Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

The fresh evening air mixed with the acrid scent of smoke.

Robert took a deep breath despite the nearby campfire, enjoying the conversation around him and the comfortable blanket around his shoulders.

“Do you really think that his team is that strong?” Elyse was asking in a hushed tone.

“I’m sure they are,” Aisha answered, poking a stick into the edge of the flames.

Alex doesn’t seem like one to embellish. No matter how strong and tight-knit he says they are, I bet they’re even more so.

He looked up at the sky, letting out a breath and enjoying the way the hot air rolled away in a miniature cloud.

His thoughts lingered on the group’s savior for a while longer. Over the last five days of travel, at least every person who was freed from the arena had come to him to ask about Alex. Questions about his power, his character, and his resources.

I don’t blame them for being skeptical.

The idea of trading one tyrant for another was almost enough to send his heart racing. A low hum formed in his chest without his realizing it.

Feeling a sudden need to move, he stood and stretched his back.

“Where are you going?” Aisha asked.

Robert shifted from his right foot to his left. “Just need to move, I guess. Have you seen Alex?”

“Nah. He’s still working on his project by the Rift, I think.”

Looking up at the moon, Robert’s eyebrows drew together. “It’s a little later than he normally stays out there.”

Aisha shrugged. “It’s just a guess, but I get the sense that he’s the kind of person to lose himself in his work.”

“Probably,” he answered with a grunt. “I’ll go do a lap and check in on him.”

“Want some company?” Eric asked, leaning forward and standing with a groan.

“No, no. Stay. Relax, enjoy the freedom.” He waved his friend down with a half smile. “I’ll be back in a few.”

The lap around the camp only took a few minutes. He checked the different groups that were still up and the few people they had posted for a guard shift. Alex had mumbled for a full minute about wards before insisting that ‘this time’ guards were a necessity.

None of their group had complained. They were used to working and sleeping in shifts.

Once finished with the lap, he moved east toward the Rift. Alex had wanted to keep the two sites close, yet separate. The logic had been to keep it so that the powerful mage could check in on the camp in case anyone needed anything.

However, in the last several days, it had become the opposite. Once camp was set and Alex did his rounds, he would disappear for hours, so excited by whatever progress he’d made in his project. It was all very vague, and Robert didn’t much care to find out the details.

This led him and his team to check in on Alex to make sure he didn’t need anything or that he was still safe. He thought about it and guessed that it was like having an elderly grandparent who was sometimes too busy or too stubborn to look after their own well-being.

He stepped over a cluster of fallen branches and smiled at the thought.

Just the day before, he’d talked with Aisha about what their role might be moving forward with Alex, and if they’d really want to continue if their relationship with him was like this.

She was open to the idea, but Robert was already sold on it.

As he turned the thicket of brush surrounding the small hill that the Rift had been sitting on, Robert knew something was wrong.

He stopped humming and looked around.

Where is the Rift?

The blue light and spinning portal should have been noticeable for some time now, but he’d been distracted in his thoughts. With the sun long having crossed over the horizon, the azure doorway should be bright enough to make him squint from this distance.

Only… it wasn’t there.

Falling into an athletic stance, Robert scanned the area again, expecting to see Alex and his copies. The clearing was still, and the only sound he could hear was the beat of his heart.

Did someone take him?

The thought of someone stronger than Kinley and strong enough to take Alex against his will sent a shiver down Robert’s spine.

He moved slowly up the hill and continued to scan the area, wary of traps.

When he saw Alex, prone and face down in the dirt, Robert cursed. He kept his steady pace and wary stance, making a direct line toward Alex’s position.

He was a short distance from where the portal had opened, near the crest of the small hill that had been sheared flat. Closing the distance, Robert saw discarded clothes and scuff marks in the nearby area, but wasn’t sure what it all meant.

Sure that whatever had happened had passed and wouldn’t jump out to ambush him, he knelt next to Alex. He closed his eyes and began to hum; the soft melody calmed his breathing, and stillness returned to his shaking hand.

