Meriah tried to lunge forward while drawing both of her daggers; Fear, hatred, and mania flashed upon her face as she took her chance—the opening when Kooco became a distraction.

She managed to move roughly six inches before she was locked into place. Sturdy metallic wires were wrapped around her wrists, legs, and neck. The momentum of her movement caused them to dig deeply into her flesh. The initial jerk from the wires caused blood to splurt outwards but transitioned into circular seeping lines that began pooling around the barely visible thread.

Em lazily slid her narrowed eyes back to the trapped Meriah. “While I appreciate your willingness to rid the earth of vile creatures. You must realize that I am not one of them. I was never one of them.”

Em ran her finger over one of the near-invisible threads and tugged slightly, causing the thread around Meriah’s neck to tighten. “You think me a monster because of my appearance. You would no longer be among the living if I were one.”

Em slowly circled around the trapped Meriah, plucking at invisible strings. Meriah’s eyes were shaking from mania as she could no longer keep them on Em. “Maybe you think I am one of the monsters capable of thought. A dire threat indeed.”

She completed her circle around Meriah and cupped her hand under Meriah’s chin, pulling it forward so that their faces were mere inches apart. “I am not. I am a person.”

She lazily let go of Meriah’s face and shuffled back toward her bedding. As she relaxed, she gazed around the camp at everyone but Lee. “I can taste fear. No matter how you hide it. Rein in your friend before she gets herself killed.”

She ended her cycling gaze on Kooco. “Little bird, I won’t be so kind next time. Make sure she learns well from this lesson.”

Em tapped one of her metallic legs, and the threads around Meriah vanished, causing her to flop onto the ground. Em waved her hand in Meriah’s direction, casting a spell very familiar to Lee. Mend Wounds.

Lee glanced around in the awkward silence. He had expected the rest of the squad to at least attempt something to help Meriah, but they just stared at the ground, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

“Well, then. What nice introductions… Is the soup ready?” Lee said to break the silence and tense atmosphere.

Belgrate, now out of his stupor, rushed to stir the forgotten soup pot, and Jeremy gazed upon Meriah's fallen form with pity.

Kooco was still peering out of the tent flap, eyes focused and sharp. She turned to Lee. “Friend Lee Barnes… Friend Meriah Camp has problems, but they are not simple. I will tell you about them when we travel. Maybe you can help?”

Lee nodded and felt a little bad about how everything played out. He wasn’t sure if that was for the best any longer. “I’ll try, but I hope you know her behavior cannot continue, right? She will end up getting killed in the future if she can’t control herself. She acts like a cornered animal, ready to bite anything that gets near when running fails.”

Kooco shook her body, letting her ruffled feathers flatten out. “I know Friend Lee. Life is hard for many.”

On that, they could agree. Lee let Kooco return to the tent to sleep. He got up and began to help serve everybody a bowl of soup.

Once everyone was eating, Lee asked about where they should travel next. He wouldn’t mind another village, but a city would be a much better destination if he wanted to spread his healing magic to as many people as possible. “Where are we headed tomorrow morning? What are our options?”

Lee expected Jeremy to speak, but it was Em who spoke first. She placed her bowl of soup on her spider half behind her back, almost as if it were a table. “There are some villages and cities to pass through, but I think we should aim for the capital. A longer goal with stops along the way.”

It didn’t sound like a bad idea. They could aim far and stop at every village or city to explore or heal. Lee had no concrete path or plan, so this was better than nothing.

Jeremy finished swallowing a spoonful of soup as he spoke. “The capital would be good for your goal, but it is a long journey. I might be biased, but Felispar would be a good destination. For one, I could introduce you to my father, and we could organize and hasten the pace to where you could teach and heal all who were capable or willing. My father wouldn’t turn that down. More healers amounts to more safety.”

He tapped his spoon against his bowl as he made a mental plan. “Afterwards, we could take a boat down the River Fel and stop along the settlements toward the capital from there. It would be a much safer, faster, and comfortable means of travel.”

“Felispar is also a long trip. I would assume it’s at least two months of travel?” Em asked.

Jeremy nodded. “That’s correct, but with my connections there, Lee would have a much easier time teaching. Feldspar is a modest city, having around fifty-thousand living in or around the area. There would surely be many eligible for teaching, and many more which required affordable healing.”

