I crashed through the trees, hearing the grunts, groans and breaking of branches as others around me headed toward the ground. A lot of broken branches. Most of the soldiers were big folk, wearing heavy armor. They fell like rocks, even using rappelling lines. You could hear the crashing.

  And the cursing.

  But they knew what they were getting into and all had agreed.

  I wasn’t going to make anyone do this jump if they didn’t want to.

  Fifty feet, luckily the trees weren’t that tall in this valley, not like they were outside. A good distance but not something any high Level couldn’t handle.

  For the most part.

  Just a minimal amount of injuries.

  I held my arms up in front of my face, using the field to ward off some of the branches. They snapped, crackled and popped and I just hoped I didn’t hit a big trunk. All I could see was green leaves and branches. Then I dropped below the branches, bracing myself for impact.

  Legs hit the ground hard but my field absorbed it.

  Most of the soldiers used the lines, but some had just jumped, using their Abilities to stop or slow their fall. I could see people all around, standing, brushing themselves off, looking for where to go.

  “Head for the center,” I said, already hearing the sounds of fighting.

  We knew there would be Grimdar in the woods and more would be coming.

  I looked up, hearing the creaking and whining as the Phoenix’s Feather poured on the speed again, flying over the trees and heading for the other side. The cannon’s were still firing. I started running through the forest, heading for the Dungeon portal in the center, putting the ship out of mind. I had to hope it could get past the Grimdar on the other side and then get away from any pursuit.

  We kind of needed that ship for the escape plan.

  I didn’t go far before I got to see my first Grimdar.

  The creature stood about eight feet tall, hunched over like in the images I’d seen. Covered in scraggly and thick black fur, some lighter gray spots. It wore leather armor, carrying a glowing sword. The Grimdar saw me and charged.

  Probably thought I was an idiot and unarmed.

  I didn’t bother slowing him down. I wanted to see what one of these guys was capable of.

  The sword swung down, glowing a light blue. I raised an arm, catching it on the field. Light exploded on impact. I could feel, and see, ice spreading out across the field. The Grimdar just raised the sword, ready to attack again.

  He was well trained, at least I thought it was a he. Instead of being surprised by the blow not cutting my arm off, he was instantly reacting and attacking again. I ducked out of the way, punching him in the side. The Grimdar staggered back, growling.

  “You’re strong human,” he said, the System translating. “I look forward to harvesting your world.”

  “Not happening,” I replied, dodging another swing.

  I could hear more fighting and knew I couldn’t delay much longer. We had to get to that Dungeon and quickly.

  The next swing I caught in the field. The Grimdar looked surprised as his swing slowed down, feeling like it had gained a hundred pounds. I just smiled, stepped closer and punched him in the head with some force and the kinetic energy applied. His head snapped back. I yanked the sword from his grip, spun it in the air, caught the hilt again, and stabbed it down into his chest.

  I twisted the weapon as I pulled it out, stabbing down into his neck. The Grimdar’s body jerked and spasmed a bit before he died.

  Killing an Awakened is far different from killing an Arcanebeast.

  It’s harder for one thing. The bodies don’t disappear when looting them because we actually have to strip the gear and such off the bodies. They do drop Essences though.

  A bright glow appeared over the Grimdar’s heart, which was slightly more to the center of the body than a humans. That was interesting. I’d have to pass that info along.

  Awakened were hard to kill, we could heal over time and were just tough to begin with. But there were ways to take us out fairly quickly. Brain and heart. Destroy those and we were pretty much dead. None of this stuff where our organs were replaced and we didn’t need bodies as we got stronger. We still needed food and sleep just like always.

  The bright light flared and disappeared, leaving behind a glowing Essence Crystal. I grabbed it and kept running.

  YOU HAVE GAINED +1 TEMPERATURE ESSENCE

  The whole waiting-for-the-crystal had really only taken less than a second. It was a quick process. I still held the sword, it was a pretty good blade.

  About five feet long, curved like a cutlass, the inside edge jagged, pretty wide and the edge looking sharp. The hilt was a hand-and-a-half. Overall it had good balance. I didn’t know the material, but someone would be interested in studying it.

  The dead Grimdar could have had more cool stuff on him, but I didn’t have time to loot.

  Which went against the natural inclination of an Adventurer. Our job was to delve Dungeons in search of loot. Really Resources our Factions could use, but we also got the sweet, sweet loot out of it.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Another Grimdar jumped out at me. I slowed him with the field, slashed him with the sword, and kept moving.

  I could see the large boulder in the center of the valley, then I could see the blue water of the small pond. I burst out into the clearing around both, seeing fighting everywhere.

  The portal was visible, a dark crack in the side of the large boulder. The pond spread out to the side, only a hundred feet in diameter or so. The stream, ten feet wide, came down from the left, where it had started at the standing stones. I could see the path that paralleled the stream.

  Twenty Grimdar stood in front of the portal. My forces were spread out, fighting as they pushed their way toward the portal. Some had made it to the clearing. I saw Nathan to the right. The streaking green arrows told me Tracy was over there too.

  A large form barreled out of the trees, great mace swinging. Mason sent two of the Grimdar flying, but two more got in his way. I ran toward the large group outside the portal. Using the kinetic energy I’d absorbed, I increased my speed, crossing the distance rapidly. Some of them saw me coming, shifting their stances to get ready.

