Dark hands moved, dozens of them, serving as the Gloom Hand’s ward. They cloaked the monster in a veil of darkness. Suna’s arrow scorched through the defense, piercing five hands before crumbling apart. They were tough. But the attack wasn’t over yet.

  Noa’s shields whirred and tore through the dark magic, striking toward the creature itself.

  The Gloom Hand drifted back, levitating above the stairs—fitting for a ghost. Its cloak fluttered, and massive shadowed hands formed into fists. These were far more solid than the ones it had summoned earlier; Suna could feel the dense Mana pulsing through them.

  Its palm opened wide and caught both giant shields, pinching them hard enough to halt their spin. The Gloom Hand’s bright yellow eyes fixed on Suna. It had no expression, but its intent was obvious.

  It hurled the shields back at him—but before they could reach him, the shields resisted. They spun away from the creature’s grip and swept behind Suna. Noa must have recalled them.

  Now exposed, the Gloom Hand gathered Mana into its hands again.

  Suna saw the buildup, and no way in hell he was letting it finish its magic. Gale Step surged under his feet and he shot forward. Wind gathered along his grip as pressure built on his new sword, and somehow, instinctively, he understood its flow and purpose.

  The monster summoned a new shadow hand, faster than he expected, but weaker, rushed, incomplete.

  Suna skidded to a halt, raised his sword, and slashed downward. A wave of wind cleaved through the shadow, exposing the Gloom Hand’s small body.

  Got it.

  He dropped his sword and lunged, opening both hands as Wind Veil gathered in each palm. Instead of retreating, the Gloom Hand advanced. Their magic collided. Suna’s wind drilling through shadow. Eagerness surged through him as he pushed forward, banishing darkness inch by inch.

  But the Gloom Hand suddenly twisted its form into a slithering streak of shadow, whipping past him like a living ribbon.

  It didn’t have a physical body?

  Suna spun, only to meet a shadow hand closing around him.

  Noa cried out a warning from behind him, and the shadow hand vanished. The Bulwark’s shield glowed with blue Mana, and he slammed the Gloom Hand into the pillar that hugged the stairs beneath them.

  Wendy followed by splitting her usual shield into six transparent rods. She pointed her staff forward, and the magic lanced through the Gloom Hand’s limbs, with two rods striking its head.

  No blood.

  Suna wove his Gale Bow, and at the same time, the Gloom Hand extended another two of those shadow hands, skipping over Noa’s body and shields as they tried to clasp Wendy and Suna. However, Suna had already drawn an arrowless string and let his magic thrum, sending wind rushing forward. Noa let out a yelp as the Bulwark was pushed forward, driving his shield deeper into the Gloom Hand. Meanwhile, the Gloom Hand’s shadow hand was blown apart by Suna’s wind.

  It did not attempt to turn into a shadow again, as it had done earlier.

  This must be an effect of Wendy’s magic. She had briefly explained her arsenal earlier—if he recalled correctly, this spell weakened power rather than sealing it, just as it had weakened Jack’s when they first met.

  “Suna!” Wendy shouted.

  “I know!” he replied. The shadow lurched again, and again Suna let his arrowless Arcane String thrum, pushing wind and banishing the magic once more.

  Wendy pointed her staff at her rods, and they grew brighter. The shadow hand tried to grow, but it was much weaker. Still, Suna was not willing to let it happen; both Noa and Wendy were still pinning it down, after all.

  He dissolved another attempt from the Gloom Hand, and in seconds, its shadow grew weaker. The darkness that cloaked its body thinned.

  Seeing his chance, Suna quickly drew a Sootroot Arrow and shot it at the Gloom Hand’s head just beside Noa’s. The arrow snapped into the pillar and broke apart.

  “No physical body…” he muttered. “Noa, anything you can do?”

  Suna was about to weave an Emberwind—a weak one—when the Gloom Hand summoned another shadow hand. This one was small and hastily formed, but it moved like a slithering snake, aiming directly at Suna. It tried to strike at his head, but he simply slashed it apart with his Gale Bow.

