We gathered a little apart from the others, close enough to the camp that the murmurs of people packing and talking still reached us, but far enough that this felt… intentional. The first real step.

  I let my gaze move over them one by one.

  Different faces. Different weights of resolve. Some showed confidence, some fear, and some badly hidden bravado.

  “All right,” I said at last. “Before everything, if we want to work together from now on, we should at least know what we’re working with.”

  I straightened slightly. “I’ll start. Elias Mercer. I began as a mage. At this point, I’m a hexer. My focus is debilitating magic, battlefield control, and offensive spells. I am also capable of managing curses, regardless of the outcome.

  A pause.

  Then I moved my hand in a small, inviting gesture towards Marcus at my side.

  Marcus grunted, shifting the massive club resting against his shoulder. The bone weapon looked crude but scary. “Marcus,” he said. “Primal Hunter. I can craft, hunt… gather too, and fight, both close and at a distance.”

  Wow, I had never heard the man speak for so long before.

  I nodded, satisfied, and turned to Rhea.

  She adjusted her skirt, fingers worrying at the fabric for a heartbeat before she spoke. “I’m Rhea Thompson. Ritualist. I don’t have much in the way of direct combat, but I can prepare rituals ahead of time, I can empower you, or I can set up traps… if I’m given time.”

  Melissa went next, visibly nervous. “Melissa Parker. Mage. I only have two active spells right now. A mana ray for offence and a barrier. It’s… not very strong yet.”

  “That’s fine,” I said. “You’re here to grow; you just need the will to do it.”

  Mary stepped forward, calm and composed. “I’m Mary. As you all know, I’m a healer. I specialise in restoration and protection. I can fight if I need to, but my priority is keeping everyone alive and healthy.”

  Marco cleared his throat loudly, as if to reclaim attention. “My name is Marco Turetta, and I am a mage as well.” I’ve got Mana Arrow for ranged combat and Mana Blade if things get close.”

  Talking to Melissa yesterday, I knew she was under level five, probably Marco too. I could nearly feel it.

  Quinn grinned and gave a small bow. “Quinn. I started as a rogue and evolved into something better. Ambusher. I scout, I stab, I disappear. Preferably in that order.”

  Last was Alya.

  She didn’t bother with ceremony. “Alya. Wrathful Warrior. I’m a frontline fighter, and I enhance my body and my blade through aggression.”

  Well… that tracked. Perfectly.

  “And that’s everyone,” I said.

  I took a breath, thinking aloud now. “Let’s be realistic; we currently have too few frontline fighters.” Marcus and Alya will have to hold the front. Interpose themselves between the enemies and the mages; I can support them there if needed too. Melissa and Marco stay in the rear. Rhea and Mary are in the middle; they need to be protected the most. Quinn scouts ahead, keeps us informed, and decides when we fight and when we don’t. I will offer support to all who need it and weaken the enemies before they reach us.”

  No objections on that; it was a sound, if standard, strategy.

  “Questions?” I asked.

  Marco raised his hand slightly. “Yeah. Who’s leading?”

  Alya turned her head slowly towards him, her expression flat in a way that looked far more dangerous than when she showed anger before.

  I saw Mary glance at me. Rhea too, and then Melissa. Quinn didn’t even look surprised. Marcus narrowed his eyes, jaw tightening.

  “Are you serious?” Alya asked, voice low.

  I raised a hand before she could continue.

  Quinn chuckled. “Well, it’s Elias, obviously.”

  Marco blinked. “What? Why?”

  Quinn tilted his head, his smile sharpening just a bit. “Even if he wasn’t good at leading, which he is, he’d also be the strongest one here.” He paused, then added pointedly, “By a lot.”

  Marco’s face flushed. His mouth opened, then closed. He looked away, jaw tight, nodding stiffly. “Yeah. Fine. Makes sense.”

  I let it lie, for now.

  “We move soon,” I said. “Pack your gear. Bedrolls, weapons, anything you don’t want to lose. Rhea, can you gather waterskins? I know the camp has spares. Ideally one extra per person.”

  She nodded immediately. “I’ll manage.”

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  “Good. We’ll wait at the edge of camp. If anyone has second thoughts, say it now. I won’t turn back if someone decides a day from now that the move was a mistake.”

  No one spoke up, so I took it as a victory. They dispersed one by one.

  But Alya lingered.

  She crossed her arms, watching Marco’s retreating. “I don’t like that guy,” she said bluntly. “He’s going to cause problems.”

  “I agree,” I replied. “Keep an eye on him for me.”

  Her lips curled into a sharp smile. “Gladly.”

  “If he tries anything,” I added, “I’ll put him in his place.”

  That earned me a nod, satisfied and fierce.

  I went to find Tom next. I felt I and the guy should just sit down for a beer, or the tutorial equivalent, but we only just talked when there was some problem to discuss.

  So we did exactly that. We decided to plan for a maximum of three to four days before returning. If not possible, leave signs. We agreed on fallback plans, rendezvous points, and what to do if either side didn’t hear from the other.

  By the time I was done, Quinn was already deep in discussion with the other scout, sketching signs in the dirt. Simple symbols. Scratches on trees. Piles of stones. Danger zones. Safe passages. Detours. Trackback.

  Crude, but effective. I was sure that we’d modify the whole system to make it work as we went.

  Next step, talking to Jack. I went to find him near his bedroll; he locked onto me as soon as I came into view. He was expecting me, apparently.

