How could this lady only be level 11? She was so much faster than them! Sure they had only spent the points for up to level 7. And scouts were known for their speed. But this was crazy.

  And wait, didn’t she say they were level 10? Last they checked they were level 9?

  A quick check of notifications confirmed they had indeed leveled up. Probably during that fight for their lives.

  Well, their lack of speed was something to worry about later. There were more important things to worry about right now. She said she had promised Margie to take them to Aithgard. They had never heard of that place. She also said something about Margie draining the mana from the realm and that with her dead they would not be coming back?

  Kennon’s head was spinning. And not just from the injuries he sustained.

  She looked at him, eyes filled with concern, and said, “Are you ok? You got hit pretty hard.”

  Kennon tried to shake the fuzz from his brain.

  “I will be. Who are you?”

  Her eyes narrowed, she seemed to stare even harder at him. Then jolted her head up and said, “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself did I! I am Hermis. Leader of the Colville expedition. Though I suppose we will have to change our name now.”

  “What do you mean?” Bev said.

  “Well, this is naturally a T4 portal. The mining was very lucrative with Margie reducing the mana levels. But for the last two months the mana levels have been rising. I am sure you noticed the beasts getting stronger, more aggressive?”

  Kennon nodded.

  “Well, that is just going to get worse. Eventually there will be no animals below T2. Even the grass will start to mutate. With Margie gone this mine has dried up.”

  “What do you mean Margie was draining the mana?”

  Hermis raised her eyebrows at the question. Then asked, “How old are you?”

  Kennon almost said fourteen. But remembered that they shouldn’t have the system at that age and said, ”We just turned fifteen.”

  Then, out of curiosity he checked the beginning of his status page.

  Name: Kennon Vonn

  Age: 15

  Class: Mage

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Level: 10

  Huh, it seemed that wasn’t actually a lie.

  Hermis’ head hung low, and she shook it slowly, “I see. I got paid not to ask questions. But I assume Margie didn’t have the chance to give you the speech?”

  “What speech?” Kennon said, eager for whatever information this woman might have.

  “As I said, I got paid not to ask questions. All I know is that you being system favored was expected. As were some of the oddities that generally come with it.”

  “System favored, you said that before. What does it mean?”

  “I’ll get to that later. But as to your previous question, Apparently Margie tapped into the mana source for the entire realm, and was draining it to power something. I don’t know what. Only that she didn’t expect anything to change till she died.”

  Kennon immediately thought of their cabin. And its defenses. He had been told it could handle a dragon strike. That must have been what it was powering. Or, maybe, her final message through the system implied it was possible to build your own realms. Maybe Margie was just that powerful. And she needed an entire realm to support her mana regeneration.

  It was likely they would never know.

  Hermis, still knelt beside him, said, “You look like you know something. Well don’t tell me. I can keep a secret. But the main reason for that is I don’t know enough to attract attention. For now we need to get out of here. I doubt there will be many more top tier 2 predators here yet. But I don’t want to risk it. The rest of your questions can wait.”

  With that she stood up, and let out a sharp whistle that seemed to hum with mana.

  “Let’s head out!” she said, and started to walk away.

  The healer had patched up most of Bev’s wounds. And put an arm around her to help her up. Another man did the same for him. Moving was hard. He still hurt. But if this lady said they needed to leave he wasn’t going to argue.

  Kennon got a better view of the area once he was upright. The first thing he noticed was the sun tiger. Spears still embedded in it. But its head was nowhere to be seen. He saw another person carrying their cart. Actually carrying it, on his shoulders. And yet another depositing Bev’s armor and weapons inside it.

  He had to figure out what was going on with their power.

  Despite the team slowing down for their limping walk they reached the portal in less than an hour. They really had been so close. That was likely why the tiger decided to attack when it did.

  The portal was, bizarre. It reminded him of the realm wall and he started to panic. An impossible flurry of colors and sounds.

  He asked Tutor, “Will this cause another problem?”

  No, portals themselves are neutral ground. Even if realms aren’t.

  That was not as big a relief as he was hoping for. But it would work.

  The portal was both the size of a full grown man, and somehow even larger. The mana around it flowed like a whirlpool in reverse. Flowing into the realm.

  At the same time he could see mana leaving the realm as well.

  It made his stomach hurt.

  Hermis said, “Sorry to subject you to such a bumpy ride while you are still recovering. But we really do need to leave.” and walked through the portal.

  One second she was standing a few meters away, the next she was just gone.

  The man helping Kennon chuckled and said, “First time? Don’t worry I got you. Just keep walking.”

  Kennon was suddenly very worried. But he kept moving.

  Thank you for sharing my journey. To help me walk it I have a set up. It is 20 chapters ahead and releases at the same time as the Royal Road chapters.

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