cloak and gliding back up.

'Maybe I overestimated this monster,' thought Smoke smugly and released eight poison arrows as a counterattack.

Aral remained persistent and charged for another lightning bolt attack, and again Smoke closed his cloak. Yet, this time was different.

The gigantic olm dipped its long tail into the lake and flipped up a torrential column of water. Smoke got blasted out of the sky and was plummeting straight down the lake.

The lake Boss then charged for another attack and released its lightning bolts when Ledur came out of nowhere and scooped the falling Smoke out of harm's way.

Igniz hurriedly flew to the soaring winged Tikbalang who landed Smoke safely on top of their earth tower.

"Thanks, Ledur. That was close," he said, smiling as adrenaline was pumping hard inside him.

"Now, what was that line you always say about being reckless, again?" sarcastically asked Ledur.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just proceed with phase two," said Smoke sheepishly.

Smoke hurriedly placed the torches he borrowed from Guro’s house, on the sides of the downward ramp facing the lake.

Aral swam skillfully on the lake's surface after them. It followed Smoke near the shore of their towers. Enticed by the torches that looked like fire eels, the giant olm lunged out of the water. It tried to grab the torches on the tower to the left, only to be met with a rolling boulder, smashing directly into its head.

THUD

Ledur pushed the boulder with his Earth Manipulation and made a loud dull sound upon impact with Aral's head. It wobbled and swayed as its body was falling into the water.

SPLASH

The water dragon sunk back into the lake and received a damage of 1,000 points.

Five seconds later, it went up again for another attack. Yet this time Ledur threw off five boulders, but as it came rolling down, Aral easily avoided all of them. Or so it thought.

Ledur's boulders may have initially missed Aral, but the winged Tikbalang used his Earth Manipulation on the falling boulders and broke them into four equal pieces. He then transformed them into earth javelins and tried to plunge them into the giant olm's body. Each spike only did 1,500 points of damage as it did not fully penetrate Aral's blue scales.

The boulders turned into sharp earth javelins managed a total damage of 30,000 points.

Surprised by the sudden earth attack, Aral retreated deep into the lake.

Smoke would have wanted to use his Earth Manipulation and helped Ledur, but his mana was still at (5,884/255,034 MP). His only contribution to the battle now was a steady bombardment of poison arrows, but even that was taken away from him the moment Aral submerged.

Still deep within the lake, Aral did two more lightning bolt attacks, but it was neutralized by the earth tower and dispersed into the ground.

Then, the blue glowing inside the lake disappeared.

"Did it give up?" asked Smoke.

"I doubt it," replied Ledur flatly.

All of a sudden, a large column of water blasted out from the lake and destroyed a large portion of Ledur's tower. Immediately after, more water blasts launched out from the lake as Aral's tail flipped large columns of water.

Piece by piece, Ledur's tower was being torn down by Aral's water blasts.

Smoke switched to his white metallic staff and stepped in front of the torrential attacks. With his palm facing the lake and his staff planted firmly on the tower, he created a purple concave Manatl which was three meters in diameter.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

Sounds of the Manatl successfully blocking the attacks echoed, but the barrier wasn't big enough to block it completely. Smoke got drenched with water as some of it sprayed out of his Manatl. Fortunately, the water had lost most of its force and he received no damage.

Five minutes into Aral's repetitive water blasts, it stopped attacking and its head came up to inspect Smoke's barrier. It looked at it intensely and dove back into the water. It then resumed its repeated water blasts as if it was on to something.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

"My Manatl won't hold much longer," said Smoke to Igniz and Ledur. "Fall back!"

Ledur and Igniz flew off the earth tower and landed on the ground below it.

In the brief moment that Aral stopped attacking, he canceled his Manatl and transferred the gathered energy to his white metallic staff.

He leapt off and was about to glide down when a water blast came straight at him. He came crashing to the ground and tumbled hard, smack into a tree. He only received one clean shot, but was already substantially damage. His life bar was now at 65%.

Presently, farther away from the lake, Smoke's party had no way of damaging Aral. Yet the same thing could be said for the the gigantic olm as well.

Ledur and Igniz speedily ran to where Smoke was, but before they could do anything, a blue glow shone above them. They all looked up and found Aral glaring over them from on top of Smoke's earth tower. Its body glowed a shimmering blue as it coiled itself around the tower. Two more lightning bolts launched out of the black metal rods coming out of its head.

Seconds before Aral's attack could reach them, Ledur created an earth wall in front of them and dissipated the lightning to the ground.

Two minutes had passed and Aral still kept firing its lightning bolts.

"Looks like it has an endless supply of that attack," he thought out loud. "We've got to get closer!" said Smoke strongly and pointed towards the tower.

Ledur than manipulated the wall to slowly move forward. It would stop and take Aral's lightning bolt attacks and move again afterward.

Aral kept on assailing them with its lightning bolts until Ledur's earth wall stopped. It had only moved forward for twenty meters.

The gigantic olm stopped attacking as it noticed a hole on the ground behind the earth wall. It  stretched its entire body to get a better view, but then felt something leap up from behind it. Aral turned around only to see Smoke's energized staff, smashing into its face.

WHAAM

Smoke's charged strike dealt 260,000 points of damage and left Aral with 49% on its life bar. He had Ledur use the Digger's Wand and create a tunnel for him to take Aral by surprise.

An injured Aral was about to dive back into the lake when suddenly, the earth tower collapsed on its body.

Ledur used his Earth Manipulation and trapped the gigantic olm. Shortly after, he collapsed the other one and turned all the tower pieces into a hundred earth javelins. The hard, sharp javelins stabbed Aral's elongated body in several places. The winged Tikbalang severely mangled the giant olm for 150,000 points of damage.

Aral was ensnared under the rubble of the earth towers, while multiple earth javelins protruded out of its body. It was left with (247,000/800,000 HP) on its life bar.

Ledur than manipulated the rubble two interlock with the ground, creating a mesh-like net over Aral. Smoke, Igniz and Ledur joined in on battering the last HP out of Aral’s body.

Yet, its shiny blue scales proved to be harder than expected as Smoke’s sickle could not cut deep into it.  Still; Smoke, Ledur and Igniz persisted and kept on attacking the helpless monster. Its life bar quickly dwindled to less than 8%.

In the midst of hacking the monster, his weighted chain and sickle glowed. This indicated that he had enough mana to activate the Cyclone of Slaughter. Coincidentally, Aral’s tail broke free due to its persistent struggle.

Before he could activate his ability, Aral's tail whip came out of nowhere and flung him upward, directly in front Aral's two black metallic rods, charging for an ultimate lightning attack.

Smoke thought about gliding away, but he knew that his gliding ability wasn't fast enough to dodge this. He switched to his white metallic staff and created a Manatl. He finished his purple barrier, but knew it couldn’t withstand the attack.

Finally, a lightning bolt the size of three meters came at him.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact.

BOOSH

Smoke heard the loud impact, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes and found himself undamaged by Aral's final attack. He quickly looked down and saw a crisped Ledur with a life bar of (3,992/403,992 HP). He immediately dove down after his friend as the high fall would surely kill him.

As soon as he caught Ledur's body, he scowled at Aral's eyes directly below him.

At the same time, the giant olm's body glowed brightly with an electrifying blue color. It was preparing for another one of its ultimate lightning attacks.

While carrying a half-dead Ledur, Smoke was diving fast towards Aral.

"Igniz!" he suddenly shouted and his dark ember sprite instinctively knew what Smoke meant.

The dark ember sprite zoomed to the falling Smoke and orbited around him rapidly. He was covered in a great ball of flames.

CRASH

Smoke stomped on Aral's skull as he used his Comet Crush ability on the giant olm. With Aral stunned, he placed Ledur safely away from Aral.

He then walked back and stood over the stunned monster's head. He waited for Aral to open its eyes. As soon as it did, Smoke used his Cyclone of Slaughter and shredded its head apart. Chunks and pieces of the giant olm flew everywhere.

+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to the giant olm: Aral.
+ Your party killed the giant olm: Aral.
+ Your party gained 2,000,000 experience points.

Smoke dismissed the window and swiftly collected the item dropped by Aral.

+ Acquired legendary dual rods: Aral's Lightning Rods

He stared at the black metal rod and recognized it as the ones protruding out of Aral's head. He didn’t bother examining the newly acquired weapon. Right now, he needed to see Ledur.

Smoke hurriedly applied medicinal herbs on his half-dead friend. "We should have a penalty for being reckless," he said as he applied first aid to him. "That way we at least get rich whenever this happens," he said jokingly as he tried to brighten up the mood.

Ledur managed a smile, but closed his eyes soon after as Paralysis took over his body.

He shook his head despairingly. They may have fulfilled Guro's quest, but he almost had no time left. He maximized the countdown timer and stared at it blankly.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 10H:02M:11S

Chapter Four:

A Semblance of Strength

It was forty-five minutes past midnight. The moon shone brightly on a clear sky, illuminating the man-made lake of Gitna Dam and giving it an eerie appearance.

With Igniz's purple flames as the only source of light, Smoke had a difficult time discerning his surroundings. Only the rubble of the torn down earth tower remained from their fight with Aral, the boss of Gitna dam.

Smoke thought that they were going to come out of it unscathed, but he was wrong. At the last minute, Aral used its ultimate attack that would have surely killed him. However, Ledur soared at sonic speed and took the full force of the lightning attack.

Now, that his courageous friend snapped out of the paralysis, but he was still severely wounded. Smoke used his Life Share and restored Ledur's life bar to (100,000/403,992 HP).

He thought about bringing Ledur with him, but there was physically no way for him to carry the three-meter tall winged Tikbalang.

As time was against him, Smoke hurriedly created a sturdy earth dome to protect Ledur from any unsavory monsters who would want to harm him his weakened friend. The dome was completely sealed except for the tiny holes he intentionally created for breathing.

After securing Ledur's safety, Smoke turned to his dark ember sprite. "Keep him safe, okay?"

Igniz bobbed his body up and down, and his dark purple flames flickered boldly.

Even though Igniz was only an ember sprite the size of his fist, Smoke felt a sense of assurance that Ledur would be protected.

Smoke leapt up and glided fast towards Guro's house. He took another look at the countdown timer.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 09H:45M:02S

He was uncertain he would be able to evacuate three villages in the span of nine hours. Even if he managed to clear them out of their homes, it would take almost three hours on foot to leave the deep valley.

'It will be really close, but I think we can still make it in time,' thought Smoke to himself, as he tried to be an optimist.

Fifteen minutes passed, and he reached Guro's house. As soon as he landed, he saw her through the window. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a candle in front of her.

Smoke hurriedly knocked at the door. “Come in,” she said loudly.

"I expected you to be here last night," calmly uttered Guro as Smoke entered her home. "I thought that you either died or dropped my challenge and left."

Smoke responded by angrily throwing the iron rods across the kitchen table. They rolled towards Guro until she stopped them with her hand. She lifted her eyes and noticed Smoke glowering at her.

"What's wrong with you, boy?" she scowled at his behavior.

"You and your calm attitude are what’s wrong. The villagers consider you their leader, but you've endangered their lives by sending me on a pointless quest to prove my worth, wasting precious time in the process," he spat out and pointed to the iron rods. "Well, there's your proof, but now there’s barely enough time left to evacuate everyone."

Examining the iron rods, a smirk appeared on Guro’s face. "You didn't inspect them, did you?"

"I didn't bother. My friend even got hurt just so I could bring it to you, but what good will it do us now? Horrabelle's army will be here soon," he shook his head and wished he had gambled on using his Beggary ability the first time he met the Gladiatrix.

Guro put her elbow on the table, resting her head in her hand. Smiling, she stared at Smoke. After a couple of seconds, she used her other hand to roll the iron rods back to him. “Inspect them.”

“I don’t care about the item,” he responded harshly. “What I care about is saving your people. So, get off your high horse and go tell them to evacuate.”

Her expression didn’t change. She calmly motioned for him to do as she said.

"Something is seriously wrong with you," he said, as he couldn't understand what was going on inside Guro's head. He followed her instruction.

Aral's Lightning Rods

A legendary weapon made from black metal rods of a powerful olm. It is said to be a mark of a natural leader.

Damage: 196-206
+28 Strength
+35 Dexterity
+50 Agility
+20 Leadership
+30% Lightning Affinity

Restrictions:
- Can only be used by Warrior variations
- Level 100
- Strength: 150
- Dexterity: 350
- Agility: 500

Equipment Ability:
*Lightning Shock (Active)
> Inflicts Paralysis on an enemy for 3 seconds and damages it for [Attack x 2 x Lightning Affinity]
> Consumes 5,000 MP/use
> Once you’ve used this ability, you cannot use it again for another two minutes
> Each of the rods has a separate cooldown for this ability
*Lightning Strike (Active)
> Inflicts Paralysis on an enemy for 8 seconds and damages it for [Attack x 10 x Lightning Affinity]
> Consumes 50,000 MP/use
> Once you’ve used this ability, you cannot use it again for another sixty minutes

Guro watched with satisfaction as Smoke’s expression changed while looking at the notification window in front of him. “You might want to reconsider throwing around such a formidable weapon,” she said and grinned.

Smoke was fixated on the Lightning Strike ability of the twin rods. ‘If my Lightning Affinity reaches 100%, it would deal ten times my Attack as damage. That’ll mean I’d be able to deal more than a hundred thousand points of damage with a single activation’ he thought to himself as he daydreamed about using the weapon in combat.

“Anyhow, these rods are an undeniable proof that you’ve slain Aral. With that, you have earned my respect,” continued Guro.

A notification window popped up afterwards.

+ Completed Quest: Slay the Dam Boss

You have defeated Aral, the Boss of Gitna dam. Guro now recognizes you as a worthy leader.

Rewards:
* Intimacy with Guro has increased to 70
* Intimacy with residents of Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama has increased to 60
* 500,000 experience

He was pleased that his Intimacy with Guro had greatly risen, because it meant that she would be easier to persuade. "With that, I hope I have convinced you that you need to evacuate," Smoke said in a commanding voice.

Guro stood up from her chair and walked over to the window on her left. With her back turned to him, she took a look at the moonlit landscape that had left her breathless countless times before.

“Actually, after you left, I did some more thinking. I came to the conclusion that it would be wise to be on the safe side. So, I went to all three villages yesterday and told the people to prepare for evacuation.”

Smoke listened to her with a confused look on his face.

Observing his reflection in the window pane, she decided to explain herself. "I figured, even if you were lying, we could just return. But in the event that you weren’t, we would be safe."

Still muddled by her logic, he only nodded in reply.

“And now, you stand before me. Someone who seems to have risked his life for only a chance at saving a bunch of strangers. I doubt you’re a boy who would cry ‘aardwolf.’ I guess, in the end, we both got what we wanted.”

Smoke looked at the floor, ashamed of his earlier rant. "Listen, I'm really sorry for what I said earlier. I was just worried about—"

"Save it. I understand where you were coming from," retorted Guro smugly. “The residents of Pinagsama and Tatlong are all in Lugar; they should be departing soon. I was just here to pick up a few things and check if you survived against Aral. Now, give me back the lightning rods.”

Smoke's eyes grew wide. He thought that she had given him the weapon, but it looked like she just wanted him to inspect it. Reluctantly, he gave the weapon back to her.

Guro then chuckled and slapped him hard on the back. "I'm just teasing you. Aral's Lightning Rods are yours. Now, let's head to Lugar and leave this valley."

She walked back to the kitchen table. “Grab those sacks in the corner and load them onto the rowboat you borrowed from me. We’ll be using it,” she said and blew out the candle.

Smoke gulped. “Yeah, about that…”

* * * * * *

Three hours passed since Smoke talked to Guro. Igniz and a fully-recovered Ledur joined them in the outskirts of Lugar village. All three villages had started their long march towards safety, towards Verbrannt. The children and elderly rode in carts pulled by domesticated ancient bisons, while the capable adults, who all had the Job of Ranseurs, speedily marched beside them.

While they were evacuating, Smoke was worried about Ledur's wounds, but it looked like the medicinal herbs Laernea gave him proved to be very effective. With Ledur's health settled, he focused his attention on the fleeing villagers.

Smoke then led the gathered crowd. He would stop by one of the trees and use his Chiropterra glove to grab a hold on its trunk and point the villagers where to go next.

While doing so, he could hear them whispering about Aral’s Lightning Rods he proudly displayed on his waist and about how he had gained the respect of their revered Gladiatrix.

These simple actions alone raised his Intimacy with them by five points. Satisfied with his progress, he then checked Horrabelle's expected arrival.

> Horrabelle's Arrival: 06H:12M:15S

At a steady pace, Smoke and the refugees finally climbed out of the eastern side of the deep valley. On top of Mount Kalayaan, the villagers stopped and stared at their home for one last time. Smoke did the same and enjoyed the vast view of the fertile land below.

Suddenly, Smoke noticed a cloud of dust gather on the opposite side of the valley. He immediately used his Telefax Vision and confirmed his worst fear. Horrabelle had arrived six hours earlier than expected.

She rode on her black Nightmare as it stood on one of the slopes of a mountain. She had her hand stretched out as she directed the Brandals to storm the valley.

'That Witch! She always moves outside of my projections!' thought an irked Smoke.

Considering the terrain and the number of her men, he did some rough calculations. 'At this rate, she'll catch up to us in less than an hour.'

He thought about informing the refugees, but decided not to. He didn't want them to panic. Instead, he only informed Ledur and Guro.

"...So, that's our situation. We've got to stop them before they get to the refugees," he explained.

Guro spoke out hesitantly. "I'll stay behind. You two lead them to safety. I think I can take out a couple of hundred Brandals."

"No! That's out of the question." Smoke wouldn't allow it. He had big plans for Guro and didn't plan on losing her here.

"For now, I want you to lead the refugees from the front and speed up their march, but don't alarm them," he said to Guro. "Igniz, Ledur and I will deal with Horrabelle."

The winged Tikbalang massive black wings unfurled as he was taken aback by Smoke's sudden statement.

"Don't worry. We got this, Ledur," he declared with an uncertain grin.

Since Igniz was hovering behind him, he failed to notice that his symbiote's flames almost died out for a brief moment.

However, the three of them only allowed fear to overcome them for a second as they knew what they had to do in order to save the villagers.

Smoke held up his long white DarkElf hair back with his hands while racking his brain for a solution. He wasn't sure if Horrabelle had noticed that they had evacuated the villages, but it looked like the main force of Brandals was heading for Pinagsama village.

He surveyed the land before him and knew that his only option was to stop Horrabelle and her army from crossing the valley.

'But how am I going to do that?' he asked himself.

He thought about erecting a massive earth wall, but he didn't have enough time to cover the entire valley, and Horrabelle could probably break her way through it. He then thought about digging trenches with Digger’s Wand, but concluded that they wouldn’t buy him enough time, as the Brandals and Werewolves would quickly move around them.

Smoke looked over the valley from the left and right until his eyes fell on the colossal Gitna Dam. Seeing the architectural wonder sparked inspiration.

"Igniz, Ledur, follow me," he ordered and jumped off the mountain, gliding straight towards Gitna Dam.

The three of them reached the dam in less than ten minutes. As soon as they were there, Smoke faced his two companions.

"We're going to ask the force of nature for assistance," he stated and grabbed onto the side of the dam with his Claws of Chiropterra. He then pointed Digger's Wand at it and created a tunnel straight through to the other side of the seven-meter thick dam. A strong torrent of water gushed out of the hole Smoke made.

Ledur and Igniz nodded and followed Smoke's lead. Igniz went to the left side of the dam and focused his fireballs on one spot until he broke through. Another torrential leak came out of it.

The winged Tikbalang went to the right and used his Earth Manipulation to take out large chunks of the dam, piece by piece.

Smoke kept digging more tunnels until he heard a cracking sound.

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK

The numerous holes in the dam that all three Vigilantez made started to connect. Smoke, Ledur and Igniz immediately flew upward before the dam broke.

From above the valley, Smoke watched his man-made calamity. Massive amounts of water streamed out from the dam. Six-meter waves were formed and the sparse trees, vast farmlands, water mills and homes were all swept away by the great deluge.

The Brandals, who had almost reached Pinagsama village, desperately retreated back to the western side of the valley. Yet, their black ctenosaurs weren't fast enough to outrun the cascading water and were all swallowed up inside it.

Smoke then saw fire eels, bull sharks and other monsters emerge out of the water. They went after the Brandals and their mounts. The bandits had a hard time fighting the monsters and most of them were eaten by the horned bull sharks and feasted on by the fire eels.

The faster Brandals and Therianthropes reached the higher grounds on the western side of the valley. They escaped the rushing tide by a hair's breadth.

He wasn't sure how many bandits were killed in the flood, but his original intention was to slow the army's advance.

Suddenly, he saw a bright light forming on the higher slopes of the western side of the valley. "Get down!" he shouted, and all three Vigilantez evaded Horrabelle's long distance lightning bolt attacks.

'Not yet, Horrabelle. Not yet...' he thought menacingly.

Smoke smirked as he, Igniz and Ledur flew back to Guro and the others. He was imagining the Witch's contorted face while gliding to safety.

* * * * * *

After Smoke and the residents of all three villages got out of the valley, he had Guro tell them in a calm and factual manner that Horrabelle was on their tail. The speed of the refugees almost doubled, as they realized what would happen if she caught up with them. They even endured much shorter breaks during the long path to Verbrannt.

Flying around and using Earth Manipulation, Smoke and Ledur also made sure to leave several false trails and cover their tracks.

Their caravan of refugees spent the next six days on the run. They successfully escaped Horrabelle and her heinous army.

As soon as Smoke saw Verbrannt's territory, he addressed the refugees. "From now on, you will be no longer be from Tatlong, Lugar or Pinagsama, but rather all of us will belong to one place: Verbrannt. As such, we will treat each other as family and protect each other with our lives on the line."

Throughout the entire trip, Smoke increased his Intimacy with the refugees to 80%. He hoped that this would be enough for him to call upon them for help and fight Horrabelle's forces in the future.

After they passed through the thorny maze and the plains filled with concealed trenches, Smoke saw a group of people waiting for them. Thyrsus and Vijaya greeted them, along with a welcoming committee from Verbrannt.

Among them was an old lady with a hell piglet by her side.

As most of the refugees were still shaken up, the residents of Verbrannt made sure to give them a warm welcome and make them feel at home.

The old lady had the children of Verbrannt make gifts for the arriving refugee children. They gave the girls dolls that were made from rabbit pelts and stuffed with cotton, while the boys received toy swords and shields made from leftover wood.

With his heart filled with delight from seeing such a heartwarming scene,  Smoke walked over to the old lady.

"Thank you for accepting my request, Madam Dawny," he said before kneeling down and petting the hell piglet sitting next to her. "I know this guy can't replace Ental, but I'm glad that you've taken a liking to him."

"I was surprised when Billig came knocking at my door and gave it to me," she responded in a pleasant manner. "But I was even more surprised when I got your letter. I appreciate how you took the time to write a formal letter, asking me to take care of the orphans."

Smoke remained silent and smiled at her. The real reason why he wrote a letter was because he was afraid to speak with her after her beloved hell boar died while under his supervision. He remembered how he felt when he was told that his parents had died, and couldn't bring himself to personally deliver news of that sort to her.

"Losing Ental was a tragedy, but these children losing their parents is even more so. That's why I came right away," remarked Madam Dawny with great concern.

"I know you'll be great with them," declared Smoke with confidence. He knew it was the right decision to ask Madam Dawny to take care of the children rescued from Mount Foudre. She had even managed to make them feel good about themselves while making the gifts. "We’ll talk more later."

He then searched for the cuddly red werebear, but strangely found no sign of her. Thinking about it, he also had not seen a single Werewolf in Verbrannt since he arrived.

"Where's Sierra?" he asked Thyrsus.

"She's out training Vrai and Ardu," stated Vijaya in Thyrsus' behalf.

"They're the new recruits into her Therianthrope army," said Thyrsus.

"Are they her new Beta Werewolves? Can they compete with Phen and Rear?" Smoke asked Thyrsus passively.

"Oh, they are more than capable of taking on Phen and Rear," quickly answered Vijaya.

"Vijaya, please. I can answer for myself," said Thyrsus. "Vrai and Ardu aren't Werewolves."

Vijaya let out a loud “Hmpf” and stormed away.

"Trouble in paradise?" Smoke asked as soon as Vijaya was out of earshot.

"Something like that. I forgot how much she loves getting attention, that's all. But we're compromising and working things out. It’s been—"

Smoke stopped Thyrsus before he could say any more. "What was that about Sierra's new members, again?"

"Oh, sorry, I digress...." Thyrsus then explained how Sierra's blood had turned two Lioumerean children from Mount Foudre into Werebears. He told him that Sierra then conducted a test, to see if her blood could transform anyone into a Therianthrope, by spilling some of it over a Condortlian Warrior that volunteered.

“But the blood had no effect, which led her to believe that only the children are susceptible to it, probably due to the various experiments that have been conducted on them. Out of curiosity, she then spilled her blood over some of the weaker Werewolves of her pack, and they grew in size and strength!”

Smoke wasn't really surprised after hearing Thyrsus' explanation. He already knew from the parchment that dropped in Horrabelle's mansion that Sierra was somehow linked to the process of Therianthrope transformation. He just didn’t know that it was her blood that the Witch was after.

Before he realized it, he was already calling her. As he waited for the connection to be established, he thought about the things he wanted to tell her and questions he wanted to ask her. But Sierra didn’t answer his call.

'Must be busy,' he thought to himself and let her be.

As the refugees’ rations were running low, Smoke asked Thyrsus to send food over to the land he asked to be prepared for them in advance.

He then led the newest residents of Verbrannt to a vast plain near the foot of Mount Engrais.
Sierra had walls built around the newly-converted land, and Sharanga’s early-warning devices scattered outside for added protection. With that, Verbrannt officially covered an area of twenty-eight square kilometers.

Guro and the refugees were given four square kilometers to live on. The land in this area was nearly as fertile as the one in their home valley.

While the refugees explored the expansive field and houses that were still under construction, Smoke and Guro decided to rest and enjoy a light snack.

“The villagers look like they’ll be comfortable here,” said Guro while taking a bite out of her jerky.

Smoke grinned back at her. “Told you so.”

“That you did,” she replied solemnly.

Suddenly, Guro moved in front of Smoke. She sighed and said, "I never thought I would do this again. Let alone to someone who is clearly younger than me."

She then slightly bowed before him. "I, Guro Digmaan, would like to submit myself to your fold."

Smoke was surprised by the sudden turn of events but grabbed the opportunity presented to him.

"It would be an honor," he replied and waited for the notification window.

+ Guro Digmaan has joined your Personal Army
Guro Digmaan is the secret village chief of villages Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama.

Level: 230
Job: Gladiatrix
Loyalty: 90
Favorite Weapon: Trident of Autonomy
Equipped Weapon: Trident of Autonomy

Abilities:

Gladiator Trainer: Ability to promote Commoners into Gladiator variations
Scarred Rager: Attack is increased by 300% if HP is below 30%
Rousing Provoke: Taunts an enemy for 8 seconds, drawing its attention & blows
Phalanx Aura: Raises Defense of party members within 100 meters
Battle Aura: Raises Attack of party members within 100 meters

Reading her ability list, he felt as if his 999 Luck stat was responsible for bringing Guro to Verbrannt.

"Say, now that we're safe, I would like to ask you for a favor," he said in his most charming voice.

"As long as it's within my ability, I’ll consider it," replied Guro without hesitation.

Smoke then took Guro to the training grounds of the Armored Farmers. "See those? There are about a thousand Farmers willing to fight in order to protect our lands from invaders."

Guro nodded and her face showed that she knew what Smoke was going to ask next. "But I'm guessing they're not that capable at the moment."

He sheepishly shook his head in response.

"Don't worry about it. I'll whip these Farmers into Ranseurs in no time at all," responded Guro with conviction.

As Smoke and Guro were discussing on what she would need in order to turn the Farmers into Ranseurs, Rasant, Stark and Weise arrived in front of them. The three Maneators were there to pay Smoke their respects.

Rasant was the first one to greet him and knelt in front of him. The orange Maneator spoke rapidly. "Welcome back! That's quite a number of people you’ve brought with you. Who’s the tough-looking lioness? But before anything else, let me tell you that my brothers have trained me in their ways, and my defense has greatly improved, and—"

Stark interjected by kneeling in front of Smoke and addressing him in a much deeper voice than Rasant. "Smoke, stronger than ever. Stark honors you always. Stark grows strong too. Stark show you," said the red Maneator and was about to pull Smoke away for a demonstration before a gray Maneator's hand stopped him.

"King Smoke has no time for that now, Stark," said Weise and bowed down next to his two brothers. "We gladly welcome your return, Smoke, King of Maneators."

Guro, who was standing next to Smoke, was taken aback at the sight of muscular, horned monsters who were kneeling before him.

"Wait...what?! You're the Maneator King?" she asked him with a dumbfounded look.

"Yeah. I was the one to inherit the title when the previous King died," he answered somberly.

Smoke then turned to the three Maneators and helped them up. Then, he almost got squished as the Maneators all gave him a hug.

"Listen, I'll come see you soon, okay? I still have some things to take care of," said Smoke and bade farewell to his three Maneators.

"I understand now. No wonder I've taken a liking to you," said Guro out of the blue.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Smoke curiously.

"You see, I used to be a Gladiatrix of Zuchthaus," she said with deep emphasis.

"Zuchthaus???” he asked Guro in disbelief. “But how did you—”

"Leave the Labyrinth?" Guro finished Smoke's sentence for him. "König Mitleid helped me make my escape out of that wretched place."

Smoke had wondered how someone as powerful as Guro came to be the savior of the three villages, and he now realized that she got her experience inside the Labyrinth. "If you were a Gladiatrix of Zuchthaus, doesn't that mean you fought against Maneators?"

"Maneators, wolf spiders, fire salamanders, crested newts...even other Gladiators and Gladiatrices," she blurted out shamefully. "I was the one who always walked away alive."

Guro took in a deep breath as she recalled her time in Labyrinth of Zuchthaus. "Then came the day I fought against a Maneator whom the others called ‘King’, König Mitleid."

Smoke listened on to her story intently.

"I've faced stronger and faster Maneators than him, but no matter what I did, he would always counter my attacks," Guro shook her head as she spoke with admiration.

"In the end, he broke both my arms and legs," she shivered, crossed her arms and rubbed her hands against her shoulders. "However, he didn't kill me. He took a chunk out of my shoulder, but then proceeded to only pretend to devour me. He threw me out of the arena afterwards, to a shrouded area, away from the prying eyes of the Tenebris and gambling spectators."

"And then what happened?" asked Smoke as Guro paused longer than he could wait.

"I feared he was just saving me for later, but that clearly didn't happen," she said with a sarcastic laugh. "After that, König Mitleid left me alone. I stayed in the shadows and the Tenebris thought that he had eaten me."

Guro smirked at herself. "After living in the shadows for too long, I got bored. So, I decided to follow him around. I discovered that he was teaching his brothers new ways of life, but then one day, the Tenebris came and changed him."

Smoke motioned with his head that he knew what Guro meant, as he remembered König Mitleid's tale.

"He kept killing anything that was in his way, even his brothers, whenever he turned blood red with rage," she explained. "With the quick decline of the Maneators, Gladiators and Gladiatrices; the Tenebris sent down criminals to be executed. They used them as playthings for the mad Maneator King."

Smoke added what he remembered from what König Mitleid told him. "And during one of these executions, all members of the High Council of Tenebris were present. He killed all of them and took the Labyrinth key from the Zuchthaus Gatekeeper."

"So, you really are his successor," said Guro haughtily before she continued. "But what he didn’t know was that I was always watching him from the shadows. And when he escaped out of the Labyrinth, I escaped after him."

Smoke grinned proudly at her. He couldn't help but be even more impressed with his new private army member.

"But I have to say, the quality of the Maneators and their King has obviously dropped," she told Smoke flatly. "I could sense a slight vibe from you, but you don't have even a tenth of König Mitleid's presence."

"I've got no problem with you telling me that I'm nowhere near König's level, but I really don’t appreciate you calling my Maneators weak. Ever since they joined my personal army, they’ve proven to be its invaluable members time and time again."

"Well, I'm sorry if the truth offends you," said Guro as if it were a fact. "Perhaps something went wrong with their emergence?"

Smoke's face turned blank. "Emergence? What are you talking about?"

"I only observed it a couple of times, but it seemed that whenever the Tenebris created new Maneators, they would guide them into a special room to perform something they called ‘a ritual of emergence’. After some time, the Maneators would come out with names and a powerful aura around them. The ones that greeted you just now didn’t seem to possess anything like that."

He shook his head with cynicism. "I've completely explored the Labyrinth and found no such room. And there was nothing special about giving names to the Maneators."

"Ha! You think you've explored the entire Labyrinth? You probably didn’t even scratch the surface," retorted Guro superciliously.

Hearing Guro speak in an insolent manner, Smoke checked his Intimacy with her It was at 80. 'Guess she just talks this way to everyone,' he surmised.

"But I suppose you know where this special room is?" he asked and challenged her knowledge of the Labyrinth.

"Of course!" she responded and reached for the bag she carried, pulling a tattered map out of it. She carefully held it up for him to see.

"It's right here," said Guro as she pointed to the specific location of the hidden chamber.

Smoke couldn't believe the size of Guro's map. It was almost four times larger than the one he and Espion made from the time they explored the Zuchthaus Labyrinth. He immediately compared the one he had in his window and kept updating it as he asked how to enter the places he had not been to.

It took him almost an hour to update his map based on Guro's, when a notification window popped up.

Updated Map: Labyrinth of Zuchthaus
New Locations:
> Labyrinth Arena
> Maneator Emergence Chamber
> Surface entrance of the Labyrinth

Smoke grinned widely but realized that they had other matters to discuss. He steered their conversation back to the Ranseur training program until they had finalized everything.

"Thank you for everything," said Smoke gratefully while shaking Guro's hand. "I'll have Thyrsus accommodate all of your requests."

She paused as she looked at him with great concern. "I could tell you weren’t that focused on our Ranseur program. Are you sure about going back into the Labyrinth?"

Smoke gave her a thumbs-up and grinned. He was filled with excitement. "What kind of a king would I be if I hindered my subjects in reaching their full potential? "

* * * * * *

He consulted Espion about the developments in Centzo. His Spy told him that the Brandals moved in closer to the city and had it locked down completely. As such, Espion had trouble getting out of the city. However, the mayor’s adviser had informed him that they should be safe for at least three weeks.

Apparently, the mayor of Centzo had his own intelligence network that was able to provide accurate information regarding the Brandals' movements.

After hearing this, Smoke decided that it was safe to venture back into the Labyrinth. Both him and Sierra thought it best to train some more in the short amount of time they had before they would have to continue with their campaign against Duke Burmistrz and his army of bandits.

Due to the confined space inside the Labyrinth and the plans he had for his party to stay there, Smoke decided to only take Igniz and the three Maneators with him.

The Maneators rode on their war elephants, and Smoke hitched a ride with Weise. As soon as they entered the white mausoleum which was connected to the Labyrinth, they were met with Skeleton warriors, Skeleton archers and Skeleton mages.

Smoke had Igniz increase his luminance and increased the visibility in the otherwise dark crypt. He told his symbiote to just focus on the lighting and not fight at all. Using Aral's Lightning Rod, Smoke dashed in front of the Maneators and dealt with the skeletons by himself. The monsters' bones shattered as he smashed the twin black metal rods expertly against them. By far this was his most comfortable weapon as he handled them like his Eskrima sticks in the real world.

The Maneators were amazed as they watched their king slaughter the skeletons alone. Smoke went after their ranged attackers first. He would face the Skeleton archers' arrows head on and dodge them at the last minute before bashing their skulls in. He got hit a few times by some fireballs thrown by the Skeleton mages, but his high Fire resistance made their attacks ineffective. As soon as he reached the mages, he would deliver swift, powerful strikes and pulverize the skeletal monsters.

Awestruck by Smoke's rapid and efficient moves, Weise had to slap his brothers on the shoulders. "Hey, snap out of it. We've got to do our share too," said the gray Maneator. All three dashed after their king as they would not allow to be only bystanders in this dungeon sweeping. All three of them rushed to Smoke's side and fought against the skeletons.

Swiftly, they dealt with the undead monsters easily and cleared the burial chamber in no time. This caused  the boss monster of the mausoleum, the Skeleton knight, to appear.

Despite its intimidating stature of over two meters and a life bar of 300,000 HP, Smoke and his Maneators were left unfazed, as they knew that it had low Defense. Smoke didn't even find the need to use his lightning rods’ active abilities.

He was about to face the Skeleton knight, but Rasant, Stark and Weise wanted to show off their progress. The red Maneator led the formation and went after the monster’s exposed arms. Weise and Rasant divided the task of finishing it off. Weise went after its legs and sent it crashing to the ground, but not before Rasant's whips caught its skull and ripped it off its body. The three Maneators dealt with the undead knight in less than a minute.

This time, it was Smoke who was impressed. He remembered that the Maneators had taken the Farmers here to increase their levels and had been dealing with this monster for quite some time now.

With this, he felt confident that the four of them could handle the upgraded guardians of the Labyrinth's exit by themselves.

"Do you guys want to take a break?" he asked his Maneators after clearing the crypt.

Yet all three Maneators answered in unison, "No!"

"Let's keep going," said Weise.

"Stark is just warming up," added the red Maneator.

"I can't wait to go inside the Labyrinth and do some damage," roared Rasant.

Smoke nodded and they proceeded directly towards the secret exit of the Labyrinth.

Journeying through the hidden tunnel, past the depths of the mausoleum, Smoke and his Maneators arrived in a cavernous chamber. It had a floor area of over four-hundred square meters and a height of twice that. In theory, this chamber appeared to be big, but Smoke knew that if he brought in more men, it would get crowded quickly and could only result in more casualties on their end.

He knew this as he watched four massive slumbering monsters at the center of the room. They stayed inside the mouth of the tunnel. Together, they observed four Krampus giants, hibernating in a fetal position with their legs tucked behind their arms.

Smoke knew that these monsters weren't something they could easily handle. After all, this was the place where he got the weighted chain and sickle of Dasende.

Recalling his fight against the Labyrinth’s previous guardian, he thought of using the knowledge he gained during that time to his advantage. The chain weapons of these monsters needed plenty of space to be effective, so he figured that four Krampus in a confined area would have a hard time fighting simultaneously.

"Alright, let's hope we can take them on one at a time, but everyone stay on alert," said a vigilant Smoke as he signaled for his Maneators to stay inside the tunnel.

He slowly and carefully walked forward. After each step, he paused and waited for a reaction from the sleeping monsters. After ten steps out of the tunnel, he saw movement from all four monsters.

"Igniz!" he shouted, and his dark ember sprite instantly flew over him.

His symbiote let out a triple-layered fire cage and trapped all four Krampus inside it. The monsters were still stuck in their fetal position and could not freely move.

Smoke and Igniz took advantage of the situation and quickly started dishing out their ranged attacks. Smoke used his power chainsaw bow and fired poison arrows, while Igniz let out a barrage of fireballs. Their attacks only dealt between 700-900 points of damage, but they did reveal all four Krampus' life bars: Geirel (348,200/350,000 HP), Gavel (398,250/400,000 HP), Lanze (398,750/400,000 HP) and Beil (449,300/450,000 HP).

As soon as he finished reading their names, the Krampus broke out of Igniz's fire cage. With their humanoid bodies, they stood equally at a height of four meters. They had long goatlike horns, blackish fur and cloven hooves for feet.

The Krampus named Geirel had the most slender body, while Gavel and Lanze were both medium built, and Beil had the bulkiest figure. Yet, their body sizes were not the most disconcerting fact to Smoke. What drew his attention were their weapons. All four of them had different weapons that didn’t contain chains.

Igniz attacked them with fireballs, but Beil took out its massive double-edged axe and parried the dark ember sprite's attack.

Smoke turned to his Maneators and put on a brave facade. "I'll take this one. Make sure to survive your battles!" he said while charging straight for the biggest Krampus of all.

* * * * * *

Weise rushed in with his Gora Shield in front of him and his flamdius above it.

TWANG

His shield resonated loudly as Lanze thrust its spear hard against its surface. With a single attack, he was stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly, he was swept off his feet as the spear butt of Lanze's weapon knocked him off-balance.

Lanze quickly launched another attack and speared the fallen Weise. Fortunately, he was able to block the attack with his shield and rolled away to safety.

He knelt down and composed himself. His life bar displayed (348,104/350,000 HP). However, he was not given time to formulate a plan, as Lanze launched a storm of spear thrusts at him. All he could do was block with his shield, but it could not cover his entire body.

In only thirty seconds, Weise received 21,000 points of damage from Lanze's attacks that hit his exposed parts. The Krampus showed no signs of stopping its onslaught.

TWANG

Weise leapt forward and his shield reverberated once more. However, this time it was he who banged it firmly against Lanze's torso. He stunned the Krampus for three seconds by using his Shield Smack ability. In that time, he focused on hacking off the Krampus' right arm, with which it held its spear. He delivered three swift strikes, but only dealt 9,000 points of damage and did not accomplish his plan.

The moment Lanze snapped out of its stunned state, it sent the head of its spear towards Weise's stomach. Weise narrowly escaped by deflecting it with his shield, but the spear head still nicked a portion of his arm and damaged him for 700 points.

He was about to launch another attack with his sword, but Lanze was faster and sent its spear head into his exposed shoulder, knocking him off-balance. Weise fell down and Lanze quickly shoved the Gora Shield away from him.

The shield slid across the floor of the cavernous chamber. It was out of reach, and Weise knew that a storm of spear thrusts was heading his way.

Thankfully, Rasant was close to where his shield landed and kicked it back to him. Weise grabbed the shield and managed to block most of Lanze's attacks in time.

* * * * * *

Rasant was facing a Krampus equipped with a sword that was unusually long and thin.

More than eight minutes had passed, but the two of them were in a stalemate. Rasant kept a safe distance away from Geirel and continuously lashed his twin whips at the monster. However, each of Rasant's attacks was perfectly parried by Geirel and it received no damage during their entire battle.

The past week, Rasant’s brothers helped him improve his defensive stance. While using it, he could evade most attacks, but in exchange, he would often end up dealing no damage as well.

Weise and Stark's training proved effective, in the sense that his life bar was left pristine. Yet, he felt restrained and not himself. Deep inside, he felt that this fighting style was not suited for him.

Rasant watched the situation inside the cavernous chamber and knew that he had to tip the odds in his favor soon. Cracking his twin whips wildly, he performed a wide attack that created an opening for the monster.

Geirel parried his whips and charged forward into his space. Yet, before it could reach him, Rasant expertly flicked his wrists and his barbed whips encircled around Geirel's arms and caught the steaming Krampus. The initial attack dealt 3,000 points of damage, but he didn't stop there.

The orange Maneator used the momentum of the zooming monster against it. He pulled his barbed whips as hard as he could and Geirel was forced down to the floor and slid towards him fast. He then pulled out his barbed whips from around the monster's arms and ripped out pieces of its flesh.

With Geirel on the ground and its back exposed, Rasant's rapid whip cracking made eight afterimages of his barbed weapon as it whipped against the Krampus' back.

The Krampus remained on the ground for four seconds and received a total damage of 24,000 points, but before Rasant could do any more damage, Geirel leapt forward and countered with a double slash squarely on his body. Thankfully, his reflexes allowed him to step back, and Geirel's attack only  left a shallow cross-shaped wound on his chest.

Despite being hit, Rasant did not cower. He attacked with the sharp ends of his twin whips' handle and stabbed it into the Krampus' side.

On account of his strong counterattack, Geirel backed away. However, this did not change the fact that Rasant received 6,000 points of damage from such a light attack.

He did not mind being damaged by their exchange, just as long as he could dish out more. He cracked his whips again and prepared for another similar attack.

He created a wide opening and Geirel went in for the bait head first, but this time, Geirel was much faster than before and it escaped his barbed whips.

The Krampus shook its extraordinarily long sword on the side and revealed its true form. The lengthy blade extended its reach even further by dividing into segments connected by a single metallic line. Geirel's weapon was actually a whip sword.

It wrapped its unique weapon around Rasant’s left arm and snaked its way around his waist. With one swift motion, Geirel pulled back its whip sword, gashing the orange Maneators flesh.

Rasant received 18,000 points of damage, but he steeled himself and both his barbed whips latched onto Geirel's neck. He pulled it hard until the monster’s blood started to flow down the metal thorns attached to his whips.

This time, he dealt 10,000 points of damage. Right after he received Bleeding status from the Krampus last attack, he also inflicted the same status on Geirel.

Since the Krampus could not break free, it extended its whip sword and wrapped it around Rasant's arms. It was a contest of whose body parts would come off first.

However, Rasant was at a clear disadvantage, as Geirel had twice as much health than him.

Suddenly, a red Maneator came flying from across the chamber and knocked Geirel off-balance, forcing both Rasant and the Krampus to the ground.

* * * * * *

WALLOP

Stark was smashed hard against the wall. He saw that Rasant was having trouble with his opponent and thought to help him, but he was sent flying in their direction instead.

'This was not what Stark had in mind, but Stark still happy to have helped brother Rasant,' he thought to himself before charging back towards Gavel.

Ever since he fought against the Gargantuan Goblins, Stark longed to face more sizeable opponents. He enjoyed the rare find of fighting monsters as large as himself.

However, he felt cheated against this enemy. His Rzeka glaive looked like a toothpick compared to Gavel's war hammer.

Thankfully, while they were training with Rasant to improve his defense, Stark gained some tutelage under Weise and learned how to anticipate an enemy's attack. Due to this, he was able to move faster than Gavel, until he glanced over Rasant's fight and got attacked from behind.

Stark got back in front of Gavel for a rematch. His life bar displayed (378,298/410,000 HP) while the monster he was facing had (381,900/400,000 HP). He had a lower life at the moment, but he was getting the hang of Gavel's swings with its war hammer.

The Krampus created deep impressions in the ground and the walls of the chamber each time it missed an attack, whereas the red Maneator delivered quick and precise stabs with his glaive.

Stark knew that if he kept this reserved fighting style, he would win in the end. Ten more minutes into their battle and he had dealt a crushing 310,000 points of damage on Gavel while staying barely untouched. He still had 81% on his life bar while Gavel had 18% left. The only times Stark was harmed was when the debris that scattered as a result of Gavel's splash damage would hit him.

'Thanks to my brothers and my king, Stark is stronger now,' he thought proudly.

Then, a bright flash of blue light blinded them, and all fighting stopped momentarily. He wondered who made that attack, and took a gander at the situation of his comrades.

Smoke had 65% on his life bar while the Krampus he was facing had 40%. On the other side of the chamber, Weise had 40% on his, while his enemy had 38%. Finally, Stark's eyes went to Rasant. He was alarmed when he found his brother half dead on the floor with 5% left on his life bar and was profusely bleeding to death. He searched for Rasant's opponent but smiled when he found the Krampus' hooves, hide, horns, embryo and weapon next to him.

'Rasant is always fastest,' he thought to himself and grinned. ‘Time to finish this.’ As he turned to face his opponent, a war hammer connected with his cheek.

The red Maneator was knocked five meters back but quickly regained his footing. That one critical blow reduced his life bar to (310,750/410,000 HP). It was the strongest strike he had taken thus far, but it also triggered his rage as he blindly charged after Gavel.

* * * * * *

Smoke had to use his black metal rods’ stronger ability, Lightning Strike. He crossed both metal rods together and aimed at Rasant's enemy. In a blinding flash, a blue lightning bolt hit Geirel directly in its back and inflicted 51,400 points of damage to it.

With Rasant's enemy paralyzed, Smoke resumed fighting the Krampus called Beil, and left Rasant to finish off his enemy.

After using his lightning rod's ultimate ability, he realized that it would be more effective when he had a higher Lightning Affinity, but for now the weapon’s Lightning Shock ability proved to be more useful, as it had a lower cooldown.

Smoke also had the Beast Monarch ability, which he inherited from König Mitleid, that tripled his damage to beast-type monsters. Coupled with the fact that he had trained with Eskrima sticks in the real world, he was literally dancing circles around the massive Beil.

Although he was leading the Krampus around, it was not an assurance that he had this battle in the bag. It took him more than twenty minutes to reduce Beil's life bar to (171,900/450,000 HP), but it only took three strikes from the Krampus' double-edged axe and his life bar was reduced to almost half at (118,298/181,997HP).

'Rasant's battle is over, but I can't count on him to back the others up, considering his injuries,' he thought to himself while backing away strategically from Beil as he assessed the situation of his other Maneators. 'Stark's about to finish up his battle, so he should be able to help Weise soon.'

He was extremely thankful that Stark overpowered his opponent, otherwise one of his precious Maneators would have been lost in such a meaningless battle.

After confirming that his Maneators were safe, he focused solely on battling Beil.

He darted into Beil's zone and dodge multiple swings of its giant axe. He then used his black rods' Lightning Shock ability which paralyzes the Krampus for three seconds. During this time, Smoke and Igniz dished out as much damage as they could. Owing to its efficiency, Smoke relied on the same attack pattern.

He struck both metal rods hard against Beil's joints in hopes of putting its limbs out of commission. He would stop attacking before three seconds were up so that he could jump away to safety.

He was repeating the same pattern again. However, this time, he jumped a split second too late, and Beil's axe came straight towards his face. Due to the lightning rods' short length, Smoke could not completely parry the attack and got damaged by Beil's surprise attack.

Still determined to finish off the Krampus by himself, Smoke went in and attacked with another Lightning Shock. It connected, and he bashed his metal rods against Beil's arms for eight swift strikes.

Smoke backed away as he realized that he should no longer use the same attack pattern. He spent the next two minutes away from his opponent, deciding on his course of action.

'Looks like I'll have to use that,' he sighed, as he didn't want to use this next attack pattern.

"Igniz, time to attack from within," he ordered, shaking his head.

Without hesitation, his dark ember sprite made a beeline for Beil's head and lodged two fireballs inside its nose. Simultaneously, Smoke sprinted towards the distracted Krampus and struck the monster behind its ear. Due to the blow, Beil was forced to kneel down. He then quickly got behind the monster and pummeled its back with his twin weapons.

The whole time Smoke was attacking the monster, Igniz remained in front of Beil and kept distracting it with fireballs to the face. Then, Beil's axe turned golden again, but this time it didn't go after Smoke. Instead, it went after Igniz.

This was the reason why Smoke didn't want to use this strategy, as it would place Igniz in danger.

He instantly stopped attacking the Krampus and leapt in between Beil's Axe and Igniz. He made a cross guard with his twin lightning rods but was not able to properly defend against the powerful attack. He was blown away and hurtled on the floor until his back made contact with the wall.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Smoke let out a battle cry in order to drive away the excruciating pain he felt in his spine. He searched for Igniz and found his symbiote alive, beside Beil.

While Smoke was thinking of a plan to finish off Beil, Igniz kept directly attacking Beil's face, even if it meant that he was putting his life in danger. This was his way of giving Smoke the time he needed to strike.

Smoke made a mad dash for Beil and cleared the distance of five meters between him and the Krampus in record time.

He bravely stepped in front of the Krampus and began to pummel it with his twin lightning rods at full tilt.

As Smoke expected, Beil's axe glowed with a golden light. He instinctively jumped back, but the Krampus had swung its battle axe and sliced a part of his stomach.

Instead of dodging the Krampus' next attack, he braved the powerful axe's damage by parrying it to the side. Then, he jumped on the axe and leapt towards Beil's face. He plunged his twin lightning rods into its eyes and simultaneously activated two Lightning Shocks at point blank range.

BZZZT BZZZT BOOSH

He successfully delivered two direct Lightning Shocks and dealt the finishing blow to Beil's life bar, which finally displayed zero.

+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to the Krampus: Beil.
+ Your party killed the Krampus: Beil.
+ Your party gained 600,000 experience.
+ Level Up!

Smoke ignored the notification message and rushed to his dark ember sprite.

"Igniz, are you okay?" he asked his symbiote.

His dark ember sprite bobbed to indicate that he was fine. Smoke then proceeded to pick up the loot Beil dropped.

+ Acquired Krampus hide

+ Acquired Krampus horns

+ Acquired Krampus hooves

+ Acquired Krampus embryo

+ Acquired rare axe: Oxen Edge

He would have wanted to inspect Beil's weapon, but first checked to see the conclusion of Weise's battle. He glanced over to where the gray Maneator was fighting and found Weise and Stark standing over Lanze’s corpse before its body could fade away.

Stark had finished off Gavel and immediately helped out Weise afterwards. Then; Smoke, Igniz, Weise and Rasant went over to where Rasant was.

Rasant had propped himself into a sitting position against the chamber's wall and was applying the Lioumereans' healing herbs by himself.

"Smoke, I know I was being reckless, but I had to. Otherwise, that monster would have joined in on you guys..." Rasant started to explain himself.

"Don't worry about it. You did great, focus on recovering," said Smoke proudly as he knelt beside the orange Maneator. He activated his Heart of ReenTe necklace and regenerated as much health as his mana allowed. Then, he started replenishing Rasant's life bar by using Life Share.

While he was healing Rasant, the other two Maneators walked closer to him and knelt down in front of him.

"Weise, you okay to move?" he asked the gray Maneator.

"Of course my, King," responded Weise at once. "I don't have any status ailments, and after a short rest, I should be good to go."

Smoke smiled at his two Maneators. "What about you, Stark? Any injuries? You were very impressive in this battle."

"Stark did what was expected. Protecting you and brothers is what Stark lives for," answered the red Maneator while huffing proudly after being praised by Smoke.

"Alright. I want you two to gather the rest of the loot while I patch up our fearless friend here," he said jokingly as he teased Rasant's do-or-die behavior.

At once, the two Maneators left and gathered the other items. They returned in no time and gave them to Smoke.

+ Acquired Krampus hide [3 pieces]

+ Acquired Krampus horns [3 pieces]

+ Acquired Krampus hooves [3 pieces]

+ Acquired Krampus embryo [3 pieces]

+ Acquired rare whip sword: Serpent Fang

+ Acquired rare war hammer: Gorilla Fist

+ Acquired rare spear: Narwhal Horn

His lips formed a grin as he observed the looted Maneator ingredients and rare weapons. With Rasant and Weise still recovering, Smoke decided to rest inside the cavernous chamber. He prepared medicinal ancient bison stew and served it to the Maneators.

Weise made a fuss about being served by Smoke, but he quickly dismissed it. Thirty minutes later, their life bars were fully recovered.

After resting, Smoke spoke to his Maneators. "Rasant, Weise and Stark, it is time to receive your rewards."

"Rasant, due to your impetuous nature, I give you Geirel's Serpent Fang. It has an ability called ‘Death’s Embrace’, which coils the segmented parts of the sword around an enemy and inflicts Bleeding status. May this whip sword help you kill your enemies faster, and in turn save your life," he said with a smile and gave the weapon to the orange Maneator. Rasant smiled and was about to reply with a winded speech, but Smoke stopped him and approached the gray Maneator.

"Weise, for your clever guidance to your brothers, I give you Lanze's Narwhal Horn. It has the ‘Poison Jab’ ability, which strikes the enemy eight times and inflicts Poisoned status. May it help you guide you and your brothers to a long and honorable life."

Weise bowed down even lower and thanked his king.

Smoke then turned to the red Maneator.

"Stark, for your outstanding performance, I give you Gavel's Gorilla Fist. This weapon is more worthy of your talent, as you have clearly outgrown the Rzeka glaive. Its ability is ‘Ground Shatter’, which damages and stuns enemies around you."

Stark reached out and grasped the war hammer with one hand and lifted it over his head.

"Now that you've received your rewards, let's head out and increase our strength even further," he declared boldly and led the way out of the cavernous chamber.

Smoke, Igniz and his Maneators all stepped inside into the tight labyrinth tunnel. At two and half meters, Rasant had to slightly bend his neck. Yet Stark and Weise had to stoop down in order to fit through it.

As soon as they entered, Smoke received a notification.

+ Entered Labyrinth of Zuchthaus

> Monsters inside the labyrinth are beyond logic
> Suggested level for entering the labyrinth is 400

He grinned as he saw it. He signaled his party to follow him as they headed for the place where Smoke created them, the hidden Tenebris Laboratory beneath the Chamber of Fire.

* * * * * *

On the way to one of the elemental chambers in the Labyrinth, they encountered numerous wolf spiders, crested newts and fire salamanders. Yet no matter how many of these monsters came, they stood no chance against Smoke and his party. They even met a few Krampus along the way, but these monsters ran away as soon as they saw the rare weapons that his Maneators were carrying.

It took them two days to reach the hidden chamber of Fire. He observed the lone pedestal in the center of the room and walked over to it. He then placed a Krampus embryo on top of it. The whole chamber shook as an opening appeared in the floor behind the pedestal. It revealed a staircase towards the Tenebris laboratory.

Together with Igniz and the Maneators, Smoke went downstairs. The hidden laboratory was double the size of the chamber of Fire. Several tables were placed against its walls.

However, its most prominent feature were five blood crystals attached to its ceiling. Directly below them was a gigantic casting circle with five pentagrams on its edges, designed to form a star.

After seeing the laboratory tables filled with papers, flasks, burners, tubes and other tools for the Tenebris' experiments, he remembered that he had acquired ability tomes here but wasn't able to use them at the time.

He quickly searched for them inside his backpack. He took a look at the tomes entitled “Wind Manipulation”,”Lightning Manipulation”, “Thunder Storm”, “Ice Wall”, “Mana Shield”, “Volcano”, “Soul Drain”, “Lightning Golem” and “Water Golem”.

Sadly, he still didn’t fulfill the requirements for learning any of them. The ones there was yet hope for were Wind Manipulation, Lightning Manipulation and Volcano.

Wind Manipulation and Lightning Manipulation required 50% Affinity to their respective elements, while Volcano was a melded ability of Fire and Earth, requiring 85% Affinity to both.

Smoke quickly opened his Affinity window.

> Elemental Affinity:

Fire:             90%
Earth:          78%
Poison:        52%
Lightning:  38%
Wind:          25%

'Just 12% more and I’ll be able to learn Lightning Manipulation,' thought an excited Smoke. He planned to use Aral's lightning rods to increase his Lightning Affinity.

Yet it was not the time to do that. It was time to make a new friend.

As it had been a while since he had last done it, he opened his Acquired Knowledged window and searched for 'Maneator Creation'.

* Maneator Creation

Consumable Ingredients:
1 Embryo
2 Horns
2 Hooves
1 Maneator DNA
1 Maneator Essence
1 flask of Cervisiarius potion.

Non-Consumable Ingredients:
1 Elemental Catalyst
1 Attribute Disc

Procedure:
1. Place DNA, Essence, Elemental catalyst and Attribute disc onto different pentagram patterns.
2. Place Horns and Hooves onto the remaining pentagram pattern.
3. Place Embryo in the center of the casting circle.
4. Draw a giant pentagram by using a Cervisiarius potion to connect the smaller pentagram patterns.
5. Kneel in front of the casting circle and place both hands on it.
6. Chant the words 'comminuet autem, et ponet eam coniungere vivere' to activate the casting circle.

Note: Consumes 90,000 Mana.

After remembering the process, he quickly whipped up a big batch of the golden colored potion called Cervisiarius.

The last time they were here, Smoke and Espion gathered two Attribute discs, ten Maneator Essences and twenty Maneator DNA samples. He had already used three of the Essences to create Rasant, Stark and Weise. After taking out the remaining ingredients, he placed all of them on one of the tables.

He then took out the eighth Maneator Essence and a special Maneator DNA sample labeled “hybrid class”. He followed the instructions and placed those, along with other required ingredients, onto the pentagrams. Then, he was in a conundrum as to which Attribute disc to use. He inspected both discs to help him decide.

* Arma Dominus

Offense-focused Disc

Gives your creation:
+ Increased Attack
+ Increased Movement Speed
+ Treated as an Assassin regarding weapon restrictions
+ Decreased Life
+ Decreased Defense

* Dominus Custos

Defense-focused Disc

Gives your creation:
+ Increased Defense
+ Increased Life
+ Treated as a Knight regarding weapon restrictions
+ Decreased Movement Speed
+ Decreased Attack Speed

Smoke preferred Dominus Custos, which he had used on both Weise and Stark, giving them higher survivability. This preference originated from constantly seeing Rasant in near-death situations during his battles.

'If it's going to be anything like Mitleid, I should use Arma Dominus, but if I want the new Mitleid to live longer. I should use Dominus Custos,' he debated with himself on which disc to use.

In the end, he chose Dominus Custos, as he couldn't bear the thought of losing Mitleid for the second time. He knelt down in front of the pentagram and placed both his hands on the massive casting circle.

"Comminuet autem, et ponet eam coniungere vivere," he chanted loudly.

A bright red light enveloped Smoke, and 90,000 of his mana was consumed.

The same red light shone from the blood crystals on the ceiling. It quickly turned the golden liquid inside the casting circle dark red.

The consumable ingredients faded out of existence, and a slender body started to take shape in the center of the casting circle.

After two minutes, a Maneator whose skin had the color of gold stepped out of the casting circle. The Maneator was three meters tall, exactly the same height as König Mitleid. However, there was a major difference between the two: the golden Maneator was a female.

"Hello. My name is Smoke," he spoke in a calm manner. Secretly, he was excited about the unexpected development, but didn’t let it show. "Do you remember anything?" He wondered if she inherited any of König Mitleid's memories.

"No..." she spoke softly while shaking her head. Looking around the Tenebris laboratory, her eyes wandered to the three Maneators behind Smoke, and then to Igniz, who hovered above him. Finally, her gaze went back to Smoke. "Are you my father?" she asked with uncertainty.

"Yes, you could say that," he replied with a sincere smile. "Can I call you Königin Mitleid?"

The golden Maneator paused for a bit, then shook her head strongly. “No….” She tilted her head down, closed her eyes and put her hand on her heart. "I'd like to be called...Adelige Mitleid."

Smoke nodded in agreement. "Adelige Mitleid it is."

Then, a notification window popped up.

+ Adelige Mitleid has joined your Personal Army
Adelige Mitleid is the scion of König Mitleid and the fourth Maneator the DarkElf named Smoke created.

