Ethan jumped up with a curse as the lord’s throat gained a familiar green glow. The over-sized monitor did not care at all about Edwin and his cronies and instead, it was fully focused on Ethan. The pesky little human playing around with fire.

  Shit.

  Ethan rose in the air as the giant ball of lurid green liquid zipped toward him and unfortunately for him, he hadn’t managed to get high enough before it hit the first mushroom-stem and sent its content flying all over, splashing over his legs and wings. Some even managed to get to his back. On the stab wound the woman had tagged him with.

  “Fuck!” he shouted between gritted teeth as the liquid sizzled and burned. It was agony, but it quickly mellowed out as his scales sapped the magic out of the substance, and within seconds, he was left with soggy, gross water dripping out of his feet.

  Ethan glided up and around, eyes on Edwin and his team. He wanted to dry out the gross water, but the fire would attract attention so instead, he just focused on healing the wound on his back whenever he came to a stop atop the mushroom trees. He wasn’t too worried about infections at this point. He’d already been stabbed in the guts thirty levels ago, and that attack had been much more severe. If he’d survived that, then he should be fine now, and in any case, as long as he wasn't actively bleeding out, he couldn’t get himself to care too much about such little injuries.

  He still had something to do, and he wasn’t going to rest while Edwin was still walking around. Not when the man could slip into obscurity again. Not when he could crawl away and hide behind layers of webs and traps, only to pop-out and stab Ethan in the back when he’d least expected it.

  Ethan felt a bit tired, but he still had a long way to go before he had to take a rest, so he could do this for a while still and as he tracked the running team, he finally pulled up the notification he’d gotten. In the heat of battle, he hadn’t been able to do much but get out of the way of the lord. But now that he’d had a second to breathe, he opened his palm and glanced down at the round purple orb in his hand.

  Assimilate [Homing Projectile - (Tier-2)]?

  Ethan groaned in his throat. That did not sound like an electric spell.

  Oh well, at least I got something new, he thought before he accepted the prompt and gazed ahead at the scene in front of him. Lords or not, Edwin Davis was not getting away.

  He hopped off the mushroom cap and flapped his wings a couple of times as he tracked his quarry, wincing as the pain flared between his shoulders. The wound had already been closed-up, but it was still tingly, and Ethan hoped it wasn’t going to blind him once more. Not now that his sight was fully back.

  After a couple of minutes, the lord of the swamp decided it was done following the trio and began drifting toward the left, at which point the three individual huddled and began talking while warily watching their surroundings.

  Ethan watched them from above, longing to just let himself drop off the edge and get back into the fight, but he wanted to make sure he wasn’t about to lose his vision once more. So he waited and observed as Edwin listened to the bickering two before he began pacing, then after a short pause, he said something, and the two shared a look before they all began walking north-east.

  With a few jumps and a few seconds of gliding, Ethan realized they were heading toward the rift. Or so he assumed. After all, what else around here was more deserving of such a term?

  Nearly three hundred yards away was a gash in the air itself. A bright, almost white tear that made his heart speed up, and all around it, a maelstrom of all sorts of blues swirled and rippled. Then something came out of the gash and fell to the ground.

  A water monitor. It fell to the ground, shook itself, then slowly ambled away before another monitor fell after it.

  Ethan blinked. Ember was right after all, he thought, then stilled for a moment before he looked behind. A couple of seconds later, he flew up once more and continued his hunt, but now, a bead of guilt had been dropped into the bowl of seething anger that he’d been nursing ever since he met Edwin.

  Is she okay?

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  He hoped she’d made it to safety. And he hoped Diego or the others wouldn’t have attacked her just because of her appearance.

  Could she even talk to them?

  Ethan swallowed. The more he thought of his new companion, the worse he was feeling. His rage against Edwin was justified. The man was a murderous sociopath. But unlike his younger years, he didn’t want that anger and toxicity to poison everything else around him. He didn’t want an innocent person to pay for his vendetta against Edwin, even if he’d just met the cat.

