“What a rush!” Hannah gasped, feeling the effects of her first F grade level. “36 stat points all at once!”

  Harvey could barely imagine that big of a power-up. He used to be excited about the 12 per level his profession gave, but now all he could see was F Grade. He was so close he could taste it.

  You have slain Level 21 - Bloodrunn. Essence Gained. 1487 Merit Earned

  You have slain Level 23 - Bloodrunn. Essence Gained. 1629 Merit Earned X2

  You have slain Level 27 - Bloodrunn. Major Essence Gained. 983 Merit Earned

  “I think I’ll just take a nap here, if that’s ok. That last attack really took it out of me.” Julian croaked, still staring at the sky. Harvey just chuckled and stuck out his hand, pulling him up to his feet. He struggled a little more than he’d like to admit, and put his 4 free points into Strength before closing his Status screen.

  “Need a healing potion?” Julian asked Hannah, holding a red vial out for her.

  “No, your skill already healed me. Put that thing away before Buttercup…” She hissed, but Julian was too slow. Buttercup swooped in and grabbed the vial with his teeth. Before they knew what happened, he’d crunched through the glass. “Sees it.”

  “Damn. He really is obsessed.” Julian laughed.

  “Says it reminds him of when we first met, but I know he just likes the taste.” She swore. “Alright, sweetums, you won’t get in trouble this time, but only because you were such a brave boy.”

  “Why do you talk to him like he’s a puppy? He’s like 200 pounds.” Harvey laughed.

  “Because he’s my handsome boy!” Hannah sang, patting his neck before digging shards of glass out of his mouth.

  “Well, I guess it’s good to know what the evolved Bloodrunn can do. Fighting in blood mist was bad enough, but getting pelted with it is worse.” Julian complained, flaking off the cauterized blood covering his armor.

  “Yeah. We’ll have to be extra careful until we figure out what else changed as the forest evolves.” Harvey agreed.

  They were all pretty drained, so they moved to dry ground and rested for a while. It was a good excuse to enjoy a snack and talk about their plans until the quest timer expired.

  “Once I evolve, I’ll start working on F Grade armor for everyone and some steel reinforcements for the wall,” Harvey announced.

  “Do we even have steel in Veils End? I thought they were iron elementals?” Hannah asked.

  “Steel is just iron with a specific carbon content. Now that I’ve gotten better at making wrought-iron with almost no carbon left when I’m done, I should be able to start producing decent steel.”

  “Why don’t they just pick a name and stick with it?” Hannah laughed.

  “Honestly, I don’t know.” Harvey chuckled. “But it will reinforce the walls and allow us to add inscriptions.”

  “I’m not sure the walls are going to be enough. That dragon is a problem.” Julian stressed.

  “It will be less about the walls and more about the inscriptions. I’m hoping we can create some sort of dome shield around the outpost if we ring the entire thing in one massive inscription. It will need truckloads of essence crystals to keep it powered, but it should help us control the pace of battle once the war starts. We might even be able to make some siege weapons to use against the dragon.” Harvey suggested.

  “That would be sick! Our very own force field.” Hannah smiled.

  “Well, let’s get you evolved then. Veils End is outnumbered, so we need everyone to level as much as possible if we’re going to pull ahead of John’s group.” Julian smiled, standing up from his spot resting against a tree. With their essence reserves in a better spot, they carefully set back out into the forest.

  They got into a few more scrapes before reaching the edge of the forest, but none with any evolved creatures. Fighting G Grades was almost laughable for Julian and Hannah. Not only had they evolved, but they’d done it with Rare and Epic classes with skills a random beast in the forest had no hope of surviving. Harvey held his own, putting his new fireball to good use as he practiced chaining his skills to put pressure on his enemy at any distance.

  The sun was getting low by the time they reached the end of the forest. Black trunks in brown dirt gave way to a craggy stone wasteland with no woods or water in sight. It had looked ominous when he saw it in the vision, but in the daylight, it just looked bland. Gray stone stretching for miles, with only the occasional boulder, bush, and cave dotting the horizon.

  “The Undead might just die of boredom.” Hannah mused, shielding her eyes from the bright sun.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Don’t get your hopes up.” Julian scoffed, leaving the trees for the first time in weeks.

  Buttercup hesitated at the threshold, poking the ground with a hoof.

  “What’s wrong, buddy?” Harvey asked, putting a hand on his neck.

  “Ha! Who would’ve thought?” Hannah mumbled. “He says the ground looks weird. I guess it does if you’ve been in a forest your entire life. Just a little nervous, that’s all.”

  “I don’t blame him. I feel so exposed out here. The forest used to feel so claustrophobic, but I’m starting to prefer it.” Harvey agreed.

  “We don’t have to stay for long. I just thought it would be interesting to see what kind of creatures are out here.” Julian offered.

  “He’ll be ok. Won’t you handsome.” Hannah cooed, Buttercup finally stepping out into the light.

