Published at 24th of October 2026 9:26 am

Chapter THREE HUNDRED TWELVE: What Grows Unseen II

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

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Did I really just do that?

Alden had slammed more dirt into the hazard mimic to make sure it stayed down. Hed preserved a third load in case he encountered new trouble. But nothing else had come after him, hed received no injuries, and now the ground was sloping up again.

He could slow down soon. Hed have to. Reaching the other side of the valley and leaving the last of the demons he could see behind meant he needed to take stock.

I did that. By myself. Not in a dream or a nightmare.

[Comm damage. Left. Simulating.]

The notification from his lenses was a reminder not to get excited about what wasnt over yet. He was still running through the reddest area hed had to deal with since landing. And hopes hed had that the other side of Demon Goat Valley would be clearer werent panning out.

The land ahead of him was all stained the same shade as far as he could make out.

Im in trouble if the Contract decides all of this chaos would damage my lenses. Without night vision, Ill be so much slower and more vulnerable.

That thought made him want to keep going, looking just a little farther ahead to see if he could find a less corrupted spot to catch his breath in. He pushed farther up the slope than hed intended to before a flicker on the ground just a leap ahead of him made him halt.

Trait plus wordchain plus urgency had lured him into taking a steeper path up than he would have chosen if hed been having a calmer night. A hummock of dirt and grass collapsed under his weight. He managed to side step into a better stance against the slope instead of falling, keeping his eyes on where hed seen the flicker.

Some little creature was trying to hide itself from him in the grass. If this were Earth, hed have guessed it was something like a mouse based on size. He saw the grass above the spot where it had tucked itself away wriggle and then stop.

Is the battle out here so realistic that they add demons who are scared of us, too? Or is it a regular animal having a crazy week with all these knights and Avowed running around?

He tried to sense it. Now that hed stopped, he could feel his legs burning. Sweat made his clothes stick. The physical discomfort was distracting. Usually, closing his eyes helped with sensing, but he wouldnt be doing that in the middle of this red zone.

Open myself up to whats beyond my original five senses, he told himself. Whats going on around me really?

Bithes that way. Im here.

Life is everywhere. And ground. Im not sure if Im sensing that properly or if I just know it. So the little animal over there should feel like a different lifetheres something.

Itsnot alive. Magic.

Alden stared at the spot.

The mouse wasnt a real animal. Some kind of enchantment or spell was making it move. It didnt feel much like the hazard mimics did. If hed had a spare entruster around, he might have been able to use his skill to figure out more.

Its not threatening me. But I dont think theyd put something irrelevant to the battle out here.

Maybe it goes after people who accidentally hurt it with wide area attacks. Or it could be a clue for this field.

He recorded an image of the things hiding place and marked its location with his lenses. There was a chance the knowledge would help somebody else.

Now, onward to my entruster.

He eyed a spot, up and away from the fake mouse, and jumped to it, keeping his eyes on as much of the area around him as he could.

No movement.

He kept going. The route up became even steeper before he made it to the top. He stopped checking behind him since he had gotten so much distance from the demons down below and focused on the climb, letting his feel for Bithes location take over part of his concentration.

The kelsithe plus dirt was too bulky at this point, so he dumped it. He could reload when he needed to.

My traits coming through for me a lot out here.

Everything being ground was great. And he hadnt gotten any practice using his trait on hills like this before today. The way hed sprinted up this one before he realized he ought to keep an eye out for things like the mouse was teasing his imagination even as he tried to keep himself in a Bearer mindset.

He was good at jumping, and he could launch himself off of really unstable footing. If he went as fast as possible

Later. Ill think about it later.

He reached the high point of his climb and stopped.

Thats a lot of chaos. Its what I should expect as I get closer to them though, so lets call it a good thing.

He decided he wasnt going to find a genuinely safe place for a pause out here. And their quest was obviously going to take longer than any of them had planned. He took his backpack off and dug through it while he searched ahead of him for any sign of the others. His hand found his messenger bag at the bottom of the pack easily. Inside that, he had his inhaler.

He didnt need it for heat tolerance here at night, but the stuff did also help with physical recovery. And it was milder and more familiar than the other options he carried. He breathed it in for a couple of minutes. The faint watermelon fragrance wasnt enough to make a place like this feel anything like the sauna at North of North.

Is that smoke up at the top of that next ridge or what?

He needed to go that way to get to Bithe. He didnt see anything like a fire. But there werent any other clouds this low, so it had to be smoke or steam.