Relief flooded him when he realized that there was still a pulse. Robert rolled Alex onto his side and shook him, even non-too-gently patting his face in an attempt to wake the mage up.

His humming was interrupted by more cursing. Robert looked around the clearing, unsure of what to do next.

“Sam,” he said to himself.

Alex had talked at length about his team members, and Robert knew one of them was a young, talented healer named Sam.

Robert straightened, plan forming.

He almost tripped as he jogged to the discarded robes and armor up the hill. He gathered into one spot and returned to Alex, grasping at his hands. Carefully, he removed the golden ring from his finger, fairly certain he knew what it was.

Just like when activating a skill, Robert tried to direct his intentions and thoughts to the ring once it was on his finger. A hazy picture appeared in his mind, making him certain that it was a spatial item and had quite a few items in its space already.

There was one item that he knew was present in the ring, as he’d seen Alex grab it from the air on multiple occasions.

He willed Alex’s wand to come into his hand. Even though it was intentional, he was so startled when it simply blinked into existence in his palm that he almost dropped it.

Unwilling to waste more time or snoop through Alex’s belongings, he returned the wand to the ring before using the same method to store the discarded armor from the ground.

His enhanced Strength made lifting Alex to his shoulder an easy task; however, Alex’s size and muscle mass surprised him. While he knew the mage wasn’t weak, especially after the display of strength and fighting prowess he’d seen against Kinley… Alex had always looked skinny.

No longer wearing those white robes that reminded Robert of a fancier karate outfit, Alex now wore a baggy hoodie, jeans, and Converse. The hoodie hid his form more than the robes did, though, making it all the more surprising to realize how solidly built his new friend was.

Robert ran back to the camp, doing his best to avoid jostling the completely limp body across his shoulder.

One of the Koru on guard saw him first.

Robert called out with the response code and kept running into the camp. He made for his own tent, drawing several odd looks from people as he passed. A few called out to him, but he continued running until he ducked under the flap of the large canvas tent Alex had given them.

He set Alex down on his own cot while kicking a foot out to wake Luis.

Luis sat up instantly, rolling to his side and raising an arm to cover his head.

“Sorry for the wake up. We’ve got to get everyone up and moving, quickly.”

It took a moment for Luis to gather himself, looking around the tent, then at Robert, and finally at Alex. The quiet man’s eyes grew wide before nodding and standing quickly to dress.

“Grab Aisha, Eric, and Elyse, too. Send them over here so we can start getting the camp ready to move.” Robert was already packing his own meager belongings. His mind ran through the next steps, and he was thankful that Alex had created a routine for getting the large group moving over the last few days.

He’d finished packing everything in the tent and was packing up the one next to his when the group arrived. Most were pulled from sleep, but they were all quick to react once Robert started issue orders.

Eric hung behind while the two girls went to begin organizing their assigned sections. “How are you going to pack up the camps like he did? Load them on the wagons? The Koru are strong, but I’m not sure that extra weight will be doable, even for them.”

“I’ve got his ring, so we can still store the majority of the supplies if we need to.”

Eric’s eyes seemed to light up with interest. He licked his lips before saying, “Hey… how many mana stones does he have in there?”

“What?” Robert froze, his back to his friend.

“We’ve all seen him pull stone after stone out of thin air, using them to power his spells. He probably wouldn’t notice a few missing. Or at the least if he croaked, we could probably use it to fund—”

Robert’s fist connected with Eric’s jaw.

Eric was bigger than he was, but it didn’t stop his body from going stiff as a board, both arms locking out as he fell back to the dirt.

Robert had to keep himself from spitting on the ground at his feet. He kept packing while thinking through how to handle Eric. Once the burly fighter began to stir, Robert turned and sat on a log nearby where the fire had been doused.

“Hnghh,” Eric mumbled, his arms flailing about as his mind caught up to the real world.

