Getting back to camp was tricky, but the four of them managed to get out of the cave and back without any problems along the way.

  Entering the now fully operational camp, Cat could be seen flying around like a busy bee, cooking and healing the injured. The boys sat by the fire, throwing random sticks and rocks into the flames while laughing, attempting to knock over the wood, until Ann walked up behind them and gave them a quick scolding.

  Flying around as a bird, David could be seen soaring out of camp into the forest, and a few minutes later, he would return with some type of herb in his mouth back into the camp.

  “Hey, Cat!” Tomas said, trying to get her attention by waving his hands.

  Cat stopped in mid-air and said, “Sorry, I’m kinda busy at the moment.” But she spun around to see the group dragging two injured figures behind them. “Oh gosh, what happened to them?” Cat asked, flying towards the injured and inspecting their wounds.

  A voice yelled out from behind the guys. “We’re broken! Can you fix us?” Osia shouted.

  “What’s wrong, I don’t see many wounds?” Cat inquired while inspecting Osia’s body.

  “Broken spine near the neck, and that numb nut over there has a broken lower spine,” Osia grunted, still trying to move.

  “Lay still, and take them into the tent. I will begin healing them in a few minutes. I just need to finish the cooking before the soup burns,” Cat said, motioning them to the tent.

  Cat turned in a hurry to head back to cooking, only to find George was over by the fire, stirring the pot while adding some more herbs to the soup. “Never mind, I guess I’m needed in the tent if you have the soup taken care of?” Cat asked, looking at George.

  “Yeah, I’ve got this,” George replied, still keeping his attention on the pot.

  Time went by as the crew continued in and out of the tent where Christy, Osia, and Rick were laid up resting. On one side of the tent, you could see David making potions with an alchemy kit, with Cat laying on the bed next to him, resting in between healing sessions to replenish her mana.

  Sneaking through the forest, Scott and Eve spotted two Hellboars grazing in a field. Scott used his Scan skill, revealing crucial information:

  [HellBoar (lvl 35)]

  These boars are tied to the realm of Hell. Their mouths can produce Hellfire hot enough to melt solid gold. Weighing in at 1200 lbs, they possess three jagged, razor-sharp tusks on either side of their mouths. It's not recommended to confront them without water or ice elemental abilities. The boar's heart is a delicacy, granting the collector a boost in fire resistance once eaten, and rarely, the ability to produce Hellfire.

  "Well, there's a bit of new information," Scott thought, his mind racing with questions. "Not only is there another realm besides the one we are currently in, but the Hellboar's heart can be used as a power-up. Now I must defeat these things and send them back the way they came from, assuming they are from Hell itself. I wonder if they respawn when their souls are repaired after some time? Or are there multiple Hells like the infamous nine layers of Hell? And if there is a Hell, is there an actual Heaven? I'm pretty sure the system told me there wasn't a Hell from the start."

  "Hey Scott, what are we doing?" Eve whispered, crouched impatiently behind him.

  "We are hunting Hellboars for the Bear, though I believe this fight will be a harsh one, and you may need to sit this one out. Plus, I want to test the system out to see if you get experience points when I kill a beast even if you don't do any damage," Scott whispered back to Eve.

  "Okay, what do you want me to do then? Hide or something?" Eve asked, trying to figure out the best plan of action.

  "Uh yeah, I think it would be best if you hid in a tree while I dealt with the boars. Can you climb, or do you need me to help you up into a tree? Or maybe I should ask, 'would you be comfortable being high up in the tree with your current situation?'" Scott asked, considering her blindness.

  "I think I can climb. We as elves are taught at a young age to climb trees, as most of the time we lived in and around trees. The elves from my planet usually have some type of respect and pay tribute to these plants. On the other hand, we in the tribe refer to them as brother or sister trees," Eve explained.

  "Ah, a tree hugger," Scott thought. Tree huggers back in the day were just some type of hippies that loved trees more than life, and Scott met a few of those in his life before the System. Usually they were the happy-go-lucky type of people. On the other hand, if you wanted to cut down a tree, these tree huggers would protect them with their lives.