  “I’m sorry,” he started. “I really feel like it’s better for me to stay here. It was good to team up with you and the guys, but I really don’t think I’ll be able to face those kinds of dangers constantly… it’s, I don’t know, it’s just a bit too much for me.” He lowered his head in shame. I could understand him; I wasn’t angry at him or anything. I won’t force anyone to come; the last thing I needed was to deal with that kind of problem. But it seemed that he misunderstood why I came looking for him.

  “It’s fine, Jack; I won’t pressure you into coming, nor will I fault you for wanting to go at your pace. It was good having you in the team. And if you ever want to join again, you’ll always be welcome.” That was a lie; I could get him on the team again if he really pushed, but I was sure that after one or two weeks we’ll be so far ahead compared to the others who’ll remain at the camp that he won’t even know how to recoup the lost ground.

  “Anyway,” I continued. “I’m really sorry to ask this of you, but I need the shield back. I’m sure you understand; I don’t really need it personally, but it will be extremely useful for the others, vital even, especially given our lack of frontline fighters…”

  Jack's expression went from relieved to awkward as I asked him for the shield. He looked at the side with reluctance; the magic shield, now curse-free too, was an extremely valuable piece given the fact that basically nobody had any magic equipment. But I wasn’t going to leave it here; I bought it with my points, and it was mine. I gave it to him only because it will be useful for protecting the team given Jack’s propensity for tanking, but now? There was no way I’d leave it behind.

  “That’s, ah, yea… I understand. You know, I thought that…” He looked up at me, and I gave him my most expectant smile, friendly and apologetic. “No, I understand; take it back. I hope it will be of help to the others.” He said while passing it to me.

  “I’m sure it will,” I told him. “As soon as we find another safe area, we will be swimming in magical artefacts, don’t worry, especially if I remove the curses from them.” I told him with a wink.

  “Yeah, that would be awesome, yes.”

  “Ok Jack, I’ve got to go now. I’m already late, and we’ve got no time to lose. I’ll be seeing you around when we come back then; take care of the people here.”

  “Will do, will do…” He said as I went.

  Good, even this was done; now I just had to meet with the others.

  When I reached them at the edge of camp much later than I thought, everyone was already there.

  Rhea had done well. Extra waterskins for each of us. Some jerky too. While it may not seem like much, the supplies we have, when combined with our remaining rations, will last for three days. After that, I was counting on Marcus to hunt.

  Talking with him, he assured me that finding food wasn’t going to be a problem in this forest. Then he gave me a couple of figurines made of wood; apparently he had time to waste while I was talking with Tom and fulfilled the request I asked him for just this morning. I know that he was half a crafter, but damn, the man worked fast.

  I took the two wooden pieces, one resembling a miniature totem of a howling wolf, the other looking like a man or woman (I couldn’t tell) with spikes coming out of their eyes and mouth.

  I met Marcus's eyes; the question was clear in my look. He grunted and said. “What? You’re the one who deals in curses; those look appropriate to me.”

  “Thanks, really. I was just surprised; I didn’t think you would be so thoughtful about it. These will work perfectly; you should teach me to carve sometime.”

  Another grunt was my answer, but the old man looked somewhat pleased, so I took it as a victory.

  While the others were deep in their conversations, I transferred the curse of the shield from the stick I was still carrying to the howling wolf totem, while the curse of my tattered cloak went into the other figurine. I had no more, so I left the curse in the mace where it belonged and hung the two figurines with a strip of cloth at my belt. I tried to transfer the one in my grimoire, but that one was clearly on another level; it was impossible to detach its anchor completely, so I had to leave it there despite everything.

  I then took one last look back at the camp. Then forward, towards the valley’s edge.

  “Everybody’s ready?” I asked loudly.

  A choir of affirmatives and 'We wasted even too much time already' that Marco muttered in a low voice sealed the deal.

  ”Quinn, take point and show us the way outside of this valley; let’s see what this tutorial has in store for us.”

  “Roger, captain!” He said with a mock salute.

  Then he started going towards the treeline. We were going to cross part of the forest where the gorgs lived, but not that far away. The other monsters our ambusher talked about roamed free. I felt a new excitement at that; I always relished a challenge, but in the past they were mostly related to my work. Now this tutorial, the unknown, this system or nexus, whatever they call it, it was all so new and fascinating. It gave me the tools to live my life the way I wanted. It gave me magic, for god’s sake; it gave it to all, but not many were really appreciating it. They were scared by the danger, understandably so… but I couldn’t take it out of my head how much more we were gaining; the danger was a little price to pay for all the wonders of this new reality we found ourselves in.

  Honestly, I started to like the danger; pitting myself against incredible foes and coming out stronger for it was intoxicating. I knew that I was ahead of the curve, but I had to keep my lead, gain more power and more knowledge, and become more skilled.

  It was just the third day, but I was sure some people were already way ahead of me. Those who went by themselves, special forces with combat experience, martial artists or people without scruples – those will be the ones to watch out for. Those will be way ahead of anybody, I’m sure. And if I found out some achievement, others would have too. But the trick with the potions – I don’t think many would have been able to do something similar, so at least there I should have a lead. Well, if someone managed to fell a Baron by themselves without tricks… those would be monsters among monsters. It didn’t matter for now; the only thing that mattered was to exit the valley, find a new safe zone, and continue on the quest.

  Soon… I will be free, finally.

  20 chapters ahead!