After drinking her morning coffee, Hazel and Astrid tried to preoccupy themselves before they headed out to deal with the swarm with Zoe and the other players. Hazel thought about returning to the roof to practice her telekinesis, but decided to change things up a bit. So, she headed to the village to see how things were progressing.

Since the entire Airfield could be used as a settlement, Hazel was curious about their current progress with the village that was already established within the field. Surprisingly enough, Astrid decided to join her, clearly having nothing else better to do.

So, making their decision, the player pair left the Jetport building and made their way over to the village. A hint of curiosity and excitement filled Hazel as she was eager to take a look at the settlement again. The last time she and Astrid came to the village was when those invaders from before terrorized the Valiant guild's territory, like the Jetport building and the village.

Then they were given a brief tour of the place by Kane and Anais. Back then, the village wasn't all that developed, and Hazel didn't expect the place to experience a lot of progress after two to three days. Though she could be wrong since they now had the system at their disposal.

People were able to become stronger and faster, and were given special powers like magic. If it were her old world, Hazel figured that it would take several days for the village to be properly established. And that was without their technological equipment, like woodcutters, excavators, and so on.

However, this was only because they were making a village using primitive materials. They weren't trying to make skyscrapers for modern-day apartment settlements. They were essentially making highly advanced bush-craft-level homes to live in.

Walking through the forest, Hazel and Astrid slowly made their way to the village. As they did, several players walked past them, either carrying wood or other materials. It seemed that they were gathering supplies to bring back to the settlement.

After a bit more walking, the pair soon made it to their destination, approaching the entrance to the settlement. They were greeted with multiple wooden buildings, some of which were already built before Zoe and the others discovered it. Hazel looked around and noticed that some of the buildings that were previously destroyed or damaged by the invaders were now restored.

Not only that, but there were now a few more houses built compared to her last visit. That meant that these players were hard at work in developing this place.

"This place is really starting to come up, huh?" Hazel smiled.

"It looks that way," Astrid noted. "I can tell that they're certainly dedicated to their work."

"Well, considering their current population, they need this place up and running so they don't run out of space."

As the pair talked, they walked around the settlement, taking in the scenery displayed before them. Much like the Jetport building, the village was a lot more crowded than before, with more people running around the area either exploring, helping out with making the houses, or searching for someone or something.

The constant hustle and bustle were beginning to get to Hazel. Although she wasn't claustrophobic or nervous about crowds, she did feel a bit uncomfortable around so many people. She didn't know why, but she was beginning to feel the urge to leave the village to come back another time. If there was one.

"Maybe we should just explore the forest around us instead," Hazel recommended, doing her best to hide her unease.

"Surveying the forest would certainly be a change of pace. Besides, this place is becoming far too crowded for me," Astrid stated while glancing at Hazel.

She nervously laughed at the dark elf's statement. "Then we should probably check it out, then." She hastened her pace, walking a little ahead of Astrid, clearly trying to play it cool and not let her partner know about her unease. Even if she already suspected it from her previous gesture.

The pair strolled over to the edge of the village, ready to emerge into the forest for a little scenic walk. However, just as Hazel's foot crossed over the border between the settlement and the wilderness, a voice called out to them, causing her to stop in her tracks.

"Hazel, Astrid," A familiar voice announced their names.

Turning around, both of them saw Anais and Kane standing behind them as if they were looking for them. And it didn't take long for them to know why.

"What's going on?" Hazel questioned.

"Zoe called in another meeting," Anais explained. "She said that we needed to go through our plan for the fourth stage. More specifically, we need to go through a new plan for this stage and the next."

"A new plan...?" Hazel leaned her head curiously.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Anais nodded. "We need to go now. Zoe said we're on the clock and she was planning to have us prepare to depart before the fourth stage begins, allowing us to get a head start on our preparations."

She and Kane then turned around to leave, heading back to the Jetport where their meeting was going to take place. Hazel and Astrid looked at one another before they followed behind the pair, wanting to know more about Zoe's plan.

Putting their forest exploration on hold, the four players strolled out of the airfield and made their way toward the Jetport building. A little while passed until all of them made it inside the building and went up to the third floor, where Zoe was waiting for them. The knight stood with John and, to Hazel's surprise, Evelyn.

Hazel's mom soon spotted her before giving her daughter a kind and gentle smile. "Hello, Hazel."

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

"I will be explaining that shortly," Zoe interjected in a calm voice. "Before that, we need to talk about our current situation with the fourth stage."

Before the knight continued, she allowed Hazel and the rest of the players who joined her to join the group meeting, forming a circle as they faced one another. This officially started the meeting, and Zoe soon continued her previous statement.

