The next day, Alex watched the trainees mill around the portal. It was fairly clear who had taken the Recovery Skill and who had not; the difference in energy and attitude was immediately obvious. Even those who had taken it, though, seemed to be unhappy about entering the portal for a second time. Plenty of them were muttering among themselves and sending resentful glances in her direction.

They weren't the only unhappy ones, though. Tollworth had already visited her that morning, interrupting her attempt to go for a morning run. He was still staring at her with a pinched expression, his mouth screwed up in an attempt at a neutral expression. Apparently, their work to 'stabilize' the portal had gone a bit too far, in his opinion. Though he hadn't explicitly said so, Alex could only imagine that the fact that the portal had dropped a whole level had not gone over well with his corporate masters.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't exactly order her to not stabilize the portal, especially given his earlier complaints. When he threatened to cut off their access to the portal, Alex had simply asked him how he intended to do that without plenty of reinforcements. The question had shut the man up well enough, but he was still a bundle of resentment looking for an excuse to complain further.

She put him out of her mind, however. There were more important things to worry about. Her first team of trainees was already standing near the portal, nervous, weary, and waiting for her.

Alex walked over to them and summoned her own equipment around her. "Are we ready?"

The trainees stiffened slightly. Sabbir, his spear and armor now complemented by a helmet, studied her for a moment. "You're sure we should enter the portal again, Valkyrie?"

She met his eyes and nodded. "Unfortunately, we don't have much of a choice." In case he didn't remember why, she glanced to where Tollworth was waiting, armed with his clipboard and watching with narrow eyes. "You will do fine. Take Patrol for your Quests again and be ready to fight the same way you did yesterday."

Sanjida gave the portal an apprehensive look. "Will it be as dangerous as yesterday?"

"Worse, actually." Alex shrugged as they all looked at her. "There will be a few more Grue, and you'll probably be a little more tired than before. At the same time, you're not the same people as you were when you went in. You've leveled up, your Skills are better, and I'm still right there with you. Keep your head on straight, fight the way you did before, and you'll come back fine."

They nodded, and Alex drew in a deep breath. She'd already given similar advice to the other two teams she'd be leading in. "All right, then. Let's go. Our friends on the other side are waiting, after all."

An hour later, Alex was forced to admit that the going had been rough, but her trainees were already looking much, much better.

The patrols had indeed gotten larger, but not by nearly as much as she'd expected. There were three more Knights and an extra four Soldiers in each one, but they hadn't been nearly enough to cause her and her team many problems. Not with their newfound Skills.

She'd let them face the majority of the Soldiers during the first two patrols, and with a few nudges from her magic, they had done just fine. Sohel and Fahima had needed a sip from the potion, but neither had complained very much. When they'd moved to ambushes for the next two patrols, they had torn through the Archers with impressive amounts of speed. They'd even started to attack the Knights from behind as Alex had stalled for them, cutting down a few in impressive timing.

Now, after their fourth fight, she watched Musam take a sip of the potion and hand it over to Sanjida. The Porter forced a quick smile. "My Quests are done. Does anybody else have any left?"

Sohel and Fahima shook their heads, as did Sanjida after she'd finished her own sip. Sabbir watched as Alex took the potion back and spoke carefully. "Valkyrie, our Quests are done. Does that mean we'll go back to the portal now?"

She paused. "You can, actually. There's no way to earn more experience. Once the Quests are over, that's all you'll get unless you come back through the portal a second time."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "But you don't want us to."

The blunt question made her smile. "No." She shook her head. "The best way to raise your Skills is to fight Grue. Sparring near a portal helps, but it's never quite the same as a real fight—and the higher your Skills are, the better chance you have of surviving the next Survey."

Fahima flinched. She was definitely one of the ones that hadn't taken Recovery, but her archery had improved dramatically. "But Valkyrie, we are already so tired. Surely we could use the rest?"

"That's true, and if you want to head back to the portal now, we definitely can." Alex shrugged. "I wouldn't complain if my day was a little shorter, but even if we just hit one or two more patrols, your team could get that much better. It's up to you."

The E ranks exchanged a look among themselves, and Alex forced herself to wait. Even if they headed back, she'd be likely to finish her Objectives easily; all she had to do was get all fifteen E ranks back through the portal, and take down ten patrols again. She almost couldn't fail, not really.

