"There would be no Adventurer's Guild and no Divine Wars, if the people themselves stopped helping each other. They would all just be dead." ~Shallies Mythernal

The scene before Grace filled her with a mixture of awe and disgust. The bull Mini-Boss, whatever its name was, had disappeared, replaced by blood and flesh merely clutching onto bones, rather than being one with them. The jaguar Mini-Boss was in the middle of its feast, growing at an alarming rate.

Mana enveloped the monster, forging enhancements from its body. Muscles grew and fur became scales. Its wings enlarged, tipped with bony blades that sliced through the air. On its forehead, an area appeared that Grace expected to sprout into a horn, only for it to open up into a third eye instead.

From within the monster's mouth, mana rose like smoke, as if exhausted by the transformation. And yet, the foggy trail became still, like a cloud, wrapping around the back of its neck. Three concentrated balls of mana manifested around the formation.

When it roared, the ground shook, reaching up to where Grace and her party were stalking from. It knew their location straight away. The how of it didn't matter.

"It's like a Dungeon Boss, judging by the way it looks now," said the half-orc, she stood and revealed herself to the monster. "But that's fine, we're going to fight one eventually anyway."

"It's easier to concentrate on a single monster," Ren added, standing by her side.

"But what the heck is it?" Tayin asked, joining the half-orc's other side. "Can you try your Scan, Grace?"

"I'll give it a shot."

Unlike the situation with the bat-monster cocoon, Grace understood that touching the monster before them would be akin to actual suicide. She had to use her Skill from afar. Like how it was supposed to be, normally.

"Scan."

Her trail of mana quickly approached the evolved monster. Grace didn't know if it was just being patronizing, but it didn't reject her Skill outright. However, the lines she had hoped to see didn't show themselves in her vision.

[Scan completed, Grace. Here's all the information you can grab.]

[Monster: Ura'alar (Evolved Tier - Level 19, Mini-Boss: Type-C)] [Weaknesses: cosmic, the Scan for the others was resisted…] [Resistances: fire, lightning, sharp mana, the Scan for the others was resisted…] [Recommended Class Tier: Advanced or higher with three or more people] [Traits: It will cause its conjured clouds to expand, utilizing them as a smokescreen. Paired with its silent steps, this stealthy strategy can be quite troublesome.] [Strategy: Utilize wind or force-based Skills to push the smoke away. Keep moving in order to make the monster hesitate. Make sure to protect your back, as it will most likely pounce from there. Higher-level strategies were resisted…] [The rest of the Scan was resisted…]

Grace relayed the information quickly and without taking her eyes off the beast. Their stare down was the only thing keeping the monster in place. It seemed to be protecting the Delve Gate.

The ura'alar seemed to be intelligent, as far as Grace considered monsters to be. It realized that one of its companions had gone or had seemed to have some inkling that it had died. And in order to bolster its strength to survive, it had preyed on its final companion to gain some levels.

Yep. As far as monsters go, that checks out. Problem is, how do we fight it?

"How do we fight it?" Tayin asked, giving voice to Grace's thoughts. "If it's weak to cosmic damage, then I can pepper it with Shooting Star."

"I have nothing that works against it," the half-orc admitted. "Fire, lightning, sharp mana. Those are all that I have. I can probably help with distraction, and deflect anything projectile-based."

"Right, and a sword won't do much either," Ren added. "I'll keep its attention as usual, but it might be harder if I don't deal as much damage as I used to. Make sure you regulate your damage output, Tayin."

"Right."

"This fight might be a long one. Grace, even if it has resistance to sharp mana, I doubt it would be fully immune. When you see a weak point, send your strongest attack at it."

"Copy that."

Grace followed Ren's lead, while Tayin stayed behind with her wand at the ready. The ura'alar, aware of their approach, immediately exhaled a bunch of smoke. In a blink, it was gone, hidden within the cloud.

At the Shield Knight's signal, the two of them stopped and observed the smoke expand. It moved quickly. They retreated in order to avoid getting themselves surrounded by it. But by the time they managed to reach Tayin, it had already caught them.

Grace couldn't see in front of her. Her mind could still guess where the path was, but the moment she turned to find her companions, even that orientation quickly disappeared.

Fortunately, Tayin and Ren were just beside her, though she couldn't see more than their upper bodies.

"I don't have anything to blast this away," she said, vigilantly looking around her. She didn't want to panic, but not being able to see where she was stepping was making her nervous.

"Neither do we," Ren said. "The strategy said we need to constantly move, but I don't think it's a good idea if we can't see what's in front of us."

"We might even lose each other," Tayin added. "Maybe we just walk slowly?"

"Let's do that," Grace said. "I don't want to ignore the recommendation completely, but I get what you mean."

"Alright, stay close, then."

