Elania turned without missing a beat and hurried after the monks. If Markus didn't need any help, he didn't need any help, and she didn't want to have to fight that thing herself anyway!

It didn't take her long to catch up to the monks who hadn’t hesitated to flee, and the sounds of battle behind her gave her sprint a little more speed. There was an explosion behind her, followed by more roars and a gust of wind, interspaced with what sounded to be falling rock and heavy thumps.

'What the fuck is going on back there?'

"Maurice! Hurry up, we can't slow down."

"I'm sorry, Taniel! That rock took a chunk of my HP, it's slowing me down."

‘H-fucking-P?’ Elania almost brought up her status screen to confirm she hadn’t missed anything. Why didn’t she have any HP?

"Dammit!"

The novice complaining was slowing the group down. She knew that the higher her ‘Power’ was the stronger she was, did the others have the same sort of thing with a hitpoint mechanic? She hadn’t noticed anything refusing to die because it had some HP left in a bar, but then again, she hadn’t seen any health bars at all--- maybe the system somehow awarded damage perfectly… or something? If so, why was he complaining that a broken bloody nose was slowing down his legs.

 A thunderous shake of the cave walls sent everyone scrambling for balance, including her.

"Come on, we need to go!" Taniel shouted from the front. The group started to move again, Elania now at the back. It wasn’t long before the others outpaced Maurice and she was the last one behind him.

“I can’t keep up!”

The group stopped again and Tanyan looked at the novice in a near state of panic. “There isn’t enough time to heal your HP! Just try!”

Seeing that Maurice wasn't going to pick up the pace, Elania stepped forward. “I’ll carry you.”

That got a range of reactions from surprise to Taniel’s dubious glare. Maurice wasn’t huge, but Elania wasn’t a large woman herself, but she knew she’d be able to handle it. Tanyan shook his head.

“I don’t think you---”

Maurice didn’t resist as she lifted him up and over her shoulder. It was a strange feeling to her as she easily lifted him up, despite him being larger. Taniel looked like he was about to protest, but a hand on his shoulder from Tanyan had them moving again. His weight settled and the party continued their escape.

Despite the bulk and weight, he held still and held on, and the bouncing didn’t slow her down. The group was able to move even faster, as they had been slowing themselves slightly trying to let Maurice keep up.

The offshoot from the tunnel they had been traveling along quickly reached another section, and they continued in what Elania hoped was the right direction. She didn't really have any choice and had no idea how Tanyan was navigating for them.

As they rounded a corner, a Darkwalker roared as it stood in their path. The group momentarily slowed, but upon seeing their number, the beast did the sensible thing and fled in another direction.

Suddenly, there was a mighty rumble, and the cavern roof exploded downward just behind them. The Manzitore slammed onto its back before it recovered and stood to challenge them. Rocks levitated around the monster and then flashed forward at an alarming speed.

Elania only caught the glint of an arrow flying down to intercept one of the rocks before it erupted into a massive explosion sending the group flying off their feet. A whirlwind of hot air and dust filled Elania's senses.

The pit in her stomach told her they were all going to die. Sure, the fight with the Darkwalker Demon had been more visceral, but she had been hopped up on monster essence at the time. This time she was just trying to get away, and the monster was using magic. The Manzitore seemed intent on her as well, as one head’s eyes unerringly glared at her. ‘Or the bundle on my shoulder? Was it really after Maurice because of his little nosebleed?’

The answer was seemingly yes as the Manzitore batted at Marcus sending him dodging away before leaping toward the group of monks and singling her out. She had the sense to leap away just in time, and claws on raked through air.

Before she landed though, she suddenly felt herself being yanked to a stop mid-air.

‘What!?’ She was being levitated in the air, although she was still able to spin in place. The Manzitore was getting closer. In the background she could see Marcus fighting and dodging stones as one after another hurled itself at him. It looked like he was trying to find a space to fire his bow, but the incessant barrage wouldn’t allow him the time.

The weight of Maurice on her shoulder suddenly lifted and only a instant reaction allowed her to grab at him as he was suddenly yanked away. She managed to get hold of his ankles, and he screamed as his body was pulled taut between her and the Manzitore.

The monster was using more of its telekinesis or whatever it was to try and steal the novice from her!

Maurice’s screaming reached a terrifying pitch as she was forced to tighten her grip or lose him. Elania had the sudden horrifying realization that he was going to be torn in half--- or at least something like it if she didn’t let go.

“Help!” She wasn’t sure anyone could hear her over Maurice’s screaming. Her entire view seemed to be taken up by the Manzitore’s three maws as Maurice and her were dragged toward it.

One of the novice’s ankles suddenly popped out of place and she had an extremely brief glimpse of his expression before a final tug pulled him out of her grasp and into the jaws of the Manzitore’s middle head.

