I almost didn’t stop. I had too much to do and too little time already. Fighting back my impatience, I headed for the wall and the tiny cluster of log buildings and Base Camp tents behind.

  We were nearly out of time. Surely the people in this little settlement understood that, especially after Cyrus’s last announcement. I would offer to tell them the way to the central valley, but I couldn’t waste a lot of time with them.

  As I slowed, the makeshift gate swung open and people poured out. There were more than I expected. A dozen people in a mix of basic clothing and leather armor led the way, grinning as they rushed up and encircled me and Switchblade.

  Behind them, another 20 people came on more slowly. Most of those were younger and looked timid. The first group all had levels between 12 and 15, which was encouraging, but the second group were hovering around 10. A few were still at level 8 or 9.

  Not good.

  A man and woman stopped close by my left side where I sat Switchblade. They both looked to be in their mid-30s, with hard faces, lined from lives of manual labor.

  “Martin Briggs. Baby human, level 17. Team Lethal Weapon.”

  “Trish Briggs. Baby human, level 16. Team Lethal Weapon.”

  Looked like one of the few times the game left a couple together. I hadn’t gotten Cyrus to explain why that happened sometimes. Usually, I’d wish for that to happen more often, but by their hard looks and the way the others deferred to them, this wasn’t one of those cases. Maybe separated they wouldn’t have caused so much trouble for so many other people.

  “Hello,” I said with a friendly smile. “I’m glad I found you. We’re all running out of time. I can give you directions down to the town on the plain where everyone is gathering for the push up to the second stage. The town’s called Stepstone.”

  “And let some other random people we don’t know try to control our destiny?” Martin scoffed. “I don’t think so. We have everything we need right here.”

  “How did you get a fancy flying bike at level 9?” Trish asked, staring at Switchblade with undisguised coveting.

  “I got lucky. I don’t have much time to chat. I’m heading for town. Any of you want to know the way?”

  Some of the folks in the second group looked eager, but everyone in the circle around me remained silent, watching their leaders. Their intense focus gave me a very bad premonition.

  “No, you’re not going anywhere,” Martin said.

  “Don’t!” I shouted, realizing what the idiots were going to try.

  “Get him!” Trish shouted as she raised her hands. A club materialized, made out of shining purple light. At the same time, a pair of heavy knives appeared in Martin’s hands.

  All the others gathered around lifted blades or pointed fingers at me to unleash spells.

  I’d let them get inside the range of Shield Dome, so couldn’t trigger it now. So I banished Switchblade and dropped flat to the ground, under most of the strikes.

  Spells flashed through the space I’d just left, brilliant bursts of light that slammed into people on the other side. Men and women screamed as flames and ice and invisible blasts of force smashed into them.

  Spears and swords swept over my head as I rolled onto my back. I’d tricked most of them, but not the leaders. Martin dropped to his knees beside me, knives flashing for my face just as Trish brought her magical club down at my stomach in a mighty overhand swing.

  My metal-wrapped fighting stick popped into my hands, already pointing up. I positioned it right at Martin’s throat so he dropped onto it before he could stab his blades home. He gagged and staggered back with a retching sound. I’d pulled the hit, so it shouldn’t have broken anything, just distracted him.

  Trish’s club smashed into my midsection and I grunted from the impact. My armored jacket absorbed most of it, the impact rolling around to rattle me lightly on every side. Trish shrieked and staggered as my amulet reflected some of her magical attack back against her.

  Between my armor and my increased magical defenses, I only took a little damage. I shrugged it off and kept rolling into the encircling group. They were recovering from their initial surprise and retargeting me.

  As I rolled, a weird, robotic voice spoke, and it seemed be coming from my jacket. “Frontal impact. Minor. Check for whiplash.”

  Where did that come from? I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had some idiots to deal with.

  They should have run. My frustration with my long hunt and lack of my last level boiled over. These idiots weren’t even trying to save themselves, but just wanted to plunder and loot others. I’d had more than enough of that with Abbie’s sex slave cult.

  So I triggered Energy Ward. The defensive aura snapped into place around me, easily deflecting the weak attacks of the low-leveled humans. I didn’t want to kill the fools, but I wouldn’t leave them to ambush someone else either.

  I kicked a couple guys in the knees as lightly as I could, but their legs still snapped with sickening crunches and they collapsed, screaming. Fighting weak baby humans was so annoying.

  I sprang to my feet, but tossed my fighting stick back into my inventory. It was too much of a hassle to pull my blows so much. Instead, I pulled out one of the sturdier pillows I’d looted from Abbie and smacked a couple of the nearest men.

