“Hey… Are you feeling better?” Theo asked awkwardly.


    “Uh, yeah probably. I slept for a while, but I still feel pretty shitty.” I said with a small shrug. “More importantly, what did you find?”


    His face brightened quickly, it was sort of jarring. I hadn’t seen him look so excited since we met again after the awakening. “I found traces of our group! There are markings directly that way!” He beamed at Rosalynn, it looked like he was fishing for a recognition or a compliment.


    “That’s great! Then let’s head out right away!” Rosalynn’s shoulders relaxed and she donned a small confident smile. It faltered slightly when she glanced in my direction, “You’re okay to head out right?” Her voice was gentle and encouraging, but I could tell she was desperate to leave.


    I returned her a confident smile, I could easily empathize with her since I had also been separated from my group. “I’m not quite at a hundred percent, but I’m definitely ready to get going. Lets not delay on my account.” In general I usually felt much worse when I first got up than I did when I started pushing myself to start the day. Thankfully I was already starting to feel a bit better, just a bit. I could push through.


    “Mia… Are you sure?” Reid was looking at me skeptically.


    “Yeah. I really want to see their group. Maybe we can help each other… Or you guys might be able to stay there when I leave to head back home?” I wasn’t sure if now was the best time to bring that up again, but I didn’t want to spring it on them the day of or anything. I needed to go back home, this place sucked, but also I couldn’t trust Rosalynn and the others enough to bring them with me. I''d considered bringing them back, but decided against it. I wanted to monopolize such a good hunting ground, and right now I needed as much prey as I could find.


    “Going back?” Noel looked at me with puppy dog eyes, he looked pitiful, but it was a decision I made for the best of everyone. I couldn’t keep carrying them. I needed to level up on my own and this place just wasn’t as suited for me as the area back home.


    “Were you still planning on going back? I thought that maybe we were doing good enough…” Caroline tried to hide the hurt on her face, but I could tell she took it personally.


    Rosalynn began to get antsy, she was shifting her weight constantly and playing with her hammer, picking it up and swinging it around, tossing it from hand to hand, and balancing it like a side show act on one palm. “Okay well, how about we talk about that while we travel? It''s better to walk and talk right?” I asked the group, I wasn’t keen on answering her directly.


    Rosalynn and Theo perked up immediately and they took off in the direction that he’d designated earlier. “Guess we don’t need to answer that question.” Caroline mumbled under her breath as we all started following after them. Theo was apparently faster than the rest of us and would have to stop or slow down significantly in regular intervals so that the group could catch up. I was pretty sure I would be able to keep up with him if I was really trying, but there wasn’t much point in that.


    “You’re heading back to level up right? I mean you did say that you were only going to help us for a little while I guess…” Reid asked. He was the most composed, maybe he sensed it while we were in the labyrinth or after Rosalynn started talking about their group. His comment reminded me that I needed to level up quickly, so I sent Aureus away to hunt as we traveled. He’d be able to keep up and get some XP at the same time.


    “Yeah, I have really stalled in levels since I came over here. I really want to get to level 20 as soon as humanly possible.” I was trying to be objective about it, I didn''t want to bring emotions into it. I wanted to spend more time with my friends and family, but with how the world had changed I wondered if I could afford that luxury. I also kind of wanted to go back home.


    “Oh… So you wanted to leave us with Rosalynn’s group?” Noel asked.


    “Yeah, I feel like she’s trustworthy. I mean I’m not completely positive, but it seems like she is… I mean she’s putting up with Theo so…” I chuckled bitterly.


    “I guess… I still think it’d be fine for us to come with you. We don’t have to be in a party. We can just be in the same area right?” Caroline asked.


    “If you guys really really want to then I won’t stop you, but your group isn’t very… well balanced. You’ve got an assassin, a mage, and a healer. There isn’t any front line at all. The only reason it’s been working so far is because I’m over leveled for this area and the group. We don’t know what might happen or what might change in the future. The gods are… unpredictable to say the least.”


