An ember of rage lit in the pit of my stomach.

  The bastards!

  I circled the campsite a couple of times before I dared sneak inside. I was truly alone, but that didn't help to quell my anger. I'd left some meat out in case an animal stumbled into the glade—a sort of peace offering to keep them from tearing my camp apart. But this hadn't been an animal. An animal wouldn't have stolen my salt. All of the hard work I'd put into getting that pitiful amount was gone without a trace.

  Clenching my jaw and braving the risk of reopening my wounds, I darted over to the bush with yellow berries and dug through the soft dirt. The antler and leaf-wrapped meat I had yet to cure was also gone.

  "No, no, no!" I muttered and scurried over to the tree. Climbing it made all my wounds flare with pain, but I had more important matters on my mind.

  I reached the branch where I slept and the hole where I kept my most important stuff. Reaching a hand into it, I felt the calming touch of crackling plastic: the tarp. Everything was still there.

  With an exhale, I hugged the tree tight. "Oh thank God."

  I really needed to move now.

  Sure, it didn't have to be the Redeemers who found my camp, but even if it wasn't them, news would reach them soon enough. They were the largest force in the area, and I doubted they let people walk around freely after losing two sentries.

  Quickly packing everything into the bindle Aubrey had made for me, I climbed down the tree as agile as a monkey. I looked around before I left, but just in case the Redeemers had some sort of tracker genius, I walked in the opposite direction of Aubrey's camp. They were a couple hours away, and I was in no rush. Doubling back later would be safer.

  As I traveled, I covered my tracks with a branch, using it to brush over my footsteps. It did nothing about the broken twigs and indentations I left in the patches of grass, but I figured it was better than nothing.

  I'd sent Iron up to scout ahead as usual, but this time he had the extra task of reporting back if he saw any lower level monsters. My progress in the Dungeon had been fast, and most of my Weapon Masteries had increased by a lot, even earning me a few new skills. What worried me, though, was that neither my Summon Familiar nor Summon Armament had made any strides.

  Naturally, Summon Familiar hadn't leveled because Iron didn't participate a whole lot back there, but Summon Armament? I used the skill in practically every fight.

  Not able to wrap my head around it, I'd decided to do some testing, hunting low level monsters with the active help of Iron. It was dangerous, but he was a clever bird, so I trusted he would be able to fend for himself. If my theory was correct, then my weapon mastery leveled faster because I actively used it during fights, meaning that using the skills and spells under more stressful situations would yield a faster rate of growth.

  Maybe the strength of summon weapons didn't need to be versatility when preparing for a fight, but creativity while engaging in it. I rubbed my chin at the thought. I need to come up with some cool combinations.

  Ever since getting my hands on weapons, I'd pretty much thrown my martial arts training out the window to focus on fencing and spearwork. That might not have been the best approach. I'd chosen the sword to better supplement my fighting, not to take over completely.

  The same went for the spear. Gradually, I'd been falling in love with the ability to throw it. It was probably the most versatile tool in my arsenal, not to mention the punch it packed. So far it was unmatched, but I couldn't grow reliant on it.

  For now, the best option was not to lean into a single weapon, but to lean into as many as I could. Sadly, my options were rather limited at the moment. I had a ruined shield, a shortsword, a spear, and the dagger, whose mastery I hadn't even unlocked yet.

  I bent down and pulled it out of the small sheath I kept tucked in one of my boots. It wasn't the most comfortable carry, that was for sure, but it kept the blade hidden and didn't take up any space in my bindle, which was already full.

  Holding it produced no messages. Odd.

  Back near the river, I had only needed to use the bow for me to unlock the mastery skill.

  I cut into the air with the blade, and a trail of blue letters followed.

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  Weapon mastery acquired.

  Knife. LV0.

  "Nice!" I whispered. So using weapons is the key.

  I rolled my shoulder with a wince. It was still sore, and I could feel my skin strain when I stretched the scar out too far. If any of the hunting today was to be done with the knife, then I needed to move frugally. The increased difficulty of my daily grind made me grin as I walked.

  Whistling, I recalled Iron and told him to search more actively for prey. Leaving tracks of a few hunts on my trail would likely only convince potential trackers that I was actually heading this direction. A perfect plan.

  It took a good hour before his squawk cut through the forest. Staying low, I picked up my pace and dropped the branch to the ground. Iron kept chirping, leading me where I needed to go until I spotted a sharp horn sticking out of a bush.

