Edge swung his way across the Sweltering Green—thrilled that he no longer had to worry about keeping his chain a secret.

  Thanks to Foebinder’s assistance, he crossed the dense overgrowth within a matter of minutes. He lowered himself to the ground and stepped into the clearing where the expedition had stopped to rest during the hottest part of the day.

  When he walked over to the cooking station, he said hello to Violet, then reached inside his vault and pulled out a double armful of fresh fruit—followed by four more loads and the carcass of a wild boar. Everyone let out a cheer at the sight. They had been on a starvation diet for weeks and were thrilled to have more meat and something sweet to eat.

  Finding the fruit had been easy after Edge swapped the power in his Auxiliary Skill Slot, trading Gauge Depth for Sense Fruit. He had also taken advantage of the opportunity to steal two Common skills from the boar before finishing the beast off.

  After some consideration, he had decided to place the experience he’d Absorbed into Warlord’s Mantle. It took a lot of effort to rank up Rare skills—let alone his Epics—but going from rank one to rank two wasn’t so bad.

  Mantle had played a pivotal role in the fight under the mountain, and he was hoping to advance it before the expedition reached the Ivory Plains and had to deal with the Claws that were threatening his home.

  The aura had incredible synergy with Overdrive during large-scale conflict, providing a massive boost to an entire army at once. It only lasted sixty seconds, but if used at a critical moment, Warlord’s Mantle could turn the tide of a battle all by itself. Combined with Intimidating Roar and the rest of his powers, Edge was ready to do his part to defeat the jailbird gang once and for all.

  “Thanks, Edge,” Violet said, pulling him back into the present. “Most of us are still too weak to do much foraging or hunting yet, so your efforts are making a big difference. Out of all those wonderful new powers you’ve obtained, my favorite is the Spatial Storage Rune. It’s a dream come true for any quartermaster or cook.”

  “Yeah. It’s fantastic. It was my personal reward for defeating the boss of the Savage Garden.”

  “I still can’t believe you managed to pull that off, evolving to stage two inside the fucking dungeon no less. It’s a shame about the rest of Setna’s crew, but I’m thrilled she survived—along with that Snake fellow.”

  “One-Eye helped too,” Edge said. “I was surprised, considering the circumstances of how we met, but he wound up being a decent human being. Snake seemed to have some history with him too.”

  “Well, one thing you learn after living on Ord for a few years is that a lot of what they show on the feed isn’t just censored—it’s pure propaganda. While it’s true that far too many jailbirds are cruel, violent sociopaths, quite a few are political prisoners or people who pissed off the wrong AI and ran out of luck.”

  Violet gestured with her stirring spoon as she continued.

  “Most of their settlements are chaotic places, but I’ve visited a few myself, and they didn’t seem all that different from frontier cities, which can be pretty brutal in their own right. On the feed, everything is black and white, but the truth is a thousand shades of gray. For example, while there are plenty of gangs who will murder you for fun, the wardens can be downright terrifying if you manage to get on their radar.

  “Regardless of the details, going forward, everyone on Ord needs to learn to work together if we want to survive. Although bastards like Yussuf and his strike leaders need to be put down. Ella and Roth deserved everything they got and more.” She spat on the ground for emphasis.

  “Yea, after what I saw inside their cores, I feel the same way. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that everyone in Trapper’s crew is okay.”

  “You too, Edge. Oh, and you should spend some time with Blue today. She was worried about you too and could use some company. Being trapped underground for so long was hard on most of the beasts, and they’re still recovering.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll head over to see her after we’re done eating.”

  They chatted as he helped the quartermasters prep ingredients and cook lunch, then the rest of the crew came over to join them. While everyone was chowing down, Edge asked Able, Alice, and Melchior to gather round.

  “I’ve already talked about this with Lilly and Mel,” he began. “But I wanted to make sure our crew leaders and senior hunters know about it too. It doesn’t have anything to do with our conflict with the Crimson Claws, but it’s important that everyone is aware of what I’ve discovered.”

  He went on to provide an abridged version of what he’d learned from the Gardener—the arrival of monsters from another dimension and her warning that it was going to happen again. He glossed over the part where he’d been inside her core at the time, then concluded by sharing what the alien had revealed about the first monsters—the entities she called the Ancients. When he was finished, everyone was staring at him with wide eyes and slack jaws.

  “By the gods,” Able said. “I’ve never heard of any of that before. There was a native population living here when the System arrived? Ord’s monsters came from another dimension? The wardens must have known about this the whole time and censored it from the feed. Everything they’ve told us is a lie.”

  “I’ve heard rumors of settlements that lay beyond the frontier,” Alice added. “But since they are within the Fog of War, I always assumed they were just tall tales to share around the campfire. Maybe some of Ord’s natives are still alive. If so, the System must treat them differently from everyone else and scrub any trace of their existence from the feed.”

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  “It sounds like our problems have only just begun.” Trapper sighed. “But all we can do is deal with the one in front of us, then keep growing stronger as fast as possible. Once the jailbirds are out of the picture, we need to find out if there are any other settlements in the biomes surrounding the plains. Whatever is coming, we can’t afford to face it alone.”

  When everyone moved onto other tasks, Edge walked over to where the beasts were grazing—only to be tackled by an exuberant Blue. The dino begged for scritches behind her horns, licking his face with her gigantic pink tongue.

  “I know, girl. I missed you too. Sorry it took me so long to find you.” For the next half hour, he spent some quality time with the azure triceratops. They played fetch for a while, then switched to tag. Now that he was near the middle of stage two, he was able to keep up with the beast’s incredible attributes with a little help from Warlord’s Mantle and Fear the Seasons. Edge still lost three rounds out of four, since he couldn’t compete with the blinding speed of Blue’s Charge.