    There was a short silence after I said my piece. I wondered if they resented me for leaving them behind, but it felt like the right decision. We could always meet up again in the future, I couldn’t change my mind on this even if they begged me. I needed to level up, there wasn’t a solid reason for it, but it nagged at the back of my mind. The need, the craving for leveling up. I felt like if I didn’t level up quickly, I’d be swallowed up by the gods and the Underhollow itself. It pushed aside the fatigue I felt, having a goal or something to focus on was always a helpful distraction.


    “So.” I cleared my throat, “Rosalynn, what is your group like?” I assumed that they had been listening to our conversation before. They weren’t out of earshot, but they weren’t participating either. To test my theory I asked in the same way I had been conversing prior.


    “Oh uh, we’re a pretty large group. My team, or well the team I started with, we spent most of the early days getting the civvies into the Underhollow and away from those bastards on the surface. That’s how me and Theo met.” An undercurrent of pride suffused her tone as she talked.


    “Wow, I can’t imagine how that went down. Mia and I ran into some people on the surface on the way here and she nearly died.” It seemed like Caroline was in awe of their achievements. I was happy to see that Caroline seemed to get along with Rosalynn, and honestly I was starting to get pretty attached to them as well. Despite the fact that one of them was a no good, rotten, cheating bastard.


    “Seriously?! With your little monster you still struggled that much?!” Rosalynn was floored by the news and seemed like she didn’t really believe it.


    “Ah, well… It wasn’t his fault, it was more that I wasn’t used to fighting people and I made some bad decisions. I also just wasn’t very creative in the way that I used my skills… I definitely could have done a lot better in that fight.”


    “Oh… well that’s nothing to be ashamed of, Theo just outright gave up and begged them to let him go, but he’s got some positive points. The gang that gathered up him and a few others were trying to force them to kill each other for fun. Those sick fucks. He outright refused. Thankfully his refusal caused an uproar in the group and we were able to use the confusion and noise to our advantage.”


    “Wow, I didn’t see that coming. I’m glad that at the very least he draws the line at cold blooded murder.” I tried to gently rib him, but I realized halfway through my comment that it wouldn’t come off that way. “I’m proud of you Theo. Not everyone would have done that.” I added, being blatantly rude felt odd after Rosalynn requested us to be nicer to him.


    “Ah… Oh… Thanks…” He glanced back at me wide eyed when I said it, but quickly snapped his head forward again avoiding my gaze. Had he become more timid because of the Underhollow itself or was this something that changed naturally since I hadn’t been around him?


    “Yeah, he’s not nearly as bad as those assholes parading their racism around on their chests and murdering innocent people. Still. I don’t like him.” Reid responded quickly as if he couldn''t allow for such a conciliatory moment to pass without his input about how he disliked Theo. I didn’t disagree, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be better to put it behind me.


    I didn’t want to be his friend or even like him, but I was well aware that people who aren’t bad still did bad things. Guilt started to bubble up in me, I had been holding this event from a year ago over his head constantly since I’d seen him. Maybe it was time to put it aside? My emotions roiled under the surface, mixing violently and clashing as I pondered over my ex. Ultimately I decided not to make a change and not to worry too much about it. He never even gave me an apology so why should I worry about it?


    Suddenly the group came to a halt, there was a pit in my stomach, is Theo going to confront Reid about what he just said? I wondered until I noticed them looking down at something on the rock in front of them.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    “You know. I know that I suggested this before I left, but we never decided on how these markings would work. I don’t know which way it''s pointing, to the way they went or the way back to the base.” Rosalynn looked up towards the red sky above us lost in thought.


    I walked up to join her over an ‘X’ carved into the rock. Underneath it on one side was an arrow pointing away from it. “Well can’t we just choose one and follow it to the end? Even if it is the wrong way we can just turn around and follow it back. Plus if this is new then maybe we’ll run into the team that left it here?” I asked.


    “Yeah, you’re right, but if possible I don’t want to waste time going the wrong direction.” She replied letting her head fall back down with a sigh.


    “Well it’d be more comfortable to travel while pointing the arrows towards where you were going.” Noel offered.


    “Yeah, but wouldn’t it make more sense to have all the arrows pointing back to where you came? Since you’ll likely leave the base in multiple directions if you ever get lost you can follow the arrows back home.” Caroline countered.