“I shouldn’t have hit you like that. Even though you did deserve it.” Robert flexed his hand into a fist.

Eric rubbed his jaw and looked at Robert, seated nearby. “All I was sayin’ is that there was an opportunity for us here. We’ve both done our fair share of stealing and scrapping for whatever we can. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Richard.”

Robert winced. “There is an opportunity for us here, Eric. But he is the opportunity. This man is giving it to us freely, asking for nothing in return. What has he done other than give to you? He freed us all from Kinley, gave us food, clothes, and is even offering to let us stay at his home. Doing what’s needed to survive is one thing. Doing something like that, the moment he’s unable to defend himself, is just wrong.”

“No need to get all preachy.” Eric opened his mouth wide, flexing the muscles in his jaw. “Look, I’m just saying—”

“Eric. If you say another word, I’ll hit you again. You have two choices right now.” He felt a twist in his gut. “You can leave now, walk away from all of this, and go live your own life how you see fit. Or, you can stay. If you stay, then you listen to me until Alex wakes up. When he wakes up, you explain what you did and see if he’ll let you stay. If you decide to go this route, then I’ll also issue a challenge to duel when we get settled, even if Alex isn’t awake.”

Eric’s head pulled back, and the more he heard Robert’s proposal, the more his face contorted into disbelief. “Are you serious right now? I’ve known you for three years, Rob. We’ve bled together, and we’re finally free. You’ve known this dude for, what? A couple of weeks?”

“Choose,” Robert said, shaking his head.

“Wh— No. I’m not going to—”

“Choose, now.” He let some of the anger he was feeling bubble to the surface. They didn’t have time for petty squabbles or pointless back-and-forths.

“I’ll stay.”

The response surprised Robert, but also gave him a sense of relief. “Good. Go pack up your section. From what I understand, we’re less than a day from Alex’s home. I’m hoping that the healer they have there can help him.”

Eric nodded once and slammed his fist against his chest. Despite the gesture of mutual respect, there was still a good bit of anger on his face.

As he turned to leave, Robert questioned whether he could even trust Eric to pack up the camp section without issues.

“Trust is tricky,” he sighed to himself, feeling that as strong as their bond had felt a short time ago, he’d now question everything his companion did.

In less than an hour, the entire camp was packed and preparing to move.

Robert had been dismayed to find that the ring could store only a small fraction of the items Alex normally carried and removed for their travels. It confused him, but he wondered if it had to do with his level being lower or perhaps a lesser mana pool.

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Never having used a spatial item before, Robert was simply unsure. He changed the plan on the fly, pleading with the Koru to do their best to pull the carts’ increased load.

As they stepped off, Alex rode comatose in the front cart, Robert’s group keeping a close eye on him.

Robert stepped over to the cart and patted down his jeans. When he felt the cellphone there, he pulled it out and clicked the side button. The piece of technology felt strange in his hand, and the screen seemed unnaturally bright compared to the natural light he’d been exposed to for the last several years.

“Of course it’s locked,” he sighed.

Without the GPS map that Alex had been using to guide them, they didn’t have much to go on other than the landmarks Alex had described during their travels. Luckily, some hours later, when they reached the edge of a golf course, Robert knew that they’d nearly made it.

“This is what he was talking about last night, right?” Aisha asked, hope filling her voice.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. He talked about having his man, Edwin, buy it for him.”

“Amazing, then we must be close!”

Their group stirred, hearing the news.

“Maintain the pace,” Robert said, though he could all but taste his own relief. Everyone in the caravan had buckled in for the hard days' trek, the Koru singing a song with a steady cadence that took most people’s minds off the fast-paced travel.

They continued on the road as it wound its way beside the overgrown golf course. Once they saw the Rift at the top of a hill, they used several skills to break the railing along the road and cut onto the course itself.

Their long line made its way across the rolling hills and stopped at the wood line.

