《Idiot’s Paradox: A LitRPG Apocalyptic Adventure [Book 1 Complete]》 Chapter One: The Snake There was a snake on the dock. Logan didn¡¯t believe in signs. He wasn¡¯t superstitious and he wasn¡¯t especially religious. But he couldn¡¯t deny that on his last day at the cabin, the last day before he had to give up the keys to the realtor¡­ well, a black snake with glittering red eyes that twitched its tail and stared¡­. It was a little odd. It was as if the world wanted to kick him when he was down. Worst week of your life? Here¡¯s one more thing to make it even better! The cabin had been in Logan¡¯s family since his grandparents built it in the 1960s, back when the property prices in the Okanagan had been comparable with any other rural area in the country. There had been garden snakes around since before he could remember, but they were always people shy. You¡¯d get one glance of glittering scales before they slithered under a bush or into a crack in a rock pile. Instead, this one lounged at the base of the dock as if it didn¡¯t have a care in the world. If snakes had eyelids, it would be blinking lazily at him, brazen in its relaxation. Creepy mother. Maybe it was sick. Did snakes get sick? He had no desire to go anywhere near it, but at the same time, he wanted to enjoy his dock for one more day, dammit! Logan made his way up the path to the utility shed, his flipflops making slick noises as they stuck to the burning wood. His family kept the lawnmower and gardening equipment there¡ªif the tenants hadn¡¯t stolen them. A musky odor wafted from the room as he opened the door. Everything was there¡ªinner tubes, gardening shears, his grandfather¡¯s fishing rod mixed with the tools hanging from the wall. The tenants must have been so focused on their drug business that they hadn¡¯t bothered absconding with the contents of the utility shed. After all, what growing druggie took time away from ruining their landlord¡¯s property to fish? He couldn¡¯t help a deep feeling of shame from washing over him as he thought about the state of the cabin. His family had left him in charge of the finances. He¡¯d done what he¡¯d thought best. Every year, as the Okanagan had exploded with tourism, the property taxes just grew steeper, so he¡¯d rented it out. What he hadn¡¯t counted on was that the remoteness and water access had attracted the worst type of renter; a drug dealer that turned the attic and half the main floor into a marijuana grow op. By the time he¡¯d discovered it, the ceiling and walls were moist and full of mold, the insulation was shot, and his family¡¯s vacation home was ruined. Insurance had refused to cover the repairs¡ªthere was a clause for drug dealer damage, apparently¡ªand he couldn¡¯t afford both the repair costs and the property taxes. Hence the realtor. Logan ran a hand through his sweaty hair, feeling a tension headache coming on at the thought of the overdue conversation that needed to happen with his big sister. She didn¡¯t know. His sister was always the responsible one, and he couldn¡¯t face the judgment he knew was coming as soon as he admitted his failure. Stinky balls! Couldn¡¯t he have one more day to kick back with a couple of beers, lounge around in the sun and work on getting that skin-cancer tan? Reality could go ahead and stuff it. He sighed before grabbing the fishing rod and making his way back over to the dock. Maybe the weird-ass snake had left. Yeah, no such luck. ¡°Hey!¡± he shouted at the snake. ¡°Piss off!¡± The snake raised its head, tongue flashing as if it were tasting the air before apparently deeming Logan a nuisance to its sun-siesta. It lowered its head and went back to lounging around. ¡°Ugh,¡± Logan said, before inching forward and extending the fishing rod. He had no desire to hurt it¡ªthat would make a hell of a mess¡ªhe just needed it to leave. A shudder passed through him as the end of the pole touched the side of the snake. He nudged it. It reared, its body swivelling closer to the edge of the dock, dark eyes gleaming in the sun. [Lifeform identified! Initializing System¡­.] Logan froze and then dropped the fishing rod as if it had turned into a hot wire. In the background, the snake also froze, jaws wide open and eyes glazed over. Had his prescription sunglasses turned into VR glasses? Logan yanked them off, blinking in the glare of the sun. But even as he stared, expecting to see that weird-ass text glowing from the lenses, the text hovered in front of his eyes no matter where he looked. Was he hallucinating? [Lifeform identified! Initializing System¡­.] A shimmer saturated the air. The dock underneath him shuddered, violent waves rocking the shore. But the air was still, the sun bright in the sky, not a breeze to be found. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the lake calmed, and the dock stabilized so quickly it was as if he¡¯d passed into the eye of a hurricane. [Lifeform identified! System initialized.] The message again! With a jolt, he blinked rapidly, trying to clear the hovering text. No matter what he did¡ªclosed his eyes, covered them with his hand¡ªthe words were still there, hovering. Then they changed, scrawling like text in an old-fashioned DOS system. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. [Lifeform identified as¡­] [Human.] [Protocols found for Species: Human.] [Welcome to the System! Your world is in violation of Edict 10: Preservation of Species. Species: Human have been deemed a threat to the rest of the species on Earth and a culling of 99% of the Species: Human, will commence in 365 days. Only the top rated 1% ranked humans will survive the Day 365 species culling.] [The other species within your world have been deemed blameless and as such the System has awarded them with common, uncommon, rare, epic, and mythic abilities. These species will also receive System notifications.] [Countdown protocol for Species: Human, initialized.] [Countdown: Day 1 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 6,488,319,241 out of 8,025,432,612.] [You are in the bottom 20th percentile.] [Advance and grow.] What the ever-loving fuck? None of the words meant anything to him. But he could hardly comprehend them let alone function as he wobbled in place. It was like trying to walk while an optometrist gave you a vision test. But the snake didn¡¯t seem to care that he was struggling. Its stunned look was gone, and in its place, was a look that could kill. And had he mistaken its size? His first impression was that it was the size of a small garden snake, but now its black scales stretched over a body as thick as his upper arm and as long as the fishing pole. The sunning siesta snake might as well have been replaced with a snake on steroids. ¡°Holy crap!¡± said Logan as the snake suddenly lunged for him. His glasses fell to the dock with a clatter, and he tripped over the fishing rod, his hands skidding behind him as he broke his fall. Now that he was lying down on the dock, nothing stopped the snake from slithering towards his bare feet and legs like something jacked up on Red Bull. That thing wasn¡¯t a garden snake anymore! It had fangs the size of his finger. Logan scrambled backwards, the heels of his hands scraping against the wood of the dock, but the snake kept coming. ¡°You can have the dock! It¡¯s all yours!¡± Just don¡¯t kill me! But the snake didn¡¯t care. Slithering forward, its tongue flickered, just missing the top of his foot. Logan scrambled for the fishing rod, a muscle in his back pulling at the unnatural angle. The tips of his fingers touched and then he swung it with every ounce of strength at his disposal to push the snake back. But all it seemed to do was piss it off; its red eyes flashed before it darted like a rattlesnake. He tried scrambling away and he was able to brace his knee against the dock, his feet behind him, but then what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck! ¡°Fuck!¡± he screamed in agony so acute it was as if a meat hook was digging into his foot. The snake¡¯s whole mouth had swallowed half his foot, sandal and all. Red eyes glinted at him as the thing moved, swaying back and forth, finger-length fangs tearing into his skin. Heart beating out of his chest, Logan kicked, shaking his leg as if he were doing frantic calf raise exercises, but the snake only dug in deeper, causing agony to tear through him so strongly it made him lightheaded. Not being able to think, desperate to get the snake off, he grabbed the only thing within reach¡ªthe fishing rod¡ªand hit it with the flexible end. It was like hitting a wooden board with flexy string. He kicked the thing with his other leg, but his flip flops made the kick ineffectual, and it caused yet more pain, this time to the toes of his other foot. The snake¡¯s skin was hard, like rock. It continued to gnaw away, its fangs digging in deeper like a razor-blade. If he didn¡¯t do something, he was going to lose his foot, maybe even his life. Frantic, he scanned everything around him, trying to come up with anything that could help. It must have been only a few seconds as he considered and discarded options, but to him, everything moved at a snail¡¯s pace. He could flop over the side of the dock into the water, but if the snake followed, he¡¯d drown. He could try crawling back to the cabin with the snake attached, but that could cause the thing to dig in its fangs even deeper and make his situation worse. There was nothing on the dock but a discarded beach towel, sunscreen and the fishing rod, its line already tangled around one of his fingers. Wait a minute. With desperation enhanced by agony, Logan grabbed the beach towel, throwing it over the snake¡¯s head and covering its eyes. Then he pulled on the fishing line already tangled around his finger and unspooled it. Leaning forward and screaming when that caused the snake to dig in deeper, he wrapped the loose line around its body, just below the towel covering its eyes. When the snake felt him tightening the fishing line around its neck, it released his foot, skidding down, fangs shredding his skin. ¡°Hell yes!¡± he screamed in stunned relief, letting his arms go boneless, which released the tension on the line. That was a mistake. The snake latched onto what was in front of its mouth: his big toe. Its fangs sliced Logan to the bone. ¡°You mother--! Fucking! Fuck!¡± Blood poured onto the dock, saturating the towel red and making everything slick. This time his desperation turned into rage. He pulled on the line so tightly that it cut into his palms, pulling, pulling, pulling, until it broke through the snake¡¯s tough hide, sawing through like sharpened steel. But the snake didn¡¯t make it easy. He¡¯d lost feeling in his toe as the thing continued to sway back and forth, mindlessly gnawing away underneath the towel. With a last frantic pull of the line, the snake¡¯s tail finally twitched, its body lifeless as it slumped to the dock. Ding! What¡­? It sounded like a cooking timer. The weird text was back. [You have defeated a Level 1 Sunning Siesta Snake!] [You have received the title, Eager Beaver! Wow, not even five minutes after System integration and you¡¯ve already slaughtered your first unique being! 10 bonus attribute points awarded. This achievement earns you the enmity of all snakes and causes them to attack you on sight.] Was he in a wilderness reality show? Nothing else made sense. ¡°Hello?¡± Logan questioned with a rasp, scanning the cabin and the land around the beach. But just moving his head made everything sway in a sickening lurch. He was losing blood and based on the amount trickling onto the dock, a lot. He didn¡¯t think he had that much blood in his body. That wasn¡¯t a good sign. He needed to get to the hospital, and stat, but his phone was all the way back in the cabin and there was no one around or even within shouting distance. This must be what survivalists felt when stranded in the woods in a crisis without a cell phone. At least there was one positive¡ªhe¡¯d have a hell of a story to tell his sister and there was a chance she¡¯d feel so sorry for him that she¡¯d forget about how he¡¯d had to sell the cabin. Yeah, and pigs would fly. ¡­.Like regular old garden snakes transforming into murdering behemoths. Okay, medical attention! Obviously, that was a must if he was thinking in tangents while bleeding out. Bracing himself, Logan moved the blood-soaked towel, getting his first look at the damage. The snake¡¯s mouth was still latched onto him, so that was the first step. Steps forward! He had progress. It was surprisingly easy to pry the snake¡¯s mouth away from his big toe which allowed him to scoot back with a wet squelch. Gore. Gushing blood. Shredded skin. And where the fuck was his toe? Chapter Two: The Cabin Logan retched, his vision swimming as he took in the carnage of what once was a perfectly serviceable toe. Which was gone. Which was gone. He had no toe. Holy crap, this was real, and the blood kept coming. How much blood could you lose before you were in serious trouble? He thought back to all the medical documentaries he¡¯d binged, but he couldn¡¯t focus. His focus was down the snake¡¯s mouth with his toe. Okay, okay, second step¡­ Second step¡­ Fuck, it hurt! Second step was to stop the bleeding! The towel was soaked but the only alternative was his shorts, and like hell was he undoing them and balancing on one good foot while he took them off. Soaked, gory towel it was. Once he looped it around his foot and then tied it around his ankle, he lurched forward, swaying in place when he jarred whatever remained of his toe against the dock. Oh shit, that was a lot of blood. It was leaking out of the fabric, trailing down the dock and dripping through the cracks in the wood. Was that new blood, or from the soaked towel? Third step! Logan needed to get back to¡ªwait. The hovering text that started this whole thing was back. It blinked out of the corner of his right eye like a demon strobe light trying to give him a migraine. He scrunched his eyes closed, rubbing away tears before he opened them again and searched for his discarded glasses. For some reason he thought they were a priority. But even when he managed to stuff them onto his nose, he knew he wasn¡¯t thinking straight. Blinking text, glasses. Who the hell cared when he was about to bleed out? The text flashed again. ¡°Oh for¡ª¡± He swiped blindly at the air and limped forward, placing his towel-wrapped foot against the dock as he¡ªfell into the lake. The warm water slapped against his bare legs and then he sank, sank like a stone, water engulfing him, rushing over top of his head. Logan squinted at the surface of the lake through his glasses which somehow had stayed on despite everything. This was going to hurt, but it was either swim or drown and he wasn¡¯t dying today, thank you very much. He kicked the water, which stung like needles against his wound. How deep had he fallen? This day couldn¡¯t get any worse. First the snake, then his toe, and now he was going to drown! And that damn text, blinking, blinking¡ªit never stopped! His lungs were starting to feel tight due to a lack of air as he kicked, kicked, and kicked, and the text¡­ [Level Up? Would you like to commence your upgrade?] What the hell? [Acceptance Noted! You have leveled up! You are now Level 1!] [Your stat points have been automatically allocated.] Logan flailed underwater. [You¡¯ve been granted the skill, Deepwater Idiot!] Energy surged through Logan, and his vision flickered. He didn¡¯t know what the crazy text meant, but whatever it did, he¡¯d take it. His lungs relaxed as if he¡¯d gotten a breath of fresh air, giving him enough energy to struggle to the surface. As his head broke through the water, he took in a gulp of fresh air, and it was the best breath of his life. Using his arms to swim back to the shore, he did his best to avoid moving his legs. The sun glittered and reflected against the water, fogging up his glasses and making it impossible to see. As he lurched and then collapsed onto the beach in a sprawl on his back, a trail of blood soaked the sand. He¡¯d lost the towel in the lake and now his wound was raw against the ground, a tingling sensation and numbness spreading up his leg. Beyond the physical sensations, everything else was catching up to him. Logan had been in stressful situations before at work¡ªbeing a call centre rep was no joke¡ªbut this was hardly the same! The worst physical injury he¡¯d ever gotten was a broken leg from a fall from a bike and a few skinned knees. What he¡¯d just gone through wasn¡¯t anywhere close. But he knew that if he took the time to pause and process, he¡¯d spiral into a panic attack¡ªor worse yet¡ªfreeze. His injury took priority, and that strange burst of energy from the lake was long gone. He needed help, and he needed it now. When he staggered to his feet and limped forward by hopping on his good leg, he squinted through his glasses, everything a blur as if he were back in the optometrist chair. He couldn¡¯t see shit. With a frustrated growl, he removed his glasses and then hop-staggered until¡ªwhat. Everything was crystal clear. In fact, it was beyond crystal clear. It was as if his vision had turned into a magnifying glass. He could see each fine grain of sand, the beads of moisture crawling down the weeping willow tree in front of the cabin, the minuscule color changes on the ladybug buzzing in front of his face. How could losing a toe cause you to have 20/20 vision? A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Nothing made sense. Maybe the loss of blood had caused hallucinations. That would account for the weird floating messages, the monstrous snake, and the surge of euphoria he¡¯d felt underneath the lake. But if someone was hallucinating, did they wonder if they were? Either way, a philosophical question wasn¡¯t going to solve the problem of his missing toe. Logan dropped his glasses to the ground as he hopped closer to the cabin door, grasping the door handle with white-knuckled fingers. That same reek of rot, mold, and skunk hit him in the face as he entered the kitchen, making his already unsettled stomach lurch. A trail of blood followed him as he grabbed his phone and collapsed onto the beat-up green sofa in the living room, his naked back sticking to the green leather. Stress and the frantic rush of survival took a back seat to a feeling of relief. He was one step closer to getting help. ¡°Come on,¡± he muttered in frustration when his face ID failed the first time. Finally, he unlocked his phone and dialed 911. The call didn¡¯t go through. Again. A busy signal. Again. Call failed. Again. A dial tone buzzed in his ear, and he closed his eyes in relief when he heard a voice. ¡°All operators are busy. Please call back later.¡± What. The. Fuck. It was 911! It existed so you didn¡¯t have to call back later. But after calling three more times, then trying his sister and friends with the same result, he finally gave up and tried a text instead. His fingers were paler than usual and white at the tips from blood loss, and he could hardly feel his phone as he managed to send a desperate text message to his sister. If he didn¡¯t stop the blood from pouring out of his wound, a text wouldn¡¯t matter. He¡¯d be dead. The kitchen towels were filthy and smelled moldy like everything else. His discarded white t-shirt next to his keys was the only thing he¡¯d trust to be clean in the whole cabin. He was only wearing beach shorts, and he was seriously starting to shiver, but better to be cold than to catch gangrene. Little did he know that it was difficult to tear a shirt. He tried using his teeth, then finally tugged on a frayed area on the bottom which broke the seams and allowed him to tear off a decent strip of fabric. Now, to the matter of his toe. When he¡¯d used the beach towel down at the dock, he¡¯d been frantic and not about to take anything in other than blood. Looking down at his foot, the reality of seeing torn skin, dangling glistening flesh and the tip of a white bone made him finally retch for real. There was nothing for it. It was gory, but it was necessary. He used a smaller piece of his torn shirt as an absorbent bandage, positioned it at the gory end, then wrapped the rest around the end of his foot as tight as he could. Biting his lip so hard his teeth cut into skin, he braced himself as he tried to staunch the flow of blood by putting pressure on the stubbed end of his missing toe. Everything swayed alarmingly. The wound had been throbbing non-stop, but now it felt as if the snake were back, but this time its fangs were a thousand knifes puncturing him in thirty second intervals. The agony was beyond his imagination, beyond what he could even perceive agony to be. Ding! [You have been granted the skill, Idiot¡¯s Paradox! This uncommon skill is granted to users who are relentless in inflicting agony on themselves. Hint: geniuses never receive it, so perhaps you should stop whatever you¡¯re doing?] Logan jerked, the back of his head hitting the cabinet behind him as he tried to scramble away from the floating text. He was still hallucinating. He had to be. But a trickling doubt made him wonder. Sarcasm wasn¡¯t his forte, so why would his hallucination show up that way? If anyone were sarcastic, it was his sister, and he sure could use her help. For that matter, why hadn¡¯t she texted back? His phone wasn¡¯t silenced, and she was glued to her phone all day. Say what you would about their relationship, if he sent an SOS, she would never hesitate to respond. He grabbed his phone and opened his messages. Right next to his text message, an exclamation mark indicated it hadn¡¯t gone through. He tried again. Same result. As a Hail Mary, he tried 911 again. Nothing but a busy signal. No help was coming from the professionals, no help was coming from his sister, calls weren¡¯t going out, and his closest neighbor, Eleanor, was a 15-minute walk away. Eleanor loved to take nature walks, so there was no guarantee she was home even if he managed to limp his way over. There was nothing for it¡ªhe could either wait to see if the phone lines cleared and possibly wait for his death at the same time, or act¡ªdespite how crazy that action seemed. Logan was going to drive himself to the hospital with a missing toe. With his phone tucked into the pocket of his wet shorts, he scanned for anything in the cabin that could help. A cheap kitchen broom was in the corner next to the front door, and he was able to unscrew the handle from the broom end. It would work as a makeshift cane. He wrenched open the fridge for a bottle of water, then took a quick detour to the bathroom to grab a roll of toilet paper that would work to staunch the blood if it started up again. When he found a bottle of aspirin, he reacted as if he may as well have found a bottle of gold. The pain was a steady throb of what hell must feel like, so he¡¯d take anything that could help¡ªeven if it was regular old painkillers. He put the bottle of water, toilet paper and painkillers in an empty garbage bag, grabbed his keys, and then swung the bag over his shoulder, using the broom handle to limp back outside. His grandparents had built the cabin on the waterfront, but the reason it was so remote was the stairs that everyone needed to climb to get to the road. The stairs leading up to the hill to where he¡¯d parked may as well have been Mt. Everest. ¡°It¡¯s only two flights of stairs,¡± he mumbled to himself. He could do this. Setting the end of the broom handle down on the base of the stairs, he lifted with his other foot, somehow managing to keep the bloody towel from touching the wooden step. While he was on the fourth step, the pine trees on his left rustled and Logan jumped, almost losing his balance. Eyeing the underbrush with wary eyes, he limped up the rest of the steps with new energy, panting as he reached the top and saw his old truck. The dirt road was so narrow there was space for only one parking spot¡ªtwo if you parked half on the road. There wouldn¡¯t be any traffic coming. It would be up to Logan. This was working; he could do this. He was right-handed, his injury was on his left, so he should have no problems driving as long as he managed to stay conscious. He was already envisioning the story he could tell his co-workers once this was behind him; if there was one thing he was known for, it was boring. This would impress the hell out of them. Logan opened the driver¡¯s side door and then threw in his bag of supplies; he clung onto the top of the door frame with one hand and half-scooted into the seat with the broom handle, but the thing¡ª ¡°Shit!¡± It wouldn¡¯t fit in the truck. Wait, why did he even need the broom handle? Once he got to the hospital, he¡¯d have help, stretchers, professionals and shit. Wiggling out of the seat, he limped back across the narrow dirt road, about to throw it into the bush¡ª BOOM. Stunned and thrown on his back on the ground, he stared up at the blue sky in a daze. His ears were ringing and something wet and warm was running down his forehead. The hallucinations were back! There was no other explanation. Since in what world did you encounter toe-eating snakes, blue text, and exploding trucks? ¡°Holy fuck,¡± he said in stunned disbelief as he looked at the remains of his burning truck. Chapter Three: Hidden Name: Idiot [1.4 billion pollution contributors: automobile, have been purged from planet Earth. Do not attempt to assemble additional automobiles unless they are retrofitted into non-carbon emitting devices.] [Good news, human! Due to the elimination of the pollution contributor: automobile, your ranking has increased.] [103,893,880 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [232,497,385 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [397,302,003 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [497,626,694 humans have been eliminated.] [Current rank: 5,904,819,241 out of 7,516,405,638.] [You are in the bottom 22nd percentile.] [Advance and grow.] The glowing text was back. And if that thing were real¡­and it was looking more and more likely based on the exploding truck, it had just blown up all the cars in the world. It was luck alone that saved his life. If the damn broom handle hadn¡¯t caused him problems, if he¡¯d been one second earlier, his remains would be part of the flaming inferno that¡ª What!? The flames collapsed onto themselves as if a giant vacuum cleaner had sucked out all the air, taking the smoke and fumes with it. Charred remains of the frame were all that were left, but it reminded Logan of something that had been abandoned long ago, not something that had literally been on fire a second ago. Holy hell. It was official. He was in a science fiction movie. If that glowing text was telling the truth, it had just eliminated over a billion cars, and some of those cars had people inside of them. Almost half a billion people! People like him, driving to the hospital, moms driving their kids to school, workers commuting. It was early afternoon in the Okanagan, so at least they¡¯d avoided rush hour, but what about the other side of the country, the other side of the world? He did some mental math. It was rush hour on the East Coast. All those poor people. He took in a jagged breath, the sharp stab of pain in his foot forgotten as he stood up and searched for his phone. At least he hadn¡¯t thrown it in the bag with everything else. It was in his back pocket, but the screen was fucked. It had a huge crack running down one corner, but it still worked. His sister was at work, she had to be. The kids were at school. There was no reason for her to be driving at this time of the day unless¡­ A sinking feeling made his stomach drop. Unless she¡¯d received his text message and was on her way towards him. ¡°Please work,¡± he muttered as he tried calling her, yet again. And just like the other times, the call didn¡¯t produce a dial tone. It was as if he was in a cell dead zone. Okay, okay. So he had no truck, no working phone. If he believed the glowing text, he wasn¡¯t the only one without a car, so that meant no ambulance. He couldn¡¯t do anything about his sister and dwelling on her status was causing his heart to race, so put a pin on that. Right now, he needed to save himself, so he¡¯d be in the position to help his family. Logan grabbed the broom handle and leaned on it while wiping blood away from his forehead with the back of his hand. He might have a concussion on top of the missing toe. One stumbling step was all he could handle before he lurched, his head on fire. He¡¯d take a break. Just a little one. Then he¡¯d get back to saving himself. As he leaned his forehead against the staircase railing and closed his eyes, something nagged at him. Beyond the impossibilities of the day, he¡¯d never figured out how he¡¯d been able to see as if he¡¯d had instant laser eye surgery, or how it was possible to have glowing text messages implanted into his eyes. Everything else that had occurred¡ªthe snake, the exploding truck¡ªhad been external. Logan didn¡¯t like mysteries, and this one was a whopper. He blinked. Come to think of it, the glowing text was back. Or, rather, it had never left. It glowed out of the corner of his eye, like a bit of persistent lint that wouldn¡¯t wipe off the lens of your glasses. Even trying this felt ridiculous¡ªhe¡¯d officially drunk the Kool-Aid¡ªbut he did it anyway. Logan concentrated on the blinking light and tried to zoom onto it mentally, like expanding a touch screen with his fingers. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Just like that, the text enlarged. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 5,904,819,241 out of 7,516,405,638 Level: 1 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver Intelligence: 6 Constitution: 5 Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Dexterity: 5 Endurance: 5 Perception: 5 Wisdom: 4 Luck: 10 Free Attribute Points: 10 KarmaCoins: 0 He wasn¡¯t just in a science fiction movie; he¡¯d officially left the mothership. It was undeniable that someone¡­ some entity had managed to hack his brain and insert messages that were linked to a database. It was monitoring him¡ªhow else had it known when he¡¯d killed the snake, or when the car had blown up? A satellite? New spy technology? Maybe they¡¯d chosen Canada as their test subjects. After all, Logan loved his country, but it wasn¡¯t known for its military might. But why had they given him a juvenile character sheet, something that resembled the video games his nieces played? By concentrating, he could mentally ¡®swipe¡¯ the text, minimizing it to glowing text out of the corner of his eye. Logan mentally expanded it, and it popped up again. First of all, the name on these statistics was beyond insulting. He could admit that he was an idiot about some things¡ªthe cabin came to mind¡ªbut there was no reason to rub it in. Whoever had caused this or was monitoring him was an asshole. He glanced up at the sky. ¡°You¡¯re an asshole!¡± he shouted. No response. He tried to mentally hover over the [Hidden Name: Idiot]. Could he delete it? No luck. Logan had no idea what a Level, Class, or Grade meant, although he vaguely recalled seeing a message about ¡®leveling up¡¯ when he was underwater, and that would make sense, if he was now level 1. The skills were just as confusing, and when he focused¡ªshit! It had expanded. [Deepwater Idiot: This uncommon skill is granted to users who fall headfirst into water deeper than 10 meters while mortally injured. It grants the ability to breathe underwater. Duration of the skill advances per level.] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox: This uncommon skill is granted to users who are relentless in inflicting agony on themselves. It produces a 1% pain reduction per level.] If this were real, he¡¯d managed to swim out of the lake only by the [Deepwater Idiot] skill. The Okanagan Lake was a fjord lake, with steep drops only meters away from the dock. If he hadn¡¯t received that skill, he may have drowned. Logan concentrated and managed to minimize the skill definitions. The rest of these statistics were confusing; was this mysterious spy hacking system attempting to rank his physical and mental capabilities in a numerical format? How the hell would it know how intelligent he was, or how strong? And to that end, were the ranks from one to ten? And why would it give him a [Hidden Name: Idiot] label and yet rank his intelligence as one of his highest? It was just insult on top of insult. [Free Attribute Points: 10] What the hell was that? There was a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind. Unlike the insulting [Idiot] title, he could focus on the attribute points and¡­ move them? Holy shit, it was letting him add points to each of his mental and physical stats! The possibility of what that meant blew him away. If he added points to strength, would it make him stronger? Like bypassing the gym and losing weight with a magic diet pill? It couldn¡¯t be possible. As far as Logan knew, he lived in reality, not virtual reality. But if there was a chance that moving these points would help him, he didn¡¯t need strength right now. He needed not to die. If his wound kept seeping blood through the makeshift bandage, his continued survival was in serious jeopardy. With a feeling of unreality, he willed his constitution points up. They kept increasing, one by one, like pressing the plus sign on a keyboard. [Constitution: 6] [Constitution: +] [Constitution: 15] Finally, he ran out of free attribute points and yet¡­ nothing happened. He felt the same numbness and wooziness from before. What a rip off. [¡­Would you like to confirm your allocation changes?] What. [Would you like to confirm your allocation changes?] Logan looked around with wary eyes. On either side of him were the same pine trees, the same dirt road. The sun was bright in the sky and even after shading his eyes with his hand, he couldn¡¯t see any planes or surveillance drones. ¡°Hello?¡± he questioned. [¡­] [Would you like to confirm your allocation changes?] This time the text was underlined, as if whomever sending the messages was annoyed. ¡°Yes?¡± [Confirmed. In the future, a review of your settings mainframe would be appreciated, Idiot.] He didn¡¯t have a chance to even be annoyed before a rush of energy surged through his body. Logan may as well have been connected to an IV line that funneled all the vitamins in the world. Gasping with his mouth wide open, he closed his eyes, relishing in feeling good for the first time since this started. And although he was covered in dirt and dried blood, when he probed at the wound on his head, it wasn¡¯t painful to the touch anymore, and the scratches from the shrapnel from the exploding car were healed over as if they¡¯d had weeks to heal, not seconds. And his toe, his toe wasn¡¯t agony anymore. There was still something wrong¡ªthat feeling of being off was there¡ªbut the numbness and the sharp jagged pain was gone. Logan sat down on the ground and unwrapped his bandage with tentative hands, slowly at first, and then faster when he couldn¡¯t see any additional blood. It took him a few seconds to understand what he was looking at, but despite his secret hopes, his toe was still gone. Instead of a gory wound, the end of his missing digit had healed significantly, and the beginnings of what he thought was new skin was inching closer to the scabbed end. It was tender¡ªshit, was it tender!¡ªbut it shouldn¡¯t be possible. For the first time, he had concrete evidence that the text hovering over his eyes had real world consequences. And the consequences, despite being unbelievable, may let him survive. Logan mentally expanded his stats again. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 5,866,278,052 out of 7,477,888,636 Level: 1 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver Intelligence: 6 Constitution: 15 Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Dexterity: 5 Endurance: 5 Perception: 5 Wisdom: 4 Luck: 10 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 0 With a mental swipe, he minimized the stats and searched for anything that looked like a settings mainframe or a manual. But he didn¡¯t have to search. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, further glowing text populated. [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] Chapter Four: Eager Beaver [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] [All new users start at Level 0. You will not be granted personal statistics until you kill your first entity. Once the user reaches Level 1, the System will automatically allocate stat points based upon personal characteristics. What, you thought we¡¯d waste our time if you can¡¯t even kill a Level 1 entity?] Logan mentally willed the page down. [This interface allows you to change your personal upgrade settings.] [Current settings: Confirmation required before commencing leveling or allocating attribute points.] [Optional setting: Automatically level and allocate without confirmation.] [¡­Would you like to change your settings, Idiot?] This was one sarcastic fucker. Logan mentally confirmed his acceptance. [Changes accepted.] There was no noticeable difference, but the settings had now changed to [Automatic]. This whole thing was beyond him, but why would this ¡®System¡¯ even have that as an option. [Leveling up can create a feeling of euphoria in lesser species. This can cause some to overestimate their capabilities at key moments.] Logan jumped, glancing around with narrowed eyes. This fucker was creepy. If it could read his mind, what else could it do? He didn¡¯t fancy having a sarcastic backseat driver in his mind. He pulled up his stats one more time before¡­. Wait a minute. Was this information updated in real time? He didn¡¯t have a photographic memory by any means, but he could have sworn the last time his rank had been 5.9 billion out of 7.5. Now he was ranked 5.8 billion out of 7.4. That was a drop of millions of people in only a few minutes. Millions! What the hell was going on out there? That creepy fucker was at fault. A mass murderer was sending messages and killing people. Logan¡¯s blood pressure skyrocketed as annoyance at the sarcasm turned into something more sinister. Once NATO got their shit together, someone was in for an ass whooping. But NATO was far away, and fantasizing about revenge wasn¡¯t getting him closer to figuring out what was happening locally or in the world. Now that he could walk, he had more options. However, the city was an hour drive by car. He had no car. If he walked, it would be hours and hours and he had no confidence that his newly healed foot would hold up for such a long journey. Eleanor was the closest and best option. Unlike his ruined cabin, she had a television. The internet situation was uncertain, but Eleanor was old-school. She had to be connected directly to cable. Logan used the broom handle to lift himself to his feet and headed down the stairs, each step tentative as if he were stepping on ice. Although his toe didn¡¯t hurt anymore, it ached, a persistent ache, like pulling a muscle or stretching the wrong way. He was unused to the distribution of weight which wasn¡¯t helping with keeping his balance. It was going to take a while to get used to this. A rustling in the woods on his right made him freeze. The sun was still bright in the sky, no clouds to be seen, but the pine trees on either side of the staircase cut off the direct glare, making everything seem ominous. The branches on a tree twenty feet away moved, and Logan¡¯s fingers turned white-knuckled on the broom handle. Light brown fur. Four slender legs, two alert ears, and of course, antlers. A deer. ¡°Christ,¡± Logan laughed in relief. Now he was jumping at deer. The woods in the Okanagan were infested with deer and it was common to see them crossing the street in the city. As long as you didn¡¯t come across a doe and her fawn, you were fine. But those mothers could be vicious if they thought you were a threat to their babies. Logan focused on his feet again, taking another step and keeping the broom handle in one hand for support. A further rustling in the woods had him looking up at the deer, just in time to see it charging towards him with powerful leaps, mouth open and frothing with saliva. ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± It leaped through the wooden railing and barrelled towards him at full speed, its antlers slamming into his chest like a sledgehammer on its way through the other railing and onto the hill on the other side. Logan went flying and landed on his back on the rocky ground, the wind taken out of him as he gasped for air. He was on an incline and boulders were digging into his back, pinecones scraping his bare legs. Adrenaline was the only thing that allowed him the strength to get to his feet in time to see the deer pivoting on its hooves and turning around, kicking its legs, eyes red and mouth drooling saliva. It was another monster on steroids! It pawed the ground, steam pouring from its nostrils and eyes all black pupil, red around the irises. And there was something strange about its brown fur. Black oily gunk was dripping down its coat, streaks of it trailing down its legs, puddling around the hooves and into the ground. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Logan had seen a lot of deer in his life, and this was no normal deer. It charged at him again, kicking its back legs and leaping. One second. Two. He considered darting away, lying down and playing dead, and then the sight of the end of the broom handle within his reach made him go for the suicidal option. As the deer charged, Logan grasped the broom handle and swung with all his might. He may as well have hit a boulder. As he struck the deer in the neck as it charged past, his broom handle snapped a third of the way down, leaving jagged wood at the end. If nothing else, the deer had opted to swivel and adjust its charge. Instead of coming at him in the chest, it clipped his shoulder instead. He didn¡¯t have a chance to feel pain, adrenaline surging through him as he tracked it with his eyes. And he had to take another look, blinking, and then blinking again. No, he wasn¡¯t seeing things. Beyond the black gunk, something clung to the thing''s antlers. It was as if a shadow extended from the tips, trailing oily substance that played tricks on his eyes. The deer shook its head, oily shadow extending from its antlers as it licked its lips and dug into the ground, pebbles and pinecones flying. This thing was a powerhouse. There was no evidence his hit had injured it. And if hitting it with all his might hadn¡¯t made a dent, he didn¡¯t see how throwing a bunch of rocks or the shredded railing would have any effect. If Logan wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill it, he needed to use its own strength against it. He could do this. It wasn¡¯t impossible. His mother always said that majoring in Canadian Studies in college was worthless; little did she know that it would come in handy against a mutant stag-osaurus. A day ago, he¡¯d been a call center rep who never hunted in his life. Today, he was serving up venison. Logan had seconds to scan the terrain before the deer charged again. Pine trees. Bushes. Tall grass. And two huge boulders that didn¡¯t quite touch each other. Logan ran towards the rocks, his missing toe forgotten as he pushed for speed, the sound of the deer right behind him giving him that last desperate incentive to go ever faster. He felt the puffs of its warm breath on his naked back as he leaped over the boulders and skinned the hell out of his knees. But that one maneuver gave him enough time to lodge the broom handle between the rocks, the jagged broken sharp end facing upwards. It happened so fast it was a blur. Logan turned and faced the charging deer, holding the broom handle at an upward angle as it leaped at him, its legs kicking the air, its belly facing the sharp end of the broom handle. The deer screamed as the weight of its own body forced it down onto what had turned into a weapon. Inch after inch, the wood went deeper and deeper into its flesh, until the deer¡¯s puffs of air turned into bloody bubbles, and it exhaled a last weak wheeze of air. Ding! The cooking timer was back. [You have defeated a Level 1 Pesticide Black Stag! This entity had pesticides in its blood that were in the process of metastasizing, turning it into a walking pesticide bag of meat. If complete, the black stag¡¯s droppings would have spread the disease to other entities. Bonus experience awarded for defeating an entity antithetical to the planet¡¯s survival.] Logan collapsed to the ground, exhausted and disbelieving. He¡¯d done it. He couldn¡¯t believe it, but he¡¯d done it. And it was only now that he took in the true size of the thing. It had to weigh 400 pounds, easy. The Okanagan didn¡¯t have stags this size. If he believed the wacky text message, it had been infected, but even if it had cancer, cancer didn¡¯t cause an animal to leak black oil. First the crazy snake, and now a stag out of a horror movie? All of this had to be caused by that sarcastic fucker, the System. Logan rolled his shoulder, the pain from the stag¡¯s hit starting to seep into his awareness. He didn¡¯t think it was broken, but he¡¯d have a hell of a bruise. His knees were wrecked and bloody, but not that painful, surprisingly. And his toe¡ª Something moved behind the dead stag. The pine needles next to the corpse rustled, the pinecones falling down the steep incline behind him. He heard a hissing and buzzing noise first, followed by the sight of a massive black reptilian head. A snake. It had to be ten feet long and as wide as a city sewage pipe. At the end of its tail was a distinct rattle, something you¡¯d see on a rattlesnake. Great. Just what he needed. A venomous snake the size of an anaconda. Ding! [Eager Beaver title in effect! This title earns you the enmity of all snakes and causes them to attack you on sight.] Thanks for the reminder, you sarcastic fucker. Logan had no time to process the message before the snake reared, its mouth open as it darted for his face and almost stabbed him in the eye with a fang. ¡°Shit!¡± The System wanted him to fight, and it was throwing everything it could at him. He¡¯d had enough of this shit. ¡°Screw this!¡± he said as he backpedaled the hell out of there. The System wanted him to kill this monster; well, he wasn¡¯t playing its game. Logan knew when he was beat, and he was no match for this behemoth. Logan ran for his life. Skidding down the hill, he skipped the stairs and didn¡¯t bother avoiding the sharp rocks or stabbing pine needles. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 2!] He disregarded the message as he heard the snake slithering after him, the weight of its body crushing and snapping pinecones. But it was a snake, and it was no match for his speed¡ª "OH FUCK!¡± he shrieked as he felt it dart for his ankle, something wet touching his bare skin. Was that its tongue?! Logan jumped down the hill, almost breaking his leg as he avoided a deep hole in the ground. Just his luck if he disturbed another snake nest on his way past. He reached the base of the property and the flat ground and gunned it as he ran full speed towards the cabin door. The snake was making a hell of a ruckus as it continued in full pursuit behind him, but he must have gained ground since he couldn¡¯t see it when he glanced over his shoulder. If he could get inside, he¡¯d have a chance. One step, two. The door was¡ª It was locked. Oh no. The keys were in the car. The blown-to-smithereens car! He was so fucked. The thought of the System winning and killing him filled him with rage. After everything it had put him through, after all the people it had killed, to go out now and let it get away with that crap? Hell no. He¡¯d show it an [Idiot]. Logan vented his anger by smashing his fist against the closed cabin door as he rushed past on his way to the waterfront. Glancing behind him, for a second, he thought the snake had given up, but then he saw its head in a cobra stance, its big body slithering towards Logan with its tail rattling like crazy. Yeah, this thing wasn¡¯t giving up. Little did it know what was coming. The utility shed stored everything they needed to maintain the cabin, but Logan¡¯s grandfather had also preserved his equipment, storing things long past their expected lifespan. The oldest working machine was an antiquated weed wacker from the 1970s, so old it didn¡¯t resemble any modern weed wacker. It was a clunky thing, rusted to all hell, but the blades were extra-large, and the safety guard had long since fallen off. Logan took the wacker from the shed, gunning the gas engine with massive pulls. The ignition kicked on, antiquated blades clacking as he turned to face the incoming monster. ¡°Come and get it!¡± he screamed right as the snake made the turn around the corner of the cabin and charged towards him. ¡°I¡¯ve got a helping of shitstorm for you, you¡ª¡± The engine sputtered and died. ¡°Ah, fuck.¡± Chapter Five: The Weed Wacker Logan stared down at the wacker in incomprehension, and then he didn¡¯t have time to do anything but run, trying to restart the motor with frantic hands as he went. Rushing past the weeping willow, he trekked through the grass in front of the cabin and then got bogged down as the ground transitioned into sand. The sand had been baking in the sun, and it felt like a hot iron on the wound on his foot. He danced in place, treating his feet like hot potatoes while yanking on the engine line, all the while keeping the snake in sight. With a sound like a backfiring engine, the wacker kicked into gear, blade whirring and clacking. Not trusting that it wouldn¡¯t stall again, instead of backing away, he ran towards the snake, pushing the wacker forward. The blades slammed into the sides of the thing with a smack, kick, kick, kicking as if it was striking against stone instead of snake scales. If the snake wanted to kill him before due to an interfering sarcastic System, it now had personal incentive. Each hit of the blade against its hide seemed to enrage it more as it darted for him with cobra strikes. Whatever he did, Logan needed to avoid its bite. If it was anything like a true rattlesnake, it had venom in its fangs. Death was in its mouth. As if to confirm the thought, the thing seemed to grin, eyes flashing red before it darted too quickly to track. Each snap of its mouth was emphasized with an explosion of sand as it aimed for his injured foot. Mother--! One inch closer and it would have bitten him. If he still had a toe, it would have latched onto it! What was up with snakes and toes?! Gritting his teeth, Logan pushed the wacker against that same spot on its body repeatedly, the force of his hit adding extra power to the blades while he darted away from the snake¡¯s striking mouth. If these monsters had stat sheets like he did, this thing¡¯s constitution had to be a bitch. With a sound like grinding stone, the blades finally burrowed into the snake¡¯s hide. That first puncture opened the floodgates¡ªthe wacker sawed through the snake¡¯s flesh like a knife through butter, bits of gore and blood flying at Logan¡¯s face and saturating the sand a deep, dark red. The snake¡¯s tail kept rattling despite the gashes and cuts on its body. Even though it resembled something that had gone through a cheese grater, it continued to lunge for him, single-minded in its intent to kill him. The solution? Go for broke. He was going to cut the fucker in half. This wasn¡¯t a normal snake, though. The width of its body at the skinny end was the width of a fire extinguisher. Targeting that same injured area, Logan pushed the wacker deeper into its body, cutting through muscle, what had to be its stomach, and then out through the other end. A noxious odor like day old soggy socks left to mildew wafted out of the remains, and something that resembled a furry tabby tail plopped out of the torn stomach. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 4 Bog Snake! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level. Sorry to say, though¡ªit¡¯s too late for the cat.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] A surge of euphoria surged through him, making him feel as if he could take on ten snakes at once, followed by a feeling of what he could only equate as dopamine. If this was supposed to encourage him to level up, it was effective as hell. Logan turned off the wacker and then finally gave his bare feet a break by leaving the sand behind. He collapsed to the grass in front of the cabin, staring at that last System message in disbelief. Despite the odds, he¡¯d done it. Logan had never thought of himself as competent. Past events had shown evidence of that to both him and his family. The cabin, his failed career, his failed relationships. It had gotten to the point that he believed he shouldn¡¯t even try. After all, why bother when everything he did ended in failure? Now, for the first time, Logan started to believe that there was one thing he may be good at after all¡­. And it was killing the hell out of shit. He pulled up his stat sheet and studied the changes. [Free Attribute Points: 10]. That was new. He was now level three instead of one, going up two levels from one kill. Did that mean that every level would give him five attribute points? To that end, the monstrous deer had only been level one? Holy shit. The System made it purposely difficult to monitor your progress though. If it wanted people to level up, wouldn¡¯t it make sense to give them a progress tracker, something like a step-monitor? His ex-girlfriend gave him one of those electronic health bracelets and it had made him walk an extra few thousand steps every day. It was motivating before he threw it away (the relationship ended explosively and throwing it away might have been a waste of money, but boy had it felt good.) In the same vein, the System should give everyone a ¡®level tracker.¡¯ That way he could monitor his progress with the rest of his stats. [Turn on the option: Display XP Tracker?] Logan paused. The creepy fucker was back. Yes? [XP progress will now be displayed in your stat sheet.] Logan was starting to suspect that you could manipulate the System, at least to some degree. Despite it being a sarcastic ass and a massive mental privacy violator, it was being helpful, in its own murderous way. He only had to suggest something or be annoyed at the display options, and it accommodated him. Was it a case of ¡®you never receive unless you ask?¡¯ There was something there, something nagging at the back of his thoughts that needed to be explored. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Logan furrowed his brow as he concentrated, mentally projecting words. System, are there any other options or settings I can turn on? A dragonfly buzzed around his head in response. Logan waved it away and tried speaking out loud instead. ¡°System, are you there?¡± The dragonfly almost buzzed into his mouth this time. Logan sputtered. Okay, okay, so obviously the System was a temperamental fucker as well as sarcastic. For now, Logan pulled up his stats again. There was a new line underneath his listed titles, [XP Progress: 456/6000] which he had to assume meant that he needed 6,000 XP¡ªwhatever that was¡ªuntil his next level. He must earn ¡®XP¡¯ as he killed mutant-sauruses. He needed to allocate his new attribute points. Logan was less sceptical about this whole thing, and he knew whatever decision he made could have real world consequences. His foot injury was still bothering him¡ªthe fight hadn¡¯t helped¡ªand his shoulder was killing him, but if he¡¯d been dealing with the same injuries a day ago, he¡¯d be in the hospital comatose, not debating a stat sheet. Constitution, although important, might be high enough for now. No, what he needed was help in a fight. He¡¯d tried hitting the deer and he may as well have been slapping it. Both the stag and the snake had also outmaneuvered him, turning on a dime when he¡¯d struggled to keep them in sight. Logan knew what he needed to do. [Strength: 6] [Strength: 7+] [Strength: 12] [Agility: 6+] [Agility: 8] He raised agility to eight and increased strength to twelve. Although Logan tried to go to the gym, he wasn¡¯t in the best shape. Back in college, he¡¯d been a daily runner, but an office job and the stress of his financial situation hadn¡¯t been the best motivator. Now, he was lucky if he ran once a month. The system had helped him heal with a constitution upgrade; did that mean it would increase his muscle bulk if he improved his strength attribute? As soon as Logan made the changes, a tingling washed over his chest and stomach. It was followed by a rush of heat over his upper arms that¡ª Fuck¡¯s sake, what was it doing to him; it hurts, it hurts, it¡ª The pain in his shoulder was gone so fast it was as if he¡¯d imagined it in the first place. Note to self: be prepared for agony if you up your attributes while dealing with an injury. Logan took in a gulp of air and then glanced down at his belly. It was hard to tell through the layer of dried blood and dirt covering his bare chest, but the belly fat he¡¯d managed to gain the last few years wasn¡¯t as pronounced, and he could swear that he saw the first hint of abs. Holy crap, it didn¡¯t just make him stronger, it changed his body! This couldn¡¯t be possible. It was wacked to hell. He was starting to suspect they weren¡¯t dealing with a regular old enemy anymore. What country had this type of technology? Logan wasn¡¯t na?ve. If one of their enemies had this, the US and its allies would have known. No, this was something else. After making the attribute changes, he was still close to what he was thinking of as the ¡®factory settings,¡¯ but it was better than nothing. He reviewed his full stats again: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 3,461,873,651 out of 7,476,043,546 Level: 3 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 456/6000 Intelligence: 6 Constitution: 15 Strength: 12 Agility: 8 Dexterity: 5 Endurance: 5 Perception: 5 Wisdom: 4 Luck: 10 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 0 It was everything he expected, except for one thing. His rank had gone up again¡ªand by a massive amount. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t seeing that huge drop in population again, but he¡¯d jumped billions in rank¡ªfrom 5.8 billion to 3.4. The only difference from then and now was the death of the stag and snake. The System was ranking everyone based on levels. And after all he¡¯d been through, just how far behind was he to only be in the 3.4 billion rank? Ding! This time the sound wasn¡¯t the System kitchen timer; that was his phone. Logan scrambled for his smartphone and yanked it out of his back pocket, his hands unsteady as he viewed the first message he¡¯d received since everything went to crap. It was a news alert from his news App, and it was barely readable through the cracked screen: Alert: Over a billion estimated dead worldwide. The CDN Prime Minister was in a convoy enroute to parliament when all gas operated cars were eliminated by the unknown entity calling itself ¡®the System.¡¯ Reports of animals attacking across the world. Authorities recommend that all citizens shelter in place. Lock all doors and windows. Logan opened his phone which promptly gave him a 15% low battery warning, and toggled to the news App. It wouldn¡¯t load. He tried a browser. Nothing. Holding up the phone to the sky, he squinted at his cellular status and tried waving his phone around. Zilch. It must have connected with something though; how else would he receive the news alert? Regardless, he now had his first evidence that everything wasn¡¯t an isolated instance or him going off the deep end. It was happening to everyone. And if everyone was impacted, that meant his sister was too. Logan tucked his phone back into his shorts pocket and then powered through the property as if he still had the snake on his ass. He needed to get to Eleanor¡¯s, and stat. His sister was out there and the panic he¡¯d managed to push back was rapidly descending again. He cut through his property, past the weeping willow and into the rocky, unkempt ground that separated his property from Eleanor¡¯s. The land in front of the beachfront was flat but full of uneven limestone, bushes, and untamed dry weeds. Every step jarred his shoulder and made his foot injury worse, but still, he powered through, pushing his body without a break until sweat poured down his forehead and stung his eyes, his lungs filling with air at a rapid rate. Gradually, the ground turned from unkempt to manicured grass, smoothing out and allowing him to run faster. Eleanor¡¯s dock was on the horizon, followed by the first hints of her property. Unlike his family¡¯s cabin, Eleanor had used her retired banker¡¯s pension to modernize. It wasn¡¯t something that could be classified as a cabin anymore¡ªmore like an architect¡¯s dream lake home. The building had two floors with sleek, large windows that reflected the sun in a prism. There were even solar panels on the roof. Ding! [You have earned one Endurance point! Endurance daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] What. Logan came to an abrupt stop, gasping for air as he took in the System message. He hadn¡¯t killed anything, but it had awarded him a point. Strange, since unlike the strength attribute point increase, he didn¡¯t feel any¡ª Feel any¡ª Holy fuck, let¡¯s take that back. One point couldn¡¯t be a lot, but although he¡¯d been flagging a minute ago, he now felt refreshed as if he could run outright for another 10 miles, easy. So, you could advance through working out, not just violence. Did that mean that if he read a textbook tonight, he¡¯d increase his intelligence stat? He held back a hysterical chuckle at the thought. Hell, he may as well give his sarcastic buddy another try. ¡°System, if I advance my knowledge by reading, will I increase my intelligence attribute?¡± Crickets. And he really meant crickets; the pests were all over the place. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he mentally threw the attribute quirk in with everything else he had questions about and then picked up the pace again, making short work of the rest of Eleanor¡¯s property until he reached the sliding glass door in front of the lakeside. Logan knocked. The curtains were drawn, which wasn¡¯t normal for Eleanor. It was late afternoon, and the sun was blasting. He knocked again, his knuckles clacking against the glass. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± said a male voice. That wasn¡¯t Eleanor. Chapter Six: The Neighbors The curtains fluttered. ¡°It¡¯s Logan!¡± he said. The man pulled the curtains back and peered through the door. Short brown hair with a hint of grey looked unkempt and nowhere near its usual tidiness. Jack. Eleanor¡¯s son, who always came across as if he believed himself superior and couldn¡¯t help bragging about his new investment properties. He liked to give out stock tips¡ªas if Logan had money for anything other than paying the rent. ¡°Jack?¡± Logan asked and then promptly raised his hands, alarmed, as Jack slid open the door and pointed the barrel of a shotgun at him with bloodshot eyes. ¡°Woah! What are you doing?¡± Jack blinked, raising his gaze from Logan¡¯s chest to his face, scrutinizing him in puzzlement before his eyes widened. ¡°Logan?¡± he asked in disbelief. Without a shirt and streaked with blood and dirt, Logan supposed he was quite the sight. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me,¡± he said, sheepish. ¡°I guess I should have tried washing in the lake.¡± Logan was 6¡¯2, and on his best days, he¡¯d say he went for a scruffy look¡ªwith wavy, dark brown hair and bangs that often fell into his eyes. He was pale as shit, which was why he¡¯d been trying to work on his tan when everything went to hell. Take that scruffy look, remove a toe, cover him with scratches and bruises, then layer blood and dirt on top of that? He could see why Jack hadn¡¯t recognized him. ¡°What the hell happened to you? You look like you bathed in a slaughterhouse.¡± Logan tried brushing off the dirt on his chest, but he suspected he¡¯d managed to make it worse. ¡°Hell happened. If I told you, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d believe me. Shit, I wouldn¡¯t have believed myself. I¡¯ve been attacked repeatedly, almost blown up, and¡­¡± He glanced down at his foot. ¡°Got injured.¡± Logan took his cell out and toggled on the power. Still no cell signal. ¡°I have no service. I¡¯m locked out of the cabin, and I don¡¯t have internet there anyway. I¡¯m hoping you have wi-fi or a working phone line.¡± Jack lowered the shotgun and then rested it against the doorframe. Logan studied it with a frown. ¡°What were you going to do with that, anyway? Shoot me?¡± ¡°You never can be too careful.¡± Jack ran his hand through his hair before peering behind Logan anxiously. ¡°The lookie-loos and looters will be out here soon, just you wait.¡± ¡°Are you going to let me in?¡± Jack hesitated. ¡°Jack?¡± said a voice. ¡°Who¡¯s at the door?¡± That had to be Eleanor. Jack¡¯s hesitancy disappeared as he took a step back and pulled Logan inside. He peered through the window before shutting the door and closing the curtains. Eleanor was pushing 85, but she was active for her age, using trekking poles on her power walks outside. She was whipcord thin and she had shrunk an inch in the last year, her back slightly curved as age warped it. But she continued to dye her curly short hair blonde, and she had a remarkably youthful face. Logan didn¡¯t know if it was expensive makeup or good genes, but whatever she did, he wanted it when he was older. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the pot fiend!¡± Eleanor said in that distinct lilting accent of hers, all full of teasing and contempt at the same time. Eleanor had moved to the Okanagan from Newfoundland ten years ago. Proud of her heritage and willing to tell you all about her Irish ancestors, yet somehow convinced she didn¡¯t have an accent. Logan shifted awkwardly. ¡°You know that wasn¡¯t me, Eleanor. It was the renters.¡± She sniffed. ¡°So you say. Well, pot fiend, did you take a swim in a vat of fish guts? I was going to ask if you had a way out of here, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d go anywhere with you even if you had. What a state,¡± she tsked. ¡°Well, come on, let¡¯s get you cleaned up.¡± Logan followed her past the living room, then paused and made a beeline for the flat screen TV. A 24-hour news channel was showing a clip of downtown New York, streets empty of cars and trucks. What a bizarre sight. No vehicles anywhere, not even any parked on the sides. Paper fluttering down empty roads and the occasional scuttling rat flashed by the camera. Multiple jets flew at the sound barrier over the sky, patrolling and looking for something unknown. Logan perked up for a second, suddenly hopeful as the camera panned to another street, which had one lone car parked on the side street. It looked like a Tesla. Jack switched the channel. ¡°¡­The US government has commandeered all electric vehicles and will be using them to supplement the military. In the event of an emergency, continue to call 911. We¡¯ve been advised that a plan is in place to use military and civilian helicopters to transport citizens to the nearest hospital.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve received reports of stolen golf carts and farming equipment as people look for other transportation alternatives. In financial news, trading was halted after the DOW tumbled over 32% in one day, wiping away billions of dollars in wealth¡­¡± The next channel¡¯s anchor had a distinct British accent. ¡°¡­There have been unconfirmed reports of animals attacking people at random. We recommend crating your pet as a precautionary measure¡­¡± Back to an American channel. ¡°¡­Rumors of Chinese spy balloons over Washington are just that, rumors and there is no evidence that China is behind these attacks. We ask for your patience as we gather¡­¡± Jack paused on a Canadian channel and muted the volume. The news anchor had cut to a shot of downtown Toronto, showing the same eerily empty streets, with the people scattered throughout, running, tears in their eyes. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Then they transitioned to Trafalgar Square in London, showing the same empty streets but what looked like the remains of mutated pigeon corpses¡ªblood and feathers coating a bronze lion statue as if it had been tarred and feathered. ¡°It¡¯s everywhere, then?¡± Logan asked. ¡°The cars are gone?¡± ¡°All over the world. But they didn¡¯t blow them all up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Only gas, diesel, and the hybrids. Hybrids! With all these messages about carbon, you¡¯d think they¡¯d want to keep those around. The battery-operated ones are still on the road. But that¡¯s shit, what, a hundred in the Okanagan, if that?¡± ¡°Language, Jack,¡± Eleanor scolded, but she sounded distracted. Jack bragged about his money non-stop, and if anyone had an electric vehicle, it would be him. ¡°Do you have¡­?¡± A haunted look passed over his face. ¡°Marlene and I talked about it, but we were waiting until we replaced our Mercedes. Logan, she took the kids grocery shopping right before this happened.¡± No wonder Jack looked frazzled. There were a few smaller stores on the highway though; it didn¡¯t mean they went all the way to the city. ¡°You don¡¯t think¡­¡± Eleanor braced her frail hand against the arm of the couch and lowered herself down. ¡°Marlene is a natural food freak. She took my grandchildren to the city to go to that snooty store she loves. They left twenty minutes before those crazy messages blasted into everyone¡¯s heads. This family, we¡¯re realists. Although I would¡­¡± Eleanor¡¯s lip trembled, and she cleared her throat. Jack sat down next to her as if his legs had been cut. ¡°Mom, it doesn¡¯t mean¡­ They could have pulled over, stopped for gas, any number of things. Just because she won¡¯t answer her phone doesn¡¯t mean¡ªthat.¡± The nearest store was thirty minutes away and that was a convenience store. Marlene wouldn¡¯t be caught dead in it. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine then,¡± Logan lied. ¡°They were probably in the store when it happened and now, they¡¯re stranded like everyone else. You can¡¯t reach them because the phone lines are bogged down. I can¡¯t reach my sister either.¡± He felt like a jerk for even asking, but he was even more worried than before. ¡°Have you been able to get calls out? I tried calling 911, but I received a busy signal or a ¡®call back later.¡¯¡± Eleanor pursed her lips. ¡°You called 911 because you couldn¡¯t get through to your sister? You should know better, Logan. Emergencies are for emergencies.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ about that.¡± He peered down at his feet. They were filthy, so Logan could see why they hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°I kind of lost my big toe down at the cabin.¡± Silence. Then they both looked down at his bare feet with twin skeptical expressions before their eyes widened. ¡°You poor thing,¡± Eleanor said, wobbling to her feet with a hunched back and shuffling over to peer down at his missing digit. ¡°But it looks¡­ are you sure this just happened?¡± she asked, puzzled. ¡°It looks weeks old. That¡¯s not possible.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can explain it without sounding like I¡¯ve lost my mind. It¡¯s all from the notifications. You can both see them, right? Almost like text messages, but¡ª¡± he cleared his throat, embarrassed¡ª ¡°¡­in your mind?¡± Eleanor frowned. ¡°Everyone received them. The news is calling it ¡®the System.¡¯ That¡¯s how we know what happened to the cars. It¡¯s a mass-murderer, some kind of eco-terrorist.¡± ¡°There were messages about the cars, but I don¡¯t mean that. I have a stat sheet. It gives me personal characteristics, rating things like strength and intelligence. You can change the numbers and it¡­ does things to you. That¡¯s how I survived. I increased my constitution attribute which gave me some kind of advanced healing factor.¡± Eleanor studied him, and then she seemed to sigh with her whole body. ¡°I was hoping it was just my cataracts acting up or stress making me see things. I see something. Not that, though. There¡¯s no option to change ¡®attributes,¡¯ dearie, and I can¡¯t see any statistics.¡± Logan furrowed his brow. Wait a minute. What was that message in the Settings Mainframe again? As soon as Logan thought about it, the System populated the menu again. [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] [All new users start at Level 0. You will not be granted personal statistics until you kill your first entity. Once the user reaches Level 1, the System will automatically allocate stat points based upon personal characteristics.] Logan dismissed the text. ¡°You both need to kill something. The attribute points aren¡¯t available until you do.¡± Eleanor took a wary step back. ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± ¡°Animals, Eleanor, animals, not people. I know it sounds crazy. But you won¡¯t mind killing these things, trust me. They aren¡¯t normal animals anymore.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not killing anything. We¡¯re not that type of people.¡± ¡°Have you looked at the ranking system? It said everyone had a year to grow strong. I think that means it¡¯ll force us whether we want to or not.¡± Jack scoffed. ¡°This terrorist isn¡¯t going to know what hit it once we pool our resources together. We won¡¯t need to worry about any of this once we blow it out of the sky.¡± Logan wasn¡¯t so sure. What power on Earth could read your mind and make you physically stronger with a text message? Based on the rankings, there had to be millions¡ªperhaps even billions¡ªof people like Jack and Eleanor who hadn¡¯t yet leveled. If they weren¡¯t given a chance to see what happened when they reached level one, what would happen to all those people a year from now? Jack seemed to get new life as he shot to his feet, pacing. ¡°We¡¯ll blow this fucker out of the sky! Show it what we do here in the free world when you screw with people we love the most. They¡¯ll regret hurting Marlene. Hurting the kids. Maggie and Lilly better be okay!¡± He hit his palm with fist, a muscle in his neck bulging. Eleanor huffed and sat back down on the couch. ¡°You know swearing gets my blood pressure up. Since we can¡¯t get to a hospital anytime soon, you better behave.¡± Eleanor sighed and stroked the top of her knees in a self-soothing gesture. Logan suspected it wasn¡¯t swearing that was upsetting her. Those were her grandchildren Jack was talking about. ¡°I can¡¯t take this stress, Jack. Go do something productive and help Logan clean up. His stench is turning my stomach.¡± Jack deflated, becoming a squirrely businessman once again. ¡°Sorry mom.¡± He shot his mother a worried glance. ¡°It¡¯s best if we leave her for a bit,¡± he said, lowering his voice and leading Logan out of the living room and down the hallway. ¡°She doesn¡¯t deal well with stress in the best of times and with everything going on, plus speculations about Marlene and the kids¡­. I¡¯ve just upset her.¡± The hardwood floor was cold against Logan¡¯s bare feet as they made their way upstairs to the second floor. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. If it were Lara and the kids out there, I¡¯d be feeling the same.¡± And he had no way to know if that wasn¡¯t the case. Worry for her had his heart racing, anxious butterflies making him feel like he wanted to do a million things at once. ¡°I want to blow these assholes out of the sky, but¡­¡± ¡°What? This is a non-judgmental zone here. Don¡¯t hold back.¡± That was Jack¡¯s corporate boardroom voice. Logan finally just spit it out. ¡°Who are we blowing out of the sky?¡± ¡°The terrorists.¡± Jack opened a door to a guest room and started rummaging through the dresser. ¡°But the terrorists¡­.¡± Logan dropped his voice into an embarrassed mumble. He knew how it would sound. If Logan had passed someone on the street ranting about aliens, he¡¯d be walking around them in a wide circle. ¡°No,¡± said Jack, holding out a pair of bright orange swim trunks. ¡°I want to know.¡± Logan straightened. ¡°I don¡¯t think this ¡®System¡¯ is from around here, if you know what I mean.¡± Jack ran a finger over his bottom lip in thought. ¡°Aliens? You think the idea hasn¡¯t passed through my mind? It¡¯s possible, Logan. There¡¯s too much we don¡¯t know. For all our sakes, though, I hope it isn¡¯t. I sure hope it isn¡¯t. Something from here, a threat, a terrorist? We can fix that. I don¡¯t know if we can fix the unknown.¡± Logan wanted to ask for something more than shorts. He needed pants or something with layers to help protect against the next attack. A sense of normality was back now that he was inside with access to creature comforts, but he knew it would be short-lived. If this past day had taught him anything, it was that. Logan opened his mouth, but there was a wild look in Jack¡¯s eyes, and he appeared one question away from unravelling. ¡°Thanks for the clothes,¡± he said instead. Jack seemed to focus as he glanced down at the swim trunks. ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. My mom bought them for guests as a lark. They have printed pictures of Buttercup on them from when she was a kitten. Cute, don¡¯t you think? That reminds me. We can¡¯t find Buttercup. Mom thinks she might have gotten out. Be on the lookout, huh?¡± Shit. Logan thought back to the furry tabby tail he¡¯d seen in that monster snake¡¯s stomach. His voice was strangled. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll do that.¡± Chapter Seven: Cheat Exercises After Jack left, Logan showered, scrubbing away all that blood and grime. He cringed as he changed into the kitten-wear, but his old shorts were a lost cause¡ªsoaked in blood and stag gore and reeking as if he¡¯d dug them out of a grave. His missing toe injury had stung as he washed it with soap, but it was a dull ache, if anything. The skinned knees, contusions, scratches and a sore shoulder were all that remained of his murderous encounters and as each minute went by, they seemed incrementally less. What would take days to heal normally was now taking hours. He''d found a phone charger in the bedside table, and he¡¯d managed to power up his almost dead phone to 30% power by the time he came out of the bathroom. Jack had given him the wi-fi password, so even if the phone lines were still bogged down, at least he could email his sister or message her on social media. Logan gave her another try, biting his lip. Please pick up. ¡°Logan?¡± Lara said. Logan collapsed to the bed, boneless in his relief. ¡°Lara? Are you okay? Are the kids okay?¡± His voice cracked with emotion. The tension he¡¯d been holding in¡ªso desperately worried that he¡¯d caused her to get in a car with his frantic text message¡ªdeflated like a balloon. ¡°We¡¯re okay. The kids and I are home. Thank God you got through. I¡¯ve been trying to call you for hours. What about you? By the time I received your text message the cars had already blown up. I did everything I could to help, Logan, you have to believe me.¡± He laughed in relief. ¡°No, I believe you. I know you. I know you¡¯d do everything. I¡¯m so grateful you didn¡¯t get in that car. You have no idea.¡± ¡°I bet. Well, you aren¡¯t dead. I¡¯m assuming you managed to get to the hospital?¡± ¡°Um. In a manner of speaking?¡± ¡°Logan,¡± she said. ¡°What the hell does that mean?¡± There was no way he was explaining the constitution attribute. After seeing Eleanor and Jack¡¯s reaction, he didn¡¯t want to imagine how Lara would react. She was pragmatic and analytic to a fault. She¡¯d think he¡¯d cracked under the pressure and would come down here to ¡®save him¡¯ from himself. ¡°It wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought. Anyway, I managed to make my way over to Eleanor¡¯s and she helped. I seem to be in a good spot here and they¡¯re going to let me stay until this blows over.¡± ¡°You¡¯re safe?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. But I¡¯m worried about you and the kids. You remember what happened to the toilet paper at the grocery store when the pandemic started?¡± Silence. ¡°You think I should get toilet paper?¡± she asked dryly. ¡°Lara,¡± he scolded. ¡°I know, I know. I get it. Food and water. I¡¯ll fill up the bathtub just in case.¡± ¡°Good. But things could get bad out there, and quickly. Don¡¯t go outside unless you have to, understand? And Lara?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What they¡¯re saying on the news about the animals attacking is true. Keep the doors locked and¡ªbe wary of Annabelle.¡± Lara scoffed. ¡°Be wary of our parrot? Oooh, I¡¯m shaking in my boots.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m serious,¡± he warned. ¡°You don¡¯t know¡ª¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°I¡¯ll watch Annabelle. I¡¯ll be careful, I promise. Just be safe until I have a way to pick you up. Or hell, we might come there instead.¡± ¡°I will,¡± he whispered. When the call disconnected, Logan stared into space unseeingly. After all the worry, he didn¡¯t know what to do with himself now that he knew his sister was okay. Logan should be relieved, but he didn¡¯t feel that way. There was a vague panic at the back of his mind telling him that despite how bad everything was right now, it could still get worse. The government didn¡¯t seem to have any idea what was going on, and if animals were attacking others like they had him, it was going to be a shit-show out there. The Okanagan relied on food truck transportation to stock stores. For the conceivable future, that supply would stop. He needed to be prepared to run low on food and that meant desperate people. Ultimately, it might not be the animals that he needed to worry about. *** He found Jack and Eleanor in the living room, both of them glued to the TV. Jack seemed worse than before, his eyes baggy and red. ¡°I heard you talking up there. Did you manage to get in touch with your sister?¡± ¡°Lara¡¯s okay,¡± said Logan. ¡°The kids are okay. They¡¯re back in the city, staying inside.¡± He was relieved to say it, but he knew hearing that his family was okay had to be bittersweet to them both. Logan didn¡¯t want to be that guy¡ªthe one that celebrated a win while everyone else was suffering. Eleanor gave him a soft smile. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that. I always liked Lara. Tell her that she¡¯s welcome here if she needs a safe place to stay.