All the same, it filled her with a sense of victory as they looked back at her and nodded. Sabbir's voice was steady, and he clutched his spear with determination. "We continue, Valkyrie. Lead on."

Alex nodded, and they started off into the forest again, looking for their next fight.

Sabbir's team ended the day after the sixth patrol went down, and she spent the brief walk back to the portal advising them on what Skills they should continue to Chain, and how they should prepare for their next Survey. They seemed weary, but happy as they went through the vortex, and Alex couldn't help but grin at how good they'd be on their next run.

Unfortunately, the next team was not nearly as easy-going.

"I do not understand why we are here again today." Nurul shook his head like a bull. The Squire had obviously ignored her advice about Recovery; he'd been dragging behind the others all day, though each swing of the massive axe he carried had packed a lot more of a punch. "We should have been given a day of rest."

Arifa, the team's Porter, shook her head at him. "You knew what you were getting into with our contract, Nurul. Stop whining."

Nurul snarled at her. "I signed to fight, not to be worked to death." He glared at Alex. "Why can we not rest? We are already ahead of schedule. They thought we would still not reach level one until today."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "True. You are ahead of schedule in some ways. Probably not in others, though. How many of you do you think they planned on dying in the first three days?"

Silence answered her, and Nurul's eyes grew a bit less belligerent. She smiled. "Honestly, I'm betting that they thought about a third of you would be dead by now. Maybe a few more or less, depending on how optimistic they were. Do you know why you aren't?"

The Squire glowered at her. "We know you are strong. Your power should not make you a tyrant."

She tilted her head. "Why not?" Nurul blinked, and the others shifted uneasily. "As long as you are weaker than I am, I can do anything I want to you here. There's no one here to stop me."

The team's Page, a man named Rubel, partially raised his crossbow. "The company—"

"Doesn't care at all." Alex pinned the man with a look. "As long as I come back with enough teams trained to their standards, and pick up the Keys you'll leave behind when I'm done, they won't say a word to me. Regulation isn't going to do anything either. I've already killed way more important Surveyors than you, and yet here I am."

Another silence followed, and this time Alex saw their faces grow pale. The trainees started to look at the forest around them in a new way, as if recognizing just how far from home they were. She let them look for a few more moments.

Then she spoke. "There are other Surveyors who think like that. A lot of them. I've had a lot of them try to kill me. The only reason they didn't is because I worked hard enough to be able to stop them. If you want to stay alive when you meet one of them, do you know what you have to do?"

Arifa glanced at the others before responding. "Get stronger."

"That's right." She looked back at Nurul. "You can go back on your own if you want to. Maybe you'll actually make it without the Grue getting you, but the next time you'll be weaker than you could have been. The time after that, too. Maybe you'll just keep being weaker than the people around you, right until you meet someone like me without my kind disposition. On that day, you won't get to rest, and you won't get to go back. You'll just die."

Alex let that sink in. "If you'd rather live, though, we're going to keep working hard on what you can do. We've already hit three patrols. Give me three more, and then you'll get to go back and train so that you can be ready to take on six more tomorrow. And more the day after that, until you're ready to fight anyone you need to. Am I understood?"

Nurul was the only one who didn't nod. His chin rose slightly. "Why are you bothering? Why does it matter so much to you? You know we'll replace you. That you'll be sent away as soon as we're ready. So why?"

She studied him for a moment. "Because I hate the Surveyors who hurt people. The griefers. They've hurt people I love. They've killed people I love." Alex paused as a pang of grief sang through her. "So if you end up dead, Nurul, it's not going to be because I didn't teach you how to do this right. It might be because you're too dumb for anyone to save, or because you picked the wrong fight at the wrong time, but it won't be because I abandoned you to them."

Then she cracked a smile. "But who knows? Maybe you'll live long enough to take a few of them down before you fall. That would be nice."

He snorted and hefted his axe. "Maybe I'll take you down."

"Not today." Alex let her smile fade, and the amusement drained from his face. "And just so you know, you only get one shot. That's all the others ever got. Most of them aren't around anymore to complain about it, either."

