"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, while staring at Dengu.

He nodded at me, then chirped.

"He will be fine," explained Noseen. "From the Sisters, he can travel to the megacity and follow the trail to his bonded."

Dengu nodded again. "I go to find Lenna and Alpha."

"But what about the collar?" I asked again, part of me not wanting him to leave.

Dengu had made himself a central part of Lakeside Landing. He worked with Grizzle to guard the perimeter, and hunted with the others, helping to feed everyone. And I liked him.

"It is so he can survive on the Sisters. His rank is too low to survive long without it, but once he crosses into the megacity it will fall off." Noseen glared at me, and I resisted the urge to shrink back.

"Happy hunting," said Grizzle. He stood next to Dengu in a humanoid form, with a strange fin jutting up from his skull like a mohawk. His eyes were all dinosaur, and his nose stretched out almost like a snout with sharp teeth. Yet, he stood on two legs, with a short tail behind him. He even had hands.

"Find Alpha."

Dengu nodded deeply, then padded through the teleportation portal.

"I'm also leaving," said Noseen. "You should expect more visitors from the jungle folk. There are a number at Rank Three that will arrive wanting to use the portal. Make sure they make it worthwhile for Lakeside Landing. They can afford to pay you quite a bit, considering the benefit they will receive."

I swallowed at the sharp look he sent my way while flashing his teeth. Then, he was gone.

"That's a relief," muttered John. "Though I wish I could test the portal but I need to gain more levels before even thinking of tackling the Sisters."

Buzzing from two drones overhead made me smile.

"You're well on your way. You should have joined the others in the hunt."

A group of people were hunting a beast around level 50, to push them over the edge to Rank Up.

"You could have as well," argued John, before turning away from the archway. The new hoverbike he and Hammy had built hovered in the air next to him at the flick of a button. "We both are close enough."

I chuckled. Our levels were tied at level 45. All of us grew the more hunting we did.

"I'm expected to greet our new residents." I watched the portal for any sign that others were coming through as John climbed on the machine. It reminded me of a snowmobile, but floated in the air.

A covering shot over him, and he took off, sending dust up into the air as he rose much faster than the shuttle. One of the drones followed him, the other stayed nearby.

The edges of the portal flickered, and a creature standing on two very furry legs stepped through the shimmering swirl of energy. Tall antlers stretched upward from its head. Behind them trailed two very small creatures that appeared to be cubs, mouths clamped on a long furry tail.

"Welcome to Lakeside Landing," I said with a smile, as two green eyes landed on me.

[Wolper, Unknown, Unknown, Mother.]

[Baby Loper, Level 8.]

[Baby Loper, Level 9.]

"I am in your debt," she bowed in my direction, as Grizzle stiffened by my side. "My cubs have a chance at reaching adulthood. My claws are yours."

Her eyes flickered to Grizzle, then back to me.

"The sanctuary is dangerous, but nothing is over level 25."

"Yes, and they will not hunt those shaped like you. The rules are clear."

Both of the little furry cubs let go of the tail, and Wolper bent down, picking them up. "They will grow, or not, but they have a better chance. I've already lost seven cubs. These are my last."

"If they are ready, I can take you to the entrance," I said, not bothering to hide my concern about her children.

She must have understood as she responded. "The chance here is more than I could ever expect where we are from. They will do fine."

"What about you?" I asked. "Your growth will stop here."

"It is a reasonable price." Sharp teeth filled her mouth as she smiled. "I will serve my year with pleasure. A vacation, if you will, and if any of my rank appear, they will face my claws."

#

Flashes of Harvesters running through smoke and leaping all over the place made me freeze. There were many more than were in the cage, and these were much larger. There were so many it was hard focusing on one long enough to get any information.

Still, given that I received less and less experience from them, I wasn't going to wait around.

Manee marched forward without a care, swords in each of her hands. The first Harvester who attacked her didn't stand a chance.

In the distance, I felt the connection between Kabi and I, sensing that he very slowly moved away from the camp. Without waiting for Manee, I dashed into the courtyard.