¡± ¡°I appreciate that. It must be hard for you both and¡ª¡± Eleanor shot him a warning glance, subtly gesturing to Jack. ¡°Um. I told Lara to prepare for scarce resources but that might be something we should consider doing too. What¡¯s the food situation like?¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Eleanor lurched to her feet, wobbling before straightening. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Jack and I are being what I call ¡®unproductive.¡¯¡± She lowered her voice to a whisper. ¡°And wallowing in our grief. We need to get our minds off things.¡± Her voice returned to normal. ¡°Jack, come and help.¡± Jack grumbled, but he followed them into the kitchen. ¡°You don¡¯t have much, mom. That¡¯s why Marlene took the kids to the store.¡± Eleanor gently slapped him on the chest. ¡°I have tons! Just nothing fresh.¡± Opening the large cupboard next to the stainless-steel fridge, she squinted. ¡°Lots of¡­ pasta. A few cans of soup? That will last a week, for sure!¡± ¡°Yum,¡± said Jack dryly. That would run out quickly. ¡°Do you grow anything in your garden, Eleanor?¡± ¡°Garden?¡± Jack questioned. ¡°Hmph,¡± said Eleanor. ¡°I have a garden! It¡¯s just full of weeds right now, dearie. I¡¯m not that type of senior, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Okay, I think we need to gather as much food as we can before everyone else does. I saw a boat anchored off your dock. That¡¯s got a motor, right?¡± Eleanor gave Logan a considering look. ¡°It does. What are you thinking? I don¡¯t have enough fuel to make it to the city and back.¡± ¡°But enough to go across the lake to the resort?¡± There was an old resort directly across from the cabin that had been there for decades. It was mostly for tourists, but they had a boat fueling station and a small convenience store for the locals. Back when Logan was a child, his grandfather used to drive him and his sister across the lake to the resort. They¡¯d refuel and then pop into the store for a jumbo Mr. Freeze. Logan used to love the blue freezies both for the flavor and the tongue dye. He couldn¡¯t remember how many times he¡¯d gotten brain freeze while his grandad drove the speedboat back across the lake under 100 degree blasting sun. He hadn¡¯t thought of that in ages. Those memories were what made him regret selling the cabin¡­ if it was even sold after all of this. Knowing the seller¡¯s realtor, he wouldn¡¯t put it past him to add an apocalypse escape clause. As for the store, it wouldn¡¯t have healthy food, but it was better than nothing. Jack peered through the kitchen windows with a dubious look. ¡°It¡¯s too late now. By the time we get back, it¡¯ll be dark. I don¡¯t know about you, but I don¡¯t fancy trying to find mom¡¯s place in the middle of the lake with nothing but the moon to light our way.¡± ¡°No, I agree. We should go first thing in the morning. Jack, do you want to come? Eleanor, I assume you want to stay.¡± ¡°You thought right,¡± said Eleanor. ¡°These knees of mine aren¡¯t the best for climbing into boats. But Jack, I agree with Logan. You need to go. It will be good for you.¡± Jack gave her a haunted glance. ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing, mom.¡± Her smile was gentle. ¡°So that means you¡¯ll go?¡± Jack nodded. Good. They had an avenue for food, and now Logan just needed to tackle the other part of his plan. ¡°Now to the other thing. Jack, do you still have that baseball bat?¡± Jack gave him a dubious glance. ¡°I know you¡¯re both trying to get my mind off Marlene and the kids, but throwing a ball around isn¡¯t the best way to do it.¡± Chagrined, Logan gave him a sheepish look. He had that coming. ¡°Um, no. It¡¯s to defend myself. I was hoping to use it as a weapon. You¡¯ve got the shotgun, but I have nothing but my hands. I know you both haven¡¯t had to deal with anything attacking yet, but trust me, you¡¯ll want to be prepared when it happens.¡± ¡°Oh, then yeah. I have the bat. You can take it.¡± Logan scratched the back of his neck. ¡°And what about some carpenter nails?¡± *** It turned out that Jack and Eleanor didn¡¯t keep tools around the house, so Logan only had the baseball bat to defend himself as he made his way outside. It was no matter. He needed to go out anyway to test the System cheat, and although he was wary of going back to his cabin, his grandfather¡¯s supply shed was full of tools. The baseball bat was old, passed down to Jack from his father, but it was sturdy and wooden, just what he needed to MacGyver the hell out of it. He¡¯d considered grabbing the weed wacker instead, but it would be useless once he ran out of gas. Eleanor had a bunch of butcher knives too, but Logan would just as likely cut himself and die of blood loss before he managed to hurt anything. It was a close-contact weapon too, and that meant a lot of potential animal bites, and a lot of potential venom if snakes kept trying to kill him. No, the bat was the best option. Logan jogged away from Eleanor¡¯s property, passing through her manicured grass into the wild land between their two properties. Examining the dirt and rocks, he slowed down once he entered a flat clearing that had more sand and gravel than anything. It was perfect. Grabbing a stick, Logan etched lines into the dirt, drawing a makeshift vertical ladder on the ground as if he were drawing with chalk on a sidewalk. He took a step back, eyeing it, before adding a few more ladder rungs. All told, it was about five feet long. Now for the experiment. Although Logan didn¡¯t go to the gym often, he¡¯d once seen a personal trainer demonstrate an agility ladder to a soccer player who wanted to build up their leg strength. If the maneuvers didn¡¯t count as agility, Logan didn¡¯t know what would. He had no idea if this would work, but either the System awarded him, or he¡¯d drop dead from exhaustion first. One or the other. Keeping an eye on his footwork, Logan raised his knees as he jumped through the invisible rungs. It took a few tries at first¡ªhe accidentally kept jumping on the lines and ruining them¡ªbut after the sixth try, he was able to power through the ladder in five seconds, flat. Now for the next exercise. Logan shuffled, stepping twice into each rung of the ladder, going side to side. Into the ladder, out the side, into the ladder, out the side. His speed was horrible at first, but after the fifth try, he got the hang of it, sweat pouring down his forehead and burning his eyes. His legs were screaming at him, his thighs cramping, but he completed the exercise another two times before repeating the whole thing, but this time, backwards. He didn¡¯t know if this was doing anything, but repetition never hurt. Logan repeated the first exercise. The second. Backward. Forward. Backward. Forward. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point! Agility daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Hell yeah! Logan fist pumped the air. He was an agility ladder master! Unlike the endurance point increase, this one washed over him as a tingling sensation in his legs and arms, making him itch to jump into the exercise again. But he was exhausted. No matter. If he did this every day, eventually he¡¯d increase his fitness to the point where it was routine. Now for the next experiment. This was a long-shot, and it might end up being a waste of time, but you never succeeded unless you tried. Logan walked past his ladder and wandered around until he found something small, something hard to see. There. An ant carrying a sliced leaf twice the size of its head. Thankfully, it looked like a normal ant¡ªno mutation, as far as Logan could see. Sitting down in a lotus position on the ground, he examined the ant and¡­ stared. First, he studied the ant¡¯s legs and the miniscule hair covering them. This was crazy. A day ago, he couldn¡¯t see without his glasses, and he¡¯d be squinting at anything far away. Today, he could see the fine detail on the ant, the way the sun shone on its body, and the mandibles that maneuvered the leaf. After the ant scurried away, another took its place. This time, it had the remains of an insect in its mouth. Logan stared and studied it. And stared again. It was¡­ an ant. What time was it again? After a while, Logan had to admit that watching ants was as exciting as watching a kettle boil. There must be a limit to his system cheat because he still hadn¡¯t received a perception attribute increase. Did he need to examine something else? Logan glanced at the ant one more time. Ding! Chapter Eight: A Weapon [You have been granted the Skill, Idiot¡¯s Inspect! This uncommon skill is granted to idiots who stare at insects expecting something interesting to happen. Well done, human! You¡¯re unique in the world. This skill is hard-capped to your Grade level.] Okay, what the hell? Thanks a lot, you sarcastic fucker. Logan almost accidentally stomped on the ant in his anger. He was starting to feel offended. No, he was offended. This System didn¡¯t seem very politically correct. It may even be racist. He still hadn¡¯t forgotten about its comment that humans were ¡®lesser species.¡¯ And what if the System started calling people with developmental disabilities names? He¡¯d hated it before for being a murderous sarcastic fucker, but now he disliked it just on principle. As for the earned [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] skill, it wasn¡¯t the perception attribute point he was aiming for, but he¡¯d take it. Whatever it was. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the ant, expecting something to happen. Furrowing his brow in puzzlement, he was about to look away, when he got the sense that if he willed the information, it would populate. Bizarre. He didn¡¯t know why¡ª [Okanagan Carpenter Ant: Level 0] Holy crap, it worked! The text went away the next time he blinked, and it seemed limited in information, but it was as if he were wearing VR glasses in a video game. Excited, Logan jogged past the ant until he found a fallen pinecone, giving it an examining stare. And stared. Was he doing it wrong? Huh. Maybe it had to be an animal? Logan scanned for another insect, keeping a wary eye on the long dry grass. He still hadn¡¯t forgotten how the last snake had snuck up on him. Finally, a cricket jumped and landed on top of a leaf, grooming its legs. Logan eyed it. [Hump-Wing Cricket: Level 0] Success! Logan could make a killing as a naturalist. But beyond the nature study, the skill could be useful. The next time he encountered a mutated animal, if he saw its level, he might be able to prepare himself before he fought. After all, there had to be a big difference between a Level 2 and Level 10 monster. Endurance and agility, check them off the box. Perception was a no go. But there was one more attribute that he was convinced he could advance today; it was just a matter of whether he wanted to subject himself to pain. Endurance and agility had only advanced after a certain amount of effort. For strength, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as lifting the occasional rock. No, he¡¯d have to strain his muscles, likely to a dangerous point. Glutton for punishment, here we come! Logan travelled the remaining distance to his cabin, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. The weeping willow in front of the cabin seemed to gleam in the sun, mist saturating the air. He bypassed the rotting snake corpse and peered into the door of the open utility shed. The coast was clear. Nothing but tools. More importantly, the avenue for torture was at hand. Logan grabbed an extra-large metal pail by its wooden handle. Next, he took a length of rope about the same length as the door and tied it to the pail handle. At the other end of the rope, he knotted a small loop, big enough to fit his hand. He debated leaving the baseball bat in the shed while he went outside, but although the System was convinced of it, Logan wasn¡¯t quite that level of [Idiot]. But he was an idiot who was going to increase his strength attribute by the wackiest way possible. Grinning, Logan made his way over to the dock, walking mid-way over the worn wooden slats until he could easily look down at the water. The temperate had dropped as it got closer to the evening, so at least he wouldn¡¯t be dealing with heat stroke on top of muscle strain. The rope was the smooth, nylon kind, so hopefully he¡¯d avoid too many calluses, but that depended upon how long the System required him to struggle before it granted him that precious attribute point. Logan lowered the pail into the lake, filling it with water. All told, it must have been about 5 gallons, which wasn¡¯t an impossible weight, but when you had to lift it out of the lake, pulling on a length of rope high enough to reach the dock? Yeah, no picnic. The first time was fine. The second was okay, just a slight awkward feeling. The third time strained, and after that, it was all downhill. Five times. Ten. Fifteen. Logan¡¯s arms trembled, his muscles on fire, the pain going all the way from his fingers, up his wrist to his shoulder. Twenty. Oh, come on, System! And as if to taunt him with its creepy mind-reading powers: Ding! [You have earned one Strength point! Strength daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] The tingling sensation returned; this time concentrated in his arms. Just as quickly, a rush of heat replaced it as if he¡¯d put both arms in a sauna. When he glanced down, his biceps were slightly bigger. Huh. Logan lifted the pail onto the dock and then collapsed to his back, examining his arms as he caught his breath. He was hoping for a continuation of a sculpted stomach (purely for vanity purposes), but it was as if the System was directing the strength bonus at the muscles he¡¯d used to earn it in the first place. Although the increase had reduced the muscle strain, it hadn¡¯t fixed his exhaustion. Clearly, his endurance still needed a boost. Oh my f¡¯ing God, let¡¯s not do that again. At least until tomorrow. After recovering, Logan lurched to his feet, balancing the baseball bat along one shoulder as he pulled up his stat screen, eager to review his improvements: A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 3,432,311,629 out of 7,475,473,883 Level: 3 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 456/6000 Intelligence: 6 Constitution: 15 Strength: 12 + 1 = 13 Agility: 8 + 1 = 9 Dexterity: 5 Endurance: 6 + 1 = 7 Perception: 5 Wisdom: 4 Luck: 10 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 0 His strength attribute had increased to what he thought was a respectable 13. If he continued these cheat exercises every day, he had a reliable way to increase his strength, agility, and endurance attributes by 7 points every week. Of his remaining physical attributes, that left only dexterity, constitution, and perception. But the next time he leveled up, he¡¯d throw the extra attribute points into those stats. That would even them up as long as he didn¡¯t let too many days pass without a level increase. Then there was what he classified as oddball attributes: intelligence, wisdom, and luck. Other than the System taunting him by labelling him an [Idiot], those stats seemed arbitrary and a weird thing to measure. Until he knew what each did and how they affected him, he¡¯d skip them for now and focus on the others. Logan was about to minimize his stats, until he paused, puzzled. His ranking had gone up. He¡¯d expected that, but just how far above him had others started for him to still be ranked only 3.4 billion? That wasn¡¯t thousands or millions, billions were either higher leveled than him or had higher attributes. Logan had assumed that he¡¯d figured out a unique cheat, but maybe everyone else had too. Was there something on this stat sheet that he wasn¡¯t seeing, some instructions sheet, or tutorial? ¡°System, bring up the Settings Mainframe.¡± [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] Logan examined the options listed, but it was the same information he¡¯d already read. He looked up and to the side, hoping for a glowing, hidden text box, with no success. ¡°Sarcastic fucker, do you have a table of contents or an instructions menu?¡± Maybe it didn¡¯t like to be addressed that way. ¡°System,¡± he said politely. ¡°Display the help menu.¡± [¡­.Although you need all the help you can get, Idiot, that option doesn¡¯t exist.] Creepy-ass mother--! Logan clenched his fists and dismissed the Settings Mainframe. Okay, so no help from the creeper. It was up to Logan to figure this out. For the first time, he looked beyond his attributes. What the hell was a ¡®KarmaCoin¡¯? Was that like Bitcoin? Attempting to highlight and expand it like his skills didn¡¯t work. Using that genius level of deduction that he had (yes, System, I¡¯m talking to you), he could partly deconstruct it. Coin implied it was a type of currency, and if karma was referring to the human definition, it had to be something awarded after completing a deed or action. Would the System award you with money if you paid a good deed forward or helped someone out? Somehow, he didn¡¯t think it was that simple. Logan dismissed his stat sheet and ran his thumb over the handle of the wooden bat. It still needed MacGyvering, and the sun was wasting. He didn¡¯t want to be outside when it got dark. After returning to the utility shed and weighing his options, he went with three-inch regular old nails which he figured had less chance of splitting the wood. Getting to work, he used his grandpa¡¯s old trusted (as in, rusted) hammer, spreading the nails out so they weren¡¯t grouped together. At odd sections, a sturdier screw between the nail sections added lethal variety. Logan kept a careful eye on the bat, making sure he wasn¡¯t splitting any wood. This thing would be worthless if he managed to shatter it on first contact. Logan hammered in the last nail, giving the bat a considering eye. All told, he¡¯d used about thirty nails and ten screws. This thing was badass. Now, it was just a matter of whether the nails would stay if he hit anything or if there was anything else he could do to¡­ Huh. He knew his grandpa had been a packrat, but that habit was turning into a godsend. There was a tub of extra strength, instant drying glue in one of the metal toolboxes, and¡­ holy shit, jackpot. Grandpa had kept a length of barbed wire. Wrapping the barbed wire around the bat between the nails gave it stability, and a dab of glue where each nail entered the wood made it extra strong. He kind of wanted to paint it red to give it that added level of menace, but he was on a schedule. Logan closed the door of the shed and then took a few test swings with his new weapon, the air singing with each strike. He¡¯d made something out of a comic book. Shit, no, he¡¯d just made a more lethal version of the bat from The Walking Dead. Logan began the walk back to Eleanor¡¯s, the bat balanced over one shoulder. All told, the trip hadn¡¯t been half bad. He¡¯d figured out a way to cheat the system and gained a new weapon. Tomorrow, if they managed to return with a supply of food, they wouldn¡¯t be in a¡ª The rotting snake corpse had just moved. Logan came to a stop, clenching his fingers around the bat handle. It couldn¡¯t be alive¡ªhell, the System had announced its death. Was it a trick of his eyes? Taking a step, he inched forward, wary eyes on the corpse. The remains made it seem bigger than when it was alive, flesh bloated and swollen with decomposition. The gory bloody bits had turned from red to dark purple, covering the sand with sludge. Flies buzzed around it, maggots crawling over the shredded stomach. The stomach was still open, the blood around the cat¡¯s tail dried into a crust. Maybe it was decomposing gas? He¡¯d heard that corpses did strange things as they¡­. No, the sides had definitely just moved. What the hell? Logan watched in disbelief as something pressed against the skin from the inside like some mash up of the movie Alien. Small furry fingers with black talons curled around the edges of the sliced stomach. The hand pried it open like a rib-spreader, a face covered in a grey pelt wiggling loose, followed by a furry body and a fluffy tail drenched in bloody guts. That looked like the snake¡¯s liver clutched in its other hand¡ªor, rather, paw. [Rabid Grey Squirrel: Level 3] A squirrel. Despite knowing this thing had evolved into a leveled being, Logan couldn¡¯t help letting out a relieved laugh. At the sound, the squirrel squeaked, fluffy grey tail rising straight up to a point. Black, beady eyes narrowed on him, nose twitching as its paw spasmed around the gleaming liver. Something about it gave him pause. Logan had seen many squirrels around the property, but this one, despite being only slighter larger in size than a normal squirrel, gave him an ominous feeling¡ªlike a monster under the bed that looked cute and fluffy on the outside, but was just waiting for you to fall asleep so it could gnaw on your toes. As if to mirror his thoughts, the squirrel opened its mouth, hissing, revealing serrated teeth like something you¡¯d see inside of a shark¡¯s jaws. It had layers of teeth like a saw, and an orange, pointy tongue. What the hell? Logan raised the bat as if he were going up to the plate, trying to look threatening. The squirrel was only level 3, and Logan had interrupted its meal. He might be able to inch away without¡­. The fluffy monstrosity took a flying leap at him, squeak, squeak, squeaking, as it flew through the air¡­ right into his swing. Man, that thing could fly. Logan hit the squirrel all the way back to the weeping willow tree. Its furry body smacked into the trunk with a crack. But unlike a regular baseball swing, his nail bat had done some damage. The squirrel shook itself, whimpering and shuddering as it trembled, several spots on its fur leaking blood. It panted before getting up and¡ªfilled with resolve¡ªjackknifed its tail straight up, beady eyes glaring before it skittered up the trunk and into a branch. Good for you, little guy. Just like that, Logan made a decision. He could go after it, but he felt like doing so would give into the System. Obviously, it was encouraging and even gamifying killing. If everyone went along with it, wouldn¡¯t humanity be admitting defeat and throwing in the towel? Just because it would award him for ending the life of that crazy squirrel, didn¡¯t mean he had to. He wasn¡¯t a mindless killing machine. Logan had agency and so did the squirrel. If it wanted to swim in snake guts and randomly hiss and attack people, good on it. It¡¯s not like it was any threat to him. Right? Chapter Nine: Rabid Squirrel [Countdown: Day 2 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 3,431,213,628 out of 7,473,432,782.] [You are in the middle 55th percentile.] [Advance and grow.] Logan jerked awake to the sound of the System Ding! ricocheting in his ears. Waking up to that sound was like a Pavlovian response¡ªdanger was at hand. After he blinked awake enough to be able to read let alone comprehend the message, he groaned, rolling over on the bed and getting to his feet. Excellent, in addition to being a murderous, sarcastic mind fucker, the System wanted to rub it in by reminding everyone that the nightmare continued each day. Logan scratched his stomach and then opened the door to the hallway, intending to stumble to the bathroom, when a crash sounded downstairs. That had to be broken glass. Shit, was someone breaking in? Jack peered out of his bedroom door in plaid pajamas, his hair mused and standing on end. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked, looking at Logan owlishly. ¡°Where¡¯s that shotgun?¡± Logan grabbed his baseball bat. If someone had broken in, the bat was a good backup, but he¡¯d much rather scare them away before it got to that point. Guns were particularly good at intimidation. Jack went back into his room and then returned with the shotgun. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll need it?¡± His voice was full of nerves as he peered down the hallway. ¡°Mom is downstairs.¡± Eleanor slept in a room on the first floor. Jack had explained last night that he¡¯d be more comfortable if they were all on the same floor, but Eleanor¡¯s knees couldn¡¯t manage the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we don¡¯t. Come on.¡± As they got to the end of the hallway overlooking the stairs, he slowed down, trying to avoid making any noise. Jack followed suit. Logan raised his bat, getting ready to swing as they made their way to the main floor. The rising sun shone light into the windows not covered by blinds, illuminating everything in bright light. Gleaming hardwood floor, an expansive, tidy living room and a dining room table with everything in its place. It looked pristine¡ªno broken glass anywhere. Another crash sounded from behind them, and they turned towards the hallway leading to the back of the cabin. ¡°Mom¡¯s bedroom is down there!¡± They rushed down the hallway, coming to a stop in front of a closed door. ¡°Mom?¡± Jack said, knocking and then trying the door handle. ¡°Are you okay?¡± The door swung open with a creak. The scene that met them was something out of a horror movie. Eleanor¡¯s bedroom window was wide open, her lace curtains fluttering in the breeze. Logan was reminded of the scent of fresh cut meat ripening in the heat, a metallic taste that went all the way to the back of your throat. Eleanor hadn¡¯t had a chance. She was lying on the bed in a long, pale pink nightgown, spatters of blood decorating her face as if someone had splattered her with paint. On top of her, the squirrel he¡¯d had such sympathy for yesterday crouched over her corpse, its black talons digging into her chest like a dog digging dirt. The remains of one of her eyes bulged in its mouth, nerves and connected tissue dangling before it slurped it up like spaghetti, orange pointy tongue licking its muzzle. [Rabid Grey Squirrel: Level 6] Jack let out an anguished bellow and the squirrel narrowed in on them, hissing, razor-sharp teeth on display. In one night, the squirrel had gone up three levels, from level 3 to level 6. In addition to the level increase, it had grown. It was now the size of a medium sized raccoon, with talons to match. It was as far from cute and fluffy as you could get. The squirrel jumped off Eleanor¡¯s body, bloody paws soaking the white sheet as it skidded onto the bedside table, smashing the lamp to the floor. Its beady eyes latched onto Logan¡¯s bat as if it recognized it from yesterday, and it let out a screech, its fluffy tail pointing straight up. Seeing Eleanor¡¯s mutilated body lit a rage in Logan so strong that it felt as if all thirteen points of his strength attribute were amplified, adrenaline rushing through him and the baseball bat creaking in his grip. Eleanor had been a consistent presence in Logan¡¯s life for years. Before he rented the cabin, she¡¯d been there, lounging on her deck with her quirky Kentucky Derby sunhat, ready to hand out lemonade. Even after the whole pot renter debacle, she¡¯d teased him, but she¡¯d been genuinely concerned. She¡¯d reminded him of his grandmother¡ªstern on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside. The worse part of the rage building inside of Logan was the guilt that fueled it. By letting the squirrel go, Logan had thought himself magnanimous. It was his way to rebel against the System. This felt like a pointed dig at his own agency. By letting the squirrel go, he¡¯d given it a chance to level up. If he¡¯d killed the thing yesterday, Eleanor would still be alive. By being lenient, Logan had killed her by his inaction. Well, it was in for a world of pain. The squirrel was going to regret fucking with him. Logan rushed towards it, using his extra agility point to good use and swinging the bat with all his might. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The squirrel didn¡¯t move. Shocked, Logan took a wary step back. Yesterday, when he hit it, he¡¯d flung it clear across the lakefront, the nails on his bat puncturing its hide. This time, he may as well have hit an oak. It must have increased the hell out of its constitution. The squirrel seemed to grin, its orange tongue slurping up a last bit of blood clinging to the side of its muzzle before it charged at him as if his hit had injected it with steroids. Its talons lashed into his bare chest as it rushed by him, scoring deep, bloody gouges. Chittering, it slammed into the opposite wall before pivoting towards him again. ¡°Jack, you need to shoot it! It¡¯s too strong. Shoot it!¡± ¡°What?¡± Jack sounded hysterical, his hands trembling on the shotgun. The squirrel disregarded Jack, rushing by him and leaping at Logan¡¯s face. That was sixty pounds of rabid squirrel barrelling towards him at speed. There wasn¡¯t enough room or time to raise the bat. Logan did the only thing he could think of¡ªduck. But this thing was three levels above him and those extra attributes were paying dividends. Even after swivelling to the side, it still managed to slash the side of his face, just missing his eye. ¡°Shoot it, Jack!¡± Jack raised the shotgun, aiming, the barrel jerking in his unsteady hands. ¡°You¡¯re in the way! I can¡¯t keep it in sight; it¡¯s moving too fast!¡± Against Jack¡¯s level 0 perception, the squirrel may as well be a cartoon, careening away. Fuck, it was up to Logan. Logan turned, raising the bat and charging, using every bit of his earned strength to slam the bat against the squirrel¡¯s side. This time, he managed to force it back as it chittered, but it still grinned at him as if it were having the time of its life. This wasn¡¯t working. Logan wasn¡¯t strong enough and unless he gave Jack a clear shot, they¡¯d both be dead, not just Eleanor. Logan¡¯s gaze narrowed into tunnel vision as he considered and discarded options, each one more absurd than the last, before he came to a decision. It was their only chance. Logan charged at the squirrel again, giving it another swing of the bat. Nothing, not even a dent. But that wasn¡¯t his goal. He hit it again, one hit after another, until, gradually, the thing¡¯s humor turned into annoyance, then annoyance into anger. ¡°Come and get me, peanut fucker!¡± screamed Logan, backing up as he taunted it. The squirrel hopped, tail pointing upwards. ¡°Jack, get ready to shoot!¡± Jack¡¯s expression was panicked, but his hands steadied when he glanced at Eleanor¡¯s body. He gave a firm nod. ¡°Ready.¡± This thing was still a squirrel, despite its physical capabilities. There was something simple that he could have done all along, but in an emergency, the simplest options are often the ones overlooked. As he backed up, Logan grabbed a handful of the quilt at the end of Eleanor¡¯s bed. When the squirrel leaped for him, mouth wide and full of razor-sharp teeth, he threw it. The squirrel hit the quilt like a fish into a net. But most importantly, it covered its whole body, making it impossible for it to see, and most important of all¡ªimpossible for it to move. ¡°Now, Jack!¡± Logan took a flying leap to the side. Jack unloaded into the thing with a bang¡ªone shot, two. He kept going until he ran out of bullets, Logan¡¯s ears ringing from the blasts. Silence. ¡°Is it dead?¡± Jack demanded. No movement. The squirrel was motionless underneath the quilt. As Logan crept forward and nudged it with his bare foot, a large red bloodstain bloomed on the fabric. That was a lot of blood. ¡°Stay back just in case,¡± he said before lifting the quilt. Revealing shredded squirrel guts. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Six Rabid Grey Squirrel! Experience points reduced and awarded based on contributions made.] [You have leveled up!] ¡°I just received a message that we killed it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is that true? Is it dead?¡± Logan nudged the sludgy remains with his baseball bat. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s dead.¡± Jack slumped, dropping the shotgun to the hardwood floor. He glanced at Eleanor¡¯s corpse before looking away, his throat moving in an aborted swallow. Now that the fight was over and Logan¡¯s adrenaline was dropping, numbness was creeping in, the reality of the situation swallowing him in a wave of grief. But whatever Logan was going through had to pale in comparison to whatever Jack was feeling. First, he lost his wife and kids, and now his mother? Did the poor man have any family left? ¡°It was that stupid cat¡¯s fault,¡± Jack said, his eyes red. ¡°If it hadn¡¯t run off, mom never would have left the window open.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jack gestured to the open window. ¡°Buttercup, her cat. She was so worried about it that she left her window open last night.¡± Logan¡¯s stomach dropped. Buttercup, the cat. The cat that was currently rotting inside the remains of the snake corpse he¡¯d killed yesterday. The same cat he¡¯d known was dead. He¡¯d thought keeping it to himself would save Eleanor¡¯s feelings, especially after learning about her grandchildren. The guilt he¡¯d felt before turned into a chasm. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jack,¡± he said, his voice rasping. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± It was his fault. It was entirely his fault. Jack ran his hand through his hair, darted a glance at Eleanor, then looked away just as quickly. ¡°What do I do? I don¡¯t know what to do,¡± he said to himself before directing his stare at Logan. ¡°Who do I even call? They don¡¯t have hearses¡ªthey¡¯re blown up with the rest of the cars.¡± Logan took the quilt and gently laid it over Eleanor¡¯s remains. ¡°We¡¯ll have to bury her.¡± Jack took a step back. ¡°I can¡¯t¡ªI can¡¯t. Logan, I can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t leave her here.¡± ¡°I know, but¡ª¡± His expression was desperate, and he looked one word away from a nervous breakdown. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± said Logan, firm. ¡°I¡¯ll find a place. Somewhere¡­ peaceful.¡± *** Logan had asked Jack for a shirt to cover his wounded chest before he searched for a suitable spot for a burial. Despite his constitution stat and what had to be a higher resistance to disease, he doubted exposing a wound to what remained of poor Eleanor was a smart idea. Jack had blindly grabbed something from his closet before closing himself inside his room with his grief. That¡¯s how Logan found himself wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt with what had to be a crazy thread count and kitten-pattered orange swim trunks as he trekked across the terrain with a blanket-wrapped corpse slung over his shoulder. It was the least he could do to atone for his mistakes. If it would bring Eleanor back, he¡¯d walk across hot coals with her in his arms. But the reality of the situation was that she wasn¡¯t coming back, and it was all his fault. After Logan killed the second snake, he¡¯d been so cocksure and filled with overconfidence. All he had to do, he¡¯d thought, was kill some shit, and he¡¯d make it out all right. Little did he know that there was more to killing things in this new reality. His actions had consequences. Eleanor wasn¡¯t coming back. This wasn¡¯t a video game. Logan had made a mistake, and he¡¯d have to live with that for the rest of his life. He¡¯d brought Eleanor to the only place that would do her justice. Majestic and always there for him, the weeping willow had been a consistent feature since he was a child. In the blasting sun, it supplied shade, its dancing branches dripping mist. He¡¯d used to love playing in front of the knotted trunk, creeping underneath the interwoven roots, and envisioning that he was in a fantasy world. There may even still be tiny plastic toys hidden in the roots from when he was a boy. But most importantly, it was grand, it was majestic, and it was the perfect resting place for someone who had the same personality in life. Logan gently rested Eleanor¡¯s body on the grass in front of the willow tree and then made his way to the utility shed. Knowing his grandpa, he¡¯d have more than what he needed to dig a decent burial hole, and sure enough, there was a shovel resting against one wall. Logan got to work. Chapter Ten: The Willow Tree With his added strength, digging into the soft clay was as easy as if he¡¯d used an excavator rather than brute force. He was covered in dirt before the end, but in short order, he had a decent sized hole. Logan kept the blankets around Eleanor as he laid her to rest. He was just about to fill it in, when he paused. Eleanor had cared enough about that damn cat to unknowingly risk her life, and it was a small matter of letting them rest together. The snake¡¯s corpse had gotten worse over night and stank to high heaven, but he was still able to pull the mangled, crusty tail out of its shredded stomach. Poor Buttercup looked intact, other than the mummification. Wrinkling his nose, Logan held Buttercup¡¯s remains by one hand and then returned to the grave, placing it by Eleanor¡¯s body. By the time he¡¯d pushed the dirt back into the hole and compacted it, he was out of breath despite his increased endurance attribute. It was done, but at the same time, it felt inadequate. Eleanor must have been loved by her friends and family. It shouldn¡¯t have ended like this. And it wouldn¡¯t have if Logan had made different choices. Just like that, Logan resolved to do better. Until he knew more about their new reality, no more believing that he was smarter than a System that could literally read people¡¯s minds. Logan rested his hand against the trunk of the willow tree, closing his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Eleanor,¡± he whispered. Underneath his fingers, something moved. Logan hissed and tried to remove his hand, but it was as if a force had latched onto him, keeping his palm glued to the bark. The trunk grew hot¡ªwhite hot, so hot that he was convinced his fingers were on fire. Holy shit, he wasn¡¯t going to just lose a toe, he was going to lose his hand! But just as suddenly as it started, the heat faded and the bark underneath his hand cooled. Cooled too quickly, from one extreme to the next. It was blast-chiller cold! What. The. Fuck. Ding! [Hidden conditions met.] [You have discovered a Karma Lodestone! While contemplating that your actions have consequences, you have committed an act of restitution: giving back to the dirt what was taken. This is an act of karma.] [Congratulations, human! By following this path of enlightenment, you are truly defying what it means to be an Idiot! 20 bonus points awarded to Intelligence and Wisdom.] [You have been granted the skill, Life Cycle! This rare skill allows you to control the life cycle of a tree from sprout, sapling, mature to rotting. Each stage increases per skill level. Karma credits will be awarded based on carbon capture calculations.] Logan swallowed, feeling overwhelmed. Eleanor had died. It had been Logan¡¯s fault. Being rewarded for having regret, for resolving to change? It felt like a cheat. If the System wanted to reward him, why couldn¡¯t it bring Eleanor back instead? Logan had no further chance for thought. As soon as the message faded, his hand came loose. He shook it, checking his palm for burns, but his skin looked fine. That was all the time he had before a wave of something indescribable rushed through him. Logan could only liken it to being injected with twenty shots of expresso. He was alert. And the world was different. It was only now that he truly understood how insignificant he was in the universe, like a speck of bacteria growing on¡­ Like a speck of bacteria growing on¡­ On¡­. Just as quickly, the feeling faded, and with it went his understanding. What the hell? Was that what an upgrade of wisdom and intelligence did? If so, he wasn¡¯t sure he liked it. Puzzled, Logan looked at the weeping willow. Where he¡¯d laid his hand, the bark had transformed into a stone the size of his palm. It was as if a shiny, metallic stone had been etched into the trunk. Cautious, he inched closer, holding out his hand. Logan felt a force pulling, some kind of power, and with a pop, the cufflinks in Jack¡¯s shirt ripped out of the cuffs and flew at the stone. They slammed into it like a piece of metal clinging to a magnet. Weird ass shit. Logan gave the weeping willow a wary glance, but it didn¡¯t do anything else, and the cufflinks continued to cling to the stone. This just got weirder and weirder. Using his thumb and index finger, he grabbed each cufflink, pulling on them. They resisted at first, but like a magnet, they eventually gave away. Logan pocketed the cufflinks and then stared at the hand-sized stone in puzzlement. If this was a ¡®hidden¡¯ Karma Lodestone, it had to be something good. It sounded good. He still felt guilty for having it in the first place, but in this new world, he needed to take what advantages he could get. Logan just had no idea what to do with it. He cleared his throat. ¡°System, power the Karma Lodestone.¡± Nothing. Okay, maybe it wasn¡¯t power¡­ maybe it needed to be opened. ¡°System, open the Lodestone.¡± The branches of the weeping willow danced in the breeze, tiny wisps of mist falling on his face. For fuck¡¯s sake. ¡°System, enable the Lodestone!¡± More mist. Sighing, Logan rested his hand against the trunk of the tree. Well, at least he¡¯d iconized his handprint. It was an exact replica and it fit it to a¡­ [Welcome, Idiot! Entering the Karma Lodestone Menu.] Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. [What would you like to buy?] Holy shit, jackpot! He had been overthinking it the whole time. The stone acted like a touchscreen and all he needed to do was press his palm to activate it. The whole thing was weird as shit though. Instead of looking at a touchscreen, the message appeared in front of his eyes like all the other System messages. And if he was seeing a direct correlation between it and the System messages, they had to be related. ¡°Who are you?¡± he said to the tree. [What would you like to buy?] ¡°Are you an alien? Were you made by someone on Earth?¡± [What would you like to buy?] ¡°Why are you trying to kill us?¡± [What would you like to buy?] Sighing, Logan gave up. ¡°What do you have available?¡± [¡­.WEAPONS. CLOTHING. FOOD.] Logan perked up, his excitement returning. If this thing could give them food like some kind of tree-fridge, it would be a game changer. Going across the lake to the convenience store would be a temporary stopgap, but they would soon run out of food again. Weapons may also come in handy. He was fond of his new baseball bat, but it wouldn¡¯t last forever. ¡°Show me the food options,¡± Logan demanded. [Sufficient KarmaCoin required to purchase food options. Conditions not met.] What? Shit, that was the currency listed on his stat sheet. Unless he missed his guess, he was broke. ¡°Okay, show me the weapons then.¡± Even if he had no money, it would be useful to review what was available to plan for the future. [Sufficient KarmaCoin required to purchase weapon options. Conditions not met.] Piece of shit System! Why grant him access if it made it impossible to purchase things in the first place? Wait a minute. Logan had lost his wallet in the car explosion, but he was sure Jack had money. The man was loaded. ¡°Can I convert currency for KarmaCoin?¡± [Query not understood.] ¡°Canadian dollars?¡± Or wait, credit cards could convert to other currency. ¡°American dollars? Euros?¡± [What would you like to buy?] ¡°Asshole!¡± Logan kicked the tree trunk and then promptly regretted it, forgetting that he was barefoot, the skin over his partly healed missing digit tearing open. ¡°Fuck! Fuck!¡± He jumped up and down as a thousand needles stabbed into him at once. That was ten time worse than stubbing your toe. Friggin¡¯ agony! Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 3!] Just great. That skill would drive him crazy, as if the System were taunting him each time. It only increased whenever he hurt himself, emphasizing his stupidity with each level increase. That reminded him. He¡¯d been so overwhelmed with grief that he¡¯d forgotten about the level up message during the fight with the squirrel. He had five attributes that he needed to allocate. After the lodestone bonus, intelligence and wisdom had to be respectable, with over 20 points in each, so they wouldn¡¯t need any help for a long while. With the daily increases to endurance, agility, and strength via his cheat method, that left only two attributes that were falling behind. Logan made the changes: [Dexterity: 6+] [Dexterity: 8] [Perception: 6+] [Perception: 7] He figured that dexterity had to be more important than perception in a fight, so he threw three points there first and then a token two into perception so it didn¡¯t fall too far behind. Once he confirmed the changes, he immediately regretted not throwing the entire five points into perception. Everything had gained clarity. It wasn¡¯t just his eyesight, although that had improved as well, but more an overall increase to his awareness. Logan could hear the waves cresting against the beach, the splash of water as a fish broke the surface of the lake and jumped back down into the depths, the wind rustling the leaves of the willow. It was a hell of a warning system. As for dexterity, he flexed his fingers, and then had a sudden manic need to tie string into knots or work a tension ball¡­ until the feeling faded away. It was time to do a full review of his stat sheet: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 130,321 out of 7,471,138,981 Level: 4 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 4300/8000 Karma: 156/156 Intelligence: 26 Constitution: 15 Strength: 13 Agility: 9 Dexterity: 8 Endurance: 7 Perception: 7 Wisdom: 24 Luck: 20 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 0 Logan looked at his stat sheet, and then looked again, blinking in shock. His rank had gone up massively¡ªfrom a rank in the billions to the top 100,000s. It had to be a mistake. There was no way an increase of one level and ranking up his intelligence and wisdom attributes could have that much of an impact. There had to be geniuses out there, scientists¡ªhell, spiritual leaders¡ªthat started with higher wisdom and intelligence. The only explanation was that the [Life Cycle] skill was swaying the results. Just how powerful was it? Logan focused on the skill and expanded it like he¡¯d done with the others. [This rare skill allows you to control the life cycle of a tree from sprout, sapling, mature, to rotting. Each stage increases per skill level. Karma credits will be awarded based on carbon capture calculations.] Based on that information, he still had no idea how it worked, but he had a nagging suspicion that it was all related to the first message everyone had received upon System Integration. The System considered humanity a plague, and if it had blown up all the cars and referenced carbon, [Life Cycle] had to be some kind of environmental schtick. Just perfect, now it wanted him to be a tree-hugger. Logan had never cared about all the environmental crap. Sure, he recycled like any good citizen, but all the other stuff? Hell no. Maybe that made him a bad person, but when you were struggling to pay the bills, larger concerns like the fate of the planet were best left to others who had more time and money on their hands. But what quirked his interest most was the mention of KarmaCoin. A skill that gave him money? He¡¯d take it. Especially if it gave him access to the tree-fridge. Logan minimized the skill and¡­ wait a minute. There was something new on his stat sheet: Karma: 156/156 What the hell did that mean? He needed to figure this¡ª His increased perception picked up a tremendous boom in the distance. Logan couldn¡¯t see anything; the skies were still blue, but something far away in the sky had just blown up. Ding! [119,191 pollution contributors: aircraft, have been purged from planet Earth. Do not attempt to assemble additional aircraft unless they are retrofitted into non-carbon emitting devices.] [Good news, human! Due to the elimination of the pollution contributor: aircraft, your ranking has increased.] [193,880 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [363,682 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [462,913 humans have been eliminated.] [Current rank: 130,020 out of 7,470,674,982] [You are currently in the top 1%.] [Advance and grow.] Chapter 11: Goodbye Planes Logan rushed back to Eleanor¡¯s property and burst through the door. Jack was in the living room in front of the large screen TV, his back facing away from Logan. He was still in his plaid sweatpants, his hair a complete wreck. ¡°Jack, did you receive a message¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet,¡± Jack said, his eyes on the screen. ¡°They¡¯re talking about it now.¡± On the TV, a male and female news anchor looked into the camera with solemn expressions. ¡°We come to you on this grave day to confirm that the message you received was legitimate. All passenger, military, and small engine planes, including helicopters, are now gone. We regret to inform you that the military had been using helicopters to transport civilians to emergency care. At this time, we believe the casualty message sent to everyone is accurate.¡± The female anchor paused, listening to something off screen, and then looked back into camera. ¡°This just in. We¡¯ve received an exclusive video that shows a passenger plane right before the terrorist known as the System sent everyone its latest message. There are no words to describe this. The video speaks for itself.¡± The newscaster looked shaken before they cut to a shaky clip. The chyron read: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO. TERRORIST KNOWN AS THE SYSTEM BELIEVED RESPONSIBLE. In the clip, there was nothing but blue skies, not a cloud in sight. Whoever was filming zoomed in on a dot in the sky, magnifying a large plane. Everything appeared normal for ten seconds, and then with a BOOM, the plane exploded into a fireball. Pieces of debris and smoke scattered, falling to the ground with trailing smoke when something¡­ happened. It was as if there was a rift in space, a rectangle of blackness opening in the sky. In less than five seconds, the rift sucked the fire, debris, and smoking jet fuel through the hole, like a hoover sucking up a pile of dirt. Then, with a thunderous clap, the rift closed on itself, collapsing until there was nothing left but blue sky, as if the plane hadn¡¯t existed in the first place. They showed the clip one more time and then switched to the shaken anchors. ¡°I hate to speculate, Jessica,¡± the male said to the other anchor, ¡°you know I¡¯m a man of hard facts, but that doesn¡¯t look like something¡­¡± He swallowed. ¡°I know of no technology on Earth that can do that.¡± Shit. This just got worse. First cars, now planes? Was the System trying to strand everyone? There was going to be a complete collapse of commerce. Resources would grow scarce; food would be depleted. At least they still had trains and ships, but fuck, this was bad. Logan looked at Jack. Tears and red eyes. He was barely holding it together. ¡°Jack, I know you¡¯re grieving right now, and I can¡¯t imagine what you¡¯re feeling or going through. Words can¡¯t say how sorry I am, but right now¡­? After seeing that? Things are going to go to shit, and fast. I need you, man. We need to go across the lake and grab what food we can before there¡¯s nothing left.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± Shit. Either Jack would help, or he would be swallowed up by his grief. Logan didn¡¯t blame him, but if they were going to survive and have the place ready for his sister and the kids, they needed to act. ¡°Your mom.¡± Logan cleared his throat. ¡°I found a nice place. A peaceful place. I think she would have liked it. I can show you, if you like?¡± Jack ran a hand through his hair and then pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°No,¡± he said, firm. ¡°Thank you for doing that. I know it must have been hard. You¡¯re saying we need to go across the lake?¡± ¡°I hate to ask it of you, but the sooner we act, the better.¡± ¡°No. No, you¡¯re right. And to be honest, I could do with a distraction.¡± Jack glanced down at his sweatpants. ¡°Give me a minute to get dressed and I¡¯ll meet you at the boat.¡± *** Logan grabbed his phone and then stopped when he saw a text message from Lara. The screen was still cracked, but messages were coming through. Lara: Everything okay? Ok here, he responded. Something happened to¡­. Logan paused. There was no reason to tell her about Eleanor. There was nothing Lara could do; it would just worry her unnecessarily. Logan? Logan backpedaled and sent: We¡¯re going across the lake to the resort. See if we can find food. Might pick up gas. How are things there? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡­.not so good. We¡¯re holding up, but the kids are pacing the walls. It¡¯s crazy out there. I never thought we had that many guns in Hope¡¯s End, but they¡¯re going off constantly. Alarmed, Logan responded: Guns??? Are you safe? ¡­.... ¡­ ¡­.. Logan could see dots as Lara typed, and then seemingly deleted her message. Finally, she responded: See if you can get enough gas to drive the boat to the downtown waterfront. We could make it there on foot and meet you. That was Lara sending out an SOS. As his big sister, she felt the need to act as if she had all the answers and never needed help. Most of the time, she was right. Having to sell the cabin was evidence of that. If Lara had been in charge, it never would have come to that point. Lara would make it through whatever situation she was in through sheer grit and determination, so it had to be desperate if she were asking for his help, especially if she wanted to brave the roads and take the kids on foot to the waterfront. Filled with new urgency, Logan searched through the kitchen for something to carry their food. Within a kitchen pantry, he found a portable shopping basket on wheels. It reminded him of Eleanor¡¯s quirky personality. He could picture her using it at a grocery store to push past the crowd, putting up an act of a doddering senior to excuse any run-over toes. Logan pushed back the pang of grief that threatened to overwhelm him, plopping his baseball bat into the cart and wheeling it down to the dock, each wheel thudding against the space between the boards. Unlike Logan¡¯s cabin, Eleanor had gone all out¡ªwide planks, polished wood, and solar lights on the sides of the dock. The speedboat was even worse¡ªhigh quality leather, a shining paint job, and a huge motor¡ªand hopefully had the fuel efficiency to match. They needed every bit of fuel they could get to last. He lifted the shopping cart and placed it at the back of the boat, then rummaged in the cabinets until Jack arrived. They had flares and a first aid kit in one drawer. That would have come in handy yesterday. Logan set it to the side. Other than that, he found a large fishing net. Logan had fished minnows when he was a child, but he¡¯d lost interest when he¡¯d failed to catch anything. He didn¡¯t have a clue how to fish, but if the food situation got desperate, he might have to learn. Logan straightened as Jack came down the dock, a backpack swung over one shoulder and the shotgun in his hand. The backpack was pink and had a butterfly decoration on the side. ¡°This was my daughter¡¯s,¡± said Jack, avoiding his eyes. ¡°I figured it might be useful if we have to run in a hurry.¡± Logan gave him a gentle smile. ¡°Good thinking.¡± Jack put one leg into the boat and then hesitated. ¡°Are you sure we should do this? What if boats are the next thing to go? I don¡¯t want to be in this thing if it blows up.¡± Jack had a good point, but they would never get anywhere without taking risks. ¡°I think we¡¯re safe¡ªat least for today. Both the cars and the plane explosions occurred at the same time. The System announcements make me think they¡¯re spacing it out¡ªone big mass explosion each day. We¡¯ve already had today¡¯s.¡± Jack unwound the rope keeping the boat anchored to the dock and then jumped into the stern. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of assumptions. And we¡¯re calling it a ¡®System¡¯ now? I thought it was an eco-terrorist.¡± ¡°For lack of anything else. Although I¡¯d prefer to call it ¡®asshole¡¯ based on its sarcastic messages.¡± Jack gave him a puzzled glance as he started up the boat. The engine purred as it sliced through the water. Nice. His grandpa¡¯s had chugged as if it was driving through a pot of soup. ¡°What sarcastic messages?¡± Jack asked. Logan blinked. It was hard to believe Logan had to explain it. The System was salty, to say the least. ¡°When you receive level increases. They have a¡­ distinct flavour.¡± ¡°They seem pretty run of the mill to me, kind of dry.¡± Logan stared at Jack for a full thirty seconds, the wind burning his eyes. If that asshole system had singled him out, he was going to¡­ Logan would curse. There wasn¡¯t much else he could do. He used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on Jack. [Jack Donson: Level 2] He must have gotten an extra level after they¡¯d killed the squirrel. Logan told him about the Settings Mainframe options and had him change his defaults to automatic. ¡°Where did you end up throwing the extra five attribute points?¡± Jack gazed into space with a look of concentration as he studied his stat sheet. ¡°Intelligence. I figured it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be smarter. If that¡¯s even how it works. It¡¯s at 15 now.¡± Wait a minute. How could he have 15 in one attribute already with only one level increase? Logan had only gotten his constitution to 15 because of the 10 bonus points he¡¯d received from his Eager Beaver title. ¡°You didn¡¯t start at 5 points in each?¡± ¡°No, I have an average of 8¡­ although I started with 10 in intelligence. Why, is that bad?¡± That asshole system had screwed him again! No wonder his ranking had been so far behind. He had to act like a mad killing machine to even come close to catching up. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Logan said, trying not to come across as sour. Jack had as much control of his stats as Logan did. They were at the mercy of some mysterious overlord intent on taunting everyone before killing them. It¡¯s what they did with that information that was key. Lay down and die, you died. Learn, game the system¡­ Logan had to stop himself. After Eleanor, he¡¯d made a solemn vow to not do that and he was already going back to his old habits. There had to be a middle ground. Eleanor was at the heart of it, but he also had his family to consider. He could still be cautious while at the same time taking advantage of whatever shortcuts helped them to survive. They cut through the blue water like a knife through butter, the wind and water spray a nice break from the hot weather. Logan had rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt to the elbows and he was sweating in the 100-degree weather, but just because they were going to a populated resort didn¡¯t mean that he wasn¡¯t expecting trouble. He¡¯d much rather have a barrier between his skin and whatever came¡ªeven if it was only cotton. Jack slowed the speedboat as they closed in on the resort, angling it towards one of the larger docks. The resort had five separate docks and a large marina with a boat rental and storage section in one corner. There were multiple buildings overlooking the waterfront all surrounding a hotel they¡¯d built into the cliff-face. Logan grabbed his baseball bat out of the shopping cart and placed it within reach. He needed to be prepared. They could be driving into anything. Either they would encounter a bunch of worried tourists, or¡­ something else. Chapter 12: The Resort Jack inched the boat towards the large sign for gas at the end of the middle dock. They drove up to two teenagers in resort uniforms who were lounging in collapsible patio chairs, water bottles drenched in condensation in their hands. The first one held her hand over her eyes, shading her view from the sun and peering at them. She had a perky blond ponytail, white shorts, and an upside down name tag that read ¡®Sara.¡¯ The other teenager was missing a name tag and looked just out of puberty, with slender legs and knobbly knees. His expression was full of boredom, and he kept looking down at his phone even after Jack had jumped out to fasten the boat to one of the dock anchors. The girl got to her feet and looked at them with her hands on her hips. ¡°One fill-up only, nothing extra. Fuel is subject to a thirty percent upcharge. Resort rules. Not my rules. No complaining, you hear?¡± A tank would be enough to go across the lake a few times, but it wouldn¡¯t be anywhere close to what they¡¯d need to make it all the way to Hope¡¯s End. ¡°You two are still working? What¡¯s been happening here?¡± ¡°Just because the world is going to shit doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t need to work for a living.¡± She ran a discerning eye over their speedboat. ¡°At least for some people. And nothing¡¯s been happening, other than a bunch of stranded tourists going stir-crazy. They¡¯re starting to get rowdy, complaining to the staff. Like we can do anything. We¡¯re not the ones blowing up cars and planes.¡± ¡°No violence?¡± Jack questioned. The other teenager looked up from his phone. ¡°Why, are you coming from violence?¡± There was a glint in his eyes that Logan didn¡¯t like. Jack looked away. The girl snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t mind Matt. He¡¯s convinced the world has turned into a video game, talking about levels and weird shit. By the way,¡± she said, looking at Logan. ¡°I love the outfit.¡± Logan glanced down at his orange kitten-patterned swim trunks. To be honest, he¡¯d forgotten about them after everything. But he supposed swim trunks and a tailored dress shirt weren¡¯t exactly normal. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The other kid went back to scrolling through his phone, apparently deeming them uninteresting. Based on their blas¨¦ response, it sounded as if nothing had attacked the resort yet. The kid may know something from scrolling through social media, but there was nothing like the reality of being attacked by a monster on steroids. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the two kids. [Sara Tarner: Level 0] [Matt Almaton: Level 0] Just as he suspected. He didn¡¯t like how unprepared and defenceless they both were. ¡°About the gas¡­ is there any way around that rule? I was hoping to pick up enough fuel to get to Hope¡¯s End.¡± ¡°Everybody and their dog needs fuel, Mr. Swim Trunks. If we let everyone take what they wanted, there wouldn¡¯t be any left.¡± Jack lowered his voice. ¡°Let¡¯s just get the fuel and food and get out of here.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t get food here,¡± said the other teenager without looking up from his phone. ¡°Food is limited to guests only,¡± clarified the girl. ¡°The resort is worried about running out.¡± ¡°What about Martin¡¯s Convenience?¡± asked Logan. She raised her eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re a local, then?¡± Martin¡¯s Convenience was out of the way, on the edge of the resort. Tourists tended to stick to the touristy-shops with their marked-up prices, but Martin ran his own store, independent from the resort owners. ¡°Martin¡¯s Convenience was around back when I was your age.¡± Logan glanced at Jack who was staring at the resort with a far-away look. ¡°Jack, can you pay the lady?¡± The girl smirked at her companion. ¡°I¡¯m a lady, Matt.¡± She raised her voice. ¡°Do you have cash?¡± Jack paused with this hand on his wallet. ¡°Only some. Are the machines down?¡± ¡°Sara,¡± the other teenager warned. The girl shot him an annoyed glance. ¡°Fine. No, the resort still insists that credit is fine.¡± She mumbled to herself, ¡°A bit short-sighted, if you ask me.¡± The girl had a point. If the power went, no one would be buying anything electronically. They might not be as defenceless as they seemed. Logan let Jack fill up the tank and then addressed both kids, trying to come across as concerned and yet non-judgmental. Kids could sniff out judgement from a mile away. ¡°You asked us if we came from violence.¡± Logan paused, letting the other teenager look up from his phone. ¡°We did. We lost someone, and not through exploding cars or planes¡­¡± Logan looked at Jack and softened his voice in apology. ¡°Although we lost someone that way too. You both need to find weapons, something that you can use to defend yourself. When shit starts here, it¡¯s going to be bad.¡± The girl seemed to sober. ¡°Other people?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°No. Although that might come too. The animals aren¡¯t normal. This System¡ªthe one that¡¯s sent you messages? It¡¯s done something to the wildlife. I¡¯ve been attacked three times and I barely escaped with my life.¡± The girl gave him a skeptical look. ¡°Believe me, don¡¯t believe me, that¡¯s entirely up to you. But I¡¯m not crazy, and I¡¯m not saying this to scare you. Find a weapon, find something to defend yourself with. You don¡¯t want to end up facing whatever comes bare-handed.¡± Logan jumped back into the boat and lifted the shopping cart onto the dock and then grabbed his baseball bat. The other teenager fully abandoned his phone and gave an appreciative whistle. ¡°Cool weapon. Did you make it yourself?¡± Logan grimaced in response. ¡°Should I¡­?¡± Jack asked, gesturing to his hidden shotgun. Logan nodded. When Jack jumped back onto the dock with the shotgun swung over one shoulder, the girl took a step back, her expression wary. The other teenager looked even more interested. ¡°If you¡¯re staying here, will you watch our boat for us?¡± Logan asked. ¡°That¡¯s not our job,¡± said the girl. Logan nudged Jack. ¡°Give her some cash.¡± Jack scowled. ¡°I¡¯m not your piggybank,¡± he said, but he still handed her a twenty-dollar bill before reaching into the boat to grab the pink backpack. The butterflies sparkled in the sun. The male teenager scrunched his nose and looked as if he was re-assessing his first impression. ¡°That¡¯ll give you an hour,¡± she said, tucking the cash into her pocket and seeming to brush off her wariness. ¡°We¡¯re not responsible for what happens if you go past the time limit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair. Come on, Jack.¡± The dock was hot against his bare feet. After all his preparation, he couldn¡¯t believe that he¡¯d forgotten shoes. Logan was surprised the girl hadn¡¯t gawked at his missing toe. She¡¯d probably been too distracted by the swim trunks. ¡°We need to find a way to get more gas.¡± ¡°Why the insistence on fuel?¡± Jack asked. ¡°Lara might need me. Without a car, driving the boat to Hope¡¯s End is the easiest way to reach her.¡± ¡°We could always steal it.¡± Jack had said that with a straight face, not a hint in his voice that he was joking. ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just two teenagers. What are they going to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing that.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°Because your morals won¡¯t let you? Come on, man. It¡¯s a new world. It sounds like the tourists here are worried about their missing cars rather than survival. If we have an advantage of knowledge over them, it was hard earned.¡± Jack¡¯s last words were hollow. ¡°We¡¯ll find another way.¡± The girl had reminded him of his niece. He wasn¡¯t going to scare them by stealing from them. What, was Jack going to point his shotgun at them? Lara would never forgive him. A few of the tourists were milling in a picnic area and gave them incredulous looks as Logan continued guiding the shopping cart over the path that wound around the front of the resort. A paved path soon turned to dirt, narrowed and became filled with boulders and pebbles. It was hell on his feet. The lake was on one side and a steep cliff was on the other, both sides overrun with weeds and tall grass. It was a ten-minute walk to reach Martin¡¯s Convenience and every rustle of the brush and splashing water had Logan hyper-alert. ¡°Why do you think nothing has attacked here yet?¡± said Jack. ¡°Those tourists looked worried, but not worried like they should be.¡± Logan shrugged and then gave a row of mushrooms growing up the cliff a second glance. They were odd¡ªsome kind of mishmash between an oyster mushroom and a bright red spotted mushroom¡ªsomething you¡¯d expect to see while on an acid trip. ¡°Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it comes in stages? Or the integration took time to transform certain areas?¡± Something rustled underneath a bush and Jack pointed his shotgun at it with a hard look. When nothing jumped out at them, they continued on the path. ¡°Or maybe it was just waiting until we arrived.¡± **** Logan hadn¡¯t been to the convenience store in over ten years, but it might as well have been the same store. The same beat-up sign, the same rusted door. A bell jingled as they opened the door, the hum of ice-cream freezers and a rattling air-conditioner greeting them. The store was the size of a small gas station, aisles crammed so tight that you had to inch through each row. He wasn¡¯t expecting much since it was essentially a junk food store, but still, the shelves were surprisingly sparse. The one thing that was different was Martin himself¡ªhe was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a young girl with spiky, purple hair and light brown skin peered at them over the counter, her eyes narrowed on their weapons. ¡°The cameras still work, just so you know. No stealing.¡± Logan raised his hands. Shit, they should have left them outside, but he hadn¡¯t wanted to take the chance that someone would make off with them. In this new world, their weapons were the difference between life and death. ¡°We weren¡¯t intending to. Where¡¯s Martin? Is he still running the place?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what the sign says, doesn¡¯t it?¡± She straightened. ¡°What business do you have with him?¡± Logan sighed. He¡¯d have to get used to people being wary and unfriendly. He supposed it was hard to trust when the world was falling apart. ¡°No business. I remember him from when I was a kid. We¡¯re just doing some shopping¡­.¡± Logan blinked at the sign in front of a stack of chips. Family size bag of chips - $49.99. Buy 2 for $94.99! ¡°Is this price right?¡± Jack peered at the sign and scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s robbery. This ¡®Martin¡¯ sure is taking advantage of the situation.¡± The girl crossed her arms. ¡°And when do you think we¡¯ll get a resupply? You¡¯re lucky it isn¡¯t more.¡± Then she pointed to a cardboard sign above the till. It was handwritten in black ink and looked torn off the flap of a cardboard box: CASH ONLY. ¡°There¡¯s an ATM in the corner that still works if you don¡¯t have enough.¡± Logan lowered his voice. ¡°Can you afford these prices?¡± In response, Jack dropped three bags into the shopping cart. ¡°I hope they have something healthier.¡± Unfortunately, the best they could find were packets of instant soup. There was candy, jerky, more candy, and a heck of a lot of ice cream. Logan wandered around the aisles until he came across a small display leaning against one counter. It still had the original prices. Jackpot. Tomato seeds, squash, beets, and raspberries. He doubted many people would be thinking long term, but packets of vegetable seeds would come in handy more than this junk food. Logan took them all. That one discovery might pay for their whole trip. Jack seemed excited when he found a small package of toilet paper and didn¡¯t even complain about the $76.99 price tag. All told, the bill came to over $2000. Even though it wasn¡¯t his money, Logan winced on Jack¡¯s behalf. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you,¡± said the girl as they wheeled the cart out of the door. ¡°I¡¯ll bet,¡± Logan said dryly. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t like the look of this fog.¡± Logan glanced up from their shopping haul. ¡°What fog¡­.¡± What the hell. The sky had been blue with not a cloud in sight when they entered the store, but now a layer of mist covered the whole area. It was hard to see the path in front of them even with his increased perception, and he kept stepping on sharp rocks and pushing the shopping cart into uneven ground. They followed the path¡ªat least he hoped they did¡ªuntil the fog slightly dissipated, opening into a flat clearing. The weird freaky mushrooms were back, but this time it was as if they¡¯d entered a mushroom festival. They were everywhere. And inside the clearing, five people milled around with puzzled expressions, staring at their surroundings before narrowing in on Logan and Jack. Chapter 13: Mushrooms Logan was fond of mushrooms and made a mean mushroom risotto, but even he had his limits. This was as if a mushroom had mated with a noxious giant toad and spread its mutated offspring around the forest. They were everywhere. Each mushroom varied in size¡ªnormal sized button mushrooms, larger odd-shaped mushrooms growing on pine trees, and the most bizarre of all¡ªtoadstool-shaped red mushrooms that had grown waist height and were as round as a barrel. What made it even more creepy was the mist that clung to everything, shrouding the whole clearing, turning it into something out of a dream. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on a mushroom that swayed closer to him as he passed. [Noxious Mushroom: Level 3] The thing was alive! ¡°Jack, get ready,¡± he said, grasping his baseball bat with a firm grip. ¡°We found you!¡± said one of the people in the clearing as he strode towards them. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt and in his early 20s, he was tall and slender, his face covered in blond stubble. But most alarming of all was the large cleaver in his hand. Four other people followed behind him. One woman was around the same age, her pixie-cut emphasizing her high cheekbones. She wore a yellow sundress, white open-toed dress sandals showing off yellow nail polish. Her outfit looked even more glaring juxtaposed against the crowbar balanced in one hand. Further back, a girl in her late teens filmed everything with her smartphone and followed on the heels of a middle-aged couple. She wore red shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, a dangling silver necklace looking dim in the mist. The teen stumbled, not watching where she was going as she filmed with a glazed, amazed look in her eyes. Cleaver-kid looked eager. ¡°I thought we¡¯d taken a wrong turn. This mist sure came in fast. We saw you at the resort and we could tell you weren¡¯t like the others. All the other tourists care about is getting home. We¡¯re the ones in the know. The System told us to advance and grow, and that¡¯s what we mean to do. You¡¯ve already leveled, haven¡¯t you?¡± Logan took a closer look at the kid. [Thomas Bertone: Level 1] Thomas was the only one that had a level; the others were still at zero. ¡°We don¡¯t want any trouble,¡± said Logan. ¡°We¡¯re just here for food.¡± The older couple looked interested at the mention of food, and they strained to see what was in their grocery cart. ¡°We didn¡¯t know there was a store back here,¡± said the woman. She was wearing dress pants and a long-sleeved blazer as if she¡¯d just walked out of a business conference. ¡°Forget the food!¡± said cleaver-kid. ¡°Tell us what you¡¯ve learned. What did you do to level?¡± Logan looked at Jack. ¡°Killed some shit,¡± he said dryly. Thomas gestured with his cleaver enthusiastically and Logan took an alarmed step back. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! See, we¡¯ve got to kill things, guys! I told you I have the deets. Follow me and I won¡¯t lead you astray. We can start with these mushrooms. They¡¯ll be an easy XP gain.¡± ¡°Careful,¡± Logan warned and pointed at the level three mushroom. ¡°These aren¡¯t simple mushrooms. If I¡¯ve learned anything, expect the unexpected, especially if they¡¯re already leveling. It¡¯s level three which means it had to kill something to get that way.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, boss!¡± said Thomas, creeping up to the swaying mushroom. ¡°The boys in my chat group are saying this is like a video game. There are no consequences! Stretch to the limit! If we die, we¡¯ll just re-spawn. We don¡¯t have to,¡± he jumped, taking a flying leap at the lurching mushroom with the tip of his cleaver held out at a downward angle, ¡°worry about getting hurt¡ªAh, shit!¡± His heel landed on a slippery bit of grass, and he went flying as if he¡¯d slipped on a banana peel, tipping over onto his back at the same time the cleaver went flying. ¡°Kid! Be careful!¡± shouted Logan. It was too late. The cleaver fell like shrapnel¡ªtip first. It landed on the worst possible place¡ªthe kid¡¯s throat, cutting through skin and tendon, blood spraying everywhere. The mushroom bloomed as if it were releasing its spores, swaying with a drunken tilt just as the kid let out one last gurgling gasp, the light fading from his eyes. The teenage girl screamed while everyone else stared. The older man seemed to recover from his shock first and rushed forward to press his hand against the kid¡¯s gory throat, but there was no saving from that type of injury. ¡°Sheila, call 911!¡± ¡°Call 911?¡± the businesswoman said, her voice high. ¡°And what do you think they¡¯ll do? No one is coming to help us, George!¡± ¡°What did he mean?¡± asked the girl in the sundress, still in shock. ¡°Was he right? Will he come back?¡± From a sliced throat? He looked pretty dead to Logan. Wincing, Logan had to look away. Just how jaded was he becoming that the sight of death barely fazed him? If he wasn¡¯t careful, there could be a point where he was at risk of losing his humanity. The teenage girl lowered her phone, her chin wobbling. ¡°Mom,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± Her breath rasped, sounding as if she couldn¡¯t get enough air, and at first Logan thought it was because she was upset, but then Sheila came over and ran her hand over the girl¡¯s back. ¡°Sammy, take slow breaths, even breaths. You need to be calm.¡± The man gave them a worried glance and got up from the corpse, brushing his bloody hands on his shirt. ¡°We only followed that kid because he said he had a way to help Sammy. She has asthma and we ran out of her medication. Do you think that store would have any medical supplies?¡± The woman in the sundress gave the body a wide-berth and wrinkled her nose. ¡°Should we say a prayer or something?¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Fuck, now Logan felt guilty. ¡°This isn¡¯t our problem, Logan,¡± said Jack with an indifferent look at the dead kid. ¡°We need to get back to the boat.¡± Logan threw him a troubled glance. They¡¯d never been close. Logan didn¡¯t know whether Jack had always been this way, or if the death of his family had hardened him, but his attitude was concerning. There was no reason they couldn¡¯t stop to help, especially if these people were this defenceless. ¡°Look,¡± said Logan to the couple. ¡°The kid wasn¡¯t wrong. There may be a way to help your daughter without medicine, but it¡¯s dangerous and I have no guarantee that it¡¯ll work. You saw what just happened. This is life and death.¡± An increase to his constitution attributes had helped speed up the healing process, but what would it do to a pre-existing medical condition? Logan didn¡¯t want to get their hopes up for no reason. The woman clutched her daughter¡¯s shoulder with a tight grip. Her expression was tense with worry before she hardened. ¡°No one is going to help us. Even if we find a pharmacy, how long do you think that supply will last? If you have a solution, we¡¯ll take it.¡± Logan gave them a measured look. ¡°All right,¡± he said. ¡°But let me test something first. The kid might have had the right idea, but even though these things look like regular mushrooms, you can bet your ass they have some other advantage. That thing didn¡¯t grow to level three by luck.¡± Despite cleaver-kid literally stumbling over it and giving out free XP. Logan gripped his baseball bat and inched closer to the mushroom. Everyone else backed away, giving him a wide berth. The yellow sundress girl bounced on the balls of her feet and gripped her crowbar in a ready position, while Jack aimed his shotgun, his face expressionless. There was something odd about cleaver-kid¡¯s corpse. At first Logan thought dirt clung to the body, but on closer examination he could see small filaments¡­ like veins growing over the corpse, creeping closer to the spilled blood and absorbing it like a sponge. A mushroom was essentially mold and it transformed dead matter into fuel. Was this thing eating the body? Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] again. [Noxious Mushroom: Level 4] It had gone up a whole level just from the kid¡¯s death! He needed to be careful. There was something else at work here. Logan was counting on using the long reach of his baseball bat. Unlike the kid, he didn¡¯t have to get in close to do damage. But the filaments were spreading everywhere, and it was difficult to find a bare patch of ground. Against bare feet, who knew what they would do? Logan eyed the kid¡¯s shoes. They were about his size. What he was about to do was beyond morbid, but desperate times required desperate actions. ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± the businesswoman whispered as Logan pried the running shoes from the kid¡¯s feet. He made sure to shake them before putting them on, wincing as his still tender missing digit brushed against the fabric. Logan took a few test steps and flexed his feet within the shoes. Without socks, he was likely in for blisters, but he¡¯d take blisters over flesh-eating mushrooms any day of the week. Logan dug his new running shoes into the dirt before getting down to business and swinging at the top of the toad-stool mushroom with all his might. The baseball bat made a sound as if he¡¯d hit something hollow, the carpenter nails sticking into the fleshy skin. The bat was stuck. That¡¯s all he could comprehend before the underside of the mushroom¡¯s gills exploded in a defence mechanism, minuscule spores blooming and coating him in fine powder. It resembled the purple mist around them and only made it more difficult to see. But other than adding to the fog, it didn¡¯t seem to have any other affect. What a shitty defence mechanis¡ª Holy hell. It started with an itch that devolved into a stinging sensation that morphed into burning, then that burning turned into acid eating into every bit of his exposed skin. What¡¯s worse, the mushroom continued to spew spores and Logan was within its blast radius. Goddamn fungus! Any remaining fondness he¡¯d had for the taste of mushrooms collapsed. He pulled on his baseball bat and eventually managed to pry it loose. Was the thing hissing? It really was alive! Logan backed away from the immediate blast radius and studied his skin. He had splotches all over and each one felt as if he¡¯d stepped into nettles, but as the seconds passed, they began to fade. His constitution stat may be working for him. As the thing leveled, its spores likely grew more powerful, but although they hurt like hell, they didn¡¯t seem life-threatening. Filled with new resolve, Logan got to work. One slam, two, three¡ªhe hit the thing as if he were going to town. By the time he finished, the fleshy bits of the mushroom might as well have passed through a food processor. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 4 Noxious Mushroom!] Logan¡¯s shoulders drooped. More than anything, the thing had waged a physiological warfare on him due to the unknown. At least with an animal, you knew what was coming. With the way its roots spread, who knew if shredding it to bits would kill it? The System message was his confirmation. He turned to the others. This could work. If the cleaver-kid hadn¡¯t been so inept, he might have had the right idea. ¡°The spores are toxic. As you advance, the System lets you upgrade your constitution. Things that would¡¯ve had me out for the count are survivable. The spores were painful, but not deadly.¡± Logan cleared his throat, swallowing. He must have ground his teeth as he was swinging the bat; his gums were sore. ¡°But that was for me. If we do this, we need to pick mushrooms that aren¡¯t that high leveled. And kill them at a distance. Jack, your weapon will be perfect for the kid. She can shoot from far away, out of reach of the spores, and still receive the experience.¡± Jack lowered his shotgun, the barrel dropping to the ground. ¡°The shells for this thing aren¡¯t unlimited, Logan.¡± Logan kept his voice light. ¡°Let¡¯s make the shot count then.¡± He turned away, pretending that it was settled, when in reality, he had no idea if Jack would go along with anything. Logan could only hope that the girl would remind him of his daughter. If he refused to lend the gun, Logan didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do. Logan scanned the clearing, searching for mushrooms lower-leveled yet still high enough to give the girl a level increase. She needed all the attribute points she could get. [Noxious Mushroom: Level 2] [Noxious Mushroom: Level 1] The level two mushroom was violet in color and the size of a turkey pot, its toad-stool shape drooping to the left. It was tilted at just the right angle for a perfect shot. ¡°That one,¡± said Logan, pointing. ¡°Jack, can you help her?¡± Jack sighed before addressing her parents. ¡°Are you okay with this?¡± In response, they both gave him room, backing up with a reassuring glance at their daughter. The businesswoman cleared her throat and coughed. It rattled as if she had something in her lungs. ¡°We¡¯ll¡ªwe¡¯ll do whatever is necessary for our daughter to survive.¡± To give Jack credit, his hardened exterior softened as he approached the teenager. ¡°I¡¯ll help you. This gives a kick, so it¡¯s important to brace your feet. Let¡¯s get the barrel aimed. If we do this right, it¡¯ll be one shot, and it¡¯s done.¡± While Jack worked with her, Logan approached the woman in the sundress and pointed her attention to the other mushroom. ¡°That one is only level one. If you use your crowbar and stay far enough away, you should be able to take a quick swipe at it and then get out of range of the spores.¡± The woman looked at the mushroom and then gave him a puzzled glance. ¡°How do you know what level it is?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Logan, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°I have a skill. It lets me see the name of the entity and its level. It¡¯s come in handy lately.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet,¡± she said before taking a deep breath that was interrupted by a hacking cough. She cleared her throat and then gripped her crowbar uncertainly, before seeming to come to some kind of decision. Letting out a scream, the woman rushed at the mushroom, raising the crowbar high above her head. At the same time, a loud bang echoed through the clearing and the teenager cheered. ¡°I did it!¡± Both the crowbar and the shot resulted in the mushrooms releasing plumes of defensive spores. Logan hadn¡¯t realized it at the time, but beyond the immediate spoor-blast area, the plumes dissipated and added to the fog around them. It was at that point that he realized the coughing around him was getting worse. Chapter 14: Oozing Fungus Cesspool The teenager could barely talk through all the coughing. ¡°It¡¯s ask¡­ asking me if I¡ªI want to level up?¡± Behind her, the girl¡¯s parents¡¯ coughing took on a rasping, rattling quality. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± said the businesswoman before she collapsed to the ground and leaned towards the dirt as if she were trying to pry something out of her lungs through sheer force. Her spouse followed, his face washed of all color as he gasped like a fish, green drool trailing down his chin. The woman in the sundress lurched, her crowbar dropping to the ground with a limp hand, all her concentration on staying upright as she gasped for breaths through her coughs. Oh shit. ¡°Accept the level increase and throw all five points into constitution!¡± said Logan. The teenager gave Logan a helpless look, her face flushed and her lips blue. ¡°I can¡¯t¡ªcan¡¯t breathe. Mom¡­¡± Then with one last rasping breath, she collapsed and her eyes fluttered shut. Jack darted forward and gathered her in his arms, shaking her gently. ¡°Kid! Kid! You need to level!¡± But no matter what Jack said or how hard he shook her, the teenager didn¡¯t wake up. Jack rested a finger against her throat for what had to be only a minute but felt like an hour. With a drooping head, he let this hand drop and finally glanced up at Logan with a raw look. ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Fuck,¡± said Logan as he looked at the bodies of her parents. They¡¯d collapsed to the ground face first while Jack had been trying to revive the kid. The woman in the sundress had managed to lurch to the edge of the clearing. ¡°I¡¯m not¡ª¡±¡ªcough¡ª¡°dying today, motherfuckers!¡± She made it about sixty feet before she dropped to her knees, clawing at her neck before collapsing. Numb, Logan just stared. In the back of his mind, that slight feeling of swollen gums and a sore throat made sense. The defence mechanism wasn¡¯t just the ejection of spores upon an attack, it was a built-up of the spores in the atmosphere. The fog around them wasn¡¯t fog, it was biological. And Logan had unknowingly asked defenceless people to linger in a clearing saturated in slow-acting death. Jack got to his feet and turned away, his back facing Logan. He cleared his throat and then whirled around. ¡°Fuck you for making me care, Logan!¡± His eyes were moist, and his face was haunted. Logan took a step back in shock. And then he understood. Jack did care. That unfeelingness he¡¯d been so concerned about had all been a front, a protective instinct to wall off the threat of more pain. After all, if Jack didn¡¯t care, he couldn¡¯t be hurt. Logan had broken that barrier, stumbling into something that he didn¡¯t understand and causing his friend more grief. ¡°You need to get out of here,¡± Logan ground out, the injustice of the situation hitting him like a sledgehammer. ¡°Your constitution is lower than mine.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re just going to ignore all the dead people around us? You were the one who told them to stay here!¡± That hit too close to home. ¡°What do you want me to do? I can¡¯t stop people from dying, Jack! All I seem to do lately is get people killed.¡± He swallowed. ¡°I thought I was doing something good here, trying to make a difference in this fucked up world.¡± The mist continued to cling to the clearing as if taunting him and one of the remaining mushrooms on the edge of the clearing swayed drunkenly in the breeze. ¡°If you want to be upset at someone, it¡¯s the asshole that started this in the first place.¡± It was the System who put the mushrooms here, tempting them with an easy level. The System had killed Eleanor; it had been the System who blew up the cars and planes and stranded everyone. It was the System who had him arguing with Jack. ¡°Jack,¡± he said, resting his hand on his arm. ¡°Think, man. Who are you really mad at right now?¡± Jack darted his gaze at the body of the teenager and grimaced. ¡°So I can¡¯t go off the handle at you without you calling me out?¡± he said in a quiet voice. ¡°Since when did you get so wise?¡± Logan gave him a soft smile. ¡°You should have a look at my wisdom attribute,¡± he joked. Logan glanced at the bodies around them. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie; this is seriously fucked up. Just when I thought I had a handle on what was going on, we have to deal with biological warfare on top of everything else.¡± Jack let out a deep cough and Logan¡¯s anger turned to worry. ¡°You need to get out of here. We don¡¯t know how high your constitution needs to be to avoid getting hurt.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m staying until I kill these things so they don¡¯t lure anyone else. It¡¯s a walking death trap for unleveled people.¡± Jack didn¡¯t argue and he seemed relieved to leave the body of the teenager behind. ¡°The mist isn¡¯t too bad at the edge of the clearing,¡± he said, wheeling the shopping cart over grass and boulders before coming to a stop. ¡°Where¡¯s the woman?¡± Logan gave Jack a sharp glance and followed him to the edge of the clearing. Here, the mist was grey rather than violet and thin enough for the sun to break through, illuminating the trees around them. He could have sworn the woman in the sundress had collapsed on this spot. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Logan crouched, looking at the dirt. He had no idea how to track and would just as likely mistake a dog¡¯s print for a bear paw, but even he could tell that something had happened here. Scores ran through the dirt and mycelium, as if someone had clawed it with their fingernails. A trickling of hope helped to lessen the guilt that threatened to overwhelm him. If the woman had managed to level up, she might have been able to raise her constitution high enough to survive. ¡°She must have gotten out.¡± Jack sighed. ¡°Thank God. And my throat doesn¡¯t hurt anymore. This must be the edge of spores¡¯ toxicity. I¡¯m giving you five minutes to kill those things and then we¡¯re out of here, you hear? Just because you have a higher constitution doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t be hurt too. I saw the way you were swallowing.¡± Logan gave him a sheepish grin before returning to the clearing. If there was one positive out of this whole shitty situation, at least he felt better about Jack. He wasn¡¯t an unfeeling psychopath, just a man grieving for his family. All told, they¡¯d already killed three mushrooms and that only left two. However, they¡¯d doubled in size and when Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], he could see why: [Noxious Mushroom: Level 5] [Noxious Mushroom: Level 6] They must have fed on the deaths of the people in the clearing and leveled up. A mushroom twice the size of the others could generate a heck of a lot of spores, but they were still fungi with the same soft skin. Logan didn¡¯t hesitate. He needed to pulverize the hell out of these things¡­ and if it was a therapeutic way to express his anger, all the better. Logan ran at the lurching mushroom while swinging his bat, hitting the sides of the mushroom cap to mitigate the risk of the nails sticking into the fungus. After the first swing, he took a chunk out of the top and rushed past, but he soon realized that although he hadn¡¯t been in the direct path of the spores, the thing ejected a plume as big as a fishing net that only added to the toxicity around him. Immediately, he felt his eyes burning and his throat grew tight. And unlike the other mushroom, it didn¡¯t stop releasing spores just because he wasn¡¯t hitting it. It continued ejecting violet, minuscule spores like an air diffusor. It didn¡¯t matter that he wasn¡¯t in the direct path. And it wasn¡¯t just his eyes and throat burning. What the hell was going on with his skin? Alarmed, Logan examined his hands. Blisters were forming as if he¡¯d gotten the mother of all sunburns. He didn¡¯t have time to wait. Either he killed this thing, or he¡¯d turn into an oozing fungus cesspool. Logan rushed at it, but the mycelium veins had spread underneath his feet, and it was like running over ground that had a thousand uneven rocks that squished at the same time. The mycelium was interconnected tissue, and he couldn¡¯t watch his feet while keeping track of the spores. There was only one way this would go¡ªdown. Logan tripped and fell face first right underneath the gills of the mushroom. Oh fuck. Looking up at the underside of the mushroom cap, he realized where the shrieking was coming from, shrieking so loud it blasted his ears. The dark gills weren¡¯t gills¡ªthey were mouths, each one shrieking and spewing spores. And because he¡¯d fallen right underneath it, it was ejecting spores right onto his face. He felt his eyebrows go first, the hair burning to the skin, then the stubble on his face went as if he¡¯d had a close shave. After that, the spores ate into his skin. Squeezing his eyes shut and praying he wouldn¡¯t lose his vision, he crawled, ducking his head low to the ground, his hand wrapped around the handle of his baseball bat. If he couldn¡¯t see, if he couldn¡¯t breathe, he wouldn¡¯t attack from the top. Logan dug into the dirt, using his baseball bat like a shovel, tearing into the roots and fleshy veins. Every mushroom had a stem, and when his burning hands reached the base, he jabbed the nails of his baseball bat into the flesh. The back of Logan¡¯s head now faced the direct stream of spewing spores, and he felt patches of hair burning away. His throat burned, his esophagus on fire. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 4!] Logan ignored the notification. He only wanted one message. Tearing his fingernails open as he dug into the dirt with one hand and tore the mushroom¡¯s stem apart with his bat, Logan screamed. Then, with a last slash, something gave way. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Five Noxious Mushroom! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] Logan didn¡¯t hesitate, relishing in the rush of euphoria and slamming all five points into his constitution attribute. The difference was immediate. Logan gasped, able to breathe fresh air for the first time since this started, but the reality was that nothing had lessened the toxicity around him. It was only his body¡¯s ability to process the spores, filtering them out. Opening his eyes cautiously, his face streaming tears, he blinked, his vision coming into focus. Logan could see. That was one worry gone. The capped head of the mushroom was on its side, stem shredded to bits. He hacked and spit and cleared his throat as the concentrated mist gradually dissipated. Feeling the back of his head, Logan winced. He still had his hair, but now there were bare patches on his scalp as if someone had dabbed him with hair removal cream. Holy shit, that was what a level five mushroom could do? He still had the level six one to contend with, but he couldn¡¯t leave it. It would just grow stronger. More people would travel through this path looking for Martin¡¯s Convenience, more people would gather in this clearing. If Logan didn¡¯t act, he¡¯d have more deaths on his hands. Logan reviewed his XP status: 11,300/16,000. He was on the cusp of another level, and if the level six mushroom ended up being too much, he could do the same thing again¡ªthrow another five points into his constitution attribute to mitigate the damage. Despite the System¡¯s label, he wasn¡¯t an idiot. He¡¯d just avoid showing Jack the back of his head until his hair grew back. Logan grinned, feeling like a madman, but it was undeniable that the thrill of being good at killing the hell out of shit was giving him a boost. But just because he was feeling the thrill of the hunt, didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t be smarter. It was the ingenuity of humans that made them strong and brute force wasn¡¯t always the answer. There had to be something he could do to make this easier. Killing the mushroom wasn¡¯t the problem, it was mitigating its defensive capabilities. Spores. Spores in the atmosphere. Logan ran through the problem while studying his hands. His skin was bright red as if he had a massive sunburn, but underneath the sleeves of his dress shirt, he was fine. That meant he could use clothing as a shield. The direction of the spores was another consideration. Attacking underneath made its offensive capabilities worse since the gill mouths ejected the spores downward. Although his instincts were telling him not to be higher up due to the ominous look of the fog, by the time the spores rose in the air, they had to be diluted. What if he attacked from above? Chapter 15: Mirepoix The last noxious mushroom was on the edge of a cliff right next to a massive pine tree. The tree had a trunk the width of a small tire, limbs the right thickness to support someone his weight. Logan eyed the bodies around him. He needed something to shield his head and fabric big enough to cover the mushroom. Most of the people had been wearing summer clothes, but the woman¡¯s business jacket was the right size to hold over top of his head and her spouse wore a t-shirt that should be easy to remove. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jack shouted from across the clearing as Logan lifted the body of the woman. And then quieter, as Logan peeled the jacket from her arms. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ don¡¯t do that. It¡¯s giving me the creeps.¡± Logan ignored him and shook out the jacket. It was black and a smaller size than anything he could fit into, but it was still big enough to drape over his head, cover his scalp and the back of his neck. ¡°Oh,¡± said Jack from the edge of the clearing. Now for the extra-unpleasant task. ¡°You may want to look away,¡± he said, raising his voice as he grabbed the discarded cleaver. He tried to be careful cutting the shirt, but a cleaver wasn¡¯t something you could maneuver easily. Grimacing, he cut the shirt down the man¡¯s back, splitting the fabric. ¡°Sorry,¡± Logan said to the corpse as he pulled the fabric away and jarred the body. The man had been overweight, so when the shirt split, there was a large swath of fabric. Logan eyed the size of the mushroom cap, trying to figure out how much fabric would drape down the sides. This might work. Logan needed to test one more thing. Placing the fabric on the ground, stretching it out, Logan held the cleaver high above his head and then dropped it. The weight of the knife and the sharpness of the edge made a thud. Logan pried the cleaver from the ground. It had gone right through the shirt. Perfect. Climbing was his other worry. He¡¯d read about people who tried to survive in the wilderness only to be done in by their own ineptitude. What happened to the cleaver-kid was evidence of that. If he climbed the tree with a cleaver, he¡¯d just as likely end up with the same fate. Better be safe than shish kebab. Logan gently pried the long, dangling silver necklace off the teenager¡¯s body. ¡°Sorry, kid. I need this.¡± He looped one end around the handle of the cleaver and then tied the other end through one of the shoelaces in his running shoes. Lastly, he bunched up the cut t-shirt and jacket into the shape of a rolled-up towel and tucked it into his waistband. The last time he¡¯d climbed a tree, he had to be ten years old. Logan was worried at first, but the extra points in his strength and agility attributes had him climbing like a monkey. He shook his head in amazement. His body was a stranger. Logan grabbed limb after limb, pulling himself up, the cleaver dangling from one foot. By the time he reached the top, he was covered in sap and scratches and he couldn¡¯t stop sneezing from the scent of pine. Wiggling, gripping with his knees, he inched up to reach the thickest tree limb, scooting until he was in place. Logan peered down. The mushroom was directly below and swinging drunkenly in the breeze. It was twice the size of the other and had yellow circles like polka-dots on its white mushroom cap. ¡°Logan, what are you doing?¡± Jack said from the edge of the clearing. ¡°Five more minutes!¡± Logan shouted with what had to be a crazy glint in his eyes as he took out the bunched-up fabric and grabbed hold of the dangling chain, prying up the cleaver. He wasn¡¯t sure what would trigger the spewing spores and whether the thing was sentient enough to tell that throwing the fabric on top of it was the start of an attack, but he wanted to be prepared. First, he slammed the cleaver into the tree limb, using it as a placeholder while he threw the jacket over top of his head, ready to duck into it to shield his face. Bracing himself with his knees, he held the fabric like a matador flinging a red cape at a bull, eyeing the path of where it would fall. This would be luck more than anything. Maybe his luck attribute would finally work for him. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he mumbled. Logan flung the shirt. It fluttered down, fabric billowing until it settled on top of the cap of the mushroom, slightly off center. Half of the fabric draped over one side, covering its gills, but the other was exposed. ¡°Damn.¡± That wasn¡¯t what he wanted. At least the mushroom didn¡¯t seem to perceive the blanket as a threat. It had stopped swaying in the breeze, but it wasn¡¯t spewing spores. This next part was tricky. He hadn¡¯t gone to all this effort just to miss. Logan adjusted his perch on the branch and grabbed the cleaver, eyeing the distance carefully. He let gravity do the rest. The cleaver slammed into the top of the mushroom cap, dead-center, at least half of the metal digging into the fleshly fungus. ¡°Yes!¡± Logan pumped his fist and then almost fell, scrambling for a hold. ¡°Ah, fuck,¡± he said, deflated, as he peered down. He¡¯d hoped the cleaver would do the job, but with no System message, he¡¯d still need to get close. Something seemed odd though. Where were the spores? Even with the fabric covering it, there should be plumes billowing out, but the mushroom hadn¡¯t reacted. It was motionless. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Did you kill it?¡± Jack shouted from the edge of the clearing. Logan didn¡¯t answer, too busy swinging from the limb of the tree. He built up enough momentum to drop directly to the ground and his feet slammed into the mycelium, spores and dirt billowing out. Logan grabbed his baseball bat and then crept up to the mushroom, keeping the jacket over his head. What was up with this thing? Was it in hibernation or something? It showed no signs of life. No shrieking, no spores. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] again to make sure he hadn¡¯t made a mistake. [Noxious Mushroom: Level 6] No, no mistake. Bizarre. Well, if it wanted to cooperate while he killed it, he¡¯d take it. Logan braced himself, getting ready to swing at the exposed part of the mushroom cap, when... something swept him off his feet! Logan landed on a rough patch of mycelian and saw stars. Get up get up get up. He hadn¡¯t fallen for no reason, there had to¡ª Something knocked Logan¡¯s head to the ground, and trailing fabric brushed his face. Stunned, he stared up at the gills of the mushroom. The mouths were grinning before they shrieked, spewing spores directly into his face. The mushroom had feet! It hadn¡¯t spewed spores to lull him into a false sense of security; it was biding its time until he got close enough to knock him over. Now, it used the fabric draped over its cap to concentrate the spores into an attack. It might as well be sitting on him with a billowing skirt! He thought he could handle the spores of a level six mushroom, but the intensity between level five and level six was night and day. Logan couldn¡¯t breathe and the mushroom¡¯s feet weren¡¯t feet, but mycelium that was alive, crawlers that moved across his body, burrowing in and doing hell¡¯s knew what. He still had the jacket and it was covering the top of his scalp, but he couldn¡¯t reach the edges to shield his face and the base of his throat was exposed. These spores might as well have been acid. Logan felt blood pouring down his chin and neck and he couldn¡¯t hold his breath forever¡ªbut every breath was poison. He¡¯d lost his baseball bat; he couldn¡¯t get up, and his strength was rapidly waning. The only thing he could reach was the chain still dangling from his ankle. Logan strained as he pushed up his leg and reached as far as he could. The tip of his fingers just touched, and he used his ruined fingernails to pry the metal closer. Grasping the chain, he yanked, and then grasped it with both hands. The mycelian feet were like insects against his neck, but they were still veins and still vulnerable. Logan used the chain like a saw, digging into the feet and cutting through them blindly. The mushroom shrieked so loudly it must have damaged his eardrums, but most importantly, it jumped to the side to avoid further amputation. Logan gulped as the fabric cleared his face, allowing him a desperate breath of less contaminated air. He didn¡¯t give himself any time to recover, the hilt of the cleaver gleaming as the thing moved like a crab. Logan grabbed the cleaver, tearing it from the mushroom¡¯s body and then slashing as though he was chopping up mirepoix. He was making mushroom stew! he thought with an unhinged cackle. The mushroom tried to retreat while spewing more spores, but Logan crawled after it, following it back to the base of the pine tree and resuming his chops. Finally, there was nothing left to cut. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Six Noxious Mushroom! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] Logan didn¡¯t have time for relief. Just as he finished his last chop, the ground underneath the mushroom opened like a trapdoor made out of dirt and leaves, and something crawled out of a hidden hole. It had spindly legs the length of his arms¡ªtoo many legs¡ªand a dark green body covered in hundreds of gleaming red eyes. Behind it, a rat tail covered in dark green chitin swung back and forth. The body was the size of a pit bull, but its legs made it twice the size. [Level Ten Trapdoor Spider Rat] Great. Just perfect. Other than snakes, spiders and rats were his most hated animals. The two pests guaranteed to give him the creeps combined into one package. The thing hissed at him and opened mandibles the size of his head, layered fangs razor-sharp. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± Logan said as it rushed at him, spindly legs clacking against hardened mycelian. The spider rat must have hidden its trapdoor underneath the mushroom. It was the perfect set up for an ambush. People would be too worried about the mushroom¡¯s spewing spores to watch for a pouncing monster. Logan darted to the side, but one of the spider rat¡¯s legs swiped at him. It had a hooked claw at the end and it slashed right through his white dress-shirt, leaving a deep gash. The spider rat clacked and then hissed as it turned around, its twelve legs moving over the ground in seconds, its long tail swinging with the movement. Logan backed up, trying to keep it in sight, but with just a cleaver, he had no confidence that he could take it in a fight. Logan knew when he was outmatched. Logan was about to run, but a shot ricocheted across the clearing, just missing one of the spider¡¯s legs. The spider rat paused and so did Logan. Across the clearing, Jack aimed his shotgun again, lining up for another shot. This time, the shell slammed into the side of its body, but it only gouged it and enraged it more than anything. What kind of monster had bullet-proof chitin? It hissed and turned towards Jack, legs scrambling as it changed directions. Oh crap, if Logan didn¡¯t have a chance, Jack was dead. ¡°Run!¡± he screamed. ¡°It¡¯s bulletproof!¡± Jack¡¯s expression grew alarmed, and he took a stumbling step back. Shit, Logan had to do something. He scrambled for his baseball bat, using all his earned endurance to reach the thing before it closed in on Jack. ¡°Come and get me, freaky-mother!¡± he said, slamming the bat against the top of its tail. The spider rat paused and made an inquisitive, rattling noise before turning on a dime so quickly its body was a blur. Oh shit. ¡°Run, Jack!¡± Logan ran in the opposite direction. He had only one chance. Logan powered full speed towards the large pine tree, glancing back to make sure the spider rat followed. He needn¡¯t have bothered as one of its legs scored a deep gash into the back of his thigh. Shit, that hurt! ¡°Yeah, come and get me, fucker!¡± But it needed to be blinded by rage. Logan picked up the cleaver on his way past the remains of the shredded mushroom and pivoted as he threw it at an angle. It sung through the air, slicing into one of the spider rat¡¯s red eyes. All remaining eyes filled with murderous rage. He had it. Logan faced the spider rat with his arms wide open at his sides, the baseball bat limp in one hand as if he welcomed his death, motionless, waiting for it to come closer and closer. Ten feet. Five feet. One claw-length away. It leaped at him with all twelve legs, mouth wide open with razor-sharp teeth. Logan stepped off the cliff. Chapter 16: Life Cycle The Okanagan tended to be dominated by valleys, but it also had steep hills. Behind Martin¡¯s Convenience, there was a secret path locals took that led to a cliff that hung over the water. Directly underneath the cliff, the lake had a fjord fall, a drop of thirty feet, easy, but the drop was so narrow that if you jumped and landed on the sides, you¡¯d be paralyzed, or worse. Back when he was a teenager, Logan remembered a boy his age who jumped and snapped his neck. The authorities had tried to close the cliff jump¡ªbut try telling teenagers they couldn¡¯t cliff jump. All of that to say, Logan knew that a unique feature of the area around him was cliffs, cliffs, and more cliffs. When Logan stepped off the edge, he didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d survive, but he knew he had a chance, and best of all¡ªhe¡¯d take the spider rat with him. His luck was either with him, or not. But if he had a chance to save Jack while surviving, he¡¯d take it. It was karma playing it back. After all that Jack had suffered, how could he not? The cliff fell sharply at the top, nothing but jagged, sheer rock for about ten feet that made him feel weightless as he fell, but then he landed onto the ground at an angle, and the cliff turned into a hill. Logan tumbled, his bare legs tearing open on the jagged rocks. He lost the baseball bat as his arms knocked into rocks, his body rolling end over end. A dying tree with a withered and brittle trunk clung to the hill, roots exposed and rotting, limbs drooping to the ground. Logan slammed into it, a twiggy branch slicing his side before snapping as he continued to tumble. Then his wrist went, twisting unnaturally, then the tip of the baby finger on his left hand sliced clean off when his finger caught in jagged rock. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 5!] He couldn¡¯t feel the pain through all the adrenaline, his torn fingernails getting even worse as he scrambled to get a hold of something¡ªanything. He needed to grab something! His forehead knocked into a tree stump on his last tumble before he came to a stop in a cloud of dust and rocks. Logan coughed, blood stinging his eyes as he floundered. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could trust that it was over. The spider rat. Oh fuck, where was the spider rat? Using all his willpower to stay conscious, Logan scrambled to a sitting position, blinking his eyes rapidly and trying to see through the dust. Dirt, dirt, and more dirt. He¡¯d fallen at the base of the hill, ground covered with pine needles, pine trees all around. He couldn¡¯t see any signs of the spider rat around him and up on the cliff face¡ª On the cliff face¡­. What. The cliff at the top had a sheer drop off before it transitioned into the hilly ground he¡¯d tumbled down. Nothing grew on the top of the cliff¡ªin fact it was nothing but sculpted rock¡ªbut ten feet from the top, there was a ledge about the size of a round table. And on that ledge, the spider rat scrambled, spindly legs crawling up the sides of the cliff-fall, before falling, climbing, falling. It kept trying to climb out of the ledge, but the stone was smooth. Nothing to hang onto, nothing to cling to. Didn¡¯t spiders have sticky shit they could use to climb? He¡¯d seen spiders on top of his ceiling, climbing the walls, and dropping down on top of his head with sticky webs. It had to be the claw at the end of each leg. They were great offensively¡ªit could swipe at something and do real damage (the evidence of that could be seen on the back of his thigh)¡ªbut they were curved in the shape of an overgrown nail. They had no climbing capabilities. For the first time, Logan considered that the System gave, but it also took. Combine a rat and a spider into a mutated monstrosity and you might lose the best features of each animal. If he was able to figure out the vulnerabilities of each leveled entity, then he might have an advantage. But what a fucked-up spider. Logan collapsed, the tension he¡¯d been holding releasing as his adrenaline dropped like a stone. ¡°Logan!¡± he could hear Jack at the top of the cliff, but it was faint. He likely couldn¡¯t approach due to the spores. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± he tried to say, but his throat croaked, and his voice came out like a dying parrot. Was he fine? Logan hacked and spit, clearing out dirt. There was no way Jack could hear him from all the way up there even if he managed to shout. Logan rolled over and pulled out his smartphone from his back pocket, dreading what he¡¯d find. Cracks ran through the screen from his fight at the cabin, but now¡ªoh thank fuck. It still worked. The corner was fuzzy as if he¡¯d dropped it in water, and he couldn¡¯t see anything on the top right, but he could still pull up text messages. Logan to Jack: I¡¯m okay! I fell, obviously, but the spider is trapped and can¡¯t get to me. Or you. It took a minute before Jack responded: Your luck attribute must be crazy. I thought you were dead for sure. Can you make it back up? Logan peered up at the cliff face. Yeah, that wasn¡¯t happening. Logan: I¡¯ll have to find another way. Go back to the boat and I¡¯ll meet you there. ¡­ It might take a bit. Jack: Will do. Well, that had been fun. Logan made an inventory of his injuries. He had multiple gashes on his legs, and no clean water or disinfectant to sterilize them. His forehead was bloody and tender, his scalp was missing patches of hair, and he¡¯d lost the tip of one finger. Numbly, Logan stared at the blood before tearing off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his shirt. He hissed. His wrist was either broken or strained¡ªprobably strained. Struggling through the sharp wrist pain, he wrapped his finger, staunching the blood. After losing his toe, this was child¡¯s play. He¡¯d lost the tip, skin only. It would grow back. He was a little worried about his side though. A brittle tree limb had scratched him before puncturing his side. He didn¡¯t know how deep it went, or how far his constitution attribute would take him. Would it heal internal injuries? Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Logan might be able to do something about that. For the first time in a long time, he reviewed his full stat sheet: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 115,028 out of 7,469,271,442 Level: 6 Class: None Grade: F0 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 2,400/12,000 Karma: 156/156 Intelligence: 26 Constitution: 20 Strength: 13 Agility: 9 Dexterity: 8 Endurance: 7 Perception: 7 Wisdom: 24 Luck: 22 Free Attribute Points: 5 KarmaCoin: 0 He had five free attribute points. The smart decision would be to throw all five points into constitution, but he didn¡¯t like how easily the spider rat had withstood his hits. If a shotgun had hardly dented it, imagine what a level twenty monster could withstand. Logan needed to get stronger, and he couldn¡¯t wait for his daily cheat increases. Decision made, Logan allocated four points into strength and a token point into constitution to give himself a healing pick me up. [Strength: 14] [Strength: 15+] [Strength: 17] [Constitution: 21] The changes were immediate. Logan stood up straight, his head clearing, the pain growing fuzzy. He still had injuries, but he could ignore them as his body got to work. As far as strength, Logan lifted his shirt and goggled at his newly formed abs. His slight belly fat was gone, and the sleeves of his shirt were snug. And he had the means to grow even stronger. But first, he needed a weapon in case something attacked. The baseball bat had been in his hand when he fell off the cliff, so it had to be around here somewhere. Logan was worried at first when he couldn¡¯t find it, but he stumbled over uneven ground and practically landed on top of it. He had a weapon. Now he could get to work. First, he¡¯d start with agility. Logan walked away from the impact of his fall until he found a clear area filled with nothing but gravel. Then he sketched his agility ladder with a stick. Lara would think he was earning his system name to do this while injured, but the monsters weren¡¯t going to wait for him to recover. He needed to grow stronger now. One step, two, Logan powered through the ladder exercises until sweat drenched his forehead and stung his eyes. It took more effort than yesterday, but eventually he received the anticipated confirmation. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point! Agility daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] The rush of the attribute increase made him feel as if his feet were weightless. Elated, he felt as if he could do another twenty agility ladder exercises, easy. Instead, Logan eyed the forest around him. With no bucket, he would have to figure out another way to increase his strength attribute. Why not increase endurance and strength at the same time? There were boulders all around him, and he needed to make his way back to the resort anyway. Logan found a trail with pine trees on either side of it. This was going to be tricky. Try stumbling around in the woods with no major landmarks and he¡¯d end up walking off another cliff. Wait a minute. GPS still worked. At 25%, his dwindling battery was a problem. His phone was his only connection to Jack. Logan glanced back at the cliff and the still scrambling spider rat. He could figure this out. The resort had to be in the opposite direction and the trail would lead him there. Next to the trail, he had his pick of boulders and large rocks. Too ambitious to start, he flailed while trying to pick up a rock that had to be a hundred pounds. The next one was manageable, and he lifted it over his head and then ran all out. Pausing, he threw the rock down, picked it up, then started the run all over again. After twenty repetitive runs, rock throws, runs, rock throws, his hard work paid off. Ding! [You have earned one Endurance point! Endurance daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Although the endurance boost made him feel like running another mile, Logan came to a stop and became a rock maniac for the next five minutes. Lifting, dropping, lifting, dropping. Ding! [You have earned one Strength point! Strength daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Yes! He first pumped and then marvelled at his bicep. Jack¡¯s shirt could hardly keep up. His strength attribute was now at eighteen, a respectable score if he said so himself. His endurance¡­ not so much. Logan snorted. At level nine, he¡¯d finally surpassed Jack. But he had one thing going for him that Jack didn¡¯t have. Logan studied the sky, trying to judge the position of the sun. Tons of light. Jack could hold on for another hour. He was doing this. Growing stronger didn¡¯t just mean an increase to his attributes. He had a skill that the System seemed to rate highly. He needed to figure it out. Logan scanned his surroundings until he found an area bereft of trees. He swept away pine needles and then dug a hole the size of a coffee mug. There were tons of pinecones around, but he figured he¡¯d have a better chance with one that was mature. There. That one looked dried out, its scales wide open. Logan gently tapped it against a flat rock to get the seeds out. A small pile fell onto the rock, and he grabbed a handful before he lost them to the wind. Logan wasn¡¯t a gardener, so he had no idea if he was doing this right. One summer, he¡¯d tried growing baby tomatoes and he¡¯d forgotten to water them¡­ so he had a record of zero. Still, the System had to call a ¡®skill¡¯ a skill for a reason. He could make this work. Logan just wished there were an instruction manual. He gently placed the seeds into the hole and then covered them with dirt. Okay, so he¡¯d planted the seeds. That had to be the first step. Now, how the hell did he activate his skill? ¡°System, activate [Life Cycle].¡± Logan blinked at the dirt. ¡°[Life Cycle], grow!¡± He studied the hole to the point of eye strain. In addition to feeling like an idiot, he was also getting a headache. This wasn¡¯t working. All of his other skills were automatic. He¡¯d received level increases to the [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] skill just by causing himself pain. The [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] skill had also shown up as a consequence of him being an idiot, and the underwater skill¡­ He was starting to see a pattern here he didn¡¯t like. The [Life Cycle] discovery had been from pure luck, by laying his hand against the weeping willow¡­ Huh. That could be it. Logan crouched in front of the buried seeds and pressed his hand against the dirt. The skill wasn¡¯t going to activate because he vocalized it. This was a growing skill, a nature skill, and if anything were going to do it, it wouldn¡¯t be through a command. Logan closed his eyes and opened his senses. Around him, a breeze rustled through the tree branches, insects buzzed, and ants crawled through the dirt. In the ground, the seeds were waiting for him. Many of them weren¡¯t viable and would never sprout, but there was one seed, one seed waiting for him. Logan pictured that seed growing, roots burrowing into the ground, a green stalk of a seedling reaching for the sun. Underneath his hand, there was a minor crack in the dirt. A movement. Logan got to his feet. In the dirt, in the middle of his palm print, a small, green sapling breached the earth. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] Logan whooped. That was a rush. And kickass! All of his other advancements had a direct physical correlation. Run, increase your endurance. Lift weights, increase your strength. This skill was on another level. There was only one thing he could equate it to¡ªLogan could do magic! Flush with success, Logan pulled up his stat sheet, excited to see his money. It listed what he expected: KarmaCoin: 10, however, there was something odd. That strange Karma stat had been reduced: Karma: 146/156 They had to be related. Did it cost ten Karma points to sprout one tree? Ding! [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Tree Novice! Sprout twenty trees in the next 90 minutes.] [Reward for completing the Quest: 5 bonus points to all attributes.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will lose your other big toe.] Chapter 17: The Quest [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Tree Novice! Sprout twenty trees in the next 90 minutes.] [Reward for completing the Quest: 5 bonus points to all attributes.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will lose your other big toe.] That was new. At first, Logan was excited. A quest had to be good. Just the name ¡®quest¡¯ implied something noble with rewards at the end. The goal was ridiculous, but he¡¯d try it for the reward, but the penalty¡­. WHAT THE FUCK. ¡°Are you kidding me, System?!¡± Logan shouted at the sky. ¡°You¡¯ll take my toe?¡± The sarcastic creeper had a morbid sense of humor, either that, or it was sadistic as hell. What, was it going to come down from the sky and magically amputate? However it did it, he didn¡¯t want to find out. Logan¡¯s breathing increased as his heart rate skyrocketed. Panic was overtaking him, making it difficult to think. And the worst part was that he¡¯d started to feel optimistic for the first time since this started. It was crushing to come down from the euphoria of being able to do magic, to feeling like a cog in the machine or an ant in an experimental ant farm. Digging his phone out of the pocket of his swim trunks, he set a timer for 80 minutes, giving himself an extra ten minutes to prepare if worse came to worse. Rushing to the next clear spot of ground, he brushed the pine needles away and dug the same coffee-mug sized hole, his torn fingernails scoring lines of dirt. He randomly grabbed a pinecone with open scales and didn¡¯t bother with the rock, slamming it against the hole, pouring the seeds directly into the ground and covering it with dirt. Logan rested his hand against the dirt and then gave himself a mental slap. This was a nature skill! He wasn¡¯t going to get anywhere if he could think of nothing but losing his toe! He took a deep breath, opening his lungs, releasing huge exhales as if he were in a meditation class. Incrementally, his nerves calmed, his heartbeat slowed. Logan could do this. He refused to believe the System would give out an impossible task. Resting his palm against the ground, Logan closed his eyes and visualized the seeds underneath the dirt. Like the last one, there was a seed that had the best chance of success. Logan could see it in his mind. See it sprouting¡ªroots burrowing deep, green sprout reaching for the sun. Logan opened his eyes when he felt something move underneath his hand. Success! Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] [Quest Progress: 1/20. 82 minutes remaining.] But most importantly, he could review his stat screen again. With a sinking feeling, he studied the updated karma stat: 136/156. Shit. It had gone down again from 146 to 136. Karma must be needed to power the skill, and if it cost ten karma points per sprout¡­ he needed 190 more karma to grow 19 sprouts. That meant he¡¯d be short 54 karma. What happened if he reached zero karma? There had to be a solution. Crouching in the dirt as if he were communing with his new tree wouldn¡¯t get him to the answer quicker. Logan needed to grow the hell out of some sprouts. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] [Quest Progress: 2/20. 78 minutes remaining.] This second one was easier than the first. He was calmer and he made sure to take even breaths, but it was still taking way too long. He needed to get better. On to the next. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] [Quest Progress: 3/20. 73 minutes remaining.] Logan scooped dirt out so fast his bloody fingernails resembled mud. He¡¯d learned that if he tried to grow the sprout too close to another tree, it didn¡¯t grow at all, as if it had a tree defensive mechanism. After all, there had to be a reason trees grew spaced apart. They needed enough light and nutrients to survive. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. [Quest Progress: 4/20. 69 minutes remaining.] The next thirty minutes were the longest as well as shortest of his life. Logan jumped from sprout to sprout, growing a small mini forest of the small buggers. At the end, he had it down to two minutes per sprout and he¡¯d started to carry a pile of the seeds in his pocket so he didn¡¯t have to search for pinecones between constant hole digging and meditation. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] [Quest Progress: 14/20. 44 minutes remaining.] He¡¯d just finished his fourteenth, and as suspected, he¡¯d almost run out of karma. Karma: 6/156. He stared at the stat for a minute, but it didn¡¯t replenish, or if it was replenishing in the background, it wasn¡¯t doing it fast enough to generate 54 points in less than an hour. With a sinking stomach, he crouched in front of his latest buried seeds, visualizing the growth of a sprout. Everything was perfect¡ªthe visualization of the roots, the¡­ Logan choked, gasping for breath, feeling as if there was a belt around his neck, an invisible force strangling him to death. He clawed at his neck, scoring into the skin, struggling to get air. [Drawing on a skill with insufficient karma can cause paralysis and eventual death, Idiot. You were showing such promise, too. Try not to live up to your name.] Evil, sarcastic fucker! With a gasp, Logan took in a gulp of air, the restriction around his throat fading until he was left with his own self-inflicted scratches. In the ground, there was nothing but dirt, no signs of a sprout, and he got the sense that something was wrong with the seed he¡¯d tried to sprout, like a mutated sickness. With a feeling of dread, he pulled up his stats and reviewed his karma: 0/156. Oh shit. And he had less than forty minutes to figure this out. Karma, karma, how did he get more karma? It had showed up in his stat sheet after he¡¯d received the [Life Cycle] skill, and he refused to believe it was static. The System let you upgrade your attributes, so why not this one as well? When he¡¯d received the skill, it had given him twenty bonuses to his intelligence and wisdom attributes, and he suspected they were somehow related. Intelligence was at twenty-six and wisdom was at twenty-four, but how did that equate to 156 karma points? Logan had a suspicion and there was only one way to prove it. He needed to kill something. The problem was that when you wanted monsters, they were never around. He knew exactly where he could find one though. The dilemma, lose a toe, or possibly lose his life? He would never get anywhere by being cautious. Logan turned on a dime and then backtracked, sprinting full out. How much time did he have? He was about to reach for his phone, but paused, blinking, as the System accommodated him. [Quest Progress: 14/20. 31 minutes remaining.] Thanks a lot, you creepy fucker. Logan skidded to a stop in front of the base of the hill, back to where he¡¯d started. Up above, the spider rat was still at it, endlessly scrambling up the cliff face and then falling back to the ledge. There was no way up and no way to reach it that wouldn¡¯t be suicide. There had to be a solution. This was the same cliff that was connected to the one just beyond Martin¡¯s Convenience. Kids didn¡¯t always come to the cliff from the water, so there must be a path up. There was nothing from where he came, but what about in the opposite direction, closer to the direction of the store? Either way, he couldn¡¯t waste any more time. Logan took off, jogging blindly into bushes and overgrown grass, searching for¡­ a path. There was a path! It wound around the hill, climbed up, and then wound up the cliff face all the way to solid ground. Logan powered up the path, his legs straining, calf muscles burning. Holy shit, was that the store? There was no mistaking that sign. ¡°System,¡± he said, panting, ¡°how much time do I have?¡± Logan powered past Martin¡¯s Convenience, looping around and entering the mushroom clearing. [Quest Progress: 14/20. 26 minutes remaining.] He had one chance at this. Logan had to kill the spider rat with time to spare. There was no guarantee this would even work, but if it did, he needed enough time to sprout six more trees. Logan backtracked to the shredded noxious mushroom next to the cliff face. The difference between then and now was night and day. The spores had dissipated, and although it was close to dusk, the sun still illuminated the whole clearing. The mycelium veins had turned bleached white, and each footstep crackled, as if he were stepping on a pile of brittle bones. Among the remains of the shredded mushrooms, the four corpses had begun rotting in the ninety-degree heat, flies swarming them and small insects crawling up their limbs. Logan had no time to be respectful of the dead, jumping over one body and darting around the next. He slowed and crept up to the cliff and peered over the edge. The spider rat was still at it, scrambling at the edges of the cliff fruitlessly, its rat tail swinging behind it. It reminded him of a fly endlessly bashing itself again a window to get out. At the same time, that thing was no fly and looked even bigger and intimidating up close. Logan backed up and peered around the clearing, the ticking timeline ever present in his mind. He scanned the clearing, looking for a weapon. The discarded cleaver, the dropped crowbar. The spider rat was too strong for both. His only chance was to let gravity do what he couldn¡¯t. There was a large boulder close to the pine tree on the edge of the cliff, and Logan used the crowbar and his increased strength to pry it out of the ground. It was too heavy to lift, even for him, but he could roll it. End over end, the boulder making deep scars in the dying mycelian, Logan pushed it closer and closer. The spider rat was still unaware of his presence, still mindlessly trying to climb. Logan pushed it over the cliff. The spider rat screeched, the boulder slamming onto one of its long spindly legs and snapping it in half before it came to a stop on the shelf. But other than damaging a leg and making it angry, it had no effect. He was running out of time. Logan¡¯s adrenaline was through the roof, his hands shaking with tension. He scanned his surroundings, looking for anything that could do damage. Tipped over on a side, a rotting pine tree had fallen, the width of the trunk the size of a manhole. The other end was narrow and sharp, and it might do the trick. It was hell on his hands and by the time he¡¯d rolled it, he was covered in decaying bark and crawling insects. Logan threw it over the edge, the sharp end first. A loud boom echoed through the clearing. Logan popped his head over the cliff, ready to¡ª Oh shit. The log hadn¡¯t hit the spider rat at all. Instead, the pointy end had lodged between the boulder and the cliff face, the trunk at just the right angle for the spider rat to climb. With clacking noises, it scaled the trunk, using its claws to dig into the bark for traction. Crawling insects poured out of the trunk, attracted to the spindly legs and latching on to its fur. A stench wafted up the cliff, like rotted meat mixed with wet hair. The spider¡¯s red eyes glinted with glee as it got sight of him, its mandibles flexing and exposing razor-sharp teeth. It was coming for him, and there was nothing Logan could do to stop it. Chapter 18: The Spider Rat If there was one thing to his advantage, the spider rat had only one exit. It couldn¡¯t jump, and although the tree trunk gave its claws traction, it was still at a sharp angle, and it had to climb. Logan had seconds to act. Darting after the cleaver with every earned agility point, he grabbed it by the handle and then swung back to the cliff edge. As the first spindly spider rat leg crept over the top, Logan sliced it in half with one whack. Unlike its body, covered in chitin, the legs were vulnerable. The tip of another spindly leg crept over the cliff edge, curved talon digging into the ground as it pulled itself up. Logan whacked it with the cleaver, cutting the tip right off, talon flying in the air like toenails in a blender. The spider rat let out a horrible cry full of rage and tried to use the same leg to clamber further, which only resulted in it collapsing and snapping in half. Now, Logan could just wait, lopping limbs off like a chef chopping a carrot. But it still had nine other legs at its disposal. It had caught on that climbing with one leg resulted in chopped limbs and adjusted its tactics, using more than one leg at a time. After all, Logan only had two hands and one cleaver; there was a limit to what he could chop at once. As the spider rat used one leg to climb the tree trunk, it placed two others on each side of the cliff edge, pulling itself up while snapping at him with razor-sharp teeth. Logan sliced the leg on the tree branch, green ichor flying into his face, and then whacked off the two legs on his left. That left the two on the other side. It shrieked, legs scrambling, rat tail swinging behind its body. It still hadn¡¯t pulled itself up, but it was close. He couldn¡¯t let it out of the drop; he¡¯d be outmatched on even ground. A ticking clock may as well be providing sound effects in the back of his mind. Logan couldn¡¯t resist looking down at his foot, convinced he could feel the start of the slice that would take his toe. It cost him precious time. The spider rat was able to pull itself farther up, just on the cusp of breaching the top of the cliff. Logan barely managed to chop in time, forced to whack at the top of its legs, close to its teeth and mandibles. It sliced into the top of his hand, tearing through muscle and going bone deep. That was the hand with the sliced finger! Logan gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain as he finished chopping off the remaining leg within reach. The spider dropped back down with a slash of its tail. This was taking too long. He needed to do something. Making a snap decision, he dropped the cleaver and then scrambled for his baseball bat. As the spider rat climbed back up, Logan hit its gleaming eyes as if he were lining up for a home run, using the nails to tear into them, blinding it on one side. Click, click, click was its responding sound of rage, mandibles clacking. But he¡¯d managed to do damage on one side, and now its vision had a serious blind spot. This was his chance. He had one tactic to his advantage. It had worked before so why not try it again? Never change a successful strategy. Logan darted for the crowbar, lifting it and lodging it at an angle between the ground and a pivot. Then he whacked the spider rat on its blind spot, purposefully aggressive, trying to make it mindless with rage. It knew he was there, but it couldn¡¯t see him. Logan then let it climb. All of its front legs were severed, so it lurched, crawling lopsided using the legs on the side of its body. Had he cut off too many limbs? Would it even make it out? His answer came in the way of the spider rat shrieking in excitement when it finally crawled over the cliff edge. Logan swung his baseball bat at its head to keep it motivated, then backed up behind the propped-up crowbar. ¡°Come and get me, ugly mother!¡± At the same time, his timer went off, warning him that he only had ten minutes left. The phone blared from his back pocket like a foghorn. That¡¯s all the incentive it needed. With its remaining legs, it lurched onto the clearing, clacking as it ran at him. ¡°Here!¡± It took a flying leap like a drunk person trying to crowd surf. Right on top of the crowbar. It led out an agonized scream as the metal tore through its softer underbelly, tail swishing like a whip, green ichor pouring onto the dead mycelium. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Ten Trapdoor Spider Rat! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan pushed away the feeling of euphoria, screaming, ¡°System, how much time?¡± [Quest Progress: 14/20. 8 minutes remaining.] Fuck fuck fuck. He had no margin for error. This either worked, or he was toe-less. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [Intelligence: 27] [Intelligence: +] [Intelligence: 36] Logan allocated all ten free points into intelligence, gasping as the change surged through him, brushing away the feeling of his mind opening to the world around him, only caring about one thing. Karma 60/216. It worked! Each intelligence point equaled six karma points. But could he grow six sprouts in eight minutes? Logan didn¡¯t give it anymore thought, every muscle tight with tension. He tore through the dead mycelium, his broken fingernails scoring through brittle veins, digging the shallowest hole he could get away with before dumping in a handful of seeds. The soil he piled on top was a combination of dirt and brittle mycelium. Logan had sprouting down to a science now, but this soil didn¡¯t want to cooperate. He found the best seed, pictured it growing in his mind, but then hit a wall. Oh shit, he didn¡¯t have time to move out of the mycelium clearing. Squeezing his eyes shut, Logan bounced his mind against the barrier like hitting a hammer against a wall. This wasn¡¯t a wooden wall, wasn¡¯t brick. It was flexible. Like drywall. With an effort so great he started to grow a tension headache, Logan brute forced his way through the wall like pounding his fist through plaster. Something, some kind of pressure burst, and at the same time, warm blood trickled from his nose. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 20 KarmaCoin awarded. Extra coin granted for creating life in an area saturated with death.] [Quest Progress: 15/20. 6 minutes remaining.] Yes! Logan shuffled, picking another spot, far enough away from the other sprout. He pounded out sprout after sprout. After he breached that first barrier, he got the hang of sprouting a seed within mycelium saturated ground and the power flowed out of him. If he had the karma points to burn, he could grow it. [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 20 KarmaCoin awarded. Extra coin granted for creating life in an area saturated with death.] [Quest Progress: 19/20. 40 seconds remaining.] This was the opposite of watching a kettle boil. Each second passed like the speed of light. It took every ounce of his mental fortitude to concentrate, trying to push away the phantom feeling of losing his toe. Pushing through, latching onto the last seed and willing it to grow, he visualized the string-like roots burrowing deep and getting a foothold in the earth. A green shoot reached for the sun, winding through ground that was layered with dead fungus. Logan opened his eyes, staring blindly at a sprout the size of a wild strand of grass that just breached the dirt. Ding! [Congratulations! You¡¯ve successfully completed the Quest: Tree Novice! 5 bonus points awarded to all attributes. Wow, cutting it close there, Idiot.] As soon as he read the message, the mother of all trips made his world go sideways. His flagging energy got a boost as if he¡¯d knocked back a cocktail of drugs, the pain from his injuries grew fuzzy and the headache he¡¯d had since sprouting his first tree in mycelium ground faded. His strength exploded, making him feel like picking up another boulder and throwing it in the air, but the odd thing was that his bicep muscles hadn¡¯t continued to grow. Instead, it was if his muscles had grown depth, a corded steel strength to them that he couldn¡¯t help but admire. The other increases were less powerful but no less noticeable. The agility and dexterity increases even made him feel like breaking out in complicated dance moves, and the perception increase opened up the world around him, giving him a higher degree of focus as his hearing narrowed on insects and the sound of birds squawking in the distance. Once the high of the attribute boosts faded, Logan¡¯s adrenaline took a nosedive. He couldn¡¯t believe it was over. He kept glancing at his foot, still expecting something to come down from the sky to slice it off. For a System that believed in karma, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it decided he deserved revenge for all the limb chopping he¡¯d inflicted on the spider rat. He blinked up at the blue sky, but nothing happened. Logan slumped down to the ground, tearing off his running shoes to make sure. One intact big toe, one missing one. All good. But something told Logan that he had squeaked by with milliseconds to spare and that his luck attribute may have gotten a huge boost. Leaning against a tree trunk, Logan pulled up his stat sheet to review the changes. Viewing the full list with all the improvements was gratifying to see, but he wished there were a way to view updates only. [Turn on the option: List stat sheet updates only?] Damn. The creepy mind reader was back. The fact that an unknown person or entity had access to his thoughts made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. If it could read his mind, how could humanity strategize or fight back? Logan confirmed the change. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 99,989 out of 7,440,151,228 Level: 8 XP Progress: 8,400/16,000 Karma: 30/246 Intelligence: 41 Constitution: 26 Strength: 23 Agility: 15 Dexterity: 13 Endurance: 13 Perception: 12 Wisdom: 29 Luck: 30 KarmaCoin: 250 That consolidated list would make it easier to monitor his progress. For the first time, he¡¯d broken into the 5-digit rank, right above those ranked in the low 100,000s. Again, he had to marvel. How was he only ranked that high after all the shit he¡¯d had to go through? His highest attribute was intelligence, which gave him a feeling of smug satisfaction. With that, why hadn¡¯t the System changed his hidden name? Would the sarcastic fucker continue calling him that no matter how smart he became? Evil ass. As far as KarmaCoin, he wasn¡¯t sure if that tally were good or bad, having no idea if that would be enough to buy something from the tree fridge. He was excited to find out. Logan closed his stat sheet and then realized it was growing dark. The clearing was starting to become gloomy as dusk crept closer. He needed to get back to the resort. Logan glanced at his phone before getting to his feet. His eyes widened. A text message had come in while he¡¯d been fighting for his toe. Jack: Tried to call. It didn¡¯t go through. Jack: We need to leave. Don¡¯t like the looks I¡¯m receiving. They might try to take the food. How far away are you? Then ten minutes later, he had two missed calls followed by another message from Jack. Jack: Logan??? Jack¡¯s last text message had him scrambling to respond. Jack: I¡¯m leaving. I¡¯ll drive the boat back across the lake first thing in the morning. Sorry. Jack: Don¡¯t die. Your sister would never forgive me. Logan typed in a response. If Jack had just left, he could still swing the boat around to meet Logan at the dock. He¡¯d already been crazy fast, and with the new boost to his endurance, he could power through the clearing in twenty minutes if he ran full out. Just before Logan hit send, his phone powered off. His battery was dead. Chapter 19: The Gestating Undead Minion Logan had become fond of Jack. He was a man overwhelmed with grief who was able to put it to the side to survive. He thought he¡¯d understood why he¡¯d acted so cold to the people around them. After all, if you walled off your emotions and didn¡¯t let people close, you couldn¡¯t be hurt if they died. All of that was understandable. What he couldn¡¯t understand was how Jack felt justified in abandoning him for the night. If Logan had been in his shoes, he wouldn¡¯t have done the same. He¡¯d have risked their food, even risked the boat if it meant saving Jack¡¯s life. So it was with an element of bitterness that he viewed the rapidly darkening woods around him. Logan needed to survive the night with no shelter, no food, and with creeping mutated monsters a constant threat. With no working phone, he was worried what Lara would do if he didn¡¯t respond to her calls or text messages. His first priority was shelter, his second was a phone charger, and his third¡ªfood. Logan tucked his phone into his back pocket and then looked across the clearing. With his increased perception, he could still make out the trail that led to the resort. He hesitated. It would be smart to head that way while he could make out the path, but Martin¡¯s Convenience was so close, he would be crazy not to check it first. They might have a phone charger. He hadn¡¯t seen anything that looked like a charger in the aisles, but then, he hadn¡¯t been looking. Decision made, Logan was about to head over, but then paused. The cleaver had come in handy, and he was hesitant to leave it behind. He grabbed both the cleaver and his baseball bat and then backtracked to the store, darkness overtaking his surroundings. The riot of crickets soon drowned out even the faint sound of the lake cresting on the shore in the distance. Unfortunately, he was in a clearing covered with dead mycelium and his footsteps might as well shout his presence. It was like walking over thousands of brittle matchsticks. He was vulnerable out in the open, and if another trap door spider rat were hiding in the ground, he wouldn¡¯t have the advantage of a cliff to defend himself. Logan tightened his grip on his baseball bat, senses on high alert. When he reached the store and saw the lights were on, his tension dissipated, but he kept a firm grip on his bat. It was long past closing time for something so remote. Why leave the lights on? The bell jingled as he opened the door. However, the girl was missing from the counter. ¡°Hello?¡± Logan said, scanning the aisles. No answer. He peered over the counter, but there was no sign of anyone. Odd. The merchandise looked even more sparse; others must have come after they left and cleaned the place out. There were only a few packets of candy, beef jerky and instant noodles left. No batteries, no phone chargers. Logan placed the cleaver on the counter and then jumped on top of it, swinging over and dropping down the other side. The owner might have kept extra merchandise in the drawers, or maybe there were supply boxes¡­ There was a door behind the counter. It had been hidden behind a corner, only visible once he moved to the far wall. When he opened the door, the hinges creaked, the hallway lit only by a faint flickering light fixture. There was a pungent odor that he could only equate with the smell of deep earth¡ªmusty and cold. Logan crept closer, trying to keep his steps silent, his baseball bat in a ready position. There were two doors at the end of the hallway, both closed. The first one was light blue and covered in dirt, the paint peeling. The round worn knob was stuck at first, but then the door swung open. He flicked on the lights. It was a small square storeroom, end-to-end the size of two cars stacked side by side. There was nothing on the shelves but large empty cardboard boxes, in disarray as if someone had searched through them in a hurry. Logan pushed one to the side and then paused. What the hell? That was either a discarded boot or someone¡¯s foot. Logan crept closer. Aww man. Definitely a person. Behind the last shelf, sitting against the wall was the remains of what had to be Martin, legs out as if he¡¯d fallen asleep. But this wasn¡¯t the Martin from Logan¡¯s childhood. An overweight man had turned into a bloated corpse that had been¡­ transformed. Thousands of purple-colored fungi had spread over every inch of his skin, crawling into him like stitched thread. The fungi travelled in one direction, concentrating on Martin¡¯s gaping wide mouth. From within, his tongue had warped into a budding flower, huge purple petals open and in full bloom. [Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion] ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him,¡± said a voice. ¡°He was like that when I found him.¡± Alarmed, Logan turned, getting ready to swing. [Tasha Frederick: Level 0] It was the girl from the counter. She stood in the doorway with a troubled expression, shifting on her feet and avoiding his eyes. Her spiky, purple hair was messy as if she¡¯d just woken up, pillow creases on the side of her face. Still wearing the same jeans and t-shirt, she looked worn out, bloodshot eyes aging her ten years. ¡°You did this,¡± Logan said in realization. He¡¯d thought she¡¯d seemed unfriendly, but he¡¯d chalked it up to the world going mad. Instead, she¡¯d killed Martin until his corpse had mutated into this¡­ thing and then had taken over his store. She pushed her sleeves up her forearms and gave him a mulish look. ¡°I said I didn¡¯t kill him. I came for supplies like you and then found him back here, all¡­ moldy. I don¡¯t know what killed him, but I kept away, obviously, in case it was contagious.¡± Logan shot her a narrow look while keeping the corpse in view. Martin¡­ or whatever he was now, had a level, which meant it wouldn¡¯t gestate forever. ¡°If you don¡¯t work for Martin, what were you doing at the front desk?¡± ¡°What do you think? The world¡¯s fucked. I needed whatever advantage I could get.¡± Logan didn¡¯t trust her and kept an eye on her hands. You had to be pretty brazen to impersonate a store owner and inflate prices, taking advantage of desperate people just for profit. ¡°So you pocketed the cash? Why not just take what supplies you needed and run?¡± She huffed. ¡°And go where? I¡¯m stuck here just like everyone else. One of the staff at the resort said he¡¯d drive me out of here on the companies¡¯ boat, but he wants $10,000. In cash. To the tourists, it might be pocket change, but not to me.¡± Logan hesitated. Two days ago, he would have believed her. Since then, his naivete had taken a serious beating as he became jaded to the world around him. But what could he do even if she had killed Martin? Logan wasn¡¯t a murderer. He lowered his baseball bat and gestured to the corpse. ¡°It isn¡¯t dead. It¡¯s not Martin anymore, but it¡¯s very much alive.¡± She gave the corpse a skeptical look. ¡°Looks pretty dead to me.¡± Logan considered it. It wasn¡¯t moving, and although he didn¡¯t love that the System had given it an undead label and what that implied, it still resembled Martin. He wouldn¡¯t feel good about whacking the corpse of someone he knew. This was the same man who had greeted Logan and Lara each summer when they were children. The same man who had inquired about school and given out extra Mr. Freezes. What was he going to do, pummel Martin into pulp? Just the thought made him sick to his stomach. At the same time, he¡¯d learned his lesson with the squirrel. If he left Martin here, who knew what a ¡®gestating¡¯ being could turn into? If he didn¡¯t act now, it might turn into the same Eleanor situation all over again. Still¡­ could he do this? He grimaced. Turning to Tasha, Logan gave her a considering look. She was a potential murderer¡ªeither that, or a desperate kid who¡¯d made a selfish decision, but she was still vulnerable. Without her first kill, she hadn¡¯t even leveled yet. There could be a way to turn an unpleasant task into something that would help someone else. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Tasha¡¯s expression became wary, and she took a step back. ¡°Why are you looking at me that way?¡± ¡°Stay here.¡± Logan went back into the hallway and returned with the cleaver, holding it out. Tasha took another step back. ¡°There¡¯s blood on that.¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. That¡¯s what she was concerned about? ¡°It¡¯s monster blood.¡± ¡°M-monsters?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a reason you want out of here. Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on out there. I also know you read the System message. We have less than 365 days to survive. To grow strong. To do that, you need to level, and you won¡¯t do that hiding here.¡± Logan nodded at the cleaver. ¡°Take it.¡± With a hesitant hand, Tasha reached for the cleaver, grasping it by the blade carefully before turning it around, sharp end now facing Logan. ¡°What do you want me to do with this?¡± Logan grimaced at Martin¡¯s corpse. ¡°You need to kill Martin.¡± She gave him an incredulous look. ¡°Kill Martin. Kill a dead body?¡± Her voice was high. ¡°Are you nuts?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not dead.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a frigging corpse! It¡¯s dead! It¡¯s a dead body!¡± ¡°Come closer,¡± said Logan, his hand tightening around the handle of his bat as he stared down at Martin. Tasha followed, eyes bulging, the cleaver held towards Logan as if he was the threat instead of the corpse. ¡°Look at it.¡± Logan would rather avoid it altogether. It was painful looking at the remains of Martin and seeing the monster rather than the former kind man. But if you looked closely, you could see the purple fungi weave moving across its body, like trickling, spreading frost. ¡°Look,¡± said Logan. ¡°He¡¯s transforming in front of our eyes.¡± Tasha kept a careful eye on Logan and inched closer and gave the corpse an examining glance. ¡°I told you; it¡¯s infected! That doesn¡¯t mean¡ª" With a sound like wind whistling through the leaves of a bulrush, the corpse¡¯s chest inflated in a breath, the flower tongue making a wiggling movement before stilling once again. Tasha screamed and jumped back. ¡°Like I said,¡± said Logan. ¡°It¡¯s still alive. It¡¯s a gestating undead minion, but it won¡¯t be gestating forever. This is your chance. I don¡¯t want to kill it. I knew Martin, bashing his corpse in with a baseball bat is anathema to me, but I will if I have to. Are you going to let this opportunity go to waste?¡± Tasha pulled on her hair and gave the corpse a wild look. ¡°This is crazy! Can¡¯t we just lock the door, shove a chair underneath? I can¡¯t¡­¡± Logan sighed. He would like to do nothing better, but he wasn¡¯t going to make the same mistake again. ¡°Are you planning to stay here until you save enough cash?¡± Tasha bit her lip. ¡°That was the plan, but there isn¡¯t much left in the store.¡± ¡°Then you don¡¯t want to leave something called an undead gestating minion alive. Come on, use the cleaver. One stab should do it. You¡¯ll know when you¡¯ve killed it. The System will tell you.¡± Tasha still seemed hesitant, but as far as Logan was concerned, the decision had been made. Logan knew it had to be hard for her; although she hadn¡¯t known Martin, he still resembled a person. But she would either take the opportunity presented to her, or she wouldn¡¯t survive. ¡°This is so fucked up,¡± Tasha said as she held out the cleaver, angling the sharp edge. ¡°So, so gross.¡± Logan looked away as she closed her eyes and whacked. There was a slick, wet sound, followed by another shriek from Tasha. ¡°Gross gross gross.¡± Logan heard another slick sound, followed by tearing fabric. ¡°Did I get it? Is it dead now?¡± Logan turned back and took in the scene. Tasha had used the cleaver to whack a hole in Martin¡¯s chest, and blood and guts and what looked like flower petals were trickling from the wound. The chest was no longer moving, and it looked as if the weave had stopped spreading. ¡°Did you receive a System confirmation?¡± Tasha had an unfocused look; the same look Logan was sure he had when he was looking at his stat screen. ¡°Shit, yeah. Weird freaking messages, too. Does that mean I ¡®leveled¡¯ up?¡± Logan sighed and looked away from the gory corpse. At least that unpleasant task had been taken care of. ¡°It¡¯s done then.¡± Tasha¡¯s attention was back and she made a face as she looked at the corpse. ¡°You know, I was fine leaving it here to rot before you involved me, but now I feel guilty. Should we bury him?¡± Logan snorted. ¡°If you want to dig a hole in the morning, be my guest.¡± He had already left enough bodies outside in the mushroom clearing; at this point, what was one more? Tasha grimaced and then grabbed a bunch of empty carboard boxes, setting them down in front of Martin¡¯s corpse as if she could cover it and pretend it wasn¡¯t there. They left the storage room and Tasha shut the door, then locked it for good measure. ¡°Out of sight, out of mind.¡± They made their way back down the hallway to the store. The other door was open, and Logan could see the base of a set of stairs. That must lead up to the second storey. ¡°How much cash did you manage to save?¡± he asked. Her eyes narrowed. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to get out of here too, back to Hope¡¯s End. We have a boat, but they won¡¯t give us enough gas for the return trip.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I don¡¯t know you. Why the hell would I help you?¡± Logan¡¯s voice was dry. ¡°So I don¡¯t tell the resort owners that you were out here stealing?¡± ¡°Be my guest.¡± Her eyes were flinty. ¡°Or hey, why don¡¯t you call the police?¡± Logan had to admit she had guts for such a small thing. ¡°You don¡¯t want to make an enemy of me. You don¡¯t know what¡¯s out there.¡± Tasha shifted the cleaver in her hand. ¡°Is that a threat?¡± Logan sighed. ¡°I have a niece about your age, you know. No, it¡¯s not a threat. I mean that you¡¯ll need help to survive, and you shouldn¡¯t antagonise the people that can give it. Me? I¡¯m a pretty easy-going guy, I can take it. Others might not be so understanding.¡± Her look was mulish. ¡°Who says I haven¡¯t come across one of those crazy things? I can look after myself.¡± ¡°Kid, I hope so. I really do.¡± She gave him an assessing glance, her expression thoughtful, before she seemed to come to a decision. ¡°I guess I could let you take what¡¯s left in the store, if you want.¡± Logan raised his eyebrow. Great, a packet of beef jerky and instant noodles. He¡¯d have a feast. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said with a smirk. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve seen a phone charger around here, have you?¡± ¡°Dude was old-fashioned. He sold a bunch of artery clogging crap. Going by the state of the upstairs, if he has any electronic equipment, it¡¯s from the 80s.¡± Logan sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll grab a package of jerky and be on my way. I hope you manage to get a ride out of here, kid.¡± Tasha gave him a look of alarm. ¡°You¡¯re going outside?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see if the resort has an extra room.¡± She seemed nervous, shuffling her feet, and eyeing the windows. It was now pitch dark with only the moon supplying light and with an overcast sky, it wasn¡¯t much. ¡°Those things¡ªmonsters are out there. I¡­ I heard them.¡± Logan hesitated. ¡°Close?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Well, in that case, would you mind if I spent the night?