Looking back at the long line and wide carts, he decided to adjust their approach. “I don’t know where the entrance to his property would be from the road,” Robert explained to his group. “I’m sure that these woods are part of it, though. When he described his trip to Philly, it all started here. We move forward on foot, just the three of us. We can carry Alex in and get help from his team as quick as possible. Once we get everything settled, we’ll come back for the main group.”

Luis and Aisha agreed easily. He filled in Danae, Anthony, and Elyse, putting them in charge while he was gone. “It’s fine to get comfortable, just don’t worry about setting up camp. Hopefully we’ll be back in the next hour or so.”

With everything set, Robert picked Alex up again and stepped off through the woods. They were fairly easy to travel through, well-kept, and free of brush. Between the speed and added load, he was breathing heavily by the time they broke from the woods and into an immaculate backyard.

He breathed deeply through his nose as they all paused to take in the space.

To their left was the back of a large building that appeared to have either recently undergone an addition or repairs to its rear wall. Past that, toward the middle of the yard, was a raised wooden platform. It was padded and had several targets on it that he guessed were used for training or sparring.

Off to the right was a large greenhouse, slightly removed from the main house, but still an easy walk.

The house itself was enormous. A true mansion with several stories and a blue-tinted flag on its roof. The lower outdoor area featured a small garden or terrace adjacent to a half-indoor, half-outdoor pool.

It was clearly the back of the house, but Robert wasn’t sure that there would be a need to find the front entrance. All around the property, people were on the move. Some were frantic, but not all moved quickly; even those who walked moved with purpose.

They took a few more steps into the yard.

Robert searched the distant faces for someone he recognized from Alex’s stories or shared photos.

Abandoning their distant position, he waved their group forward. “Get to the house. We need to speak to the old butler or the healer.”

The group set off at a job, Robert holding the limp Alex over his shoulder with the hood up in an attempt to not cause alarm. Just as he was about to stop the nearest person for help, a roar cut through the air.

It was terrifyingly loud and uncomfortably close.

Robert did his best to turn his body, hunching his shoulders to protect both his own head and Alex’s body over his shoulder.

A gust of wind hit the group before he could look up, and then the entire ground under his feet shook from heavy impact. Aisha yelped in surprise, and Luis almost fell over.

Robert did his best to hold on to Alex, several other voices calling out from near the house as more attention was drawn their way.

More than anything, one figure consumed all of his attention.

A dragon loomed in a small crater among the grass, a massive creature composed of scaled muscles and claws. It was a brilliant blue that shimmered in the sunlight, casting a terrifyingly deep shadow over their small group. The creature was nearly three times his height, its shoulders hunched forward and wings spread out behind it. With teeth bared, its head slowly descended to their level.

“What have you done to Alex?”

Robert’s eyes went wide as the voice seemed to come from nowhere. It wasn’t so much sound as it was pressure behind the eyes. Clear speech, and with a tinge of panic that came through in his mind alone. Its mouth didn’t move as if it had vocalized the words, but the intelligence in its golden eyes was unmistakable.

The dragon’s chest rose and fell as a ridge of spines along the dragon’s neck flared with each inhale.

Aisha cursed.

Robert’s mind tried to catch up. “Y-you’re Val, right?”

Before an answer came, a second beast materialized. This one looked like something from a nightmare. It clawed its way from the dragon’s shadow as if climbing from the abyss itself.

Gold-white light blended with shadowy darkness, casting odd lights on the underside of the dragon’s belly and wings. The shadow beast looked to be made of both light and darkness, with stars that twinkled in its mane. It looked like a lion, with a body completely absent of light, and paws of pure white, while its mane and tail had tufts of hair made from twilight.

“Oh hell,” Luis said, stepping back.

The nightmare lowered its head and took several menacing steps forward as if ready to pounce.

“Wait! My name is Robert, we—”

The following flurry of movement was almost too fast to register.