Grace inched closer, until her shoulder was touching Tayin's. Since the halfling would have the best way to deal with the Mini-Boss, they prioritized protecting her. Slowly, they made their steps together. Towards where, neither of them knew.

On top of impeding their sight, the Mini-Boss ura'alar also had incredibly quiet footsteps. Grace strained her ears, but she didn't hear a sound, other than the distracting noises of the nearby forest. If the monster had escaped, they would be none the wiser, at least until the fog disappeared.

But it didn't, which only left Grace to believe that the Mini-Boss was hunting them. Stalking them like it would its prey.

And without warning, it struck.

Grace was first to notice the shift in the smoke, but Ren was the one who reacted the correct way. He raised his shield just in time for claws and jaws to appear. The monster's large form emerged from the smoke for just a second, dragging him away from the group.

But not before the two ladies saw the ura'alar's claws dragging the shield down, and its fangs sinking into the Shield Knight's shoulder.

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Then they were gone, vanished into the fog. The only thing left was the sound of Ren's metallic boots dragging on the ground, slowly fading away as it grew farther.

The two went after him.

Chippy had understood what they had been doing all this time. His mom and her friends would hunt a bunch of monsters, in all shapes and sizes, while he would roam atop them as a lookout or as an emergency option.

Whenever they had successfully hunted a group of monsters, he would then feel the surge of mana, increasing his strength and sometimes, his size.

A lot of the other things he still struggled to understand. But he was sure of one thing. The fact that he couldn't even see where his mom was, despite knowing her exact location solely by feel, was enough of an indicator.

This was a real emergency, something to worry about.

Chippy knew he had to act. And fast. The smokescreen had expanded throughout the entire area, including even the forest nearby. He could hear the struggle coming from somewhere, moving at a quick pace.

With his wings, he followed the sound safely away from potential danger. He remembered that the remaining monster had its own wings, but was currently engaged with his mom and her friends. He knew that would be the least of his problems.

Now, however, his panic was setting in. Without his mom within his sights, despite his ability to pull from their connection to know that she was still alive, the phoenix felt himself start to go into a desperate dive.

But he hesitated at the last moment.

The unknown scared Chippy. His mother, Grace, braved all dangers, and he was proud of her for that. But he couldn't wield a sword. All he could do was fire off sparks of embers and flap his wings. He would only be a total distraction if he disobeyed her orders and got himself involved.

The phoenix wracked his brain. There must be something he could do to help.

That was when he noticed the smoke just underneath him slowly move away. With every flap of his wings, the fog cleared.

Chippy squawked at the discovery. Renewed with vigor, the phoenix gathered all his mana and pushed it all towards his wings. He was all instinct. No training like his mom, no studying either.

He just knew he could do it, because he could.

Mana shaped around his wings and began to expand, becoming multiple times larger. Chippy could barely carry his own wings as it took form. But carry it, he did. And with all his might, he pulled both pairs of wings towards his chest.

It started with a boom. Then the next thing Grace saw was the entire fog dispersing away and the view instantly clearing. The gale that blasted from above them had enough force to lift her up slightly into the air.

The half-orc landed on her feet and looked up, only to find Chippy circling around and celebrating with triumphant chirps.

"How in the world…?" Tayin began, only to remember that they were still in the middle of rescuing Ren.

Grace realized a bit later than the halfling. She turned back to find that the ura'alar was also taken by surprise, after its stealth mechanism was dealt with in a rather explosive fashion.

The only one who maintained his focus on the situation was Ren himself. With a decisive act, the human Shield Knight drove his shortsword deep into the monster's eye. He managed to free himself from its jaws as the jaguar-creature roared and backed away.

"Well, I sort of half-expected it to not work," he said as Grace and Tayin joined him. "Was that Chippy?"

"Yep," Grace said proudly. "He's awesome, and I'll give him lots of praise later. But for now, let's take this Mini-Boss down."

She had already positioned herself in its new blind spot. The other two didn't bother to say a word. They all knew this was their best chance.

With Haste and Shield Charge, accompanied by twin-cast Shooting Stars, the group reengaged the ura'alar. Grace ducked under a blind claw swipe and retaliated with her Mana-Edge +4. Its sharp mana didn't do much damage, but she was going for quantity more than quality at this point.

She kept the assault going, slashing and slicing, while making sure she was on its blinded side. At the same time, Ren was keeping most of its attention on him, with the help of Taunt and Bright Sun. Tayin was also keeping up the damage. Despite the Shield Knight's warnings, she kept sending twin-cast Shooting Stars, pair after pair.

Mana wasn't at all a problem for any of them. With all their additional buffs and inherited Skills, running out of mana during combat was now completely out of the equation. For now, at least.

Unable to hide, unable to properly see, and unable to retaliate, the Mini-Boss ura'alar experienced a slow but surgical death. It was almost comical, Grace had to admit. If it hadn't been for Chippy's timely and surprising contribution, it wouldn't have been this easy.