  I threw a couple force lances, followed by waves of sound. The lances speared a couple, bounced off the armor of a couple. The sound wave struck, knocking some back, only a couple off their feet. Two big ones at the front didn’t even move. I shifted my angle, heading straight for those two.

  One had fur that was more brown and carried a spear, the tip glowing red. The other had more gray and black spots, holding a large hammer. A field of energy shimmered around him, a white tint to him, and then it disappeared.

  That was the other issue with fighting Awakened. They had Abilities too. No two alike. With Arcanebeasts, as least each type of beast had the same Abilities. Not with Awakened.

  The spearwielder seemed to blur for a second and then lunged at me, having the same speed as me. That caught me by surprise, but only for a second, I twisted to the side, avoiding the stabbing tip. I could feel the heat from the weapon as it passed.

  I reached down, grabbing the spear. Using my field, I came to a complete stop, letting the Grimdar’s own momentum carry him past. Holding the spear, caught in my field, I didn’t let it move. I became the focal point of the Grimdar spinning around me. He lost his grip on the weapon, sliding across the forest floor a dozen feet or so, stopping only because he collided with another Grimdar.

  Spinning the spear around me, the tip no longer glowing, I threw it at the other big Grimdar, the one with the shield Ability. The spear struck the barrier, which lit up white, ripples of color spreading across the surface. It was a couple inches past the body of the Grimdar. There was a loud cracking as the spear head broke off, the two pieces falling to the ground.

  That was a pretty strong barrier.

  With a roar the Grimdar charged me. I could see the other one, with a new spear pulled from his Inventory, rushing me from the side. I threw a force lance at the swordsgnoll. It shattered against the barrier, but I could see cracks forming. That stopped the Grimdar up short, but I couldn’t take advantage. A spear was rushing at my side.

  It was just ahead of me, the Grimdar aiming for where I’d be. But I stopped. Far quicker than he expected. The spear stabbed in front, a couple inches off. That would have punctured my side. Instead I reached down, grabbed the spear and pulled. The wooden shaft shattered. I grabbed the broken end with the spearhead, shifting and throwing it, with some kinetic force applied, at another Grimdar. That one had its back to me, the spear catching it in the back of the knee, giving the Solace Soldier an opening.

  I couldn’t see what happened next as I had two big Grimdar to deal with.

  The sword swung and I pulled my new sword out of the Inventory. Blade met blade. The Grimdar was stronger than me. Not from being higher Leveled, just naturally. He started pushing my blade down, so I dropped it, dashing out of the way. The Grimdar stumbled but recovered quickly, swinging his sword at where I’d been.

  I wasn’t there. Instead I’d moved behind the speargnoll, who had gotten another spear from his Inventory. How many back-ups did this guy have? The tip glowed the bright red as he spun, leaving trailing lights in the air.

  I caught it on my raised arm, sparks bursting out where the tip struck my field. He pulled it back to stab at me, but I darted in, stabbing at him with a force lance backed by a kinetic field assisted punch. The lance pierced his armor and then his chest. He fell back, looking down at the hole in his body.

  Kicking, I pushed him into the swordgnoll. The two stumbled together and I rushed forward, force lances shaped like punch-blades growing from my fists.

  ***

  I killed five more Grimdar soldiers before I realized there were no more left. The fighting had been fierce, but we’d managed it. And fairly quickly too. More Grimdar would be coming down the trail, I could see their running forms up by the standing stones.

  Mason, Sunie, Nathan and the rest were all clustered around with the squads of Solace Soldiers. I did a quick count and it looked like we’d lost a couple. There were still sounds of fighting so maybe they’d make it to us. A couple of the soldiers ran off, to help find the others and to start a delaying action on the Grimdar reinforcements.

  Bodies littered the ground, lots of glowing spheres appearing. I’d snag the ones I could, missed a couple and hoped others had managed to get them. The looting rules had been established and were pretty simple.

  No one hoards the Essences. You give over the ones you got to someone that needs them. They give you the ones you need. Anything else, hold onto it and give to someone else in the army that could use it.

  Would everyone follow the rules?

  Of course not.

  But I did lead by example.

  “Hold the Essence trading for a bit,” I yelled out, looking around the clearing and counting.

  It looked like everyone was there.

  “If you need healing, yell it out,” I shouted, walking towards the portal entrance. “Get these bodies out of the way. Get some trees down. Start building a barrier. Get the portable siege equipment up and running. We’ll have incoming any minute now. Ranged in the back, get up higher if can. As soon as they’re in range, take ‘em out.”

  Outside the black portal was Mason along with Nathan, Tracy, Harry, Gary and Grant. They were all looking at the black scar in the otherwise normal looking surface of the boulder.

  “You guys know what to expect?”

  “Yep,” Nathan said. “This is a tough one but we should be able to handle it. Mason says the record is ten hours.”

  “Make it quicker,” I said, not joking. “We might not be able to hold out for ten hours.”

  “And if you’re not here when we come out?” Grant asked.

  I laughed.

  “Then you’ll find out how long you can stay inside a Dungeon.”