She held his eyes until he nodded; Nurul carefully shifted his grip on his axe so that it was obvious he wasn't going to swing. Alex waited a moment longer and then turned away. "Let's get going. I think I heard Grue in that direction."

There was a chorus of agreements, but Alex kept her eyes on the shadows in front of her. She listened, alert for rapid footfalls or indrawn breaths behind, but none came. Slowly, she relaxed as they resumed their march. Apparently, there weren't going to be any griefers to kill today after all.

"Calm down, calm down. Drink the potion." Alex knelt on Monir's shoulder and tried to pin the thrashing Adept down so he would drink. He coughed, blood staining his lips, and she grimaced as Roksana managed to grab his head and hold him still. She raised the potion to his lips, and he sucked down a healthy gulp of it.

The wound in his stomach abruptly stopped bleeding quite as much; the trail of blue fire burning beneath him began to lessen. Alex watched the puncture start to close. It wasn't going fast enough. "Take another sip, Monir. It's working."

He was gasping from the pain, but he responded, taking another drink of the potion. The vial was almost empty, but as he groaned from the pain, she saw the wound close up and let a bit of air hiss between her teeth in both frustration and relief.

It had been the closest she'd gotten to a casualty all day. Her second team had long since gone back through the portal, and her third was already four patrols deep into their own run. Things had mostly been going well, until both Syeda and Monir had attacked the same Archer during an ambush, leaving one to shoot the Adept right in the stomach.

As Monir gasped, Alex nodded to Roksana and stood. She saw Syeda being comforted by Maruf a few strides away; the Page was obviously distraught, but the Porter was calming her down. Alex walked over to them and nodded to Syeda. "He's going to be fine. The potion should have him on his feet in a few moments." Then she paused. "It's a mistake that anyone could have made."

Syeda looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. "But he almost died. If we didn't have the potion—"

"He lived, Syeda. That's all you need to know." The Page nodded, though she didn't seem all that convinced. Alex let her go to where Roksana was helping the fallen Adept back to his feet. Maruf stayed behind, watching the rest of his team gather around the other man.

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Alex glanced at him, and the Porter spoke quietly. "You are driving us hard."

She nodded. "Yeah."

"It was inevitable." His voice seemed almost understanding. "This work is too dangerous to rush."

Alex glanced at him. "It's too dangerous to take slowly, too." She sighed, allowing herself to unbend slightly. "What happens if Brownhat decides you are all ready to be here alone tomorrow? Or next week? How long do you think we have?"

Muraf chuckled softly. "Never enough." He looked at her for a moment. Then he shouldered the war hammer he carried. "I will get them ready. Two patrols left, yes?"

She nodded in gratitude as he walked over to the gathered Surveyors. There were a few sharp protests, quickly buried by Muraf's calm explanations. Alex felt herself relax a little, taking comfort in the fact that at least one team seemed to have a natural leader already. Nurul was a bit too volatile for the second team, though she thought Sabbir was assuming the lead for team one.

Two more patrols, she promised. Then she'd be done guarding trainees, and they'd have a chance to knock the portal's level down a bit further. After that, she'd just have to get a bit more careful about her tactics, and maybe restock on potions.

Otherwise, she'd start losing them for real. She didn't want to see what she'd become after that.

Team three came home without further incidents, a fact that she was eternally grateful for. Both Syed and Monir recovered well, and by the end, the Adept was spinning a story about the wound that he intended to tell the rest of the trainees when they returned. Alex was still shaking her head over it as the last of them disappeared through the portal.

[Priority Objective Completed]

She read the words with a sigh. Another full clear, which was welcome news. It was almost as nice as being able to see the signs that all three of her friends had already come through. Her team would be the last to return, but that was fine. Just as long as everybody came home.

With a second, deeper sigh of relief, Alex looked back over the other world, and then stepped through the vortex. She had one more Survey to deal with tonight, but at least she'd be working without a bunch of fragile E ranks to worry about. If her luck held, those same trainees might not be so fragile when they came through again. Maybe she'd even be able to start seeing some real progress.

