Dealing with people is hard, isn't it? I could be on my own, not worried, not having to deal with them. It would be easier.

Sure, I like being alone and I really often need solitude to recharge my batteries, but being able to walk into the living room every once in a while and just listen to other members of Group 4, joke with them, tease them, that's also fun.

I wonder what my life in the tutorial would’ve looked like now if I had decided to remain on my own.

Noname - Savi, how is it going on your own?

Savant - Great, now even you are calling me Savi. I will only answer if you agree to answer my question afterward.

Noname - Deal.

Savant - I prefer being on my own. No one tries to stab me in the back. I don't have to deal with people screwing things up, and there's no need to babysit weaklings.

Noname - What happened to your group?

Savant - They got what they deserved... I've answered your question. We'll see who made the better decision during the tournament.

Noname - I think so too. You can ask your question.

Savant - I'll ask later.

Noname - Sure.

I close the Community, come to a door, knock carefully, and wait. The hallway is empty and quiet, the entire floor has been lent to us by Obelia.

The door opens slowly and Min-Jae pokes out and whispers, “Dennis and Aaron are sleeping,” he says after exiting the room and joining me in the hallway.

Min-Jae seems tired and worried about his friends, yet it's much better than when we brought the twins back, after losing their legs and nearly being tortured to death by ants.

“Are they alright?” I ask.

He shakes his head, “They kept asking for Sophie and after she left they calmed down and went to sleep,” his face takes on a sad smile.

The implications are clear, the twins most likely asked Sophie to do for them what she did for herself.

Is it a good decision to take such an easy way out? Should they get over it on their own and become stronger in the process? Is our logic flawed as Sophie suggested, should we just use our powers as we like? Is it pointless trying to apply regular human common sense here?

Is it a smart decision given that we are still in Hell difficulty and have no time for people dealing with trauma while the Colony threatens us?

“Nat, I don’t think they did a bad thing. I know you probably think that they will become weaker if they take the easy way out,” Min-Jae looks into my eyes, “but I don’t think there is a need for them to be scarred because of this, or for them to wake up shaking and crying. Nat, they are just kids.”

Looking at him, Min-Jae himself is only 15 years old and the twins are 17, yet here he is. A troubled young boy who kept copying me, looking up to me, defending his friends and opinions.

“You are right, Min-Jae,” I tell him.

“Am I?” he asks, a bit unsure.

Oh, was he faking it all?

When I look at him it doesn’t look like it, he still thinks he’s right but seems weirded out that I might agree with him.

“Keep watch, okay? I will be nearby,” I tell him.

He nods energetically and goes back into the room.

For a moment, I stare at the door after he closes it and try to read my feelings.

Back, down in the tunnels, I pushed my emotions to the back of my mind, I kept [Focus] running and tried to deal with the four ants that guarded them as quickly as possible at the cost of Lily healing me through the crown. But right now? I constantly feel the suppressed anger raging inside me.

They kidnapped them, they hurt them, they dared to touch Group 4. Because of that Sophie almost died, Dennis and Aaron suffered a torturous experience, and Lily had to push herself to the brink.

Oh, how angry I am. Those fuckers are going to pay. I will fucking blow their entire colony sky-high and turn their shitty tunnels into a burning hell.

Realizing that I’ve subconsciously started releasing my mana, I once again focus on Mana Cycling, bring it back under control, and touch Sophie’s web.

She connects to me the moment she feels my probing, (Anything happen?)

(You still have 5 thousand shards from selling the coordinates, right?)

(Of course, they are yours according to our deal.)

(Good, I already know what you can buy for me.)

I find Obelia near her office with Jenna, whom she quickly sends away. Jenna greets me and closes the door, inscriptions within activating and running enchantments against spying and for defense.

Unable to help myself, I observe them for a while out of curiosity, and Obelia doesn’t seem to mind as she sits in her chair patiently, going over some mana stones inscribed with messages.