Or a demon. Some kind of wrecked vehicle or spell could be smoking. If I meet other people

The smoke flashed white. Alden briefly had a much clearer view of its billowing mass.

Winds blowing in that direction, but its not blowing the smoke away.

A few seconds later, he heard a rumble.

That sounded like thunder.

Night vision off, he said, wanting to see it normally in case that provided more info.

It didnt at all. Without the lenses, he mostly saw a spot where the stars were covered. The smoke seemed to be growing.

Night vision on.

Another flash of light came right as he made the adjustment. It was followed by a rumble just like that first had been.

That really sounds like thunder. Is the wind picking up?

While he drew in another breath of recovery potion, an alternative to smoke occurred to him.

What if by thinking about Divin-zadja as Mega Vandy he had missed the mark? What if, instead of Mega Vandy, the knight was Mini Gloom?

That was looking more and more like a tiny storm. And Divin was The Recaller of Storms.

My guys! Those are my guys! Alden hurried to get his backpack back on. Finally.

He told himself not to rush. He didnt see anything as obvious as the goats between his position and theirs, butthat was probably bad. It meant he didnt know where or what the hazards were.

There must be something around here. They wouldnt be making storms just for the thrill of it.

What does a storm help with anyway? Did she need lightning to zap with?

There have to be so many easier ways of zapping things.

More lightning came as he was jogging and jumping down the hill at what he thought was a cautiously swift pace. A series of flashes lit up the night ahead of him. The storm had definitely grown. It was definitely a storm. Only a baby one, but Divins skill was badass.

He looked toward it, desperate to catch a glimpse of someone or something he recognized up there on the ridge. Instead, he saw a phenomenon he didnt understand. The top left of the cloud formation was separated from the rest, like something had just blown a path through it.

Thats not how clouds work as far as I know. Even if its not a natural cloud in the first place, that looks suspicious.

And accompanying the thunder, he now heard a sound like geese honking. It wasnt a frightening noise on its own, but as he listened to it over the next minutes, he didnt like the way it seemed to be close to him sometimes and then far away the next second. How it disappeared completely only to return at max volume mid-honk.

Demonic calls. Like the scream of the bokabv in his nightmares, continuing on after the beast had died.

His kelsithe was currently preserved in an umbrella shape, and he was holding it above him like one. The storm cloud looking like it was under attack had made him concerned about flying attackers coming after him as well.

If I cant tell where the sound is coming from, does that mean I should run faster or slow down and try to get a visual on whats causing it?

Being totally out of energy when he reached his entruster was wrong, and not reaching his entruster in time was also wrong.

He kept going at the same pace as he approached the base of the ridge. It was eerie being down here with the honks, the thunder, and the many unknowns.

There were some rough looking trees around. They were too scrawny and spaced out to be called woodland, but they kept him from being completely sure hed see things coming at him over land.

And it felt like the hills were watching him.

Call any member of the squad, he said. His right comm wasnt damaged. He kept trying every minute or so because he thought being nearer to them might make a connection possible.

So far hed gotten nothing.

Yeah, this spot sucks. But Im getting there. Just keep at it.

He was close to the edge of a stream. The trickle of water was so narrow he could step over it, but he paused before he reached it. If he were a much more talented wizard, or a Contract, in charge of designing a training experience for knights, then hed put something bad in such an innocuous-looking stream.

Im not getting my legs chewed off by invisible piranhas.

He didnt sense anything, but his senses werent perfect. Fortunately, there were helpful rocks down here. He picked one up and chucked it at the water, ready to dash away if anything at all happened.

The piranhas failed to appear.

He threw a couple more rocks, then he scooped a heap of gravel toward the water with the edge of his umbrella for good measure. He got nothing but a splash.

Fine. Its not a trap. Im just paranoid because the sounds are getting to me.

He still made an effort to clear it with as much height as he could when he leaped over it.

Hed jogged a bit farther when started getting damage notices.

[Broken plate.]

[Skin lesion. Moderate pain.]

[Broken plate.]

He wasnt in pain, and the protective plates on his clothes werent actually breaking. But the notices on his interface meant they would have if the experience were real. Assuming hed just stepped into some kind of chaos mess, he leaped sideways as far as he could, hoping that would get him out of it before he took worse damage.

[Broken plate.]

He kept stepping sideways and backwards while he searched a miniature image of his own body that showed him which specific plates were breaking. They mostly seemed to be on his lower half. He ripped off the big one over his shin that had been declared broken first and looked at it in case there were demon bugs crawling up his legs.

