After everything they'd endured over the past hour, Mark had expected everyone to be eager to leave—but he was wrong.

Many of the tenders refused to budge, digging in their heels even after being told they were in greater danger by staying.

It was the desperate hope for a different outcome that kept them rooted. Fear gripped everyone, but the fighters knew the truth: if they wanted to survive, they had to move. Jason, Ning Wei, and Nathan all agreed that leaving was in their best interest.

But the division only deepened. On one side stood the protectors, ready to escape. On the other hand, the tenders, clinging to the false safety of the ravine.

A few fighters even suggested that they force everyone to leave, but that would only cause resentment among their people, and right now they all needed to work together. Jason ended up vetoing that idea as it caused too much strife.

So they were stuck here until everyone could come to a decision.

What finally got things moving was Jose from their group. He was a tender, but also a soldier, and he understood that they had to keep going, whether they wanted to or not.

After taking the time to speak with people, one by one, he began to shift the prevailing mindset: that hiding and waiting for answers to appear wasn't survival, it was surrender.

During the discussions, Mark used the time to check in on the group that had traveled here with them. The loyalists were the easiest to make sense of—Jason had signed his direct allies up as protectors. Mark already knew everyone from NAS and their team, but the Guilds remained a mystery.

He'd heard that Tyler's Tigers were involved, though he hadn't seen the man since Oscar set off that bomb. When he scanned the crowd, he finally spotted Tyler, watching the tenders with a surprising amount of patience—very unlike the man Mark remembered.

The last time they'd crossed paths, Tyler had been hot-tempered and loud, quick to anger and shouting. But now, standing quietly with arms folded and an unreadable expression, he seemed like someone entirely different. When he noticed Mark watching, the corners of his mouth lifted in a subtle nod. Mark returned the gesture—then noticed Jade from the Reflections faction standing beside him. She waved at him with her usual measured expression before turning back to observe the tenders arguing among themselves.

Mark turned back as well, just in time to see the tide shift. Jose's words were starting to win them over, and when they did, things happened fast.

People didn't have much to carry with them, so the only 'problem' became getting everyone out of the ravine. Something they could solve all too quickly. If Mark had really wanted to, he could have lifted everyone up to the top, but he decided against it to save energy. Plus, he had plenty of allies to rely on. Flyers began ferrying the tenders up the wall and depositing them at the top before going back for others. The Aura users simply scaled the walls, but not many tenders were willing to go up with them in that manner and preferred to wait for the flyers to return.

Mark was first at the top along with Sam, Jonathan, Jason, and Gibby.

He glanced around and asked.

"Where's Nathan?"

Sam furrowed her brow and looked back into the ravine.

"Nathan hung back to steady Terry; the guy's not doing so well. They'll be here soon. For now, I'd recommend everyone do what they can to prepare. Any rewards you have, or unspent points, do so now."

Mark blinked and realized she was right. He didn't have and point to spend, but the system had given him a chest he had yet to open. It would be silly not to roll it when they needed all the power they could get.

Opening his prompts, Mark found what he was looking for.

1x Gold rank mystery chest [Prana]

Roll: Yes/No

He hit yes, and the system let out a melodious chime, one he'd never quite heard before. Then the item's stats appeared, and Mark's jaw almost dropped.

Congratulations, you have rolled a max-level gold item.

Item acquired: Halo of the Watchers(Gold - Helmet)

Item lvl: 250

Resistance + 1250

Prana + 250

Passive: Heightens the effects of Resistance on the user to enhance their perception.

Healing effectiveness increased by 50% (Set bonus: 1/3)

 

Description:

Upon activation, this item channels supplied Prana to summon a higher-order embodiment of life.

The summoned entity watches over the user and their allies, acting independently while following the user's commands.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Note: Energy from any path may be added to the summoning. Cooldown: 7 days.

 

Mark blinked rapidly at the sheer volume of stats this thing held, not to mention its other features. Item level two-fifty? And the same amount of Prana?

They had already put together that every rank of a chest had an item level range, though what those were was still untested. However, it looked like Gold's max level was two-fifty.

Mark felt incredibly, incredibly lucky to get an item like this, not to mention that it synergized well with his skills, but there was just one problem.

As great as the item was, it had rolled as a helmet, and the system had already made it clear that they couldn't wear multiple items of the same type, even if Mark could physically don both.

The reason this was such a problem was that he was already using Tender's gaze, and it was part of his current set bonus.

If Mark swapped out his helmet with this one, he would lose one hundred and twenty-five percent healing effectiveness. Granted, with the gains from the Halo of the Watchers, it would only be a seventy-five percent loss, but that was still a huge hit to his current abilities. And something told him he wasn't going to see the other pieces of this set anytime soon.

Mark closed his eyes, trying to think it through while the ledge around them grew increasingly crowded. They were nearly ready to leave, and he still hadn't made a final calls on his max-level skills. Eventually, he decided to just bite the bullet.

The piece was too strong to ignore—its bonus stats alone might offset the dip in efficiency—but what truly swayed him was the active ability.