    “No cause that works the exact same way with what I said. Just go the opposite way of the arrows.”


    “Still I just think it would make more sense. Like I understand the logic behind what you’re saying, but I think pointing the arrows towards home like a road sign is better.”


    “Well you’re not the one who made them.”


    “Neither are you!”


    “Okay, well none of us made them, but they were my group so I’ll just make a decision and we can follow it.” Rosalynn raised her hand to stop their dispute. It was nice to have someone else around to interrupt their quarrels.


    “Alright, sounds good to me. Where did you want to go?” I asked.


    “I think I’ll agree with Noel this time. It sounds like something that they would decide. Though they kept saying that it was unnecessary to mark the way since we were always together and had Theo. He was a part of every group that traveled out of the camp if it was too far to easily return without him.”


    “Okay so we’re heading against the arrows?”


    “Yup let''s go!”


    The group took off at a much higher speed, following the markings towards what we hoped was the encampment where Rosalynn’s group would be. I suddenly wondered why we hadn’t encountered any rats since I had woken up, no one else had mentioned anything so I didn’t think anything of it. Strange. I decided to ask about it later, it wouldn’t be easy to ask while everyone was sprinting. We had been running for about an hour and a half when we noticed something on the horizon and sounds in the distance.


    “There they are! Yes! We’ve finally found them!” Theo hollered with a huge smile.


    Rosalynn was also beaming and the two took off full speed ahead towards the group. I purposely lagged behind just a bit to make sure that we didn’t leave Reid and Caro behind too much. Their abilities weren’t focused on physical aspects, so they were bringing up the rear. Reid looked as though he might collapse by the time we reached the group.


    "Lia!" Rosalynn’s voice rang out ahead of us. "Lynn!" She shouted again a few seconds after, but when I got closer I realized she had only yelled once. She leapt towards another woman, they spun around giggling and when they pulled away from each other for a moment I couldn''t tell them apart.


    Three more people rushed towards her and they all shared a group hug with Rosalynn and the woman I assumed was Lia. They broke away from the hug as we approached. Theo had attempted to join the group, but it seemed like they were excluding him for some reason. The cheerful atmosphere turned stale as they noticed our presence.


    A large man with broad shoulders and a cool toned dark complexion stood behind Rosalynn, when I first saw him I thought he looked friendly and approachable, but his face quickly soured when we made eye contact. His neutral face was mildly intimidating, I flinched at his quick change in expression. Rosalynn looked back up at him and suddenly he was warm and loving yet again.


    "Oh yeah! I almost forgot, everyone this is Mia, Caroline, Reid, and Noel." Rosalynn was absolutely beaming. I hadn''t seen her so expressive since I''d met her. I glanced towards where I could feel Aureus’ energy, his normal focused and pleased energy felt like it had flickered into displeasure for a moment. I furrowed my brows but dismissed it as a moment of misunderstanding.


    I took a small step forward and held out my hand, "Hi, nice to meetcha." I glanced from the man behind Rosalynn who was glaring daggers at me to the woman next to her that seemed to be her twin. Her expression gave her more angular features. Finally I looked at the other man of the group, he was slim with an aloofness about him. His straight silky black hair nearly reached his shoulders, he had pulled it back into a half up half down style. None of them seemed too keen to accept my handshake. Just as I started to pull back Lia darted forwards and grabbed my hand, a sly smile played on her face.


    "Yes, hello. Nice to meet you, y''all can call me Rosalia." Her eyes were narrowed as she grinned up at me, it was strange to see Rosalynn’s face… or rather Rosalia''s face with that expression. Despite the fact that her hair was a much shorter bob and their personalities were so different it was still hard to remember they weren''t the same person. I would''ve believed them if they said they were clones that just popped out of some sci-fi growth pod things.


    Noel''s face appeared suddenly between mine and hers, he was always popping up suddenly those days. Especially as he''d leveled up his presence continued to become more and more faint. I''d almost forgotten about him on multiple occasions because of it. Was that because of a skill or was it something that just happened naturally since he was improving as someone with an assassin class?


    "How do y’all feel about having such similar names? What''s it like being a twin after awakening? Did you both get similar abilities or twin telepathy?" Noel started rattling off questions as usual.