Nothings wrong with it. Just a little damp from where it got splashed when I threw the rocks.

He glared back at the stream.

Damn. The liquid itself being acid or poisonous in some way didnt occur to me.

He pulled off all the plates that had been identified as quickly as he could. He needed to replace them with the new ones in his pack and choose which of the first aid supplies that hed brought along would keep the wound he was supposed to have from worsening.

If he picked the wrong medicine or didnt treat it at all, there was a chance of it turning into a worse injury. The Contract could assign penalties, like asking him to put on a band that would make it hard to move that limb.

While he worked, he watched his surroundings. He thought about what he could do to help against something that was giving a whole squad trouble.

A creature on the other side of the stream, bulky and ponderous, moved when the lightning flashed again. It was far away. Alden had thought it was a boulder beside one of the trees, and it still didnt look much different from one except for the addition of short, thick legs. He watched it, holding his breath despite the distance, as it lumbered away from him upstream.

Around it, the world turned redder.

******

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Tilliver and Seth clung to each other while the ground turned to mud.

This sculptures dug in deep, he said. Well be all right.

He didnt know if they would. His sculpture was in the shape of a foot from the latest demon that had flown out of Forduans field to torment them. A predatory set of four talons, many times larger than the actual appendage that had inspired it, gripped the slope like it meant to pick up the whole ridge and carry it away. He and Seth straddled one of the toes. Emban was supposed to be sitting on another with Bithe, but they hadnt made it yet.

Where are they? They need to be here. The Definer of Grooves should have gotten them here by now.

He couldnt see much other than Seth because his own creation was wrapped around them to shield them from the storm.

Divin was wreaking havoc on purpose. Havoc was their last hope of beating back everything that was trying to kill them. She stood alone, recalling a wind that had blown here, one strong enough to tear the demon from the air above them. And also a time when the ground had been saturated by days of rain; they needed that to smother the ones that hid beneath the surface.

Though Tillivers sculpture was made mostly of dirt, his skill would hold it together and protect it from Divins power. And what hed taken from the demon was the strength of those crushing claws. But he was worried he hadnt made it big enough, hadnt sent it deep enough into the soil, and hadnt struck the right balance between wounding the demon and building the strongest sculpture he could.

The ground beneath them wasnt as solid as it should have been. Divins mud was probably an improvement on what theyd started with. Riddled with tunnels and hibernating demons, the whole ridge had been a disaster.

Bithe was excellent at getting rid of hordes of weak demons, but even the weaker ones here werent weak enough. Emban had been glorious with her bow and shed tried to speed them along as much as she could, but she was getting tired. Seths skill had been useful every step of the way, but it wasnt good to use in the storm that was raging now. And this claw was the last thing Tilliver would sculpt for a while.

I shouldnt have wasted myself on those smaller sculptures earlier. I cant believe I used a blast generator so many times it broke, and it still wasnt enough. If Ryada were here

A bitterness as harsh and stark as the lightning.

If she were here, wed push her into doing things that hurt her without even realizing. Id push her. We were all teaching her slowly to hate herself while we took pleasure in her results and her company.

Seth, I felt more annoyed with Emban than I ever felt sorry for Ryada, he said. Back then.

Save your confessions for when were really about to die together, Seth replied. Or for when were old.

Im sorry about Alden, too. Hes younger than us and too much of a volunteer for his station. I just had to make a point about how our squad cant stay static, and there he was offering himself up. But what if he gets scared out here and falls prey to fear memories of getting abandoned on Thegund?

Hes fine. The Contract wouldnt let tht happen. She sounded less than sure, but she smacked her palm into his chest. Dont worry about him. Hes somewhere safe. Emban and Bithe are the ones you need to think of. Where are they?

I dont know. They should have made it. Can you hold on by yourself? Ill try to see.

You think I cant sit still by myself? Im not actually light as a drifting seed. As long as the toe doesnt move, Ill be fine.

The toe wont move.

He let go of her and dug his hand into part of the foot above him for stability before leaning out into the wind. He looked downhill. Bithe had slid down as Tilliver was sculpting the foot. Hed whistled that he was fine.

Now Tilliver could see him and Emban through the rain. They were closer than hed feared they would be.

I see them, he said. Theyre not too far. With Emban swapping a groove with him, they should be able to climb to us before

His left eye followed a new movement as his right tracked his squadmates. Coming in from above them, a dark shadow with sharply pointed wings was cutting through the rain like the wind didnt exist, and then whirling through it as if it had lost control, only to cut through again toward Bithe and Emban.