  “This is my Mana Bash!” Noa shouted. “It has a body, Suna—I can feel resistance. Just keep getting it weaker,” he told Wendy. The Lunarian nodded, then Noa spoke to Suna again. “Keep firing those winds. Don’t let it do anything. Reki will be here soon.”

  Suna wanted to slam an Emberwind into the creature… but it could still summon shadow hands, one after another, even in its weakened state. So he was forced into a bizarre rhythm, firing arrowless wind again and again.

  Until finally, a voice called out.

  “By Enalda’s blessing and her grace and her voice and her light. She extended her hand to my hammer—her magic, her wisdom, her strength—everything is now here…”

  Bright golden light rushed at them. A figure, distant behind the blinding glow, ran forward and slammed his hammer straight into the Gloom Hand’s chest.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Begone!” the office worker screamed.

  Shadow rippled and writhed, forming a messy wave of undulation. Then the darkness broke apart and revealed a white, frail body wrapped in linen—about the size of a child, like a small body mummified in cloth. That child—the Gloom Hand—reached toward Noa, who staggered as its body no longer held his shield. Before its fingers could touch the Bulwark, Suna thrummed a Sootroot Arrow and pierced its chest.

  [You Have Slain Gloom Hand. Lvl 55]

  [Skill Rune]

  [Third Dark Hand] [Rare]—A shadow hand that appears when you are in danger. However, it only activates if you consciously sense the incoming attack, as it has no senses of its own.

  Name: Suna Amor

  Level: 50 → 52

  Class: [Flintwind Archer]

  Rune: 131 → 135

  Feat: 23

  Mana: 28750/25320

  Pyre Flame: 83856.

  Pact: 2

  Class Skill (15/35)

  - Archer Instinct [Uncommon]

  - Gale Backstep [Uncommon]

  - Moving Shot [Uncommon]

  - Flint Draw [Uncommon]

  - Arcane String [Uncommon]

  - Gale Bow [Rare]

  - Spell String Mastery [Rare]

  - Hissing Volley [Rare]

  - Drill Arrow [Uncommon]

  - Still Form [Uncommon]

  - Saproot Arrow [Rare]

  - Emberwind Arrow [Rare]

  - Ashen Brand [Uncommon]

  - Nil’s Wind [Rare]

  - Shadow Arrow [Uncommon]

  General Skill (15/35)

  - Swift Draw [Uncommon]

  - Drowfication I [Rare]

  - Rune Seeker [Uncommon]

  - Gale Step [Uncommon]

  - Wind Veil [Uncommon]

  - Thermal instinct [Uncommon]

  - Enchanced Sense [Uncommon]

  - Enduring Body [Uncommon]

  - Battle Focus [Common]

  - Eagle Eyes [Uncommon]

  - Pyre Shield [Rare]

  - Pyre Flame Starter [Uncommon]

  - Shadow Dagger [Common]

  - Dark Sight [Common]

  - Third Dark Hand [Rare]

  Strength: 2276 → 2336

  Dexterity: 1602

  Vitality: 1526 → 1556

  Arcanery: 2875

  Sense: 1052

  The small mummy’s chest bled red around its torso. Its yellow eyes lost their color, and its mouth let out a trail of blood down its neck.

  “Is it dead?” Wendy asked. Before anyone could answer, she slammed another rod into the mummy’s head in gruesome cruelty, splitting it open. “I got no kill notification! It’s not dead—”

  “It’s dead,” Suna said. “I got the kill.”

  “You girl!” Reki chastised her. “Or whatever you are! We do not desecrate corpses; the dear goddess Enalda looks unfavorably on such an act. Now close your eyes and pray—”

  “Who is Enalda?” Suna asked Noa, who shrugged his shield onto his back.

  “Ask me! Not him!” Reki snapped.

  “A god who reached out to Reki and granted him his class upgrade,” Noa said.

  Suna briefly shifted his attention away from the new skill forming in his mind, thinking about how it might synergize, but the revelation pulled him out of his thoughts…

  “A god? Suna! I thought you said—”

  “A god usually can’t contact Integrators,” Suna finished for her. “Not during the Tutorial anyway; only afterward can they make contact.”

