Cassis strode silently through the forest, keeping to the back of the group. Every step was familiar. Every shadow held echoes of his past.

This outing wouldn't earn him any experience. He likely wouldn't trigger any hidden requirements for his evolution either. But that wasn't the point. It was necessary. He had watched his parents struggle against the mutated squirrels. Creatures that, by system standards, barely counted as a threat. But they were aggressive, unpredictable, and persistent. He remembered them all too well from the other timeline.

Those squirrels attacked anything. They didn't care how strong their target was. That recklessness made them dangerous. The spike-fur shooting alone had wounded him more than once. Sharp enough to scratch even someone far higher level than them. Sharp enough to bleed. And that was only the beginning.

His family needed to get stronger. Strong enough to hold their own. He wouldn't always be there to shield them, and when the second wave came, they might not be together. They had to survive. All of them. Separately if they had to. He had already lost his family once. He would never let it happen again. This time, he would build something that could withstand what was coming. A real community. Not just a collection of survivors—but a force. Strong enough to protect one another. To hold. To last.

He wouldn't run back into the forest, broken and alone, hiding from a world that had become too heavy. He wouldn't shut everything out. This time, he would face it. Stop Brice. And protect the people he cared about.

The forest around them was familiar, though not yet transformed. It tugged at old memories. He had walked this forest when it had been warped by the mana in the atmosphere. Now everything still seemed ordinary. But that wouldn't continue. The trunks weren't twisted yet. The colours were still mostly normal—green leaves, brown bark, reds and yellows from the seasonal shift. But the change was already here. He could feel it. The mana was too thick. Abundant. Unstable. It soaked into everything, into the roots, the leaves, the dirt. That much ambient energy meant that mutation had already begun in earnest. The animals, the plants—they were mutating faster than outside. And consequently, they emitted more mana which fed the mutation of the surroundings.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Cassis sensed it—another enemy, brushing the edge of his awareness. He didn't immediately react. Instead, he shifted focus. He was trying to mimic Arianna's way of sensing mana now, layering it over his usual awareness through his senses. It wasn't easy. Her method relied more on stretching out and interpreting the movements of mana particles in the surroundings, where his was more physical by using his improved senses.

It was exhausting. Not as exhausting as keeping his pattern running across his torso while moving, though. That had taken endless practice. Still, he had no idea how Arianna did it so seemingly effortlessly. But that was the difference between them. Arianna was a rare genius in all matters mana. He still didn't know why. Was it because she seemed to be a deity? Though she had told him about life in her own world . By all standards she had led an ordinary life except for the dreams of him and his world. Was it the necklace then, as she believed? Or had crossing worlds made her more sensitive to mana? There was no answer to these questions. In the end what mattered was that she could protect herself.

Cassis felt relieved by that thought. When she had first appeared before him, he had wanted to protect her. He didn't want to lose her again. But she'd shown him time and again that she was capable of taking care of herself. Capable – that didn't mean she always did so. Still, he was sure she could survive most things the apocalypse could throw at her right now. And the way she planned, trained and lived with him was new for him. No, he didn't need to protect her, he wanted to. The same way she didn't need to protect him, but wanted to. They were partners. Real partners who could count on each other to survive.

It wasn't the same in the past. In the other timeline she had been with him, a companion, a spectator. She'd kept him sane and supported him. But he hadn't been able to touch her, to hold her. She'd always been a being removed from his reality. Though he still regretted that his wish brought her here, he was happy she was here. He was a bastard for feeling this way, he knew that. And soon she would know that, too. In a few months at the latest they'd fulfil the requirements for their evolutions and then he'd tell her the truth. If he was lucky, she would beat him up and then forgive him. If he was unlucky, she would cry or leave him. His pain he could deal with, mostly by ignoring it. Hers felt like the world was crashing down on him.

He had to stop thinking about this as their new enemies came crashing through the bushes on the right side of the hiking trail. Two monsters emerged from the brush, shambling onto the hiking trail with unnatural grace. One had sprouted from a mutated dandelion, the other was a twisted bleeding heart. Both were about half the size of a human, and moved with the help of two leg-like roots each, but were still kind of slithering not stepping.

The dandelion monstrosity rolled forward like a bulbous wheel, its puffball head transformed into a spiky sphere of steel-colored petals, sharp and rigid. Each petal vibrated faintly, like quivering needles in anticipation of contact. What should have been a fragile stem was now a flexible stalk of fibrous muscle, allowing it to spring and roll with unsettling speed. Its eyes—yes, it had eyes, black and glinting—peered from beneath the base of its flower.

The bleeding heart, on the other hand, slithered forward, its stems twitching with motion. Its drooping pink flowers had morphed into clusters of fleshy pods, pulsing faintly. They held acid inside them and if they were destroyed that acid would shoot out at the attacker. From the center of its bloom dangled a hooked stinger-like organ that shot small, seed-like projectiles. When they hit, they bloomed instantly into vines that twisted around limbs with uncanny speed, eager to root into living flesh.