“So what happened down there?” I ask when I'm done.

With a sigh, she shakes her head, “It was a mess. They were constantly trying to slow us down, and half of us were constantly fighting against their attempts to deactivate our return rift stone.” She puts away the item she’s holding, giving me her full attention. “The enforcers were just as terrifying as they were rumored to be, and dealt with anything that came at us.”

Obelia looks at her hands and laughs a bit, “I always thought I was one of the strongest in Virelia, even considering the lynthari, yet I could only watch and support them once in a while. That's how those twelve enforcers are.”Stolen novel; please report.

“I think you could take one of them,” I tell her. I felt their mana and saw them a bit in action, so I do believe that.

“Probably? Their biggest advantage was their coordination. If twelve of them fought together, I don’t think there would be anyone capable of fighting them.”

“So why did you guys fail?”

“The First One was terrifying, Nathaniel,” Obelia's gaze grows serious. “I still believe enforcers would be capable of destroying him if they fought, but they didn’t have a chance. The other ants constantly fed the First One with vitality, stamina, and mana, through their connection. We damaged the First One, and another ant died instead of him. He used mana, and it instantly got replenished.”

I move and sit on the chair opposite her and observe her expression.

Obelia continues, “With the Colony nearby, the first one is impossible to defeat. He is the lynchpin that ties them all together and guards their [Hive Mind] against outside tampering. Plus he’s smart and has immense control over the Colony.”

“I bet you also already found out what happened while we were gone, so can I ask you for a short summary?” I ask instead. I will deal with the ants later.

“In short? Do you remember the expedition we took to the old capital with Elydor when we met for the first time? It seems like the moment we escaped, the tree lifted off and started flying towards Virelia.”

How does it even make sense for a giant tree to fly?

“It took a month, but it reached the city while we were away. Apparently, the Matriarch knew about it even then and still sent us to fight the Colony,” Obelia says.

I wonder if she truly sent us against the Colony because she didn’t want the ants to evolve their [Hive Mind]. Was she even willing to put her life on the line to send such a big part of Virelia's strength against the ants?

The timing is suspicious, extremely so. There were traitors, people controlled by ants that attacked her the moment the Living Tree got close. Then there’s the timing of the Tree launching an attack right after the ants. It's all too coordinated.

Is the First One, the leader of the Colony, behind it? Did it manipulate the tree and time its attack? Or did they work together?

Or is there someone or something else?

“Miss Myrra will become lynthari Matriarch after the ceremony. The matriarch's granddaughter disappeared as well, I wanted to let you know in case you were wondering,” she says.

I nod, “I will visit Myrra.”

“Yes. But please be careful. No matter what lynthari do or say, they loved their matriarch. She was like a mother to all of them, and some knew her for tens, or hundreds of years.”

“I will take that into consideration, but what about you? You now know that the lynthari are invaders here. What will you do?” I ask.

Obelia doesn’t seem to be sure of that, but in the end, she shrugs her shoulders. “Currently, I'm inclined to tell everyone.”

“That could lead to war.”

She nods, “Yes.” Her expression says that she already considered it. “Yet, I still think it's something other humans should know.”

“Even if plenty of them might die because of that?” I ask.

It's not like I'm worried about people I don’t know. I'm just that curious. Over time, I've built some respect towards this logically thinking woman in front of me. She is smart, talented, and good at reading people and, most of all, she knows when to take a step back.

“The way you look at me reminds me of a lynthari,” she says out of nowhere, a small smile on her face. “You keep observing me like I’m some interesting animal. As if everything that just happened, all these threats, the Colony, the war with lynthari, the traitors do not affect you at all.”

I guess she also learned to read me a bit after dealing with me all these months.

She continues, “Don't get me wrong. I'm not insulted or angry. I know people like you,” she smiles, her eyes as if she is remembering someone, “People like you are a bit crazy and I guess they have to be to be able to reach that level and not even think of stopping.”