  I tried to make the blows light, honest, but the first guy blasted backward off his feet, knocking 3 other people over. The pillow ripped, and when I hit the second guy with my return swing, it exploded into a cloud of feathers. That helped absorb some of the impact so the second guy only tumbled off his feet and hit his head with jarring force on the ground.

  Men and women still swarmed in from every side, weapons and spells flashing. With my enhanced Agility, I moved through them like a blur. I really shouldn’t have bothered triggering Energy Ward, but I still took clues from it to adjust my movements and help it better deflect the rare attacks that might have hit me.

  Pillows had proven too much, but what was softer than pillows? I pulled out the fuzzy shorts of friendship I’d gotten back on day one from the Nightmare Gorger.

  Slapping the super soft shorts across people’s faces was like wielding a chinchilla. They were so soft, the feel of them in my hands made me smile again. They still knocked people flying, with whiplash or cracked ribs, but I wasn’t shattering bones any more.

  “He’s hitting you with fuzzy shorts!” Trish screamed. “Take him down.” She and Martin looked incensed that I was whipping their little band so easily, especially since to them I only looked like a level 9 weakling.

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  In seconds, I smacked down everyone who tried to attack me, leaving the two crazy leaders for last. I left a trail of groaning and crying men and women in my wake.

  “Die!” Trish screamed, pointing her glowing club at me. She triggered a spell and the club transformed into a bolt of energy.

  I twisted aside as my defensive aura deflected the attack wide, then pulled an elephant steak out of my inventory and threw it at her. The steak wasn’t frozen, or anything, but it still caught her in the chest with a meaty splat hard enough to crack ribs. She crashed backward, screaming, clutching at her chest.

  Martin said nothing, but closed fast, knives flashing at my face, throat, and arteries. He had some skills, but I knew knife fighting too and my agility was several times higher than his. I easily read his moves and slapped his hands aside with my open palms, breaking his hands and sending his blades flying.

  He only grunted and tried kicking me, his leg bursting into an electric blue flame. I jumped right over him, somersaulting in the air and flicking him in the forehead as I passed. He was considerate enough to crane his neck up to watch me. It looked like he was about to shout something angry, but my flicking finger caught him first and the solid thump dropped him like a sack of hammers.

  Surveying the mass of groaning, crying people, I felt sick with disgust. How could people be so stupid and so vicious? And still be so weak?

  I didn’t even bother trying to loot them. They had nothing I wanted. Some were crying for healing potions, but I didn’t wait to see if any of them had any.

  As I turned away, one girl in the larger group of onlookers called, “Wait! Please take us with you.” She sounded a lot like Ruby, although her Irish accent was stronger. She approached several steps, gripping a tall staff in her hands.

  “April O’Malley. Baby human level 14. Team Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

  “Shut up, you!” one of the men I’d knocked down growled as he lumbered to his feet, cradling a broken elbow.

  I pointed a finger at him and made a flicking motion. “Want me to break that jaw too?”

  He shut up, but cast another dark glare before turning and racing back into their settlement. Maybe they had a stash of potions or bandages. I didn’t care.

  April took my response as encouragement, rushing forward several more steps. “Please. The Briggs have kept us here under their control and treat us like their servants. The fools think we can hide here in the mountains and survive. I don’t want to die today. Please.”

  “Please,” the other people behind her pleaded.

  I wanted to pull my hair out. I only had hours remaining. If I slowed down to lead them to Stepstone, I might not make it. My steadily growing sense of urgency had morphed into a full-blown alarm blaring constantly in the back of my mind.

  They were in worse shape than me, though. I might be missing my final level, but I’d received so many advantages. If I abandoned them, I would be signing their death warrants. I might as well slit their throats myself. Besides, April’s accent reminded me of Ruby, and I just couldn’t turn her away.

  I was tempted to text the explorer’s group back in Steptone to send a squad to shepherd the little group down. That would make life easier for me, but by then the Briggs might have recovered and the group would have another battle to deal with. I doubted the Briggs could do much real damage to an explorer team, but who knew what they might do to punish April for speaking out?

  “I leave right now,” I growled. “We’re running all the way.”

  “Grand!” April beamed.

  Some of them looked nervous, but most of them came. I trotted across the clearing with the group totaling 18 people straggling out behind. Most were younger women, with a few young men mixed in.

  “How far is it to town?” April asked.

  “Far. We have to hurry.” I accelerated and April kept up, as did about half the others, but almost immediately a few began to lag. They were so weak!

  It wasn’t going to work, but if we just walked to town, we would all die. I scanned the mountain and got an idea.

  Gesturing April closer, I pointed. “See that canyon there? Keep everyone moving as fast as the group can manage down that way.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked, suddenly nervous.

  “I’m going to help us make better time.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning you. We’ll get to Stepstone.”