  “It will be good to take a look around,” Harvey replied. “We might find some new materials for Elena. Those quills from the Bloodrunn are perfect, but she could use something for her defensive inscriptions.”

  “Look where? I don’t see anywhere for a creature to hide, and they sure as hell aren’t going to be sitting around in the open.” Hannah asked.

  “Maybe that cave?” Julian asked, pointing to a dark hole in the distance on the side of a hill.

  “Ew, no. There’s going to be spiders in there.” Hannah refused.

  “Come on. You’re a wildheart, aren’t you? A little spider shouldn’t scare you anymore.” Julian teased.

  “No, there’s going to be big spiders in there. But I don’t see a better option, so let’s do it.” Harvey sighed.

  “How are we going to see! I’m not fighting in the dark!” Hannah complained.

  Instead of answering, Harvey fed his essence into the inscriptions on his gauntlets, a cool glow igniting all around them.

  “You know what, Harvey?” Hannah scoffed.

  “What?” He laughed.

  “Maybe Gary was right. I hate how you Boy Scouts are so obsessed with being prepared.” Hannah muttered.

  They set off for the cave, weaving around boulders and brush as their feet got covered in dust.

  Maybe I should buy some sunglasses. Harvey thought. It’s bright out…

  CRACK!

  Suddenly, his feet were in the air, and he was staring back at the undead forest. Only the trees were upside down. Before he could register what happened, his body crumpled to a heap. His back screamed as it bent the wrong way, his flailing legs searching for purchase as he fell into a bridge that would make a 3-year-old gymnast cry. Just as he feared his spine would snap, he flooded his Booster skill with essence and rocketed himself away.

  Boom. A stone fist hit the ground right where he’d been, and he looked up to see his attacker as his body skidded to a stop.

  What he thought was a boulder had turned into a massive, bipedal lizard. Chunks of chitinous armor perfectly resembling stone covered a scaly body underneath. It wasn’t large, barely 4 feet tall standing up, but it had a long prehensile tail that swished over the ground behind it as it moved to pummel Julian.

  Harvey pushed himself up, using Booster to launch him straight from the ground into a sprint towards the beast. Buttercup reared on his hind legs, backing away from the monster with a panicked bark.

  Julian faced the beast with his shield raised, the lizard standing like a boxer looking for an opening. When none came, it sent a stone fist rocketing into Julian’s shield, a discordant hum ringing out as he withstood the blow. Harvey saw a flash of light erupt from Julian’s arm as the shield’s vibration changed, and chitin cracked as he made a punch of his own. His shield slam skill rocked through the lizard’s body, sending it staggering back just as Julian stabbed a flaming sword toward its gut.

  Not willing to miss a chance at revenge, Harvey sent a fireball into its back before slamming down on the tail that sent him flying. Cracking stone turned to squelching flesh as his hammerhead pulverized it. The creature tried to whip the tail at Harvey again, but its own speed worked against it, and it snapped in two.

  Julian struggled to push his sword deeper into the thick skin, so Harvey helped him along with a devastating blow to the creature’s back, impaling it like the sword was a nail. He swung over and over, until the lizard died with a wet, chirping screech.

  You have slain Level 19 - Stoneback Mauler. Essence Gained. 892 Merit Earned.

  “Gah!” Harvey screamed, his hands shaking as the warhammer disappeared into his slipsack.

  “Are you hurt?” Julian asked.

  “That scared the hell out of me!” He screamed, adrenaline coursing through his veins. “It came out of nowhere.”

  He inspected his armor and swore when he saw dents in the Sabatons covering the back of his feet. That tail had to move fast to flatten his armor like that.

  “Do we start shooting every boulder just in case?” Hannah asked.

  “Waste of essence and arrows.” Harvey cursed. “Here.”

  He got to work with his hammer, crushing up chunks of chitin into small stones they could throw before handing a small pile to each of them.

  “Will this even work? They’re probably not that stupid.” Hannah asked.

  It didn’t. Harvey got sent flying again when another boulder that didn’t respond at all to his tactic exploded into action the second he got close. This time, he was ready, using his booster to complete the backflip before sending the warpick side of his hammer straight at the mauler’s head. Gouts of flame from his skill breached the open wound, but a stony fist crashed into his chest. Luckily, the beast had chosen his only piece of inscribed gear as its target, and the force of the blow was spread over his torso, allowing him to stand his ground against the mighty punch.

  He flipped the hammer in his hand, readying the flat side as he swung for the side of the beast's head. Shards sprayed out like he was mining in the tunnel, and its soft underbelly was exposed to Hannah’s waiting arrow. By then, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

  “Told you that wasn’t going to work.” Hannah quipped.

  “You know what! Your antics usually don’t bother me, but I’m really not in the mood right now.” Harvey complained, trying to massage his aching Achilles tendon through the dented armor.

  “My bad.” Hannah winced.

  “Do you want me to walk in front?” Julian grimaced.

  “No, I need the Essence if I’m going to catch up. Just try to resist the urge to make fun of me. Please.” Harvey groaned, pushing forward to the cave once more.