I Was a Loner, but My Class Got Summoned to Another World…

"So you're telling me something's wrong with this place?" Logan asked, arms crossed as he recalled the way the wary ogre had refused to leave the confines of his cave.

The beast had been on the defensive from the start, cautious and tense why the group left the cave. Logan had to explain—twice—that the vampire threat was over, and that his own creatures weren't affiliated with those who once stalked the outside of his cavern.

The ogre finally accepted it, but his thoughts where still heavy through the Empathic Link.

[Yes. Fog is thicker now. Hard to see if you're not used to it. Spirit is becoming strange… need to help… but vampires made it worse. They killed my family.]

Logan's expression tightened.

[Demons tried to take over island. Spirit grew mad. Now… no sun. No trees. No food. Monsters are dying. Only the strongest survive.] Juggernaut added.

It lined up.

The deeper they ventured into the region, the more warped the ecosystem felt. Creatures were either too powerful—or too fragile—to exist in balance. Something had been broken.

"We need to reach the spirit's temple," Logan said. "Can you guide us? I was blessed by the spirit… and now I need to find it, if we're going to stop the demons."

Juggernaut hesitated, then slowly nodded.

[Must enter deep in cave. Spirit is only around temple. Only ancient beasts know path. Will be hard to find… and harder to reach without conflict. Must be prepared. It will take days.]

Logan accepted that.

"We're strong. Don't worry about that," he said, though his mind already began sorting logistics. "What we need now is a way to travel—and I'll need my strongest with me."

That meant Terra and Silis. Both had the size and strength to traverse underground terrain and brute-force their way through if needed.

Flying creatures like Gaia or Stormwing wouldn't be practical here. The fog covering the sky was too thick, the tunnels too narrow. He'd have to leave them to guard the newly constructed fort—along with several others.

After gathering the information he needed from Juggernaut and his newer creatures, Logan called the others together. Silvia stood near the entrance of the cave, arms loosely crossed, already sensing what was coming.

"Sorry, Silv," Logan said. "But we're going to need Terra and Silis. With them, we can push through the terrain and actually find the temple. We'll also move faster."

Silvia shrugged, nonchalant as ever. "It's not a bad thing. I'll get a little tired, sure, but if that's my role here, I'll do it."

She turned her gaze back toward the fog-choked forest.

"But… let's return to the fort first. If we activate a teleportation array out here, we could attract the wrong kind of attention. That energy spike might bring monsters to us—and then we'd be fighting just to leave."

Logan nodded in agreement.

She was right.

"Thanks, Silv. And yeah, let's head back. It's almost four—we've got two hours left before the day ends," Logan said, resting a hand on her shoulder and gently brushing his fingers along it.

The group gathered themselves, moving away from the cave entrance. Most were already feeling the toll of the day—tired, sore, but safe. There had been no casualties, and those who fought hadn't suffered serious injuries. Even Juggernaut, the only one who had taken real damage, was fully healed thanks to his evolution.

The newly tamed giant had even offered Silvia a ride on his shoulder, a gesture that drew a few amused looks. The massive warrior clearly had a soft spot for her.

Logan, meanwhile, had his mind on something else.

He walked with a calm pace, experimenting with the flow of mana through his body.

"While it's draining," he muttered, "I think I can maintain Scorch's shadow for half a day and only burn through a third of my mana... How about you, Vic?"

Victor, the shadow enthusiast, grinned as he shifted in and out of the shadows like a flicker of smoke.

[I can't pull that off,] he admitted. [I don't have your mana pool. I'm built more like an assassin—hit fast, get out faster. I usually use ten shadows at most. Just enough to kill something... and then I slip in for the final blow.]

Victor was currently riding inside the shadow of the large creatures while moving from one to the other.

Within the hour, they reached the fort by the beach.

Scorch was there to greet them with a thunderous roar, standing tall over a half-devoured carcass. The prey was large—reptilian, with a sail running down its back.

Logan stared at it with a mix of awe and disappointment.

Would've loved to see that fight... he thought. It probably looked like something straight out of that dinosaur movie—the one where a T-Rex went up against that huge red rival. It hadn't gone well for the youngling in that scene.

But Scorch?

Scorch was in a league of his own.

Logan could already imagine the thunderous clash—the ground shaking, roars echoing across the island, flashes of fire and teeth.

Too bad I missed it.

Logan made his way into the camp, ready to teleport back with Silvia. He hadn't seen Silis or Terra since they'd evolved—and while part of him was curious, he wanted to wait for the right moment to see their new forms properly.

Silvia was already waiting at the teleportation array, hands aglow with faint runes as she stabilized the portal. She looked up as he approached.

"Ready?" she asked. "We'll probably have to do this outside of Highrule. I doubt they can fit inside the city anymore without causing a scene."

She wasn't exaggerating.

Silis, in particular, had already required new construction facilities. Silvia had helped with that herself—she had seen the new form firsthand, and was genuinely excited to see Logan's reaction.

"Alright," Logan nodded. "Let's head to the Earthen Biome. I want to give it a quick inspection anyway."

Silvia tilted her head slightly. "I don't think you'll find many monsters left there. Most of them migrated to the Earthen Temple. The mana there is helping them grow stronger."

She paused, then added with a smirk, "Only the ants stayed behind... well, them and Silis."

"Oh. Right." Logan exhaled, then smiled. "Well, let's see who we can find there then."