Today had been incredibly rewarding, and it wasn’t over yet.

  While they were looking for a sheltered location to camp for the night, Sasha spotted a sealed chest embedded into the ceiling of an enclosure that was packed full of carnivorous fungi. These mushrooms weren’t beasts and couldn’t uproot themselves, but they could extend their stalks a considerable distance to strike with incredible speed.

  Their caps opened to reveal razor-toothed jaws—like something straight out of a horror sim. Since they were guarding a chest, Edge wasn’t too surprised when the carnivorous shrooms proved impervious to ranged attacks, deflecting bolts, arrows, and his chakram with ease. The ones on the ceiling were out of range of Fire Breathing, which meant it was up to him to get up there and retrieve it.

  There weren’t any stalactites to grab, so he took advantage of the mushrooms’ insane Durability by flaring Leap, soaring into the air, and then sending Foebinder lashing out to wrap around a cluster of stalks. He made sure their teeth couldn’t hurt the black chain, then pulled himself up to the chest while conjuring a Warlord’s Mantle and Hardening his body.

  Edge let the fungi gnaw on his scales until he spotted an opening. He dropped Harden and lunged for the chest, taking advantage of the massive Speed bonus from combining his aura with Fear the Seasons. The instant the chest was in his hands, he Shadow Stepped and swung back to the ground as the ravenous mushrooms gnashed their teeth in frustration.

  Thanks to his clever use of skills, he managed to avoid taking any damage other than some holes in his armor that would repair themselves. With their prize in hand, the crew pulled back to an area they had already scouted, then gathered round to see what they’d found.

  When he opened the lid with a flourish, there were two skill gems inside, along with a Skill-Removal Token and a Trait-Removal Token. The tokens were the best way to remove unwanted powers, as they didn’t come with any side effects or additional costs.

  Lilly didn’t need any of it. Since she was a shadowkiller and ran Puppet Town’s Mortium exchange, she had already carefully planned out her skillset, although Edge didn’t know the details. Her work as a monster killer had provided her with plenty of lifecoins to buy gems, along with the collection of magitech devices she was so fond of. “Besides,” she said. “My skill slots are full until I evolve, and I want to keep everything I have.”

  For his part, Edge couldn’t use skill gems at all, and he could already remove unwanted skills at will thanks to Absorption. He was interested in the trait token, since his trait slots were full, and he should pick up something better than Fit and Toned after escaping the biome and completing the System’s quest.

  That left Mel and Sasha to decide who would get which gem and the Skill-Removal Token. Both skills were Uncommon and sounded like they would be solid upgrades to obtain. The women discussed the matter for a few minutes, then came to an agreement and shook hands.

  Sasha wound up with a skill called Hidden Strike. It worked a bit like Double Strike—one of the powers Edge had merged to form Double Slash. Instead of creating an offset double beside Sasha’s weapon, Hidden Strike manifested a copy behind her target that mirrored the angle of her attack. The downside was the phantom weapon only did half the damage of her primary strike, but it was an amazing skill that Edge would have to be on guard against going forward.

  Mel’s new power was called Swap. It let her designate a small object that she had to prepare ahead of time. As long as the paired item was in range, she could trade positions with it in the blink of an eye. Swap was a true short-range teleport, which were one of the hardest skills to find. Though it wasn’t as versatile as something Rare like Dart or Blink, the cost was low, and Swap could be used to evade an enemy’s attack and increase Mel’s maneuverability in general.

  Sasha took the Skill-Removal Token so she could swap out Shield Bash, which she didn’t use much now that she had Fire Breathing. The strawberry blond hunter used the token, then both women took the skill gems and pressed them against their sternums. The stones sank into the skin between their breasts, merged with their cores, and bonded with an empty skill socket.

  Once the skills were slotted, all that was left was to try them out. Mel flashed a grin, picked up a rock, and ignited her core while holding it between her hands. Edge could sense mana flowing out to infuse the stone, but nothing else happened as far as he could tell.

  That all changed when Mel tossed the rock behind him and emitted a brief pulse of mana. One second, the redheaded warrior was standing in front of him. The next, she was behind him. He spun around, but she was already gone, having Swapped back to her original position the instant he was looking the other way.

  She tapped his shoulder while kicking the stone, and by the time Edge turned around, Melenia was behind him again. He almost turned, but caught himself and reached backwards instead, pulling a giggling guardswoman into his arms. They shared a look with more than a little heat to it, then he let Mel go while Lilly and Sasha laughed so hard they had trouble walking.

  “I’m really going to enjoy this power. It’s a little strange, but some extra mobility was exactly what my skillset needed.” She picked up the rock and put it in her pocket, ready to Swap with it whenever she wanted.

  Sasha’s test run needed a live target, so they found a stage-one redcap that was patrolling the cave by itself. She raised her shield and spear, then approached it alone while the other hunters stood guard. The beast came charging right for her, chainsaw arms buzzing like a swarm of angry bees.

