The night sky was full of radiance, with countless stars dappling like specks of gold through the distant darkness. Without mist blurring them, the moonlight bravely showed itself, almost so eagerly that it ended up bathing Suna in its soft silver light.

  The moonlit silver caught the Umbralline’s pommel.

  An almost childish idea crossed his mind. Suna looked around. He was on a road straight in front of the houses where the other humans were. He could faintly hear the sound of their chatter… a couple of seconds passed, and he heard laughter. Suna couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He had thought he would return to tension like he always bloody did and ended up ripping his hair.

  Now he looked backward and beyond him again. No one there, good. Suna unclasped Umbralline from its scabbard and lifted it high. The sword was frigid to touch. Suna swore it sent a numbing shiver down his body.

  His eyes shimmered like a child's. Now this was a sword. How come Slea gave this away? What’s wrong with her? Suna recognized she might have gone a tad bit insane, but giving this away? Heck, he hadn’t given his obsidian sword away. Running his thumb along its steel, it was so light. His thumb grazed over the almost pulsing solid steel. Wait, was this even steel? He raised his sword higher, trying to make sense of it.

  “You know, you might as well kiss it.”

  Above, with legs dangling off the roof, was Slea, her hand resting on her cheek, and she grinned down at him.

  He sheathed his sword in a practiced, smooth manner.

  “Oh, don’t sheathe it now! I find that was adorable,” she snickered.

  Suna groaned inwardly; he didn’t really think he did anything to be embarrassed, though. She was just making stuff out of nothing.

  “Come up here, Suna! Might as well get some practice in.”

  “Practice?” Another voice said. A figure appeared beside Slea. It was Desha, the runebearer, who had been tasked to stay with the humans to dissuade Seeker Drow from attacking, while James and Floundea dealt with the Tieflings. “Perfect, come up Suna. We will practice.”

  Great. Suna stifled a sigh. He waved at Desha and gave a wavering smile. “I’m coming.” Time to get his ass kicked again.

  --

  “Flintwind Archer, you say…” Desha muttered, tapping her chin.

  The female Tiefling stood above him with her sword slung over her shoulder. Suna was battered and beaten. He had lasted way longer than their last practice; the purple wound across Desha's face was proof of that. But, besting the Tiefling in a swordfight alone was still beyond him.

  Still, he was curious; what if he was allowed to use his bow? Suna thought he might win, but obviously, it was too dangerous. They had practice using the flat of their sword only.

  “Here you go,” Slea tapped a health potion to his cheek and handed another one to Desha.

  “Thank you, Slea.” Desha bowed and drank the potion. She wiped her mouth and said, “I must admit, this class upgrade was intriguing. I hadn’t had any of this phenomenon happen to me…”

  “I think it's just the limitation of Tiefling, Desha,” Slea said, her face softened. “My master said she was one in a hundred who were blessed enough to sense her class upgrade.”

  “That is most unfortunate, you humans, are truly lucky,” Desha said. “But, Suna. You were training with a physical bow and arrow, the whole time, and a sword. Wouldn’t this impede your class upgrade?”

  “I don’t think so. The class upgrade is still there, even when my skill was not enough. They are waiting for me to take their hand,” Suna explained.

  It was also important to have something else to rely on. The magic archery would require a ton of Mana. So Suna still needed to practice normal bow and arrow, and sword as well.

  “Well–”

  “Something is coming,” Desha suddenly said. Suna drew his bow and followed Desha's gaze to a flying creature, with drool glinting from its jagged teeth as it hung in the air.

  It had bat-like wings, flapping unreliably, supporting its body, which was too heavy and not meant for flight. Its body was bulky and muscular like a snake with arms that ended in talons. Its head was sharp with two eyes that glowed in a dark green sheen.

  [Undead Gargoyle. Lvl 25]

  The Gargoyle’s muscle flexed, its arm like two solid metallic bubbles that shone silver on its dark blue skin. Contrary to how its wings looked, it suddenly blasted wind and zoomed toward them.

