There was an explosion. There was dust.

Aiden reacted in the blink of an eye, unburdened by the presence of a weapon. His feet moved slightly into the explosion of dust. He felt the mana in the air and ignored it. There wasn't enough of it to harm him. Meanwhile, out of the explosion a man charged at him with spear held out.

The edge was sharp and Aiden didn't care enough to take in the entire detail.

His arm shot forward, forearm raised as if stopping a swinging blow. He ducked slightly to the side, allowing the spear to pass him by. Then he struck the assailant in the solar plexus.

His hand met steel, pain flared in his knuckles.

Aiden ignored it. He'd thrown enough force into the blow to send the man staggering even if he inflicted neither pain nor damage. But he wasn't done. He stepped in, caught the man's arm in a lock and broke it.

The person let out a muffled groan, doing their best to hold back the pain. Aiden ignored it as he pulled him in and brought him to the ground.

The man fought back, struggled to get away.

I don't have time for this! Aiden barked in his own mind. Normally, he would have gone for the killing blow, but the plunderers he had dealt with had already given him an extra five levels. He was dangerously closer to level eighty.

Aiden's ears pricked. Sounds came from the distance. Footsteps. The man was not alone.

He picked him with all the strength he could muster by the back of his armor and pulled.

[Tethered Title Knight Killer is in effect]

[Knight Killer]

[Effect: +12% increase in damage when facing opponents with the Knight title.]

[Effect: 12% damage resistance when facing opponents with the Knight title.]

Aiden frowned as he lifted the person off the ground bodily. A knight?

His assailant was neither a plunderer nor a [Doppelganger]. A knight would mean that a kingdom had likely sent someone to the cave.

Ultimately, it did not matter.

Aiden threw him up with enough force that he wasn't surprised when he heard the man slam into the ceiling.

As the knight fell, Aiden was already moving while someone somewhere called out, "PLUNDERER!."

Aiden stepped into his new assailant faster than the man could react to his own presence and swung his arm. He sent a wrestling styled clothesline straight into the man's neck. The blow sent the man spinning through the air.

Aiden did not stop. Mana cut through the cloud. It was strong and blunt, rough at the edges. Still, it looked like a mana strike skill from a sword. As rough and blunt as it was, it showed that the person's level wasn't so high and their mastery had to be below fifty percent.

Amateurs, he concluded as he sidestepped the slash and moved forward.

[Dash] carried him through the very short distance between him and the owner of the skill as the guiding breeze from [Pathfinder] reoriented itself and pointed him through the new hole that had just been made.

Aiden appeared in front of the man. The cloud was thrown away from the man's blast. Making sure to be careful this time, he punched the man in the throat.

The man gasped as if he had swallowed something and it had gone down the wrong pipe.

Aiden grabbed the last man by the shirt while he raised two knives. He probably had the [Thief] or [Assassin] class. Without using too much force, he turned him and slammed him into the wall.

The person gasped as air left their lungs and Aiden went for the finishing blow. It would knock him out, then he would be on his way.

Aiden paused halfway as he stared into a face he hadn't seen in a while.

He froze.

Why the fuck are you here?

"Aiden?" a female voice called out. She sounded confused.

Aiden took a moment to collect himself, to stand down. It was a moment before he moved from violent and precise to calm. Normally, it happened faster, without hesitation. But there was still anger in his blood. He still needed to hit something.

He released Letto's shirt and forced himself to step back. The last time he had been this angry was lost to him.

Taking a deep breath, he checked on the broken wall. Three people laid groaning on the ground. He recognized Drax and almost felt bad for the boy. The person he had struck with a clothesline looked familiar, but he couldn't remember his name or who he even really was.

As for the knight? Well, he doubted he had ever seen the man before.

The others arrived just then. In comparison to the team that Letto came with, they looked a little too much.

Elami and Jang Su arrived first for some reason. The twins were right behind them with Taeli. Dreg and Ted arrived next before Oncot carrying Valdan in his arms.

Ted got there and froze like a deer in headlights.

Aiden followed his gaze to Ariadne. She had been the one to call his name before he'd struck Letto. Right now, however, she had her eyes fixed on Ted.

