Pebbles jittered across the dirt, skipping like they were trying to flee. The stream’s water was vibrating with every step the behemoth took. In the distance, a shadow spilled over the treetops.

  I knew that shape instantly. The pale skin with wiry muscles was unmistakable. “No,” I breathed. Then the trees themselves tore apart as it lumbered into view. It was a Ravager, only grown to nightmare proportions.

  Four times the size of the ones we had just fought and as tall as a fully grown tree. Its pale fur ridged with extra layers of serrated plating. It was still far away, but its head was so big that as it turned trying to locate them, I noticed rows of spines jutted from its back as big as stalactites, and its forelimbs were thick enough to crush a boulder, the monster’s hands ended in talons longer than my sword. A maw gaped open, revealing inner rows of sharp bone-teeth.

  The Ravager Prime’s head tilted, with that predatory stillness I remembered all too well. It let out a roar so deep I thought I could feel my bones vibrate. Birds erupted from the canopy in a panicked swarm, scattering everywhere. I moved over to stand next to Balt.

  “So, you think he’s going to be pissed we killed his buddies? Or do we still have a chance to hug it out, you think?” I asked.

  Beside me, Balt stood stiff as stone, eyes locked on the monster. I noticed the old man hardly breathing. “Balt," I grabbed his shoulder and shook hard.

  The old man didn’t look away from the Ravager Prime. His voice was barely a whisper. “We have to run.”

  I didn't respond at first, instead letting my eyes flicker to the tree line behind us. Just a few trees for cover in that direction, sheer gorge walls in the other. The Prime’s shadow was already spilling across both as it walked closer. It was only a matter of time before the creature spotted us. Sudden movements like running would pick us up instantly, and the fight would be on. We still have the element of surprise on our side, at least for now.

  “Run where?” I whispered back. “You think that thing’s going to stop before it runs us down? It’ll be on us before we make it to the tree line.”

  Balt finally tore his eyes from the beast to look at me.

  “We fight tired, or we flee and will most likely be caught quickly from behind. I let a smirk appear on my face. "I mean… I probably just need to outrun you. Let him chew on old Balt, then I could take a nap back at the cave and then stroll out of here, the creature none the wiser."

  I was watching Balt’s face turn redder and redder as I spoke. I continued, “Lucky for you, though, I just couldn’t break Ms. Miranda’s heart.”

  Balt's face was red as an apple, but he seemed to refocus and finally looked me in the eye. In a voice low but hard, I said, “Seriously though. I’d rather go down swinging than die running like cowards.”

  I saw the old man’s jaw tighten, the mask of fear cracking just enough for a sliver of grim determination to show through. He took a slow breath, then his eyes seemed to go distant for a second. “My mana is low.

  I don’t know what you expect to do, but whatever it is, you better get to it. The Ravager will be able to spot us any second.”

  I allowed myself a ghost of a grin. “How does your stomach handle the smell of dead bodies and wet fur?”

  “Uh” was all Balt got out before I launched into my plan.

  The Ravager Prime moved fast. Each step left indentations in the ground and shook loose stones from the gorge walls. Its head swept side to side, sniffing the air, its segmented nostrils flaring.

  Beneath a mound of mangled Ravager carcasses, I watched from the crook of a dead Ravager’s arm. My nose was filled with the stench of wet fur, blood, and the worst body odor I had ever smelled.

  Balt was wedged beside me, shoulders tense, eyes wide in the shadowed hollow between the two dead bodies. The old man’s hand was holding onto mine, waiting for the signal.

  Above them, the Prime’s massive shadow passed over the pile, its claws scraping on the rock.

  The weight of the carcasses pressed down on me, my body feeling the strain of holding up the weight just enough to let us not be crushed.

  The monster paused. Sniffed again. Then bent down to inspect the corpses. This was what I had been waiting for.

  I could feel the heat of the boss's breath seeping through the gaps in the corpses; the humid stench was on a new level of foul.

  A low growl rumbled through the pile, vibrating the stone below me.

  Not yet.