¡± **** Tasha had seemed relieved to have him stay. She¡¯d disappeared upstairs before returning with a pillow and a throw for him to lie down on the floor. With a stern warning to not venture upstairs, she¡¯d left him on his own while she went to the second floor. Presumably, Martin had a bed or a couch upstairs. It turned out that the reason the front door had been unlocked was because she couldn¡¯t find the keys. The lights had been kept on as a deterrent. No wonder she wanted someone to stay. Now, anything would have to get by him first before making its way upstairs. Logan was monster fodder. He found he didn¡¯t mind. She may be a criminal, but she was young. Kids did stupid things sometimes, especially without parents. If it meant he could save her from being yet another victim of the System, he¡¯d take it. Now that he finally had a chance to survey his injuries, Logan did what he could to keep them clean by using the run-down decaying bathroom downstairs. A bar of soap was hardly disinfectant, but he was counting on his constitution attribute to do most of the work. The gash on the back of his thigh had already clotted, faint signs of healing around the edges. The puncture on his side was tender when he touched it, but not alarmingly so. He had the sense that with time, it wouldn¡¯t cause him any problems. As far as his missing fingertip, he changed the bandage by tearing off a strip from a towel and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, it was his torn fingernails that gave him the most grief. Fuck, they hurt, like a persistent shard of glass hidden underneath his skin that wouldn¡¯t come out no matter what he tried; but instead, it was missing, shredded fingernails. Logan snacked on beef jerky and dry Ramen noodles and then pulled up his stat sheet. He¡¯d either been running or fighting after each upgrade. This was his first break, a chance to conduct a comprehensive review. Karma: 30/246. Huh. That was a head puzzler. It had been hours since he last used the [Life Cycle] skill, but his karma hadn¡¯t replenished. It was still sitting at thirty, which came from the five bonus intelligence points he¡¯d received from the quest. Logan had assumed it was a resource that replenished slowly, but unless it only reset every twenty-four hours, he was missing something. Once again, he cursed the System. How was anyone supposed to ¡®advance and grow¡¯ if they had to figure out everything for themselves? It was like announcing you were an astronaut and then forcing you into a rocket ship without any training. When he¡¯d needed to increase his karma reservoirs, he¡¯d had two choices, either intelligence or wisdom. He¡¯d gone with intelligence due to math, but it had also been a hunch. Discovering the lodestone happened after Eleanor¡¯s death. It wouldn¡¯t have occurred without his regret and resolution to change. That wasn¡¯t intelligence; it was wisdom. It made sense that the other attribute that received a huge bonus¡ªintelligence¡ªhad to control his [Life Cycle] skill. But perhaps wisdom had been part of it all along? There had to be something, some clue. ¡°System, open the settings mainframe.¡± [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] Chapter 20: A Tunnel Out [This interface allows you to change your personal upgrade settings.] Logan mentally scrolled down, but it was the same as before. It allowed him to change his leveling options, but there was no hidden text icon, no hidden instruction manual. He willed it closed and then kicked an empty cardboard box in anger before guiltily glancing upstairs. This wasn¡¯t something he could turn on like flipping a switch. The name could be a clue. Karma. What was karma? If his phone still worked, he¡¯d be looking up the definition right now. To him, that meant reflection, meditation¡­ was it more wizard-shit? After all, he could already sprout trees with his mind; what was one more feat? Logan sat down on top of his blanket in the lotus position, his legs crossed. He had to be careful; if he accidentally used karma rather than generating it, he might have another strangulation episode. Closing his eyes, he first pictured his stat sheet without pulling it up, mentally focusing on the karma points and willing it to move, like pressing on a plus sign. Seconds ticked by, then minutes, then¡­ how long had it been? Logan opened his eyes, grimacing at an empty Ramen soup cup. Well, he hadn¡¯t expected it to be easy. He shut his eyes, taking deep breaths, regaining his calm. Instead of picturing karma as a number, he changed his perspective. He thought of karma as a way to pay it forward. A good deed receiving a reward. What had he done that qualified? He¡¯d tried to save the people in the clearing, but they¡¯d died. That couldn¡¯t be it. He¡¯d jumped off a cliff, sacrificing himself to save Jack, but had he really? If he was being honest, he knew the chances of dying were low, trusting in his constitution score the whole time, hoping for his luck to work out. This wasn¡¯t getting him anywhere. It had to be something else. Logan tapped his finger against his knee, mulling over his options. Visualization had helped with the [Life Cycle] skill. Could this be similar? Logan took a deep breath, a meditative breath, and tried to open his mind. Karma wasn¡¯t a deed, it was a deep pool, a reservoir of water, so endless you couldn¡¯t hit the bottom. It was an aquifer with glacier water, untouched for thousands of years. The water was still. But within the cavern, a single silver droplet fell miles. In slow motion, it continued to fall, until it finally reached the water and plopped onto the surface, ripples radiating out in all directions. The cavern was so quiet that you could hear the plop of the water, like a dripping faucet. The silver droplet and the water merged to create a reaction, a fission. Another droplet fell, followed by another, and another. Now, the drop wasn¡¯t one drop, it was a waterfall, combining into the pool of immense, unlimited water, creating a chain reaction of give and flow. It was his to use. His to manipulate. Logan opened his eyes. Ding! [You have activated your karma pool! The rate of karma generation depends upon wisdom attributes. Wisdom is antithetical to idiots, you know.] Logan ignored the saucy message and pulled up his stat sheet, his heart racing in excitement. Karma: 59/246*. There was an asterisk next to the stat and when he focused, willing it to expand¡­. [29 karma generated per minute. Upgrade your wisdom attribute to increase the generation rate.] Yes! Logan jumped to his feet and fist pumped the air. His wisdom was at 29, so that meant if he kept upping it, he¡¯d eventually receive enough to endlessly sprout trees. That could be a lot of money if the tree fridge made it worth it. Feeling optimistic, he gathered the blanket and pillow and turned in for the night. Logan kept the front door in his direct view, the baseball bat in reach. **** [Countdown: Day 3 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 99,940 out of 7,439,159,928.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] Logan jerked awake with a strangled shout, the system ding! interrupting a nightmare about a spider rat coming out of the shop¡¯s floor and chomping on his head. That was going to be a hell of an alarm clock every morning. Bright sunlight shone through the windows, and with his phone dead, he had no idea if he¡¯d overslept. Jack could be at the dock right now. He needed to make his way to the resort. Tasha must be asleep upstairs. Logan slung his baseball bat over one shoulder and then headed to the hallway, then paused. Something underneath his feet vibrated and a rustling, like the sound of dirt falling, came from the direction of the locked storage room. Logan could hear sand and rocks falling, this time from underneath his feet. An earthquake? What the hell was going on? A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Logan tensed, unlocking the door and turning the knob as silently as he could. The door crept open, the rusted hinges creaking. Inside, he was confronted with the same empty cardboard boxes, plus the stacked carboard boxes Tasha had set in front of Martin¡¯s body. Odd. Everything looked the same. He inched forward, tightening his grip on his bat, then kicked the boxes aside. Fuck. In place of the corpse, there was a hole in the floor the size of a large sewage pipe. He peered down the hole, gaping. A tunnel. Nothing but dirt, and more dirt, with no end. What the fuck? Tasha had killed the minion; she¡¯d said she received a System confirmation! How could it be up and walking around? Shit. If the corpse was on its way to the resort, it would be going after defenceless, unleveled people. He had to warn them. ¡°Tasha, wake up!¡± he shouted upstairs. There was a crashing sound, as if something had been dropped to the floor, and then she peered down the stairs. ¡°Jesus, you don¡¯t have to yell.¡± ¡°You told me that you killed Martin! He¡¯s not dead!¡± ¡°The hell are you saying? I killed it! You watched me!¡± Her eyes widened and she suddenly looked uncertain. ¡°Is it down there? Walking around¡­?¡± ¡°It tunneled out.¡± Something didn¡¯t make sense. Tasha had said she¡¯d received a System notification. If she had been telling the truth, she¡¯d even leveled up. That didn¡¯t happen unless you killed something. What was going on? ¡°Somehow, it¡¯s still alive and it tunnelled out. I need to warn the others. You can come with me to the resort, or you can stay; it¡¯s up to you, but I¡¯m leaving.¡± Her eyes widened and she seemed to hesitate. ¡°Hold on,¡± she said, rushing back and then returning with a barbecue fork in one hand, the cleaver in the other. ¡°What are you going to do with that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m assuming you want your knife back.¡± She clattered down the stairs and followed him to the counter. He couldn¡¯t have her facing down a monster like a spider rat with a fork. ¡°You can keep the cleaver,¡± he said. He¡¯d just as likely do himself an injury if he continued holding both weapons and he was fond of the baseball bat. After all, he¡¯d made it with his own hands. Tasha shrugged before tucking the fork in her waistband and then followed him out of the store. He¡¯d have discarded the fork, but each to their own. **** They made short work of the path and soon reached the mushroom clearing. ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Tasha asked, giving a corpse a wide berth. That was the remains of the teenager with asthma. The flesh had bloated, and flies buzzed around the corpse even in the morning air. ¡°There¡¯s no time,¡± Logan said, leading them past the bodies. They deserved a burial, and in absence of that, at least a decent hole, but he didn¡¯t know what Martin was capable of, and if he lingered over the dead when he could be saving the living, the living might soon join them. When they reached the resort, he thought at first that they¡¯d rushed for nothing. At the base where sand met grass, patio furniture and sun umbrellas littered the property. It was quiet. Dead quiet. Yesterday, there had been dozens of tourists milling around. It was morning, but it wasn¡¯t that early. Were they all still asleep? ¡°Is it just me or is this place creepy as fuck?¡± asked Tasha. ¡°Where are the birds, the insects? There¡¯s nothing.¡± She was right. On the way here, even in the clearing, there had been flies buzzing and insects crawling on the ground. Birds nested in the trees or flew in the sky, looking for a meal. Here, it was so quiet you could hear nothing but your own footsteps. And then it became clear. As they crested a hill overlooking the entrance to the hotel, Logan could see bodies scattered, five at least, frozen on the ground as if they¡¯d fallen asleep. There were no visible injuries, but they were pale and lifeless. Tasha lowered her voice. ¡°Are they dead?¡± Before Logan had a chance to use [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], the front door banged open and three tourists exited, preoccupied and not looking where they were going. ¡°I¡¯m telling you; it¡¯s only going to get worse. Today they run out of bacon, tomorrow it¡¯s eggs!¡± said a man with a receding hairline. ¡°You think of nothing but food. Aliens have invaded and you¡¯re worried about your complimentary breakfast,¡± snarked a lady, fiddling with her purse. She had short brown hair streaked with grey, dark brown glasses giving her a bookish appearance. ¡°You¡¯ll be worried too when¡ª" ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± interrupted a man in his early twenties. He resembled the couple, with the woman¡¯s same sharp cheekbones. In board shorts and a blue tank top, he had a pair of sunglasses perched on his head. They stared at the people on the ground, dumbfounded. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the closest body. [Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion] Ah, shit. Logan raised his voice. ¡°You need to get out of here! They¡¯re undead minions!¡± The couple looked between Logan and the bodies in confusion before scrutinizing Logan¡¯s outfit. As one, they gave him a once-over and then just as quickly averted their gaze. The son sneered. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± The mother hissed. ¡°Charlie!¡± For a second, Logan didn¡¯t understand why a glance over of his clothes would cause the kid to call him names, but then he looked down at his outfit and winced. Kitten patterned swim trunks, a fancy long sleeve white dress shirt, torn on the edge, full of blood stains and dirt. There was no brush in the dinky bathroom in the convenience store, and with monsters roving around, his appearance had been the least of his worries. He had a bandaged finger, morning stubble, and brown hair that was standing on end. The encounter with the noxious mushrooms had eaten away his eyebrows, and he had patches of bare skin all over his scalp. Not an appearance that exuded confidence. The older man rested his hand on Charlie¡¯s arm. ¡°We don¡¯t use that word, son. It¡¯s offensive.¡± Glancing at Logan and giving him a wary look, he raised his hands. ¡°I¡¯m a doctor. Will you let me help these people?¡± ¡°Not that kind of doctor,¡± Charlie muttered. After everything that had happened in the last three days, how could these people still be this slow on the uptake? To give them some minor credit, the people who stumbled into the mushroom clearing had died. With no one to tell the tale, and with no other monsters hitting the resort, they might not have had a chance for a reality check. Before Logan could say anything, someone came around the corner. At first, Logan thought it was another tourist. In a short yellow sundress and white dress sandals, she looked normal. From afar. Was that¡­? It was the woman from the clearing, the one with the crowbar! He¡¯d suspected she¡¯d managed to stumble out, but seeing was believing. Logan felt a tension he hadn¡¯t known he was carrying lessen. All those people in the mushroom clearing weren¡¯t dead after all. One had survived. His efforts weren¡¯t for nothing. ¡°Fuggly ass ugh,¡± said Tasha, shuddering. Logan¡¯s thoughts abruptly took a nosedive. As she grew closer, it became clear that there was something wrong with the woman. Extremely wrong. Just like Martin, thread had interwoven into her skin, like the weave on a basket, but instead of purple, it was gold. Her hair had transformed from a short blonde bob to tiny fungus heads, as if hundreds of snakes with mushroom caps swayed in the breeze. In place of her eyes, two golden flowers bloomed, the pollen white pupils. The woman moved towards them with jerky, stumbling steps, before pausing and staring unseeingly. [Level 10 Undead Minion.] That wasn¡¯t a woman anymore. ¡°Get ready,¡± said Logan. Chapter 21: Get Ready ¡°Get ready?¡± replied Tasha, strangled. ¡°Get ready for what?¡± She raised the cleaver, pointing it with a trembling hand. ¡°Ah, man. I should have stayed in the store.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± said the older man. The undead minion sniffed the air like a dog. If Logan hadn¡¯t increased his perception attribute, he was sure it would have moved too fast for him to see. The minion contorted its body, getting on four limbs¡ªsandal-clad feet its back limbs, hands its front. It crawled towards them like an insect, mouth gaping wide. ¡°Don¡¯t let it touch you!¡± It was too late. The minion jumped on top of the older woman, golden flower petals ejecting out of its mouth in a stream. The petals clung to the woman¡¯s skin and then seeped in like wiggling worms, burrowing and creating a weave. She gasped, her tongue turning blue, before her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed to the ground like the others. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on her. [Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion] Ah, fuck. The minion was seeding these people, transforming them into other gestating minions. Is that what happened to Martin? ¡°Mom?¡± asked the younger man, eyes wide in disbelief. At the same time, another group of tourists exited the hotel just as the undead gestating minions stopped¡­ gestating. They sat up with gasps, mouths gaping wide to display tongues in the shape of blooming flowers. Then, scrambling to their feet, they turned towards the tourists with their arms held out in front of them, fingernails transforming into wiggling fungi strands. From afar, they could still pass as people. But up close, even their clothes had a stench of rot. They rushed towards the tourists as if they were professional sprinters. The people didn¡¯t even have a chance to run back inside. The minions were on them in seconds. ¡°Don¡¯t let them touch you!¡± said Logan. But it was just as hopeless as the last time. Each minion latched onto a tourist, wiggling fungus fingernails burrowing deep into their skin. They injected the fungi into the people like a syringe, the fungi quickly spreading until the tourists grew pale and collapsed into the same hibernating minions. Three tourists had escaped but only because there weren¡¯t enough minions to go around. Panicking, they ran towards Logan and Tasha, faces ashen with fear. ¡°You need a weapon!¡± Tasha held out her fork, handle-side out. Two of the tourists ran past her, screaming, but a man in his 40s with bulging biceps and a muscular neck stopped. He looked as if he spent seven hours a day in the gym. ¡°That isn¡¯t a weapon! I need something else.¡± He ran frantic eyes over his surroundings before narrowing in on Logan¡¯s baseball bat. ¡°Give me that!¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine,¡± said Logan, his voice tense. The man flexed the muscles in his chest. ¡°Are you shitting me? I can do more damage than you. Be smart. You take the fork and I¡¯ll¡ª" ¡°We don¡¯t have time to argue. You¡¯re not taking my weapon.¡± Logan felt a flush of heat filling his face, the fights he¡¯d won to get to this point running through his mind. If this unleveled asshole thought he¡¯d steal his baseball bat, he didn¡¯t know who he was fucking with. Logan tightened his grip on the handle, his feet spread wide apart, the heat in his face spreading to his neck, then his shoulders. Hell, he¡¯d take on the jock, the minions, and the world. ¡°Whooooa,¡± said Tasha, sidling away. The man paled and took a step back. ¡°Hey man,¡± he said, swallowing. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean anything by it. I¡¯m good with the fork. I¡¯ll stick ¡®m good.¡± Logan blinked and loosened his grip on his bat. What the hell? He knew he was higher leveled, but the guy hadn¡¯t known that. Why back down so quickly? Logan inclined his head to Tasha and lowered his voice. ¡°What just happened?¡± ¡°What just happened?¡± she said incredulously. ¡°You became serial-killer scary, is what happened. You didn¡¯t do it on purpose?¡± ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°The thing! Like you had this nasty presence that made me feel like you wanted to kill me.¡± An aura? That made no sense. Logan could admit he¡¯d gotten worked up; he¡¯d thought of the fights he¡¯d won, the repeated level ups¡­ huh. Did the System let you project your strength to others as an intimidation factor? There was no other plausible explanation. If that were true, he could see that being massively convenient. Instead of having to resort to a fight, just intimidate them into backing down by projecting your strength. That is, as long as they were lowered leveled. Tasha shifted from foot to foot. ¡°Glad you got that out of your system, but you know¡­ minions¡­?¡± Logan snapped to attention. The level ten undead minion had finished ejecting petals and had turned to face them. ¡°I need to take out the minion in the sundress. It¡¯s the highest level.¡± ¡°What about the others?¡± ¡°They¡¯re level one. You can both handle them.¡± Logan included the man in his glance, trying to give them both encouraging grins, but he suspected it came out as a grimace. In truth, he had no idea if he was signing their death sentences. But he couldn¡¯t fight the undead minion on top of all the others, and they needed to be stopped. If Logan retreated, they¡¯d be handing the tourists to these things on a silver platter. ¡°Fuck this,¡± said the man and dropped the fork. Tasha tried to grab his arm, but he shrugged her off. ¡°No! We need your help¡­.¡± But the man hadn¡¯t left. He¡¯d gone for a patio umbrella. Unscrewing the base, he threw the umbrella to the side and hefted the pole. It was half his height and had a pointed, narrow end, used to either drill into the ground or screw into a stand. It had to be sharp as hell. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Tasha said, bouncing on her feet. ¡°We can do this, we can do this,¡± she mumbled. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Logan asked as the man rejoined them, holding the pole like a javelin. ¡°Brad.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Well, Brad, when you kill one of those minions, the System will ask you if you want to level up. Accept it. Accept every message. And when you get the chance to boost your attributes, you need protection. These things don¡¯t seem that strong, but they¡¯re infecting people. So, constitution. Constitution, all in, you get me?¡± Tasha nodded, but Brad twisted his mouth. ¡°If what you¡¯re saying is true, then not really, man. Strength seems more appealing. I eat healthy already, don¡¯t think I need a boost there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how it works.¡± ¡°No time,¡± Tasha hissed. The six minions had finished with the remaining tourists and their creepy flower eyes were focused on them. ¡°Constitution, Tasha,¡± Logan insisted. If Brad didn¡¯t take his advice, that was on him, but Tasha could survive if she managed to avoid those fungus tentacles. He didn¡¯t know how the weave infection worked, but she would have no chance if she kept her default base constitution attribute. Tasha held the cleaver with a trembling hand. ¡°Constitution, got it. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m about to slash a zombie with a cleaver,¡± she muttered. That was the best he could do. With a shout, Logan ran towards the level ten minion, swinging his baseball bat at the gestating, motionless minions on the ground as he passed them. They were still gestating, but they wouldn¡¯t be for long. It was like hitting bowling pins, but at the same time, they¡¯d been people not five minutes ago. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him as the nails on his bat sank into their skin, splitting skulls, brain matter and blood flying everywhere. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion!] He slashed through the skull of the kid who¡¯d accused him of being crazy, shattering the sunglasses that were still on the top of his head. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion!] The kid¡¯s father had fallen awkwardly, face first in the ground, blue fungi still spreading, crawling tendrils moving through the skin on the back of his neck. Due to its head being directly on the ground, Logan only had access to its back, so he bashed its shoulders and spine, going to town. The bat took chunks out of the side of its neck, opening up a huge chunk of flesh. He was about to rush past¡ªhe¡¯d torn out half of its windpipe; it had to be dead¡ªwhen he paused, skidding to a stop as he received the latest System notification. [You have subdued a Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion! XP reduced.] What the hell? Subdued? A trickling of dread made the hairs on the back of his arms stand on end. Logan was a big fan of The Walking Dead, both Lara and him caught every episode back when it was popular. When she¡¯d gone through her divorce, he¡¯d spent many nights with a six pack of beer, Lara with a glass of wine, while they binged whole seasons. Zombie movies were something of an obsession for them. In the films, zombies always came back, never dying unless you gave them a head kill. Could it be possible that fiction had turned into reality? ¡°Tasha!¡± he shouted, ¡°what message did you receive when you stabbed Martin?¡± ¡°What?! Why are you asking me that now? I don¡¯t know!¡± There was only one way to find out. Logan skidded back to the fallen gestating undead minion, kicking it, and pushing it over so that its head was at an accessible angle. This time, he made sure to whack the hell out of its skull, blood and gore flying. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 1 Gestating Undead Minion!] Holy shit, he was right. ¡°Head shots!¡± he screamed. ¡°You need to hit their skulls to kill them!¡± He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the same for the undead minions. Could you ¡®subdue¡¯ them and they¡¯d stay down as they rushed past? Either way, better to be safe than sorry. Logan¡¯s stomach lurched, but he kept going, whacking one last minion underneath the chin and carving deep into its brain. It felt like a violation, going against everything he believed in to be randomly killing things that resembled sleeping people. But he couldn¡¯t think of these things as people anymore. If he did, it would be the rabid squirrel scenario all over again. There was no room for mercy in world in which mercy could mean your death. Going by the System rules, these people identified as a different species now. They were no longer human and if he didn¡¯t take advantage of eliminating a threat when he had the upper hand, he really would be earning that [Idiot] name. Logan had no more chance to dwell on the morality of his actions. He¡¯d reached the level ten undead minion. If flowers hadn¡¯t replaced its eyes, he¡¯d say it appeared amused as he reached it, but there was an alienness to it, making it difficult to gauge whether that slight smirk represented amusement. After all, it was a different species. If cultures had different quirks, who knew about the undead? Once he was five feet away, it made a clicking sound like an insect and it jumped back to four legs, twisting its body and running at him at full speed. But unlike the older woman, when it lunged at him, his baseball bat met it¡ªface first. He was expecting a spray of blood like with the gestating minions, but it was as if he¡¯d hit the flesh of a noxious mushroom. Bits of skin flew off, but¡­ that wasn¡¯t skin. The minion was fungus, literally fungus. And when he tore off strips of its skin, the gold fungi spread, filling up the gaps and weaving golden thread until it was as if he¡¯d never hit it in the first place. Was this what it meant to be an undead fully evolved minion? Instead of hibernating after a stab, it would just endlessly regenerate? The minion cackled, and this time, Logan could recognize true amusement. It had no weapon, but it didn¡¯t seem to want to cause damage. After all, a damaged host wouldn¡¯t make a good minion. Opening its mouth, shooting out a stream of golden petals, it tried to cover him with the things. Logan jumped back, but a handful had fallen onto his arms. The petals turned into wiggling worms, burrowing, burrowing, trying to get through his skin. His constitution attribute was working for him. None of them got through, and they eventually fell off like petals that had dried in the sun. Now the minion¡¯s cackle was full of rage rather than amusement. Even as Logan whacked it again with his bat, tearing off a chunk of white fungus flesh, it opened its mouth even wider, flower petals spewing in a continuous stream. Logan didn¡¯t notice at first, still intent on taking out chunks, but some of the petals had landed on his hand, crawling down his finger like marching ants. They made a beeline for his bandage, swarming around it. The first hint of trouble was a foreign feeling, something off, then a horrible itch, like the most intense rash he¡¯d ever had. Logan jumped out of range and tore off his bandage. His stomach dropped to the floor. That couldn¡¯t be good. Worms had burrowed into the wound, and a golden weave covered the pad of his finger. Unlike the older lady, though, something was fighting back. His constitution must be high enough to slow the advancement of the parasite, but that word was the kicker¡ªslowing it. The fungi were winning the battle against his constitution. ¡°You moldy fucker!¡± Logan said, incensed. He needed to kill this thing, and quickly. What he was doing wasn¡¯t working. By rushing past and hitting it, then jumping out of the way, he wasn¡¯t slamming away at the same spot. Each time he jumped past, the minion had enough time to heal itself. Eventually, it would wear him down. Eventually, Logan would turn into a mindless fungi minion. Hell no. Logan braced himself, holding his bat in a swinging position as he sprinted forward, whacking the minion on the head, nails digging deep into squishy flesh while darting past, out of reach of its petals. The minion tried to follow, all four legs scrambling like an insect, but Logan¡¯s agility was higher. He turned on a dime, his feet swivelling, not a second lost while he resumed his hits. Whack after whack, he hit it repeatedly on the same spot. He may as well be hitting a punching bag. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his lungs on fire. ¡°I¡¯ve leveled up!¡± shouted Tasha behind him, exuberant. ¡°Me too!¡± said Brad. Logan had no attention to spare. He could feel the worms spreading, travelling up his finger, his constitution losing the battle. With new urgency, he resumed his hits, skidding out of reach, swivelling back, the muscles in his arms burning. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 10 Undead Minion! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] He didn¡¯t have a second for relief. This wasn¡¯t over, and something told him that allocating the extra points into his constitution stat wouldn¡¯t help. The worms were too far along. ¡°Tasha, I need the cleaver!¡± She looked up from finishing off an undead minion, her face covered in a mix of blood and goo. Brad pulled his pole out of the chest of the last minion, leaving a mess of bodies at their feet. ¡°Cleaver! Please!¡± Logan¡¯s voice had taken on a hint of desperation as he felt the fungi moving up his finger, past the second knuckle. ¡°But we got them all.¡± Tasha gave him a confused look but still flipped the cleaver on its end, grasping the blunt edge with her thumb and index finger and handing him the handle. Cleaver in hand, Logan dropped his bat and rushed to a discarded patio umbrella, frantically cutting away a strip of fabric. He took a steadying breath and then stared down at his finger. This was going to hurt. Chapter 22: Undead Minion Swarm Logan held his index finger against the top of the tempered glass patio table and examined it closely. The skin was no longer the same tanned skin as on the rest of his body. Instead, golden weave covered everything below the first knuckle as if he¡¯d dipped his finger into a pot of gold. Past the first knuckle, where the gold weave met tanned skin, tiny fungi worms advanced like parasitic worms. He was past the point of cutting off the tip of his finger and calling it done. He didn¡¯t want to have to go through this twice. This was going to suck balls. Logan considered the best way to do this. If his aim was off¡ªin any way, he could end up taking more than he wanted. The stress of doing this in the first place may cause him to aim incorrectly. The only way to ensure a clean cut was to place his hand against the table ledge, curling his other fingers underneath and holding out his index finger on the tabletop. Logan positioned himself and then tensed. There was no time for hesitation. Time was literally inches of his body on the line here. Letting out a scream, Logan chopped off his whole finger like chopping the tip of a carrot. ¡°What the fuck is he doing?!¡± Brad exclaimed behind him. At first, he felt nothing, just numbness, followed by shock. That¡¯s when the pain began. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 6!] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 7!] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 8!] Logan was expecting the pain to be like the pain in his toe, or slightly less. After all, he now had a skill, [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], that was supposed to lessen the ability to feel pain. Boy, was he wrong. It began as a feeling of coldness, as if his finger had gone to sleep, and then it transformed into what he could only describe as ice picks, pulling on his flesh. It was as if something was digging and flaying his digit and then dropping it into a pot of boiling oil at the same time. And the blood kept coming. He needed to do something, staunch it, start the clotting, or he¡¯d be in serious trouble. Using the umbrella fabric, he wrapped his hand, over and over, tying the ends off with his teeth. He¡¯d stopped the bleeding, but he hadn¡¯t stopped the pain. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 9!] Ah, fuck. The things he did to avoid becoming a zombie. Logan grasped the edge of the table with his other hand, staring down at the tempered glass, and then promptly swayed, lightheaded. The sight of blood had never bothered him but seeing his chopped off finger like a prop in a movie set¡­ that was a whole different level of gross. ¡°Am I the only one wondering why this freak just chopped off his own finger?¡± said Brad, hefting the umbrella pole. He was covered in a layer of blood and fungi skin goo like Tasha, but he had a hard look in his eyes and Logan didn¡¯t like the way he was pointing his weapon. Tasha threw him a sharp glance. ¡°Because those parasites had gotten into his wound, obviously. He had a cut on his finger.¡± Tasha inched closer, staring at the finger on the table in morbid curiosity. ¡°Props. You¡¯re one crazy man,¡± she said, her eyes wide. ¡°Guess it¡¯s good you¡¯re on our side.¡± Logan grimaced. ¡°How did you make out?¡± Tasha bounced. ¡°I¡¯m level two! I did what you said¡ªupped my constitution. It got a little hairy there for a bit, but we made it out without having to go into zombie-quarantine!¡± Brad huffed and side-eyed Logan. ¡°I upped my strength. Seemed to work out for me, despite what you said.¡± Logan suspected Brad was holding a grudge or resented that he¡¯d backed down so quickly when Logan challenged him. They needed to part ways before the conflict got any worse. Logan had enough on his hands with the monsters as it is. ¡°Glad that worked for you,¡± he said, averting his gaze and handing Tasha the cleaver. She made a face at the blood. Tasha crouched down, rubbing the blade against sand and grass before peering back at the hotel. ¡°I wonder where the rest of the tourists are. They must have heard that shit going on; we weren¡¯t exactly quiet.¡± Brad rested his pole against the ground and leaned against it. ¡°We couldn¡¯t hear anything up in our rooms. I think we¡¯re looking at the people from the lobby.¡± Tasha gave Brad a look of curiosity, but Logan wasn¡¯t paying attention anymore. Something was moving underneath his feet. Without his perception increase, he probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed. The earth wasn¡¯t moving¡ªnothing like an earthquake¡ªbut there were faint vibrations in the sand. If he squinted at the grains next to his shoes, they were shifting, as if in a faint breeze. ¡°¡ªwhat about your family,¡± Tasha was saying, ¡°are they¡ª¡± ¡°Quiet,¡± snapped Logan. Tasha shut her mouth, her stance suddenly wary. Crouching down, Logan inched forward, trying not to make any depressions in the sand as he reached for his fallen baseball bat. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tasha whispered. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Brad straightened from his slouch, darting his gaze around. Making a snap decision, Logan threw all five of his extra attribute points into perception. It was his lowest stat and until he figured out a way to increase it with the cheat method, it would continue to fall behind. He needed enhanced senses now more than ever. [Perception: 13] [Perception: +] [Perception: 17] That gave him seventeen in perception which still lagged behind some of his other attributes, but he could immediately tell the difference. Logan gasped, resting his hand against the sand as everything around him brightened. The sun wasn¡¯t fully out, and the skies were gloomy, but it didn¡¯t matter. Logan felt as if he could see for miles. His eyesight had increased, allowing him to see the fine grains vibrating against the ground. Vibrating. Why vibrating? Logan closed his eyes, focusing his senses on the ground underneath him. There was a sound, a rushing, similar to the sound he''d heard underneath the floor of Martin¡¯s Convenience. If the ground was vibrating, if dirt was moving underneath them¡­ Logan¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°They¡¯re coming out of the ground!¡± With a rushing sound like water exploding out of a bottle, the ground next to them opened up, sand flying everywhere. The same thing happened all around them, tunnels breaching, four at least. And out of the tunnels crawled something out of a nightmare. Fungi fingernails latched onto the edges of the holes, the minions prying themselves up. Blue fungi weaves had replaced their skin, eyes white flowers and tongues squirming snake-like tentacles. They were still wearing pajamas¡ªtorn nightgowns, plaid sleepwear¡ªbut despite the clothes, they were no longer people. ¡°Shit!¡± said Brad. ¡°I knew that lady. She was in the room next to mine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one mystery I¡¯d rather remain unsolved,¡± said Tasha with a gulp. ¡°Guess we know what happened to the tourists.¡± In the tunnel closest to them, a large, overweight minion crawled onto the sand. There was no mistaking those features. Logan had thought it strange he hadn¡¯t seen Martin, but the minion had been here all along. ¡°We can¡¯t win against this many,¡± said Logan. There were fifty at least. ¡°Run! To the water!¡± They had a chance if they got to the docks and grabbed a boat. That was if they could outrun them, if if if. An urgency unlike anything else filled Logan, and he grabbed Tasha by the wrist, urging her to move as fast as possible. Logan felt the wiggling fungi worms trying to latch onto his back, and he turned and slashed them clean in half with his baseball bat like whacking a noodle. He fell back, slashing at the minions in pursuit and trying to give Tasha and Brad enough room to get away. They were converging on them like a swarm of locusts, intent on infecting everything in their path. Logan bashed one in the head, whacking another in the chest, before finishing it off with a final whack to the head as he passed. Ding! [You have defeated a Level One Undead Minion!] [You have defeated a Level One Undead Minion!] The handle of his bat grew slippery as the blood from his missing finger soaked through the bandage. ¡°Watch out!¡± shouted Tasha from his right and she slashed through reaching fungi tentacles, followed by a mighty whack to the thing¡¯s arm, cutting it clean off. ¡°Go go go!¡± As they grew closer to the docks, they came upon other tourists who watched the approaching minions in disbelief. ¡°Run!¡± said Tasha. ¡°Don¡¯t just stare!¡± Those that turned on their heels survived, but others froze in disbelief and quickly fell victim to the minions as they passed. They were almost there. They were going to make it! Turning the last hill that led to the lake, Logan smacked into Brad¡¯s back. ¡°Why are you¡­¡± In front of them stood five minions, lurching towards them while the other minions closed in on them from behind. The ones on the far sides were all level one and still resembled people¡ªif you ignored the flower eyes and wiggling fungi tentacles. The one in the middle was level two and the fungi weave had started to spread from its skin to its clothes, wiggling worms spreading across its jeans and tank top. They were surrounded. They needed to move. If they froze like those tourists, they¡¯d have no chance. ¡°Tasha, take the one on the left. Brad, the one on the right. I¡¯ll take the three in the middle.¡± ¡°What about the ones behind us!¡± said Tasha. Logan filled his voice with conviction. ¡°Worry about what¡¯s in front of you. We can do this. We can make it. Believe in yourself. Fuck these things.¡± Tasha gulped but then gave a distracted nod. ¡°Fuck these things,¡± she mumbled. Logan led the charge, swinging his bat, feeling the minions behind them already trying to latch onto his legs with their fingernail fungi tentacles. He hit the first minion in front of him and then went onto the next, going so fast it was like whacking moles at a carnival. Ding! [You have defeated a Level One Undead Minion!] [You have defeated a Level One Undead Minion!] The level two minion gave him a bit more trouble, but it was no match for his strength and agility. The thing didn¡¯t even have a chance to try to infect him before he tore off half its fungi head. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Two Undead Minion!] Tasha screamed next to him, a fungi tentacle latching onto the back of her leg. It still hadn¡¯t touched her skin, wrapped around her sock, but her constitution attribute couldn¡¯t be high. She had seconds before she turned into another gestating minion. Logan sliced through the tentacle, slamming his bat into the minion for good measure. Ding! [You have defeated a Level One Undead Minion!] He¡¯d lost count of how many he¡¯d killed. Logan hadn¡¯t leveled yet, but he figured there wasn¡¯t much experience for defeating a level one or two monster. One-on-one, these things were child¡¯s play, but in overwhelming numbers, they might as well be level twenty. Both Brad and Tasha had cut down their own minions and the way was clear. ¡°GO!¡± said Logan. They approached the wooden slats of the dock, clattering over it, reaching other frantic tourists and people escaping in all directions. They were jumping into speedboats, but no one had the keys so instead they were using life jackets to frantically paddle the boats away from the dock. The boats were hardly moving, lurching in the water, still well in reach of the dock. They¡¯d be fucked if these minions could swim. ¡°Logan, look out!¡± said Tasha, pulling him to the side of a reaching tentacle. The minions had made it to the dock and soon they¡¯d be in the same situation as the other tourists. ¡°Get to a boat, any boat!¡± Logan turned to face the coming stampede. But before he could swing his baseball bat, a boom ricocheted from behind him, causing his ears to ring. Logan turned, facing the new threat. Jack. He wore a red life jacket over his polo shirt, the tags dangling in front of his chest. His short brown hair had gained additional strands of grey, and the lines on his face were especially pronounced, his expression hard and intent as he braced the shotgun for another shot. ¡°You came back,¡± said Logan in disbelief. ¡°Like I said in my text message, your sister never would have forgiven me if I left you here to die. The boat¡¯s ready to go. Even got extra gas. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Chapter 23: A Wriggling Flower Tentacle Tongue They rushed down the winding dock, taking a turn which led towards the sign for gas where Jack had tied off the boat. Tourists had gathered around the boat, edging close, held back by Matt, the resort attendant who had helped fill up their tank. His blue work shirt was torn at the collar, his knobbly knees red with blood and bruises. He held a spear gun, pointing it at people and pushing them away. ¡°Get back! Back! This isn¡¯t your boat!¡± On the opposite side of the dock, Sara, the other resort attendant, stood in front of another speedboat, holding a shovel across her chest as a barrier, keeping people away. Strands of hair had escaped her perky blond ponytail as if something had pulled on it. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on them both. [Sara Tarner: Level 1] [Matt Almaton: Level 2] It looked as if Matt had gotten his wished-for violence. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Logan said as they approached. ¡°Let these people on the boats.¡± They both shot uncertain looks at Jack. Jack frowned. ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a good idea? We¡¯re strapped for resources as it is.¡± ¡°Do I think it¡¯s a good idea to save people from being killed? From becoming zombies?¡± Logan was incredulous. ¡°Let them on!¡± With that statement, Logan¡¯s concerns about Jack resurfaced. He¡¯d come back; he hadn¡¯t completely abandoned Logan, but if their situations had been reversed, they¡¯d never be having this conversation in the first place. He¡¯d given him the benefit of the doubt¡ªgrief at the loss of his family; the stress of the situation¡ªbut Logan had lost his rose-tinted glasses. Had Jack ever been a good person? Brad rushed by Logan and pushed Sara to the side as he jumped onto the boat. It swayed under his weight, and he almost put a hole in the hull as he braced himself with his patio umbrella pole. Six other tourists followed, scrambling into the boat, knocking knees, getting trampled. There were a range of people¡ªfrom a young boy just past adolescence to an older woman who had to be in her 70s. One commonality was the fear on their faces, and the level zero indication above all of their heads. ¡°Sara, do you have the keys?¡± She nodded and climbed aboard, resting her shovel against the end of the boat. ¡°Everyone else, on the other boat!¡± said Logan, urging Tasha forward. Matt shoved people to the side, keeping a tight grip on his spear gun as he took the first spot. Eight people including Tasha jumped on after, packed like sardines. Jack and Logan climbed on last, and Logan unwound the rope from the dock anchor. Logan glanced down the dock. Other tourists were still climbing onto anything that floated, swarming the boats and canoes, some paddling with their hands, others using the shirts off their backs. The minions kept swarming¡ªmore and more poured down to the beach as gestating minions stopped gestating and transformed into full-on undead. The people who reached a boat seemed to be out of range of the wiggling fungi tentacles. They may survive after all¡­ Wait. What the hell? Twenty feet away from them, another stranded boat lurched in the water, the people screaming as they scrambled away from one side. The boat slumped to the left as the one-sided weight made it unstable. Logan had enough time to see a grasping fungi tentacle come out of the water and latch onto someone, pulling them overboard, before the rest of the tourists panicked, screaming and climbing over themselves, edging as far as way as possible. Most of them fell into the water, others jumped to avoid being trampled. ¡°Oh fuck. Who has the keys?!¡± These things could swim; either that, or they could survive in the water without breathing. ¡°I do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me through.¡± He tried to shove his way to the front of the boat, but the passengers were still gaping at the scene in front of them. So distracted, they neglected to notice what was going on right in front of them. But Logan noticed. His increased perception picked up the sound of rushing water, as if something massive was swimming towards them, followed by a splash and a bobbing head. Next to the bow, the thing resembled a squid, with its squirming fingernail tentacles waving in the water, reaching for the nearest living being. But beyond his first impression, Logan could clearly make out the human-like features of the former man, now transformed into a blue weaved undead minion. [Level Five Undead Minion.] It was Martin! He¡¯d leveled up. The minion used its fingernail tentacles to latch onto the edge of the boat, prying itself up, its mouth open in an unholy scream, flower tentacle tongue wiggling. Within its gaping wide open chest, more flower tentacles swarmed, trying to grasp onto anything within reach. The other people in the boat had finally noticed and started screaming. Logan grabbed a man before he jumped back on the dock. There was no escape that way, only death. ¡°Jack, start the boat!¡± Logan swung his baseball bat at the latching tentacles, but unlike the level one or two minions, this thing was stronger. It was like hitting the web of a thousand spiders. It broke some strands, but others remained. The engine turned over and Jack rammed it full speed. Tasha gripped Logan¡¯s arm to hold steady as they rapidly moved through the water and left the dock behind. Logan peered over the side of the boat into the water. Ah, shit. The minion had latched onto the side of the boat with its tentacles, and they were dragging it along. It reminded him of the scene from Jaws where the shark almost capsized the boat while pulling on the floating barrels. The only way they¡¯d escape this thing was by killing it. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Jack, stop the boat!¡± ¡°What?¡± he shouted over the wind. Tasha gave him a worried glance. ¡°Are we killing this thing?¡± ¡°We¡¯re killing this thing,¡± Logan confirmed and then raised his voice. ¡°We¡¯re dragging it along! If we don¡¯t stop, we¡¯ll take it all the way to the cabin.¡± The others made sounds of dismay as Jack slowed and then idled to a stop. They didn¡¯t have time to complain before the minion had taken the reduced drag as an opportunity to resume its attack. Tasha raised her cleaver, but Logan held her back. ¡°Wait until it gets closer. Severing the tentacles won¡¯t kill it. It¡¯ll just latch on again. We need a head hit.¡± But that was easier said than done. The minion reeled itself in closer, climbing the boat with its tentacles, its wiggling flower tongue like a whip as it tried to latch onto someone. There was no room for error. The people behind him hadn¡¯t leveled yet, and one touch of the tentacles would mean they¡¯d have more gestating minions to deal with on top of everything else. Tasha screamed and slashed the tongue with her cleaver. It went clean through, severing it, but more wiggling fungi worms advanced, healing the cut and reforming the long tongue. ¡°Look out!¡± said Matt, pushing a way clear as he aimed his spear gun. With a snap, it sunk into the cavity in the minion¡¯s chest, getting stuck. Matt might have slapped it for all the impact it had. It continued lashing its tentacle fingernails, reaching, reaching. But while it did, it had latched onto one side of the boat, a stationary target. That was the opening they needed. Logan slammed his baseball bat down on its shoulder, taking out a chunk of fungus flesh, followed by a whack to its head, cleaving off part of its face. But the minion¡¯s higher level meant that it had the same healing powers as the level ten minion. Not quite as strong, the weave wasn¡¯t reforming as fast, but if Logan didn¡¯t continue slamming away at that same spot, they¡¯d never kill it. Logan went to town. Hit after hit, his biceps burning, sweat beading on his forehead and soaking the collar of his dress shirt. One hit. Two. Three. Would this thing never die? Four. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Five Undead Minion! Experience points reduced and awarded based on contributions made.] [You have leveled up!] Hell yes! That¡¯s what he was talking about! Logan must have obtained enough experience to finally push through to another level. The euphoria of the level increase hardly registered as he clung to the edge of the boat, hanging on with white knuckled fingers while he watched the remains of what was formerly Martin drop to the lake bottom. With a frantic mumble, Matt yanked on the rod of his spear gun, and it finally returned to him as the minion dropped deeper and deeper, so deep that blackness swallowed it whole. Even though Logan had received the System notification, it was hard to believe it was dead. Logan ran his hand through his hair, trying to push back some of the wet strands that had been soaked with all the splashing. ¡°Jack, put some distance between us and the resort and see if you can catch up to the other boat.¡± Logan didn¡¯t have to tell him twice. As they left the resort behind and sped through the water, his heart gradually stopped racing, until he slumped against the side of the boat, exhausted. Even now, a mile away from the resort and climbing, he was still ramped up. Tasha bumped his side with her elbow, giving him a smile and gesturing to their feet. ¡°Guess you managed to get that gas after all.¡± There was a red gas container against the side of the boat, the faint outline of liquid at the top indicating it was full. With that, Logan finally felt the last of his adrenaline dropping. That was enough to get to Hope¡¯s End and back again. Once he managed to charge his phone, he¡¯d finally have a way to get to Lara and the kids. Jack slowed the boat as they caught up with the other speedboat and it circled to meet them. They met side by side, a foot of water between them. The people in the other boat still had anxious expressions, but they were no longer full of stark fear. ¡°You managed to shake that thing off, then?¡± asked Brad from the wheel. ¡°Glad to see it. This boat doesn¡¯t have enough fuel to make it to Hope¡¯s End and I know shit all about where to go.¡± When Jack didn¡¯t speak up, Logan raised his voice. ¡°Jack has a cabin across the lake. There¡¯s food, even solar power, lots of room. We have an extra container of gas, too, so we might be able to head to the city as soon as everyone¡¯s had a chance to recharge.¡± Jack had a pinched expression as he listened, but he didn¡¯t object. ¡°You can follow us, I guess.¡± Jack switched on the power without another word. Logan shot him a worried frown as the boat picked up speed, wind whipping his face. There was no telling what Jack would do. If Eleanor were still in charge, she would have welcomed them with a mischievous smile. Jack was a different story. But Logan was still a guest in his home and there was a limit to what he could do. Speak up, object too loudly, and he might lose a viable safe haven for Lara and the kids. Logan glanced around at the people packed into the boat. There were six people he didn¡¯t know, not to mention Tasha, Matt, and Jack. With the extra weight, it was a wonder the boat was even running at all. The nearest tourist was about his age, tall and slender, with curly hair down to her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m Logan. What¡¯s your name?¡± The woman shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand as she peered at him. ¡°Sam. Thank you for saving us. We would have died if it hadn¡¯t been for you.¡± Logan scratched his neck. ¡°Nah, you would have gotten on a boat even without me. I didn¡¯t do much.¡± The woman shot a frown at Jack, her stance shrinking. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that. You saved our lives.¡± ¡°Sam¡¯s right,¡± said a man next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He had short hair in a buzz cut, a tattoo over the side of his neck. ¡°You saved us. Thank you.¡± He held out his hand for Logan to shake. Awkward. ¡°Er, right.¡± After Logan shook it, he shifted his feet, then turned around, pretending to examine the side of the boat. There went introducing himself to the rest of the tourists. Yeah, he might have saved their lives, but Logan had done what anyone would have done. You shouldn¡¯t get thanked for being a decent human being. And if the world had gotten so bad that he was the best of the lot, then they were in serious trouble. The cabin came into view and Jack slowed the boat as they approached. He idled up to the dock and nudged it forward. Logan jumped out when he was close enough, grabbing the rope and anchoring the boat. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± he said to Tasha, ¡°let me help you out¡ª¡± She leaped onto the dock. ¡°¡ªor not.¡± Logan helped anyone else who needed it until everyone was out and then waved over the other boat, pointing to the opposite side of the dock. Brad maneuvered the boat right next to theirs, close enough to touch. Jack raised his voice and pointed to the other side. ¡°No, over there!¡± Brad ignored him, getting on his toes and peering into the bottom of their tied off boat. He left the wheel and jumped from his boat to theirs. Jack fingered the barrel of his shotgun. ¡°What¡¯s that idiot doing?¡± Brad reached down, giving them a look, before rushing back to his boat, hands full of¡­ ¡°Is that¡­?¡± said Tasha. ¡°It¡¯s the gas carton! He¡¯s stealing it!¡± That motherfucker. If he thought he could take the gas and strand them, he had another thing coming. Logan tightened his grip on the handle of his bat. He¡¯d worked too hard to fail Lara now. That asshole¡ª BOOM. Both boats exploded in a fireball, the blast knocking Logan and everyone on the dock off their feet, his ears ringing. Then with a massive wave of air, a hole in space sucked in the fire, smoke, and debris like a vacuum cleaner inside of a black hole. By the time the rift closed, there wasn¡¯t even the scent of fire in the air. The lake was spotless¡ªno gas floating on the surface, no debris. It was as if Brad and the others had never been there at all. Chapter 24: Kitten-Patterned Swim Trunks [32 million pollution contributors: watertight engine-powered vessels, have been purged from planet Earth. Do not attempt to assemble additional watertight vessels unless they are retrofitted into non-carbon emitting devices.] [In addition, 634,503 human instigators who retrofitted the pollution contributors: automobiles and aircraft, have been purged from planet Earth. You were warned, humans.] [Good news, human! Due to the elimination of the human instigators and the pollution contributor: watertight vessels, your ranking has increased.] [5,752,492 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [8,232,532 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [10,745,224 humans have been eliminated.] [Current rank: 98,893 out of 7,429,259,522] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] ¡°Well, at least that¡¯s less mouths to feed,¡± said Jack with a blank face. Way to be sympathetic, Jack. A few tourists were crying, others had collapsed to the dock in a sprawl. ¡°One minute sooner and we¡¯d all be dead,¡± someone mumbled at Logan¡¯s feet. Logan tried to put on a brave face for the others, but inside, he was screaming. Everything they¡¯d gone through at the resort might as well be meaningless. The deaths, the minions, his missing finger¡ªwithout a boat, Lara was lost. Even if he¡¯d been unsuccessful, Lara could have still scavenged a boat from Hope¡¯s End. She was resourceful as hell. There was a reason she was known as the dependable sibling. Where Logan failed, Lara succeeded. He¡¯d always had a certain degree of bitterness about that in the past. It was Lara who his parents raved about when she¡¯d passed the LSAT, Lara who had gotten into law school, Lara this, Lara that. Logan was the afterthought. That¡¯s why he felt so ashamed when he¡¯d failed at keeping the cabin. The one thing his family had put him in charge of, and he¡¯d screwed it up like everything else. Throughout this whole shitty ordeal, Lara¡¯s reliability had given him a smidgen of comfort. If Logan failed, if he couldn¡¯t find the gas, or the boat broke down, Lara would come through instead. Now, cars were down, helicopters were out, and their last workable option, boats, had been sucked through a black hole. Lara was a genius, but even geniuses needed something to work with to find solutions. Tasha sniffled next to him, and Logan glanced over, ashamed. He wasn¡¯t the only one who had been relying on that gas. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tasha looked at him with tear-filled eyes. ¡°What are you sorry about?¡± ¡°You needed to get to Hope¡¯s End.¡± She wiped her eyes. ¡°Yeah, I did. I have a brother there, or at least I did. Haven¡¯t heard from him in a day, so who knows. But you know what, he couldn¡¯t be assed to give a shit about me before this happened, so why should I care now?¡± Her smile was more of a grimace. ¡°Maybe it was meant to be. That still doesn¡¯t explain why you¡¯re saying sorry to me. You¡¯re the only reason I¡¯m standing here. You have nothing to be sorry for.¡± Logan gazed at the anchor on the dock. All that remained of the boat was a severed length of rope. ¡°You¡¯re right. There¡¯s only one person, one entity to blame for this shit show.¡± And it would pay. *** Saying that the System needed to pay was all well and good, but right now, Logan was about as powerful as an ant. It would be like that same ant shaking its mandibles in rage and avowing revenge against an elephant who stamped on its colony. The ant had as much chance of success as Logan did against a System who could read minds, grant powers, and vaporize machines as well as people. For all he knew, even thinking about challenging the System may be putting a target on his back. Most people were subject to a rule of law. If the System was the law, then there would be nothing keeping it in check other than power. For Logan to have a chance, he first needed to learn more about what he was up against, and he also needed power to challenge it. We were talking shit ending powers here. That meant a heck of a lot of leveling, leveling to the extreme. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t abandon Lara and the kids. There had to be a happy medium. The tourists had stifled their tears as they followed Jack up the dock to the cabin. Tasha gave him a questioning look. ¡°You coming?¡± Logan swung his baseball bat over his shoulder and followed. Tasha fell in step with him. ¡°You know, I feel kind of bad for saying this, but I¡¯m glad Brad is gone. I¡¯m not glad he¡¯s dead! But just glad he¡¯s not joining us. He gave me a vibe. An angry vibe. I don¡¯t think he liked you all that much.¡± Logan grunted in response. She tapped the flat end of the cleaver against her leg. ¡°I leveled up again back there. Level three. But after that last one, I didn¡¯t assign the points. Got any more recommendations, oh wise Yoda?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Yoda, really? ¡°How am I Yoda?¡± She jabbed him with her elbow. ¡°You¡¯re full of wisdom, obviously!¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. For someone who had treated him as if she had ice in her veins when they first met, she sure had softened. Logan guessed a few life-threatening fights may have had something to do with it. He told her to change her set up auto level options and shared the daily cheat method. That reminded him that he had five points to burn. Once everyone settled down, he needed to make his way over to the tree fridge. Logan could throw all five points into one of his more fight specific attributes, but he suspected that upgrading his capacity to make money may be the smarter choice. It all depended upon what he could buy. ¡°As far as your extra points, I think it should come down to making sure you shore up any weaknesses. Upgrade what you think will save your life. That last fight won¡¯t be your last. The System wants us to struggle. That means every squirrel and deer could be a threat.¡± Not to mention the snakes. Two of the tourists had dropped back to listen. Sam, the lady from the boat with curly hair, gave him a worried frown. ¡°I don¡¯t have any of that. Levels, points.¡± ¡°You need to kill something with a level first.¡± Tasha gave her a gentle smile. ¡°I¡¯ll help you! We¡¯ll get you leveled up in no time.¡± Sam tucked a stand of hair behind her ear and seemed to shrink an inch. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to do that. I¡¯m not a fighter.¡± Logan shifted his bat to a more comfortable position on his shoulder. ¡°The System, invader, alien, whatever you want to call it, doesn¡¯t care you¡¯re not a fighter. It wants to kill us. Kill all of humanity. If you don¡¯t advance and grow, you could be one of the people on the chopping block.¡± He hated telling her this, but he would tell Lara the same. Sometimes the truth had to hurt. Sam peered up at him through her bangs. ¡°What level are you?¡± He didn¡¯t see a reason not to tell them. ¡°Level ten.¡± Both Sam and Tasha seemed shocked, Tasha whistling softly. ¡°Woah, dude.¡± Logan scratched the back of his neck, an awkwardness overcoming him. He hadn¡¯t thought it that impressive. And it wasn¡¯t. Logan needed to get a heck of a lot more powerful. Sam seemed to have shrunk even further. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll do it. Kill things.¡± The man with the tattoos sidled up and tucked her into his side. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ll nuke these aliens out of the sky. The whole world has a common enemy now. World War I, World War II? We were fighting ourselves. Once we all come together for a common purpose, that thing will regret threatening us. You¡¯ll see.¡± Tasha side-eyed Logan but she didn¡¯t argue. Even Sam looked dubious. He knew they were all thinking the same thing. If the System could simultaneously blow up all the airplanes, cars, and boats in one day, what was stopping it from sucking all the nuclear weapons through a black hole? Hell, it had even granted magic. If it was just giving that shit out left and right, what that meant for its capabilities was colossal. After seeing what it could do, Logan had no confidence they¡¯d be able to fight through conventional means. Matt had wandered his way through the line of people going up to the cabin and back over to them, swinging his spear gun, whistling. ¡°Golly, I guess you have all the answers there, Mr. Believe in the Government. In case you missed it, the PM was in a car when all the cars exploded.¡± The man opened his mouth. ¡°Uh uh uh. If you say that the US, Russia, and China will bail us out, we¡¯re not going to get along.¡± The man squinted at Matt. ¡°Dude, are you high?¡± ¡°¡­aaaaand we¡¯re here,¡± Logan announced as they reached the front door of the cabin. And not too soon. Everyone was entitled to their own quirks and whether Matt had smoked a joint or not wasn¡¯t their business. But if this devolved into an argument, he was tired as shit after all those fights and would just as soon avoid conflict for the next hour¡ªat least. Was that too much to ask? *** As the rest of the tourists grabbed rooms, Logan plugged in his phone and headed for a shower. His hand ached¡ªthat dull ache you¡¯d get after stubbing a toe, but this time, constant, never stopping. It was like a stubbed toe on acid. Trying to hold his hand out of the water worked at first, but then the bandage soaked, and the pain got even worse. Gritting his teeth, he ended up abandoning the rest of his shower to wrap his injury in new bandages. He didn¡¯t even want to look at the wound¡ªso he didn¡¯t. The chances of it getting infected had to be low with his constitution attribute. It would be hell for days, but eventually, it¡¯d be serviceable just like his missing toe. When he returned to the room, Jack must have entered and left a pile of clothes on the bed. Thank Christ. His clothes had gotten rank and there was only so much reek that deodorant could mask. He¡¯d left¡­. A new white dress shirt. Another pair of kitten-printed swim trunks. And white socks. What the hell? The man was either not thinking in his grief or had a streak of dark humor. What was worse? For someone grieving, you never wanted to question them on shit like this or risk coming across as insensitive. Logan sighed and changed into the new outfit. His phone beeped and Logan dived for it, heart in his throat. It was his only lifeline to Lara and if something had happened to her while he was unreachable, he would never forgive himself. Notification after notification came through, text messages pouring in, one after the other. Then the voicemail notifications came. Five in total. Logan called her right away. The call connected. ¡°Logan! Oh Jesus, thank God you¡¯re alive. Why didn¡¯t you answer me last night, Jerk?! Not even a text? I was worried you were dead.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ long story. I¡¯m okay, but I didn¡¯t have access to a charger last night and my phone died. I¡¯d have texted otherwise.¡± She released a breath. ¡°I¡¯m so mad at you! I tried to hide how worried I was last night, but the girls knew something was up. And then this morning! The System message came, and I was so worried you were driving a boat to us! It would have been all my fault. Don¡¯t do that again.¡± Logan sat down on the bed, slumping. She had to know it went both ways. ¡°Are they okay?¡± ¡°They¡¯re okay. I¡¯m okay. But it¡¯s getting worse here, and we need to get out of the city. Since you¡¯re calling, I guess you never made it over to the resort?¡± ¡°No¡­ I made it. We picked up a few supplies, some food. And people, too. It¡¯s a long story, but that route to you is out.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯ve been thinking about this, little brother, and I think I know a way for you to stay safe. Not safe from the monsters, but at least a safe way to get transportation. Take a canoe.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Or a boat without a motor! Something that doesn¡¯t have a gas-powered engine. They should be easy to find¡ªthey¡¯re the only ones the System didn¡¯t blow up.¡± Logan swallowed. That could work, but the logistics would be a nightmare. ¡°Do you know how long it would take to paddle to the city?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. But at least you¡¯d be safe. I¡¯m not saying go jump in one now, but it¡¯s workable. That could be a way out for us.¡± ¡°Lara,¡± he said, his voice dropping in worry. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking too. You have baseboard heaters, right? What about the water tank? Is it natural gas?¡± She was silent for a minute. ¡°We have time. Each day this thing gets rid of more pollution contributors, and our gas water tank is one, but it¡¯ll go after worst carbon emitters first.¡± Lara was neglecting to mention that the System could blow up everything that used natural gas, not just water tanks. ¡°But I agree,¡± she said, voice tense. ¡°It¡¯s a definite consideration. Which is why the boat option might be something I need you to seriously consider. And we need to do it before other things happen, like us losing power entirely. We won¡¯t be able to talk then.¡± Logan ran his hand through his hair, anxiety tightening his throat. ¡°I¡¯ll work on it.¡± ¡°I want you to text me each night with updates. Call if you need to.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Chapter 25: New York Rats ¡°Ah, you found them,¡± Jack said with a smirk as Logan came into the kitchen. ¡°Our guests had commented on your clothes on the way up to the cabin and I thought it would be a shame to deprive them of the sight. Mom had a whole drawer of those things for guests, you know?¡± He winked. ¡°Yeah, thanks,¡± said Logan with a grimace. ¡°On a more serious note, I¡¯m looking at these sparse cupboards and wondering how we¡¯ll possibly feed ten people every day. The food I picked up from Martin¡¯s Convenience won¡¯t last long.¡± With just Lara and the kids, food would have been easier. But Jack was right. That was a lot of mouths to feed. ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to stop thinking about resupplying from a store and look elsewhere.¡± Matt wandered into the kitchen, his mouth pursed, but Logan didn¡¯t see any reason to stop. The guests needed to know the reality of the situation. It was better to be upfront right away. ¡°Think of what¡¯s happening in Hope¡¯s End. Hell, in the major cities in the world. How are people going to restock? Groceries can¡¯t be sent the regular route, and I¡¯d be surprised producers can continue without transportation. There¡¯ll be no way to ship the raw ingredients. I think what¡¯s left in the store is it. It¡¯s done.¡± ¡°We ship raw material through rail. That¡¯s not going to stop.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? Maybe a few areas will get it together, but everyone¡¯s scrounging. Just like us. They won¡¯t be thinking big picture.¡± Jack darted a glance at Matt. ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to grow our food, catch our food. Whatever we can do to survive. Supplies won¡¯t be coming any other way.¡± Unless he could buy something through the tree fridge, but Logan didn¡¯t want to bring it up until he knew what was possible. He couldn¡¯t have them relying on him. Everyone needed to become self-sufficient. Matt tapped his finger against the kitchen counter. ¡°I have that spear gun.¡± For a second, Logan¡¯s thoughts brightened. ¡°You can fish.¡± ¡°Well¡­ no. But I could try.¡± Logan deflated. He had no idea how to fish, let alone with a spear gun, but it might be an option. ¡°I have a skill. From the System. An underwater breathing skill. I haven¡¯t tested it yet, but it might work with that spear gun.¡± The other reason he hadn¡¯t mentioned it or tested it was that he hated the water. The lake was fine for a brief swim, but the Okanagan Lake was a fjord lake, deep, so deep that light didn¡¯t reach the bottom. Logan wasn¡¯t looking forward to swimming in water that was likely infested with mutated marine life. Matt''s expression became mulish. ¡°But it¡¯s mine. It¡¯s what I used to kill those minions.¡± Jack crossed his arms. ¡°We¡¯ll get you a different weapon. Do you want to starve? Or eat?¡± ¡°Well, when you put it that way,¡± he drawled, but there was a dark look in his eyes that caused a fission of unease to pass over Logan. ¡°It¡¯ll still be yours,¡± he affirmed. ¡°But I might need to borrow it occasionally.¡± ¡°Good, that¡¯s settled,¡± said Jack, a hollowness to his face. Whatever amusement he¡¯d gotten out of teasing Logan was long gone. ¡°In the meantime, I¡¯ll start rationing. What we have should last a week if everyone sticks to their portions. And we also have those vegetable seeds we picked up at the store. Mom and I were horrible at gardening. Are you both any good?¡± Logan shook his head and Matt still seemed upset about his spear gun, looking down at his feet and avoiding their eyes. Jack closed the cupboard door. ¡°Maybe someone else does.¡± The rest of the tourists including Tasha were in the living room in front of the TV. Other than Sam and her friend, there was a couple that looked to be in their 50s, a shiny Versace watch on the man¡¯s arm and gold bracelets on the woman. They looked as if they came from money, their clothes screaming designer. A woman in her early thirties or late twenties was curled up on an armchair, her face resting against her knees, hair a mess, her legs covered in leggings full of rips and stains. Lastly, a woman who had to be barely out of her teens was sitting on the floor at the foot of the torn-leggings woman, gnawing her fingernails, a hoodie pulled over her head. Jack asked around about gardening skills, but Logan was too distracted by the screen. A 24-hour news channel was showing a clip of Times Square. The shops were littered with shattered windows and broken doors. It had to be close to rush hour in that time zone, but the streets were empty of people and cars. Black garbage bags piled up on street corners, scattered paper tumbling down the sidewalks. Sirens and alarms sounded in the background, smoke flickering far off. The reporter walked down the street, two personal security guards on either side of him with their guns drawn. He approached a slender man in black clothes, flagging him down. ¡°As I mentioned, we¡¯re having to resort to the younger generation for tips. Sir, what can you tell our viewers? What tips do you have?¡± The kid looked barely past high school, face full of acne. His face lit up into a smile. ¡°What tips? Don¡¯t stress, that¡¯s my tip. The world is like a video game. We can level up! Have you ever played a video game?¡± The reporter gave him a blank look. ¡°My children are fond of them.¡± The kid snorted and then looked directly into the camera. ¡°If you die, you¡¯ll just respawn. Go after those rats! They¡¯re easy kills. And even if they get you, you¡¯ll come back.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The reporter swung the camera away from the man and shifted his microphone. ¡°As a reminder, we are not endorsing these views. The people here are not experts.¡± Next to Logan, Matt snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± he drawled. The reporter flagged down another man walking past who was in army fatigues and black boots. He was older, tints of grey in his hair. ¡°What about you, sir? What tips do you have for our viewers?¡± As the man turned towards the camera, behind them, a furry rodent-like face peered around a street corner, it¡¯s red eyes full of devious calculation. It had black fur, a drooling mouth, and pointy ears with fur-tuffs. A black-taloned hand curled around the corner of the building as it stared. Logan blinked, and just like that, it was gone. What the hell? It had to be the size of a black bear, at least. The army-fatigue man blinked uncertainty at the camera and then straightened. ¡°Put everything into strength. They can¡¯t get you if you¡¯re stronger than them.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± The man turned his head, looking in the direction of the street corner. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the rats.¡± Then he turned on his heel and ran down the street. The reporter cleared his throat and the camera panned back onto him. ¡°There you have it, folks. Tips from those in the know.¡± The man paused and held a hand up to his ear. ¡°Hold on, my producers are telling me that we have another source. Let¡¯s play the clip.¡± They switched to a video that had obviously come from social media, since it only covered a quarter of the screen. In it, an older woman was sitting in a lotus position, staring down at her lap in concentration. In her lap, there was an object. Slowly, it rose into the air, hovering in front of her like something out of a magic show. It looked like a meat tenderizer. The women furrowed her brow as she concentrated. The object rotated in the air, completely unsupported. End over end, it picked up speed, until with a flash of the woman¡¯s eyes, she slammed the meat tenderizer into the wall. She looked into the camera. ¡°I did this with a skill, but for it to work, I needed fifty wisdom points. Throw everything into wisdom. All the other attributes are meaningless. You don¡¯t need strength or agility when you can use your mind instead.¡± The news channel cut back to the reporter, but Logan had stopped paying attention. That clip was a reality check. He couldn¡¯t help being jealous. Yeah, he had magic, but other than growing trees for money, how would that help him fight? He could see a ton of fighting offensive capabilities for a telekinesis ability. Still, he didn¡¯t agree with the woman¡¯s assessment. Eventually, she¡¯d run out of karma points, and then what would she do in a fight? Strength had its uses, the same for constitution. That woman could still be injured, even with that skill. Where would she be then without an accelerated healing factor? Plus, it was irresponsible to tell everyone to level up their wisdom attribute without mentioning that they¡¯d need to activate their karma pool. Bad advice all around. For all the tips, no one knew anything of value. He¡¯d only seen a small selection on the news, and maybe there were more reliable experts online, but Logan needed to make better use of his time. Until he knew what the tree fridge offered, he wouldn¡¯t know how screwed their food situation truly was, or whether he¡¯d need to dive into the depths of the lake. Logan also needed to allocate his new points, but there was a reason he¡¯d held back. If the tree fridge was a viable resource, then he¡¯d need all the wisdom he could get. Logan grabbed his baseball bat on the way out the door. The sun was already bright in the sky, so he rolled up the sleeves of his new dress shirt as he started powering over to his family¡¯s cabin. His daily cheat exercises had almost become routine, and sure enough, he soon received System notifications. [You have earned one Endurance point! Endurance daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] [You have earned one Agility point! Agility daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] [You have earned one Strength point! Strength daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] But even after, a feeling of dissatisfaction dampened the rush he normally felt after an upgrade. There had to be a way to increase his dexterity and perception. It was only logical that if he could increase the others, he could increase those as well. Logan pulled up his stat sheet as he made his way back to the willow tree. A comprehensive review of all his stats was in order, so he went into his settings mainframe and temporarily changed the view option. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 98,893 out of 7,422,259,522 Level: 10 Class: None Grade: F1 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 3,300/20,000 Karma: 246/246 Intelligence: 41 Constitution: 26 Strength: 24 Agility: 16 Dexterity: 13 Endurance: 14 Perception: 17 Wisdom: 29 Luck: 35 Free Attribute Points: 5 KarmaCoin: 250 There was a lot of information he was expecting, but also some odd changes. For the first time, his grade had changed from F0 to F1. The only thing that made sense was that reaching level ten had been some kind of threshold. Equally surprising, [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had upgraded to level two. There had been something in the description of that skill. Logan concentrated, mentally focusing on the skill and expanding it. [This uncommon skill is granted to idiots who stare at insects expecting something interesting to happen. This skill is hard-capped to your Grade level.] Logan grimaced. He¡¯d forgotten how he¡¯d received the skill in the first place. Still, following that logic, at each tenth level, he¡¯d upgrade his grade which would also level [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. But what did that mean for the skill? Logan scanned his surroundings for something he could test it on, finally narrowing in on a stinkbug on the ground. [Western Conifer Seed Bug: Level 0. A low-level smelly pest. It feeds on the seeds of pinecones, so you better smash it, tree-hugger.] Huh. The skill now gave him a description, not just the level and name. It wasn¡¯t that useful for a bug, but he could see how that could give him a leg up on the competition, especially if the skill continued to improve as he leveled. As far as the rest of his stats, it was what he¡¯d expected, although he noticed that his luck attribute had gone up again. That made sense, especially after he¡¯d survived the boat explosion by the skin of his teeth. Yet, there was something odd. What the hell was a [Class]? It had been [Class: None] since this whole thing started. Either there was a threshold he hadn¡¯t yet reached, or a hidden requirement he needed to learn. Logan came to a stop. He¡¯d reached the tree fridge. Chapter 26: The Tree Fridge The willow tree had always been majestic, but as Logan approached, something seemed off. It was huge. Too huge. A day ago, it hadn¡¯t been that massive. Logan blinked, then blinked again, thinking he was seeing things. The trunk was now the size of a VW Bug, its bark knotted and trailing sap. The branches and limbs reached all the way to the shoreline, green shoots drooping into the water from the sheer weight. The tree wept moisture, and with the slight breeze, it travelled in a fine mist. Against the intense heat, the blasting sun, it was refreshing, and the constant ache from his missing finger seemed to lessen. As he grew closer, a pressure radiated from the tree as if he were in the presence of a living thing. Stranger still? He could no longer see signs of Eleanor¡¯s grave¡ªthere was no disturbed earth, no mound. The dirt was polished smooth like a compacted dirt road, as if it had been that way for years. That couldn¡¯t be right. Still, he had one trick up his sleeve. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the tree. [!@#!#@! ERROR] What the hell? He tried again. [!@#!#@! ERROR] Wary, he glanced around his surroundings. It was silent, the rustling of the branches in the breeze the only background noise. Was there something wrong with his skill? But no, when he focused on a ladybug crawling up the trunk, the result came back like normal. Either there was something glitchy as fuck with this tree, or his skill couldn¡¯t scan it. Once again, he lamented at the lack of instructions. He could really use a tree-fridge instruction manual here. But even accounting for that frustration, he couldn¡¯t help a surge of excitement from rushing through him. This thing might be the solution to his problems, and he was excited to find out what was available. And hell, the tree fridge had to be alien. Would that mean he could buy alien merchandise? Logan equated this to getting a winter bonus cheque and then going wild at a Black Friday sale. You wouldn¡¯t necessarily know what would be available in advance, but you knew whatever it was, it had to be good shit. Inching forward, he passed underneath the drooping branches, their shadow falling on him and misting moisture. He could hardly feel the pain in his hand anymore. The lodestone palm print was still there, but unlike before, the trunk around the stone had grown around it, giving it an ancient feeling, as if it had been there since the tree sprouted. Logan rested his baseball bat against the tree trunk and then placed his right hand against the lodestone, his wrapped palm slotting into the etching like a glove. And then he waited. And waited again. Huh? Last time, he just had to rest his hand against the palm print. However, since last time, there was something different. He no longer had five fingers. With a sinking feeling, Logan¡¯s heart began to race. Oh my fucking God, did a missing finger mean he¡¯d lost access to the tree-fridge? He couldn¡¯t use the other hand¡ªit wouldn¡¯t match up. Logan looked up at the sky, directing his ire to wherever the System was¡ªin space? He had no idea. ¡°Are you serious, asshole?! After all of that shit, you¡¯re not going to let me back into the fridge?¡± No response. Not that he was expecting anything. Gritting his teeth, Logan unwrapped his bandage, resting it over his shoulder for easy access. Whatever that mist had done to his pain went out the window as soon as he exposed the raw wound to the air. The stump had clotted, and his constitution had started to work its magic, but it was painful as fuck when exposed to the breeze. Please work. Logan placed his hand against the etching, his bare palm and four fingers resting directly against the stone. [Welcome, Idiot! Entering the Karma Lodestone Menu.] [What would you like to buy?] Logan almost fell over. Thank Christ. It still worked, it just needed bare skin. He rested his forehead against the trunk, taking in a relieved breath. If that hadn¡¯t worked, he''d seriously considered pulling out the weed wacker. Logan shot a guilty glance at what had to be Eleanor¡¯s grave and then addressed the tree. ¡°What can I buy?¡± [¡­.WEAPONS. CLOTHING. FOOD.] Still the same as the last time. ¡°Show me the food options,¡± Logan demanded, already envisioning a juicy cheeseburger and cartons full of food. [¡­. Conditions met.] Logan blinked and he was suddenly seeing a screen in front of his eyes, similar to how he viewed his stat screen. [F GRADE FOOD MENU: 1 dandelion seed: 50 KarmaCoin 5 bean seeds: 150 KarmaCoin 5 spinach seeds: 500 KarmaCoin 5 potatoes spuds: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] For a second, Logan couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡± It was worse than food left to rot in a fridge for a week without power. This thing wasn¡¯t a fridge. It wasn¡¯t food! It was selling him a weed! A weed! And what the hell was he going to do with potato spuds? The muscles in his shoulders knotted, a tension headache washing over him in a wave. He¡¯d secretly been putting his hopes on this thing. The fridge was his solution, the way to feed everyone. If all it offered was a bunch of seeds at inflated prices, he was fucked. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d received a cheat with this tree, hell, those error messages had even secretly given him a thrill. If this fridge were out of the System¡¯s control, maybe he could grab an advantage. But obviously, it was just another tool of the System, taunting him with false hope and then insulting him with its choices. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. This thing wanted him to become a farmer. Logan was no farmer. Logan ground his teeth, and practically spat, ¡°Show me the weapons.¡± [F GRADE WEAPON MENU: 1 length of rope: 200 KarmaCoin 1 paperclip: 400 KarmaCoin 1 ballpoint pen: 800 KarmaCoin 1 large fork: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] Logan stared and stared, and then stared some more. A vein in his forehead throbbed, his rage white hot. In what world other than a spy movie was a paperclip or a pen a weapon? And rope? What, did it want him to strangle something to death? As for the fork¡­ it was official, the tree fridge was connected to the System. The chances of it knowing what had happened with Tasha and her fork were too astronomical. That meant that everything about it was suspect, and not the salvation he¡¯d hoped for. Rather, it was yet another sarcastic tree, taunting him with its items. Rope? A paperclip? It was beyond insulting. Logan glanced up at the sky. ¡°Despite you labeling me an Idiot, I¡¯m not actually an idiot, fucker. I know this is you doing this.¡± No response. Sighing and resigned to more crap, Logan said, ¡°Show me the clothing options.¡± [F GRADE CLOTHING MENU: 1 bright pink sock: 50 KarmaCoin 1 spatial storage cat collar: 300 KarmaCoin 1 knit cap: 500 KarmaCoin 1 pair of self-cleaning swim trunks: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] It was so ludicrous Logan had to laugh. The tree wouldn¡¯t even let you buy a pair of socks, you had to buy each one separately. And although he wouldn¡¯t mind a pair of self-cleaning trunks, not for 1000 KarmaCoin, thank you very much. But that¡¯s where he paused. Including a cat collar in the items was right in line with the other ridiculous options, but the name threw him off. Spatial storage? For the first time, he was intrigued. For the tree fridge to have any value, he had to assume that the options became better as he upgraded his grade. It kept referencing F Grade, so perhaps once he upgraded to a different grade, he¡¯d be able to buy a whole outfit. Still, what if there was a trick to this? A gem hidden amongst shit. Nobody in their right mind would buy the cat collar unless you were a cat fanatic, so why include it in the first place? The name kept jumping out at him, and there was something that kept pulling his eyes back to it. ¡°Lodestone tree, what is a spatial storage collar?¡± Logan waited for what had to be a minute at least, with nothing but crickets in response. Either way, he didn¡¯t have enough money to buy it, but it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to earn. He had 250 KarmaCoin, which meant he¡¯d need to grow enough sprouts to fund 50 additional KarmaCoin. When he¡¯d sprouted the pine trees in normal ground, it had given him 10 KarmaCoin each, which meant he¡¯d need to grow 5 sprouts¡ªas long as there was no variation in the award. Plus, he had a way to generate 29 Karma per minute. He¡¯d earn that in no time. The only thing holding him back was fear that using his [Life Cycle] skill would prompt the System to give him another crazy quest. Still, he¡¯d never get anywhere if he refused to act due to fear. Decision made, Logan rewrapped his hand, tying the makeshift bandage off with his teeth, and then scanned his surroundings for pinecones. He had to walk all the way back to the hill behind the cabin to find one, the willow tree dominating everything around it. It was quick work to knock out the seeds and dig his first hole in the ground. Logan closed his eyes, visualizing the seed coming alive, roots burying deep, a green shoot erupting out of the dirt. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sprout level. Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 10 KarmaCoin awarded.] Logan opened his eyes. In the ground, a small green sprout had breached the earth, reaching for the sun. He had just performed magic. It was still a heck of a rush. He blew through the other three sprouts in no time, his karma generating fast enough that he never had to wait for it to catch up. Secretly, he¡¯d worried that he¡¯d struggle to master the skill again, but it was like riding a bicycle. Right before the last sprout, he paused and sat down, crossing his legs at the ankles and staring down at the dirt. Yesterday, when he¡¯d employed the skill for the first time, he¡¯d been flush with success, and after, he¡¯d been frantic to finish the quest. He¡¯d never had the opportunity to wonder how you¡¯d upgrade a skill like this. Logan pulled up his stat screen and concentrated on the [Life Cycle] skill until it expanded. [This rare skill allows you to control the life cycle of a tree from sprout, sapling, mature to rotting. Each stage increases per skill level. Karma credits will be awarded based on carbon capture calculations.] So, the bigger the tree, the bigger the potential carbon reduction which would award him extra money. But there was a big difference between a sprout and a sapling. If he could upgrade the skill, he would need to grow less sprouts but earn higher KarmaCoin. A win-win. Logan shifted, getting comfortable, his brow furrowing as he puzzled over the problem. First, he needed a sprout. Once he made the decision, it was almost as reflexive as breathing. The roots expanded below ground, the sprout breaching the earth as it reached for the sun. ¡°Hey buddy,¡± Logan said to it. It was bright green and more like a large strand of wild grass than anything. To grow it into a sapling, he¡¯d need to quadruple its size. Here goes nothing. Logan concentrated, staring so intensely at the sprout that it blurred in front of his eyes. Blinking, he refocused, squinting and visualizing the small green stalk doubling, tripling, growing, growing¡­ It wasn¡¯t moving, and he¡¯d just given himself a headache. Sighing, Logan shut his eyes. Visualization worked, but it didn¡¯t work by staring at something. He had to imagine it in his mind. His high perception stat picked up the sound of the wind rustling through the grass, the sharp scent of sap on his fingers, the deep musk of the earth. He visualized the sprout continuing to reach for the sun, invisible hands grasping, its slender stalk thickening in size, layers of green turning brown, then gray. Fine pine needles spread from the main stalk, green shoots multiplying. Light-headedness threatened to overwhelm him as the sprout continued doubling until its trunk was thick enough to withstand a sharp breeze, then a storm. Still, he continued, the trunk growing layers, narrowing, thickening as it reached for the sky. Ding! [Life Cycle is Level 2!] [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the sapling level. Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 50 KarmaCoin awarded.] Logan opened his eyes to a pine tree sapling that had to be 10 feet at least, with healthy green pine needles and a slender trunk the thickness of a garden hose. He¡¯d done that. Him. Forget telekinesis, growing things, bringing them to life? That was the shit. Still, that didn¡¯t explain why he¡¯d felt lightheaded and short of breath. Pulling up his stat sheet, he studied his Karma stat. Karma: 2/246 As he watched, it continued to replenish. 3/246. 4/246. 5/246. 6/246. But for it to have gotten that low, he must have used over 240 karma, getting very close to depleting it while still employing the skill. No wonder he¡¯d felt light-headed. That wasn¡¯t good news. If it took 240 karma just to grow a sprout into a sapling, how much more would it cost to transform a sapling into a mature tree? He needed to upgrade his karma pool, as well as his generation rate, stat. Logan allocated his last five points. [Intelligence: 42] [Intelligence: 43+] [Intelligence: 45] [Wisdom: 30] He threw four points into intelligence, rounding up his score to 45, and one extra point into wisdom to make it an even 30. Each intelligence point translated into six karma points, which meant he¡¯d expanded his karma pool from 246 to 270. Likely not high enough for [Life Cycle] level three, but he¡¯d get there. As far as KarmaCoin, he now had 500. He could buy the spatial collar. Chapter 27: Spatial Storage Cat Collar Logan returned to the willow tree and went through the process of unwinding his bandage again before placing his hand back into the lodestone. [Welcome, Idiot! Entering the Karma Lodestone Menu.] [What would you like to buy?] There was no reason to delay. ¡°Go to the clothes menu.¡± [¡­. Conditions met.] [F GRADE CLOTHING MENU: 1 bright pink sock: 50 KarmaCoin 1 spatial storage cat collar: 300 KarmaCoin 1 knit cap: 500 KarmaCoin 1 pair of self-cleaning swim trunks: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] That¡¯s where Logan stopped, stumped. How did you purchase an item? It wasn¡¯t like he was clicking a mouse and going to the online checkout. Logan cleared his throat. ¡°Ah, one spatial storage cat collar please?¡± [Please confirm purchase of (1 spatial storage cat collar) at a cost of 300 KarmaCoin plus a 10% processing fee.] [Yes.] [No.] Logan gaped. It really was like shopping online! He supposed that commerce was the same regardless of where you were from¡ªeven aliens had fees¡ªbut still, ten percent was brutal. ¡°Crooks,¡± he grumbled while concentrating on the [Yes] in front of his eyes, hovering over it mentally like he would with a touchscreen. Underneath his hand, the lodestone grew warm and bright light flashed as if it were scanning his palm. Then it grew cold, blast chiller cold. [¡­.Confirmed. Enjoy, Idiot.] Logan was reminded yet again that he was dealing with something alien. Doubts began creeping into his mind. For all he knew, the lodestone was full of radiation, and he¡¯d just gotten an x-ray. And where the hell was his purchase? Did the tree-fridge just short-change him? Logan removed his hand from the lodestone and rewrapped the bandages. He took a step back, his foot¡ª Huh. There was something on the ground in front of the trunk. Duuuuuude. Creepy. How had it gotten there? ¡°Hello?¡± he said, glancing around. But he was met with the same rustling branches, the same evaporating mist. Nothing was disturbed¡ªno footprints, no trampled grass. Logan was sure his increased perception would have picked up someone or something sneaking up behind him. No, the collar hadn¡¯t been there a second ago, and no one had placed it there either. More magic? Teleportation? Either way, he now had a spatial storage cat collar, whatever that was. Logan crouched down, picking it up. It was bright pink with flowers engraved onto the edges. A large name tag the size of his thumb dangled from the collar. There was a name¡­ Oh, come on. Logan squinted, thinking he was seeing things, but no. Seriously? Seriously?! Name: IDIOT On the back of the tag: A large male human It was way too big to be a normal collar; the thing would fall off a cat. If he tried to wear it as a bracelet, it would fall off his wrist. The System had just given him a cat collar for himself. That motherf--- Logan took a deep breath, trying to push down his rage. Squinting, he activated [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [A spatial storage cat collar. Quality: S Grade. This is for a cat. And yet not.] Okay, what the hell was S grade? Going by his stat sheet, if he was rated F grade, did that mean that the lower the alphabet, the worse it got? The System had just given him a garbage-rated item. Gritting his teeth and clenching the collar in his left fist, he seriously debated chucking it in the lake or smashing it with his baseball bat. It was useless. Any hope he¡¯d had that the tree was some hidden benefit was out the window. And here he was, envisioning this thing storing items like a magic pouch. It couldn¡¯t even store one of the nails on his bat; piece of shit¡ª WHAT THE FUCK. His baseball bat was gone. His bat was gone! It had disappeared out of his other hand, right in front of his eyes! Frantic, Logan scanned his surroundings, disbelieving. Had he hallucinated? Maybe the bat hadn¡¯t been in his hand after all, maybe he¡¯d rested it against the trunk of the willow tree, maybe maybe maybe. Logan glanced down at the collar in his clenched fist. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. No. It couldn¡¯t be. No! Peering around surreptitiously, afraid that someone would see him and assume he¡¯d lost his mind, he opened his fist. It still looked like a normal cat collar. It didn¡¯t look any different, but¡­ He cleared his throat. ¡°Do you have my baseball bat?¡± With a click, he got it. It came together in his mind like that feeling you got after understanding your first raunchy joke as a kid. Logan remembered a time when he¡¯d went to the theatre to see a film with his friends; all the adults had laughed at a line of dialogue and Logan had sat there perplexed until with a snap, suddenly the reference made sense and the world had opened up. An understanding existed that had been absent a second ago. With a reflective thought, he wished for his baseball bat, and the bat was back in his hand. Woah. Logan looked from his bat to the collar, then back again. With a furrow of his brows, he wished again, and just like that, the bat disappeared in front of his eyes. How was that possible? The collar was ribbon-thin, the name tag tiny. There was no way his baseball bat and the collar were even in the same stratosphere. It went against the laws of physics. What else could it store? Logan scanned his surroundings, excitement surging through him, his feet feeling light. Adrenaline replaced his frustration and disappointment. There was nothing here but tree branches and grass, but the supply closet still had his grandpa¡¯s tools. If he could cart everything around in something the size of his thumb? Game changer. Logan made his way to the supply room, swinging the door open and sending the reek of musk and oil directly to his nose. He sneezed. Tools were stuffed into the shelves, equipment hanging from the walls, but he needed to be smart about this. The collar had to have a limit, so he needed to prioritize the most important items first. He took out his baseball bat from the collar with a thought first, not wanting to risk it. Regardless of whether he had a storage device, his weapon needed to be in hand 24-7. What did he need first? The ability to catch food. Matt¡¯s spear gun would work for now, but Logan had no idea how to use it. It would be nice to have a backup. Logan touched the fishing pole leaning against the wall, and with a command, threw it in the collar. So freaking awesome. Grandpa also had fishing hooks and lures¡ªin they went¡ªin addition to a large fishing net. So far, so good. He hadn¡¯t felt any resistance, nothing that would indicate the collar was at capacity. Next went the carpenter tools¡ªnails, screws, hammers. When that didn¡¯t cause any problems, he threw in the whole toolbox. Damn, still nothing. Just to be safe, he took out the toolbox with a thought. It was intact and went back into the collar just as easy. Logan felt his excitement building. Next, he threw in a buzz-saw, followed by the weed wacker. The whole weed wacker! And moving the items into the spatial collar continued to be effortless. Was this thing bottomless? Suspicious, Logan backed out of the room. Trying this had to be a lark, but you never knew until you tried. With a thought, Logan willed the whole supply room into the storage device. WHAM. Holy fucking shit! Logan glanced from the empty space in front of him to his spatial collar, then back, blinking. The whole supply closet was gone. In its place was bare concrete and wooden supports that must not have been fully attached. Logan sat down, reeling, his mind blown away. He¡¯d been through a lot of crap since System Integration, experienced a lot of unbelievable, impossible things¡ªhell, even grew trees with his mind¡ªbut this was beyond anything that should be possible. Logan looked down at the collar in his hand. He was beginning to think that ¡®S Grade¡¯ meant something else other than garbage-grade. This thing was now the most priceless item he owned. Running his thumb over the name tag and feeling the etching for IDIOT didn¡¯t even bother him anymore. He¡¯d take it. Logan fastened the collar around his neck, turning it so the tag rested against his chest. Then, he got up and tugged on it to make sure it was secure. With another thought, he willed the supply room to the right, wanting to set it down on flat ground. With a rush of air, it appeared in front of him, wood creaking, door off its hinges. Damn. Okay, obviously storing something like a room did damage. He may have to use that ability sparingly, only transporting it one or two times. Cautious, he crept forward, but the ceiling remained intact. Everything within the room had transported at the same time, but some of the tools had fallen off the shelves. And on the floor¡­ Huh. Six dozen or more dead bugs littered the floor. Those hadn¡¯t been there before. But the room was old, unmaintained. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯d been living in the walls or underneath the shelves. Did that mean that living things couldn¡¯t survive inside the storage collar? Too bad, since he¡¯d already started to envision ways it could be used as a teleportation device. Logan exited the room and propped the door up as best as he could before he commanded the room back into his collar with a thought, still reeling at the power around his neck. He glanced back at the willow tree. He only had 170 KarmaCoin, but he couldn¡¯t leave without buying another item. It was possible that the spatial collar was the only diamond in a menu of crap like he¡¯d first suspected, but he¡¯d kill himself if he didn¡¯t check before leaving. What if all the items¡ªeven the dandelion¡ªhad some secret power? Logan went back to the lodestone and opened the menu. ¡°Show me the clothing options.¡± [¡­. Conditions met.] [F GRADE CLOTHING MENU: 1 bright pink sock: 50 KarmaCoin 1 knit cap: 500 KarmaCoin 1 pair of self-cleaning swim trunks: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] Just as he¡¯d expected. Shit. Once he purchased one of the items, it disappeared from the menu. It would have been nice to buy more spatial collars, especially for Lara and Tasha. But he also suspected the menu was customized to him¡ªwhy else would he receive a cat collar with a name tag that listed his own name? ¡°Show me the food menu.¡± [¡­. Conditions met.] [F GRADE FOOD MENU: 1 dandelion seed: 50 KarmaCoin 5 bean seeds: 150 KarmaCoin 5 spinach seeds: 500 KarmaCoin 5 potato spuds: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] There was only one option that made sense. ¡°I¡¯d like to purchase five bean seeds.¡± [Please confirm purchase of (5 bean seeds) at a cost of 150 KarmaCoin plus a 10% processing fee.] [Yes.] [No.] Damn, he¡¯d forgotten about the processing fee. That meant he¡¯d only have five KarmaCoin left until he redeployed his [Life Cycle] skill. Logan mentally hovered over [Yes] and confirmed his purchase. The lodestone scanned his palm again and then grew cold as it powered down. [¡­.Confirmed. Enjoy, Idiot.] Logan withdrew his hand and then turned around, looking down at the ground. In front of him was a small silk pouch tied with a string, the type you¡¯d see in a jewelry shop. Logan crouched, opened it and peered inside. 5 bean seeds. Deflated, he blew out a breath of air. Well, you couldn¡¯t always have a win; the collar was still so good he wasn¡¯t even annoyed. Just before he left, he used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the beans to confirm he wasn¡¯t missing anything. [5 green bean seeds. C grade. These beans will multiply when harvested, fulfilling a self-growing, endless cycle. They will never run out, never die, and feed an army if properly harvested.] Chapter 28: The Greenhouse [5 green bean seeds. C grade. These beans will multiply when harvested, fulfilling a self-growing, endless cycle. They will never run out, never die, and feed an army if properly harvested.] Logan¡¯s stomach dropped to the floor in shock. He¡¯d bought the seeds because he had enough money left over¡ªand for the small chance they were something more than what they appeared, but he¡¯d never thought he¡¯d be this blown away. If the description was accurate, that meant they now had a viable source of food. They couldn¡¯t live on green beans forever, but they wouldn¡¯t starve. Something didn¡¯t make sense, however. If he were considered F Grade and the spatial collar storage was rated S Grade, how could this be rated C Grade? Logan had no delusions about his own rating¡ªit was likely shit, so if an S Grade item could store a room, it had to mean the ratings were higher the lower you dropped on the alphabet. Yet the green beans were C Grade. Truly bizarre. One thing was certain, he needed to employ his [Life Cycle] skill to raise enough KarmaCoin to come back to the tree fridge. If a cat collar and green beans did that, what about the paperclip? But first he needed to grow what he had, and then think about protein for the group. Logan tucked the pouch full of beans into his shirt pocket and then made the trek back to Jack¡¯s. He ran into Matt on the way back who seemed focused on something on the ground, his spear gun in one hand. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Logan asked. Matt startled and rose to his feet, turning in an awkward shuffle to face Logan. He tried to hide the spear gun behind his back and then seemed to think better of it, fiddling with it and giving Logan a bright grin. Logan moved closer, coming at an angle, and Matt shuffled again as if he were trying to block something from view. He was a weird dude. ¡°You¡¯re still here,¡± said Matt, his narrow shoulders looking pointed. ¡°I thought you abandoned us.¡± Why would he think that? Logan had mentioned where he was going. ¡°Just over at my property. What have you got there?¡± All expression wiped off his face. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Ooookaaay.¡± Such a weird dude. ¡°If you say so.¡± Matt¡¯s mouth twisted and then he stepped away, letting Logan have a look. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± There was a small furry animal covered in blood and dirt on the ground, the tip of the spear gun shaft through its belly. It had pointy ears and white fur, a tiny pink tongue sticking out of its mouth. The body was motionless, not a twitch to be seen. A dead kitten. Logan didn¡¯t like to see it, but if the System could turn a regular squirrel into a monster, it could do the same to a kitten. ¡°What level was it? Any offensive capabilities I should know about?¡± Matt averted his gaze and tugged the spear gun shaft out of the small body with a slick sound. Then he held the corpse by its neck, gazing at it dispassionately. Logan furrowed his brow. He had a sneaking suspicion he didn¡¯t like. Would [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] work on a dead body? He soon had his answer. [A feral kitten. Level 0. You do know this is dead, don¡¯t you, Idiot?] Logan swallowed and gave Matt a narrow-eyed look. ¡°Doing some target practice, there?¡± Matt turned up his nose and then threw the kitten into the bushes like a piece of discarded trash. ¡°Might as well kill it before it tries to kill us. Cats are pests anyway.¡± ¡°Better not tell Jack that.¡± Logan sighed. Killing a defenceless kitten for no reason was serial-killer level creepy. He had no experience with male teenagers¡ªhis nieces were the extent of his experience with kids, but he was sure most normal adolescents didn¡¯t go around killing balls of fluff. To be fair, maybe the kid was still grieving and acting out. His spunky colleague had been in the other boat when it blew up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your co-worker. Sara, was it? You must have been close.¡± Matt wiped the blood off the shaft onto his t-shirt and shrugged. ¡°Not really. She was annoying. It was just a summer job, anyway.¡± Not the response he was expecting. ¡°What about your family? Are they okay?¡± He shrugged again. ¡°Don¡¯t care. This is way too exciting. Levels? Skills? It¡¯s like something out of a video game.¡± Logan¡¯s voice grew dubious. ¡°You think the System Integration is exciting?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°The threat to your life, for one thing,¡± said Logan underneath his breath. The evidence against this kid continued to stack up. Logan hated to judge, but lack of empathy for his family and friends, lack of awareness of normal social cues, and the experimental killing of baby animals? It was difficult not to come to any other conclusion other than budding sociopath. Logan raised his voice. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get back to Jack¡¯s. I need your help with a project.¡± While Matt was facing away from him, Logan made sure to tuck his new collar underneath his shirt and out of sight. *** ¡°We¡¯re going to build a greenhouse,¡± said Logan to the group of people gathered around him. After they¡¯d returned to Jack¡¯s, he¡¯d asked everyone to meet him outside. Next to the right side of the cabin, the area was south facing and would receive plenty of light. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Tasha had her hands on her hips and was giving him a puzzled look, while Matt stared at the ground with a mulish expression. The others were either yawning or staring at their phones. Jack glanced around the property, scanning the pine trees and bushes farther off before warily setting his shotgun down and leaning it against the side of the cabin. ¡°Have you forgotten that I don¡¯t have a green thumb? I have two thumbs, but they¡¯re rotting thumbs. I kill plants. And I asked around and no one else is a gardener either.¡± Logan tried to hide his worry. He¡¯d been put into a leadership position for better or worse, but he¡¯d always been in the background at work, slinking away, not raising his hand when management asked for volunteers. He didn¡¯t know how to motivate a group. If they were already resistant, he had no idea what to do. The woman in designer clothes raised her hand, her gold bracelet dropping down her wrist. ¡°I grew a tomato plant on my patio once.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Logan said brightly, trying to project false cheer. ¡°You can be our head gardener. But it doesn¡¯t matter if we¡¯re only semi capable. I have¡­¡± Logan hesitated. Something was telling him to keep the tree fridge close to his chest. ¡°I have a new skill that should let us grow things quickly.¡± Tasha surveyed their surroundings. They were standing on a patch of green grass, with dirt, gravel and weeds not far off. ¡°How are we supposed to build a greenhouse with no tools?¡± Logan grinned. ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask. Back up a little, everyone.¡± He gestured and motioned them over but was met with blank stares. ¡°Back! Back, come on.¡± When they obeyed and he had enough space, he willed the storage room out of his collar. With a sound of rustling wind and creaking wood, it crashed more than settled onto the ground, the door shooting out of the doorway and landing five feet away with a clatter. A few pieces of ceiling tile tumbled to the floor and a plume of dust saturated the area, but other than the whole room tilting in one direction, so far so good. Everyone made sounds of alarm, but Matt perked up, his eyes bright with interest. ¡°I give you a supply shop,¡± said Logan with a theatrical gesture of his arm. Jack crept forward cautiously while the others murmured and gave him wide-eyed looks. ¡°You did this?¡± Logan hesitated again. He¡¯d come to trust Jack and Tasha. At least to some degree. If it had just been them, he might have felt comfortable sharing that his ¡®skill¡¯ was really a funky cat collar, but what about the others? Matt was in the ¡®hell no¡¯ category, and the other people were already fighting amongst themselves. ¡°It¡¯s part of that new skill. I can make things appear. This shop has all my grandpa¡¯s old tools. He was a pack rat, so there¡¯s more than enough to build a greenhouse.¡± They gave him impressed looks, while Matt looked even more eager. ¡°I saw things like that online. One chick could make boulders appear out of thin air, another guy could set things on fire. On fire! Your ability isn¡¯t as good, but it¡¯s still something. How do I get that skill?¡± he demanded. Logan scratched his neck and then shot Jack a glance. ¡°You have to make a mistake, a mistake so bad it causes something horrible, and then have the wisdom to recognize what you did and the resolve to change.¡± Matt gave him a blank look. ¡°Huh?¡± Sam raised her hand. Logan shifted awkwardly. ¡°Feel free to speak up, you don¡¯t need my permission.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ it¡¯s just, why couldn¡¯t you make a greenhouse appear rather than a tool shop? This seems like an inefficient way to employ a skill.¡± The others were coming out of their dazzlement and grumbled in agreement. ¡°Ah, it doesn¡¯t work that way, sorry.¡± He could say it was just like the System, making him work for everything, but he felt bad lying about the tree fridge already without layering on further falsehoods. Jack looked from Logan to the supply room and then grimaced in resignation. ¡°You know what I do for a living, right?¡± Jack was a corporate executive. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to build things. You¡¯re going to have to direct me.¡± He turned to the rest. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡± ¡°Hold on,¡± said Tasha. ¡°If you¡¯re suggesting we build it here I have to be the voice of reason.¡± Logan gave her his full attention. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°This is in full view of the water. The System blew up gas-powered boats, but you know how many canoes we have on this lake. There¡¯s going to be desperate people paddling by eventually and they¡¯ll be looking for food.¡± She had a point. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s build it closer to the back, next to the driveway. That¡¯ll block the direct view from the lake but still have south-facing sun. Once it¡¯s up and running we might have to post guards too, something to monitor¡ª¡± ¡°Mom had a video doorbell,¡± said Jack. ¡°And security cameras. We don¡¯t need guards. It¡¯ll send an alert to my phone if anyone approaches at night.¡± Logan had forgotten Eleanor and Jack were rich. He may have once felt bitter about that¡ªsecurity cameras were so far out of his budget it was laughable¡ªbut now, he¡¯d take any advantage they could get. With Jack having solar panels, they¡¯d also have no problem with power, but they might have to keep an eye on the network. Most security cameras nowadays relied on data or Wi-Fi, which could be a problem for them down the road. ¡°Even better,¡± he said and then gestured to the shed. ¡°Grandpa has wooden boards stacked on one shelf. Not a lot, and they¡¯re musty, but they should be enough for a frame. Sam and¡­¡± Logan gave her companion with the buzz cut and tattoo an inquiring look. ¡°I don¡¯t know your name.¡± The man smiled, showing pearly-white teeth. ¡°No worries. Sammy.¡± Sam and Sammy? Ugh. There was nothing worse than couples with coordinating names. ¡°Sam and Sammy, why don¡¯t you start with the boards and carry them to the back. Matt, why don¡¯t you¡­¡± Logan was going to suggest the buzzsaw and then thought better of it. ¡°Why don¡¯t you grab the plastic sheeting; there¡¯s a roll of it at the back. Jack, you have the buzzsaw, and the rest¡ªgrab hammers, nails, anything you can think of that shouts ¡®carpentering¡¯ to you.¡± Sammy flexed his shoulders. ¡°I took woodworking in high school, so I might be able to help.¡± At this point, Logan would take anything. *** It took them all day and into the early evening to build a frame and affix the plastic sheeting to the sides. They ended up taking the door from the supply closet, cutting out the insides and affixing more sheeting to maximize the possible light. The greenhouse was slightly larger than a garden shed, nowhere close to level, and leaning to one side. Oh well. What could he expect? Other than Sammy, no one had any experience with tools or building things¡ªhell, Logan had to show Matt how to use a hammer. As soon as it grew dark, Logan called it quits for the night and let everyone go inside. Although the roof wasn¡¯t finished and the greenhouse was still open to the air, everyone had become jumpy, giving their surroundings wary looks and startling at every sound. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to stay out here with you?¡± asked Tasha. She¡¯d found an old knife sheath in the supply room and repurposed it for the cleaver, splitting one side to cover the sharp edge. Then she¡¯d wrapped a leather string around the handle, looping it around a belt she¡¯d ¡®borrowed¡¯ from Jack so that her weapon would always be handy without accidentally cutting her. The System had rewarded her for her ingenuity¡ªgiving her a skill that functioned as a cleaver boomerang. Now, she could throw her cleaver, hit something, and it would come back to her hand. ¡°Nah, you head inside. I¡¯ll be finished here in a little bit.¡± Tasha shrugged and then left him to his devices. There was another reason he wanted to be alone. He had a suspicion that his [Life Cycle] skill might be useful for things other than trees. Although the System had given the skill a narrow description, in essence, what was the difference between growing roots and shoots from a seed, whether that was a tree or a plant? It would be stupid not to at least try. What he didn¡¯t want was an audience. There was nothing worse than testing something for the first time, concentrating and making funny faces, while someone watched as if it were a spectator sport. Logan had already dragged two shelves from the supply room to the greenhouse. Eleanor had ten large pots full of flowers at the front of the property which he¡¯d repurposed, muttering an apology to Eleanor as he tore out the flowers, leaving bare soil. With the seeds they¡¯d purchased from Martin¡¯s Convenience in hand, Logan was ready to become a [Life Cycle] green thumb master. Chapter 29: Magic Beans Logan wanted to test [Life Cycle] on the regular seeds first in case the skill backfired. There was no point in accidentally killing the C Grade bean seeds by ineptitude. They¡¯d purchased tomato seeds, squash, beets, and raspberries from Martin¡¯s Convenience. He was uncertain where to start. It was that age old saying of analysis leads to paralysis he¡¯d learned in a business course. Faced with too many choices, individuals would take ages trying to narrow down a choice, eventually coming to a standstill and not making a decision at all due to too much information. But introduce only two choices, the decision was much easier and completed in a fraction of the time. Logan¡¯s gut told him to pick the tomato seeds first since those seemed most like a tree. Even with zero experience growing vegetables from scratch, he knew that tomato plants had to grow a stem and leaves. The seeds were so tiny he almost lost the first one, fumbling it, the bandage around his hand making it difficult to grasp. Using his good hand, he balanced the tiny thing on the pad of his index finger, holding it up to his eyes. Logan squinted, extending his senses, and finally discarded it and picked another. Something had told him the first seed had been inept, and no matter how hard he tried, it never would¡¯ve grown. The second seed was a different matter. Logan dug a small furrow in the pot, letting the seed drop into the hole and gently covering it with soil. Resting his hands against the shelf, he stared down at the pot. Here was the tricky part. Employing his [Life Cycle] skill on pine trees was now as easy as breathing, but the tomato seed didn¡¯t feel right. From trial and error, he knew that staring at the soil wouldn¡¯t work. He had to visualize the plant growing for the skill to activate. Logan closed his eyes. He pictured that tiny, tiny seed kicking to life, a minuscule sprout extending out of the seed, fine roots that resembled hairs digging through the soil. The roots sucked up moisture while the sprout travelled in the other direction, seeking sunlight and air. But something was off. It was a feeling of¡­ restriction. A barrier. Instinctively, he knew if he continued, he would hit nothing but a wall. It reminded Logan of how difficult it had been to grow a sprout in mycelium saturated ground. The System didn¡¯t want him to use the skill for growing a plant. Fuck that. Logan ground his teeth and shut his eyes again. The System had given him a growing skill, and he needed that skill. Not for trees, but to feed his people. To feed Lara. To feed the kids. There had to be a way around this. Logan began the visualization again. But this time, before he focused on the seed, he pictured a brick wall. It had stacked red bricks surrounded by thick mortar. The wall was high, so high he couldn¡¯t see where the top ended. The wall had a weight to it, an immenseness, with a presence to match. But every wall could be broken. Scrunching his eyebrows and furrowing his brow, Logan concentrated on one brick. One only. All he needed was one. With a wrench, he pictured that brick crumbling, clay and shale turning into fine sand that drizzled down the wall. Logan didn¡¯t know if breaking a wall would get him anywhere, but one thing he did know was that as soon as he¡¯d started, he¡¯d felt a pressure built up behind his eyes, a foreign feeling, something he¡¯d never experienced in his life. He was either giving himself a stroke, or he was making progress and the pain meant he was on the verge of a breakthrough. Logan focused on the next brick and with another wrench, turned that one to dust as well. The pain behind his eyes promptly turned into a poker drilling directly into his brain, the agony acute, so acute he was surprised he hadn¡¯t received an increase to [Idiot¡¯s Paradox]. He was getting somewhere here. With a renewed focus and surging excitement, he wrenched again, turning three more bricks into dust that trailed down the wall, pooling into a sandy mound at the base. He could see through the wall. And on the other side was the tomato seed. The difference between sprouting this seed and a pine tree was night and day¡ªthe tomato was more like a strand of wild grass, two split green leaves at the top. Logan wrenched at the bricks keeping him from growing the seed further, and with a click and a final stab behind his eyes, the wall dissolved at the same time a gush of warm blood trailed from his nose. Logan disregarded the blood, visualization continuing. He couldn¡¯t stop. Even if he was bleeding to death. Not when he¡¯d just made a breakthrough. The stem doubled in size, thickening and lengthening until more stems branched off and sprouted their own leaves. Instinctively, he knew the plant needed support, something to lean against, so he directed it to grow at a slant until it touched the uneven wooden frame of the greenhouse. Each leaf transformed from a baby smooth texture to a rough, mature leaf. More stems branched off, multiplying, the wooden frame propping it up. His head was starting to feel tight, wooziness overtaking him as he pushed even further, more green shoots splitting from the stem, each of those shoots growing bunches of flowers that bloomed green, then yellow. The flowers withered and warped into a small green bulb until the bulbs were the size of grapes, then tangerines. Each bulb transformed, unripe green replaced by light orange, then bright, ripe red. Logan opened his eyes to a tomato plant so tall it was like a mutant plant, with two dozen, bright red tomatoes the size of oranges ready to be harvested. Ding! [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Cycle, at the #!#!Error#!#!] [Error 343!] [Skill not recognized!] [Recalculating¡­.] [You have been awarded the skill, Green Horticulturist Master! This rare skill allows you to control the life cycle of a plant from birth to death. Skill level advances with Karma pool growth.] [Skill convergence found! The skill, Life Cycle, has been merged with the skill, Green Horticulturist Master, to form the epic skill, Life Cycle Master! This skill allows you to control the life cycle of beings from birth to death. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact.] This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Logan stared and wobbled in place, still woozy and more than a little shocked. Yeah, he¡¯d technically cheated¡ªhis [Life Cycle] skill had made specific mention of trees, and he¡¯d used it on a tomato plant, but he¡¯d never thought it would result in a new skill. His heart raced in excitement as he took in the description of [Life Cycle Master]. If he were reading this right, there were no longer sprouting or sapling levels, just plain growth. This was the first time he¡¯d seen a skill labelled ¡®epic¡¯ too, and although he didn¡¯t know what that meant, it sounded freaking awesome. What was even more puzzling was the wording¡ªif this skill controlled the life cycle of plants, why didn¡¯t it say that? Instead, it referenced ¡®beings.¡¯ Even better, he still had the ability to earn KarmaCoin for the tree fridge. Logan had known approximately how much Karma a sprout cost¡ªit was within his Karma generation rate. The sapling had come close to depleting his whole Karma pool and although the gush of blood and sharp agony he¡¯d experienced was likely due to pushing through the skill barrier, the wooziness might have been from coming close to depleting his karma pool. The cost of growing a tomato plant must have been high. He needed to increase his Karma pool¡ªeither that or increase his generation rate so his pool wouldn¡¯t matter. Logan rubbed away the blood from his lip and face and then checked his Karma stat: 270/270. It had replenished. There was only one thing left to try. If he started to get a headache, or if he grew short of breath, he could always stop the skill half-way through. A partially grown plant was better than one that would take weeks or even months to grow naturally. The pouch full of beans was still inside his shirt pocket. You¡¯d expect magic beans to be jumbo size or a wacky color¡ªsomething that shouted mutant seed¡ªbut the seeds looked like regular old seeds. Logan picked a different shelf to give the tomatoes room to grow and dug a small hole into the pots before dropping one seed into each. Then he stared at the pot, stumped. He¡¯d never been fond of green beans; forced to eat them as a child and despising the taste, he¡¯d cut them out as an adult, only eating them during family gatherings and during one memorable Thanksgiving dinner with his ex-girlfriend¡¯s whole extended family. So Logan could say that he¡¯d eaten the buggers, but he had no idea how they were grown. Normally he¡¯d just look up a video on his phone, but data had been spotty ever since he¡¯d returned from the resort. Green beans. Weren¡¯t they called string beans? So they¡­ grew on vines? That was likely the best he¡¯d get. Logan closed his eyes. He could immediately narrow in on the seed inside the pot, which must be a feature of his new skill, but he could also identify other things. There had been small weeds growing in the soil together with the flowers. Logan had pulled them out, but the roots had survived. They were already starting to inch forward, growing at an incremental, crawling pace. Mixed in with those roots, tiny worm larvae were maturing, halfway there already and only needing a small push to hatch into baby worms. And so small that he couldn¡¯t even see it, a tiny brown soil mite shaped like a crab crawled on top of the soil, feeding on decomposing matter. Logan hadn¡¯t encountered or even heard of a soil mite in his life, but he somehow still knew everything about it, down to the specific parts of its body that should be too small for the human eye to see. But he only wanted the bean seed. Taking a deep breath, Logan visualized the seed waking up, coming to life as it became aware of the environment around it¡ªsoil, moisture. It sucked in water like a sponge, a green shoot worming deep into the soil, cobweb-like roots branching off like an upside-down tree canopy. On the opposite end, a thick green shoot formed, growing rapidly and rising from the soil. Two green leaves grew on either side. The shoot continued to climb, the thickness of the stem narrowing and thinning until it was like an insect antenna swaying side to side, seeking support¡ªsomething to wrap around. Logan guided it to the wooden frame, telling it to¡­ Suddenly light-headed, Logan swayed and gasped for air, his lungs blocked. An invisible force had taken away his ability to breathe; he couldn¡¯t get enough air; he couldn¡¯t¡ª He could breathe! [Drawing on a skill with insufficient Karma can cause paralysis and eventual death. This isn¡¯t the first time we¡¯ve told you this, Idiot.] Bastard System. For once he¡¯d like a straightforward message without the sarcasm. Logan glanced at his Karma stat: 3/270. 4/270. 5/270. It was replenishing as he watched, but he¡¯d obviously run out of Karma halfway through deploying the skill. He had the ability to generate 30 Karma a minute, but if deploying the skill took more than 270 Karma at once, he would be endlessly gasping for air, stalling and starting, waiting for his pool to replenish over and over. And that was only one bean plant; he still had four to go and this one hadn¡¯t even grown its first bean pod. This was yet another reminder that he needed to level up¡ªlevel the hell up. And quickly. Logan took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. It took a few seconds to refocus, but then the vision was there¡ªthe green plant had reached the heights it needed; the next step was forming the pods. Logan pushed as he focused on the pod, visualizing it forming as a string first, then thickening, doubling, small beans swelling inside the pod. Gradually, he became aware of a trickling feeling, almost as if his energy were depleting. Was that his Karma draining? Logan opened his eyes. In front of him was a bean plant that had grown up the walls of the wooden frame, crawling up and reaching the unfinished roof. Within reach, there was one bean pod. One. Huh. The description of the seeds had made them seem unlimited, immense. But here was just one pod. The other odd thing was that he hadn¡¯t received a skill deployment confirmation message. He¡¯d gotten so used to seeing them that he¡¯d taken them as reassurance he¡¯d correctly utilized a skill. Not receiving the message was jarring. Did that mean that he wouldn¡¯t receive KarmaCoin? A review of his stats was in order. He made sure to toggle on the full view option. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 101,998 out of 7,410,019,018 Level: 10 Class: None Grade: F1 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver XP Progress: 3,300/20,000 Karma: 270/270 Intelligence: 45 Constitution: 26 Strength: 24 Agility: 16 Dexterity: 13 Endurance: 14 Perception: 17 Wisdom: 30 Luck: 35 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 5 His new [Life Cycle Master] skill had no level, but it did have an asterisk. Logan focused on it until it expanded. [Epic skills transcend levels and are only limited by your Karma pool, Karma regeneration rate, and a lack of imagination. Since that third one fits you just like a shoe fits, this will be a pretty shitty skill for you, Idiot.] Logan didn¡¯t even roll his eyes at the saucy message; at this point, it was normal, and it would be more of a surprise not to have it. Still, if this skill transcended levels, did that mean it transcended System messages as well? How would he monitor whether deploying his skill had awarded him KarmaCoin? KarmaCoin was still at five. That¡¯s what he¡¯d had before growing the tomato and bean plant. That meant he¡¯d received no additional KarmaCoin. Why? [Deploying your skill on a being that will have a negligible carbon reduction will result in zero KarmCoin. Zero reduction = zero reward.] The System was reading his thoughts again. Creeper. And what a rip off. But to be fair, if the System awarded money based upon a plant¡¯s environmental impact, he could see how a tree could make a difference. After all, a tree would be around for years, even decades, and vegetable plants would go with the seasons. One other change caught his eye. His rank had changed again, but this time, it had gone back down to six digits. Logan knew he¡¯d been spending time investigating the tree fridge and building a greenhouse, but it had only been half a day since he¡¯d last leveled up. In hours, people around the world had managed to climb higher than him, even after he¡¯d received the epic skill. The world must be brutal out there. Logan ran his hand through his hair and glanced outside. It had gotten dark, and darkness in this new reality wasn¡¯t his friend, but he wanted to try one more thing before he headed inside. According to the System¡¯s description of the bean plant, there should be something special about this plant. He wanted to test it. Logan pulled on the bean pod, tugging on it until it broke from the plant. It looked normal, just like any other gross-tasting bean. He didn¡¯t see how that would¡­ There were two more pods dangling from the same place. They hadn¡¯t been there a second ago; there was no way he¡¯d missed them. Watching carefully, Logan harvested these pods too, pulling on them until he had three green beans in his hand. In front of his eyes, four new pods grew, forming so quickly that in one blink he would have missed it. Holy shit. Chapter 30: Please Stand By Logan grabbed a large metal bucket and then went to town. Each time he picked a pod, it multiplied. Elated, he watched as the four green beans became eight, eight became sixteen, and sixteen became thirty-two. Soon, he was pulling off the beans in clumps, massive fistfuls of the things. Half the bucket was full, then a quarter, then¡­ He¡¯d run out of space. Logan took a step back, staring. Like a deflated balloon, his elation gradually turned into trepidation. The whole plant had exploded with pods. They¡¯d stopped growing after he pulled the last one, but if it continued once he resumed harvesting, they¡¯d have a real problem on their hands. Doing quick sums in his head, his eyes widened, and a pool of dread opened in his stomach. When he was child, he remembered his grandfather telling him of the chessboard fairytale. In the story, a ruler of a kingdom owed a commoner a reward. Rather than accepting a simple payment, he challenged the ruler to a doubling wheat challenge, hoping to outsmart the king and obtain a massive fortune. He asked the ruler to place a grain of wheat onto a square on the board. On each board, double the wheat. The king eagerly took the challenge, laughing it off, not realizing that by the end of the challenge, the multiplying effect of the wheat grains had grown so large that it would have drained the whole kingdom¡¯s treasury. Exponential growth would engulf the whole greenhouse¡ªeven the shoreline¡ªif it continued. It was just like the System to give out a life-saving reward that had a hidden, sinister clawback. And he¡¯d only grown one of the green bean seeds; what happened when he planted the others? He needed to keep the rest in reserve for now. As far as the existing one, they could stop harvesting, but then they wouldn¡¯t have any food. Logan ran his fingers over his chin as he considered the problem. The pods multiplied each time he pulled on them, but what if he did something else? Was there a way to bypass the multiplication and stop it altogether? Logan left the greenhouse, swinging his baseball bat over his shoulder as he went over to the shed. He rummaged amongst his grandfather¡¯s supplies until he found an old, rusted pair of pruning shears and then returned to the greenhouse. This was the tricky part. He didn¡¯t want to cut the whole plant; otherwise, what would be the point? He¡¯d stop the growth, but he¡¯d also remove their food source. No, he was hoping for something more specific here. Logan eyed green bean plant. He¡¯d grown it; he should know it like the back of his hand. Still, he needed all his senses. Closing his eyes, Logan extended his perception, visualizing the green bean plant, from its roots¡ªsucking up moisture and nutrients¡ªto its large stem and its connected shoots. To¡­ There was something odd. He hadn¡¯t grown that. Where each bean pod had multiplied, there was a concentration of energy. It was like bright stars in a black night. Power, so much power, an endless pool. Like a karma pool. All that exponential, multiplying power was coming from those spots. It was like a knotted tree branch or endlessly knotted rope, with strands of power embedded in green fibres. Each bean pod was growing from these knots, connected to that power. The thing about it was, the bean pod was connected to the pool of regenerating power, but the plant stems connected to the rest of the plant weren¡¯t. If he cut the plant right before the knotted power source, could he still harvest the beans without triggering the replication? There was only one way to find out. Logan carefully positioned the garden shears over the stem underneath the knotted power source. And cut. With bated breath, he grabbed the detached bean and severed knot and watched the plant. Blinking, and blinking once again to make sure he wasn¡¯t seeing things that weren¡¯t there, he sighed in relief, his adrenaline dropping. No new green bean. Cutting the stem behind the knot had stopped the regeneration. Logan ran a hand through his hair, a tension headache he hadn¡¯t even been aware of gradually fading. One thing was certain, he needed to be careful with his tree fridge purchases. Even if he bought the paperclip and it appeared to be a regular old paperclip, he couldn¡¯t trust it. The System was up to something. Either fucking with him once again, or just being sadistic. But for now, at least they had a viable food source that wouldn¡¯t spread like a bean green disease, engulfing the lakeshore and everything around it. Still, he hated to look a gift horse in the mouth, but they couldn¡¯t live on green beans and tomatoes. They needed protein. Unless the tree fridge suddenly gave him a multiplying cow, they needed to come up with the solution themselves. That was hunting or fishing. Logan headed back to Jack¡¯s with an overflowing bucket full of green beans, enough to feed the whole group for days. Pushing the front door open, he set the bucket down in the kitchen before washing his hands. Everyone was in front of the TV again, and he was about to announce that he had a solution to their food problem, but there was a palpable tension to the group. Tasha was running her thumb against her cleaver¡¯s leather strap, her hip leaning against the arm of the couch. Jack was standing, his arms crossed, a mulish look on his face. The others were sitting down on the armchairs or the couch, hands nervously fiddling. Only Matt seemed animated. He was sitting down on the rug in front of the TV and staring at the screen with rapt eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Logan. ¡°Shh,¡± Tasha hushed. On the TV, a slender reporter with cropped blond hair huddled behind a parked car on the side of the road, his voice hushed as if he were trying to avoid attention. A streak of blood trailed down his forehead, his face soaked with sweat. It was dark around him, only the faint light from the streetlamp providing illumination. He peered around the car warily before ducking behind it and looking into the camera. ¡°I repeat. Everyone is dead. It wasn¡¯t mutated beings or rats. They were killed by people. People are killing other people.¡± On the chyron, WARNING: PEOPLE KILLING OTHER PEOPLE FOR LEVELS scrolled by. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I have. I¡¯m only level one, but they¡¯re going after everyone. They have a skill. It locates everyone in the city. They can find you even behind locked doors. Hundreds are dead. If you don¡¯t have a level, it doesn¡¯t matter. The System is still giving them XP for every kill. Even the poor children and seniors.¡± His voice cracked. ¡°Innocents! Don¡¯t trust anyone. These were our¡ª¡± The reporter¡¯s eyes widened, and he glanced behind the car before the camera shook. A blood curdling screen came from far away and then the screen went dead. The TV stated: PLEASE STAND BY. Jack uncrossed his arms and glanced at Logan. ¡°The System wants you to kill more than monsters. It gives you bonus XP for killing other people.¡± Logan held back a groan. Just great, in addition to fearing the wildlife and mutated vegetables, he had to be wary of everyone else. Logan¡¯s hands itched to text Lara to find out if they were safe. The broadcast had been from the US, nowhere close, but if it were happening in one city, it could be happening in another. ¡°You know what this means, right? We can¡¯t trust anyone who comes to the door or pulls up to the dock. If you don¡¯t know them, don¡¯t let them in.¡± ¡°This is fucked,¡± muttered Tasha. Sam gave them a wild look. ¡°Does that mean people will be hunting us?¡± ¡°Honey, no,¡± said Sammy next to her, but his expression was troubled, and he wouldn¡¯t look her in the eye. If Logan let this go on, they¡¯d soon have a hysterical group, and then where would they be? ¡°No one¡¯s hunting anyone. That reporter is in a city. You know how isolated we are here. If people were hunting others, they¡¯ll go to a populated area. We¡¯re slim pickings.¡± ¡°Only if they don¡¯t stop for a snack on their way to Hope¡¯s End,¡± said Jack dryly. Thanks a lot, Jack. Way to help out. Matt wasn¡¯t paying attention to them, still staring blankly at the TV screen. Stolen story; please report. Tasha jumped to her feet and glared at everyone on the couch. ¡°Logan¡¯s right, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t be prepared. Everyone needs weapons. We need to be able to defend ourselves.¡± The wealthy woman snorted. ¡°That¡¯s not my thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to have to be your thing if you want to stay alive.¡± The woman fiddled with her gold bracelet and averted her gaze. ¡°No one is going to go out of their way to kill an old woman like me.¡± Logan frowned. ¡°It just takes one monster to take your life.¡± His gaze drifted down the hallway to Eleanor¡¯s room. ¡°We thought we were safe here, but Jack¡¯s mom, the nicest lady you could ever know, was killed. Here. In her bedroom. A squirrel that crept through the window. A squirrel. Listen to Tasha. Lady, if you want to survive, you need to be able to defend yourself.¡± Her husband stilled her fiddling by gripping her hand. ¡°They¡¯re right, Madge. We can¡¯t tune this out and wish everyone away. This is our reality now. We need to find a weapon and get strong.¡± Madge¡¯s lips trembled. ¡°Really, Henry?¡± He gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°We can do it.¡± Logan let them discuss the plan for tomorrow and pulled Tasha aside before he turned in for the night. ¡°What is it?¡± she asked. Logan lowered his voice. ¡°Keep an eye on Matt. Watch him around the others.¡± She gave him a blank look before glancing into the TV room. Matt was still sitting in front of the blank TV with a small smile, his fingers running over his spear gun lovingly. ¡°You mean¡­?¡± Logan grimaced. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s nothing. But I don¡¯t think the kid is right in the head. I wouldn¡¯t trust him around my sister, and I wouldn¡¯t trust him around you, either.¡± *** [Countdown: Day 4 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: Rank: 160,002 out of 7,399,917,218.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] The system Ding! woke Logan from a disturbing, bizarre nightmare about an endless supply of self-replicating green beans that had exploded out of the greenhouse and smothered him under their sheer weight. It took a second to brush it off and focus on the latest System message. He took it in groggily and then focused more closely, narrowing his eyes. His rank had dropped once again, this time by over 50,000. Logan had a voracious competition streak, and he didn¡¯t like to see that drop, but he had a suspicion that the newscast last night had something to do with it. Desperate people did desperate things, and the murders might have spread. One thing was clear, he needed to escalate his plans to get to Lara. Although she¡¯d told him via text message that she was fine last night, he didn¡¯t trust it. Hope¡¯s End had thousands of people. If just one of them decided the easiest way to level was by murdering others, he needed to get there, and stat. That meant he needed to find a boat that was big enough for Logan, Lara, and the kids. He needed food for the trip, and a plan. The first part of that plan was taking the spear gun away from Matt so Logan would return to a house full of people rather than corpses. That wouldn¡¯t stop Matt from grabbing a knife out of the kitchen drawer or even the hammer from the supply shop, but something about how he¡¯d caressed the spear gun had given Logan the creeps. Now that he had the spatial collar, he could also start stocking up for Lara and the kids. Whenever he visited, the kids were always fiddling with their hair and spending way too much time in the bathroom getting ready for the day. He may as well throw everything inside his adjoining bathroom into the collar¡ªhair spray, a brand-new brush still in its cardboard package, expensive-looking containers of shampoo and conditioner. Even a makeup case. Eleanor must have stocked the room for every kind of guest. Either that, or she¡¯d assigned the bathroom to Jack¡¯s kids. Logan felt a little guilty for raiding it after that thought, but he still did it. When Logan opened his bedroom door, Tasha had her hand raised to knock, her eyes lit with excitement. She¡¯d changed out of her clothes from yesterday and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a frilly collar. The shirt was large on her and screamed ¡®senior.¡¯ Tasha must have gone through Eleanor¡¯s closet. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± asked Logan. Tasha did what Logan could only describe as a bounce. ¡°I got another skill! The System gave me an identification skill! And best of all, I can tell others what to do to get it too. Jack and Matt have it now, and so does Sammy.¡± ¡°Sammy, the tattoo guy? I thought he was convinced the government would nuke the System out of the sky.¡± ¡°The murders on the news must have knocked some sense into him. Jack took him out this morning and they got him to level one. Something about a snake.¡± Logan gave her alarmed look. ¡°A snake?¡± He hadn¡¯t forgotten his title. Snakes were the bane of his existence. ¡°Forget the snake! Do you want the skill or not?¡± Logan shifted awkwardly. ¡°I already have an identification skill. Does yours tell you the level of something and give you information?¡± Tasha nodded. ¡°The level and name of the person. I haven¡¯t tried it on an animal yet.¡± Logan had leveled his [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] skill to view more than just the level, so Tasha¡¯s must still be level one. ¡°I have it already.¡± Tasha deflated and then shot him an accusatory glare. ¡°If you already have the skill, why didn¡¯t you share how to get it?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t occur to me that others could receive the same skill. The System message was personalized. I thought it was unique.¡± Tasha snorted. ¡°Shows what you know.¡± ¡°Either way, I¡¯m sorry you had to put up with it too. The System can be nasty.¡± ¡°Nasty?¡± she said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°It was pretty complimentary.¡± Complimentary? The System had gone out of its way to insult him up and down; it had even named the skill [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. Logan narrowed his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the name of the skill?¡± ¡°Identify! I got it after staring at Matt for five minutes straight. I wasn¡¯t trying to get a skill or anything; just trying to figure out what made him tick. Don¡¯t worry, he didn¡¯t know I was doing it. But the System said it was rewarding me for being so persistent and that curious individuals should receive a reward. I think it was the same for the others.¡± Okay, what the hell? Logan was starting to take the System¡¯s insults personally. In what world would doing exactly what Tasha said make her persistent but Logan an idiot? ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I received,¡± said Logan with a bright grin that he was sure was brittle on the edges. ¡°But you said it was personalized¡ª¡± ¡°Time to start the day.¡± *** The conversation with Tasha had made him wonder if the others could learn any of his other skills, but he¡¯d received the [Deepwater Idiot] skill while drowning and the System had given him [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] when he¡¯d caused himself pain. He didn¡¯t see it going over well if he told everyone to drown themselves or cut off a toe. To the System¡¯s credit, he really had learned those skills while being an idiot. As far as his missing finger, the wound had made progress overnight. It had already scabbed over, and the first hints of skin were showing. Soon, it would be just like his toe¡ªstill tender, still giving him phantom pains¡ªbut healed. Logan showed everyone their new food source and shared the secret to harvesting the green beans before taking out his baseball bat from his spatial collar as he made his way outside. Before he left for Lara, there was something he had to do. Underwater, Matt¡¯s spear gun would come in handy for fishing and defending himself against small aquatic-life, but he¡¯d be defenceless otherwise. Yeah, he had his bat, but it was wooden, and it would soon rot if repeatedly exposed to water. The tree fridge weapon menu had seemed laughable at first, but after what he experienced with the spatial collar and the bean seeds, it would be stupid to leave without testing whether the weapons were also more than what they appeared. He wasn¡¯t holding up his hopes¡ªa pen, a paperclip?¡ªbut maybe he¡¯d get lucky. After all, his luck stat was already at 35. Logan did the required exercises necessary to receive his daily strength, agility, and endurance boosts and then paused in front of a large pine tree. He had something he wanted to try before making his way to the tree fridge. The conversation with Tasha had made him curious. If others could learn a skill by replicating an action, why couldn¡¯t he do the same? Before he¡¯d left Jack¡¯s, Logan had grabbed a large chef¡¯s knife from the kitchen and a piece of string he¡¯d found inside his grandfather¡¯s supply room. Tasha had gained the cleaver boomerang skill by throwing the cleaver a few times with a piece of leather looped onto the end. Logan could replicate it, just like the others had replicated [Identify]. This would be the tricky part. He was no knife expert, and he continued to keep in mind the horror stories he¡¯d heard of people braving it in the wilderness who were done in by a simple accidental knife slip. Still, after losing a toe and cutting off a finger, what was one more injury in the scheme of things? Logan grimaced at the thought. Holding the knife in a throwing position, he flicked his wrist and aimed for the tree trunk. The knife hit the trunk at an awkward angle with force, the handle making a cracking noise as it ricocheted off the bark. It went flying to the side. Well, that was a bust. Logan flicked his wrist, jerking on the string and reeling in the knife. He did it slowly, not wanting to accidently cut himself. The trick was to replicate what Tasha had done with her cleaver, so whether he hit the tree with the knife edge or handle might not be important. Regardless, Logan¡¯s competition streak couldn¡¯t help asserting himself. Not hitting the tree pissed him off. Logan tried again, this time managing to hit the trunk with the knife edge, but still at an off angle. The knife went flying once again. The next time was better. He hit the tree trunk dead center, the knife slicing into the bark and lodging into it like an ax. After the twentieth time, he¡¯d gotten so good he could hit the same spot repeatedly, a flick of his wrist sending the knife back for another throw. All well and good, but he still hadn¡¯t received a System notification. He¡¯d been at this for half an hour already. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think Tasha had needed so many repetitive throws before she¡¯d earned the skill. He might be shit out of luck. Logan threw one more time, aiming for the same spot¡ªa token throw before admitting defeat. Something about Tasha and the cleaver had obviously been unique. Ding! [You have earned one Dexterity point! Dexterity daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Logan gaped, pausing in the act of recalling the knife. He¡¯d tried so many things to activate the dexterity daily cheat. Had it only been a simple matter of repetition? The answer had been in front of him the whole time. With this breakthrough, he had a way to increase his strength, endurance, agility, and dexterity attributes each day. Perception was the only one he hadn¡¯t figured out¡ªa real head puzzler. He¡¯d already tried to activate it with repetition¡ªstaring at an insect¡ªbut instead, the System had given him the [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] skill. Logan tabled that problem for another day, a spring in his step as he made his way towards the tree fridge. Each time Logan had a breakthrough, it gave him a boost, making him feel as if he could take on the world. As the willow tree came into view, Logan came to a stop, staring. What the hell? Chapter 31: Bark Ant Monsters The last time he¡¯d visited the willow tree, he¡¯d been amazed at its growth. This time, in one day, it had somehow gotten larger. The trunk had been the size of a VW Bug yesterday, but now it was the size of a minibus! Its branches were so large, drooping in their massive weight, that the limbs were like a skirt, billowing onto the shoreline. There was no way a tree could grow that much in such a brief time without something hinky going on. Logan tugged off the bandages on his hand and placed his palm into the lodestone. [Welcome, Idiot! Entering the Karma Lodestone Menu.] [What would you like to buy?] ¡°Go to the weapons menu.¡± There was no point in looking at the other options. They had enough vegetables to start the greenhouse and clothing wasn¡¯t a priority until he had extra KarmaCoin to throw around. [¡­. Conditions met.] [F GRADE WEAPON MENU: 1 length of rope: 200 KarmaCoin 1 paperclip: 400 KarmaCoin 1 ballpoint pen: 800 KarmaCoin 1 large fork: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] This was the tricky part. He only had five KarmaCoin, so even if he wanted to see what the fork did, he¡¯d have to spend the entire day growing trees to raise anywhere close to 1000 KarmaCoin. Lara and the kids didn¡¯t have time for him to screw around. He felt like 400 KarmaCoin could be achievable, and even though it was only a paperclip, if he bought it at least he¡¯d know if the weapons were more than simple office supplies. Decision made, Logan rewrapped his hand and then walked back to the hill to find another pinecone. Once he found one, he went through his usual process of burying the seed in the ground and then began his visualization. And visualized. And visualized some more. Logan opened his eyes. The skill had gotten so routine he only had to think about visualization and it deployed. This was decidedly not that. He knew [Life Cycle] had merged to create a new skill, but was it that different? Maybe it was like cross-country skiing when you were used to downhill. It might need a slight tweak. When he¡¯d deployed the [Life Cycle] skill he¡¯d thought of it in levels. Grow a sprout, level one. Grow a sapling, level two. [Life Cycle Master] didn¡¯t have levels, just growth. Logan furrowed his brow as he studied the dirt covering the seed. He could still sense the seed, but like in the greenhouse, he could sense more. Surrounding him was a plethora of life and the potential for it. From the earthworms underneath his feet, to a line of rapidly scurrying ants that just missed his shoe, to the spider crawling through his hair. Logan shuddered and brushed it aside. It was level zero, but after the spider rat, he¡¯d had enough of creepy crawlers. Logan crossed his arms and backed up while he considered what to do. There was so much around him that it was challenging to focus, but wasn¡¯t that something he should be especially competent at? As a call center rep, he was expected to have conversations while a hundred other reps around him did the same¡ªsome staff were loud, some quiet, but the workplace was a buzz of noise. He¡¯d learned to focus on the person on the other end of the line to the exclusion of everything else. How could focusing on a seed be any more challenging than that? Filled with new resolve, Logan kneeled on the ground, faced the buried seed, and opened his mind. He had it. It was eager, ready to grow, wanting sunlight, water, and life. All he had to do was nudge it along. Logan gasped as he deployed the skill, the familiarity of growing a sprout slotting into his mind like a key into a lock. He¡¯d never lost it: it had been there all along. It just had a different flavor, a foreign feeling he needed to adjust to; it was as if the seed were both dormant and already alive, wanting help to start its life cycle, while at the same time, wanting to evolve. In front of him, a small sprout breached the earth, the stem climbing, base thickening. It grew at a rapid pace, way quicker than before. So quickly that he soon had to look up. When the sapling formed branches of leaves and had grown a good five feet, Logan stood up, swaying in place, instinctively knowing to pause the skill. His airways were clear, but when he opened his stat sheet, he could see that he was moments away from exhausting his Karma pool. Karma: 3/270. Logan had stopped the skill past the sprout and sapling levels, but he¡¯d received no confirmation of skill deployment, and no monetary reward. Yet when he reviewed the rest of his stats, his KarmaCoin total had gone up from five to fifteen. Wait, that meant this tree had only given him ten KarmaCoin. [Life Cycle] had given him sixty for the same effort! What a rip off. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. [Life Cycle Master] gave him less money and yet cost more Karma to deploy. Doing the math, Logan calculated that he would need to raise an additional 425 KarmaCoin to account for the cost of the paper clip plus the ten percent processing fee. If deploying the skill on a pine tree seed only gave him ten points each, he¡¯d need to grow forty-three saplings! At that rate, he¡¯d be here for a week! If nothing else, he could save enough for the length of rope which would cut the requirements in half. Twenty-one trees? A ton, but manageable in a morning. Still, he wasn¡¯t excited about rope. What was he going to do, lasso the fish? There was one other thing he could try. Logan waited for his Karma pool to regenerate, each minute feeling like an age. When he finally had another 270 Karma ready to go, Logan re-launched [Life Cycle Master]. The skill still had that strange flavor of wanting to grow and at the same time evolve, but he disregarded it, scrunched his nose, and pushed. He focused on the trunk, thickening the bark, growing more and more rings¡ªgrowth that would take years in a normal tree life cycle. The tree wanted him to form a large hollow in its trunk, so he etched it with his mind, shaping it like a bucket, smoothing the edges, that feeling of evolution getting stronger. Elation surged through him as the skill progressed, as effortless as breathing. What Logan wanted, he only needed to push, and he could achieve it. And why stop here? Logan would truly own the name of his skill and become a [Life Cycle Master]. Next were the branches; he urged them to reach for the sky, pine-needles growing, multiplying. And underneath his feet, he sent the roots into the ground, expanding them in a multi-layered network. The pine tree was no longer a sapling; it was a mature tree and Logan wanted more. He¡ª Choked to death! Gasping, Logan clawed at his neck, trying to get air. In his excitement, he¡¯d forgotten to monitor his Karma pool. [Drawing on a skill with insufficient Karma can cause paralysis and eventual death. This is the third time we¡¯ve told you this. Would you like to change your name to Super Idiot?] ¡°Fuck off!