For the first time in what felt like forever, Nox woke up and didn't feel like he'd been run over by a truck. Actually, he felt… decent? Yeah, decent was the word. Way better than he had in days. That whole mana-overload-almost-dying thing, as terrible as it was, must have kickstarted something inside him.

He sat up and stretched, a series of pops echoing in the quiet room like a round of tiny firecrackers. Ah, sweet relief.

He glanced over at Serian, who was already sitting on the edge of her bed, her back perfectly straight. She looked like she hadn't slept a damn wink.

"Morning. You, uh, get any sleep?"

She turned just enough for him to see her profile, her expression unreadable. "I am sufficiently rested, Human Nox. We should prepare to depart."

Her voice was flat, totally level, but he wasn't buying it for a second.

'Yeah, right,' he thought, 'and I'm the king of Elvengard.' But hey, if she wanted to play the stoic, unbreakable elf warrior, who was he to argue? He wasn't her therapist.

They got ready in a weirdly tense silence. Nox splashed some water on his face in the closet-sized bathroom—not a shower, but it beat being caked in grime. He still felt gross, but the new clothes were a massive upgrade. Serian just stood by the window, a silent statue staring out at the waking city.

When he was done, he just nodded toward the door. "Alright, let's bounce."

Down the creaky stairs they went, past the same bored-looking dude at the counter. Nox gave him a quick nod, a universal sign for "thanks for not asking questions," and they were back out on the street. Cars were starting to move, a few brave souls were walking around, and the morning air was thick with the smell of dust and damp concrete.

'Almost looks normal,' he thought with a bitter laugh. 'What a freaking joke.' Then another, more pressing thought slammed into him: his wallet was completely, utterly empty. 'Man, I really hope this whole princess-rescuing business has a good dental plan, 'cause I am flat broke.'

They'd walked a block or two, Nox trying to map out a route north that didn't scream "please mug us," when it hit him like a physical punch to the gut.

'Shit. The girls.'

His feet just stopped working. He'd totally told them to meet him at the city center if they could. It wasn't that he'd forgotten, not really, but between the secret elf princess drama and, you know, almost exploding, it had kinda been pushed to the back of the line.

'They're probably freaking out,' he thought, a knot of guilt tightening in his stomach. Or worse, they just figured he was another asshole who'd ditched them.

'Nope. Not gonna happen. I'm not leaving them hanging.'

He stopped dead in his tracks. Serian, who was walking a step behind him, almost cannonballed right into his back.

"Is there an issue, Human Nox?" Her hand drifted towards her hip, probably where she kept something sharp and pointy.

"Yeah, uh, slight change of plans." He turned to face her, rubbing the back of his neck. "We gotta make a quick detour. I need to go pick some people up."

Her expression was a total blank slate. "Other allies of yours?"

"Something like that. They're… friends, I guess? From the school. We were supposed to meet up."

She mulled that over for a second, her gaze distant. "This detour," she finally asked, "will it significantly delay our journey north?"

"Nah, shouldn't be too bad. City center's not that far off our path, we can swing by, grab them, and be on our way." He really, really hoped they were there. 'What if they couldn't make it? Or what if they got into trouble on the way?'

He hated that thought. He wasn't about to be the kind of guy who makes a promise and then just vanishes. The world had enough of those already.

"Very well." Her pointy ears, which she hadn't bothered to hide this morning, twitched. "Lead the way, Human Nox. I will accompany you."

'Huh. She doesn't seem too mad about it,' he thought. 'Guess as long as she gets to her magic elf treehouse, she doesn't care who's in the carpool.' He still couldn't shake the feeling she saw him less as an ally and more as a temporary, slightly-more-useful-than-a-rock bodyguard. 'Probably the second one.'

"Alright," he shrugged. "City center it is."

He turned and started walking in the new direction, Serian falling into step beside him. She was as quiet as ever, but he could feel her eyes on him from time to time, and he couldn't help but wonder what was going on in that pointy-eared head of hers.

'Just hope the girls are okay,' he thought again, the feeling of concern still there, still weirdly unfamiliar. He wasn't used to this, worrying about other people. He pushed it down. They were tough. They'd be fine.

They were maybe halfway to the city center when Serian's hand shot out and clamped onto his arm, stopping him dead. Her touch was light but firm as steel.

"Whoa, what's up?" He looked at her, then around at the trashed street. Nothing but rubble and shadows.

"Human Nox," her voice was a low, urgent whisper. "We are being watched."

He squinted, scanning the ruined storefronts and piles of debris. "Watched? By who?" He saw zip. Nada. 'That must be some of that fancy elf-sense stuff.'

"You sure? I don't see anything."

She didn't even look at him, her eyes darting between the broken buildings. "I am certain. I have felt it since yesterday, when we were in the safe zone. It was faint then, a mere whisper on the edge of my senses, so I dismissed it. But now… now it is much stronger. And closer."

Okay, that sent a chill down his spine. Someone had been tailing them for a full day. 'Crap.'

'If they're hiding, maybe the Appraise skill can pick them up,' he thought. It was a long shot, but what the hell. He focused on the area Serian seemed most concerned about, a particularly dark, busted-up alleyway, and mentally triggered the skill. [Appraise]

A familiar blue box popped into view.

[Appraise Error: Target Level Exceeds User Level by Significant Margin. Information Restricted.]

'Well, damn.' Same error as with Serian, which meant one thing: whoever was out there was strong. But it also meant Serian was dead right. There was a target.

He leaned in close to her. "You were right," he whispered. "Someone's definitely out there. And they're way out of my league, level-wise."

Her eyes narrowed into slits.

Okay, no time to panic. Time to improvise. His eyes scanned the ground and landed on a fist-sized chunk of concrete. Perfect. He scooped it up, the rough surface digging into his palm.

'Alright, if they want to play hide-and-seek, let's see how they like it when the seeker has a cannon.'

He remembered that weird, electric feeling of mana he'd pushed into his own muscles. 'I wonder… can I push it into this rock?'

He gripped the stone, closed his eyes for a split second, and focused, trying to channel that same energy from his core, down his arm, and into the object. It was a bizarre sensation, like trying to pour water into a sponge with his mind. For a second, nothing. Then—thrum. A faint vibration ran through the rock, a subtle hum that made it feel… heavier. Denser. Alive.

'Holy shit, it worked.'

No time to celebrate. He locked onto the spot where he'd aimed his Appraise, where the creepy feeling was strongest. He took a deep breath, wound up like a big-league pitcher, and hurled the rock with everything he had.

The concrete chunk flew, not just fast, but with an unnatural, vicious speed. It didn't just hit the wall of the collapsed building—it detonated.

CRACK-BOOM!

A spray of dust and concrete shrapnel exploded outwards, way, way louder than any normal rock should have been.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then, from the newly-formed hole in the wall, they heard it.

A sharp, muffled yelp of pain.

'Got you, you son of a bitch,' Nox thought, a wolfish grin spreading across his face.