A red haired, red robed woman skipped along the stone streets, humming like the world belonged to her.

  “I’ve seen you bloodthirsty, bored, depressed, and happy. But this is different,” Gareth muttered as he kept pace beside her, his shield lightly knocking against his back.

  “You noticed?” Ruby said, cheeks tinged pink as she smiled wide. “I think I’m in love.”

  Gareth only sighed. He’d long since given up trying to untangle her thoughts. Ruby was chaos given form, a true maniac that chased whatever caught her attention, and God help whoever stood in her way. Still, she was powerful. Powerful enough that she was worth the trouble… for now.

  Since finding her before the Blood Moon, she had been an unstable ally but an undeniable asset. Gareth doubted he’d have survived this long without her.

  “Just be wary,” he warned. “That guy was something else.”

  “I know, right!” Ruby practically swooned. “He was so strong. I wonder how he got that way… I can’t wait to see him again.”

  An injured ant skittered from an alley, mandibles flaring for a desperate strike. Before Gareth could blink, fire consumed it whole, leaving nothing but drifting ash. Ruby’s humming never faltered, her skipping steps untouched by the interruption.

  Gareth shook his head. It would be two days until she saw her “beloved” again. Two days he hoped would pass without issue.

  ~

  Leo’s return to camp was less graceful.

  He came back with his rescued group in tow, streets behind them marked with dead ants. He hadn’t been able to stick to rooftops while escorting them, so the bugs found them quickly. Six ants, none higher than level eleven, had fallen beneath his fists. It wasn’t enough for a level-up, but it had been enough for someone else.

  Ellie has reached Level 2

  Stat points distributed

  +1 Free Point

  Ellie has reached Level 3

  Stat points distributed

  +1 Free Point

  Ellie has reached Level 4

  Stat points distributed

  +1 Free Point

  The moment the notifications flickered across his vision, Leo felt the surge in his own body. His intelligence now matched his Vitality, a balance he hadn’t expected so soon. The free points were another decision for later.

  “They’re back!” A voice shouted.

  The camp surged forward. Survivors rushed to embrace the rescues, some offering shoulders to carry the weight, others simply clinging in relief. Leo let out a long breath. No raiders. No ants. His gamble had paid off.

  A feeling of restlessness bubbled up from within him, shortly realising it wasn’t his own emotion.

  “Yeah sure, come on out,” he said, smiling.

  A warm glow pulsed from his chest before she reappeared, claws digging into his gi as she scrambled back to her favourite perch.

  “Thanks for being so patient,” he murmured, brushing his head against hers.

  Ellie made a happy noise, nuzzling against his neck with unrestrained joy.

  “Leo! You’re—ugh!” Ashley clutched her chest like she’d been shot.

  Alarmed, Leo rushed to her. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  Her head snapped up, eyes flashing with hunger. Before he could react, she snatched Ellie from his shoulder with inhuman speed and buried her face against the hatchling.

  “Oh, that’s the stuff,” Ashley moaned in bliss.

  Leo stared flatly. Ellie squeaked, but she didn’t seem bothered. If anything, she looked amused. He sighed.

  “We need to talk,” he said seriously.

  Ashley straightened instantly, forcing her usual seriousness back into place. She followed him into their makeshift office.

  Leo recounted every detail of his last couple hours. Ruby, Gareth, the close call. Everything he could think of.

  Ashley frowned, lips tight. “She sounds like a mental case.”

  “Yeah,” Leo agreed. “Kinda gave off that vibe. She’s strong though. Most dangerous person I’ve met in here for sure.”

  “Would you be able to beat her?”

  Leo thought about it for a moment, if he went by classes and how early they were on their paths, he imagined that if it came down to a fight he could probably beat her. Not without injury though.

  “Probably. But it would be best not to antagonise her if you can help it.”

  “I wasn’t planning on doing that,” Ashley huffed defensively.

  Leo raised an eyebrow in response.

  “Okay, I won’t promise not to say anything, but I’ll try.”

  Leo chuckled. That was about as good as he’d get. Truth be told, his friendship with Ashley had become one of the most important things in his life. Back on Earth he’d been more of a hermit, a cat locked inside his own walls. Here, despite the blood and death, he found himself much less lonely.

  “Did you tell Hector that I was a princess?” Ashley asked accusatorily.

  Leo burst out laughing. Ashley joined him, the sound spilling into the night. They talked until the moon dipped low, their laughter only broken when Leo finally pried Ellie from her ravenous grasp.

  The hours of the next day rushed past in a blur of training, helping people build walls, and checking on Lena. She hadn’t left her little workshop since getting her profession, completely unaware of the ongoings around her.