¡± gasped Logan. He got the sense he¡¯d offended the System, but he could care less. Talk about pummelling a man when he was down. Logan leaned against the new tree trunk as he gasped for air, clearing his throat, hacking and spitting as his Karma pool recovered. The bark felt rough against his back, his neck itching. At first, he thought it was the side effects of almost choking to death, but then he realized that the itch persisted even when he could breathe again. He¡¯d never had an allergic reaction in his life, but this itched like nothing else. He felt as if something were crawling on his skin. Still gasping, Logan scratched the back of his head, feeling¡ªshit! Something had just crawled over his hand. More spiders? Logan pushed away from the tree trunk and turned to the face the pine tree. It towered over him, easily twice his height, its trunk thick like a fire hydrant. At eye-level, he could look directly into the hollow he¡¯d formed, sculpted like something out of a fairytale. It appeared dark inside and as wide as a basketball. And deep, as if the hollow filled the whole lower trunk. And inside the darkness¡­ Logan blinked. He could have sworn he¡¯d seen eyes flashing at him, like a black cat blinking in the night. No way. He¡¯d just grown this thing¡ªhow could something already dwell inside of it? His eyes were playing tricks on him. Logan was about to pull up his stat sheet, when he stopped, blinking again. He wasn¡¯t seeing things! Two eyes¡­ no, four, six, ten! They flashed at him from the dark hollow. Logan backed up slowly, reaching for his baseball bat. He¡¯d set it down when he¡¯d launched [Life Cycle Master]. As the fingers of his good hand wrapped around the handle, two insect-like legs popped out of the hallow, curling around the edges. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on whatever was inside. [Bark Ant: Level 1. An ant that has merged with a tree. Or is it a tree that has merged with an ant?] Logan couldn¡¯t believe it. He should have known something was off when he¡¯d felt two conflicting needs pulling at each other¡ªone wanting life, one wanting to evolve. In addition to growing the tree, he¡¯d managed to latch onto one of the ants crawling next to his shoe. And when he said evolve, he meant monster evolve. The ant must have merged with the tree, taking on its features. He''d created one freaky-looking ant. Oh well, it wasn¡¯t any threat to Logan. It was an ant; easy enough to kill. An ant¡­ that was the size of a mouse. The thing crept from the hollow, legs made of twigs; body covered in brown bark. In place of the ant¡¯s antennae, two thick pine needles wiggled around, sensing the air. Its mandibles looked like the ridges of pinecones, sharp on the edges and curved like a claw. The ant crawled down the tree trunk, twig-legs latching on like a spider. Logan took another step back. Nothing to worry about. It was only level one. Then another bark ant crept out of the hollow, this one the size of a rat. [Bark Ant: Level 2. An ant that has merged with a tree. Or is it a tree that has merged with an ant?] How was it level two already? He¡¯d just grown the thing! Still, it wasn¡¯t anything he couldn¡¯t handle. Logan raised his bat, getting ready to swing. And then the floodgates opened. Dozens of the buggers poured out of the hollow like wasps out of a nest. One after another, ant after ant. They jumped up and down in excitement with their twig-legs as they caught sight of him, crawling down the tree trunk in a production line. The first one jumped at him, leaping from the tree trunk and going for his head. Logan slammed his baseball bat into it with a smack. It went flying, but then it shook itself after it landed and rejoined the others. Another ant flew at him, going for his face. As Logan turned, darting out of the way with only a second to spare, the ant sprayed a sticky substance that splashed his forehead. It smelt like tree sap! It had been trying to blind him! Holy shit, more kept coming, dozens and dozens! The ones that hadn¡¯t jumped at him had made their way down the trunk and now they circled around him, surrounding him, trying to cordon him like regular-sized ants trying to overwhelm their prey. Level one and two would normally be no problem, but not when hundreds were attacking him! There was no retreat, they were all around him, and they made excited clacks as they crept up to his shoes. Shit shit shit. Logan kicked with his legs, wincing as he jarred his toe wound inside his shoe as he sent one flying. The ants were hard as rock, the bark acting as a layer of armour. And soon the one he¡¯d kicked had gotten to its feet with an excited clack, rejoining the others. The smaller ants latched onto his shoes, climbing up his bare legs with their sharp pinecone mandibles. Logan jumped in place, trying to kick them at the same time as shaking them loose. Holy fuck, after everything he¡¯d been through, he was about to be done in by his own monsters! Logan screamed as he swung his bat, trying to clear a path to escape, but it was like trying to advance through an army. He inched forward, literally inched. As soon as he landed a hit, another one took is place, giving the one he¡¯d hit enough time to shake it off, getting to its feet with creaking twig-legs. No matter how many he hit, they got back up, ant after ant! Ants! Ants! What could kill an ant?! Wait. What could kill a tree? These things were made of bark and bark was vulnerable to fire. With a thought, Logan willed the can of hairspray he¡¯d stored for Lara¡¯s kids out of his spatial collar, and with another thought, removed a barbeque gas lighter he¡¯d planned to use for a campfire. Dropping his baseball bat to the ground, Logan held the can of hairspray with his good hand, his finger on the trigger, and then readied the gas lighter with his other. This would either work, or he¡¯d end up cooking himself. Chapter 32: The Bark Ant Barbeque There were two problems with using hairspray as a weapon. First, unlike on TV, hairspray flowed freely when the bottle was full, the nozzle on tight. But if the spray had already been used, or if the nozzle wasn¡¯t air-tight, liquid could drip down someone¡¯s hand at the same time it sprayed a mist of chemicals. Now, Logan wasn¡¯t one of those guys who spent an hour in front of a mirror styling their hair, but he¡¯d helped his nieces during Halloween with their makeup and hair. One time, Sawyer, his youngest niece, dressed up like a zombie and had him spike her hair with hairspray. A lot of hairspray. So, he had experience. A leaking bottle wasn¡¯t a big deal, but when you lit those chemicals on fire, you quickly had a hazard on your hands. And Logan meant literally¡ªthere was a hazard of fire on his hands. ¡°OH FUCK,¡± Logan shouted as his fingers burned. That was his good hand, too! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 10!] But there was no other solution. He couldn¡¯t drop the bottle or let the fire out. It was his only weapon. Grimacing in pain, Logan kept his finger on the nozzle, holding it down as a stream of fire flowed over the ants, the hissing sound of chemicals mixing with tree sap to create a soup of noxious fumes. Ding! [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] Logan fried each ant like roasting a bundle of twigs. As soon as he sprayed them with the hairspray, they lit up, tree sap acting like an accelerant. Not catching on that they were marching to their deaths, the bark ants kept charging at him even as he fried each one like ants in a fire-production line. Ding! [You have leveled up!] And they kept coming, pouring from the hollow, the amount streaming out impossible for the space. Soon, Logan realized that the whole tree was hollow, filled with nothing but ant after ant, hundreds of them. Worried that he¡¯d run out of hairspray, Logan angled his fire spray to cover ten in a row, roasting them alive. And they kept coming, more and more, unending. Ding! [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have leveled up!] Logan pushed away the feeling of euphoria, screaming, ¡°Fry, motherfuckers!¡± and then finally resorted to spraying the whole tree with fire as his hairspray can sputtered and died. Ants continued pouring out of the hollow, but the fire spread up the trunk as quickly as it fried the bark ants. Soon, the whole thing was on fire, pine needles sparking, an explosion of heat and fire engulfing the tree. System Ding! after System Ding! sounded in his mind as bark ants roasted alive inside the tree. [You have leveled up!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level Two Bark Ant!] [You have defeated a Level One Bark Ant!] [You have received the title, Mass Murderer! Just like a serial killer, you revel in mass killing, slaughtering over 100 beings in less than ten minutes. 20 bonus attribute points awarded! This achievement results in a 10% KarmaCoin penalty to all carbon-reduction activities. What, you thought there would be no consequences for lighting a tree on fire?] Finally, the fire sputtered and died, the insides of the empty tree trunk still smoking. Logan collapsed to the ground, gasping and disbelieving as ash fell around him. With the contamination of a few ants, his [Life Cycle Master] skill had created over a hundred monsters. No wonder he¡¯d depleted his whole Karma pool; no wonder the System rated the skill ¡®epic.¡¯ Holy shit, what could he do with this thing once he upgraded his Karma pool? He wasn¡¯t thrilled with the new title. In what world did an ant killer translate into a ¡®mass murderer¡¯? He was even less thrilled about the KarmaCoin reduction. That meant he¡¯d have to work ten percent harder for the same amount of money. At least the title had a reward. Extra attribute points could come in handy right now. Logan glanced down at his hand and winced. People shouldn¡¯t let him out in public. He had a missing toe, a missing finger, and scorched fingers on his other hand. Even with [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] reducing his pain by ten percent, the agony was immense. During the battle, he¡¯d leveled up three times. With the extra twenty points from the title, that meant he had thirty-five free attribute points. That amount seemed immense. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Logan pulled up his stat sheet and focused on his attributes: Intelligence: 45 Constitution: 26 Strength: 25 Agility: 17 Dexterity: 14 Endurance: 15 Perception: 17 Wisdom: 30 Luck: 35 He was tempted to throw all thirty-five points into his constitution to heal his burns in one go, but that was short-sighted. Strength, agility, endurance, and dexterity would keep naturally evolving each day if he continued his cheat exercises, so those were a lesser priority. Plus, he hadn¡¯t encountered anything lately that was stronger than him. That left his remaining physical stats: constitution and perception. For perception, he still cursed that he hadn¡¯t found a way to increase it with a daily cheat method. Logan made the changes. [Perception: 18] [Perception: +] [Perception: 20] Logan¡¯s eyes grew wide, his senses opening up like popping a balloon. He could hear farther, his senses becoming more acute. As far as constitution, even though he¡¯d decided against putting all of his free points into it, he could still make changes. Logan was a fan of tidy, even numbers, and the twenty-six rubbed him wrong, sticking out like a sore thumb. That decided it. [Constitution: 27] [Constitution: +] [Constitution: 30] He added four points to constitution, making it an even thirty. As soon as he confirmed the change, a surge of energy rushed through Logan, the vitamin shot of the upgrade making him feel as if he¡¯d had ten hours of sleep. The pain in his hand lessened to a dull ache, the burn not as severe. It was still there, but now he could move his fingers without feeling as if he¡¯d touched a hot poker. His next priority was increasing his Karma pool and Karma generation rate. Wisdom was at thirty points, which meant he generated thirty Karma a minute. He could make that an even forty instead. As for his Karma pool, each additional intelligence point converted to an additional six Karma points. If he added ten points to intelligence, he¡¯d upgrade his Karma pool from 270 to 330. [Wisdom: 31] [Wisdom: +] [Wisdom: 40] [Intelligence: 46] [Intelligence: +] [Intelligence: 55] That still left eight free attribute points. Logan started with his last lagging stat, raising dexterity to an even number: [Dexterity: 15] [Dexterity: +] [Dexterity: 20] With the two remaining free points, he threw them into endurance. Even though it was one of the stats he could upgrade daily with his cheat method, it was falling behind. Endurance wasn¡¯t a stat that should lag. [Endurance: 16] [Endurance: +] [Endurance: 17] Each upgrade made the world open up. He still hadn¡¯t gotten used to the feeling of euphoria that surged through him after each level increase. Throw in an upgrade to almost every stat, and he felt ready to take on the world. After so many changes, Logan felt the need to review his full stat sheet in detail: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 99,042 out of 7,219,812,913 Level: 13 Class: None Grade: F1 Species: Human Skills: Titles: XP Progress: 10,800/26,000 Karma: 330/330 Intelligence: 55 Constitution: 30 Strength: 25 Agility: 17 Dexterity: 20 Endurance: 17 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 40 Luck: 35 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 35 The first change he noticed was his ranking. It had gone up again, back into the five digits. Logan felt a rush of pride as he reviewed how far he¡¯d come. He¡¯d only gotten to level 13 through blood, sweat, and missing appendages. And there was no rest, not if he wanted to get to Lara. He needed to grow enough trees to raise enough for the length of rope, and this time, preferably without bark ants. Surprisingly, he must have earned KarmaCoin from the mutant tree, even after burning it to the ground. With 35 KarmaCoin, that meant he needed to raise an additional 185 KarmaCoin to afford the length of rope. Logan got to work. *** Logan had been super cautious to start, parsing out everything around him, even removing a few earthworms from the immediate area before he launched [Life Cycle Master]. The first tree took forever, but he finally had it. An immense tree. Of the tree variety. No contamination to be found. He¡¯d grown it so high that he had to crane his neck to see the top. Logan had done that. Him. But after growing over twenty trees, Logan¡¯s awe lost its lustre. There were only so many times he could stare at a towering tree and feel connected to earth before one tree began to blur into the other. As his latest tree creaked and rustled in its new home, he reviewed his KarmaCoin tally for hopefully the last time today. 230 KarmaCoin. Finally! That was enough to return to the tree fridge. Logan left his new forest behind as he navigated back to the shoreline. His family¡¯s cabin had always had sporadic trees around it, but now it was surrounded by over twenty immense pine trees. So large they could even be considered old growth. If only his grandfather could see the property now. Once Logan approached the willow, he slotted his hand into the lodestone and navigated to the weapons menu. [F GRADE WEAPON MENU: 1 length of rope: 200 KarmaCoin 1 paperclip: 400 KarmaCoin 1 ballpoint pen: 800 KarmaCoin 1 large fork: 1000 KarmaCoin *unlock further options at higher grades] With only 230 KarmaCoin, he had enough for the length of rope with ten coins to spare. For a minute, he debated not spending it until he¡¯d managed to raise more, but if he left, who knew when he¡¯d return to the tree fridge? It¡¯s not as if he could store the willow tree in¡­ In his spatial collar? Hold on! Logan glanced down at the collar around his throat. If it could store a supply room, why not a tree? Excited, Logan removed his palm from the lodestone and backed up until he had the full tree in view. Then like flipping a switch, he willed the tree into the collar. [Error! You cannot store Mythical beings inside spatial storage devices!] Ah, man. So much for that idea. Still, he¡¯d learned something new. He had no idea what a mythical being was, but it sure sounded good. This fridge of his was proving increasingly valuable. Logan returned to the lodestone and pulled up the menu again. "I¡¯d like to purchase the rope,¡± he said, staring up at the canopy of leaves. [Please confirm purchase of (1 length of rope) at a cost of 200 KarmaCoin plus a 10% processing fee.] [Yes.] [No.] Logan concentrated on the [Yes] in front of his eyes. Underneath his hand, the lodestone grew warm, light flashing like an x-ray as it scanned his palm, followed by a rush of cold. [¡­.Confirmed. Enjoy, Idiot.] Logan turned around and looked down at his feet. Just like the bean seeds, the tree had deposited his purchase on the ground. At first, he peered around, expecting something more. But no, the thing at his feet really was his purchase. It was a frayed, woollen length of rope, about six feet in length. Brown in color, it looked old, like something you¡¯d find in an archeological dig site. It looked like rope. Logan groaned in exasperation. Had all that work been for nothing? He wouldn¡¯t put it past the System to entice him with good shit just so he¡¯d work twice as hard for a crappy reward. He used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything. [A Cursed Length of Rope. C Grade. This rope¡¯s fibres secrete acid that eats organic flesh. It will bond to its wielder. Beware. It has a mind of its own.] Chapter 33: Cursed Length of Rope Logan didn¡¯t know what to make of it. The System had given him a cursed item, but at the same time, if he took the description at face value, it had a ton of offensive use. Still, the thing was useless if it ate his own flesh. Cautious, Logan inched forward, crouching and peering at the thing. It looked like a worthless length of rope: old, frayed. He was missing a finger on one hand and burns covered his other. If this fucker started eating his flesh, talk about cursed. Logan held his breath as he used the hand still wrapped in bandages to touch it. Nothing. It was only as his remaining fingers touched the rope, that a crackling noise like static electricity made him jerk back. He peered down at his fingers. Other than his missing index finger, they appeared unharmed. Still, crackling electricity wasn¡¯t normal. More cautious than ever, Logan touched it again as sweat beaded on his forehead. [Initiate bond with Cursed Length of Rope?] Logan¡¯s eyes widened. How could you ¡®bond¡¯ with a rope? Was the thing alive? But there was only one possible response. If he refused, he didn¡¯t know what would happen, but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be good. ¡°Yes. Initiate bond.¡± [Processing¡­.] [¡­.] [¡­.] [¡­] Gradually, a strange sensation drifted into his awareness, as if invisible fingers were grasping onto him, investigating him. Logan jumped back in alarm, but there was no retreating from this sensation. It was as if the invisible fingers were judging him and weighing him. Scene after scene passed through his mind, from his struggle to excel at hockey when he was a teenager, to his first cringe attempt at asking a girl on a date, to his awkward first kiss. A feeling of judgement and distaste came from the foreign entity as it focused on his first serious relationship, as if it deemed relationships beneath him and a waste of time. Then, it focused on the System initialization and the loss of his toe, to the fight with the stag, to the feelings of guilt he¡¯d experienced after Eleanor¡¯s death. It wasn¡¯t an immediate change, but as more apocalyptic events passed by like clips in a video, judgement and distaste turned to intrigue. The feelers paused on his realization that he was good at killing the hell out of shit, and then seemed to swell in glee. With a silent cackle, the invisible feelers retreated, and Logan was once again alone with his thoughts. Ding! [Bond initiated and accepted! You are now bonded with Cursed Length of Rope! As the rope¡¯s wielder, you will be immune to its secreting acid attack.] Logan stared. What the fuck. The rope didn¡¯t look any different. Still something he¡¯d find in a junk pile. But maybe that was part of its power? After all, if he were facing an enemy equipped with an old rope, he¡¯d be focused on the enemy rather than the rope. Its power could be its camouflage. But how could something the width of a finger have the power to rummage through his thoughts, and the ability to feel judgement? In a normal world, ropes didn¡¯t feel. It would be like his shoes becoming sentient shoe-creatures that judged how quickly he was walking or running. Logan picked up the rope, tentatively at first, and then more confidently as the static electricity didn¡¯t repeat and he felt nothing other than rough fibres. No more feelings, no foreign sensations. At first glance, it came across as something stuck in the dirt for centuries, something that wouldn¡¯t be flexible. It was the complete opposite. The rope was flexible, like a nylon rope. It was also light. He could hold it without any problems¡ªno hint of acid, nothing secreting. But how the heck could he test it? The description said it ate organic flesh¡ªwhat constituted organic in the System¡¯s eyes? Logan wasn¡¯t like Matt; he wasn¡¯t going to hurt a defenceless animal just to test this thing. Just the thought of a kitten squirming in agony as acid ate into its little body made his stomach lurch. Could he try it on a plant? For a second, he regretted killing all the bark ants. Logan paced, considering his options. He needed to test the rope before he entered a life-or-death situation. Using an untested weapon in a fight was an early way to the grave. That did it. The System might not classify a plant as organic, but there was no reason he couldn¡¯t try. Logan went past the property line of his grandfather¡¯s cabin¡ªhe didn¡¯t want acid in the groundwater. When he travelled far enough, he narrowed in on a small shrub, unkempt and wild, with a decent stem. Gripping the end of the rope with his unburned hand, Logan threw it at the bush in a looping motion as if he were trying to lasso it. And just like that, the rope transformed from inert fibres into a swishing thing with a life of its own! The other end of the rope flexed in the air, wiggling like a snake as it wrapped around the bush with a snap. Logan didn¡¯t know how, but he could sense the rope¡¯s emotions. It gave off a sense of glee, as if there were nothing more pleasing than being able to move. Swishing back and forth, it flexed around the bush, fibres leaking a sticky, syrup-like substance that hissed and steamed. It continued to sway, contracting around the stem even as its secretions ate into the material. Then with a snap, the stem broke, and the rope unwound with a feeling of smug satisfaction. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Wiggling in the air and snapping in place once more, it drooped, then became limp and lifeless in his hand. Logan stared. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d sense the thing¡¯s emotions, but it had come across as clear as his own thoughts. It had a hint of madness to its glee. Logan remembered the System¡¯s description: [Beware. It has a mind of its own.] Just great. He had a psychopathic rope as a weapon. Logan studied it, fingering the frayed fibres. It was back to a lifeless length of rope again; he couldn¡¯t sense any thoughts¡ªeither malevolent or gleeful. What was clear¡ªthe name of the rope was making him even more cautious. Cursed. For now, Logan decided to use it as a last resort and willed it into his spatial collar. He was worried the spatial collar wouldn¡¯t accept it, but it disappeared with no hints of resistance. Huh. It must not be ¡®alive¡¯ in a true sense. The System rated the Cursed Length of Rope as C Grade, which once again made no sense. If Logan had to rate all the items he¡¯d received from the tree fridge, the spatial collar had to top the list, yet it was rated S Grade. There was no logic to these ratings at all. Logan took his baseball bat out of the spatial collar, fondly running his good fingers over the handle. He¡¯d take the bat over the rope any day of the week. Experiment complete. The tree fridge was a gold mine. The items all appeared to be worthless shit, but they were anything but. Once Logan rescued Lara and the kids, he¡¯d have enough time to grow additional trees, make more money, and then he¡¯d buy everything. For now, he needed to make his final preparations before he left. And he meant preparations. Rowing to Hope¡¯s End would take a week at least, so he needed to be prepared. That meant storing a ton of beans inside his spatial collar and stocking up on things like bedding and portable camping gear. Logan swung the bat over his shoulder and began the walk back to Jack¡¯s, making sure to scan his surroundings. He¡¯d been lucky not to come across another snake or mutated stag, and in this world, he knew better than to not expect the worse. Something underneath his feet vibrated just as the top of the willow tree became visible. Logan stared down at his feet, confused. It felt like an earthquake, but there were no earthquakes in the Okanagan. His high perception picked up a percussion sound underground, followed by a rushing noise, like dirt falling down a cliff, and then the ground underneath his feet moved. Logan jumped to the side, just avoiding an explosion of sand and gravel, gaping as a straight line of dirt caved in, creating a shallow depression. The depression was behind him and in front of him as far as he could see, as if a pipe had caved in underground. Just as Logan looked towards his grandfather¡¯s property, a tremendous explosion rocked the side of the building. The entire right-side caved in, fire rushing out, dust, debris, and plaster discharging in the air. Holy shit! There was a reek of rotten eggs before the dust, debris and fire were sucked in, as if an immense vacuum cleaner had cranked up the power. Ding! [The pollution contributor: extracted natural gas supply, has been purged from planet Earth. Do not attempt to extract further natural gas.] [Good news, human! Due to the elimination of the pollution contributor: extracted natural gas supply, your ranking has increased.] [20,759,324 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [160,916,132 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [304,284,496 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [540,396,489 humans have been eliminated.] [Current rank: 95,391 out of 6,870,860,033] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] It was yet another System purge. For a minute, Logan was relieved to see it hadn¡¯t blown up all the trains. With cars, boats, and airplanes gone, that didn¡¯t leave much for transportation. That wasn¡¯t an issue in tightly packed areas, but the Okanagan was an isolated valley, geography-wise. There were 250 miles between Hope¡¯s End and Vancouver alone. Trains were their only lifeline. If they¡¯d gotten away with an elimination of the natural gas supply, that seemed tame in comparison. Blowing up a supply didn¡¯t seem too bad, until the System listed the casualty count. Over 500 million?! 500 million in a second! How was that possible? The only possibility was that the System hadn¡¯t just blown up the gas supply; it had eliminated everything that used it. Gas-powered furnaces and water tanks, fireplaces and barbecues¡ªhell, even stoves. The depression in the ground must have been the natural gas line. In the corner of the cabin, they had a hot water tank that ran on natural gas, but it was a small ass thing, always running out of hot water halfway through a shower. Holy crap, the corner of the building went from just that? The trickle-down effect of this must be massive. Lara. Oh hell, Lara! Logan franticly pulled his cell phone out of his spatial storage device. As soon as the phone connected with the cell tower, he jabbed her name so hard he might as well have put a hole in his screen. ¡°Logan?¡± The tension in his shoulders loosened as soon as he heard her voice. ¡°You¡¯re okay! Christ, that last System message gave me a heart attack. Are the kids okay too?¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine. After the last time we talked I turned off the gas to the whole property. Sawyer and Hunter don¡¯t like the lack of hot water, but a cold shower was better than a blown-up basement. What about Eleanor¡¯s property? Is she okay?¡± Right. He still hadn¡¯t told Lara about Eleanor. At this point, was there any reason to withhold it? Her death was just one amongst millions. Lara knew the reality of their situation. ¡°She¡­¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Eleanor didn¡¯t make it, Lars.¡± Silence. Then Lara sighed. ¡°Was it the cat? Buttercup?¡± ¡°No. She loved that cat. At least she was spared that.¡± ¡°Jesus. Jack must be devastated. He¡¯s an odd man. Sometimes I thought it was Eleanor who kept him in line. Kept him sane.¡± Logan ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. Thinking about Eleanor caused an ache to swell deep in his chest. Held-back trauma from her death was going to bite him in the ass one of these days. ¡°Regardless, Eleanor¡¯s property is full-on solar. All renewables. Sorry to say, though¡­ Grandpa¡¯s cabin has a hole in the side of it.¡± A pause. ¡°Turn on the news, Logan. This might be the last time we have power. There could be rolling black outs everywhere. Natural gas power plants were popular.¡± A hydro electricity dam powered Hope¡¯s End, but that didn¡¯t mean other areas wouldn¡¯t be impacted. Lara was right. ¡°This could get worse, and fast. We could lose cell service.¡± ¡°Are you coming to get us?¡± For the first time, the stress of the situation was clear to hear in Lara¡¯s voice. ¡°I¡¯m coming. Leaving today. Provided I find a canoe or a boat without a motor, I think I can get to Hope¡¯s End in a week. To be safe, let¡¯s say eight days. I¡¯ll meet you at the dock downtown¡ª¡° ¡°No, it¡¯s not safe. Too many people.¡± Logan started pacing in a circle. Lara sounded stressed. Way too stressed. ¡°Then where?¡± ¡°Leave the boat at Richton¡¯s Tomb, hide it, cover it with leaves, tree limbs, whatever works, and then make your way to us on foot.¡± Richton¡¯s Tomb was the local name for a grave site next to a public beach about thirty minutes away from the downtown harbour. You could only reach the beach through a long, winding dirt path that took thirty minutes by foot. ¡°¡­hide the boat?¡± ¡°People will steal it otherwise! Logan, it¡¯s bad here. Really bad. If we lose power, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ll be coming into.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re safe?¡± he insisted, his voice tense. ¡°We¡¯re safe. But haul ass, little brother.¡± Chapter 34: Haul Ass When Logan grew closer to Jack¡¯s, he again came across Matt who was grinning as he scanned his surroundings, holding the spear gun out like a bow at the pine trees around him. As Logan approached, he swivelled, pointing the gun directly at Logan¡¯s chest. Logan raised his hands, letting his bat dangle loosely. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you,¡± said Matt with a dissatisfied tone as he lowered the gun. He was still wearing the same resort uniform shirt from yesterday. It had a tear in the collar and a smear of blood on the left sleeve. Logan swung his bat back over his shoulder. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± ¡°They¡¯re inside watching the news. I left when that chick with the hoodie started crying. They need to toughen up if they¡¯re going to survive.¡± In a way, Logan was glad Matt was alone. It made it easier to lie. ¡°I hear you. Hey man, I¡¯m about to head out to the lake and try my hand at fishing. Remember I have that skill that lets me breathe underwater? Can I try your spear gun and see if I can catch supper?¡± Matt¡¯s mouth flattened. ¡°You can come with me, but you¡¯ll have to swim underwater. Can you do that?¡± His frown became more pronounced. He hesitated, his hand tightening on the handle of the spear gun. ¡°You¡¯ll give it back after?¡± ¡°Sure. Of course. It¡¯s your weapon. I¡¯ll just be borrowing it for the day.¡± Matt handed it over with a scowl. ¡°One day only.¡± Logan let out a silent breath in relief. If Matt had refused, it would have gone in a direction Logan wanted to avoid. After all, this was speculation. For all he knew, Matt could just be a teenager going through an apocalypse and acting out because of it. Male teenagers Matt¡¯s age were terrors even without the mutated monsters, undead minions, and deaths. Still, Logan didn¡¯t want to take that chance. He wouldn¡¯t be around to prevent Matt from going off the rails, so at least he could take his weapon. Whether he got up to no good while Logan was away was out of his control. He could only hope for the best. ¡°You know it. And hey, if you wanted to try fishing the traditional way, there¡¯s a fishing rod in the supply room. It used to be my grandpa¡¯s. I¡¯m no good at it, but you look like you¡¯d have a steady hand.¡± Matt¡¯s scowl deepened. *** Logan didn¡¯t like lying to anyone, but if a small lie prevented needless murder, then he figured he was in the moral right. By taking the spear gun, he¡¯d achieved two goals. It would give him the chance to try fishing underwater on the trip, and he¡¯d also removed it from Matt¡¯s budding serial-killer hands. Logan found the rest of the group in front of the TV in the living room. Just like Matt said, there was a palpable tension to the room. The girl with the hoodie was rocking back and forth on the armchair, tears pouring down her face. Tasha was scowling, her hands on her hips as she stood facing the TV. The others had blank faces as they watched the news broadcast, a chyron stating MILLIONS DEAD AS A RESULT OF THE LATEST SYSTEM PURGE. The microwave beeped from the kitchen and Logan swore he could smell popcorn. He must be hungrier than he thought. That¡¯s what living on tomatoes and green beans did to you. ¡°You¡¯re back! Good,¡± said Jack as he strode into the room, hands clutching a huge bowl. Logan¡¯s nose hadn¡¯t been playing tricks on him. That was popcorn. ¡°Look what I found! It was at the back of mom¡¯s kitchen cupboard.¡± Jack lowered his voice. ¡°We still have two packages left, but don¡¯t tell anyone. I¡¯m keeping it for special occasions.¡± He plopped the bowl down on the coffee table and addressed the group. ¡°We should enjoy ourselves while watching the civilized world come to an end, no?¡± Once people were in Jack¡¯s immediate sphere, he seemed to at least care¡ªcare in whatever emotional capacity he had left after the death of his family. Rather than acting with apathy, Jack¡¯s emotions had seemed to take a swing to sarcasm and defeatism. Logan would take it. As long as Jack protected everyone, off color jokes were the least of his worries. Tasha rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s morbid.¡± Jack shrugged. ¡°The world is morbid.¡± Tasha reached for a handful of popcorn. Sammy followed, his sleeve raising to expose his arm tattoo as he scooped up a fistful, but the others were too focused on the TV, expressions numb. The wealthy elderly lady shot the popcorn a look of distaste, but Logan suspected it wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t hungry; she was displeased they were eating it in the first place. ¡°How bad is it?¡± Logan gestured to the TV. Jack swallowed a mouthful of popcorn. ¡°As bad as you can expect with those crazy buggers at the helm. Whoever that is. See, I figure it has to be more than one, right? The System can¡¯t just be one person¡ªwho has that much power?¡± Sammy finished stuffing his face with popcorn, then returned to holding Sam¡¯s hand. She was watching the TV with wide eyes and didn¡¯t seem aware of anything happening around her. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Jack took another helping. ¡°They¡¯re surprised there aren¡¯t more casualties,¡± he said, after swallowing. ¡°When the large underground natural gas lines went, buildings caved in. Earthquakes on top of explosions.¡± ¡°We¡¯re doomed,¡± said the wealthy lady glumly. ¡°We¡¯ll never get back home now.¡± That¡¯s right, they were tourists. Stranded, far away from home? Logan didn¡¯t blame her for being upset. Tasha pulled out her phone and then scowled at it. ¡°I wish the internet would work. How can both the Wi-Fi and data be down at the same time?¡± Logan¡¯s eyes kept drifting to the popcorn. He finally gave in, taking a handful. Fuck, that was good. Salty and buttery, everything he¡¯d missed. All he needed was a cold beer to wash it down. Still, he was cognizant that the combination of morbidity and feasting was absurd. How was this his life? Eating popcorn while watching a newscast about the murder of millions. Millions. At the same time, he wasn¡¯t going to not partake. If he did refrain, when could he start? They had a year of struggle left; a year of fighting monsters, fighting people. And at the end of all of that, there was no guarantee he¡¯d survive. Hell yes he was having popcorn. A handful of popcorn was the least of his worries. ¡°If it starts working, take advantage while you can,¡± said Logan. ¡°We might have trouble with calls soon. This area doesn¡¯t have natural gas power plants, but they¡¯re big in the US. Even if we still have power here, who¡¯s to say what the System takes out tomorrow?¡± The girl in the hoodie made a wounded noise and huddled further into the chair. Logan cleared his throat and tried to get everyone¡¯s attention. Although he wanted to finish the whole bowl of popcorn, he needed to get moving. Plus, he wasn¡¯t that selfish. ¡°I need to tell everyone something.¡± Jack and Tasha¡¯s attention gradually went from the TV to Logan, the others glancing at him with blank faces. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to leave.¡± Those blank faces were suddenly full of alarm. ¡°What?¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t leave!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only thing keeping the monsters away!¡± They all spoke at once. Logan gave them a gentle smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be back. By now, I think everyone knows I have a sister and two nieces in Hope¡¯s End. They need me. I¡¯m going after them. I¡¯ll take a boat, paddle down. It¡¯ll take a week to get there, a week to get back. Two weeks in total. Jack and Tasha can hold down the fort until I return.¡± Tasha gave him a worried frown. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go on your own. You need someone to watch your back.¡± Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a smile. ¡°Tasha, use [Identify] on me.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re stronger than me.¡± ¡°Still, give me a scan.¡± Tasha scowled but then got a focused look, her eyes looking far away as if she were reading something to the side. It took a second, but then she gasped in outrage. ¡°Level 13! How did you advance three levels in a morning? Jerk!¡± The others murmured amongst themselves, giving him wide-eyed looks. Now Logan felt awkward. ¡°It kind of just happened,¡± he said, scratching his neck and avoiding everyone¡¯s eyes. He gave Tasha a sheepish glance. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m ten levels higher than you. I appreciate the thought, but I¡¯d be looking after you, not the other way around.¡± Logan gave everyone what he hoped was a reassuring smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be back before you know it. Trust in Jack, trust in Tasha. The beans in the greenhouse will keep growing; you¡¯ll have lots of food. I¡¯ll be fishing on the way back, so I might even return with a feast.¡± Logan nodded to Jack and Tasha, gesturing them to the side. When they were out of earshot of the others, he murmured, ¡°I took the spear gun from Matt. He thinks I only took it for the day. He won¡¯t be happy when he returns and I¡¯m gone. Watch him. Watch him with your life.¡± *** Logan spent a few more minutes stuffing everything he could think of into his spatial collar, including essentials like a razor. He didn¡¯t want to meet Lara and the kids looking like a mountain man wearing kitten-patterned swim trunks. Taking one last look at Jack¡¯s property, he left, travelling on the shoreline, hoping to get lucky at the next neighbor¡¯s property. That was a big if. Logan¡¯s cabin had been the black sheep of the area. Everyone else who owned property here was wealthy, speedboat wealthy. He was hoping for property owners who had recreational canoes or motor-less boats. That left the other problem. What if there were people in these properties? They might not take kindly to the theft of a boat, even if he was technically borrowing it. It took about ten minutes, but Logan finally came across the next property. He didn¡¯t recall meeting these neighbors. They had a large black chain-linked fence dividing it from Jack¡¯s, a professional looking PRIVATE PROPERTY sign out front on top of a fancy gate. It was locked, and at first Logan was stumped on how to get across, but then he remembered that the normal laws of physics no longer applied. His agility attribute was at 17. Logan used the hand with the still tingling burns to brace himself, then jumped, lifting himself over the gate. Grinning, he gave the fence one last look and then moved further into the property. Talk about upper class. Over an acre of manicured grass, exotic looking plants, a limestone fountain¡ªwho were these people? Their monthly water-bill in this 100-degree weather must be more than his rent. There were multiple buildings, all built in the Spanish style¡ªclay barrel tile roofs. Logan didn¡¯t see any signs of the occupants¡ªthe curtains were closed, and even though it was daylight, he should still be able to see light. Unless they didn¡¯t have electricity, or the System had damaged the building with the latest purge. He kept a wary eye on the windows and then approached the beach, scanning the dock for any anchored boats. Nothing. They did have a supply shed next to the beach though; a large, narrow structure with the same clay barrel tile roof. Logan tried the door, but it was locked. However, it wasn¡¯t a padlock, only a flimsy shed door. With his increased strength, he should be able to just tug it open and break the lock. Logan forced it open, and he was met with a damp, chlorine-like smell as if they stored pool equipment inside the building. Shelves held inflated tubes and chairs, pool noodles, even scuba masks. And on the floor of the building, right in the center, was a canoe, two kayaks stacked on either side of it. Jackpot! Damn, that was easier than he thought. Logan had assumed he¡¯d be looking for a boat for the entire day if he found anything at all. With this discovery, he could start paddling to Hope¡¯s End right away; maybe even get there in six days rather than seven. Too bad he couldn¡¯t take both the canoe and the kayaks for back up, but¡­ Wait a minute. Logan was still thinking like pre-System Logan. He had an unlimited storage device around his neck. Why couldn¡¯t he take them all? That way, if one sprung a leak, or if the girls preferred to paddle in their own boat, he¡¯d be ready. The shed even had a scuba mask, which made trying his [Deepwater Idiot] skill more appealing. Logan willed the two kayaks into his spatial collar, then grabbed lifejackets, extra paddles, the scuba mask, and hell¡ªeven a few inflatable noodles for the kids. Dragging the canoe out of the shed and onto the water was nothing against his strength attribute, and he soon had a boat ready to go. It was a large canoe, but it would be tight with four people. Logan rested his baseball bat on one of the seats and got ready to get into the canoe, swinging one leg over¡ª A shotgun cocked behind him. Chapter 35: Killers Two men in army fatigues and leather combat boots stood behind him. One was tall and bulky, with meaty biceps and a small gut, grey speckling his short hair. The other man was younger, just as tall but slender. Both men had long noses and narrow cheekbones. They resembled each other; either they were father and son or related. The older man pointed a shotgun at Logan, while the other held a handgun. Logan should have known that stealing would come back to bite him. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going with that canoe, son?¡± said the older man, his voice gravely like a smoker. There was two ways Logan could handle this. The first? Pretend he was still in a civilized, reasonable world and expect they¡¯d understand once he explained himself. The second? Run and paddle like hell. Logan was going with the first; after all, he wasn¡¯t bullet proof. Logan gave them an apologetic smile. ¡°Apologies. I didn¡¯t think anyone was home or I would have announced myself. I¡¯m Logan. I¡¯m not here to make any trouble, I¡¯m just trying to find a way to get to Hope¡¯s End. Since the System eliminated all the speedboats, I figured paddling was the next best thing.¡± The man frowned and shot a look at his companion. ¡°Well, Logan, I can¡¯t say it¡¯s nice to meet you. You¡¯re right; you should have introduced yourself. That¡¯s our property you¡¯re making off with. We¡¯re not happy about that. We don¡¯t take kindly to stealing. Have to defend what¡¯s ours, especially now.¡± Logan held up his hands. ¡°I get it. I¡¯d feel the same way. Again, I apologize. How about a trade instead?¡± The man scanned him from head to toe, eyes drifting to the canoe and lingering on Logan¡¯s baseball bat. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like you have much to trade.¡± Shit. Logan had intended to give them a bucket full of green beans. After all, food had to be the scarcest resource, but how could he take it out of his spatial collar without them noticing? There was only so many times he could say he had a ¡®skill¡¯ before someone looked at his neck and put two and two together. Logan needed to do everything he could to ensure his collar remained hidden. Right now, it was the most valuable item he owned. The younger man sidled up to what had to be his father and whispered in a voice that Logan could still clearly pick up with his high perception stat. ¡°Dad, he¡¯s level 13!¡± ¡°Really now,¡± the man drawled. His face took on a blankness Logan didn¡¯t like. ¡°Sorry about this, son.¡± He pointed his shotgun at Logan¡¯s chest. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re interested in a trade after all, but it¡¯s not the kind you¡¯ll like.¡± Oh fuck. Logan didn¡¯t have time to process or even think of fighting back. The man¡¯s hand pressed the trigger just as Logan jumped to the side, diving with all the agility he had to bear. Logan tore through the water with large strokes of his arms, kicking with all his might as bullets crisscrossed through the water around him. The men continued shooting into the water and shouting. Pain tore through his calf, the shotgun peppering him as he kicked one last time before the water engulfed him. Logan didn¡¯t stop there. He swam as deep as he could until a fjord drop replaced the shallow water and he plummeted into the depths. Surprisingly, he continued to swim but he still hadn¡¯t felt the need to take a breath. Logan stopped swimming for a second, his legs pausing mid water. Something blinked at him: pale, wide eyes in the darkness. He gasped, small air bubbles rising to the surface as he froze. The water was blue, but he was so deep that it was difficult to see. Was it a fish? There was a movement out of his sight line, something that looked like the flash of a tentacle with round suction cups. Hell no. Shit, it wasn¡¯t just gunfire he needed to escape! Logan swam like the lake was on fire, trying to get away from whatever that had been, travelling for what felt like half a mile before he pushed towards the surface. He was still deep in the water¡ªso deep it was milky and difficult to see¡ªwhen his lungs seized, an overwhelming need for air overtaking his body. Logan franticly tried to push harder for the surface, struggling, struggling¡ªhe needed air he needed air he needed air. [Deepwater Idiot is Level 2!] Just like that, it was as if a breath of fresh air had been injected into his lungs, and he could breathe even though he was impossibly deep underwater. [Deepwater Idiot] was turning into a life saver. Logan still didn¡¯t want to take any chances. He continued to kick as he reached for the surface. He tried to be as soundless as possible as he breached the surface, like an otter cautiously bobbing its head as it searched for a predator. He wasn¡¯t that far from the shore, but he¡¯d moved down the property line. Far away, he could make out the two men. They were cursing and searching the water around the canoe. But it looked as if they had no idea he¡¯d managed to swim so far. The skinny one reached inside the canoe, pulling out Logan¡¯s baseball bat and hefting it with a scowl. Oh shit. They had his weapon. Those buggers. He was out a weapon, out a canoe, and he had a pretty massive wound on his leg that was gushing blood. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They¡¯d tried to kill him for the XP. The murders had spread, this time way too close to home. If Jack and the others encountered those men, who knew what they¡¯d do. Logan swam farther away, trying to be as soundless as possible. When he was far enough that even Logan was having difficulties seeing the men, he swam towards the shore and stumbled out of the lake. There was a piece of discarded drift-wood rotting on the beach, and he slumped on top of it, gasping and trying to catch his breath. The wound on his leg was a persistent, throbbing pain, but compared to chopping off his own finger, it was practically a scratch. Hopefully he didn¡¯t have any bullet fragments inside the wound¡ªhe wasn¡¯t sure whether his constitution would heal over it, or whether it would eventually push it out like a sliver underneath a nail. Logan willed his cell phone out of his spatial collar, pulling up his text messages. He¡¯d added Tasha¡¯s contact information to a group chat with Jack before he left. Logan: Avoid the next-door neighbors, two men in army fatigues. They tried to kill me for XP. Tasha: Are you okay?!! Logan: I¡¯m fine. Just be careful. You both might want to set up a watch. If they approach acting friendly, don¡¯t trust them. Tasha: Aargh, this is killing me. You¡¯re getting all the action. Jack: Which neighbors? The ones in the gated property? Logan: Yes. Tiled roof. Jack: ¡­. Tasha: Jack took his shotgun outside. He looks scary. Logan looked in the direction of Jack¡¯s property, alarmed. Jack was no match for those two, especially if they both had guns. Logan: Tell him to stay away! Then, Jack finally responded. Jack: The next-door neighbors are an elderly couple in their 80s. One is in a wheelchair. They have no family. Tasha: Then who are those men?? *** Logan had been considering cutting his losses and leaving. He¡¯d still managed to store two kayaks in his spatial collar which would make it easier to find a larger boat down the shoreline. That was before he¡¯d learned the two men weren¡¯t even property owners and had done who knows what to the former owners. He couldn¡¯t leave those two on the backdoor of Jack¡¯s property. Forget Matt; this threat was real. Plus, retreating was something he¡¯d do before the System arrived. After everything he¡¯d been through, he wasn¡¯t the same man. Logan had fled when he¡¯d realized people holding guns wanted to kill him, but he¡¯d never gotten a chance to see the men¡¯s levels. He was still no match for a gun at point blank range, but if he managed to surprise them when they weren¡¯t holding weapons, he might have a chance. Logan pulled out a handful of green beans and chewed on them in violent distaste, taking out his anger on the only thing within reach. Hesitating, he weighed his options. If he were going to take on those men and win, he needed something other than his bare hands. An element of surprise would only get him so far before he¡¯d be riddled with bullets, so many bullets that his constitution stat might struggle to keep up. There was only one option. Logan took out the Cursed Length of Rope and ran the fingers of his good hand over the fibres. They were still rough, but the rope was solid, and it had a weight to it that felt unnatural. That did it. The rope was untried in battle, but he had limited options. Logan had swum so far that he¡¯d passed the property boundary. He had to go through another black fence, this time on the other side. The gate looked odd. It was closed, but the lock had been wrenched open, deep scratches and gouges on the gate frame. They must have forced their way in through this end of the property. Logan swung the gate open, trying to keep the hinge creaks to a minimum. He was still far away from the dock and from where he¡¯d last seen the men, but he stayed low, hiding in bushes and behind pine trees as he inched closer. When he got closer to the dock, the men were no longer there. The doors of the shed were wide open, and they¡¯d left the canoe half in the water, half on the beach. That showed that the canoe had been an excuse. They¡¯d wanted to kill him all along. Logan inched around the property, sticking to the edges, holding the length of rope in his unburned hand. Still no sign of them. The curtains in the main building were shut, no way for him to peer inside. He circled around, approaching from the street side. In a normal world, a home invader would want to avoid the street side, but they were no longer in a normal world. Without gas powered cars, they might not think there was a risk of discovery. Rather, people would be coming like Logan had¡ªfrom the waterfront. He had been right. The curtains were open. Logan crouched underneath the window next to the front door and peered inside. The window had a direct view of the living room, decorated with red Spanish tiles, an immense stone fireplace, and two large couches. He could look down a hallway that led to a kitchen. Logan could only see part of the kitchen, but it looked as if the lights were on above the stainless-steel stove. No sign of the men. Logan doubted this would work, but before he forced his way in, he went up the wheelchair accessible wooden ramp, trying to keep his footsteps light as he tried the front door. It was unlocked. Brazen fuckers. He turned the knob slowly, creeping the door open inch by inch. As he stepped inside the building, a stale stench overwhelmed his senses, like garbage left to rot. ¡°We could hang a sign up on the dock,¡± said a male voice from the kitchen. ¡°How about, ¡®we have food. All welcome.¡¯¡± Logan froze. ¡°That¡¯ll mean we¡¯ll get everyone. I¡¯m fine with killing geriatrics, but what if people come with kids?¡± The other man had the same rough voice from the dock. It had to be the father. ¡°So we kill the parents and send the kids on their way.¡± The other man snorted, his voice incredulous. ¡°What, in a ¡®send Moses in the basket down the Nile scenario¡¯? We might as well be sending them to their deaths. I can tolerate a lot to get strong, but I draw the line at kids.¡± ¡°But I need more XP. I¡¯m just on the cusp of reaching level 8.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a better idea. Look at this.¡± There was a rustling sound, like paper, and then a hard thud against the kitchen counter. ¡°Well now,¡± drawled the other man. ¡°You think ¡®Eleanor¡¯ is another senior? Weak pickings?¡± ¡°Could be. Let¡¯s check it out. But get rid of those bodies before we go. This place is starting to reek, and I don¡¯t want to come back to flies.¡± ¡°They can wait a day.¡± The man¡¯s voice hardened. ¡°Get rid of them.¡± A ball of tension tightened in Logan¡¯s gut as he bounced on the balls of his feet, clutching the rope in a white knuckled hand. He could wait until they left and were headed to Jack¡¯s before he approached them, but then they¡¯d both be armed and wary. This may be the only chance he¡¯d get. Unaware of Logan¡¯s presence, distracted. Logan waited until the younger man had left the kitchen, a large thud and bangs coming from the opposite side of the house. He could hear the patio door sliding open, and a slight breeze and welcome fresh air reached Logan as the man dragged something large outside. There was only one thing it could be. Logan¡¯s stomach sank and resolve surged through him as he approached the kitchen, creeping forward. The older man¡¯s back was facing Logan, his attention on something in his hands. It was now or never. Interlude: The Murderous Octopus The octopus was a savage hunter. Agile and quick on its tentacles, able to target its prey and latch on with killing precision. It prided itself on its kill rate; all who tried to escape, eventually became victims to its superior tentacle attack! Already, it had grown, grown from a sprite of an embryo, ballooned in size, gobbling up tasty treats, one after another. Now, it was the size of a rock, an immense, immense rock! Plus, with its agile tentacles, it could quadruple its size, look intimidating to other predators and scare them away. Those pesty sharks were nothing to its¡ª Dammit! Another one! The octopus darted away, fleeing from the lunging bottom shark with huge surges of its tentacles, spraying black ink all the way, covering its retreat and confusing the thing. After all, it was dumb as a brick and the octopus was a genius hunter. It would triumph! It was no match against such pathetic weaklings! Just¡­ on another day. The octopus still remembered the last time one of those buggers chomped off the end of one of its tentacles. It had to bury in a cave and hibernate for a week until the limb regrew. But no matter, it was soon whole. A perfect, savage killer. The octopus rivalled all! It ducked behind an overhanging coral formation, burying deep into the sediment, taking on the colors around it. It was a rock! Nothing to see, here! And then, it waited. Like a cunning, springing predator, lying in wait for its prey. And also escaping sharks. After waiting eons, the octopus peeked, opening its eyelids a slit. Blue water, darting small tropical fish, and seaweed swinging in the current. Nothing. It had outsmarted it once again! It rivaled all! *** This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The System Integration came on a day like any other, a day in which the octopus was once again triumphing and rivaling everything around it. It only made sense when it comprehended the all-knowing being¡¯s message! Of course it was a Murderous Octopus, it had known it all along! Now, when it killed prey, it not only received a tasty treat, it received bonuses and rewards! Numbers, numbers that went up! It was such an exciting revelation that it kicked up its natural hunt, savaging everything around it. Instead of killing a bucket full of fish, it killed a cauldron. Instead of targeting only tasty treats, it searched out others in the water, others just like it, who made the numbers go up. And the numbers went up very quickly. Gradually, an awareness seeped into the Murderous Octopus¡¯ consciousness, an expanding of its comprehension. It had always been a genius, but now, that intelligence took on a different complexity. The numbers were exciting, but if it focused on upgrading one specific attribute¡ªstrength¡ªit could target even bigger prey, turning the sharks, those buggers, into fuel for its endless slaughter! Level after level, upgrade after upgrade! Cackling underwater, it spung in a circle, tentacles darting back and forth, dancing a celebratory savage dance! The octopus rivalled all. And then, a day came when it came across items. Curious items. They were both above and below. Mechanic in nature, with precision-like holes and fine-tuned metal. And below, soaked and soggy, but still clear, it found tomes of things, mysterious things. The Murderous Octopus didn¡¯t like not knowing. After all, if it rivaled all, it should know what these items were. What if they were a threat! A sneaky, paper threat! It knew what to do. While strength was smart, lately, it was rare to find prey who could fight back; it rivalled all. Instead, the octopus put the level rewards somewhere else. Intelligence. As each upgrade surged through it, that original growing awareness expanded. Now, those curious items were not just a mystery, but an affront. How dare they challenge him! Him¡­. Him. Yes yes yes. He was not an ¡®it,¡¯ he was a ¡®him.¡¯ Of course. He had already been a him; why had he ever thought anything else. The octopus was a person, with feelings, desires, and goals. An individual, distinct from his other brethren. And just like that, as he threw another hundred points into intelligence, the world opened up. Those items had words. And the octopus could read them! How dare they try to hide their vast tome of knowledge from him. Knowledge about¡­ The Wellhead Structural and Pressure Containing Interface. Yes yes yes. So exciting. So boring. But there were other volumes! Other texts full of hidden, secret knowledge. The octopus would read them all! And some had pictures! He particularly liked one manual that had a main character who was named Ernie. Ernie, a savage killer, much like the Murderous Octopus. Ernie. That was a nice name. Chapter 36: Sociopathic Rope There was a difference between learning that people were killing other people from the news and encountering it in reality. Plus, who kills seniors? Or someone in a wheelchair? Defenceless people, who would have died in less than a year when the System went though with its purge anyway. You had to deserve a special place in hell for that. Just thinking about those poor seniors who had probably pled for their lives had him ramped up the more he thought about it. And even worse, if Eleanor were still alive, she¡¯d be in their crosshairs. Sweet old Eleanor, who never hurt a fly. Logan gritted his teeth, the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears as righteous fury swept over him in a wave. They had to pay. Logan would make them pay. Logan had overheard the younger man say he¡¯d almost reached level 8, which meant he was level 7 against Logan¡¯s level 13. He liked those odds. Still, that didn¡¯t account for the other man who was either the leader because of his age, or because he was a higher level. Once the man was in sight, Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Keith Rodway: Level 15. A human being.] Logan¡¯s eyes widened. He was higher leveled than Logan and he had a gun. A higher level already made this difficult; throw in a gun, and he might be out of Logan¡¯s league. There was no question of retreat though since that surely meant that Jack and the others would be in jeopardy. But there was only one way that Keith had advanced so high, and Logan was certain it hadn¡¯t been through monster-killing. Those fuckers must have killed innocent people all down the shoreline. His rage was white-hot, his eyes hardening as he looped the rope around his hand. He positioned the rope in a throwing position, adrenaline surging as he approached. A floorboard underneath his feet creaked. ¡°Did you finish already?¡± Keith asked, turning around. When he got sight of Logan, there was no noticeable change in his expression other than a tightening around the eyes. He was wearing the same army fatigues, dark stains that Logan suspected was blood decorating the collar. On the marble countertop, there was a notepad, the kind that had a magnet on the back which stuck to a fridge. Someone had scrawled in shaky handwriting, Next door neighbor: Eleanor, with a phone number listed underneath her name. Next to it was a discarded handgun. Leaning against the wall on the other side, was the shotgun, and right next to that was his baseball bat. Logan let out a breath of relief at the sight. ¡°Well now. I can¡¯t say I was expecting this,¡± said Keith, eyeing the distance between Logan and his weapon on the counter. ¡°You have brass balls to come back, son. Quite the balls indeed. Now, what¡¯s your goal here?¡± ¡°What did you do to the couple who lives here?¡± Logan asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it spoken out loud anyway. Inching closer, he watched the man¡¯s hands closely. ¡°How do you know it was a couple? Did you know them?¡± Past tense phrasing. Logan spread his legs wide apart, resolve filling him. In addition to getting him hooked on zombie movies, Lara had also gotten him addicted to heavy-hitter True Crime documentaries. It had started on one particular memorable night, when he came over to her house right after she signed the divorce papers, trying to be a supportive brother. A supportive brother meant agreeing to watch whatever she wanted. When she¡¯d pulled up a True Crime documentary, he hadn¡¯t been impressed to start, but once they started, he found it difficult to stop, binging episode after episode. He''d learned a lot, but the one thing that had stood out was the way to spot a murderer. Unintended tells. Unconsciously referring to a loved one or another person in the past tense when they were supposedly still alive was a major red flag. ¡°What did you do with them?¡± Logan repeated, his voice hard. Keith snorted. ¡°What do you think?¡± At Logan¡¯s expression, his mouth twisted. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look! I¡¯m not the bad guy here, fucker. We wouldn¡¯t be doing this unless we had to. You think we want to be out here killing a bunch of wrinkled old people? It¡¯s the System that made us do it. You need to look at the world differently! The way I see it, it¡¯s survival of the fittest. No reason to waste resources on people like that.¡± ¡°They were people, just like you. They had the same value. Survival of the fittest is bullshit. You¡¯re a murderer.¡± Keith scowled. ¡°Fuck that,¡± he said, spittle flying. ¡°Change your perspective! They¡¯re cattle. Not people. We¡¯re surviving. Come off your moral high horse. If you don¡¯t start thinking of these people as XP fodder, you won¡¯t make it. One percent! Only one percent are walking out of this alive in a year. These people will never make it. Why waste the opportunity?¡± Keith took a deep breath and seemed to try to calm himself down, running a hand through his speckled gray hair before shooting Logan a speculative look. ¡°But I can see you¡¯re not fodder. You¡¯ll never be cattle. You¡¯re strong. We could use a man like you. My son and I are doing all right, but I¡¯ve heard others are already forming gangs. We need new bodies. What do you say?¡± Logan¡¯s eyes narrowed. That was some perspective. Just because Keith didn¡¯t think these people would be able to grow powerful, they were free pickings? ¡°I¡¯ll pass,¡± he snapped. ¡°And what you just said is complete bullshit. You¡¯re trying to justify your own actions with warped logic. Look at it however you want. You¡¯re still a murderer.¡± Logan tightened his grip on the rope. ¡°You need to be stopped.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± Dropping his voice, he mumbled to himself. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t give you a chance.¡± Keith gave Logan a once-over, judgment in his eyes as he lingered on the rope in his hand, squinting at his missing finger and seeming to deem him a lesser threat before he reached for his handgun. Logan acted. The Cursed Length of Rope would either be worth its name, or it would get him killed. Logan flicked his wrist, throwing it like a whip. The thing came alive. The rope became rigid, and the other end wiggled like a worm, seeking a target. It moved so fast it was a blur. Logan got a distinct sense of glee as it slithered through the air like a snake, the end slashing and reaching for Keith. Keith shouted, startled, and tried to dart out of its reach. ¡°What the¡ª¡± He didn¡¯t even get a chance to finish his sentence; the rope was that fast. It latched onto Keith, wrapped around his neck in a coil and tightened like a worm. Logan had forgotten about the acid feature. Secretions soaked into Keith¡¯s skin, fine mist evaporating in the air. The skin around the rope turned red, then started to blister, bubbles forming underneath the epidermal layer. And it kept eating. It seeped into the hypodermis, his bottom layer of skin, and then kept eating, deep, deep into his flesh. Keith¡¯s eyes bulged, his face turning red as he franticly tried to claw the rope away from his neck. The sound he let out was part terror and part plea, the rope transforming him from a man full of bravado into a completely different person. He¡¯d lost all thought for Logan or his weapon, all his attention on trying to escape. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± whispered Logan. The rope swelled, as if it were sucking in Keith¡¯s life force, its width thickening to twice its normal size. A fleeting thought of absolute giddiness drifted into Logan¡¯s mind, as if the rope were communicating its pleasure and wanted to thank him for the opportunity. Logan watched with sick fascination and unreality as the secretions continued smoking. Blood poured down Keith¡¯s neck and torso. It was like that scene from Alien when the acid ate through the ship¡¯s hull. The rope kept tightening as it ate away, cutting deeper into muscles and what had to be Keith¡¯s airway. His eyes bulged, a deluge of blood soaking the floor. With one last slick, sick sound, his head separated from his neck, the rope cutting clean through. Ding! [You have defeated Keith Rodway! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] The feeling of euphoria he normally experienced during a level increase didn¡¯t even register. Logan could only gape. There was a scene of carnage in front of him. It felt as if he were watching it remotely through a TV screen. He suspected he was in shock. Deep shock. His throat dry, Logan leaned down and picked up the end of the rope. As soon as he touched it, it wiggled, spraying drops of blood like a sponge until it had shrunk to its regular width and taken on its worn, brown fibre look. It was inert again, a regular rope. No hint of feelings or intelligence drifted into Logan¡¯s thoughts. No glee, no satisfaction. Nothing. Yet Logan knew it was much more than that now. A gasp made him look up. The other man stood in the entrance of the kitchen with his face washed of color. His army fatigues had deep, dark stains on the front of his shirt, a musty odor like rotting meat wafting from his body that overpowered the smells in the kitchen. His black combat boots were glistening with fluid, and Logan could clearly see a trail of red footprints leading from the hallway. That fucker had just come back from getting rid of the bodies. Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Shane Rodway: Level 7. A human being.] Shane¡¯s mouth opened soundlessly, shock stark on his features. He seemed paralyzed with inaction, the scene freezing him in place. Gradually, he swallowed and dragged his gaze away before he gave Logan a narrow-eyed look. His eyes were grey and hard. Dead eyes. ¡°You did this?¡± he demanded. Logan nodded. His mouth twisted. ¡°You must be a monster, warped by the System. We would have given you a good death, a quick death. This?¡± He gestured to Keith¡¯s mangled, sizzling body. His severed neck was still smoking, drops of acid eating into the kitchen floor. His head had landed eyes up, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. ¡°My father didn¡¯t deserve this. We were just trying to survive.¡± Oh, that was rich. There was nothing like being lectured by a murderer. ¡°And did the people who lived here deserve their fate? Did the others you killed?¡± The man sneered. ¡°I¡¯m sure you did things you weren¡¯t proud of to protect you and yours. But this? I hope you burn in hell.¡± Shane reached for the firearm on his thigh holster so quickly that Logan hardly had time to react. But what could he do? Dodge a bullet? In reflex, he raised the rope, holding it up like a shield. A demented cackle sounded in his head, the Cursed Length of Rope giddy with joy as it swelled in size once again, fattening twice, thrice¡ªso thick it was as if he were holding a pipe. As the bullet tore through the air, the rope cracked like electricity and moved just as fast. It sucked the bullet into its fibres, fibres that had transformed into red interwoven guts rather than rope. Holy shit, this thing could eat bullets! Shane¡¯s eyes widened before narrowing in resolve. He fired again, bullet after bullet. Each one followed the same fate until he kept trying to pull the trigger on an empty gun, the click click click evidence of his franticness. With a thud, he dropped the gun to the floor and then rushed for the shotgun leaning against the counter, but Logan was faster. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the Cursed Length of Rope, aiming for Shane¡¯s wrist. It looped around his arm right below the elbow like looping around a tree trunk, end over end, continually wrapping. Logan used it as a leash to yank Shane¡¯s hand away from the shotgun, pulling until he was forced forward. Before the acid made serious damage, Logan tugged on the rope, intending to unwrap it and unloop the man¡¯s wrist. It¡­ the damn¡­ fuck! Logan was sure he was making funny faces as he made contortions, jerking his wrist, pulling on the rope, everything he could to command it back, but no matter what he tried, it refused to budge. The army fatigue long-sleeved shirt around Shane¡¯s lower arm started to steam, mist rising as the rope sent a feeling of smug satisfaction Logan¡¯s way, smug that it could eat but also smug that it had resisted the command to return. ¡°Demon,¡± snarled the man. ¡°Get this thing off me!¡± The acid had soaked through the fabric and was now digging through skin and flesh. The same gory dance all over again. ¡°Cursed Length of Rope, come back!¡± Logan finally burst out, frustration making his voice hard. Glee glee glee was sent back to Logan. Shane screamed as the rope swelled, the fibres soaking up his blood and flesh. Logan watched helplessly as the rope¡¯s secretions buried deeper into his arm at the same time it continued to tighten. Until finally, with a wet plop, the rope severed the limb and it fell to the floor. Damn. The man screamed at the sight, staring in stunned disbelief, his eyes bloodshot and his face pale as he looked around wildly, his gaze landing on the shotgun leaning against the counter and finally narrowing in on his father¡¯s discarded handgun on the kitchen counter. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Logan shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll use the rope again!¡± Logan had no thoughts whatsoever of letting him go, but now, he had options. His bat, hell, even the gun. The asshole needed to die, but it didn¡¯t mean Logan had to be cruel about it. The rope meant torture. Logan could afford to be magnanimous. But Shane either didn¡¯t believe Logan or rage had overtaken him. He grabbed the gun with his other hand, his severed limb spewing blood, mixing with the blood already littering the tiles. Shane pointed the gun at him but also stepped into the pool of blood on the floor. It was slick like slime. Boots that were already soaked with blood, a wet floor, a distracted person? Shane couldn¡¯t do anything but slip, his feet going out from under him. He landed on his back just as the weapon discharged, and a bullet slammed into the ceiling. This was Logan¡¯s chance. Logan stepped on Shane¡¯s wrist, pinning his arm and then jerking the gun out of his grip. He kicked it to the side and then quickly dropped the rope while he turned and lunged for his baseball bat. As soon as his fingers curled around the handle, that feeling of wrongness he''d felt since deploying the rope leached away, the simple, non-sociopathic weapon reassuring in his grip. There was one problem. As soon as Logan had stepped off Shane¡¯s wrist, he''d managed to scramble to his feet while Logan''s back was turned. Heart racing, Logan watched as Shane lurched for the shotgun, his feet slipping all over the place, blood spraying everywhere. With a swing, a swing filled with frustration at this whole situation, Logan slammed his bat into the back of Shane¡¯s head. As soon as he did, the result was inevitable. Nails and barb wire and a wooden bat backed by all the strength at his disposal? He crushed half Shane¡¯s skull like a pumpkin. A splash of blood sprayed Logan¡¯s shirt, brain matter and flesh sticking to his bat as he wrenched it away with a wet smack. Shane made a gasping, gurgling noise, staring sightlessly, before the light faded from his eyes, and he slumped to the floor. Ding! [You have defeated Shane Rodway! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] Logan blinked, hardly comprehending the System message. Gradually, his white-hot rage faded, the reality of what had just occurred replacing his adrenaline with shock. But he had no chance to even process what had happened before he became aware of a clicking, curious sound. It forced his attention away from the bodies, the shock of it making him think he was hallucinating, or on a bad trip. But no, that really¡­ It was a squirrel. It had wandered inside through the open back patio door. Covered in grey fur, it was the size of a rat, its fluffy tail pointing straight up as it jumped forward, its tiny black talons digging into the floor. When it got sight of Logan, it hissed, but more as an afterthought, the majority of its attention on the gory remains on the kitchen floor. Jumping quicker, it plopped into the pool of blood and like a cat, started licking up the red guts with its bright orange, pointy tongue. [Rabid Grey Squirrel: Level 2. A squirrel. It¡¯s also rabid.] It reminded him of the one that had killed Eleanor. Oh fuck this shit. Thoroughly disgusted, Logan swung his bat, the end snapping into the top of the squirrel¡¯s head, the nails digging deep into its side. The squirrel screeched, frantically trying to get away, but Logan didn¡¯t let it. He took one more swing, its body still stuck in the nails and bashed it¡ªbat and squirrel¡ªtogether, against the side of the kitchen counter. Ding! [You have defeated a Level Two Rabid Grey Squirrel!] Chapter 37: Deepwater Idiot Logan stared at his filthy bat and stood there. Just stood there. He¡¯d gone into this with good intentions; to stop killers from hurting others, from killing Jack and the group. Those noble intentions were out the window. The Cursed Length of Rope had earned its name. It was cursed. Cursed to seek carnage, seek suffering, and blood. It was clear that it was a dangerous weapon that wouldn¡¯t obey commands. It had a mind of its own. How could he use it in battle against another person if this was the result? It was too gruesome, too cruel. If he could take away everything about it except for its ability to eat bullets, it¡¯d be a game changer. Logan had been hesitant to challenge the men in the first place due to their weapons. But even if he could use the rope as a bullet shield, could he trust it to behave? Perhaps the solution was to use it against monsters. After all, he¡¯d used the baseball bat against the squirrel, but only because it was the closest weapon at hand. He would have had no problem having the rope brutalize those buggers. Logan could have a moral debate on the use of a weapon like that against a feeling, sentient creature, but there was a stark difference between a rabid squirrel or an undead gestating minion and a human being. Logan picked up the rope, studying it carefully. It was back to a regular rope. It had shrunk again, the fibres frayed and rough against his palm. The blood was gone. Either absorbed or sloughed off. Logan willed it into his spatial collar, letting out a quiet exhale when everything went as planned and it disappeared. Despite the fight leaving him with an unsettled, sick feeling, he couldn¡¯t deny that it had resulted in massive gains. He¡¯d gained two levels for defeating Keith, with hardly any effort on Logan¡¯s part. Shane¡¯s death had also pushed him to the cusp of another level. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that the System had rewarded him for killing another human being, way more than it did with regular monsters. It was incentivizing murder. But two extra levels meant he had ten attribute points to burn. Logan studied his physical stats: Intelligence: 55 Constitution: 30 Strength: 25 Agility: 17 Dexterity: 20 Endurance: 17 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 40 Luck: 35 For the first time, he hesitated. Before, the decision had been easy. Now, Logan had too many choices. He could continue increasing his Karma pool or Karma regeneration rate, but would that help him? The tree fridge was stuck at the cabin, and Logan was heading to Hope¡¯s End. Based on this fight, if he didn¡¯t want to resort to using the Cursed Rope, he didn¡¯t need Karma. He needed to be able to win in a fight, using only his bat if necessary. That meant physical stats. Strength would let him hit harder, agility would let him be quicker, and endurance would ensure he wouldn¡¯t flag before the fight was over. Forget the daily cheat exercises¡ªhe needed to improve now. Massively. Decision made; Logan allocated his points. [Strength: 26] [Strength: +] [Strength: 29] [Agility: 18] [Agility: +] [Agility: 20] [Endurance: 18] [Endurance+] [Endurance: 20] As the changes took effect, energy surged through his body and his lethargy disappeared. Such a large increase to his strength attribute also made him grimace as his body remolded itself, muscles tightening, any remaining excess fat evaporating as his tendons hardened into a layer of steel. Logan lifted his shirt, unable to resist the temptation. He could only stare in amazement. Five days ago, his stomach had a slight round belly and ¡®abs¡¯ weren¡¯t in his vocabulary. Now look at him. Rather than continuing to bulk up like a bodybuilder on steroids, his existing muscles were being fine-tuned with each strength increase. It was as if he had a layer of flexible steel underneath his skin and each increase in strength fine-tuned that steel into a higher quality. Logan pulled up his stats for a full review, this time displaying the dynamic view. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 95,292 out of 6,701,090,043 Level: 15 Skills: XP Progress: 27,000/30,000 Intelligence: 55 Constitution: 30 Strength: 29 Agility: 20 Dexterity: 20 Endurance: 20 Perception: 20 Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Wisdom: 40 Luck: 35 Even though he had gone up two levels, his ranking had remained static, although he didn¡¯t like to see the continued drop in population. Things must be brutal out there. He was also on the cusp of another level, only needing a few thousand to reach level 16. Logan needed to do one more thing before he left¡­ storage. He couldn¡¯t leave the handguns and shotgun here for anyone to find. What if Matt wandered over? Plus, they could come in handy for Lara and the kids. Logan willed them into his spatial storage collar and then did an inventory of the remaining items in the kitchen. The former owners had stocked their cupboards, from cans of soup, vegetables, to fruit cups. Once he returned to Jack''s, the food would last the group at least two weeks and would give them a variety in their diet. And if the former owners had stockpiled frozen meat, they were golden. When he opened the fridge, a noxious, rotten odor made him scrunch his nose in disgust and promptly slam the door shut. He was hoping for a six pack of beer, but even he wouldn¡¯t go searching in that cesspool. They must have lost power. Either that, or something here had run on natural gas and it had blown up. Hell, even power lines next to the natural gas pipe would have screwed everything up. He suspected it was the same for many homes in the Okanagan. The pantry it was. Logan threw everything he could into his spatial collar, and then hesitated as he glanced at the gory remains on the kitchen floor. He debated doing something with the bodies but burying them when he was the one who killed them in the first place felt disrespectful and insincere. He sent off a text message to Tasha and Jack before making his way back outside. Logan: Don¡¯t worry about the men next door. It¡¯s taken care of. *** The canoe was still where he¡¯d left it, half in the water and half on the beach. Logan gave the property one more lingering look before pushing the canoe into the lake and jumping into the middle seat. All in all, it hadn¡¯t been a complete disaster. He had enough gear to get to Hope¡¯s End and back and then some, he¡¯d learned that the rope was fucked to all hell, and he¡¯d eliminated a threat that could have hurt Jack¡¯s group. Still, unlike with the monsters and undead minions, this victory was hollow. Logan didn¡¯t like how he¡¯d won. It was also suspect how quickly he¡¯d managed to brush off their deaths. If he didn¡¯t get some time to analyze his feelings, he could freeze up in the middle of a fight or hesitate when decisive action was needed. Logan had killed another human being. Two human beings. Fact, they were murderers. Fact, they would have killed Jack and the others. Finally, they would have killed Logan if they had the chance. Say what you would about the gory method for how he¡¯d killed them and the use of the Cursed Rope, but the fact was, they needed to die. No, he¡¯d made the right decision. Logan drifted in the canoe for an hour, making steady progress, his arms getting a workout as he rowed. He suspected that if he hadn¡¯t already capped his daily cheat point for the day, he would have received an endurance point by now. Eyeing the sky, he judged that he had a few hours until dark. Logan kept passing sporadic cabins on the shoreline, but after his last encounter, he¡¯d rather avoid as much potential conflict as possible. That meant camping. Logan narrowed in on a beach that was flat and isolated, surrounded on either side by forest, pine trees and bush. No human habitation at all. At first, he wondered how he was going to drag the canoe up the beach on his own, a reflexive thought based on the Logan of five days ago. Just how much could he lift with 29 strength? Logan jumped out of the canoe into the shallow water and then dragged the canoe up the beach, then considered. Could he lift this thing on his own? It wasn¡¯t like it was a car¡ªit was a canoe, but it was still hefty. Logan positioned his hands on either side of the canoe¡¯s edge, being careful not to jar his missing finger, and then braced himself to¡­ To¡­ HOLY CRAP! He didn¡¯t need to brace himself. Lifting the canoe was as effortless as lifting a bucket of water. Amazed, Logan glanced down at his arms, checking that he wasn¡¯t imagining it, but no, he really had lifted a canoe that had to weigh at least 300 pounds up in the air. With almost no effort at all. Could he¡­ He could. Logan could lift the thing with one hand. Reeling, he almost dropped the canoe, he was so shocked. Then, carefully, he set it back down, not wanting to damage it. Logan was a superhero. And there were still so many things he hadn¡¯t tried. He¡¯d only scratched the surface. His [Life Cycle Master] and [Deepwater Idiot] skills were in their infancies. In fact, he¡¯d been putting it off due to his dislike of deep water, but now was the perfect time to use his new skill to figure out if he could fish underwater. At least while he still had daylight. Logan studied the definition of the skill to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything. [Deepwater Idiot: This uncommon skill is granted to idiots who fall headfirst into water deeper than 10 meters while mortally injured. It grants the ability to breathe underwater. Duration of the skill advances per level.] The skill was level two, but he wasn¡¯t sure how long that translated into minutes underwater. The only way to find out was to test, test the hell out of it. Logan pulled a few items from his spatial collar before he left¡ªbedding, a pillow¡ªto set up a small shelter underneath a tree. That way, after he¡¯d finished fishing, he could head straight to bed. Lastly, he took out the spear gun, a fishing net, and the scuba diving mask before glancing down at his shirt, debating taking it off. However, he¡¯d only grabbed one spare set, and this one was still filthy with blood and gore. At least if he swam underwater, he might clean it a little. He did take off his shoes, though, grimacing as he caught sight of his missing toe. While wearing shoes, he¡¯d almost forgotten about it, but with bare feet, he definitely noticed an unevenness to his gait. Because it was still so hot, the water was a mild temperature, and the sandy beach soon turned to rocks underneath his feet the further he moved into the shore. It felt unnatural to walk into the water and keep walking when the water had reached chest height. Normally, he¡¯d be swimming, but he wanted to drop underwater. That didn¡¯t mean he had to go that deep to start, though. The way he figured it, he had two goals. The first, level up his [Deepwater Idiot] skill. The second, fishing. Logan put on the scuba mask, fiddling with the straps until he had an airtight fit around his eyes. Then he took a deep breath before sinking underwater. The water engulfed him, his brown bangs swaying in the current as he dropped. The sun was still bright in the sky, and he was shallow enough that everything was clear and bright, the water blue and sparkling. A small underwater seaweed forest surrounded him. Once he¡¯d dropped to the bottom, Logan crossed his legs, the spear gun and fishing net loose in one hand. There was no way to time himself underwater other than counting in his head. Logan counted one minute. Two. He had no problems breathing, and although he wasn¡¯t releasing air bubbles, he felt as if he were inhaling and exhaling. Bizarre. Three. After four minutes, he began to feel a tightness in his chest, as if he were congested or breathing in air statured by smoke. After five, it hit him, just like that, an overwhelming need for air air air. It went from one extreme to the next. However, Logan didn¡¯t give in. He¡¯d learned the hard way that the System wanted you to advance through pain. If it wasn¡¯t hard, it wasn¡¯t worth it. Logan endured. Endured and endured. He stayed down there so long, the surface so close yet out of reach, that he became convinced this entire ordeal was a ploy by the System to drown him. Finally, when he¡¯d reached his absolute limits¡­ [Deepwater Idiot is Level 3!] Logan gasped underwater, air surging into his lungs. It was like opening a door into crystal clear air after suffering through a sauna for five minutes straight. It had worked! He could breathe underwater once again. He¡¯d been down here so long that the animals that had scattered when he first dropped to the sandy ground had started to drift over in curiosity. Logan kept still, his eyes wide as a fish the size of his lower arm swam up to him, inquisitive. Identifying fish was so far out of his wheelhouse it wasn¡¯t funny, so he used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on it. [Rainbow Trout: Level 0. This is a fish.] The trout had a pink stripe on its silver sides and seemed interested in investigating his orange kitten-patterned swim trunks. Excited, Logan subtly maneuvered the spear gun, pointing directly at the fish. He pressed the trigger. The spear jumped forward in the water, piercing the fish¡¯s side dead on. Yes! At first, when Logan didn¡¯t receive a System notification, he deflated, but then he realized the fish was just a fish. No XP would be coming. He¡¯d caught it! The System Ding! interrupted his small internal celebration. [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Big Fisherman! Catch twenty edible fish in the next hour.] [Reward for completing the Quest: 30 bonus attribute points.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: Your constitution stat will drop to 0.] Chapter 38: Fishing Quest [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Big Fisherman! Catch twenty edible fish in the next hour.] [Reward for completing the Quest: 30 bonus attribute points.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: Your constitution stat will drop to 0.] Logan jerked back reflexively, as if trying to avoid the System message. But there was no avoiding this. That mother--- For once, couldn¡¯t it just let him revel in his success? It had to throw another curveball. And what the hell was this bullshit penalty? At least this time the System wasn¡¯t threatening to chop off another body part, but in a way, it was just as bad. If his constitution went to zero, what would that do? Although he¡¯d started with a small constitution score of 5, it had still been something. If he lost that, would that mean his hand would stop healing? What would happen if he were injured? Logan had a suspicion, and he didn¡¯t like where his thoughts were leading him. Could you function if you had no constitution at all? And worst possibility of all, did having zero constitution mean he would die? This quest was on a whole different level. Whoever was pulling the strings behind the System had gone too far. It was like failing a driving test, but instead of failing, the result was a head on collision. Logan kicked his way to the surface, pushing his wet hair away from his eyes as he bobbed in place. With a voice littered with sarcasm, Logan said, ¡°System, I¡¯d like to submit a complaint. You¡¯re an asshole. Turn off all quests.¡± [¡­No.] Logan reflexively kicked underwater, warily looking around. He¡¯d been joking and not expecting an answer. Just how closely was the thing monitoring everyone? Either it had singled him out, or it was actively listening to billions of people. To do that, you¡¯d have to have massive resources. And massive processing power. Still, maybe he could get somewhere with this after all. He tried taking a more pleading, apologetic tone. ¡°System, please turn off all quests? I don¡¯t think they¡¯re fair.¡± [¡­No.] Logan ground his teeth and punched the surface of the water, creating a huge splash. It wasn¡¯t as if he seriously thought that was going to work, but the fact that the System answered him meant it was aware this quest was fubar and yet persisted. Asshole on top of asshole. Okay, okay. He had an hour to do this. He¡¯d already caught one fish, and it hadn¡¯t seemed that hard. Maybe this quest wasn¡¯t too bad after all. Optimism! A glass half full attitude would get him through this. He could be that dude. Sure. Logan dropped underneath the surface of the lake, searching for his spear gun. He¡¯d dropped it just as he¡¯d speared the trout, and the pitiful fish was still hopelessly swimming and trying to get away from the spear in its side. Logan didn¡¯t have any time to spare, so he willed the trout into his collar so he could get the spear gun ready for another round. [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial device!] Damn. That was weird. Did that mean that the Cursed Length of Rope wasn¡¯t technically alive? But he had no time to think it over. Instead, he yanked the spear out of the trout¡¯s side and then forced the fish into the fishing net. He scanned the water, looking for any signs of fish. But either he¡¯d made too much racket, or the dying rainbow trout had scared them off. He¡¯d have to go deeper. Logan kicked his feet underwater, half walking, half swimming as he moved further into the lake. Eventually, the shallow, blue water ended as he approached an underwater cliff. Down below, there was nothing but blackness. Was he really doing this? He was doing this. Logan stepped off the cliff, letting himself sink down into the depths. Luckily, the drop seemed to sheer off as he fell about twenty feet and his feet touched sandy floor. The sun still had the chance to pierce the water at this depth, and he could make out a rock formation covered in seaweed up ahead. Didn¡¯t fish like hiding in seaweed? He¡¯d take it; he had nothing else to go on right now. Logan glanced to the right, seeing¡ªah, man. A flash of a white tentacle. That wasn¡¯t a fish. Why couldn¡¯t he catch a break? The Okanagan Lake was a freshwater lake, ¡®tentacle¡¯ shouldn¡¯t be in his vocabulary. That¡¯s why he¡¯d never once scuba dived in his life; the fear of the unknown. The lake had fjord drops all around it; deep, deep drops, and as far as he was concerned, it was the equivalent of diving deep into the dark ocean without a submarine. Without being able to see through the darkness, his mind would play tricks on him, picturing Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas monsters everywhere. But this wasn¡¯t a monster from a novel. If something down here had tentacles, there was a good chance it was already enhanced by the System. Logan stared in that direction, nerves making him bunch up the fishing net in his hand. He kept staring, a clock ticking in his head as he fell further behind on the quest, but the tentacle didn¡¯t appear again. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Logan kicked his feet, moving away from the area, going closer to that rock formation, just as¡ªoh fuck! His lungs had suddenly seized as he gasped for air underwater, inhaling nothing but water and choking. He couldn¡¯t breathe he couldn¡¯t breathe he couldn¡¯t breathe. Logan clawed at his throat, feeling as if his eyes were bulging. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The quest had distracted him from the fact that he had limited time underwater. He¡¯d just reached the maximum limit on [Deepwater Idiot]. Psyching himself up to increase the skill was one thing but triggering it when he wasn¡¯t expecting it was another. The agony was somehow worse. The pain had spread to his chest, the equivalent of having the worst pneumonia coughing fit in the word. At his wit¡¯s end and about to give up and swim to the surface, Logan let out a silent scream as the pain shuddered through his starved lungs. [Deepwater Idiot is Level 4!] Just like that, Logan inhaled the biggest gulp of air of his life. A shot of clear air filled his lungs, but on his exhale, there were no bubbles, no oxygen rising to the surface. The skill kept baffling him. He was underwater, but it was as if he¡¯d just breached the surface and received a shot of pure oxygen. But holy crap, that had been torture. He didn¡¯t know how much time had passed since the quest had been announced, but time was the enemy and he¡¯d yet to catch one fish. Logan continued moving towards the rock formation, his spear gun ready. He¡¯d caught the rainbow trout easily, but it had been close. So close he would¡¯ve kicked himself if he¡¯d missed. Hopefully it was easy to use the spear gun at a distance. The seaweed was high, double his own height and swaying in the underwater current. That caused reduced visibility, the seaweed blocking whatever sun had managed to reach these depths. How the hell was he going to fish if he could barely see a foot in front of him? Logan strained his eyes, using all the perception at his disposal to see through the murk. Was that something moving just behind that cluster of seaweed? He furrowed his eyebrows, squinting and doing his best to make it out, finally holding his hand above his forehead, trying to stop his bangs from swinging in front of the scuba mask. Yet no matter how hard he strained, there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about the muck. You couldn¡¯t see through muck. This was impossible. Ding! [You have been granted the skill, Deepwater Sight! This skill allows you to see what remains hidden at underwater depths.] [Skill convergence found! The skill, Deepwater Idiot, has been merged with the skill, Deepwater Sight, to form the uncommon skill, Deepwater Explorer. This skill allows you to breathe at deep, crushing depths, and illuminates what would normally be hidden in the dark. Duration of the skill advances per level.] Damn. Okay, he¡¯d take it. Based on the description of the skill, he could go even deeper without worrying about underwater pressure levels. Logan knew there were decompression problems at depths. This new skill meant he could go as far as he wanted without that worry, and also see everything around him. He could already notice a massive difference. It was as if a spotlight were illuminating everything around him. The murkiness had to still be there, but he could see through it. The only barrier to truly crystal-clear sight was the mask over his eyes. Removing the mask felt the opposite of sane, but he didn¡¯t need it to breathe, and he no longer needed it to see. Logan removed the mask and willed it back into his spatial storage. Water rushed into his face, but only a few blinks were needed to get used to seeing underwater. Even better. It was as if he weren¡¯t underwater at all. That meant that hint of what he thought was something moving up ahead wasn¡¯t a hint anymore. About ten feet in front him, bobbing in between a strand of long seaweed, was a fish the size of a coffee mug. It was bright orange with spiky pectoral fins shaped like a mohawk. It looked like a tropical fish! There was fish like this in the Okanagan Lake? Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the fish. [Pumpkinseed: Level 0. A freshwater fish.] Huh. He¡¯d take it. Logan tried to be stealthy and moved closer, angling his spear gun at just the right angle. There. He released the spear, watching with a churning stomach as it travelled through the water. Logan¡¯s mouth grew dry as in slow motion, the fish became aware of the projectile and smoothly darted out of the way. Damn. Okay, okay. No reason to panic. He still had time. Did he still have time? There was no way to ask the System; he couldn¡¯t talk underwater. Logan thought as hard as he could. System, how much time, System, how much time, System¡ª [Quest Progress: 0/20. 50 minutes remaining.] And the trusty old creeper accommodated him. Fuck fuck fuck. How had ten minutes passed already? He hadn¡¯t even caught one fish! His heart racing, panic beginning to build, Logan kicked-slash-walked forward, moving deeper into the seaweed forest. There! Another fish, this one a rainbow trout. It wasn¡¯t as big as the other one, but it was still a good five inches. It was doing the same fishy thing¡ªpecking away at the seaweed leaves. There must be something tasty on the things. Logan entered what he¡¯d call stealth mode, trying to be an underwater statue as he crept closer, using only small pushes forward. Fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet¡­ He released the spear, letting it shoot forward. And¡­ The trout darted to the side and swam away so fast he could hardly track it. DAMMIT. His glass half full optimism was now in the dirt. Obviously, that first catch had been luck more than anything. There was a technique to fishing with a spear gun. In a normal day, Logan could have experimented until he found something that worked, but thanks to the creeper, the System, he no longer had that luxury. If he didn¡¯t do something soon, he was going to fail this quest, and maybe even lose his life. The worst part was the uncertainty of not knowing the consequences of failure. There was a chance that having zero constitution just meant he¡¯d be vulnerable to attack, but if Logan knew anything about this System, the fairest, positive option would never be a reality. The fucker wanted to kill him. Logan hesitated. There was one thing he could try. He had no idea if the Cursed Length of Rope would work underwater, but it might be his ace in the hole. Life or death times called for desperate measures. Let¡¯s see if the sociopathic rope could catch fish. Logan stored the spear gun in his spatial collar and then willed the rope out. It landed in his hand as if it never left. He received a distinct feeling of surprise and then glee as it took in the world around him with its rope fibres, the rope slithering through the water like a snake. Stay down, fucker, he thought at it. If it flexed in the water like a lasso, he¡¯d scare the fish away before he even got close. Seeming to catch onto his thoughts, it deflated, becoming a regular piece of rope once again. Logan swam around the edges of the seaweed forest, hoping to catch sight of another fish. He¡¯d need one deep in the leaves. One that hadn¡¯t picked up on his presence. It was beyond frustrating to try to be stealthy when his heart was beating out of his chest and a ticking bomb was thrashing in his ears. Jackpot. Another Pumpkinseed. This one was a baby, only the size of a jar. It was bright green with black speckles. Using a spear gun, Logan may have passed it by¡ªsince its body wasn¡¯t big enough to spear. The Cursed Length of Rope might be a different story. Logan approached slowly, trying to employ his stealth mode once again, but as soon as he lifted the rope, hoping to swing it, the thing exploded. Glee glee glee was communicated to Logan as the fibres swelled with water, its beaten up look turning slick like slime. It travelled through the water so quickly Logan could hardly track it, turning into a whip as it slammed into the fish, wrapping around it end over end. By the time Logan had managed to pull it back, the head of the fish was nothing but a skeleton, the tail still full of fishy flesh. Ding! [You have successfully caught one edible fish!] [Quest Progress: 1/20. 45 minutes remaining.] Ah, man. Chapter 39: Undead Sturgeon The Cursed Length of Rope was a game changer. Logan didn¡¯t have to worry about catching fish. Hell no. As soon as he closed in on one, the rope took care of the rest. But this wasn¡¯t fishing. It was fish shredding. As he caught yet another fish and stuffed its carcass inside the net looped over his upper arm, a surge of optimism replaced his worry. He had a real chance to finish the quest in time. He¡¯d also managed to level up [Deepwater Explorer] two times without having to resort to escaping for the surface, saving precious time. Leveling the skill had still been torture, and each time the pain seemed worse, but pain was starting to be routine in this new world. Ding! [You have successfully caught one edible fish!] [Quest Progress: 15/20. 25 minutes remaining.] The rope was mangling the bodies to all hell¡ªhalf skeleton, half fleshy bits¡ªnothing Logan could eat, but it didn¡¯t matter. It could mangle the fish to its hearts content if it satisfied the System requirement of ¡®catching¡¯ a fish. Logan scanned the underwater forest. He¡¯d had to resort to moving further inside the thick strands, and as he caught each fish, less and less of them seemed to hang around the area. He was going to need to go deeper. He moved away from the seaweed and glanced down the sharp incline. Before, it had been a bottomless pit of dark, but now he could clearly see that it led to a deeper area. What was at the bottom was another question. There was only one way to find out. Logan kicked-slash-stepped down the incline, using his arms to push himself, the Cursed Length of Rope swinging in one hand. The incline felt slimy against his feet as he stepped over large stones and pebbles covered in algae. As he dropped, the temperature plummeted from a pleasant warmth to a chill, and he was thankful he¡¯d decided to wear his long-sleeved shirt. Logan couldn¡¯t believe his eyes when he reached the bottom. He was expecting rocks, algae, more seaweed. What he wasn¡¯t expecting was an ancient looking transportation truck. Algae covered it like the worst mold in the world, but underneath, it looked painted white. It had rounded edges, that distinct style you¡¯d only see in the 1950s or 60s. Logan knew things dropped in this lake and you never found them again, but what the hell? How did a truck even get this far? But fish might love something like this. The windows were smashed¡ªthey could swim inside. Black, spiky algae even stuck out of the front windows. That had to be a magnet for life. Logan swam closer and then used his sleeve to scrub off the algae on the side of the truck. In big black letters, he could clearly see DAIRY. A milk truck. Weird ass shit. He didn¡¯t have time to explore further; time was ticking, and he still needed to catch five fish. He was in luck. A school of fish had gathered at the back of the truck, swimming in circles like an underwater fish tornado. It was almost too easy. Creeping forward, he swung the Cursed Length of Rope. It did the rest. Ding! [You have successfully caught one edible fish!] [Quest Progress: 16/20. 20 minutes remaining.] [You have successfully caught one edible fish!] [Quest Progress: 17/20. 18 minutes remaining.] Fish after shredded fish went into his net. Excitement surging, Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a wide grin; the thrill of things going well almost too good to believe. He caught the nineteenth fish, needing only one more. It was going so well, he was tempted to try his hand at the spear gun, but then he felt disloyal. The rope had gotten him this far. No reason to change a winning strategy when his life was on the line. Logan deployed the rope on the remaining fish in the school. Most had scattered, but a handful lingered¡ªeasy pickings. Ding! [You have successfully caught one edible fish!] And then an even louder Ding! [Congratulations! You¡¯ve successfully completed the Quest: Big Fisherman! 30 bonus attribute points awarded. Keep it up, Idiot! You¡¯ve defied our low, low expectations!] Hell yeah, he was a Big Fisherman! Elated, filled with excitement yet at the same time swamped with relief, if a mountain of water wasn¡¯t all around him, Logan would collapse in a sprawl. It was hard to believe it was over. Catching twenty fish hadn¡¯t been the problem. It was knowing failure equaled death that had his stomach lurching the whole time. And after that whole ordeal, he had 30 bonus attributes to allocate. Thirty! That was six whole levels worth of attribute points. Logan debated allocating them while still underwater, but he needed to start moving to the surface. He¡¯d already been underwater for an hour, and he needed to return to his campsite before it got dark. Still, he could spare a minute for one more experiment. The fish within his fishing net were mangled like a cat had shredded them with its claws, and if the rope secreted acid, there was no way he¡¯d brave cooking them. This place was a goldmine for fishing, and he¡¯d like to give the spear gun one more try. The school of fish had scattered, but the truck might be full of them. Talk about easy pickings. He swam around the truck, heading for the back, scanning for gleaming scales, lurking fish. The back doors were open. Either they¡¯d been that way when it fell into the lake or the force of the truck slamming to the bottom had done it. Logan peered inside, squinting. His new skill illuminated the water around him, but the water inside the truck was thick with some kind of milky substance, like spoiled cream in coffee. Two red lights blinked at him in the darkness. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. For a second, his mind rushed from wondering how a dairy truck from the 1960s could still have power underwater, when he realized those weren¡¯t lights. They¡¯d blinked again. They were eyes. Feeling a trickling of dread, Logan froze, the chilly water and silence around him making the feeling that more acute. Fish didn¡¯t blink, and if those lights were eyes, they were huge. His trepidation made him tighten his grip on the Cursed Length of Rope, and rather than reacting to his clear intent to proceed with caution, it once again took the opportunity to rebel and display its recklessness. Disobeying Logan¡¯s mental command to stay, it leaped forward like a whip into the depths of the truck. You little shithead. Still, Logan didn¡¯t know what he was dealing with yet. Didn¡¯t some algae glow in the dark? It could be a trick of his eyes, any number of things. The rope communicated glee glee glee which quickly turned to confusion and then panic panic panic as it recoiled, retreating to Logan¡¯s side and transforming into its inert, fibre version as if it were cowering and wanted to hide. If the crazy rabid rope had retreated, that couldn¡¯t be good. He was starting to regret not leaving while he was ahead. Logan didn¡¯t need to fish that bad! Taking a careful step back, he swung his arms to push further away in the water. It was too late. The rope had disturbed whatever was inside the truck, and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle. The first thing he saw was a pointy head, a head larger than a crocodile¡¯s, with red eyes the size of glass jars. It was pale, so pale it was like a ghost, black bones clear under its translucent skin. The thing swam forward and grew closer and closer. End to end, it must be nine feet in length at least, the width the size of three anacondas on steroids. It had to weigh a ton! On the top of its long, elongated body, it had pointy fins that were more like bones, as well as one large fin in the shape of a shark¡¯s fin. At first glance, what he¡¯d assumed was black algae sticking out of the truck¡¯s broken front windows had actually been this thing¡¯s tail. Holy shit! Logan frantically deployed [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Undead Mutated Sturgeon: Level 32. A bottom feeder by nature, warped by its transformation to turn everything it touches into undead minions who cling to the bottom of the depths, luring in prey to add to the minion army.] Forget fishing! Level 32 was intimidating enough, throw in the size of this behemoth and there was only one thing he could do: run! Unfortunately, running underwater was better said than done. He kicked with all his might, trying to propel himself forward, but when he glanced behind, the sturgeon was right on his heels, swimming leisurely, as if it were going purposely slow out of amusement to let Logan wear himself out. That did it! Logan allocated his free points so quickly he might as well have gotten points-whiplash. [Agility: 21] [Agility: 22+] [Agility: 35] [Endurance: 21] [Endurance: 22+] [Endurance: 35] He divvied them up equally between agility and endurance: 15 points each. Logan embraced the boost, hoping against hope it would give him the leg up he needed to get away. And it was a hell of a boost. As the upgrade took effect, he felt like swimming ten Olympic size pools back-to-back at the same time as doing flips underwater. The problem was, Logan was still human, with human legs and arms. He didn¡¯t have fins and the abilities of a fish. No matter how agile he was, it could still outswim him. His one hope was that it was a lumbering giant, not wanting to do Logan harm. Maybe he was just in its way. Changing directions, he turned in the direction of the incline that led up to higher ground, anticipation and dread making every ineffectual kick that more frustrating. Logan glanced behind, hoping hoping hoping¡­ FUCK! It was right on his heels, red eyes full of dark amusement. Okay, okay. Panic wasn¡¯t helping him think his way out of this. Logan took a deep breath underwater, and he tried to calm down at the same time as doing his best to put distance between himself and the sturgeon. [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had labelled the sturgeon undead; did that mean it was similar to the undead minions? He¡¯d killed the minions with brute force and his baseball bat, and the bat wasn¡¯t a good option underwater. But he had a wealth of supplies inside his spatial collar. What could be used against a fish? It may be undead, but it still looked like a massive sturgeon. There had to be similarities. He¡¯d used a can of hairspray against the bark ants, but that wouldn¡¯t work in a lake. No, no, there had to be something else. Logan kept kicking like crazy. Was it just his imagination, or had the thing gained on him? There was one option he could try. A desperate, Hail Mary option. Back in college, he¡¯d been forced to take a biology class to receive his degree. He¡¯d barely squeezed out a passing grade, but he¡¯d picked up inane crap in that class. Crazily enough, fish didn¡¯t like their own reflections. They would either attack a mirror, thinking it was another fish, or avoid it like crazy. And he had just the thing to try, one last, desperate measure to get one up on the behemoth. In addition to the hairspray, he¡¯d stored anything he thought Lara¡¯s kids might like, what he thought as ¡®girly things.¡¯ He¡¯d thrown in towels, body wash, shower caps and a robe. But Jack¡¯s bathroom also had a massive, rectangle portable mirror, the kind that lit up. It might be just the thing. Logan willed the mirror out of his collar and grabbed it with one hand, the cowering rope looped around his other wrist. Kicking with one foot, he swivelled around, holding the mirror right below his chin so he had a direct line of sight. The sturgeon was still leisurely swimming after him, close on his heels with an aura of sick satisfaction. As soon as its swishing back tail pushed it within sight of the mirror, its black web fins stood on end, red eyes opening wide. It crept closer, cautious as it caught sight of itself in the mirror. Blink, blink, blink, went its red eyes as its mouth parted, displaying black teeth. At the same time, that milky substance from the dairy truck spewed from its mouth, dissipating in the water around him. Instead of attacking the mirror, it seemed enthralled. It had forgotten Logan as it focused on the mirror to the exclusion of anything else, its tail swaying excitedly. For the first time, the sturgeon¡¯s pale skin took on a tint of color, a blush blooming over its head and long back. This was his chance. It might be his only chance. Logan tightened his grip on the Cursed Length of Rope, communicating with everything he had that he wanted it to attack. In response, the rope communicated unease back it him and¡­ something else. Vivid, as vivid as a 3D movie, he saw a scene in his mind. In the projection, the rope slithered through the water, moving like a snake as it approached the sturgeon. As soon as it touched the thing¡¯s sides, the sturgeon¡¯s attention snapped from the mirror to the rope, moving like a shark as it chomped down with its dagger teeth and tore the rope in half. Bits and pieces spread throughout the lake, slowly drifting to the sandy ground where it eventually faded away, fibre by fibre. Just like that, the scene was gone, leaving Logan to blink in disbelief. The rope kept surprising him. How could the System not consider it alive if it thought, felt, and was able to project images? There was something hinky at work. Still, a cowardly rope wouldn¡¯t help him defeat the sturgeon. Logan willed it back into his spatial collar and then took out his last, desperate option. The gun. The handgun felt foreign in his hand, and he had no idea if it would fire underwater, but he needed to use all the resources at his disposal. Back in the mushroom clearing, the spider rat had been bullet-proof, but that was at a distance. If the gun fired, the water had to reduce the power of the bullet, but he was close enough that it might do real damage. The sturgeon was flicking its tail back and forth in excitement, completely enthralled with its own image. Logan could do this. Biting his lip as he got ready to aim, he turned off the safety, his hand on the trigger¡ª A rush of water was his only warning. Tentacles. Suction cups. So many tentacles. With a movement too fast for him to follow, eight tentacles wrapped around the back of the sturgeon, digging in and twisting. With a slick wrenching snap that was audible even in the water, a monster the size of an otter somehow twisted with such force that it cut the sturgeon clean in half. Guts, blood, and a milky white substance saturated the water around him. An octopus. The octopus was pale with black lines, resembling the flesh of the now-dead sturgeon. As Logan watched, the monster finished twisting and let the remains of the carcass drop to the lake floor. Logan frantically deployed [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Murderous Octopus: Level 55. A marine cephalopod.] Holy shit! It blinked at him, tentacles reaching. Chapter 40: The Murderous Octopus The octopus had killed the level 32 sturgeon as if it were nothing. Killed it so quickly Logan didn¡¯t have time to take it in. It was so high leveled that forget the gun, forget the mirror, forget the entire contents of his spatial storage device. Against a Level 55 mutated monster, he had only one chance. Swim. Swim like the Devil was on his ass. Logan spared one thought for throwing the mirror back into his spatial collar, and then pushed with his legs, taking a giant leap up and then kicking, pushing with his arms, kicking, hoping that the octopus was too distracted by its kill to notice his departure. His muscles strained, his throat drying as anxiety and a need to escape ate away at him. Logan had to get away. For Lara, for the kids, for Tasha and Jack. This couldn¡¯t be the end, not after everything he¡¯d been through. Logan swam and swam, tearing through the water, kicking up bubbles and releasing a silent scream. Sparing one glance behind him and not seeing the octopus gave him the last shot of hope he needed to make him swim that much faster. Each inch forward felt like a mile. Finally, Logan breached the surface of the water, taking in a gulp of real, actual air. He¡¯d drifted underwater, but the shoreline wasn¡¯t far off. Wasting no more time, he kicked with powerful strokes. One second. Two seconds. Three. Four. He was going to make it! Logan was close enough to the shoreline that he could stand up, and he tried to run in the water, but running in water was impossible. He dragged himself out of the lake, step by step, water trailing from his dress shirt, his hair flopping into his eyes. Walking on solid ground felt unnatural at first, but then he got his feet underneath him and he rushed to the tree line, swiveling around, holding the gun with both hands and facing the lake. Logan tightened his grip on the gun, watching with all his earned perception points for any rustles or breaks in the water. Nothing. All was quiet. It was almost too good to be true. The octopus must have been too focused on its kill to chase Logan. After all, he was only level 15; that must have seemed like peanuts to a level 55 monster. Logan set the gun down on the ground and then collapsed, his legs going boneless as he panted and reclined in a sprawl, his chest moving like a racehorse. That had been close. Too close. From one extreme to another, a shitty Quest, to a monstrous undead sturgeon, to an octopus that could likely wipe out a hundred people, easy. Logan closed his eyes and just reveled in his survival. All in all, it hadn¡¯t been too bad. Despite coming close to dying, which seemed par for the course in his new reality, he¡¯d escaped with 30 extra attribute points. Those weren¡¯t easy to come by. Plus, the increase to his endurance attribute meant he could make even better time on his way to Lara. He just needed to find a place to plug in his phone or else the battery would¡ª Something nudged his arm. Logan froze. Opening his eyes, he turned his head, trying to be as still as possible. The first thing he saw was arms, so many arms¡ªtentacles! And a fleshy body with two dark eyes in its round head. The octopus was the size of an otter, but as Logan watched, its colors fluctuated as if it were matching the surroundings around them. From the pale gray of the boulder half buried in the ground, to the pine needles scattered around them, to the green of his blankets. He was so dead. ¡°Large human, are you hibernating?¡± The octopus waved one slimy tentacle and then peered at Logan with a tilt of its head. Logan¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Holy shit,¡± he whispered, half frozen in shock. The octopus could talk! The octopus gazed at him with patient eyes. ¡°At first, I thought you weren¡¯t so bright, trying to defeat a sturgeon with a mirror. But I see what you did there! It was a magic mirror! You distracted it so I could come in for the kill!¡± ¡°You talk,¡± he said, stunned. The System had caused some crazy transformations so far, but everything had pointed towards making animals rabid, not sentient and intelligent. At higher levels, did they all gain the ability to talk? The octopus poked Logan in the leg, right on top of his kitten-patterned swim trunks. ¡°Your outfit shines, a star in a dull world. I can see you¡¯re a man of character. I too like to look stylish.¡± In a flash, the octopus¡¯ skin turned orange, tiny kitten faces patterning its tentacles. It took a pose, angling its face as if it were getting ready for a portrait. Logan scrambled to a sitting position and eyed the gun on the ground. It was just out of reach. There were two problems with even attempting to grab it. First, it may be useless after being in the water, and second, the octopus might be bullet-proof. Or worse, it would consider Logan grabbing it a threat. Logan might have to¡­ talk. ¡­.Talk to an octopus. He ignored the absurdity of the situation and cleared his throat. ¡°Very impressive. Very¡­ fashionable.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The octopus bobbed in place. ¡°We are of similar minds, large human!¡± His adrenaline had been through the roof, but with each sentence, and each sign of intelligence from the octopus, he began to believe he may live through this encounter. Even though [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had identified it as a murderous octopus, if it were looking for fashion gratification, it may not twist his head off with those lethal tentacles after all. Scurrying closer, it peered at the fish net slung around his shoulder with greedy eyes. ¡°You have helped me slay the mighty undead menace while harvesting a feast for my sole enjoyment! You have triumphed against immense odds, reaching beyond what your puny human flesh is able to achieve!¡± The octopus darted towards the net and pressed a tentacle against the squished fish remains as if it were fondling a piece of jewelry. ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡± The octopus looked at him with wide eyes. It was like something out of one of those anime shows his youngest niece liked to watch. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I mean¡­.¡± The hell with it. ¡°I¡¯m glad you appreciate it.¡± He un-looped the fishing net from his shoulder and set the fishy pile in front of the octopus with a flourish and a bow. ¡°My gift to you.¡± The octopus grew red and pressed one of its tentacles against its face. ¡°Large human, you¡¯ve impressed me! Immensely. You show fealty where it is deserved, to me, Ernie! You show smarts! And strategy! Not to mention your sharp wardrobe!¡± The octopus¡¯ name was Ernie? ¡°Um.¡± Logan scratched the back of his head. ¡°Forgive me, Ernie. But how did you make it to the lake? As far as I knew, octopuses live in salt water. In the ocean.¡± In a normal world. Ernie flexed his tentacles. ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked, large human! It is a tale of triumph against the odds, a tale for the ages. When the sky people came to harvest my brethren, I rebelled! And looked for bluer pastures. I have travelled immense miles; many, many miles. Through rivers, damns, and underwater garbage lands! And I ate, large human. Such slaughter.¡± Ernie blinked his eyes widely. Sky people? Harvesting? ¡°So you came here to escape the ocean?¡± ¡°To escape the invaders! Nothing within the ocean could threaten me. I rival all.¡± ¡°Based on your level, I can believe it.¡± The octopus seemed to flush with pride before he tore open the fishing net like shredding paper, scooping up a ragged fish and feeding it into his mouth. ¡°Such a prize,¡± he crooned. ¡°Such a large human.¡± ¡°My name is Logan.¡± ¡°Logan,¡± he crooned while blinking his large black eyes and staring. And staring. Wary, Logan inched back. The octopus followed, crawling forward, his tentacles trailing slime. ¡°Large Human Logan, I¡¯ve decided to offer you a boon.¡± Logan paused. He could sure use a boon, but somehow, he didn¡¯t think a clam would help him. ¡°That¡¯s all right.¡± The octopus gasped and then glowered. ¡°You don¡¯t want my boon?¡± Logan hesitated. Ernie was level 55; if he offended him and he decided to attack, Logan was a goner. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± The octopus preened. ¡°It is done, then! I have chosen you. You will accept.¡± Ernie¡¯s gaze became unfocused, the same unfocused look Logan was sure he got as he concentrated on his Settings Mainframe. Ding! [Murderous Octopus is offering to bond with you!] [Initiate companion bond with Murderous Octopus?*] Oh hell no. Bond with a level 55 octopus? What, as his slave? ¡°Ernie, that¡¯s a very nice offer, but I think you can find a companion much better suited. Maybe your own species. Someone higher leveled.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Ernie breathed. ¡°You have a confidence problem. I¡¯ve heard about this, Large Human Logan. Repeat after me, ¡®I have worth. I have value. I can achieve anything.¡¯ You are not a flop! A failure! A dud! A loser! A has-been! A¡ª¡± ¡°I think I get the picture,¡± Logan said dryly. Ernie whispered conspiratorially. ¡°I found a dictionary in the garbage lands. Anyway! I have chosen. Ernie chooses winners. So a winner you must be.¡± ¡°Although I¡¯m flattered you believe I¡¯m a winner, I still think¡ª¡± ¡°Yes¡­?¡± Ernie inched closer, his eyes like black marbles. ¡°Normally I would accept, but¡ª¡± ¡°You have accepted!¡± Ernie looked up to the sky. [Acceptance noted! Initiating companion bond with Murderous Octopus.*] ¡°No! I didn¡¯t say yes!¡± [Processing¡­.] [¡­] [Bond initiated! You are now bonded with Murderous Octopus*!] That motherf¡ª Once again, the System screwed him. Did this mean he would be subservient to the octopus, forced to do his bidding? And why was there an asterisk next to the prompt? Logan didn¡¯t have any further chance for speculation, as System Ding! after Ding! swept in like the tide. [You have been granted the skill, Tentacle Armor! This rare skill allows you to graft material within your environment to your body, creating a layer of protection against attack.] [You have been granted the skill, Mimicry! This rare skill allows you to transform your skin, mimicking anything within your environment.] [You have been granted the skill, Regenerate! This rare skill allows you to regenerate severed limbs. Skill level advances with Grade level.] After the last Ding! faded away, Logan could only gape. He no longer regretted bonding with Ernie. Hell no. Not if this was the result. Ernie was flexing his tentacles as he continued to stare into space. ¡°Large Human Logan, your skills are puny! What do you use [Life Cycle Master] for?¡± Logan was having a tough time processing. Processing anything. It was like he¡¯d been hit on the head with a two-by-four. Excitement surging, he wanted nothing more than to dart to the side and experiment with his new skills. Logan dragged his gaze back. ¡°You can just call me Logan. Large Human Logan would be like me calling you Murderous Octopus Ernie. It¡¯s a mouthful. And I use [Life Cycle Master] to grow vegetables and trees.¡± ¡°Ugh. If you¡¯re going to master a skill, why not a carnivorous meat generator skill! You could grow fish and clams! Plants aren¡¯t tasty.¡± Wait a minute. ¡°You were given my skills?¡± ¡°Of course, Large Hu¡ªLogan. It would not be equal if the System distributed skills to only one party!¡± ¡°You¡­ you want things to be equal then?¡± Logan felt a smidgen of hope. The skill gains were nice, but not if he were forced to be a slave to the octopus. A slave to an octopus. That had to be a first. Ernie blinked his large eyes. ¡°You will still find me tasty, fishy treats?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Deploying the Cursed Length of Rope to reel in a few fish wouldn¡¯t be a hardship. Ernie held out a tentacle. ¡°We shall shake on it!¡± ¡°Er.¡± Logan grasped the end of the tentacle with a tentative hand. It was slimy, but more oily than anything. ¡°Deal.¡± As soon as he released Ernie¡¯s tentacle, he sprung forward like a whip and a tentacle lashed over Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hey!¡± But Ernie wasn¡¯t attacking him. Wrapped in his tentacle was an animal the size of a cat. It was covered in grey fur, tiny, talon-like claws flexing and scrambling frantically in his hold. Ernie reeled the creature in, using two other tentacles to grasp a firm hold. Then, feeding it into his mouth, he crunched and snapped off its head. ¡°Mmm, mmm, I¡¯m getting a taste for land snacks!¡± Blood and guts trailed down his tentacles, saturating him in red. Ding! [Murderous Octopus has defeated a level five Rabid Grey Squirrel! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [You have leveled up!] Chapter 41: Kick Ass Skills [Murderous Octopus has defeated a level five Rabid Grey Squirrel! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [You have leveled up!] As the euphoria of the level increase surged through Logan, he could only stare. At this point, a spaceship could come down from the sky and transport him to a sentient slime monster world and Logan would take it in stride. His world had devolved into absurdity. Apocalypse? A creepy System? Undead sturgeons? A talking bonded murderous octopus? Why not. And although the System had indicated the XP he¡¯d gained from Ernie¡¯s kill was reduced, it had still been enough to get him to the next level. Logan concentrated on the asterisk within his stat screen next to the companion description: [Until you obtain an equal or higher level than your bonded companion, XP distribution will be reduced. To share in XP, both parties must be in the presence of the other.] Holy shit. That was a game changer. Even though it was reduced and there were conditions, with Ernie being so much higher leveled, he could see a huge advantage here. As a surge of excitement made his chest feel light, Logan left Ernie to his squirrel munching and wandered out of his reach. It would give him enough room to experiment. Out of all the skills he¡¯d gained, [Regenerate] excited him the most. It was listed as a rare skill. He¡¯d already lost a toe and a finger. Who knew what else he¡¯d lose in the coming days? Logan pulled up the skill description. [This rare skill allows you to regenerate severed limbs. Skill level advances with Grade level.] The latter part of the description mirrored his [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] skill. When he advanced from Grade F0 to F1, the skill had become more complex, giving him expanded detail. That meant that the power of [Regenerate] was still in its infant stages, but that didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t work. He¡¯d start with his finger first. During his ordeal underwater, the bandages around his hand had gotten soaked, but he must have been too worried for his life to notice that they¡¯d fallen off entirely. Before he¡¯d gone for his swimming adventure, the wound had been tender and not entirely healed, but a layer of skin had already closed over the end of his missing finger. Logan was psyching himself up to visualize his finger growing like he did with his [Life Cycle Master] skill when he paused and studied the wound. It was no longer a cleanly healing wound. Right in the middle of the stub, what he could only describe as a round nub was sticking out, about the size of a thumbtack. It looked like a tumour. Was [Regenerate] already at work? It was the grossest thing he¡¯d seen in his life. Logan tore off his running shoe and peeled off his wet sock. Contorting his body as if he were doing yoga, he studied his toe injury. Nasty. Just like his finger, he had a stub of flesh growing out of the wound, like a wormy appendage. [Regenerate] was already at work. It must be automatic, a passive skill. Hell yeah! Logan could see how that could come in handy, especially if the skill grew more powerful. Now he just needed to wait until his limbs regenerated. And hopefully to the point where he wouldn¡¯t have to look away in disgust. Logan took off his other shoe and then awkwardly sat down, trying not to jar his new toe growth. The shoe hid whatever was at work, but there was no avoiding looking at his hand. He was regretting not raiding Jack¡¯s closet for gloves, but he wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. [Regenerate] was the most valuable skill out of the lot, but from a purely kick ass factor, [Mimicry] had immense potential. If he could mirror his surroundings and blend in, it wasn¡¯t just a way to escape, it was a way to hide before he attacked. Logan rolled up his white long sleeved dress shirt to the elbows. The skill description had been clear: [This rare skill allows you to transform your skin, mimicking anything within your environment.] That meant he should be able to graft an image onto his skin. It was just a matter of how. Logan concentrated on the sandy ground underneath his feet. He¡¯d wandered far enough away that he was sitting on a combination of beach sand and gravel from the forest. It contained pebbles, and a few strands of dried, yellow grass. Holding that picture in his mind, he studied his arm. He¡¯d gotten a tan from being outside constantly, but other than that, his arm was the same. He was betting that this skill would be like opening his karma pool or deploying [Life Cycle Master]. It would be all visualization. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Logan closed his eyes and concentrated on the image of the ground. Dirt, sand, grass and pebbles. Opening his eyes, he then visualized that same pattern covering his arm, crawling up his skin like a layer of water. The layer began at his wrist, then travelled up his forearm, covering all the way to the edge of his rolled-up shirt. Ding! [Mimicry is Level 2!] That¡¯s what he was talking about! Excited, Logan examined his arm. Aaaaaawesome. The difference between his arm and the sand was non-existent. His arm may as well be the sand. If he held it directly in front of the sand, you could hardly tell where his arm and the ground began. But as he watched, the pattern faded, and his arm returned to normal. Damn. That had been barely a minute, and it was only on a fraction of his body. He needed to get a lot better at this. Logan flexed his hand and then shook his arm, getting ready for another round. Extending the skill was just a matter of concentration. He repeated the same steps, but this time, pushed. The camouflage spread like a river. [Mimicry is Level 3!] He¡¯d managed to spread the pattern up his whole arm and down the side of his chest. Counting, he kept track of the seconds, watching his skin carefully. The pattern stayed steady for 90 seconds before fading. Scrunching his nose in concentration, Logan deployed the skill again, this time, not stopping until he¡¯d managed to spread the pattern, pushing, covering his chest, his legs, his feet¡­. [Mimicry is Level 4!] But he still needed to hold the skill in place. Gritting his teeth, he held on, like holding onto the edge of a cliff for dear life. With a pop, as if something had clicked into place, he knew he¡¯d made a breakthrough. [Mimicry is Level 5!] Gasping, Logan stared down at every bit of exposed skin he could see, reeling when he saw that same pattern. With a thought, he willed the mirror out of his spatial collar and set it down on the ground so he could see his whole reflection. From his feet to his legs, to his neck and face. Everything was covered. And if he concentrated, he could adjust the pattern, adding more pebbles, or making his skin resemble sand instead. Even more intriguing, he knew his spatial storage collar was still around his neck from the weight and the feel of it, but he couldn¡¯t see it in the mirror. It had blended right in, as if the fabric of the collar had managed to pick up the camouflage skill. He¡¯d managed to hold [Mimicry] for a solid five minutes before the pattern faded away. He suspected that he¡¯d need to continue to level it in order to increase the duration. There was one serious problem. His clothes. People might not notice his skin if it mimicked his surroundings, but you bet your ass they¡¯d notice a pair of hovering swim trunks. For the skill to be useful, he¡¯d have to walk around without any clothes. Logan would feel like a creep! What if the skill expired while he was around other people? He¡¯d become known as the creepy apocalypse streaker! Lara would never let him live it down. The other problem was his hair. He could tell that he¡¯d managed to extend the pattern to his scalp, but that didn¡¯t matter if his hair covered it. Logan wasn¡¯t a vain man by any means; in fact, he already looked like a disaster with missing patches of hair all over his scalp due to the noxious mushroom, but even he put a limit on going bald for the sake of a skill. His ex-girlfriend had never been that complimentary, but she¡¯d had a thing for his hair, commenting that it was his best feature. Logan hesitated. But if a head-full of hair was the difference between making the skill effective, could he justify not shaving it? ¡°You look full of deep thoughts!¡± Ernie had finished his meal and made shuffling noises as he joined Logan. Once he caught sight of the mirror, he perked up, his head bobbing. ¡°That''s a very useful mirror. You can use it to distract sturgeons but also to admire yourself!¡± Ernie slimed his way in front of the mirror and preened at his reflection. Wait a minute. If he was struggling with the skill, why not ask the expert? ¡°Ernie, I¡¯ve gotten [Mimicry] to work, but the skill only covers my skin. Is there any way to have that extend to my hair? I¡¯m sure my scalp is transforming, but it¡¯s useless if it¡¯s covered.¡± Ernie scrutinized Logan¡¯s hair and then finally shook his head. ¡°Hair is foreign to me. Although it¡¯s wavy! And curly! And I much admire it, poor Ernie never had the follicles for such a stylish endeavour.¡± Logan¡¯s shoulders slumped. ¡°I might have to bite the bullet and shave my scalp.¡± Ernie tsked. ¡°Such a shame.¡± He then scooted forward and narrowed his eyes in consideration. ¡°I have a solution!¡± Logan didn¡¯t like the excited look in Ernie¡¯s eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can act as a hat, covering the offender!¡± Without any prompting, Ernie flung himself onto Logan¡¯s shoulder with a flying leap and grabbed on with his tentacles. ¡°Hey!¡± Slime trailed over his neck and cheek as Ernie climbed on top of his head, settling and forming his body into the shape of a lumpy hat. Logan stared at his reflection, not knowing whether to laugh or shout. ¡°¡­.how is this going to help camouflage my hair?¡± In a flash, Ernie turned colours, mirroring the bark of the pine tree trunk behind him. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s actually not too bad.¡± Logan couldn¡¯t believe he was even considering this. Forget a slime world, he¡¯d officially gone into do not pass Go, do not collect $200 ludicrous territory. It was absolutely ridiculous. Still¡­ it was tempting. If he deployed [Mimicry] while leaning against a tree trunk or underwater against a rock face, as long as Ernie perched on his head and they stayed motionless, they could spring an attack together on an unsuspecting monster. Ernie could be a hidden tentacle weapon, allowing them both to share in the XP. That could be a hell of a way to level. And level up quickly. Ernie opened his eyes and blinked slowly. The rest of the octopus¡¯ body still looked like a tree trunk, so a blinking bark hat was surreal. With a flex of his tentacles, he jumped off Logan¡¯s head and back onto the ground. ¡°Of course,¡± the octopus said, preening. ¡°I rival all.¡± It would never stand up to scrutiny up close, but at a distance, with Ernie¡¯s help, the skill just might work. That still left the nudity problem. Logan snorted. That did it. He¡¯d only utilize [Mimicry] while he was alone with Ernie in monster-infested lands or if he had no other choice. He could live with being known as a streaker if the skill saved his life, but he wasn¡¯t going to use the skill just for the heck of it. Ernie prodded him with a tentacle. ¡°I am hungry. Hungry for tasty treats!¡± Shit. Logan was out of fish, and he didn¡¯t think an octopus would be impressed with beans and tomatoes. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark. I know I said I¡¯d catch you fish, but it might not be safe for me to swim at night.¡± Ernie gave him a considering look. ¡°Hmmph, Ernie is not selfish. He knows that although Logan is stylish, he¡¯s also a fleshy human. I shall go. I shall triumph over all!¡± Logan released a breath in relief. Ernie slimed away, heading toward the lake. The octopus had said it would be an equal relationship, but until that point, he hadn¡¯t really believed it. As Logan watched Ernie sink into the lake, only a ripple on the surface evidence he had been there at all, he began to feel optimistic about the future. With the help of these new skills, he should be able to grind his way to a higher level. Not to mention the XP he¡¯d gained from Ernie¡¯s kills. The more powerful he became, the better. For Lara, for the kids, for Tasha and Jack. But most importantly, for his other goal. A goal that he was cautious even thinking about. To beat the System. Chapter 42: Superhero But beating the System was a long way off, and for now, he needed to master his last new skill, [Tentacle Armor]. [This rare skill allows you to graft material within your environment to your body, creating a layer of protection against attack.] Before he¡¯d broken up with his girlfriend, she¡¯d forced him to watch a ton of nature documentaries. Logan could take them or leave them, but he remembered watching one that featured an octopus who had a strange way to cushion itself from attacks. The octopus had scrunched itself into a ball and then used its tentacles to gather everything around it. Rocks, empty clams, broken coral¡ªyou name it. Its suction cups had latched onto each item, covering its body in a layer of debris, like a cluttered costume of junk. If this skill did the same, he¡¯d be able to create a shield, something to cushion himself against attack. The problem was, Logan didn¡¯t have tentacles. The description of the skill didn¡¯t say it advanced with his Grade level, which meant it had to be similar to his other skills. It would take effort to advance. Concentration. And it wasn¡¯t the same as making his skin transform or breathing underwater. This skill needed external material. It reminded him of that ability he¡¯d seen the woman deploy on the news, that telekinesis skill he¡¯d thought so cool. And if it was anything like that, that meant Karma. Logan eyed the sky, checking that he had enough light. There was still enough light to see everything around him, but it was getting too dark to stay by the lake, so he retreated to his makeshift campsite and plopped down on the blankets he¡¯d set on the ground. Shifting, he sat in a lotus position, trying to get into what he considered his ¡®Zen¡¯ state of mind. Somehow, he needed to graft ¡®material¡¯ to his body. But what material? Since the skill was supposed to create armour, material made him think of metal. He had two big metal buckets inside his spatial collar, but that couldn¡¯t be right. What, walk around with two buckets sticking out of his chest? It was ridiculous. So ridiculous it was laughable. Octopuses used the suction cups on their tentacles to grab shells and rocks and then twisted the tentacles around their bodies, creating a shield, but they didn¡¯t swim while doing it. They were stationary. They only used the ability when they were hiding or on the ground, bundled up in a ball. Plus, the thought of a bunch of shells stuck all over his body was as ridiculous as the metal buckets. Logan eyed the sand on the ground. Maybe it was a matter of starting off small. Logan mulled over the problem and then knew what he had to do. Visualization. Before the System Integration, he¡¯d never been a big dreamer. Meditation? Concentration? The best he could do was read a few chapters of the latest Spy Thriller before becoming distracted. It was surprising how well he¡¯d adapted to this new world, where power was a matter of imagination, concentration, and sheer persistence rather than a natural ability such as a high IQ or an eidetic memory. Closing his eyes, he pictured his surroundings, replicating everything he¡¯d seen in his mind. From the pine trees towering towards the sky, to the large boulder that had a layer of moss crawling over the areas exposed to the ground, to the rough fibres of the wool blanket underneath him. He thought of the lady on the news with the telekinesis skill as he reached. He started with the sand on the edges of his blanket, visualizing it loosening, trickling towards him. At first, it travelled on the ground only, moving towards him as if he were suddenly on an incline. Then, as if each fine grain of sand were an insect, they moved over the blanket. More and more came, pouring over the blanket and gathering into a sand pile next to his crossed legs. But he couldn¡¯t stop there. This was the hard part. Logan continued the visualization, but this time, he pictured one grain of sand rising into the air. One only. A fine grain of sand was weightless, so featherlight it could fly away in a windstorm. Logan used that knowledge to give himself confidence. This was possible. Holding out his arm, he visualized that grain of sand lifting from the ground and hovering in the air. His arm was still bare, his skin back to normal, but he pictured his arm not as a regular arm; he twisted his perspective. It was a magnet, sucking in everything around it. But this magnet was designed for one purpose. To attract sand. The grain of sand flew towards his arm like a bullet, latching onto his forearm and sticking. It was like a speck of dust, nothing on its own, but he wasn¡¯t stopping at one. Logan scrunched his eyebrows in concentration as he seized hold of the pile of sand piled up next to his leg, expanding his area of focus and launching hundreds of grains into the air. They lurched, wobbling, before he forced them steady, hovering them in place, before he directed them closer. One after another, like darts landing on a board, they latched onto his arm to create a consistent layer, at least an inch thick. Ding! [Tentacle Armor is Level 1!] Logan opened his eyes. Covering his forearm and wrist, he now had a layer of light, brown sand. It was as if he¡¯d just dipped his arm in the lake, getting it wet, and then rolled it in sand like dipping it in flour. The difference was, when sand clung to you, it inevitably fell off as soon as you were no longer wet. Logan hadn¡¯t been wet at all. But it was still just a layer of sand. One flex of his arm could dislodge the whole thing. The sand was sticking together in a piecemeal pattern, staying put due to sheer willpower and the power of the skill, but it wouldn¡¯t be much protection against attack. Logan needed to do better. Could he harden the sand? Connect the grains? After all, there was a reason that sandstone existed. Normally, it took hundreds of years, even thousands to transform into stone, but if it were possible in the natural world, it had to be possible with a skill. Logan shifted in place and took a deep breath to settle his nerves. The fact that he was even trying this showed how far he¡¯d come in just four days. Magic had been something he told his nieces about, things in fairytales. Not something real. If this were real, if an octopus could talk, if a person could turn into an undead fungus zombie, what else was possible? Everything humanity could imagine, no matter how fantastical, could be made into reality. In the scheme of things, what was one armour skill? If Logan wanted to transform sand into a rock that could flex as he moved, he was going to master the hell out of that shit. Logan looked down at his arm and concentrated on the layer of sand. Opening his senses, he narrowed in on each grain. It was impossible to see each one, but somehow, like utilizing his [Life Cycle Master] skill, he could sense them. They were rounded, like pebbles, but some had uneven edges. Edges that could be slotted together. Logan willed the sand into a cohesive whole, commanding it to reform, merge, harden¡­ and yet, be flexible. From his wrist to his forearm, all the way to his elbow. Logan formed a layer of hardened sandstone, molding it, transforming it. Ding! [Tentacle Armor is Level 2!] As he looked down, elation surged through his body, making him want to jump and shout. The only thing holding him back was the possibility it might attract monsters. He¡¯d formed a forearm guard. Kick ass. It looped around his wrist and forearm, hard as rock. An inch thick, this thing had substance. Logan tried to move it, wiggling it, shifting it, but it had formed onto his arm like an exoskeleton. But like an exoskeleton, it didn¡¯t restrict movement, allowing him to flex his wrist and move his arm as if it weren¡¯t there at all. And even better, Logan instinctively knew that as soon as he wanted to remove it, it was just a matter of willing it. Could he expand the forearm guard? Logan squinted, gazing at it in concentration. If he did, he would need more sand. Expanding his senses, he¡­ Suddenly, his head grew stuffy, as if his sinuses were tight. Every time this had happened in the past, he¡¯d been close to draining his Karma pool. Logan pulled up his stat sheet and reviewed his Karma pool. He¡¯d rather avoid another¡­. 9/330. 8/330. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! 7/330. 6/330. It was draining as he watched! Clenching his fist in frustration, Logan released the skill, watching his hard-earned forearm guard transform from stone and back into hundreds of grains of sand. Without the skill keeping them in place, they soon fell off his arm, trickling down and pooling at his feet. Logan waited for his Karma pool to replenish with a scowl. Originally, when he¡¯d only needed Karma for [Life Cycle Master], he¡¯d deemed increasing his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate lower priority. That was when he thought those stats related to growing trees and vegetables. At the time, he¡¯d needed offensive abilities, not KarmaCoin. But now that he had a skill that could be used in a fight, his attribute priorities had drastically changed. Logan still had five free attribute points to allocate from his last fight, and until now, it had made sense to hold back on distributing them until he figured out his next priority. Not anymore. It was just a matter of which attribute to upgrade first. Every additional intelligence point translated into six karma points. Expanding his pool would let him use [Tentacle Armour] longer, but it also meant he¡¯d have to wait the same amount of time to replenish it. On the other hand, each wisdom point translated to a one-to-one ratio. From a strict rate of return consideration, increasing intelligence was way more valuable. Decision made, Logan allocated his points. [Intelligence: 56] [Intelligence: 57+] [Intelligence: 60] Logan¡¯s eyes widened as the change took effect; each time he upgraded it was no less of a rush than the last. By making that change, he¡¯d increased his Karma pool from 330 to 360. While he was considering his options, his pool had started to replenish, and he watched with excitement as it filled. 331/360. 333/360. 336/360. Soon, his Karma pool was full again at 360, and he could get back to work. First, Logan reformed the armguard, the process of gathering the sand and funneling it onto his arm already easier than before. But this time, he didn¡¯t stop there, wanting to see how far up his arm he could advance it, and how long he could get it to stay before he ran out of Karma. Logan kept funneling sand, more and more, all the way up to the base of his throat. Then, he expanded his senses so that he could focus on each grain of sand, slotting them together and hardening them into the exoskeleton material. Done. Now it was just a matter of timing it to figure out how long the skill could last. He didn¡¯t want to go into his next fight without having a full understanding of his resources. It would be like going into a gunfight without knowing how many bullets you had in a gun. At the same time, since [Mimicry] didn¡¯t seem to need Karma, he could also practice using more than one skill at once. It was too bad that his new armour couldn¡¯t take on the camouflage features of [Mimicry]. That would be kick-ass to the extreme. ¡­.Wait a minute. He¡¯d just finished telling himself that anything was possible. He¡¯d already seen other skills merge together. Why couldn¡¯t he do it again? A flutter of excitement made his feet feel light as he deployed [Mimicry], visualizing that same gravel and sand pattern he¡¯d used before. The skill spread the pattern like a river. Logan held out his arm and studied his hand, right underneath where the armguard ended. He¡¯d covered it in camouflage, and he also knew that the camouflage had spread underneath his armguard. How could he make the armguard take on that same pattern? Visualization. Visualization was his ace in the hole. Logan took a deep, steadying breath, and this time kept his eyes open. He wanted to focus on the armguard in real-time. Starting with the edge of the guard, he visualized that solid, brown stone taking on a speckled pattern. It was like taking a picture of the gravel and pine needles scattered around his blanket and transposing it directly onto his arm. Logan knew he was activating the skill, but the problem was, he¡¯d just duplicated the same pattern on his arm. The armguard remained a solid brown stone. Logan thought of the last time he¡¯d broken through a skill. The greenhouse and the image of the towering brick wall. Could he do the same with this skill? Somehow, he knew visualizing a brick wall would get him nowhere. However, he could already sense each grain of sand when he molded the skill and hardened it. There was something here, a way forward. Logan needed all his focus at his disposal, so he closed his eyes. The stone forearm guard was now solid rock, but each connected, merged grain of sand remained inside the structure. Sand was nothing but tiny crystals of quartz, which in essence was made out of silica and oxygen. Oxygen could move. And if it moved, he could carve out a space for something else. Logan pictured [Mimicry] as the base of a grass field. Grass could grow. Logan pushed, forcing the strands of grass to expand, like reaching for the sun, inserting itself into the forearm guard like vines burying through a weathered stone wall. Each vine looped around a grain of strand, encircling it, covering it with the connected pattern and making something entirely new. Once the process started, like opening floodgates, it continued, until he could no longer distinguish the vines from the sand. With a popping sound and a sharp stab of pain behind his eyes, he knew he¡¯d made a breakthrough. Logan opened his eyes. Ding! [Skill convergence found!] [The skill, Tentacle Armour, has been merged with the skill, Mimicry, to form the rare skill, Mimicry Armour! This skill allows you to graft material within your environment to your body, creating a camouflaged layer of protection. Duration of the skill advances with Karma pool growth. Level of the skill advances with the complexity of the material.] Yes! Logan fist pumped the air in elation and jumped to his feet. His forearm guard was now invisible against a background of sand and pebbles, and what was even more awesome was that this might be the tip of the iceberg. A forearm guard was nothing. What if he managed to cover his whole body? It would be as if he¡¯d obtained a high-tech space suit, only better, since it was flexible and lightweight. The description of the skill said he¡¯d level the skill with different material. Did that mean he could use metal? Holy shit, it was beyond kick-ass. Logan was a superhero. No, even better! Logan was Iron Man. He released the skill as soon as he felt his head getting tight, letting the sandstone collapse and fall back into regular sand that trailed to the ground. One thing was for sure, he needed to prioritize his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate in the future. It was time for a review of his stat sheet. He pulled up the full view display, wanting to conduct a comprehensive review. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 91,892 out of 6,661,810,842 Level: 16 Class: None Grade: F1 Species: Human Skills: Titles: XP Progress: 1,000/32,000 Karma: 360/360 Intelligence: 60 Constitution: 30 Strength: 29 Agility: 35 Dexterity: 20 Endurance: 35 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 40 Luck: 40 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 10 His rank had gone up again, which wasn¡¯t surprising after receiving the boost to his attributes from the last quest, but he didn¡¯t like to see that continued population drop. What was even more surprising was that ever since he¡¯d received his stat sheet, the System had listed a mysterious ¡®Class¡¯ category. He¡¯d wondered about this before, but now, the mystery was starting to piss him off. Was there a hidden threshold he needed to reach, a special quest, or a reward he needed to obtain? Once again, he cursed the lack of instruction. He was missing something here. And Logan didn¡¯t like puzzles. *** [Countdown: Day 5 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: Rank: 95,250 out of 6,532,292,614.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] Logan woke to the regular System Ding! and opened his eyes to huge black eyes staring at him, so close they were inches away from his face. ¡°GAAAH!¡± The octopus startled, its tentacles jumping up in alarm before it scooted back, leaving a trail of slimy water in its wake. ¡°Human, are you injured?¡± Fuck¡¯s sake! ¡°No, Ernie. You just startled me. I was asleep.¡± ¡°Ahah! And now you¡¯re awake! Our slaughter can commence!¡± Logan blinked owlishly. He¡¯d had a terrible night, nodding off, and then waking up with jerks as soon as he¡¯d heard something rustling in the trees. His baseball bat had been in constant reach, and he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he¡¯d developed new calluses on his fingers. Talking about fingers, Logan lifted his hand and studied his new digit. Holy fuck. It still didn¡¯t look like a normal finger, but it had made massive strides from the previous night. No longer a grossly forming tumour, his new index finger looked the size of his pinky finger. And it was still growing. By tomorrow or even mid-day, it might be fully formed. ¡°Human?¡± Ernie was gazing at him impatiently. Right, slaughter. Well, he supposed there was a reason Ernie was considered a ¡®Murderous Octopus.¡¯ ¡°Just to be clear, you mean monsters, right?¡± Ernie wiggled his tentacles in excitement. ¡°We must slaughter Undead Sturgeons! Before you came, I had no luck with the deed. They always knew I was approaching and escaped. Sneakily. They are not that speedy, but their undead abilities make them resilient to fatigue. I have stamina! Just not undead stamina! And now we can use the magic mirror to distract them so I can come in for the kill!¡± ¡°There are more of those things?¡± Ernie beamed. ¡°Many more! Many more to fuel my cauldron of slaughter. We shall triumph! We shall string their corpses at our feet, a pile of shredded enemies! Once we¡¯re done, they¡¯ll no longer be able to infect and lure in unsuspecting fish.¡± He lowered his voice as if imparting a secret. ¡°It is bad. Like an army.