    Rosalia was taken aback for a moment, it was interesting to see her fox-like appearance in a shocked and confused state. She took a faltering step back and quickly regained her composure and jumped in before he could continue. "We like it, it''s about the same as before the awakening and no not even kinda."


    "What''re you talking about? You used to hate your name, that''s why you used to go by Lia instead." Rosalynn cocked her head to the side and looked at her sister with a confused expression.


    "That''s not the same as what he asked! I didn''t dislike my name because it was similar to yours or I wouldn''t have gone by Lia when you also were called Lynn! I just thought it was too old fashioned that''s all…" Rosalia blushed slightly as she whined at her sister.


    "Ah so she''s younger…" I muttered to myself. Rosalia whipped towards me, her face reddened even more as she gawked at me, Rosalynn started giggling.


    "Lynn!" Rosalia had fully lost the upper hand she had tried to create. I had mostly Noel to thank for that.


    "I''m sorry Lia, I really don''t know how she figured that out." Rosalynn said with a chuckle.


    I glanced around at the group, the tension had started to alleviate. Suddenly I was keenly aware that I’d overlooked another woman, she was about average height with dirty blonde hair and gray green eyes whose downward tilt made her look tired. When our eyes met she gave me a small, but warm smile which I returned. At least one of their group seems welcoming.


    Strangely enough Theo was even more withdrawn than he had been before. I couldn''t blame him much, the man behind Rosalynn was rather scary and didn’t seem particularly welcoming to Theo even though he was originally part of their group. I considered asking him if there was something wrong, but I felt that he wouldn’t appreciate it. He had always avoided publicly acknowledging things he felt.


    Rosalynn turned around and gestured to the rest of the group introducing them as Damien, Jeong, and finally Tali. Damien continued to look at us coldly while Rosalynn wasn''t looking, but Jeong hadn''t said a word or paid us much attention since we''d arrived. He gave a small disinterested nod when he was introduced, but that was it.


    Tali gave a small smile as she pulled at her sleeves, “It’s nice to see some people who aren’t trying to kill us for once. I can’t believe y’all managed to make it here, you must be strong.” Her voice was quiet and she looked at the ground as she talked; it seemed she was shy despite how much she had to say.


    “Ah, yeah… I guess.” I rubbed at the back of my neck, I wasn’t sure how to talk to her.


    Master, I don''t like these people. Let''s leave.


    When did you get here? Where are you? I asked as I scanned our surroundings for him.


    I just finished hunting and came over, I’m above you. Let’s go home, you told the other humans so it’s time right?


    We can''t leave, we need their help to watch over Caro and Reid… oh and Noel too I guess. Honestly he''d probably be just fine on his own.


    Yeah he can hide if he needs to but I don''t think he''ll level very well alone. I think they’ll take care of them now, so let’s leave.


    Maybe, if he would put some thought into it I think he could level quickly. I mean he was able to gather up so many monsters that first day. If he could''ve created a trap or something he could''ve handled it on his own... Anyways, we need to deal with them for a bit to make sure my party is accepted there, I have to make sure they’ll be alright while we are gone.


    Still… He whined, but I want to go back home with Master too so I guess we can deal with these people for a bit longer.


    I was so happy to have such a good and reliable familiar. I glanced up to see the new additions, or were we the new additions? I pushed the semantics aside, Damien, Tali, and Rosalia were talking quietly among themselves as Jeong stood nearby listening and nodding quietly.


    Rosalynn ran over to their group and slapped Damien and Rosalia on their backs as she hollered, "Alrighty enough of that! Let''s start heading back home!"


    Damien stiffened from the impact but Rosalia ended up nearly falling on her face as she stumbled forwards into Jeong. Or she would have if he didn''t dodge deftly out of her way before she could. She landed unceremoniously with a puff of dust. I imagined that she would normally have a stronger impression especially since she was so confident during our first interaction.


    "Lynn! Stop doing that!! God!" Rosalynn pulled her sister up as she complained. "Whatever! Let''s just head back already!" She turned on her heel and took off in the other direction, a small caucus of laughs resounded as we bounded after her. No one commented on the bright red that donned her ears as she escaped.