“They will arrive soon, probably,” Ilyrin said, leaning under the warm torchlight. Her shadow blanketed Rue, who sighed heavily as he rested his head on his knees.

  He stared at the five other Humans. They had finally come out after some probing from both him and Ilyrin.

  A young woman and two young men.

  There had not been any attack. Well, none that they were aware of at least. Rue still did not trust whatever was happening beneath that vine wall. “They going to break?”

  “Maybe?” Ilyrin sheepishly averted her eyes.

  Great.

  “We need to get them to ten on Mind stat first before we figure out how to fight together,” Rue said.

  The others currently stared at the caged Succubus. The Succubus had rolled ration bars and threw out a water cask for them. She even gave them these vials of red and blue potions, which turned out to be potions.

  [Mana Potion] [Common]—restore 100 mana.

  [Health Potion] [Common]—heals all kinds of inflicted wounds.

  Each came in thin vials filled to the brim.

  “All right, let's do what we can,” Rue said, standing up. Like hell he would die because of the stupidity of others.

  Ilyrin, who was eager to move, accompanied him into the watching audience. As they neared them, Rue heard what they had been talking about these past minutes.

  “Should we kill her?” Agi—the summoner asked.

  “Dishonourable!” Paxwell—the suicidal old man snapped.

  “I think we hold her and threaten to kill her if the Imps intend to enter,” Yom, a young man with a short pricky porcupine head, said.

  Rue decided to join the conversation. “I don’t think she cares about her daughter's life that much to risk losing us.”

  Lire—Surka’s daughter was almost the exact mirror of her mother, except for the youthfulness of her face. Lire bounded forward from her bed and clutched the cell with desperate looks.

  [Succubus, Temptress—Level 27]

  “I just want to help all of you,” Lire declared, her voice desperate. “What my mother is doing is wrong. But she just did so out of desperation. Please, if I can talk to her…”

  Rue’s eyes focused on the abundance of food and potions inside her room. ‘Abundance’ might be an overexaggeration, but still, she had a satchel full of both. That might last them some time.

  “She is trying to help us,” the other young woman, Emily, said. She reached her hand up to open Lire’s cell.

  Rue instantly caught her hand and shook his head.

  “What, why?”

  “Look at her class. What if Sruka put her here just in case for this kind of situation?”

  “Just to fool us?” the girl blinked, looking at Lire, squinting at her.

  “We, of all people, should be suspicious, no?” Rue asked all of them. He studied every last one of them. They were Hazard, still are.

  Ilyrin’s breath stilled. The young woman gave Rue a slow nod.

  But the others… Dammit, they just tilted their head or raised their eyebrow at Rue. Did their Mind degrade so far that their life experience became a haze?

  Ilyrin spoke to the Succubus. “Will you share those rations with us?”

  “Of course! Here, take it all.” Lire rushed, hauling both satchels with both hands. The Succubus rested them by the cells where they could easily reach in and grab whatever was inside them.

  “See? She is a good—”

  “Can we settle on a battle tactic first?” Rue asked. Battle tactic—the word felt strange on the tip of his tongue. “We can decide how to deal with her later, for now, it's better to know these… magic. The Observer guides all of you to fit your classes with your authority, right? Can we have a showcase now?”

  “Very wise, young man,” Paxwell commended a bit haughtily. “I shall go first. My Authority is Blademaster.” He drew a sword and held it up, as if expecting a clap or something.

  [ArchSwordman-Fighter]

  Rue waited for the old man to speak further. No, not just him, everyone waited. Until someone said:

  “That’s it?”

  Paxwell nodded, a proud smile marred his lips.

  Goddamnit.

  “Okay, can I go next?” Gilbert—the [Archpaladin-Beastmaster] asked. Now, that's a curious combination.

  “So, three of you can summon a monster?” Rue remarked.

  “Yes, my Observer led me into it,” Gilbert said. “My Authority is Light.”