  She was annoying, but she was helpful, and if abandoning her to fend for herself while he pursued Edwin ended up with her dying, he’d feel guilty. He’d be guilty. And Ethan did not want that on his plate. He didn’t want to live with regrets. Not when he could easily prevent them.

  He took a deep breath, and observed the trio as they made their way to the rift.

  It wasn’t what he wanted to do, but if he could confirm where Edwin and his team would rest, he could swing by and check on Ember and the others before he returned. After all, was this not why he’d picked the wings? For mobility?

  Ethan squinted. Are they…

  The three slowly approached the rift. The man in suit seemed to be hesitating, but after a quick talk, he nodded then stepped in first, soon followed by the woman, then Edwin who paused, turned around then looked up. Their eyes met, then he stepped into the rift.

  A moment later, a prompt popped up.

  A local rift is being challenged.

  Time remaining until challenge begins: 30 minutes

  Ethan stood still atop of the giant, glowing mushroom cap, and his claws dug into his palm as he tightened his fist.

  He’s luring me in. But did he know about the messages? And who else got the prompt?

  Ethan assumed he had to step into the rift within thirty minutes otherwise he’d be missing out on whatever was happening within.

  I can’t let them get away.

  He continued watching the exit for a few seconds and thought things through. Can they get out again? Or is that not an option? His mind was a whirlwind of questions, but his thoughts stalled as he heard the loud familiar thuds approach.

  Wait… they’re coming from two different directions.

  Crouching, Ethan watched his surroundings and noticed the giant mushroom trees rustle. The thuds grew louder, while a growl filled the air, and within barely a minute, two monsters emerged, almost at the same time, pushing their way of the still shaking mushroom trees.

  [Lord of the Swamp (II) - Level 70]

  [Lord of the Cave (II) - Level 70]

  The monster growled at each other, snapping their massive jaws. They blustered and growled for a few more seconds until finally, the moss-covered one stepped toward the rift. One moment it touched the giant tear, and the next it was gone.

  The second lord, a behemoth covered with multi-colored crystals, moved forward next, forked tongue tasting the air, and as soon as its body approached the whirlwind of energies, it disappeared in turn.

  Ethan spread out his wing and flew back, and fast.

  A quick wellness check, then he was diving into that rift as well. Thankfully, it didn’t take him long to locate Ember and the others, and when he found them, he didn’t go down. Instead, he slowed his descent and landed on a mushroom cap and peered down.

  There had been a fight down here, and not only against monitors. No, there were plenty of those, but Diego, the woman who had snuck up on him a few days ago, and a couple more strangers had just finished up fighting someone else. Someone from Edwin’s crew, Ethan assumed, and thankfully, none of them seemed to be harboring hostilities toward the Ignisra, who was lounging atop of a boulder, as usual.

  Ethan latched on to his connection to the cat and spoke. “[Don’t alert anyone just yet. Are you okay?]”

  The cat’s ears flickered, and she only stilled for a second from licking her paw before answering. “[I’m fine. I thought you were the one who challenged the rift.]”

  “[I’m not. But I’m going. Do you want to go?]”

  Ethan didn’t mind extending the invitation to her, but he didn’t feel any obligation toward the others. They could all make their own decisions. He assumed that everyone got the prompt, considering Ember had gotten it as well.

  The cat seemed to think for a second. “[It’s dangerous. But yes, I would like to challenge it as well. Will you tell these humans?]”

  “[They can make the trip if they feel like it. I will not stop them, but I will not help them either. If you're done here, walk straight for a minute or so. I’ll pick you up.]”

  The cat continued cleaning up her face for a couple of seconds, then hopped off the boulder she’d been sitting on, attracting the other’s attention, but no one said a word or stopped her. The woman—Amanda, if Ethan’s memory served him right—said something, but Ember continued as if she hadn’t heard anything.

  Typical, Ethan thought. He hopped off the cap and followed the cat for a couple of seconds and before he flew down to the ground to pick her up, he looked in the distance.

  The rift continued to pulse and flicker, and he couldn’t help but feel curious about what he’d find in there. Once he was done with Edwin.

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