A swish of air ruffled Nar’s hair as he ducked under the glistening red blade, and as the snapping jaws of a large bipedal, dark brown and red striped beast shut just inches from his leg at the same time.

  Nar transitioned from a [Sword Aura] attack at another of the furry beasts assaulting by canceling the skill, and smashed his elbow against the beast that had nearly taken his leg. He put all of his [The Aspiring Champion] enhanced [Strength] into that blow.

  Nar felt the creature’s ugly, four nostril, flat nose crunching, and the beast’s head rocket back. With a guttural howl, the creature flicked its thorny tail in annoyance, its eyes brimming with unrestrained hunger as it ignored the dark blood dripping from its now disfigured nose.

  Fucking HP! Nar thought, as he dodged under the red blade again.

  The giant mantis shrieked at him from the branch above him and the furry beasts tensed to leap for Nar again… and his [Instinct] and [Awareness] alerted him to yet a third threat! Nar leaped down to another branch to avoid a swarm of flying molilis, their little teeth clattering as they glided overhead on their loose, fur and skin wings.

  Ugh! Nar groaned, as his [Instinct] warned him before he even landed.

  He touched the branch below him and dropped into an immediate roll to avoid the slamming fists of a hairless pig snouted beast, a fourth creature in all of that mess. The beast squealed at him and reached forward to grab him with its long and narrow limbs, towering above him with its impressive height. Before Nar had to deal with it, the creature’s head was hit with a glow of gold and with a grunt, it launched off in Leon’s direction. Its color also shifted to gray scale.

  Right, that one’s not my concern, Nar thought, and he leaped back to avoid a flurry of mantis blade strikes. But you are, aren’t you?

  The mantis shrieked in reply, and shadows darted from above as more of the bipedal clawed and back-covered in thorns beasts leaped down after him.

  With a deep breath, Nar called for his [Sword Aura] again and met them head on.

  He slashed through their ranks as he allowed his superior [Reflex] to be further boosted by his [Aura Quickening], and fully leaned on his senses to carry him safely through the fight. His glowing blade left [Lingering Aura] procs with every touch, spreading DOTs and sapping the strength from his foes. To add to that, his sword now also sometimes left trails of slick, thick blood in its wake, as it tried to devour the creatures it downed.

  Don’t be such a pain! Nar mentally shouted at the blade. You ate half a giant snake already!

  Nar could’ve almost sworn he felt an indignant huff as the blade ceased struggling to remain stuck to one of the beasts and obeyed his orders.

  It’s like it’s semi-sapient already, Nar thought, groaning through grit teeth. Every time the sword’s greed awakened, it caused him to misstep, fail his mark, or get injured. Nar had come to snap at it, to varying degrees of success, in order to keep the weapon under control and focused on the fight, not the food. He was giddy with excitement at the prospect of his weapon evolving into a higher stage, especially if he had all of those massive stats increases and perhaps even a skill to look forward to, but when he was knee deep in beasts and the sword wanted nothing more than to gorge itself, it quickly became an annoyance. Especially when—

  Nar twisted mid-air and flung a weak, and short [Aura Blade] at a swarm of molili before they could smash into Rel and Jaz. However, he only clipped the swarm as the beasts shifted course mid air and instead rushed towards Teb’s quadruple storm of blades.

  Gad, Nar realized. Damn, I guess I didn’t need to worry…

  What should he do? It wasn’t the first time he had acted beyond his orders to cover someone, only to find out that it wasn’t necessary.

  Should I really just drop my role as the secondary tank? he wondered.

  Neither Gad, nor Kur, Row, Calli, Leon, or Tun, for that matter, had approached him to tell him to stop, and by now, nearly six days since they’d begin their journey up the lake shore, he was sure that they knew of his actions and attempts at helping, so perhaps they were welcomed?

  Focus! he hissed at himself, as the mantis peaked down from above, searching for him.

  Instead, it got an [Aura Blade] to the face, and screeched at the aura seeping into its body, burning it from the inside. Of course, its large, red eyes were fully protected by the enormous beast’s huge HP pool, and the creature chased after him again with nary some charring across its face.