  Gilbert brought his hands together, and a breath of life appeared as a small star hanging in front of his clasped palm. The star slowly swayed down, glowing bright yellow on the dark floor. The moment it touched down, the star manifested into a knight of light half the size of Gilbert’s body.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  A golden-armored child carrying a golden warhammer. The child’s helmet was full of holes, revealing a skin of dazzling white. He turned and bowed to Gilbert.

  [Golden Gorilla—Level 1]

  That was a gorilla?

  “This cost me almost all of my current mana. Oh, my Paladin class also let me summon a shield of light, which did not cost much at all.”

  “We can get you a trident to cover for that,” Rue said.

  Maybe their situation was not as hopeless as he thought.

  They just needed levels; if they passed a certain threshold… then they could go on offense.

  “Tell me how high Sruka’s level is?” He asked Lire.

  “Mother is about level 51,” Lire answered without any hesitation.

  51...

  Was that high?

  No idea.

  He could get information about any enemy they might face from Lire; for now, what was more important was their powers.

  “Let’s continue—”

  A loud thump hammered behind the wall of vines Ilyrin had created.

  Once and twice it crashed again.

  “They’re ramming it!” Agi shouted the obvious.

  “Summoners, summon away! Here, take more potions,” Ilyrin commanded atop the ensuing panic.

  A couple of people shifted uncomfortably, eyeing their cells. The Rogue-Archer and Mage-Summoner were both visibly shaking. At the very least, the other four were eager.

  A sizzling sound crept behind the vine wall, and slowly the vine burned to white ash.

  They were about to enter.

  Rue checked on his armor. He did not know if it was more armor or skin. But that did not matter; he could see it still recovering. It was almost ready, with the crack in its middle mostly healed. However, Rue couldn’t call it out.

  He had to deal with the next invasion with his natural ice.

  Around him, the earth trembled beneath one of the summoners—Gilbert summoned another gorilla, and he quickly drank more vials, passing them to the last Summoner, who was Agi, who summoned three Direwolves.

  “Three my limit!” Agi said.

  “Mine is—”

  Rue ignored them. He quickly read over his Spell Option.

  Two options jumped out at him.

  [Frost Knight Spell Option]

  [Heart of Frost Knight] [Uncommon]—Frost Knight power often requires Frost property to use; hence, the capability to generate it inside the Frost Knight's body is a great boon. Generate frost within Frost Knight's body and start adapting to a new influx of frost inside. Enable smoother mana transition into any Frost-based Magic, saving more mana and strengthening the Frost property.

  [Frost Shield] [Common]—A Knight knows the importance of defence. Summon a Shield of Frost.

  [Frost Mage Spell Option]

  [Frost Shrapnel] [Common]—A Frost Mage can form a sharp, jagged ice spear to spear through his opponent. Summon a sharp ice to launch, and upon impact, Frost will creep onto the target.

  [Cold Healing] [Common]—Being exposed to a cold is not a boon for one who held power of Frost. Grant healing when exposed to cold.

  He could take one spell from both options, and Rue had already decided.

  Heart of the Frost Knight and Frost Shrapnel sounded like what he needed right now.

  Especially the first one, it might make his armor recover faster. Still, though, Rue could see the synergy with Cold healing, but he needed a spell he could throw out and deal significant damage, which Frost Blast did not seem to be able to do.

  Fire burst from the vines into the prison ceiling. The stream of flame kept going, inviting unpleasant scorch into the damp prison. Darkness lost its identity as flame danced around after they fell from above like a rainfire.

  A figure holding a charred torch appeared. Another Imp, but much taller than the usual one and the Forger.

  [Imp Fire Spitter—Level 20]

  20?

  The Fire Spitter threw the useless stick onto the ground and lifted another torch to its lips. Not only that, but another two Fire Spitters entered, still holding two bright torches. Both healthy with flame.

  Rue thrust his hand forward, and a solid crystal of jagged ice appeared in front of him, of the same size as his Frost Sword.

  The Frost Shrapnel spun.

  Rue could tell the more mana he inserted, the faster the ice shrapnel would spin and the more devastating its force would be.

