After Hazel and Nycteris took care of those Orcs, the duo searched for more monsters to hunt. They mostly did this so Hazel could train her Telekinetic Combat a little more, so the experience would get ingrained into her body. They kept this up for at least a couple of hours, searching for monsters and taking them down.

  And they did all of this while individually flying in the sky. Once Hazel’s intelligence and Wisdom increased further, she would be able to fly around without worrying over her depleting mana, so she was basically training for when that day came.

  Although Nycteris didn’t appear to be such a fan of that. Every time they flew around the city, he would occasionally let out a sigh or snort to express his displeasure. Thankfully, Hazel managed to soothe the Nightwing Bat’s worry by promising that she would let him fly her back to the Jetport when they were done. This seemed to have done the trick because his expression lit up with anticipation.

  Hazel couldn’t help but giggle at his bright smile as they soared across the neighborhood of Highlands. While searching for more enemies to attack, Hazel pulled up her Chat Room to see how Astrid was doing with her objective.

  [Hazel Thatcher: How are you doing so far? Any leads?]

  She patiently waited for Astrid’s reply, not in a rush for her answer. A couple of seconds passed before the dark elf sent a response.

  [Astrid Skogr: Nothing so far. Just enemies patrolling their territory.]

  Hazel sighed, realizing that Astrid wasn’t having any luck in finding clues regarding Dolk’s whereabouts. Hopefully, this didn’t put the dark elf in a bad mood. Hazel already had her share of her partner throwing a fit because she wasn’t getting results. The last thing she wanted was for both of them to have another spat like before.

  [Hazel Thatcher: Well, I’m still pretty busy on my hunt, but if you want to return to the Jetport, I could send Nycteris to take you back. Unless you want to walk back to cool your head.]

  Instead of pushing the subject further, it would be best to offer Astrid an alternative since she wasn’t getting any results. Giving her the option to return and rest for the night was the best she could provide for her since Hazel didn’t want to intrude on her business.

  However, Astrid’s next response surprised her a bit.

  [Astrid Skogr: Going back now, while I’m in a bad mood, isn’t good for anyone. I need to blow off some steam. When are you going to fight the spider queen’s swarm?]

  Hazel’s brow arched curiously at the message. “She asked about the spider queen? She must be really frustrated if she wanted to participate in taking down a swarm.”

  It was one thing if Astrid planned to find a couple of monsters and just pour her frustration out on them, but it seemed that she wanted to deal with the swarm to soothe her rage. While Hazel wasn’t against it, she was a bit hesitant since she knew how the dark elf acted when she was frustrated.

  On the other hand, if she didn’t provide Astrid with the appropriate stress relief, then she would likely be forced to deal with it personally. That wasn’t what she wanted at all. If it wasn’t for those Orcs that appeared out of nowhere and attacked them, Hazel and Astrid would’ve been butting heads instead. And it wouldn’t have been pretty.

  Knowing what was at stake, Hazel let out a heavy sigh before sending another message to Astrid.

  [Hazel Thatcher: Well, I haven’t been finding good hunting targets for a good minute, so I guess we could start the fight with the Spider Queen’s swarm. Where are you so Nycteris and I can pick you up?]

  [Astrid Skogr: I’m not all that familiar with this area, especially since your world merged with mine, so you should probably just send some kind of signal to tell me your location.]

  [Hazel Thatcher: Like a flare?]

  [Astrid Skogr: If that is the term you use to signify calling out for help or telling people of your location, then yes.]

  Hazel stifled a laugh before sending one last message.

  [Hazel Thatcher: Alright, one magic flare coming up.]

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  She mentally dismissed the Chat Room panel, then got to work in sending a flare. Using spells like her cursed spears or Mana Bolt likely won’t do the trick. Thankfully, she had just the spell that had the capability of being a magic flare. And that spell was Curse Bomb.

  “If I toss it high enough in the sky and trigger it, the sound and noise should get Astrid’s attention. That and likely anyone else nearby. But hey, if it gets bad, I’ll just flee and we’ll meet up somewhere else.”

  Raising her hand and pointing it at the sky, Hazel conjured a single yet rather large curse bomb. The malicious purple sphere hovered above her palm, just waiting to be ignited. With the help of Telekinesis, she hurled the condensed ball of curse energy into the sky.

  Once she believed it was high enough, she snapped her fingers and triggered the bomb to go off. A loud explosion was then heard throughout all of Highlands and a good majority of Portland. Seeing this display, Hazel slightly regretted making her bomb so big, worried that she would attract a bigger audience than she liked.

