The group turned to him.

  "What do you mean, wrong?" Penny asked.

  "The storms are coming from different directions. They might still be from the Queen, but she's not over there," he said, pointing in the direction they'd been going. "Or there," he continued, pointing left, "or there," pointing from where they'd come."

  Lucy shifted her weight from left to right, shaking her head. "Where, then?"

  Luke nodded to the ground. "From there."

  Hannah groaned. "Yeah. They're ants. Of course, they're coming from underground. Even the Hivelings came up from the sand. So stupid."

  "I'm a genius," Luke said, nodding as if he'd unearthed some important secret.

  "That means we have to go below ground, doesn't it?" Penny asked. "I don't really feel all that eager to go into another cave."

  Lucy kicked at the ground, throwing a small shower of sand against Luke's robe. "How would we go about that? You can't swim in sand. Or, you know, breathe."

  "There will be a cave about," Mateo said, mimicking Luke's nod and crossing his arms. "We must find the entrance."

  Penny shuddered. "Down into a hive of ants."

  "We'll start heading back toward the portal," Luke decided. "Penny, do you mind searching for a cave or something where we can head down?"

  "Yeah, yeah," Penny muttered, taking to the air.

  They almost made it all the way back before Penny got back to them to confirm she'd found what they were looking for. Soon enough, they stood in front of the narrow opening of a cave entrance. Wind whipped sand into the small hole as they stood around.

  "It's small," Lucy said.

  Mateo nodded. "A tight fit indeed."

  Penny looked like they'd just insulted her scouting skills. "It's all there is, alright?"

  "I'll check it out," Hannah said. Before anyone had a chance to say something, her shadow touched the opening, and she disappeared into it, her Archon robe untouched by both wind and movement. A moment later, she returned. "It's larger once you get deeper."

  Penny shuddered again, hugging herself. "Am I the only one who isn't thrilled to go underground into a literal army of ants?"

  "This is not how I imagined my last time inside a dungeon, but sometimes the field of battle is chosen for us." With those words, Mateo leapt into the hole and disappeared.

  "That stupid bastard is going to get himself killed!" Penny barked, following right behind.

  Hannah shrugged and went back in, leaving Luke and Lucy alone.

  "After you," he said, gesturing to the hole.

  She shook her head. "Nah, I'm good."

  "You're staying?"

  "Yep. All this talk of someone dying when the four of you are old pals and higher level than me? If we're talking death flags, then I'm obviously the red shirt in this scenario. Wouldn't that be a nice little twist?"

  "A twist to what?"

  "I'm not going," she said.

  Luke shrugged. "No one is forcing you. Could you direct people over here if Integrated start coming in?"

  "Sure," she said, reaching her hand out.

  He clasped it. "Thanks."

  "Be careful down there and make sure they all come back."

  "I'll do my best," Luke said, turning away from her.

  He got down to sit with his feet dangling into the hole, then waved without looking back. "See you, Lucy."

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  The fall was quite a bit longer than he'd anticipated, and he landed on hard rock with a thud. Coming to his feet, Luke saw that the tunnel was indeed larger than it'd appeared from the outside. The roof of what was more a cavern than a tunnel was twice as tall as he was, and it was wide enough to fit a highway. Lines of some blueish, glowing material that looked to be part of the rock walls and ceiling gave enough light to see by. It was beautiful.

  "Whoa," he said, the one word echoing on the bare stone walls.

  "We've got a welcoming committee," Penny said, pointing deeper into the cave.

  Hiveling. Level 15.

  Hiveling. Level 15.

  Hiveling. Level 15.

  Hiveling. Level 15.

  Hiveling Soldier. Level 17.

  Hiveling Charger. Level 16.

  Hiveling Minder. Level 19.

  "Some of those are pretty high level," Hannah said.

  Luke pointed to the Minder. It was a little larger than the others, and its carapace looked pale in comparison to the others' more brownish coloring. "That one is casting a spell." Even from that distance, he could discern its purpose. "It's an earth spell, or stone. We should rush them."

  "Say no more, my brother!" Mateo shouted as he set off alone, charging straight toward the large group of ants.

  "Oh my, he rushed in alone. Who could ever have seen this coming?" Penny said in mock surprise before taking to the air to fly at high speed along the ceiling. Indistinct words boomed from her, echoing against the walls, and lightning slammed into the middle of the group of monsters before Mateo reached them.