  "Did you say something?" Eve asked, hearing some faint whispers that sounded like Scott.

  "Nope," Scott said. "I wonder what that is about?" Scott wondered, thinking to himself once more.

  "Yeah, I keep hearing your voice but it's…." Eve stopped talking as the two Hellboars began to move again. This time their scent was carried through the forest as the wind changed directions. Both of the beasts turned their heads and began charging in their general direction.

  “Hurry up into the tree and I will deal with these two!” Scott shouted.

  Eve climbed the nearest tree slowly as Scott ran out into the open to get the Hellboars’ attention. “Hey, you big ugly beasts, come get me!” Scott shouted, before running in the opposite direction.

  Both of the Hellboars turned and gave chase while Scott transformed into his speed form. His body grew taller and slim, while both of his legs grew thicker, looking like a werewolf that ran track more than he lifted weights. “Time to test this form out,” Scott thought, knowing he had been itching to test this new ability.

  Trees were being smashed through left and right as the Hellboars gave chase, knocking and breaking large and small trees alike. Scott noticed that even these trees didn't slow them down in the least, nor did it phase them. Once Scott felt he was far enough away from Eve, he spun around and activated his blades. “Let's try out this new sword, Yin and Yang,” he thought, using the power ability to get more weight behind his attack.

  Next, his fangs grew out, giving a faint golden glow. “Was this the new effect this ability gained?” Scott wondered.

  Both of the boars finally got in close. One lunged through the air with great speed while the other continued the charge.

  Immediately, Scott went into his Ghost form and let the first one fly through him, and once the second one was in range, he used his starwalker ability to appear right next to the charging boar and dragged his new blade into its side, cutting off both of its legs.

  “Well, this one's definitely a keeper,” Scott thought as he looked down at the blade in awe.

  Out of the reflection of the sword, Scott noticed the other Hellboar rushing from behind him. He tried to react, but it was too late. Spinning around, Scott went into attack, the Hellboar smashed into Scott's side head-on.

  He flew for a bit until smashing into a tree so hard that the tree cracked and broke in half. The swords he had in his hands both went flying in two different directions, and his body was now in a lot of pain.

  “Why does it always have to be a tree?” Scott thought to himself. The force of the collision with the boar cracked his rib cage, causing some inner bleeding and dislocating his right arm. “Man, I should have used my Ghost Skin and phased through that dang beast let alone phase through the tree.”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Just as he looked up, the boar was in front of him. This time, he activated the skin and watched the boar pass through him, noting that a great deal of mana had been used due to the sheer force of the beast.

  Using his left arm to get up from the ground while coughing up blood, Scott managed to get back onto his feet. He jumped into the air and flew up to get a bit of distance between them.

  Once Scott was high enough away from the Hellboar, he hovered in place and activated his new skill, [Advanced Mana Healing (Rare)].

  Using a third of his mana, Scott transferred a great portion of his mana into his body and felt his ribs pop back into place, stopping the internal bleeding, while his arm went back into its socket.

  “Man, that's a good skill, even though my mana is a third of what it was before the battle,” Scott thought, now feeling regenerated. He activated his Beast Mode and transformed from his speed build to his power build, feeling like a powerful alien from another universe. “Maybe a large S on my chest would suit me? Nah, that's too overpowered and I'm not a boy scout,” Scott thought.

  “A boy scout?” a familiar voice popped into his head.

  “Uh, don't tell me I have another being living inside my body. One is already too much, not including the dark side of me hiding somewhere deep inside of my head,” Scott thought, exasperated.

  “Scott, it’s me Eve, and what do you mean by multiple beings in your head?” She continued talking with telepathy, now dialing into what she was hearing after having to sit there and wait for Scott to deal with the Hellboars. Eve sat there on the branch with her legs crossed, meditating, until finally Scott talked in his head, and with a little push with her mind, she was able to talk through her mind to Scott.

