Kesteryxx was not a happy Nivex. The second tier was almost three quarters of the way finished and it was critical to get his chosen as strong as possible. Whatever challenges they would face in the next tier, they would also be encountering the citizens from the other planets.

  It would be unthinkable to show any weakness to their newfound enemies. Kesteryxx himself had gained five classes and had already upgraded three of them to opal. His seeker class had even upgraded to an elite opal class, Zealot.

  The dungeon he now stood in front of, had provided him with another opal stone. That one was only uncommon, but it was an upgrade to his guardian class. He would have preferred another rare or even epic class, but his constitution based class was not that important to him, so Defender was good enough.

  The Nivex had long combined might and magic, but Kesteryxx had always found the magic more important. It had served him well when he had entered this dungeon himself. He had been recruited into a large battle between two opposing Armies. Upon entering the headquarters of the one side, he had been placed in a battery of mages. The rest of his party had been included as well.

  Their task was to provide fire power to support the large unit of warriors they had escorted. After a long march to find their opponent, the heavily armored warriors closed ranks and engaged with the enemy. Kesteryxx and his group were supposed to rain destruction on them while they were engaged with the melee types and unable to properly defend.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It hadn’t taken long for his unit to devastate the rear of their opponent, who was then forced to withdraw. Kesteryxx himself had killed several fighters with his large fireballs and magical missiles. It was possible he had also hit a few of his own side’s warriors, but such was the vicissitudes of battle.

  At the conclusion of the engagement, he received his quest reward and was even given access to an Army Array. His rank wasn’t high enough to create one himself yet, but if the insectoid leader could level it up, it would allow the Nivex to easily dominate their opponents.

  None of this was the problem causing his poor mood. His own performance was only the success that was expected of all Nivex. What was upsetting him so, was that his two most promising lieutenants had not returned from that same dungeon. They had entered with three mediocre warriors that were there as protection. The three understood that they were to sacrifice themselves to make sure the more promising members returned.

  Instead, Kesteryxx was left standing out here alone. Four hours had already passed. If they were coming out, they should have already done so. As unthinkable as it was, he was forced to conclude they had failed. This Army Array was important, but he had already gained it himself. It would be nice if more of his warriors had it, but was that necessary, was it worth the loss of more of his subordinates?

  It was not an easy choice. He did not want to lose any other of his elite warriors, he would need them in the next tier. But were they really worthy of following him if they fell in so easy a trial?