  Leo was quickly shoo’d out, saying he wasn’t allowed to peek until she was finished, even ignoring the baby dragon to focus.

  By mid-afternoon, Cecelia’s and Nolan’s group returned.

  Cecelia walked with her usual confidence, a new cloak rippling around her frame. The others sported fresh gear—upgraded gloves, new chest pieces, boots. Their trip had clearly paid off. No casualties at all. Only gains.

  Maddie and Marco radiated more power than before, though they hid it behind calm smiles as they reunited with friends and family. Bjorn crushed his wife in a hug, then turned to Leo.

  “Hey, kid.” Bjorn pulled him into a bear hug. “Great job holding things down. Knew you could do it. Camp looks good.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Indeed,” Cecelia added, eyes narrowing at the bloodstains where Katherine and Mark had lain. “Though I am curious about those.”

  “Yeah, some things happened,” Leo admitted, “We should talk.”

  “Lena?” Amy asked quickly.

  “She’s fine! Everyone’s fine. Lena’s in her little workshop,” Leo said reassuringly.

  Amy gave a sigh of relief, moving off immediately after patting him on the shoulder in thanks.

  “Give us an hour and then we will reconvene,” Cecelia said. Her tone left no room for argument.

  An hour later, both main parties gathered in the training hall, along with Hector. Jonah’s group joined as well, all of them looking a little steadier after a short rest, although faces were downcast.

  “We’re just waiting on Ashley and Ellie,” Leo said.

  Cecelia tilted her head. “I don’t believe I’ve met Ellie. A new arrival?”

  Leo chuckled in realisation, nodding. “You sure haven’t.”

  A moment later, Ashley dashed into the building, quickly apologising for being late. She had a vibrant coloured baby dragon nestled in her arms that looked delighted at being rushed around. Ellie’s eyes sparkled with excitement and curiosity of all the newcomers.

  “Is that…” Cecelia began.

  “The cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. Yes. Yes it is,” Amy finished for her.

  “Everyone, this is Ellie, my companion. Ellie, this is everyone,” Leo said with a proud grin.

  Everyone swarmed closer, offering hands for Ellie to sniff or scratch her behind her ears. She trilled happily, absolutely adoring the attention. Leo hoped that she wouldn’t become too spoiled for it, he was hoping to raise her as a powerful dragon after all. But time for that could come later, her little dragon smile was too infectious to miss out on.

  “Looks like you’re a Dad too now,” Bjorn chuckled. “You and Ashley’ll make good parents.”

  “I know right! Ellie already loves me,” Ashley beamed, not taking the joke whatsoever.

  Leo just shook his head, as he heard Hector whisper beside him, “A Dragon with a princess for a mother. I’ll be, it’s like a fairy tale.”

  So she hadn’t corrected him. Long live Princess Ashley. Leo stifled a laugh, waving off Hector as he looked at him curiously.

  When the attention finally settled, Cecelia steered them back on track.

  “Now that we’ve met our newest member, let’s hear what happened.”

  Leo started the tale by quickly going over how he hatched his dragon, giving brief detail of his mana control. A few interested faces showed, mostly Gordon and Morgan but Cecelia prompted him to move to more pressing matters.

  Afterwards, he spoke of the entirety of the Jonah situation, describing the events. Jonah looked down at his feet for the entirety of his tale. Leo and Jonah both apologised for being careless and then he moved on to his meeting with Gareth and Ruby’s party.

  “Ruby?!” Nolan snapped as he jumped to his feet. “Short, red hair, a bit of a fighting maniac?”

  “Among other manias,” Ashley added in a low tone.

  “Yeah, sounds about right.” Leo confirmed. “Can’t be that many Ruby’s in the tutorial with red hair.”

  Nolan’s face darkened. “Fuck!” He slammed a fist into a nearby stone used for weapon practice, it cracked under the assault, chips of stone flying.

  Jules quickly got the others up to speed on what had happened with their party, how Ruby had been their best at the start of the tutorial before disappearing, the chaos it had caused, and the blood spilled in her wake.

  Cecelia cut through the growing argument. “You’ve done well, Leo. These gains will matter for the Tower. Nolan, I know you’re angry, but I expect civility when we meet this other group. We can’t risk a fight if they are as powerful as you say.”

  Nolan’s jaw worked before he gave a stiff nod.

  “Should we talk about what happened to us in the Beast Pens?” Bjorn asked, trying to diffuse the tension a little.

  “Perhaps individually, at a later date,” Cecelia suggested, “this meeting seems more pressing, we should prepare.”

  Cecelia dismissed everyone from the meeting, the sun in the sky had lowered at this point, creating a shadow that swept across the courtyard.