  Sasha sidestepped its opening swipe, then thrust with her spear and activated Hidden Strike. The mushroom blocked her weapon with the flat of its saw… just as a copy of her spear came jutting through its back to emerge from the front of its stalk.

  The living mushroom didn’t have the most expressive features, since its “head” was just a round cap on the end of a smooth, creamy stalk. But Edge thought he sensed astonishment in its posture as it toppled to one side, twitched, and then stopped moving. She just killed a beast her own stage in a single attack. Badass.

  “This is great.” Sasha grinned while the crew offered a round of applause. “I can’t wait to combo it with Flame Imbuement—although the drain will probably be prohibitive until I evolve to stage two.”

  ***

  Shortly after resuming their journey the next morning, the crew learned their trek across the Deep-Gill Grottos was coming to an end.

  “Until yesterday, the biome had had a relatively stable concentration of magicytes,” Lilly began. “Which makes sense, considering that we began all the way down in the deepest portion of the biome. But some of the caverns we’ve passed through recently haven’t been quite as dense.”

  “The magic filling the jungle wasn’t as thick as it is down here,” Sasha added. “We must be drawing near the border between them.”

  “Now that you mention it, there is a slight current to the magicytes in here.” Mel pointed to the shimmering flows. “If we follow the current, they might lead us to the way out.” Edge took a close look at the area the women were examining. Sure enough, the colors flowing through the air were drifting in the same direction, like a lazy river winding toward the sea.

  Spirits buoyed by the discovery, the hunters continued their trek—comforted by the prospect of leaving the biome behind them for good. The crew had made considerable progress in a short span of time. He just prayed Ella’s trap hadn’t cost them the chance to save their friends.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Hang on for just a little longer. Help is on the way.

  ***

  Trapper raced through the rocky tunnels, which no longer felt like strangers after her long hours underground.

  Sweat poured down her body, and her breath came in ragged gasps, but fear, adrenaline, and sheer stubbornness spurred her onward despite the black spots dancing in front of her eyes. She stopped long enough to take a swig from her canteen, swallowed, and then pushed her body into another burst of speed. Just a little further now. Please, let me make it in time.

  A few hours earlier, Riller had sent a Scout Drone to find her with a message taped to the side. The note let Trapper know that their weeks-long stalemate was finally over. One of Roth’s centipedes had found the cavern where the expedition was holed up, relaying the information to the summoner in real time.

  Now that they knew where to find the hunters, the Claws would enter the tunnels in full force—eager to end the prolonged siege and join the rest of the gang for their assault on Puppet Town.

  On that note, Trapper spotted one of the venomous creations now, watching from the shadows as she approached the camp. The sight made dread writhe in her guts like a leaden serpent. That’s not good. They know about the other passageways, which means our bolt hole has been compromised. If we try to flee this way, the odds are good we’ll wind up running straight into an ambush. There is no plan B. We must hold them back at the wall, or we’re all going to die.

  Without stopping, she reached behind her back and killed the ugly bug with a bolt from her crossbow. It felt good to watch the summon break apart into fading fragments of light, although it was only a drop in the bucket. There were bound to be dozens more in the tunnels and even more on the way, gathering intelligence and probing the hunters’ defenses before the Claws’ strike force arrived.

  As Trapper burst into the cavern holding the expedition’s base, she sounded the alarm, warning her people their escape route had been discovered. Jumo was directing their defense, preparing the crews to make their final stand. The frontline warriors were rushing to man the wall while gearing up for the impending showdown. She raised a hand in greeting while they offered words of encouragement, but she didn’t have time to speak with them now.

  She ran through the gate, heading for the command structure in the center of the base. A frenzy of activity met her gaze as the teams of hunters, deputies, and support staff prepared themselves for the decisive battle with the Crimson Claws.

  Everywhere she looked, warriors were running to activate devices, grab weapons, and join up with their crews. Meanwhile, the expedition’s leaders did what they could to maintain order and keep people from panicking during this critical juncture. Both sides had been preparing for this moment during every waking hour for weeks on end, and now it was finally time to learn who would live to see the sunrise.

  Trapper’s people knew the odds were against them. Their talents were specialized toward dealing with monsters and beasts and they didn’t have the skills or equipment to fight a war against their own kind. But they refused to lie down and die while there was even a slim chance of victory. If this day was fated to be their last, they weren’t going to the great beyond without making their enemies pay a heavy price for every life they took.

  Alice, Melchior, and Able were gathered around a table holding a map of the caverns, pointing to various markings indicating traps, chokepoints, and defensive structures. Before she joined them, she turned to address the beast hunters—who had come to see Trapper as their leader after Gram’s tragic demise.

