Roan and Ravine slowly rose from the ground, their systems still recovering from the intense battle. Ravine brushed debris from her armor.

  "We should probably try to get back to them now. It seems Irene will probably need our—"

  Her words were cut short by an urgent alert from her assistant: "WARNING! WARNING! MAIN FRAME DAMAGE FROM ENERGY STRAIN! MOVEMENT CAPABILITIES GREATLY REDUCED!"

  She collapsed, but Roan caught her before she hit the ground. "Woah there, you all right?"

  "Well, that was to be expected," she said with a grimace. "I guess I released too much energy for my body to handle right now, so I'm pretty much done for the day. Other than that, I'm doing all right." She studied him with genuine curiosity. "But what about you? That bat put serious pressure on your body earlier. How are you still standing like it never happened?"

  He tapped his armor, producing metallic clanking sounds. "Oh, that? Well, turns out my armor is heavier than yours—probably heavier than most of the team's, actually. So the impact didn't really reach my body or anything vital." He paused, glancing at the factory still engulfed in flames. "Wouldn't want to experience that again, though," he muttered.

  After a moment of silence, Zhon's voice crackled through the drone. "Well, let's head back, yeah? Irene is doing fine right now, but just in case, we should back her up."

  Roan nodded. "You're right. Let's go." He turned to Ravine. "I know you might not want to, but would you like me to carry you on my back?"

  Ravine's eyes widened in shock. "W-what? No way!"

  Roan smirked. "Come on, you didn't hear me complain when you did it to me, did you?"

  Ravine hit her fist against the ground in frustration. "That was different! The whole factory was about to blow up. I wasn't going to let you die for something so stupid."

  Roan crossed his arms. "And slowing us down because you don't want a piggyback ride isn't stupid? Come on, Rav, don't be like this."

  She remained still for a moment, then groaned. "There has to be—"

  A guttural screech erupted from the factory, cutting her off.

  Roan's smirk widened. "Looks like our little friend isn't ready to fade into history yet."

  "You really take pleasure in making these jokes, huh?" Zhon said through the drone.

  "Absolutely." Roan pulled an assault rifle from his virtual inventory. "This time it's my turn to save you." He turned to the drone. "Can you boost me? It shouldn't take long. The sunlight will already destabilize it—I just have to make sure not to get too close."

  Zhon activated the enhancement link. "Okay, you should be good now."

  Roan jumped experimentally. "Yeah, I already feel lighter."

  The giant bat burst from the factory, its flesh still burning, and crashed onto the ground, screaming in agony. Roan cocked his assault rifle.

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  "Just give me a few minutes. I shouldn't be long."

  Meanwhile, Irene stood alone, protecting Zhon and Aria's location. She turned to Zhon urgently. "Can you take Aria into a room and lock yourself in with her as securely as possible? I'm not sure how they found us here, but I'll make sure you two are safe no matter what."

  Zhon nodded and hurried to lift Aria's body. "Thank you for doing this. Make sure you come out alive." He rushed inside the building, closing and locking the door behind him. Sealing noises echoed through the structure, then silence.

  Irene gave a faint smile, then turned to face the electric wolves climbing the walls toward her. No promises, kid. There's at least a dozen of them. She drew her greatsword from her inventory. But one thing is for sure—I'm not letting this be our end.

  As the electric wolves reached her level, they began snarling, brown liquid dripping from their jaws. She slammed her sword into the ground.

  "I get it now. This is how you bastards found us, isn't it? This brown liquid acts like a scent tracker. Well, consider this your last hunt."

  She lunged forward, her sword crashing through one wolf's skull, killing it instantly. She laughed. "Thanks to Ravine's experience, I already know at least one of your weaknesses' locations. That's all I need."

  She dodged two wolves attempting a coordinated attack, grabbed one by the neck, and slammed it down, making it whimper before she severed its head. The remaining wolves stepped back in shock.

  "What's wrong? Two of your pack are dead, and you're already scared?" She prepared to lunge again. "Let me tell you one truth for what you did to Aria—not one of you will leave here alive."

  Back at Roan's battle with the burned, fleshy giant bat, he fired multiple rounds into the wound Ravine had inflicted on its back, making the creature contort in pain. In retaliation, the bat located his position and sped forward, headbutting him into the air. It grabbed him with its talons and smashed him into the ground before releasing its grip.

  On impact, Roan's vision glitched, and everything became blurred for several seconds.

  "Roan!" Ravine screamed.

  The bat heard her voice, pinpointed where she lay helplessly, and dove in her direction. Roan shook his head, got back to his feet, and pulled out a shotgun from his inventory.

  "No, you don't!" He fired at the creature's head, sending it crashing to the ground, its wings and talons flailing wildly.

  Roan slowly approached the downed beast. "I told you this would be quick." He aimed the gun at its face. "Now do me a favor and stay dead this time."

  With a thunderous bang, the bat's head exploded, its remains splattering across the ground as its wings and talons hit the earth with a heavy thud.

  As he turned to rejoin Ravine, a black orb materialized from the bat's corpse. He approached it carefully. "What's this?" He lifted it and showed it to Ravine. "You know anything about this?"

  Ravine narrowed her eyes, studying the sphere. "I came across one earlier after defeating a plant creature. Mine was green, though," she added with a shrug.

  He smiled. "You want it?"

  Ravine gave a faint smile. "You killed it—it's all yours. Besides, I think my body would go into overload mode if I absorbed another one. Crush it and see what you get."

  "All right." Roan crushed the orb and felt a power surge coursing through him as it faded. A system message appeared: "CONGRATULATIONS! ENEMY DEFEATED! NEW SKILLS GAINED! FLIGHT SKILL ACQUIRED: DURATION TO BE DETERMINED! INCREASED HEARING ENABLED: YOU WILL NOW BE ABLE TO HEAR MORE EFFECTIVELY."

  The menu closed, and another notification appeared: "SKILL TREE UNLOCKED. ATTRIBUTE POINTS ACQUIRED: 2."

  After a few seconds, Ravine asked, "Well, anything new?"

  He smiled. "I think I found our way back to the base."

  He activated wings that materialized on his back—large and black like the bat's.

  "Woah, this is much better than that one skill I got. At least you can use this whenever you want."

  Roan scratched his head. "Well, the description said the duration was to be determined, but I'm sure we should be all right." He picked her up in his arms. "Grab on—we'll go pretty fast, I can feel it."

  He turned to Zhon's drone. "Try to keep up."

  The drone nodded as Roan took flight, heading straight for the base at full speed.

  Meanwhile, as the battle between Irene and the wolves concluded, she stood slightly wounded among the bodies of a dozen wolves scattered across the floor. She noticed a blue orb on the ground and picked it up.

  A blue orb, huh? Let's see what I get...