  The evening brought peace. The crafters had all chosen professions, smith, tailor, builder, cook. Each worked with determination. Cecelia moved between them, speaking softly while gauging their skills. Jonah’s group received a quiet dressing down for their reckless hunt, but came out looking inspired.

  Leo half expected the same, but it never came—apparently doing a good job.

  Instead, he spent the night conversing with his friends, letting them interact with Ellie.

  She took a big shine to Ron, clambering off Leo’s shoulder to demand a scritching from him to which he gladly did with a smile he’d never seen the man make. Ashley looked heartbroken at the betrayal but swiftly regained her composure when Ellie made her way onto her lap.

  Although the noises Ashley made when she did gave Leo pause at the hatchling’s safety.

  A cook had managed to create a meal made from ant and brought it to the returned party members, asking for a critique. Ellie jumped at the opportunity, snacking on an ant skewer with her little razor sharp baby teeth. The look of bliss graced her face as she chomped, tail wagging.

  “Looks like a glowing review,” Bjorn laughed before taking his own cautious bite. His eyes went wide. “This is great!”

  Like a starting pistol had gone off, everyone else tucked in with their own bite before ravenously devouring the entire thing. It was like eating a spicy chicken skewer, but with a richer flavour. The texture was a little off but after eating nothing but the nutrition bricks for over a week this was heaven.

  “God I missed flavour… Where did you get the spices?” Lena asked. She had finally left her workshop to join them after Amy’s insistence.

  “I got a skill when unlocking the profession to convert mana into different tastes,” the chef said, grinning.

  “Damn, that’s cool!” Leo said appreciatively. “I’d love to hear more.”

  Mana was such an interesting thing. Each person could shape it in their own way, through skills, crafting, building or even cooking!

  The way he was looking at mana so far was so… basic. If it could flavour food or create barriers of light why couldn’t it do more? Lightning from his eyes? Fire breath? The System probably had limits, but he’d be damned if he didn’t start pushing them.

  The next morning, Cecelia gathered those who would be going to the meet. It would be herself, Leo, Nolan, Bjorn, Ron, Ashley and Gordon. The decision came with a few grumbles, mostly from Jules but in the end he relented, no longer arguing.

  Moving swiftly through the city, Cecelia suggested that she wanted to get there before Noon in order to check for any ambushes or traps. Leo hadn’t even thought about the fact that people could make traps. Another foolish naivety. How long would it be until he realised that he couldn’t blindly trust anyone out here?

  The main issue was that he wanted to trust.

  His friends, Nolan’s group, and all the remaining survivors at the camp. Leo felt like he could put at least some trust in them and hoped that they could do the same. Only one had betrayed his trust so far and his groups. That was Jasper.

  ~

  A screaming wail echoed out in the makeshift underground lab.

  “Please! Stop!” Jasper begged.

  The raspy, half human, half insect voice spoke in a calming tone. “Soon, you will be better. You will be stronger. You will be remade in His image.”

  Jasper felt his flesh warp and shift as he helplessly struggled against the bindings. Whatever concoction the creature had forced him to consume before this was eating at him from the inside. As the pain steadily increased, all he could do was scream until his throat bled.

  The bones in his face cracked and shifted, his body felt bulkier, straining harder against the bindings. All of his world was consumed by pain.

  Finally, it abated. The ability to breathe returned as air filled his starved lungs. Notifications pinged across Jasper's vision, completely unaffected by the blurriness he was experiencing.

  You have consumed: Antling Serum of Metamorphosis

  Your body has undergone biological changes

  Your race has changed to: Insect-Human Hybrid (F)

  Your base stats have increased

  Your Skill: Poison Touched Blade (Common) has upgraded to:Venomous Coating (Rare)

  Class: Rogue, has been lost.

  Some skills have been altered

  Your ability to learn a profession has been lost

  Class obtained:

  Servant of Serrix

  “You had more potential than even I,” the hybrid said with admiration.

  “What do-” His voice didn’t sound right, it was deeper and with a slight rasp. He tried to reach up and touch his face but the bindings still held him.

  Looking down at his body he saw that his chest was now dark brown but still fully in the shape of a human. A chitinous exoskeleton covered his entire torso, extending all the way down his arms and most likely his legs.

  He gasped in fright. Coming from the top of his forearms were two blade-like appendages. They hovered just above his hands. With a thought, the blades moved and retracted into his forearm.

  “What have you done to me?” Jasper croaked.

  “I have improved you, as He commanded. As was your fate,” the creature said.

  “Who is he?” Jasper demanded, “Is it the voice in my head?”

  Another voice answered. This one thundered inside his skull, steady and absolute. He felt its call through the solid earth, almost like he could feel its presence.

  “That’s right, Jasper. Welcome to my service. I am Serrix. But you will call me: ‘My Lord.’”