The days passed slowly as we rode north towards the capital, the landscape shifting from lush farmland to rolling hills and dense forests. I knew it would be at least a week's travel to reach our destination. Plenty of time for things to go wrong with our little band of misfits.

  On the third day, as we made camp in a small clearing off the main road, I decided it was time for a much needed discussion.

  "We need to talk about our abilities," I said, settling cross-legged on my bedroll. The flickering light of the campfire cast dancing shadows across the faces of my companions as they looked up at me.

  Duncan nodded, his plate armor clanking softly as he shifted. "Agreed. If we're to work together effectively, we must understand each other's strengths and weaknesses."

  Hellene snorted, not looking up from the herbs she was carefully sorting into small pouches. "I fail to see the point. My abilities are my own business."

  "Caw! Osirus has no need to share! Others would be too jealous of Osirus's greatness!" the raven declared from his perch on a low-hanging branch.

  I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. This was going to be harder than I thought.

  "Look, when adventurers are in a party together, they can share all the details of their stats and abilities. It helps with coordinating in fights." I looked pointedly at Hellene. "I never did this with the Heroes Party because I didn't trust some of them. But if we're going to take them on, we need every advantage we can get."

  Hellene's violet eyes flashed in the firelight as she met my gaze. For a long moment, I thought she would refuse. Then, with a put-upon sigh, she set aside her herbs.

  "Very well. I can’t argue against your logic."

  “Thanks, oh and Osirus we’ll exempt you of course. We don’t want the party getting jealous of your incredible power,” I said, seeing Duncan try to hide his grin as Hellene snorted.

  Osirus preened, his chest puffing out. "Will understands! Osirus is magnificent secret weapon!"

  "Alright then," I said, turning to Duncan. "Why don't you start? What kind of abilities do you have as a knight?"

  Duncan straightened, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "The knights of the Lasair family focus on a fighting style which emphasizes using both hands for a sword, we don’t normally use shields like many knights. My armor though is of good quality and I have throwing daggers for the occasional need to kill something from a distance."

  My thoughts couldn’t stop from thinking of Fire-Friend, the family heirloom lost. Was this emphasis on using a sword only done because it was assumed every person taking over the Lasair estate would be wielding the flaming sword?

  I nodded, thinking of how he would fit in the bigger group. "So not strictly a tank, more balanced in terms of dealing both damage and taking it. We’ll need to work together to draw focus away from Hellene when in a fight."

  There were going to be more difficulties with this versus the Heroes Team. Patrick’s ability to be a damage sponge tank had always simplified tactics. Here both me and Duncan would have to coordinate more and cover for each other when one of us was nearly overwhelmed. I wasn’t too worried though.

  The simple fact that we trusted each other made the plan feasible.

  As if reading my mind, Duncan did something I never saw anyone in the Heroes Party do. He used a System Part function to show all his abilities.

  I turned to Hellene. "What about you? What kind of abilities do you have as an enchanter?"

  The old woman sighed, looking put out. "My abilities primarily revolve around crafting magic items, here I’ll show you."

  Once again a window popped up, showing all her abilities. We looked at it together as I rubbed my chin.

  “Nothing that can be used in a immediate fight… the duplicate item ability could be useful. Why did you learn to make cursed items though?”

  “Let’s just say dear that I had some long term plans to make you and the Heroes Party suffer if you hadn’t given me a alternate means for vengeance,” Hellene said in a sugary voice which made the hairs on my neck rise up.

  “Hellene may be a crafter, but her spell ability will be a great contribution. Your ability to cast up to sixth tier spells is impressive,” Duncan said, a hint of respect in his voice.

  Hellene sniffed disdainfully. "I've been studying the arcane arts since before you were born, boy. Of course my magic is advanced."

  A thought struck me then, a comparison that made my stomach clench. Heather, the Heroes Party's healer, had only been in this world for three years. But she was already higher level than Hellene. I'd seen her cast eighth level spells with ease.

  The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. For all my talk of revenge, a direct confrontation with the Heroes Party would likely mean instant death for us. They were simply too strong, too advanced in their abilities.

  I must have been quiet for too long, because Duncan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Is everything alright, Will?"

  I shook myself, forcing a smile. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about strategy." I turned back to Hellene. "What kind of combat spells do you know?"