That demons after them again even with Divin doing this much!

Light flared, and the mock demon honked as Bithes skill burned it. But it swooped away, not looking very injured.

There was a chance in chaos of things going impossibly right instead of impossibly wrong, but that clearly wasnt their squads lot tonight.

Moments later, Tilliver realized that the demon attacking his friends was actually a second flying one. The firstthe one hed used for this sculpturewas much higher in the air.

He ducked back under the sheltering foot to tell Seth what hed just seen.

At least the mimics dont seem to know you and I are hiding here. But whats Forduan doing? she said. If that one came from his field tooI know hes not letting demons out of his pools in this direction on purpose to torture us. I hope something hasnt happened to him.

Im not sure Bithe and Emban can handle that thing and get up here, said Tilliver. What should we do to help them?

They both looked to each other hopefully.

They both answered each other with silence.

******

******

I wont watch Emban die.

The wind was swearing in Bithes ears. The rain was scouring his eyes. And the hazard mimic sounded mad that hed burned it.

But it wasnt as mad as Bithe was that he hadnt burned it enough.

Dont pass me your groove, he said to Emban, trying to find the shape of the mimic against the clouds. It wasnt a very large demon, but it was so chaotic that its impact area was at least ten times the size of its body. He couldnt mesmerize it as easily as he wished to because it twisted his magic. Keep your groove and run.

What are you saying?! Im about to swap with you.

I wont use it if you do, so youd better just run.

If it was only her, running on her own, shed get there. Shed pull her feet clear of this mud that was up to their knees. Every stride would take her farther and faster. Shed make it to Tilliver and Seth. Divin would join them when the storm ended.

Bithe wouldnt see anything bad happen to any of them.

Sometimes, the mission went wrong. Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. This mission had been rotting since the moment their flyer was hit. He was amazed theyd made it as far as they had, but everyone was nearing the limits of their skills.

But if he used everything he had left on one mesmerizing call to the demon and the subsequent torching of it while Emban ran, she would definitely get away without leading it to the others.

Bithe might not survive.

His uniform was still in excellent condition. It offered a lot of protection, so he might endure. But he might not. For as long as he held out, though, he could keep the demons attention away from his friends.

It was convenient that the sensible sacrifice in this situation was also the one he preferred. Death here in the training fields was really just an easy teleport away from harm. Hed still rather endure a binding again right here and now, with the rain in his eyes and a fake demon honking hideously at him, than see a single one of the others disappear.

Im not leaving you!

Why? You know its the right decision.

Embans expression let him know that she found the idea of someone disappearing in front of her almost as distressing as he did. Ryadas watching. Lets show her all of us working together and getting through this together. Thats what she needs to

Were knights no matter where Ryada is and no matter whos watching, said Bithe. That comes first.

Water was pouring from the end of Embans braid. She opened her mouth.

You think youre propping her up, said Bithe. But its just a different way of leaning on her. I was doing it too. We have to stop that, Emban. And Im sorry. Im the knight who gets to keep fighting now while you go hide under a foot.

Lets discuss

Bithe threw himself backward, curling into a ball so that hed roll.

And bounce. And roll.

This is more rolling than I wanted. Triplets in a tree! Id be dead already without the uniform.

He had his eyes clenched shut. There was mud in his mouth. One of his dust blockers had come off, so there was dirt in his nose, too.

Awful. Good. Emban would have to be stupid to chase him this far, and she was often quite smart.

Now. Do it now so that she can get away.

Since he hadnt been able to precisely locate the demon, he just cast his mesmerization up, imagining it flying around up there.

Come to me. A lantern in your darkness. Warmth and direction. Arent I what youve been looking for?

The honking changed. It sounded excited.

He felt the demon focus on him.

Good.

Then he felt the other one, father away, focus on him.

Ah. All right. Thats good too. Less survivable, but good for my friends. Ill try to burn both creatures to death.

He finally stopped rolling. He was face up. It actually wasnt raining this far down the slope, though he could still hear the miniature storm. The wind was still blowing.

Emban must be up there. Running away from him.

Thats right, thought Bithe. Thank you. I dont even feel lonely. Ive still got Alden.

Alden? A strange thought to have right now.

Or maybe it wasnt. There was something Bithe found nice about the way Alden Thorn targeted people with his skill. On the flyer, right before the accident, hed noticed the feeling. It was subtle, so he hadnt had a chance since then to seek it out and appreciate it. Now, with demons coming at him, he either felt it or remembered the feeling of it.