  The stone beneath Luke and Hannah's feet parted, an effect from the Minder's spell, so they set off running too. Well, Hannah disappeared into a shadow, leaving Luke alone to catch up.

  Mateo slid past the Charger and the Soldier with ease, pierced a Hiveling and then reached the Minder, skewering it on his spear from its face all the way out through its back, killing it with a single attack.

  Lightning slammed down again and again, each bolt exploding a Hiveling. The Soldier ant survived being hit by the spell for just long enough that Hannah reached it and tore it apart with her writhing shadows.

  Luke... Well, Luke sauntered up and didn't do much of anything, since the others had it handled. It was over in less than two minutes, and the group didn't suffer a single injury.

  Laughter boomed from Mateo, who raised his arms over his head, shaking his spear. "Yes! This is it! Life surges through me!"

  "If by surges through you, you mean you didn't die, then yeah, you're welcome," Penny said, setting down on the ground. Sweat streaked her face, and she was out of breath. It was clear to anyone that she'd used up a good bit of her mana.

  "C'mere," Luke said to her.

  She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

  He waved her over and then extended a thread of mana. Giving mana was just as simple as taking it, and while she was a caster, her pool was still much smaller than his. Once topped up, she looked a little more relaxed.

  "Whoa, thanks."

  "Don't mention it."

  "No good loot," Hannah said, taking the Soldier's corpse into her inventory.

  "Maybe in the next group," Luke said, nodding deeper into the tunnel.

  "There he goes again," Penny said before letting out a frustrated growl at Mateo rushing off to the next group of monsters.

  This one didn't pose much of a problem either, but Mateo's thigh got sliced open almost all the way to the bone, prompting Luke to get involved and kill the remaining ants and patch his friend up. The ants were attack-focused and most died with a single blow, but if they got hold of you, their little mandibles dug in deep.

  "Thank you, my friend," Mateo said, resting with his back up against a boulder while the women looted the dead monsters. "That last one snuck up on me, but I leveled up again."

  "Penny is getting pretty angry with you, Mateo," Luke said, hunching down in front of Mateo. "Leveling up isn't as important as getting home."

  Mateo broke eye contact at that and looked down at his ichor-covered hands resting in his lap.

  "What? You don't want to go back home?"

  His face shot back up. "Of course! I wish for nothing more than to return to my family!"

  "So, what's going on with you?"

  It took the lancer a little while to gather himself enough to speak, and when he did so, it was with a fair bit of apprehension, like he was betraying someone's trust just by uttering the words. "I made a vow to my beloved that touching the orb would not be a hindrance to my professional pursuits, you see. A man must provide for his family."

  Luke nodded. "But it was a hindrance."

  "It became so, yes." Mateo put his open palm against his chest and leaned forward a little, eyes blazing with life. "You feel it, don't you?"

  "What?"

  "The fire," Mateo said. "In here. It's so hot, blazing with life. With power. Tell me you feel it."

  Luke met his friend's gaze and nodded. "I feel it."

  "I cannot break my solemn vow, but I don't know how to give this up. Despite all I have, it is like I have walked through life half-asleep and blind to the beauty of the world. Until I touched the orb. Now, it's vibrant. It sings to me! Life burns with passion! Did you know I began writing poetry only when I became like this? Before I found myself in this class. Words of glory whisper on the wind!" He fell silent for a while, as if ashamed. "My passion was my family, IS my family, but now it's more."

  "Loving something else doesn't diminish what you have with your family," Luke said, offering Mateo his hand.

  Mateo took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "But I must give one love up for the other."

  "Maybe not," Luke said. "Have you talked to your wife about this?"

  "No, how could I? She is a miraculous woman, but she does not understand what we've become. What it means."

  Luke couldn't help but chuckle. "She's married to you, man. I'm pretty sure she understands passion."

  "You think she would understand?" Mateo asked, looking up with wide, thoughtful eyes.

  "I think you have to talk to her."

  He swallowed hard. "You're right, hermano. I will tell her how I feel."

  Penny waved. "Hey, guys? More ants coming. There's a big one with them."

  "First, let's get to the Queen," Luke said with a grin.

  Mateo straightened and looked off into the distance, to where an even larger group of ants approached, one tower over all the other monsters.

  "Yes, my friend," Mateo said. "Let us find this Queen and show her our passion!"