  Before he could release it, however, the first Fire Spitter was about to release its magic—until an arrow streaked through the air and hit the Fire Spitter’s forehead, snapping its head back.

  The imp stumbled backward, stabilizing its footing since the archers were probably only level one. However, that was enough for Rue to unleash his spell.

  A zip of wind blasted forward. His Frost Shrapnel tore through the air into two bright fireballs released by the Imps.

  The moment the ice met the fire—it melted—fireballs soared forward, causing a brief expansion of mist.

  Rue summoned his sword, about to use it for defense. Gilbert and his two gorillas pushed themselves in front of him, locking their shields together in a shield-wall.

  “Get to the cell!” Rue shouted. Gilbert was only level one, so he might actually die if he—.

  “Lock Shield!” Gilbert ordered. Their shields suddenly glowed with bright light and enlarged.

  The fireballs crashed against Gilbert and his summons; their knees buckled. Their shoulders heaved, and they sent the flames scattering into nothing.

  “Most well done!” the old man declared, laughing. He stepped forward into the swirling mist and raised his sword sky high. “With me, lads and lass! Charge!”

  Three Dire Wolves and two Golems that reached even the cell’s ceiling rushed ahead into the three level-twenty imps with that old man leading them.

  “Charge!” Gilbert bellowed, grabbed a trident that had been lying around his feet, and ran forward with his Gorillas.

  “Wait!” Rue cursed, rushing forward to follow with his Frost Sword readied.

  Even with a numerical advantage, the Imps still outleveled Rue.

  These idiots.

  He burst out of the mist to find the three Imp Fire Spitters holding their torches like a melee weapon.

  Flame roared by the torch's top, and one was used to jab deep into a dire wolf’s side. The wolf’s skin burned and parted fast. And the Fire Spitter moved to slap down another wolf and shove his torch into its mouth. A ragged wail escaped the wolf—it tried to bite the Imp’s hand, but the Imp merely shrugged it off and finished the wolf with a cruel stomp.

  “Die, you devil!” Paxwell screamed and tried to slash at the imp, who easily dodged back. The Imp turned, whipping its leg at Paxwell. Rue did not let that happen; his weapon flashed. A Sword of ice sliced the Imp’s leg apart, splaying with viscera of blood.

  Before the Imp could even react, Rue reached up and choked its neck, dunking the now one-legged creature down and stomping its chest.

  “Kill it!” Rue ordered, checking to his left and right. On the left, the Imp had just finished with the Direwolf and weaved between the slow-moving golems. On the right, the other one had just killed one of Gilbert’s gorillas, and soon Gilbert will be next.

  Rue needed allies—allies he could rely on.

  He glanced down the stairs and spotted a figure watching. A figure of green with a muscular body, as if it had just eaten a rock, and on its back was a wing. The figure clapped his hand, and suddenly, more Imps streamed in; this time, they did not carry heavy weapons, they carried pickaxes and hammers.

  [Imp Laborers—Level 10]

  “Dishonorable…” the old man mumbled.

  Rue had had enough. If this old fart refused to see sense, then he would bloody force it out of him. He lurched forward and grabbed the old man’s sword hand, forcing him to angle the sword down.

  “Stop,” he growled, “I will not…”

  Rue slammed their hand down. The old man’s sword dug into the Imp Fire Spitter's head.

  He braced and hoped for no kill notification for him.

  -Power Information-

  [Participant:

  Rue Hazard—14 [ArchMage-Knight] [Authority of Frost]

  Paxwell Hazard—1 [ArchSwordman-Fighter] [Authority of Swordmaster]

  Ilyrin Hazard—4 [ArchWitch-Druid] [Authority of Vine]

  Agi Hazard—1 [ArchDruid-Summoner] [Authority of Beastwill]

  Yom Hazard—1 [ArchMage-Summoner] [Authority of Earth]

  Emily Hazard—1 [ArchRogue-Archer] [Authority of Truestrike]

  Gilbert Hazard—1 [ArchPaladin-Beastmaster]] [Authority of Light]