“That sucked.” Moxie says after a few moments.

  Liv collapses onto the floor. “Yeah, it's like we got in trouble or something. I bet they are going to scold us later…”

  “Well at least we are alive.” I lean against a pillar, it has a large dent in it from Violet slamming into it. Stephen tosses me some food and I remove my helmet – gagging at the smell of smoke and ash.

  “I betcha they are gonna say something like ‘it was a good experience’ or somesuch.” Stephen says, plopping down next to me.

  “They are going to torture us to death, aren’t they?”

  “For sure.”

  We rest for a few hours and then continue onwards to the next data cache. Apparently the last two are both in the same place, which can only mean one thing.

  “That is a lot of monsters.” I stare at the road in front of us and sigh. “Things can never be easy, now can they?”

  Stephen places his hand on my shoulder. “Not in this line of work, I'm afraid. Now why dontcha go out there and do what you do best, o brave scout?”

  “Easy for you to say, rifleman.”

  “Hey! I am a marksman, not some ‘rifleman.’ At least insult people using the correct terms.” Stephen fumes.

  I laugh, and then go and do what I do best.

  I just wish what I do best wasn’t getting covered in monster blood. I wonder if there is a skill to keep oneself clean, if so, that would come in handy.

  Lemon at least seems to be happy as she cheers me on. She is lucky, she is all tucked away and doesn't have to deal with getting dirty. Perhaps that is the real reason why she refuses to leave the orb.

  Not true. She huffs while I slay a demon and get a fresh coat of blood. It is simply exhausting to be outside. You have no idea how hard it is being a dragon.

  Uh huh. Sure thing. I remark. Lemon has been using longer sentences and such lately, maybe that means she is finally growing a brain. It nearly brings a tear to my eye.

  Hey! I heard that. Be careful, puny human. Soon I will be able to gobble you up in one bite!

  I would like to see you try!

  I do worry that she might actually try it. I should be careful in the future.

  We reach a large plaza where the bunker is supposedly located. But it just seems like a perfectly normal park. There is even a giant tree in the center, somehow alive even in this hostile climate. Oh, and monsters of course.

  Violet is a complete badass and charges into the fray first. She has been fighting like a complete maniac, I don't know where she got the extra energy from. But it just makes me want to push even harder to keep up with her.

  After all, if I wish to spar with her, I gotta be her equal, right?

  But that is a hard thing to live up to as I struggle to keep up with her. I swear for every dozen monsters I slay, she slays three dozen. If it wasn't for my enhanced perception she would be nothing but a blur of silver, monsters exploding all around her.

  I step it up a notch and I think I manage to bring it to two for every three of hers. Though my entire body is complaining at being pushed too hard, I simply persevere. After all, I bet this is nothing compared to what we will face in the future.

  We clean up the monsters without too much issue. Though one sneaky group does manage to get behind us and ended up getting a hit on Moxie. Of course, they quickly met their ends, in explosive fashion.

  “Am I missing something, or is there no bunker here?” Liv asks, looking around.

  Violet laughs. “Are you really that ignorant? It is obviously the tree.”

  Liv throws a punch and Violet dodges it with ease. I guess it is important to learn how to dodge punches if one wishes to insult people. I bet Mr. Guy could do with learning that.

  Violet walks up to the tree and points to a bunch of markings on the tree. “These are elven glyphs, have you people really never seen them?”

  I walk up and take a look at them closer. They are quite strange, and I have definitely never seen anything like them. “Nope. Almost all information on other sapient species is highly restricted, didn’t you know? At best we have a few cooking recipes and general cultural descriptions.”

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  “Oh.” She ponders the idea for a moment. “Well this is obviously an elven sanctuary, they did like preserving knowledge. So it is no surprise this thing survived all hell breaking loose.”

  “Well then, whatcha waiting for? Let's crack open this bad boy! Imagine all the treasure inside.” Liv glares at Violet, likely plotting another attack, yet seems to realize it is a futile effort.

  “I would do that, if I knew how.”

  “It can’t be that hard, lemme give it a try.” I walk up to the tree and knock on it three times. “Everyone knows that three knocks is the universal ‘open door’ command.”

  A few tense seconds of silence stretch by. But then, to everyone’s – including my one – great surprise, it actually works! All of the glyphs on the tree light up with a nice blue artificial light as electricity surges through it.

  A crumbling sound can be heard as a section of the tree opens up, revealing a passageway upwards.

  Violet looks at me disappointedly. “There is no way you just did that.”

  “Well, I did, so let’s go explore what ancient elves had to hide away!”

  “Idiot” She mumbles and remembers to don that cute scowl of hers.

  We enter the tree and climb the stairs. Everything is made out of a strong wood, seemingly stronger than even plascrete. Liv tries to punch a wall and shouts when her fist merely bounces back, the wall without even a scratch. Whoever the elves were, they sure knew how to build a sturdy tree.

