"Hamil's an imposter?"

Zeke asked what was probably something he never expected to ask in his life, old world or here in Tarial. Right after he had finally reunited with the Tempest Winds after almost letting the Mini-boss have its way with the otherworlders, the news stabbed his positivity to a bloody pulp.

Though while he was upset, it was Saang and Kote who showed the worst reaction. Each of them had a look of horrified defeat, with Saang biting her lip as she explained.

"He was the reason why the monsters went crazy with a Monster Lure. A powerful one that would've razed an entire town to the ground with a monster horde. Doing it in a dungeon, in this place of all places…"

Zeke looked over at the mountain of corpses that Lyle piled up while they were talking. He was also in charge of picking up the loot. It sounded like being saddled with chores but there are two good reasons.

One, Zeke and the others were tired and injured to do much else except giving a briefing over the current situation. Second, most of the loot belonged to Lyle anyway, and Zeke planned on giving all the loot to him anyway to help him improve. Thanks to the battles, his level was raised to 59, just one more level to Journeyman. That also meant Janet was fighting against the monsters as well.

Level Up! You are now Level 67. You gain 4 free points (4 FP total).

You have gained +8 DEX (x2) from your class and sub-race.

You have gained +8 INT (x2) from your class and sub-race.

You have gained +12 SPI (x2) from your class and sub-race.

You have gained +7 END (x2) from your sub-race.

…..

Iron Parallel Thought Level Up! It is now Level 2.

You have gained +2 INT from your skill. You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.

It was good news that he also managed to level up. He was worried that the levels weren't coming in as much as before. But he had to remember the amount of XP he needed to level would vastly increase when reaching Journeyman. He wanted to see more of his gains, especially now that his Ethereal Manifest maxed out and he planned on advancing it, considering that was his only option.

However, the victory and gains were moot when they have a rogue element within their party, and supposedly someone who hates otherworlders.

"This is bad," Zeke said. "We finally found a whole lot of otherworlders here, and they're all too weak to defend themselves. If that guy is going around making it worse, then we gotta find and stop him."

Zeke wasn't sure how to truly move forward from this. On one hand, he had to look out for the otherworlders. It wasn't his duty, but it was the right thing to do as an otherworlder himself. On the other hand, this supposed imposter might know where the real Hamil is.

Though the dark thought in his mind said that it was possible Hamil might not even be alive at all, he refused to say it out loud. He looked over at the Journeymen who nodded to his decision.

"That weird light explosion might be his doing," Kote mentioned, pointing a thumb in the direction of the strange light. "I'm fairly certain that normally doesn't happen in these towers, right?"

Zeke nodded. After hearing about the fake Hamil, that blast of light made more sense. He doesn't know what he's doing, but it surely can't be anything good considering his hostility earlier.

Saang punched her palm with a fist in a scowl. "We gotta deal with him first before taking down the boss. For all we know, he might help the damn thing to kill us all."

"But what about the otherworlders?"

Lyle stepped up, carrying several storage packs on his person. Considering the amount of monsters, it wasn't strange to find themselves already filled out. Pulling out one pack, he pulled out a skill book with a grin.

"I think this might suit me," Lyle said with a grin. "It's called 'Phantasm Foxes', and it would allow someone to conjure ghost familiars to do their bidding. Feels like it's only useful for attacks though. Still, I feel like this is my kinda skill, y'know?"

"Somehow it fits you perfectly," Zeke grinned back, but that got Lyle to tilt his head at him. Though Zeke shook his head to stay on course. "Someone's gonna have to stay here and keep watch on them. Who knows what other monsters might be in store around here."

Zeke thought a moment, but realized that there was no other choice, so he offered himself to the group.

He wanted to go and find Mikella and Janet to make sure that everyone was alright, then deal with the imposter after, but someone needs to keep an eye on the weak people here, and he can't find it within himself to tell anyone else here to do what he put himself on the line for.

"Zeke, I know you're responsible for them, but I think it's better if you come with us," Kote said, a clear frown forming on his face. "I'm gonna be honest–I'm not sure we can handle the imposter without some proper backup. That goes with Lyle too, considering his potions might help us get out of any situation he might throw at us. The imposter even dealt Saang some damage, giving her a pretty nasty debuff."

Saang waved it off, trying to put off Zeke and Lyle's worried concerns. "It's fine, I took care of it. I still have some potions on me, but Kote's right—if we want to deal with that guy, we need everyone on hand."

"But…" Zeke frowned further, thinking up of what to say. Then he felt a tug on his jacket, leaving him to turn to find none other than Tigger looking up at him.

"Are you guys gonna go somewhere?" Tigger asked. He didn't look worried about them leaving. Rather, his brows were furrowed. "You're gonna get us out of here, right? So we can take care of ourselves."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I think you got guts, Tigger," Lyle said with an easy smile. "But that's hard to agree. You guys can't even handle one Fire Fox."

Tigger frowned deeply at that. If he could, he could make a barrier and tell them to stay inside at all costs.

But with the way he is now, even making a makeshift barrier would take too much time and mana, all of which he needed to find the imposter and deal with the threat he might have.

Then his ears perked up, and he turned to one direction where he heard a strange sound. Every other person outside of Tigger noticed this as well, turning to where Zeke gazed at. In that direction, he could see a figure flying full speed, clouds of dust and debris flying all over the place with powerful wings flapping in the distance.

Everyone prepared themselves for a fight, and Zeke pulled Tigger behind him to face him. The least he could do is keep Tigger safe rather than telling him to run and eventually become a target.

But the next few seconds changed the mood entirely. His eyes widened to find that the figure was none other than a well-dressed woman carrying what looked like a grown man on her back, her sword in hand as she roared.

