Matthew made it to the hidden forest with ease. It was a little uncomfortable how normal walking down a tunnel filled with terrible monsters was becoming, but he was glad to be out of the cramped tunnel and into the expansive forest.

  Petyr couldn't hide his awe. The green forest was breathtaking. Matthew wondered if those creatures that hunted using sound could even function here—there was so much noise: water crashing against rocks, loud bird calls from monstrous flying creatures, multiple different roars and buzzes from the beasts of the forest.

  As they neared the rocky overhang where they had left the group, Petyr suddenly stopped, looking unsure. He instructed them, "Go join the group. Tell them about the spirit essence and that Parker said you should gather two wish coins and ten spirits."

  Matthew and the Second Messenger exchanged a glance, both contemplating the idea of beating the brutish boy to death before ultimately leaving, grumbling to themselves. When they got far enough, Matthew turned and called out, "Hey! Stay alive, okay? Don't want to have to explain anything to your Master."

  He ignored Petyr's glare and ran to catch up with the Second Messenger, who eyed him warily. "I know you're angry, but that'll just start a fight."

  "Fuck that guy."

  The Second nodded tersely in agreement before asking, "How are we going to tell the others?"

  "Leave it to me."

  When they arrived, the two groups were lounging around. They smiled in relief at their return and began picking up their bags. Brian called out, "Let's talk as we move!"

  As they gathered their belongings, Matthew took a cursory glance at the parasitized corpse before leaving. Too far gone but still useful. He brought out the vine lasso and threw it around the corpse's leg.

  As he dragged it along, it twitched slightly but was too weak to attack. Brian and the rest looked at him like he was crazy. He explained, "We're going to burn it."

  "we already talked about this," Joey argued. "Our fire bombs are very limited."

  "We put the corpse in a spike trap, and when we catch something, we burn them both."

  Joey shook his head, completely against the idea. "It's too dangerous to lug that thing around. Besides, we aren't sure if the parasite won't take it over or if getting some food will rejuvenate it."

  "We'll makeshift spears or something. I just want us to kill this monster."

  They all could agree on the revulsion they felt toward it. Matthew, however, had another reason. He wanted to know if they could get spirit essence from it, but more than that, he didn't want to leave the corpse like this. He was a kid, unreasonably brought here like the rest of us. He deserves better than this.

  They began to discuss the rendezvous and Parker's orders to kill beasts for spirit essence and find wish coins.

  "Did you check the beast you guys killed in the safe point for spirit essence?" Matthew asked.

  Matthew frowned. "They're still looking, but I believe they found us."

  Everyone stiffened, their faces tense for a second before they continued walking, pretending nothing was wrong. Joey, still playing with a plant, asked, "How many are following us?"

  "Just one… Hey, don't get any bright ideas. They have hostages and a gun."

  Now, everyone was scared, cursing under their breath. They needed to find a way down to the next terrace—a substantially larger area with a river passing through it. There, they could get water and begin their hunt.

  Assuming each beast has two spirit essences in them, five is the minimum number of kills we need to get. Food-wise, if we're eating frugally, five is already too much—but we don't have a choice.

  They worked with annoyed intensity gathering vines and pulling them down occasionally they would the monstrous screech of those flying creatures and hide by the rocks, the bird circle the high rocky on the next terrace, when Brian casually bumped into Matthew.

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  "Ohhh… sorry about that," Brian said. Then, in a hushed voice, "How the fuck are we doing this? Did you drop a message for the Wanderer?"

  "They have something else we don't know about other than the gun. I left a note for the Wanderer to watch and find out what it was," Matthew replied unseriously, setting down a rock to anchor the ladder. Bending over to catch his breath, he added, "For now, we comply. We need to get them out of the safe point or covertly get someone to Level Three."

  "Why would… A stat card?"

  "With a stat card we get a better advantage, a hunt isn't about overpowering your opponents, it's about understanding weak points." Matthew straightened. "Before that, I need you to ignore me for now."

  Brian looked distraught but nodded. He trusted Matthew's opinion to a certain degree and could see the logic behind it.

  He retreated as the group focused on their descent to the next level, his gaze patiently sweeping over the terrain, noting all the places someone could hide. Petyr was tall and not particularly flexible, making some of those spots impractical for him.

  It didn't take long before Matthew spotted movement—a head peeking out from behind a distant rock. It glanced around, hesitation creeping into its movements, confusion settling in.

  Then Petyr turned slightly and saw him—standing far off to the left of the group, just outside his initial line of sight. Matthew smiled mockingly before offering a slow, exaggerated bow.

  They began to descend the tall cliff using the rope ladder.

  The boys cheered and joked as they went down.

  "Joey, don't look down! You're doing great, lil bro."

  "Yaaa, Joey, you're so cool."

  "Shut up! Let me focus, you idiots!" Joey roared.

  They all made it down eventually. It was exciting, to say the least. Matthew had never done anything like that before. They used all their ropes and vines for the descent, agreeing that further exploration might not be possible until they found and killed five beasts.

  They began discussing how they would hunt, but the task seemed impossible. The great flying beasts, the powerful roars of unknown things—monsters of overwhelming strength and endurance—were beyond anything they could hope to match. And yet, they were expected to fight them, only to hand over the spoils of their struggle.