It was a thought that carried her happily into the light…

[Mission Report]

[Completed an Objective. +20 Experience]

[Priority Objective Completed. +450 Experience]

[Additional Objective Completed +50 Experience]

[All Objectives Complete +80 Experience]

Alex grinned at the text, feeling yet another burst of achievement. It had been encouraging to receive so many full clears in a row.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Stable]

[Current Portal Level: D2]

[Local Area Population: None]

It was just as good to see that the portal remained stable. Another solid suppression Survey, and it might even reach D1, if she was lucky. Brownhat might be upset, but she was more than okay with that fact.

[You have reached level 5 as a Porter!]

[+2 Life gained. +1 Free Attribute awarded.]

Alex blinked. She reread the words, feeling a mixture of surprise and alarm. Admittedly, she hadn't been keeping very close track of her experience, but she hadn't been expecting this. Not yet, and definitely not now.

Dread pooled in her stomach as she dumped the free point into Strength and read the next bit of text.

[Porter has reached the maximum level. Your Role must be reset in order to advance!]

[Perform Role Switch? Warning, only one Skill will be allowed to carry forward. All others will be lost or exchanged for other rewards.]

Alex grimaced. She'd reached the end of D rank, all right, but at the very least her choices were obvious. She wasn't going to turn down the chance to keep growing, especially not after the speeches she'd been giving all day. Her friends needed her to be strong, and now was the chance to gain more strength.

She accepted, wincing a little as power shifted inside of her.

[Role Porter has been removed.]

[Please select Permanent Skill.]

Between Motion Trance and Combat Maneuvers, she definitely felt more attached to the movement Skill. Unfortunately, Combat Balance was just as crucial. In the end, it came down to what she knew of the next Role she'd choose—which meant Combat Balance was going to be her choice.

[Skill Combat Balance has become a Permanent Skill. It may no longer be Chained.]

[Skill Combat Balance is in excess of Skill limit. Excess Skill potential has been reserved.]

[Skill Motion Trance has been removed. Title Swift upgraded to Title Blur (Increases Skill grade of Motion Trance, Evasion, and Charge Assault by five.)]

[Skill Combined Arms–Axe/Shield has been removed. Unable to upgrade Titles. Excess Skill potential has been reserved.]

[Skill Holy—Storm has been removed. Unable to upgrade Titles. Excess Skill potential has been reserved.]

She felt the removal of each Skill like a pang of loss. The sudden weakness was a curious contrast to the energy still left roaring around inside of her. It left her off balance and uneasy, even as the next words appeared.

[Select your new Surveyor Role.]

[Squire–Bonuses to Strength. Skills for Crush and Leap.]

[Porter–Bonuses to Life. Skills for Recovery and Blocking.]

[Page–Bonuses to Speed. Skills for Dodging and Running.]

[Acolyte–Bonuses to Devotion. Skills for Sense and Presence.]

[Adept–Bonuses to Control. Skills for Focus and Inspect.]

[Messenger–Bonuses to Speed and Life. Skills for Recovery and Running.]

The options were different in a couple of ways, but she focused on the one at the bottom. Unlike the others, it was a Tier Two Role, one that would be significantly more powerful than the other five. Some people ignored the opportunity it would present, but she didn't have the luxury to be that foolish.

She chose Messenger, and for the second time in her life, the color of the text changed. It went from orange to a bright amber, something that almost seemed hard to look at.

[You have become a Messenger!]

[Your Role will grant you both mobility and endurance. Seize the opportunity to continue along the path of Ascension, Pioneer.]

[Select two Skills.]

Starting with Running and Recovery meant that she had at least part of the foundation for Motion Trance already, but she had lost all access to magic, which stung worse than she'd realized. Alex had grown used to zapping distant targets and pushing things with the wind, and the prospect of missing that capability was a real problem now that she'd incorporated it into her fighting style.

Losing Combined Arms again was going to be as bad or worse, though; the Skill hadn't been Tier Three like Battle Maneuvers or Combat Balance, but the number of Titles affecting it had made it nearly as strong. She'd be weaker than she had been in a while when it came to close combat.

She wavered for a moment, going back and forth between the urge to choose Melee—Shield and Melee—Axe yet again to regain Combined Arms, or the desire to take something different. She could do something a bit more experimental; after all, Motion Trance was probably going to be the Skill she carried into B rank, so anything else she chose could be a temporary commitment.

The time seemed to extend as she debated the options with herself. Practicality and habit warred with potential and exploration, a battle that raged across the corners of her mind between different parts of herself.