  We reach the top and emerge into a small library of sorts. It seems we are hidden inside the branches of the tree, with each branch containing a bunch of books. In the center of the main chamber are a few tables scattered with notes and the like. Everything is lit quite brightly by a bunch of glowing vines that drape from the ceiling. The place is a bit dusty, but is otherwise in pristine condition, just like the other places we have found.

  The strangest thing though is the books. I walk over to one shelf and pick one up, the data pad is like nothing I have ever seen. It seems to be made out of some starchy substance, and I have to be really careful as I flick between pages – which is a manual process.

  It seems quite strange and low tech, it's not as if the elves had no technology. The dull hum of electricity and knowledge of construction can be seen everywhere. I try to read the book, but it is all in the elven glyphs and completely meaningless to me.

  Violet appears next to me and nearly scares me half to death when she speaks to me of her own volition. “Really you picked ‘Treastie on the theory of quantum hydrodynamics’? I did not know you were such a nerd.”

  “Wait, you can actually read it? I just picked it up because it looked cool.. You are the only nerd here.”

  She pauses to think up a retort. “I am not a nerd, I merely found a book on the elven language when I was younger and learned it because I was bored.”

  “Ah, you aren't a nerd. You are a super nerd, I stand corrected.” I smile crookedly, bracing for an assault.

  But none comes as she laughs and grabs another book from the shelf. “The Theory of Meatheadedness, this one is perfect for you!” She smiles back at me, and I feel deathly terrified.

  I stare at her, confused. I don’t even have time to come up with a rebuttal.

  “What is that look for?” She asks, and I am suddenly aware that we are standing quite close together in the cramped hallway. If it weren't for our stupid armor I would probably be inhaling whatever perfume she is wearing.

  “Nothing, I am just having trouble thinking right now.” I say casually.

  She thinks for a moment and then jumps away from me, putting the book back and creating distance. “Idiot.” She says, and then quickly turns and walks away. I caught a glimpse of a red glow on her face, which is weird, since the lights are a stark white.

  Oh well, there are more important things to do at the moment than try to figure out why Violet is being strange. Like the data caches that Stephen just found and plopped on the central table.

  “These things are heavier than they look, I have no clue how they got them up here.”

  Liv sidles up to Stephen and pokes his arm. “Perhaps all the elves are super muscly like you. They must do lots of exercise with all the gardening they are likely to do.”

  Stephen ignores Liv and opens the data caches.

  [Data Cache Recovered]

  [Praetorian Location Revealed on Map]

  [Praetorian level lowered by 20]

  [Bonus Reward Upon Hive Completion: +1 Augment Crate]

  [Data Cache Recovered]

  [Queen’s Rift Location Revealed on Map]

  [Queen Level Identified at Lvl 250]

  [Experience Gained From Defeating Queen Increased by 200%]

  [Bonus Reward Upon Hive Completion: +2 Gear Crates]

  “A level 250 Queen!” I exclaim loudly. “Isn’t that the highest that rank 1 goes to?”

  “It sure is. Looks like we are in for a real hard fight.” Stephen adds.

  “Oh stop being such a baby, it won’t be too bad. We aren’t that far from level 200, and we still have a praetorian to fight before then.” Liv says and we all stare at her. “Wait, why are you all staring at me.”

  Moxie chimes in and goes right for the killing blow. “You never say anything smart, this is the first time.”

  Liv collapses onto the floor, looking completely defeated at Moxie’s fatal strike. I pat Moxie on the head and congratulate her on the epic attack while Liv stares at the floor in defeat.

  As a bunch of nerds, we then proceed to beg Violet to read us a few books.

  Expectedly, she refuses bluntly. I end up sulking in the corner, munching on some rations and trying to get some sleep. Which doesn't come easy knowing how much knowledge is around us, and yet the only person that can read it refuses to.

  Maybe one day I’ll get Violet to read me some elven stories. I might have to sell my soul, or even a few limbs, to do it though.

  Oh well, that seems like not an unreasonable price to pay. After all, I bet Violet is an awesome storyteller, her voice is beautiful after all. I am sure she can project well too.

  I fall asleep to vague dreams of Violet telling me a story, which will likely never come true.

  [Scout has leveled up! Lvl 168 -> Lvl 170]

  [Mage has leveled up! Lvl 162 -> Lvl 166]

  [Average Level is now 168]

  [Lemon has leveled up! Lvl 148 -> Lvl 150]

  [Blink has leveled up! Lvl 22 -> Lvl 25 (capped)]

  [Stealth has leveled up! Lvl 21 -> Lvl 22]

  [Magic Fundamentals has leveled up! Lvl 22 -> Lvl 24]

  [Trace Clues has leveled up! Lvl 13 -> Lvl 15]

  Next Chapter: Duck, Dodge, & Weave

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