  Suna had already drawn an arrow and shot out three of them–each streaming toward the creature. The first two were knocked aside by the creature's sheer force, but the third sank deep into its shoulder. The Gargoyle’s flight veered away from them and smashed through the roof to their left.

  Slea fired three trails of thin, serpentlike fire. They sought out the Gargoyle. The creature, however, had recovered and was running with its wings flapping. As Slea’s spell was about to hit, it flapped again, and a burst of wind dispersed the spell like a popping bubble, and it once again took flight.

  Suna hated to admit it, but the undead were tough against physical attacks, making his attack probably only do one-tenth of what it was supposed to do. The only other way that crossed his mind was his mana arrow.

  Desha had decided to stay by Suna and Slea instead of taking the air to chase the gargoyle. Suna puffed his cheek and let his breath out from his mouth. A mana arrow manifested in his hand, and Suna drew it with his obsidian bow.

  The blue manifestation of mana was cold. He had to move his hand around to track the gargoyle as it kept flying around, veering through the night sky. What was worse was that he recognized there were other gargoyles, too. But he decided to think about them later.

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  “Come on,” Suna grunted as the gargoyle was still veering around through the sky.

  Slea kept firing her magic–heat burst out from her wand, and the thin fire followed the flying monster close on its trail. She waved the wand around, and the red serpents moved behind the gargoyle, forcing it to fly toward them.

  Suna grinned as the figure of the gargoyle got bigger and bigger.

  “Alright,” Slea said. “Just hold…”

  But Suna had already released his arrow. The force of Mana swirled around him, pushing his brimhat up.

  His Archer Sense had screamed to release, so he did.

  The arrow punched through the gargoyle's head and skewered its body, splitting it into two parts.

  [You have Slain Undead Gargoyle. Lvl 25]

  [Level up]

  [Rune Of Arcanely]

  [Feat Gained] [Air Archer] – You have slain a flying opponent. Such a feat requires precision and a steady hand. Senses + 30.

  “That works too,” Slea mumbled.

  The gargoyle's body did not quite make it to their roof; it fell flat inside the building, though. The explosion of glass followed its landing. And someone screamed way too loudly for Suna's liking. He winced, recognizing its Reki’s shout.

  “I will get them,” Slea said, and she began running, dropping onto the balcony as the sounds of the humans started to rise from below.

  Suna found Desha on the edge of the roof. The Tiefling's hands clutched her sword, and her body stiffened as she looked up at the sky.

  The sky filled with these gargoyles. Under the brimming stars, dozens of them flew around, and some swooped down, retrieving a body of either a Drow or a Tiefling, and then dropped them from high up to their deaths.

  “You know of them?” Suna asked.

  “No, No, I don’t. They’re not in the first depth, Suna.”

  What the hell is happening in the underground?

  “To the nest, then,” Suna said.

  “Let's go,” Desha jumped down off the roof straight to the road below. Suna followed. He cast Gale Step, and the wind softened his landing smoothly. Fixing his brimhat, he quickly kicked open the door leading to the houses and shouted. “Out!”

  Noa stared at him, wearing only pants; his upper body was wet. Suna had always wondered where that water from the bath came from. He must’ve some item that can do that, maybe he got it from the first eight runes.

  “What?” Noa blinked.

  Descending from the stairs was Slea, and behind her, the group streamed out with all their armor and weapons. Slea shoved Noa’s armor and swords.

  “Come on, we’re going down again. We will explain on the road.”

  --

  The gargoyle was not the only one who appeared. As if that wasn’t bad enough, now Suna had to deal with dogs, too.

  [Undead Dogs. Lvl 5]

  Well, they’re just level five.

  Alongside Reki, Desha, and Pito. Suna brought the vanguard of the group. Noa would protect Min and Slea in the back line.