  And it seemed that she wasn’t the only one.

  [Astrid Skogr: I saw the explosion, but was making it that big really necessary?]

  [Hazel Thatcher: Yeah, I’m already reflecting on my actions, so there’s no need to worry there.]

  [Astrid Skogr: Alright, then. Just be there and wait for me. I’ll be there shortly. But if any monsters that saw the explosion go there instead, then just leave and we’ll regroup somewhere else.]

  [Hazel Thatcher: Sounds like a plan. I’ll wait for you then.]

  Hazel dismissed the message once again, and with Nycteris at her side, they waited for Astrid to find them. Several minutes passed until the dark elf finally arrived, thus beginning their objective of attacking the spider queen’s swarm.

  Astrid and Hazel both hopped onto Nycteris, and the trio took off into the sky, making their way toward the queen’s detection domain.

  “So, you really had no luck in finding out where Dolk could be?” Hazel asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

  “Sadly, yes,” Astrid grumbled. “That bastard didn’t leave any traces of his presence where I looked. So, he’s hiding his tracks well or...”

  “He likely left Portland, heading back over to your tribe, is that it?”

  Astrid didn’t give a response, for Hazel’s words alone were enough to tell them of the possibility. For all they knew, Dolk had no reason to stay in Portland and simply left to return to their village, where her brother Kollr likely was. Since Kollr was clearly up to something, he might have gone back to help with her brother’s plans, whatever that may be.

  From what Hazel heard from Astrid, Kollr made a deal with the High Elves and was planning something major. Whether that involved Astrid’s village or not remained to be seen. But that didn’t mean her homeland wasn’t in danger as long as her brother was still plotting with those high and mighty bastards.

  The bottom line was that if Dolk wasn’t still in Portland, then he was most likely heading back to the Greyvolk tribe to regroup with Kollr. And Astrid couldn’t afford to let that happen. But much like Hazel, they still had bigger fish to fry, which was the Spider Queen herself.

  The trio zipped through the air like a plane before finally crossing the border of the Queen’s detection, triggering her radar in an instant. Hazel and Astrid then saw a familiar panel fill their vision regarding this action.

  [You are within range of the Spider Queen! The Spider Queen has now sensed your presence and is sending her children to hunt you down!]

  Reading the message, the three of them heard an all too familiar rumbling originating from the center of the Queen’s radar. Using one of her Astral Eyes, Hazel sent it over to the hole that started this whole mess. Making it to the spot, she witnessed hundreds upon thousands of infant spiders crawling out of the massive hole in the ground, forming a black wave as it made its way over in their direction.

  “I can never get used to how fast they are,” Hazel grimaced, feeling disturbed while watching the spiders eerily crawl out of the hole like a pack of rats.

  “Doesn’t matter,’ Astrid declared. “What does matter is that we have to kill them all.” She then pulled out her bow and arrow, looking eager to shoot down the spider army that came their way.

  Instead of saying anything else about that, Hazel simply instructed Nycteris to get over to the spider swarm to begin their fight. Thus, the nightly slaying continued.

  ...

  Several hours passed, and Hazel’s group finally took care of the spider queen’s swarm. They didn’t just finish off the first swarm but also the second and third. The battle was relatively easy in the first and second waves since they had air superiority.

  All Hazel and Astrid did was fire spells and arrows into the swarm, destroying as many as they could. As for Nycteris, he took the role of a bomber plane and circled around the horde of spiders multiple times, allowing his master and her partner to continue shooting at their enemies.

  To make sure Nycteris got his fair share of kills, Hazel would take the role of transport as she carried Astrid via Telekinesis while the Nightwing bat set his fangs on the spider horde. Specifically, the spider sentinels that made their appearance in the second and third waves.

  As for the third wave, it wasn’t much different than the second one. The sentinels and web weavers made their appearance, but the only difference was that there were more of them compared to the second wave. But that was nothing more than a gift to Hazel and her companions since they could gain more XP from killing them.

  And after dealing with all three waves, the trio made a lot of progress. Hazel leveled up three times, making it to Level 27 along with Astrid, and Nycteris had made it to Level 20. If they kept this up for the next two nights or so, they would be able to reach level thirty in no time. At least for Hazel and Astrid.

  With their business with the queen’s swarm finished, the three soon called it a night before returning to the Jetport, using whatever night they had left to rest while they could before any happened the following morning.