There was a ruffle of clothes from behind him at the same time that a hand of shadow clawed out of the ground and grabbed his ankle. Just as he was looking down, a larger shadow enveloped his own. Worried that the dragon or lion was attacking, he attempted to step back, but both of his feet were rooted in place.

Looking up, he raised an arm, but was greeted by a human slamming to the ground in front of him. The leaping warrior had travelled most of the distance through the yard, holding an enormous shield. Robert realized it might have been more accurate to call it a large slab of stone, rather than a shield, because he took it off his arm and slammed it into the ground to his left. The shield had effectively become a wall between him and his two teammates.

Aisha called out, and Luis was already starting to move, but two arrows landed in the ground a mere inch from their feet, causing them both to hesitate. A feminine voice called out a short distance away, speaking to them, but Robert couldn’t make it out before the large figure acted.

Robert looked up into the face of the mountainous man who stood uncomfortably close to him. His face was hard, with short-cut blond hair and cold blue eyes. There were several fresh scars at the corner of his eyes and scratches on the side of his face.

Without saying a word, the man’s hand fell on Robert’s shoulder.

The shoulder where Alex was perched.

Robert opened his mouth to explain, but the giant reached one finger out with his other hand to touch his shield. The moment that they connected, a bubble bloomed from around the warrior, hitting Robert square in the chest.

He grunted as the bubble expanded outward from the shield, passing through Alex without resistance. The warrior's grip on Alex's hoodie kept the mage secured within the protective sphere while Robert’s ankles were released, and he was thrown backward as if he were an intruder in their protected space. He flew several feet before being caught mid-air.

The hands that caught him felt cold, and he tried to look over his shoulder, freezing only when he felt the cold steel pressing against his neck.

“Who are you? What did you do to him?”

“I-I found him like this.” Robert stumbled over his words, looking at the aftermath of the synchronized assault. Many of those further away near the house had frozen and watched just as dumbfounded as he felt.

Three figures approached the bubble where the large man was slowly lowering Alex to the ground, one hand preventing his head from hitting the ground.

A solidly built man led the front of the trio. He walked with a confidence that came from leadership, his steps aided by a staff, and a brown cloak was worn around his shoulders. Wooden trinkets knocked against the wood of the staff as he approached, and Robert had to look back twice to realize that the grass grew where the man walked. Not just at his feet, but leaves sprouted on the cloak around his shoulders. Green energy so potent that Robert could see it plainly coated his face in small flecks that appeared as scales.

The thing that drew his eye the most was the small orb that floated above his free hand. It looked to be made of a glass or marble substance, but even to Robert’s untrained senses, it screamed of power.

Despite his size, another, yet larger man loomed over his shoulder, carrying an enormous double-sided axe as if it barely weighed anything. Unlike the others, he didn’t wear any armor, just a sturdy belt and a leather harness around his t-shirt. Scars covered his arms and neck, with several likely being covered on his face by his short beard.

Beside him was a slight woman. She carried a bow in one hand, down by her side, though an arrow was still nocked. Her other hand, normally used to draw the bow, was instead resting on the biggest warrior’s arm.

The trio reached the blonde warrior, ethereal green grass following under them. The cloaked one knelt next to Alex and ran his hands over the still figure before setting aside his staff. With one hand over the orb, he began removing several different herbs and laying them on Alex’s chest.

“Wait. Wait! I recognize you. Alex has told me about all of you.” Robert said, attempting to project the plea without moving his throat more than necessary.

Only the archer and axe fighter looked over at him. Both men kneeling next to Alex continued their work as the blue dragon came around from the side, his long neck coming down to sniff at Alex. His snout bumped against his shoulder twice, and the limp body jostled with each attempt.

A low growl from his left drew Roberts' attention back to the dark feline as it approached him.

“Wait, look. Didn’t Alex tell you all about us? We’ve been traveling back with him from Philly. He’s told us stories about all of you. You! You’re Sarah and Jonathan, right?” He pointed a tentative hand at the two who’d at least acknowledged him. “You’re Mark, and you— you’re Sam? You look much older than he made you sound.”