"Raaaaagh!" The woman screamed as though preparing for a fight, but a second later got her to stop screaming and put on the brakes for her wings.

She practically fell, her draconic wings on full mass before deftly landing on the ground while a man on her back screamed like a little girl, his eyes tearing up at the sudden stop.

Once she stopped, she looked over at the astonished group with a smile on her face.

"Zeke! Everyone, you're all here!" Mikella shouted, her bright yellow eyes gleaming at the sight.

"Mikky!"

Zeke ran over to her, his heart beating fast in relief and joy to see her alive and well. Though just when he was ready to give her a hug, he stopped himself right before her, surprising Mikella at the sudden stop. He then turned to the figure that was grasping onto her shoulders with a death grip.

"Uhh, who's this?" Zeke asked. He wasn't really all that surprised to find another person–just surprised that she was giving him a piggy-back ride.

A tiny bit of himself even felt jealousy for the man–this dude had it better than he did, constantly being carried around like a princess by this emasculating woman.

"Oh! Mark, right!" Mikella said, gently putting down the grown military-man who was shivering as though he had just been through several World Wars at once.

Warrior, Level 17.

A quick identify revealed exactly what Zeke thought from his appearance and body build.

He knelt with his hands on the ground, breathing heavily with his eyes widening like dinner plates. The poor guy kept thanking the ground and apologized for always taking it for granted. Zeke stared at Mikella who in turn looked away in shame before ignoring the spectacle to explain everything.

…..

They took almost half an hour to explain their current circumstances to each other. Zeke was shocked to find that Mikella and Janet, who Lyle was super glad to hear was doing fine, got to the other campsite where their camp had been ambushing these past few months.

Mikella also showed Zeke about the levels which she only just realized after Zeke told her about the Mini boss' defeat.

Level Up! You are now Level 67. You gain 4 free points (4 FP total).

You have gained +10 STR (x2) from your class and sub-race.

You have gained +10 DEX (x2) from your class and sub-race.

You have gained +5 INT (x2) from your sub-race.

You have gained +5 SPI (x2) from your sub-race.

You have gained +5 END (x2) from your class.

Of course, hearing that a different monster horde reached the other camp with Janet still defending them got Lyle in a hustle and was ready to split and run towards her.

"Wait, Lyle!" Zeke shouted. "We need to figure out what to do with the otherworlders here!"

"But what about Janet?!" Lyle shouted, his eyes furrowed with a scowl. "Also, how could Mikella just leave her like that!?"

"Lyle, calm down," Mikella said, almost in exasperation. "Janet can take care of herself. She has a better fighting style than you, and I won't be surprised if she can deal with them all by herself. Why do you think I left her there so I can come here to help them?"

Mikella pointed at the other campsite, to which she realized with a frown.

"Then again, I guess that was a waste of time. I didn't think everyone else was here."

"Then all the more reason why we gotta go back to Janet!" Lyle shouted, sounding almost frustrated. Zeke was surprised at how easily Lyle got upset when Janet was involved.

"Umm… if it's alright with everyone…I can take care of them."

Every high-level person turned back to Mark, the one who raised his hand as though presenting himself in class. Despite his ruggish looks, he looked demure at the sight of everyone staring at him. However, he continued.

"I can't protect them as well as you can, but I know a good way around the forest. I can lead them back to the other camp site easily while avoiding the monsters. There're a lot here, but I'm sure I can handle it."

"Are you sure about this, Mark?" Zeke asked. Remembering his name from his introduction earlier, he knew that Mark was a sort of leader back at the other campsite. Still, his brows furrowed. "We already took down the bandits, but it could get dangerous."

"It's always dangerous, but it's better than nothing!"

Tigger shouted, getting everyone's attention. He turned to Zeke, a pleading look in his eyes.

"We just wanna go home! If you all can do that with the whole party, then that makes sense that you all gotta get back together!"

The party remained quiet at the reaction, but Zeke closed his eyes. Tigger was right. It was better for everyone to reunite and find a way to get everyone here safely back out of the tower.

Mikella knelt towards Tigger, surprising him as she stared at him.

"Tigger, right?" Mikella said softly. She was in her big sister mode as she spoke. "Thank you for being brave and understanding. I promise that we'll get you all out of here safely. So make sure to listen to Mark, alright? We'll make sure to get rid of all the monsters here on the way out."

"Y-Yeah," Tigger looked away. His cheeks burned a little from the sight of Mikella, and Zeke can't blame him. The way she stared at you directly with those beautiful eyes of hers can surprise anyone. "But don't treat me like a kid–I'm old enough to make my decisions."

"Alrighty then!" Smiling again, Mikella stood up to face everyone. "Let's get going."

"Can we even make it in time?" Lyle asked, sounding more and more worried by the second with the way his eyes kept flickering about. "What if she's already–?"

"Don't worry, we'll make it," Zeke promised, and a smile rose on his face. "Time to ride again."

After the next two minutes of hardcore rune-crafting, Zeke and the entire party moved on top of the square-shaped makeshift barrier car with himself in front. Gripping his fist, he turned to the stunned Mark and Tigger to the side, giving them a resolute look.

"We'll fix this, and then we'll get out of this!" Zeke said. "So make sure you survive!"

With that, Zeke revved the engine, by which his mana, and drove the barrier car towards the direction of the other campsite, its speed unlike how Mikella ran past before.

…..

Back at the camp, as the dust was settling around them, Mark stood quiet as he watched in awe at the incredible superpowered humans.

Meanwhile, Tigger had that awestruck look in his eyes as though he just saw a once-in-a-lifetime event.

"That's so cool," Tigger said, childlike awe in his eyes.

"...Yeah," Mark said, with an equal amount of childlike awe. "Totally."

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