The other two buildings were both burning, since they weren't made of metal. The flickering light of the flames created the thick smoke, and I just kept running. Shadows created by the wall made it easy to vanish into stealth.

Once within the tree line, I relaxed a little and checked my surroundings with my radar. Kabi twisted toward the south. There wasn't a trace of Lenna, even though I'd left her here.

Yanking the marble out of my inventory, I sent a quick message asking where she was as I followed Kabi through our connection. I didn't get an answer, and hoped I would find her wherever Kabi was going.

Smoke drifted into the forest from the breeze coming off the lake, making it hard to see without any overhead light. The shades of grey from my night vision didn't make it easier. Still, I pressed on, eventually leaving the smoke behind. Thankfully, the burnt taste didn't linger in my mouth for long.

I circled around the bottom of the camp, keeping my distance from the screams of battle. Kabi waited for me near the beach. Lenna's presence registered high in a tree, but she climbed down as I approached.

Kabi walked out of the shadows of a mushroom with a bundle in his arms. The little Comy chirped as I appeared. It glanced behind me, looking for someone, and my heart broke a little.

[Baby Compy, Level 11, Prey, Candy.]

"I promised your mother I would free you," I said, and it froze, before chirping once, sadly. "I know. Don't worry, little one, we got you."

He lowered himself and launched himself at me. I carefully caught him in my arms, noticing the extra level.

"Looks like you made a friend," said Lenna as she joined us, but she frowned. "We need to get to the boat."

"Boat?"

Kabi responded. "Sile, with the water tribe."

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I followed the two of them as they led the way to the beach with the Compy in my hands, and a waiting boat with Sile and Geto.

Both smiled when I came into view.

"You survived," said Sile.

"Yeah, and we have much to discuss…"

The two of them glanced at one another before we all climbed into the boat.

"It can wait until we reach open water. Harvesters from all over the forest were drawn to the explosions at the camp. While we set traps to kill them, they won't take care of all of them."

"Well, Manee went after them after we freed ourselves. I doubt many will survive the next few hours."

"My mother lives?"

"Yes. And Dilom is dead. I think." Then, as soon as we were away from shore, I explained everything that had happened, except for encountering my mother.

"Cloning is against the system rules, and explains the Offender status." Sile said as he let out a heavy breath. "We need to learn about the limits of how they can revive themselves."

"Cloning, what does this word mean?" asked Lenna, with a confused look.

"When they die, they can create a new body for themselves…"

Her eyes grew wide, and she shivered, glancing up at the stars.

"We need to destroy them all," said Sile.

I nodded, but didn't add anything else. Instead, I pulled up my notifications to see if the system had added anything interesting.

[You have gained experience from destroying a cloning facility.]

[You have collected a bounty: Gained a skill Upgrade Token.]

[You have leveled your profession.]

[You have leveled your profession.]

[You have leveled your profession.]

[You have gained experience from destroying a cloning facility.]

[You have gained a title: System Enforcer. You have acted on the System's behalf. You have gained the skill Bounty Tracking. Bounty Tracking: You can track Offenders. Your skill slots are full. Would you like to forget a skill and learn Bounty Tracking?]

The rest of my fortifications were paused, and I had to make a choice. While I didn't want to be a bounty hunter, the skill would be very useful in the coming days. I pushed my intention to merge Fast Swimmer into Fortified Adaptation.

[You have merged Fast Swimmer into Fortified Adaptation. Fortified Adaptation - II: Your body is a marvel of adaptive resilience. Minor water and rest are all that you require. Consumption fuels rejuvenation. Minor poisons and venoms are neutralized. When threatened, your flesh hardens, forming natural armor against incoming attacks. You have increased speed and agility while in water.]

[You have learned the skill: Bounty Tracking.]

[You have collected a bounty: Gained an Experience Token.]

[You have leveled your profession.]

[You have devoured a Forger and gained access to the skill Cloning Technology. Warning: Cloning Technology is a banned skill. Using this skill is against system rules will have consequences. Would you like to learn this skill?]