The blade at his neck moved a fraction of an inch away from his throat, causing him to let out a breath.

“So that makes you Olivia, right? His girlfriend?” he asked, not daring to look over his shoulder.

“Why are you wearing his ring? Take it off your hand.” The voice was cold and devoid of emotion, as if she would take the ring back if he didn’t do so voluntarily.

Robert raised both of his hands, removing the ring slowly and shakily. “I used it to pick up the gear from his clones, where I found his body last night. He was working on some magical experiment each night we made camp. I went to check on him, and he was passed out with all three clones gone.”

This made the group freeze. Robert had intentionally mentioned his knowledge of the clones, hoping that Alex's trust in him would prove to his team that he was trustworthy.

He felt the figure behind him tense, and both Mark and Sam looked up at the news, but not for the reason Robert thought.

The healer cursed and placed the herbs back in his orb before it vanished from sight. “Mark, let’s get him inside. I’m worried that this is like the last time. I couldn’t do anything then, but I’ve gotten a lot stronger since then.” He sighed, and his head drooped as he picked up the staff.

They both stood, the large tank easily cradling Alex’s body. The two of them moved toward the house without saying anything else, shield forgotten in its place.

“You can probably let him go now,” Sarah said as she walked over.

The vice grip holding him let go, and when Robert looked over his shoulder, there was no one there. “Wha—”

He looked back at Sarah and Jonathan as they approached, only to see a flourish of shadows near the duo carrying Alex. A third figure had joined them, her slender frame wearing shadows that were lit only by the glow of her companion’s fur.

Robert rubbed his neck, and a rattled-looking Luis joined him a moment later. Aisha kept her distance from Alex’s team as she joined them.

The entire exchange had happened in a matter of heartbeats, rather than seconds. The few exchanged sentences taking longer than the team’s coordinated assault.

“I’ll go get Edwin,” the scarred warrior said. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I am. Are you okay?”

The man just grunted in response.

“Go ahead, then.” Her bow vanished from her hand at the same time the fighter clipped his greataxe into the harness on his back. “Sorry for the rude welcome. As you guessed, I’m Sarah.”

Robert gripped her hand and shook. “I’m Robert,” he said, his throat dry. “This is Aisha and Luis.

“Alex said that he’d be back late tomorrow night or early the next day. He said he was bringing some people home, but we thought they were going to be Rift dwellers.”

“There are close to fifty Koru’qai at the edge of the woods,” Robert said, pointing in the direction they’d come. He looked around the yard, noting that many of those who had stopped to watch had resumed their bustling movement. “We thought Alex would be leading the group in, so I really hadn’t anticipated this. Uhm, is he going to be okay? What did he mean by ‘last time’?”

Sarah sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose between her index finger and thumb. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time that idiot has pushed himself so hard he passes out. When did you say you found him like this?”

“Last night. As soon as I did, we packed up the camp and came straight here through the night. He’s told me a good bit about you all, and I hoped Sam could do something to help.”

She was nodding before he even finished. “I’m glad you did. Thank you for that. I’m not sure if Sam can do anything, but if anyone could… it would be him.”

Robert felt uncomfortable under her gaze. While she sounded friendly enough, her look was too calculating and observant. It felt like she was analyzing everything about him.

Robert tried to break the odd sense of tension. “Someone should really talk with Alex about his descriptions. Heh, he said Sam was just a kid, and Valtherion was a small, cute blue snake.” He chuckled nervously, only half joking.

“He’s really got to stop looking at Sam like a child,” she said while rubbing her forehead and sighing.

“Ms. Lee,” said a firm and stately voice, drawing their attention.

Sarah turned, her blond hair in a messy bun that came down to the lipped collar of her leather armor. “Edwin. I think these three will need some direction from you. Did Jon tell you about Alex?”

“Indeed, he did.”