  [Horned Rabbit LV5]

  Last time I didn't get the chance to fight the rabbit. It was high time for a rematch. With a sharp whistle, I caught the rabbit's attention. It turned to me with jerking movements, eyes wide as it jumped out of the bush. I held my hands slightly raised to the sides of my hip in a grappler's stance. In one hand I held my knife, menacingly pointing the sharp tip at the Horned Rabbit as it glared.

  A moment later, it squealed and toppled to its stomach as Iron dive-bombed it from behind. Feathers fluttered into the air, talons clawed, and the rabbit squirmed to get loose, but Iron was surprisingly strong for a bird. Not that it mattered at this point. I wouldn't trust Iron to end the fight on his own; I just wanted him to be more involved.

  Before the rabbit could bounce back to its feet, I pounced inside its range and grabbed its horn, lifting it above ground before stabbing it with my knife. It was a clean kill, merciful even if you discounted the scratches left from Iron's talons.

  Twisting my knife, I bled the rabbit dry on the spot. I figured that if I wanted to leave some tracks, I might as well go all in. Compared to the wolves, the tiny body didn't have a lot of blood, so I didn't have to waste too much time waiting.

  I looped my sword sheath's belt around the horn to tie the rabbit to my hip, then nodded at Iron to find our next prey. He flapped into the sky, and half an hour later he squawked again. Yet another rabbit fell prey to our deadly combination of trickery and numbers.

  Spell up!

  Summon Familiar +1

  Fist pumping and cursing under my breath, I stared at the notification. My hypothesis was right. I was sure of it now. With this, the pieces fell into place as to what my final day and a half of preparation should be filled with: leveling my summoning skills and my Knife Mastery.

  The only problem was that my body still hadn't healed enough to fight hard. I'd have to go slow if I wanted to be in peak condition when the Blood Moon descended.

  At least for now.

  Looking at the sun, which had started to descend, I decided it was about time I started making my way to Aubrey's camp. I tore a branch from a bush and started brushing off my footsteps again. This time I took my time, moving slowly enough to avoid stepping on twigs and the like, and I avoided patches of soft grass, too. Only footing that left no trace was good enough.

  I kept that up for about an hour before I decided that enough was enough. The sun bathed the forest in a golden light. I had two more hours of light left at the most. Normally, that would be disconcerting, but moving when the moon was up actually benefited me more than moving during daytime now. Weird how life changes like that sometimes.

  Without a reason to hurry, I sauntered through the woods at a leisurely pace. After another hour or so we'd hunted two more rabbits, and my belt was starting to get heavy. I tied the fourth rabbit to my belt and confirmed that there just wasn't enough belt to carry any more. Not that I would stop hunting just because of that. Refilling my supply of meat after getting robbed was just a nice bonus. My objective was skill and spell levels, and I wouldn't let a bad conscience get in the way no matter how many bunnies would go to waste.

  After the next hunt, my thirst for progress already showed results.

  Skill up!

  Weapon Mastery: Knife +1

  I grinned. If someone had seen me standing there, covered in blood, rabbits hanging off my belt with a manic grin and a dagger in my hand, I bet they would have run. I wouldn't have blamed them. It was just the logical thing to do.

  Tossing the limp rabbit into a piece of shrubbery, I started walking again.

  I moved erratically through the woods as I looked for more rabbits to hunt. It took me three hours before I finally spotted the river where I'd fallen into the Titan's trial. During that time I leveled my knife mastery once more but didn't quite manage to bridge the gap for Summon Familiar to reach level five. A damn shame, really. I was looking forward to seeing what type of improvement the level would grant me—if any.

  Since it was the only spell I had, I couldn't really base my assumptions on experience. Still, I held out hope.

  I dropped my equipment next to the river and felt a wave of déjà vu wash over me. Shaking it off, I stepped inside the cold stream. Shivers ran up my spine, tingling at my nape. After a while, it was pretty nice. Large stains of red washed away with the streaming water as I scrubbed my clothes.

  When I felt sufficiently clean, I stepped out. My soaked clothes stuck to my skin, heavy with water. It'd be nice to dry them, but seeing as they were all I had, I decided I'd just have to reunite with the others while dripping wet. It was better than doing so naked.

  Grabbing all my equipment and strapping on my weapons and rabbit belt, I took the shortest path back to camp. A few minutes later I saw a fire flicker between the gaps in the trees. Plastering on my nicest smile, I prepared to announce myself when shadows moved on the side of their shelter. Too many shadows.

  I swallowed the greeting and knitted my brow. There was no way the redeemers had made it this far already, right? I backed off, planning to have Iron scout ahead, when I felt the cold of steel press against my skin in between my shoulder blades.

  "Move and you die."

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