The half-orc realized, with a slight sense of surprise, that this didn't make her feel lacking or unworthy. She felt something start falling into place. This was Shallies' lesson. That she wouldn't and shouldn't do everything on her own. Chippy was as much a part of her as Grace was a part of him.

Teamwork.

Still, there was a voice inside Grace who couldn't stop feeling regret after having received help. It was hypocritical, she knew. She had been accepting a lot of help since the beginning. But she knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she took down one Boss on her own.

For now, however, as promised, she showered Chippy with praises as they went back to the entrance of the dungeon.

Shallies had just set the table by the time Grace, Ren, Tayin, and Valor'el all returned. Of course, she knew when exactly they would be arriving. She didn't bother to hide the fact that she was constantly monitoring them.

"Good job, everyone," she began, allowing all of them to take their seats. "Before we have dinner, as promised, I have your Rare Equipment."

From within her Class Inventory, which she had been browsing for the better part of the evening, she pulled four different items. All were stored within their own Equipment Containers. They were varying in size, but she made sure to emphasize the amount that she retrieved.

"Four?" Grace asked.

"I'll have to reward your brave phoenix, don't I?" Shallie said. "He's developed way faster than I've anticipated. And you know me, I don't waste rare talent, if I can help it."

"Oh, that's awesome!" Grace cheered. So did Chippy, showing some understanding.

"Let me give yours first, Ren," Shallies began.

The Shield Knight opened the Container and retrieved a round shield that almost covered his entire body. Its entire composition was both metallic and organic at the same time. As if a master crafter had utilized a monster's hardened scale, in combination with rare ores, to create the shield. Atop it was intentionally carved, allowing for some peeking capabilities as well as some rudimentary stabbing improvisations should the need arise.

"Dragonscale Shield of Stature +5," Shallies introduced. "This will increase your stability and ability to push against larger foes and forces. It's a little counter-intuitive with your Full-Plate Armor of Unhindered Mobility +1. But I think this should still be a great improvement."

"This will certainly make me more versatile!" Ren said, wearing the shield. "Thank you, Shallies!"

"You're welcome." She turned to Tayin next. The long Container already spoiled the wand that it stored. "Dragonhorn Wand of Quick Bolts +5."

"Quick Bolts! I know this!" Tayin almost screamed, flourishing the wand. "Every projectile-based Spell I cast comes with a mana-bolt for extra damage! Thank you, Shallies! You know, just the enhancement enchantment alone is great enough! I don't even use my actual Mana-Bolt Skill!"

"If you twin-cast a Spell, you create twice the mana-bolts too. And they're all made without any additional mana cost."

"What!? That's awesome!"

"As for you, Chippy, I have this small clip that you can put on your tail."

"Why do you always keep me for last?" Grace asked as she received the clip. "And won't this hurt him?"

"I save you for last because you always get the best improvements, simply because of how far behind you are, when compared to Ren and Tayin," Shallies said with a straight face. "And no, this won't hurt Chippy at all. Just clip it near the base of his tail."

As soon as Grace did, the jewel within it glowed and extended into a short ribbon of light that flowed neatly along Chippy's tail.

"Since Chippy has yet to train his actual Skills, I've just simply provided him with a Mana-Tether. This would allow you, Grace, to provide him with mana whenever he needs it. When he used his Great Wings, he was almost instantly drained. It's a good thing that he has such good instincts."

"Oh, that's so thoughtful! Thank you."

"That only leaves you now." Shallies presented a rectangular Container, a little shorter than the one she gave Tayin.

Inside was a Mana-Edge.

"This…" Grace picked it up and activated it, emitting an orange glow.

"Grand Arc Mana-Edge +5," Shallies said. "Instead of Mana-Edge Overload, this one comes with Mana-Edge Wave, which works almost similarly with Flametongue, but with only pure sharp mana and without the additional mana cost. You'll have to practice how to use it at will, though."

"But…" Grace shook her head. "Sorry, I don't want to seem ungrateful. But my father gave me mine. I don't know if I should replace it."

Shallies just smiled. Of course, the half-orc would feel like it could be replacing her father's gift.

"Then you have a bunch of things to think about this evening, Grace."

Dinner was served. Shallies asked her students to report what they had learned throughout today's leveling grind. The was nothing different from anything she had already heard throughout her millennia of mentoring. But she kept listening and giving advice when needed.

She would never skip out on whenever she had to polish a gem.

After making sure everyone was well asleep, Shallies ordered Valor'el to keep watch while she went somewhere isolated. It wasn't difficult, since Grace and her party had cleared the entire half of the island.

She already knew she would find a cave if she followed the coastline. Inside had been a dwelling that had been completely left ignored by the dungeon's populace.

There, after lifting a few of her veils, she extended out a hand.

"Fate Weave Archives: Open."

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