Within A Dimensional Gate...

'Why don't I feel sick anymore?

Why don't I look sick anymore?

What do the words that occasionally flash before my eyes mean?'

Vincel almost got lost in his thoughts but he was pulled back to reality by Kleon whose tone had now gone from indifference to intense suspicion.

"Oh please. If he was robbed, they would rob him of his life too. It would be foolish to rob him and not take the chance to finish him off"

There was something about the way Kleon sounded when she said 'finish him off' that sent a chill up Vincel's spine.

"That's enough Kleon. Our meet was only possible because Knowle rushed to get a First kill and prove his improved skill with the bow.

There was no way any of this could have been planned" Aidan said in confidence.

Vincel raised a brow as his eyes went back to Aidan.

'I know I didn't plan this but this man sounds way too sure'

Kleon snorted, folded her arms under her breasts, and looked away from them.

Aidan smiled kindly at Vincel.

"I'm sorry about her. Anyway, we have to get to our reason for being here but before we go, I am ready to answer any questions you might have. Ask away,"

Vincel smiled.

"Thank you so much. First off, what is a 'Gate', and how do I get out of it?"

"Gates are portals that lead into separate dimensions filled with all manner of creatures. The Grade of a Gate depends on the strongest creature within that dimension.

If you want to leave, just go back that way,"

Aidan indicated with his thumb in the direction he and his group came from.

"Try to walk straight ahead and you should be able to see the portal you can use to exit.

I should warn you though, there are many E-Grade beasts inside this dimension. They will surely attack you before you get to the portal.

As you are now, without any memory of what they are or what they are capable of, you will be easy picking for them. Especially since you seem so- ordinary"

"I'm not-" Vincel began to say when a series of messages flashed in front of his eyes.

[Arcane Augmentation deactivated]

[All stats have returned to normal]

[-50 Arcane Mana reserve]

The incredible strength that Vincel had felt, when he was underwater and became capable of breaking the tentacles of death, left him.

He felt normal again. Except, now that he had tasted increased strength, 'normal' now seemed more like 'weaker'.

"Whoa," Vincel said and grabbed his head as he suddenly felt woozy.

"Hey!" Aidan called and grab his arm to stop him from falling backward.

'Not only am I back to normal, I feel more faint than before!'

"This is what I mean. Those E-grade beasts will have you for lunch." Aidan said while shaking his head.

Jilan, the muscular young man, chuckled and said,

"There won't be enough of him to go around"

Knowle and Kleon found the joke funny and laughed. Knowle did it quietly but Kleon did it loudly and spitefully. Even gentle-looking Lea cracked a smile.

"Ignore them," Aidan said.

"It's fine," Vincel said with a smile.

'They are probably right' he added in his mind.

"You should come with us," Aidan said.

Kleon's head snapped in their direction.

"What?"

Aidan turned to face her.

"He can't make it out on his own. I would have suggested that one of us escorted him to the portal but it's dangerous to break up the group."

Kleon raised a brow.

"And it's not dangerous to bring along a liability? He can't fight. How will he fend for himself?"

Aidan smiled as though the answer to her words was obvious.

"He won't have to. We'll protect him"

This time it was not only Kleon who looked outraged.

Knowle and Jilan looked absolutely confused as to why the leader of their group would take responsibility for Vincel the liability.

Lea looked like she was starting to understand why Kleon had been so irritable about Vincel and what his presence meant for their group so she spoke up first.

"Aidan, you can't be serious"

Aidan shook his head.

"I'm dead serious, Lea. I'm not going to just let him die. That would be cruel"

'My goodness. How can someone be so nice?' Vincel thought with a mental shake of his head.

'I'm already breaking up the group and I don't even know anything about them aside from their names.'

"Hey Aidan, you don't have to do that. You've done a lot for me already" Vincel said and gestured to the clothes he had on.

He looked over at Knowle.

"Thanks for the clothes by the way. They feel nice"

Knowle shrugged.

"It's low quality but it provides enough comfort"

"Beats being naked, that's for sure. I'll be on my way now. I don't want to be a burden" Vincel said.

"Nonsense-" Aidan started to say but Vincel was already walking past him, facing the direction they said the exiting gate was.

"Wait!" Lea said suddenly and thrust her hands in his direction.

"Wha-" Vincel started to say but she shushed him,

"Shh. Something is coming" Lea said.

"'Somethings'" Kleon corrected and she pulled a dagger out of God-knows-where.

The best guess would be the small pouch attached to the small of her back.

Vincel could hear it now.

From the Forest.

The sounds of steady moving paws against the soft grass-padded ground of the forest.

They came out slowly, their red eyes glinting in stark contrast to their black fur.

'Wolves!'

It was like with the so-called Unan -the jellyfish-looking thing that almost killed Vincel before-, although he recognized the creatures as Wolves, they had a feature that he had never seen any wolves have.

'Since when did wolves have horns?'

There were seven of the wolves and all were sporting horns out of the center of their vicious heads. The horns were constantly releasing a stream of dark vapor that made them seem even more ominous.

"Grim Wolves!" Knowle announced and raised his bow.

"Get into formation!"

Aidan yelled and no matter what the rest of his group might have been thinking before, they all put it aside in the face of the current threat.

They didn't move closer together but they did get more organized while they held up their weapons. All except Lea.

Jilan pulled a massive metal club out of the pouch he had attached to his hip, Aidan unsheathed his sword but Lea just thrust her palms forward in front of her.

"Vincel, get behind me!" Aidan said as the Grim wolves stalked closer to their group.

Vincel did not think twice about it but he had only taken one step when one of the wolves pounced at him.

A three-foot-tall horned wolf with vicious fangs was scary enough but everything got even worse when it landed on a shadow cast by one of the many trees around and promptly vanished.

Vincel's eyes widened.

'What the-?"

*Grooooowwwl*

The sound came from behind him. Specifically, it came from his shadow.

The wolf he saw vanish emerged from his shadow with its wicked sharp fangs ready to take a massive bite.

*Wham!*

Before the wolf could make contact, it was slammed aside by a massive column of water.

Grateful to have been saved, Vincel's eyes went over to Lea who had her palms thrust in his direction and there was a blue circle in front of them. The circle contained weird symbols Vincel could not read.

"Get behind me!" Aidan yelled to Vincel again while he stepped forward and slashed his sword at the wolf Lea just slammed aside with a water column.

The wolf melted into the shadow of another tree and escaped before the sword could make contact.

"Blasted things!" Aidan cursed just as Vincel arrived at his side.

The Grim wolf returned to its fellows who all tensed their muscles in preparation to spring as a team.

"Here they come," Aidan said and gripped his sword even more tightly.

Immediately after he did, the pack of wolves leaped at them.