But Cassis wasn't concerned. The others had sensed them too, each of them still practicing their awareness. They had already fallen into formation, instinctively mirroring their positions from the earlier fight with the squirrels. Reflexes were forming. Good. He didn't warn them about the acid. It was still weak and Arianna would be able to heal it with no problem. Their team needed to learn how to fight unknown monsters on their own.

His mother and brother stepped forward to meet the dandelion. Camden faced the bleeding heart without hesitation, shield raised. His father launched an earth missile at the dandelion. The spell struck it head-on but the result was disappointing. The creature barely flinched. Earth magic didn't have much effect, likely due to the monster's own elemental affinity of plant mana which was a mix of water and earth.

From behind, Cassis faintly heard Arianna let out a surprised, "Oh!" He didn't look back. If it was important, she'd tell him later. Right now, the battle was still underway.

Matteo watched with focused attention, his body tense, gaze locked on the fight. Cassis had to respect that. The boy was committed. Felicia stood beside him, less steady. Her expression was strained, not from fear, but from a deep discomfort at the violence. Still, she didn't look away. She was stronger than she believed.

Helen had vanished the moment the monsters appeared. Cassis could still sense her, though, her presence a faint shimmer in the background of his awareness. She was honing her stealth, no doubt aiming to unlock that advanced class she wanted. He hoped she would. She moved like someone who'd survived too much. She never told him what had happened in the Shadows of Avaria, not in detail at least, but Cassis didn't need her stories. He recognized a fellow killer. His aunt had walked through blood long before he was born.

The battle was over quickly. The dandelion's attacks were simple but dangerous, it launched itself with brute force, trying to impale targets with its sharpened petals. The bleeding heart hung its head low, then flicked it up, launching its seeds trying to restrict their movements.

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But the group adapted fast. Camden blocked the bleeding heart's seed shots with his shield. His mother and Liam kept the dandelion off balance, drawing its attacks and dodging with practiced ease. His father, recognizing his mistake, switched from earth missile to magic missile which would do more damage in this case as it was a non-elemental attack. Each impact with the dandelion shuddered its core, weakening it.

Meanwhile, Helen had circled behind the bleeding heart. Silent as wind. When Camden forced the plant back with a shield bash, she struck, dagger flashing, cutting through the main stalk with surgical precision. The monster spasmed once, then wilted.

When it was over, no one was even out of breath. Smiles broke out across the group, tentative at first, but real. Confidence bloomed in the wake of success. They were getting better. Stronger. More aware. Cassis nodded once, hope swelling quietly in his chest. This—this—was exactly what they needed.

After the fight, Arianna immediately made her way to Camden. He had destroyed one of the heart-shaped pods on the bleeding heart and been sprayed with its acid in the process. The caustic fluid had hissed on contact, burning through part of his defensive set and blistering the skin beneath. But he hadn't flinched. Hadn't slowed. He had just gritted his teeth and kept fighting, bashing the monster long enough with his shield for Helen to strike from behind. His time in the dungeon had hardened him, that much was clear.

Arianna placed her hand on the injury, casting a healing spell that knit his skin back together. Camden merely nodded his thanks, wiping the last of the acid from his clothes. Once she was done, Arianna turned to the group, her voice bright with excitement. "I want to see more plant-based monsters," she said. "The way they use plant mana—especially the bleeding heart with its seeds—is fascinating. I might get new ideas for our farming experiment." There was a curious gleam in her eye. She looked at some of the already shot seeds on the ground and put them into her inventory by tapping them with her shoes. They could still sprout on contact with skin.

Helen nodded immediately. "That seems like a plan. I can track where those two came from. Maybe there are more like them."

Arianna beamed at her. "Good idea."

And so they left the worn trail behind, following Helen into the deeper brush. Cassis stayed quiet. He could have offered to track too, was just as capable, but that would raise questions he didn't want to answer. His parents were already puzzled by his combat ability, though they hadn't said anything to him. Better not to give them more reason to wonder why their formerly indoorsy son now moved through the wild like he'd been born to it.

The path became rougher. Roots jutted from the ground like sleeping snakes. Branches snagged at their clothes. The underbrush was thick and damp, clinging to their legs and slowing their pace. Still, they pressed on.

After a while, Cassis stopped. So did Arianna. Helen noticed instantly, going still like a flickering shadow. The rest of the group fell into even more complete silence, tension spiking in the air.

"I can sense dozens of monsters in that direction," Cassis said over the party chat. "Do we want to approach?"

Helen tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing. "Maybe it's best if I scout first," she replied. Then, after a pause: "With the exception of some..." She gave Cassis a pointed look. He met it without flinching. More questions. At least he could tell his aunt about this. She already knew his secrets. "...most of you are way too loud and would be discovered at once."

Cassis nodded. She was right. Even though he didn't have the Survivalist bonuses anymore, he still moved through the woods with the ease of someone who had trained to survive, not just go hiking for fun. Those instincts had been earned in blood, and they hadn't dulled. But the others, Arianna included, were city people. They hadn't had to hunt in the wild, hadn't been prey to stronger monsters there.