  Hearing the whispers was something she has heard throughout her entire life. Her family and friends knew it was always weird when Eve would ask if they had said something to her, though in all actuality, the friends and family were just thinking inside their own heads. All of them were used to this with her and had to remind Eve that she was hearing things when in fact she actually was hearing their thoughts. But now she could finally hear the whispers clearer, almost like people talking to someone out loud, having a conversation. In this instance, it was Scott’s thoughts.

  “How are you in my head?” Scott asked, completely taken aback.

  “I don’t know, but I guess I can do that now… wait, something is happening…” Eve said, her voice trailing off. All of a sudden, Eve saw a vision of multiple Hellboars rushing through a forest, trampling down trees and anything else that was in their wake until they came upon a meadow with a beast floating in the air high above a single Hellboar.

  “Um, I had a vision, I believe there are more beasts coming… and what is a bloodline? Bloodline of the All-Seeing Oracle? And the Bloodline of the Telepathic Queen?” Eve said, her voice filled with a mix of awe and confusion.

  “How can you see the System without your eyes?” Scott asked, dumbfounded.

  “Of course I can. The System is all inside our heads,” Eve replied. “Here it is! The bloodline basically allows me to see the future and—"

  Just then, a large roar came from the Hellboar below Scott. Not long after, the ground beneath began to shake violently, almost like an earthquake you would see in California on a normal week. You know, one that isn't too bad, more of an inconvenience because another picture fell off the wall—that kind of earthquake at first—until finally the ground began to crack, and fire and lava started spewing out.

  Listening to the rumble getting closer, Eve held onto the tree as it began shaking violently. She turned her blind gaze towards the Hellboars and started to see something. A faint aura began appearing in her head, almost like floating lights in the darkness. As she focused more on it, the light began to grow brighter. That's when she took her bandage off around her eyes. If someone could see her now, there were two teal lights burning bright in her eyes. One light became two, then three, until there were a total of ten lights burning bright like a hot red hue of fire.

  Eve stood up on the branch, pulled her bow, and knocked an arrow. Aiming at the light, she followed its pace as it came towards her location at great speed and let loose as she exhaled. Hitting the boar, the light began to slow down and fade away. She did that a few more times and continued to drop three more Hellboars in the process; each shot went for their heart, which couldn't be seen in the outside world, but to her, it was just lights. More lights began to appear in her vision. Green lights that showed the spirit of trees and plants began to appear, and then a faint bit of energy outlined their forms.

  The fifth shot hit one of the trees, as it was hard to tell where the Hellboar's location was, making the green light of the tree waver for a moment before it stabilized once again.

  Scott focused on the one beneath him and dropped slowly towards the ground, keeping his eye on the beast until finally the Hellboar began charging towards him. Using his light speed ability, he moved around the meadow, searching for his weapons. Finally he spotted both swords as the faint magical aura glowed around them. Quickly he flew towards the blades and swooped down to grab each of them one by one. The boar came from behind him and he flew up into the air watching it run by. Once the boar went to turn around, he moved with his speed and launched his sword like a javelin directly into its side, luckily hitting the heart. Once the Hellboar fully turned around to line up with him, it fell to the ground.

  Moving forward cautiously, Scott used his mana to pull the blade out into the air and held it there to allow the blade to cool off before putting it into his sheath. At this point, the other six Hellboars came barreling into the meadow, and Scott was ready. Pulling out all five of his ice daggers from his bag, he threw them into the air and caught them with his mana strings, making them appear to be floating around him in a half-circle. Scott waited for the Hellboars to get closer until he flew up and shot the daggers into the closest one. Four out of the five daggers hit the Hellboar, penetrating its thick, fiery skin. Each dagger began to fight with the Hellboar's skin, slowly freezing its sides, slowing it down.

  “The time you need a good rifle to take these dang Hellboars out. A good fifty-cal would do it. I guess I get to do it the old-fashioned way. Two swords and a ton of ice daggers,” Scott thought.