  The enchanter began listing off spells, one after another. The ones which caught my attention were the buff spells such as Force Mantle and Instant Grace. It looked like she dabbled in different elements- Firebolt, Frost, and Gust of Wind. Impressive magic, to be sure. But as she spoke, a glaring problem in our party composition became clear.

  "We don't have a healer," I said, interrupting her mid-sentence. "That's going to be a problem in dungeons."

  Duncan's face fell. "I used to have healing abilities, back when I was a Holy Knight. But I lost them when I became...fallen." He flinched as he spoke the word.

  "Well, that's just great," I muttered. "We'll be relying on healing potions, I guess."

  Internally, I was kicking myself. I should have thought of this hole in our strategy before I even recruited them. But it was difficult enough just finding people who would face off against Heroes party. I didn’t exactly have a lot of choices, including healers to choose from.

  Hellene, however, looked thoughtful. "Healing potions are a stopgap measure. What we need is a way to prevent damage in the first place."

  Before either of us could say anything further, she was already opening her magic backpack. We both watched as she rummaged through it, muttering to herself occasionally as she did so.

  “Is… there? No… Ah….”

  Then unexpectedly she threw a metal object at Duncan, he barely swatted it away in time before it hit his face with a look of annoyance. But annoyance turned to awe as we both stared at the metal bracers lying on the floor.

  The metal was unlike any I had seen before—a silvery-blue alloy striking in firelight. Each bracer was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, the delicate engravings so precise they could only have been made by a master artisan.

  [Mithril Bracers of Shielding—bracers, rare item, traits—25% damage reduction from slash, blunt, and piercing damage]

  Not to trash on Duncan’s generosity, but this made the leather armor he gifted me look like it came from a thrift store. Even the best stores selling enchanted armor never go above 15% in terms of damage reduction.

  “Now don’t go thinking it makes you invincible. It’s totally useless against spell damage, but it should give great protection for any old fashioned hit.”

  With those words, another object was thrown my way. High Dexterity caused me to catch it without even looking up which was good because it was aimed straight at my face. Did this lady just like trying to poke someone’s eye out?

  The silver earring Hellene threw to me was of course just as beautiful as the bracers. The earring was made of silver, a tiny chain with a blue crystal shaped like a small teardrop at the end of it.

  [Displacing Earring—earring, rare item, Active Power—Displace Image—Twice a day, a illusionary image of the wearer appears, nearly displacing the original wearer. The illusion though is always just off by six inches from appearing precisely where the wearer is at, causing a afterimage which makes it more difficult to hit the wearer. This effect lasts for ten minutes.]

  “This is an earring.”

  “Yes it is, my what an intelligent young man you are.”

  “I… have no idea how to put on a earring.”

  The silence couldn’t be more awkward, even Osirus was giving me a look as if I were the densest creature on the face of the planet.

  “I mean.. back home we had this gun thing which made holes in ears so you could wear earrings. Only you don’t have that here… or know what a gun is. I…”

  “Will, do shut up. I’ll teach you how to put on the earring later.”

  Whelp, there went my reputation as a smart and savvy party leader.

  "Lady- I mean Hellene, thank you for these gifts. They’ll be a great help to us in our fights," Duncan hastily said, obviously trying to change the subject from my ineptitude with jewelry. The old woman simply crossed her arms.

  "It’s not generosity, but necessity. If you two die then I’ll most certainly be killed next. I’ll also concentrate on some spells to help you two. Force Mantle, for instance, would increase Duncan’s armor effectiveness. And Instant Grace could help Will dodge attacks more easily."

  I nearly forgot something- it was my turn to show my abilities. With pressing buttons on a couple of screens, I shared what I could do. Neither appeared surprised by my choices.

  “Concentration on info gathering and hiding, just what is expected of a scout,” Hellene said with a sniff.

  “Yes, but I’m a little surprised at the disguise ability. It’s not something really useful with monsters,” Duncan said, tapping it on the panel. I was already opening my mouth to say the lie before a thought struck me.

  I can actually tell the truth about this…

  “I… found out Andy was having people spy on me when I was doing info gathering missions. Given how I didn’t trust any of them and they didn’t trust me, I wasn’t surprised. But I didn’t like the idea of all my movements reported by someone else to Andy so I took the disguise ability to give his people the slip.”

  The ‘people’ were for all intents and purposes Andy’s groupies. As a Famed Champion, Andy’s stats adjusted depending on how many people knew of him and liked him. In other words, the more people who worshipped him, the more powerful he became. So with Heather’s help he drew in fans by various means- giving speeches at charity events, paying out a fortune in gold for bards to spread word of him, and even having a clothes brand with his name on it.