There was something akin to hate in them.

Oh, Aiden thought in realization. They used to fuck.

Everybody seemed to freeze, as if in understanding of what was happening. Somehow, this had become Ted and Ariadne's moment.

Her steps carried her slowly as whatever was in her eyes went through different changes. Aiden saw pain. Then he saw relief. He saw sadness. There was confusion. Fear, too.

Through the changes, she found herself in front of Ted.

Ted waited. He was definitely unsure.

She slapped him.

The sound cracked through the entire cave. Elami and Dreg winced.

The slap was strong enough to turn Ted's face. When he brought his face back, he rubbed his jaw with one hand.

"I deserved that," he said, nodding.

Ariadne slapped him again.

This time Ted looked shocked. Still, nobody moved.

"That, too," Ted said after a while.

Then his eyes lit up in realization and he leaned back, dodging a third slap. He pointed a cautious finger at Ariadne as her face morphed in rage and he stepped back.

"No," he said cautiously, still pointing. "That one, I definitely do not deserve."

"YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME!" Ariadne screamed in his face. This time, she didn't try to slap him. Instead, she clawed at him.

Ted's hands snapped out immediately, grabbing her by the wrists. It was funny how with all that power, she still reverted to trying to claw his eyes out.

Aiden sighed, shaking his head at her accusation. It was like earth all over again. Ted was a good brother and, arguably, a good person. But his romantic relationships left a lot to be desired.

He never told a girl he loved her first. But if she told him that she loved him, he was not one to not return the love with words of his own.

Aiden had almost forgotten all about that. The one thing he was always thankful for was the fact that Ted always handled his situationships in a way that left him free of any and all blow backs.

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"And I did," Ted said, before pausing and correcting himself. "I do."

"YOU LEFT!" she screamed in his face.

Ted looked past her to Aiden. Aiden shrugged. There was no way he was getting in between that. Besides, he had offered to try and get Ariadne to run with them and Ted had said no. He'd obviously had a good reason for refusing, but there was that and there was this.

Sighing, Ted returned his attention to Ariadne. She had stopped fighting against him, at least not so actively.

"He's my brother," Ted complained. "I couldn't say no to him."

"You could've asked me to come with."

Ted paused. "Could I? We've only known each—"

Aiden was already shaking his head aggressively. As aggressively as he could. He had enough experience with a woman to know that his next words were going to be the wrongest ones.

Quick and smart, Ted cut his words off abruptly.

"I couldn't ask that of you," he said, changing tactics very quickly.

Ariadne deflated a little. "I thought we were important to each other."

"We are." Ted released one of her hands cautiously and placed his hand against her face. "And that's why I couldn't ask it of you. My brother and I were going away. We were to be fugitives with no certain way to grow. In the palace you had a better chance to get stronger. You had a better chance at safety."

Aiden wasn't sure if his brother was just talking his way out of a problem or if he was actually being serious. Ultimately, it didn't matter to him. What mattered to him was that they were wasting time.

He turned and looked in the direction of the flowing breeze. [Pathfinder] was still guiding him. And Valdan was running out of time.

"Ted," he said, not caring that he was being rude, unable to care really.

Ted looked past Ariadne to meet his gaze. "We're running out of time, aren't we?"

Aiden nodded.

Ted stepped away from Ariadne. He had an apologetic look on his face.

Ariadne gave him a blank stare. "You're leaving again."

It wasn't a question.

Ted nodded.

As for the others, they turned to head back down the original path. Aiden shook his head.

"Not that way." He nodded in the new direction. "This way."

He turned to leave when Letto grabbed him by the arm. "Where are you guys going?"

His question reminded Aiden that he had not in fact answered his own question. They had never come to the crystal cave in his past life. In fact, they had never been bothered with the crystal or the heart of Nosrath. So why were things different?

You don't have time for this, he scolded himself.

Yet, even in his haste, he knew that it was important. Changes this huge had possible repercussions in the future.

"You didn't answer me, though," Aiden said, stopping to address him.

Letto shook his head, a touch of anger in his eyes. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to just come back and ask questions."