Level: 106
Job: Guardian
Loyalty: 100
Favorite Weapon: None
Equipped Weapon: None

Abilities:

Exceed Break: Channeling ability that makes the user’s next attack deal five times more damage
Rage Burst: Temporarily reduces Defense to 0 and adds the subtracted value to Attack
Prestige: Passively increases Defense by 50% and gives a chance to evade magic damage
Maneator Heart: Health Regeneration rate is increased by 300%
Noblesse Oblige: Increases HP of other Maneators within 100 meters by 10%

"Welcome to the family, Adelige," declared Smoke and called the other three Maneators over to welcome her as well. He introduced each of them to her.

Afterwards, he took an item out of his backpack and presented it to her..

“Adelige, as a welcoming gift, I give you Oxen Edge. This double-edged axe has the ‘Minus Force’ ability, which passively adds the difference between yours and your opponent’s Defense to your Attack.”

The golden Maneator accepted the weapon and bowed down to him.

Enlivened by the results of his latest Maneator creation, he readied himself to have another go at it. He had enough materials to make four more Maneators, but his mana could only suffice to make one more at the time.

Again, Smoke prepared the ingredients and placed them onto their respective pentagrams. He put his hands on the casting circle and chanted the same words as before.

However, the red light that was supposed to envelop him didn’t appear. The ingredients were all still there, as well.

"What happened?" Smoke asked out loud.

His Maneators did not reply, as they were also confused.

Smoke took a look at his mana bar and saw that 90,000 points weren’t consumed.

Then, Weise spoke out. "Look, the crystals on the ceiling."

He looked up to see that the blood crystals had lost their crimson color and became transparent.

‘Did they run out of power or something?’ he thought to himself.

“Does this mean you can’t create any more of us?” asked Rasant with a concerned look on his face.

After taking a moment to think about it, Smoke responded, “They’re blood crystals, right? So, maybe they just need more blood to power them. Let me give it a try.”

He equipped his climbing gear and started scaling the walls using Claws of Chiropterra. He moved closer to the crystals and secured his harness. Once safely hanging from the ceiling, he unequipped his gloves and cut his palm on the sharp, pointed end of one of the crystals. He then smeared his blood over it in hopes that the crystal would absorb it, but nothing happened.

"It didn't work," he said out loud, disappointed.

"Maybe we can find a clue to how to revive the crystals somewhere in the laboratory," suggested Weise and started going through the stacks of papers on the tables.

"Good idea," said Smoke.

Together, Smoke and the Maneators searched the entire laboratory, but had no luck at finding anything related to the blood crystals.

"Well, it has been a long time since the Tenebris stopped creating Maneators," he shared his thought. However, his companions looked gloomy.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there's a way to get the crystals working again," Smoke hurriedly added. "I'll ask Darius when we get out of the Labyrinth."

Smoke spent the next couple of minutes lightening the mood but had little effect. He decided it’d be best for them to get out of the laboratory and start moving towards the Maneator Emergence Chamber. But before that, he needed to log out and take his scheduled nap.

* * * * * *

Checking the map, he discovered that the special chamber Guro talked about was on the opposite side of the labyrinth. Although concerned about the amount of time it would take them to get to it, he welcomed the idea of bonding with his Maneators. It took them three days to reach the chamber.

Smoke was puzzled, as he was standing in front of a plain wall. He double-checked the map, and it indicated that the chamber was right behind the wall. He searched for any clues or writings on the wall, but there were none.

He had the Maneators try to break down the wall, but it was impervious to their attacks. He also tried using Earth Manipulation, even though he already knew that he couldn't manipulate the earth inside the Labyrinth.

They had spent more than ten minutes searching for a way inside the wall before it hit him: 'If it's not on the wall, maybe it's somewhere else.' He ordered Igniz and the Maneators to search in the ceiling and the floor.

A few minutes later, Adelige found a keyhole on the far end of the floor. "King Smoke, over here," she called out. In view of the fact that Weise kept calling him “King”, Adelige picked it up as well.

Smoke ardently took out the Labyrinth key that he got from König Mitleid and slid it into the keyhole. The plain wall opened up, revealing a doorway. He took a step forward and tried to enter it but was stopped by an invisible forcefield.

A hooded apparition wearing a gray robe appeared before them.

"Only the Maneators sanctioned by the Tenebris or the Maneator King may enter," said the hooded figure.

"I am the Maneator King," boldly claimed Smoke.

"Indeed, you have the aura of one. You shall now be tested to see if you should be granted access to the chamber," stated the apparition flatly.

"No problem," answered Smoke.

"Listen closely," spoke the apparition. "A group of five explorers enter a cave near the sea. A cave-in occurs and massive rocks block their way out. They are trapped inside the cave."

Smoke nodded as he intently listened to the apparition.

"The five explorers search for a way out. One of them, Taba, finds a hole barely big enough to fit through. He acts hastily and gets stuck in the hole with his head sticking out." The apparition’s voice showed no emotion. "Taba calls for help. The other explorers try to free him but fail. Seawater comes rushing in due to high tide. Noticing the watermarks reaching the ceiling, the four explorers realize that the cave will be submerged. They will surely drown, except for Taba, whose head is sticking out of the cave."

After a slight pause, it continued, "One of the explorers takes out a small explosive from his backpack. It is not enough to remove the rubble blocking the cave entrance. However, it is enough to expand the hole Taba is in and free the other four explorers, but surely kill Taba in the process."

The apparition stopped talking and faced Smoke. "What would you do? Would you kill Taba and save yourself and three more people? Or would you let Taba live? These are your only options."

Smoke covered his face with his hand while thinking of an answer.

'If I was in such a situation, I would not stop until I found another solution. But this apparition says I only have two choices. Is it testing what kind of person I am?' he wondered to himself.

A few minutes passed and Smoke made his choice.

"I would use the explosive. A single life is important, but the lives of four people outweigh it," he replied somberly, as he didn't like the apparition's question.

"You are a logical and wise King. You and your Maneators may enter," explained the apparition torpidly before fading away.

Smoke wondered what would have happened if he had chosen the other answer. He quickly dismissed the thought and told Igniz to wait for them outside. He asked the Maneators to follow him into the hidden chamber.

Once inside, they discovered a white marble room with a small pool at its center. Smoke estimated that only two Maneators could fit inside it. Then, he noticed a note was written on the wall.

* Maneator Emergence Chamber

Bathe in the pool and embrace your beastial existence.

Smoke ordered the Maneators to remain on the side of the pool while he tested the waters out. He didn't know if there would be any negative side-effects to the emergence ritual. He unequipped his gloves, body armor and boots, leaving only his accessories and pants on.

He lowered himself into the deep pool and went under the cold water. Rising above the water’s surface moments later, he grabbed onto the side of the pool and ran his hand through his long, white hair. A notification window popped up.

+ Learned Ability: Asterian Aura
(Passive)
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (10/1,000,000)

> Increases your Attack by 10%
> The effect stacks when in close proximity to other Asterian Aura users
> Maximum increase is capped at 100%

While getting used to the temperature of the water, Smoke called for his Maneators to form a line. He ordered them to enter the pool one by one.

After his fourth Maneator finished the emergence ritual, Smoke checked his Asterian Aura bonus and was amazed to see a 50% increase in his attack power.

As they gathered outside the chamber, Weise turned to him. "What do we do next, King Smoke?"

Smoke checked his map. They still had two places left to explore: the Labyrinth Arena and the Surface Entrance.

"Time to go hunting. It's Krampus season," he answered with a devilish grin.

Chapter Five:

A Drop-in Meeting

A full week passed since Smoke and Sierra left Verbrannt. During their absence, Smoke's private army members were tasked to lead specific efforts towards their village's growth.

Guro drilled the ways of the Gladiator into one thousand Farmers of Verbrannt. Some of them already had battle experience, while others only recently joined. They were inspired by Smoke and his private army's action to fight for their home and for the freedom of anyone who were oppressed like they were.

She had the Blacksmiths of Verbrannt manufacture heavy iron castings for their three-pronged spears. Before the sun rose, she had them jog around the village for four straight hours.

After which, they would fight each other in mock combat for three hours. After lunch, she would lecture them on the methods and techniques to efficiently use the spear.

In the afternoon they would toil the farmlands with a heavy plow and pull it by hand. As soon as the sun would set they would all line up and repeat the Ranseurs' forms for another two hours.

At night they were told to rest as they would repeat the same exact day, but only with a weight of five kilos added to their armors.

Meanwhile, the Bowed Fishermen, who had also increased in numbers, now reached seven-hundred-twenty members. Guro also turned her attention to them. She asked Thyrsus, Vijaya, Sharanga and Ichaival to assemble war chariots for them to ride on. Smoke's core members delegated the task to the craftsman of Verbrannt, and provided them with three hundred. The chariots were pulled by one aardwolf and it was big enough so that three people could easily fit inside while still having enough space to attack with their bows.

In the morning, she had them undergo training that involved using their bows while riding on the war chariots. Their targets were a column of poles lined up in a straight line. Whenever a Bowed Fishermen missed the target, they were ordered to jump off the war chariot and fire at the same target on foot until they could catch up to the war chariot.

In the afternoon, Guro asked the trained Ranseurs from Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama to help train them. The Ranseurs would charge at their war chariots and tried to attack their vehicle. While the trainees had colored-powder arrowheads and were instructed to stop as many as they could while maneuvering around them. The Ranseurs who got powdered would retire from the chase and were considered dead.

The Bowed Fishermen stopped most of their  pursuers, but eventually, they would always be caught. Similar to the Armored Farmers’ training, the Bowed Fishermen repeated the same tedious exercises.

This was the life of the Armored Farmers and the Bowed Fishermen for the past few days. Until, the Armored Farmers fought well in formations with their heavy encased tridents and the Bowed Fishermen finally reached a point where they could powder all their chasers without being captured at all.

After their training was completed, Guro turned Verbrannt's Armored Farmers into Ranseurs and the Bowed Fishermen into Arcus, the mounted archers of the Gladiator variants.

As the population of their village was increasing at a rapid pace and was still growing, Smoke's core members from Nanahuatl Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival, Sharanga, Jinggu and Sharur led a mission for land expansion. Only Laernea and Gandiva were not present as Sierra had taken them with her. They brought with them the Banalite Archers, Acolytes and Iron Knights out to the largest forest near their village.

This forest was located in the outskirts of their southern wall and was called Anbau. Tasked to provide more land posthaste, Smoke's ranged core members expeditiously entered the forest.

However, Anbau was home to an army of mandrills. These monsters were old primates that closely resembled that of a baboon, only larger. Their levels ranged from 80 up to 110 and their life bars were well beyond 120,000 HP.

They spent the entire week subjugating the ten square kilometer forest. It was difficult, but their accumulated battle experience allowed them to face the mandrills without suffering any casualties. The only trouble they encountered in this endeavor was when Thyrsus and Vijaya had a lovers' quarrel on which section to go next, and when Ichaival teased Sharanga and he was caught in one of her five trap systems and a group of mandrills attacked them.

Meanwhile, Adder and fifteen of his Condortlian brethren spent the week sharpening their skills on the slopes of mount Engrais. They practiced sword swings, shield blocks and several strategic formations that would ensure their safety. Adder will not allow any of them to go to Mictlan before their time.

Aside from that, they also needed this training in order for them to get to know their new equipment. Adder had asked the Blacksmiths to forge his brothers better weapons.

A Claymore was forged into their bastard swords and made stronger. As a result, they were now thicker, but their weight did not increase by much. As for their shields, they were fashioned into square edges that would interlocked when joined with the same square-edged shield. With this, they could huddle into one solid cube, and could avoid any ranged attacks.

Finally, Ledur and his Tikbalangs used this period to replicate the architectural wonder that was the Gitna Dam, but the dam he created was only less than half of the original one. He used his Earth Manipulation to construct the dam and raised it to a height of forty meters and a span of one kilometer.

Simultaneously, ninety-six Tikbalangs were digging out canals for the irrigation system that would cover the entire farmlands of where the former residents of Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama now lived.

As Ledur and his Tikbalang brethren finished earlier than expected, they dug another irrigation system headed in the direction of Anbau forest. He anticipated that Thyrsus and his companions would finish their task soon, and the expanded land could benefit from a clean flowing water supply.

* * * * * *

High noon on the seventh day, Ledur and the Anbau Subjugation Force met outside the walls of Verbrannt.

Smoke's ranged core private members walked over to Ledur.

Thyrsus shook Ledur's hand. "That was very proactive of you to prepare a water source here."

Ledur gave him a small bow in acknowledgement. "It's a basic necessity." He then pointed to Anbau Forest. "It's rather big. It must have been a challenge?"

"It is big, and it becomes even bigger when you have to clear the pesky mandrills inside it," joked Ichaival.

"Oh, stop complaining. I didn't hear you whining when you daringly took on the northern side of the forest with only the Banalite Archers," stated an irritated Sharanga. She pushed Ichaival out of her way as she walked passed them. She headed straight for the village, without looking back.

Ichaival scratched his head. "What did I do this time? We cleared the forest didn't we?" he asked around his fellow core members. "I really don't get that girl."

The twin OrkElves walked past him and shook their heads while chuckling loudly.

"Maybe that's why you'll never get that girl," said Sharur subtly.

"But even if you do understand her, it's not a guarantee that you'll still get her," added Jinggu and winked at his twin.

Sharur instantly stopped laughing and slapped his brother's back. "Was that really necessary? My situation is different from—" he stopped talking and stormed ahead.

Vijaya, who stood beside Thyrsus, joined in. "As you can see, Ledur, our subjugation of the forest opened up a lot of… emotions."

Thyrsus looked like he was about to react to what she said, but then saw three war elephants appear out of the clearing instead. "Smoke's here!" he shouted as he pointed to the thunderous noise the massive mounts were making. Sharanga and Sharur stopped walking into the village to welcome their respected leader.

Smoke and his Maneators got down from the war elephants. Igniz happily orbited around the core private army members and expressed how he had missed them.

However, the core members couldn't give the flying dark ember sprite the proper attention, as they stared in awe at the golden Maneator.

"I'm sure all of you would like to know who she is," said Smoke proudly. "Allow me to introduce, Adelige Mitleid, scion of König Mitleid."

Adelige made a dainty bow before them. "I am pleased to meet all of you," she said shyly. "King Smoke and my brothers have told me of your adventures and of your kindness."

Immediately, all of the present core members went to Adelige and welcomed her with either a hug or a handshake. Rasant, Stark and Weise started bragging on about their sister's prowess inside the Labyrinth. About how she never got damaged despite of being mobbed inside one of its great halls.

While his core members were exchanging war stories, Smoke spoke with Ledur.

"So, what have you been up to while I was away?" he asked innocently.

Ledur passively pointed to the forty-meter tall dam protruding above Verbrannt's wall.

"You made your own Gitna Dam?!" exclaimed an astonished Smoke. "That must have taken you ages."

"No, just seven days," replied Ledur passively.

"Right," said Smoke with a smirk. "I would love to take a closer look at it, but I'll have to do it later. Sierra said that she's going to arrive soon."

"Sierra's also returning today?" asked a surprised Ledur.

"Yeah. I spoke with her in our world, and agreed to return to Verbrannt at this time today," explained Smoke. "I guess she must be late."

Before their conversation could go any further, a dust cloud appeared from the opposite clearing.

Smoke used his Telefax Vision and whistled loudly when he saw what caused the dust cloud. "And here I thought I'd impress her with Adelige," he said out loud and shook his head in disbelief. "She said she would surprise me, but this is ridiculous."

As she rode in Gandiva's war carriage, Sierra led an army behind her. There were two Werebears he had never seen before riding in Laernea's war carriage. A pack of sixty-two Werewolves followed them on the right and a mounted regiment of over sixty Elemental Knights on the left. Mamelon's aqua armor shone brightly above the rest of the Knights as she rode in front of them.

As impressive as those two divisions already were, they were not the reason why Smoke stood awestruck at Sierra's arrival.

Rather, it was because of over four-thousand Lioumereans who followed after them. All four sub-races of the Lioumereans were present.

From their appearance, he surmised that they were the wandering tribes that Laernea had told him about before. They also brought their livestock, a creature called mouflon, which were similar to sheep, but had red and brown wool and the horns of a ram.

After a few more minutes, Sierra and her group finally arrived in front of Smoke. At the sight of the cuddly red Werebear, he remembered how he searched for her when he returned with Guro and the other refugees.

Suddenly, a strong urge to hug Sierra overcame him. This feeling was so strong that he failed to notice the smug look on her face as she was walking towards him.

"So, what do you think of the wandering Lioumereans?" she gloated. "It was a bit difficult convincing them to join. We had to travel to a lot of places to get to all of them, but we—"

Smoke didn't answer. Instead, he ran to her and pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Welcome home," he said in a whisper as he rested his head against her soft red fur.

Sierra was taken by surprise, but hugged him back with the same intensity. "I missed you too," she bent her head down and spoke softly in his ear.

They ended their embrace and held each other's hand. Sierra then looked at him curiously. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

A smiling Smoke shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt like hugging you, I guess."

Abruptly, Sharur walked over to them and forcibly coughed. "Welcome back, Sierra. I have... I mean we have successfully cleared up Anbau forest and it is now ready for residency."

As the rest of the core members walked over to them, Thyrsus interjected. "I'm sorry, Sharur, but it's not yet finished. We still have to put up new walls, clear up the trees, build their houses—"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. We still have plenty of work to do before it's usable," grumbled Sharur and stopped Thyrsus from talking any further.

Smoke stepped in between them and shifted the conversation. "Let's talk about that later. For now, let's welcome our new arrivals."

"Right!" quickly added Sierra and faced the Lioumereans. "I'd like you all to meet our newest residents of Verbrannt. The Lioumereans from the wandering tribes of Lenord, Lesud, Levant and Louest."

Smoke and the core members clapped loudly as they smiled at the Lioumereans.

"Due to their large numbers, they were often shunned in villages or cities. So, they had to travel all over Wysteria to allow their mouflons to graze."

Four Lioumereans of each sub-race stepped forward to meet with Smoke.

A panther Lioumerean bowed first. "I am Curieux Rosse. Leader of the Lenord Tribe."

Next, was a cheetah Lioumerean who bowed down before Smoke. "The people of Lesud call me, Larron Rosse."

"Badin Rosse's the name. From the Levant Tribe," said a tiger Lioumerean who followed afterwards.

Finally, it was the turn of the lion Lioumerean. "And I am Imiter Rosse from the Louest Tribe."

"Nice to meet you all," greeted Smoke with a smile and lowered his head before the four leaders of the Lioumerean tribes.

Smoke scratched his head and had to ask the question he had been wondering right after they introduced themselves. "I hope this isn't offensive, but why do all of you have Rosse in your names?"

Imiter answered on behalf of the other Lioumerean tribe heads. "It is a leader's duty to add Rosse to their name. This to remind all the Lioumereans that we are of one kind, even if our appearance may slightly differ."

Smoke smiled after he heard Imiter's answer. "That's very nice, but I think all of us belong to one family. Elves, Maneators, Tikbalangs or Lioumereans, all of us are alive and share the same world."

"Such wise words," said Imiter with admiration. "I think, Sierra, was right. We will be welcomed here in Verbrannt."

Then, all four Lioumerean leaders spoke in unison. "We and our tribesmen offer our fealty to you and Verbrannt."

"Thank you, but I think you should offer it to Sierra," said Smoke and pulled her beside him.

The Lioumereans did not question him, but told him that they already offered her the same respect and loyalty.

"Now, let's all go inside the village and feast!" cried out Smoke for everyone to hear.

* * * * * *

Under the heat of the scorching midday sun, loud drums echoed throughout Verbrannt as all of its residents celebrated in the village square to share in a communal lunch.

The wandering Lioumereans immediately showcased their strength as they set up tents over the square which covered more than four hundred tables filled with delectable dishes. These were spread all around the square to accommodate Verbrannt's current population of over sixteen thousand people.

It was a perfect setup for everyone to raise their Intimacy with each other. The newcomers mingled with those who had stayed longer and swapped stories and opened business opportunities.

In the midst of the celebration, Smoke wanted to go to a more intimate location with Sierra, but his mind dwelled on the fact that his core members from Nanahuatl felt estranged with one another.

So, instead of a romantic boat ride for two, Smoke and Sierra broke bread with his core members. They sat in a table filled with scrumptious food, but it was dulled by surrounding heavy air of awkwardness.

To break the silence, Smoke began to tell them of his return to the labyrinth and how he created Adelige. This sparked an interest in his core members as they asked question after question.

After Smoke shared his latest exploits in Zuchthaus, he asked the Hunters on their subjugation quest of Anbau forest.

As soon as they started sharing what happened in Anbau, squabbles of each other's actions erupted. Smoke raised his hand and asked each one of them to tell their side of the story.

Ichaival went first. "When I was assigned to take the northern part of the forest, I wasn't trying to show off when I asked to only have the Banalite Archers. I did that because I knew we would only be facing a few mandrills."

"How did you figure that?" asked Smoke curiously.

"Well, Sharanga had the western side while Sharur and Jinggu had the eastern. I knew that their forces would expand more to the north and cover most of my area. So, I just had the Archers station on top of the trees and finish off the mandrills who tried to escape by the treetops."

The rest of the Nanahuatlanos quieted down and looked shamefully at their food. They knew that each of them had their own reasons for acting out on their own, but at the end of the day they knew that they always had each other's back.

After Ichaival's explanation, the mood of their table grew lighter and merrier. Now, that they've cleared out the air, Smoke asked them to mingle with the other residents.

As Sierra started walking towards the orphans from Mount Foudre, Smoke grabbed her hand and pulled her into an alleyway.

In a deep voice and a forced accent, Smoke told her. "Come with me if you want to live."

He then took her to the boats stationed on the canals and rowed away with her to the Murray river. He had to take her away from everyone else in order to avoid any further distractions. There was always someone wanting to talk to them.

While rowing out of Verbrannt, Smoke started explaining why he only managed to make one Maneator, Adelige. Also, Darius' explanation on how to make the blood crystals working.

"...Darius told me that the Tenebris sacrificed a thousand Zectians to make one blood crystal, and the one in the Tenebris Laboratory needs five blood crystals. So, it looks like I won't be making any new Maneators anytime soon," said Smoke. He shook his head, disgusted at the idea of killing thousands of people to gain power.

"I think four Maneators is already plenty," replied Sierra who sat across him. "And I'm sure the ones who were sacrificed to make them will be proud of the great work they are doing and are about to do."

Smoke fully agreed as he was already very proud of them.

"But there is one other thing that I gained from my time in the labyrinth," he said proudly. "I finally reached Master Level for my Agility of the Horned Rabbit. I'll show it to you one time, but there's something else I'd like to show you first."

Now, that they were farther out, he placed the oars in the boat and took out a small earth statue from his backpack.

"It's not much, but I made it specially for you," he explained nervously.

It was a small statue of HighElf dressed in a Battle Priestess's armor.

"I was planning on giving you a useful item from the Labyrinth, but there were none useable for Acolyte variations," said Smoke and gave her the HighElf statue.

Sierra carefully took the statue with both her paws and examined it. She couldn't believe the intricate detail done on the armor, but what touched her even more was how Smoke captured her face. It was if she was looking into a more beautiful version of herself.

"I...don't know what to say," said a teary eyed Sierra. "Thank you. I'll treasure this forev—"

Suddenly, they reached a portion of the river that had some rapids, and her Werebear claws accidentally dropped the statue into the water.

Smoke dove in and caught the statue before it sunk to the bottom of the river. He quickly climbed back on board the rowboat.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to drop it. It just slipped out of my hands," explained Sierra somberly as she stared at her claws.

"Don't worry about it," said Smoke. He stowed it back in his backpack and held her claws.

However, Sierra instantly pulled them away. "Apart from fighting, it's awkward to do anything else in this cursed form," she said as she stared at herself.

She sat farther down the rowboat.

"Do you know how long I've wanted to try cooking here in Zectas, use the amazing items that we loot, use abilities other than Double Slash...and do other things as well," she said with a hurt voice while staring deeply into his eyes.

Smoke knew that her Werebear form was a nuisance, but he didn't realize just how much it had bothered her. He then forcibly grabbed her claws. "I swear. You won't stay in your cursed form for much longer."

He then pulled her in for a hug. The two of them sat silently in the rowboat, allowing the river to take them wherever its current carried them.

After a few minutes of tranquility, Smoke received an emergency call from his Spy.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to take this," he apologized profusely and answered. "Espion, what's wrong?"

"The Duke is finally well enough to see people, but he won't see me without you," explained Espion.

"But why would he want to personally talk to me?" asked a puzzled Smoke.

"Why won't he talk to you? Tell him that you're my direct representative. Talking to you is just like talking to me," he replied quickly as he wanted to get back to his personal time with Sierra.

Espion's voice cracked. "His adviser told me that if you won't come, then their city will surely be destroyed. At the moment, they Brandals have us surrounded and even I have difficulty leaving the city now. Also, he told me that they have a plan, but it needs your participation."

A concern look appeared on Smoke's face. "Centzo's survival depends on it, huh?"

He caught Sierra's gaze as she smiled at him faintly.

"You have to go. Otherwise, we would have spent the last few months for nothing," spoke Sierra in a hushed voice.

Smoke grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * * * * *

An hour passed before he received Espion's call. Smoke was now gliding at his top speed towards Centzo. Always vigilant, Smoke considered the possibility that this was a trap which was why he decided to go there by himself.

Before he left, Smoke, Sierra and the rest of the strategists held a brief meeting. They decided that it was best for their main strike force to leave for Mount Vorteil, a mountain five kilometers away from Braucht Hilfe village.

In this manner, they could see everything clearly from on top of the mountain and react in time. They could escape from other directions or commence a full out assault.

With the recent addition of villagers, Verbrannt's population bolstered to over sixteen thousand people. Proportionally, the Vigilantez strike force had greatly increased.

However, the recently added wandering Lioumerean leaders asked that they would be exempted from this battle. As they had only recently joined and his Intimacy with them was still in their low 50's, Smoke could not deny their request.

On the other hand, two thousand of the Ranseurs from Pinagsama, Tatlong and Lugar were willing to volunteer to fight for Centzo's freedom. With this, they now had over four thousand members of their strike force.

Traveling with such a large force would normally delay their arrival. However, Sharanga, Laernea and Gandiva already considered such a scenario, which was why they designed carriage transports to be pulled off by four aardwolves. With the help of Verbrannt's craftsmen, they assembled a hundred of these transports that could carry thirty people.

Their caravan had two-hundred-forty war chariots, a hundred carriage transports, sixty-one mounted Elemental Knights, three war elephants and two war carriages.

Due to this, Sierra and Smoke's core members would make the journey in three days time.

Their forces may have increased in numbers, but Horrabelle and the Brandals still greatly outnumbered them. To compensate for this, they relied on the improved quality of their members and their ability to think on their feet.

On the way to Centzo, Smoke stopped to take a short nap in the real world. He logged out of Zectas and returned four hours laters.

The orange rays of the morning sun greeted him as he glided straight from midnight to dawn. Eighteen hours had passed since his call with Espion, and he hoped that he arrived in a favorable time. He flew above the clouds in order to remain hidden from the stationed Brandals encircling the city.

'I see what Espion was talking about,' he thought to himself as he watched the bandits with his Telefax Vision. From their formation, he could tell that they were going for an all out attack on the city soon.

Then, as he looked to the horizon, Centzo glowed with golden luster as the sun rays reflected against its walls. The city's capital sat on top of a mountain. Sadly, the area around it had turned into a lifeless desert, as it had been completely decimated from the Brandals attacks. He imagined how wonderful it must have looked if war had not come to this place.

When he was directly above the city, he closed his cloak and dove at a frightening speed. A notification window popped up as he got closer to the ground.

+ Entered Centzo City

Capital of the Centzo region. Ruled by Duke Jeune Souverain. It is currently under siege by the Brandals under orders by Ultimo Maire, also known as Duke Burmistrz. Despite their dire situation, the residents' morale is still high. As long as their defenses still stand, they will not surrender.

He closed the window and concentrated on finding Espion. He opened his cloak only when he was forty meters above the ground.

While he dove, he got a chance to observe the city. Centzo's solid-rock walls were over forty meters tall and ten meters thick. Their houses were well made and mostly reached up to the third floor.

However, what took his attention were the numerous amphitheaters with live plays being conducted throughout the city. He counted at least seven of them.

'It's still this early, but they're citizens are already out watching plays?' Smoke thought curiously as he watched from above.

He continued on his slow descent and finally spotted Espion in front of a tall building, waiting for him. He changed directions and landed softly in front of his Spy.

"Welcome to Centzo," greeted Espion joyfully.

"Hello, how's Centzo been treating you," said Smoke with a smile and hugged his friend.

"It's strangely fun," replied Espion with a confused look. "Anyway, we've got to hurry and meet the Duke in his private theater."

"Theater? Why meet him there?" he asked and followed after a sprinting Espion who entered the tall building.

Four Royal Knights equipped in gold armor met them before they could climb a tall staircase covered in a fine red carpet.

Espion showed them a parchment with a sealed signature, which allowed the two of them to go up. There, they met eight more Royal Knights of the same caliber as the ones below. They were protecting a door behind them. His Spy showed the same parchment and they were allowed to enter the room.

Smoke and Espion walked in on a private marionette show. There were only two people watching the puppet play. A Sonstwelter Priest in his mid twenty's, clothed in gold embroidered Priest robes and a young boy dressed in an extravagant royal clothes.

He guessed that the boy must have been ten years old at most. Smoke concluded that he must be the son of someone important.

However, the Sonstwelter's attire looked like it would be difficult to fight in it. He surmised that it must have been a ceremonial wardrobe, fixed on increasing Charm.

"Who are they?" asked Smoke in a hushed voice.

"Shush! It's getting to the good part," ordered the aristocratic boy without looking at Smoke and Espion.

He and Espion sat down quietly and watched the puppet show.

The puppeteer's voice boomed from behind the large-sized puppet theater.

"...And so it came to be that the two princes of the kingdom went their separate ways," said the puppeteer and moved two identical looking marionettes away from each other.

"Dosadno, the older prince, decided to stay inside the castle walls to defend it. Whereas, his younger brother, Neizvestan, went outside and faced their invaders head on."

The next scene depicted the younger prince battling their enemies and being overpowered.

"But instead of retreating, Neizvestan lured their enemies away to the far horizon. Never to be seen again," said the voice behind the curtains and ended his story.

The young aristocrat applauded loudly. The Sonstwelter Priest beside him, followed suit. Smoke and Espion did the same and clapped as well.

Espion stood up and motioned for Smoke to follow him towards the youth.

"Ahem. Duke Jeune, I'd like to introduce Smoke, esteemed leader of the Vigilantez," said Espion with a small bow and pointed to the DarkElf.

A surprised Smoke quickly lowered his head and greeted Centzo's Duke respectfully. "A pleasure to meet you, Duke Jeune."

Espion then pointed to the Sonstwelter Priest. "And this is Incitant, leader of the Centzo's Sonstwelter Alliance."

Smoke extended his hand to Incitant. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," replied Incitant in a friendly manner. "I've watched most of your videos. You're very impressive for someone who started a year after most of us."

Smoke smiled politely, but remained apprehensive at Incitant's cordial appearance.

Then, the young duke called their attention. "Now, let me cut to the chase. My sources have told me of your great achievements against the Brandals and Horrabelle."

"What achievements?" asked Smoke curiously.

"Didn't your guild fight them off on more than one occasion?" asked Duke Jeune. "I even heard that your guild killed the other two Witches of Wysteria. Not only that you are currently at war with Horrabelle. You recently thwarted her by rescuing a group of children and gobble goblins from her black mansion in Mount Foudre. Although, you did destroy Gitna Dam. You also rescued three villages and killed over two-thousand Brandals in the process."

Smoke forcibly closed his open mouth. "How do you know all of that?"

He couldn't believe how the Duke even knew about the number of Brandal casualties from the time he rescued the three villages. He didn't even know how many he killed.

"I have my sources," stated the young Duke calmly. "But of course, Incitant, here has also rendered exemplary service. He has protected this city many times over. I doubt our city would still be standing here today, if not for him."

'How could such a young kid be so profound?' he wondered to himself as he listened to him talk.

"So, now that I have the two Sonstwelters needed to free Centzo. I would like us to hold a strategy meeting," declared Duke Jeune.

"Alright, I'm ready whenever you are, Duke," replied Incitant, giving the Duke a slight bow.

Smoke, who decided to lay back and observe everyone, only nodded in agreement. "Same here."

Duke Jeune motioned for them to sit next to him. "Before we begin, let's wait for my most trusted Adviser."

"Of course, where is he?" asked Smoke as he looked at the door behind them, expecting the adviser to come out.

"He's right there," answered the Duke and pointed to a middle-aged puppeteer, dressed in a long blue robe, who got out from behind the puppet theater.

From the man's appearance, Smoke guessed that he was in his late fifties. Yet, he exuded an air of dignity around him. He was still, however disturbed by the man's clothes. It looked like it had seen better days. They looked to be a bit tattered and worn-out.

"Hello. My name is Prosjak Clandestine," spoke Duke's adviser and offered his hand to Smoke.

"From your robes, I thought you were a—" Smoke stopped himself from saying something offensive.

"A pleasure to meet you, Prosjak," he replied quickly and shook his hand.

Duke Jeune, then pointed to his adviser. "Go ahead, Prosjak, you have the floor." He then motioned for everyone else sit while Prosjak discussed their plan.

"Thank you, your Grace," said Prosjak and bowed before Duke Jeune. "If you have any questions, please feel free to interrupt me anytime."

"My gathered intelligence tells me that the Brandals will attack five days from now," began Prosjak. "While waiting for that day to arrive, Horrabelle is stationed in Braucht Hilfe village. She is having a hard time to strengthening her army."

Prosjak looked at Smoke with a smile. "Apparently, someone released her gobble goblins and she had her Therianthropes hunt them down. They're also waiting in that village for more reinforcements to arrive."

Smoke raised his hand. "Why five days? What happens then?"

Prosjak donned a blank expression. "In five days, Centzo will run out of food."

"We've strictly provisioned our food supply, giving only the minimum amount to survive. Even, Duke Jeune is fasting."

"But I thought you still had plenty of supply left. I mean, there are a lot of performances happening right now," said Smoke, but after closely observing the young Duke, he just noticed the Duke's sunken cheeks.

Prosjak started talking after Smoke fell silent. "When the Brandals attacked, our people huddled inside their homes and lived in fear. Some kept on praying to Cuezaltzin while others fell hysterical," he explained and took a deep breath before continuing. "Duke Jeune was aware of their plight and to empathize with them, he started to fast. He also searched for a way to soothe their troubled minds. In order to clear his own, he asked me to tell him stories of heroes who have slain monsters and emerged victorious."

Prosjak smiled and looked at the young Duke proudly. "During my storytelling, our Duke discovered that he was so immersed in the story, that he forgot the Brandals were attacking. He even forgot that he was hungry. From then on, he ordered Bards, Minstrels, Puppeteers and other entertainers alike to lighten the mood of the city."

Duke Jeune interjected. "That's enough, Prosjak, tell them about our plan."

"Of course, your Grace. I am sorry for delaying any further," Prosjak apologized profusely and turned to Smoke and Incitant. "First, we need to confirm that your respective forces will be able to fight five days from now."

This time, it was Incitant who raised his hand. "I don't think our Sonstwelter Alliance could do that."

Incitant turned to face Duke Jeune. "My fellow Sonstwelters and I have already lost several levels defending the city. Those of us still here, now range from levels 80 to 120. In fact, I've been reduced to level 118 myself."

'He's ten levels higher than me,' Smoke thought to himself, and made a mental note while listening to the Sonstwelter Priest. He still wasn't sure if he could trust Incitant or not.

Incitant "Anyway, most of them won't be coming back to Zectas until this whole Brandal fiasco is over. Best case scenario, we're probably looking at a thousand Sonstwelters. Unless—"

"Unless what?" curiously asked Duke Jeune.

"Unless you could promise them with an even better reward than the one hundred million zecs to be divided among us," stated Incitant plainly.

Prosjak answered him instantly. "If you're asking to be Duke, then that's out of the question."

"Prosjak, please be quiet. Let's hear him out," said Duke Jeune with a raised hand, motioning for his adviser to stop. "And what do you propose, Incitant?"

"Of course, I'm not asking to be the Duke," stated Incitant. He stood up and straightened his classy Priest robe. "Did you know that my alliance is composed of more than forty guilds?"

Incitant walked over to a framed map of Centzo hanged on the wall of the room.

The Priest spoke with dramatically slow. "One of the reasons why we continue fighting this uphill battle... is our deep love for Centzo."

"And I appreciate that," replied the Duke.

"But the Brandals have ravaged several villages, and left them in ruins. But due to your quick response, most of our citizens are still alive within our capital's walls," said Incitant as he was clearly praising the Duke. "The other guild leaders and I have talked about this, and we think that even if we win this war there will still be other enemies. We could best stop living in fear by rebuilding the ruined villages into even better than the ones before them."

Smoke could tell that he was buttering him up for the real reason of this winded speech.

"Thank you, Incitant. That's very considerate of you," said the Duke in a neutral tone. "How do you propose to do this exactly?"

"Well, if you make us Lords to forty villages, then I think we could easily make Centzo into an even stronger city." Incitant finally declared his true intention. "We need to be stronger in order to prevent something like this from happening again."

Smoke caught Duke Jeune looking at Prosjak. The Duke's middle-aged adviser cleverly flashed the Duke ten fingers.

"If your intention is to rebuild these villages, then who am I to deny your reasonable request," replied the young Duke. "However, I will only give you ten villages to rebuild. Furthermore, you will pay the city the same 25% tax as before."

Incitant did not look pleased, but quickly composed himself.

The Duke noticed this and quickly added. "Don't worry. If you do well with the ten villages, then I shall give your alliance another ten villages. Does that sound fair?"

Incitant's smile came back. He bowed down before the Duke. "Of course, your Grace. Thank you very much. I accept all those conditions. I shall inform the other guild leaders as soon as we are done with our meeting."

"Now, that we have that settled. Let me ask you," said Duke Jeune as he turned to face Smoke. "What do you want for your services?"

Smoke was taken by surprise. Most quests would have their built in rewards. He quickly pondered on what he should ask the Duke. He thought about asking for a village like Incitant, but quickly dismissed the idea as he already had his hands full with Nanahuatl and Verbrannt.

"I don't want to ask for a village, your Grace," he humbly replied. "I'll only ask two favors."

Smoke smiled pleasantly at Duke Jeune and Prosjak. "First, allow my Merchants to trade with all the villages in Centzo and give them a 75% discount on any tax they might have to pay."

Although Verbrannt technically belonged to Coatl's jurisdiction. Smoke and Sierra did not pay any taxes to Duke Burmistrz. However, he knew that in order for a village to improve, it needed to associate itself with a city.

Smoke keenly noticed Prosjak mumbling with his hand covering his mouth. He guessed that the adviser was thinking what the effects of such a request could make.

"Second, I wish for Centzo to be my ally. I already have places that I want to protect and I hope that I can call on you when I need your help." Smoke ended his request with a respectful bow before the Duke.

Smoke covertly scrutinized Prosjak and saw him secretly give a sign to Duke Jeune.

"I gladly accept both conditions," said Duke Jeune and offered his hand to Smoke.

After the two of them shook hands, the Duke of Centzo officially started their battle strategy for the day of reckoning.

* * * * * *

It took almost four hours of brainstorming, but their plan was ironed out to all three factions' satisfaction.

Incitant bade farewell to Duke Jeune and Prosjak while pulling Smoke towards the door with him.

"Listen, I'm really happy to be in this campaign with you. I'm sure everyone in the alliance will be excited to see you in action," said Incitant excitedly.

"Same here," replied Smoke cordially. It still felt awkward for him to talk to other Sonstwelters. Especially one he had just met, but he forced himself to keep a realistic facade.

"Congratulations on the great deal with the Duke back there," Smoke quickly added.

"It was a sweet deal, right?" gloated Incitant. "And the other guild leaders only wanted to ask for ten villages. Who cares if Tristan can't handle a city. We shouldn't compare ourselves to someone like him."

"Wait, Tristan finally lost Tonaci?" asked a surprised Smoke. He read rumors about it in the forum, but did not believe that it would actually happen.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" asked Incitant. "Right, I remember that you, Tristan and Amahan had some sort of rivalry going. You were really big when you first started and grabbed a lot of attention."

Smoke only smiled as he couldn't think of an appropriate response.

"Anyway, I think it's time for other people to grab Zectas' attention now," spoke Incitant haughtily. "And having you support us will only sweeten our time in the limelight."

As the Sonstwelter Priest was about to walk away, he turned around to face Smoke. "By the way, nice move. Playing the battle-worn card."

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Smoke.

"You purposely neglected to fix your armor so you'd give a tattered appearance and appeal to the Duke's empathy. You're very sneaky, Smoke. You made it look like you're really fighting for their side," said Incitant and gave him a salute. "I had to rely on this expensive Priest robe for its increased Charm, but I'd say ten villages is well worth it."

Incitant gave Smoke a triumphant smile before he stormed off to inform the other guild leaders in his alliance.

'When I first started? Does he think I'm already washed up?' thought a bothered Smoke as he watched Incitant disappear into the hallway. Although, he didn't feel any animosity from him, he also didn't have any inclination to be close to him either.

Espion, who was there silently listening to everything, spoke out. "Who does he think he is? Just because he rallied a bunch of Sonstwelters. He doesn't even have any idea of what you're really capable of," Espion said to Smoke.

Smoke smiled at his friend. He remembered how Espion would not even follow his command when he first met him and now he was defending him in his place.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on our task at hand," replied Smoke calmly. He felt pacified after he heard Espion's rant.

As the two of them were about to walk away, Prosjak stepped out of the room and called out to them. "Smoke, Espion. Wait up. The Duke wants to see you two."

Once Smoke and Espion was back in the room, they saw a familiar map laid out on a small table in front of the Duke. It was the map of Braucht Hilfe Village.

Duke Jeune spoke in a serious tone. "Smoke, in order to increase our chances for success. I'd like you to take on a life-threatening mission for me. Do you think you'd be up to the task?"

"If it's within my power, then I'll gladly do it," answered Smoke sincerely.

Duke Jeune grabbed Smoke's hand and pleaded. "Will you kill Horrabelle and save my Dukedom?"

Before he could answer, a notification window popped up.

+ Quest: Cut the Head of the Snake
Assassination Quest
Level: A

Duke Jeune, ruler of the city of Centzo, requested that you assassinate Horrabelle and remove one of the Brandals' generals before the final battle of Centzo.

Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]

"I have never gladly accepted a quest as much as this one," replied Smoke with much gusto.

* * * * * *

Since Espion had no ability to fly, Smoke left him in Centzo. He also asked him to investigate Incitant even further and see what else their alliance was up to.

Before gliding back to rendezvous with Sierra and the rest of their strike force, Smoke called her up and informed her of their important assignment.

Immediately, their strategists started to formulate a plan to fulfill this dangerous mission. They were to create several contingency plans in anticipation to Horrabelle's craftiness. They did all this while traveling towards Mount Vorteil.

On the trip back, Smoke was acquiring the knowledge of the books from his Spy. He had Espion scour Centzo's library and received numerous books from him. The top two books he was interested to consume were "Becoming a Duke" and "Centzo's Forgotten Places."

He only had a few seconds left to complete the book entitled "Becoming a Duke" and had a few minutes left on "Centzo's Forgotten Places."

As the progress bar for the book "Becoming a Duke" indicated that it would almost be completed, Smoke decided to land and rest for a while.

Seconds before his feet could touch the ground, an acquired knowledge window popped up.

+ Becoming a Duke

There are several ways to become a duke and have a dukedom under your control, with a capital city shining like a bright jewel in your region.

*King Proclamation
> In the event that the current ruler of the dukedom is greatly questionable. The King has the privilege to offer it to a more worthy successor.

*Duke Proclamation
> In the event that the current Duke feels that there is a person more worthy than himself to rule. The Duke can offer his throne to a worthy successor.

*Self Proclamation
> Forcibly overthrow the current Duke. With the Duke's royal signet, hold the throne of the dukedom for seven days and you will be recognized by the entire kingdom as the rightful duke.

Note: Regardless of how you become a Duke, in the end, the Duke is required to give fealty to the King or face the consequences of facing the entire Kingdom and Dukedoms.

Smoke had been wondering how Tristan was able to become a Duke just over a year into playing Zectas. Although, he had lost his city due to his current campaign.

After acquiring the knowledge, Smoke realized how difficult it was to obtain a Dukedom and even more difficult to maintain.

Any of the three methods would require meticulous planning, a powerful private army and an insane amount of luck in order to pull it off successfully.

He ate a jerky with his remaining free hand and waited for the second book to complete its progress bar. He was drawn to the book entitled "Centzo's Forgotten Places." He felt mesmerized by its title.

A few seconds later, a notification window popped up.

+ Centzo's Forgotten Places

Centzo's former tourist destinations. People used to flock to these places until they were all moved to the capital city.

* Still Laden [Latitude: 67°23' S, Longitude: 202°54' W]
> A place where the inadequate could obtain aptitude, talent and virtuosity in several arts.

* Alchimie Labor [Latitude: 69°23' N, Longitude: 302°4' E]
> A place where the weary could go and rejuvenate themselves in their hot springs.

* Kaputt Burg [Latitude: 15°23' S, Longitude: 352°1' E]
> A place where the indigent could find a home and good fortune.

He was curious as to what these tourist destinations were exactly, but was surprised to see another notification window pop up.

+ Your total 'Acquired Knowledge' has increased your Intelligence by 1.

He smiled at the increased stat. His most powerful abilities instantly deplete his mana and an increase in Intelligence not only meant an increase in the maximum mana pool but an increase in the mana regeneration as well.

After confirming the locations on his map, he realized that two of these places were in the opposite direction, but Still Laden was along the way to his private army.

Since Sierra and the attacking force of his private army would still take some time to reach Mount Vorteil, he decided it was okay to do some exploring on his own for a while and headed for Still Laden.

It took Smoke an hour of gliding to reach the location indicated in the book. It was inside a forest with a clearing in its center. A notification window popped up as he descended towards it.

- Entered Mystique Forest

- Monsters inside this forest are highly aggressive.
- Suggested level for entering this forest is 100.

As soon as he landed twenty meters away from the clearing, he took out Aral's Lightning Rods and prepared himself for battle. From past experiences, he often encountered powerful monsters inside forest clearings.

However, this one-hundred meter clearing was completely empty. It only had a well trimmed grass. As he had already checked that this was the right place, he found himself confused.

'Something has to be here,' he thought to himself as he stepped towards the center of the clearing.

Suddenly, he felt multiple stab wounds come at him from all directions. He reflexively backed away and found himself bleeding from several wounds. He checked his life bar and it was already at (152,166/197,816 HP).

He activated his Heart of ReenTe and applied some medicinal herbal salve on his wounds. While waiting for his life bar to regenerate, he stared at forest clearing.

He was smiling despite being heavily injured. It simply confirmed that something was there, but he couldn't see anything at all.

Then, it hit him. He activated his "Cunning of the Dire Fox II - Extra Sensory" ability and it consumed 90,000 MP. His eyes turned golden and became that of a dire fox's. He could see the flowing energy in the clearing. He found several knives dangling in the air which formed a dome-like covering around it. He roughly calculated the size of the dome and guessed that it had a radius of twenty meters.

He surmised that those were the weapons that homed in on him and stabbed him earlier. However, his Extra Sensory ability was still at Beginner Level 5 and only had a reach of two and half meters.

Due to this, he still couldn't see what was at the center. He thought about diving directly down towards the center, but realized he would still be damaged by the invisible knives.

'Maybe I could use that?' he wondered to himself and checked his ability window.

+ Ability Advanced: Agility of the Horned Rabbit
(Passive)
Level: Master Level 1
Experience: (0/100,000,000)

You've reached the Master zone of this ability.

Effect: Permanently adds 600 to Agility.

+ Learned: Agility of the Horned Rabbit II - Hyper Jump
(Active)
Effect: Moves the user towards the direction desired, leaving an afterimage behind.
Notes:
> Consumes 7,000 MP per use
> It takes 30 seconds for ability to cooldown
> Moves the user 10 meters towards desired direction
> Ability is canceled when user's body hits a solid object
> Range will increase as ability level increases
> MP consumption will decrease as ability level increases

He checked his mana bar and found that he still had enough to use the Hyper Jump ability and one more Extra Sensory. He hurriedly scaled one of the trees and glided towards the center of the clearing.

Smoke closed his cloak and dove straight down. The moment he felt the knives hit him, he used his Hyper Jump ability, propelling himself forward and left an afterimage of himself.

The invisible knives targeted the afterimage, while he braced himself for the ten meter drop. He opened his cloak just before he hit the ground and instantly activated his Extra Sensory ability.

When his eyes turned golden, he finally saw a small hidden cottage in the center of the clearing. He speedily searched for its door and entered before the knives could target him again.

The moment he stepped inside, he was suspended in the middle of the room. "Whoa! Hey, put me down!" cried out Smoke while wailing with his hands and feet.

"Who are you? And how did you get here?" asked a beautiful HighElf dressed in a long black robe. She had black hair and fair skin.

"My name is Smoke," he babbled out. "I'm on a mission under the orders of Duke Jeune."

While floating in the air, he instantly noticed how young she was. He guessed that he couldn't have been over twenty.

"You don't seem to be lying," replied the young HighElf calmly. "But I am not a subject of Duke Jeune. This place no longer belongs to Centzo."

"I see. I apologize for intruding so abruptly, but I was just running for my life. Those knives you have outside your cottage are really sharp," humbly explained Smoke.

"Yes, they are," she smiled proudly at her creation.

"That reminds me. How did you see beyond my enchantment? You don't look like a powerful Wizard," asked the HighElf teenager while looking up at the floating DarkElf.

"I would be more than happy to answer your question if you could let me down first. I think it will also be much easier to talk," he said with a smile.

THUD

Smoke fell down hard on the wooden floors.

"I gave you my name. Isn't it only proper that you give me yours?" he asked innocently.

"True. It has been so long that I've forgotten my manners," she mumbled to herself before she spoke boldly back to him. "I am honor bound to do so. My name is Magnat Maudit. I am the owner of this... souvenir shop," said the young HighElf.

He immediately offered his hand to her. "A pleasure to meet you."

Magnat turned away from him and asked the same question. "So, how did you see through my enchantment?"

Smoke pondered whether he should tell her the truth. Then, he realized that it would be unwise to trifle with someone as powerful as this young HighElf. After all, She could tell that he was speaking the truth without using a casting circle.

"Oh, that. I have an ability that gives me a dire fox's eyes," he answered honestly.

"And this ability? Does it allow you to see other realms?" she asked curiously. Then her eyes lit up as if she realized something.

"Are you using it now?" she asked in an alarmed voice. Then, she calmed down as quick as she panicked. "Oh. Of course you're not, otherwise you wouldn't be talking this normally."

Magnat then spoke in a threatening manner. "I forbid you to use that ability inside this cottage. Do you understand me?"

Smoke quickly nodded. "Yes. Of course. I swear not to use that ability here."

"Very well. Since it seems like it was just an innocent misunderstanding of you coming here. I will let it slide and allow you to leave," said Magnat and was about to push him out of the door.

"Wait. Can't I buy something from this souvenir shop?" blurted out Smoke as he wanted to see what was inside this hidden cottage.

He quickly scanned the place and found several powerful looking accessories that looked like only high level people could wear. However, the things that caught his attention were the ability tomes neatly stacked on a bookshelf. He could tell they were ability tomes from their special book bindings. He quickly read through the titles and found one that he would like to have, "Fire Avatar".

"Please can't I buy an item here?" pleaded Smoke badly.

"Don't push your luck, DarkElf, I've already allowed you to leave in one piece," said Magnat angrily. She opened the door with a flick of a finger and lifted him up again.

"I shall kill you. The next time you return," she declared flatly.

From her tone, Smoke knew that she was serious. Magnat then sent Smoke swiftly flying out of the cottage and through the forest clearing.

He was slammed hard against a tree and received 20,000 points of damage. He looked back at the empty forest clearing and shuddered.

Posthaste, he glided out of Mystique forest and headed back towards his original destination.

Two more hours of gliding and he finally reached Mount Vorteil. Sierra and the rest of his private army were still on their way and were not scheduled to arrive until tomorrow.

While waiting for them, Smoke thought to prepare a place for them to stay in. He used his Earth Manipulation and created a small house big enough for a three meter Maneator or Tikbalang to walk into. However, he destroyed the earth house as soon as he finished it.

'It is too exposed. I'd have to make a better camouflaged resting place,' thought Smoke and started digging tunnels. He made them wide enough to allow a war elephant to easily fit through. He also made several smaller tunnels to allow air to freely pass through his tunnel.

As he worked on the expanding his tunnels, he was also acquiring the knowledge of the other books Espion gave him. The next set of books he had his sights on were entitled "A Brief History of Centzo", "Centzo and its Natural Resources" and "The Return of the Reptile Republic".

Smoke always made sure to keep himself busy. He trained and improved whatever he could within the given time frame before him.

When he completed the tunnel system, he took out his white metal staff and began his Manatl exercises. With his feet apart, he stood in a relaxed position. He took deep breaths and cleared his mind. He projected a full spherical purple Manatl and held it for as long as he could.

He spent the next four hours training his abilities until he finally decided it was time to call it a day. He logged out of Zectas and promised to be back twelve hours from now, after he took a three hour sleep in the real world.

* * * * * *

It was hard to see inside Smoke's deep tunnel system, which was why he had Baldaquin, the Vigilantez's Light Wizard, line it with several light runes and illuminated their temporary dwelling.

It had been an hour since Sierra and the Vigilantez's strike force arrived. Smoke asked his core members to huddle in a circle for their meeting. Despite having several people in the meeting, Smoke made sure that Sierra sat next to him.

"...So, that's the plan?" he asked his group of strategists.

"Yes. Basically, our main attack will be these eight teams and have the special teams support them by moving around them," replied Thyrsus confidently.

Smoke had no problem with Thyrsus’ plan and promptly asked his followup question. "And the special teams are me and the Maneators, Sierra's Therianthropes, Mamelon's Elemental Knights, Ledur's Tikbalangs, Adder's Warriors and Centaur Rangers and Guro with her selected Ranseurs?"

"That's correct," added Adder. "And the eight teams will be led by Thyrsus, Vijaya, Sharanga, Ichaival, Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea and Gandiva."

A smiling Smoke looked at his core members proudly. This would be the first time in a long time that most of his core members would participate in one battle. Except for Espion who was left to gather more intelligence in Centzo.

Then, Thyrsus continued on with their battle strategy.

"Each of our teams will be composed of five to six Acolytes and three to four Shamans. They will be our support. Since all eight teams will be scattered, any of the special teams could come to them for healing," he began to explain. "Next, we'll have thirty-five to thirty-six Iron Knights fully dedicated to defending the support members."

Thyrus looked around the circle of leaders. "However, our main offensive power will be from the Ranseurs and Arcus’ war chariots. Each group will have one twenty five Ranseurs and ninety Arcus. Of course, with three Arcus to a war chariot we’ll only have thirty of them per team."

As soon as Thyrsus finished talking, Sharanga interjected.

"Most teams will be comprised like that except for mine. Because I'll take command of all the Banalite Archers," she said with finality for everyone to hear.

Everyone looked to Ichaival, but saw no resistance from him.

Thyrsus then gave Ledur a nod. The winged Tikbalang then created a three-dimensional map of Braucht Hilfe village and the landforms around it. A small plain of over five-hundred meters  surrounded the village which made surprise attacks nearly impossible. There were three main roads that led to the village. The one from the north was what the Brandals used to carry the supplies from Coatl city, while the ones on the east and south were the ones they used to disperse the supplies.

Before Thyrsus could continue, Smoke intervened. "Wait. Regardless of what the final plan will be, Prosjak told me one vital information that could increase our chances by 70%."

"And what did the Duke's adviser say?" asked Sierra curiously.

"He said that no matter what day or how we decide to attack, we should only launch our operation at exactly three in the afternoon. I asked how it could improve our success rate, but he didn't give me any specific explanations," said Smoke and shrugged.

Sierra then asked him what everyone else was thinking. "Do you think that Prosjak character is reliable?"

Smoke nodded without hesitation.

Even though everyone agreed with him, Mamelon still voiced out her concern. “Still, we should reinforce the escape plan all the same.”

“Agreed, and I already have that covered,” replied Sierra reassuringly.  “I plan to have four of my Werewolves stay with Baldaquin and station them here on our escape route,” she said as she pointed to a forest patch south west of the village. “The forest patch is about one kilometer, and was the best scouted location. Baldaquin and the Werewolves have already left. He should be able to set up his camera runes in that area soon.”

“That’s good. But can I also send Earat and Louche after him?” inquired the Aqua Knight. “Don’t get me wrong. Their useful for reconnaissance missions, but fighting isn’t really their forte.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Sierra energetically as she came upon a realization. “In fact, I think it’s a great idea. They could also help scout the escape path.”

“So, if there’s nothing else?” asked Sierra. “We should get back to Smoke’s proposed time.”

“I’m good with that,” quickly replied Mamelon.

Sierra looked around and saw no one else question the time to attack. "Then, it's settled. We'll commence the operation at three," she said with finality. She then looked to Thyrsus. "Please go on with the rest of the proposed plan."

"Now, I'll discuss the specific locations and duties of each teams..." continued Thyrsus pragmatically.

Their meeting lasted for another thirty minutes before they set off on their special mission.

* * * * * *

In less than an hour, Smoke and the Vigilantez strike force got into position. He used his Telefax Vision and Twin Vision abilities simulateneouosly, and shared what he saw by displaying them on two round shields next to him. He found the Brandals camped right inside the village entrance.

As he scrutinized the place, he noticed black and silver metallic rocks similar to the ones in Mount Foudre.

"Everyone, check out those big rocks. Do you think they could be golems?" Smoke asked his core members.

Sierra addressed the Vigilantez's leaders. "It's best if we treat them as golems. The special teams will target those metallic rocks right at the start."

Everyone of the core members were in agreement. With the final discussion finished, they only waited for fifteen more minutes before Prosjak's designated time to attack.

The moment Smoke's timer went off, all of the Vigilantez teams charged simultaneously. They made loud battlecries as they ran towards the village's main entrance.

Immediately, the Brandals stationed in the Braucht Hilfe ran out to meet them. It was apparent from the number of bandits charging that they suffered several losses from Smoke's dam trap.

Only two thousand of the bandits were riding on black ctenosaurs while they rest ran on foot. The Vigilantez's forces numbered a little over four thousand people while the bandits slightly held an advantage in numbers as they were six thousand strong.

The Maneators’ three war elephants paved a clear path for the Vigilantez as they trampled their way through the bandits’ formations. The special teams followed behind the war elephants, and avoided any unnecessary confrontations. The over confident Brandals did nothing to stop them as they were focused on the Ranseurs on foot.

The bandits assumed that the Farmers only got upgraded equipment, and only came to realize that this was not the case as soon as they crossed weapons with them.

The Ranseurs' tridents skillfully parried the thrown knives by the Brandal Captains. They then locked their tridents with the common bandits' short swords and disarmed them before stabbing their three-pronged tridents into the bandits’ torso. The average Ranseur easily took on two to three common bandits without much injury.

After Mamelon and her Elemental Knights galloped with the special teams, they broke off and went after the Brandals. They specifically targeted the ones mounted on black ctenosaurs. They pierced them with their elemental lances, knocking them off to the ground. They then stabbed the black ctenosaurs legs and drove away the lizard mounts for the rest of the battle.

"Good job, Knights!" shouted Mamelon after they efficiently dismounted thirty bandits. She searched around for their next target and pointed her blue Charnel lance. "Let's head right!"

All sixty-one Elemental Knights rode as one, and headed for their next victims. They didn't finish off the injured bandits, but left them to the mercy of their main attack force.

Meanwhile, Guro and her selected Ranseurs made their presence well known. Whenever she arrived near one of the main groups, her Phalanx and Battle auras increased both defense and offense attributes of all Vigilantez's members. Their battle morale were raised even higher as only the dead bodies of bandits were left in their wake.

Encouraged by the prowess shown by the Ranseurs, the Arcus also demonstrated the results of their training. A constant rain of arrows poured down on the Brandals and greatly reduced their life bars. They expertly fired their bows on top of fast moving war chariots.

Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival, Sharanga, Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea and Gandiva took charge of their main attack teams with the safety and survival of each of their team members in mind.

Thyrsus used his Falcon Vision to get an aerial perspective of the battle. With this information, he constantly shifted the positions of his Acolytes and Shamans who were protected by the Iron Knights. This enabled them to heal all the team members. He also had the Arcus move their war chariots to their maximum effective range and deliver a torrent of arrows. With the bandits damaged from their ranged attacks, he then ordered the Ranseurs on foot to rush forward with their tridents. This allowed his melee members to finish off the heavily injured bandits swiftly. He efficiently controlled his team by personally calling out the first names of key members. This simple gesture demonstrated how he individually cared for all of them.

Vijaya, the WoodElf Huntress, followed a similar strategy but relied on her Falcon Tongue as she listened to the shrills from all of her six falcons. However, she subdivided her team into six more groups. She ordered each sub-group to follow after her falcons lead and focus on the area where her falcons would attack. Her falcons' feathers turned to steel and dove down on the Brandal Captains, distracting them from using their whips and allowed her sub-teams to rush the bandits. Although, her battle tactics closely relied on her falcons, she still did her part and targeted the bandits that were overwhelming her teammates with her arrows.

Sharanga had her falcon drop her patented three-trap systems on the Brandal Captains she and her team were facing. With the bandits' leaders immobilized, they simply fell out of order and were picked off by Sharanga's Ranseurs. The Banalite Archers, under Sympa's command, proved to be worthy members as they snappily snuffed out the life bars of their targets. Sharanga noticed this, and was pleased with their performance. However, she kept staring back and forth between Sympa and Ichaival as she scrutinized whether the two were keeping tabs on each other. Yet, she saw no such glances between them. Instead, she kept meeting Ichaival's gaze. Each time she checked on him, she saw him smiling at her.

Ichaival had his falcon fly over his healers. Even though they were protected by Iron Knights, he felt more secure with Ichai watching over them. He did not order his team members to make any unnecessary risks. Instead, he had them slowly advance against the bandits with the Ranseurs in front and the Arcus close behind them. Outside of battle he was well known to be a goofball, but he took the role of a trusted commander seriously. The only thing that surprised him during this battle was Sharanga constantly gawking at him. He wasn't sure if he did something to offend her but smiled each time their eyes met.