  When the expedition was ready to resume their journey, everyone packed up their supplies and started walking. Their progress was slow, since the beasts were still recovering from malnutrition and many of the hunters were injured—some of them quite severely—even with Traveler’s Boon hastening their recovery along with some medicines Melchior had whipped up from plants in the Sweltering Green.

  As the caravan crossed the jungle, people spoke in quiet voices and somber tones. Although, from what Trapper had told Edge, the mood wasn’t nearly as grim as before. While too many good people had fallen, most of them were alive. On the other side of the equation, over half of the Claws who had attacked the expedition were dead, including two of their elites.

  Puppet Town was still in danger, and Yussuf the Red had yet to make an appearance, but the hunters and peacekeepers were more optimistic than they’d been in weeks.

  On a more concerning note, Edge hadn’t heard from Sakura, and neither had Tessa—the only other member of the expedition who could receive direct messages from her as far as he knew. Sakura had mentioned the Claws had skills and devices that could block her magic, which he assumed was the cause of the problem.

  It meant that when the caravan made it back to the Ivory Plains, they were heading into another battle with the future of the settlement hanging in the balance. Knowing that the manufactory was up and running—that cores were being produced and given to the Puppet Town’s most promising hunters and warriors—made him feel a bit better, but he wouldn’t rest easy until the convicts were driven from the biome and his home was safe again.

  The next day, the expedition passed by the Savage Garden. Edge was shocked to see how much the area had changed since he’d last laid eyes on it. The dungeon was buried in indestructible plants, but the clearing where they had set up their base camp was still there. They picked up Setna’s wagon, along with a few of their own the Claws hadn’t destroyed. The caravan was able to move faster past that point, following the path the trailblazers had carved a few weeks back.

  Later that evening, they came across the crew Sakura had mentioned in her last message—the hunters who had slipped past the prisoners on the plains and provided recon via a Sense-Linked beast. They hadn’t heard from her either, but the quartet of cored warriors was a welcome addition to their forces.

  When they made camp, Edge decided the time had come to share his secret with Puppet Town’s senior members, leaving out only Skill-Eater’s Unique rarity, sapience, and ability to steal skills. He had revealed most of his power during his battle with Roth anyway and was tired of keeping them hidden. He let them know he had more skill slots than most people and that his ultimate ability enabled combos that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

  Everyone was suitably impressed—although not too surprised after what they’d seen—and getting it over with was a weight off his mind. They were all on the same side after all—trapped on a hostile magical planet with only each other to rely on. Besides, the information was important for devising their strategy to defeat the Claws, and these people had far more combat experience than himself. He was happy that everyone seemed excited by his powers—relieved to have him fighting on their side—and not a single individual brought up his core’s rarity or asked any probing questions.

  Once everyone had moved onto other activities, he stepped into his inner world to see how Mental Fortress was getting along with his other skills.

  When he entered his core, a fierce battle was raging across his skill village. Okay, maybe a mock battle was a better term, but the avatars were taking the contest so seriously he could feel the tension in the air. Sea and Chibime had divided his collection between them and established opposing bases on opposite sides of the village.

  He watched on with interest as Conceal and Shadow Step dueled—both avatars flickering in and out of existence as they exchanged a rapid series of strikes. Elemental Blade and Double Slash were trading blows, and what the little stone statue lacked in stature it made up for with exuberance.

  Chibime and Sea were squaring off in the middle of the press, like enemy generals meeting on the battlefield. She used her raincloud to pummel him, while he leapt from the buildings to reach her, occasionally letting out a fierce, incredibly adorable Roar to keep Sea off balance.

  The contest let the avatars burn off some steam and seemed to be generating even more skill experience than the combat drills he’d seen them doing before, so Edge wasn’t inclined to get in the way.

  Shaking his head at the strangeness of it all, he walked over to his central chamber, sat down in his father’s recliner, and waited for his skills to finish. Sea was eliminated by a surprise attack from Harden and Sense Treasure, who had teamed up to hit her from above. The final play was Chibime facing off against Elemental Blade. They exchanged a rapid series of strikes and dodges before the floating sword went in for the kill.

  Just before the weapon struck true, the crafty little fellow opened his mouth and unleashed a deafening Roar. When the magic broke over Elemental Blade, it came to a faltering stop—momentarily paralyzed by the powerful wave of mana. Chibime reached out, rapped his knuckles against the sword’s hilt, and signaled the end of the game.

  Edge made the rounds, congratulating Roar on his win and complimenting each of his powers on their performance—doing everything he could think of to strengthen the bonds between them. When he was done, he walked over to the brain floating in a bubble that represented Mental Fortress. He was pleased that the avatar seemed much happier than when it had been living inside Ella’s core.

  “Hi. You seem like you’re having fun. I just want to make sure you’re enjoying living in my village.” The brain bobbled around in excitement, showing none of its former timidity. Although it couldn’t talk, the skill was surprisingly expressive—more so than any of the avatars besides Chibime and Sea.

  Fortress enthusiastically led Edge to its territory, showing him its new home inside the village. He was surprised to learn it was a library. Apparently, Mental Fortress was an avid reader. When he poked inside one of the books, the text was gibberish to him—like trying to read a novel while dreaming. The whole village was pretty damn dreamlike now that he thought about it, including his skills’ ability to manifest their own houses, toys, and decorations.

  He spent a while talking to Fortress, working on developing his newest bond, then returned to his body—pleased the avatars inside his core were doing well.

  That brought him to the next item on his list. He had two Rare skills that would hatch soon, and Edge didn’t have room to slot them both. It meant it was time to have a chat with the master of skills and then use the Triple-Merger Token he’d found in the Deep-Gill Grottos.