"As you all know, once the fourth stage of the spider queen's curse initiates, her range will increase. And after doing some measurements, we realized that when the fourth stage is initiated, a small portion of our base will be caught in her range."

While Hazel didn't do the math herself, she was certain that what Zoe had stated was true. The spider queen's range was getting bigger and bigger as time moved on. It started at five hundred meters, then a thousand, then two thousand. Noticing the pattern, Hazel deduced that her next range would be around a four-thousand-meter radius. That practically engulfed a good majority of Portland and then some.

"So, are you suggesting that we move out before the fourth stage begins?" Hazel questioned.

Zoe nodded. "If we leave after the fourth stage is triggered, we won't be far enough from our base when we face the swarm. And because the swarm is getting stronger and smarter, I'd rather not risk our members who aren't involved getting caught in the crossfire."

"Not only that," John chimed in. "But we won't have enough time to properly set up defenses for the horde, so using our base as a fortress against the spider swarm wasn't going to work."

That made sense. Because the range of the spider queen would reach part of the Valiant Guild's territory, there was a chance that they could trigger the queen's detection and essentially put their base at risk. And that wasn't something that they could allow to happen because of how unprepared they were in terms of their territory's defenses.

So, the solution to this was simple. Gather all the players who were going to participate in the swarm extermination and leave before the fourth stage began. Hazel couldn't see another way, so she had no objections to this plan.

However, what was announced next made Hazel object in an instant.

"And since the fourth stage was underway, I was planning to bring in more support to aid us in the battle," Zoe explained. "Which is why we're bringing Evelyn and her team of clerics to the battle."

"What...?!" Hazel exclaimed, displaying her shock and protest.

"I understand how this might upset you, Hazel," Zoe began. "But because of the stakes, we can't afford to lose any more players. And Evelyn's team is our best shot at all of us surviving this wave."

Hazel understood Zoe's side. It was rational, practical, and above all else, the best course of action. And yet, she couldn't help but object to this.

"You can take my mom's team with you, but I think we should at least leave my mom here."

Zoe shook her head. "We can't. Out of all of the clerics, your mom was the best healer. Especially since it's her evolved class. Her entire profession was healing people. With her by our side, we'll be able to deal with this swarm much better."

"I understand that, but...!"

"Hazel," Evelyn called out to her daughter, immediately catching her attention. "You have every right to be upset by this, but you should, I could've easily objected to you joining Zoe and the others, you know?"

Hazel bit her lip in response as if struggling to come up with a retort. She was actually a bit curious about why her mom had been so...lenient with her ever since they reunited. If it were the old Evelyn, as soon as she spotted Hazel, she wouldn't let her daughter out of her sight for even a moment. And yet...she hasn't been acting so overprotective and clinging.

"Well, I mean, I joined them because I was cursed too, you know? I couldn't just sit back and let Zoe and the others do it on their own."

"And what makes what I'm doing any different than what you did?" Evelyn questioned. "You think I can sit back and watch you go out there to face a horde of spiders?"

"W-well, I have Zoe and the others to help me out, so..."

"As much as I trust Zoe after everything we've been through, there is a limit to how much I can tolerate her putting you in danger," She turned to Zoe with an apologetic look. "No offense, Zoe."

The knight shrugged her shoulders. "None taken. You have every right to voice your complaint when it comes to the well-being of your daughter. The same goes for her worrying over your safety after hearing about me bringing you along with us."

Hazel wanted to say something in retaliation, telling them that they were making a mistake with this. However, Evelyn didn't give her the chance, as if sensing that her daughter was about to say something else in response.

"Listen well, Hazel Blair Thatcher," Evelyn dropped Hazel's full government name, causing the witch to stiffen with fear. "Just as how I didn't utter a single protest when you went out to fight the spiders all those times when you entered the city, I expect you not to object to me joining you in this battle. Do I make myself clear, young lady?"

She stood before her daughter, going into full-on Mom Mode. Hazel knew that if she even attempted to fight back against this, she would lose. Not only that, but she would receive a massive scolding from her mom, and that was the last thing she needed right now.

Unable to do anything, Hazel's head hung low in defeat before her mother. "Alright...you win," She admitted. "I...won't say anything."

As soon as she declared her defeat, Evelyn's lips curled into a soft smile, as if grateful that she received her daughter's permission. Even when she practically held a gun to her head to get that permission in the first place.

And just like that, Evelyn had joined the Spider Extermination team. Hazel could tell that it wasn't going to be easy with this current string of events happening. And the worst part of it was that there wasn't much she could do, except sit back and let it happen.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.