  I summoned Switchblade to gasps of awe. Jumping on, I motioned 2 of the slowest and lowest-leveled girls closer. “Jump on. It’ll be tight with 3, but we can manage.”

  They eagerly obliged and crowded on the bike with me.

  “Hey, why them?” one skinny young guy with a pencil neck cried. He was already panting from the short jog.

  “Everyone will get turns as long as you keep moving while I’m gone. Stay focused. We have a lot of ground to cover, and not much time to do it.”

  Then I accelerated smoothly to squeals of delight from the girls, who clutched my back and each other tight. Moving as fast as the girls could handle, I shot down the canyon for about a mile. There I slowed and dropped the girls off.

  A quick scan showed the area clear of monsters, so I pointed toward a gap visible between two smaller hills. “Make for that pass. I’ll be back with the next group shortly.”

  That started a crazy leapfrog journey, with me zipping back and forth, picking up a couple passengers and carrying them to the front of the group before returning for more.

  In that way, we increased the entire group’s speed by many magnitudes. They remained motivated to move fast, looking forward to their next ride to rest. In the process, we even stumbled across lower-leveled monsters. I coached them in quickly hunting them, and that helped provide vital experience for the lagging players.

  In far less time than I had feared, we reached Stepstone. I dropped them off at the gate where an official-looking woman was organizing groups to head across the grasslands toward the slope up to the second stage. She folded my refugees into the next group.

  Before I left, they all thanked me. April dared to lean in and kiss my cheek. “Thank you, Lucas. You saved our lives.”

  A kiss for my trouble was more than I’d expected. “I’m glad I got you all out of there. It’s too bad Martin and Trish and the others won’t save themselves too.”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not. They were mean and vicious. I’m not sad at all that you sorted them out. They’ll get what they deserve.”

  “Maybe, but there are too few of us left as it is. I don’t like seeing anyone die needlessly. Take care, April.”

  “You too. Good luck getting your last level.”

  The survivor counter had ticked down to just below 650. How many more would we lose that afternoon when the timer ran out? Martin and Trish weren’t the only ones hiding in the mountains, refusing to face reality. I couldn’t help them, but needed to help myself.

  The town was a beehive of activity as people packed camp, formed travel parties, and rushed around on whatever last-minute errands they had to finish. A couple of the vendors had raised huge banners proclaiming moving sales, and business was hopping.

  Tomas’s and Jane’s Base Camp tents were already gone. Probably already up in the second stage. I sent them chat messages asking for a status update and letting them know I was nearly at level 10. I’d see them up there later.

  Ruby’s tent was still up and both she and Steve were inside finishing breakfast. They’d both gained another level each.

  “Just in time for breakfast,” Steve said with a smile. “Figures.”

  I took the proffered plate of bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns, then dumped 50 elephant steaks into the oven’s hopper. “Let’s see what it can make with these.”

  “Level 9 is good. How close are you to level 10?” Ruby asked.

  “Close. I’m heading out for one final hunt. Just wanted to check in and see how you’re both doing.”

  “Nearly reached level 25. Can’t wait to get a class,” she said with a grin.

  “Another few hours hunting with you should do it,” Steve added.

  “Once I hit level 10.”

  “Good enough for me.”

  I wolfed down the food, barely tasting the amazing flavor. The oven kept getting better at Earth food. I gulped a huge mug of coffee Ruby produced somehow and sighed. That really hit the spot.

  “Thanks. I’ll see you both up there.”

  I turned to the door, but Ruby cried, “Lucas, wait!”

  She rushed over, not concealing her worry. “Be careful. Do what you have to, but don’t die. Come back to us.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not giving up.”

  She leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Steve waved with a goofy grin, looking pointedly between me and Ruby. I ignored his attempt to push Ruby’s worry for me into something more. It was nice to know they cared.

  Outside, I summoned Switchblade and hopped on. The lingering warm feeling from spending time with my team helped me fight back my fears about running out of time. I could do this.

  As soon as I exited town, I gunned the bike harder than I’d intended. I couldn’t help it. I felt good and grinned. And swallowed a bug the size of an apple. Coughing and spitting the nasty bug juice out of my mouth, I had to laugh at myself.

  Was I going insane? How could I feel so good when I was so close to failing and dying? I was heading out to fight to the death with terrifying monsters, and I was grinning like an idiot. What was wrong with me?

  Maybe nothing. For the first time I accepted the fact that I was good at this. I fought monsters and I killed them. Why pretend I didn’t enjoy the rush of victory? The thought of facing more deadly unknown monsters energized me and flooded me with anticipation.

  Then I got a message from Tomas.

  “Lucas, we need help!”