The cooldown was long, yes. But the idea of summoning a powerful spirit to fight alongside them? That was a boon Mark couldn't ignore. Especially not when it could also be fueled by both Mana and Aura.

He reached into his inventory and froze.

What emerged wasn't a metal helmet but a halo. A literal one. It floated above his hand, formed of what looked like pure light, its glow soft and deliberate, avoiding the eye-searing intensity he half expected. At a glance, it resembled a circlet much like the one Lisa wore, but its material was completely unfamiliar. It shimmered like glass, felt cool to the touch, and yet thrummed with a dense, implacable power. Mark wasn't even sure he could break it if he tried.

The light caught Jonathan's eye. He raised an eyebrow at Mark. Mark just shrugged and sent him it stat through their link before turning his attention back to the item at hand. He pulled the Tender's gaze free from his head, and the instant he did, he felt its attributes drain from him like a sigh leaving his body. But a heartbeat later, he lifted the halo and set it gently atop his head.

The moment it settled, the halo flared—flooding the area with a soft, golden glow that turned every head nearby. Mark cursed under his breath and immediately willed it to dim. The last thing he needed was to draw the attention of some distant Corrupted. Thankfully, the light faded quickly, shrinking to a faint shimmer that rested on his head as light as a feather.

He could barely feel it physically—but the change it brought was impossible to miss. Attributes surged into him like a flood. His senses sharpened to razor clarity, every sound distinct and layered. His skin took on a subtle toughness, like a barrier had formed just beneath the surface. And in his chest, warmth bloomed and swelled, his Prana pool expanding tremendously, rising to just under two thousand.

Gold items were in a league of their own.

Mark glanced around, but luckily, people had long since gotten used to strange sights and had already busied themselves with taking in the scenery.

It was pretty much exactly like Jonathan had shown them. A desolate landscape with a far-off mountain range on the horizon.

Jason stepped forward to address everyone.

"Alright, everyone, we're going to move quickly, so if you get tired, ask for assistance from your assigned protector. The Order of the Sage will work on keeping us hidden, but avoid any unnecessary use of skills and spells. As it makes it harder for us to hide."

Murmurs went up for a number of people, but no one voiced their concern as of yet, so they took off towards the mountains. Trudging forward with varying steps.

If there was one upside to the sun being hidden behind the clouds, it was that the heat that should have accompanied the dry landscape was mercifully absent. In fact, it was decently cold out here. The salt flat offered no protection from the howling winds, but Mark made sure to shield the group from the worst of it. Progress was slow but steady, with Jason and Gibby leading the way. Jonathan once again joined a small team of scouts navigating around the dark patches of sand. Andy and a young man from Tyler's team helped manage communications.

Mark would have liked to keep everyone fully in the loop with a link, but there were limits to how much information he could manage while maintaining the dome overhead. The Corruption had been getting stronger and stronger by the minute.

Luckily, Sam had finished her experiments and had fallen into step beside him to help.

So, other than the ever-present threat of danger hanging over them, the march across the lifeless wasteland was... pretty dull. Mark couldn't help his curiosity, though, as it looked like Sam had finished her assessment of their surroundings.

"So, not to bring down the mood," Mark said, "but do you think this is what we've got to look forward to? If we take what you learned here, can we stop whatever's happening back home?"

Sam glanced at him, eyes scanning his face. "You know I like to give it to you straight. Are you sure you want that answer?"

Mark nodded without hesitation. He needed to know.

She snorted softly and cast a thin veil of air around them. The spell would block out sound—but what gave Mark pause was its precision. It was one of the faintest weavings of magic he'd ever seen. It likely used almost no Mana, and even those sensitive to magical currents might not have noticed she was casting at all. Mark was inside the spell's radius and could barely feel it.

"Long story short?" she said. "The Corruption leaking into our world works like a poison. It warps the natural forces here. Mana turns into Miasma. Aura becomes Chaos. And Prana… Prana transforms directly into Corruption itself, joining them all together in one twisted loop. To me, it seems like the system's big plan is to send its energy somewhere and hope the inhabitants build up enough of a resistance before the Corruption arrives in full."

Sam's face was a frustrated mask, but he couldn't blame her. The system had never asked if they were willing; it thrust itself on them and expected them to go along with it. Granted, their lives were on the line, and it had given them incredible power, along with wonders that couldn't yet be explained, but Mark still found anger for the system.

The way it used them for its purposes sent his thoughts into painful disarray, and he couldn't help it as his jaw tensed.

Just then, Mark felt a gentle hand rest on his cheek and turned his head to look at Sam.

"It's not all that bad, Mark. I'll figure it out, and when I do, we can start fighting back. But for now, both you and Jon just need to wait. I promise I'll take care of the system when the time comes, but until then. Wanna see something cool?"

There was no hesitation in Sam's eyes. She truly believed she could figure out the system and all its loopholes, and for some reason, Mark didn't doubt her.

He nodded, and Sam grinned.

"Well, you know how we thought there were two ways of casting spells? Manifestation and Manipulation?"

Mark nodded. It was simply the difference between creating matter and using matter that already existed.

"Well… I think there might be more to discover, wanna see?"

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