Whichever it was, it was comforting.

Im glad I gave him a present. I hope hes having a better night than the rest of us are.

******

******

Bithe! No! Alden shouted into the storm. Why are you falling!?

A minute or so ago, hed finally crested the ridge and seen his goal. One windswept, lightning-illuminated entruster, climbing the hill in the pouring rain with Emban.

There was a demon bird harrying the two of them. A large bird foot statue seemed to be growing out of the ground itself. And there was mud like it had been raining up here for weeks instead of just for a little while in a magically isolated patch. Plus Alden had almost tripped over two different broken hazard mimics on his way to the top of the ridge.

So there was a lot going on out here, but all the madness had been overshadowed by Aldens vast sense of accomplishment.

Bithe had been found. Entruster and Bearer. Only steps away from each other.

Alden had done it. As he crossed into the rainy area, headed for Bithe, hed been shouting hello nd waving down at them with his arms and a kelsithe umbrella. But the Artonans hadnt heard him or looked his way.

Then, Bithe threw himself down a hill high enough that Alden wouldnt have argued if someone else wanted to call it a mountain.

I just got here! Come back! Bithe! BITHE!

Alden forgot his carefully negotiated safe-fast pace and raced after the Artonan as if he had a serious chance of catching up and stopping the brutal tumble.

Dont die. Dont die. Youre bouncing like a beachball. Thats not healthy. Stay alive. Im coming.

Alden saw mud flowing down the hill. Streams of it. A river of it. He ran over it, heedless of almost everything but his entruster, whod finally stopped rolling. Who was just lying there halfway down the slope, looking up at some murder eagle in the sky like he was inviting it to take him away.

Alden was pretty sure he passed close to Emban-arth as he ran.

He was pretty sure she shouted something at him.

The bird plunged toward Bithe and was swallowed by a huge fireball.

Good! Alden roared.

But the fireball was still flapping, and there was another bird diving.

My skills not enough for that. Im not going to make it in time. I need to use the thing.

There was a brick-shaped weapon case on his belt. He shoved the index and middle finger of his right hand into it.

Wegyta on.

Something cold tightened around his fingers, and he pulled them out. Instead of looking at the heavy rings he now wore, his eyes were on the targeting assist his lenses showed as soon as they connected to the weapon. Like a green laser beam emerging from between those two fingers, jostling around because of his run.

He stopped. Skidded downhill quite a distance. Managed to catch himself by sitting on his ass and digging in his heels.

Which bird do I aim at? Burning bird? Second bird that just flared with light like Bithe tried to burn it too?

Dont care. Protect him from whatever tries to get him next.

Wegyta, mark, he said, aiming the targeting beam at the ground a few steps from Bithe, then drawing a line from there upwards into the air above the knight.

Thats far enough.

Mark.

His lenses showed him a point of light well above Bithe.

Alden separated his fingers, and a globe of green appeared in the air there.

A little bigger. Not too big.

He expanded it to the size he liked and waited. His ears were full of honking. His lungs wanted air.

Somethingprobably the second, less charred demon birdwas coming. It was streaking down, about to pass through the globe of green that only Alden could see.

Compress.

The rings did what they were supposed to. Everything within the globe hed designated was compressed toward the center. The hazard mimic crumpled so fast it couldnt be seen properly. There was a phenomenal amount of noise, though. A BAM! And what sounded like a whole flock of geese raging in every direction.

Flames flared around Bithe as whatever motes were left of the mimic burned almost white.

Wheres the demon that he turned into the huge fireball first?

Alden found it easily. The flames were mostly out, but it was definitely smoldering. It was on the ground, maybe fifty meters downhill from Bithe. The knight had obviously hit it hard, but it was still flapping and hopping in his direction as if it planned to have more of a fight with him. While Alden watched, the ground sheered away beside its left wing like someone had carved out a chunk of hillside with a huge sword.

There was nothing around to make that happen but the bird.

Thats a bad demon. Its moving slower now, though.

Bithes standing up!

Alden leaped up too.

Wegyta, off.

The weapon was supposed to be saved if it could be saved. What if there were worse things coming for them?

Bithe! he said, waving. Already running.

If Bithe got confused and threw himself down the damn hill again, Alden didnt know what hed do.

Im here! Are you hurt? Hows your skill? Do you need me to finish that demon for you? I can get that demon for you!

******

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