Lee hummed as he thought about the options presented. While it was obvious that Jeremy was biased toward his own city, it didn’t make his plan worse than Em’s. Lee had never been on a boat before, either. So, he would be lying if he didn’t think it would be a fun experience.

Felispar was also home to the enchanter who gifted Jeremy his quill. A family friend, if he remembered correctly. It would be the perfect opportunity to get started on training in some enchanting.

“So, I’m leaning towards heading to Felispar. But, If we’re going to travel for two months to get there, I think it is a good idea to share some more information with one another. In my initial travel through the Shadowgrove forest, I ran into monsters at least every other day…”

Everyone’s spoons stilled upon hearing the information. Even Em’s spoon paused before she turned her head toward Lee, eyebrows raised.

“...How often will be run into danger along our travels and what levels should we expect? I doubt we will travel for two months without a single encounter.” Lee finished his bowl of soup and set it aside.

“For the most part, I had my brood deal with the monsters around Breye. I’m not familiar with anything outside of a ten-mile radius from here, as that was the range of my patrols. Occasionally, my brood ran into small groups of low leveled Goblins or Serephracts—between level two and eight, maybe once a week? They were not much of a threat.”

“Serephracts?” Lee asked questionably.

Em thought about how to explain before speaking. “They are vile insects that burrow beneath the earth. Small, around one or two feet in length, and can glide across the plains low to the ground. They swarm their foes in small packs but are fragile. You, Lee, would probably be fine with your magic. I worry about the others in our group.”

Kendri frowned with annoyance upon hearing of the Serephracts. “I can deal with them as well. They are common threats west of the River Fel, so I’ve delt with my fair share of them.”

Lee looked around the camp. Em had said that some of them didn’t have classes yet. That would have to change. “Can everyone without a class raise their hand? I’d Identify you, but I don’t want to be rude.”

He flicked his eyes to Em’s unconcerned face as he finished speaking.

Belgrate raised his hand as he looked around the camp, finding he was the only one who did so. Slowly, he lowered it back down—Downtrodden at the revelation.

Lee smiled in his direction and decided to throw him a bone. “It’s all right, Belgrate. Believe it or not, I didn’t have one until recently.”

Jeremy immediately asked. “How recently?”

Lee gave him an unimpressed look and continued talking to Belgrate. “We can help you get some levels along the way. That way, when you’re done with your service, you can level passively from your quests.”

Belgrate looked both worried and excited but eventually nodded in affirmation.

Lee then turned to Em and sized her up. “So… Are you a higher level than me?”

Em smirked and held pure, unadulterated mischievousness within her eyes. “Who knows?”

Lee sighed and used Identify.

He watched as Em’s eyes crinkled in amusement. His lips thinned, unimpressed.

Damn high-level people… Neia did the exact same thing. I guess being the defender of a village has its perks…

“You could have just said so. You didn’t have to be all mysterious about it.”

Em smiled and just laid out the facts. “It’s only rude if you get caught. I was confident in my level when I identified everyone, including you. You should Identify more often. I don’t think people would care if you failed. When they Identify you in return—which they will, they will see your class and think twice about being upset.”

Lee had to think about what she said for a few seconds. Eventually, it dawned on him.

Ahh. She knows I have a Legendary class. I saw Timberson’s class when I Identified him.

“I trust you’ll keep that information to yourself?” He asked, flicking his eyes toward Jeremy and the others.

Em lost her smile and spoke with seriousness. “I will. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Jeremy was staring with a little too much focus in their general direction, trying to listen in on the conversation, so he dropped it there.

He turned to look at Meriah, who had calmed down but was still glaring at Em. “Meriah, are you going to freak the fuck out again anytime soon? Do you have it in you to travel with us? If not, you can head back to the Wall of Shadows. If there is going to be fighting in our future, then I need to know that you can handle it.”

Meriah slid her eyes over to Lee and slowly pushed her glasses back up. She spoke in a monotone voice, devoid of all emotion. “I don’t know.”

Lee just stared at her for a moment before nodding. “I suppose that’s better than nothing.”

Lee clapped once, gathering the attention of the camp. “I’m going to head to sleep. We leave tomorrow for Felispar. Get some rest and be prepared. I want to leave in the morning.”

Before lying down to sleep, his curiosity got the best of him. He quickly used Identify on Meriah.

He laid down, facing away from everyone, as he let that information sink in. That was an… interesting class.