Buzzing filled my ears as a strange flavor filled my mouth. I swallowed again and again, taking as much as I could. Then the buzzing increased.

"Wake, Alex…." Noseens voice sounded far away. "Please wake, squishy one…"

I tried to speak, but it didn't work. Instead, I drifted back into darkness and pain. So much pain. Everything inside me wanted to lash out, but I resisted.

Control.

I was in control.

The next time I became aware, a steady beat filled my ears. Then it went away. More flavor entered my mouth. Need filled me, a powerful need to eat.

"Squishy one, wake!"

This time the command rolled inside my mind, strong enough to clear away the fog. The pain was gone, but the hunger remained.

My eyes snapped open and I jerked back, growling. I scrambled until I hit a hard surface, blinking in the darkness. Something towered over me, but I stared at the person with the cup.

The same smell as that flavor came from the cup.

"Alex, you must eat." The spoken words made me freeze as I stared beyond the cup.

Lenna knelt in leaves, holding a strange cup toward me. She motioned to her mouth. "Eat. You need food."

I needed meat. A piece of meat appeared inside my mouth, tasting strongly of corn. Notifications waited for me, poking at the edges of my mind as I ate and I ate. The food in my stomach grounded me as I tried to put the pieces together.

Lenna set the cup down and waited.

Beyond her, I spotted two large shadows.

[Kabi-Bound, Swordwarrior, Azurafolk - Forest-dweller, Level 91.]

[Cekta-Bound, Rune Apprentice, Azurafolk - Forest-dweller, Level 87.]

The crystals around their necks buzzed angrily in my head. Then Lenna's information popped up, pushing all my concern for myself away.

[Lenna De La Dengu, Pathfinder, Starfire Arrow, Level 52, Friend.]

I tried to speak, but my throat wouldn't work. Eventually, the words came out.

"I'm sorry, Lenna." I knew how important ranking up was to her people, and she couldn't even be with her family during it.

"Don't be. We both survived, and we will thrive through these challenges. That is more than I could have asked for without you coming after me," she said with a sad smile. "Dengu still lives, the bond is there. They need your help."

She motioned to the two figures still in the shadows.

Too many questions raced through my mind, but I pushed them aside and went with both the most important, and the easiest.

"Are we safe?"

Kabi answered, "Only for a limited time. We need to reach a burrow before dawn."

"How far?"

He stared at the other blue guy, who held up a couple of fingers.

"Too far, we must move."

"How long was I out?" I asked Lenna.

"Three days."

Holy fuck, three whole days.

"You were suffering from Growth Shock and injuries from the explosion." She crept closer, still holding the cup out. "This is medicine to help babies gain weight. You need to drink it to help recover."

I took the cup carefully from her hands as she nodded at me encouragingly.

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[Mushroom Milk, Energy rich food.]

I downed it, even though I felt full from the meat. Energy rushed through my limbs like I'd just downed a pot of coffee. She took the cup from me and handed it back to Kabi, who stepped closer.

The guy had dark blue skin and multiple arms. Pitch-black hair was pulled back into braids going down his back. His chest was bare, with dark runes tattooed onto his skin. At least he wore pants with leather boots. It was something semi-normal.

"We need to leave," he said with a grimace. "I've been carrying you. It might be best to continue."

One of his hands appeared different from the others, missing fingers, though it wasn't wrapped like an injury.

"I can barely keep up," whispered Lenna. "Cekta's been carrying me when I need to rest to keep making progress."

The other guy blushed, and I noticed he didn't have any runes on his body, though he was dressed the same as Kabi. The crystal in the solid ring around his neck drew my attention.

"What is that?" I asked.

Anger crossed his face, almost making me flinch. "I'm collared, a slave to those Forgers."

Lenna's words made more sense now. Her insistence that I needed to help them.

I nodded at Kabi, who had approached.

He approached to pick me up, but it brought me closer to the necklace, which I couldn't help but touch.

He froze.

The presence inside screamed at my touch, begging for release. Darkness wove through this structure, though the entire thing wasn't crystal. Only a small part of the ring was crystal, the size of my palm, maybe the thickness of a pencil.

I hummed, and it flared to life. Before anyone spoke, I yanked on it with my ability to make crystal malleable.

It burned.

Oh fuck, it burned.

The skin on my palm sizzled, but then the sliver came free. The healing crystal on my necklace rushed to fix my hand as the edges of my vision went black.

I shouldn't have done that.

Energy rushed around Kabi making the runes flare a dark purple color. He shook for a moment, but reached out as I fell backward, unable to stay upright anymore.

The presence of the firestone thanked me as my vision went dark. Whispers came from the stones on my necklace as more cooling energy rushed through my body.

#

The next time I came to, I lay next to a small fire in some sort of cavern. My fingers itched and clenching my hand felt strange. A little tight.

It still was only the four of us as my senses stretched outward. I frantically stuffed my stomach full of meat, though it didn't seem as satisfying as before.

Kabi watched me from across the fire, a confused look on his face. "You freed me."

"Of course," I whispered as I carefully sat up.

"Can you free others?" he asked.

"Probably, but I need to figure out a way to not hurt myself first." I flexed my hand, the stiffness thankfully gone.

"The same thing happens when we try to harm the rings. They burn us until we comply or lose our heads." A bit of a darkened line lay across his thick neck. "The pain was worth it to be free."

He bowed his head to me.

"I owe you my life."

"It makes us even. You saved Lenna and I."

Lenna slept next to me while Cekta rested near Kabi. Something was different about her. She felt special to my senses, but I hoped it only had something to do with her Rank up. Notifications pinged at my mind even more than before, but I wanted to know the situation here before I got distracted.

"Are we safe here?" The cavern stretched overhead, and the area felt stuffy. Water trickled down one wall, and more of the massive mushrooms filled the areas near each of the walls.

"As much as we can be." He let out a sigh. "We are in the middle reaches of the forest, and this is a safe burrow. Though, the ring on my brother's neck means if one of the demons is close enough they can sense him."

"Once I check my notifications, I can take a look, and try a few things."

"He is important to my people, more important than me." His golden blue eyes stared at me. "He must be freed."

"I will do my best."

That seemed to satisfy the guy, and I opened my notifications to see what the heck had happened.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against level 100, Bethzmu, the Exiled Blade, an OFFENDER.]

[You have collected a bounty: A Skill Upgrade Token]

[Your title Slayer has upgraded to Giant Slayer, for taking down a being 50 more levels than yours. While fighting against enemies higher level than you, you gain additional bonus experience and your attacks do more damage.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[Warning, you have reached the maximum amount of safe leveling you can do. Your experience has been banked for two hours.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[Warning, you have reached the maximum amount of safe leveling you can do. Your experience has been banked for one hour.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[Warning, you have reached the maximum amount of safe leveling you can do. This will hurt. Recovery time will vary.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have freed a binding crystal.]

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

[You have gained a level in Crystal Singing.]

The stats gained for my profession were so low that the five levels didn't trigger anything, except the act itself of freeing the crystal had taken too much of my energy.

"How long was I out this time?"

"It is still the same night cycle," he said.

Still, I had to wonder, what was a binding crystal?

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