In the end, it was the prospect of something relatively new that won. She selected Holy—Storm and Focus, with the intent of regaining her magic and perhaps pushing it further. Battle Maneuvers and Combat Balance could be enough to help her survive in close quarters for now, at least.

The text changed, presenting her with another choice.

[Additional equipment awarded! Select new equipment.]

She chose to upgrade her armor, thinking back to all the times when it had come in handy to have a few bits of protection between her and enemy weapons. Given who she'd fought, and who she planned on fighting, it seemed wise.

[Welcome to C Rank!]

[Permanent Skills now have a maximum of 40, and require double the effort to increase.]

[All other Skills have a maximum of 30.]

[Excess Skill potential detected!]

[Compatible Skill found. Combat Balance raised to 40!]

[Compatible Skill found. Battle Maneuvers*** raised to 30!]

[Compatible Skill found. Holy—Storm raised to 30!]

[Further excess lost.]

Alex blinked, feeling a sudden burst of gratitude for the fact that she'd pushed her Skills to their limits. Starting out with a boost to her Skills was going to be extremely helpful, even if it hadn't raised everything.

As she thought over the possibilities, the next set of words appeared.

[Continue your journey, and ascend!]

As the amber text faded, the light engulfed her once more…

"Congratulations!" Clara threw her arms around Alex, and she had to struggle to keep her balance for a moment. Everything felt… odd since she'd left the portal, even when they had gathered for a quick lunch break.

Of course, not everyone seemed to take the news all that well. Sam and Joanna exchanged a grim look, and when Sam spoke, his voice seemed a little heavier than the situation called for. "It is good news. Unfortunately, this means we are going to have to make some… changes to things."

Alex grimaced, and Clara blinked. The Acolyte looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Joanna answered for him. "He means that a C rank can't escort E ranks into a portal, Clara. She'll get them killed."

Clara blinked. "But she'd be so much…" Her eyes widened. "The Shifters."

"Yeah, the Shifters." Joanna looked back at Alex. "I know you're going to be a little stronger now, but there's no way you could stop a Shifter from killing at least some of them, especially if you take one on by yourself. We can't afford to escort you, either. Not if we want to train all sixty of these people."

Alex sighed. "I know." She shook her head. "I'm not even sure I could take one right now. A lot of my Skills are a little lower than normal."

Sam grinned. "Oh, what a shame. Say, are you interested in going for a run later? I know how you like to keep a good pace…"

She gave him a level look. "Just you wait, I'll get Motion Trance back soon enough." He rolled his eyes, and she continued. "You're right, though. I can't risk getting them killed by something I'm not even sure I can face. We'll have to do something else."

Joanna frowned. "We could always have the three of us take four teams out instead of three. You can stay on this side of the portal and handle in-person training."

Clara shook her head. "That and keeping the portal suppressed? Seems like a lot."

Sam grunted. "We probably shouldn't focus a whole lot on that either." As the others looked at him, he shrugged. "We're only a few missions from joining her at C rank. If we reach it before the trainees are further along, we're going to have trouble."

Joanna grimaced. "How do we avoid it, though?"

He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "We might have to start deliberately avoiding full clears. It'll mean we take a bit longer to catch up to Alex, but it'll give us more Surveys between now and when we cross the line."

"That would be a new approach." Clara rubbed at her forehead for a moment. "So, if we're doing that, how do we keep the portal in line? Are we still going in again today?"

Alex answered this time. "We should. This time, we'll try and knock it as low as we can, so that it'll last long enough to give you the time you need. Then we'll scale back the way you were talking about."

Sam smirked. "It'll also give you the chance to reset some Skills and test out your new abilities as well, right? What a coincidence."

She put up her hands defensively. "Yeah, yeah, you caught me. Still, does it sound doable? We might also just want to make sure the Shifters are even going to come after me in the first place. For all we know, it takes them a few hours to reach us."

Joanna gave her a flat look. "You said it took half an hour for one to nearly reach Forsmith. I don't think the Grue are going to be any less excited about snacking on you. Especially once Liliana comes back."

"True." Alex shook her head. "We might as well make sure, though. Better to be sure than to leave any doubt."