Sharur's and Jinggu's teams worked closely together. The joint OrkElves teams picked on sections of the bandits that should have been taken by one team alone. They focused their ballista on Brandal Captains. They blasted them off of their mounts with a volley of their spiral piercing bolts. Their shared ability cleanly passed through the bandit leaders and rendered their leather armors useless. Sharur originally did not want to team up with his twin brother as he planned for his team to move closer to Sierra, but Jinggu insisted on this plan as he thought they could undoubtedly pull it off as they knew each other's battle instincts very well.

While the Hunters and Range Siegers focused on the center, Laernea and Gandiva went for the sides opposite each other. Even before Jinggu told Sharur of his plan to merge their teams into one, Gandiva had already thought of using the exact same strategy with Laernea. Yet, she did not tell her of the plan as she knew that they could no longer perform well together. Although they were still close friends, she felt a wide gap had appear in between them. Laernea's constant need for Smoke's attention did not sit well with her, but she never told her lioness friend about it.

From the other end of the battlefield, Laernea saw how well the OrkElves worked together and envied them. She felt that Gandiva and herself could have given the OrkElves a run for their money with the same strategy. Yet, she wondered why Gandiva never brought up such a battle plan to her. Normally, Gandiva was the one that would talk to her about tactics in the battlefield, but this time she said no such thing. She only claimed her team be assigned the right side of the battle field. Laernea responded by taking the spot right next to her, but Thyrsus suggested that Laernea take the left side. The reason being was because of their stag moose and durcules beetles. Their fast mobility needed a freer space to be efficient, which was only applicable in the sides.

With the positive progress from their main strike force, the Vigilantez quickly overcame the difference in numbers between them and the Brandals.

The reason for their main strike force's success was not only based on the leadership of the core members or the Job change of their Armored Farmers and Bowed Fishermen, but also because of the efficiency of Mamelon’s and Guro’s special teams weaving in and out of the battlegrounds.

Except for those two teams, the rest of the special teams scattered through the Brandals and vigilantly went after the metallic rocks. They stabbed it and slashed their weapons against the stones. After a few attacks, they found that they were ordinary stones and left them be.

Adder's and Ledur's team stayed behind and focused on the surviving Brandal Captains, while Smoke's and Sierra's teams charged straight for the gates and made sure that none of the bandits could make a hasty retreat.

On top of Weise’s war elephant, Smoke equipped his power chainsaw bow and released a profusion of poison arrows at the bandits. In retaliation, some of the targeted Brandals sprinted towards him. However, they were only running towards their death as Sierra, Phen and Rear finished them off before they could even reach him.

Smoke got off the war elephant and got closer to Sierra. "I don't know what Horrabelle is planning, but we better finish off the Brandals before she arrives," he said out loud to her while he kept firing his arrows. It bugged him why the bandits were out here alone.

‘Was Prosjak’s advice really that effective?‘ he wondered to himself. ‘Or is Horrabelle up to something?’

Sierra looked back at him and nodded. "I know! This feels way too easy that I'm kind of afraid of what she's gonna do next."

After Smoke and his Maneators secured the village entrance, Sierra's Werewolf pack was led by Ardu and Vrai. They ravaged through the bandits as they made their way back into the fray. Only Sierra, Phen and Rear were left behind from her team and guarded the gates with Smoke and his Maneators.

Ardu and Vrai took on the roles of sub-leaders for Sierra's Werewolves quite well. As the two of them were male and female, the attack bonus from being led by two alpha Werebears applied to the Werewolves. The two of them attacked with their claws and teeth, allowing their feral nature to come out. Yet, despite this, they also kept a close eye on one another as the two of them now shared a special bond.

In less than ten minutes, the Brandals' forces were left with 30% of their original numbers. However, fortune would not smile on the Vigilantez throughout the entire battle.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt surged from within the gates and blasted Smoke high up in the air. He was damaged for 25% of his total life bar.

A pale Witch, dressed in a slender black robe, rode out of the village on top of her black Nightmare. Horrabelle was accompanied with an army of two thousand Therianthropes and two Gargantuan Goblins.

"You cowards dare attack me, while I was still speaking with my High General!" she shouted angrily and blasted several more lightning bolts towards the Vigilantez.

Ledur quickly blocked all of them with earth pillars and dissipated the electrical charge to the ground.

As soon as the lightning attacks were over, Horrabelle's monstrous personal army stormed out the village towards them.

The Vigilantez's special teams were composed of two-thousand Ranseurs, ninety-seven Tikbalangs, sixty-two Werewolves, sixty-one Elemental Knights, thirty Centaur Rangers, fifteen Condortlian Warriors, four Maneators, three Werebears and a single DarkElf.

Although Guro's trained Ranseurs were well adept in fighting, Horrabelle's Werewolves proved to be slightly stronger as they were clearly overpowering them. It became even  worse when they faced against the bigger Werebears. Their tridents tried to parry their massive claws, but were quickly knocked out of the way. The Werebears then grabbed them by their shoulders and gnawed on their necks. They stood no chance against Horrabelle's Werebears as they were slaughtered when they faced against them.

Along with Adder and Ledur, Ardu and Vrai faced off against the enemy Therianthropes. The Vigilantez’s Warriors, Rangers, Tikbalangs and Werewolves made sure to protect their comrades from suffering any more losses.

“Ardu, Vrai, don’t let your guard down against the Werebears,” said Adder who passed by their way.

The young Werebears gave him a small bow in affirmation and roared out their fears. Finishing off Horrabelle was the only thing that was in their minds as they fought against her minions.

Adder and Ledur each took on Werebears by themselves while Ardu and Vrai teamed up to face one of them on their own.

The speedy response from Smoke’s most trusted second-in-commands saved the main strike teams from completely being decimated, but the Vigilantez’s Tikbalangs and Werewolves were about to face something even bigger than them.

Two Gargantuan Goblins rampaged through their forces and effortlessly knocked back the Vigilantez's monster divisions. Tikbalangs and Werewolves alike were seen flying through the air as a pair of three-meter giant goblins advanced through their ranks.

Smoke, who was busy firing his power chainsaw bow, immediately ordered his Maneators to take care of the Gargantuan Goblins.

The Maneators dismounted from their war elephants and had them help the main attack force finish off the bandits, while they went to face the monstrous goblins.
Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise met with the goblins head on. The four Maneators made sure to stay close to one another in order to utilize the Asterian Aura, unique only to them.

Adelige paired off with Rasant to face one of the goblins while Stark and Weise joined together to challenge the other monster.

Right at the start, Rasant launched an all out attack. He fully extended his whip sword and it snaked its way around the goblins left arm.

However, the monster's right fist came flying out. It was about to smash the orange Maneator's head to the ground, but Adelige's golden axe parried the Gargantuan Goblin's attack to the side.

This allowed Rasant to freely dish out an all out attack as he left all the defensive tasks to the golden Maneator. Adelige did her best to portray the role of his shield, and parried all of the goblin’s attacks with her double-headed axe.

Weise and Stark ran towards opposite sides of their goblin and launched their attacks one after the other. Stark's war hammer went crashing down on the monster.

The goblin managed to dodge it, but still got damaged as the red Maneator's warhammer made a deep impact on the ground, sending numerous shards of rocks towards the goblin and stunned it.

As soon as it got stunned, Weise launched his own attack. His spear created eight afterimages of itself and inflicted the monster with poison

Yet, this favorable encounter was only seen in the Maneators' battle against the Gargantuan Goblins. As soon as Horrabelle's personal army emerged, the power balance tipped towards the Witch’s favor.

This time, the dead bodies of Arcus, Ranseurs and Iron Knights were scattered on the battlefield. War chariots, swords, shields, tridents and bows alike were left behind as they were being slaughtered by the monstrous army.

Despite the horrendous terror that Horrabelle’s Therianthrope army had spread, the Vigilantez persevered and made sure that none of the Acolytes and Shamans were killed. It was an arduous undertaking, but none of them ran off. Everyone stood their ground and battled to the death.

Smoke watched the horrifying warfare with a determined look. He made a promise to himself to make each of their death count. Horrabelle’s head was going to roll today. His attention was diverted when he heard the most irritable laughter.

"Nyak nyak nyak!" Horrabelle let out her horrible cackling as she watched from on top her Nightmare, and reveled in the Vigilantez's struggling badly against her monstrous army.

"You were fools to follow this stupid Dark—" the Witch stopped talking as a poison bolt flew through the battlefield and struck her squarely on the chest. Her life bar displayed (1,199,150/1,200,000 HP).

Then, one more poison bolt knocked her off her mount and fell on the ground. Six fire arrows shortly followed and made contact with her flesh.

Meanwhile, Smoke fired eight arrows at her Nightmare and drove it away. He didn’t want to give the Witch an opportunity to escape.

Horrabelle searched for the source of the bolts and arrows and found that the leaders of the Vigilantez's main force was now in front of her and had joined in on the fight against her army. They arrived as soon as they finished off the last of the Brandal bandits.

Igniz flew directly above the Witch and fired numerous fireballs at her, as fast as he could, but his damage did not even reach 200 points.

With most of their war chariots destroyed, the severely injured Arcus tried to attack Horrabelle on foot, but their arrows could not reach her. Only the arrows of Smoke's core ranged members made contact with the black Witch, but they could only inflict less than a thousand damage points.

Then, eleven falcons dove in from above and started clawing her with their talons. Horrabelle responded by firing her lightning bolts at the flying enemies above her. The falcons safely retreated back to their owners.

However, Igniz remained flying above her and focused on dodging the lightning bolts while countering with a fireball after dodging.

Their accumulated damage was insignificant and barely made any dent on her life bar, but it greatly irritated Horrabelle nonetheless. Only the spiraling bolts from Sharur and Jinggu made her flinch, as it knocked her back a bit. Little by little their bolts were chipping away her high defense.

Two minutes passed and she finally got fed up with their cheap attacks. She took out ten electro stones from the pockets inside her robe and placed them on her palm.

She pointed her silver ring on them and activated its ability. The ten electro stones flew up in the air and scattered around the battlefield. The moment it made contact on the ground, the electro stones started pulling in the black and silver metallic rocks surrounding the area.

Ten metallic golems, the same ones they fought on Mount Foudre with 200,000 HP, were instantly created on the battlefield. Laernea's and Gandiva's mounts bucked uncontrollably. Bilis and Tulin remembered the monsters who broke their antlers. The scattered golems went after the ranged core members, but their falcons, Ranseurs and Arcus blocked their path.

However, a straightforward attack was not Horrabelle's true intention. Her Therianthrope army scrambled away from the metallic golems and faced the Vigilantez that were far from them.

Horrabelle then hastily created a blue casting circle in front of her. Several sparks of lightning menacingly emitted from it.

A partially recovered Smoke then saw a powerful lightning strike, even stronger than the one he saw from Aral, hit one of the metallic golems. The lightning scattered into several directions, damaging the Vigilantez in the area.

Several of the ones caught in the scattered lightning attack were left with 30% on their life bars while a few of the unlucky ones were instantly killed.

Yet, the attack did not stop there. The thickest of the lightning bolts bounced off towards the next golem and repeated the same pattern. The Vigilantez screamed in pain as they were hit by unceasing scattered lightning attacks.

Then, Horrabelle released another lightning strike of the same calibre and bounced it off on the metallic golem in the opposite side of the battle ground.

Before she could fire a third lightning strike, Smoke's sickle, laced with poison, scratched her back. It tore through her black robe and exposed her lustrous white skin. His sudden back attack successfully addled her with poison.

This time, it was Horrabelle's turn to scream in agony. Smoke guessed that just like her sister, Crucibelle, she was only used to giving out pain and not receiving them.

Yet, unlike the Witch of Immolation, Horrabelle’s defense against physical attacks was somewhat lacking.

Stealthily, Sierra accompanied by Phen and Rear crept up from behind her. Yet, before their claws could do their damage, Horrabelle sent several lightning bolts their way and knocked them back.

Thankfully, their cursed form gave them high life bars and a resistance to the elements, which allowed them to survive the Witch's lightning attack.

The Witch created another blue casting circle aimed at the metallic golems while distracting Smoke's attention with several lightning bolts. It took everything in him to dodge her attacks as they were almost as many as Crucibelle's Meteor Strikes.

Horrabelle completed the casting circle and was about to aim for one of her metallic golems, but could not find any of them. Ledur had ordered his Tikbalangs to crush all of the metallic golems. They responded quickly as they already knew about their weakness from their encounter before.

The Witch vented out her frustration on the winged Tikbalang and aimed the Lightning Strike at him. Fortunately, Ledur saw the flash of light coming at his direction and created a thick earth pillar before the attack hit him.

As Smoke was lying on the ground, he saw how the Vigilantez were badly struggling against the Werewolves and Werebears.

“Everyone, it’s alright. I’ll keep her occupied. Just make sure no one else gets killed,” said Smoke to his core members as he pushed himself off the ground.

The winged Tikbalang concurred and went to join the rest of his Tikbalang brothers who were fending off the Therianthropes.

Mamelon’s, Adder’s, Ledur’s and Guro’s special teams did their best to protect the main strike force.

With his Symbiote Vision, Smoke saw how Mamelon took command of the battlefield. She only had thirty Elemental Knights left riding behind her as they took the brunt of most of the attacks.
He quickly realized that even her closest friends, Virer and Courant, died after battling with Horrabelle’s Therianthropes.

Although, Smoke knew they would return to Verbrannt after twenty-four hours he still pitied them. Their levels were now at 104, and he personally knows how painstakingly difficult it is to raise one level when you reach that point.

Yet, he could see it from Mamelon and her Knight’s expression how serious they were on putting their lives on the line. These Zectians from Verbrannt had already grown close to them and if losing a level meant they could save their lives, then it was more than worth it.

Due to Mamelon and her Sonstwelter regiment’s sacrifice, Adder’s and Ledur’s teams did not incur any losses. Smoke realized that aside from Sierra, there were other Sonstwelters out there that he could rely on. There may be few of them, but they still existed.

Despite the fact that the Vigilantez suffered many casualties, they were slowly gaining the upper hand against Horrabelle's army.

The bolts and arrows of his ranged core members gave cover-fire to their dying comrades. The dispersed Acolytes were having a difficult time healing everyone as almost all of the Vigilantez had less than 30% on their life bars. Yet despite this, the Vigilantez survivors braved on and continued to fight even with one foot in the grave.

A frustrated Horrabelle couldn’t believe that her monstrous army was losing. She screamed out loud and focused her numerous lightning bolts on Smoke.

Steadily, Smoke learned the timing of her lightning bolt attacks and was now able to launch a counterstrike with his weighted chain and sickle in between dodging her bolts.

He made sure to keep her attention on him as he saw Sierra, Phen and Rear patiently waiting in the sidelines. They postponed their attack for the perfect opportunity to strike.

The moment Horrabelle was out balanced after she dodged Smoke’s iron ball, Sierra and her Werewolves sprinted towards her. They cleared the distance between them in no time at all. Sharp claws pierced through her flesh. Then, Phen and Rear each took a bite out of both her arms.

BZZZT BZZZT BOOSH

Electrical sparks erupted out from Horrabelle’s entire body. All three Therianthropes were knocked back.

Despite seeing Sierra and her Werewolves blown away, Smoke could sense that Horrabelle's defeat was drawing close.

Their damage on her was minimal, but their persevering attacks reduced her life bar to 82%. Horrabelle’s Therianthrope army numbered less than a thousand. Whereas, the Vigilantez still had over three thousand members left.

'Don’t worry, Sierra, you'll finally be cured,’ thought a concerned Smoke as he gazed upon the red Werebear on the ground.

However, his reverie was interrupted when he heard a disturbing sound.

TOOT TOTOTOOT TOOT TOOT TOOOOT TOTOTOOT

Loud intimidating sounds of Cavalry Knight trumpets came from the northern clearing of the village. Its ominous resonance covered the battlegrounds. The Vigilantez did not need to see them because they could clearly hear the reverberations of the galloping dirus wolves charging straight for them.

Without hesitation, Smoke yelled out from the top of his lungs. “Everyone retreat!”

At once, all of his guild members scrambled towards their planned escape route. They desperately hurtled away from stampeding Cavalry Knights chasing after them.

Smoke used his Telefax Vision and saw Macher leading the charge. He was followed by a thousand Sonstwelters and ten thousand Zectians. He also noticed that out of the Zectian Knights, almost a thousand of them carried the emblem of Macher's personal army.

Smoke’s core members speedily followed their contingency plan and led their team members towards safety. They still had a long way to go before they could reach the forest patch where Baldaquin was waiting for them.

However, not everyone could escape right away as some of their Arcus and Ranseurs were caught by Therianthropes’ claws. They desperately tried to break free but their captors wouldn’t allow them to escape the incoming cavalry. The Tikbalangs tried to free them, but there were too many of them to rescue by themselves.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll help them out,” said Adder as he ordered his Warriors and Rangers to turn back and engage the enemy Werewolves and Werebears.

Meanwhile, the core members in charge of the main strike force continued on with their orders and made a hasty retreat.

"Nyak nyak nyak nyak! Serves you right! Just who do you think you people are!" exclaimed Horrabelle haughtily and laughed at her fleeing enemies. “Did you really think you stood a chance against me? Nyak nyak nya —”

She stopped laughing when she caught a glimpse of a  bright fireball overhead. She looked up and saw a flaming DarkElf diving straight towards her.

CRASH

Molten rocks flew everywhere. Smoke landed right on top of the Witch, stunning and damaging her with his Comet Crush ability.

Sierra then threw Phen and Rear out of the immediate vicinity and made a mad dash for the immobilized Witch.

Simultaneously, Ledur flew overhead and encased Smoke, Sierra and Horrabelle inside a large, thick earth-dome.

Chapter Six:

Arrogance Leads to Downfall

From above the battlefield, a winged Tikbalang surveyed his created earth-dome. It was fifty meters in diameter and three meters thick. Ledur wasn't keen on this idea, but Smoke convinced him that this was their only option in order for them to kill her.

Ledur suggested to simply trap the Witch from the start, but Smoke countered that Horrabelle could easily escape if left alone. Someone had to be inside with her and finish her off there.

As Ledur scrutinized his dome, he would have liked it to be thicker. However, with the Cavalry Knights closing in on them, this was the best he could do. He estimated that Smoke and Sierra had at least twenty minutes before the Cavalry Knights could destroy his dome.

Yet, Macher did not move as expected. Instead, he and his army ignored the earth-dome altogether. The Cavalry Knights went after the scrambling Vigilantez who were running for their lives.

Along with the Tikbalangs, Adder and his special team stayed behind as many of Horrabelle's Therianthropes viciously held on to one or two of their comrades.

Mamelon who was about to leave saw this and ordered her Elemental Knights to join Adder's team. Together, they bravely fought off the Therianthropes who had detained some of their Zectian friends.

Ardu and Vrai who were already halfway out of the plains looked back. They growled and ordered the Werewolves under them to help out as well.

Meanwhile, Ledur was busy thinking of a way to stop the Cavalry Knights. He thought about creating a wall or a trench, but realized that he could not cover the entire plain in time. Ledur then remembered a conversation he had with Smoke.

'Even if you can't stop them, then slowing them down will be enough,' thought Ledur to himself as he repeated what Smoke told him.

Posthaste, Ledur created multiple random walls in the vast plain between the Vigilantez and the Cavalry Knights. The earth walls were only three meters tall and six meters wide. However, Ledur created so many of them that the land in the middle of the Cavalry Knights and the Vigilantez now looked like a small maze.

The mounted Macher was forced to stop in front of Ledur's sudden earth creation. From on top his dirus wolf, he stood up and allowed him to see through the maze. He tried his mount to climb over it, but immediately found that it could not find any footing, as the wall itself was smooth. He and his men either had to travel inside it or around it.

Macher ordered two groups to head around the opposite sides of the maze, and a one group to turn back and destroy the earth-dome. As for him, he led a group straight into it. He shouted out directions while standing on the back of his dirus wolf. Due to this, they quickly zigzagged their way through the earth walls.

Yet, the dirus wolves had a difficult time traversing the maze as they kept running into each other whenever they tried to make the sharp turns.

Adder was left with 30% on his life bar while the rest of his teammates were below 20%. He then heard Ledur yell from above.

"It's time. We have to leave, now!" cried out Ledur somberly from the skies.

Adder and Mamelon checked on the still captured Zectians. Both of them realized why Ledur spoke such words. They gave each other a regretful nod, and ordered their teams to retreat.

The remaining captured Vigilantez had less than 10% left on their life bars, and they were in too deep inside Horrabelle's Therianthrope army for them to rescue.

Even if they could free them, they would still soon die from their fatal wounds. The liberated Vigilantez were carried off by Centaurs and Tikbalangs while others hitched a ride on the war chariots pulled by aardwolves.

Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise reunited with their war elephants and rejected Ledur's order. They stayed behind and tried to help the dying Vigilantez that were still captured.

Stark and Weise rode their own war elephants, while Adelige and Rasant shared one. The trunks of their massive mounts flicked away the Werewolves blocking their path towards their comrades.

Weise got to one of the half dead Ranseurs whom he recognized as Veinard Gars, one of Sierra's promoted lieutenants.

"Come on, Veinard, we've got to get out of here," said Weise and pulled him up to his war elephant after he pierced the surrounding Werewolves with his Narwhal Horn.

"Thank you, Weise, but you shouldn't have come. We've already accepted our fate," said the half dead Ranseur. "If you stay here any longer. You'll all be killed, and the four of you are the last Maneators alive."

Before Weise could argue with Veinard, Horrabelle's Werewolves swarmed their mounts and quickly brought down the war elephants' life bars to 40%.

Weise gulped; and watched Adelige, Rasant and Stark fight off the furry monsters. He knew that Ledur and Veinard were both right. With a heavy heart, he turned to his fellow Maneators and cried out. "We have to leave. King Smoke, would want us to live."

At once all three war elephants turned around and ran after the fleeing Vigilantez.

Ledur, who was scouring the skies, created several blockades behind the Maneators and delayed the Therianthropes that were coming after them.

Weise looked back and memorized the faces of those they left behind. He applied pressure on Veinard's open wound to slow down the bleeding. Even though they weren't able to save all of them, he consoled himself with the fact that they saved at least Veinard Gar's life.

The trapped Vigilantez knew what their role was. The Arcus and Ranseurs went berserk and fought without a thought of defending themselves. Their suicidal attacks managed to hold off most of the Therianthropes from chasing after their escaping comrades, but only for a few minutes as they were quickly devoured by Horrabelle's monstrous army.

From the sky, Ledur attacked the Werebears with elemental spikes sprouting out from the ground, temporarily impaling them to it. Yet, the Therianthropes continued on with their chase.

Despite their alphas being stopped, more than three hundred Werewolves pushed on and went after the Vigilantez who were still trying to get away.

Baldaquin, Earat and Louche; who were waiting for their guildmates inside the forest patch, had set up traps in advance and activated them when the Werewolves entered the tree lines. Yet despite their numerous preparations, they only caught less than two dozen Werewolves.

The injured Vigilantez fled through the gaps in between the trees, and broke branches along the way. The Acolytes who rode on the war carriages tried to heal as many as they could, but their mana quickly ran out and could not keep up with everyone's injuries.

At Thyrsus suggestion, all of the Vigilantez teams scattered. Mamelon's, Adder's and Guro's team went straight. Whereas, Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival and Laernea went right. Sharanga's, Gandiva's, Sharur's and Jinggu's went left.

Meanwhile, the Maneators stayed behind to fight some of the off. Weise handed over Veinard to Laernea, who had an Acolytes and Shamans riding with her.

Thyrsus hoped that this would give the Werewolves a harder target to follow, and expected the monsters to disperse even more and chase after all the teams.

Seven minutes after the Vigilantez entered the forest patch, Baldaquin's eyes glowed white. "Macher has entered the treeline," said the Light Wizard to Gandiva, who he hitched a ride on her war carriage.

"Don't worry, old man. We're almost at the hidden tunnels," replied Gandiva with a grin. She then pointed to a winged Tikbalang waiting for them on top of one of the trees.

"What about the Maneators?" asked a worried Baldaquin.

"They're too big to enter the emergency tunnel, and they know how to handle themselves. Besides Ledur is gonna help them out, soon. Right after he secures us," answered Gandiva confidently.

Ledur waited for them near the trees of the forest patch ended. It was here where Smoke and Ledur created another tunnel on the ground that was connected to the tunnel system in Mount Vorteil.

After a few seconds, Laernea's team arrived. One by one, all of the teams of the main strike force and the special teams that were scattered entered the entrance of the escape tunnel.

Despite this, they did not completely lose their tail as almost two hundred Werewolves were still chasing after them. Without decreasing their speed, Horrabelle's minions charged in after the Vigilantez into the dark passage.

After the last Werewolf disappeared into the tunnel, Ledur landed in front of it. With both his open hands apart, he brought them together and closed the opening on the ground. He manipulated the earth in the area and completely camouflaged the former entrance.

Ledur then flew towards the fighting Maneators, with the sole purpose of leading Macher's Cavalry Knights to a different direction.

* * * * * *

The earth-dome that Ledur made was completely sealed. Their only source of light was from Igniz's flames and the electrical charges coming out of Horrabelle's body.

Smoke was knocked back as soon as the Witch regained consciousness. He looked around the sturdy, airtight structure and knew that he had a few minutes before Macher and his army could break through.

However, it dawned on him that he had to defeat Horrabelle as fast as he could as there was another element gunning for his life, oxygen.

"Igniz, back inside, bud," he quickly called out to his symbiote.

His symbiote followed his orders without question, and flew into the metal container on his chest.

"Stay there and keep your fire to a minimum," he said as he worried that if Igniz's fire could quickly burn up the limited oxygen inside the dome.

With Igniz's safely hidden, the only source of light was now Horrabelle. The Witch was the only one clearly seen, out in the open. She quickly canceled her electrical charges, but not before Smoke's sickle nicked her stomach.

"Argh!" cried out Horrabelle in pain, but her suffering did not end as she was quickly attacked by Sierra's claws.

The red Werebear used her Double Slash attacked and smashed the Witch hard against the earth-dome behind her.

A loud thud was heard, but then complete darkness overtook the earth-dome. A few seconds passed, Smoke didn't move a muscle as he couldn't see anything.

His Cunning of the Dire Fox allowed him to sense Horrabelle's and Sierra's general locations, but he had no idea what the Witch was doing. He thought about calling out Sierra, but decided not to as it would only give out his position.

Suddenly, a bright blue light erupted out of Horrabelle.

"Sierra, jump!" he shouted, but it was too late. He saw a powerful Lightning Strike ram into Sierra's back. She tumbled forward and rolled on the ground.

Fortunately, for her, her cursed form had a high resistance to most elemental attacks and a colossal life bar which displayed (359,199/478,933 HP).

It became pitch black again after the attack. Smoke could sense Horrabelle getting closer to him, so he threw the weighted iron ball at her.

'There's no way she could dodge this,' he thought as he smirked at the charging Witch.

However, the iron ball went right through and completely missed her. She got in front of him and her palms glowed an electrified blue color. The luminance allowed him to see her face. She gave him a maniacal look before she fired several lightning bolts in his direction.

Smoke left an after image of himself after he used his Hyper Jump ability and dodged to the right. He didn't want to use this ability so soon, but there was no other way he could have dodged that many lightning bolts at such a close range.

"Nyak nyak nyak. Is running away the only thing you're good at?" taunted Horrabelle. "I thought this was what you wanted? Me by myself, without my army?"

Horrabelle then turned to Sierra. "And my most precious, Werebear. I saw you made two other Werebears on your own. You proved how potent your blood really is. I look forward to draining it from your lifeless body. Nyak nyak nyak!"

Smoke shook his head in dismay. He thought that this earth-dome would give the Witch a big handicap, but he was wrong. Despite her reduced life bar and the poisoned status, Horrabelle was still putting up quite a fight and wasn't going down easy.

'She must have a sensory ability like my Cunning of the Dire Fox and Sierra's Animal Instinct,' he surmised. It was the only thing he could think of as to how the Witch could find them in this absolute darkness.

Also, he thought that the Witch's ability was above his, as she easily dodged his frontal attacks and delivered a counterattack on Sierra. He would have wanted to use his current favorite weapon, but he thought that Aral's Lightning Rods would most probably have no effect on her.

Several things passed through his head, and a question suddenly popped up.

'But if she had a sensory ability, then how was Sierra able to deliver her Double Slash attack earlier?' he wondered to himself. He couldn't find the answer to that puzzle, but he decided that it was safe to talk out loud as Horrabelle had her own way of finding them.

"Sierra, are you hurt?" he asked loudly enough for her to hear.

"I'm fine. But I'm not sure if I could still eat a ram after that attack," she answered him with a pained voice.

Smoke smiled after he heard Sierra's encrypted answer. "But a tenderized ram is one of the tastiest dishes this world has to offer."

He suddenly used his Hyper Jump ability and changed to a different location. He used his Extra Sensory ability to see whether Horrabelle was looking at him, but it appeared that she was desperately searching for him instead.

Sierra then called her attention. "If you say so, Smoke." She paused and waited until he got into position. "Then, let's have ram after we kill this Witch," she said and moved in on Horrabelle.

"Stop with this nonsense!" yelled out Horrabelle. "The only thing you'll be doing is dyi—"

The Witch stopped talking as both Smoke and Sierra charged at her simultaneously. Sierra with raised claws came at her from the front while Smoke with his Armored Armadillo Shield ran to her right side.

With her left hand, Horrabelle fired several of her lightning bolts at Sierra. The Witch then turned to fire the same attack at Smoke with her right, but found no DarkElf to be hit.

'Yes! I was right. She doesn't have a sensory ability, she was only seeing us in the dark,' he thought confidently and smacked his shield on the back of her head.

TWANG

Smoke used his Hyper Jump ability to move behind her almost instantaneously. He used his shield's Armadillo Bash and stunned her. His ability should have a full second before she recovers. He switched out his shield with his weighted chain and sickle. He was about to trap her with its chains, but lightning bolts blasted him away before he could capture her.

Horrabelle quickly fired a Lightning Strike at the blown away DarkElf before he could recover his footing. Smoke dodged to his right, but was shocked when he felt a pair of hands grab him. The Black Lady of Malady caught him.

"You're not the only one who can move fast. I can also ride my Lightning Strikes in short distances," she said maniacally.

Her body emitted black lightning, which brightened the room. Then, a small mouth formed on each of her palms. Their sharp, jagged teeth sunk into Smoke’s flesh. He had already experienced this before and knew what was coming next.

"Ability Devourer!" cried out Horrabelle and a black progress bar appeared above his head with ‘Cunning of the Dire Fox’ written on it.

Sierra, who was on the opposite side of the earth-dome, saw what the Witch was doing. She moved as fast as her Werebear legs could carry her.

Unfortunately, the progress bar indicated that it only had ten seconds left before completion.

Smoke was in a bind, but he already prepared for this situation. He pointed his hands at the ground behind the Witch and an earth spike came out and struck her squarely on the back.

Horrabelle released her grip on him and sunk down to the ground. Instantly, the progress bar of the Ability Devourer was canceled. Smoke was about to hit her with his sickle, but the Witch fired a Lightning Strike away from both Smoke and Sierra.

The Witch's body vanished as she merged with her lightning and materialized again, from a safe distance away.

"Nyak nyak nyak. Looks like you learned your lesson, Dark—" Horrabelle stopped talking as numerous stone daggers fell down on her. Smoke used his Earth Manipulation to create an attack similar to that of the invisible knives he experienced in Mystique Forest.

Horrabelle used her lightning to escape the rain of stone daggers, but she got hit several times before she escaped and her life bar now displayed (820,000/1,200,000 HP).

Yet, the red Werebear followed the course of the lightning and was already running towards her.

"Sierra, now!" shouted Smoke as he equipped his Armadillo Shield and used his Hyper Jump ability.

This time, he appeared in front of the Witch and smacked her head with his shield. Shortly after, Sierra used her claws and grabbed a hold of the Witch's shoulders.

Sierra opened her mouth wide and sunk her sharp teeth into Horrabelle's neck. Blood spurted out, but the red Werebear kept on going. Fighting in such a feral manner used to appall her, but trained to use it after she saw how deadly and effective it was.

Horrabelle vanished as she merged with her lightning once more and disappeared to the opposite side of the earth-dome. She was breathing hard. She touched her bleeding neck with her hand. The mouth in her palm sucked out the poison. It then coughed out a black goo, closing the wound and ending both her Bleeding and Poisoned status.

"Thank you, my Werebear. I was having trouble with that poison earlier, but you helped me get rid of it," said Horrabelle sarcastically.

"Now, allow me to show you two how much I appreciate it," she said calmly. She then chanted and aimed her hands at both Smoke and Sierra before she yelled out. "Dark Chain Lightning!"

Several branches of black Lightning Strikes appeared out of her hands and hit the two of them at the same time. They were knocked back against the earth-dome and was held there as her Dark Chain Lightning attack did not stop.

Smoke's life bar quickly depleted to 45% as it displayed (89,017/197,816 HP). He quickly switched to his white metallic staff and created a purple concave barrier.

His Manatl completely absorbed the Dark Chain Lightning attacks. He looked at Sierra and saw that she was in pain as she struggled to block Horrabelle's attack.

He knew he had to do something soon or else Sierra could die. He tried to move to the side, and the Dark Chain Lightning slowly followed his Manatl, but it wasn't fast enough to change directions.

Smoke left an afterimage of himself as he used his Hyper Jump ability and appeared on the Witch's side. He was charging in fast with his Manatl in front of him.

Horrabelle shifted her attention to Smoke, which gave Sierra the opportunity she needed to escape. The red Werebear rolled to the side, away from the branches of black lightning.

After she recovered her footing, Sierra also sprinted towards the Witch.

With both Smoke and Sierra coming at Horrabelle simultaneously, the Witch canceled her Dark Chain Lightning and was about to create a Lightning Strike to ride on.

However, before her body could merge with the lightning, the gathered energy from Smoke's Manatl walloped her in the back as he struck her with his white staff.

Horrabelle's escape was thwarted as she rolled on the floor. Due to the absorbed power of her Dark Chain Lightning, Smoke delivered 244,000 damage points, and her life bar displayed 48%.

Sierra pounced on the crouched Witch on the ground. Horrabelle's eyes almost popped out, as the red Werebear squatted on her with her full weight.

Even in the darkness, her big, sharp claws went straight for Horrabelle's pale neck. Slash after slash, blood splattered on the ground.

Smoke ran to where he could sense Sierra and Horrabelle were, but panted hard as he found it difficult to breathe.

'We're almost out of oxygen. We have to kill her now,' thought Smoke as he tried to stabilize his breathing. He thought about making a hole at the top of the dome or even a small one on the side that could allow the air to enter, but instantly decided against it. He couldn't risk Horrabelle escaping. He wasn't sure how small she could manipulate her lightning and there was a risk she could ride it out of the dome.

Then, a bright flash of light flashed in front of him and he saw Sierra's massive cursed form flying straight towards him. Without thinking it through, he braced his footing and tried to catch her, but the two of them went tumbling backwards instead.

"Twenty percent. Just twenty more," said Sierra excitedly as she pulled herself up from the flattened DarkElf. "I saw it, Smoke. We can do this!" she said with much difficulty as the thin air finally got to her.

The dark earth-dome suddenly became bright again as a series of lightning bolts came straight at them. Smoke quickly stood up and formed a larger concave Manatl to ensure that Sierra won't get damage by Horrabelle's attack.

A full minute passed, before the Witch's lightning bolts finally stopped. Smoke's everyday Manatl training proved to be effective as his barrier showed no signs of degradation.

From across the dome, he could hear Horrabelle panting hard for air.

'Looks like we're all in the same boat,' he thought to himself.

He was about to tell Sierra to move, but she beat him to it.

"Smoke, let's finish this." she said in between deep breaths.

"I'm ready whenever you are," he answered back and positioned his feet to run.

"Go!" shouted Sierra and bolted straight for Horrabelle.

Charging in with his Manatl, Smoke ran to the side of the Witch in order to flank her.

Horrabelle fired off her lightning bolts and caught Sierra. The red Werebear tumbled down after taking a few of the lightning bolts directly. Fortunately, for her, the Witch stopped her attacks as she still had difficulty breathing.

With Smoke still coming straight for the Witch, Horrabelle created a smaller version of her Lightning Strike and merged with it to move farther away.

However, Smoke already devised a countermeasure for this move. With his Manatl still activated, he used his Hyper Jump ability and collided with the Lightning Strike.

Horrabelle materialized in front of him. He quickly canceled out his Manatl and transferred the absorbed energy into his white staff.

Simultaneously, the Witch raised both her hands and unleashed her Dark Chain Lightning. The two of them delivered their attacks and both were blown backward from each other.

Smoke rolled on the ground and was left with 15% on his life bar. In a crouched position, he created a smaller Manatl. He took deep breaths as he was beginning to feel dizzy.

The low glow from his purple Manatl somewhat illuminated the dark earth-dome, and he could see Horrabelle's silhouette coming steadily towards him.

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK

Smoke then heard the sound of the Cavalry Knights almost breaking through the dome. He then heard Horrabelle's voice.

"It appears that the time has come," she said slowly and drew closer.

When Horrabelle was only a meter away, he could see a clearer image of her in the dim purple light. She only had less than 3% left on her life bar. Percentage-wise, Smoke's life bar appeared to be higher, but Horrabelle's actual HP was still more than what he had.

With both her hands raised, Horrabelle shouted. "Maledict!"

A black lightning erupted out of her fingers and transformed into a crow. It flew straight into his chest and exposed his X-shaped scar.

"Argh!" cried out Smoke in agony.

A notification window then popped up.

- [CURSED] You have been inflicted with the Decay Aura

> The Decay Aura will activate whenever your life bar reaches below 25%
> You and anyone else caught within three meters will lose 100 HP per second

At once, a black aura appeared below his feet, and his life bar was steadily being drained. He quickly grabbed his necklace, and used the Heart of Reente's regeneration. He gambled that it would work despite the curse being in effect.

Luckily, it activated without a problem and began to restore his life at 2% HP per second, but it came at a cost of his mana. Even though he still had enough MP to sustain the necklace's ability to 26% HP, he wondered if he could last that long.

The Witch only needed one more attack, and he was sure to be a goner. He cursed under his breath as he had almost killed her.

"Nyak nyak nyak," laughed Horrabelle as she poised to cast her Dark Chain Lightning.

"With this, my sisters will finally smile in Mictlan as I have avenged their—" Horrabelle stopped talking as blood dripped out from the side of her mouth.

From his crouched position, Smoke could see Sierra's claws pierce through the Witch's chest. She drained Horrabelle's life bar to zero.

The last Witch of Wysteria's dead body slumped down on the floor. An exhausted Sierra dropped down beside her.

A notification window popped up shortly after.

+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to the Witch of Wysteria: Horrabelle.
+ Your party killed the Witch of Wysteria: Horrabelle.
+ Your party gained 6,200,000 experience points.

As the corpse of the black Witch of Malady faded into oblivion, it left behind several items.

+ Acquired Quest Item for Immense Power of the Blood Moon:
> Witch of Wysteria: Terrabelle blood vial (1/1)
> Witch of Wysteria: Crucibelle blood vial (1/1)
> Witch of Wysteria: Horrabelle blood vial (1/1)

+ Acquired rare hand accessory: Electromagnetic Golem Offering

+ Acquired parchment: Update on Varanus Indicus Experiments

+ Acquired book: The Bloodline of a Thaumaturge

Smoke quickly gathered Horrabelle's dropped loot. He then switched out his white metallic staff with his Digger's Wand and pointed it directly under the collapsed red Werebear.

Sierra fell down the tunnel he created and he jumped in immediately after her. Smoke then closed the tunnel's entrance before the Cavalry Knights could break through the dome.

* * * * * *

Ten minutes passed inside the moist underground cave that Smoke built. It was barely big enough for Smoke and Sierra to sit comfortably together. It was also sealed off from the surface, except for the several small air holes he created. With a flowing air supply, Sierra was able to breathe normally again.

Smoke also allowed Igniz out of his metallic container and had his symbiote illuminate the small chamber. He thought about creating a larger hole and sending Igniz out to inspect what Macher and his Cavalry Knights were doing, but decided to delay it a bit longer.

He was concerned for the Decay Aura curse, but decided it was not the time to tell Sierra about it.

Instead, he took out the items he looted from the Witches of Wysteria and showed them to her.

"Here, take them," he said proudly. He smiled at her as he gave her three blood vials. "We finally did it, and you delivered the finishing blow."

With her shaking paws, Sierra took the three vials and stared at them with disbelief. "What do I do, now?" she asked out loud and saw a notification window pop up.

+ Quest: Immense Power of the Blood Moon
Racial Quest Updated!
Level: A

You have killed all three Witches of Wysteria.

To complete the quest, you must:
1. Make a casting circle with three pentagrams connected in a triangle.
2. Place the blood vials into the three pentagrams.
3. Have the ones cursed with the Blood Moon stay inside the triangle.
4. Chant the spell: "Servire Zectas Aeternum. Revertere ad formam Origo."

Sierra looked at him with teary eyes. "Smoke, we have to gather all the Werewolves and Werebears," she said excitedly. "I think there's hope for them yet."

"And what about Ledur and his brothers?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh, of course. Them too," she replied guiltily and lightly slap herself in the forehead for forgetting about them. "We should head over to them now."

"Alright, let me just send Igniz out and check on what Macher and his Cavalry Knights are doing above," he said quickly and created an entrance to a shaft that his symbiote could squeeze into.

While Igniz was flying out of their cave, Smoke took out the other items he got from Horrabelle. He had set them aside as he focused on taking care of Sierra as she recover her HP.

"Hey, let's checkout Horrabelle's other items," said Smoke in high spirit. "Maybe we'll know something about this High General she was working for?"

Sierra shrugged. She was only paying half attention to Horrabelle's other loot as all that mattered to her were the blood vials.

Smoke first took out the Electromagnetic Golem Offering and inspected it.

Electromagnetic Golem Offering

A rare ring composed of precious magnetic metals. It was created by one of the Witches of Wysteria, Horrabelle. Its black and silver color intertwined with each other. It was crafted to create metallic golems as her minions.

+50 Intelligence
+30% Lightning Affinity

Equipment Ability:
*Golem Creation (Active)
> Creates a metallic Golem
> Range depend on the caster’s total Mana
> Consumes 75,000 MP per Golem summoned
> Once you’ve used this ability, you cannot use it again for another one hour

Notes:
> Requires special magnetic rocks
> Requires electro stones as power source
> If a Golem is destroyed, its electro stone power-source can still be recovered

He whistled loudly after he finished inspecting the item. If he equipped this ring, then he could fulfill the conditions for acquiring the Lightning Manipulation tome.

"Mm, Sierra. You won't mind if I keep Horrabelle's ring for myself, right?" he asked nervously. He had the other two items from the previous Witches, but Sierra deserved Horrabelle's dropped items.

Sierra wasn't paying any real attention to him, and was still smiling from finally completing her racial quest. "Sure. Keep it. I don't mind."

"Thanks, Sierra. I knew you'd say that," he said quickly and equipped the Electromagnetic Golem Offering. He then took out the ability tome entitled "Lightning Manipulation".

+ consumed 'Lightning Manipulation' tome.

The ability tome bound in specially leather with silver lining instantly vanished after being consumed.

+ Learned Ability: Lightning Manipulation
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

* Power and Speed of Lightning depends on:
> The user's Lightning affinity
> The level of this ability
* Range increases as level increases

Effect: Manipulate Lightning within 20 meters
MP Consumption: 200 MP

Smoke excitedly stretched out his hand open and tried to fire out a lightning bolt. He imagined lightning coming out of his palm, in a similar way as he created a Manatl. Yet, nothing happened. Not even a spark came out of his hand.

"Strange? Nothing's coming out," he said out loud. He wondered why the Lightning Manipulation didn't immediately work when the Earth Manipulation allowed him to control the earth right from the start.

For several attempts, he repeated the same actions as Horrabelle fired out his lightning bolts but nothing happened.

Finally, Sierra patted him on the shoulders. "Stop. I don't think you'll be able to fire lightning bolts. After all, the ability is Lightning Manipulation not Lightning Creation."

In truth, Smoke came up with the same realization a few minutes ago, but didn't want to admit it to himself. However, after hearing it out loud, he had to accept the reality that the ability could only manipulate lightning.

Smoke let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I think you're right. I'll just try it out with Aral's Lightning Rods, later. Anyway, there's still a parchment and a book."

He quickly took out both of the items and began to acquire their knowledge at once. The progress bar on the parchment displayed five seconds, while the book displayed fifty.

After a few seconds, an Information window popped up. He read it out loud for Sierra to hear.

+ Update on Varanus Indicus Experiments

Good Day,

Despite recent inconveniences, I have finally completed their transformation. There is no doubt that they will pass off as Humans, Elves and Centaurs. They will be powerful subordinates to your cause.

May the bloodline of Vinceretus rule forever!

Your Loyal Servant,

Horrabelle

'Is this letter suppose to be for her High General?' wondered Smoke to himself.

"Do you think this could be for Horrabelle's Boss?" she asked him the same thing that was already in his mind.

"I think so," replied Smoke with a grin. He couldn't help himself, but smile at how similar their thinking was lately.

"What's so funny?" asked Sierra with her eyebrows crossed.

"Nothing. Nothing, I swear," he said defensively. He quickly tried to redirect the topic. "You know, I owe you an apology."

"What? For being mean and laughing?" asked Sierra and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ouch!" he yelped out, as Sierra's attacks packed quite a punch even if she was just messing around.

"No. I wasn't laughing at you," he said, while massaging his bruised shoulder. "For the record, I was just smiling."

Smoke straightened his body and put on a solemn face. "I'd like to say sorry, about being such a jerk with starting the Vigilantez. I know I argued with you about it at first, but the guild really helped us a lot."

Sierra's eyebrow instantly rose as Smoke had a serious problem with trusting other Sonstwelters. "Then, I guess a long overdue 'I told you so' is in order?"

She tried to make him laugh or at least smile, but Smoke was dead serious about regretting his decision on not forming their guild sooner.

Smoke breathed in deep. "Listen, I just want you to know that I'm still not comfortable with other Sonstwelters, but when you took me out of my comfort zone, you showed me that there are Sonstwelters we can trust."

Sierra smiled and looked him straight in the eye. "In the future, you just need to remember one thing. I'll always know what's best for you, especially when you argue about it with me."

Before he could say anything in response, the second book's Information window popped up.

+ The Bloodline of a Thaumaturge

According to legend, a Thaumaturge is a worker of wonders and performer of miracles. Yet, in the olden days, a selfish individual of high authority and power tricked one of the fabled Thaumaturge to teach him of their ways.

Convinced that the individual known as Vinceretus had pure intentions, the Thaumaturge taught him of a few of their techniques. Yet, Vinceretus was keen on learning one ability above the rest. This was the ability to resurrect the dead.

Right away, the Thaumaturge denied him of such knowledge. However, Vinceretus insisted on learning it. Due to this, the Thaumaturge realized his mistake and banished Vinceretus from his presence.

Unfortunately, Vinceretus grabbed a hold of half of his desired ability. This allowed him to reanimate the dead, but at a heavy cost of the living.

The Thaumaturge's true ability completely brought back the dead whole, body and soul included. Yet, Vinceretus' stolen ability only brought back the empty shells.

Although, his risen undead attacked under his command, they were far weaker than those with a thinking mind. Vinceretus made up for this with the sheer number of undead under his command.

Vinceretus would have defeated the other sub-races of the Reptilian race the Chameleonese, Crocodilians and Draconians, but the rest of Zectian population was united and wiped them out...or so they thought.

After the downfall of the Reptilian race, their royal bloodlines were hunted down. They say that, each of the High Generals heirs were scattered throughout Zectas.

Each of them inheriting their father's knowledge and power. It is said, that they were bred to grow stronger with each generation. Until the four of them could unite and reclaim the rightful throne as rulers of Zectas.

It will not be the heir, who is more powerful than a dragon that will rule, but rather, the one that had conquered death. The Bloodline of the banished Thaumaturge who reclaims the dead from Mictlan and orders them to do his bidding.

In the same way, Smoke read the letter out loud for Sierra's benefit. After he finished reading, he looked at her with curious eyes. "Do you think Horrabelle was working for this High General so that she could revive her sisters?"

"I don't know. But whatever her reason was, one thing is clear. Whoever this High General is, he is most definitely dangerous," said Sierra ominously.

Smoke looked at her with a peaceful heart. He feared for her safety when Horrabelle was alive, but with the Witch gone, he had nothing else to fear. This was why he would not let this knowledge dampen his bright disposition.

"Let's just deal with that when it happens," he said positively. "Let me just check on Igniz."

Smoke's eyes turned white as he used his Symbiote Vision. Through Igniz's eyes, he saw Macher lead a group of his Knights pass through a maze-like obstacle course and into the forest patch where the surviving Vigilantez were running into.

As Igniz changed directions, he then saw other Cavalry Knights exit the destroyed wall of the earth-dome. They were headed towards Braucht Hilfe village.

As he surveyed the battlefield, Smoke saw the black and silver metallic rocks scattered on the ground. The rocks were out of his reach, but since he was going to dig a tunnel to escape anyway, he decided to take a quick detour.

He told Sierra that he was going to start digging a tunnel towards their comrades' location. He conveniently mapped a route that enabled him to pick up the black and silver metallic rocks. He made tunnels towards the surface, and made holes that brought down the rocks. He hurriedly closed the holes as soon as Smoke got the magnetic prerequisites.

The two of them steadily headed to the agreed Vigilantez's assembly point. Smoke and Sierra crawled silently as he led the way with his Digger's Wand, creating more tunnel as they moved forward.

* * * * * *

Six hours after their battle in the plains of Braucht Hilfe Village, the Vigilantez survivors gathered in their temporary hideout in Mount Vorteil.

Originally, their strike force had more than four thousand members. Now, they only had a little over two-thousand-nine-hundred members and a hundred war chariots left.

On the bright side, none of Smoke's core members got critically injured during their confrontation with Horrabelle's army.

Exhausted and beaten down, their morale was at an all time low. Until, two figures emerged out from the shadows. Smoke and Sierra arrived with the great news. The sacrifices of their fallen comrades were not in vain. Their two leaders announced that they finally killed Horrabelle.

All the core members immediately ran to meet them.

Adder shook Smoke's hand. "So, you finally put an end to the Witches of Wysteria."

"We did, but you should be congratulating Sierra for that," replied Smoke as he pointed to her. "She's the one who finished her off."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Sharur who ran to Sierra and congratulated her. "I knew you'd be the one to do it."

Despite Sharur's OrkElf height, Sierra still stood taller than him. She patted her on the shoulders and smiled.

"Thanks, Sharur, but Smoke did most of the work. I only delivered the final blow," she replied modestly.

"Now, don't be like that. Tell us more," persisted Sharur and most of the core members joined in on his request.

Smoke then took out three blood vials from his backpack. Sierra had returned them to him for safekeeping, as her cursed form made it difficult for her to carry such precious cargo.

"We'll tell you more about Horrabelle's battle later, but right now I need to talk to the rest of the Vigilantez," he said with a serious but joyful expression.

He gathered his fellow guild members. "Everyone, let me just say that all of you fought bravely and brilliantly. I am deeply honored and proud to be called a Vigilantez."

"Many of our brothers and sisters bravely sacrificed their lives today, but it was for a noble cause," he said somberly. "Let us offer a moment of silence in their honor."

Everybody immediately placed their fist over their hearts and bowed down their heads. After a few seconds Smoke spoke to them once more.

"Their valiant deaths were not in vain. Because of them, we finally killed the last Witch of Wysteria," he said brimming with pride. "We've permanently stopped Horrabelle from capturing any more children for her experiments and most importantly, Sierra and our other cursed members have finally found a cure."

At once all of the gathered Vigilantez cheered, except for one winged Tikbalang. Smoke immediately ordered to make the necessary preparations for the casting circle that Sierra told him.

While they were working on with completing the ritual, Ledur walked up to Smoke.

"I just wanted to tell you that you have been an honorable leader. You've always taken into consideration the lives of all our members, but as this is war, lives will always be lost," he said regrettably. "Despite this, no matter what happens next, my Tikbalang brothers and I will remain loyal to your righteous cause," said Ledur sincerely.

Smoke was taken aback. He had noticed that Ledur kept to himself the last few weeks and barely spoke to anyone at all. Sure, he was still friendly with everyone, but his responses were always less than two words or none at all.

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. I always value your opinion, and if you think that I'm wrong please feel free to tell me. I have no qualms with listening to reason," replied Smoke with admiration.

Before, Smoke only looked up to one Zectian, and that was Darius. Now, he looked up to three. Adder and Ledur were added to that short list, and he made sure to show them proper respect.

Ledur patted Smoke's shoulder with his hoof and went to his fellow Tikbalangs. It looked like he was going to have a long discussion with them about the ritual.

Meanwhile, Phen and Rear, her gray and black Beta Werewolves, went over to meet with Sierra.

"Excuse me, Alpha Sierra. Can we speak with you candidly?" asked Rear, and she pointed to the quiet gray Werewolf who stood beside her.

"Of course," replied Sierra enthusiastically. "I bet you're excited to return to normal, right?"

"Actually, that is the very topic we would like to discuss with you," said Rear flatly.

Sierra didn't understand her Werewolf lieutenants. "What do you mean?"

Phen bowed his head and Rear followed shortly.

"We've talked with the other Werewolves, and forty of us have come to the same decision," stated Rear plainly. "We will not take part in the ritual."

"What?" Sierra growled loudly as they were talking in Therianthrope tongue and came out as growls and grunts to a non Therianthrope. "Isn't this what we've been fighting for?"

"It was one of the reasons," said Rear as she began her explanation. "But then we realized that if we lose our Werewolf bodies, we could no longer fight with the same strength for the Vigilantez."

Rear continued to voice out their reason. "We think that it was Cuezaltzin's divine intervention that turned us into Werewolves. You personally have seen the difference we've made in Zectas. Our cursed forms have saved plenty of people and we will not stop now."

Sierra shook her head and would not allow it.

Phen nudged Rear in the back, and the black Werewolf added more reasons to support their wish to remain as Werewolves.

"Also, Vrai and Ardu have both been magnificent Werebears," she said with admiration at the young Therianthropes. "In your absence, they managed to convert more than two-hundred of Horrabelle's Werewolves into our pack."

Despite the good news, Sierra's face remained unchanged.

"If you put that into consideration, then forty of us who will remain as Werewolves will not matter as much," said Rear with a strained voice. "Of course, Vrai and Ardu will join the ritual, and Rear and I will take command of your Werewolves."

Again, Sierra shook her head after she heard Rear's statement.

"Alpha Sierra, please. Think of the Vigilantez with a diminished attack power," Rear begged Sierra to reconsider. "And we still have a long way to go before we free Centzo and kill Duke Burmistrz."

"If your concern is the lowered attack strength of the Vigilantez, then why don't you talk with Smoke," said Sierra with uncertainty. "If he's fine with you remaining as Werewolves, then I won't say anything else in the matter."

"Thank you, Alpha Sierra," said Rear. The two large Werewolves knelt down before her.

Rear stood up and awkwardly asked the red Werebear a favor. "Mm. You won't mind translating for us, would you? We can understand him, but I don't think he can understand us."

"Of course not," said Sierra with a grin. "Why would I mind. I told you, I always have your best interest at heart."

The three of them went to Smoke`, and Sierra spoke for Phen and Rear.

Sierra told Smoke of the Werewolves intention and of how they were concern for the waning strength of the Vigilantez. "...So, that's the gist of it. Well, what do you think?"

Smoke covered his mouth with his index finger, while he pondered on Phen and Rear's point. He already thought about the consequences of losing their Werewolf and Tikbalang forces, but he thought they could be trained into Ranseurs, Arcus or Rangers. Yet, he never considered the fact that some of them wanted to remain in their cursed forms for the sake of fighting for their cause.

A part of him wanted to accept their offer, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn't need Sierra to glare at him to tell him that this was wrong.

"I'm sorry, but I won't allow it. As tempting as it sounds, I have to deny your request," said Smoke with finality. "Regardless if you lose your Werewolf abilities, you will still be able to fight for the Vigilantez. It wasn't because of your Werewolf strength that we won, but because of your bravery and determination."

After Smoke gave them his decision, Phen and Rear looked at each other and accepted their defeat. They lowered their heads and respected their orders.

After the preparations were completed; Sierra and Ledur along with two Werebears, two-hundred-eighty-five Werewolves and ninety-six Tikbalangs gathered inside the great casting circle.

Smoke gave Sierra a long, white robe, useable by anyone. It had no special attributes, but it was exactly what Sierra would need after her curse was lifted. Everyone else of the transformed had a similar white robe laid out in front of them.

With their clothing secured, Smoke then placed the Witches' blood vials inside their designated pentagrams and backed away from the casting circle.

With all of the cursed Vigilantez inside, Sierra uttered the words. "Servire Zectas Aeternum. Revertere ad formam Origo."

Instantly, their dimly lit underground hideout was enveloped by a bright red light. A red blood moon appeared above the casting circle. It was steadily growing in size. As the cavern was not big to begin with, it descended upon them and covered all of them whole.

As the red light was extremely bright, Smoke and everybody else covered their eyes. Slowly, the red luminance faded away and left a cloud of dust in its wake.

Several people clothed in long white robes emerged out of the dust. A red-haired HighElf walked over to Smoke. Her long curly hair reached below her shoulders.

She smiled at him nervously and said. "So, what do you think?"

He got used to looking up to see into Sierra's eyes, but now she was shorter than him, the same height in the real world. He grinned at her deep satisfaction. "You know, I think you looked prettier with a little fur on your face."

Sierra instantly scowled and punched him in the chest, but instead of flying away, Smoke remained where he stood. "And your punches have grown a lot weaker too," he said as he pulled her in for a tight hug.

All of the core members watched the two of them from the side. Sharur and Laernea stood right next to each other. The Lioumerean lioness cried tears of joy for Smoke and Sierra, she then saw a tear trickle down Sharur's face.

"You know, it helps to accept that they'll only ever love us as friends," she said to Sharur and patted his shoulder.

Sharur hurriedly wiped his tear away and shrugged off Laernea's hand. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, and the OrkElf walked away from her.

"No use talking to him about it," said Jinggu, Sharur's twin brother. "You may have dealt with your feelings for Smoke, but he has to go through this on his own. I don't think he will listen to anyone, anyway."

Mamelon stepped away from the core members and went towards Smoke and Sierra. After Smoke, she was the first one to congratulate Sierra from removing the curse.

"A pleasure to finally see the real you, Sierra," she said as she shook her hand.

"Thank you," she said happily and fervently shook Mamelon. "You don't know how good it feels to use my hands instead of claws."

Mamelon stepped aside and Sharur quickly followed after the Aqua Knight.

"I always knew you were amazing, even when you were still a Werebear, but I never knew you were this beautiful," said Sharur and firmly shook her hand.

"Really? Well, thank you for saying that, but I think you're just being very polite," she said self-consciously. It had been over a year in the real world, and she got to know these Zectians really well. Yet, now that her real face was projected out, everything felt different to her.

"I'm sure you'll get tired of seeing my face soon enough," she replied and laughed. Except for Sharur, everyone joined her laughing.

"I'm just being honest," Sharur said sincerely. "In fact, it's clear why Smoke thinks so highly of you."

Before Sharur could say anything else, Laernea pushed the OrkElf aside to give the rest of them some room. The other core members took turns to speak with the curse-free Sierra in her HighElf form.

While his core members were talking to Sierra, Smoke was looking for Ledur. "Rudel? Rudel?" he called out Ledur's name from when he was still a Volataur, a winged Centaur.

Yet, no matter where he looked, the only long robed people he could find where people. None of them were Centaurs.

Then, it dawned on him. The dust inside the casting circle had not yet settled. "Rudel? Are you still inside the casting circle?" he asked apprehensively.

"I'm here, Smoke, but I told you to call me Ledur," replied a winged Tikbalang who stepped out of the dust. He was shortly followed by his Tikbalang brothers.

"Ledur, I'm so sorry. I honestly thought that your curse would be cured by this ritual as well," said Smoke sincerely.

"It's alright," replied Ledur and rested his hoof on Smoke's shoulder. "I was prepared for this, and I told my Tikbalang brothers of the same thing."

Smoke realized that it was from the time when Ledur spoke with the other Tikbalangs before the ritual began.

"But how did you know?" Smoke asked sadly.

"I didn't," said Ledur and sighed. "Like you, I was hopeful as well. But then I knew that lifting my curse wasn't going to be this easy."

As sadness and guilt filled him, Smoke nodded and tears began to swell up in his eyes. He promised them that he would remove their curse, but he failed them instead.

"Fret not," said Ledur. "I still have hope that someday. We will return to our true forms. Until then, I would like to follow my brothers' and try to keep a vow silence."

Ledur smiled at him and patted his DarkElf white hair. He tried to laugh off the tears away.

"So, that's what you were doing?" he asked as he desperately tried to change the topic. "Alright, from now on, I won't try to put you in a situation where you need to talk. Although I wonder how that will go since you're one of our important strategists."

The cured people from the Therianthrope curse walked to meet the Tikbalangs. They hugged them and swore to help them be free of this dire affliction.

Smoke walked over to Sierra and updated her with Ledur and the Tikbalangs status.

"Our cure didn't work for them, huh?" she asked rhetorically. "You did tell them that we won't stop until we find a cure for them, right?"

Smoke's eyebrow raised. "Of course. That's the first thing I said."

Suddenly, Sierra realized something. "Did you tell him about Horrabelle's parchment? Didn't that say that she had a way to make those monsters from the mountain to look like Humans, Lioumereans, Elves and Centaurs?"

He shook his head. "No. I didn't want to keep his hopes up until I have something more concrete that a letter."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," she answered passively.

Smoke stared down on the ground, as he felt responsible for the Tikbalangs curse.

"Hey, I might have something that will cheer you up," said Sierra enthusiastically.

"Really?" asked an intrigued Smoke. "What's that?"

"Right when the blood moon engulfed us in its light, I saw a quest window for a Job change," she said excitedly. "Of course I don't plan on going there now. Seeing as we only have less than two days left before Centzo's attack."

"That's great. I was thinking how this long quest was suppose to make you powerful when all it did was curse you," replied Smoke with the same level of zest.

"But that wasn't my good news," Sierra said slowly for suspense. "When I searched through my abilities, I found the same Acolyte abilities from before, but I found one new ability that I never saw before."