It bit down on the man’s midsection, blood and viscera exploding out far enough to splatter her face. She could still hear the man screaming as it flipped his body up into the air and then swallowed him.

Everything seemed to stop as the realization that it had eaten the novice soaked in, but the momentary pause was broken when the Manzitore re-focused on her and she realized now she was flying toward a open mouth.

There was a short list of things to do that came to her in that short second, but the first was trying her [Demonic Aura] to somehow break the monster’s telekinesis.

[Demonic Aura (Activated)]

The now familiar surge of energy flooded through her, but she remained trapped in the air hurtling toward a set of massive bloody teeth. A tremor ran through her and she thought to try and grab one of her flimsy javelins off her back, but there was no time.

A heavy impact smashed into the side of the Manzitore in a fiery explosion that sent it flying toward a cavern wall. Elania suddenly found herself falling out of the air. She didn’t have time to brace herself before she landed hard on her side on a rock which sent her tumbling down a pile of stone rubble.

Dazed, she slowly started to sort herself when a hand suddenly pulled her up onto her feet. Taniel’s furious face was only inches from her own and she realized he was screaming at her.

“---et go of him, you stupi---”

Elania only caught the last part of what he was shouting as he cut off abruptly when Tanyan pulled him back. She wasn’t sure what he was angry at her for; She had done her best to keep hold of Maurice, but the monster’s telekinesis was way too strong.

A roar from across the cave prompted the three to look toward it, and Marcus was standing atop a rock, nocking another of his elemental arrows. He looked back at them and repeated his earlier order.

"I told you all to get out of here! GO!"

He did not need to tell her again. Elania pushed past Taniel, and toward the direction the group had been fleeing. The three remaining novices were already further ahead, and she set off in a jog that had her catching up to them. Another enormous crash and explosion erupted behind her, but she didn’t look back. She just wanted to get away.

Taniel pulled off the basket-backpack and strapped it to his front. Elania thought about offering to carry it for him, but despite its bulk, it was not heavy enough to slow him down.

They pushed through to the next cavern and the next one after, finally making progress at leaving the sounds of battle behind them.

 

---

 

The two senior monks caught up to her and the novices eventually, and Elania realized Taniel had a second basket of moss strapped to his front. Evidently it had been important enough to go back to get it from where Maurice had dropped his pack.

She settled at a pace that left her at the back of the group. She realized she was shaken and had to fight back a tremor in her hand. She had fought the Darkwalkers, but it was another thing to watch another person be eaten and then come so awfully close herself to that same end by the maws of the massive beast.

The fear of running into something else, equally as terrifying kept her from falling too far back. She realized that she very much was an outsider in the group, being forced to stay with them now, unless she wanted to try and find her own way. That didn’t seem like such a safe option anymore.

She was not sure how long it had been since they had last heard the combat. It must have been hours, at least. It felt like longer, even if nothing noteworthy had caught her attention other than making sure she was keeping up with the monks. The group trudged through the caves in a morose and defeated silence.

"Here!"

Elania looked up at the shout.

She realized the fungus and mosses had changed hues again at some point. Vibrant purples and reds filled her vision as she looked around the cavern. A small stream passed through the middle of the space. The others were ahead and stopped, and she realized there was an opening that was almost hidden against the wall.

As she caught up, she realized that Taniel had been giving orders to the others. He looked at her with a frown.

“This is it. The room in the far back is yours.”

Looking through the entrance she saw that the others had moved dispersed into the chamber. It was shaped like a small bubble, with the single entrance as a choke point. Elania realized that the walls were not just raw stone. They were smoothed, and all around the room, there were carvings and other small decorations. It was a ruin of some sort that had been repurposed into a campsite. A ‘waystation’ is what they called it.

She started to ask about the ranger, but Taniel had already turned his back on her and was walking away. She felt a spark of annoyance toward him but was ultimately too emotionally exhausted to do anything but follow him and enter the waystation to find her room.

Around the chamber there were rooms cut into the circular wall at regular intervals. A central area had stone benches and a depression for a campfire. A metal spit was built into the stone above where she assumed the fire would go. There were already bundles of the spongy Tower-cap wood set against a stone slab. She assumed they were meant for firewood. The waystation seemed well taken care of and if what she had gleaned from them earlier, they had just stayed here a few days before. So that made sense.

She doubted she would have been able to find this place on her own, and she didn’t think she would even be able to find her way back to the Mushroohum village if she wanted. The route became jumbled and maze-like after the Manzitore attack. She stopped and frowned, looking over to Tanyan who was inspecting the Glow Moss baskets.

"Tanyan, what about Marcus?"

He looked at her and there was a long pause as he considered.

"I don’t know if he could manage to kill a Manzitore. They have a lot of powers and are easily S-ranked, even when they are young. That one had three heads so it must have been ancient. It would probably take a whole party of experienced mercenaries to take it down. I think he probably waited until we got out of the area then escaped."