Obelia stops remembering and looks at me, “But be careful, that kind of person doesn't tend to die in bed surrounded by the people they love.”

Before leaving for Myrra’s, I check the upper epic weapon I prepared to be used against the Living Tree.

I could try to dismantle it and recover the two items I had before, but maybe I can use it against the Colony. It´s slow to activate because of my insufficient skill, but it should be useful there as well, for the same reasons I meant to use it against the Living Tree, I think.

It's annoying, to be honest. If I were to dismantle it now, I would have to undo the changes I’ve made to the items, and that would require some time otherwise I would risk ruining them.

Sighing, I move past it and look at the chest we got from the champion's house and the piece I bought at the auction.

Months have passed since we got it, and we are not even close to opening it. I swear, it would be funny if we learned that it wasn’t a chest at all, just a piece of wood shaped like one. Shaped and weighted like one.

Sure, I would complain a lot and curse the system, this floor, and everything around me, but I would still consider it a bit funny.

Well, at least Min-Jae said he is feeling something from the chest and the small item, either thanks to [Gravity Well] or [Telekinesis]. Seeing how heavy the thing is, it might have something to do with gravity and the former of his skills.

Leaving Tess to take care of the items, I check my figure in the mirror. I'm still missing my left arm, but it's weirdly fine, and I just replaced it with a replica made of mana.

This one is much better and more nimble than before, nearly as mobile as my original arm. It will be fine, and when Lily takes care of her wounds and restores legs for the twins, she can take care of it.

After leaving behind an anchor that should last for hours, I jump from the balcony, disrupting the effect the anti-flight zone has on me. Boosting myself with kinetic energy, I fly to the place I know I’ll find Myrra and, as I get closer, land on the ground, closing the remaining distance on foot.

The place I'm going is in the exact middle of the city. It is a beautiful spherical building that, at a glance, should fall under its own weight.

Yet, like the dueling area, it's made from the same indestructible stone, a remnant of the past.

As I approach the area, Myrra's bodyguard steps out of the shadows and nods in greeting.

I return the gesture, and without any words, I follow him.

It's my first time being here, so I take it all in, the pretty garden with colorful trees and walkways made of indestructible stone.

Entering the spherical building, I watch the lighting is similar to that of the auction house. The light seems dim and moves slowly as if reflecting the mood of every lynthari we meet on our way.

We reach some stairs which run the entire length of the building leading upstairs, where there seem to be multiple floors, hidden above the lights and illusions on the ceiling. Even then, we ignore the floors and just continue until we reach the top and pass by multiple lynthari guards, one of them was even one of the 12 enforcers we met prior.

Finally, the doors open, and I enter the room as Myrra's bodyguard closes them behind me.

The room is delicately beautiful, and massive circular windows offer a view from anywhere you stand in the room. Myrra stands in the middle of the room, wearing clothes unlike any I have seen her in before. They are less flashy and colorful than the ones she once wore. These are mostly made up of blacks and grays, simple, yet somehow beautiful, making her white hair and tail all the more striking.

“The matriarch has led us ever since I was young. I have never known another leader in my entire life, and neither has any other lynthari,” she starts, her voice is not as haughty or energetic as it was before, “I mean, sure, I fought with her a lot, but what kid hasn’t fought with their elders?”

Myrra sighs, and I notice a bunch of mana stones on the table nearby, all bearing similar inscriptions, a memory from the matriarch.

She notices where I'm looking, “Yes, she left a lot and some things I have learned…” Taking a few steps, she stops in front of me, “She left it up to me to decide what to do with Obelia and the fact that she knows what I just learned. She left it up to me to deal with your group too, feral one.”

Myrra reaches and fixes the sleeve of my missing left arm, replaced by one made of mana. “I wonder what I should do with you all.”

“Won’t it wait?” my eyes meet hers, “Right now we both have the same goal.”

In the dim light of the room, her canines seem also shining. White and sharp, “Yes, we have to deal with the fucking Colony first.”