"And what's the ability?" he asked anxiously. After Sierra's transformation into a HighElf, he felt more at ease and talking with her became easier.

"Its called Transmogrify," she said with a knowing grin. "I haven't used it yet, but I think it looks really promising."

* * * * * *

After Smoke and Sierra got a quick power nap in the real world, they both returned to Zectas at the same time. They needed to log in quickly for they had less than thirty hours left before the Brandals would launch their full out attack on Centzo.

Smoke and the Vigilantez survivors gathered in a forest patch, fifteen kilometers north of the city. Prosjak told him that after he assassinated Horrabelle, he was to lead his forces to this location.

Supposedly, a letter from the Duke's adviser would arrive, and help them with their task of defending the northern side of the city. He appreciated how Prosjak worded this instruction. It was as if he never considered the possibility that Smoke would fail his mission in Braucht Hilfe Village.

While they waited, Sierra checked with the rest of the formerly cursed Therianthropes and confirmed that all of them had the same Transmogrify ability. They now had the ability to shapeshift into Werebears and Werewolves at will.

Personally, Smoke would have preferred if they used this ability only as a last resort, but only Sierra had enough abilities to fight without Transmogrifying, whereas the rest of them were untrained to fight outside of their cursed forms.

Under the guidance of Phen and Rear, Ardu and Vrai took command of Sierra's former Therianthrope army.

Meanwhile, Sierra dressed in her battle acolyte set. She also equipped Smoke's Armored Armadillo Shield and a fire enchanted battle mace. The red-haired HighElf took command of her fellow Acolytes and began to train them how to defend for their lives, in case the Iron Knights guarding them were beaten.

Thyrsus suddenly called for Smoke and the core member's attention. Apparently, his falcon saw a large group heading their way.

"...From the way their moving, it appears that they know of our present location," reported Thyrsus after he canceled his Falcon Vision.

"Should we run for it?" asked Laernea and Gandiva simultaneously. The two Lioumereans were already riding on their stag moose, ready to move.

Guro, the lioness Gladiatrix, raised her hand in disapproval. "It is best if we stay in this position. Prosjak's instruction proved to be very effective when we were in Braucht Hilfe."

"I agree. Ichaival, please send the Banalite Archers and the Arcus without war chariots up the trees," added Adder.

Smoke and Sierra had no problem with Adder and Guro's suggestion. He then ordered for the entire Vigilantez force to prepare to engage the incoming forces.

Along with the Iron Knights, Sierra had the Acolytes spread out among the Vigilantez. Her life bar and attack power may have gone down significantly, but she thought that her ability to heal and tank simultaneously more than made up for it.

After she had the Acolytes in position, Sierra signaled Ardu and Vrai to Transmogrify. At once, the two teenagers transformed into Werebears and the rest of the Werewolves transmogrified after them.

With all the Vigilantez prepared, they waited for the unknown army.

Then, the sound of a large army marching came from in front of them. A legion of fifteen-thousand Avendre Mercenaries appeared before them. Each mercenary wore a thick leather armor and was equipped with a saber and a medium sized kite shield.

Fifteen Avendre stood above the rest as they wore full metal armor and carried long claymores by their side. One of these mercenaries raised both his hands and slowly approached Smoke. In his right hand, he carried an encased parchment.

"I have a letter from Prosjak," said the Avendre Mercenary and handed him the sealed document.

Smoke hurriedly began to acquire the letter’s information. Shortly, a notification window popped up.

+ Centzo's Defense

Good Day,

Congratulations on vanquishing Horrabelle. Now, your next assignment is the first phase of the plan we discussed before. As we have discussed, we know of four possible scenarios. Regardless which one they decide to take, we are sure that a large force will be coming from the north.

Duke Jeune has given you the task to ward off all attacks coming from the north. Six kilometers southeast from your current location, there should be a gathering of over 30,000 Brandals.

To help you with this endeavor, Duke Jeune has sent for these Avendre Mercenaries as reinforcements. I know that you may still be greatly outnumbered, but this was all the force the Avendre could muster.

The Brandals objective is to take the northern gate and lay waste to the citizens of Centzo, while yours is stop them at all cost.

I look forward to sharing a drink with you after we rid this region of these bandits.

May good fortune be with us all.

Best wishes,

Prosjak

After Smoke finished reading the letter, the Avendre Mercenary knelt down before him.

"My name is Commander Jeter Pion. My brothers and I have strict orders to serve the DarkElf known as Smoke," said the mercenary. "What are your orders, Sir?"

Smoke looked at the mercenary and to the rest of the Avendre. He then glanced at Sierra and his core members.

"Gather your fellow Commanders, Jeter," said Smoke eagerly. "We have a city to free."

Chapter Seven:

Living out your Dream

Stacks of paper and books were packed inside the concrete house of Braucht Hilfe's village chief. This was where Horrabelle stayed during her time in the village.

Macher sat comfortably in the wooden chairs of the small kitchen. He was joined by a female Elementalist and an Archbishop who was pacing frantically inside the house.

The two Sonstwelters with Macher arrived five hours after Horrabelle's death. They were Macher's hidden allies, who were sponsoring him from within the shadows.

"Poltron, you better not be say I told you so," said Macher to the Archbishop who was about to open his mouth. "I already tried convincing Duke Burmistrz to recruit Ilad even before the mounted race, but he still insisted that we just use him to raise the stakes. The Duke even doubled my share from the gambling profits."

“I wasn't going to say that,” replied Poltron nervously. “What I was going to say is that you should have tried harder. You have seen how he rallied the racers into defeating the bandits during the race, and now he is working under Smoke. If we had Ilad in our pockets then we would have at least a spy in Smoke's army.”

Macher waved his hand at Poltron, dismissing his lectures. He didn't need to be reminded of Ilad's achievements during the race. He personally saw it first hand as he was secretly following him right from the start.

“Besides, you remember how Avidite convinced me not to,” said Macher as he pointed to the Elementalist, who sat across him. “She said that Ilad wasn't worth risking my Intimacy with the Duke.”

Avidite clicked her tongue. “What? You're putting the blame on me? I was just saying that if we are going to rule a city then you would need connections, and who would be better than a Duke of another city?” she replied, and glared back at him.

“And we are only able to have a shot at getting a city because of Duke Burmistrz. If you fell out of his good graces, then you can kiss the city goodbye,” reasoned out Avidite angrily.

Macher shook his head disapprovingly.

“Well, if you hadn't insisted that we wait for you and your members' slow mounts, we would have arrived here two hours earlier,” shouted back Macher. “And none of this fiasco would have happened.”

“Didn't I tell you to go ahead?” snapped Avidite.

“Yeah, you sure did,” replied Macher sarcastically. “Right after you reminded me who was funding for my personal army.”

Avidite shrugged her shoulders. “How's that my fault? I was only pointing out the facts, and may I remind you that you still left us anyway.”

“Guys, calm down,” interjected Poltron. “There's nothing to gain from you two squabbling.”

Macher stepped away from Avidite. He looked outside the window, and saw the wake of the battlefield. “I bet Ilad took part in this. I can feel his handy work in all of it,” he said disapprovingly. "Smoke just got really lucky to have recruited him."

“Let's forget about Ilad for now,” said Poltron. “What's done is done. We just need to move forward. Even after losing Horrabelle, with Duke Burmistrz forces alone we are still capable of winning this. We still have Centzo by its throat.”

“And what's up with all these books and papers scattered everywhere?” asked a peeved Avidite as she pointed around the house.

Macher could tell that the mess bothered her. He looked around Horrabelle's belongings and had to agree that it was  a complete mess.

'How much help could have that messy Witch contributed?' Macher wondered to himself.

Nodding his head at the Archbishop, Macher agreed with Poltron. They still had a high chance of finally obtaining a city for themselves.

“You maybe right, Poltron, but you are not the one who is going to have to answer to—” Macher stopped talking as he received a call from Duke Burmistrz.

“Speak of the devil,” said Macher to the two other Sonstwelters before answering. “Good day, Duke. I guess you have received the horrible news?”

Burmistrz voice boomed loudly on the other end. “How could you have allowed this to happen?”

“I came here as fast as I could, but Smoke trapped her inside a dome,” he began to explain. “Smoke and his guild has gotten a lot stronger than before, and that Werebear and Aqua Knight were also a pain to deal with. If only Ilad was with us and not with them, then maybe we could have—”

“I don't want to hear your excuses!” interjected Burmistrz angrily. “You don't realize what a difficult situation you have put me in, and I told you that Flame Knight wasn't useful for anything else than a rigged horse.”

Macher knew that Ilad was a sensitive topic, but he didn't realize that the Witch's Therianthrope army would have been a great help. He thought that the Duke was only overreacting.

“Horrabelle was a very important person to someone who is even more powerful than me,” explained Burmistrz with a worried voice.

"She was doing an important research for him and was about to send the information before she died…. Tell me that you have at least secured the village?" asked a concerned Burmistrz.

“Definitely! Smoke and his army ran away as soon as my forces and I arrived,” proudly answered Macher. "In fact, we have locked down the whole village and posted guards outside."

“What about Horrabelle's research materials? Do you have your men guarding those as well?” inquired Burmistrz curiously.

“Well, I'm inside the house where she was staying, but I cannot tell which research material you might mean,” answered Macher skeptically as he look through the disordered parchments and books.

“And what of her Therianthropes? Are they still with you?” asked Burmistrz.

“When we arrived, less than a thousand of them were left, but I lost track of them when they chased Smoke's men into the forest. None of them returned to the village after the battle,” answered Macher truthfully.

“No matter,” replied the Duke. “Just be sure to keep everything in that place safe. In fact, you personally stand guard in that house. No harm is to come to those pertinent papers. A group of people in long black robes will arrive shortly to gather them.”

Burmistrz's excitement carried over the call. Macher realized that Horrabelle's research must have been that important to him.

He tried to look through one of the papers, but couldn't understand the language written in them. A notification window instantly popped up.

- The written words look Gobberish to you.

“Sure. No problem. I will stay here,” he replied dubiously as he was unconvinced that these documents were even significant.

“She said that she was done with her research anyway. Hopefully I can pacify his anger, after I deliver her papers to him,” said Burmistrz out loud as he mumbled to himself.

“Since we have lost Horrabelle's forces, I have sent all the members of the Silny division to you. They are the fastest of the Cavalry Knights Centzo has to offer,” boasted Burmistrz.

“I know their acinonyx cheetahs are trained and all, but are you sure they will make it in time?” asked a doubtful Macher.

“They will arrive before your battle to subjugate Centzo will start. After all, you are doing this under my name,” said the Duke reassuringly.

“But I'm still going to be Mayor of Centzo, right?” asked Macher boldly as he wanted to make sure everything was crystal clear.

“Of course. I am a man of my words. Provided that you keep your fealty to me. I have no problem with that,” stated Burmistrz with finality.

“By the way, before I let you go, there's one more thing,” added Burmistrz threateningly. “I cannot do anything with you Sonstwelters returning to our world, but be sure to wipe out all of Smoke's Zectian members. I would like to see what he will do when all he has is himself against my Dukedom.”

“Don't worry. Smoke only got lucky last time. Next time, I will have him reduced to nothing,” said Macher with certainty.

Burmistrz dropped the call, and Macher turned to face his two friends.

“Macher, you are sure we will be able to get Centzo, right?” asked the concerned Archbishop.

“Why, Poltron, why the sudden doubt?” he said mockingly. “Don't worry my friend, I'm positive. With all our three forces combined, and the Duke's Brandals and Cavalry Knights, there is nothing the starving people of Centzo can do to stop us,” answered Macher confidently.

“I have already spent all my money on our personal army. I will be flat broke if we won't win this war,” said a worried Poltron.

“We are all in this together,” replied Avidite in a calmer voice. She walked over to the Archbishop and patted his shoulder. “We've got your back, Poltron, and you know that Macher would never let us down.”

“Thanks, I can't wait until we split this city equally among us,” said Poltron to the two of them.

“Besides, Macher already has high level Intimacies with those Cavalry Knights in his private army. I'm sure his men will be up for the challenge, right?” asked Avidite.

“Yeah, my Intimacies with them are all above 85. Some even reach up to 90. I personally trained with them and went on several level C and B quests to raise their levels from the ground up. I even know all of their names,” replied Macher fondly.

“Alright, alright. No need to go into the details,” said an irked Avidite. "You can keep your private army, while Poltron and I have our pick with the Zectians in Centzo."

“Sure,” replied Macher and shrugged his shoulder.

"At least this campaign will be ending soon. Our funds will only last for five more weeks, and that's already stretching it to the best possible conditions," said Macher out loud. He joined the Elementalist and the Archbishop.

"Just remember what you said, Poltron, we've got this city in the bag," said Macher haughtily as he wrapped both his arms around their shoulders. "Even if Ilad is with Smoke…."

* * * * * *

“Achoo!” Smoke sneezed and asked to take a short time out from their duel. “I think this early morning mist is getting to me or something,” he said to the Avendre Commander.

Before the break of dawn, Smoke was having a duel with Jeter Pion from within the trees. He used Aral's Lightning Rods and faced against the formidable Mercenary equipped with his saber and kite shield.

Smoke had sparred with several ordinary Mercenaries and the other Avendre Commanders. Out of all of them, he noticed that Jeter's fighting ability stood above the rest.

The common Mercenary was below the level of their Ranseurs, while the Commanders were slightly stronger than them. However, Jeter was almost on the same level as Espion. There were even a few moments that made Smoke think that the Avendre Commander was almost on the same level as Adder.

Smoke swiftly moved to Jeter's left and struck him with the lightning rods, but he was instantly blocked by the Mercenary’s shield.

Yet, Smoke wasn't finished with his attack as he fluidly circled around Jeter and delivered a swift blow to his back.

SHIIIING

Without turning around, Jeter's saber blocked Smoke's lightning rod.

“That's quite impressive,” said Smoke approvingly.

“Thank you,” replied Jeter as he turned around to face him. “I know that you have been holding back, but hearing a compliment from you is still something to be proud of.”

Jeter then got into an offensive stance. “Now, if you don't mind. I'd like you to take this seriously. You wanted to know our true abilities, right?”

“Alright, if you insist,” said Smoke and readied himself as well.

Smoke used his Hyper Jump ability and almost instantaneously appeared in front of the Avendre Mercenary. He struck with his left rod's Lightning Shock ability on Jeter's body and aimed his right rod squarely on the Mercenary's chin.

Jeter was sent flying backward and tumbled on the ground. Smoke made sure to keep the damage within a safe parameter, and the Mercenary Commander's life bar displayed (102,500/205,000 HP).

Smoke walked over to the fallen Avendre and offered him his hand.

“Thanks for taking me seriously,” said Jeter gratefully as he was being helped up.

“Even if you hadn't asked for it, I would have had to,” replied Smoke and shook Jeter's hand. “That was very impressive. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

"I have been with the Avendre ever since I was young," began Jeter. "My family was in a great amount of debt and the only way they could think of getting out of it was by pawning me off to the Avendre Mercenaries. Luckily for me, Solliciter, the Avendre's Leader, took pity on me and trained me well."

“Wait, what? Your family sold you off to be a slave?” asked Smoke incredulously.

"I guess you can say that, but Solliciter never treated me as one. He even told me that I'm free to go wherever I want to," said Jeter fondly. "I even told him about how I was interested in joining your army. The stories of how you freed several villages from oppression has reached the Avendre Headquarters in mount Alouer. You have inspired me to help others, but I won't be able to do that until I pay off my family's debt."

Despite Jeter's excited voice, Smoke clearly saw the Mercenary's sullen expression.

“I see, and how much is it?” asked Smoke.

“Fifty million zecs,” replied Jeter shamefully. He turned and saw Smoke smiling at him.

“It's funny, right?” said Jeter as he forced himself to smile. “How in the world can a family be in debt for fifty million zecs.”

Jeter forcibly stretched his body and shrugged off any sore feelings.

“On the bright side, at least Solliciter allowed me to serve under you,” said Jeter gratefully. “This way, it feels like I'm really in your private army and fighting for a just cause. Thank you again for the spar.”

Jeter bowed down his head and started walking away towards his men.

“Jeter,” called out Smoke.

The Avendre Commander turned around immediately.

"Don't worry. I have a feeling that you will finally be free from your family's debt in this battle," said Smoke reassuringly.

Jeter smiled and slightly bowed his head and left.

Suddenly, a notification window popped up.

+ Intimacy with Jeter Pion has risen to 'Trusted Friend'

You have gained Jeter's trust by sparring with him and asking him about his past and his dreams of the future.
You can expect that Jeter will put his life on the line for you, and obey your orders within reason.

Smoke smiled after he read the window. He unequipped his twin lightning rods and looked around their camp.

The Avendre Mercenaries were still busy unloading the emergency rations that they brought for the starving people of Centzo into Laernea's and Gandiva's carriages.

Smoke walked over to inspect the rations. He saw that they were packed to the brim with wheat bread and preserved meat, but he knew that it was far from enough to feed all of the hungry residents.

He walked away from them to get some fresh air. It had been some time since he dwelt on this issue, but he still had not come up with a solution.

Looking around the crowded forest patch, he saw that everyone was busy with their preparations for battle. They were still waiting for Thyrsus and Vijaya's return on their reconnaissance mission.

Without finding a place to hear his thoughts, he equipped his Claws of Chiropterra and scaled one of the sycamore trees nearby. He found a strong branch to sit on, and watched the busy people below him.

Amidst the crowd, he easily spotted a red-haired beauty among them. Sharur was standing next to her, assisting her with the ingredients.

Smoke was blankly staring at her, completely mesmerized by her HighElf form. With her curly hair, she looked exactly like her real self except for the long pointed ears.

From the ingredients she had prepared, it looked like Sierra was busy cooking various Zectian dishes. He knew that it was an aspect of the game that eluded her for a while, and he understood why she loved serving everyone her meals.

He worriedly glanced over to their own food rations and thought that they would have a little left, but was surprised when he saw that it was practically untouched.

With his Telefax Vision, he zoomed in on the meals that she was serving. From the small bowls that Sierra was giving out, he thought that she was giving them seasoned blood pheasants or ancient bison steaks. Instead, he saw an ordinary looking soup.

He quickly jumped down from the tree and went over to her. He was alarmed by the meal that she was serving them. He knew that their food supply was limited, but this was unacceptable. Soups were great for medicinal meals because it quickly spread throughout the body, but it barely made any impact on the satiety bars. She would have needed four times the serving she was giving out.

'How can she expect the men in top fighting form with an empty stomach?' he thought to himself and stormed towards her.

"Oh, just in time," said Sierra with a smile and offered him a the same small bowl.

After looking at her face, he calmed down a bit. He didn't want to upset her by saying that her cooking was wrong. He already heard about what her uncle did to her when she tried cooking Zectian dishes in the real world.

So, he decided to try the soup first and gauge how much it filled his satiety bar.

An explosion of flavors filled his mouth after the first sip of the soup. He quickly wolfed down the bowl in a matter of seconds. To his amazement the small bowl filled his satiety bar completely.

"What did you put in this thing?" asked Smoke as he tried to decipher the ingredients from the taste.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she happily replied but had no intention of revealing her recipe.

"Sharur, don't tell Smoke what we put in the soup," she said half threateningly and jokingly at the OrkElf beside her.

"Of course, Sierra, this soup will be our little secret," answered Sharur happily. "How about you name this, Mystery Soup Number One?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Sierra while nodding her head at him. "Let's go with that."

Smoke put down the bowl and grabbed her shoulders. "Seriously, you barely even touched our supplies. How did you do this?"

Sierra honestly answered him after she saw how serious he was. "I pureed the main ingredients for a while and added cornstarch. Then had Sharur chop the beef into thin slices."

She than slapped Sharur's chest. "The big guy here didn't even know about this technique, and he says that he's my teacher in cooking. Using this method, I think we could extend our food supply by ten times the normal serving. Why were you asking?"

"I think your cooking talent may have just saved an entire city," replied Smoke proudly.

Before he could say anything else, Thyrsus and Vijaya came bustling in, mounted on their aardwolves.

"We have to go now!" shouted Thyrsus. "Prosjak's estimate on the Brandals attack was wrong. The bandits have already made their move towards the city."

* * * * * *

Accompanied by Ledur, Smoke took to the skies. The two of them flew towards Centzo as fast as the tailwinds carried them. As Smoke looked on the horizon, he found the familiar city with its golden luster. The city's capital sat on top of a low mountain.

He hoped that the plant life had regrown outside the city walls, but the Brandals' wanton trail of devastation remained true. From his vantage point, he could see nothing but barren land on the mountainside surrounding the capital.

"Ledur, look at that," said Smoke to the winged Tikbalang as he pointed to the three groups of Brandals simultaneously marching towards the city.

Their original target of thirty-thousand bandits were coming in from the north, while another thirty-thousand Brandals were coming in from the west, but only ten-thousand bandits accompanied by ten-thousand Zectian Cavalry Knights and two-thousand Sonstwelters were led by Macher towards the main gate on the southern side of the capital.

Each Brandal group brought along thirty catapults, while the one with Macher leading them had four more trebuchets. They hauled along several carts filled with big boulders, he surmised that those were for the siege devices.

Smoke wondered whether they were going to immediately launch an all out attack on the city, but as the three divisions got closer to Centzo, they all stopped when they reached two-hundred meters from the foot of the mountain.

With his Telefax Vision, he saw Incitant on top of the western gate, Smoke estimated that about five-thousand Sonstwelters were with him. Whereas, Espion joined the other Zectians on the main gate as they served under Prosjak's command.

Shortly after, a volley of arrows attacked the western and southern Brandal groups, but none of the bandits were hurt as not a single arrow reached them.

Prosjak and Incitant instantly ceased their ranged attacks and waited for the enemy to be within their sights.

"I have seen enough," said Smoke and motioned for Ledur to head back with him.

Some distance behind the Brandals on the north, Smoke could already see the dust cloud created by his forces heading for the city. He then focused on the Vigilantez running towards the capital, but they were still at least two kilometers away.

"Ledur, wait. On second thought, we better stall the bandits until our friends arrive," said Smoke and pointed to the mountainside outside the capital's small northern gate.

The two flying Vigilantez landed safely. However, they were spotted by the bandits below them. The Brandals proceeded to load all thirty of their catapults with flaming boulders.

Centzo's skyline was filled with an auburn glow as multiple flaming boulders simultaneously came at the capital from three directions.

Smoke and Ledur immediately put up tall earth pillars that took most of the damage from the boulders. Despite their efforts, four big cracks appeared on the city walls on the northern side of the capital.

Although, the wall itself was still intact, Smoke wasn't sure how many more flaming boulders it could take before it will finally break.

After seeing the damage that the catapults did to the city walls and their earth pillars, Smoke was concerned about the other two locations.

Yet, he had no time to worry about them. His army was the last line of defense on this side of the capital. All of Centzo's military force was already distributed to the western gate and main gate.

Smoke quickly created more pillars after the ones they made were destroyed, while Ledur began repairing and reinforcing the walls.

Suddenly, they heard a loud battle cry as two-thousand bandits started climbing up the mountainside. They were shortly followed by five-hundred mounted Brandals on black ctenosaurs.

Despite the numerous Brandals headed their way, there were still more of them left guarding the catapults.

While thinking of what to do against the incoming bandits, the Brandals on the foot of the mountain fired another round of flaming boulders at the capital.

Smoke focused his Earth Manipulation on six pillars and reinforced them with thicker earth. The other pillars easily crumbled against the flaming projectiles, but these ones did not. The flaming boulders stopped in mid-air and fell down to the ground. Due to the inclined mountainside, these three boulders then rolled downwards towards the charging enemies.

The climbing bandits were taken by surprise from the attack of their own weapon. Several Brandals were rolled over by the fiery boulders and received the 'Burned Status.'

Smoke smiled at his small victory, but it instantly vanished as he turned around and faced the wall. A small crack, big enough for a person to fit through, appeared.

Ledur hurriedly closed it up with his Earth Manipulation, but several more boulders were coming their way. At the same time, the Brandals climbing up towards the capital were closing in on the two of them.

Smoke caught three more boulders and sent them back down to the bandits, while Ledur created random blockades with his earth manipulation.

The two of them were quickly running out of time. After the fourth volley of flaming boulders came, the northern city walls finally gave way. A wide crack appeared on it, and it was big enough to allow ten black ctenosaurs to pass through side-by-side.

Ledur quickly began to cover it up with his Earth Manipulation, but another round of fiery boulders immediately came crashing down. This time, it destroyed the small northern gate, adjacent to the wall that the winged Tikbalang was fixing.

Smoke knew that many of the residents of Centzo will be slaughtered if the Brandals would get past the two of them.

Fortunately, he saw two stag moose blitzing their way through the bandits up the hill. They were joined by four durcules beetles. As Bilis' and Tulin's antlers had not yet regrown, the large flying insects took the lead and used their sharp black horns to stab the bandits out of the way.

As Laernea and Gandiva broke out of the Brandals' formation, the two Lioumereans scattered black and silver metallic rocks on the ground. Both of their stag moose slightly shuddered at the sight of the magnetic stones and quickly sped away from them.

Smoke grinned and took out two electro stones out of his backpack. He placed them in his left palm and pointed the Electromagnetic Golem Offering at them. He then used the ring's active ability called Golem Creation.

The electro stones flew out of his hands, flying straight in the direction of the black magnetic rocks. The moment it made contact with the ground, it started pulling in the metallic components near it.

A black and silver monster with 200,000 HP were instantly created amidst the charging Brandals. They were an exact copy of Horrabelle's two-meter tall golems.

He would have wanted to create more of them, but his current mana could only allow him to create two, since he was about to use Aral's Lightning Rods.

Smoke used its ultimate ability, Lightning Strike. A flash of blue light emitted out of his twin rods after he connected them together.

The Lightning Strike flew straight towards the Brandals' direction, but none of the bandits were hit as it only struck one of the metallic golems.

After the moment of impact, Smoke then quickly used his newly acquired Lightning Manipulation ability. With his twin lightning rods still equipped, he forked the Lightning Strike into three branches. He redirected the two smaller branches of lightning towards the bandits nearby, while the largest one went straight to the other metallic golem.

Smoke was able to repeat the same process three more times until his Lightning Strike completely dissipated. It was a weaker version of Horrabelle's attack, but he killed over eighty bandits in that one attack. He then opened the metallic orb on his chest and let out his dark ember sprite, Igniz.

The small purple flame instantly flew out and looked at the Brandals' direction.

"Time to go old school, bud," said Smoke as he switched to his power chainsaw bow. He thought to do as much damage at the approaching bandits while waiting for his mana bar to recover. He needed less than twenty minutes to have it back to 100%.

Igniz immediately enchanted Smoke's, Laernea's and Gandiva's arrows with fire. Smoke then signaled his symbiote to fly over to the Brandals and assault them with a rain of fireballs.

At once, Igniz flew to the bandits without hesitation. Smoke, Igniz, Laernea and Gandiva assaulted them with their ranged attacks, while his black and silver golems blocked some of the incoming Brandals.

With the Brandals unceasing catapult attacks, Ledur was now the only one left blocking the flaming boulders from destroying the walls.

* * * * * *

The Brandals on the foot of the mountain turned around to see the loud war-cries coming from behind them. The ones directly in front of the three charging war elephants were instantly demoralized. These massive mounts were leading the Vigilantez's wedge formation.

The rest of Smoke's core members all rode on aardwolves while the surviving Arcus had to squeeze themselves as five of them rode on the war chariots supposedly built for three. The mounted units did not run at full speed as the Ranseurs and Avendre Mercenaries could not keep up with them.

Sierra's normal form allowed her to easily ride together with Weise. Whereas, Rasant and Adelige shared a war elephant, while Stark, the largest Maneator, rode alone.

Adder's team of Condortlian Warriors on the back of Centaur Rangers were joined by one thousand of Jeter's Avendre Mercenaries on the right side immediately after Sierra.

Sharur's and Jinggu's teams banded with two more Avendre Commanders. The twin OrkElves were on Sierra's immediate left.

Meanwhile, Ichaival, Sharanga and Guro were spread out to the left wing of their wedge formation. Each of their teams were bolstered with two-thousand Avendre Mercenaries. A total of six-thousand new members altogether.

On the other side, Thyrsus and Vijaya were on the far right wing. Between both their teams, they were only given four-thousand Mercenaries. However, Phen, Rear, Ardu and Vrai were on this division as well as they took command of all the Tikbalangs and Werewolves.

Mamelon's Elemental Knights and Shamans stayed in the middle of their sporadic formation, and acted as backup to any of the teams. She was given only a thousand Avendre Mercenaries. Her unit was the smallest, but it was designed to be the most agile.

With the aid of the war elephants' massive strength, Sierra and the Maneators smashed their way into the throng of bandits.

The mounted Brandal Captains threw their knives at them, but Sierra's tanking prowess drastically improved after she equipped Smoke's Armored Armadillo Shield. She blocked most of the projectile attacks coming their way, but only received 150 damage points on the knives that got past her shield.

Stark, on top of his war elephant, received several of the knife attacks as his war hammer called Gorilla Fist served as a poor shield. He had almost leapt off his mount to face the bandit captains, but Weise noticed this.

"Calm down, Stark. Remember our objective," said the gray Maneator. Weise pointed to the numerous catapults still farther ahead of them.

A warm feeling suddenly overcame Stark, and his agitation faded as Sierra's healing ability took the pain of the knives away.

After seeing Sierra in action, Adelige took out her heavy Oxen Edge. With her double-edged axe, she parried all of the attacks aimed at her and Rasant.

"Thanks, Adelige," said Rasant gratefully as he concentrated on driving their war elephant straight for the siege weapons.

Adder's, Jeter's, Sharur's and Jinggu's teams hurriedly followed her lead. They didn't stop to fight the bandits, but made sure to steadily move forward instead.

Yet, the Brandals quickly regrouped and cut off Sierra's leading forces from the rest of the Vigilantez. Only three-thousand Avendre Mercenaries were able to join them in the front.

In exchange for being separated from their main forces, Sierra and her men were now within an arm's reach of the catapults.

Sierra would have wanted to go to where Smoke was, but she knew that he could take care of himself. What they needed to do now was to acquire these catapults.

"Adder, Jeter, we need to make sure that Sharur and Jinggu take command of at least two catapults," Sierra ordered quickly.

Together, all of them rushed for the nearest two catapults. Each siege weapon only had one Brandal Captain guarding it and a handful of bandits operating the siege device.

Adder riding on the back of the Centaur named Tragar, aimed for one of the Captains. Tragar's arrows hit the Captain's torso and distracted him fro them leaping Condortlian overhead. Adder's BlitzSturm cleanly severed off the bandit's dominant hand equipped with a whip. He then sliced his double-bladed sword across the Captain's body.

The other Condortlian Warriors went to face the bandits handling the catapult, while the Avendre Mercenaries protected them from the other bandits who were coming in to stop them.

Jeter's Mercenaries broke off for the catapult next to the one recently captured. On foot, Jeter ordered his men to swarm the Captain.

The Brandal leader lashed out his whip and cracked it at the Avendre Commander. Jeter got hit in the shoulders and his life bar was reduced by 25%. He raised his shield and blocked the next coming attacks as he charged forward.

Steadily, Jeter got closer to the bandit leader. The Brandal Captain switched weapons and took out a short sword. However, Jeter threw his kite shield at him, distracting the bandit from his next move.

The Avendre Mercenary scrambled to climb on top of the black ctenosaur. Holding his saber with both hands, he swiftly knocked the bandit's sword out of his grip.

Many of the surrounding Brandals tried to help their leader, but Jeter's men made sure to allow their leaders' a one-on-one fight.

Jeter rapidly moved to the bandit's back, and with his left hand, he trapped the Brandal Captain in an arm hold. His saber pierced through the side of bandit's leather armor as the Avendre Commander repeatedly stabbed him.

After Jeter finished off the bandit leader, he drove his saber into the black ctenosaur's head and killed it as well. He dismounted from the dead lizard and equipped his kite shield. He looked around and found that his men had did the same to their own opponents.

Then, a bright light engulfed him and his men as a red-haired HighElf began healing them.

"Well done, Jeter," said Sierra promptly while she continued replenishing the life bars of the mercenaries.

"Now, I need you and your men to do it all again," as she pointed to the next catapult.

"Right away," replied Jeter excitedly and headed for their next target.

With two catapults secured, Sierra called for Sharur and Jinggu to come over, but the twin OrkElves had already captured two of their own.

"Can you guys handle two more?" asked Sierra as the catapults were brought closer to them by the Mercenaries.

"No problem. We can handle all thirty of them," boasted Jinggu. "Make that all twenty-eight," he said as he pointed over to the Maneators.

Sierra was confused, and turned around. She found that Stark and Rasant had destroyed two of the siege weapons. She then heard Weise shouting.

"We are not suppose to break them, just clear them from the bandits," reprimanded the gray Maneator.

Sierra turned back to face them when he heard Sharur's voice. "Don't worry, Sierra, I've always got your back," he said meaningfully.

"Thanks, but I think they are the one who needs your help right now," she said as she pointed to the battalion closing in on Smoke, Ledur, Laernea and Gandiva on the mountainside.

Sharur nodded, and the two OrkElves proceeded to change the calibrations of all four catapults to aim for the Brrandals charging at Smoke instead of the capital's wall.

* * * * * *

A busty Aqua Knight, on top of the largest bronze jackal, glanced between the opposite wings. At first, she thought the Vigilantez formation looked like that of an eagle closing its wings on a rabbit before carrying it off to be devoured.

However, only their right wing remained dominant against the bandits. The ruthless Brandals appeared to be a fighting jackal instead of a rabbit.

Mamelon didn't know if it was because of the Werewolves and Tikbalangs strength, or because Thyrsus and Vijaya simply worked splendidly together. Yet, the only thing that was clear was that this was not the side she needed to help.

"Jackol, to the left wing!" she ordered her mount and the rest of her unit followed after her.

Ichaival, Sharanga and Guro were clearly suffering as their numbers were rapidly dropping. She further scrutinized their area and found that Guro's team were holding their own.

The Gladiatrix's Phalanx Aura and Battle Aura increased the capabilities of the Mercenaries around her. Guro was constantly on the move. This gave her men a high boost in morale, giving them the positive attitude to take on the bandits.

Unfortunately, it was Ichaival's and Sharanga's members that were being killed. Sharanga focused on hunting down the Brandal Captains, while Ichaival went after the Brandals' healers.

This time, the Brandals had Witch Doctors scattered among them. This made killing the bandits five times harder. Yet, as they went after their special targets, they neglected to take care of their greenhorn Mercenaries.

Mamelon's Shamans quickly began healing the Avendres near them. Apparently, Ichaival and Sharanga ordered their Acolytes to prioritize on healing the Vigilantez members, which made the Mercenaries be neglected.

The two Hunters quickly ordered their healers to focus on healing everyone, but they already suffered a heavy blow of a thousand dead Mercenaries on their hands.

Ichaival rode his mount closer to Sharanga. "Let's change our support team's precedence to healing the Avendre instead," he said abruptly. "They are clearly weaker than any of our Vigilantez members, and I think our Ranseurs and Arcus will still be able to survive on their own."

"I thought about that as well, but it would be too risky," Sharanga replied back apprehensively.

"So, what should we do?" asked Ichaival impatiently.

"I don't know!" shouted Sharanga as she let out her frustration.

Suddenly, an Aqueous Spike flew in between them and killed a bandit who was leaping towards them with his knife.

Mamelon arrived and intervened. "Focus on killing off the Captains and Witch Doctors as you were doing before. My Shamans will be healing the Mercenaries, while I and the rest of the Elemental Knights will support you from behind."

"Thank you," said Sharanga and Ichaival synchronously. The two Hunters swiftly rode off on different directions.

Sharanga's falcon released her five-trap system on one of the Brandal Captains and brought him down to the ground. The Ranseurs and Avendre Mercenaries in her team quickly rushed to the downed bandit leader and finished him off.

Meanwhile, Ichaival, the Banalite Archers and his Arcus members all targeted the Witch Doctors. Their first volley was blocked by the bandits defending their healers, but their ranged attacks would not be stopped. Their persistence penetrated through the Brandals, wiping out the Witch Doctors near them.

With their sights firmly resolved and the addition of Mamelon's troops, the left wing quickly picked up its pace. The Avendre Mercenaries were slowly getting stronger as each kill contributed to their experience bars and eventually led to them leveling up.

However, after thirty minutes into the battle, the Brandals sheer advantage in numbers was slowly getting to them. The Acolytes' and Shamans' mana could not keep up with the high demand of healing all of their members.

The Brandals closed rank on their Witch Doctors, and protected them with their lives, as more Brandal Captains huddled together around them.

* * * * * *

From the far off distance, Smoke zoomed in and observed the commotion on the foot of the mountain. He grinned when he saw Sierra bravely cutting through the swarm of Brandals.

Despite his army's arrival, he knew that no one was coming to his aid. Not even Sierra or his loyal Maneators. He understood that they would be more effective fighting below than trying to rescue him.

Smoke would have wanted to catch more boulders and roll them down the mountain, but he was saving his mana for something more efficient.

He aimed his torrential poison arrows at the Brandals in the back. Inflicting as many of the bandits with the 'Poisoned Status.'

With the Brandals only a few meters away from him and the Lioumereans, he switched to Aral's Lightning Rods and defended the front lines.

'I don't have to kill them, I just have to push them back,' he thought to himself.

He struck the bandits one by one with only a single hit, and they tumbled down bringing along two or three of their comrades with them.

Through Smoke's tenacity, he eventually reached the area were his magnetic underlings were fighting.

The Brandals soon realized that it was difficult to get past the monstrous DarkElf and his golems. Despite this, the bandits still moved forward as the capital's walls were still being destroyed by their catapults.

The bandits tried moving to the side, away from Smoke and his golems.

Smoke quickly realized what they were doing, but he was still lacking in mana. He hurriedly yelled out for help. "Ledur, funnel them towards me!"

The winged Tikbalang temporarily stopped his repairs on the walls and created a slanted, three-meter earth-wall that was going towards Smoke's location.

Blocked by the earth obstacle, the Brandals furiously rushed at Smoke and his two golems. Yet, unbeknownst to the bandits, Smoke was only biding his time.

As fifteen minutes had already passed, his mana recovered to the point where he could create two more golems. He swiftly took out two more electro stones and created more minions.

Smoke fought eight bandits at once, while his golems were mobbed by ten bandits. Fortunately for him, the Brandals' weapons could do little damage to his metallic minions. They were unreasonably slow, but extremely sturdy.

Yet the major factor as to why they were able to hold their position against the numerous Brandals was because they held the upper ground, and Smoke had every intention to abuse this tactical advantage.

Together with four metallic subordinates, Smoke defended the passageway from the waves of Brandals. Concurrently, Igniz, Laernea, Gandiva and their durcules beetles kept attacking from Afar.

The Lioumereans picked off the dying bandits with their arrows, while their two-meter durcules beetles stabbed the bandits with their black horns.

Not to be outdone, Smoke's dark ember sprite's unceasingly attacked with his fireballs. He steadily lowered the life bars of the bandits.

"Igniz, swallow them in flames!" shouted Smoke suddenly.

Not a second later, Igniz created multiple firewalls inside the slanted confinement and inflicted every bandit caught in its flames with the 'Burned Status'.

The poisoned bandits, in the back of their formation, stopped climbing and hurriedly retreated downward. They spread out and circled around the earth walls. There were still more than a thousand of them left.

Smoke was about to call out for Ledur's help, but he was taken aback when he saw four flaming boulders coming straight for the bandits.

He used his Telefax Vision and instantly recognized the source of the boulders. He found Jinggu and Sharur preparing to fire another round of boulders at them.

'Their effectiveness in using siege weapons coupled with their Far Sight ability really makes them formidable long range opponents,' he mused.

Looking at the OrkElves' sides, he found that Sierra and her troops had already captured half of the catapults. Yet, they were temporarily stalled as more Brandals began to swarm them.

Smoke was about to resume fighting the bandits on the mountainside when he suddenly saw two red flares go up at the same time. His eyes instantly went over to Ichaival and Sharanga, the Hunters who fired them.

Their troops were blocked off by the bandits and each of them were surrounded by several dead bodies of Avendre Mercenaries and a few of their Ranseurs and Arcus.

He scanned their area to search for the reason they shot out the flares. A few meters away from them, he saw twenty mounted Brandal Captains charging straight at them. They were all the remaining bandit leaders in their area.

"Laernea, Gandiva, leave the mountainside, but avoid the bandits at all cost. I have to get down there now!" he said in a rattled voice.

Smoke abruptly leapt up and took to the skies. "Igniz, with me!" he yelled out and his dark ember sprite instantly stopped attacking the bandits.

He decided to leave the remaining Brandals on the mountainside as he knew that Sierra will capture the catapults, disabling them from entering any potential cracks in the city walls.

Also, with the end of the falling boulders, Ledur would be able to finish off the bandits by himself.

Despite the fact that the mountainside was secured, his attention was solely on Ichaival and Sharanga as he felt an ominous feeling from their direction.

The Brandal Captains split up ,and ten of them went after each Hunter. He looked at the distance between the two of them and realized that he could only reach one of them in time. His troubled eyes darted between Ichaival and Sharanga, confused on who to rescue first.

'What did those two do to be specifically target by the Captains?' wondered Smoke worriedly.

Smoke saw Sharanga's falcon throw one of her traps at the bandit leader and disabled him from joining their assault towards her.

Whereas, Smoke watched Ichaival use his Phantom Arrows on the leading Brandal Captain and knocked him off his black ctenosaur. Ichaival then immediately proceeded to the bandit directly behind them.

Without any time left, he gambled on saving Sharanga. He hoped that Ichaival would survive the Brandal Captains' attacks, enabling him to come to his aid afterward.

Smokes body was engulfed in dark purple flames as his symbiote orbited around him rapidly.

CRASH

The DarkElf came crashing down on the Brandal Captains near Sharanga as he used his Comet Crush ability. He temporarily stunned them before they reached her, and hurriedly switched to his weighted chain and sickle.

Right at the start, he used his weapon's deadliest ability, Cyclone of Slaughter. Smoke and the nine Brandal Captains appeared to be engulfed in a tornado as several afterimages of the sharp sickle and iron-ball surrounded them.

The ability lasted ten seconds. Three mangled bodies of the Brandal Captains with zero life bars were revealed after the tornado of sickles ended, while six of the bandit leaders were blown away backwards by the weighted iron-ball.

Smoke quickly switched his attention to Ichaival. His grit his teeth when he saw that there were still eight Brandal Captains heading towards the Hunter.

"Igniz, stay here and help Sharanga," blurted out Smoke and went straight to Ichaival.

Using his Hyper Jump ability, he desperately moved towards Ichaival. Yet, it only instantly propelled him ten meters forward. His friend was still out of his reach.

The Brandal Captains then took out their whips and aimed it at him. A sudden flashback entered Smoke's mind as he remembered how König Mitleid died in the hands of these bastards.

He kept on running and patiently waited for the Hyper Jump ability to finish its cooldown, but a sinking feeling inside him said that he could not make it in time.

WHIPISH WHIPISH

Eight whips cracked simultaneously, all aimed at Ichaival. A teary eyed Smoke did not avert his gaze at his friend and kept on running towards him.

Before the Brandals' whips could hit Ichaival, a female Aqua Knight pushed him off of his mount and was caught by the bandit's whips instead.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Mamelon screamed in pain as her armor was forcibly pulled off and from her body. Four of the Brandal Captains released their whips and swiftly charged forward on top of their black ctenosaurs, while four more kept her tied up with their whips. The charging bandits mercilessly plunged their swords at her exposed flesh.

Her life bar, which was already at 35%, was instantly reduced to zero. Her lifeless body slumped down to the ground and slowly faded out of sight as she was forcibly logged out of Zectas.

BZZZT BZZZT

Smoke smashed the black lightning rods into two of the bandits' skulls and temporarily paralyzed them. He proceeded to disarming the remaining Brandal Captains of their swords and whips as he used Eskrima techniques he learned in the real world.

Ichaival quickly recovered from the fall and fired his arrows rapidly at the bandit leaders surrounding Smoke. The rest of Mamelon's Elemental forces arrived and helped Smoke and Ichaival finish off the remaining leaders.

"Raaaaaaaaah!" screamed the throng of bandits charging at them. Smoke noticed that only a few of their Witch Doctors were left, along with the last five Brandal Captains.

Greatly outnumbered, Smoke followed Ledur's technique and created several random earth walls to slow them down.

Fortunately, the tables instantly turned when Smoke saw Thyrsus, Vijaya, Phen, Rear, Ardu and Vrai coming towards them. He surmised that they must have been alarmed to see the red flares as well.

Smoke briefly thought about Mamelon's valiant sacrifice. He deeply appreciated her selflessness, but there was no time to brood on her death at the moment.

Uncertain of how they stood against the Brandals, he knew he needed to reassess the battle situation fast.

"Elemental Knights under Mamelon, please join with Ichaival's forces. I swear that we will wipe out all of the bandits here and avenge her death!" boldly declared Smoke, and quickly leapt to the skies.

"Igniz, let's go!" he shouted and his dark ember sprite immediately joined him in the air.

With a rough estimate, he guessed that roughly a third of the Brandals were left. He assumed that there were less than nine-thousand bandits all.

Although, the Vigilantez's forces were scattered, they now had the upper hand. They slightly outnumbered the bandits as they still had thirteen-thousand members left.

Yet, the Brandals' misfortune did not end there. One after another, flaming boulders came hurtling down from the sky.

Apparently, Sierra secured more catapults, while Sharur and Jinggu coordinated with their Avendre Mercenaries and sent a total of twenty of these boulders at the clustered bandits.

From his aerial view, Smoke saw the remaining Brandals rattled by the onslaught of the heavy boulders. The scattered Vigilantez turned into a favorable position, as they unknowingly trapped the bandits from within their formation.

As the rain of boulders continued, the Brandals became suicidal. It was as if they have lost all hope, and were fighting to take as many of the Vigilantez with them to the grave.

The Iron Knights, Ranseurs and Arcus had no trouble with the deranged methods of the Brandals, but the bandits were slaughtering the Avendre Mercenaries by stabbing them without any regard for their own safety.

Smoke quickly realized this, and called all of the core members on their battle channel.

"Everyone, open a path for the bandits," he said, and was instantly answered with dispute.

"Are you insane?" asked Sharur incredulously. "We have them right where we want them!"

"Yeah, Smoke. Why should we show them mercy?" asked Ichaival. "Mamelon even had to sacrifice herself just to save me."

"We are not letting them go. We just need to line them up and have Sharur and Jinggu pick them off one by one," hurriedly explained Smoke.

Everyone fell silent and waited for his next orders.

"Adder, Thyrsus and Vijaya, open your ranks and form a wall of Mercenaries towards the south," ordered Smoke. "Also, tell Ardu and Vrai to ready their Therianthrope and Tikbalang forces at the end of your formation."

"Sharur and Jinggu, change your targets to coincide with their lined up formations. Make sure not to hit our allies!" stressed Smoke strongly. "As for everyone else, make sure that they follow along these lines."

Before Smoke ended the voice conference, Vijaya got one more question in. "But how will we make the Brandals move as you wanted?"

"I will handle that," said Smoke as he dove down towards the throng of bandits.

Igniz started orbiting swiftly around him, but Smoke told him to stop. "No, Igniz, we are not trying to stun them."

He switched to his white metallic staff and landed softly in the middle of the Brandals. It took a few seconds for the bandits to react, but before they could hit him. Smoke had already created a concave Manatl as he crouched down.

While the bandits were attacking, stabbing and pounding on his purple barrier, Smoke suddenly screamed. "Everyone, the Captains have broken through the Vigilantez's formations! Escape to the south! Run for your lives."

Smoke repeated the same words loudly. Slowly, he noticed the bandits around him were thinning out. Some of the Brandals tried to yell that it was all a lie, but the spark of hope had already been ignited in the hearts of the bandits. The Brandals charged at the Vigilantez opening, and did not bother to attack anyone else.

Farther down the line, the bandits were struck down by more boulders as Sharur and Jinggu re-calibrated all of the remaining catapults.

As for the Brandals who escaped the flaming boulders, they were met with hundreds of Therianthropes and Tikbalangs.

A red-haired HighElf and four Maneators came to where a DarkElf was still crouched under his Manatl. In less than a few minutes, Smoke, Sierra and the Maneators wiped out all of the bandits in the area.

"That was good thinking," said Sierra as she restored his life bar to 100%. "Did you learn that from Darius?"

"No, it was Guro. She taught me some new battle tactics that pertained to large-scale armies," answered Smoke humbly. He looked towards the city and saw black smoke everywhere.

"I think we've got the northern part secured, but we have to check on the other two gates," he said abruptly. "Can I ask you to finish up here?"

"Of course, go right ahead. Just be sure to inform me of your next move," said Sierra as she gently squeezed his shoulders.

Smoke nodded, and without a word he jumped off and glided away. Together with Igniz, he flew towards Incitant's gate as that was where the smoke and screams were coming from.

* * * * * *

Smoke zoomed in on the city streets where Incitant was supposedly defending. There, he found teams of Brandals destroying buildings, houses and other properties of Centzo's residents.

More flaming boulders came crashing down on the capital's walls as Incitant never managed to get one catapult. He looked around some more, and found a few dead bodies scattered on the streets. He caught a glimpse of some of them before they faded into oblivion.

Smoke was relieved to see that most of the corpses were bandits and only a few Sonstwelters. He surmised that they must have been from Incitant's alliance.

"Guard the blockades! They must not pass beyond our defenses!" shouted an Archbishop loudly. Smoke was taken by surprise to have heard the man from far away, he zoomed in on him and recognized him as Incitant.

'He must have some special item or ability to enhance his voice,' assumed Smoke, as his own voice never carried that far.

Smoke admired Incitant's battle-cassock and would have liked to get Sierra one as a gift. From above, he could tell that Centzo's Sonstwelter alliance gave up on defending the wall entirely.

Instead, they moved their defenses to the inner city. Incitant and his alliance built wooden-blockades and had Archers, Wizards and other Priests set up on top of them.

He then heard the source of the screams. They were from the residents of Centzo. Some of them had evacuated to the nearby tall buildings behind Incitant's blockade, and could see the constant attacks of the Brandals' catapults and their steady advance of bandits on foot.

Yet, no matter how many of the flaming boulders came crashing down from the sky, none of them made contact with their temporary wall.

The Brandals who rushed in were slaughtered by the dozens as they were sniped by their long range attackers.

From the way the battle progressed, Smoke guessed that Incitant had no intention of going out of their self-made barricade.

Smoke quickly called Sierra.

"Can you send the Therianthropes, Tikbalangs and the surviving war-chariots over to the western gate or are you still fighting with the bandits?" he asked bluntly after she accepted his call.

"We are about almost done here. I can send them off ahead and the rest of us we will just catch up afterwards," replied Sierra briskly.

"By the way, how bad is it?" asked Smoke out of the blue. "How many of our men died?"

"We lost about five-thousand Mercenaries and two-hundred-twenty of our Vigilantez," replied Sierra somberly.

"But I'm positive that the next time we will fight we won't have as these many losses," she added quickly as if trying hard to convince herself.

"What makes you say that?" asked Smoke.

"Well, all of the survivors have greatly risen their levels, and not to mention their gained battle experience from fighting the bandits. Especially Jeter, he gained more than ten levels." said Sierra proudly.

"That's really good to know. That Avendre really has some potential..." said Smoke as his voiced trailed off.

"Let's hope for the best," he said with an inspirited voice, but deep down he was doubtful. "I will coordinate with Incitant and see how we can help. Please send over the troops as soon as you can."

"Copy that, Smoke, just be sure to stay safe," she said worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll play nice," he replied and ended their call.

Smoke dove down swiftly and went to where Incitant was taking command of the Sonstwelter Alliance.

He landed discreetly from behind their barricade and walked up to the Archbishop.

"Hey, Incitant. My group and I have just finished up with the northern area, and I was wondering what we can do to help," said Smoke cordially.

"Get out of here!" shouted Incitant rudely. "I told you that I don't mind working with you, but I don't need you stealing the spotlight from us. This is our time now!"

Smoke was taken aback. He thought Incitant would have welcomed his help, and wanted to end this war with the Brandals as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry, Smoke, but please. We have this handled," spoke Incitant in a forcibly calmer manner. "If you want to help someone, then go over to Prosjak's side. I'm sure he will welcome your help, but here, we don't need it."

"Alright then. I will go over to the southern gate," replied Smoke flatly and walked away.

He then called Sierra as he got out of earshot from the Archbishop.

"Change of plans. Please send our army over to the southern gate instead," said Smoke angrily.

"Huh? But that's in the opposite direction of where we are," stated a confused Sierra.

"It's a long story," said Smoke while shaking his head. "Incitant just wants more accomplishments under his belt, and finish off the Brandals by themselves. He says he doesn't need our help."

"That doesn't sound like a long story to me," replied Sierra sarcastically. "So, are we going to go around the capital and for the eastern side of the city?"

"No that would take too long. Just have all of our men climb the mountainside. We are going to pass through the city directly," said Smoke.

"Alright. I'll tell our men, but I'm sure the war elephants won't like it," replied Sierra. "You know how they hate climbing steep places... Oh, or I could just have Ledur carry them on a platform or something."

"I'll leave all of that up to you," said Smoke with a grin. "I'm going to Prosjak's side, and ask what we can do to help."

"Okay, but it will take us a lot longer to get there," said Sierra and ended their call.

After he saw the damage dealt by the catapults on Incitant's western wall, Smoke worried about the eerie silence from Prosjak's side.

'I hope Macher hasn't done too much damage on the southern district,' thought a perturbed Smoke, but he prepared himself for the worst possible scenario….

Chapter Eight:

The Salubrious Centzo City

Smoke was once again gliding above Centzo's capital. He expected to see a decimated wall on the southern gate and wrecked buildings. Yet, he was pleasantly surprised to see that there was not a single scratch on Centzo's main entrance.

'How in the world did they managed that?' he asked himself in astonishment.

He zoomed in, and saw several people casually standing on top of the wall. He saw Espion talking to a middle-aged man, wearing worn-out royal clothes.

Closing his cape, he dove down towards them and swiftly opened it only moments before hitting the ground. Smoke landed softly in front of them.

"Welcome, Smoke, we have been expecting you," greeted Prosjak and extended his hand.

Smoke shook the royal adviser's hand with a bewildered expression. "You were? But you sent us to defend the northern gate."

Remembering his query earlier, he looked in front to see how they stopped the Brandals' siege weapons and was amazed by what he saw.

In front of him was a massive iron-curtain that was draped before the city walls.

Suddenly, four massive boulders, three times the size of the ones loaded on catapults came at them. Smoke instinctively blocked his arms in front of him.

CLINK CLINK CLINK CLINK

Four boulders simply rolled down from the curtain and rolled back down the mountainside, straight towards Macher and his invading army.

"What in the world is that?" asked Smoke in disbelief.

Espion patted Smoke's back and gave him a knowing smile. "That's exactly what I said when I first saw it too."

Prosjak shouted and ordered their Bards, Minstrels and Dancers to enchant the iron-curtain with more defensive and protective aura around it.

"This was a joint project by our Blacksmiths, Tailors and Seamstress. They've been building this iron-curtain for the past month," explained Prosjak proudly. "Sadly, they only managed to make one big enough to support a single gate."

Then, five bandit groups started climbing up the mountainside. They were widely spread out. When they reached about a fourth of the climb, Prosjak suddenly shouted. "Archers, fire!"

"Damn it! They changed their strategy when you arrived," said Prosjak while looking at Smoke.

Three of the Bandit Groups were stopped by the arrows, while two of them reached the walls. They placed numerous exploding gems, magical stones imbued with compact explosion spells, on the city walls.

"Damn it! I'm getting too old for this," said Prosjak and threw two massive chests down the wall.

THUD THUD

From the loud impact they made when the hit the ground, Smoke could tell that something heavy was inside the chests. They were also large enough to fit an entire body, but the middle-aged man lifted them like they were empty boxes. He landed gracefully on the ground, as if he were temporarily suspended in mid-air before touching the earth.

Smoke couldn't see clearly what Prosjak was doing. Also he saw was that the royal adviser flicked his fingers at the numerous exploding gems, and all of the gems were removed from the wall. He then threw them back to the bandits.

BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM

Several bandits flew up in the air as they were blown away by their own exploding gems.

After the explosions ended, the Brandals circled around the lone middle-aged man.

"Why isn't anyone else jumping in after him?" Smoke asked Espion.

"Apparently, he likes to fight alone," replied Espion quickly. "It's best just to watch from afar."

Prosjak then bowed down before the Brandals. "Gentlemen, allow me to tell you the story of Prince Dosadno and Prince Neizvestan. Brother princes who protected their city in different manners."

After Prosjak ended his sentence, the lid on the two chests opened simultaneously. Two human-sized puppets with the heads of jack-o-lanterns came out simultaneously. One of them had on a silver royal armor with two silver zweihänders. Whereas, the other puppet wore a golden royal armor and had a golden shield with a matching golden claymore.

Neizvestan, Prosjak's puppet in silver armor, blindly charged at the bandits as the puppeteer moved him with his right hand.

Meanwhile, Dosadno, his golden puppet, remained by his side. Rightfully so, as numerous bandits got out of the silver puppet's way and went after Prosjak directly.

Dosadno blocked most of their attacks and got stabbed by the bandits' knives which the puppet could not stop. Yet, the puppet remained unfazed as it did not have a life bar and continued on fighting the Brandals.

The silver puppet moved farther away from Prosjak as it slaughtered more and more bandits. One of them managed to hit the silver puppet's jack-o-lantern head, but the pumpkin head fixed itself right after the bandit's knife was taken out.

'So, his puppets don't get damage at all. With that golden puppet sticking to him like an overprotective parent, there's no way Prosjak is going to get hit by the bandits,' thought Smoke with admiration and envy. He had just received new subordinates himself, but they were not immune like Prosjak's puppets.

Despite Prosjak's fighting prowess, Smoke felt that it was still better to aid the middle-aged man than just to watch idly by.

"Archers, aim for the bandits out of the puppets' reach!" yelled Smoke. Unsure whether they would listen to him or not.

Luckily, the Archers followed his command and began firing their arrows. Smoke also equipped his power chainsaw bow and began attacking from on top of the castle wall.

In the midst of the constant rain of boulders, Prosjak held the ground battle by himself, against more than a thousand bandits.

Smoke and the Centzo Archers greatly reduced the life bars of the bandits on the ground, but Dosadno and Neizvestan fought like machines of death.

Twenty minutes after the battle, the bandits near the southern wall were finally wiped out. Smoke used his enhanced-eyesight ability to see how many were left on the foot of the mountain. He found several pitched tents with only five-thousand bandits left guarding the catapults and trebuchets. He quickly jumped down the wall and landed right next to Prosjak.

"Where are Macher and his Knights?" Smoke asked worriedly.

"He should be down there inside his tent," replied Prosjak confidently. "I haven't seen any major movements coming out of there since the start of the battle."

"I don't think he's there," blurted out Smoke and leapt off the mountainside, gliding straight for Macher's tent.

"Igniz, light me up," he ordered his symbiote, and the dark ember sprite instantly obeyed.

CRASH

Torn pieces of the burnt tent floated in the air as Smoke landed squarely on it. He was left uninjured as the bandits near the siege weapons were taken by surprise of his sudden aerial attack.

Smoke hurriedly took to the air once more before the Brandals could get to him. As he reached a higher altitude, he saw more smoke coming out from Incitant's side of the city.

He hurriedly called Sierra.

"Pick up, pick up," he said out loud to himself as she wasn't answering his call.

With more buildings being destroyed on the western side of the city, he decided to head to Incitant's forces as quickly possible.

* * * * * *

Incitant's inner blockade was destroyed. Thousands of bandits along with hundreds of Cavalry Knights had already swarmed the western part of the city.

Smoke saw a group of people hiding in one of the tall buildings throwing down pots at six bandits who were trying to break through their locked doors.

Swiftly, he switched to his power chainsaw bow. Together with Igniz, the two of them targeted the Brandals. It took them less than two minutes to finish them off. He then created earth pillars to reinforce the defenses on the lower floors of the building.

After saving that building, Smoke looked around and found dozens of buildings in a similar state. Brandals were on their doorsteps, forcibly removing the planks of woods on their doorways.

'What in the world is Incitant doing?' he wondered to himself as he thought how to save all of them.

"Igniz, cover the doorways with your firewall, but make sure that they don't hit their wooden planks," he ordered his symbiote. "We just need to make the bandits back off until I can get to them."

After Smoke's command, Igniz immediately blazed down to the nearest building and started implementing his orders.

Whereas, Smoke landed to the building next to it. Equipped with his black lightning rods, he bashed the skulls of the marauding bandits.

He faced Brandals numbering from four to seven of them, who were harassing the tall buildings with Centzo's citizens in them.

After he finished off five groups, he saw it. A water elemental, a four-meter-tall humanoid water-entity, was viciously attacking Incitant.

BLOCK BLOCK BLOCK

The Archbishop's shield was blessed with divine protection, and a small cross appeared over it each time the water elemental struck it with its fists.

Incitant's life bar was still at 60%, but it only displayed (144,000/240,000 HP). Smoke guessed that he must have placed his stats on Intelligence, as he was not a battle oriented healer like Sierra.

Smoke crossed the black lightning rods together and aimed at the water elemental. A blue, blinding flash erupted out of his twin weapons. His Lightning Strike hit the water summon directly on its back, and inflicted 102,900 damage points to it.

The water elemental instantly disappeared.

"Thanks, Smoke. It was immune to my physical attacks, and I get separated from my magician members," explained Incitant defensively.

"Don't worry about it," replied Smoke cordially. "Exactly where are—" he stopped talking as another water elemental sprouted right in front of them.

Smoke tried to block the water summon's fist with his twin rods but was knocked back to the building behind him. He quickly looked around and searched for the summoner, and found a female Elementalist being protected by a male Archbishop.

"Macher, over here. We found Smoke!" shouted the Elementalist.

"Avidite, he can't hear us. Macher is on the other side, remember?" explained the Archbishop.

'So, they're with Macher,' realized Smoke, and searched for the dastardly Cavalry Knight.

"Incitant, head over to where your group is. I'll hold them off," said Smoke.

"No, I'll support you while you fight them. You're a High Wizard, right? I work well with magicians," replied Incitant flatly.

"Crescere Vita!" Incitant started shouting out blessings on Smoke. "Vitam Reficio! Medeis Reficio!"