They nodded and then turned back to their brief meal. Despite herself, Alex felt a spark of excitement wind through her. C rank meant she was one step closer to being able to face the enemies that had nearly killed her mother. All she needed to do was keep moving forward, and she'd reach them in no time.

[C Rank Pioneer Alex, Warpchannel]

[Ascension Level: 10]

[Role: Messenger (Role Skills: Running(0), Recovery(0)]

[Role Level: 0]

[Experience: 40/6600]

[Attributes: Strength -> 10, Speed -> 10, Life -> 10, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

[Current Skills: Focus(0), Holy–Storm(30)]

[Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers***(30), Combat Balance(40)]

[Current Titles: Empress of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by five.),

Aggression (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, Combined Arms, and Combat Balance Skills by five.),

Fated Hero (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by five),

Eternal Motion (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, Marathoning, and Motion Trance by five.),

Tireless (Increases Skill grade of Recovery Skills by three.),

True Sentinel (Increases Skill grade of Deflect, Dodging, Blocking, Resist, Zeal, and Combat Balance by five.),

Still Flow (Increases Skill grade of Meditation, Focus, Recovery, Arcane, Sense, and Motion Trance by five.),

Elite (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Battle Maneuvers, Battle Mastery, and Battle Dance by five.),

Lethality (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by five.),

Consecrated (Increases Skill grade of Holy by five.),

War Prowess (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by five.),

War Momentum (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Riposte, and Battle Dance by five.),

Blitz Master (Increases Skill grade of Combined Arms, Lunge, and Charge by five),

Deliberate (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Anticipate, and Combined Arms by five.),

Blur (Increases Skill grade of Motion Trance, Evasion, and Charge Assault by five.)]

It was the first view of how C rank looked, and Alex fought past the uneasy feeling at seeing the amber text to try and focus. There was too much on the line to get distracted now.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Stable]

[Current Portal Level: D2]

[Portal Level Low, Decreased Objective Rewards]

[Scouting Oriented Objectives Recommended]

[Local Area Population: None]

The warning about the portal level was not encouraging. She wondered just how much more difficult things were going to get. Would killing a patrol even mean anything for her now?

Her answer appeared a moment later as the words changed.

[Current Objective Budget: 440]

[Select Priority Objective]

The decrease in the amount of points available was also not promising, but at least it would make a full clear easier. At least, that was what she hoped.

Sure enough, however, when she tried to focus on the option to kill patrols, there was no response from the Screen. Alex winced, and moved to her next option, killing Camps.

[Priority Objective: Destroy thirty Camps. Possible rewards: 150 Experience. Accept?]

[Select Additional Objectives]

She grimaced. Having them be worth half what they once were was definitely a steep cost. Still, it would fit what they were doing, and the others would be expecting something similar to it. Alex accepted, and looked for other options to fill the rest of the budget.

The Screen had recommended scouting missions. Perhaps it would penalize them less?

[Additional Objective: Scout eight locations. Possible rewards: 80 Experience. Accept?]

Alex winced. It looked like it was just as bad there, though at least it was still doable. She accepted it anyway, though she felt uncertain about the running involved. Perhaps salvage would be better?

[Additional Objective: Salvage six Hidden Flowers. Possible rewards: 60 Experience. Accept?]

She snorted to herself as she accepted the paltry rewards. There was one option that she'd most likely have to do whether she wanted to or not.

[Additional Objective: Eliminate five Shifters. Possible rewards: 150 Experience. Accept?]

[Note: No Shifters current present in local area.]

It would have to do. She accepted it and strode forward into the light…

Alex exited out into the other world and paused for a moment. The dim light seemed just a small amount brighter now, though she wondered if that was just her own perception.

Sam, Clara, and Joanna left the vortex a short moment later. They moved easily, their eyes watching the horizon for threats. Alex smiled. "No Shifters yet."

"Yet." Joanna shook her head. "I'm assuming that you want to do the same as we did yesterday?"

Alex nodded, and the Adept snorted. "We'll see what we can do."

Sam looked at Joanna. "Do you have a location for us?" Joanna nodded, gesturing to the southeast, and he grinned. "Then I guess I'll take point. Being the fastest now."

With a snort, Alex followed as he led the way. It shouldn't take that long to recover some of her Skills, right?

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