Quinn P.O.V.

  I had never moved like this before.

  Not really.

  Running used to mean having your lungs on fire, boots slapping dirt, always half a second away from tripping over a root and eating bark. Now it felt like slipping between moments. I leaned forward and the world simply… gave way.

  The forest blurred.

  When I reached Marco, Marcus, and Alya, I told them I’ll go ahead and warn the main group.

  “You’re what?” Marco snapped. “You can’t just run off. We won’t even know how to track the path back.”

  “I’ll scout ahead,” I’d said, already turning. “And if the camp needs support, I’ll be there.”

  Marcus had put a hand on Marco’s shoulder, calm as ever. “I can show you the way.”

  Marco stared at him like he’d grown another head. That was enough for me.

  I resumed running without waiting for a reply. I didn’t need any permission, certainly not from the dumb guy.

  As I accelerated, no leaves rustled, and no branches snapped back. Grass bent and forgot I’d been there; even the air gave way to my passing silently.

  Phantom, my new class. I’d thought the name was cool despite being a bit over dramatic. Turns out it was underselling it.

  I hit the creek at a dead sprint, water flashing silver through the trees, and only then eased off, letting myself decelerate instead of stopping cold. At full acceleration I was pushing something close to a sports car in a forest. Which was insane. Also terrifying. One bad turn, or a slow reaction, and a tree would knock me out, or worse.

  Mental note for future me. Increase Intelligence instead of Agility… what a waste, but I need the reaction time, unfortunately… can I get a skill for that instead? Now that would be incredible. If I manage to get some levels first.

  Now I crouched at the treeline, smile gone.

  The camp was a mess.

  Gorgs. Three already down, roots bursting out of their bodies. Two more staggered near the creek, swinging clubs wildly. The group was holding on, barely.

  Roots again.

  So the parasite hadn’t lied.

  I was still mapping angles and exits when something screamed to my left.

  Not a gorg.

  An eldir burst from the brush, horns tangled with black growths, roots pulsing along its spine. Behind it came worse. A giant insect, it looked like a pale flower, and a badger the size of a puma, jaws split by writhing tendrils.

  Great. I hate insects. I felt a shiver run through me, but given that they had already injured some people by just the gorgs, they won’t fare well against the higher-level enemies.

  Guess I’m buying time.

  I slid sideways, Evade made me flow around the badger like water, and the eldir’s charge passed through where I’d been. I reappeared behind it and struck, daggers flashing. A slice for its spine, and the other for the weak spot my skill pointed at me.

  The roots.

  My blade bit deep. The eldir screamed, body locking as the parasite reacted. I was already gone when it fell.

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  The insect was already on me; it launched itself into the air, wings shrieking as it propelled itself at great speed towards my position.

  Too fast for anybody else, but not for me.

  I vanished.

  It slammed into the ground where I’d stood, limbs shuddering. A heartbeat later I was on its back, boots barely touching chitin, dagger driving into the knotted mass beneath the wings. Green ichor sprayed and hissed as it hit the dirt.

  The badger barrelled towards me, claws tearing trenches through the earth.

  That one looked like it moved in slow motion. Too easy.

  I ran straight at it.

  At the last instant I twisted, Evade snapping me sideways, letting the beast thunder past. I slashed with both knives as it passed, deep and precise, carving into a root cluster along its flank and slicing half its neck. It gurgled and crashed into a tree hard enough to shake loose dead leaves.

  The people in the camp should build me a statue, I just save them all. There was no way that they could face even one of the eldir, let alone the others.

  Still, no level up. After hitting level 26, the levels were coming way slower than before. I wonder when I’ll have another evolution, at 50 maybe? I really hope it wasn’t at 100; it will take forever at this pace, or I’ll have to go on by myself and level up seriously, but that would mean leaving Melissa… She was so beautiful and kind, and her laugh made my heart…

  Another bunch of monsters were going for the camp, interrupting me. Can’t a guy in love have a moment for himself here? I moved again, never staying still long enough to be targeted. Every strike was quick, surgical. Every retreat brought confusion to the monsters when they failed to spot me.

  Time was what mattered.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw more shapes shifting at the edge of the woods. Bodies pacing just outside commitment range. Roots threading through the undergrowth.

  It was watching. The coward.

  'Five minutes,' I told myself. Just five.

  One of the eldir tried to approach the line of people standing near the river. I darted in, stabbed deep, twisted, and vanished before its face hit the dirt. A gorg screamed as another knot of roots got pierced. Another one limped forward, furious, smoking where the roots exited his body for some reason.

  Behind me, voices shouted. Steel rang. And a booming explosion sounded.

  They were close now.

  I glanced at the advancing shapes and felt a thin smile pull at my mouth.

  “Hey guys,” I muttered as I faded back into the trees. “Come on.”

  “You’re late.”

  Marcus came in first, atlat already raised, calm as always. Marco was right behind him, cursing loudly and shooting exploding arrows like he meant to personally offend the monsters into dying faster. Alya flanked them, light on her feet, eyes sharp, already picking targets.

  Marcus slammed a spear into one of the badger like a freight train, pinning it to a tree, his shield catching another of the beast mid-lunge. The impact echoed through the forest. The creature recoiled, and Marco was there instantly, mana blade chopping down into the exposed mass along its neck.

  “Ugly thing,” Marco snarled. “Why is everything sprouting plants now?”

  Alya didn’t say anything. She just sank her giant axe cleanly into an eldir’s thorax, right where the roots were sprouting. The monster screeched, limbs flailing but not managing to hurt her. She switched to the hammer and with another strike she pulped its head.

  Around us, the camp fighters rallied.

  People were bleeding. Some limping. One guy clutching his arm and swearing through his teeth. But no one was down for good. No bodies on the ground.

  The remaining monsters hesitated.

  I felt it then. The same pressure I’d felt earlier when the roots watched me.

  The gorgs backed off first, retreating into the trees. Then the eldir, some wounded but calm, turned and vanished in the woods. Even the smaller monsters melted away, dragging themselves back into the undergrowth.

  Too coordinated to retreat for fear alone.

  Either the thing didn’t want to commit more forces here… or Elias had just done something that demanded its full attention.

  I hoped it was the second.

  Silence crept back into the camp, broken only by groans and the crackle of dying spells.

  Tom jogged over, face flushed and wide eyed. “What the hell was that?” he demanded. “Those things weren’t normal. And you,” he pointed at me, then at Marcus and the others, “how did you know to come back?”

  Marco wiped his bloodied boot on the grass, the dark stain refusing to get cleaned. “Long story. Short version? The parasitic root monster is playing general in the woods.”

  Marcus nodded. “It’s controlling eldir, gorgs, any monster really. People too.”

  Tom swallowed. “People?”

  Alya stepped closer, voice steady. “One of them was still conscious. That’s how we know.”

  I leant against a tree, finally letting myself breathe. “Elias followed the lead. He went to deal with the source, or trying to. Until he comes back with confirmation that the thing’s dead, we’re not leaving.”

  Tom looked around at the camp. The wounded are being patched up. At the forest pressing in from all sides.

  “You’re staying?” he asked.

  I nodded. “For now. If the roots come back, we’ll take care of them.”

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  Then Tom exhaled slowly. “Alright,” he said. “Then we wait; in the meantime, give me the long version.”

  I glanced towards the dark treeline as Marco started speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. What a show-off!

  Do your thing, Elias.

  We’ll keep the lights on here, but damn if I didn’t want to be there.

  Melissa... I miss you already.

  20 chapters ahead!