  Five dogs sprinted at them. And Suna's hand flicked from his quiver to his bows. Five arrows streaked into each dog's head, killing them instantly. Suna brushed off the announcement; all he knew there was no level up.

  He did not stop running and firing, not bothering to harvest the runes as more dogs kept appearing out of the corner, but they did not even come close to a meter to the group, as Suna would take them down with one shot.

  “I’m going first,” Desha declared, as they found the alleyway leading to the well.

  The Tiefling, however, met a challenge in a tight pass.

  [Undead Flesh Soldier. Lvl 10]

  “These are from the first depth,” Pito said. “I faced them early on”

  Desha's wind sword brimmed with magic, and she easily cleaved down the flesh soldier in one strike, splaying green blood through the pass. Suna scrunched his eyebrows. That would be a bigger problem for the monster itself…

  But, Desha splayed forth her swing, marring the green blood forward so at least it would not spread and would be easy to dodge.

  She went in, and their backline followed her.

  “Incoming!” Reki warned. The [Paladin] hefted his shield up, and Pito followed, combining their shields. Suna drew his arrows just above the combined shields. Another gargoyle went after them.

  “Well, this one certainly is not in the first depth!” Pito said.

  Suna switched his normal arrows with Mana Arrow, and he ducked, shielding the blue light from leaking out with the two huge shields of the [Paladin] and [Monk].

  “Why are you hiding?” Reki complained.

  “Shut up, Reki, you rather I miss?”

  Reki grumbled and peered through his shield. Five seconds passed, and finally he said, “It's closing.”

  Suna peeked and decided it was time. He hovered over the shield and released his arrow. Bluish light zipped through, bludgeoning the gargoyle in one shot. His Mana dimmed like some kind of afterglow as the gargoyle's body splayed open.

  [You have Slain Undead Gargoyle. Lvl 25]

  [Level up]

  [Rune Of Arcanely]

  The key will be baiting it close. Suna would need to keep that in mind. Those dogs died easily to his level because of their level difference, but these gargoyles were level 25, and he was not sure if they could get any higher. Suna was currently level 28, thanks to these two kills. Nowhere near enough for him to dispatch them with normal arrows.

  He wondered what would happen to the Drow now. Hopefully, they would have so much struggle that they would get wiped. The worst-case scenario would be the undead feeding levels and runes to the Drow.

  Suna rushed through the alleyway and found Desha had already gone down first. And Noa, too, leaving Min and Slea behind.

  “They're going without you guys?” Suna asked.

  Slea scowled, looking down the well where the faint sound of fighting resounded. “Noa said, we’re not a frontliners.”

  “And he is right,” Min reminded Slea with a reluctant sigh.

  “Gotcha,” Suna said, his gauntlet settling on the rope, testing it. “I will go down first, then.”

  When no response came from either of them, the two just stared blankly at them.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” Slea whistled badly.

  Min shrugged. “Must be nice for you, mister all-rounder. Jeez, I really should learn from this, James too.”

  He was not sure if her class would allow that kind of fighting style for Min; maybe it was possible.

  Pito and Reki finally passed through the alleyway. The golden armored [Monk] ran near the well immediately. “I’m coming down too. Reki can be the last man. His skill is better against the undead.”

  “Music to my ears,” Reki said.

  Suna nodded, and he began descending, not bothering to do so slowly. He slid fast; his gloves did most of the work. However, as he descended, a shadow spiraled around him.

  Suna let out a small laugh. The gargoyle made it here? To the well entrance.

  He drew Umbralline as he was dangling in the air with his left hand clutched tight around the rope.

  One gargoyle dived at him, its claw trying to scratch his eyes out. Suna flourished Umbralline, and he parted the gargoyle's claw in one looping strike. The creature screeched like a bat, and its flight became unstable.

  The fight below was still happening, and Suna could make out the outline of more gargoyles flying. Just what was happening? Was James even still alive? Did the Tieflings? Or maybe he’s now just descending just to find a graveyard?