“Do you think he would be able to do that?”

“Escape? I think so. He’s a ranger and it’s hard to pin that type down.”

"How do you get a class? I don't have one."

"You need someone from the class you want to train you in the right skills. That or find a manual with details on the class. Once you have the skills needed for the class you need them at a high enough level as well.”

“What’s the requirements for [Holy Monk]?”

Tanyan smiled at her. She did not really expect him to answer, the requirements for classes were probably well guarded secrets but she ended up surprised.

“For starters you need [Elemental Manipulation (Light)] Level 500 and [Meditation] Level 250. There are a few others, but those are the main ones.”

‘Level what?’ Elania blinked and realized she had her mouth open and quickly closed it. Level five-fucking-hundred? Her highest skill was not even level 50!

“It actually isn’t that high, but the evolved class of [Holy Monk] has a lot higher requirements. Those are a secret, unlike the base class.”

“Just how high do levels on skills go?”

“It isn’t like all skills have the same limit. Some only go to level five, and you’re stuck with whatever level it is when you get it. Others go up to twenty-five or fifty and level very slowly. Those often evolve into other skills, too. Most go up to a thousand, and usually evolve into a more advanced skill once they max out. Some go up to five thousand, especially the menial or general ones that don’t usually evolve into advanced versions.”

So, she was starting from rock bottom, skill wise. [Darkvision], [Demonic Aura], and [Identify] were definitely in the ‘special’ category on levels. [Reading] and [Writing] also. The magic and combat ones she had picked up seemed to be the high-caps, which suddenly made sense why they were leveling up so quickly. She’d pushed them up a lot in a few weeks, but the levels needed to get a class meant no one would probably get a class without planning and working toward it.

“So, there are class evolutions, too? Does it replace your old class, or do you get multiple?”

“Neither. A class evolution does replace your old class. You can also have multiple classes, although it is not recommended unless you know what you are doing. It slows your leveling down considerably.”

Multiple classes sounded overpowered, but Elania realized she did not actually know what classes did.

“Tanyan, this might seem like a silly question, but what do classes… actually do?”

He smiled at her and chuckled.

“They increase the effectiveness of their class skills. A mage might practice with a sword or bow, and he can be quite skilled in it, but if a warrior or ranger puts the same amount of effort in, they’ll be much better at the same thing. Especially if they both max out the same skill.”

Elania considered the ramifications of that. If someone didn’t care much for attribute points, and base level in general, would it make sense to take a bunch of classes for the skill boosts? What if found out that base level was important for something else? Well, none of her skills were anywhere near what seemed to be needed for a class, anyway, so she would have plenty of time to figure it out. She hoped so, at least.

She was still theorizing when someone else stepped into the conversation.

“Tanyan? Set these out for me?”

Taniel pressed his pack into Tanyan's arms and nodded to one of the rooms. The [Holy Monk] looked at her and gave her an apologetic smile before heading to unpack.

‘He just did that to keep Tanyan from answering more questions.’

There were three different side chambers that were meant for guests. The novices had all piled into one room, and she guessed that Tanyan and Taniel were going to share another. That left her with the third one. She was suddenly glad that Marcus was missing; she would have a space to herself.

Elania left Taniel with the baskets and made her way around to her chamber. There were hooks above the entrance for some type of tarp to be hung for privacy, and the novices had already finished the process of setting up one for themselves. She didn’t have anything to hang up there, though, so she would have to do without.

She heard a faint sobbing sound come from the novice’s room and she suddenly felt her insides go cold. Maurice was dead, and he had been the novice’s friend. Elania had a flashback to the scene with the Manzitore’s open mouth, about to eat her and shivered. And she had been asking about fucking skills and classes just after they got to the camp? She looked over toward the room Tanyan had went to. He probably knew the novice, too. What was wrong with her?

Taking a deep breath and trying to push that thought aside she examined the furniture in the room. It was carved right out of the stonework, being part of the room itself. What she had assumed were bricks or blocks were actually engravings made right into the raw stone to make it look constructed. There was a bench and chair, that were little more than slabs. In a corner there was a larger slab she assumed was meant for a place to put down her bedding.

Elania pulled out her bedroll, leaving the Mana Shard in her backpack. The roll was little more than a sewn together wrap of leather. It was a far cry from the modern sleeping bag she remembered from camping with her family. It was a gift from the Mushroohums so that made sense, but she thought she was going to have a hard time resting on it.

She had companions she could talk to now, even if they did not trust her. Somehow that made her feel lonelier than when she had been alone. She did have hope that they would warm up to her, though. With no sleep since she woke up in the Mushroohum storeroom, she realized that she was tired. It was not a physical tiredness, but an emotional one. As soon as she laid back on the leather bedroll, she was fast asleep.

 

---

Art!