  The second group's leader grumbled impatiently. "We should cut down that rope ladder. Are we seriously going to work for those dogs?"

  "What the hell is even wrong with them? What kind of lazy pricks pull this crap? And why us?"

  "We should've waited for them," someone else snapped, boiling with anger. "The fifth group didn't notice anyone following them. They wasted the most time but can't even open their fucking eyes."

  The second messenger shook his head vigorously. "That guy's a psycho. He didn't hesitate to shoot someone from the fifth group."

  "He shot someone? We need to do something—at least wish for a shield that can take bullets or something."

  "Most shields can't stop bullets—at least medieval ones. I don't know about magic shields."

  "We need to be tactical about this," Brian said, trying to soothe the tension. "Stop looking at the ladder. If he sees us here, he'll know we know. Let's hide our essences and try to get to level three at least."

  "What about level five?" someone asked. "Imagine if we get a spell that can freeze someone. We could just—"

  Joey scoffed. "Check how much spirit essence it takes just to reach level two—eight. Imagine how much we'd need for level five. We'd have to kill twenty monsters."

  Matthew silently agreed. Reaching level five in two hours was impossible. Even level three was unlikely.

  I only told Brian that to distract him with the possibility—so he'd focus on pacifying the rest of the group.

  Brian and the others switched to discussing the materials they needed. Loadbearers would gather supplies while Navigators and Messengers mapped the terrain.

  Joey and Matthew left deep into the forest, hiding and watching.

  He didn't have any wilderness survival skills, so he relied on logic. At first, they chose concealed spots to hide, but they soon realized that hiding made it harder to observe the jungle. Instead, they climbed the trees—something Joey was surprisingly good at—and moved along the branches.

  They flinched at every sound, ducking instinctively. Small, fast creatures zipped past them, darting between the trees with sharp, high-pitched cries. Joey frowned.

  "Monkeys?"

  The jungle felt suffocating. It wasn't hot, but oppressively cold, with massive trees arching and twisting overhead. Their shapes distorted the light, turning it chaotic and disorienting.

  The overwhelming white glow of the moss clashed with scattered bioluminescent plants—algae and fungi glowing faintly in the tree shade. Amid the white, some fungal growth pulsed with an inviting, almost hypnotic red.

  Matthew knew better. If these plants don't rely on sunlight for energy, then they have another food source.

  The terrain had seven open fields, a high rocky hill with small caves, and a dark murky swamp near the edge that they chose to ignore.

  They had seen, from a distance, a giant half-man, half-snake-like beast with green-gray skin and a horrible face—four eyes and fangs that spilled from its mouth.

  They focused on creatures they might actually be able to take down—packs of dog-like beasts that mostly scavenged but fought stronger lone predators for their kills. These creatures had a special love for the red birds. Though they had only seen the birds from afar, the dogs always fought hard for that meal.

  They stalked them from the trees. Joey scowled. "Too many of them, if we come down from the tree we can't outrun them."

  "Their ears are pretty good too," Matthew warned. They hid behind a large leaf and had cut eye holes to watch the hounds. "They heard that bird's cries and came to us."

  They had luckily been watching from a tree branch, so they hid before the dogs noticed them. They left the den of the hounds behind, simply marking its location before taking a break in a bright glade.

  The packs were competing. Matthew couldn't make out their hierarchy, as they hadn't risked following them back to their dens. After tracking the dogs for a while, they abandoned the chase to avoid getting too close.

  Joey lay on the ground, watching the fleeting light filter through the massive, swaying leaves. He closed his eyes, and Matthew decided they'd take a break here.

  "We should get some water soon and bring it back to camp," Matthew suggested. He crossed his legs and leaned back against a tree—then suddenly turned, locking eyes with Petyr. The boy, who had been trailing them, flinched and quickly ducked behind a tree.

  Joey, eyes still closed and unaware of the silent confrontation, hummed contentedly. "This place is horrible. A cold forest—who would've guessed?"

  Matthew responded with a quiet hmm, still watching Petyr, who glared at him and gestured for him to look away. After a moment, Matthew turned back to Joey.

  "What do you want to do about the hostages?"

  Joey was silent for a while before shrugging. "I don't know… Anyway, are you going for Jesse?"

  Matthew tapped his knee and signed, "I'm not really good at that sort of thing."

  Joey scoffed. "Figure it out, buddy. Jamie, second group's Loadbearer, likes her. He was gonna give her a wish coin before all this."

  Matthew glanced at the resting boys, uninterested. "He told you that?"

  "Yeah. So get off your ass. Jamie's a cool guy, but if our first group gets her, we'll look even cooler. I mean, we got the first kill… even if we lost the rewards."

  They returned to camp, dropping off the water they had collected from the river. As they walked back, Joey suddenly spoke.

  "I thought when you first mentioned the hostages, you meant we were better off cooperating with Vasilis." He hesitated, then added, "Not to be an asshole, but honestly, I don't think they'll be hurt. I mean, we all still need each other. I'm sure they'll remember that and let them go."

  Matthew smiled "I think we shouldn't work off assumptions. I mean you don't see me assuming Jesse likes me"

  Joey cracked a smile before they started walking again