  “What's fifty-cal, Scott?” Eve asked.

  “Oh, it’s a big gun that shoots heavy metal at things. Very useful if you want to unalive something,” Scott replied.

  “Another weapon you wimpey humans use, while I can just use my teeth to take just about anything out. Well, besides a Targaun—their thick stone shell is almost impenetrable, and leaves you with a toothache for weeks. I don't recommend eating those,” Amarwrath added.

  “Oh, you're finally awake, I see? Thought you finally disappeared from my mind. You do know it was my wimpy human sword that took you down with one strike, right?” Scott asked.

  “Yes, I wake to watch your battles every now and again. Give me something to do while I’m stuck here, and let’s not bring that battle up again. My wing still stings just thinking about it,” Amarwrath said while rubbing his wing in the void of Scott’s mind.

  “May I ask who is this that I’m speaking to?” Eve asked while raining more arrows down, taking out another Hellboar.

  “Amarwrath, my dear, and Scott, I would have mated with this elf if I had the chance,” Amarwrath replied.

  “Yeah, we’re not doing this right now, did you forget we are in the midst of a life and death battle?” Scott said, shutting it down.

  “I’m just saying… You humanoids are too picky when it comes to your mates,” Amarwrath said, grinning through his teeth.

  Ignoring Amarwrath's last comment, Scott continued his battle. Pulling out the blades from the last kill with his mana strings and making them hover around his body while floating up in the air. Scott watched the rotations of the Hellboars. Each beast moved wildly around, rushing back and forth, nearly missing each other like they were in sync until a big squeal mixed with a roar was heard deeper into the forest that shook the ground beneath.

  “What the hell was that?” Scott asked.

  “Oh, that would be the Hellboar Alpha. They are a pain to deal with, good luck,” Amarwrath replied, now focusing on the battle at hand.

  After the Alpha made its call, all of the boars stopped. Another long squeal was heard from the Alpha, and all of the Hellboars beneath him began to move, running in unison in a large circular motion while letting out smoke and fire from their bodies, making the area clouded and hard to see for normal people. Scott switched his vision and began to see in the infrared spectrum. Watching the boars start out from a large circular pattern, moving faster and faster as they began to bring the circle closer together, each following the same path.

  Wind began to pick up, and the area around Scott began to move, creating a small tornado of smoke and flame, rising a hundred feet high, encasing Scott floating in the air, making the air hard to breathe. The wind alone started to push him around, making him spin violently in the middle of it. He lost control of all of his daggers as they flew off, going every which way. Scott began to cough, gasping for breath before finally trying to fly out, but ran into a wall of hellfire on the outside of the tornado, which when he got close, began to burn his fur.

  “You should fly up, young one,” Amarwrath said, warning him of the trouble he was in.

  Looking up for a moment and then down, Scott noticed all four of the Hellboars were in close range to each other. He then pulled out both swords and infused his mana into his blades, coating them both in mana. Instead of flying up higher into the sky and listening to Amarwrath's advice, he dropped down using his gravity towards the ground with great speed. Once Scott hit the ground, he spun around in the opposite direction than the boars were moving, going as fast and as hard as he could with the last bit of oxygen he could muster. In one fell sweep of the blades, he cut down all four of the Hellboars as each one of them went flying in different directions until the smoke and flames dispersed, and Scott was left kneeling on the ground. Finally, he took in a deep breath of air and looked up to see the ground burning around him.

  “Or do that!” Amarwrath commented.

  **System alert: mana is low (100/2287)**

  “Well, at least that’s over with,” Scott thought, relieved.

  Then, a large squeal of a roar rang out again, shaking the very ground he stood on.

  “Oh, fuck! I completely forgot about the Hellboar Alpha,” Scott thought, dread creeping in.

  “Oh, this is going to be fun,” Amarwrath said, grinning, showing his sharp draconic teeth.

  A large rumble began to shake the ground as the Hellboar Alpha finally appeared out of the forest.