+ You're Blessed with Crescere Vita for the next ten minutes: Your Maximum Life has increased by 25%.

+ You're Blessed with Vitam Reficio for the next five minutes: Your HP Recovery has increased by 50%.

+ You're Blessed with Medeis Reficio for the next five minutes: Your MP Recovery has been increased by 50%.

"Oh, do you have one more of those one-hit K.O. attacks like that lightning one earlier?" asked Incitant curiously.

"Hm. The cooldown for that one is pretty long, but I guess I have one more attack that could do as much damage," explained Smoke.

"Good," said Incitant and blessed him with one more spell. "Duis Zamia!"

+ You're Blessed with Duis Zamia. The damage on your next attack is doubled.

Smoke was amazed to see so many blessings at once, since this was his first time to fight together with an Archbishop.

'No wonder Amahan and Tristan have such powerful attacks,' he thought to himself and hoped to have an Archbishop in his own private army soon.

Suddenly, Smoke was forcibly brought back to reality when the gigantic water elemental started attacking the two of them.

He swiftly switched out his black lightning rods for his white metallic staff, and created a concave Manatl large enough to protect himself and Incitant.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

The sounds of the purple barrier being pummeled by the water elemental rang above him.

"What kind of barrier is this?" asked Incitant curiously as he hid behind Smoke. " I've never seen anything like it."

"It's a special kind," said Smoke enigmatically. "Anyway, that last blessing you gave me. It doesn't have a duration does it?"

"Technically, it doesn't but it disappears when you log out of Zectas," explained Incitant.

"Alright," said Smoke with a grin. "You better stand back for a while. We need to take a few more hits."

After five minutes of the water elemental's incessant attacks, Smoke's purple Manatl still showed no signs of degradation.

'My training with Ledur really paid off,' he thought to himself proudly, but he knew that it was time to finish this. He estimated that he had gathered enough energy for his purpose.

"Run behind the building and stay there for a while," said Smoke abruptly.

Incitant nodded and hid far away from him. With the Archbishop in a safe distance, Smoke canceled his Manatl and expertly dodged the water elemental. He used his Hyper Jump ability to glide to the top of the building.

The female Elementalist, who controlled the water summon, searched for Smoke on the roof tops. Then, she sensed something was behind her, she turned around and was taken by surprise when she saw a white flash of light appear in front of her.

Enhanced by Incitant's Duis Zamia blessing, Smoke struck his energized white metallic staff on the Elementalist's head and killed her with one hit. Her life bar instantly displayed (0/280,000 HP).

The water elemental near Incitant lost its ability to hold its form, and turned into a puddle of water.

Smoke quickly switched to his black twin rods and began attacking the Archbishop with the Elementalist. The Archbishop tried to block his attacks, but Smoke was simply faster.

The Archbishop could not heal himself as Smoke wouldn't give him the opportunity. Finally, after three minutes, he drained his opponent's life bar to 3%.

Smoke's opponent fell down on his knees.

"Poltron, no!" cried out Macher from across the destroyed city block.

Smoke watched Macher blindly charging towards him on top of his dirus wolf. He remembered how Macher betrayed him on the mounted race and trapped him inside the labyrinth. He glared at the Cavalry Knight and swiftly delivered the finishing blow on the Archbishop.

"Smoke, you bastard!" shouted Macher and kicked his mount in order for it to run faster.

Suddenly, a massive war hammer smashed into Macher's side as Stark blindsided him.

Sierra and the rest of his private army shortly arrived afterwards.

Smoke and Incitant rushed towards them.

"Why are you here? I thought I told you to go to the southern gate?" asked a smiling Smoke.

"Thyrsus' falcon saw you heading here. So, I knew something was up," explained Sierra.

"Where are the two misfits? They're the ones carrying my magnetic rocks, right?" inquired Smoke as he was excited to see his metallic golems in action.

"Laernea and Gandiva are still nowhere near us. So, you can't use your new toys. But Sharur and Jinggu should have their catapults set up soon."

Smoke then looked over to the blown away Macher. His life bar was fully restored as one of his Priests went over to him. They still had more than nine-thousand Cavalry Knights at their disposal. The mounted Knights either had glaives or long-spears on hand.

"What did I ever do to you!" shouted Macher from far away.

Smoke was about to scream how he tricked him during the mounted race, but quickly remembered that it was his other persona, Ilad "the Flame Knight," who Macher tricked.

"I detest how you and your men have dealt with the Zectians of Centzo!" shouted Smoke back.

"Where's Ilad? I don't see any purple Flame Knight," said Macher as he observed the surviving Elemental Knights of the Vigilantez.

"He's out on an important mission," answered Smoke. He lied to stall for more time.

"Tell him that if he ever wants to step foot in Centzo again, then he better join my side," stated Macher boldly. "After all, I'm going to be the Mayor of this city."

"Duke Macher! Doesn't it sound nice?" taunted the Cavalry Knight.

Sierra then whispered to Smoke. "Sharur and Jinggu are ready."

"Macher! Let me show you what I think of you being Duke," said Smoke menacingly.

Twenty-six flaming boulders flew out from behind Smoke as the twin OrkElves used their captured catapults. The Cavalry Knights in the destroyed city block were targeted. Clouds of dust covered them as the rocks crumbled upon impact.

Most of the bandits and the lower level Knights were flattened under the debris of rocks, but Macher and his private army of Knights survived.

Smoke didn't see what ability they used to attack the boulders as his vision was blocked by the dust.

"You didn't think that this measly attack will do us in, did you?" said Macher sarcastically and pointed his glaive at Smoke.

The Priests under Macher worked fast on healing their injured party members. They created several white casting circles, and everyone inside it received healing as small white balls went up from below the ground.

Macher kicked his dirus wolf's belly and rode angrily towards Smoke. However, a red Maneator stepped in front of his path. The Cavalry Knight used his glaive ability, Illusionary Strike, and nine afterimages of his weapon appeared.

Stark tried to block Macher's attack, but was blown away instead. The Maneator's life bar displayed at 65% after receiving the Cavalry Knight's glaive.

Unopposed by any other Vigilantez, Macher galloped forward to the DarkElf.

Smoke created a concave Manatl and prepared for impact.

TWANG

Sierra suddenly leapt out from the side of the buildings and struck her Armored Armadillo Shield squarely on Macher's face and fell down his dirus wolf.

The two of them tumbled on the ground. Before Macher could recover from being stunned, Sierra used her Energy Mace on him. She bludgeoned Macher's metal helmet and made small dent on it.

However, Sierra flew backwards as she was attacked by afterimages of Macher's glaive.

Then, more Cavalry Knights behind Macher charged in after him. Yet, they were hurriedly met by Guro and her troops of Ranseurs and Iron Knights. They were also aided by the Arcus' arrows as the Vigilantez ranged corps attacked them from behind the safety of their melee forces.

Despite the sudden emergence of the Vigilantez, they were still losing. The levels of the Cavalry Knights were well beyond that of an ordinary bandit or even that of a Brandal Captain.

Fortunately, several white casting circles appeared where the Vigilantez stood. Incitant and other Priests variations of their Sonstwelter Alliance supported them from behind, while their low level mages fired out airballs, fireballs and waterballs at the Cavalry Knights.

Then, a silver puppet and a golden puppet appeared from the side. Prosjak arrived, and his two human-sized puppets wiped the floor against four Cavalry Knights at the same time.

Steadily, Prosjak fought his way towards Macher.

"Your army in the southern gate is lost!" said the middle-aged adviser. "Surrender, and maybe Duke Jeune will show you mercy."

"Are you insane?" replied Macher. "I still have you outnumbered and outclassed!"

"Raaaaah!" came shouts from behind Macher's forces. He turned around and was surprised to see more Vigilantez appear.

Adder, Thyrsus, Vijaya, Sharanga, Ichaival, Jeter and the rest of the Avendre Mercenaries from Smoke's army finally arrived, blocking the entrance of the broken down wall. They had circled around the destroyed city block in order to lock Macher and his men in.

Smoke hurriedly walk over to Sierra and helped her up. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was barely scratched. Go finish Macher," she replied with a grin. However, her life bar still displayed 75% despite her tremendous defense.

He squeezed her shoulders and carried her to one of the white casting circles made by Incitant's forces. There, she left her to recover.

More Cavalry Knights charged at Smoke, but they were all met with Ranseurs led by his four Maneators.

Macher easily handled Prosjak's silver jack-o-lantern puppet. The afterimages of his glaive broke through the puppet's two zweihänders. Fortunately, the silver puppet did not have a life bar. Otherwise, it would have been killed.

Prosjak had to use both his puppets, Dosadno and Neizvestan, against Macher in order for them to fight evenly.

However, after a few more exchanges, Neizvestan's twin swords damaged Macher while Dosadno's defense left Prosjak's life bar untarnished.

Smoke faced two Sonstwelter Cavalry Knights from the side of their battle, and waited for the perfect opportunity to join in.

Since the Sonstwelters he was facing were much slower when compared to Macher, he was able to dance around them. He could even ride on the back of their dirus wolf and hit them from behind before they could attack him with their long-spears.

Slowly, the Cavalry Knights began to die out as Smoke's, Incitant's and Prosjak's forces gathered around them.

Macher's concentration was disturbed as he heard the screams of his personally trained Knights being killed off by the Vigilantez and the Avendre Mercenaries. His life bar was reduced to 65%.

He watched the well-known core members and observed whether he could attack them, but saw that they were well protected by Iron Knights, Ranseurs, Arcus, Shamans and Acolytes. He also noticed that most of their Priests had died out, which led to more of their Knights dying as no one was there to heal them.

"Garcon, ride on my back, I'll make sure you stay alive," said Macher to one of their surviving Zectian Priests near him.

The Zectian gratefully accepted the offer. "Thank you so much, Sir Macher. I'll be sure to heal you until my dying breath."

"Just make sure to stay with me," replied Macher, and enjoyed the warm feeling of white lights entering his body as he was being healed.

Macher looked around and knew it was a hopeless situation. He needed to get out of there with what was left of his private army. He couldn't allow them to die here, not without him conquering a city.

TOOT TOTOTOOT TOOT TOOT TOOOOT TOTOTOOT

Sounds of Cavalry Trumpets rang from outside the walls.

'He still had more men?' wondered Smoke in disbelief.

"Old man, you defended your city well, but I found the pattern to your golden puppet's defense," Macher said to Prosjak, and used his ability called True Strike.

Macher threw his glaive and eighteen afterimages of his weapon appeared. Dosadno tried to block most of them, but he couldn't stop them all. The golden puppet defended the ones that could target the vital portions of Prosjak and neglected the ones farther out of its reach.

However, the ones that got past the golden puppet disappeared and instantly reappeared in front of Prosjak and stabbed him through his stomach.

Prosjak fell down and displayed a life bar of 25%. Apparently, the middle-aged man had a low HP and an even more lower defense. His life bar displayed (52,500/210,000 HP).

Smoke quickly rushed to Prosjak and took out Macher's glaive. The middle-aged adviser was inflicted with the Bleeding status. Due to the large wound the glaive left, 1% of his life bar was being drained per second.

"Incitant! We need your help!" cried out Smoke but none of the Priests could hear him as they were still busy healing everyone else.

Then, he heard Macher's voice. "Farewell, Smoke. We shall meet again!" he said threateningly and rode off towards the Vigilantez blocking his escape.

Smoke couldn't understand how Macher could have hid more of his Knights from outside the city. "Igniz, fly up. I need to see this," he ordered his symbiote, while still holding on to the injured Prosjak.

At once, Igniz blitzed upward.

Smoke used his Symbiote Vision and saw four-thousand Cavalry Knights riding on muscular acinonyx cheetahs. From one look at those Cavalry Knights and mounts, he could tell that they were of a special breed.

"Everyone, retreat! Follow my lead!" shouted Macher and went straight towards Adder's formation.

'Oh no! He's going after my core members,' thought a worried Smoke. He stood up, but Prosjak grabbed on to his arm.

"Where are you going? Please help me," begged Prosjak. The royal adviser's skin was becoming paler by the second.

Thankfully, Sierra arrived and began healing the middle-aged man. "Go Smoke, I got this," said a fully recovered Sierra.

Smoke took to the skies and readied to crash down on Macher. "Igniz, to me!" he yelled out and his symbiote flew towards him.

As soon as Igniz started covering him in flames, several long-spears went straight for him. Smoke fell down to the ground, impaled with three spears. Coupled with the damage from the fall, he had less than 25% of his life bar. He took out the spears, but Horrabelle's curse, Decay Aura, activated and his life bar was steadily being depleted together with the draining damage from the Bleeding Status.

Incitant rushed over to him and yelled. "Sortis Revoco!"

His Bleeding Status was removed, but his Decay Aura was still active and began reducing Incitant's life bar by 100 HP per second.

"Whoa! What is that?" asked an alarmed Incitant as he was being attacked by the curse.

"Just heal me and we'll be fine," ordered Smoke impatiently.

A white casting circle immediately appeared below them, and both of them were healed by small balls of white light.

Despite being healed, Smoke worried about the imminent danger, as he could see the onslaught of the specially trained Cavalry Knights. Dozens of Avendre Mercenaries were thrown up in the air as they forcibly made their way towards Macher.

Smoke got out of the casting circle as soon as his life bar reached 50%. "Everyone, just get out of their way!" he yelled as he desperately started running out to help his army, who were blocking Macher's path.

'Killing Macher isn't worth the lives of all those Zectians,' Smoke thought to himself.

Fortunately, Adder heard his voice and began ordering everyone to step away from the Cavalry Knights' path. The Condortlian Warrior expected a similar scenario when they defeated the northern Brandal army.

As Adder disseminated Smoke's orders, the rest of his core members complied without question.

However, a group of Avendre Mercenaries, led by Jeter, did not receive this important information. They remained where they stood, and fought off against a few surviving bandits and numerous Cavalry Knights.

Although outnumbered, the Mercenaries were inspired to fight by the Vigilantez. Also, their increase in several levels from the previous battle made them stronger and allowed them to hold their own against the well trained Cavalry Knights.

Macher, who was looking to inflict a heavy blow on Smoke's army, pointed towards Jeter's group of Avendre Mercenaries. He signaled the Commander of the Silny Division to crush them from both sides.

The Cavalry Knights on acinonyx cheetahs and Macher's surviving army clashed against Jeter's legion of Mercenaries.

Yet, even with ten more levels, the Avendre Mercenaries could still have not survive such a gruesome encounter. Attacked from both directions, Jeter ordered his men to retreat.

They were already having a hard time against one force of Cavalry Knights. Yet, before Jeter's troops could pull out, most of them were already impaled on glaives and long-spears.

Macher, recognizing the uniform of an Avendre Commander, personally went after Jeter. He took one of the long-spears sticking out of a dead Mercenary and used his Illusionary Strike on Jeter.

The Avendre Commander was pierced in eight critical locations, and Macher's final attack sent him flying to the destroyed wall. He was cruelly impaled against it, his feet departed from the ground, as he remained suspended in the air by the spear.

Macher then led all the Cavalry Knights out of Centzo. Jinggu and Sharur's boulders came hurtling down on them, but most of them easily destroyed the fiery rocks with their glaives and long-spears.

The Vigilantez's Therianthropes and Tikbalangs made sure to hold onto at least one of the Knights, but they only numbered less than three-hundred.

Stuck behind the Cavalry Knights stragglers Macher left behind, Smoke furiously watched him escape. He saw that his core members were still struggling against them, and couldn't risk any one of them dying here.

Macher escaped with more than eleven-thousand men, while Smoke, Incitant and Prosjak only looked on from inside the broken walls of Centzo. All of their factions remained to finish off the last members of the invading forces.

* * * * * *

An hour passed since Macher's escape. The remaining Brandals and Cavalry Knights had all been wiped out. Smoke sat down on the rubble of the city's broken wall, and stared blankly at Jeter's kite shield and saber.

Meanwhile, Sierra had the Shamans and Acolytes prepare the meal for the residents of Centzo. They used the food brought by the Avendre Mercenaries and the food supplies they looted from the Brandals.

Sierra had the food imbued with healing properties to further enhance the effect of their meal. She then had her Therianthrope forces, in their human form, serve the residents.

Adder and Ledur joined their empathetic leader.

"Jeter fought bravely. He died an honorable death," said Adder and patted Smoke's shoulder.

"Did you know that I was planning on recruiting him to our private army," said Smoke with a heavy heart. "I was going to payoff his debts with the Avendre after this battle was over."

"Well, I heard from Jeter's men that it was his dream to fight alongside us, and especially under your leadership," added Adder. "So, I think he went to Mictlan without any regrets."

Ledur remained quiet, as he struggled to keep his vow of silence. As his sign of encouragement, the winged Tikbalang simply ruffled Smoke's long white hair with his hooves. He then proceeded to fix the destroyed portion of the western wall with his Earth Manipulation.

"Thank you. I think I get what you're saying," said Smoke somberly. "We better start securing the city. We don't know if Macher and his forces might come back."

Smoke joined Ledur in fixing the torn-down western wall. Whereas, Adder went out to find Espion. The two of them were assigned to be liaison officers for the Vigilantez and Centzo factions.

Apparently, Espion had long started to coordinate with Prosjak and Duke Jeune about future relations with Verbrannt and Centzo.

While fixing the wall, Smoke saw the twin OrkElves work on the catapults left in front of the western side. The OrkElves' forces began gathering the siege weapons left behind by Macher and his invading army.

Still suffering from the loss of Jeter, Smoke then realized that he had not thanked his core members properly.

"I'll be right back, Ledur," he said to the winged Tikbalang and flew off.

He glided down swiftly to them. Sharur and Jinggu immediately stopped tinkering with the siege weapons when they saw him.

"Listen, I know that I haven't worked closely together with the two of you lately, and I'm sorry for that. But I want you to know that the two of you played an important role in this victory," explained Smoke earnestly.

He wanted to thank them properly in case he would miss the chance like he did with Jeter.

"Don't worry about it," said Sharur. "Sierra's been covering your absence, and we know that whatever it is you're doing, it will always be for the good of someone else."

"I feel exactly the same way," said Jinggu and grinned. "Besides, you haven't really been neglecting us. You still talk to us once in awhile."

"Still, we should remedy that soon," said Smoke and lightly punched Jinggu's shoulder. "Hopefully, Sierra can work her magic with the food, and feed everyone in the city for a proper victory celebration."

"Knowing Sierra, I'm sure she'll be able to do it," replied Sharur.

After Smoke left, the twin OrkElves gathered two trebuchets and seventy catapults together. Smoke told them to improve their mobility as he planned to take them back with them to Verbrannt.

Smoke then spotted Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival and Sharanga waiting on top of the southern wall. Apparently, they organized sentry groups to survey the entire capital. Their falcons flew on intervals and all reported to Vijaya.

All of the Hunters were still waiting for their falcons' return. Smoke saw Ichaival retelling one of their fights, while Thyrsus and Vijaya were laughing. Only Sharanga remained unfazed and kept a stern expression.

When he got closer, Smoke realized that the story Ichaival was saying was about Sharanga's traps accidentally capturing one of the Avendre Mercenaries.

Smoke called out to them. "Hey, Guys, I wanted to thank you for your nice work out there."

"We could have done better, but at least all of us made out okay," bluntly stated Vijaya.

"I couldn't agree more," said Sharanga.

"Overall, I think we did more than okay," interjected Ichaival. "Don't get me wrong. I know that there's still plenty of room for improvement, but we survived and got stronger."

"Speaking about improvement," interjected Sharanga. "I came up with some idea for my traps after I saw that Elementalist summoning the water elemental."

"That's great, Sharanga!" exclaimed Ichaival and fervently praised her. "Only you, would find inspiration from the enemy."

"Not now, Ichaival!" said an irritated Sharanga, and turned to Smoke. "I was hoping I can ask for some of your elemental stones."

"Sure, alright. Which elemental stone?" asked Smoke curiously.

"Maybe a stone from each of the elements you have on you," said Sharanga.

Without delay, he reached into his backpack and gave her a clay, ember, electro and a dew stone. "Here, I hope they'll be very useful to you."

After giving Sharanga the elemental stones, Smoke noticed Vijaya staring at the battle-filled clearing surrounding the capital.

Vijaya stared at the barren land. "How long do you think it will take this place to recover?"

"As long as the people of Centzo are alive, I'm sure this region will be back on its feet in no time," answered Thyrsus out of the blue.

"Alright, I'll let all of you get back to it, I'm going to go see what everyone else is doing," said Smoke and bade farewell to the Hunters.

Next, Smoke searched for the three Lioumereans. He heard from Espion that they volunteered to help find lost family members.

From above, he spotted Laernea, Gandiva and Guro sitting behind a desk, getting information from residents who were looking for their family.

He never expected to see such a civilized scene from the three Lioumereans. All of them were always on the go and had trouble staying in one place for too long.

Smoke landed softly next to their table. "What are you three up to?" he asked and startled Laernea.

"Isn't it obvious?" stated Guro flatly. "We are connecting lost family members. If you want to help, feel free to pull up a chair."

"Yeah, there are four more centers similar to this one all over the city," explained Gandiva briskly. "What we need to do afterwards is collate the data and hopefully we'll all find the missing people."

"What made you volunteer for this?" asked Smoke curiously.

"Did you forget? The two of us were orphans. We wouldn't want such a misfortune happen to another child," said a hurt Laernea.

"I simply don't want people to feel lost," added Guro.

Smoke remembered how Guro was imprisoned inside the labyrinth for years. He realized that these three Lioumereans naturally suppress their mischievous and fierce personalities whenever the need to help others arose.

"Well, let me get a copy of your gathered information, and I'll deliver them to the other centers," said Smoke proudly.

Laernea handed him a stack of paper, and he placed them neatly inside his backpack. He then flew off to the other centers.

While delivering the papers, he spotted Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise. All four Maneators stayed away from the Centzo residents.

He heard from Weise about how other people outside Verbrannt react when they see their faces. It appears that they still cringe in fear whenever they see Maneators.

Smoke surmised that this was Weise's attempt to stay away from Centzo's residents. He then also noticed that the Maneators had the Tikbalangs join them.

After he delivered the Lioumereans' gathered information on the lost residents, Smoke returned to help Ledur in fixing the wall. A few minutes into his work, he spotted Incitant walking over towards him.

"Smoke, just the DarkElf I wanted to see," said Incitant cordially.

"What can I do for you?" answered Smoke with an unwelcoming tone.

"I just wanted to make sure that you've got no problem with the villages that we're going to get in the awarding ceremonies," explained the Archbishop.

"I know that you've done more than we did in this battle, but please don't try to steal the reward that was already agreed upon," pleaded Incitant calmly.

"Of course, you don't have to worry about anything like that," replied Smoke.

"Thank you, Smoke, you really are an honorable person," said Incitant and offered his hand to Smoke.

Smoke shook it to be civilized. He just wanted Incitant to walk away so he could resume his work on the wall, and forget about losing Jeter and the other Zectians fallen in battle.

Six more hours passed and they had finished most of the essential repairs on the city. There were still several buildings that needed to be torn down as they were already unsafe to be fixed. However, there was no longer a single crack in the capital's wall. Not only that, they also had round-the-clock watchers posted on all sides of the wall.

Since the awarding ceremony wasn't until tomorrow, Smoke decided that he was going to log out for a while. He walked over to where Sierra was. She was still busy cooking food for the thousands of Centzo citizens.

"I think I'm gonna get some shut eye," Smoke said to Sierra. "Can you take a break from feeding them for a while?"

"Of course," replied Sierra and asked Phen and Rear, who were in their human form, serve the starving citizens.

"You're not planning on running away somewhere now, are you?" asked Sierra worriedly.

"No, nothing like that. I really just want to get some sleep," said Smoke defensively.

Sierra smiled at him and pulled him in for a tight hug. He hugged her back and easily wrapped his arms around her. A feat he was never able to do when Sierra was in her cursed Werebear form.

"We'll get stronger," he whispered in her ear. "Strong enough to make this pain go away."

"I know," replied Sierra wholeheartedly.

Smoke released Sierra's hug and logged out of Zectas.

* * * * * *

The next day, the entire city was out celebrating. All the residents were in the streets singing songs of their victory over the Brandals.

Although there was little food involved, the merriment still continued on. It was as if a long ban of sorrow had been lifted from the city. Centzo was on its way back to its salubrious state.

Yet, another more intimate celebration was being held in the royal throne room of the capital. There, Smoke and Incitant, along with their personally selected members were all dressed in their fanciest attire.

"I see you're still going for the warmonger look," Incitant said to Smoke as he pointed to the DarkElf's battle-worn clothes.

"I haven't bought anything fancy," Smoke tried to explain his appearance as he didn't want Incitant to know of his hidden Job.

"You should at least have it repaired," exclaimed Incitant. "I know the best artisan here. I'll—" the Archbishop was cut short as they heard the loud tapping of the royal staff.

TAP TAP TAP

Prosjak holding a thick staff tapped the floor. "Everyone, please welcome, Duke Jeune of Centzo."

The ten-year-old ruler appeared in front of the crowd in his own modest robes. He had called Smoke and Incitant here for their awarding ceremony.

"In the presence of everyone here, I would like to commend these two individuals for their efforts in freeing Centzo," said Jeune.

"Incitant, please step forward," said the Duke.

"For your alliance's services to Centzo I award you and your group the villages of Arm, Elend, Gering, Mager, Mau, Minder, Labil, Hin, Trostlos and Braucht Hilfe," proclaimed Duke Jeune. "Of course, the last one may still have some of the invading forces. So, I need you to take care of that yourself."

"Also, I award Incitant the title of Centzo's Lord Defender," added Jeune.

Incitant remained speechless and simply bowed down at the Duke. The Archbishop stepped aside as Prosjak signaled for him to do so.

"Smoke, please step forward," ordered Jeune.

"Your guild and your leadership with the Avendre Mercenaries have been a crucial factor in our victory over the Brandals and Duke Burmistrz," began Jeune. "As agreed upon, any business transactions that you or any of your representatives would have in Centzo will be exempted from taxes."

Smoke was taken by surprise, the original agreement was only to be discounted with 75%. Yet, now they were now tax free instead.

'I'm sure our Merchants from Verbrannt will make a killing from all the earnings that they'll have from this,' thought Smoke happily.

Duke Jeune resumed speaking and brought back Smoke's focus.

"Also, it is officially declared that the free state of Verbrannt and the city of Centzo are now and forever will be, allies!" added the Duke.

Smoke looked at Sierra and saw her smiling face. He knew that the economist in her was already scheming up ways to exploit this tax exemption.

Prosjak then ushered him out of the way and the Duke addressed the entire room.

"Citizens of Centzo. We are now free, but this freedom was won with blood. Let us all learn from this experience. From this day forward, I shall implement an obligatory military draft on all citizens, aged sixteen and above. No one is exempted from this rule," the Duke spoke with strong conviction. "Let it be known throughout Wysteria that Centzo is a city that will not fall, and it will never fall as long as we stand together!"

The crowd applauded the young ruler. Despite his youth, he showed talents of great wisdom, understanding and compassion.

Prosjak then dismissed the gathered crowd and led Duke Jeune away from the royal throne room.

Smoke went over to Sierra as she was the only other Vigilantez there with him. Everyone else of his core members were already out enjoying their free time in the city's celebrations.

"I can't believe we're free of taxes," said Sierra as he got closer to him. "You're not bummed that you didn't get a title, though are you?"

"No, I don't need a title. I'm just sad that not all of our members got any form of reward from all of this," said Smoke as he thought about his men.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that their allowances will increase, and they'll have better equipments. In fact, all of us should have better equipments after we rake in the money," said Sierra excitedly.

He clearly saw Sierra's eyes dazzle. He couldn't begin to imagine what she already had planned in that short amount of time.

"Anyway, let's head over to them," said Smoke to Sierra, and led her to where the Vigilantez were gathered.

* * * * * *

The Vigilantez had made themselves comfortable in the cleared up city block. None of the fallen buildings were restored. Instead, there were several benches placed in a large circle, and fully grown trees were transplanted in the area.

Many of Centzo's children were seen inside the spacious city block as they were drawn in by Laernea and Gandiva's playful nature. Apparently, their work in finding the lost family members worked out perfectly. They all found the missing family members reported.

The Maneators and Tikbalangs were alarmed to see the children at first, but none of the children were scared at the sight of them. In fact, they even played with them.

Smoke smiled as he watched them having fun. 'What a spacious place. I think the residents could easily have picnics here if the Duke won't build anything here,' thought Smoke to himself.

His curiosity got the better of him and asked Espion. "Do you have any idea what's going to be put up here?"

"From what Prosjak told me, the Duke plans to build a park here in place of the tall buildings from before," explained Espion.

Smoke looked around and was impressed by the work of Centzo's Gardeners. The park had quickly taken shape. Flowering bushes were planted around to give the park a fence-like facade. The trees were trimmed to give them a much cleaner look.

Despite the city's celebrations, most of the Vigilantez stayed in the newly created park. They enjoyed watching the work of Centzo's Gardeners.

Then, a new group of people arrived, they were Centzo's finest artisans. They brought large objects, over five-meters tall. They were all covered in white sheets.

The artisans placed the mysterious objects right at the center of the park. There, the hidden items were lined up right next to each other.

Smoke, Sierra and the rest of his core members got closer to see what was going on. Slowly more of the Vigilantez members and the Avendre Mercenaries joined in to observe the artisans.

Suddenly, a group of golden armored Knights arrived. It was Duke Jeune, the young ruler of Centzo. The group stopped in front of the covered object. He was also accompanied by Prosjak, who was carrying the same thick staff in the royal throne room.

The golden armored Knights all moved to the side and gave the Vigilantez a clearer view of the Duke. Prosjak stepped forward and tapped on the ground.

TAP TAP TAP

"Members of the Vigilantez, Duke Jeune wishes to speak with all of you."

Prosjak stepped aside for Jeune.

"I can honestly say that without your bravery, this city would have fallen. Without your consideration, this city would have starved. Without your friendship, this city would have been lost," said Jeune gratefully.

Jeune then pointed to the covered object behind him. "Allow me to present to you, this monument of your bravery."

A statue of Smoke, Sierra and the rest of the Vigilantez was revealed before them. There were Elemental Knights, Maneators, Tikbalangs, Werewolves, Werebears, Centaurs, Ranseurs, Arcus and even the Avendre Mercenaries.

All of the Vigilantez applauded and cheered. Some of the were able to hold back the tears, while others cried out. They remembered the comrades they lost, but were also happy that the Brandals were no more.

"Come, examine it for yourselves," said Jeune and gave way for the Vigilantez to take a closer look.

Many wanted to shake the hands of the young Duke, and he gladly accommodated them.

Prosjak, who stood beside the Duke the whole time, was slowly guiding him to where Smoke was.

Away from the rest of the Vigilantez, Duke Jeune called Smoke to him.

"We still have unfinished business, you and I," said the Duke calmly.

"Huh? What do you mean? You already awarded me in the throne room," replied Smoke.

"There was one other reason we were successful in freeing Centzo, and that was because you slayed Horrabelle and disabled her Therianthrope army from joining the Brandals," stated Jeune.

Then, a notification window popped up.

+ Completed Quest: Cut the Head of the Snake

You have killed Horrabelle and prevented her and her Therianthrope forces from attacking Centzo.

Rewards:
* Intimacy with Duke Juene has increased to 90
* 1,000,000 experience
* Title: Centzo's Assassin

Smoke was pleased to see that he had increased his Intimacy with the Duke to such a high level, but he was intrigued to see the new title he acquired.

He wanted to inspect the title, but Jeune was not done talking. "With your recent accomplishments I would like you to go on another assignment for me."

"If it's anything within my power, then I'm yours to command," replied Smoke as he got into the role of Centzo's Assassin.

"I imagine that Burmistrz won't be happy with his utter defeat here. From what Prosjak told me, I think we wiped out almost all of the Brandals in the last battle," began Jeune. He spoke with such consideration for the future that Smoke wondered why they made this Zectian into a young boy instead of an old wise Duke.

"However, I am sure that Burmistrz won't stop. I know that he will assemble more people under his banner and try again," added Jeune.

Smoke nodded as he completely agreed with the young boy.

"Therefore, I wish for you to save us from such a foul event. I want you to kill Burmistrz," said Jeune without blinking.

A notification window popped up instantly.

+ Quest: Cut the Head of the Snake II
Assassination Quest
Level: A+

Due to your previous success, Duke Jeune requested that you assassinate Duke Burmistrz and wipe out the Brandal's head.

Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]

"I gladly accept," replied Smoke solemnly.

"Very good. Well, let me meet some more of your people. I wish to know more of the Vigilantez and hear stories from them," said Jeune and walked away.

Prosjak remained behind and spoke with Smoke privately.

"I'd like to personally thank you. I'm afraid I don't have any rewards to give you, but I would have liked to give you a recommendation," said Prosjak mysteriously. "But you aren't at the stage to accept it yet. Maybe, next time. When you've reached the right level."

"Huh? What do you mean? What right level? Is my level still too low? Is that it?" Smoke pestered Prosjak about the requirements for getting his potential reward from him, but the middle-aged adviser never spoke another word about it again.

Chapter Nine:

The Vigilantez's Nascent Dominance

Swiveling his computer chair back and forth, Nash sat on the edge of his seat as he double checked his latest video about to be uploaded. He compiled the recordings from his battle for Centzo's freedom and showcased Incitant and the Sonstwelter Alliance who defended the city.

After Tristan lost Tonaci City, he stopped posting videos and kept a low profile. Nash decided to follow his lead, in the sense that he stayed out of the limelight. He extended this to Prosjak and the rest of Centzo's residents as well. He kept their real abilities hidden from his video, most especially their iron-curtain defense.

Centzo's Blacksmiths, Tailors, and Seamstress were currently working double time in order to complete an iron-curtain that covered the entire capital.

Due to his high Intimacy with Duke Jeune, they were also tasked to make a large portion to give to Nash as a sample, and included the instruction manual on how to create one. Given these items, he was sure Verbrannt's own Blacksmiths, Tailors and Seamstress could reproduce the iron-curtain.

He uploaded his latest video, and watched the results of his previous video. It was of how his Vigilantez went against Horrabelle's Therianthrope army. He figured it was pointless to hide those scenes from the rest of Zectas' players as many of Macher's army were Sonstwelters, and saw most of the battle.

However, he stopped the video when Horrabelle was trapped inside the earth-dome. As he did not want his true abilities to be publicly known. Unknowingly, this stirred the comment section of this video.

DMX: ...And Smoke was never seen again...

Louche: Only that isn't the case. You should have seen the end of that battle. It was...something else entirely. I know, because I was there!

Dark_AvEngER: Damn it! I was so looking forward to see how that ended, but knew that Smoke was up to his old tricks again when I saw the time left on the video...

Manita: Oh you bastard! You got me hooked, and on the last moment you went and took it all away from me.

Emagine: Imagine that. Looks like one of the Smoke's fan boys infiltrated his guild?

Louche: I am not Smoke's fanboy. I'm a devote follower of Mamelon.

Nozzie: And who's Mamelon? Some guys just keep on posting things and expect us to understand what they're saying.

TriTank: Smoke's idiocy is a virus! He's even infected Amahan's video. You should see how abruptly they end those videos now.

ProfessorXectas: At least Smoke and Amahan are still making videos, and what about your beloved Tristan? He hasn't made one for quite some time now...

TriTank: Oh, I can assure you that he has transcended in playing on the same level as Smoke and Amahan. In fact, he doesn't see the need to post these videos anymore...but if he does post one again, I'm sure that it will blow Smoke's and Amahan's right out of the water.

Magikera: Dream on!

Nash did not mind most of the comments, but was intrigued to see that Amahan had done a similar cliffhanger post. He quickly searched through the Zectas website and found the Exorcist's latest video.

It started with the Decane guild entering the last temple of Gahoul Comataz, Djinn of the North.

Nash then saw an ice orb float in front of Amahan.

After a few seconds the ice orb spoke. "You have reached your destination. Now, we shall see whether you are worthy to possess my master's powers..."

The video skipped as Amahan edited out the ice orb's trial before him. Nash knew from personal experience how difficult a Djinn's trial could be, and completely understood why Amahan decided to remove it. This was exactly what he would have done as well.

The next scene then showed a five-meter tall statue of the legendary Djinn, Gahoul Comataz. It was made of ice crystals with an array of vibrant colors, which gave it a life-like impression. The Djinn had a sharp, feathery humanoid body with the color of the night. Its head was that of a black falcon with a silver beak. Comataz had long talons for fingernails and storm colored wings that was twice the length of his entire height.

As he continued to watch Amahan's video, he then saw the Exorcist walk slowly towards the statue with four sapphire crystals, which Nash recognized as Comataz's four essences.

Amahan then placed all of the precious stones on the foot of the statue and uttered these words. "Je te convoque, Gahoul Comataz!"

A blinding blue light appeared in front of Nash's monitor. When it cleared up, a notification window popped up.

[REBORN] Djinn of the North: Gahoul Comataz

This monstrous ice Djinn, now loyally serves Amahan!
+ Gained Djinn of the North: Comataz

Nash then remembered that Gahoul Comataz was not only the Djinn of the North, but was also the keeper of Aquilo, King of the forgotten Northern Kingdom!

As soon as the notification window vanished, Nash waited with anticipation to see what the actual Djinn looked like. He imagined that it would be similar to its intimidating five-meter tall statue, but Amahan's video abruptly ended.

'So, that's how it feels,' thought Smoke to himself after he finished watching the video.

Nash smiled as he was genuinely happy for Amahan. The Exorcist to the North may have gotten a Djinn before him, but he would not be far behind.

"Nash? Are you done, yet? Mr. Cacoy is already driving up our street!" shouted Donny from below.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Hold your horses," answered Nash and locked his computer screen.

His youngest brother was excited to leave as today was his second Amateur Unarmed Tournament Open Martial Art Techniques Association, or as it was commonly called, AUTOMATA.

Whereas, Seth decided not to join this year as he wanted to focus on his extra lessons for advance computer studies.

Nash ran down the stairs, and saw Seth drinking a soda while watching television. It was a live broadcast of Zectas' CEO. She looked like to be in her early fifties and had short hair. She was receiving a humanitarian of the year award.

"What's going on, Seth? Why is she being awarded?" asked Nash curiously.

Seth shrugged while he finished his soda. "Not really sure, I just tuned in myself. I think it's because of all the positive things Zectas has done in society for the past two years since it's been up."

Nash watched the coverage a little bit longer when he heard Donny scream out his name from Mr. Cacoy's silver suburban.

"You take care of Mima, okay? You know how she's been feeling under the weather almost everyday now," reminded Nash as he walked out their front door.

"Good Morning, Mr. Cacoy," Nash greeted his Eskrima master.

"Shut up, and get in. Donny's almost late as it is," said Cacoy.

"But, you were the one who just—" Nash instantly stopped talking when Cacoy sped out of their street, leaving tire marks all over the place.

"What were you saying back there, Nash?" asked Cacoy meaningfully, as if trying to bait a prey into a trap.

"Nothing. I said I hope we can make it on time, that's all," hurriedly explained Nash.

"Don't worry, we'll get there in time, and he's going to win the nationals this year!" declared Cacoy.

"But we need to win the city-preliminaries first," humbly said Nash.

"Come on, Nash, you don't think I can win the city-preliminaries? I even trained harder this year. You don't have to be so pessimistic about it," said a hurt Donny.

"Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that, Donny," added Nash quickly, but he already spoke such thoughtless words.

Nash kept his mouth shut. He took out his phone and placed his blue-tooth headset on, and watched the live broadcast of Zectas' CEO receiving the award.

Since he already missed the live broadcast, he settled for her trending video on her acceptance speech.

"As some of you might have heard from the news. Zectas' strict requirements on their game pods entry to the virtual reality world has made quite an impact on ours. Their players have to exercise, and they even ban players who do drugs," began the presenter. "Not only that, but they also offer real opportunities for people to earn money."

The presenter paused and smiled at Zectas' CEO. "But they didn't stop there. They even opened several free game centers where people could use their game pods for free. This selfless act allowed people who couldn't afford to play their game, gain access to its limitless opportunities."

"To the person in-charge of giving our citizens new lives, new jobs, new hopes, we award the Humanitarian of the Year to, Dr. Lisa Zuckerman," said the presenter and clapped loudly.

A short-haired brunette classically walked up to the podium.

"Thank you, Harvey," she began, and received the award from him. "Thank you also to the governing body who thought that I deserved this award. But I would be a liar if I said that I did this alone. First off, I would like to thank the core developers. You know who you are. So, I will not mention your names."

Despite her years, Lisa half-giggled and half-cried. "Sorry, I apologize for that. I just remembered what one of them said. He said that we are surely changing the world and someday soon we're going to get rewarded by it. And now I'm standing here in front of you."

The Zectas' CEO tried to recompose herself and took a deep breath. "Anyway, we also have our investors who gave us an overwhelming starting capital, but of course you got a lot richer from that investment, right?"

The audience laughed loudly as it was well known that the stocks for Zectas had more than quintupled over the last two years.

"But I must say that this award also goes out to all the Sonstwelters out there. That's Zectas' slang for its players," she explained to the audience briefly. "You've channeled so much of your time and effort into the virtual reality world of Zectas that it truly has become a different world to live in. Because of you, we now have our monetary system where almost everyone could earn and live out their dreams."

She smiled and looked at the gathered crowd. "I also urge parents, who could pass the physical and mental conditions of the game to join your children inside Zectas. Our demographic for people who are in their forties to their fifties have increased as well."

A song was then played by the orchestra to signify that her time was up.

Lisa then paused and stared into the camera. "Lastly, I would like to thank, Darius, for convincing all of us of Zectas real existence. I used to feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I wasn't living, but you were the key to lifting that burden."

'Did she just say Darius? It couldn't be the same one I know from the game. Could it?' Nash wondered to himself.

After the video ended, Nash placed his phone inside his pocket as they were almost near the tournament.

As soon as they got off the silver suburban, Donny immediately spotted a young black-haired teen, who was about the same age as himself.

"Why is Kurt Santos here?" asked Donny loudly.

"Who's Kurt Santos?" asked Nash.

"Donny, Donny, overhear!" called out the smiling boy whom Nash thought to be Kurt.

Nash and Donny slowly made their way to him while Cacoy parked his car.

"I was so looking forward to our next fight that I registered in the city you were in," said Kurt excitedly. The kid then offered his hand to Nash. "Oh, you must be Nash. Donny and Seth spoke highly about you. My name is Kurt Santos. I actually live in Virginia Beach, but there were no rules that said you had to live in the city to participate in its preliminaries."

From Kurt's lengthy and rapid manner of talking, Nash thought that he was very energetic and friendly. "Nice to meet you, Kurt," he smiled and shook the boy's hand.

"So, you really did come here after all," interrupted Donny icily. "I thought you were kidding about wanting to fight as soon as possible."

Kurt smiled and playfully slapped Donny's shoulder, but Donny easily deflected it with his right hand, and stepped back.

"Come on, Donny, don't be like that. Even though I won the championship, I told you, you're the strongest opponent I've ever faced," explained Kurt eagerly. "I've been training ever since I was two years old. Honestly, practicing Eskrima everyday got boring for me, until you came a long. After we fought last year, I practiced even harder and even had my older brother train with me."

With a hurt expression, Donny looked at Nash briefly and turned back to the boy.

"Good for you, Kurt, now why don't I register and we'll see each other in there," said Donny flatly and entered the building.

Nash shamefully followed Donny inside. He would have wanted to help Donny prepare for this competition, but he needed to be inside Zectas as much as possible.

As the two of them walked farther in, Nash tried to defend himself. 'What is he still mad at me for? I'm already giving up an entire day of Zectas just to be with him,' he reasoned to himself as he carried Donny's things.

Donny then went on to get his pairings from the officials. As it turned out, he wasn't scheduled to fight with Kurt until the finals.

"You got this in the bag, Donny, you can do this!" said Nash energetically as he cheered his brother on.

Donny looked at Nash skeptically. "Really? Just a while ago you told me I had to pass the city-preliminaries first, and now look who appears?"

Without answering, Nash proceeded to help his brother wear his protective gear.

"Just two wins and you'll finally get your revenge for last year," encouraged Nash.

Donny bit his mouthpiece and paid him no mind.

Cacoy then grabbed Donny's shoulder. "Remember, Kid. Don't do anything fancy. Stick to the basics and finish it quickly."

Donny looked at his master and bowed to him respectfully.

Obediently following Grandmaster Cacoy's instruction, Donny breezed through his first two opponents, and found himself waiting for Kurt to face him.

A few minutes later, Kurt had also won his second victory and earned the right to face Donny in the finals.

It was as if destiny called out to the two of them. These two young teens met in the finals, and the audience were enthralled to see their fight.

"Good Luck, Donny," said Nash and offered his fist for a bump.

Nash smiled widely when Donny met his fist.

"I'm bringing home the bacon!" declared Donny to Nash and Cacoy.

Donny and Kurt faced each other from the opposite sides of the square rubber mat. They bowed to each other, to the referee and finally to the judges.

Nash could clearly see Donny's seriousness and determination on his face, but he saw the same expression on his youngest brother's opponent.

Donny dashed out from his side and lead with a right jab. From Nash's standpoint, Donny moved fluidly. He had clearly improved, but Kurt caught it and bent it backward into Donny's body for an arm lock.

However, Donny calmly performed a backflip and got out of Kurt's hold. He then delivered two quick kicks to Kurt's left shin and which made him out balanced.

As soon as Kurt lifted his arms in the air, Donny's fist rapidly delivered a series of combinations to Kurt's solar plexus, and armpit.

Kurt fell down on the mat and stayed there. Normally, Donny would have mounted his grounded opponent, but this wasn't just anyone else.

Despite being grounded, the last year's champion grinned at Donny. Both his hands clutched the places where he was struck as they were all in pain.

Donny remained in a fighting stance and waited for Kurt to get up. As the younger Smoak expected, Kurt got up without a problem.

This time, Kurt charged in with a jab and Donny swiftly countered with a right cross. However, Kurt snapped back his leading hand while pulling hard on Donny's arm. Kurt lifted both his feet in the air and caught Donny in an arm bar.

The two boys were on the mat with Donny's right arm hyper-extended. Donny struggled to break free. His left leg was going up and down a few times, when suddenly it hit Kurt's right arm and loosened his hold on Donny.

The young Smoak quickly rolled away, and moved his right arm in a three-hundred-sixty-degree motion. Staying away from Kurt, he made quick jabs with his hand to check the damage. It made loud cracking sounds, but he was able to do fast and powerful jabs with it.

Kurt then moved to the center of the mat and planted both his feet firmly while assuming a wide stance. He then motioned for Donny to step in front of him.

Donny shook his head, but moved toward his opponent anyway. He then assumed a similar stance to Kurt.

The two of them then performed blitzing attacks with their fists, while parrying and blocking one with the other. Then, Donny started kicking at Kurt's legs, but his opponent easily evaded his attack and countered with kicks of his own. Their arms and legs continued hitting each other and bruises began to show.

Nash whistled loudly as he watched their match progress. Their stalemate lasted for a full minute, and the referee had to jump in between the two of them as the round had already ended.

Donny returned to his corner where Nash and Cacoy were waiting for him. Nash quickly offered for Donny to sit down, but his brother shook his head.

"No. I'm not sure that I could stand up again if I did," explained Donny and drank the water offered by Cacoy instead.

Nash quickly proceeded to lightly massage Donny's legs with ice packs. He looked at the bruises on Donny's legs and couldn't help but be impressed at his brother. He looked over to Kurt and found the young boy standing up as well.

He glanced at the people in Kurt's corner and found that one of them looked familiar to him, but Nash couldn't place him from where he knew him from.

"Seconds out!" ordered the referee.

Only Donny, Kurt and the referee were on top of the mat once more.

Kurt was slowly walking towards Donny. He was limping but his eyes still clearly showed his perseverance to win. Whereas, Donny himself waited for his opponent while preserving his strength.

The moment Kurt got into his range, Donny lunged out with a strike.

Unfortunately, Kurt caught Donny's hand and pinned him to the mat while quickly pulling his arm over to his back. Donny cringed in pain as he was caught in another arm lock.

"Aaaaah!" screamed out Donny, but he would not surrender.

"Come on, Donny, just tap out already. You know I can't loosen my hold. Otherwise, you would just escape," reasoned out Kurt.

"No!" shouted Donny. "Aaaaah!" he screamed out again.

After more than a minute passed, it was the referee who decided to end the fight and declared Kurt the winner.

Donny screamed out in protest. Nash and Cacoy quickly went to him, to help him and calm him down.

It was a close fight, but Kurt was still slightly better than Donny.

As he assisted his brother back to the locker room, Nash heard one of the bystanders talk. "The two of them should have met at the nationals."

He couldn't have agreed more, but this was the hard reality.

* * * * * *

Nash stretched out his arms as he stepped out of his Zectas game pod. He was still in Centzo as the Vigilantez were still there enhancing the city's defenses.

He felt that it was safe for them to stay in Centzo for a little while longer. According to Caid, Burmistrz himself was rattled.

Their defeat in Centzo made Burmistrz recall all of the stationed Cavalry Knights in the outer villages back to his capital in Coatl.

The Beggar Evocati estimated that it would take more than a year for the Burmistrz to recover the loss of his Brandals.

Confident of their situation in Zectas, he logged out as it was time for him to get his monthly check from the game center.

THRASH THRASH THRASH

Yet, he couldn't leave Donny alone as his youngest brother was making a loud racket in their garage.

It had been a full day after Donny lost in the AUTOMATA's city-preliminaries.

THRASH THRASH THRASH

Donny still continued on clamoring downstairs, which made Nash decide to go down and see him. As he passed by the kitchen, he found their Mima sitting in the kitchen table.

"Nash, could you come here for a second," she called.

He immediately changed directions and walked towards her. "Good morning, Mima. How are you feeling today?"

"Still not good, but I had to get up to see what Donny was up to. I heard from Seth about how he lost yesterday, but I think this is going a bit too far," explained his Mima. "It kind of reminds me on how you were like when you first started going into that game pod of yours."

Nash's shoulders dropped. He gave a guilty smile and couldn't come up with anything to say in his defense. He was about to reprimand Donny, but realized that this was the same way he acted when Tristan tricked him.

In fact, this was how he reacted whenever something bad happened to him in Zectas.

Mima then patted Nash's hand. "Just be kind to Donny, okay?"

"Alright, Mima, I will," replied Nash and headed over to his brother.

THRASH THRASH THRASH

Nash walked in on Donny as he was hitting a tin-garbage can into a misshapen figure with his Eskrima sticks.

"Ahem!" coughed Nash forcibly. "Hey, Donny."

His youngest brother stopped hitting the garbage can and looked at him.

"Are you honestly going to tell me that I shouldn't be like this?" asked Donny threateningly.

"No. Of course not," replied Nash quickly. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Pretty great! Obviously!" answered Donny sarcastically.

"Yeah, I can see that," replied Nash with the same tone.

The two brothers fell silent and awkwardly chose different sides of the garage to stare at.

"Listen, I'm really sorry that I wasn't around to help you with your training," apologized Nash sincerely.

Donny mumbled something inaudible, but Nash decided not to force his brother to talk.

"I was too absorbed in my own thing that I completely neglected you," explained Nash, but he knew that it wasn't a valid reason at all. "I wish I had more time, but I just don't have that much time to spare with your training."

"Don't worry about it, Nash. I understand that," said Donny meekly. "I'm not really mad at you. In fact, I'm more angry with myself."

Nash was taken aback. He wasn't expecting to hear this from Donny.

"I mean Seth is doing his computer thing, and you have Zectas... I thought I had Eskrima. I mean the two of you are doing your own thing without any of my help, but both Seth and you still take the time to check on my progress," explained Donny.

"But, Donny, I think you did really well against Kurt. You were clearly why he got stronger this year. He was intimidated by you," Nash said to his brother proudly. "So, don't give up. Next year, it'll be us who will register to whichever city Kurt is entering."

Donny smiled gratefully, and appeared to have calmed down a bit.

"Also, I know that I've been acting like a psycho with my sudden outbursts before, but I want you to know that it isn't right. I'm working on it myself, and I think I've already adjusted to —" Nash stopped talking as he received a call from his Manager.

"Excuse me, Donny, I have to take this," said Nash and answered his Manager.

* * * * * *

His Manager called him, and told him to come thirty-minutes later than the agreed upon time. Nash promptly arrived in the game center on the newly set schedule.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Come in, Nash. You're the only one who doesn't seem to understand my open door policy," said a friendly man sitting in his manager's table filled with stacks of papers and paper clips.

"Mr. Kohle, sorry. I keep on forgetting to just enter your office, Sir," sheepishly explained Nash as he sat down in front of him.

After he spoke, he instantly noticed that Mr. Kohle's hair had started to grow thin and that his face looked worn out.

"Is everything alright, Sir?" Nash voiced out his concern. The game center manager had always been like a second father to him, and it was because of him that he is playing Zectas now.

"It's nothing. Just not getting enough sleep lately," replied Kohle. "Anyway, here's your check."

Nash reached out his hand and took the check, but Kohle grabbed his hand.

"Listen, it's been over a year since you started playing Zectas and I wanted to know if you're experiencing any side effects?" Kohle asked apprehensively.

"Side effects? I don't think so?" he answered as he tried to recall any semblance of a symptom.

"Really? Because I got a call from your grandmother, telling me that you've been having outbursts lately? And now even Donny is acting the same way?"

"Mima called you?" asked a surprised Nash. "And what outburst?"

"She told me that she's been hearing you yelling inside your room," spelled out Kohle. "On the plus side, I asked that if you've been violent towards her or your brothers, but at least she hasn't noticed anything like that."

Nash was taken aback. He didn't know where all of this was coming from. Although it was true that he felt a bit irrational at times, but it was only because of the circumstances in the game.

He didn't respond and only stared at Kohle with a perturbed expression.

"Based on what I'm seeing, I guess your grandmother was right to worry," he spoke with great concern. "I think something inside Zectas changed you."

"Mr. Kohle, people change all the time. If I got a job somewhere else I bet I would've changed there too," countered Nash defensively.

"True, but I have it on good authority that there could be side effects to people who get too immersed in the virtual reality world," flatly stated the game center manager.

"For example," said Kohle as he suddenly picked up some paper clips on his desk and threw it at Nash.

Nash instinctively dodge all the paper clips and cried out. "Hey! What's the big idea?"

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove my point," said an astonished Kohle.

"A group of researchers in MIT tested Zectas players and Non Zectas players with a similar experiment," Kohle began to explain. "They would catch test subjects off guard and throw random stuff at them."

"Let me guess...all of them filed a lawsuit against the researchers," said Nash sarcastically.

"No," added Kohle quickly. "Some of the Zectas' players could dodge them just like what you did while others would block the thrown objects. Whereas, the non players would always be hit by some if not all of the objects thrown at them."

"So, we've got superpowers now?" asked Nash with a raised eyebrow.

Kohle strongly shook his head. "Of course, nothing like that. They just said that Zectas players have better reflexes."

"I don't think that's a bad side effect." Nash shrugged his shoulders. "In fact, that could be very useful in sports."

"True, but now the researchers are also doing some psychoanalysis on the players...and one of their initial findings is that some Zectas players have experienced personality changes."

"You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Kohle. I've got it handled," he waved his hands passively.

"Maybe, but I don't want to risk that with you. That's why I'm offering you a different job. It doesn't pay as much as your earning now, but at least it's safer," explained Kohle as he grabbed some sheets of paper and offered it to him.

Nash forcefully turned the papers back to Kohle, and stared at him angrily. "I don't want another job. I'm happy playing Zectas."

"Please, Mr. Kohle, I don't want to quit Zectas. I'm fine, honest," humbly pleaded Nash as he quickly changed his demeanor.

"Are you sure?" asked Kohle with uncertainty.

"Yeah, I'm positive. So, I have to run," said Nash hurriedly and stood up. "Thanks again for the check. I'll be back next month."

Nash sprinted for the door and left the game center in a flash.

Kohle stared at the door. He took a deep breath, picked up his phone and called one of his contacts. "Hello, Dr. Z? I think something's wrong with Nash. No! You told me that even if his game capsule was the first of its kind, it was suppose to be safe."

He abruptly stood up after he heard the answer on the other line. "I know that you used his data to create the special capsules you launched a few weeks later."

"If something happens to Nash, I'll tell the world the truth about what Zectas really does to its players," threatened Kohle and dropped the call.

* * * * * *

Smoke awoke at the sights and sounds of the salubrious city. Yet, this time, it was not the sounds of plays that filled Centzo. Instead, he heard the clamoring of steel, the sawing of wood and other production works of enhancing the city's defenses.

The capital was less crowded as many of the citizens have already gone with Incitant and other members of Centzo's Sonstwelter Alliance. They had set out to rebuild the villages given to them. More than 40% of the capital's population had been reduced after they left.

Sharur, Jinggu, and Sharanga have also developed mounted ballistae, which allowed them to increase the range of their attack from the walls. They were placed slightly higher above their iron-curtains and enabled them to attack while defending at the same time.

There were plenty of things that Smoke needed to do in order to assassinate Burmistrz. He had thought of one method, but that was more of a suicide mission than an assassination.

Together with Adder and Espion, Smoke went to see Prosjak. He would have taken Sierra with him, but she had already left Centzo. She took all of her Therianthrope army for company as she went to complete her Hidden Job Quest.

"This way," said Espion as he led the way to Prosjak's office.

The royal adviser's door was open. "Prosjak, may we come in?" asked Espion humbly.

The middle-aged man sat behind his desk, looking at stacks of papers. "Of course," replied Prosjak. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, Smoke, wanted to discuss about the Duke's next assignment," began Espion.

"Yes, about that," replied Prosjak. "I just spoke with my colleague who's a part of the Avendre. I think he could help you out. If the city wasn't in such a bad shape, military-wise, I think we could have spared sending the Mercenaries with you."

Prosjak then took out a letter and handed it over to Smoke.

+ Acquired parchment: Prosjak's Introduction letter to Solliciter

'Prosjak's colleague was the leader of the Avendre Mercenaries?' thought a surprised Smoke.

"Thank you, Prosjak, but can you tell me how to get to Mount Alouer?" asked Smoke.

"Certainly," replied the middle-age man and wrote it on a piece of paper. He then handed it over to him.

A notification window popped up after he read it.

MAP LOCATION: Avendre Mercenary HQ in Mount Alouer

Coordinates: Latitude: 12°25' N, Longitude: 20°15' E
Note: Seven hundred seventy kilometers away from current location.

'It's not that far from here,' observed Smoke to himself.

"I'm not sure what you're actual plans are, but I do know that the Burmistrz forces have been greatly reduced," explained Prosjak. "In fact, I heard that he has recalled all of his Cavalry Knights back to his capital. I estimate that he should need a—"

"A year in order to rebuild the force he lost from his Brandals," interjected a surprised Smoke, as he finished Prosjak's sentence for him.

Smoke knew this because this was exactly the same thing that Caid told him earlier.

"Oh, so you already knew about this? That's good," stated Prosjak cordially. "For the time being, I think going in with the Avendre Mercenaries would have the highest chance of success, but I am not sure how long that might take."

Smoke thought to ask Prosjak on the other method he thought of. "What if an elite strike force could secretly penetrate the city and attack Burmistrz? Do you think that would work?"

"Hm..." Prosjak tapped his desk and looked at Smoke intensely. He then turned his gaze on Adder and Espion. "I think the chances for success on that method is less than 50%. Furthermore, I think that someone like you would never choose such a method."

"What makes you say that?" asked Smoke curiously.

"Because you would never intentionally endanger the lives of your comrades, right?" stated Prosjak flatly. "Sure you would take them to war, but you always expect that all of them would come out alive."

The royal adviser then pointed to Adder and Espion. "Without a doubt, your private army will follow you anywhere. I bet they would even jump over a cliff if you ask them to."

Prosjak stood up, walked over to Smoke's side of the desk and patted his shoulder. "Thankfully, you're not that kind of a leader. That is why I think that you would never choose this method."

"But I'm not sure that even with the Avendre's help that we could take on Coatl itself. I mean a full frontal attack would involve a full scale war," explained Smoke.

"What if we came at them from a different angle?" asked Adder abruptly.

"Well, I guess that could work, but digging a tunnel to reach Coatl would take longer as well," replied Smoke.

"No, what I meant was—" Adder wasn't able to finish his proposal as he was interrupted by Prosjak.

"When facing an insurmountable task, there is no shortcut. But if you're patient enough. I think that charging in with the Avendre will still give you the highest chance of success," Prosjak repeated what he just said earlier.

"Alright," said Smoke with uncertainty. "Thanks for the recommendation. I'll visit the Avendre's HQ soon."

As the three Vigilantez left Prosjak's chamber with a muddled expression. Prosjak called out for Smoke to remain behind.

"About my other recommendation to you, it is not your actual level per se that stops me but your current rank. If you could move that to the next level, then I'll tell you more about it then," suddenly explained Prosjak.

Smoke had given up on asking him about that, but was pleasantly surprised to learn more about Prosjak's requirement.

"I think I get it. Thank you for that, Prosjak," said Smoke and started leaving again.

"Oh, and Smoke. Don't do what I said just because I said it. Think everything through. After that, I know that no matter what you do, it will be the right thing," stated Prosjak confidently.

Smoke briskly walked after his two Zectian friends in the corridor.

"What did Prosjak want?" asked Adder.

"Oh, he just told me about the other condition for another recommendation," explained Smoke.

After they got out of the building, Adder finally shared his thoughts. "Do you think Prosjak wants us to do what the Brandals did to Centzo?"

"Do you mean harass the entire city, and cut out their food supply?" asked Espion.

"I don't think so, but what he said about it having the highest chance of success does make sense," reasoned out Smoke. "I just don't like the time frame that it entails, and that is also if we could hire enough Avendre Mercenaries to match Coatl's Knights."

Smoke then pulled his two friends to a discreet corner. "I'll leave for the Avendre's Headquarters after I gather some supplies, while you two start preparations for our journey back to Verbrannt. Leave as soon as you can. I know that Caid said Verbrannt should be safe, but it's best to be vigilant always."

* * * * * *

Under the lazy afternoon sun, Sierra and her personal army of two-hundred-eighty Zectians were headed for Ardennes Forest. They were spread out among ten ordinary carriages, which were being pulled by aardwolves. These were the mounts that survived the battle but have lost their war chariots.

Normally, they would have been given to be mounts on the Arcus who drove them, but sadly the Arcus themselves did not survive.

