After choosing to leave the Montressors' home, I threw myself into my training. Deciding that I was wasting time at school with students who wouldn’t be able to become enhanced for several years, I used my first paycheck on GED study materials and a private tutor. Thanks to my past lives I was able to catch up quickly and attained my GED after only a few months of hard work. Although learning up to 12th grade English with all of its grammar rules, weird spellings, and inconsistent pronunciation was one of the hardest and mind-numbing things I had ever done throughout all of my ten lives. Gail was shocked to hear that I’d decided to skip public school, but she supported my decision and I began training with her clearing team in earnest. 

Unlike most enhanceds who were assigned to a specific clearing team, Director Jerome had given me a roving position. Essentially, once a dungeon appeared and was scouted (usually by an enhanced that had some sort of camouflage or stealth ability) if the clearing team assigned felt like they needed some extra defensive options they would call in a request for me. 

She did this mainly to keep my identity hidden. The world was becoming more invested in the mysterious black portals and the super-human Enhanced that were defeating the monsters lurking on the other side of them. This meant that certain media and news channels were beginning to cover news about the dungeons and it had become popular to interview key members of the clearing teams. Since the government didn’t want to promote that a minor was being thrust into life-threatening situations on a daily basis, even if it was my choice to do so. Not listing me as a member of a clearing team and having me travel around kept me out of the limelight.  

There were pros and cons to this arrangement. I was almost constantly traveling across the country which made having any sense of “normalcy” practically nonexistent. However, the minor inconveniences of the frequent travel and lack of sleep were easily made up for with all of the experience I was gaining by participating in an incredibly diverse range of dungeons. Not to mention getting to go into dungeons so frequently meant that I was almost always full of mana which made my body much more efficient and healthy. 

Pulling my baseball cap down a little further, I disembarked from the plane and weaved my way through the crowded Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. It was filled with people here for both business and pleasure, but I’d bet that a vast majority of these people were coming to visit Yellowstone National Park, as I was. Unfortunately, I wasn’t here to see Old Faithful’s impressive spout or a herd of bison. I’d been called in to play a crucial role in the dungeon clearing of a gate that opened over the Grand Prismatic Spring, which was the largest sulfur pool found in the park.

Spotting a sign with my name being held by a man in a suit, I walked over and greeted the EA (Enhanced Association) agent. A familiar look of surprise crossed his face as he realized that I really was just a kid, but he didn’t make a comment before leading me to his car. He briefed me on the situation and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. 

Apparently, the gate this time seemed to lead to a dungeon that had an active volcano in it. Most of the terrain was covered in ever-flowing lava with very few places for our human enhanceds to stand on. The heat was described as “ungodly” and the original scout that went through the gate came back with major burns. Because of the inhumane conditions, someone who heard about my floating discs of mana suggested that I come in and hopefully provide a stable surface that wasn’t a gazillion degrees for them to fight on.  

“You’ll need to change into a heat-resistant suit when we get to the site. You will be taking your orders from Helen Childer, the leader of the Montana clearing team,” my escort agent explained as we made our way through the picturesque national park. 

A distinctly unpleasant smell reminiscent of rotten eggs signaled that we were getting closer to the sulfur pools. Even in the car, the smell was obnoxious and I tried not to show my displeasure. A temporary camp had been set up on the edge of the sulfur pool and after I’d slipped into a heat-resistant suit that had somehow been improved by using mana crystals, I couldn’t help but take a moment to admire the beauty of the landmark in front of me. The sulfur pool was huge with a ring of orange rock surrounding the pool which turned into a stark yellow color on the very edge of the water, then bled into green until the middle of the steaming pool was left a crystalline blue that seemed too stark to be real. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a woman’s voice came from behind me. Turning to glance over my shoulder, I recognized the tall figure with brown hair pulled back in a harsh bun as the leader of the clearing time. 

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” I admitted, reflecting on the many beautiful and wondrous things I’d seen throughout my ten lives. With the stench I couldn’t really call the sulfur pool one of my favorite natural landmarks, but it was definitely unique.

“Just don’t try to touch the water. The steam coming off it should serve as a hint, but the water is 160 degrees Fahrenheit. So unless you want to know what it’s like to be a boiled lobster I’d stay far away,” Helen warned me firmly. 

I blinked, wondering if she really thought I was dumb enough to treat a sulfur pool like a normal hot spring. Realizing she was waiting for a response though I nodded and solemnly said I understood. She then directed me to her team where we went over our plan and introduced me to the rest of the clearing team. Nobody was under the age of 25 on her team. I could feel my shoulders wanting to slump in disappointment, but I forced myself to pay attention to the briefing and not dwell on the fact that I still hadn’t found anyone who could be a candidate for my best friend in this life. 

A few minutes later half of the team piled into a helicopter to reach the center of the 300-foot-wide sulfur pool where the gate was located. I guess that plan was to jump into the gate from the hovering helicopter, which admittedly could get pretty close. But personally, I wasn’t interested in becoming a boiled lobster, so I created my manaboard and surfed through the air and into the gate. 