A man who looked to be in his late fifties stepped it view. While he had some lines of age around his eyes, his broad shoulders and sharp eyes made Robert wonder what his stats were.

“Master Moore gave me clear instructions on where to get you and your group set up, Mr. Mercer—”

“Wait, you knew they were coming?” Sarah said, confused.

“Not quite so. Master Moore was vague with the details, but specific with the instruction. I had simply prepared as instructed.”

Sarah cursed and Robert could hear her mumble something about a ‘stupid competition’ and Mark, but his attention was pulled as Edwin began speaking to him again.

“We’ve recently acquired property for this specific purpose. It’s a bit removed from the main household, but John Riley will act as your point of contact.” One of the hands that was clasped behind his back rose at the waist to indicate another man walking over from the side of the house.

Wearing normal street clothes seemed to clash with the spear he carried, but the friendly smile he wore was disarming. “Hey,” he said in greeting.

“He shall escort the three of you and coordinate a place for the Rift dwellers to stay. Lin, fetch Mr. Hume and his companion. Since he is in charge of the property grounds, he will likely know the best place to settle them.”

“Yes, sir,” said a feminine voice.

Robert saw her for the first time. She had short, deep black hair that hung down to her jaw, and she wore extremely formal clothes to match the older man, Edwin.

“I will be returning to check on Master Moore in the meantime. Once settled, please keep your group at the hotel until you are summoned, Mr. Mercer.”

“Uh, okay.” Robert looked to Aisha and Luis, who were both already speaking quietly with the spearman. “Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help. He’s done a lot for us in the last few weeks. We owe him our lives.”

“Hmm, yes. That does sound like him.” The elderly butler’s mustache twitched slightly at the sides, though Robert wasn’t sure what that indicated.

With a short bow, Edwin turned and left.

Robert was just about to join John as he guided his team toward the side of the house when the female butler stopped him.

“Wait. Tell me. What was able to beat Master Moore?”

“Beat him?”

She nodded. “What put him in such a state? Was it a powerful fighter?”

Robert’s brows came together in confusion. “What? No. I think something went wrong with his magical experiment. I’m not sure what could beat him. We literally watched him single-handedly fight a god and win in the Rift arena.”

Her eyes went wide. “A God? Yes. Yes, okay, of course. Thank you.” She bowed at the waist and moved away toward the woods near the greenhouse building.

“Odd,” he mumbled to himself as he joined Luis and Aisha. “John?” he asked, extending a hand as he did so.

“Yeah, you can call me John Riley. There are two ‘Johns’ here, so it just makes it easier. Let’s head over to your group, and I’ll explain how things work here. Then, we can start getting you settled.”

“Sounds good,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “What’s going on here, though? I’m sure we caused a bit of a stir, but a lot was going on when we showed up.”

“Oh, everyone’s been a bit on edge with the RRA constantly demanding to meet with Alex. Whoever that woman leading them is, is terrifying. But today… Today I think they’re just excited and trying to act before anyone can try to come cause trouble,” John laughed.

“What for?”

“A Rare Rift basically popped up in the front yard yesterday. It’s only an E Rank, which is a bummer, but Alex has been recruiting a lot of people lately, and I’m sure he’ll want to at least use it as an easy way to let them gain some strength.”

It reminded him of how Alex had brought them to the D Rank Rift in the woods only a few days before with that exact proposition. “Yeah… that does sound like something he’d do.” Seeing how his team and those at the house spoke about and cared for Alex formed a pit in Robert’s stomach. “I really hope he’s going to be okay,” he said, more to himself than anyone.

There wasn’t a verbal response, but John nodded and looked back at the house for a few long seconds.

It was Aisha who broke the silence several minutes later. “Well, I guess we know that his team really is as strong as he said they were.”

The pent-up stress and anxiety burst out from Robert in the form of a laugh. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one. There’s really only one thought that comes to mind for that team…”

“Terrifying,” Luis finished.