  “What are you talking about, Suna?” Noa asked, eyeing him. Reki also tilted his head in confusion. Right—he hadn’t told them yet.

  “He got that cloak from a god,” Wendy said.

  “What?” Noa blinked.

  Suna shrugged and lifted the translucent, warm rabbit cloak. “Yes, I offered the Undead Witch corpse to an altar called the Moon Altar.”

  “Moon Altar? As in the Sun Altar?”

  “Hold on… which god? Eyebag! My goddess warned me that—”

  “Humans! Are you alright?” John shouted. The Runebearer rushed up toward them with a bundle of potions.

  “None of us are injured, John,” Noa said. “Let’s keep going.”

  Reki tried to protest, but Noa shut him down.

  “We can talk after we deal with the Godknight. For now, let’s focus on James.”

  The Wind Orator surprisingly nodded at the Shield Bulwark’s words. They turned and ascended the stairs without another word—except for the look Reki threw back at him before catching up to Noa.

  “Wait!” John called after them. “Let the Runebearers go first—”

  Lines of Runebearers rushed up with their Thief Swords drawn. Suna bent to retrieve his own and let them pass alongside Wendy, who watched the line move by. He leaned his back against the pillar, finding brief comfort as light lanced across his cheek, providing a pleasant warmth.

  “Are you sure about this?” Wendy asked. She glanced at Reki and Noa, who were also taking a brief rest. “Maybe we should’ve kept it secret…”

  “No, they…”

  “You’re hesitating,” Wendy pointed out, much to his annoyance.

  He shot the Lunarian a glare, which only made her chuckle and wink.

  “They’re not like you told me. A coward who just found his groove and an annoying office worker who prioritizes his opinions over others. They’re… how should I put it? The opposite?”

  “Things have changed,” Suna said. He glanced at both, and Noa caught his eye. The Shield Bulwark tapped a fist to his breastplate, new armor Suna hadn’t even noticed. A mixture of oiled metal shine and darkness. It must have dropped from one of the Undead Assassins.

  Reki, by contrast, still wore the chainmail he’d gotten at the start of the Tutorial. The man squinted at Suna through his glasses.

  “We can trust them, Wendy,” Suna said. “We—I… We need to trust someone to survive.”

  Wendy stared at him, her purple eyes shimmering like they held a hundred stars. “That's wise. They're strong... Suna… the reason I became an undead. One part of it was because of the group I was with. Most of them weren’t willing to fight. They hid and served the Tiefling as their rune cracker. I—” She paused, shaking her head.

  “Trusting is fine, Suna, but the people you trust need to be strong too; otherwise, they become a burden. They weigh you down, emotionally, mentally. They give you false safety… And eventually, they’ll look down on you for trying to move forward.”

  “So you think you delayed your leveling because they didn’t want to push themselves?”

  “Yes. There’s more to it, but that sums it up. I know it’s ultimately my fault for waiting on them. But being in a group feels normal, doesn’t it? It felt safe—but that safety was false”

  “There was an attack by the undead. One of the undead dogs. Very low level. Level five, maybe. Yet five of us died to a single group of them. Then only five of us remained, and by then we were already too weak.

  “It’s a new world, Suna. I think each of us needs to connect with the strong—not just the trustworthy. Make sure you ally with people who keep moving forward, not with those who want to stop and rest.”

  Wendy stepped forward; the line of Runebearers had finished passing them.

  It was time to go.

  She climbed the stairs and then turned back toward him. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she gave him a small, quiet smile.

  “Will you abandon me, Suna? If I become one of them.”

  “No.”

  “That’s not good. Haven’t you been listening? Let's make a promise to ourselves. If I, Wendy Ackerland, become a burden… then abandon me.” She raised her pinky.

  Maybe it wasn’t a bad deal…

  Suna reached forward and hooked his finger with hers. “So, I guess this applies to me too?”

  “I won’t abandon you,” she said softly. “I owe you my life, you gave me a literal second life. Both you and Jack. So until I save your life, I won’t abandon you.”

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