The heat of the volcanic dungeon nearly bowled me over. Even with the heat-resistant suit, my exposed face felt like it was about to melt and I quickly sent a thin film of mana over my face, only leaving my mouth, nostrils, and eyes exposed. The mana seemed to work well as a shield against the stinging heat but I couldn’t decide whether breathing the hot air through my nose or mouth was preferable. 

Glancing around me I realized that the gate had deposited us in one of the only stretches of bare ground in the vicinity. There were several large rocks that protruded from the river of lava that looked big enough to hold one person at a time, but there was no sign of vegetation or life in general. My lips turned down in a hard frown as I wondered what kind of creatures could even survive in such a harsh environment. 

“We’re going to need more space when the second half of my team gets here,” Helen’s voice interrupted my observations. I glanced over and she flinched, obviously not expecting to see my gold mana-plated face. 

“How big of a space would you like?” I asked her, keeping my tone polite and professional. 

“For now, at least double. Can you do it?” 

Instead of verbally responding, I turned away from her and regarded the edge of the large rocky island we were standing on. The familiar wave of energy slid down my arms and legs and pale gold mana latched onto the edge of our rocky haven and quickly expanded. Soon a ring of textured pale gold mana surrounded our island and created a barrier between us and the lava oozing sluggishly below it. 

Feeling pleased with myself, I took the first test by placing my booted foot on the surface I’d created. I could see the glow of the flowing lava under my mana platform, but I didn’t register any added heat from my boot. With a confident nod, I walked all the way to the edge of our expanded safe zone and then turned around and gave Helen a thumbs up. 

“It looks like it worked, Miss Helen,” I called out to her. She nodded slowly and took a cautious step onto my mana surface. A brief look of relief washed over her face before she walked over to me and gave me an appreciative smile. 

“Thank you, Teagen. Once the rest of my team gets here we’ll have to start exploring. There’s been no sighting of monsters anywhere nearby, so we’ll be relying on you to give us a road to get around on,” Helen stated while vigilantly observing her surroundings. 

I nodded in understanding. It didn’t take long for the other half of her team to join us and under Helen’s command, we started exploring. I had considered making a large mana platform to move us all, but I’d never lifted so many people at once and I didn’t think a river of lava was a great place to be experimenting with my powers, so instead I just created a bridge of mana that was wide enough for three people to walk side by side. 

Everyone was on high alert, waiting to see what kind of monsters we would encounter in this uninhabitable place. We’d been walking for 30 minutes before I registered a noise that didn’t sound like the bubbling molten rock beneath us. Both Helen and I stopped in our tracks, having heard the same thing. We slowly turned to our left where one of the rare boulders jutting from the lava flow was stretching out as if desperately trying to escape from the heat. 

The low growl I’d heard sounded again. It was difficult to distinguish it from the grumble and bubbles of the flowing magma, but when Helen stiffened I knew she’d heard it too. I immediately picture my tried-and-true shield which fitted onto my arm as naturally as a glove. 

Noticing our reaction, the rest of the clearing team also tensed up, looking around and getting their weapons ready. The low growl slowly quieted and I saw something leap from the sheltered side of the rock to another. It bounded across the rocks so fast it appeared to be a black blur and I couldn’t tell exactly what it was. 

“Seems like it didn’t like its odds,” Helen mused aloud with a hard frown. 

“Do you think it was a scout?” one of the team members asked from behind us. 

Helen didn’t answer and nobody else volunteered an opinion either. Monsters that were intelligent enough to send scouts spelled trouble and I was sure that everyone was hoping we weren’t dealing with intelligent monsters in a deadly terrain like this.  

After a moment of hesitation, Helen signaled for me to keep going forward. It seemed she preferred to explore the terrain rather than risk chasing after the monster and being led into a trap, which I approved of. The clearing team was subdued, now fully alert and peering at every rock we passed by in case another monster was lurking in its shadow. 

As we rounded what I assumed to be the side of the volcano we were on, I spotted a large outcropping that was splitting the flowing lava in two and leaving whatever was underneath it somewhat protected.  My danger warning spine tingle was working overdrive as we slowly got closer to it and revealed what looked like a gaping hole that cut straight into the volcano. No lava was flowing from the cave though so it seemed like a good place for monsters to make their homebase. 

I glanced up at Helen, who was also observing the cave entrance with narrowed eyes. She turned and moved her rifle from resting against her back so that it was now snuggly in her arms. The rest of her team also got their weapons ready and silently nodded, understanding that we were about to potentially walk into the monster's domain. 

“Stick together. No stupid heroics,” Helen barked out bluntly while giving a pointed side-eye to one of the younger team members. A few chuckles sounded, and the person who was singled out blushed crimson but then nodded firmly. 

At Helen’s direction, I stretched out my mana bridge, connected it to the cave, and then stood to the side. I watched as the whole clearing team walked past me, several of them shooting me grateful smiles. Bringing up the rear, I allowed the mana bridge to dissolve into nothingness as I walked after the team into the darkness.