It had been almost five days since they left Centzo's region. The desolate sight of the Brandals' carnage were long left behind.

Instead, they gladly welcomed the sight of greenery and docile low-level creatures that grazed on the expansive plains. It was a pleasant distraction from always being reminded of the harsh battle they had just won.

As they were nearing the location, Sierra checked on the actual coordinates of their destination. She opened the Quest window.

+ Quest: Hidden Job of the Natural World
Job Quest
Level: A

Hidden Job of the Natural World can only be accessed when you have gained the ability called Transmogrify. In order to complete the Job Change, you only need to appear in front of the altar of Ardennes Forest. [Latitude: 20°15' N, Longitude: 25°12' E]

She smiled after she read the quest information. This was why Sierra brought everyone with the Transmogrify ability with her.

Although, no one else knew why they were here, not even Smoke.

Looking over the horizon, Sierra found a good-sized mountain blocking their path. As it was getting dark, she decided to make camp.

"Alright, everyone, we'll rest here for the night," she yelled loudly for everybody to hear.

Ardu and Vrai, the youngest of her companions, were still in their late teens. As Werebears in their cursed forms, they were clearly bigger and stronger than any of the Werewolves. Naturally, commanding respect and authority from all of the Werewolves.

However, this was not the case when they were in their Human forms. Due to this, they worked extra harder at helping out around their group.

Without being told, the two of them were always the first ones to prepare the meals for all of their members.

Meanwhile, Phen and Rear took charge of security. Next to the two young teens, they were in command. They had no problem with the change in hierarchy as the two children were responsible leaders, and always listened to their advice.

After Sierra, Ardu, and Vrai finished cooking their meal, they all gathered in a big circle and talked while eating a delicious supper. They spoke of the people who thanked them in Centzo. There were many who gave invitations to live with them. Of course, none of them accepted such proposals as they all belonged together.

Then, Sierra decided to share the true purpose of their mission. "Everyone, your loyalty and faith is without question. You follow me into these lands without even asking for the reason why we are here. I think it is the right time that I tell you."

All of her gathered friends waited in anticipation.

"I know that we must fight to protect the things that we love, but I hope that we can do so without having to revert to our bestial forms," she said solemnly. "We fought so hard to be free from those cursed forms. I firmly believe that we should be able to contribute to the fight without having to rely on them."

Vrai meekly raised her hand. "If you want us to fight in our normal bodies, then we will train hard."

"Yes! And in order to do that you need proper Jobs," said Sierra excitedly.

"Alright, where exactly are we going? And what is going to happen to us there?" asked Vrai bluntly.

"I honestly don't know, but I believe that this will make us stronger," replied Sierra with conviction.

"And even if it doesn't, I think that we are already strong as we are now," added Rear. "We'll just become Ranseurs or Arcus or something else."

Phen grunted in agreement with Rear. The rest of her private army cheered loudly after they heard the news.

"I'm glad you're all on board with this," said Sierra with a smile.

As the stars gave poor lighting, Sierra pointed over the mountain's silhouette. "Tomorrow, when we reach its summit, we will see what is in store for us."

After finishing their dinner, Sierra had a few conversations with her newly added private army members. She got to know them better and raised her Intimacies with them as well.

With eight more hours before the sun would rise, Sierra decided to log out and get a two hour sleep. She adopted Smoke's sleeping pattern as she found it quite efficient.

* * * * * *

Before the break of dawn, Sierra returned and was already busy cooking breakfast. Her Cooking ability was drastically increasing as she experimented with more ingredients and intrepid cooking methods.

Her private army gladly enjoyed the fruits of her enthusiasm for cooking.

They then quickly gathered their belongings and began climbing the mountain. The moment they entered it, they were met with more aggressive monsters than the ones from the plains.

Stone deer, rabid raccoon and even spined coyotes began attacking them. Yet, they were only equipped with ordinary weapons such as basic wooden staves.

They might not have had any abilities, but their levels were well above 100. They gained a tremendous amount of experience from when they were still cursed Therianthropes.

Sierra ordered them into formations and provided healing for all of her private army. She had them fend for themselves using their staves.

They got into teams of five and protected each others back. Slowly, they made their way up the mountain. These monsters' only had life bars of 15,000 HP and posed no threat to them, but it was a great exercise for them to fight in their natural bodies.

After defeating the monsters, they happily gathered the dropped loot as this was something they could not do from when they were in their cursed forms. They carried the meat, pelt and other dropped items of the monsters.

As they reached the peak of the mountain, they saw a sea of trees on the valley in the other side.

'I've never seen so many trees in one place before,' thought Sierra to herself, and they were mostly fighting in forested areas.

Upon closer inspection, she spotted a clearing in the center of the forest. They carefully made their way down the mountain towards it.

Suddenly, a notification window popped up.

- Entered Ardennes Forest

You have entered the sacred land of the Druids. Tread lightly for you walk on spiritual ground.

- There are no aggressive monsters inside this forest.
- Suggested level for entering this forest is not applicable.

Sierra closed the window, but was intrigued at its information. This was the first time she entered an area with no level requirement.

The thickness of the trees did not allow for any sunlight to pass through. There were only two sources of light that entered the sea of trees. They were from the area where they came from, and the other one was at the exit of the clearing.

Along the way, they spotted small flashes of light appear and disappear all around them. They looked like fireflies that could instantly vanish right before their eyes.

Sierra noticed that each one of them had a small ball of light personally escort them to the clearing. All of them, except for her.

When they finally reached the clearing, they found an altar made out of roots that grew out from the ground.

Cautiously, Sierra walked closer towards the altar of roots.

Suddenly, all of the small balls of light joined together above the altar of roots, and formed one gigantic orb.

"Greetings, only those with the knowledge of this place can see us from our sea of trees," said the orb of light. "What is it that you seek here?"

Sierra boldly stood up in front of the orb and answered. "We seek the Hidden Job of the Natural World."

The orb swiveled around as if it were looking at all of them.

"Nature has a delicate balance, but sentient beings always think that they are better than nature," began the orb. "We find that only those of who have been corrupted and wish to repent may be worthy vessels of our power."

Sierra then looked to her private army. "I know I said that we shouldn't rely on our cursed forms, but I think this time we should. Everyone, Transmogrify!" she ordered loudly.

Without any question, all of Sierra's private army members transformed into their cursed forms.

"AWWWWOOOOOOOO AWWWWW AWWWWWOOOOO!" loud cries of the Werewolves echoed throughout Ardennes Forest.

The red Werebear raised her paw, and signaled everyone to quiet down.

The orb of light shone even brighter. "We are pleased to see that all of you have your cursed forms under control. We shall grant you our powers, but we expect that you be advocates of the natural order. Punish the wicked who have made monsters such as yourselves."

Suddenly, it scattered into the small light balls that had accompanied them to the clearing. The balls of light entered their heads of the Therianthropes and merged with their minds.

Slowly, they were reverted back into their human forms, but their equipment were changed as they were now equipped with armors which had thick fur. Sierra recognized the color of their fur to be the same ones as when they were in their cursed forms.

"Sierra, I've turned into a Druid Priestess!" exclaimed Rear excitedly.

"As have I!" added Vrai.

"I'm a Druid Priest as well," said Ardu with the same enthusiasm.

Sierra looked around and found that all of her private army members had become Druid Priests or Priestesses.

The red Werebear looked around for her own small ball of light to merge with her, but she found none. She then saw that the orb of light was still floating above the altar made out of roots.

"Excuse me, I think you might have missed me," said Sierra humbly.

"No, we were waiting for everyone else to complete their amalgamation," answered the orb of light. "Everyone, as you are now Druid Priests, we hold you responsible with our powers."

"However, we have decided that it is best to keep a close eye on you. As such, we will amalgamate with your leader," said the orb of light and suddenly merged with the red Werebear.

An inquiry suddenly popped up in front of Sierra.

> Amalgamate with the Druid's Orb of Light?
Accept the Request? [YES/NO]

Although, half hesitant, Sierra answered. 'Yes'

The orb of light engulfed her body completely and her equipment changed to that of a red furry cape which reached to the ground.

+ Job Change!

You have successfully changed your Job into a Druid Archon

HP has increased by 50,000 HP

MP has increased by 100,000 MP

STR has increased by 10

AGI has increased by 10

INT has increased by 30

DEX has increased by 10

Druid Archon Info:

The true powers of the Druid Archon has yet to be revealed. It is said that they are the bridge between this world and that of the energy which created everything.

Notes:

* Most Zectians will shun you because of your faith in the power of Nature. This often contradicts with the beliefs of their chosen God.

* Your fame increases whenever you spread the word of nature's power.

Druid Archon Abilities:

* Power of the Blood Moon
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to create a blood moon, enhancing the power of all Therianthropes under its red moonlight.
note: Duration increases as level increases.

* Convergence
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to gather mana, balls of light will give you MP instead of HP.
note: Increase of MP increases as level increases.

* Overgrowth
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to create roots within a specific area, entangling anyone caught in it.
note: Area of effect increases as level increases.

* Cure
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to heal one ally, nature's healing lights will emerge from the ground.
note: Effectiveness of healing increases as level increases.

* Harmonize
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to heal allies within a specific area, nature's healing lights will emerge from the ground.
note: Area of effect increases as level increases.

* Contrition
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to cast on a specific target, increasing their damage taken while they repent for their sins.
note: Damage taken increases as level increases.

* Thorns
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to target yourself or one ally, giving return damage of 10%.
note: Return damage increases as level increases.

* Archon's Blessing
Active
Level: Beginner Level 1
Experience: (0/1,000)

> Allows you to target yourself or one ally, giving double life and double damage for two minutes.
note: Duration increases as level increases.

Sierra was overwhelmed by her acquired Hidden Job. She wasn't expecting something like this. She was originally hoping for something more battle oriented, but immediately dismissed the thought as this was exactly what she needed.

A Job that could truly help others. Her abilities from her Acolyte Job remained with her, but she wondered if she could still equip a mace.

Thankfully, she was still able to use her mace. She confirmed her theory that the Druids were variations of the Acolytes.

Yet, the mace looked foreign to her now.

Then, the altar of roots glowed a white light. She got closer to her and inspected it. A staff composed of intertwined roots sprang out of it.

+ Acquired unique root staff: Sierra's Ferule.

After seeing all the notification windows and now getting a new item, she felt like a little girl again, from when her mother made her open dozens of gifts on Christmas morning. She hurriedly inspected the staff with her name on it.

+ Sierra's Ferule

A unique staff composed of ancient roots from Ardennes Forest. It was created solely for Sierra, the Druid Archon. It is said that this staff grows with the user.

+10 Intelligence
Socketed [5 empty slots]

Equipment Ability:
*Conversion (Active)
> Convinces creatures to join caster's side
> Success depends on the level difference between caster and creature
> Consumes 80,000 MP

Notes:
> Socketed magical stones may be removed.
> It can also equip other magical stones aside from the elemental ones.
> Sierra's Ferule will not work for anyone other than Sierra, the Druid Archon.

Sierra was already overwhelmed with all the abilities of her new Job, and now she even had a special weapon specifically for her.

While she was still admiring her staff, the altar of roots created another one. Sierra tried to grab the staff but instantly released it as thorns sprang out of it.

A notification window then popped up immediately after.

- Restricted item: Only usable by Rear, the Druid Priestess.

"Rear, I think this one is for you," said Sierra while she used Cure on herself.

Right after Rear got her staff, the altar of roots gave out another one. Without knowing who the staff was for, she took a deep breath as she prepared herself to be struck by thorns once more.

"Phen, this one's yours," winced Sierra in pain.

She then looked at all her private army members. 'Only two-hundred-seventy-eight left to go,' thought Sierra to herself and grit her teeth.

* * * * * *

Smoke was gliding with Igniz through clear blue skies. After twelve hours and two quick breaks, he could finally see Mount Alouer.

From above, he saw multiple caravans coming in and out of the mountain trail. The Avendre Headquarters appeared to be a fort than a mountain.

It was surrounded by five walls which started from the foot of the mountain all the way to its peak. As he got closer, he saw several red flares aimed at him.

In the Vigilantez, this was a sign of distress. So, Smoke dove down at top speed towards the source of the flare.

However, this was not the case in Mount Alouer. The moment he got closer to the mountain, he was bombarded with arrows.

"Igniz, counter them," he said reflexively, while he hurriedly got out his white metallic staff.

As he expected, more arrows got past his symbiote's fireballs. Fortunately, he was able to create a concave Manatl before any of them hit him.

Smoke closed his cloak and dove straight down. He only opened it up again when he was a few meters from the ground.

Then, he sensed over a hundred hostile Zectians headed straight for him fast. He switched out his white staff for his Digger's Wand. He instantly dug a hole and hid in it before the hostiles could reach him.

He created breathing holes and a small peep hole where Igniz could see through. He used his Symbiote Vision to get a glimpse of who were coming.

He found that all of them were Avendre Commanders.

'They look like their on the same level as Jeter,' he surmised, and wondered if they would listen to reason if he were to step out right now.

While he was still deciding whether to reveal himself, another Mercenary riding on what looked like to be a thinner version of Laernea's stag moose arrived.

Smoke estimated that he must have been in his mid-thirties and was equipped in a uniform of a higher rank than the Mercenary Commanders.

"General Acheteur, we triangulated where he landed and have the area surrounded," explained one of the Avendre Commanders.

The one called General Acheteur then looked around the area. "I know you're here somewhere, Mister Intruder, why don't you make this easy on yourself and give up," he said creepily.

Smoke gambled on explaining to them why he was there, but the other reason he wanted to step out was because he was curious to see their levels and abilities.

He hurriedly hid Igniz in the metallic compartment in his chest, and then opened the hole he was hiding in. He stepped out with his hands in the air. "I'm unarmed, please don't attack me," said Smoke calmly.

"Restrain him, men. Make sure he can't escape," ordered Acheteur loudly. "We don't know where this flying intruder came from."

"Wait! I have a letter from Prosjak for Solliciter," said Smoke quickly and pulled out a parchment from his pocket.

Acheteur signaled for one of the Avendre Commanders to take the letter from Smoke's hand, while the rest of them still had their swords pointed at him.

"This looks to be authentic," said the Avendre General half alarmed.

"We shall escort you to the reception area," said Acheteur.

While walking towards the first wall of Mount Alouer, Smoke decided to do some small talk with Acheteur, in hopes of raising his Intimacy with him.

"So, is that a stag moose?" asked Smoke politely.

"What? Oh, my Monter,” replied Acheteur haughtily, while stroking the fur of his mount.
“She is a reindeer. Please don't compare her with those brutish stag moose!"

"I see," said Smoke awkwardly, as he scrambled to think of what else to say.

Then, they came upon the bronze gates of the Avendre's Headquarters. Smoke strained his neck as he looked up the tall wall. He estimated it to be at least thirty meters tall.

"And this wall circles around the entire mountain?" unintentionally asked Smoke out loud.

"Yes, and we have Mercenaries on watch all the time," said Acheteur proudly.

Behind the first wall, Smoke was surprised to see a village setting. There were houses, businesses, and a market. He thought that it would all be purely Mercenary training past the gates.

"This is where some of our Mercenaries have their families live," explained Acheteur. "Some of our Mercenaries were sold to us, while others come on their own volition. If they get to the higher ranks and keep on completing successful missions, then they'll get big rewards."

Smoke nodded as he continued to observe the people behind the first wall.

"That's my shop right there," said Acheteur proudly and pointed to the General Merchandise store.

"Acheteur and Vendeur?" asked Smoke as he read the store's name out loud.

Acheteur nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes, Vendeur is my wife's name."

They headed for Acheteur's shop, as he left his reindeer there. Afterwards, the two of them proceeded on foot towards the second wall.

"That was a great looking store. I think I'll visit there before I leave," said Smoke eagerly as he thought he found a soft spot in the Avendre General.

"You're most certainly welcome to shop there!" said a smiling Acheteur. "If you buy in bulk, I think I could give you a reasonable discount."

They continued speaking in an amiable manner until they reached the second wall. It was a simple wall of only six meters. From its plain appearance, it appeared to serve no tactical purpose at all.

Behind the second wall, Smoke saw a garden. It could easily rival the work of Centzo's Gardeners. Once again, Smoke was surprised as this was not something a Mercenary Headquarter would have.

"This is our reception area," explained Acheteur in a more cordial manner.

Smoke smiled back. He didn't need to inspect his Intimacy window with Acheteur to know that it had increased.

The Avendre General then led him to a shaded building without walls.

"Please wait here. Supreme Leader Solliciter will arrive shortly," said Acheteur and bade him farewell.

Smoke looked around the garden. Since it was situated in a higher elevation, he could see more of the village behind the first wall.

He used his Telefax Vision to get a better view of his surroundings.

'This place is really populated. I think it has even more people than Coatl and Centzo combined,' thought Smoke to himself.

He then looked at the side of the garden and saw that it did not circle the mountain completely. There were training grounds on either sides of it. Without his enhanced vision ability, he would have not seen this at all.

He could clearly see the Avendre Mercenaries training. They were sparring with each other, doing drills and carrying weights.

He then saw another building similar to this one which was closer to the training grounds of the Mercenaries.

'They must use this to showcase their Mercenaries' talents,' surmised Smoke.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a plain brown robe arrived in front of him. He was carrying garden tools.

"Hello, my name is Smoke," he said and offered to shake his hand. "I like your work. I've never seen such well maintained—"

"Soldiers?" finished the man in the brown robe. "I'm Solliciter. I'm sorry for my appearance. Today is my gardening day. And if you don't mind, would you accompany me while I trim my flowers?" said the supreme leader of the Avendre Mercenaries.

Smoke was slightly taken aback as he thought that he was only the Gardener.

"Is something wrong?" asked Solliciter. "Or were you going to say garden?"

"Honestly, I was going to," answered Smoke sheepishly.

Solliciter laughed. "That's fine. Almost everyone I meet thinks that I'm the Gardener." He then walked over to a rose bush and began trimming it.

"So, Prosjak tells me that I should give you a big discount on my men," said Solliciter bluntly. "I respect that man, but sometimes he just makes it hard to remember why I do so."

"Hm..." Smoke paused as he wasn't sure what to say.

"What exactly are you going to use my men for?" asked Solliciter.

"We are going to invade Coatl. Prosjak's suggestion was to hire your Mercenaries," began to explain Smoke. "He said with the discount that he could get for me, I could probably have an army strong enough to go against Coatl."

"Ha! That would put me in quite a predicament," said Solliciter. "You see, I also have a contract with Coatl."

"Now, don't get me wrong. My men our professionals. They are even trained to go against their own," explained Solliciter proudly. "But I’m afraid that I'd lose my contract with Duke Burmistrz if you do use my men against his city."

"Wait, didn't you send your Avendre Mercenaries to Prosjak to fight against Burmistrz men?" asked a confused Smoke.

"Yes, I did, but that was to defend Centzo, not attack Coatl," stated Solliciter flatly. "There are certain stipulations that would allow such contracts."

"Alright, then how much would you be losing if you pulled out all your men from Burmistrz?" asked Smoke directly.

"Eight-hundred-million zecs," answered Solliciter with a straight face.

Smoke gulped. The best he could offer was one-hundred-million.

"Are you giving up already?" asked Solliciter.

"Of course not. I'm just calculating how I can top that offer," replied Smoke, but his voice cracked as he spoke.

"Tell me something, Smoke. Do you think you can defeat Burmistrz?" asked Solliciter while intensely observing his face.

"I know I will," replied Smoke with utmost conviction.

Solliciter took a deep breath while trimming his rose bush. "How about this? I'll give you all of my fresh recruits, and you train them yourself from scratch. I expect only a thousand zecs a month for each one of them."

'That's really cheap. I wonder what kind of recruits he is giving me,' thought Smoke to himself. "How many recruits are we talking about here?"

"Fifty-thousand," briskly replied Solliciter.

'I can only afford to have them for two months at that rate,' thought a worried Smoke. "How about we drop that rate to two-hundred-fifty zecs a month for each one of them. Don't worry, their levels will be beyond that of your Commanders when you get them back."

"But you don't know how many of them you can return to me as Commanders," countered Solliciter. "On the other hand, I did hear of how you raised the levels of my Mercenaries during Centzo's defense."

"That's right. Also, we already have five hundred Avendre Mercenaries in Verbrannt, and their levels are already the same with the ones ranked as Commanders here," pointed out Smoke.

"Hm...So, you are consistent with training your subordinates to reach high levels," said the supreme leader of the Avendre Mercenaries. He then snipped one of his rose buds and offered it to Smoke. "You know, I was looking for someone to be a satellite of my Avendre Mercenaries. Would you be interested?"

Smoke did not accept the rose. "What exactly does that involve? Being a satellite of the Avendre Mercenaries?" he asked cautiously.

"You train the Mercenaries. Preferably to the level of 100. Also, you take on requests within your immediate area. I'll give you 25% of all the potential earnings if you take this on."

"What's to prevent me from doing their requests without your permission?" asked Smoke boldly.

"Well, for starters, you would lose my trust, and my men will come after you, your land and your people will be wiped out," stated Solliciter as if it were a matter of fact.

Smoke pondered on Solliciter's proposal.

"How about this, I'll also reduce their monthly contracts to four hundred zecs. Surely you can't say no to that?" said Solliciter with confidence.

"Deal!" said Smoke eagerly, and accepted the rose while shaking Solliciter's hand.

"Well, I'm glad that we've come to an agreement," said Solliciter cordially. "Now, why don't we take a look at the army you've procured."

The two of them walked over to the eastern side of the garden with the same wall-less building. After a few minutes, an army of scrawny teens marched out before the two of them.

Smoke thought that all of them were malnourished and had no experience in battle at all.

"Now, there's no going back on our deal," said Solliciter briskly.

"I wasn't thinking of anything like that," replied Smoke with a forced smile.

'I just want to take them permanently off your hands,' thought Smoke to himself.

"Let's say that one of the Mercenaries under my command wants to be free. How much would that cost?" asked Smoke innocently.

"I'd have to look at each one of their files. But I guess on average it would be something like ten million zecs?" answered Solliciter. "You're not planning on buying all of them are you?"

"Who would have that kind of money?" asked Smoke and laughed nervously.

He had never needed this much money in Zectas before, but now he wanted to gain an insane amount of it.

"I'll have them prepare their belongings. It should take about thirty minutes. In the meantime, you're welcome to explore our area behind the first wall if you like," said Solliciter.

The supreme leader of the Avendre placed his garden tools on the ground and took out a piece of paper and a pencil. "That reminds me, where should these army head out for? Are you going to lead the way or do you have specific coordinates?"

"May I?" Smoke asked for the pencil and paper. "Can you send them over to this location?" he asked as he wrote down coordinates that were some distance away from Verbrannt.

"Sure, that's not a problem," answered Solliciter pleasantly. "It should take them about two weeks to get there. Don't worry. I won't charge you until the day they arrive in your indicated area."

"Thank you," said Smoke and gave him a small bow.

"I think I'll take you up on your offer on seeing your village below," he said and shook Solliciter's hand.

"Please, don't call our place a village," said an offended Solliciter. "Although, it is not official, but our population is twice that of most of the cities here in Wysteria. Not to mention that our army is even comparable to all of the cities combined."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," apologized Smoke hurriedly. "The place just feels homey. Like everyone knows everybody else, that's why I called it a village."

Solliciter didn't reply and simply nodded. He resumed trimming his rose bush. He waved his hand at Smoke, dismissing him.

Smoke then exited the gates of the second wall alone. He headed for Acheteur and Vendeur's General Merchandise. He thought to buy some supplies for his next mission while waiting for the Avendre Mercenaries' arrival.

'Now, I need to stock up on my quest to complete Vigilantez,' thought Smoke to himself as he looked at the blinking locations of the Ifrit Vigilantez's Shrines.

Chapter Ten:

A Dearth of Power

A smiling Smoke was on a call. "...That's great, Sierra, I'm really happy for you. So, you're going to spend some more time there in Ardennes Forest while training your private army with your new Druid abilities?"

"Yeah, I don't know how long we will actually be staying. I'm guessing, a week or two?" replied Sierra with uncertainty.

"Two weeks should be fine. You'll probably arrive at the same time with our new Mercenaries from Mount Alouer."

"Okay, I'll see you back in Verbrannt. I wonder what Vigilantez would look like, but don't go posting a video like Amahan," she warned him. "That really pissed me off when I didn't see the Djinn's face."

"I won't be making a video about Vigilantez at all," he answered reassuringly. "Remember, I like to keep those private stuff for people I actually know."

"Good. Then, let's get to it," said Sierra affectionately. "Take care."

"Always," he replied with the same caring tone.

After Smoke ended his call with Sierra, he focused on finding his last shrine of Vigilantez. It had been a long time since it was only him and Igniz on a quest by themselves.

Without a doubt, he loved the company of his private army members, but he also longed for times like this.

While he was busy completing the Vigilantez Quest, Adder and Ledur had already started their ground work on Coatl's invasion.

The two of them led the other core members and had a third of the Vigilantez's army at their disposal. Together, they discreetly started making a base of operations near the Heraldic City.

Not to be outdone by his core members, Smoke intended to collect the remaining three essences of Vigilantez.

After two days of gliding from Mount Alouer, Smoke finally saw one of Wysteria's active volcanoes, Mount Gar. He landed safely away from it.

He then checked the specific coordinates of the shrine, and realized that it pointed him to a cave on the side of the volcano.

"Igniz, stay alert," he reminded his symbiote as the two of them walked towards the cave.

His dark ember sprite lit up his purple flames as if to signify that he was ready for anything.

Smoke often had to grab a hold on the side of the volcano due to the ground shaking without warning as varying tremors occurred.

As they entered the cave, dusts and pebbles kept falling down from the ceiling. Smoke and Igniz found themselves at the entrance of a long corridor, barely wide enough for him to squeeze into.

"Lead the way," Smoke ordered his symbiote as the tunnel steadily grew dimmer.

He was sweating profusely after ten minutes of walking sideways, he found himself turning right. He then saw an orange light at the end of the tunnel.

Once he exited the narrow corridor, he found that he was in one of Mount Gar's magma chambers. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as it felt extremely hot, but was surprised to see that he could tolerate the lava's heat.

'It must be because of my high Fire Resistance,' he surmised.

Looking around the fiery chamber, he found an inscription on one of the walls.

+ Push forward and enter the hidden chamber which you seek.

He searched around the magma chamber, and found no other entrance or writings. His dark ember sprite, no bigger than a ball, whizzed around at blinding speeds. Igniz was desperately signaling him to look across the lava.

There, he saw  another ledge. Upon further inspection, he found that there was one more crevice on the other side.

"Good work, Igniz," he said proudly. Smoke glided across the lake of lava while his dark ember sprite flew by his side.

Smoke found that the cave itself was as wide as the tunnel he had passed earlier. However, the opening was not as wide as the rest of it. He tried to use his Earth Manipulation to open the wall, but received an annoying notification window instead.

- Cannot control this Earth with your current level of Earth Manipulation.
- Cannot control this Earth with your current level of Earth Affinity.

"Guess, we're going to have to do this the hard way," said Smoke to Igniz.

Equipped with the pickaxe which he got from Franz Briar, Nanahuatl's resident Farmer, Smoke started widening the entrance of the cave. His symbiote also helped out by melting the sides of the entrance, making the earth softer.

After thirty minutes of manual labor, the two of them entered the tunnel. Due to his minute size, Igniz easily flew in. Whereas, Smoke had to enter sideways once more.

About two hundred meters into the cave, they were abruptly met with a dead end.

"Igniz, can you look around if there's another opening? Check all directions. Upward, downward, any which way you can think of," ordered Smoke.

His symbiote searched every inch of the tunnel, but found nothing.

"Are you sure?" he asked, annoyed.

Igniz shook his entire body sideways. From his symbiote's apologetic eyes, Smoke could tell that he did his best.

"Forget about it, let's head back. Maybe there's another opening," he said in a calmer tone.

After the two of them went out of the second tunnel, they tried searching for another opening. Yet, no matter where they looked, they did not find one.

Standing in front of the inscription, Smoke noticed that the word "forward" was italicized in a discreet manner.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" he suddenly asked Igniz.

He then reached out, and pressed “forward” as hard as he could.

He felt the area around him shake as an opening on the wall began to take shape. Slowly, a door on the right side of the inscription appeared.

In frustration, Smoke strongly scratched his head. "Looks like it was literally telling us to push forward," he said to Igniz. "Come on. Let's go inside."

As soon as they entered the room, a flying orb of flames appeared in front of them.

SHUT

Smoke immediately turned around and found that the door instantly vanished. Only the flying orb of flames and Igniz were the source of light inside the sealed chamber.

"Welcome! You have entered the realm of our lord, Vigilantez," said the fiery orb. "We shall test your power over the flames."

The flying orb intensified its fire, and revealed a set of black rocks directly below it, arranged neatly in a square formation.

"Defeat our flame guardian within the given time limit, and you shall receive the essence of our lord, Vigilantez," said the orb, and it floated higher up revealing the size of the chamber as it illuminated it.

The chamber had a floor area of only fifty square meters.

'Not that big enough to maneuver around in,' realized Smoke as he took out his twin lightning rods. The black rods emitted a small amount of electricity around them, when he placed them together.

Suddenly, he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Smoke turned his gaze on the rocks below the orb, and found that they had formed into a black tiger with flowing lava for its stripes.

Igniz fired at the flaming monster, but caused no damage. However, it did reveal its name and life bar, Magma Tiger (600,000/600,000 HP).

A timer then appeared in Smoke's line of sight.

> 5M:00S left

"Five minutes?" cried out Smoke in disbelief.

He had no doubt that he could defeat the magma tiger, but he was not sure that he could do it within the given time frame.

For the time being, this was a one on one fight, as Igniz could offer him no help. This lava monster was clearly immune to fire.

The magma tiger chuffed at him while pacing back and forth, sizing him up. Smoke felt that the monster would pounce at him at any given moment.

Due to the lull of the opening battle, he quickly threw his own rocks, but these were not only black, they also had silver among them. Not only that, they were also metallic. He also threw two electro stones and used one of his rings' active ability, Golem Creation.

The magma tiger was taken by surprised as two metallic golems suddenly surrounded it.

The created monsters were slow, but the stupefied lava monster was not able to react in time. Smoke's golems caught the tiger with their arms. One of them held onto the magma tiger's head while the other squeezed the monster's body tightly.

Smoke then leapt on top of the magma tiger and began attacking its spine. his twin rods made only 1,000 damage points on the fire beast. He struck swiftly, and was able to do sixteen strikes.

In response, the magma tiger moved around recklessly. Smoke thought that the lava monster could not move as his golems were extremely strong.

However, he was proven wrong. With one quick motion, the magma tiger pinned the golem holding its head against the wall. The lava from its stripes then overflowed and melted the golem's arms.

Smoke turned around, and found that the same thing was happening to the golem holding its body. Yet, this was not the most alarming thing. His life bar got reduced by 600 points, as the lava stripes on the magma tiger's back also damaged him.

Hurriedly, he leapt off the fire beast. Smoke brushed off the lava which stuck to his pants, revealing burn marks on them.

'That's a first,' observed Smoke. He then checked the monster's life bar, which displayed (584,000/600,000 HP).

He couldn't decide whether he should gamble using Lightning Strike or conserve his mana for his other abilities.

Before he could come to a conclusion, the magma tiger charged at him with its claws. He evaded the monster's initial attack, but couldn't dodge the lava that flew afterwards.

This time, he was damaged for 1,600 points. He checked the time and found that he only had three minutes left.

Distracted and bewildered, Smoke was not able to dodge the magma tiger's second charge. The lava beast pounced on him and caught him by its claws.

It opened its jaw wide and took a bite at his shoulder and left arm.

"Aaaahhh!" cried out Smoke in agony. He was damaged for 30,000 points. His life bar displayed 80%.

The magma tiger then let out its lava, and it trickled down on Smoke. Due to his Fire Resistance, the damage was minimal. Yet, a constant damage of 600 points continued on for ten seconds.

Struggling to break free, the pinned down Smoke threw the lightning rod on his right hand at the magma tiger's eye.

It hit the lava beast, and the monster backed away in pain. He was able to roll away while collecting the thrown weapon.

He brushed off the dried lava, and revealed a tattered armor. Fortunately, his cloak was undamaged by the magma tiger's attacks.

The flaming beast then charged at him again, but this time Smoke was able to dodge its claws and the lava that it threw.

However, the lava monster spun around and its fiery tail hit Smoke on the chest, knocking him hard against the wall.

The magma tiger then rushed towards him. He then used his Hyper Jump ability and retreated across the chamber.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, as he didn't realize that its tail could also attack.

Desperate, he placed his twin rods together and used its Lightning Strike ability. His lightning attack hit the magma tiger squarely in the head, and the small chamber was engulfed in a blinding light.

When it became clear again, he saw that the lava monster's life bar was only reduced to 65%.

"Great!" he said sarcastically. He racked his brain for ideas. Now, he had less than 22% on his mana bar. He switched out to his white metallic staff, in hopes of finishing the magma tiger with one energized strike.

Yet, he noticed a flashing red window notification.

> 0M:00S left

Then, the flame orb descended and absorbed the fire from the magma tiger, extinguishing its lava. The fiery beast turned into a black volcanic statue. A second later, it crumbled to the ground.

"Your time is up!" said the flame orb bluntly. "You could have defeated the beast in less than a minute, if you were a worthy person of my lord's powers."

"Wait! What happens now?" asked a worried Smoke.

"The remaining shrines of Vigilantez will disappear from Zectas," explained the flying orb. "Fear not. For it will return to the plane of existence after a year has passed. You may, however, keep your one essence."

"No! I really need to get Vigilantez—" Smoke wasn't able to finish begging the flaming orb as he and Igniz were teleported outside Mount Gar.

He tried searching for the cave on the side of the volcano, where he had just entered, but found that it was no longer there.

"At least it isn't permanent," he said to his symbiote, as he tried to be optimistic.

Igniz orbited around him rapidly, as if trying to console him.

"Don't worry, Bud," said Smoke. "It's just like my Mima always tells me. When one door closes, you just have to find that open window and climb through."

* * * * * *

After almost four days of gliding, Smoke arrived in Verbrannt. The village that they had resurrected had grown once more.

The forest of Anbau was now fully closed off by Verbrannt's new wall. The wandering Lioumerean tribes were now settled in. A good number of the trees were cut down, to make room for their houses and farms for their mouflon, a sheep-like creature with red to brown wool and the horns of a ram.

Sierra and her Druid Priests and Priestesses have not yet arrived as they were still training in Ardennes. Only Mamelon and Guro were taking command of the village.

Guro and the refugees from Tatlong, Lugar, and Pinagsama have used Ledur's dam well. They had even extended the irrigation canals into the area of the Lioumereans.

Verbrannt now had several layers of wall protecting it. It was reminiscent of the fortified places he had been to, like Coatl and Mount Alouer.

From above, he quickly spotted the busty blue armored beauty. Mamelon was making preparations near the Lioumerean's homes.

Smoke observed that she had all of her Elemental Knights and Shamans with her. All the members of her group were already mounted and ready to go.

'I wonder where they're going?' thought Smoke to himself, and dropped down near them.

SWISH

Louche and Earat, the only Halflings in Mamelon's group, were closely riding their mounts in between Smoke and their beloved leader.

"Hey, guys," said Smoke to the Halflings, and easily walked past them.

"Mamelon, how are you?" asked Smoke politely as he looked up to her, mounted on her bronze jackal.

"Oh, Smoke, you're back. It's good to see you," she replied with a smile. She quickly got off her mount and shook his hand. "Where's Ilad this time? Even though that Centzo mission was very important, he still wasn't there."

"He was helping me out with the Vigilantez Quest," explained Smoke. "Unfortunately, it didn't go very well."

"What? That same Quest again? How difficult could it be?" she asked, unconvinced. "I even saw Amahan obtain his own Djinn."

"It's really hard. In fact, we failed the quest and won't be able to take it for another year," said Smoke.

"One year? Wait, then that means Ilad should be free from any of your pending quests!" excitedly exclaimed Mamelon.

"Yes, about that—" Smoke paused as he concocted a place where his other persona was. "He is with Ledur and Adder as we speak. He is preparing for our invasion on Coatl."

"But I told him of how you fought bravely in Centzo. And he wants to offer you a gift. I asked him if I could give it to you, but he said that he would like to give it to you personally," he explained as he didn't have any precious equipment he could award her with on hand.

"I, however, would like to offer you five-thousand Mercenaries to serve under you," began Smoke. "They're scheduled to arrive about a week from today."

"What am I supposed to do with five thousand Mercenaries?" asked Mamelon.

"Well, for starters, you can take on quests offered to them from the Avendre Headquarters," began Smoke. "They'll get paid, and of course you'll get a share of the payment as well."

"That sounds interesting," she said intrigued. "Thanks, Smoke, I appreciate it."

"But there's a catch," quickly added Smoke.

"Man, I thought you weren't one of those guys," groaned Mamelon. "You want a share of the profits?"

"No! Of course not," Smoke strongly denied her assumption. "The thing is, the Mercenaries still have very low levels. So, you need to raise their levels yourself."

"Just how low is this low you're talking about?" she asked dubiously.

"About level 30?" guessed Smoke.

"That doesn't sound too bad," she replied. "I think my men and I can work with that. I'm really looking forward to taking on Avendre related quests."

"Yeah, me too," said Smoke. "So, where were you headed to?"

"Oh, we were originally about to go on another village rescue, but since the Brandals have been defeated, there are no more threats to the villagers," explained Mamelon. "Courant and Virer suggested that we go aardwolf hunting."

"That's a really great idea," Smoke said to the Electro Knight and the Flame Knight next to her.

"Yeah, with the increase of our Arcus we need more aardwolves to pull their war chariots," said Courant.

"But, honestly, we're just in it for the money," explained Virer. "Cheri has been very demanding a lot lately. She wants to double the size of the house that we're suppose to live in, and she's been asking me to triple her bridewealth."

"I see," replied Smoke, without understanding what the Flame Knight was talking about. "But gaining money is always a good thing. I'm just realizing that lately," he added as he remembered his intention of paying off all the debts of the incoming Avendre Mercenaries.

"Aime is just the same, she's been nagging on about getting a farm in her bridewealth as well," said Courant.

"Hm. I think you should talk to Thyrsus about all of this. I think he can help you out with most of the things that you need," suggested Smoke. He then moved closer to Mamelon and whispered to her. "Who are Cheri and Aime?"

"They're Zectian sisters, who Virer and Courant are trying to marry. Apparently, they'll only marry them if they can match their bridewealth," explained Mamelon. "If you ask me, I think the two of them just bit off more than they can chew."

"Are you serious about that?" asked Virer eagerly.

"Smoke, you're sure you can help us out?" added Courant with the same gusto.

"I don't see why not, but let's keep this between ourselves," said Smoke in a hushed voice. "I'm not sure I can extend the same courtesy to all of the Elemental Knights."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course, just as long as you've got the two of us covered," said Virer excitedly, and slapped Courant's chest.

"Mamelon, we better go," said Courant, and pointed to the crowd of Elemental Knights and Shamans walking towards them.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer," said Smoke to Mamelon and her core members.

"See you around, Smoke," said Mamelon. "We'll be back with a big haul of aardwolves. I think we'll arrive before the Mercenaries get here."

"Just plan on your training methods for them. After all, five-thousand Zectians is quite a lot," reminded Smoke.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We'll train them hard," assured Mamelon. "And we'll make sure that none of them will die."

Smoke smiled and stepped away from Mamelon and her mounted regiment. "Great! That's what I want to hear," he said to her while he thought up of his own training methods.

* * * * * *

While waiting for the Avendre Mercenaries to arrive, Smoke gathered some of Verbrannt's Craftsmen and took them out from the iron-curtain production.

He needed them to build large-carriages that could accommodate fifty-thousand Mercenaries. He also tasked Farmers, Fishermen, and Butchers to do special research. He asked them to develop food that would last longer and could satisfy the satiety bars faster.

The reason Smoke did this, was because he discovered that when dealing with large troops the problem is often in the logistics of transport and supplies.

In further preparation for the incoming Avendre, Smoke also asked his core members Thyrsus, Ichaival, Sharanga, Vijaya, Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea and Gandiva to return to Verbrannt.

Adder and Ledur were tasked to lead the rest of their ground work on the Coatl invasion by themselves. They did, however, have Adelige, Stark, Rasant, and Weise to help them, along with three-thousand men who were at their beck and call.

After a week, Mamelon and the rest of Smoke's ranged core members were all assembled in Verbrannt. In the most opportune time, five-hundred large-carriages were also completed.

Unfortunately, Mamelon and her regiment wrangled only a total of a hundred aardwolves. This number was already high considering the circumstances, but Smoke still needed more of these monsters to pull his specially designed transports, at least ten times more.

Laernea and Gandiva, the Pathfinders, quickly got to work on taming the newly acquired mounts. They used their Beast Tamer abilities to good use. They asked some of the Farmers to help them as they began training the aardwolves in the plains of Lehre, outside the recently constructed walls near Anbau.

Smoke watched the two Lioumereans train the rideable beasts with interest. Yet, this was not the real reason he was here. He was waiting for the arrival of Sierra.

From across the plains, a mounted Sierra was riding on a monster that Smoke only saw from when he was in Mount Yunggo. A three-meter-tall ruby bear.

Due to their jagged ruby-like bodies, these monsters appeared to be uncomfortable mounts. Yet, Sierra, Phen, Rear, Vrai, and Ardu were all riding on them with ease.

'It must be because of those furry armors they're all wearing,' Smoke surmised as he used his Telefax Vision while scrutinizing them from afar.

He then looked at the other Druid Priest and Priestesses behind Sierra's core members, and found that they were riding on various mounts from dirus wolves, aardwolves to bronze jackals.

A few minutes later, they finally arrived in front of Smoke.

Sierra easily dismounted her ruby bear and ran towards him.

Smoke opened his arms wide and caught the leaping red-haired HighElf. "Welcome back," he said lovingly.

Sierra then used her Transmogrify ability and transformed into a red Werebear. She heard his bones crack as she caught him by surprise in a bear hug.

She then canceled her transformation and returned to her normal body. "I'm home," she endearingly replied while looking up to him.

The two of them released their embrace, and turned to face almost three-hundred Druids.

"Listen, don't worry about not getting Vigilantez," said Sierra. "With these many Druids, I'm sure that we'll be even stronger than before."

"I bet!" exclaimed Smoke enthusiastically. He walked over to them and congratulated each one of them. Laernea and Gandiva also walked over to greet Sierra's return and their new Druid companions.

After welcoming all of them home, Smoke led Sierra back to the village ahead of everyone else.

"So, you okay with ten-thousand Avendre Mercenaries under your wing?" he asked her abruptly. Smoke decided to spread out the fledgling Mercenaries to his core members, hoping that they would get a more specialized training.

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that," replied Sierra eagerly. "I'll have them into platoons and have the Druids lead each one of them."

"We can also help Mamelon round up some more mounts," she said as she pointed to a hundred aardwolves being trained by the Lioumereans. "Not to brag, but we've gotten quite good at it."

"I believe you," said Smoke as he watched her mount and the rest of the Druids being led into Verbrannt.

"How in the world did you manage to tame a ruby bear?" asked an astonished Smoke.

Sierra shook her head. "A lot can happen in a week." She smiled while remembering the time when she and her group caught them. "It wasn't easy, but being a Druid Archon really helped."

The two highest ranked people of the Vigilantez spent the rest of the day touring the village.

They played hide and seek with the children. Smoke was about to hide inside a tunnel, but Sierra used her Overgrowth ability on him and entangled his foot with roots.

"Smoke is over hear! He's over here!" shouted Sierra while hiding near him.

"I found you, Smoke!" said the little girl who was it. "My mother said that you're suppose to be a very powerful person, but you're not very good at hiding."

Smoke didn't know what to say and only scratched his head. "I think you're just that good at finding people," he finally said to her.

After playing with the children, they visited the settlement of the wandering Lioumereans. Sierra was surprised to learn that there was an expected increase in their population as almost all of the female Lioumereans got pregnant right after they settled in Verbrannt.

Next, they visited the flourishing farmlands near the new Gitna Dam.

"The sizes of the fruits and vegetables have almost doubled," said Smoke.

"That's great, but we discovered something during our training in Ardennes," replied Sierra. "I think we could get more nutrients if we eat insects instead."

"Insects?" asked Smoke with a disgusted face.

"Nothing radical, of course. Just some grasshoppers, honeypot ants, cicadas, and crickets," she explained with a straight face.

Smoke blankly stared at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"What?" she asked and shrugged her shoulders. "If we're going to feed fifty-thousand people, we need
another source of food."

Smoke still look unconvinced, so Sierra explained further. "Our typical farm animals requires roughly eight pounds of feed to produce a single pound of beef. Whereas, Insects require only two pounds to produce the same amount of meat, making them four times as efficient. We've brought enough that we can start harvesting them after a month."

Sierra noticed his worried expression. "I promise, they taste just like ground pork after you chop them up and season them right."

With the talk of their new potential food supply finished, the two of them went to see the improved defenses of the village.

More than a third of Verbrannt's walls were already covered by Centzo's iron-curtain technology. Along with the improved ballistae that Sharur, Jinggu, and Sharanga developed.

When dusk arrived, the two of them went for their traditional riverboat ride. Yet, this time, Sierra was cuddled next to Smoke, especially now that her body comfortably allowed it.

* * * * * *

Zectas' afternoon sun glowed out its last minutes of daylight before turning in for the day. Twelve days after Smoke left Mount Alouer, all the rookie Avendre Mercenaries arrived in the vast plains of Warten, five kilometers away from Verbrannt's region.

Only Smoke, Sierra, Mamelon, and the rest of his core members were there to greet them. The sight of fifty-thousand men lined up in formations made him feel like a general of ancient times.

Yet, upon closer inspection, Smoke noticed that his recruits were even more skinny now, then from when he saw them in the Avendre Headquarters.

"Welcome, Avendre Mercenaries. You have come a long way. For now let's just eat and rest," shouted Smoke at the top of his lungs as he tried to address the throng of Mercenaries.

Their shabby armor and weapons were asked to be surrendered, revealing their skin and bones. They were inspected under a large scale detection test by Baldaquin, the Light Wizard.

After their interrogation was completed, they were told to march to the plains of Lehre, were the Vigilantez's beasts of burden were trained.

There, hundreds of tables were waiting for them. They were filled with fruit, nuts, and fish. Several pitchers of milk were also prepared in advance.

Sierra made sure to serve them with nutrient-rich food that were also easy to digest. Only a few of Verbrannt's residents were there to help assist in serving the food.

Smoke made sure to only have a few of them as he didn't want to overwhelm the fledgeling Mercenaries with new faces.

After all the Avendre were seated, they began wolfing down the hearty meal laid out in front of them. The Verbrannt volunteers kept refilling the table with food as the Mercenaries quickly finished everything in sight.

Smoke and the rest of the core members walked around from table to welcome the Mercenaries and raise their Intimacies with them.

After more than two hours of eating, all of the food prepared by Sierra ran out.

Even though Smoke knew that the Avendre Mercenaries had long filled their satiety bars, they still looked like they could eat some more.

Smoke then stood in the middle of the tables and addressed all of them.

"Now, I know that it's still early but seeing as you have all eaten your fill, we want you to get some well deserved rest for tomorrow's activities," said Smoke encouragingly.

He then pointed to the hundreds of brown pitched-up tents near them. They were made of animal hide stitched up by Verbrannt's Tailors and Seamstresses.

After showing them where they were going to spend the night, Smoke turned around and was about to leave.

Hurriedly, one of the Mercenaries ran and caught up with him.

"Hello, Sir Smoke, my name is Hazard. I would just like to thank you for all of this," he said gratefully while shaking his hand. "None of us ever got to experience any of this before. We thought that you would have us go to war as soon as we arrive here. I mean that's how most of the missions go, and only the lucky ones who survive get to eat."

Before he could reply more Mercenaries went to him, and thanked him in a similar manner. He was touched at the Zectians' indebtedness.

"You're all very welcome," replied Smoke happily. "For now, just relax and I'll see you all tomorrow."

All of the Mercenaries saluted Smoke, which made him confident at their Intimacy levels. One by one they headed for tents to rest, except for the one named Hazard.

"Sir Smoke, I heard from one of the Commanders that my cousin was under your leadership just recently during Centzo's defense," began the Mercenary. " I'm not sure if you remember him, but I'm hoping that you would know of him."

"Well, there were many of the Mercenaries under me, but tell me his name, maybe I know him," accommodatingly answered Smoke.

"His name is Jeter Pion," said Hazard. "He is an Avendre Commander, so I was hoping that you might remember him. I haven't heard from him in some time, and I was wondering if he is still stationed there?"

Smoke's face instantly turned white. He did not know what to tell the young Mercenary.

Suddenly, Sierra appeared from his side.

"Smoke will tell you about him in the morning. Because I have an urgent matter to discuss with him right now," said Sierra as she excused Smoke from the Mercenary.

"Of course, I understand," replied Hazard respectfully. "Please feel free to tell me whenever you have some free time."

The young malnourished Mercenary bowed down to the two of them and went inside one of the tents.

"Thanks," he said to her gratefully. "I wasn't sure how to tell him that his cousin died."

"But you're going to tell him in the morning, right?" confirmed Sierra.

Smoke nodded. "I will. I'll also tell him of Jeter's valor."

She then took his hand and led him towards Verbrannt's gate. "Were you about to log out, or do you have some time to spare?"

"Yeah, I was. Starting tomorrow, it's going to get really busy," he answered bluntly.

"Oh, I was hoping we could do something just the two of us before we start training them," hinted Sierra shyly.

"But that was before you saved me back there," he quickly added. "Come on, let's go," he said excitedly. This time, it was him leading them into the village they rebuilt together.

* * * * * *

The next day, all fifty-thousand Avendre Mercenaries were assembled in the plains of Lehre.

Despite Sierra and Mamelon's efforts they only gathered enough draught animals to pull only three-hundred-sixty out of the five-hundred transports created.

Each large-carriage required at least six draught animals to pull the transport which could hold a little over a hundred Mercenaries.

Smoke then addressed everyone before they would embark on their own special assignments. "Yesterday, you arrived and got a quick breather. However, we cannot stay relaxed for too long. We have divided you into special groups, to ensure that each one of you will grow to your full potential."

The Avendre remained stoic and stared straight on.

"Rest assured that your meals will remain in a similar manner as of yesterday," jested Smoke.

Instantly, the Mercenaries reacted with murmurs of thanks and anticipation.

"So, for the time being, focus on improving yourselves," said Smoke to encourage them. "I've heard that most of you are here to pay for your debts, and the quickest way to do that is by increasing your levels and earnings."

This was true, but his actual intention was to free all of them himself. However, he did not want to inform any of them as he was far from making this into a reality.

"Now, please bring your attention to the Generals in front of you. They will be in charge of your future. Follow their orders without question, and you will see yourself leap across the ranks," stated Smoke reassuringly.

The Avendre Mercenaries stared at the Vigilantez placed before them. They looked to them with hope, with the aspiration to have better lives.

Sierra's ten-thousand Mercenaries were lined up to the rightmost side of the formation. They were further subdivided into platoons of more than thirty Avendre, which were led by one of her fellow Druids.

Mamelon's five-thousand men took formation in the left side. She divided her group further into three. She took two-thousand under her wing while the rest was divided equally between her closest Sonstwelter friends, Virer and Courant.

Thyrsus, Vijaya, Sharanga, Ichaival, Jinggu, Sharur, Laernea, and Gandiva were each given three-thousand Mercenaries to train personally.

Whereas, Guro received ten-thousand to be trained under her tutelage. Smoke was not sure whether the lioness Lioumerean could handle that many trainees, but she assured him that she could.

Meanwhile, Smoke only selected a thousand Mercenaries under his wing. He also asked Espion to join him in training this selected group.

With the Avendre subdivided, Smoke checked the Mercenary Quests that opened to him as a satellite of the Avendre Mercenaries.

Avendre Mercenary Satellite Quests:

* Salvage Salah

* Beasts of Burden for Betul

* Protect Poludnie

* Secure the Heiress of Silap

After he read the Avendre Quests, Smoke remembered that Silap had its own Avendre Satellite Base. In fact, it was there that he made a contract with five-hundred Avendre Mercenaries to protect Verbrannt.

He then shared the Mercenary Quests to his core members.

Sierra was the first one to speak up. "My division won't be taking any of these quests. I plan to take them to Veneficatl Valley. There are some places there that I think would benefit my Druids and the Mercenaries."

On the other hand, Mamelon gladly accepted the Beasts of Burden for Betul Quest. "I would like to take the Betul Quest," said the busty Aqua Knight. "With the increase of my regiment, I estimate that we could wrangle four times the number of mounts that we previously brought in."

"Also, we won't be taking any of the transports. They are already limited as it is, and I have a different plan for these Mercenaries," she said sadistically.

"You're going to have them march to straight to Betul?" asked Smoke incredulously.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to give them a proper rest," replied Mamelon passively. "Just think of it as part of their training."

Without further discussions or even changing the Mercenaries' damaged equipment, Mamelon gave them her leave. Together with the Elemental Knights, Shamans, and Mercenaries they immediately set off. They were headed for the desert of Wundern, a bountiful area with beasts of burden, which was also near their target village.

"What curious Sonstwelters," remarked Guro. "I think I'll follow Sierra and Mamelon's lead. I won't be taking any of the quests, as I feel that it is much too soon for them. Also, there is also the problem with our lack of draughts, so I won't be taking any of the transports. For the time being, I'll train them here."

"Oh, good. I thought you were going to have all of your ten-thousand Avendre head somewhere on foot," said a relieved Sierra .

"But they'll wish they would have gone on a death march," said Guro menacingly and looked at her assigned legion.

"What about weapons and armor?" Smoke asked her.

"Don't worry. There are plenty of raw materials in the forest patches nearby. We'll make something out of those," answered the middle-aged Lioumerean. "Until we meet again, fellow Zuchthaus Escapee."

Guro also bade farewell to the other core members, and led her nine-thousand Mercenaries to one of the forests near the walls of Verbrannt.

As for Smoke's ranged core members, they all agreed to take on the Salvage Salah Quest. It was a mission to reconstruct the remnants of the village. Although, Verbrannt did have some refugees coming from this place, there were others who remained behind. With all of their legions combined, the ranged core members had almost half of the total of Avendre Mercenaries.

"Rebuilding and improving the ruined village from scratch should not be a problem for us at all," declared Ichaival confidently.

"I also have a good feeling about this mission," added Sharanga brightly. "It gives us the perfect opportunity to build the weapon we have planned for our new subordinates."

"The two of you look like you're having a great time lately," Smoke innocently said to Ichaival and Sharanga.

"What do you mean? We always have a fun time together," replied Ichaival.

"As long as Ichaival isn't being a bother, he is always good company to be with," added Sharanga demurely.

"That's good to hear. I look forward to the growth of your development," said Smoke meaningfully.

Sierra suddenly tugged Smoke's arm. "I need to go. We still have a long journey ahead. Thank you for providing transports for all of us. That really saves us a lot of time. It's too bad that we couldn't capture more draughts."

"Don't worry about it. Soon, we'll have more than a thousand large transports and all of them we'll be pulled by strong monsters," bantered Smoke.

She gave him a brief hug, but the sensation lingered even after they let go of each other. She then turned to the rest of the core members remaining. "Everyone, please feel free to call me if you need my help."

With that, Sierra and her legion headed for the magical valley of Veneficatl.

After the red-haired HighElf left, the rest of his core members bade him farewell as well. All of them headed for Verbrannt to prepare for their journey to Salah.

Smoke then turned to Espion and the one thousand Mercenaries who were left behind.

"Welcome to team Select," began Smoke. "As some of you might not yet know, the handsome young man next to me is, Espion, he will be your Vice-Captain."

All of them saluted Espion in the Avendre manner. They covered their eyes with their right hand, touched their heart, and lastly, with their open palm pointed it to him.

Espion hurriedly emulated them, and addressed them. "Let us learn from one another and grow together."

"Now that we have that settled, let's all head for our transports. We have to visit a good friend of mine first," stated Smoke with authority.

All of them comfortably rode on ten large-carriage transports and headed southward.

* * * * * *

Along with Espion and a thousand Avendre, Smoke came across the most familiar village to him. A sense of being home enveloped him. Its short walls surrounding it serve no protection at all. Yet, the magical barrier put up by Darius, could destroy any invaders below his level and concealed it from people that do not have access to it.

Smoke smiled when he saw the remnants of the armored armadillo carapace hill that he made when he hunted ten-thousand of them.

Despite being there for so long, he still felt that the enigmatic village of Nanahuatl had plenty of mysteries left unsolved.

The moment they got inside its humble gates, he saw the central fountain. This was the first thing he saw in Zectas. Then, a second later, an ancient men dressed in Wizard's robes appeared before them.

Darius used his instant Teleportation ability as soon as he felt Smoke's presence. Yet, he looked significantly younger despite his long white hair.

"Darius! I'm back!" said Smoke happily and ran to him. He hugged the Beggar Legati tightly.

"Glad you could finally grace us with your presence," replied Darius teasingly and hugged him back. "It is good to see you in a brighter light," said Darius.

Smoke remembered the time when he returned after he was tricked by Horrabelle. Since then, he promised himself that he would improve. He was hopeful that he had, but knew that there was still an even bigger room for growth.

"I have a couple of new recruits that I need to train, but before that I thought I'd give you a visit first," explained Smoke. "Espion, why don't you take the Mercenaries over to the armored armadillo fishing weirs."

Espion looked confused. "You want us to collect fish?"

Smoke shook his head and laughed. "No. Tell the men to relax in the river. There aren't any dangerous monsters there, and the children would love to have new playmates."

After Espion and his selected Mercenaries left, Darius ceremoniously bowed down to him.

"Thank you," replied Darius gratefully. "This old man appreciates you taking some of your precious time to visit him."

"Well, talking to you have always been helpful. So, I'm doing this for myself rather than for you," said Smoke flippantly.

He tried to mask the fact that of how much he actually missed his old friend.

"That sounds only fair. It would be underhanded if I'm the only one benefiting from your visit," replied Darius seriously. "So, what delicious treat did you bring for me this time?"

"Oh, have I got something in store for you!" exclaimed Smoke. "You know how Sierra's been cooking a lot of tasty meals lately, right?"

Darius nodded excitedly. The old man's saliva drooled along the side of his mouth.

"Well, she's made a new menu. It's specially designed for the Avendre Mercenaries to gain more muscles, but I think you'll like it," he explained.

Smoke led Darius to his house.

"Should I gather the villagers?" asked Darius cautiously. "If you only have a few of them, then I think it would be better not to tell everyone."

The old Beggar carefully looked at their surrounding, checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping on them.

"After all, the ones that could eat it will only feel guilty for those who couldn't... So, I'll have to take it upon myself to bear this culpability alone."

"Wow, that's very selfless of you," bantered Smoke. "But I think I we should share this we the rest of the village on another time. Let me just cook it first. Sierra already had it seasoned and shaped. I just have to grill them first."

They rushed in Nanahuatl's iconic house, which used to belong to the Beggar Imperator, Kumbaba.

When Smoke reached the kitchen, he took out Sierra's specially prepared treat for Darius. He placed burger patties on his grill, and chugged a few ember stones below it. Igniz then released a small fireball which caused the ember stones to create the right fire for cooking.

"They're pretty famous back in my world, but I haven't seen it here yet. So, Sierra thought she would share this type of food with you," explained Smoke. "They're called burgers. Normally, you place them inside a special type of bread called a bun. We had the Bakers of Verbrannt make some, specifically for this."

Smoke expertly grilled six, one-pounder-burger patties. After cooking them to golden brown and slightly charred, he quickly placed the sliced cheeses on top of each one of them. One by one, he placed them on the bun and added lettuce and tomatoes.

"It smells really good," said the salivating Darius. "It doesn't look that complicated, but what are those spices inside the ground meat?"

"That's Sierra's secret," replied Smoke sheepishly. "This is nothing fancy, but I think it'll taste great."

As soon as Smoke finished Sierra's special burgers, Darius grabbed one of them and took out a big bite.

"Mmm... You should have cured Sierra's curse long ago," said the old Beggar. "I've never tasted anything like this."

Smoke grabbed one of the burgers and stared at it curiously. He opened his mouth but hesitated to take a bite.

'Sierra already tasted this herself and Darius thinks it's tasty,' he debated with himself whether to eat the special burger.

'What the heck,' he thought in the end, and took out a big chunk. Smoke found it juicy and a little bit crunchy.

"All in all. It tastes just like a regular burger back home," he said to Darius. "I thought it would give an after buzz, but it's all good."

Darius nodded passively, not paying any attention to what he was saying at all.

"Can I have the rest?" Darius strongly asked. "I mean you'll have an endless supply of these...burgers, right? And I don't know when the next time you'll be coming here."

"Sure, no problem," answered Smoke and offered the remaining four burgers to his dearest friend.

With nothing to restrain him, Smoke eagerly watched Darius perform his wondrous talent. The old man wolfed down all of the burgers as fast as he could.

"Please tell Sierra to come visit me some time as well," said Darius while wiping the meat juice off on the side of his mouth.

After eating their burgers, Smoke thought to update Darius on his adventures.

"...You know I met this interesting person in Centzo. He goes by the name of Prosjak. I think you might know him," he said meaningfully.

"Nope, don't know him, but of course I have stayed within these walls for so long and I don't know who's who anymore," replied Darius truthfully.

"So, what do you have in plan for your men?" asked the old Beggar.

Smoke grinned and gave him a knowing look. "I want you to teach them how to make double bladed swords like Adders' BlitzSturm."

"Why? Even if there is a thousand of them, I can still make it myself," offered Darius.

"This way, they could make a strong bond with their weapon," explained Smoke. "I'll have them hunt the orchid mantis in Mandragora Forest, and then we will return here where they'll create their own swords."

"I see. That does sound like a good plan," said Darius fondly. "I'll teach them how to make the double bladed swords, as soon as you make me thirty more of those delicious burgers."

"I'll just make ten more and that's that," answered Smoke while shaking his head, amused at his friend's bottomless stomach.

* * * * * *

On board their transports, the journey to Mandragora Forest was quick and easy. Equipped with only their sabers and kite-shields, Smoke instructed the Mercenaries to face the monsters inside the first layer, home of the poison slimes.