"What?" Aiden paused, confused. "I didn't—"

He stopped himself before finishing the sentence. There was no point in pointing out that he did not come back. They just happened to run into each other, that's all.

He shook his head. "We're here to train."

"You chose here to level up?"

Aiden and Letto turned their attention to find the knight holding on to his broken arm. Drax was standing next to him. In Drax's hands were his sword and the knight's spear.

Letto looked down at the knight's arm.

"Sir. Thompfer," he said. "Are you alright?"

"He'll be fine," Aiden said, a little too dismissively. "A potion will set it back."

Letto gave him a look but said nothing on the matter.

Aiden returned his attention to Leto. "I've told you what I'm doing here. It's your turn. Why are you here?"

"The king tasked us with coming here," Drax answered. The last person, the one who Aiden could not recognize, leaned against a side of the broken wall with a frown.

Aiden turned to him. "Why?"

For the king to have sent them, something had either happened or was supposed to happen. Aiden was stuck between haste and necessity.

Drax shrugged. He had no idea.

Aiden looked at the knight. Sir, Thompfer. He couldn't say the man was important in any way.

"Why do you think that I will?" Sir Thompfer asked.

Aiden shook his head. He didn't have time for this.

Ignoring the knight, he turned back to the others. "We're leaving. Now."

Then he moved, sprinting as the wind of [Pathfinder] guided him. The others did not matter. He needed to end it now. In his periphery, just before he departed, he found Elami and Ted in a quiet whisper.

He did not like it.

…

He wanted to be faster. He really did.

But he could not face the task alone. As badly as he wanted to leave the others behind and head straight to the location, Aiden could not. He needed them. And he wasn't happy about it.

Then there were the new arrivals. With Ariadne, Letto and Drax, he had people that he could trust, not because they were strong or because he had spent time with them. No. It was because he knew what their futures potentially were.

But there was a problem there.

They were weak. At this point in time, none of them was supposed to have cleared the level fifty threshold. In truth, he couldn't remember if any of them had even been close enough at this point in his past life. Maybe Drax. Drax had always been ahead of the curve in the group.

Aiden took a turn, following the guiding wind. He'd been running for a while now, enough that it had started taking a toll on his stamina stat.

"Why did you leave?"

Aiden didn't look away from his path at the question. It came from Letto who had chosen to keep pace with him. That was interesting.

"Because I could," Aiden said, watching the wind take a right at a junction. "Right."

He took the right turn and Letto followed instinctively.

"Was it a good decision?" Letto asked.

"No. It made everything harder and more complicated than they were supposed to be."

Letto's expression softened. "Does that mean that you will be coming back?"

Aiden thought of the [Sage] and his past experience with the kingdom of Bandiv and almost failed to suppress his sarcastic laugh.

"No."

Ahead of them, he watched [Doppelganger]s prepare themselves. Letto followed his focus and saw them, too. It did not escape Aiden's attention that Letto had to squint.

His perception isn't as good as mine.

And Aiden wasn't working under any weaving.

Letto's knives appeared in his hands a little too quickly. There was also no refracting of light. It had not been summoned from a storage space. Did he have a skill, or was it some artifact that helped him summon them? Were the knives enchanted?

"I'll take care of them," Letto said.

Aiden had already unclipped one of the pockets of his soldier belts, allowing two enchanted orbs to fall into his palm. Without wasting any time, he channeled mana into them, activating their enchantments, and sent them flying forward.

"Anyone who wastes their time fighting," he announced without breaking pace, "will be left behind."

Letto gave him a confused look as the enchanted orbs exploded, releasing dark blue vines that erupted from the ground, binding the [Doppelganger]s in place. They tried to struggle but did not have the strength to break out of it.

Aiden ran past them. Letto ran past them.

Keeping his eyes forward, Aiden continued down the path, the hem of his coat billowing in his sprint.

Letto took a moment to look back. He must've seen what Aiden already knew. There was no member of his team that had even turned to deliver as much as a glancing blow to the monsters.

Realization dawned on him as he returned his attention to Aiden.