  The Prime shifted, lowering its head toward one of the bodies. It was only feet away now. My hand squeezed Balts giving the signal. A wave of force shot out from the old man, knocking the corpses aside. It was so much force the old man flew backwards towards the trees.

  If a monster could ever show surprise, the Prime’s face would be showing it now. I activated Quick Step. My pulse slowed as I went into the ether, every moment stretched me thin like a drawn bowstring.

  I had one shot at this, and I knew it.

  I burst from using Quick Step, reappearing in a blur of motion atop the Ravager Prime’s thick, ridged neck.

  The beast let out a startled bellow, its head jerking, but before it could throw me off. I planted my feet and roared: “Limit Break—SLASH!”

  Ashbourne flared silver, the familiar steel twisting and stretching in my grip, becoming something more, its edges sharper, its weight heavier, its presence like a living thing, transforming before my eyes.

  I swung, and with that swing I gave it everything I had been bottling up.

  The pain of losing Alice and Liz. The rage boiling at the thought of Carson. And worst of all the shame of my own failure to protect them.

  The silver flames erupted with a fury beyond anything I’d ever felt, each lick of silver fire an echo of my wrath.

  It wasn’t just the talent, it was something deeper, something raw and unrestrained that I hadn’t known was inside me until now.

  A System Message flashed into my vision. I ignored it. Ashbourne’s edge bit into the Prime’s armored neck, silver fire pouring into the wound like a flood.

  The heat was so intense the monster’s scales blistered and curled away. For a heartbeat, the world was nothing but light, fury, and the smell of burning fur.

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  The Prime roared, this time not in challenge, but in pain.

  The Prime’s roar became a deafening, bone-shaking bellow as it thrashed in blind agony. I was flung free on the first violent jerk. The world spun in a blur of sky, trees, and jagged black spines as the beast bucked and twisted.

  I activated my armor before hitting the ground rolling, coming up on my feet. Dismissing my armor in one motion to save mana.

  The flames had chewed deeper into the Prime’s neck, partially severing it from the back, but the monster’s hide was so damn thick.

  I cursed in frustration. Even Limit Break Slash had not been enough. The strike had made it roughly halfway through its huge neck.

  As much damage as the silver flames had done. The unintended consequence was that the wound was already cauterized from the searing heat.

  Some blood was flowing, but not nearly as much as a wound like that should have been producing. It would not be enough.

  The Ravager was lashing out at me with its huge claws. I activated Limit Break Armorer again as a claw swiped down at me. The blow hit me so hard that I skipped like a stone on a flat pond. But not on water, but on the hard rocky ground.

  The armor had kept me from being cut in half, but I felt several of my bones had broken.

  When I finally stopped, I crawled to my knees and saw the Ravager crying out in fury, holding one arm to the back of its severed neck. Running right at me. “Balt!” I shouted, spitting out blood as my voice was nearly lost in the thunder of claws pounding the ground. “Plan B!”

  The old man had already scrambled to his feet earlier and had positioned himself behind the creature. My eyes flicked from him to the back of the Prime’s legs, calculating my moment.

  Two Force Jolts came out of the pathfinder’s hands. The spells shot out with amazing speed, striking the back of Prime’s rear knee. The joint buckled with a sharp crack, forcing the beast down on one side.

  I seized the opening. Quick Stepped again to the back of the creature’s neck. I activated Limit Slash, feeling the weight of the sword carve into the Ravager’s wounded neck, spraying blood and ichor everywhere.

  I didn’t have the strength or spirit to activate another, so I kept slashing the blade into the creature's neck again, and again. The silver flames helped me sear through scale and muscle.

  The Prime roared weakly, then rolled, an instinctive last-ditch effort to attempt to crush the thing repeatedly slicing its neck. OH SHIT, this is going to hurt.

  I felt a wave of force hit me in the back, launching me out of the precarious situation.

  I hit the ground hard enough to see stars, my vision flashing white. Pain ripped up my arm, and through my ribs, sharp and electric. I tried to push myself up, but the strength bled out of my body. I tried to reach for Ashbourne at my side, but my arm wouldn’t obey.