While the Avendre ventured into the forest, Smoke and Espion were left outside in the plains. The two of them were busy preparing a big batch of medicinal stone deer stew. He remembered how he had to settle for the medicinal rabbit stew, the first time he was here.

The Avendre returned shortly after they faced the green poison slimes. As he expected, all of them were inflicted with the Poisoned Status. He quickly gave them the stew and ordered them to return to the forest.

However, one of the Avendre Mercenaries stepped up and went against him. "But we will die from the poison."

Smoke recognized him as Hazard, Jeter's cousin. Ever since he told him that Jeter died, his Intimacy with the young Avendre dropped to below fifty.

Despite his efforts, Hazard would always question his orders.

"The HP regeneration from the medicinal stew will compensate for the Poison," assured Smoke. "In fact, once you've reached a certain point, your resistance to this monster's poison will allow you to do this."

He then took out a poison pellet and squashed it with his bare hands.

"Wow!"

"Whoa! Look at that!"

"Is that really a poison pellet?"

Similar statements came from the other Mercenaries who saw his demonstration. This instantly encouraged them to return to hunting the poison slimes.

Hazard unwillingly returned with his group while shaking his head in disbelief. They endured being in their poisoned state even while they slept. They took shifts, waking the other one up to eat the medicinal soup which Smoke had prepared for them in advance.

While they slept, Smoke was busy mending their sabers' and shields' durability. The slimes' body were soft but it still took a toll on their equipment.

When he wasn't fixing items or preparing meals, Smoke was busy with his Manatl, Earth Manipulation, and Lightning Manipulation exercises.

He used either Earth Spikes to hit his concave Manatl. He had to use his metallic golems when he trained his Lightning Manipulation.

Sometimes, when he wanted to focus on his Manatl training, he would have Igniz attack him with an onslaught of fireballs.

In this manner, Smoke was not neglecting his own growth while managing the progress of his Avendre Mercenaries.

Whereas, Smoke ordered Espion to only observe and guide from above the trees. The only abilities the Vigilantez Spy could improve on was his Stealth, Bronze Owl Ears, and Mental Map.

Espion continually gave out directions to the Mercenaries below him. He ordered them where to move next and how many monsters to expect, as he could map out the Avendre's and monsters' locations.

Due to this, the Mercenaries would systematically clear the first layer of the forest without having to make unscheduled return visits to their encampment in the plains.

Unbeknownst to Espion, Smoke did this to also improve his own battle tactics and strategies.

While waiting for the Mercenaries to acquire the poison resistance, Smoke corralled their aardwolves and dirus wolves inside his customized earth walls. Thankfully, there was another forest nearby, which was abundant with stone deer. There, he hunted enough meat to feed sixty draughts for a week.

After seven days, all one thousand of Smoke's Mercenaries gained immunity from the poison slimes' attacks and raised their levels to above 40.

Smoke's and Espion's own abilities have drastically improved as well.

With the first layer of the forest cleared, Smoke had them prepare for the next one. They were ordered to stand still as Igniz enchanted their swords and shields with his Fire.

This time, they were going to face against the crafty orchid mantises. Smoke told them about how they moved, but the Mercenaries were not prepared for their serene appearance.

The one and a half meter monsters looked like swaying flowers in the wind. The monsters' uniform motion hindered the Avendre from figuring out where to attack.

Since Smoke only needed them to acquire two mantis blades each, he thought he should lend them a hand. "Igniz, create a firewall on the gathered orchid mantises."

At once, his dark ember sprite constructed a wall of flames on the swaying monsters. The life bars on the monsters' displayed a measly 8,000 HP. After taking damage from Igniz's flames, their life bars were reduced by 2,000 points.

Igniz then blasted the monsters with a torrential rain of fireballs, revealing a damage of 4,000 points on a single fireball. This made the orchid mantises to stampede towards the Mercenaries, but the burning plant monsters got out of their formations.

With their Fire enchanted weapons, the monsters were easily picked off by the Avendre. In less than ten-minutes, the swarm of orchid mantises were wiped out.

All of the Mercenaries collected more than four mantis blades. With their initial mission completed, they were ready to head back to Nanahuatl to craft their new weapons.

"Alright, ready your gear and attach the draughts to their transports," instructed Smoke proudly.

Yet, one of the Avendre questioned him posthaste.

"But why should we stop here?" asked Hazard. "There is still the third layer left, right? And isn't that the last one? Why don't we finish it?"

"Only the boss of this forest remains there, and we have what we need. It would be inefficient for us to fight it when its experience and item cannot accommodate all of us," explained Smoke.

"Inefficient?" asked the Mercenary sarcastically. "Who are you to tell us what is inefficient when you're just a lousy leader who couldn't even properly direct a strong Avendre Commander."

Without another word, Hazard went into the final layer of Mandragora Forest.

Smoke and Igniz hurriedly went after him into the forest clearing.

Inside, Smoke could sense the tree ent's whip-like vines aimed at Hazard. He used his Hyper Jump ability and appeared in front of the head-strong Mercenary.

Smoke instantly created a full spherical Manatl, which engulfed Hazard and himself.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

Despite the dozens of vines hitting his barrier. The tree ent’s attacks could do nothing against his full Manatl.

"What is that thing?" asked a surprised Hazard. "It attacked me from nowhere."

"That's a tree ent. It's the boss of this forest," answered Smoke without looking at him. "Igniz, attack it from behind."

His dark ember sprite hurriedly circled the tree ent and rained his fireballs on it, revealing the monster's name and life bar. Entree (150,000/210,000 HP). Igniz's back and fire attacks were extremely effective against the plant monster.

Entree then switched focused to Igniz. Its vines came at the ember sprite from all direction, which forced him to stop attacking the tree ent.

With the monster's back turned to him, Smoke canceled his Manatl sphere and transferred the gathered energy into his white metallic staff.

BONK

The sound of his staff hitting the back of Entree's head resonated in the forest clearing. Yet, the monster still had 30% left on its life bar.

Instantly, Smoke switched out his staff for his twin lightning rods, and used its Lightning Strike ability. He crossed the black rods together and struck Entree at point blank range.

A blinding blue light flashed before them. After the light faded, the tree ents life bar now displayed 0%. Its hundred of vines shriveled up and slowly vanished out of existence.

Smoke collected the necklace that the monster left behind.

+ Acquired rare amulet: Heart of Entree.

He didn't need to inspect the necklace to know its attributes. Without a word, he walked over to Hazard.

The young impetuous Avendre was slumped on the ground of the forest clearing. He looked at Smoke with remorseful eyes, and tried to explain his foolishness, but no words would come out.

Then, Espion appeared from behind them. "What in the world do you think you're doing? Didn't Smoke tell you not enter here?"

"Espion, it's alright," said Smoke calmly.

"No, it isn't. He should understand how to follow your orders," argued Espion. "We're training you to face far more dangerous things than this, but at the moment you're not ready to face any of them."

Hazard did not answer them and only kept staring down.

"Espion's right. You're far from the level to face stronger monsters," kindly added Smoke. "Which is why I'd like you to have this."

Smoke gave the newly acquired amulet to Hazard.

The young Avendre stared blankly at the rare accessory in his hands. "Why? I thought you were sending me back to Mount Alouer for sure. Why give me this rare item instead?"

"You have great potential. Very much like your cousin. It would be a waste not to polish a rough gem," replied Smoke softly. "I also feel responsible for Jeter's death, which is why I want to train you into an even greater fighter than your cousin."

Hazard looked at him with a confused expression. He grasped the necklace firmly and placed it around his neck. "Alright, I'll do my best from now on, and I'll follow your orders."

A notification window suddenly popped up.

+ Your Intimacy with Hazard has risen to 'Trusted Companion'

It was far from being blood brothers, but Smoke still appreciated the increase in Intimacy with the hard-headed Avendre.

"Now, why don't we join the others and head back for Nanahuatl," said a friendly Smoke.

After they returned to Smoke's home village, Darius immediately began to teach the Avendre Mercenaries how to forge their very own double bladed swords.

Darius told him that it would take a week to finish this task. During this time, Smoke was visiting the different families in Nanahuatl.

With the rapid birth of newborns in the village, he used his improved Earth Manipulation to create a new playground for them. He created slides, see-saws, and even a six-meter tall anthill where the young ones could enter and play. All of these were far things that the infants could not use, but the bigger children gladly welcomed them. Smoke also considered how fast time flies in Zectas, soon these babies would grow up to be young adults.

When he wasn't bonding with the residents, he was busy training his abilities. He also sparred with Espion to help increase his Spy's fighting experience.

Yet, no matter what they were doing during the day, at sundown the whole village always ate in front of Smoke's house. His increased in speed enabled him to easily feed the growing village, including his one thousand Mercenaries.

After a week of toiling with their mantis blades, all of the Avendre finally got their personally crafted double bladed swords.

Smoke then ordered them to set out and hunt for phasmatodeas, towering stick insects that reached the height of two-meters. Yet, the monster was also extremely thin. Their bones made great arrow shafts. These monsters had almost no defense and a life bar of 15,000 HP.

With their new weapons coupled with Igniz's Fire Enchantment, the towering stick monsters gave no resistance to the Mercenaries.

Using his Cunning of the Dire Fox, Smoke directed them to the location of thousands of phasmatodeas. He looked at them with the eyes of a proud parent. He couldn't believe how well they fought with their double bladed swords. They were nowhere near Adder's skill, but they had more than doubled their attack power by simply using the weapons they crafted themselves.

With his Avendre Mercenaries' complete domination over the phasmatodeas, Smoke decided to check on the Avendre Quests.

Avendre Mercenary Satellite Quests:

* Salvage Salah [Taken]

* Beasts of Burden for Betul [Taken]

* Protect Poludnie

* Secure the Heiress of Silap

* Banish the monsters bothering Barat

He immediately noticed the new Mercenary Quest that appeared. He thought about taking the Silap or the Poludnie Quest, but was hesitant to either one.

However, now that there was a new quest, he decided to take it on right away.

"Alright! Good work, everyone," began Smoke. "Next, we're headed for Barat Village to take on some spined coyotes. Collect the loot and pack your gear. We're moving out!"

It had only been half a month since Smoke was together with them, but he personally felt close to them almost as much as his core members.

'Even if I train them to be over level 150 in less than a year...there is still a high probability that they would all be wiped out by Burmistrz's Cavalry Knights,' he somberly thought to himself.

"Guys, change of plans. We're going to stop by Nanahuatl before heading for Barat," Smoke said suddenly before the Mercenaries could get on board their respective transports.

* * * * * *

Smoke awoke to see the familiar white fountain with a strapping bearded man sitting on its walls. 'He really looks like a Wizard Boss now. I wonder how much power Darius has recovered?' he secretly asked himself.

He had logged out of Zectas during the trip back, and timed his sleep to match their time of arrival in Nanahuatl.

Casually, he stepped off the transport, and asked Espion and all of the Avendre to get some much needed relaxation near the weirs.

Meanwhile, he walked over to Darius. "Nice of you to greet me, every time I arrive," he said gratefully and hugged the old Beggar.

"Of course! I know that I'm mostly the reason you come here in the first place," said Darius flippantly.

"That is, true," answered Smoke. "Alright, I'll get right to it. I don't want to risk the lives of the Mercenaries, facing off against Cavalry Knights. We're suppose to attack within a year's time, otherwise Burmistrz will have gained another attack force that could try and take over another city."

Darius didn't say a word and only listened to him.

Smoke appreciated how Darius knew that he still had more to say. He felt that if it were anyone else they would have interjected by now.

"I wasn't really up for it in the first place. Prosjak was the one who strongly suggested it to complete this quest, and I was blinded with the idea of gaining thousands of new subordinates," explained Smoke, and let out a deep sigh.

"Maybe, if it was after three years, then we would have a better chance of surviving against them," Smoke grit his teeth as he had an inkling of the battle a year from now.

"This sounds like a serious problem," stated Darius. "It is so serious that I won't even mention about eating those yummy burgers before we proceed talking."

Smoke was taken aback. He wasn't sure if Darius wanted him to make the burgers.

"So, what was it that you truly wanted to do when you first got the mission?" bluntly asked Darius.

"Actually, I wanted to create an elite team and sneak into the city and take him on directly, but I don't think it would be successful—" Smoke paused as inspiration hit him. "But Sierra just got her Job Change to Druid Archon, and Mamelon's Elemental Knights have also increased their levels."

Darius clicked his tongue while stroking his long white beard. "But sneaking into the city itself would require you to have a low number of people. Unfortunately, from what I heard about this Burmistrz, you would need at least twenty people to take him on."

Smoke stared at the water in the fountain. He knew that Darius was right. "If only there was a way to get him away from his men."

"Well, there is an ability that could instantly teleport the caster and any other person they are holding and transport them to a prepared casting circle," said Darius out loud.

"And you can teach this to me?" asked Smoke excitedly.

Darius shook his head. "Sorry, it cannot be taught. You would need an ability book, and I think you could only find one of those in a temple of the Guardias de Tiempo."

This time, it was Smoke's turn to click his tongue.

"Luckily, I still have one more transference crystal left" quickly added Darius, and reached inside his wizard robe for a pure white gem. "I could create an impetus gem, and that would serve as my substitute. With that you can teleport anything touching it to my preconfigured casting circle."

"Hm. Then, Burmistrz would be teleported here, in Nanahuatl," said Smoke while strongly shaking his head. "We can't have that."

"Not to worry. I can create my casting circle outside the village walls," offered Darius. "And remember, I can cast a cloaking spell over the village, making anyone who has never stepped inside unable to enter it."

Darius then teleported near the outskirts of the village entrance. Smoke hurriedly used his Hyper Jump to get closer to him, and had to run up the missing distance his ability could not cover.

The old Beggar wrote ancient runes in the air with both his hands, and uttered words Smoke could not comprehend.

A green, white, and blue casting circle appeared outside the village on top of each other. Next, Darius casted a rainbow of glittering colors and covered Nanahuatl inside a dome.

"There, I've already finished half of what needs to be done," said Darius proudly. "Should I proceed?"

"Hypothetically, the people inside the village, they could still cast range attacks outside this invisible barrier you created?" asked Smoke eagerly.

Darius smiled as he understood where he was getting at. "Why, of course! People inside the village can safely attack."

"Ha! Then, Burmistrz is practically dead!" exclaimed Smoke. "I'll hit him with that impetus item, teleport him here."

Darius nodded with the same enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Then, you finish him off with one of your special spells," said Smoke and gave Darius a thumbs up.

Darius' mouth fell open. "Hm. Well, hm. You see, how do I say this?"

"You've already gotten most of your powers back, right?" asked Smoke. "I mean you just casted that preconfigured casting circle and all."

"Yeah about that, I still need a day to recover my mana to create that special impetus device," began Darius nervously. "And, when you use the impetus device, it would use my mana as its power source and drain me empty."

A frustrated Smoke angrily scratched his head, almost pulling out his long white DarkElf hair.

"Well, I could still attack with him a bow and arrow... but if you recall, I specialized in magical attacks, so I don't think my damage would amount to much."

"Not a problem, not a problem." Smoke repeated himself. "I think it will still work. I'll just have all of the Vigilantez hide inside the village while I bring Burmistrz here."

While Smoke was ranting on, Darius remembered an update he was suppose to tell him. "Oh, by the way, Caid said something interesting about the Magietrois. It looks like our brothers in the Verum de Mendicantibus have—" Darius stopped talking as Smoke was clearly not listening to him.

Smoke's smile turned into a devilish grin. He faced Darius' preconfigured casting circle and imagined Burmistrz's face in pure agony.

* * * * * *

Smoke's heart was beating fast as he was gliding towards Coatl. He quickly disseminated the plan that he and Darius had conceived. The Vigilaintez's strategists had no problem with the general concept.

However, Thyrsus pointed out that Burmistrz would likely be suspicious of the invisible attackers from Nanahuatl. Adder also added that the Duke could easily escape on the other side.

So, Sierra suggested that only Sonstwelters were allowed outside the village walls, and they would surround the preconfigured casting circle, preventing Burmistrz from escaping.

It took them a week to assemble all of the Vigilantez into Nanahuatl. This was Mamelon's first time in the village.

Smoke would have vehemently denied other Sonstwelters about the knowledge of his home in Zectas, but Mamelon and the rest of the Vigilantez Sonstwelters fully earned his trust. Their actions spoke of their true nature, and he knew that he could count on each one of them.

On the other hand, the Avendre Mercenaries were tasked to continue with their current missions.

Sierra's group were still out in Veneficatl Valley. She also left half of her Druids there to supervise them.

Mamelon's was busty in Wundern Desert wrangling more mounts. Earat and Louche were left in charge of them.

Meanwhile, Thyrsus and Vijaya were given command of all the core range members' Avendre. They were still fixing Silap up.

As for Guro, she remained in Verbrannt, along with all her dedicated recruits. She promised to increase the land size of the village by three times that of Anbau Forest.

Whereas Espion led Smoke's Avendre to Barat Village. Smoke insisted that the Mercenaries be kept busy and unaware of this special mission. It was imperative that their training continue as scheduled as he had big plans for them.

After twelve hours of gliding, he finally saw the heraldic city of Coatl. Caid informed him that it was time for the finals of the Swordsman to Knight competition.

Smoke thought that it would be a perfect opportunity for him to grab Burmistrz.

With the aid of his Telefax Vision, he easily spotted the braggart Duke on top of his special stage in front of the arena.

Diving as fast as he could, Smoke went straight for Burmistrz as he held onto a pure white gem. Igniz started orbiting around him rapidly, and together the two of them gave the sight of a falling meteor.

CRASH

Pieces of debris flew up in flames as Smoke used his Comet Crash ability on the unknowing Duke. He stunned him for a full second.

"Impetus Activate!" shouted Smoke before the Duke could recover, but Macher suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed on to the Duke.

POOF

Smoke, Igniz, Burmistrz, and Macher were instantly teleported inside Darius' preconfigured casting circle.

'I thought you had to be directly touching the impetus object for it to work, but clearly that isn't the case,' Smoke surmised as he angrily stared at Macher.

Burmistrz hurriedly equipped a zweihänder while Macher threateningly pointed his glaive at Smoke.

"So, you're the famous Smoke," growled Burmistrz. "You really are tricky I'll give you that."

Burmistrz looked around the casting circle and found himself completely surrounded by the Vigilantez Sonstwelters.

"Prepare to die, Smoke!" shouted Macher as he charged at him.

Yet, before Macher could reach him, Sierra used her Overgrowth ability and entangled both Burmistrz and Macher with thick roots. She then used Contrition on both of them, increasing their damage taken.

A bombardment of elemental attacks from Mamelon's regiment quickly showered the two of them. Their life bars and names were revealed thereafter. Macher (610,000/680,000 HP). Ultimo Maire (2,084,900/2,100,000 HP).

Macher's life bar was extremely high for a Cavalry Knight, but the Duke's was even more impressive.

"Everyone, focus fire on Macher!" shouted Smoke, and swiftly equipped his white metallic staff.

A torrent of spears, arrows, and bolts suddenly appeared out of nowhere, as Smoke's ranged forces safely attacked from behind Darius' invisible barrier.

Smoke started to jump out of the casting circle, but his leg was caught by Ultimo's whip.

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" snarled Ultimo. "You are going to be a victim of your own trap!"

"Not today!" retorted Smoke. He instantly created a concave Manatl which protected himself from his allies attacks.

"Aargh!" cried out Macher in pain, as most of the ranged attacks directly hit him. The lowest of which injured him for 2,500 damage points.

The few attacks that did miss, struck Ultimo and Smoke's Manatl.

Ultimo guffed at the Vigilantez joint ranged effort as it only dealt less than 500 damage points. It appeared as if he welcomed the damage to him.

"Stop this! Stop this, now!" pleaded Macher as his life bar was reduced to 25% in less than a minute. "Duke Burmistrz, please save me! I know you can get out of this."

"Relax, Macher, you'll return to Zectas anyway," replied Ultimo passively.

However, Ultimo raised his zweihänder over his head and severed off Sierra's thick roots with one stroke. He then yanked Smoke from his crouched position, and used him as a shield for Macher.

Against his will, Smoke blocked the incoming attacks at Macher and spared him from dying. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but at least now he was free from Ultimo's whip.

All of the Vigilantez instantly stopped attacking as Smoke was in the way. He canceled his Manatl and transferred the gathered energy into his staff.

With her Druid staff in hand, Sierra suddenly ran into the preconfigured casting circle and stopped behind the entangled Cavalry Knight.

She struck Macher's nape with all her might, and proceeded to pound her ferule into his spine. Deep dents appeared on Macher's armor with each bludgeon.

Despite the several elemental spikes striking Ultimo, he relentlessly charged at Sierra.

However, Sierra delivered the last strike needed to reduce Macher's life to zero.

"Good job, HighElf, you really killed him. Now, why don't you have a taste of your own medicine, Smoke," replied Ultimo as he grabbed him and Sierra with only his left arm.

'How strong is this guy?' wondered Smoke as he felt his breath being squeezed out of him.

Suddenly, he saw Laernea and Sharur jump out from Nanahuatl's hidden barrier.

"Go back!" worriedly shouted Smoke.

Then, he saw why Ultimo was holding them with only one hand. In his right, he held a pure white gem, much like the one he used earlier.

"Impetus Activate!" shouted Ultimo.

* * * * * *

POOF

Smoke, Sierra, Sharur, Laernea, and Ultimo were teleported inside a sealed great hall of the Zuchthaus Labyrinth under Coatl City.

Yet, this great hall was different to the others Smoke had been to, as this one had lesser pillars. They did, however, have torches. This considerably brightened the visibility of the expansive chamber.

Before Ultimo could do anything else, Smoke struck him with his energized staff and damaged him for 100,000 points.

Ultimo firmly planted his feet on the floor, but he was still blown backward while standing.

"That's very impressive," stated Ultimo. "What kind of attack was that? It has been a long time since I've been damage by this much."

"Laernea, Sharur, back away. Leave this to Sierra and Me," ordered Smoke, and paid Ultimo no mind. "Look for an exit instead."

He did a quick search with his eyes, but could not find any doorways. As he realized that this was another part of the labyrinth he had never been to, he wondered how many more sealed chambers like this one existed.

"Don't bother. There isn't one," interjected Ultimo. "This is where the Tenebris made their own preconfigured casting circle," he said, and pointed to the floor.

"Honestly, I was surprised that you had a transference gem as well," Ultimo casually spoke. "From the lack of powerful spells that attacked me during your entrapment, I'm guessing that you only have that one powerful Wizard who created your transference gem."

"Sharur, Laernea, do as much damage as you can, but don't let him get near you," said Sierra and charged at Ultimo.

The Duke of Coatl removed his thick, royal coat and revealed his massive muscles through his plaid shirt. He had no form of armor on him at all. "It has been a long time since my days in the Ladrones del Mundo. I gladly accept your challenge!"

Laernea and Sharur fired their bolts and arrows at Ultimo. However, they only damaged him for less than 200 points.

Ultimo did not bother to block or dodge the ranged attacks. Instead, he held his zweihänder with both his hands and swung it at Sierra.

Sierra parried Ultimo's zweihänder with her ferule, but she was blown backwards. Smoke hurriedly caught him, and avoided a harmful tumble on the floor.

Despite their low damage, Laernea and Sharur kept on attacking.

"Why did you two leave Nanahuatl's safety?" asked Smoke, as the four of them regrouped themselves. "Good thing Igniz wasn't near us when that bastard forcibly transferred us here."

"I don't know what happened myself," answered Sharur hesitantly. "After I saw Sierra rush inside the casting circle, my feet began running towards her."

"I tried to stop Sharur, but it was already too late," meekly added Laernea.

With them staying as far away from Ultimo as possible, the former High Commander of the Ladrones del Mundo kept on taunting them. "Smoke, did you know that I used a transference gem on your beloved Flame Knight, the one called Ilad?"

Smoke paid little attention to Ultimo as he racked his brain for ideas on how to get out of this situation.

"Of course, it was a different casting circle and a different room. I never kept track of which ones the Tenebris made. Unfortunately, I only have two more of these precious gems left," babbled on Ultimo.

"Sierra, can you use your Overgrowth ability on him?" asked Smoke in a hushed voice.

"I've been trying that for a while now, but it seems like the roots can't penetrate through this labyrinth's floor," she replied, annoyed.

"Then, let's just go for a two-two formation," said Smoke. "Sierra, can you cast—"

He was about to ask her to give them some buffs, but she already beat him to it.

Sierra tapped her ferule on top of their heads and small thorns enveloped their body, which gave them a return damage aura. She then casted Archon's Blessing on Smoke, doubling his life and damage for the next two minutes.

"But that bastard is still under my Contrition ability. So, he will still receive increased damage," explained Sierra.

"Alright, let's go!" yelled Smoke and charged at Ultimo.

Smoke and Sierra ran side by side while Laernea and Sharur constantly fired their ranged attacks at the Brandals' final Boss.

The ranged attackers continuously hit their mark, but Ultimo remained unfazed.

Sierra careened blindly towards Ultimo, but was blasted backwards with another full swing from his zweihänder.

However, this was all part of their plan as Smoke suddenly appeared behind Ultimo and delivered a point blank Lightning Strike on his spine.

Smoke successfully struck Ultimo with his surprise attack, but it only harmed Ultimo for 50,000 points.

Ultimo countered with a slash on Smoke's chest, but he was able to avoid it with his Hyper Jump ability at the last second.

"Smoke, you always keep on impressing me, I just can't believe it," bantered Ultimo. "It was a good idea on what you did to Horrabelle, and I bet you thought you could do the same thing with me. Trap me in a chamber, alone. Well, look where we are? Isn't this what you wanted?"

'What I wanted was for you to die outside Nanahuatl!' angrily thought Smoke.

Sharur and Laernea's ranged attacks kept hitting Ultimo, but their damage was barely registering in his life bar. Even Sharur's spiral bolts could not knock him back.

Sierra suddenly appeared from behind Ultimo and was about to hit his back, but Ultimo effortlessly parried her ferule with his sword and slashed her arm. She backed away and used Cure on herself.

With Ultimo still focused on Sierra, Smoke stepped in and struck his chin with Lightning Shock, paralyzing him for three seconds.

Both Smoke and Sierra dished out their attacks on his unarmored body, yet their damage could not go beyond 1,000 points.

"Back off, now!" shouted Smoke.

Ultimo stretched his arms over his head after he recovered from his paralysis. He looked like a man just woken up from a nap.

"Did you think that you could harm me, just because I didn't have any armor on?" questioned Ultimo. "Am I the first Barbarian Warlord that you have ever faced?"

"This guy just doesn't shut up," said an irritated Smoke out loud.

"Fighting a Witch in close range was a brilliant idea, but fighting a Warlord in closed quarters...Well, that's just inviting death," stated Ultimo flatly.

"Argh!" suddenly cried out Ultimo as four bolts struck his back, and impaled themselves deep into his flesh.

Sharur charged his Spiral Pierce attack, while Laernea coated the OrkElf's bolt with a strong poison and anticoagulant. With their joint strike, Ultimo was inflicted with the Poisoned and Bleeding status.

"I guess I shouldn't have underestimated the two of you," said Ultimo, and tried to reach for the bolts. He pulled each one without flinching.

"Your actions have consequences. Prepare to die," said Ultimo calmly and charged for Laernea and Sharur.

However, Smoke stepped in between them and protected them inside his spherical Manatl.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

Sparks came out from each of Ultimo's strike with his zweihänder. Sierra tried to attack him, but Smoke signaled her to stay away.

With both his grip on the gigantic sword, Ultimo's attacks were steadily becoming faster. His sword began to show afterimages of itself, similar to Smoke's weighted chain and sickle.

After a minute of relentless attacks, Ultimo showed no signs of fatigue or becoming out of breath. Yet, Smoke's Manatl displayed cracks of degradation.

"Smoke, what do we do?" asked Laernea as she held on to her long bow and pointed it at Ultimo.

"I'm going to cancel my Manatl, and the two of you run over to where Sierra is," said Smoke calmly.

After giving them a nod, Smoke shouted. "Now!"

He canceled his Manatl, then Laernea and Sharur ran for their lives. Smoke jumped back. With his energized white staff, he charged into the flurry of Ultimo's zweihänder and struck him in the shoulders.

This time, Smoke damaged him for 75,000 points.

Ultimo backed away, and grabbed his injured left shoulder.

"So, that's how it works," said the Barbarian Warlord.

"Let me see you try and stop this," taunted Ultimo and charged at Smoke with another flurry of attacks.

Smoke instantly put up a concave Manatl and held his ground firmly, but suddenly the unceasing attacks stopped.

He searched for Ultimo in front of him, but he found him running over towards Sierra, Sharur, and Laernea.

Sierra transformed into a Werebear and fearlessly charged at him. Ultimo swung his sword at her, but she parried it away with her claws and slashed his arm instead.

"The famous red Werebear," said Ultimo unfazed. "Let's see you block this!"

Ultimo released afterimages of his sword and Sierra braced herself for the imminent slashes, but none of the Barbarian's attack made contact with her.

Smoke appeared in front of Sierra and protected her inside his Manatl.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

Then, Ultimo's attack suddenly stopped. The Barbarian Warlord went after his real targets, Laernea and Sharur.

He threw his zweihänder at them, and it plunged into Laernea's stomach. The lioness Lioumerean slumped down to the floor.

Sharur rushed to Laernea's side and pulled out the Barbarian's sword. "Are you okay? Quick, give me some of your herbs," said the rattled OrkElf.

"I don't think my herbs could do anything for me now," she answered softly.

"Sierra! Sierra!" desperately shouted Sharur. "Come here, Laernea needs you!"

However, it was Ultimo who arrived first. He easily kicked the OrkElf away from Laernea, and picked up his zweihänder.

"Well, hello there, pretty kitten," said Ultimo with a sinister smile. "Want me to take your suffering a—" the Barbarian stopped talking as Smoke's charged staff hit him in the back.

Both Smoke and Sierra arrived at Laernea's side. Smoke hurriedly put up a Manatl sphere while Sierra cured the bleeding Lioumerean.

"Sharur!" Smoke yelled to warn his friend as Ultimo did not bother to attack his Manatl, and directly went after the OrkElf.

Sharur bravely stood his ground and fired his spiral bolts at Ultimo.

Smoke canceled his Manatl, but had not gathered any energy as the Barbarian did not attack his barrier.

Desperate, Smoke used his Hyper Jump ability and collided with Ultimo. The Barbarian Warlord's forward motion made him fall face front.

Two silver golems shortly stood up beside Ultimo. Smoke created them but was left with little mana. His two minions stomped on the grounded Barbarian but dealt insignificant damage.

Meanwhile, Sharur ran over to where Sierra and Laernea were. The red-haired HighElf was still healing the injured Lioumerean.

Laernea's life bar was still not fully restored as Sierra focused on closing her gaping wound.

Smoke switched to his power chainsaw bow and fired poison arrows at the downed Ultimo.

Suddenly, a zweihänder plunged through one of his metallic minions and knocked out the golem's electro stone.

The golem instantly crumbled to the floor.

"You really give me little credit, Smoke," angrily spat Ultimo. "Of course I would know the weakness to Horrabelle's beloved creations."

Ultimo stood up and effortlessly drove his zweihänder into Smoke's second golem.

Smoke retreated to where his friends were. He instantly created a spherical Manatl and protected them. He needed to buy time while he still had no idea how to deal with Ultimo.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

Afterimages of Ultimo's zweihänder came at his barrier once more. This time it took less than a minute for his Manatl to show signs of degradation.

"Sierra, how are we doing back there?" worriedly asked Smoke.

"Laernea's healed," replied Sierra briskly, and casted Druid Archon's Blessing on Smoke once more.

"Alright, everyone retreat to the left," ordered Smoke.

He canceled his Manatl and backed away as before, but this time Sierra Transmogrified into her Werebear form and countered the Barbarian's zweihänder with her claws.

Sierra successfully delivered her Double Slash attack and knocked back Ultimo by two-meters.

Equipped with his energized staff, Smoke jumped behind Ultimo.

THWAK

Smoke delivered a decisive blow to the back of Ultimo's head, revealing his life bar to be (1,424,900/2,100,000 HP).

'I guess this could work,' thought Smoke and quickly joined Sierra and the others.

"How's everyone doing?" asked Smoke.

"We're all fine," added Sierra while clutching her Werebear arm. She had been injured when she countered Ultimo's swords earlier.

"Sierra, you should heal your wound," said a concerned Sharur.

"I can't use my Druid abilities when I'm in my Werebear form," answered Sierra.

"So, what's the plan, Smoke?" asked Laernea while pointing her bow at Ultimo.

"We'll wear him out," briskly answered Smoke. "Laernea, Sharur, you two keep firing at him. But make sure to always stay behind me."

"My attack hurt him earlier too," added Sierra. "I can't just sit still and wait to heal you guys. The best defense is a strong offense."

Smoke wanted to argue with what Sierra said, but he knew that she had no intention of doing anything else.

"Alright, but be care—" Smoke was interrupted by Ultimo as his zweihänder came at him.

Once more, Smoke created a full spherical Manatl.

Less than two minutes passed, and his Manatl showed signs of breaking.

Suddenly, Ultimo stopped attacking. Simultaneously, his Cunning of the Dire Fox lost the Barbarian Warlord's presence.

Smoke desperately looked around. Since his Manatl would break in the next attack. He canceled it absorbed it into his staff.

Then, he saw some movement coming from above. He looked up to see a leaping Barbarian overhead.

He squarely landed on top of Smoke and drove his zweihänder into his shoulder.

"Owww!" screamed Smoke as the Barbarian's sword exited his body.

He looked around in search of Ultimo only to see him running towards Laernea.

SHINK

Ultimo mercilessly plunged his zweihänder into the lioness Lioumerean's heart.

THWAK

Smoke hit Ultimo on the back of his head with his energized staff, sending the Barbarian Warlord a few meters away.

However, it was already too late. Laernea's life bar displayed zero.

"Noooooo!" shouted Smoke while he crouched down next to Laernea. He had no idea that Ultimo could leap that high.

"Waaaaaaaah!" roared Sierra as she went into a rage.

Sharur's bolts came spiraling at the grounded Ultimo, but only dealt the same insignificant damage.

In her red Werebear form, Sierra stormed at Ultimo with her claws above her head. She delivered a clean slash with her right claw, but her left did not harm Ultimo as he caught it in an armlock instead.

"Aaugh!" Sierra cried out in pain as her arm was being squeezed tightly.

SHINK SHINK SHINK

Ultimo's zweihänder viciously pierced Sierra's chest, three times.

One of Smoke's black rod struck Ultimo's chin, and his second one unlocked the Barbarian's hold on Sierra.

Sharur quickly came and pulled Sierra backward to where Laernea's body was, but it was already gone as it was absorbed into Mictlan.

The only thing that remained of Laernea was her long bow.

Sierra tried to revert to her HighElf form but Ultimo was crashing down on them from above. The Barbarian Warlord used his Leap Attack on her and prevented her from changing.

Sharur tackled Ultimo off her, and the two of them rolled on the labyrinth floor. The OrkElf then kicked Ultimo's zweihänder away, but the Barbarian Warlord grabbed a hold of his head instead.

Ultimo held onto Sharur's head and brought the OrkElf against his back.

CRACK

The Barbarian Warlord broke Sharur's neck, reducing the OrkElf's life bar to zero.

A bleeding Smoke came running towards them, but Ultimo threw Sharur's dead body at him. Smoke was flattened by his friend's dead body.

Seconds later, it faded out of existence, joining Laernea in Mictlan.

Before he could get up, Ultimo's zweihänder plunged deep into his stomach, impaling him to the floor. Smoke's life bar quickly went below 25%, which activated Horrabelle's Decay Aura.

Sierra, in her Werebear form, tackled Ultimo off of him. The two of them rolled on the floor next to Smoke, and were damaged by the Decay Aura as well.

Smoke quickly activated his necklace to counter the curse's effects, but Ultimo squeezed both Smoke's and Sierra's necks with his massive arms.

"This is the end, Smoke," hissed Ultimo. "Oh, I know that you'll come to find me again, but don't you worry. I'll be right here waiting for you."

With the Heart of Reente's regeneration negated, Smoke's only chance of survival was Sierra. He looked at her life bar and saw that it was still at 30%.

Ultimo followed his eyes, and smirked at him. "So, you're more concerned with the girl, huh?"

The Barbarian Warlord released his hold on Smoke, and kicked they dying DarkElf away. He then picked up his zweihänder and pointed at Sierra.

"Say goodbye, Werebear," taunted Ultimo and slowly inserted his sword into her, reducing her life bar each time it penetrated her.

Finally, Sierra's life bar was reduced to zero as well.

Ultimo released Sierra's lifeless cursed form, and carelessly dropped it on the ground.

Then, a storm of sickle and iron-ball engulfed Ultimo. Smoke only had seconds left to live, and he had to do everything he could with this final attack.

Smoke's weapon glowed red as he screamed. "Suicide Attack!"

+ You've dealt your MAXIMUM CRITICAL BLOW x 5 on Ultimo Maire. Damage 666,666.

- Using the Suicide Attack ability, you have killed yourself.

- You lose 1 level!

- All the stats that have increased on the last level up will be rolled back!

- Because you have died, you cannot log in to Zectas for another 24 hours!

* * * * * *

Nash stepped out of his game pod, drenched with sweat. He wiped the tears from his eyes and searched for his phone.

Without a doubt he knew she would immediately pick up.

"Sherry, can I come over?" asked Nash somberly.

After a quick shower, Nash hurriedly went over to Sherry's house. It was only ten-minutes away.

DING DONG

Sherry's doorbell rang.

She came out, wearing her pajamas. Her eyes were bloodshot, clearly from crying.

"Listen, I—" began Nash, but Sherry placed her fingers on his mouth. She wordlessly led him into their living room.

"I'm watching a documentary on pyramids," she said and offered him a seat on their couch.

Nash saw ice cream, chips, cookies, and a chocolate cake scattered all over the coffee table.

"It helps keep me off my mind on things," explained Sherry in between sobs. She sat down and grabbed the ice cream.

Nash settled in next to her and placed her arms over her shoulder.

Minutes flew by, and the two of them silently watched the documentary. Then, it showed how the ancient Egyptians prepared their meals.

"Sharur was the first one to teach me cooking in Zectas," Sherry said suddenly, and erupted in tears.

"Yeah, Laernea was a great cook too. Both of them were," added Nash and squeezed her shoulders. "They were true friends."

"You know, I've read about it in the forums, about groups who meet up, pining over dead Zectians," began Sherry. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can completely understand them."

"Why am I hurting this much?" she asked out loud. "They were just characters inside a game," she said, and sobbed.

"It hurts because they were real," consoled Nash. "To other people they might have been just an organized zeros and ones, but to us, to the people who knew Sharur and Laernea, they existed."

Sherry nodded her head, and continued to focus blankly on the screen.

Nash did the same and let out a deep sigh.

"You know, even though it will only be a day for us, it'll be four for them in Zectas when we get back," suddenly said Nash out of the blue, and held her hand tightly.

"Yeah, I wonder how everyone else will be then," replied Sherry and rested her head on his shoulders.

* * * * * *

Smoke and Sierra simultaneously awoke to Nanahuatl's fountain. A crowd of their core members were gathered there. The air was heavy and stifling.

"I prayed to Cuezaltzin that you were just delayed somewhere," spoke Jinggu. "I prayed that my brother was safe with you, in a place where we can not talk to you. But seeing the two of you here only confirms it."

The lone OrkElf stormed away. Thyrsus and Ichaival immediately went after him.

"So, this means Laernea's gone too?" asked Gandiva as her tears began to flow. She slumped down next to the fountain.

Smoke remorsefully nodded. Sierra quickly ran to Gandiva and hugged her.

Igniz flew towards Smoke and sadly orbited around him. "Yeah, they're gone, bud."

Everyone circled around the two of them, and had them retell the whole horrendous event.

"So, did you kill Burmistrz?" suddenly asked Sharanga after Smoke paused. "He hasn't shown himself in Coatl's annual events."

"I don't think so," somberly replied Smoke. "He's extremely tough. He even has an ability that negates my Cunning of the Dire Fox."

After Smoke and Sierra told them of the tragedy, Smoke was pulled away by Darius.

"Listen, I need to tell you something," began the old man. "Remember when I told you about the Magietrois?"

"Vaguely? Why?" asked Smoke.

"Our Brotherhood has found one of them," explained Darius. "It is said that one of the heroines of legend is in Sawtorn."

"Sawtorn? Where's that?" wondered Smoke out loud.

"It is one of the southern continents," explained Darius. "Although, our brothers weren't sure whether it was in Vitzytl Kingdom or Thanotl Kingdom."

"So, which one is it?" inquired Smoke.

"There is an 80% chance that one of them is in Vitzytl. So, I'd go there," answered Darius.

"And what good would the Magietrois be?" questioned Smoke.

"Well, for starters, one of them was said to be a Thaumaturge," replied Darius. "Someone who has the power to bring back people from the dead."

Then, a strong urge to find the Magietrois overcame him. "So, how do I get to Vitzytl?"

"You could teleport there," briskly answered Darius.

"You can do that?" asked a surprised Smoke.

"With my full power I could, but I meant that you teleport there with a continental teleportation circle. Each city should have one," explained Darius. "You could ask your friend, Duke Jeune, to help you out."

Smoke energetically nodded. "Thank you so much, Darius. You are a real lifesaver."

"Remember, our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones that we miss," said Darius.

He smiled and left his old friend. He quickly searched for Sierra in the crowd of his core members.

After he pulled her into his house, Smoke hastily began describing the miraculous chance to save both Laernea and Sharur.

"So, you want to come with me to Vitzytl?" asked Smoke.

She paused and deeply thought about it. "I would love to, but I can't. Someone has to stay behind with them."

Sierra lovingly turned to the Vigilantez.

"Besides, you remember what that bastard said," began Sierra. "He'll come after all of our friends. We have to be even more stronger than ever. I'll stay here and train with everyone."

"Alright, but don't go looking for trouble without me," replied Smoke.

"I won't, as long as you promise to come visit my house like you did yesterday," countered Sierra.

"You would have to twist my arm to stop me from coming," bantered Smoke affectionately. "I'll be back before Burmistrz amasses another army."

"That is, if he doesn't come looking for us first," pointed out Sierra.

"Then, you'll just have to fortify Verbrannt and make it impossible for anyone to conquer it," said Smoke irrefutably.

* * * * * *

Inside Centzo's royal throne room, Smoke was kneeling in front of Duke Jeune.

"I'm sorry, Smoke, but our continental teleportation circle has been disabled because of the war," explained the young Duke. "And it would take a tremendous amount of power to have it working again."

"Why do you need it anyway?" asked Prosjak, who stood beside Jeune.

"As you might have heard, one of the Magietrois has been found in Vitzytl Kingdom," said Smoke and looked at Prosjak.

"Really? I've never heard of such reports," countered the royal adviser.

"Are you sure?" asked a surprised Smoke. "Maybe you should check your sources again?"

"I'm always up to date with my information," retorted Prosjak. "Maybe, it is you who should check who ever told you this information."

Smoke fell silent. He could not understand why Prosjak would not know about the shared information from the Beggar's Brotherhood.

"Anyway, I still say it is better for you to stay here in Wysteria," added Prosjak. "There is nothing for you in Sawtorn."

"Prosjak, please be quiet for a while," interjected Jeune. "Smoke, I am truly sorry that I cannot accommodate your request at this moment. However, I do know of an independent village far south from here."

Jeune signaled one of his attendants, and the man brought over a map to Smoke.

MAP LOCATION: Havre Village

Coordinates: Latitude: +10°09' S, Longitude: -291°15' E
Note: Two hundred kilometers away from current location.

"I heard that there are a lot of ships from the Sawtorn continent docking there. Maybe, you can find one and ask them to take you?" suggested Jeune.

"Thank you so much, your Grace," said Smoke gratefully and lowered his head before the young ruler.

Prosjak forcefully let out a cough. "Well, if you insist on going there, then may I suggest that you take on a disguise. Burmistrz should not know that you are out of the continent. You are one of his threats that is keeping his Cavalry Knights at bay from attacking."

"I see," replied Smoke. Just then he realized why Prosjak wanted him to commit to a full frontal assault.

The royal adviser wanted him to act as a pointed sword at Coatl.

"Don't worry, No one will know that I am in Sawtorn," assured Smoke.

Prosjak then signaled another attendant. This time, he was given a bag of precious jewels.

"Take this as a recompense for your loss," stated Prosjak solemnly. "I know that no amount of wealth could pay the life of a dear friend, but perhaps this could help you on your journey in the southern Kingdoms."

Smoke graciously accepted the bag, and respectfully lowered his head at Prosjak.

"Thank you both for your help," said Smoke and asked to leave.

"Before you go, you should know that Sawtorn is famous for Wizards and Magicians," stated Prosjak.

Smoke gave them both a small bow and left for Havre Village.

* * * * * *

Gliding beside the clouds, Smoke arrived in Havre after two hours of flight from Nanahuatl. He had to return home for one more time before he set off on another continent.

With the aid of his symbiote ability, Telefax Vision, he saw that it was a well developed village. It had sturdy stone walls and several armed Bowman on top of them.

He surmised that its land area was about only a third of Verbrannt. However, its harbor was far more advanced than Sierra's village. Or for any other village for that matter.

Learning his lesson from Mount Alouer, Smoke lowered himself before he entered the skies of Havre.

"Igniz, time to hide," he said to his dark ember sprite.

Without delay, his symbiote hid inside his metallic-orb compartment.

Smoke donned on an earth mask, which he made himself. He also painted his white metallic staff, and turned it to brown.

His hooded cloak, Wings of Cologus, were already brown to begin with. However, he asked James Jackal to alter it. The Master Tailor turned his cloak to appear that of a Wizard's.

Darius also gave him an ordinary Wizard's trousers with no added effect, but it did complete his perfectly brown motif.

"Who goes there?" suddenly asked one of the Bowman on top of Havre's walls.

"Good day, Sir," replied Smoke. "My name is Faux. I seek to find transport to Sawtorn."

"Never heard of you, and we don't take kindly to strangers," replied the Bowman.

Smoke then reached into his bag, and pulled out one of Prosjak's precious gems.

"Perhaps you know of this?" asked Smoke as he raised it above his head.

"Faux! Of course, you're a High Wizard, right?" said the Bowman and hurriedly went down to open the gate.

"The name's Venal," said the Bowman, and opened his palm to Smoke.

Smoke casually gave him the jewel, and Venal covertly placed it inside his pockets.

"I'm an Elementalist, an Earth Elementalist to be precise," answered Smoke.

"Right, Earth Elementalist Faux, I knew I recognized you," said Venal out loud for everyone to hear.

"Listen, if you want to get to Sawtorn, then I might know of someone," said the Bowman in a hushed tone as he ushered Smoke in. "But it comes at a price—"

Smoke silenced Venal by slipping him two more jewels.

"Right, this way, Faux," said Venal. The two of them headed for the docks.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Side Story:

To Live and Forget

The calm afternoon sun was setting over the southern seas of Wysteria. Yet, the village of Havre was still bustling with business. Sea Traders were rudely haggling with Merchants, who greeted them as soon as their ships reached the docks.

All of the Taverns were filled with Sailors, and other unsavory seafolk. Smoke even saw some questionable Zectians, who appeared to be members of the oldest profession.

Unintentionally staring at them, Smoke's guide called his attention.

"I was going to lead you directly to the docks, but perhaps you would like a quick visit at one of the inns?" asked Venal, the Bowman who Smoke paid.

"No, no it's fine. Please take me straight to the docks," he hurriedly replied.

Venal shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if you are sure. But if you do change your mind, please feel free to tell me. I have a great discount over at the Butterfly Sanctum."

Smoke strongly nodded. "Yup, definitely sure. I just want to be on a ship headed for Sawtorn."

Then, a HighElf Sonstwelter equipped with a Magician's robe blocked their path. He appeared to be of the same height as Smoke, but was slightly older.

"Hey, Venal. I thought I was leaving for Vitzytl yesterday," said the unknown Sonstwelter.

"High Wizard Malheur, I thank you for your patience and consideration," humbly replied Venal. "But it was out of my control that the ship headed for Sawtorn has only arrived today."

"In fact, Earth Elementalist Faux here is also your fellow passenger," added the Bowman quickly, diverting the attention from him to the disguised Smoke.

"Malheur," said the HighElf Wizard. "Nice to meet you, Faux."

Smoke cordially extended his hand and shook hands with Malheur. "Good to meet you too."

"Pardon my bluntness, but Faux sounds more like a Flame Wizard's name to me than an Earth Elementalist," said Malheur.

"Does it?" asked a surprised Smoke. "To be honest, I tried dabbling with Fire once. Didn't turn out so great."

"You should give it another go," stated Malheur. "I know how dangerous that element is. I specialize with Wind magic myself, and you know how Wind is weak against Fire."

"Alright, I'll give Fire magic another chance," answered Smoke.

"Oh, and what's up with the mask?" suddenly asked Malheur. "You're not ashamed of being a DarkElf, are you?"

"No. Of course not," strongly answered Smoke.

"That's good. I hope you're not one of those Smoke followers who picked the DarkElf race just because he's a DarkElf," explained Malheur. "Don't get me wrong. I personally have nothing against Smoke. It's just those radical followers of his."

"Really? Are there really a lot of DarkElves just because of Smoke?" he asked, astounded.

"Well, yeah. Most of them are in Vitzytl and Vizzu Kingdom," answered the HighElf. "Are you originally from here? From Chayotl Kingdom?"

"Um. Yeah, I'm actually from... Centza City." Smoke took a long time to answer as he tried to get his story straight.

"The Climatic City," added Malheur. "I've heard about that place. They say it's quite nice. Never been there, though."

Smoke politely nodded and smiled. Just then he realized that no one could see him smiling because of his mask.

Yet, his body gesture somehow conveyed it anyway as Malheur was smiling back at him.

"I'm just here because gaining my Continental Teleportation ability required me to be off the Sawtorn Continent," explained Malheur. "Can you believe such a quest? And to make matters worst, I suddenly got stuck here for a week as no ships were headed back to Vitzytl."

"Not until Sir Malheur met me of course," interjected Venal.

"Yes, yes. So, where is this famous ship, Naufrage?" heatedly asked Malheur. "Whose Captain is said to be a former Commander of the Ladrones del Mundo?"

"Captain Rongeur Malodorante is a famous Sailor, Sir. Please do not question his experience. Less you be willing to cross swords with him," respectfully stated Venal.

Malheur guffed. "Fine, fine. So, where is Captain Rongeur?"

"They were anchored at the docks half an hour ago," confidently said Venal. "Come, I'll introduce you to him."

Havre's docks were lined with ships. He counted at least twenty on one dock, and there were six docks in total.

Smoke saw Brigantines, a two-masted vessel with square-rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the main. Frigates, a large three-masted square rigger. He surmised it could hold at least two-hundred men on it.

Then, there were the slightly smaller vessels such as the Schooner. However, there were also the larger ones like the Brig. It was a bigger variant of the Brigantine, but designed to be faster and more maneuverable.

"So, which one is the Naufrage?" asked Smoke excitedly, as he searched for the name on the boats.

"It's still a few docks away," replied Venal and pointed farther ahead. "Aside from having a fearsome Captain, its crew is equally famous as well."

"Here we go again," groaned Malheur.

Venal ignored him and continued. "For the benefit of those who do not know, its first mate is the man called Mersinge. He swims so fast people say he has Merfolk in his bloodline. Then, there is also the cook, Chef Moche. His cooking is so delicious it is a wonder why he left the royal kitchens of Centeo City."

"Could you stop rambling on, and get us on board the ship already?" asked an agitated HighElf.

Venal raised his eyebrow at Malheur, and spoke fast. "And there's also other famous crew members such as Oursin, Mouette, and Escroc."

Smoke smiled at Venal, intrigued at the crew members who were taking him to Vitzytl. "They sound really impressive," he politely said to the Bowman.

When they finally reached the fifth dock, Venal turned and headed farther into it. They were greeted with Brigantines and Brigs which were docked along the way.

"Gentlemen, welcome to your ship," said Venal and pointed to a Schooner.

'I would have preferred a Brig or a Frigate, but maybe this would be much faster,' thought a pleased Smoke.

Smoke eagerly headed for the stairs of the ship. He guessed its length to be at thirty meters.

"Elementalist Faux, Elementalist Faux," called out Venal. "Hey, Faux!" shouted the Bowman when Smoke never answered to his made up name.

"What?" asked a surprised Smoke.

"That is, not the Naufrage," said Venal patiently.

"Oh, but I thought you were pointing to this one," apologized Smoke and joined the Bowman and the High Wizard.

"This is the Naufrage," proudly said Venal and pointed to a Junk ship. It had two masts with square sails, which were made from bamboo. Its length was half of the Schooner Smoke was just on.

"Oi, hello, Venal," said a burly overweight man with a Captain's hat on. "Do you perhaps have some special cargo for me to carry?"

"Aye, Captain Rongeur," eagerly replied Venal and ran up the Junk boat's ladder. The two dubious men discussed in whispers.

Smoke scrupulously observed the exchange between the two of them. He noticed Venal hand Rongeur one of his jewel and a bag of zecs.

After the two of them were done with their transaction, Rongeur turned to Smoke and Malheur. "Welcome aboard the Naufrage!" boomed the Captain of the Junk ship.

Smoke and Malheur joined Venal and Rongeur on board the boat.

"Can this thing really get us to Vitzytl?" questioned Malheur. "It doesn't even look like it will float for the next couple of hours."

The HighElf then turned to Venal. "You're a liar. You promised us a ship worthy of sailing all fourteen seas of Zectas, and you brought us to some shipwreck!"

"Hahaha," Rongeur sarcastically laughed. "You're a kidder aren't cha. Contrary to belief, Junk ships are capable of operating in any seas, and the Naufrage... well let us just say that she is a very sea-worthy vessel!"

The HighElf shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you say, but can we depart already?"

"Hold your horses, your majesty," sourly answered the Captain. "My crew ain't done loading our other cargos."

As Malheur and Rongeur were about to have a scuffle, Venal sneakily headed for the ladder.

"Well, now that the two of you are on board your ships, I'll take my leave," hurriedly said Venal, and scuttled off the ship.

"Wait a minute, Venal!" shouted Malheur.

"I have plenty of other friends that are headed this way with the same quest as myself," began the HighElf. "And after what you've delivered, I'll make sure that none of them will come to you for your services."

"Not a problem, Sir Malheur, but please feel free to recommend me to them when you do get back to Sawtorn," confidently replied Venal. "I think you will change your mind then."

After the Bowman left, Smoke turned to Rongeur. "Hi, my name is Faux," he said politely and offered his hand.

The Junk ship Captain briefly shook it.

"So, what are your crew loading?" curiously asked Smoke.

"Bananas," passively answered Rongeur. "Normally, we wouldn't even bother with them, but the price for them on Vona City have more than tripled."

Smoke thought about bringing other items he could trade at a higher price in Sawtorn, but his attention was drawn towards the city they were headed to.

"Vona City? Can you tell me something about it?" inquired Smoke.

Malheur rudely interjected. "There's nothing much to tell. Only that it's the poorest in Vitzytl Kingdom."

Suddenly, Rongeur drew out a dirk and aimed at the High Wizard. However, a gust of wind quickly knocked back the heavyset Captain.

"Don't you dare look down on Vona," angrily shouted Rongeur lying on the deck. "I have half a mind to return your zecs, and kick you off my ship!" he threatened Malheur.

Yet, the HighElf merely chuckled. "But you won't. I can tell from your appearance that you've fallen on hard times. Even if you were once a member of the notorious Ladrones del Mundo, you are clearly a shell of your former self."

Rongeur looked stunned. From the Captain's expression, Smoke surmised it to be true.

"I bet you would even grovel if I offered you money!" added Malheur.

"That's enough," said Smoke calmly as he tried to diffuse the tension on deck.

"Don't you but into this, Faux. I don't have anything against you, but I swear if you get on my nerves, you'll never see Sawtorn," menacingly stated Malheur.

Smoke gritted his teeth as he did his best not to attack the haughty HighElf. Disguised as Faux, the Earth Elementalist, he was restricted to use his Earth Manipulation ability. Otherwise, he would risk the chance of exposing himself as a fraud.

"I don't know how powerful you are on land, but on this ship. Water and Wind are King!" flatly added Malheur.

"Now, show me my chambers cabin boy," said the HighElf to Rongeur. "And I'll rest there until we depart."

Rongeur unwillingly got up and led the way.

Igniz glowed brightly from within his hidden chamber, angered by Malheur.

"Calm down, Bud. This isn't the time or place," said Smoke, and covered the metallic orb on his chest with his hand.

A few minutes later, five Zectians arrived. Three of them carried crates of bananas from the cart they pulled along. They had enlarged bodies and well built muscles to match, but what caught Smoke's attention was that one of them was an OrkElf.

"Hello, my name is Smo—" he quickly stopped himself as he almost gave out his real name to the OrkElf. "Faux."

"Oh, we have a passenger this time," said the OrkElf. He had brownish green skin, much like Sharur's.
"The name's Oursin."

Still carrying the heavy crates, Oursin motioned Smoke to step aside with his head.

"Oops, sorry about that," apologized Smoke and gave way.

The next one to climb aboard was a tiger Lioumerean. He eyed Smoke from head to toe, and did not say a word.

After him was a muscular bald man in his late thirties, he reminded him of Forte, one of the guards in the village of Sans Valeur.

Then, a beautiful golden-haired HighElf got on board. "Hello, my name is Mouette. I'm Naufrage's Navigator."

She looked to be in her early thirties.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Faux," replied Smoke.

"Oh, and this is the best cook in all the fourteen seas," said Mouette as she pointed to the person who came up after her.

He was a one-legged old man with a wooden peg for an artificial leg.

"Chef Moche," finished Mouette.

"Ah! A new dinner guest," said Moche happily. He offered Smoke his hand. "Nice to meet you, Faux."

"A pleasure to meet you as well," replied Smoke.

"And that bald man looking at you is the first mate, Mersinge," explained Moche. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite. Well, if he isn't hungry at least."

"And what about you?" Smoke asked the tiger Lioumerean. "What's your name?"

"The ride to Sawtorn only lasts two weeks," said the Lioumerean. "You don't need my name for that."

"He is Escroc," answered Mouette. "Sorry about that. Our crew doesn't easily open up to anyone."

"Then, you better stay far away from—" began Smoke, but stopped when Malheur and Rongeur appeared.

The Captain of the Naufrage greeted his members with a big smile. "I see you've met one of our guests," he began. "And this other one is Malheur."

The HighElf did not bother to reply, nor did he look at them.

"So, your crew and cargo are all here. Let's set sail already," commanded Malheur.

"Hey! You cannot order us around," interjected Mouette angrily.

"Sir Malheur has offered to pay us another three million zecs to set sail today," explained Rongeur. "I told him I'd ask all of you first before we accept his generous offer."

"But, Captain, today is a Thursday. You know how it is bad luck to sail on Thursdays and Fridays." argued Mersinge. "We should set sail on Saturday as scheduled."

Malheur let out a fake loud sigh. "Fine! I know of your idiotic superstitions. I'll add another three million zecs. With six of you here, that should give each one of you a plump million."

The crew fell silent, and all of them looked at each other. Their eyes were worried about the old sailor sayings, but the money was right there, for their taking.

Then, Oursin raised his hand. He was followed by Escroc, then Moche, and the rest of them all raised their hands.

"Alright, let's get her ready, then," ordered Rongeur.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" yelled the crew in unison.

"You must be very rich, Malheur," said Smoke to the HighElf.

"If you want to ask for money, don't bother. I'm not that charitable," said Malheur as he looked at Smoke's tattered brown clothes. "But you should save some money, and get an upgrade on your equipment soon."

Malheur returned to his cabin.

Since the crew were busy and Smoke didn't want to get in their way, he decided to retire to his chambers for the day as well.

Once inside, he found himself inside a tight space with a small bed. He had to curl up in order to lay on it.

Smoke opened the metallic orb on his chest and let out his symbiote.

"I'm gonna call it a night, bud. I'll see you in the morning," said Smoke to Igniz, and logged out of Zectas.

* * * * * *

The next day, before the sun was up over the waters, Smoke was already out on the deck of Naufrage. He saw Mersinge at the helm.

"Good morning, Mersinge, you slept well?" asked Smoke politely.

"I have been at the wheel since we departed from Havre," strictly answered Mersinge, without turning to face him.

"Oh," replied Smoke and gave out an embarrassed expression. "So, when is your shift gonna—"

Oursin suddenly appeared behind Smoke and took the helm from Mersinge.

"Good morning, Faux," said the OrkElf to Smoke.

"Morning, Oursin," replied Smoke cordially. "So, you going to get some shut-eye?" he turned to ask Mersinge, but the bald man was already gone.

"You know it's best if you leave him alone," explained Oursin. "He only really talks to the Captain and my sister."

"Your sister?" asked a surprised Smoke. Then, he realized that the OrkElf was talking about Mouette, the HighElf Navigator.

"I bet you didn't see that coming, huh?" asked Oursin.

"Just took me by surprise that's all," answered Smoke.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. That's the common reaction when I tell people that she's my sister," explained Oursin. "Who would think that a beautiful girl like her, would have a brother like me."

Smoke understood that their mother must have been raped by an Ork.

"And your mother?" bluntly asked Smoke. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I don't mind," answered Oursin. "She's living alone in our house in Vona City. Although, she got sick just recently. That's why the two of us are working so hard."

Even though he still had plenty of questions for Oursin, Smoke didn't say another word and stared blankly at the rising sun. He wanted to ask him, however, he simply did not know how to as his Intimacy with the OrkElf was still below 55.

"You look like you have a lot of questions on your mind," suddenly said Oursin. "I don't mind if you say them."

"How did it happen? How did your mother get...attacked by Orks?" slowly asked Smoke.

"Mother said that Mouette was still a little over a year old. They came to her village and attacked everything in sight," began Oursin. "The cities of Vitzytl maybe famous for their mages, but the outlands have an overgrown population of Orks."

Oursin let out a heavy sigh. "Mother quickly hid Mouette under the floors and wrapped her mouth tightly, leaving only her nose to breathe and stopping her from crying. She said that two of them came inside the house, but Mouette's father managed to drag one of them outside."

Smoke tightened his grip on the ship's railings as he listened.

"She said she fought him with all her might, but the remaining Ork managed to overpower my mother," said Oursin. "Mouette's father returned after he killed the Ork outside, but by then it was already too late. I was already conceived in her belly."