  Andy and Heather were probably the first adventurers in the history of the world to use celebrity tactics to become famous. Which led to a lot of eager volunteers willing to spy on me for Andy.

  There was a pause before Hellene spoke of another couple of spells she had which could be useful. It looked like they could tell I didn’t want to discuss it further which was good in more ways than one.

  We were starting to know each other a lot better compared to when we first met.

  As the two began discussing spell tactics, I felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe we weren't as doomed as I'd thought. If we could play to our strengths, shore up our weaknesses...

  An idea popped into my head as my eyes wandered to Duncan’s pouch, only two more days until his undead ability triggered.

  “Guys I think I know how we can get some practice in,” I said, pointing to Duncan’s pouch. Duncan's eyes widened in realization.

  "You want to use my curse as training?"

  I nodded.

  "Think about it. When your ability triggers and the zombies appear, we can use them as practice targets. Test out our new abilities and strategies." Duncan's face darkened, his hand clenching into a fist.

  "Absolutely not. I won't willingly use an ability that defiles the buried. It's bad enough this curse forces me to do it against my will." I held up my hands in a placating gesture.

  "I don't mean you should summon them intentionally. I'm talking about when it happens on its own. Instead of just killing them, we take advantage of the situation." The fallen knight shook his head vehemently.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "No. It's my burden to slay those abominations. I won't subject you to that horror."

  Hellene snorted derisively. "Don't be a fool, boy. Your duty is to make sure your fellow party members are strong enough to survive. Giving them zombie fodder to practice on is a good start."

  Duncan opened his mouth to argue, but Hellene cut him off with a sharp gesture.

  "Think, knight. Would you rather we all face live combat for the first time in a dungeon, caught off guard? Or would you prefer we learn to coordinate in a controlled environment, with you there to guide us?"

  I could see the conflict warring on Duncan's face. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he grappled with the idea. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.

  "You... may have a point," he admitted grudgingly. "Better we learn to fight together now than later in the depths of some dungeon." I clapped him on the shoulder, grinning.

  "That's the spirit! We'll make a pragmatist of you yet." Duncan gave me a wry look.

  "Don't push your luck. I'm agreeing to this out of necessity, not enthusiasm."

  Hellene rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, your noble sensibilities are duly noted. Now, let's discuss the specifics. When your ability triggers, where should we set up our little training ground?"

  As the three of us began planning the details of our macabre practice session, I couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation. For the first time since leaving the Heroes Party, I felt like I was part of a team again. A strange, mismatched team perhaps, but one which sincerely wanted to work together.

  The plan was simple, we made sure to be in a isolated place when the curse triggered. When the zombies came upon us, Duncan would remove his pouch so they wouldn’t focus on him solely. From there we’d see how well me and Duncan could keep the zombies away from Hellene as she cast spells. Since there was going to be an obvious strength imbalance, Hellene would only cast spells up to third tier and we wouldn’t use the items Hellene recently gifted us.

  Duncan still had way too good an advantage. Since they were technically his summons, he could always tell what they were about to do even though he didn’t exert any effort to control them. It’s why they could never land a hit on him. So to handicap himself further in this practice session, he would concentrate on using defense moves such as parrying and pushback.

  Two days of travel passed by quickly and with Osirus's help, a clearing in the nearby forest was found. Duncan gave a silent signal that the ability triggered while clutching his pouch.

  The sun hung low, casting long shadows across the clearing when the first snap of twigs broke the silence. Leaves rustled, then parted as gray fingers pushed through. A stench hit us before they fully emerged—like meat left too long in summer heat. Duncan's jaw tightened as he unclasped the pouch and hurled it across the clearing. The first zombie's head swiveled mid-step, its milky eyes losing their lock on Duncan, its outstretched arms wavering before changing direction with jerky, puppet-like movements.

  More followed after the first one, a near dozen walking corpses stumbled towards us with legs which somehow never tripped no matter how unsteady they appeared. They were twenty feet away before we acted.

  Hellene's fingers traced glowing sigils in the air as she muttered arcane syllables, her voice rising and falling like distant thunder. She tapped my shoulder, and suddenly my body hummed with energy- Instant Grace. My next step launched me five feet into the air, landing on a zombie's moss-covered shoulders. Its rotting flesh squelched under my boots as I sprang again, sailing over the pack.