Helen vanished again. Silence fell like a blanket over the group. Minutes passed. No one spoke. When she returned, her face was unreadable, but her eyes were sharp. "There's a clearing ahead. Used to be a wildflower field. It's mutated now. Full of flower monsters. A whole nest of them."

Those monsters weren't individually strong, but their number could prove to be a problem if he stayed on the sidelines. A short discussion followed over the party chat. It didn't take long. Cassis would join this fight. Arianna would stay back to observe, stepping in only if someone was seriously injured. She wanted to see the plant mana in action, get more information how it was mixed. Though plant mana existed around them Arianna said it wasn't concentrated enough for her to examine, or she wasn't good enough yet. And since the seeds they had at home only held very small traces of the more concentrated plant mana, she wanted to take this chance to look at the monsters' plant mana. The children would stay at her side.

Plan made, they resumed their approach, pushing through the underbrush toward the clearing—and the swarm of floral monsters waiting beyond. The clearing opened up before them like a sunlit trap. Dozens of mutated wildflowers filled the field, swaying not with the wind, but with purpose. Their petals twitched. Their stalks creaked. The air smelled sweet and wrong, like rotting perfume.

Cassis stepped forward first. The others fanned out beside and behind him. This time the formation was different from before. Their enemies were too many, too scattered, too unpredictable for a frontline. Instead, they decided to have his mother and brother stay with his father and for them to fight as a small team since they were the lowest levelled team members. Camden, Helen and Cassis would spread out further and fight on their own, with Helen and Camden working together should the monsters prove too strong for them. Cassis didn't need support except for Arianna who would watch and heal whenever necessary. But they wanted her to be able to focus on the plant mana, so everyone planned to keep their injuries to a minimum.

The battle began the moment they breached the treeline. A massive bluebell, its bells grown bulbous and glistening with a thick blue sap, shuddered and launched a volley of sonic pulses. The sound waves warped the air, distorting vision and causing Helen, who had crept ahead, to stumble as her equilibrium failed.

Cassis ran ahead, slashing at the bluebell. It crumpled with a wet pop, its internal fluids hissing into the soil like boiling tea. Elsewhere, mutated daisies swarmed in tight clusters, their once-white petals serrated like saw blades. They launched themselves through the air like chakrams, spinning wildly. His mother and Liam held them off while his father hauled magic missiles at them additionally to attacking them with his own staff.

Camden shouted a warning and lunged forward, cleaving through a group of feral dandelions whose metallic petals bristled with needle-sharp edges. Helen appeared near Camden, cutting down flower after flower from behind, while they focused on him.

A twisted bleeding heart, larger than the last, charged Helen. Its heart-shaped pods were slick and swollen with acid. This one had learned to fling them like grenades. Helen dodged lithely, stepping around the acid bombs and weaving between petals with deadly precision. Then she disappeared—literally vanished from sight—before reappearing behind the creature. Her dagger flashed once, twice, and the bleeding heart slumped to the ground with a shuddering sigh.

Their group was doing better than Cassis had hoped. His father's precision improved with each cast. His mother fought alongside him, her swordplay tight and clean, moving in perfect tandem with Liam, who swung his sword exactly like Cassis had taught him. He saw just how much his brother had practiced in the short time they had exited the dungeon. He was getting better and stronger.

A clump of twisting wild roses, their thorned vines writhing like snakes, surged toward them. Cassis stepped in, slicing through the vines before they could entangle Camden's leg. The roses screamed—actually screamed, a high-pitched noise like tearing metal—as they died.

More enemies surged from the edges of the field: mutated carnations with whip-like stems, snapdragons that snapped with teeth-like petals, and sunflowers whose faces turned to track them with uncanny intelligence, firing seed-bullets like miniature cannons.

Cassis had his Body Reinforcement activated since they had entered the forest. Now he was glad for it. The seed-bullets struck him but did almost no harm. Though he noticed that Body Reinforcement suddenly used up more mana than before. His advanced pattern still more or less flickering through his torso replenished his mana quickly. Cassis hadn't noticed this uptick in mana usage before, though it must have happened. He had gotten more sensitive to the mana changes in his body. He smiled while fighting. All his practice and the mind-splitting headaches he got while working with Arianna were worth it.

He ducked beneath a sunflower's volley and closed the gap in a blink, his sword glowing faintly as his fire blade, imbued with just a smidgeon of mana, sheared through the thick stalk in one clean arc. It fell with a crash, dislodging three more behind it.

Minutes passed, maybe longer. Time blurred. The battle was fierce since there were just so many opponents, but not frantic. Those flowers were weak, after all. When the final flower—a daisy with eyes hidden between its petals—died with a wet crunch under Camden's boot, silence fell. Breaths came heavy, but no one had fallen. No serious injuries. Arianna didn't even need to step in and heal anyone during battle this time.

After the fight she still made her rounds, but Cassis itched to ask her about her observations. Had she figured something out? Going by her smile and sweet humming by healing, she had.

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