"And where is Mouette's father now?" asked Smoke.

"He died ten years ago," said Oursin bitterly. "He gave me a roof to live in. One could say he treated me well, but I did not feel any love from him."

Smoke didn't respond as he did not know what to say.

Oursin suddenly forcibly laughed. "He was even the one who named me. Can you believe him? Giving me this name? And people around us keep on saying how much of a great guy he is for raising me and not killing me."

An awkward silence immediately fell after Oursin explained his story.

"You know, I have two OrkElf friends back home," abruptly said Smoke. "Their names are Sharur and Jinggu."

"No wonder I had a good feeling about you," exclaimed Oursin. "So, why didn't you bring them with you to Sawtorn?"

"One of them died just recently, and his twin brother left without any warning. I haven't heard from him since," somberly explained Smoke.

"Sorry to hear that," said Oursin.

The two of them silently stared at the horizon as the sun rose higher above the seas.

"Hey, have you heard about the Skull Cap Pirates?" asked Oursin. "I hear they're famous pirates of the Murray. They say that the weapons that they carry are as big as their own bodies."

Smoke chuckled. "Really? They say that, huh?"

"Well, I hope we don't encounter any pirates like those," said Oursin hurriedly.

"But you've seen other pirates in these waters?" asked an intrigued Smoke.

"Here and there, but Naufrage can easily outrun most of them," proudly replied Oursin. "She is way better than she looks."

"I see," replied Smoke and smiled.

"The thing you should worry about in the Ausud Sea is its monsters," explained the OrkElf. "One of the six legendary monsters has been said to be very active lately, the Draugen. Its body is said to have the width of a ship and its length...Well, not even ten ships could compare to it. This sea monster does, however, have small arms for claws."

Smoke looked at him curiously. He was wondering whether he was just making all of this up.

"The Widower Draugen," said Oursin with a worried expression.

"Oh, but you forgot to tell him about another new monster that we keep on hearing about recently," suddenly said Mouette as the beautiful HighElf appeared from behind them.

"I hope my brother hasn't bothered you with his stories," she said brightly.

"No, it's fine. I like learning new things," answered Smoke. "And what about this new monster?"

"Well, they say that it has tentacles so long they could probably rival that of the legendary Kraken," explained Mouette.

"Then, we better steer clear from them," added Smoke.

The hours idly passed and the voyage to Sawturn remained uneventful. Smoke used this time to secretly train his Manatl inside the small confines of his cabin.

As the sun was about to set to end the day, Malheur stepped out of his quarters.

"Are we on schedule?" he asked Rongeur who was at the helm.

"Yes," briskly answered the Captain. "With fair winds we should arrive in Vitzytl, eight days from now."

"Eight days?" asked a surprised Smoke. "I thought the voyage was suppose to last two weeks?"

"That is, if you were on one of those slower Brigantines," promptly answered Oursin.

"I told you the Naufrage was better than she looks," said the OrkElf and patted Smoke's shoulder.

Then, Escroc suddenly called Rongeur's attention.

"Captain, there are two large bull sharks following us," said the tiger Lioumerean. "Do you want me to harpoon them?"

"No, no, just throw some chum at them, they'll probably leave us alone," replied Rongeur.

"I knew it, bad luck has come aboard our ship," accused Mersinge, looking at Malheur.

"Come on now, Mersinge," chided Mouette. "Sharks following our ship doesn't really mean that we're—"

The HighElf stopped talking as dark storm clouds gathered up ahead.

Hail began to shower from the clouds as a lone blue monstrous body protruded out of the water, its head presumably inside the dark skies.

"It's the Draugen!" shouted a terrified Mouette.

Two large blue eyes glowed from behind the muddled atmosphere.

Suddenly, a large hail, three-meters in diameter, blasted from above.

Malheur calmly stepped in front and changed the trajectory of the hail.

"We have to get out of here," said Mouette in panic.

"The wind is pushing us towards the Draugen," replied Rongeur as he tried to steer away.

Posthaste, Malheur pointed his scepter at the sails and chanted. Instantly, a casting circle appeared in front of the High Wizard, spewing out a strong gust of wind. The Naufrage was forcibly pushed backward.

However, the Draugen began attacking with a hail storm. Several hails, twice the size of Smoke's fist bombarded their ship.

Six of these icy projectiles hit Malheur's back, canceling his casting circle. The High Wizard's life bar displayed (220,000/250,000 HP) as he was sprawled on deck.

Smoke wanted to help, but there was no earth to manipulate near him.

"Can none of you attack that monster at all?" asked Malheur while slowly getting up.

"Attack!" yelled Rongeurs, and four harpoons were released all at once.

It accurately pierced through Draugen's scales, but its life bar indicated (980,000/1,000,000 HP).

Rongeur threw a harpoon as well. This time, five harpoons were flying in the air.

Yet, before this round of attacks pierced the giant blue dragon, they released another two more rounds of harpoons at the beast.

"KRRAAAAAH!" roared Draugen angrily.

Their ship violently rocked with the waves as everything around them was suddenly pelted with hails by the hundreds.

Malheur tried deflecting the frozen attacks away from them, but the ice attacks were beyond his control.

"Faux, do something!" angrily shouted Malheur.

Smoke did not respond as he was confused whether to expose himself to a complete stranger.

"We need to distract it," suggested Smoke. "Long enough for you to cast your spell and take us to safety."

"Brilliant idea," answered Malheur.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind picked Smoke up and threw him off the ship.

"If you aren't good for anything, then just satisfy that monster's appetite," plainly stated Malheur. "Better you than the Zectian crew, right?" he yelled at Smoke.

"Man overboard!" shouted Mersinge.

The bald burly man threw Smoke a lifesaver, and tried to dive in after him. Yet, before Mersinge could jump off, the High Wizard recasted his strong gust of wind on the sails and sent the Naufrage jumping through the waves.

Left behind, Smoke hurriedly put up a concave Manatl above his head with his recently colored brown staff. The hail storm did not let up and pounded on his barrier.

SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

"Igniz, are you alright in there?" asked Smoke as he debated with himself whether or not to let out his symbiote against a gigantic ice dragon.

However, Smoke had no time to think as the two bull sharks, who followed their ship before, appeared from behind him.

Upon closer inspection on their horns, he realized that these sharks were larger than any regular bull sharks.

"Damn it!" he shouted with frustration.

Smoke could not cover a full spherical Manatl as he needed to absorb the current one before activating a new one.

As he was about to absorb the gathered energy of his barrier, several large tentacles with dozens of sharp teeth on them latched onto the Draugen's body.

'That must be the new monster Mouette was talking about,' surmised Smoke, and transferred the energy into his brown-colored-staff.

He turned to face the two bull sharks, but was surprised to see that they swiftly swam past him.

The two bull sharks leapt out of the sea and ram their horns into the Draugen's body. They pointed it downward, slicing through its scales before returning to the sea.

"What are these sharks?" he asked out loud, amazed at their attacks.

Draugen focus its hail storm on the two sharks, revealing their life bars and names Cornu (460,163/550,000 HP) Requin (461,029/550,000 HP).

"Hey, I know these sharks," he said to Igniz, who was still hidden inside his orb.

"If those sharks are the ones from the lake in Saruras Village, then those tentacles must belong to… Calamar!"

The colossal squid's head popped out of the sea. Its eyes were even larger than before. While the two bull sharks were busy biting sections out of Draugen, Calamar gave Smoke a knowing wink.

Suddenly, one of Calamar's tentacles sent him out of the water and flying through the air. With his energized staff, Smoke slammed it hard below the Draugen's eye, damaging it for 100,000 points.

Smoke expertly kicked off the massive blue dragon, and glided a few meters away. He quickly readied a full spherical Manatl before another hail storm came swirling through.

His energized strike distracted the Draugen.

Cornu, Requin, and Calamar quickly took advantage of this. The twin bull sharks took out larger chunks of the sea monster's flesh, while the colossal squid itself went after its eyes.

Due to the trio's coordinated attacks, the Draugen's hail storm ceased.

Smoke quickly switched out his staff for his twin lightning rods, and landed safely on top of the Draugen's head.

He helped Calamar's tentacles beat the hit points out of the sea monster with each of his Lightning Shock attacks.

Yet, suddenly, the Draugen's hail storm resumed its attack. Calamar, Requin, and Cornu were all directly hit by them.

The three sea creatures got blasted back into the water. Then, the Draugen dove in after them. Smoke, who was gliding, could not see what was happening to them underwater.

Seconds quickly turned to minutes, and Smoke was still none the wiser. He only saw pillars of water randomly erupt from the bottom of the sea. He could not begin to fathom the savage battle going on below.

With his brown-coated staff still uncharged, Smoke switched to his twin lightning rods in preparation, patiently waiting for an opening.

However, it was the bull sharks who were first exposed out the water. Their orange life bars displayed below 30%.

"Calamar, I know you can take that sea monster!" cheered Smoke from above.

Then, the colossal squid's head popped out. It was filled with wide scars across its face. Calamar's life bar displayed (450,000/900,000 HP).

Smoke intensely searched for the Draugen. Suddenly, he spotted a part of its body protrude out of the sea.

Not missing this opportunity, Smoke joined his twin rods and fired his Lightning Strike at the sea monster.

After the bright flash of light disappeared, it was revealed that the Draugen's life bar only had (325,000/1,000,000 HP) left.

With the Draugen temporarily paralyzed, Smoke yelled out to his sea comrades. "Calamar, Requin, Cornu, finish it!"

The three sea creatures dove in after the Draugen, and prevented the sea monster from submerging away from them.

Through their joint efforts, the Draugen's body was forcibly revealed above water. Smoke quickly let out Igniz from his secret compartment. Equipped with his power chainsaw bow, the two of them showered their fire power on it.

The injured bull sharks mercilessly slashed their horns against the Draugen's scales, greatly reducing its defense and exposing its soft flesh to Smoke and Igniz.

The DarkElf and his symbiote efficiently targeted the injured areas and piled on the damage as the two of them remained in the safety of the skies.

Whereas, Calamar tangled all of its tentacles around the wide girth of the sea monster's body. Hundreds of small sharp-toothed mouths continuously gnawed on the ganged up Draugen.

Rapidly, the sea monster's life bar was being reduced to less than 2%. Yet, before they could finish it off, the Draugen let out a final hail storm.

The large chunks of ice pelted on Smoke, Igniz, Calamar, Requin, and Cornu. All of them were forced to stop their attacks.

Freed from Calamar's tentacles, the Draugen desperately dove down to escape from them. However, Calamar's long arms grabbed a hold of the escaping sea monster.

Calamar's dozens of jagged-teeth mouths drained the last remaining hit points from the Draugen. Finally, ending its reign of terror over the southern seas of Wysteria.

* * * * * *

Smoke comfortably sat on top of Calamar's head. His mini-map indicated no close islands within gliding range by his Wings of Cologus.

Luckily, his friend from Saruras Lake offered to take him. Cornu and Requin, the twin bull sharks underlings of Calamar, followed them as well.

"So, you spotted me the whole time I was on the ship?" Smoke asked Calamar.

"GRAK GRAK GRAK GRAAKK GRAAAAK," was Calamar's only response.

Smoke surmised that the colossal squid was pleased to see him.

'It sure was a good thing I helped it escape that lake,' thought a pleased Smoke to himself.

"Say, do you mind taking me to Sawtorn?" daringly asked Smoke. "I'm not sure how far it is, but it should only probably take you a week—"

The DarkElf stopped talking as a tentacle grabbed him by the legs and ruthlessly plunged him deep into the water.

Smoke could do nothing below, and frantically tapped on Calamar's squishy arms as he begged for air.

The colossal squid pulled him out the water, and placed him back on its head.

"Okay, okay. A simple no would have sufficed," said Smoke between deep breaths as his lungs longed for oxygen.

"I don't suppose you could track down the ship I was on?" asked Smoke.

Calamar nor the two bull sharks did not respond to him in any way.

Smoke tried communicating with his three aquatic friends, but none of them answered to him.

Then, after an hour of swimming, Smoke saw a large island filled with green trees. He quickly checked his map to see what it was, but was surprised to see nothing reflected on his screen.

"Hey, do you know this place?" Smoke questioned Calamar.

"Ummuuuum muuuu," replied Calamar, and its tentacles formed like a shrugging shoulder.

Smoke let out a deep sigh. "Alright, maybe I can find a boat or somebody who could help me get to Sawtorn," he said to himself out loud.

Calamar brought Smoke as close to the shore as its body would allow, and its tentacles brought him to the sandy beach even closer.

As soon as Smoke and Igniz entered the island's territory, a notification window popped up.

- Entered Trugbild Island

- Inhabitants of the island are currently unknown
- Suggested level for entering this island is ???

"This place doesn't look so bad," said Smoke to Igniz. He then turned to Calamar, Requin, and Cornu and waved at them gratefully.

"Thanks for all the help!" yelled Smoke as his aquatic friends were now far from the shore. "I hope I'll see you guys again."

Facing the island, he found the trees to be wider than they looked. He took out his power chainsaw bow as a precautionary measure, and began to explore the unknown land.

His Cunning of the Dire Fox could not sense any monster larger than a meter in the immediate area. The largest monsters living here were only iguanas, gambian rats, and sea hawks. The rest were small insects that gave no threat to him at all.

"Be on the look out," he calmly said to Igniz, still vigilant despite the lack of dangerous monsters.

Searching for any semblance of intelligent life forms, Smoke decided to take to the skies.

The island was much larger than he anticipated. The bountiful trees that greeted him on the beach extended throughout the entire atoll.

Even while gliding, he still could not see where the island ended.

After flying for ten minutes, he finally spotted a clearing. Upon further inspection with his Telefax Vision, he discovered that it was a small village. It was surrounded by a thick wooden wall made of stitched up trunks.

Learning from his experience, Smoke landed some distance away from it for safety reasons.

"Time to hide, Igniz," said Smoke to his symbiote, and the dark ember sprite obediently followed his orders.

Switching to his brown-coated staff, Smoke ventured towards the village disguised as Faux, the Earth Elementalist.

When he was only a few meters away, he was spotted by one of the village sentries.

"Intruder! Intruder!" yelled a female villager, on guard duty.

At once, the wooden gate was closed. Smoke cautiously continued moving forward, prepared at any moment to put up his Manatl.

"Hello!" yelled out Smoke. "I mean you no harm. I'm alone and got marooned on your lovely island."

As soon as he finished saying he was alone, he regretted it.

'Now, the villagers are probably thinking of attacking me,' thought a perturbed Smoke.

"Yeah, sure you are!" shouted another girl on the wall. "The moment we open our gates, the rest of your crew will come in and attack us."

"No, no, no. I swear," explained Smoke. "Here, you can have this as a token of my sincerity." He hurriedly took out one of Prosjak's jewels and offered it to them.

"What are we supposed to do with a shiny rock?" asked the first guard. "We have thousands of those scattered inside Mount Luzid."

'Is it possible that these people have no idea how valuable these gems are?' wondered Smoke to himself.

"How about this?" he asked, as he tried to take out a stone deer's leg from his bag, several crude arrows came flying towards him.

Smoke reflexively used his Hyper Jump ability and leapt backwards.

"Hey, hey, relax," said Smoke as he raised both his hands. The leg of the stone deer was exposed for all of the resident guards to see.

"What kind of meat is that? I've never seen gambian rats that big," said a male guard.

"This is a leg of a stone deer," began Smoke. "It's a monster that lives on the continent of Wysteria."

"Wysteria? Never heard of it," stated the first guard, who spotted him. "Let me inform the chief about this."

The female guard disappeared, and Smoke remained standing where he was until she returned ten minutes later.

Then, a well-built middle-aged man appeared on top of the walls.

"I am Blöd Mensch. Chief of Schmucklos Village," said the middle-aged man. His face looked troubled as he stared at Smoke. "Forgive my rudeness, but why do you have purple skin?"

"That's because I'm a DarkElf," he answered quickly. "But is this really Schmucklos Village?" asked a surprised Smoke.

"Yes, yes it is," proudly said Blöd. "Have you heard of us?" He got excited at the fact that Smoke asked about their village, clearly forgetting about his skin color.

"Um. No, it's just that your village sounds really... interesting," said Smoke with a straight face as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Due to Smoke's shown interest on their village, Blöd appeared to reciprocate the same on him.

"Let him in, Schön," said Blöd to the first guard who greeted Smoke.

The moment Smoke passed through the village gates, a notification window popped up.

+ Entered Schmucklos Village

Due to Trugbild island's rich plant bearing trees, this village is mostly composed of Gatherers.

"Now, I presume that stone deer leg is for us?" asked Blöd as he welcomed Smoke.

"Yes, it is," replied Smoke with a smile and handed it to them.

Blöd eagerly took it, and took a whiff of the raw meat. "Hm. Smells a bit funny."

"By the way, what was your name again?" asked the village Chief.

"My name is Faux," answered Smoke, and gave him a small bow.

"Well, Faux, since this is our first time seeing this," said Blöd pointing to the stone deer leg. "Perhaps you can also show us how to cook it? Which is perfectly in time for supper."

"Certainly, I'd be happy to," said Smoke and accepted the leg again.

He was led a few meters into what appeared to be the center of Schmucklos Village.

"Wait here while we gather the rest of the village," said the old chief.

Those who were already there, placed several torches, and put up tables and chairs for the arriving residents.

It only took a few minutes for every villager to be gathered. As soon as all one hundred forty of them were assembled, Smoke immediately noticed that they were mostly composed of females. He estimated the ratio to be at least four to one.

He would have wanted to know more about it, but decided not to ask.

Then, Blöd gathered the crowd's attention.

"Everyone, a new friend has arrived from the land we only thought of as a myth," began the chief. "Faux has brought us a delectable dish from Wysteria."

Looking at the populace, he realized that one leg was not enough to feed all of them. He whole-heartedly prepared four more deer legs for them.

He dazzled them with his fast Cooking ability. He minced the vegetables and spices that he needed to grill the deer. Aided by Igniz sporadically heating up the flames, he finished the dish in less than twenty minutes.

After slicing up the meat and serving them to the masses, Smoke started talking to Blöd in order to raise his Intimacy with him.

"How do you like it?" asked Smoke as he sat next to the middle-aged man.

"It is really juicy. Much juicier from the dead carcass of the gambian rats," Blöd replied promptly.

"And what kind of food do you usually eat here?" politely asked Smoke.

"Well, we mostly pick the fruits from the trees outside, and sometimes we come across dead gambian rats and grill them," answered Blöd.

"What about fishing? Do you have any fishing boats?" probed Smoke as he searched for a way off of the island.

"Well, there are a few of us who like to go to the shore and spear fish, but with so few men around, we do not go there as often," explained Blöd. "Also, we have to stay here and defend our people."

"Huh? Defend them from what? Are there other monsters on this island?" questioned Smoke, intrigued.

"Calling them monsters would be an understatement," spewed out Blöd. "Once a week, they come here by the hundreds, equipped with sharp swords and thick armors. There is no way for us to fight them off."

Smoke stood up and briefly inspected their village walls. "But there doesn't seem to be any signs of struggle on your walls?"

"Well, that is probably because they are amazing climbers," explained Blöd.

"Exactly what kind of monsters are they?" asked Smoke.

"Iguarats!" exclaimed Blöd. "They look like the unlawful offspring of the iguanas and the gambian rats. Although, they are only a meter tall, they possess great speed, sharp claws, and deadly cunning. They loyally serve their Queen, Gehirnwäsche."

Smoke gave him a sympathetic look, and studied the village walls. "And what do these Iguarats do when they attack?"

"They loot the fruits that we've gathered. Even the rotting carcass of the gambian rats," responded Blöd.

"What day did you say they attack again?" asked Smoke. He looked up and saw the bright moon already in the sky. He was busy preparing the villagers their first decent carnivorous dish that he failed to notice it had grown late into the night.

"Monday. A few minutes before the sun rises," replied Blöd.

"Maybe I could help you against them as well," offered Smoke. "If you don't mind. I'd like to stay in your village and defend it."

"Really? You would do that for us?" Blöd's voice cracked. "But you just met us today?"

"My grandmother always told me, a stranger is just a friend you haven't met," began Smoke. "And I've already met you. So, please, let me do this for you."

"If you're really sure about this, then I would gladly welcome it," responded Blöd.

Unexpectedly, a notification window popped up.

+ Quest: Save Schmucklos
Protection Quest
Level: B

Upon your suggestion, you have offered to defend Schmucklos Village from its Iguarat invaders.

[Quest Accepted]

Still, with a little more than a day left, Smoke asked to be excused. He was given one of the empty houses. Curiously, there were plenty of them in stock.

* * * * * *

After only two hours of sleep in the real world, Smoke briskly returned to Zectas. It was still four in the morning and there was no hint of the sun shining. The poor lighting barely made him see anything in front of him.

Since the village was even smaller than Nanahuatl, Smoke quickly finished digging a deep trench with his wand, behind the surrounding village wall. Afterwards, he created sharp earth spikes inside them.

With his Advance Level 5 Earth Manipulation, he also created a small two-story building similar to the one he built for Banal Village. There were several small holes where their crude spears and arrows could come out of.

+ Fortalice of Schmucklos Completed

People fighting inside the fortalice gain +30 Attack and +100 Defense.

The residents moved all of their food supplies and essentials into the fortalice at the heart of the village.

His accumulated experience of defending villages against raids came in handy as it allowed him to expeditiously finish the necessary preparations.

Time quickly flew by, and he only had four hours left before the expected arrival of the Iguarats.

Once again at four in the morning of the next day, Smoke stood on top of the wooden walls. He was waiting for the first sign of the invaders. He looked down on the trench below and smiled at his work. The poor lighting made the trench and earth spikes blend in well with the ground. To the point where it appears to be a plain clearing from on top of the wall.

Smoke had already sealed all of the villagers inside the earth fortalice. He also sealed off the doors, disabling any stubborn resident from stepping outside.

As he stared at the unlit trees, his Cunning of the Dire Fox detected the presence of enemies. There were three-hundred in front of him and five hundred on the other side of the village.

Yet, he could not see any of them as they were still hidden within the trees.

In order not to alarm the attackers, Smoke equipped one of the villager's crude arrows without having Igniz enchant them with Fire.

Sensing the direction of one of the invaders, he attacked one of the Iguarats with a single arrow from his power chainsaw bow. Despite the poor visibility, the invader's life bar and name were both reflected. Masoch Iguarat (65,000/80,000 HP).

"They're Beast Types," said Smoke to Igniz, who was still inside his metallic orb. He concluded this as soon as he saw his high damage. It was because of his Beast Monarch ability, which increases his damage against this type of monsters.

Smoke hurriedly leapt off the wall and glided to the top of the fortalice.

SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH

He could hear them clawing through the wooden walls of the village as they climbed up.

"Remember, Bud, leave a single opening for them to escape to. Then, we'll finish them off when they try to run," Smoke reminded his symbiote of their game plan.

After a few seconds, the walls were littered with Iguarats. Since the sun had still not risen, visibility was poor.

The invaders carelessly leapt off the walls and landed into Smoke's trench filled with earth spikes.

"Aaahhh!" "Waahhh!" "Yawch!"

Smoke heard different screams from the trenches, as some of the Iguarats were impaled into the earth spikes. The invaders who jumped later, noticed his trap. They sprang farther away and tumbled on the ground with a bad fall. Yet, they cleared the distance of the deadly trench.

'I expected something like this would happen,' he thought as he patiently waited for all of them to be off the wall.

He could only rely on his Cunning of the Dire Fox to sense where the enemies were, as his eyesight could not see anything beyond three-meters. Finally, all of the attackers were on the ground.

As soon as he noticed some of the Iguarats slowly come out of the trenches. He called out the second phase of their operation. "Igniz, light them up!"

Igniz flew out from his hidden compartment and created a sea of flames inside the trenches. The dark ember sprite glowed brightly at the center of the village as he fired off Firewalls after Firewalls after Firewalls.

Schmucklos Village illuminated brightly in the early dawn. Smoke could now clearly see their freakish appearance.

As soon as one of the Iguarats stepped out of the flames, he saw that they were a little over a meter tall. They had a head and body of the iguanas with the limbs and tails of a gambian rat. Curiously enough, they were bipedal and were equipped with short swords and leather armor.

Then, he heard one of them yell out a command. "For the glory of Queen Gehirnwäsche, rush the man on top of that strange looking building!"

Smoke searched the direction of where the voice came from, and saw that it was from the largest Iguarat, who had to be at least two meters in height. He had on a strange looking head-piece, which appeared to look like a bronze crown.

Using his proper projectiles coated with poison, Smoke rapidly fired them off and let out a torrential rain of arrows in the large Iguarat's direction, but he retreated behind his charging comrades.

A single arrow inflicted 30,000 damage points on the Iguarats. He made sure to only hit them once, allowing them to run towards him in their poisoned state.

Smoke focused on the enemies in front of him, as Igniz was the one in charge of the Iguarats in the back. The dark ember sprite created more firewalls, and targeted the ones closest to them.

His Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed three-hundred Iguarats rushing towards him, while the rest, he assumed were still caught inside his trench of spikes and flames.

The Iguarats careened their way towards Smoke on top of the fortalice. Through their large numbers and sheer will power, a few of the invaders reached the sealed central structure.

Yet, as soon as they made contact with its holey walls, they were pierced with the villagers' spears. Dozens of Iguarat bodies were scattered in front of the fortalice as the residents finished them off.

Smoke intentionally wanted the villagers to take part in wiping out the invaders. In order to give them the courage to face them on their next attack.

Four more waves of half-dead Iguarats reached the fortalice, but all of them were wiped out without even reaching the DarkElf on top of it.

Then, Smoke heard the largest Iguarat give it another order. "Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"

The Iguarat leader stood on the escape path that Smoke had prepared. The remaining Iguarats filed into a straight line.

'Just like I planned,' smirked Smoke. He looked up at his symbiote, about to give him the next order, when a sword suddenly pierced through his stomach.

Smoke faced his attacker and found the Iguarat leader smirking at him. "The name is King Übel Blick. I'll come back for you stranger. But, next time, I'll bring the Queen's selection army."

"Igniz, finish them off," ordered Smoke, blood suddenly gushed out from his mouth. He received the Bleeding status and was injured for 30%.

His dark ember sprite was about to follow his instructions, but Übel threw his shield at Smoke. Reflexively, Igniz fired several fireballs to change the trajectory of the shield.

When Igniz turned to create the sea of firewalls, Übel and the surviving Iguarats had already climbed over the village walls.

Smoke pulled out Übel's sword and blood gushed out from his belly. His life bar was quickly draining. "Igniz, I need your help," he called out to his symbiote.

"Can you cauterize this wound for me?" he pointed to large lesion on his stomach.

Posthaste, the dark ember sprite glowed brightly as it let out his hottest flames to seal the wound.

Smoke calmly chewed on a jerky to increase his life bar.

"Let us out of here!" yelled Blöd, the village chief.

"Wait a minute. I need to confirm that it's safe," responded Smoke.

"Don't worry about us. You saw how we killed them when they came in contact with our spears," argued Blöd.

Despite being injured, Smoke smirked at the residents' gained confidence. Even though the Iguarats were already severely injured, the fact remained that the villagers were the one who killed them.

This was what he wanted from the start. To give them the confidence to face these invaders. "Alright, alright, but I'm almost done. Please hold on for a bit longer."

After he had recovered, he stood up and checked the immediate vicinity of the village. There were no signs of any living Iguarats in the area.

He used his Earth Manipulation to open the sealed fortalice, and briskly all of the Schmucklos' warriors came out with spears and arrows.

"Amazing," said Blöd as he looked at the sea of flames surrounding the village. The well designed flames did not damage the wall nor did it reach outside the trench. "Are all DarkElves this powerful?" asked the astonished chief.

"Generally speaking, I think so," humbly replied Smoke.

However, Smoke's face quickly became serious as he remembered what the Iguarat King threatened them with. "Blöd, what is this Selection Army that Iguarat King was talking about?"

Blöd's jubilant countenance instantly vanished. His face turned sullen and took a seat on the nearest unused log.

"Hm... The reason most of the villagers here are women is because when we fight with the Iguarats, they only kill the men," explained Blöd.

"And this is because of the 'Selection,'" added the village chief. "Every twenty years, the entire Iguarat Queendom raid our village and take one of our young females. They mostly range from ages sixteen to nineteen."

"They just take one female?" asked an intrigued Smoke. "What do they do with her?"

Blöd shamefully looked down. "I'm not sure. Five years ago, during the last Selection, I and three others ventured into the Iguarat Castle to try and rescue her."

The village chief paused as he regretfully remembered the past. "But we stopped even before we got in. We could already hear screams of torture. I couldn't begin to imagine what they were doing to my little girl."

"What? The one they abducted was your daughter?" asked a surprised Smoke.

"Yes," replied a broken-hearted Blöd. "I tried to enter, but the other volunteers stopped me. They told me to think about my other children."

Smoke was speechless. He did not know what to say to a father whose daughter was taken from him.

"But after seeing you in battle, I know that you can finally free us from them," excitedly explain the village chief. "Please, kill their Queen, Gehirnwäsche."

+ Quest: Save Schmucklos
Protection Quest Updated!
Level: A

After successfully warding off the Iguarats, Blöd Mensch has asked you to remove
the source of their heartaches. The Iguarat's monarch, Queen Gehirnwäsche.

"Alright, I'll do it," said Smoke.

Blöd gave out a relieved smile, as if he had already slain the Iguarat Queen. "Great! I'll take you to their castle, just tell me when you want to leave."

"Wait, wait, wait. What about this village? What about your  other children? I was thinking of going by myself. You could just show me the directions and—" but Smoke was quieted by the village chief.

"Nonsense! I shall join you. They already killed my two sons, and my other daughter is already married," stated Blöd with finality.

Smoke wanted to ask him about his wife, but decided not to.

* * * * * *

Due to Blöd's strong insistence, Smoke and him were traveling on foot. On their way to Gehirnwäsche Castle.

They had to pass through the plains, and from there, Smoke saw the majestic Mount Luzid. It was the largest mountain on the island of Trugbild.

"Is that the mountain Schön was talking about? A mountain containing this?" asked Smoke, and raised one of Prosjak's precious gems.

Smoke remembered her telling him how there were several jewels, much like the ones he offered her, inside the mountain.

"Yeah, there are plenty of those shiny rocks there," replied Blöd passively. "What good are those things for anyway?"

"Well, people use them as a status symbol," answered Smoke. "Trinkets and such."

Blöd looked at Smoke with a raised eyebrow. "Really? That sounds weird."

After a full day of travel, they finally arrived in a front of a decent-sized mansion.

'This does not look like a castle at all,' thought Smoke to himself.

Yet, after realizing the size of the houses in Blöd's village, he understood why they would call this place as such.

"Aaarrrgh!"

"Owwwww!"

"Aaaakk!"

Suddenly, they heard screams of torture from outside the Iguarat Castle.

"I'm guessing those are the terrifying shrieks that made you turn back, the last time?" asked Smoke.

Blöd nodded his head in agreement. He tightened his grip on his crude spear. "But this time no one is here to stop me."

Silently, the two of them made their way near the walls of the mansion. It had high windows, so, Smoke had to scale its walls using his Claws of Chiroptera.

When he got to it, Blöd kept on asking him. "What do you see? What do you see?"

"Shh!" Smoke shushed the excited village chief. "A tall slender Iguarat is punishing King Übel Blick."

The formerly largest Iguarat was on all fours while being whipped by the Queen with her whip. She had a crown made of gold, and a curious looking mask which covered her face completely. Her long robes also covered her entire body.

"I'm sorry Queen Gehirnwäsche!" screamed Übel. "That stranger looked really powerful, but next time we'll be— Arrgh!"

Übel was whipped on his butt once more.

'This looks like a perfect opportunity,' thought Smoke to himself as the King and Queen Iguarat were busy with themselves.

Without looking at Blöd, he told him of his plan. "I need you to stay here and keep a lookout on any potential guards. If there are, I want you to warn me, and hide afterwards. You got that, Blöd? Blöd?"

Smoke looked at the ground below him, but saw no sign of the village chief. Then, he turned to the other window, to the back of him and saw Blöd.

"Alright, it's just the two of them. Let's do this," excitedly said the village chief. Without any other warning, he squeezed himself into the window.

THUD

The King and Queen Iguarats instantly faced the fallen  Blöd.

"Blöd Mensch!" cried out the village chief, yelling his own name at the top of his lungs.

"Attack him, my Queen," yelled out the Iguarat King.

WHIPISH

With one crack of her bow, Queen Gehirnwäsche knocked off Blöd's crude spear.

However, as soon as she did, Smoke arrived at her side as he used his Hyper Jump ability. Equipped with his twin lightning rods, he unarmed the Iguarat Queen's whip with a fluid Eskrima move.

He then struck her chin with a Lightning Shock attack, and stunned for a few seconds. The attack unintentionally removed her mask.

Smoke was about to attack her, when he suddenly felt the King coming at him from behind.

The second largest Iguarat had a sword and shield at hand, and aimed at him.

Turning his attention on the King, Smoke parried the Iguarat's sword and attacked him with his second rod. Yet, Übel was able to block it with his shield.

"Guards! Guards! We are being att—" Übel was silenced by a pin-point strike to his chin. The Iguarat King was sent flying through the air as Smoke knocked him back with a Lightning Shock attack.

Seconds later, dozens of Iguarats came rushing through the doors.

Smoke would have wanted to use his weighted chain and sickle, but sadly, he lost it during his battle with Ultimo. It was the dropped item when he died during that fight.

Needing backup, Smoke let out Igniz of his metallic chamber. "Igniz, you have to slow them down."

At once, his symbiote created a sea of firewalls around them, blocking the path of the Iguarats. He then began firing his fireballs at the Iguarats who tried to brave his flames.

With the Iguarat reinforcements delayed, Smoke then took out silver and black pieces of rocks, and scattered them in front of him. He then casted his Golem Creation as he used two electro stones as the power source of his metallic minions.

More Iguarats came rushing in, some of them got past Igniz's firewall. Yet, they were met by Smoke's two metallic golems.

"Smoke! It's Verloren, my daughter. Look!" yelled out the village chief as he pointed towards the unmasked Iguarat Queen.

Despite several enemies arriving, Smoke turned to face her, and saw a woman with the same face as Blöd Mensch.

She stood up, and with a blank expression on her face, stared back at him. The supposed Iguarat Queen did not attack them. Yet, her eyes were clearly in daze.

"Queen Gehirnwäsche, attack them, now!" yelled out the Iguarat King.

After the King's instructions, Verloren, the village chief's daughter, began attacking Smoke and her father with her whip.

Smoke leapt back and dodged her attack, but Blöd got hit and damaged by 20% on his life bar.

'Four more strikes of that whip and Blöd is dead,' surmised Smoke.

However, Blöd did not back away and bravely held on to his daughter's whip. "Verloren, it's me. It's your Dada."

"Stop! What are you doing to our Queen?" shouted the Iguarat King. "Stop telling her lies!"

Slowly, Verloren's eyes became watery. Her tears uncontrollably flowed. "Dad? Dada?" she uttered in a bewildered tone.

Suddenly, the Iguarat King came running towards Verloren. He removed his bronze crown, revealing a third eye on middle of his forehead.

"No one can take you away from me, Gehirnwäsche," yelled Übel Blick. "Face me!" The Iguarat King's third eye began swirling around, trying to hypnotize Verloren.

However, a flash of bright blue light filled the large room. Smoke used his Lightning Strike on Übel and damaged him for 150,000 points. His life bar was left with 25%.

With the Iguarat King paralyzed, Smoke rushed him with his Hyper Jump ability. He unleashed a flurry of blows on him with his twin lightning rods.

Strategically inflicting Lightning Shocks on Übel to prolong the Iguarat's stunned state.

Meanwhile, Blöd ran to his daughter and hugged her. Verloren's eyes started to became clearer.

"No! You belong to me!" yelled out the Iguarat King as Smoke delivered the final blow, reducing Übel's life bar to zero.

+ Your party has dealt a fatal blow to the Iguarat King: Übel Blick.
+ Your party killed the Iguarat King: Übel Blick.
+ Your party gained 500,000 experience points.

As the corpse of the Iguarat King faded into Mictlan, it left behind one item. An extremely large book with ancient leather cover.

+ Acquired book: Memoirs of Magnat

After Smoke gathered the book, he was about to face the remaining Iguarats blocked by Igniz and his metallic golems. He wanted to make sure that the reunited father and daughter could escape unscathed.

Then, a fortuitous chain reaction occurred. The smaller Iguarats began to explode on their own. Sounds of detonations echoed throughout the entire Iguarat Castle.

After the explosions ended, Smoke checked the castle for remaining enemies. Thankfully, his Cunning of the Dire Fox did not sense any left.

"Dada, what happened?" Verloren asked as she looked around the strange Iguarat Castle.

"I don't know. All I know is that you're here with me now," replied Blöd.

While Blöd Mensch took care of her daughter, removing the uncomfortable Iguarat clothes, Smoke was busy searching through the rest of Iguarat Castle.

He also began acquiring the knowledge of the book he received from Übel. He was surprised to see that the progress bar indicated thirty-minutes for him to complete it.

Smoke searched through the rooms, and found them considerably clean, as clean as you would expect from an Iguarat.

The rooms only had beds made out of leaves scattered on the floor. He tried touching them, and was amazed to feel how soft the leaves were.

Continuing his search in the Iguarat Castle, he stumbled upon the kitchen. It had several fruits, the ones he surmised were from Schmucklos Village.

Then, in one of the largest rooms in the castle, he saw a large casting circle. There were no other materials or writings to describe what it was. So, Smoke left it alone and continued on his search.

However, he was caught off guard as a notification window popped up. The book's progress bar he was holding had already completed.

+ Memoirs of Magnat

Day 8: The other passengers have decided to stay near the shore in hopes of finding another ship. I do hope we can find one soon. This stupid event makes me regret leaving my two sisters.
...
Day 150: Since no ship has been in sight, the other passengers have decided to move farther into the island. They found a small forest with a few fruit-bearing trees. I think I could conjure it, so that they would grow more fruits and grow fast like grass. Well, maybe if I am bored.
...
Day 1,095: It has been three years since we have been shipwrecked on this wretched island. The other passengers have grown accustomed to the life here. It appears my trees have made them lazy. It's a good thing they've put up those walls. Otherwise, those iguanas and gambian rats will just steal their harvested food.
...
Day 2,190: When boredom strikes! Today I've decided to do a little experiment. I think being alone is what drives me to do this. I caught an iguana and gambian rat and have spliced the two of them together. It looks horrid, but I think I can turn it into something decent.
...
Day 3,650: Ten years pass by quickly when you have all the time in the world. I have moved out of that trashy place they call a village, and have created a home of my own. Good thing I helped my sisters train in their magic. It has been really useful here in this island. My experiment, which I now call an Iguarat, has undergone several transformations since.
...
Day 7,300: I have come closer to deciphering my other sister's teleportation magic. I think another year and I'll be off this island. On the other hand, the Iguarat has proven to be very helpful. Not only does he keep me company, he also fetches the fruits from the trees I've created.
...
Day 7,750: Over a year has passed since I estimated completing the teleportation circle, but I am still unsuccessful. On another note, the Iguarat has began to show signs of intelligence. I plan to teach it sign language next.
...
Day 8,107: Still no progress on getting out of this hell hole, but after another modification on my experiment, the Iguarat can now speak simple words.
...
Day 8,420: The Iguarat can now speak fluently. In fact, it has asked to be given a name. I still can't decide between Übel or Gut.
...
Day 9,696: Gut has fallen seriously ill over the last couple of days, and has finally succumbed to death. He has been a dear friend to me. I think I'll have to use it on him.
...
Day 9,777: The Iguarat I brought back does not seem the same. Due to this I have decided to give it a new name, Übel. He is very rambunctious and as a result I keep punishing it with my whip.
...
Day 10,200: Übel's behavior has gotten even worse. My punishments have grown more severe. Yet, I fear it has made an adverse effect. He now acts up even more, asking to be punished. Still no progress on teleportation.
…
Day 11,450: I have made a discovery! Übel has been secretly replicating himself. As it turns out, he has the ability to create lesser forms of himself, about half his size, whenever he eats one of the island's jewels.
...
Day 13,086: Übel has created a small army of lesser Iguarats, and now I find my days punishing most of them. I even caught them going near the village. Those people may have grown lazy, but I still don't want to bother them with my pests...err I mean pets.
...
Day 14,021: There are now more than a hundred Iguarats living in my house. I think I need to increase it to five times its size. Another group has wandered into the village again. Due to this, I implanted a third eye on Übel. He could now completely control the lesser Iguarats into complete submission, into a hypnotic state.
...
Day 45,610: Why am I still counting the days? Guess what? It didn't take a year to learn teleportation magic, but I have finally develop my own teleportation. I can finally get off this accursed island. Unfortunately, I can't take any of my Iguarats with me. Not even my rowdy Übel. I hope that he stays pure, and obey my order of not harming the villagers.

'This Magnat sounds like quite a character,' thought Smoke to himself, amused after reading the memoir. 'Too bad Übel was not able to comply with his master's final order.'

Smoke finally finished searching the entire castle, and found nothing else of interest. He went back to Blöd and Verloren, and explained to them the situation.

"So, the Iguarats were nothing but some pets that were carelessly left by their owner?" asked a surprised Blöd.

Smoke helplessly shrugged. "Something like that."

"But those monsters ravaged our village for years," added Blöd. "Well, at least I have my daughter back with me."

"Yeah, about that, I think that the Iguarat King just wanted to kidnap girls as substitute to his master," said Smoke, as he shared his theory.

"You mean the owner was a girl?" asked an astonished Blöd. "The one who made all of this was a woman?"

"I'm not completely sure. It's just my own theory," explained Smoke.

"Anyway, let's just get back to the village. I'd like to tell everyone that all of the Iguarats are dead," stated Blöd.

Smoke, Blöd and his daughter, Verloren, all headed back to the village of Schmucklos.

* * * * * *

It had been three days since Smoke has been shipwrecked on the island. He decided to stay near the shore, in hope of finding another ship.

Blöd asked Smoke what he wanted as a reward for slaying the Iguarats. Smoke simply said that he wanted a bag of the shiny rocks, the ones from Mount Luzid.

The villagers of Schmucklos were puzzled at his fascination with the useless rocks. Yet, they indulged him and gave him two bags worth of it.

He conveniently placed them inside his inventory window, where he stowed them for safety.

Knowing that spotting a ship was next to impossible, he began to build a ship of his own. With Igniz's help, he was able to burn down trees for his raw materials.

Yet, without any ship-building abilities, Smoke's poor attempt of a raft was sure to be swallowed up by the waves of the deep sea.

He decided to practice on his Manatl, while waiting for the sun to go down. He felt angry at Malheur for leaving him behind, but it was not eating him up as much as before. He felt he had grown, somehow.

'Worst case scenario, I could die at sea and respawn back at Havre Village,' thought Smoke to himself as he still could not decide whether to use his poorly crafted raft.

Then, after an hour of Manatl training, a ship came into view. It was another junk ship, much like the one he was thrown off from.

Using his Telefax Vision, he spotted Captain Rongeur Malodorante at the helm of the junk ship.

"It's really them. They came back for us, Igniz," said Smoke to his symbiote. He quickly signaled his dark ember sprite to hide inside his metallic chamber, and equipped his earth mask.

As the Naufrage got closer, Smoke spotted two familiar fins. Next, he noticed that the junk ship was actually being pulled by large tentacles.

Suddenly, Calamar's head popped out the water, revealing its large eyes.

The twin bull sharks swam near the shore. Smoke happily swam to meet them. Cornu and Requin carried him back to the ship.

A rope-ladder was thrown on the side of the Naufrage. Smoke scrambled his way up the ladder and got on board the junk ship once more.

He warily searched for Malheur, but saw no signs of the Sonstwelter who threw him overboard.

"Where is he?" Smoke asked Rongeur.

"Faux, you are really friends with these monsters?" asked an astonished Rongeur.

"Yeah, and they'll kill you all if you don't show me where Malheur is," threatened Smoke.

"Oh, the big guy there already took care of him," answered Mouette, the HighElf, pointing to Calamar. "He was pulled off the deck with one of its large tentacles and was dragged into the sea. That was the last we saw of him."

"Listen, Faux, we never meant to leave you behind," quickly explained Rongeur. "That was all Malheur's idea. None of us knew about it."

"I know," said Smoke. "I believe you. It was kind of my fault too. I was the one who told him that we needed a distraction."

Smoke looked at the Naufrage's crew and knew they were sincere with their words.

"At least Malheur did one thing right," said Smoke. "It was good of him to throw me than any of you guys."

"But how exactly did an Earth Elementalist such as yourself find this island? And how are you friends with that colossal squid?" asked Oursin, the OrkElf.

"That's a long story, but I think I can tell you about it on our way to Sawtorn," answered Smoke with a mischievous smile.

The disguised Smoke then turned to face Calamar and he gave it a grateful salute. The colossal squid's gigantic eyes only gave him a knowing wink.

Smoke and Sierra's Status Windows

Character: Smoke

Level: 108

Job: Beggar

Race: DarkElf

Alignment: Neutral

Money: 1,000,000 zecs

Fame: 1,250

Titles: (+ to all stats)
Condortl Savior (+2)
5th Swordsman to Knight Champ (+1)
King of Maneators (+4)

Pet: None

Life: 197, 816 HP

Mana: 278,522 MP

DEX: 605(+62)

STR: 145(+55)

AGI: 60 (+617)

VIT: 10 (+104)

INT: 140(+213)

Wisdom: 120 (+37)

Leadership: 143 (+7)

Charisma: 30 (+7)

Luck: 999

Attack Speed:25(+71)

Movement Speed:65(+15)

Defense:2,513(1/4)

Weapons:

Power Chainsaw Bow: 135-148(1/4)

Attack: 7,888-8,548 (1/4)

Twin Lightning Rods: 206-220(1/4)

Attack: 13,135-14,348 (1/4)

Elemental Resistance:

Elemental Affinity:

Fire:            90%
Dark:          60%
Poison:       44%
Wind:         20%
Water:        20%
Earth:         40%
Lightining: 22%

Fire:           90%
Earth:         80%

Lightning:  55%

Poison:       52%
Wind:         25%

Equipment Effects: (1/4)

*Hooded Cape of Cologus
+20% Earth Affinity
+20% Wind Affinity
+20 Strength
+20 Dexterity
*Claws of Chiropterra
+15% Earth Affinity
*Heart of ReenTe
+30 Vitality
*Sable Wizard's Surcoat
+510 Defense
+10% All Resistance
+15% Bonus Exp
* Lunar Gravity Boots
+15 Movement Speed
* Wise Ring of  the Dire Fox
+30 Intelligence
+30 Wisdom
* Horse Ring of Domination
+50 Intelligence
+30% Earth Affinity
* Berserker's Ring of Flames
+50 Intelligence
+30% Fire Affinity
* Electromagnetic Golem Offering
+50 Intelligence
+30% Lightning Affinity

*Beggar Belt [1 stone]

Skill Effects:

* Agility of the Horned Rabbit (Agility + 600)
* Cooking (Vitality + 67)
* Dual Wield (Attack Speed + 75)
* Knife Mastery (Knife Damage + 66%)
* Bow Mastery (Bow Damage + 92%)

Character: Sierra

Level: 106

Job: Druid Archon

Race: HighElf/Werebear

Alignment: Neutral

Money: 999,000,000 zecs

Fame: 1,087

Titles: (+ to all stats)
Lady of Verbrannt (+3)
Alpha Werebear(+5)

Pet: Ruby Bear(named Rubie)

Life:

Werebear: 426,183 HP

HighElf: 243,719  HP

Mana:

Werebear:  80,700 MP

HighElf: 292,100 MP

DEX: 20(+8)

STR: 60(Werebear+208/HighElf+8)

AGI: 20 (+8)

VIT: 347 (Werebear+208/HighElf+108)

INT: 60(+18)

Endurance: 623 (+8)

Leadership: 210 (+8)

Charisma: 50 (+8)

Luck: 10

Attack Speed:22

Movement Speed:45

Defense: 3,175

Weapons:

Werebear Claws: 210-285

Sierra's Ferule: 150-160

Attack: 10,900 -11,700

Attack: 7,500 – 8,000

Elemental Resistance:

Elemental Affinity:

Fire:            20%
Wind:         20%
Water:        20%
Earth:         20%
Lightining: 20%

Light:          70%

Fire:            20%
Wind:         20%
Water:        20%
Earth:         20%
Lightining: 20%

Equipment Effects:

Sierra's Ferule: + 10 Intelligence

Armored Armadillo Shield: +100 Vitality

Skill Effects:

* Werebear Resistance(20% increase to Fire,Earth,Wind,Water,Lightning)
* Werebear Constitution (+200 Vitality, +3000 Defense)
* Werebear Prowess (+200 Strength)
* Lycanthrope Pack Mastery (+30,000 HP, +2% increased attack speed to pack members)

Zectas Appendix

SPOILER WARNING! (Contains names of persons you may have not read before)

note:

Sonstwelter - Real World Player

Zectian - NPC

Smoke (Nash Smoak)

Sonstwelter

Race: DarkElf

Job: Beggar

Titles: King of Maneators, Savior of Condortl - Honorary Chief of Condortl, 5TH Swordsman to

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Verum de Mendicantibus

Abaven Adder

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Warrior

Title: Commander of Smoke's private army.

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Formerly next in line to be chief of Condortl. Lost his left limb in order to save Smoke.

Sharur Attrayant

Zectian

Race: OrkElf

Job: Range Sieger

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Twin brother of Jinggu. Idolizes Smoke and Adder.

Sharanga Sundara

Zectian

Race: WoodElf

Job: Huntress

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Twin sister to Vijaya. Specializes in Traps and other ingenious enhancements.

Jinggu Attrayant

Zectian

Race: OrkElf

Job: Range Sieger

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Twin brother of Sharur. Idolizes Smoke and Sierra.

Vijaya Sundara

Zectian

Race: WoodElf

Job: Huntress

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Twin sister to Sharanga. Is the only Huntress who has 2 falcons.

Laernea Lowe

Zectian

Race: Lioness Limourean

Job: Pathfinder

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Her stag moose is called Bilis.

Ichaival Jackal

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Hunter

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Son of James Jackal (Nanahuatl's resident Tailor). He's madly in love with Sharanga.

Gandiva Macan

Zectian

Race: Tigress Limourean

Job: Pathfinder

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Her stag moose is called Tulin.

Thyrsus Fishcer

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Hunter

Title: <None>

Guild:Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Son of Peitro Fischer, Nanahuatl's best Fishermen

Weise Rind

Zectian

Race: Maneator

Job: Guardian

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.
Note: Smoke's first Maneator. Has high Intelligence and specializes in Defense.

Espion TÃªtu

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Spy

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Son of Beggar Evocatti Caid.

Rasant Rind

Zectian

Race: Maneator

Job: Assailant

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez
Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Smoke's second Maneator. Has high Agility and specializes in Offense.

Stark Rind

Zectian

Race: Maneator

Job: Guardian

Title: <None>

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez
Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Smoke's third Maneator. Has high Strength and specializes in Defense.

Rudel a.k.a. Ledur

Zectian

Race: Centaur/Winged Tikbalang

Job: Earth Meister

Title:Captain of the Tikbalang Corps

Guild:Vagrant Vigilantez
Organization: Smoke's private army.

Note: Smoke's captain of his Tikbalang platoon. He was next in line to be Pferede Centaurs Chief.

Sierra (Sherry Levine)

Sonstwelter

Race: Werebear / HighElf

Job: Acolyte

Title: Lady of Verbrannt

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: <None>

Tristan (Tristan ?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Paladin Lord

Title: Baron of Tonaci, Guildmaster of DraccoRicco

Guild: DracoRicco

Organization: ?????

Note: Currently the only person who owns a main city. Has the largest private army of NPCs at 300 members.

CURRENT MEMBERS

FORMER MEMBERS:

Aurora (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Arch Bishop

Title: Commander of DraccoRicco

Guild: DracoRicco

Organization: <None>

Damien (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Ranger

Title: ?????

Guild: ?????

Organization: ?????

Bones (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Shadow Phantom

Title: Commander of DraccoRicco

Guild: DracoRicco

Organization: <None>

Trisha (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Dancer

Title: ?????

Guild: ?????

Organization: ?????

Veiz (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Wizard

Title: ?????

Guild: ?????

Organization: ?????

Amahan (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Exorcist

Title: Guildmaster of Decane

Guild: Decane

Organization: ?????

Note: Currently the highest level player in Zectas. Currently exploring the uncharted northern regions.

Hilot (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: LightElf

Job: Arch Bishop

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Tirador (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Tiger Lioumerean

Job: Heavy Cannooner

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Tambal (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Arch Bishop

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Baskog (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Palladin

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Atiman (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Shadow Priest

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Ligon (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Lion Lioumerean

Job: High Knight

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Magikera (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: HighElf

Job: Aero Magus

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Puthaw (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Panther Lioumerean

Job: Melee Sieger

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Bato (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Cheetah Lioumerean

Job: Fire Knight

Title: <None>

Guild: Decane

Organization: <None>

Macher (?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Cavalry Knight

Title: ?????

Guild: ?????

Organization: ????

Note: Helped Smoke get into Coatl city. Proposed to be partners with Smoke in the Mounted Racing event. Revealed to be working for Duke Burmistrz, was promised to own Tonaci City.

Sagen(?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Swordsman

Title: ?????

Guild: Feras

Organization: ????

Note: Won against Smoke's younger brother in the real world. Was defeated by Smoke in the 'Swordsman to Knight Tournament'. Guild leader of Feras.

Mamelon(?????)

Sonstwelter

Race: Human

Job: Aqua Knight

Title: ?????

Guild: Vagrant Vigilantez

Organization: ????

Note: One of the leaders of the NAP Smoke created during the mounted race. Joined Sierra's fight against Macher near Verbrannt.

Duke Jeune Souverain

Zectian

Race: Human
Job: ???
Title: Mayor of Centzo City

Guild: ????

Organizations:????
Note: A young ruler, who deeply cares about his city. He listens to the counsel of his adviser, Prosjak.

Prosjak Clandestine

Zectian

Race: Human
Job: ???
Title: Royal Adviser to Duke Jeune Souverain

Guild: ????

Organizations:????
Note: A middle aged puppeteer who tells the young Duke with heroic tales and guides him through his stories.

NPCs:

Darius

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Beggar Legati

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organization: Verum de Mendicantibus (Secret Society of Beggars)

Note: Smoke's most trusted NPC. He's the one who gave Smoke's hidden job. Nanahuatl's savior. Currently forced to stay within Nanahuatl.

Kumbaba

Zectian

Race: DarkElf

Job: Beggar Imperator

Title: Imperator of the secret society of Beggars

Guild: <None>

Organizations: Verum de Mendicantibus (Secret Society of Beggars) , Domitor Arva

Note: Was once the strongest mortal alive. Sacrificed his life to save the world from his son.

Giro

Zectian

Race: DarkElf

Job: Beggar Legati

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organizations: Verum de Mendicantibus (Secret Society of Beggars)

Note: Was corrupted by the power of the essence diamond. Turned into a half Demon.

Franz Briar

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Farmer

Title: Former Briar Family Head

Guild: <None>

Organizations: <None>

Note: Gave Smoke the quest on gathering root crops.

James Jackal

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Tailor

Title: Former Jackal Family Head

Guild: <None>

Organizations: <None>

Note: Gave Smoke the quest on liberating Condortl village.

Howard Hide

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Tanner

Title: Former Hide Family Head

Guild: <None>

Organizations: <None>

Note: Gave Smoke the quest on liberating Condortl village.

Peitro Fischer

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Fisherman

Title: Former Fishcer Family Head

Guild: <None>

Organizations: <None>

Note: Gave Smoke the quest on clearing Murray river from the murlocks.

Nenek

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Moon Priestess

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organizations: ?????

Note: Sierra's Beginner guide.

Zauberer

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Alchemist

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organizations: ?????

Note: Sierra's potions guide.

Vico

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Battle Priest

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organizations: ?????

Note: Sierra's mace guide.

Madam Dawny

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Retired Adventurer

Title: ?????

Guild: <None>

Organizations: ?????

Note: Mysterious benefactor of Smoke and his men.

Duke Burmistrz

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: ?????

Title: Mayor of Coatl City

Guild: <None>

Organizations: ?????

Note: Business minded mayor of Coatl. Revealed to be true leader of the Brandals. AKA Ultimo Maire.

Caid

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: Beggar Evocati

Title: Boss of Noir Emporiom

Guild: ?????

Organizations: Verum de Mendicantibus (Secret Society of Beggars)

Note: A Beggar that had inherited his abilities from his Beggar father.

High General Lizardo

Zectian

Race: Lizardite

Job: ?????

Title: High General of the Lizardites, ?????

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: One of the leaders of the great Reptilian Race.

Spyteria

Zectian

Race: Lizardite

Job: Assassin

Title: <None>

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: formerly assigned to follow Smoke around.

Alteria

Zectian

Race: Lizardite

Job: Assassin

Title: Commander of the Fecund & Virile Lizard

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: Leader of the Lizardites who conquered Condortl village.

Aquaria

Zectian

Race: Lamia

Job: Ice Elementalist

Title: <None>

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: leader of the lamias and murlocks who almost killed Smoke.

Netteria

Zectian

Race: Lizardite

Job: Assassin

Title: <None>

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: Lizardo's spy for the Brandals.

Ultimo Maire AKA Duke Burmistrz

Zectian

Race: Human

Job: ?????

Title: Supreme Leader of the Brandals, ?????

Guild: ?????

Organizations: ?????

Note: Allies with High General Lizardo.

Indignus AKA Semblant
Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Orangutan
Job: ?????

Title: Grandmaster of Manatl
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: Strongly despises Smoke. Revealed to be a spy of High General Lizardo.

Doctus

Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Orangutan
Job: ?????

Title: Master of Pillar Temple
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: Helped Smoke gain entry to Saruras village.

Tenvis

Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Gorilla
Job: ?????

Title: A Master of the specialized temples
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: Has the Manatl that works against physical attacks.

Castas
Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Chimpanzee
Job: ?????

Title: A Master of the specialized temples
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: Has the Manatl that works against Debuff attacks.

Meras

Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Gibbon
Job: ?????

Title: A Master of the specialized temples
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: Has the Manatl that works against elemental attacks.

Saru

Zectian

Race: Simiavulg - Gorilla
Job: ?????

Title: None
Guild: ?????

Organizations:WOM - Ways of Manatl
Note: An albino gorilla assistant to the Grandmaster Indignus.

Sot
Zectian

Race: Human
Job: ?????

Title: Banal Village Chief
Guild: ?????

Organizations: Banal Council
Note: A stout man bald man who sees things in black and white.

Sympa
Zectian

Race: Human
Job:Archer

Title: None
Guild:Vagrant Vigilantez

Organizations: Banal Archers
Note: A young, sporty woman who joined Smoke's guild through Ichaival's introduction.

Races

Immortal Celestial Beings

The first and true rulers of Zectas. There are many stories about the celestial beings, but no one is alive to tell if any of them are true.

Sub-Races

Great Gods

Great Demons

Gods

Demons

Gigantes

The strongest mortal race. The second rulers of Zectas but they had a very small population. They mysteriously vanished.

Sub-Races

Titans

Cyclops

Elementi

Raksasa

Reptilians

At one point, they were the most powerful and plentiful race in all of Zectas. It was rumored that they were the reason why the Gigantes vanished.

Sub-Races

Lizardites

Chameleonese

Crocodilians

Draconians

Humans

Currently the race with the highest population. Is said to be the most adaptive race but is also considered to be the most fragile.

Dwarves

The race said to be the most gifted in handling metal. Most of their cities are hidden underneath the ground.

Sub-Race

Dwerlves

Gnomes

There is a long debate to categorized the Gnomes as a sub-race of the Dwarves but they insist that they aren't. It is true that they are not gifted in metallurgy but their expertise lie in agriculture.

Sub-Race

Gnolves

Halflings

A mixture between two races.  Mostly of Elves and Dwarves, but there are some cases of Elves and Gnomes.

Sub-Races

Dwerlves

Gnolves

Centaurs

The race with the upper body of a man with a lower body of a horse. Their race mostly resides in the southern kingdoms.

Elves

The race with the highest affinity for magic, they also belong to the top 3 races with the longest life spans.

Sub-Races

HighElves

WoodElves

LightElves

DarkElves

ManElves

OrkElves

Dwerlves

Gnolves

Orks

The race with the highest fertility rate. Unfortunately, their thirst for battle starts at a very young age, which makes them kill each other. Only 20% reach to the age of adolescent.

Sub-Race

UrukHai

MoriHai

OlegHai

MadoHai

Lioumereans

The race of the cat-like people. They are natural animal whisperers, and their bodies were built for agility and strength.

Sub-Race

Tigers

Lions

Panthers

Cheetahs

Simiavulgs

The race of the monkey-like people. Their race insist on living a nomadic life style and mostly stay within a transmigration path.

Sub-Race

Gorillas

Chimpanzees

Gibbon

Orangutans

Therianthropes

Said to be a cursed race variation of any races mixed with other animals. Also known as the were-people.

Sub-Race

Werebear

Werewolf

Religions

Cuezaltzinity

Followers of the great god Cuezaltzin.

Doctrine: They believe in universal equality. You receive good/bad things according to the good/bad actions you do.

Tezcazinism

Followers of the great god Tezcazin.

Doctrine: They believe that there is no afterlife. All there is, is now. Mostly value worldly possessions.

Chalchizinity

Followers of the great god Chalchizin.

Doctrine: They believe that death is the true meaning of life. Only in death will they truly live forever.

Tlaltezinism

Follwers of the great god Tlaltezin.

Doctrine: They believe in natural selection. The strong have the right to dominate the weak, and the weak are only there to serve the strong.

Table of Contents

- Chapter 01 - The Vigliantez's First Strike
- Chapter 02 - The Monstrosity of Foudre
- Chapter 03 - To Heed a Warning
- Chapter 04 - A Semblance of Strength
- Chapter 05 - A Drop-in Meeting
- Chapter 06 – Arrogance Leads to Downfall
- Chapter 07 - Living Out Your Dream
- Chapter 08 - The Salubrious Centzo City

- Chapter 09 - The Vigilantez's Nascent Dominance

- Chapter 10 - A Dearth of Power
- Side Story – To Live and Forget
- Smoke and Sierra's Status Windows
- Appendix