  A zombie's jaw snapped inches from Duncan's face, teeth clicking together like castanets. He deflected its arm with his blade's flat edge, the impact vibrating up to his shoulder. "Over here!" I shouted as another lurched forward, hoping to take attention away from the other two. Duncan pivoted, his armor catching the afternoon sun.

  The pack of zombies were now stretching, some heading towards Duncan and others heading towards me who leaped behind them. Just what we wanted.

  Sweat stung my eyes as I ducked beneath grasping fingers. The stench of decay filled my nostrils with each breath. Across the clearing, blue chains erupted from Hellene's palms, ensnaring a zombie three steps from reaching her. Duncan bellowed—his Daring Challenge—and the creature's milky eyes swiveled toward him instead. Blood trickled down my forearm from a shallow gash as I yanked my dagger free from a zombie's eye socket. Nearby I saw the rotted head of a zombie literally catch fire from a flying bolt of flames.

  I could feel Instant Grace disappearing as I ducked under a zombie's swinging arm. A flash of movement caught my eye—Hellene's hands raised in the air before chains of light erupted from her fingertips again, wrapping around a corpse three paces from her position. The creature's jaw snapped uselessly as it strained against its magical bonds.

  I buried my dagger in the base of a zombie's skull as it lurched toward Duncan, who stood with his blade held defensively, shouting "To me!" every twenty minutes, his voice laced with frustration. He agreed to this plan, but I could tell he sure wasn’t happy about leaving the slaying to me and Hellene.

  The sun had shifted noticeably in the sky by the time the last zombie fell. I winced, pressing my hand against a bleeding gash on my forearm. Duncan limped slightly, favoring his right leg, while Hellene's once-pristine robes were spattered with dark ichor and a thin line of blood trickled from her temple.

  The fight lasted a little over an hour. The metallic stench of blood mixed with the rotting odor of the zombies, making my stomach churn. I wiped my dagger clean on a patch of grass, surveying the carnage around us.

  "Well, that was certainly bracing," Hellene remarked dryly as she dusted zombie ash off her robes. "I haven't had this much exercise in years."

  Duncan retrieved his pouch, retying it to his belt with a grim expression. "Your spellwork was impressive. Those magic chains stayed strong no matter how much the undead struggled." Duncan was already moving among the corpses, ensuring each one was truly dead ? or re-dead, as the case may be. His face was grim, jaw clenched tight as he methodically stabbed each zombie through the skull.

  "I feel stupid for not asking this until after our third zombie attack, but… should we bury them?" I asked, hoping my question didn’t come off as weird. Duncan unexpectedly smiled as he shook his head.

  “You are a good soul for thinking of honoring the dead, but we won’t need to bury them- the magic which brought the remains above ground will send the same remains buried underground once it wears off.”

  After that, there was a silent consensus to head back to camp.

  As we trudged back into camp, I could feel every muscle in my body protesting. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving me acutely aware of each scratch and bruise.

  Duncan didn't look much better, his normally perfect posture slightly hunched as he favored his right leg. Hellene, however, seemed almost cheerful as she settled onto a fallen log by our campfire.

  "Well, I think that went rather well for our first fight together," she announced, pulling leaves from her tangled white hair.

  "Considering we've never fought as a unit before."

  "Horribly," Duncan and I said in perfect unison, then stared at each other in surprise.

  Osirus burst into raucous cawing laughter, wings flapping as he settled on a nearby branch. "Caw! Terrible! Like watching hatchlings fall from nest!"

  Hellene's satisfied expression crumbled into a deep frown. Her fingers tightened around her staff until her knuckles turned white.

  "What was so horrible about it?" she demanded, her voice dangerously quiet. "We killed all the zombies, didn't we? No one died."

  Duncan caught my eye and gave a slight nod in my direction. The message was clear: he wanted me to explain. I swallowed hard, feeling like this was some kind of test.

  "Well," I began cautiously, "for starters, your buff spells took too long to cast." I paused, waiting for the explosion, but when Hellene merely narrowed her eyes, I continued.

  "I've heard Heather cast buff spells dozens of times, and she speaks her incantations much faster compared to how you were today."

  Hellene's face reddened slightly, but she remained silent. "And Duncan," I continued, turning to the knight, "you used your Daring Challenge on that zombie Hellene had already trapped with her Mana Chain spell. You should have saved it for one of the free zombies that was heading toward her."