  “Get everyone into formation and point every sensory skill we have at the passages running between our position and the jungle. I want to know how many jailbirds are coming, when they will arrive, and everything you can deduce about their strategy and skills by observing their crews en route. Unfortunately, Earl wasn’t able to send backup, and the team operating in the jungle went dark a few days ago. But we’re not going to let that stop us—it just means there are more bounties for us to collect once we wipe out the convicts and make it back to town.”

  A round of cheers met Trapper’s words—people putting on brave faces despite the fear in their eyes. As she came to a stop beside the other leaders while fighting to catch her breath, she cast her gaze across the base to get a better sense of how much work still needed to be done.

  She watched as Riller summoned his drone and sent it heading toward the surface, where the mana-forged device could provide an early warning of the jailbirds’ approach. She nodded in approval when she saw that Violet was supervising a team who was getting the expedition’s beasts ready for the battle.

  Only a few of them were still in fighting shape, but they all needed to be ready to make a break for it if, by some miracle, an opportunity to push through the convicts’ lines appeared. Trapper blinked away tears at the sight of the beasts who were too weak to run and would have to be left behind—ashamed at her relief that Blue wasn’t one of them.

  She shook her head to clear her mind and joined the war council that was already in session. Trapper listened as Able summarized their first line of defense—where, with any luck, they would take out several crews of Claws before the fighting began.

  “The jailbirds are deadly enemies with superior combat experience. Teamwork is their weak point and our strength, and we need to take advantage of it if we want to survive. The plan is to let the convicts walk deep into the trap field before detonating any devices. Then we’ll arm them all and charge the Claws at the same time.”

  While he spoke, Able pointed to each section of the map in turn.

  “After we hit them with our strongest skills, we will retreat behind the wall before they recover and return fire. Then we’ll whittle them down from range as they come running out of the trap field to assault our defenses. We need to kill as many of them as we can before they realize what’s happening and disorient, delay, and divide the rest, lowering their combat effectiveness during the early stages of the battle.

  “In addition to the lethal countermeasures Trapper prepared, we’ve set up some dummy devices that are easy to spot from the main approach. With any luck, once they trip or disarm the dummies, they will assume the way is clear. She is in manual control of her traps for now, but they’re designed to arm themselves automatically if her link gets broken by Disruption—past which point, the devices will be just as dangerous to our side if anyone wanders into them.

  “We can’t stop the Claws from attacking, but slowing them down will save lives and improve our odds. Once the traps are gone, the hard part will begin, and our losses will start mounting up.”

  Able gestured toward the wall, where Ander’s people were hard at work adding layer after layer of reinforcement to the already-impressive edifice.

  “Our defensive bulwark is comprised of the wall, gate, and the barricades on both sides. We can collapse a section of the tunnel directly above the gate if necessary, although that will slow the Claws down for a few hours at most. If they break through, we will make our final stand at the command center. Let’s pray it doesn’t come to that.”

  “The siege itself might take several days to resolve, depending on what skills they are packing and how successful we are in countering them. Once it begins, stress and sleep deprivation will start taking a toll. If there’s anything you still need to do that requires concentration, try to finish up now while we have time to…”

  Able stopped speaking when Jumo came racing up to the command center. Judging by the expression on his face, the hunter had important news to share.

  Whatever Jumo might have said was fated to remain unuttered. Because that was when a dark body the size of Trapper’s forearm detached from the ceiling and landed on his shoulders.

  The man had insanely sharp reflexes—above and beyond the bonuses provided by his attributes. Before the insect’s mandibles could bite or its venomous tail could sting, he reached up and grabbed it, hurling the creature to the ground so hard its chitinous body bounced.

  Before it could recover, Trapper’s spear pierced its back, and the summon shattered into motes of light. But the ambush had only just begun. Dozens of Roth’s minions dropped from the ceiling, while scores more came skittering through gaps in the wall. It seemed the Claws had their own plans to weaken the other side, and their summoner was going all out right from the start.

  There’s a good chance that Roth has a pile of mana seeds they gathered in the jungle. Trapper moved to help Momo fend off a pair of centipedes while Able crushed another with his colossal stone hammer.

  If that is the case, the bugs won’t stop coming anytime soon. The expendable summons are ideal for providing cover for the jailbirds moving through the caves, interfering with our preparations, and inflicting casualties and psychological damage before the battle begins.

  On that note, a half dozen hunters were already down. Three were seriously wounded, frothing at the mouth while convulsing from the centipedes’ venom. Melchior and the alchemists went rushing to aid them, and Violet activated Travelers’ Boon, helping people heal faster while regenerating their stamina.

  After finishing off the nearby bugs, Trapper switched roles, letting the peacekeepers defend the base while she raced to treat people with Cleanse, purging them of the centipedes’ venom before it caused permanent damage.

  The wait is finally over. She helped heal one hunter after the next. It will take a miracle to win this fight. But I know one man who just might turn the tide.