  Given how close he was to everyone else, Nar still had to be careful with his [Aura Blade].

  No! NO! He shouted at his sword as it reached into his core to prepare more aura for him for a follow-up [Aura Blade]. I know you want to help, but there’s too many people around us!

  He yanked on his own aura, dispersing it back into his pathways. Perhaps, and hopefully, his blade would become his greatest companion in battle, as Leon had described, but right now, it was little more than a greedy nuisance, doing whatever it pleased.

  The mantis chasing after him pivoted in its long limbs, and its color went grayscale just as a series of rings glowing in shifting grays but with touches of gold came slashing across its bulk.

  What’s that? Nar thought, his [Sight] and [Awareness] catching sight of something different.

  Even as his senses changed their focus to the bipedal beasts, which were still displaying their full colors, he noticed that one of Tuk’s rings sputtered with what he could only describe as a secondary ring of light shining around it… It couldn't have been wider than half a pinky’s nail, but he was sure of what he’d glimpsed.

  A new skill? Nar wondered, as he cut into the beasts surrounding him in a death cage of teeth and claws.

  “The herd of snapjaws is here!” Sej warned them.

  Nar looked down to the brawl unfurling below him and pressed his lips as a herd of lizards crashed into the chaos.

  “Raf’s down!” Row cried.

  “So is Mul!” Jasphaer said.

  What? Nar thought, searching through the fight.

  “Shit! We need to pull back,” Kur ordered. “The [Touch of Rot] is getting too much. We need to get out!”

  “I’ll cover the retreat!” Leon offered.

  “No, let Tun and Gad do it. You lead the front,” Kur countered. “Cen and Cor, stay back. You too, Nar. Get ready to lay down suppressive fire! Gad, cause confusion, and Tun make sure the casters are safe. Go!”

  They moved without so much as a couple of disjointed yeses, and soon enough, Nar was at the forefront of the fight as the others retreated behind him. He unleashed [Aura Blade]s from Tun’s side, covering the mass of beasts that turned to chase after them in explosions of gray fire. He pressed his jaw as a fresh wave of sweat flooded him as the blade fought against his control, perhaps sensing that it had just been denied dinner.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  From behind him and Tun’s golden aura shields, Cen and Cor unleashed a barrage of [Aura Projectile]s, and the explosions rocked the Hungry Jungle, turning the dimming, red twilight into a flare of shifting grays.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Tun shouted, dropping his aura shields to push Cor to run after the others.

  Nar rushed forward and scooped Cen onto his shoulder.

  “Can you shoot like that?” he asked the small lengos.

  “Yes!” she shouted, her neon yellow eyes glowing from the half-formed aura in her right hand.

  Gad joined their retreat, and between Nar and Cen, they managed to keep the jungle at their back lit up in a voracious, searing aura.

  “Up ahead!” Nar shouted, calling Tun’s attention to Teb’s faltering steps.

  “I got him!” The morsvar stored his gladius behind his tower shield, then picked up Teb just as the [Touch of Rot] took him under its debilitating effects.

  A loud screech echoed from the spreading flames behind them, and Nar glanced back in time to catch sight of the giant red mantis stomping through the flames that were quickly changing from gray to the more natural colors of fire.

  “Crystal… That thing is uncommon, isn’t it?” Cen asked in Nar’s ear.

  “Has to be!” Nar said, given how many [Aura Blade]s the mantis had eaten and still continued chasing after them. They had been extremely weak [Aura Blade]s, sure, but still, it was a testament to the beast’s prodigious HP.

  “Hit it, Cen!” Gad shouted. “We’re not far from the shore!”

  They had been on their way out of the Miasma, exhausted after the three massive brawls they had powered through that day, when they had been ambushed by a fourth. However, no matter how much Nar strained his [Sight] he couldn’t pierce the thick, red swirling air to find the dark waters of the lake and the deep, purple twilight skies above it… not until he suddenly burst through the miasma and his feet landed upon black pebbles.