  Duncan nodded grimly, accepting the criticism without protest.

  "Finally," I said, turning back to Hellene, whose face was now an alarming shade of crimson, "your Mana Chain spell worked beautifully, but your firebolts were too weak. Fire is supposed to be a weakness for undead, but it took you at least two shots to put down each zombie."

  I braced myself for the inevitable explosion of anger. Hellene's violet eyes flashed dangerously, and her staff began to pulse with an ominous light. But just as I was preparing to duck behind Duncan for cover, Hellene did something completely unexpected.

  She laughed.

  It wasn't a gentle chuckle or a polite titter. It was a full-bodied, throaty laugh that seemed to erupt from deep within her chest. Duncan and I exchanged bewildered glances as the elderly enchanter's shoulders shook with mirth.

  "Oh my," she finally gasped, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "I'll always be reminded how I can learn something new, even at my age."

  She shook her head, still chuckling. "You're absolutely right on all counts, Will Walton. I've spent so many years in solitary study that I've forgotten the practicalities of combat."

  I blinked in surprise. "You're... not angry?"

  "Angry? For pointing out valid weaknesses?" Hellene scoffed. "I'd be a fool to ignore criticism that might keep me alive.”

  “And I think I can give some feedback of my own on why one spell worked versus the other,” Hellene said, tapping her magic staff.

  “Wizards who become crafters always have to worry about a luck factor when it comes to succeeding at crafting a magic item. With each attempt at crafting a magic item, there’s a percentage chance of failure. It’s usually anywhere from ten to twenty percent.”

  I found my eyes glancing at the staff with a blue crystal perched on the top. She never did explain before what it did. She grinned as she saw where my eyes were going.

  “This staff which my own mentor gifted me actually reduces the chances of failure for my crafting abilities. But it isn’t just crafting abilities, it’s also spells where there’s a strict success and failure. Mana Chains has a chance of failure which is altered depending on the target’s Dexterity. My staff works to reduce the chance of failure for such a spell.”

  Once upon a time I had wanted to be an Elemental Sorcerer. Back then I had studied spells in order to try to understand which ones would work best. That’s when I learned of two types of wizards. One type of wizard had their spells at the mercy of the ‘failure chance’. Wizards who preferred debuffing spells had to worry about their spells not working due to the spell failing against the target, a die rolled just like in a game to see if the spell would take hold.

  Then there were the wizards who concentrated on just dealing out raw damage, regardless of the elemental type. They didn’t have to worry about a ‘failure chance’, but they often needed magical equipment which increased the damage of their spells.

  “Right, I think I now understand your strengths and weaknesses Hellene. At least enough to come up with a general strategy,” I said, glancing at Duncan. “Do you have anything to add?”

  “Let me ask you this Will, if you had the earring to use Displace Image, when would you have used it?”

  “Probably right after Instant Grace wore off,” I said, Duncan’s brow wrinkled as he frowned at me. I felt like I was back in class, having just gotten a test question wrong.

  “It would be a mistake to use it right away. You need a method to instantly remove yourself from the fight to get back to us. Distracting groups of monsters with a pincher attach is a good idea, but you need a means to get back to us when attacks get too overwhelming on your end.”

  “I see your point, but I could always just depend on Acrobatics Dod—”

  I hadn’t even finished saying the ability before my brain reminded me why such a strategy wouldn’t work. I turned to look down at the hook, it was a good tool. But I still couldn’t do the flips and dodges Acrobatics Dodging required with a hook replacing my hand.

  “Caw! You are a noisy bunch! When can we sleep?”

  There had been a tension after my pause which the raven instantly broke.

  “Before we sleep, we need to heal. Even if these wounds aren’t serious, they should be addressed,” Hellene said, pulling out three small red bottles from her backpack. I could instantly recognize them as Minor Heal Potions. Or as Patrick called them- Baby Heals. Just enough to heal the occasional scratch here and there.

  Part of me wanted to ask Hellene right then and there what other supplies and gear she had, but luckily I realized what a bad idea it would be before the words left my mouth. It was just the type of question Andy would ask. Expecting everyone to share what equipment and supplies they had ‘for the good of the team’.

  But I didn’t want to be like Andy. Hellene had already shared some of her equipment and supplies without asking. I’d trust her to make the call of when to share and not to share. In the end, her being a party member didn’t mean she owed us everything she had.

  With those thoughts, I caught the potion flying toward my face.