"You're not here to level up," he said slowly.

Aiden couldn't be bothered to care what anyone was piecing together. His answer was precise. "No, I am not."

The only problem that Aiden was beginning to have with the [Pathfinder] skill was that while it guided you to your destination, it did not tell you if you were close or not in any way. He had long discarded the thought of the map, relying only on the skill that he would need to focus to remember the paths he had taken to estimate where he was on the map.

There was also the problem of deciding on which people could deal with the crystal with him and which people could not.

The entire ordeal would be easier if Drax and Letto and Ariadne and Jen, son of Vilion, joined him. But they would lose their lives in the skirmish. He could not allow them to join when he knew that.

Speaking of Jen, the man had been giving him odd looks since the two teams had joined up, but he was yet to say anything. The looks were not terrible things, no. But they were… Aiden couldn't name them.

It was as if he was meeting someone his father had warned him about. Yet he wasn't sure how much of it he should believe.

Aiden took another turn, a sharp left. Unlike him, Letto's turn wasn't so sharp, so Letto ran into the wall in front of them, pushing himself off of it to make the turn.

Curious, Aiden asked, "What class are you?"

"[Rogue]," Letto answered without hesitation.

Aiden was a little glad for that. The [Rogue] class was more Letto than the [Thief] class that he had gotten in Aiden's past life.

"It's an interesting enough class," Letto began. "But I just feel like…"

"It's a good class," Aiden said. "A fitting class."

They both fell into a moment of silence. A moment that Letto broke abruptly.

"How do you do that?" he said suddenly.

With the wind in his hair and billowing his coat, Aiden couldn't be bothered to look at Letto in surprise.

"How do I do what?" he asked.

"That," Letto repeated.

"That does not an answer make, Letto," Aiden explained.

"You say these things as if you are sure of them." Letto paused, glanced back, as if gauging the distance between them and the others. "We all got here together. But from the very beginning, you've been acting as if you are not worried or confused. Even now, you're telling me the class I got is a fitting class for me. And the funny thing is that I believe it, better than the knights in the palace."

Aiden understood how it could be confusing.

"Because it is a befitting class, Letto," he said. "If there's one thing that I have learned since leaving you people, it's that some people get fitting classes. You are one of them."

And just like that, Aiden pulled to an abrupt stop. The cave had grown brighter. Things were better to see.

There was still the problem of a possible traitor among them but that could be handled at any time… possibly.

Letto stopped beside him, too.

"What's happening?" Letto asked.

It wasn't up to two seconds before the others came to slow stops behind them. Aiden could feel the questions unasked at the back of his head. They were unimportant.

Now, he had a new problem to deal with. First he would try reason. If that didn't work, then he would try the only other language that existed outside of reason.

Power.

"Aiden?" Letto tried, voice quiet. "What's happening?"

Aiden cast his gaze at the path in front of them. It was no longer a path. Instead, it opened up into a wide clearing of rocks that was illuminated by moonlight from above. There was an opening in its high ceiling.

Withstanding the urge to step forward, Aiden kept himself in place as he studied the clearing. There were no signs of any threat. It seemed peaceful. There was the one stalagmite close to the other end of the clearing where a new path led.

It was empty.

Aiden frowned.

Ted walked up beside him.

"We good?" he asked.

"Almost," Aiden hoped.

And, as if befriending him as it liked to do once in a while, hope smiled as his attention to it. Normally, it liked to mock him for it just before it let him down.

The rays of moonlight coalesced atop the single stalagmite and Aiden felt relief wash over him for a moment as the moonlight took form.

It moved and morphed like a ball of mist being disturbed. It took a while, a single moment that seemed to stretch for a moment longer. Then it took form.

A crystal of transparent blue sat atop the mound.

From behind him, someone spoke.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

It was Dreg. In a lower voice, as if whispering to someone, the head of the mercenary group added, "He fucking knew."

Aiden kept his eyes on the crystal as it sucked in the moonlight, reflecting none of it.

"This it?" Ted asked.

Aiden nodded. This was it.

"What," Letto repeated, very confused, "is happening?"

Aiden looked at him.

"We are here."

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