  “We’re out!” Cor shouted in relief.

  Despite knowing that there was no danger, Nar turned back to face anything that chased them through that Miasma, with Tun doing the same at his side. After several heart thumping seconds, it became evident that none of the beasts were about to break the boundary rule set by the Brightnight’s guardian. They were safe.

  Nar inhaled deeply as he lowered Cen to the pebbles, and calmed his frenzied heartbeat. Fights in the Hungry Jungle were always a mess, because it wasn’t just one enemy or herd that they fought in that maze of brambles. Plus, the brawls could grow indefinitely, forcing them to forfeit fights just as the one they had ran from.

  And there’s the [Touch of Rot] as well, Nar thought, eyeing the passed out bodies of Raf, Teb, Mul and Viy, who must have gone under during their run. Leta and Jasphaer were already working quickly to cleanse and heal them.

  From the aethermancer’s side, Era spread out a thin mattress and laid down Mach upon it, quickly calling upon her sleep cleansing and healing skills.

  All in one piece, Nar thought, his heartbeat still thrumming against his ears. But Pile, this place is a damned mess to fight in. Not to mention gather and harvest…

  Every time they found one of the materials they needed to harvest, it was already occupied by some sort of beast, and they had no choice but to start a brawl. And every time they got started on harvesting their dead prey, the stench of death and blood soon drew all the hunger-crazed beasts in the vicinity, starting yet another brawl.

  Thankfully, they had made good progress, and their Hungry Jungle requirements were getting fulfilled while they were already almost halfway to Miasma Point.

  “Alright, let’s get the tent up!” Kur ordered. “Sentries on full alert just in case. The rest, help set up camp.”

  Nar glanced up and down the shoreline, as he joined the others in stretching the groundsheet that would go under their main tent. Serene swirls of neon color sighed against the shore, lines of neon stretching into the distant horizon across the lake’s surface.

  The shore was quiet, its usual stifling stillness betraying no danger, just as it had been ever since they’d started camping over that stretch of pebbles, with no sign of assassins or pursuers.

  “They’ll expect us to die in the crash, but if they’re professionals, and they likely are, they will check to make sure,” Leon had said, during their first foray back into the Hungry Jungle.

  “They can’t chase us through the Hungry Jungle either, even if they scale down the cliff from the Jungle Tops. Level 70 or not, nobody is getting through that Miasma without a high degree of local expertise and specialist equipment,” Sej had added. “So they will have to fly to the southern nest and then come down the coast to find us, which probably gives us a few days of safety before we need to worry about ambushes during fights.”

  It was a pain to expect to be attacked by sapient enemies at any moment, even if through the means of beasts or other such “accidents”.

  Unless they get desperate, Nar thought, as he smoothed the strong fabric over the pebbles. A fight with a bunch of level 70 fighters… We’ve been leveling fast here, thanks to all the non-stop fighting, but that’s still sixteen levels above me. And seeing the difference that just five levels can make in my own case, a difference three times that…

  It wasn’t a comforting thought. He would fight to his dying breath of course, but still, it was a thought that had been occupying his mind.

  Nar had expected to be able to grow stronger under Tsurmirel’s wings, thinking that the day he would’ve to fight malicious sapients to be far out into the future. But now, here it was, a lot earlier than expected.

  And I'm not ready yet, he thought, clenching his jaw.

  “Nar. Nar!”

  Blinking away his concerns, Nar raised his head to find Tuk by his side. The lanky trugger reached to him with a part of a segment of their communal white tent that enclosed the individual ones and all the shared areas.

  “Oh, sorry,” Nar said, taking it and quickly unfolding it.

  “You alright?” Tuk asked, as he did the same.

  “I’m all good, don’t worry,” Nar said, smiling at the trugger. “Oh! By the way. Did you unlock a new skill? I thought I saw something…”

  Tuk chuckled at him and beamed with pride.

  “I did! I mean, I don’t have the skill yet, but I think it will turn out to be one,” Tuk said. And with a quick glance around him, he dropped his section of the tent from the right hand, and got a glowing ring spinning on his index instead. “Watch!”