I paused for a moment, then pushed my intention to merge it into Bounty Tracking.

[You have merged Cloning Technology into Bounty Tracking. Bounty Tracking - III: You can track Offenders and Cloning Facilities. You can spot ways to destroy cloning equipment.]

[Synergy detected with Relentless Pursuit - II and Bounty Tracking - III. Skills have merged with your skill upgrade token. Unwavering Hunter: You possess an unparalleled ability to locate and pursue any target, whether a fugitive, a dangerous creature, or a hidden facility. Increased damage to any stealth attack or attack on any outlawed being or facility.]

After a moment, no other questions popped up and I moved on to the next set of notifications. Though, I couldn't help but wonder why the system hadn't even given me a choice with some of the actions. Still, I couldn't argue with the result. Unwavering Hunter was overpowered as hell, especially for the build I was moving towards.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against level 136 Dilom, The Hybridizer.]

[You have collected a bounty: Gained an Experience Token.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

Both of the Experience Tokens appeared in my inventory and stacked, which was nice. Only earning three levels for Dilom disappointed me, but it probably had something to do with Manee starting the fight, and how damaged he'd been from the point where I entered combat.

I examined one of the tokens, pulling it out into my hand.

[Experience Token, Rare. Gain experience in your class or profession.]

"Where did you get that?" asked Sile, eying the small round item in my hand.

"From destroying the cloning facilities."

The baby compy eyed the token and moved closer. It snapped at it, and I quickly closed my palm around it.

"Not for you, little man."

"He reminds me of Dengu," said Lenna.

"I hope he's doing well."

Lenna nodded, before staring off again into the stars.

I opened my stat sheet to review it before deciding to use the experience token for my profession. It lagged behind my class by twenty levels at this point, and given that both needed to reach level 200 before I could rank up, it made sense.

[Do you want to use the Experience Token?]

Of course.

[You have gained a professional level.]

[You have gained a professional level.]

[You have gained a professional level.]

[You have gained a professional level.]

[You have gained a professional level.]

Five entire professional levels. Holy smokes. The jumps in my professional levels increased Intelligence and Fortitude, which outpaced Quickness and Flexibility for the first time. All because both of them leveled from my class and profession. Strength and Toughness lagged behind, while my Charisma was left in the dust.

Name: Alex

Level: 76

Race: Human

Traits: Survivability, Adaptation, Hangry

Class: Shadowstalker, level 76

Profession: Crystal Singer, level 61

Stats:

STR: 258(357)

QUICK: 433(570)

FLEX: 433(569)

TOUGH: 318(371)

INT: 416(611)

FORT: 427(622)

WILL: 311(397)

CHA: 211(237)

FREE: 57

Monstrosity: 6%

Titles & Achievements:

Jack-of-all-Trades

Lucky Stars

Giant Slayer

Songweaver

Citizen

Ahead of the Curve

The First

System Enforcer

Skill: 9/10

Fortified Adaptation - II

Crystal Transcendence

Perceptive Awareness

Unwavering Hunter

Shadow Walking

Blades and Polearms - II

Venomous Chomp - II

Tensile Claw Strike

Whispering Trap

While I had 57 free stat points, I held onto them, wanting to ask Noseen about my stats being so lopsided. The lowest was at 237, while my highest was at 622, and several were in between. It didn't seem good.

"How long do we have?" I asked after closing my sheet.

"It's a long haul from here," said Geto. "We have a roundabout way to go to make sure we don't have any Forgers following."

"We don't."

Sile's head snapped to me. "How do you know that?"

"I earned a skill that lets me track offenders," I said with a shrug. "There aren't any as far as my senses reach."

Geto and Sile exchanged glances.

"Don't mention that to anyone…" said Sile.

Kabi shook his head at me. "That's a target on your head for sure."

"The water tribe doesn't need any more of a vested interest in you," said Sile with a frown. "Especially not with the kickoff of this war."

"I'll keep it to myself." Now, I wished I hadn't said anything, but so it was. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a problem.

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