  Brown boots skidded into view. As my vision was starting to go black.

  “Stay with me, kid!” Balt’s voice cut through the haze in my mind, sharp and commanding.

  Balt's hands were already under my good arm, hauling me up with surprising strength for a man his age running on fumes. My legs barely obeyed, stumbling as Balt half-dragged, half-pushed me to walk faster.

  Behind us, the Ravager Prime crawled on the ground, black blood gushing from the silver-charred wound in its neck. It was still coming for us. But each movement it took was weaker, more unsteady, a deep wheeze replacing its once deafening roar.

  “Keep your eyes open!” Balt barked, giving Riven’s cheek a quick slap when his head started to loll. “How are you supposed to save Alice and Liz if you're dead?”

  Balt deposited me behind some rocks and stood in front of me as the Prime finally started to slow, its weight shaking the ground like a collapsing siege tower still. Balt turned to me, breath ragged, quick… summon one of your health potions from your storage.

  I was on autopilot and did as I was told. The potion appeared in my hands, and Balt uncorked it and made me swallow it. "It tastes like cherries."

  The healing potion went to work instantly, bringing me back to myself. I felt bones snapping back together. I could tell my arm was still shattered, but I felt my ribs were mostly healed.

  I was breathing normally again. From the safety behind the boulder, we watched as the Ravager started to go into convulsions.

  “It’s bleeding out,” Balt muttered. “You did it.”

  I managed a ghost of a grin. “We… did it.”

  Balt’s grip tightened on my shoulder. “Not yet. We stay low, stay quiet, and let that bastard finish dying.”

  Thank you for coming for me. “I didn’t see that last attack coming; he got me with something and threw me off."

  I noticed Balt ringing his hands. “Well, you see … that was me.” My attention immediately shifted to the old man. “Well, I was running toward you and yelling at you to get out of there. When I saw the Ravagers about to roll over on top of you, I thought you might have been stuck or something."

  "I yelled again for you to get out of there, but you just kept swinging your sword. So, I had to take matters into my hands…to save you of course.”

  I was incredulous. “You hit me with enough force that I will be pissing blood for a week."

  "Well, I didn’t have a lot of time to figure out the minutiae of how much energy it would take to move your big ass, did I?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I mean, if anything, a little thanks would be in order, muttered Balt.”

  “You want me to thank you for nearly killing me?" I stated.

  “Well, when you put it like that, it just sounds worse than it really was,” Balt said.

  “You know what else would be bad if I kicked you square in the bal…

  Just as I was about to attempt to kick Balt in the balls with a hurt leg… System Energy barreled into me and Balt.

  I screamed silently as all that energy hit me. Healing my wounds and infusing my body with new strength. And for the first time in what felt like hours. I breathed out in no pain, the weight in my chest easing just a fraction.

  The Ravager Prime lay still, silver-scorched hide steaming. The gorge, once again alive with sounds. Balt slumped against the boulder beside me, eyes closed, hands resting across his knees. “I think we earned that,” he said with a tired smile.

  I laid down on the stony ground and put my hands behind my head, staring up at the strip of sky above the gorge walls. “Yeah. We earned it.” The Gold Chest materialized with a dull thump on the rocks between us, its polished surface gleaming even in the shadows. I had almost forgotten about that reward.

  Balt cracked an eye. “Well… do you want to open it now or take a few minutes?”

  I smirked but didn’t move to open it just yet. My body screamed for rest even after the level up healing, and for now, the chest could wait. “I’ll take the few-minute option, please and thank you.”

  Balt grunted in agreement.

  They sat there for a moment longer, letting the adrenaline drain, listening to the quiet. But in the back of my mind, the calm was already cracking because in this world, peace never lasted. In that moment, I hoped Alice and Liz were safe and that whatever plans Carson had for them kept them alive long enough for me to find them.

  I would go to this Tutorial Dungeon, hone my kit and destroy everything that got in my way.