  Nar, having learned from previous experiences with Tuk’s crazy experimenting, took a discrete half step back, and used his [Sight] instead.

  At first, Tuk’s rings glowed with its original shifting gray, but soon, a wobbly stain of gold began to take the ring from the middle.

  “Is that your affinity?” Nar breathed. “Is it changing the color of your aura already?”

  “Looks like it!” Tuk said, grinning. “But that’s not what I wanted to show you… Look!”

  Nar focused back on the spinning disc and his eyes widened as the golden infused aura stretched out from the ring, forming a line of light that promised to be razor sharp around it.

  “Holy shit, Tuk…” Nar whispered. “Is that—”

  “An edge of aura!” Tuk proclaimed. “I mean, I don’t actually know what it’s called, to be honest. But… Shit!”

  The ring warbled in Tuk’s finger and he frowned in concentration to keep it from losing control. After a few silent seconds, Tuk managed to pull the aura edge back into the ring, and then stop the spinning disc.

  “Cool, isn’t it? But very, very hard to control,” the trugger said, storing his ring and bending down his considerable lanky height to pick up the white material again. “It’s actually a lot harder than that time I was just learning to infuse my rings with aura.”

  “Really? I mean, it makes sense?” Nar wondered, as held up the two pieces for Tuk to zip them together. “You’re basically creating another ring around your ring!”

  “Pretty much,” Tuk said, then he made a face. “The HP in this place is really strong, and I’ve been struggling to cut through it. Plus, the other skill I’ve been working on is almost there, but it’s lacking that punch, you know?”

  “So, you hope to make the ring sharper, is it?” Nar asked, as he lifted the fabric for Tuk to stick a flexible pole through.

  “Yes, and faster too!” Tuk said. “Plus, if I can make a bigger ring, I can do a lot more damage, right?”

  “A bigger… Oh!” Nar said. “Damn, Tuk! That would be insanely cool! How big can you make those rings of aura?”

  Tuk shrugged. “According to the Master of Thrown Weapons, as big as I can manage them.”

  “Crystal,” Nar said, imagining Tuk tossing several rings of golden light, each several feet wide… That would make the ring tosser an even more formidable presence upon the battlefield. “I can’t wait to see it! And it looks like you’re now going in the opposite direction than I was, by trying to expand your aura instead of reducing it.”

  “Right? And actually, doesn’t that give you an idea?” Tuk asked, wiggling his bushy eyebrows at Nar.

  “An idea? Me?”

  Tuk chuckled, as he took the pole from Nar and joined it with Eum’s on the other side.

  “You probably don’t think much about it, since it was a good while ago and there’s been loads for you to worry about, but have you forgotten what you did at the end of the Ceremony?” Tuk asked.

  “I used an [Aura Blade], no? The name of the skill was different, but—”

  “But that wasn’t the only thing you did!” Tuk said. “Think back. Remember the skill… Remember the sword…”

  “Remember the—”

  Nar’s eyes widened.

  “Yes! Your sword grew!” Tuk said. “It was like you were holding a giant sword of aura!”

  “That’s true. But that was an accident?” Nar mumbled, his eyes distant as he recalled the memory of that blade of aura, almost double the length of his sword.

  “I thought about it as soon as the master told me about this,” Tuk said. “I figured you had enough on your plate to deal with, plus I wanted to test it to make sure it actually worked first… But now that you've been working on your senses, and your [Aura Blade] is looking peak, maybe you can try this one too? Who knows, maybe there’s a use case for it!”

  “Right,” Nar said, frowning in thought. “That is… Thanks, Tuk. I’ll think about it, but I think you’re right. There’s something here.”

  “Of course there is!” Tuk said, slapping his shoulder as he grinned. “When have I ever led you astray?”

  “Hey! Stop talking and get to it!” Row shouted.

  “Sorry!”

  An edge of aura along the sword… No, an actual blade of aura that stays with the sword, Nar thought, as he helped raise the tent. There really is something here, isn’t there?