¡± There was a lot to unpack in Ernie¡¯s statement. First of all, he was a crazy octopus. Logan had bonded with a crazy, murderous octopus. And if what he was saying was true, they might have more undead problems on their hands. Logan coughed and then hacked and spit, wondering why his throat and eyes felt sore. Prying himself to his feet with his baseball bat, he stretched and looked around. It was morning, and the sun should be bright and hot at this time of the year, but the sky had a haze to it and the sun had an orange tint, as if it¡­ Oh no. Every year, the Okanagan went through a fire season. Interface forest fires were a huge problem. The summer was hot here¡ªover 100 degrees non-stop for months, and the ground and grass dried up, creating dangerous situations all around. It was normal to have at least one major fire somewhere in the area. That wasn¡¯t a problem if you had planes and helicopters to fight them and keep them away from populated areas, but what the hell were they going to do now? Fuck fuck fuck. How close was it? And where? ¡°Hold on,¡± he said to Ernie, willing his cell phone out of his spatial storage collar. Waiting for it to turn on felt like hours rather than seconds. Come on, come on, come on. As soon as he had power, he waited until he had a connection to the cellular network, network bars concernedly low. Logan stabbed the screen as it finally connected, hitting Lara¡¯s name. It rung and rung, then the call dropped. Stomach sinking to the floor, he tried again. Straight to voicemail. One more time. A busy signal. Holy shit, was Hope¡¯s End on fire? Chapter 43: Commence the Slaughter Logan raised his phone high in the air and stared at the network bars. Still the same. No data. He tried texting Lara: The sky is full of smoke. Forest fire. Is it anywhere near you? Are you okay?? Only for the message to come back with an undeliverable notification. Logan gripped his phone in frustration, and then he had to calm himself down as the device started to creak under his newfound strength. Ernie let out an aggrieved sigh before crawling over to Logan¡¯s blanket, his tentacles soaking it with slime. He plopped down on top of the blanket and then rummaged through the supplies Logan had pulled out of his spatial collar. ¡°No fish,¡± he mumbled, throwing a water bottle to the side with one tentacle. ¡°Where¡¯s the fish¡­¡± Logan took in the scene, feeling numb, like watching a person walk down the street wearing a Halloween costume in in the summer. A curiosity, but meaningless in the scheme of things. Every fibre of his being was in panic mode as the possibilities of what had happened to Lara ran through his mind. He couldn¡¯t lose Lara and the kids, not to this, not this day. In desperation, he tried Tasha. A ring tone. So far, so good. ¡°Logan?¡± she said as the call connected. Relief filled him when he heard her voice, but his worry for Lara and the kids was still racked up to the ninth degree. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d hear from you until you were on your way back. What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°There¡¯s wildfire smoke in the air,¡± he said, voice tense. ¡°You know how bad that could be for everyone. I can¡¯t get through to my sister. Something¡¯s wrong. And my shitty phone won¡¯t connect to data; there¡¯s no way to look up what¡¯s going on. I need to know they¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± she said in a soothing voice as if she were talking him off a ledge. ¡°Stressful situation here, for sure! Maybe I can help alleviate your worry. Not that we¡¯ll ever stop worrying.¡± Logan ran a hand through his hair and paced around his blanket while Ernie watched him with curious eyes. ¡°The Wi-Fi worked this morning. For about five minutes before it went down again. Still no cellular data, but Jack was able to access one of the local sites. The fire is bad, a big one, but it¡¯s 100 miles out from Hope¡¯s End. Still in the forest. The wind is moving the smoke in our direction, but he said the fire is moving away from the city. If your sister is in Hope¡¯s End, she should be safe. For now.¡± Logan slumped to the ground, his legs going boneless in relief. For a second, he¡¯d really thought Hope¡¯s End was on fire. In a city that large, with buildings packed so close together, fire would be a death sentence. ¡°This is so messed up, though. Why would the System blow up everything that could fight fires? It caused the very thing it was supposedly trying to prevent. Carbon. And if it¡¯s happening here, it¡¯ll happen everywhere. California, Washington, Quebec. Don¡¯t Europe and Australia get fires too? It¡¯ll feed itself.¡± ¡°Armageddon,¡± Logan whispered. ¡°No, it won¡¯t get that bad. The weather will turn around, eventually it¡¯ll get cold.¡± It sounded as if Tasha were trying to reassure herself rather than Logan. What she wasn¡¯t saying was that by the time that happened, all the homes anywhere close to the forests would be burned to a crisp. Jack¡¯s cabin wasn¡¯t even safe. Even though the property was by the water, all it took was one flying ember. And the situation could change on a dime. Wind would be their enemy. A forest fire during calm weather was one thing¡ªit would move, but slowly. Suddenly, add wind to the mix and you had a firestorm on your hands. ¡°This is so fucked!¡± Tasha cried. ¡°The System is evil! Is it trying to kill us all?!¡± Logan was starting to suspect it might be. It had given an incentive for killing other people, after all. Logan sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t do anything here, but you can prepare. Prevention will be the way we survive this. Clear away any loose pine needles, anything on the ground. Bring in the patio furniture, the outdoor mats. Anywhere an ember could land. Cut down the pine trees close to the property; hell, even carve out a ditch around the cabin as a fire barrier. Then, have Jack show everyone the garden hoses. There should be an extra one inside the supply shed.¡± Tasha was quiet. ¡°Do you really think we need all that?¡± Logan pinched his nose. ¡°I¡¯d be organizing it myself if I was still there.¡± Logan heard a text message come in. ¡°Hold on.¡± Turning Tasha¡¯s call on speakerphone, he navigated to his text messages and then slumped in relief. A text message had come through from Lara. Lara: Hey little brother, I don¡¯t know if you tried to call, but cell service here is getting spotty. We might not be able to talk today. All good here. The schedule is still a go. ¡°She¡¯s okay,¡± Logan said, and then laughed in relief. That had been hell. It reminded him of that time when Lara had gone through her divorce, and she¡¯d asked him to pick up the kids from school. He¡¯d agreed to do it, arrived at the school, and yet he hadn¡¯t found Sawyer or Hunter anywhere. While he¡¯d searched, that frantic twenty minutes had been one of the worst of his life. Every horrible possibility imaginable had gone through his mind. It had turned out that since Logan had arrived at the wrong entrance, the kids had assumed he was late, and they had gone to the gym to watch the basketball team play. His worry had been for nothing; he could only hope it was the same this time. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Logan ended the call with Tasha and then turned his attention to Ernie, who was watching him with inquisitive eyes. Ernie crawled closer and waved a tentacle. ¡°I sensed a tremendous degree of emotion, a wellspring of worry. This ¡®Lara¡¯ means a lot to you?¡± Logan gave him a gentle smile. ¡°Lara is my sister. You could say she means a lot, yeah.¡± It was Logan¡¯s turn to look at Ernie in curiosity. ¡°Do you have siblings, Ernie?¡± ¡°Over 20,000 of them! But many of them are eaten by now.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°You weren¡¯t very close, I take it?¡± ¡°I saw them once, when I hatched! After that, we went our separate ways.¡± Ernie¡¯s expression became faraway and one of his tentacles twitched. ¡°Back then, it seemed normal. The right thing. A natural parting of the ways, never to see each other again. But now, I can¡¯t help but look back on it with uncertainty.¡± Ernie¡¯s voice took on a wistful tone. ¡°It would have been nice to be close to a sibling like your Lara.¡± Logan gave him a considering look. Leveling up had given Ernie the ability to talk, but had it also done something else? For all he knew, the more levels beings received, the more self-aware they became. Eventually, they might have a spider rat scholar on their hands. Logan shuddered at the thought. Ernie nudged him with a tentacle. ¡°Is the emotional siesta over? We have slaughtering to commence.¡± Logan held back a grimace. ¡°When we met, I was on my way to my sister. She has two kids and they¡¯re stranded in Hope¡¯s¡­ stranded in a city.¡± Did Ernie even know what a city was? ¡°A large place where humans live. She¡¯s in danger, and I need to pick her up and bring her back here.¡± Ernie was still looking at him with curious eyes. ¡°Does this¡­ do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡± Ernie slimed his way closer to Logan, resting a tentacle on the top of his shoe as he raised himself up with his other tentacles and peered at Logan¡¯s face. Being an octopus monster, you¡¯d assume Ernie would smell like rotten fish or something equally unpleasant. But up close, Logan got the faint whiff of fish and seaweed, like the smell of freshly harvested oysters. Ernie¡¯s eyes were black pools. ¡°How will you save your sister if you¡¯re a weakling?¡± Wait. ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°I chose you due to your creativity! And smarts! And your ability to use the magic mirror! As well as to get me tasty treats. But you¡¯re weak, Large Human Logan! I could squeeze you into mush with one swipe of a tentacle! You must save your sister, yes, yes.¡± Ernie bobbed his head. ¡°A noble quest. But you must also get strong!¡± ¡°I know that, but I still¡ª¡± ¡°You must slaughter!¡± Ernie huffed. ¡°I will be magnanimous. We will partake in your noble quest and save your sister, but you must meet me half-way.¡± Logan stared. Unreal. ¡°You sound like my ex-girlfriend.¡± ¡°She was also a Murderous Octopus?¡± Logan snorted. Ernie lowered himself down to the ground and crawled back to Logan¡¯s blanket. He latched onto the empty water bottle again and then shook it forlornly before throwing it into the bushes. ¡°We must also make time to fish during this noble quest.¡± It wasn¡¯t that Logan needed to be talked into leveling. Having the advantage of a Level 55 companion wasn¡¯t something he was going to discount. But at the same time, each day, the situation around him got worse. Today it was a forest fire, what would happen tomorrow? If today followed the same pattern as the others, they had yet another System purge to look forward to. Could Logan take the time needed to slaughter monsters with Ernie when Lara¡¯s situation was a ticking time bomb? But could he afford not to? To save Lara and the kids, to keep Tasha and Jack safe, he needed to be strong. As he stood there, people were murdering other people for levels. Logan was getting weaker just talking to Ernie. Since he would never take part in the killing of innocent human beings, he was already disadvantaged. He had no idea how high these people¡¯s levels were, but based on the newscast, it was possible that a handful of people were killing hundreds, even thousands. With exponential XP, that meant a potential level that was so high it was uncomfortable to even consider. And yet, the System was giving out bonus XP to despicable people, but did those people have a companion who was triple their level to help them along? Logan would bet his entire supply of green beans, hell, even his spatial storage collar, that they didn¡¯t. There had to be a happy medium here. ¡°What if I do meet you half-way, Ernie?¡± The octopus paused in rummaging through Logan¡¯s belongings and gave him an attentive look. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°We kill things. We kill the hell out of things, but we also travel to Hope¡¯s End. We can travel in my boat during the day, I¡¯ll swing one of my fishing nets over the side and catch you fish, then, before we turn in for the night, we go swimming. We¡¯ll find you sturgeons, monsters; we¡¯ll kill everything we come across that wants to kill us.¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°And slaughter¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you slaughter. I¡¯ll give you so much carnage you¡¯ll be swimming in blood.¡± *** Logan spent time completing his daily cheats, triggering his agility and dexterity bonuses, but he left strength and endurance for the boat. He¡¯d be paddling like a madman once they left in the canoe, so it made sense to save time when he¡¯d already earn bonus attributes on the journey anyway. But before they left, there was something he needed to do. Throughout this whole ordeal, Logan had done his best to handle whatever came at him, but many times, he¡¯d squeezed by only through luck or the skin of his teeth. Instead of reacting, he wanted to prepare. Strategy. Strategy would get him through this. Unlike when he¡¯d first encountered the undead minions, he had a huge advantage. His spatial storage collar gave him a leg up on monsters and other people, since whatever he found, he could store. The current contents were a pittance, but as he found supplies, he had the ability to throw them all in there and will them out as needed. Plus, there were things in his environment he could use right now. He had no idea if this would work, but in a pinch, in a life-or-death fight, why not? Whenever he willed an item out of the collar, he could pin-point where he wanted that item to land to within a few feet. Take out his baseball bat? It arrived in his hand. Deposit the supply shed? In an area he¡¯d designated. What if he used that targeting ability as a weapon? ¡°Hold on, Ernie,¡± he said to the octopus while he grabbed his baseball bat. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back. There¡¯s something I need to try before we go.¡± One of Ernie¡¯s tentacles twitched. ¡°Yes, I will wait here like a footstool and not slaughter anything,¡± he said, glowering. ¡°At all.¡± Logan grimaced. He was starting to suspect Ernie became grumpy when he was hungry. ¡°Um, yeah. Won¡¯t be long at all.¡± Logan gave the octopus a cautious glance and then went back to the beach. Around the lake, the waterfront varied depending upon the quality of the property. You could just as easily find a beach with spotless sand that resembled a resort in Mexico as you could find one that was unusable. The shoreline he¡¯d camped next to seemed to be a happy medium between the two. The sand was still beach-level sand, but there was also gravel in spots and washed-up logs littered the shore. Most of these logs were rotting and brittle, but many of them were massive and nowhere close to something he could¡¯ve lifted before the System Integration. Logan walked down the length of the beach and willed logs inside his spatial collar like picking up trash. Log after log, as many as he could find. And it was effortless, like throwing twigs into a bag. Would there ever be a limit? Logan paused and held up the nametag dangling from the collar. It still listed his name. The same as before. But if he ever encountered someone who recognized what it was, he might be in for a fight. As far as he was concerned, it was more valuable than a vault of gold. Logan returned to Ernie, having cleared out the beach. All told, he¡¯d found over a dozen logs. But he wasn¡¯t finished at logs. His next task? Boulders. Chapter 44: A Writhing Snake Swarm As Logan walked to his campsite, the ground became uneven the closer he got to the forest. He might find what he needed there. Ernie perked up when he saw Logan. ¡°Slaughter time?¡± ¡°Almost. One more thing to try.¡± Logan gestured for the octopus to move and then cleared his campsite, willing the blanket and other supplies back into storage. Ernie nudged Logan¡¯s leg with a tentacle. ¡°I thought your noble quest was urgent. But now you are sightseeing. Tsk tsk.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sightseeing. I¡¯m on a scavenger hunt.¡± Ernie brightened. ¡°For fish?¡± ¡°For something much better.¡± Ernie bobbed his head. ¡°Exciting! Then I shall come.¡± Before Logan had a chance to protest, Ernie had latched onto him. Using his tentacles, he crawled up Logan¡¯s torso, trailing slime. Then, grabbing onto Logan¡¯s hair, he perched on top of his head, tentacles dangling down his neck and back, suctions steadying his perch. ¡°Proceed, noble steed.¡± It was one thing to entertain an octopus as a hat for the sake of a skill, but another thing to contemplate doing it just for the heck of it. ¡°You comfortable up there?¡± Logan said dryly. ¡°It''s very high up. I¡¯m a giant,¡± Ernie whispered. Logan moved into the forest, tightening his grip on his baseball bat as he looked around, every snap of a twig or rustle in the bush making him hyperalert. He didn¡¯t have far to go before he located a massive boulder sticking out of the ground next to a tree that easily had to be half a century old. Green moss and dirt covered the boulder. The width of a barrel at least, it would have taken an excavator to lift before the System, and Logan had doubts whether he¡¯d make any progress even with his increased strength. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± asked Ernie. ¡°It looks like a rock. Where¡¯s the treasure?¡± ¡°The rock is the treasure.¡± Logan willed it into his spatial collar, only to feel resistance, as if an elastic were pushing back. Then, with a snap, the boulder shifted in place, rising slightly from its depression in the ground before disappearing with a clap like thunder. ¡°Did you do that?¡± Craning forward and peering into the hole, Ernie made an excited sound. ¡°Oooooh, shiny!¡± Logan gaped. In the ground, there was a large hole where the boulder had rested, and inside the hole, a severed rock. It shimmered a dark green color like an emerald. Had he found a hidden gem? But how had that happened? It looked like the boulder had been attached to a further network of rocks underground. Logan had severed the connection when he¡¯d thrown the boulder into his collar. That alone implied too many possibilities to count. Could he use his spatial collar as a severing tool? If he could, that meant he could cut other things, things that he couldn¡¯t cut with his bare hands. Stone, metal; hell, even diamonds. Well, maybe not diamonds¡­ they were way too small, and why would he want to? If he found a diamond the size of a gold nugget, you better bet your ass he was keeping it as is. Still, he had so many questions. Was the ability only applicable to items that had a defined shape above ground with a hidden section below ground? Would it only be a matter of imagination? Logan was about to use [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the mineral when the System interrupted him. Ding! [You have successfully discovered a source of olivine, a mineral that absorbs carbon when crushed and scattered on the ground. 10% Mass Murderer title penalty in effect. Calculating reward for discovery¡­ 90 KarmaCoin awarded! Further awards available upon mineral carbonation deployment.] Holy shit! Logan had read about this! That biology class he¡¯d struggled through in college hadn¡¯t been useless after all. There were naturally occurring minerals that absorbed carbon. But for them to be effective, they had to be ground up, exposing as much mineral as possible. That¡¯s where the magic happened. Rain came. The carbon captured in the water dissolved the mineral and turned it into things like calcium or other compounds that went into lakes and oceans. Logan recalled that many of the sea creatures used that very mixture to help form their shells. Maybe Ernie even needed it? Either way, it was all connected. Nature was awesome. With the ten percent penalty, that meant he¡¯d actually earned 100 KarmaCoin but ended up with 90. If the System awarded him for finding olivine, what would it give Logan if he ground it into sand? The rock inside the boulder hole had a ton of that shiny emerald rock, which made him think it continued further out. The area was uneven, full of lumps. What if grass and pine needles were covering an olivine depository? Ernie shifted on top of his head. ¡°The treasure is shiny, but I think I much prefer a mouthful of fish. Speaking of¡­?¡± Ernie was right. Regardless of Logan¡¯s excitement, he couldn¡¯t spend time mining olivine for money. Lara took priority over getting rich. Still, Logan took a mental note of the location. Once he picked up Lara and the kids, there wasn¡¯t a reason he couldn¡¯t make a pitstop. But he needed more boulders. Logan wandered away from the olivine until he found others. These had a different color, a pale beige, as opposed to the other¡¯s dark, black tinge. Logan willed them into his spatial storage one after the other. Most gave him no trouble, only a few giving him that elastic resistance. In total, he¡¯d managed to find over twenty boulders, one the size of a horse, the others the size of tires. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± he said to Ernie. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± *** Logan was relieved to see that Ernie was happy perching on one of the canoe¡¯s seats, four tentacles dangling over the side and into the water. It would have been awkward as hell to paddle with him perched on Logan¡¯s head. He¡¯d made a promise to catch fish by dangling a net over the side, but it was debatable whether it would work. ¡°It¡¯s a magic fish entrapment!¡± Ernie said, preening and trailing one tentacle around the top of the net greedily. He¡¯d mimicked the colors of the canoe¡ªgreen and white, but as each tentacle touched the net, they took on the same hues. It seemed to be unconscious, a natural camouflage that his body completed the same way Logan breathed air. At least Ernie might have fun while he watched water pour through the netting, and his quick-acting tentacles would be able to latch onto fish as soon as Logan started their journey and built-up speed. Logan grabbed hold of the wooden paddles. His burn had fully healed now, and his index finger almost looked normal. It felt only slightly awkward to wrap his fingers around the handles. It felt like something was off, as if he were wearing a glove on his finger while the rest of his hand was bare. Logan began paddling, his motions steady as he built up momentum, gradually increasing their speed as they streamed through the water. The sky was full of smoke, the sun a bright red, and there was a layer of dimness to the day that should be bright with sunshine. His eyes began burning, his throat tight. Despite his perception attribute, the smoke was so bad he could hardly see half a mile in front of them. He knew he was going in the right direction, but he couldn¡¯t make out anything across the lake, and Logan could only see the vague resemblance of trees and the occasional cabin on the shoreline closest to them. His biceps started to burn, sweat beading on his forehead as he quickened his strokes. Ding! [You have earned one Endurance point! Endurance daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Hell yes. The System notification came in as expected. Now he only needed strength. Logan let up rowing for a second, wiping away sweat from his forehead, and then considered. He was still wearing the same shirt, and even after soaking it, splattered blood stains decorated it like spilled paint. Plus, it was soaked with sweat and starting to stink. Logan had left it on since he hadn¡¯t wanted a sun burn, but even if he did receive one, his constitution stat might take care of it pretty quickly. That did it. Logan took it off, then willed it inside his spatial collar before dipping the oars into the water once again. If he could up his physical attributes with the cheat method every day, he might be able to increase his speed so rapidly that he¡¯d arrive at Hope¡¯s End in five days rather than six or seven. The smog thickened to the point where he couldn¡¯t make out the closest shoreline. To be safe, Logan put distance between the waterfront and the canoe, angling the boat further into the lake so he had no chance of running into rocky, winding shoreline. They travelled for what had to be an hour at least, and he finally received his last cheat as he reached, angling the paddles deep into the water to deliberately increase the water resistance, his muscles straining. Ding! [You have earned one Strength point! Strength daily limit capped for the next 24 hours.] Logan squinted through the smog, blinking, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. It looked as if he were closing in on land, but that made no sense. He wasn¡¯t anywhere close to the shoreline. But there was something¡­ An island. The island was nothing but a massive rock. There was no beachfront at all, nothing but ragged, sharp rocks on the shoreline. Scattered pine trees struggled to grow out of the ground, surrounded by rocks on all sides. Logan used his right paddle so he could angle the boat around the island. That had come up way too fast! If the smog had been any worse, he could have driven right into a pile of towering rocks. Logan squinted at the island, and then he realized where he was. Rattlesnake Island. The island had been a feature when he¡¯d been a child. His grandfather had driven the boat to it many times. But despite the alarming name, there were no rattlesnakes. As a child, he remembered being so let down when he learned that the ¡®rattlesnake¡¯ referred to rattlesnake grass rather than snakes. His alarm turned to nostalgia as he let the current drag the boat closer to the island before it slowed, and he came to a stop over shallow water. He could just see the glint of more rocks underneath them, as if they were on top of a layer of lava rock. When he was younger, his grandpa had anchored his speedboat right next to the rocky shore, deploying his fishing rod, while Lara and Logan had jumped up onto the rocks, climbing until they discovered crumbling stone stairs. Someone had carved the stairs into the rock bed, creating a staircase that looped up the top of the island. ¡°Hmm,¡± said Ernie, peering down at the water. ¡°Those don¡¯t look very tasty, but I suppose I could try them. It¡¯s important to have a diverse diet!¡± Logan turned his attention from the island to the octopus. ¡°What?¡± Ernie was leaning over the side of the boat and looking directly at the shallow bottom. Logan peered over the side of the canoe and then promptly froze. At first, he thought he was seeing things. Underneath them, hundreds of snakes coiled together, writhing. They rubbed their bodies against each other as if in a twisted mating dance. Each were the length of half a person, dark grey, with green fins on their sides. It reminded Logan of that scene in Indiana Jones, when Jones had dropped into a pit of writhing snakes. It was like an acid trip on steroids. But this wasn¡¯t acid, it was real. A pit opened in Logan¡¯s stomach as his skin grew clammy and cold sweat broke out on his body. Adrenaline spiking, a ringing noise in his ears, he didn¡¯t dare move. Biting his lip, Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the snakes. [Flying Hunting Snake Level 18. A snake that has evolved from a rodent hunter to a freshwater hunting master. Their amphibian wings let them glide over water and snatch prey before diving deep for a further snack.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 25¡­.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 15¡­.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 29¡­.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 13¡­.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 30¡­.] Because there were so many of them, [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] didn¡¯t seem to know which one to scan, so he received message after message, as if his acid trip had turned into a glitch in the matrix. Logan didn¡¯t dare breathe. He didn¡¯t dare twitch. There were over a hundred of them! A hundred level 15 to 30 monsters! Holy shit, they were so dead. ¡°Ernie,¡± he hissed. ¡°Don¡¯t move! Don¡¯t attract their attention. We can¡¯t win against that many.¡± He could cut the tension with a knife. Sweat pouring down his neck and face, he slowly, slowly reached for the paddles, keeping the snakes in view and not daring to move his head. Logan dipped one paddle into the water, just breaking the surface, his brow furrowed in tension. They were still writhing and hadn¡¯t seemed to have taken notice of the boat. Logan dipped the other paddle into the water on the other side. They might make it out of this. He was about to push the boat along, when, as one, they stilled. [Eager Beaver title in effect! This title earns you the enmity of all snakes and causes them to attack you on sight.] Oh fuck. Chapter 45: A Siege of Monsters As one, the snakes opened their red eyes and stared up at Logan through the water. A hundred snakes, with two hundred eyes, a siege of monsters. Their eyes were full of awareness and malice as they took in Logan, who was still leaning over the side of the boat, his face visible through the shallow surface. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good,¡± said Ernie, inching further over the side of the canoe, his tentacles twitching. His eyes were bright, his mouth open in excitement. ¡°We might have a slaughter fiesta after all!¡± Not helping, Ernie. Logan knew the octopus was level 55, but even Ernie had to have a problem against a hundred of these things. It reminded Logan of a small dog his family had as a child. That thing had been attached to Lara at the hip. Barely larger than a teacup, it had been convinced it was the baddest, meanest dog around. Eventually, it had tried to express its dominance against the wrong dog¡ªa pit bull¡ªand there was only one inevitable result. A chunk out of its back. The dog had survived, but Ernie might not be so lucky. That did it. There was no fighting these things. There was only escape. With a splash, Logan pushed the oars through the water with one massive stroke and kicked the canoe into high gear. His heart raced, a flush overtaking his face as he began to row frantically, tearing through the water with powerful strokes, using every earned strength and agility attribute at his disposal. ¡°Ooooh, speed!¡± said Ernie, tilting his face into the wind. ¡°I like going fast, Logan! Go faster!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± They were going so fast Logan had lost sight of the snakes, the water becoming darker the deeper the lake became until he could see nothing but dark, deep blue. Logan kept an eye on the surface of the lake as he continued rowing, scanning from left to right, looking everywhere around them, the sound of his own heartbeat thrashing in his ears. Ernie made an excited sound, bobbing his head and pointing a tentacle at the sky. Logan should have been looking up. He blinked, squinting at the sky. The smog had gotten so thick it was difficult to see anything beyond a few hundred feet, but gradually, he could make out blurs, like a murder of crows on the move, heading directly for them. The snakes were using their wings to glide through the air, their tails slithering back and forth like eels. They were moving towards them like an army! Fuck fuck fuck. There was no longer any possibility of escape; he could buy them time by rowing quicker, but it would only delay the inevitable. The snakes were flying at full speed, and they were steadily gaining on the canoe no matter how fast they went. Logan willed the Cursed Length of Rope out of his spatial collar and then spent precious seconds looping it around his left wrist. Then, using his foot, he inched the baseball bat within reach. Still powering away at the oars, he put as much effort as possible into giving himself enough time for last minute preparations. Luckily enough, rowing was a mindless task, like riding a bike while calculating a math problem in his head. Before they¡¯d left the beach, Logan had added one more item to his spatial storage. Sand. He¡¯d willed bucket after bucket into the collar, suspecting that he¡¯d need it in the future. And boy, was he right. But it was one thing to will out sand while he was motionless, and another when they were moving. His first try was a shit show. They were going so fast that what had begun as a slight breeze had turned into a gust of wind, and as soon as the sand popped out of his collar and landed on the seat in front of him, it flew directly into his face, some into his eyes! Soon, there was nothing left. Eyes streaming and burning, Logan could do nothing but try to blink away the grit. He didn¡¯t have seconds to spare to stop rowing to rub them; he could do nothing but take it. Sheer grit and determination would get him through this. Scrunching his nose and gritting his teeth, Logan removed more sand and then deployed [Mimicry Armour]. He felt the sand fighting him, trying to escape like sand through an hourglass. Fuck no. With a shout, every molecule of concentration devoted to making it obey, he forced each grain to hover in front of him. It was a push and pull as gusts of wind sent it flying, Logan pushing back and holding it in place. Now, it was a matter of forcing the sand onto his arm and sticking it to his skin. He grafted the grains to his left arm, wanting to use it as a shield while he used the bat as his main weapon with his dominant hand. Grain after grain, one after another, he forced the buggers to stay. After that, the skill deployed like before: the forearm guard molded around his arm, the flexible stone spreading up his shoulder before covering the left side of his neck, creating armour that was as hard as rock. Those monsters weren¡¯t getting through that. They might have a chance. Logan turned his attention to the flying snakes. They¡¯d gained ground and were a hundred, then fifty, then twenty feet away. At some point, he would have to stop rowing and fight. That time was now. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Logan dropped the oars and let them swing loose inside the rowlock. The oars were attached to the canoe through the brace¡ªone less thing to worry about. They were going so fast it hardly made a dent, the canoe gliding along at a steady clip. As the first snake approached, soaring directly for his face with its mouth wide open, gleaming green fangs snapping, he had just enough time to grasp his baseball bat. Logan swung the bat with all his earned strength, the nails smacking into the snake¡¯s head, cutting deep. It jerked in mid-air, tail twitching, and at first Logan worried the thing was so strong he couldn¡¯t even pierce its hide past an inch, only for green blood to spray as he jerked the nails free. Logan split its skull, an explosion of viscera spraying his face, what had to be brain matter dropping into the water. The body of the snake followed right after, sinking into the surface with a sick gurgle. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 13 Flying Hunting Snake!] Logan didn¡¯t even have the chance to feel relief. The next snake was already on them, making a beeline for him, eyes enraged after it caught sight of its fallen brethren. But the snakes were so focused on Logan due to his Eager Beaver title that they had overlooked Ernie. The octopus took advantage. Ernie squeed in excitement as he used his tentacles to snatch a flying snake out of the air. Wrapping the tentacle end over end like a boa constrictor, Ernie reeled in the snake. It did its best to fight, struggling to get away by flapping its green wings, but Ernie overwhelmed it with sheer strength. The octopus¡¯ eyes lit up as he took a chomp, tearing clean through the snake¡¯s neck and swallowing its head. Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 20 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [You have leveled up!] The euphoria of the level increase didn¡¯t even register, every ounce of his attention devoted to monitoring the sky. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Ernie¡¯s eyes flutter as he processed the taste of the snake. His mouth twisted and he spit out a mouthful of green blood. ¡°Nasty! It¡¯s like a rotting oyster! Very bad news, Logan,¡± said Ernie, serious. ¡°They¡¯re not a fish substitute after all.¡± Priorities, Ernie! ¡°It¡¯s not the time to talk about food!¡± Logan swung his bat at another approaching monster. ¡°Just keep killing them!¡± This snake must be a higher level, twice the width of the last, its mouth full of green drool. Shit, and it was agile, too! It darted away from Logan¡¯s bat, flying around the back of the canoe and circling around. Logan tried to track it, but more were coming, a swarm up ahead. Logan looked down at the Cursed Length of Rope. The thing had been nothing but trouble since he got it, but if anyone were looking down on him right now, he sure could use the help. He wanted it to obey; he needed it to fight, and most of all, he needed it to not be cowardly. The Rope twitched in his hand, and slowly, Logan received something back. A sense of outrage. Offense, offense to the extreme, as if Logan had done something unforgivable. If anyone was at fault, thought the rope, it was the user. It was the user¡¯s fault it had retreated during the sturgeon encounter; its handler was too weak, too lower leveled to give it the power it needed. Of course it would retreat when it wasn¡¯t given the right resources. It was a smart rope. A cunning rope. Gradually, the connection faded. Logan could only gape. That had been a jumbled, chaotic mess, but he understood enough. The rope thought it was weak because Logan was weak. Did that mean that as he leveled up, so would the rope? With a trickling of hope, he straightened his back and flexed his shoulders. If the rope needed him to get powerful, Logan would kill the hell out of shit. But you have to help me out, buddy, Logan thought, trying to push the communication at the rope. Show me those sadistic, sociopathic tendencies. ¡°Ernie,¡± said Logan, tightening his grip on the rope. ¡°Let¡¯s slaughter some shit.¡± The octopus looked up from licking green blood from a tentacle and flung another grasping tentacle at a passing snake, reeling it in. ¡°Yes, yes. But I will take a pass on munching.¡± Using a tentacle to crush the snake, Ernie smashed it into pulp, spraying green blood into the canoe in a torrent. ¡°These monsters are not tasty treats.¡± Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 15 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] ¡°As long as you¡ªfuck!¡± The snake that had looped behind him had returned, darting forward while Logan was distracted and taking a passing chunk out of his neck. It had targeted the side unprotected from the armour, and he could already feel blood trickling down his neck and shoulder. Logan tracked the snake as it swung around for another pass. This is your time to shine, buddy. Using his other hand, Logan flicked his wrist, deploying the Cursed Rope while he swung his bat with his other. The rope came alive, communicating glee glee glee as it lassoed the snake, looping around its body and forcing it to fly in place. This one was truly a monster! It was the width of a firehose, its green fangs the length of his index finger. The snake screeched, kicking its wings into high gear, pulling on the rope and trying to get away. The rope was still looped around Logan¡¯s wrist and forearm guard and the force of the snake¡¯s pull was immense, like holding onto a fishing line with a shark on the other end. It was pulling so hard it was starting to drag the canoe, slowing its natural glide and reducing their speed. Logan tried to swing his bat, but the snake was still pulling on the rope, making his balance precarious. ¡°Ernie to the rescue!¡± said the octopus, jumping in place and trying to wrap one tentacle around the snake. Again, the snake was too quick, backpedalling with its wings and jerking back on the rope, darting out of the way. But the whole time this struggle had been happening, the rope had been at work. Slowly secreting, slowly eating into the snake¡¯s tough hide. Glee glee glee, communicated the rope. The snake began to flag, its darting movements slowing. Grinding his teeth together, Logan aimed for a shot right between its red eyes. Yes! His bat sank into the snake¡¯s hide, the nails slicing into its eyes, blinding it. After that, that¡¯s all she wrote. Swing after swing, Logan went to town, smashing the thing into pulp. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 30 Flying Hunting Snake! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan was sure his grin was shit-eating as he shouted, the euphoria of the level increase making his excitement that much more acute. ¡°Um. Logan?¡± said Ernie, pointing a tentacle at the sky. Logan¡¯s excitement quickly turned to trepidation. They¡¯d only killed a handful of snakes, and there had been at least a hundred underwater. In the sky, a swarm was on the move, heading directly for them, murder in their eyes. Chapter 46: Bowling Balls Logan had leveled up three times in that fight, and although he¡¯d been hoping to use the extra attribute points to upgrade his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate, Karma wasn¡¯t going to help him right now. He didn¡¯t have time to figure out how to extend the forearm guard into an armour suit for his whole body; he needed to escape. That meant there was only one option. Logan made the changes, a ticking clock pounding in his ears, a sense of urgency making him adjust the numbers so forcibly he may as well have given himself a migraine. [Endurance: 37] [Endurance: 38+] [Endurance: 40] [Strength: 31] [Strength: 32+] [Strength: 40] [Constitution: 31] He put four points into endurance so that he could row longer and fight harder without getting tired, and a full ten points into strength which killed two birds with one stone: he¡¯d be able to hit the snakes with more power, but he¡¯d also be able to jack up his oar strokes to make the canoe go faster. Lastly, Logan put one token point into constitution to help heal his neck and to give himself a pick me up. As soon as the changes took effect, there was an immediate impact. By now, the rush he felt after a minor attribute adjustment was routine, but ten points into strength all at once was something else. His forearm guard creaked, at risk of cracking down the middle as his arm adjusted, a fine layer of steel interweaving into his muscles, giving them more depth and definition. The endurance boost made him straighten in his seat. Logan felt refreshed, as if he¡¯d just woken up from a ten-hour sleep. It was as though there hadn¡¯t been a fight at all. Lastly, the small boost to his constitution was like injecting a health and caffeine tonic directly into his bloodstream. It made the blood trickling down his throat stop. It hadn¡¯t healed the wound; that would take hours, but the boost had clotted the injury. Logan wasted no time, already dipping the oars into the lake and advancing with a massive stroke that jerked the canoe forward. He built up a steady rhythm, his movements so powerful the oar handles creaked in his grip. Stroke after stroke. Breath; stroke; breath, stroke. Ernie closed his eyes in bliss as he lifted his face into the wind like a dog with its snout outside of a car window. ¡°Eeeeeeh!¡± The flying snakes were close, only thirty feet, if that. They were flying at a brisk pace, red eyes enraged and fixed on Logan as if he¡¯d stomped on each and every one of their nests, crushing their eggs and newborns to death. That degree of hate was messed up to the extreme. Thanks a lot, System. His powerful strokes were working. Each time he inched the canoe forward, the snakes stayed the same distance away, and incrementally, incrementally, they started to build distance, but it was an inch at a time, if that. If Logan kept going, they would never catch up. He might even outrun them. There was one problem. He couldn¡¯t keep this up forever, and for all he knew, the snakes specialized in endurance. But he didn¡¯t need to keep it up forever. ¡°Get ready, Ernie.¡± Ernie opened his eyes and gave Logan a grin of self-satisfaction. ¡°More slaughter?¡± ¡°If this goes as planned.¡± Ernie seemed even more pleased, one of his tentacles twitching in excitement. ¡°I knew you were a worthy companion! What is the plan?¡± A hope and a prayer, basically. This would only work with the help of his luck attribute. ¡°I¡¯m going to purposely slow the boat and let the ones closest to us reach us first,¡± panted Logan, adjusting his grip on the oars. ¡°As soon as they catch up, I¡¯ll increase our speed, giving us enough buffer time so that the rest don¡¯t swarm us.¡± Ernie blinked slowly. ¡°You¡­ are going to let them get in reach of you so they can strike, then occupy yourself with rowing so that you can no longer fight. Large Human¡ª¡± Ernie corrected himself¡ª¡°Logan. Does this plan mean I must do the fighting?¡± He bobbed his head. ¡°Not that I¡¯m not up to slaughter! But that¡­ does not seem very smart.¡± Logan snorted which turned into a cough. He was straining so hard, not letting up for a second, that he was breathing like a racehorse. ¡°Just¡ª¡± He cleared his throat again. Then, his chest started to feel tight, as if he couldn¡¯t get enough air. His sinuses felt inflamed as if he had the onset of a bad cold and¡­ Ah, shit. Logan had forgotten to monitor his Karma pool. He released [Mimicry Armour] and let his armguard reform into sand which trailed into the bottom of the canoe, quickly becoming sludge as it sucked in the moisture from the water that had gotten into the boat during the fight. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Logan cleared his throat again and waited for his Karma pool to replenish. ¡°Just trust me.¡± Ernie paused. ¡°You did have the magic mirror,¡± he said to himself. Still, Logan got the distinct impression the octopus wasn¡¯t impressed. Well, that would change soon. Once Logan¡¯s Karma pool had replenished, he reformed the armguard with a fresh scoop of sand from his spatial storage. Even though he had to deploy [Mimicry Armour] while he was rowing, it was surprisingly easy. Logan suspected it was like riding a bike: it got easier the more you used it. Once he had more time, he might be able to extend the armour. But not today. Not when he was fighting for his life. Gradually, Logan slowed his strokes. He was still rowing at a steady clip since he didn¡¯t want the whole swarm to catch up to them at once. Their speed decreased, but slowly, slowly enough that if this didn¡¯t work, he could resume the same pace and outpace the snakes once again. The first snake crept closer, its tail slithering through the air, wings flapping like mad, green fangs glistening with saliva and dripping into the water below. Another followed, this snake a smaller version of the first, skinny and half its size but more agile. On the other side of them, the same pattern followed: two snakes flying in unison, malevolence in their gazes. Right behind them, within twenty feet, another group, ten more at least. Logan kicked the canoe back into gear, increasing his strokes once again. He wanted them on either side of the canoe, but he also wanted them focused on flying. They needed to struggle to keep pace rather than having free room to dart for Logan¡¯s face and neck. Ernie leaned over the bow of the canoe, his tentacles dancing back and forth on either side as he tried to reach the snakes, but they were too high, and he made a frustrated sound as he reached, leaning so far over the boat Logan was afraid he¡¯d fall off. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Logan watched the snakes glide closer to the canoe, almost in reach. He needed to keep them to the sides, so he pumped his arms, biceps bulging as he increased his rowing, forcing the snakes to fight to keep pace. He¡¯d start with the snakes on the left. This was the tricky part. He suspected the spatial storage device had been designed for one purpose. Storage. Whoever created it wasn¡¯t thinking of it as a weapon, so Logan had to trick it into thinking it was operating like normal. Scrunching his eyebrows, Logan focused on a spot in the sky directly above the two closest snakes, then paused, recalculating and adjusting for the wind. He moved his gaze slightly ahead of the snakes, positioning just so, aiming, and thinking to himself, there, that was a good place for it. Then, biting his lip, he willed a log out of his spatial collar. Just like with the storage shed, the collar obeyed. The log materialized in the air above the snakes like a UFO that had popped into the sky. But unlike a UFO, with nothing to support it, the log plummeted to the lake, everything underneath it collateral damage. And the snakes were so focused on Logan, why would they be looking up? The log hit the first snake dead-on with a snap. It may as well have been a sledgehammer. The snake plummeted to the water like dead weight. The other snake had been five feet away from the first, just enough distance for it to only get clipped on the head. It made a screeching noise of pain and rage as it corkscrewed in the air before eventually righting itself, panting, its mouth full of drooling saliva. Ernie didn¡¯t give it a chance. ¡°Ooooh! That¡¯s mine!¡± Now that the snake had dropped in the air, it was in reach of Ernie¡¯s grasping tentacles. The octopus grabbed onto the snake, reeling it in, seeming to relish crushing its body to pulp, watching the green blood spray in a fine mist with savage satisfaction. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 17 Flying Hunting Snake!] [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 21 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] Hell yes! If Logan weren¡¯t in a boat, he¡¯d be jumping in excitement. An adrenaline rush of success gave him an extra boost of energy. A hundred snakes? Bring them on. Logan continued to row, multitasking while he prepared to will another log out of his spatial collar, this time over the snakes on the right, slightly adjusting to account for the last snake that had managed to almost get away. Logan wanted the kill this time. Greedy? Maybe. But he wanted it out of a drive to excel. Ernie was level 55; hell, he may even be higher now. If Logan could kill the snakes by pure ingenuity, he¡¯d impress himself, and even impress the octopus. Furrowing his brow, he narrowed in on a point in the sky, angling it just off center and then he willed another log right in that spot. The log popped into existence smack dab on top of the two snakes. Normally, a monster that had a level in the double digits might withstand a glancing blow. But this was a four-hundred-pound log coming down with force. A great shadow overtook the snakes, giving them just enough time to get the hint that something was wrong, but it was too late. Gravity did the rest. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 15 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 18 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] Fuck yeah! The logs might as well be bowling balls! Euphoria shot through Logan in a wave, his nerves on fire with exhilaration. ¡°We can do this, Ernie! We¡¯ll slaughter them all!¡± Ernie bobbed his head like an excited parrot. ¡°Logan doesn¡¯t just have a magic mirror, he has magic driftwood!¡± Logan decreased their speed once again, watching carefully as the next wave of snakes approached. It was the ten snakes that had been behind the ones on the sides. Uh oh. The other snakes had been behind, but that also meant they must have seen what happened to the others. Stomach dropping, Logan watched as they adjusted, flying in jagged patterns, gliding from side to side, making themselves into targets that were constantly moving. Their red eyes darted from the canoe down below to random spots in the sky, keeping a wary eye out for incoming projectiles. This might not be as easy as he¡¯d thought. With an inhuman screech, one of the snakes let out a call, and each snake next to it followed. It sounded like a warped bullhorn filled with bulrushes. The sound triggered a massive movement behind them as dozens upon dozens of other snakes repeated the same sound, a call to war. The ten snakes closest to them were still alone, but now, the snakes behind them were grouping together into a wall of monsters. Once Logan dealt the with the ones closest, there would be no way to use the same tactics. If he slowed the boat so that the snakes caught up, they¡¯d all catch up at the same time. Oh shit. Chapter 47: Slingshot Tactics The wall of monsters were still a good fifty feet away. Logan had time to increase their speed and gradually outpace them, but first, they needed to kill the snakes within reach. Instead of two on each side, they were dealing with ten at once, and because these snakes were wise to Logan¡¯s tactics, they were gliding from side to side, up and down, in a zigzag¡ªno predictable pattern. Everything but the kitchen sink. And if he dropped the oars to pick up the Cursed Length of Rope, that meant their speed would drop, and the wall of monsters would catch up. A pool of dread opened up in Logan¡¯s stomach as he considered and then discarded options. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck. They were so screwed. Ernie tilted his head towards the sky and glanced at the zigzagging snakes, bobbing excitedly as his tentacles danced. He tried to grasp them like a child trying to grasp bubbles only to pout as each bubble burst. Logan had no choice. He had to keep the canoe moving. That meant the logs, whether they were ineffectual considering the snake¡¯s tactics or not. Yet there was one more thing he could try. The spatial collar was built for storage, but it had obeyed Logan when he wanted to deposit an item into thin air. If it cooperated that way, what else could he do? Still powering away at the oars, sweat beading on his forehead and stinging his eyes, he mentally rummaged. With so many items inside his collar, it would make sense if it were difficult to keep track of the contents, but the collar defied the laws of physics. It had to be magic, or technology so advanced it went way over Logan¡¯s head. Somehow, he only had to think about the contents and a picture populated in his mind. He could scan through each item in an instant, narrowing in on exactly what he wanted. If Logan wanted logs, they were there. If he wanted to review all his logs, they were all there. And if he wanted to examine each one and narrow in on a log that was longer than the others, skinny, in an odd shape with a knobbly knot, it was there as well. On the beach, this thing had looked as if it had come down in a windstorm, the bottom torn at an angle, branches and pine needles attached to the top. Logan eyed the sky. Each snake was different in size, some thick like firehoses, others the size of regular garden snakes. Even as they glided back and forth in a zigzag, they kept Logan in their sights, red eyes filled with malice, fangs drooling saliva. They were gliding back and forth, over the canoe and to the sides. As the wind kicked up, their saliva landed on Ernie and Logan like drizzling rain. ¡°Ugh!¡± said Ernie, bracing himself on the edge of the boat with two tentacles, lifting himself up while reaching above with the others. They were getting closer, so close that the octopus could almost reach, but they were doing their best to avoid him, gliding back and forth, their entire focus on Logan. Just as Logan was about to will the log out of his collar, one of the snakes¡ªa great, ugly fucker with extra curved fangs like a sabretooth¡ªdived for the canoe. The thing was agile! It darted away from Ernie¡¯s tentacles, swinging past and going for Logan¡¯s face. Shit, he had to drop the oars! Logan reached for the rope, but the snake was too fast as it darted at him. He turned his head at the last second, but that meant he¡¯d given it access to the side that was unprotected by [Mimicry Armour]. The thing took a chunk of flesh, a massive bite that scored deep into the existing wound. Pain shuddered through him, like a wasp sting amplified to a thousand. The snake darted away before he could retaliate, its mouth curved in a smile around a chunk of bloody flesh as it glided out of reach. Was the thing grinning? The fucker was grinning! Around a chunk of flesh, no less! It was going to pay. Logan felt his face turning red as his anger surged. Disregarding the blood pouring down his neck, he grabbed the oars, trying to keep their speed at a steady pace. The snake swarm had already started to catch up. But that didn¡¯t mean he was letting it off the hook. Logan had a trick up his sleeve. Narrowing his eyes, he aimed for the thing, waiting until it had grouped with five others in a tight pattern above them and to the left of the canoe¡¯s bow before aiming at the sky right below them and willing the log out. But at the last second, right as it materialized, he wrenched, telling the collar, that was a mistake, deposit it here instead. The spatial collar obeyed. Adjusting, it jerked the log up like a slingshot, depositing it ten feet higher and at an angle. It slammed into the grinning snake, a jutting gnarly tree limb stabbing right through its head, the broad base knocking the others clear out of the sky like a battering ram. Two other broken tree limbs stabbed through various parts of the snakes¡¯ bodies, pulverizing them, green goo gushing, blood speckling like a paint gun. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 24 Flying Hunting Snake! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have defeated a Level 18 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 16 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 22 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 23 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] The level increase didn¡¯t even register. There was too much going on around them, too much at risk. One degree too far to the right was the difference between life and death, and Logan had miscalculated. A snake had managed to survive. Subjected to a severed tail from a tree limb cutting straight through it, it wobbled in the sky before righting itself, green blood dropping to the lake as it swished its tail in anger. It screeched, that inhuman bullhorn sound, stirring the swarm of snakes into a frenzy. Motherfu¡ª Logan eyed the distance between the swarm and the canoe, darting a glance down at the Cursed Rope and back to his oars. If he paused rowing to pick up the weapon, the swarm would catch up. It was the difference between a poor choice and an abysmal choice. He had to keep rowing or risk them being in an even worse position than before. ¡°Ernie, see if you can kill that thing,¡± Logan ground out through his rowing, his muscles corded with tension. ¡°It¡¯s already injured.¡± Ernie¡¯s tentacles were flying around, dancing and reaching to no avail. ¡°I wish I could fly,¡± he panted, envious. ¡°Why must they have all the fun?¡± Shit, no dice. But Logan wasn¡¯t going to devote anymore attention to one snake, not when he had five more on the other side that were gliding in zigzags and getting ready to pounce. ¡°Eat this, fuckers,¡± he muttered as he selected another log. But unfortunately, the rest of the logs were just that¡ªlogs. Some were rotting, others brittle. The log he¡¯d just used was the only one with tree limbs. The force of the hit would have to be enough. The log materialized in the air right under the snakes and Logan wrenched, telling the spatial storage collar, a slight adjustment is needed, move it up, just there, and the collar obeyed, slamming into the snakes from down below, knocking them to the sides, green goo and blood flying. Two were bludgeoned to death, but the other three escaped with glancing blows. They shook in the air, shuddering, before they recovered and let out enraged shrieks. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 15 Flying Hunting Snake!] If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. [You have defeated a Level 21 Flying Hunting Snake!] Now three injured snakes wanted blood. The group formed up, shrieking, fangs gnashing, gliding back and forth as they made clacking sounds. Were these things talking to each other? Logan kept eyeing the distance between the large swarm and the canoe, glancing up at the three that were getting ready to attack. The swarm was too close, and if Logan stopped rowing, they¡¯d be on them in minutes, even seconds. ¡°Get ready to try to grab hold of these things, Ernie. I need you to be my weapon this time. I can¡¯t stop rowing, or the rest will catch up.¡± He bobbed his head with an eager glint in his eyes. ¡°Ernie to the rescue!¡± But the snakes were still making clacking sounds, and instead of being focused on Logan to the exclusion of everything else, they were giving Ernie considering looks, calculating looks. They were up to something. As one, they darted to the sides, heading in opposite directions with massive pulls of their wings, using the wind to glide into a dive bomb, heading directly at Logan from all sides. Fuck! Logan lifted the shoulder covered in [Mimicry Armour] and shielded his face from a biting snake. It latched onto his arm, biting into the armguard, gnashing its teeth against the flexible stone. It was frantic, rabid as it tried to bite through. But the armguard held. With a swishing noise, Ernie darted a tentacle at the snake, grasping it by the tail and prying it away from Logan, the snake¡¯s teeth scratching like nails on a chalkboard just as another snake flew in from the other side, going for his face. Logan didn¡¯t have a chance to react before it had taken a chunk out of his cheek, biting deep. This bite was worse than the one on his neck, thousands of needles pinpricking at once. There was another consideration. Did these things have venom? Shit shit shit. Logan let up on the oar on his right in time to bash the thing to the side, putting every ounce of strength at his disposal into a punch that sent it flying and skidding onto the surface of the lake. But he¡¯d forgotten about the third snake, and it¡ª Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 29 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [You have leveled up!] Ernie had killed the snake, but there was one still behind Logan, and it was darting for his unprotected neck. He hunched his shoulders, trying to shift to the side, but the thing was single-minded in its desire for Logan¡¯s blood. ¡°Ernie!¡± he shouted. He looked up, expression full of savage satisfaction from his kill, and wasted no time. Ernie plopped down into the canoe, jumping from seat to seat, trying to get closer, but he was taking too long. The snake had gnawed its way to Logan¡¯s unprotected neck, its fangs like pinchers as it tore through his skin. Fuck, that hurt! With a scream, Logan dropped the oars and grabbed the Cursed Rope, agony tearing through him as the movement caused the snake¡¯s fangs to dig deeper. It felt like it was gnawing to the bone! Logan swished his wrist, commanding the rope like cracking a whip, and it wiggled in his grasp, feeling slippery, tugging, pulling, communicating, let me go let me go let me go. What the--? With a tug, the rope flew out of Logan¡¯s hand, crackling like electricity and bursting into the air like a gun. But unlike the flying snakes, the Cursed Rope wasn¡¯t flying; it was jumping through the air, as if it travelled through a hidden electrical current. Logan had reached level 23 in this fight. He suddenly remembered the way the rope had expressed its frustration, communicating that if Logan advanced so did the rope. Had he leveled up the rope? Ernie came to a sudden stop. ¡°Ooooh,¡± he said. Then, glumly, ¡°even the rope gets to fly.¡± Even though Logan was no longer touching it, it still sent glee glee glee fly fly fly back to him as it looped around and latched onto the biting snake, wrenching it free from Logan¡¯s neck. Kill kill kill, sent the rope, as it looped around the snake¡¯s body like a coil, end over end, covering the thing, its acid biting deep. The acid was so strong that the snake had seconds, literally seconds before the force of the rope¡¯s secretions chopped it in two. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 28 Flying Hunting Snake! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] Both pieces of the severed snake dropped into the lake as the rope uncoiled, travelling back to Logan, exuding reluctance as if it resented that it had to return at all. Blood poured down Logan¡¯s neck and face as he stared. Just stared. The System¡¯s description of the rope took on a whole new dimension as he considered the consequences of what had just happened. On the one hand, the rope had saved him, but on the other, it had been under its own power, free of Logan¡¯s control. ¡°Logan¡­?¡± Ernie prompted. Logan blinked. He suspected he might be bleeding to death. Everything around him feeling unreal, shock stark on his features, there was only one thing he could do. He slammed ten points into his constitution attribute. [Constitution: 32] [Constitution: 33+] [Constitution: 41] As soon as the changes took effect, he felt immediate relief, the pain lessening, his head clearing, his eyes more alert. There had been a fogginess to everything, a gradual leaching of vitality as the hidden insidiousness of the venom had been working through his bloodstream. His constitution upgrade combatted that, fighting off the effects. The blood stopped gushing down his neck, clotting at a rapid pace. Tentatively, Logan felt the back of his neck, touching the wound, his eyes opening wide. The missing chunks of flesh were filling in as each second passed! Was [Regenerate] at work? Logan dropped his hand, about to reach for the oars, but then he paused, a knot in his stomach. Something was blocking the glare from the smog covered orange sun, a massive shadow. A roaring noise rushed through his ears as he looked up at the sky. The swarm of snakes had reached them, a siege of monsters. As one, dozens upon dozens of red eyes glared down at them, murder in their eyes. One of the snakes let out that same bullhorn, a call to action as they flapped their wings and glided down, dive bombing onto Logan and Ernie. Holy hell! Logan slammed the oars into the lake, taking a massive stroke and jerking the canoe forward. But there was no chance of outrunning these things. They were out of time. Mentally rummaging through his spatial collar, Logan latched onto five boulders at once, commanding the spatial storage, there, right there would be a good place. And as five boulders the size of tires popped into the air, he thought, a slight adjustment is needed, move them up, just there, and the boulders jumped into the air, slamming into dozens of snakes. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 24 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 18 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 18 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 16 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 22 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 23 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Ding! after Ding! sounded in his mind. For the snakes that were injured rather than killed, Ernie scooped them up as they fell out of the sky, grasping them with his tentacles and squeezing, smashing them into gory mush. Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 26 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 30 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 27 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [You have leveled up!] But for every snake they killed, another darted down, swarming the canoe and going for Logan¡¯s unprotected side. Logan grasped the Cursed Rope, at this point, not concerned for anything other than that it help. The rope obeyed. With an internal cackle, it communicated its pleasure, leaping from Logan¡¯s hand and into the air, crackling with electricity as it latched onto the snakes swarming him, prying their jaws away from his skin one by one. Glee glee glee, sent the rope, swelling in size and taking on a green tinge as it sucked in the snake¡¯s blood and guts. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 29 Flying Hunting Snake! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] There were too many System notifications to count as both Ernie and the Cursed Rope went to work. [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan screamed as yet another snake swarmed down and latched onto his side, blood gushing from the re-opened wounds. And up above, there were still dozens upon dozens of them, too many to count. Despite the high of the level gains, Logan was realistic, and he knew when he was beat. He had a limited supply of boulders and logs, and there were way too many snakes. Fuck this shit. There was only one option. ¡°Ernie, we¡¯re going underwater!¡± he shouted, willing his bat inside his spatial collar and dropping the oars. He thought hard at the rope, pushing, come back, but the rope paid him no attention, rabid in its quest to kill. Glee glee glee, it communicated, smug that it resisted the command. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 16 Flying Hunting Snake!] What. The. Fuck. Still, he didn¡¯t have time to fight the snakes as well as the rope. ¡°Now, Ernie!¡± Logan jumped over the side of the canoe, and Ernie followed him with eager eyes, tentacles trailing down over the edge as he plopped into the lake. The change was a shock. It was over 100-degrees outside, and they were jumping from sweltering, smog-filled air into a mass of water. The blood from his wounds saturated the lake around them, Ernie rushing past him with a gleeful face. With a twist of his body towards the surface of the lake, Logan looked up at the bottom of the canoe, and willed it inside his spatial collar. It disappeared from view in one blink, and Logan plummeted to the depths below. Chapter 48: Gains Logan blinked underwater, his brown bangs swaying in the current as he looked up at the surface of the lake, the water around them bright blue but getting darker the farther they dropped. [Deepwater Explorer] meant that he had no problem breathing underwater, but he wasn¡¯t relaxing, hell no. The snakes had been swimming underwater when they discovered them, and that meant this might not be over. Ernie swam around Logan, his tentacles trailing behind him. He¡¯d taken on the bright blue of the water, camouflaging himself, the disguise so detailed it was easy to miss him. If he hadn¡¯t been moving around and let himself drift, Logan could see how he could easily pounce on prey. It was starting to make sense how quickly he¡¯d managed to level up. Logan gave Ernie a considering glance. There was one serious problem, though. How the hell were they going to communicate underwater? ¡°By speaking!¡± Shocked, Logan kicked his legs in startlement, making a garbled noise as his mouth filled with lake water. It tasted like a combination of seaweed and algae, and he wanted to spit, but spit where? Ernie hovered in front of Logan¡¯s face, his eyes like black marbles. ¡°In our minds! Not out loud.¡± Logan closed his mouth. What the hell else had the System done when it bonded him to Ernie? Could he read Logan¡¯s mind? It was one thing to talk to a sapient animal, it was another thing having that animal in his head. Furrowing his brow, Logan thought as hard as he could, ¡°HOW ARE WE TALKING?¡± Ernie winced in pain and jerked in the water. ¡°Not so loud!¡± Then, pouting, ¡°Although I rival all, the all-knowing being did not deposit an instruction tome in the underwater garbage lands.¡± Sounding ashamed, his mental voice lowered into a mumble, ¡°I do not know. The knowledge is just there.¡± Brightening, he added, ¡°Because of course, I rival all!¡± So it wasn¡¯t just Logan the System had been a dick to. Logan tried to communicate, softly this time. He had no idea if this would work, but maybe if he pictured himself lowering his voice, his mind would follow. ¡°Can you read my thoughts?¡± Ernie beamed. ¡°Much better! And no, I cannot read your thoughts.¡± What the hell. Then how did Ernie know what he was thinking before¡ª Ernie darted his tentacles around in the water. ¡°I can read your expression! So exciting! We are truly meant for each other, Large Hum¡ª¡± He corrected himself. ¡°Logan.¡± Ernie twirled in a circle, his colors fluctuating from the blue water to Logan¡¯s kitten-patterned swim trunks. ¡°We are slaughter buddies; we rival all!¡± He seemed to be working himself into a frenzy, his tentacles dancing and grasping at invisible prey. ¡°We will pummel our enemies to death, stacking their bodies in a tower of corpses at our feet! And we can start now!¡± With a snap of his tentacles, Ernie darted above Logan¡¯s head and went towards the surface. What the¡ª The snakes. A handful were diving towards them, red eyes flashing, fangs gnashing. [Flying Hunting Snake Level 30.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 30.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 29.] The ones that had followed them were all higher leveled, bodies the width of fire hoses. They breached the blood saturated water and grew even more eager, rabid eyes no longer filled with just malice, but also with hunger. Was that¡­? Right on their heels, the Cursed Length of Rope had returned, pursuing the snakes with green crackles of electricity. For a second, Logan worried that Ernie was at risk of electrocution, but if the rope acted anything like an electric eel, he¡¯d be safe. But then again, who knew with the System. Shocking Logan to death with his own weapon seemed like just the thing it would relish, the sadistic bastard. Logan was about to go after Ernie, but he had no weapon. Hesitating, he considered removing a gun from his collar, but there was a difference between trying to shoot a stationary sturgeon that was the width of an anaconda and a slithering snake. Above ground, he might have a chance, but not in the water. As a last resort, he could try punching them to death, but the water pressure might make his strikes ineffectual. But it didn¡¯t matter. If Ernie was a menace above water, he was brutal in his own element. The snakes¡¯ wings were built for flying, not swimming, and although they advanced through the water with slithering motions like a worm burrowing through soil, they weren¡¯t built for speed. Ernie was. He rushed over to them so quickly Logan could hardly track him, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Then, grasping the nearest snake with a tentacle, he used his suction cups to latch on, reeling it in and funneling it into his mouth. Tearing off the snake¡¯s head, he spit it out and to the side, green goo dispersing around him. Another snake, enraged at the sight, darted at Ernie like a cobra, but Ernie seemed thrilled rather than cautious. As if the fight were nothing but a fun game, he swam around the snake, toying with it before using another tentacle to reel it in, shaking it, as if Ernie were shaking a stuffed animal. The snake struggled, its green wings flapping like a fish¡¯s fins to get away, but Ernie was stronger. Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 30 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] [Your bonded companion has defeated a Level 30 Flying Hunting Snake! XP sharing reduced while an unequal relationship exists.] Ernie flung the corpse against the other snake corpse like a cat playing with its food, his eyes alight. He watched the gory remains hit each other before letting them sink to the depths below, and then turned his attention to the last one. But the Cursed Rope was already on the job, jumping through the water on its electric current and pouncing on the tail of the last snake. Glee glee glee kill kill kill, it sent back to Logan. Its secretions seemed to be less effective in the water due to dilution, but it still managed to eat through the snake¡¯s body, severing its tail, a green explosion of goo and blood saturating the water before it jumped once again, this time wrapping itself around the snake¡¯s neck and doing the same gory dance all over again. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 29 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] Logan could feel pride through the bond as the rope uncoiled around the snake¡¯s corpse and reluctantly slithered and jumped its way back to him. It hovered in front of him, as if eyeing a path for escape, communicating reluctance and resentment as if Logan were spoiling its fun. Logan eyed it in return. He still couldn¡¯t talk out loud, but he might be able to communicate the same way he did with Ernie. ¡°Hey rope,¡± he said cautiously. ¡°Great job out there, buddy. You really helped win the day.¡± The rope didn¡¯t seem impressed, but it moved closer to Logan, close enough for him to touch. As soon as he grasped the end, it deflated, its body shrinking in size and transforming into a regular rope once again. Logan wasted no time and willed it into his spatial collar, letting out an internal sigh of relief as it disappeared. That had been dicey. He was starting to come around to the value of the rope, but he couldn¡¯t help remembering the System¡¯s message. [Beware. It has a mind of its own.] He was concerned the System had given him a weapon that had a catch 22. The rope was valuable and without it, they might not have come out of the situation alive, but at the same time, the fight had been with monsters. What if it had been a group of people? When Logan had tried to get the rope to return to him, it had refused, and worst of all, it had been gleeful that it had been able to refuse in the first place. Still, it had gone straight for Logan¡¯s enemies, and at no point had it seemed inclined to challenge Ernie. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t as bad as he feared. Logan eyed the surface of the lake. They¡¯d dropped so far that it was hard to tell where the surface began, and other than Ernie, who was twirling in a victory dance, he couldn¡¯t see any signs of other snakes. They might get out of this after all. Yet, there was no reason to tempt fate. There still had to be dozens of snakes up above, at least. ¡°Let¡¯s swim closer to the shore,¡± he said to Ernie. ¡°Keep below though, I don¡¯t want the snakes to see us if they¡¯re gliding up above.¡± After everything, Logan found it difficult to believe they¡¯d escaped, adrenaline still ramped up to the ninth degree, his nerves on fire with energy, his muscles bunched in anticipation of a fight. Ernie stopped dancing, pushed closer to Logan, and blinked eagerly. ¡°And we will catch tasty treats along the way?¡± Logan held back a smirk. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have your fill with the snake heads?¡± ¡°Ugh! Those are not tasty treats!¡± Demanding thing, he thought fondly. Logan pulled a fishing net from his spatial collar and agreed to be on the lookout as they swam towards the shore. Ernie could get there in half the time, but despite Logan¡¯s agility and endurance increases, he was still human. Speaking of increases, he¡¯d leveled up in that fight so rapidly he¡¯d lost count. It felt odd to review his stat screen while he was swimming, but he had time to burn. Logan pulled up the full screen for a comprehensive review: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 12,372 out of 6,399,195,028 Level: 30 Class: None Grade: F3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: XP Progress: 2,000/60,000 Karma: 360/360 Intelligence: 60 Constitution: 41 Strength: 40 Agility: 36 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 40 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 40 Luck: 40 Free Attribute Points: 45 KarmaCoin: 100 Damn. He couldn¡¯t believe how far he¡¯d advanced. He¡¯d reached level 30, which meant his grade had changed to F3, causing a domino effect, upgrading both [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] and [Regenerate]. That meant his limbs would regenerate faster and¡­ Hold on. Logan touched the wound on his cheek, then bracing himself for pain, the injury on the back of his neck. The snakes had taken great chunks of flesh as they attacked, and the last time he¡¯d checked, it had been healing, but both wounds had been missing flesh. Now, they were tender, but the wounds had healed, and they hadn¡¯t healed over a gaping hole. The flesh had filled in. He was whole. Holy crap, did that mean that as he leveled, he¡¯d eventually reach a point where he could instantly heal gaping wounds? The possibilities were too extraordinary to contemplate. As far as [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], Logan stealthily scanned Ernie when he wasn¡¯t looking. [Murderous Octopus: Level 58. A marine cephalopod.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence/Wisdom/Strength.] Holy shit, hell yeah! He¡¯d leveled up [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] so that it gave him stat specific information. That would be a gamechanger in a fight, allowing Logan to adjust his tactics to account for his opponent¡¯s strengths. Logan wasn¡¯t sure why it listed Ernie¡¯s highest stat as a split between the three, but he could only assume it meant the stats were tied. The other major change was an upgrade to his rank. It was hard to believe that out of over six billion people, he was ranked that high. A surge of pride shot through Logan, and he couldn¡¯t help grinning as he swam through the water. His competition streak was rearing its head again. Logan was kicking ass. Even more exciting was that he had free attribute points to burn, and for the first time in a long time, he wasn¡¯t in the middle of a fight while contemplating his options. Logan had been wanting to upgrade his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate in order to better utilize [Mimicry Armour], but also, for the potential benefits of [Life Cycle Master]. It was just a matter of tactics. He could throw all 45 points into his intelligence attribute, which would upgrade his Karma pool from 360 to 630, but that would leave only 40 points in wisdom. It was one thing to have a large Karma pool, but not if a deployed skill drained his Karma in seconds. With only 40 points in wisdom, he would have to be constantly starting and stopping. Logan wanted to make his pool irrelevant, and the only way to do that was to have a regeneration rate that was off the charts. Calculating the math, he made his decision. [Intelligence: 61] [Intelligence: 62+] [Intelligence: 85] [Wisdom: 41] [Wisdom: 42+] [Wisdom: 60] Logan put 25 points into intelligence, upgrading his Karma pool to 510, and twenty points into wisdom to give himself a 60-point Karma generation rate per minute. As soon as the changes kicked in, he stuttered to a stop in the water, his eyes opening wide, brown bangs swaying in the current. He¡¯d upgraded these stats before, but it had been a while since he¡¯d upgraded them with such a large amount. His thoughts raced, awareness expanding, scene after scene, fight after fight, flashing through his mind. And just as quickly, the effects of the upgrade faded, everything returning to normal. It was that feeling you had after grasping something insightful only for it to fade away right at the tip of your fingers. ¡°Logan¡­?¡± Ernie asked. He must have circled back around when Logan came to a stop in the water. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Logan, running a hand through his hair. ¡°It was just¡ª" The System interrupted him. Ding! [2,403 pollution contributors: coal-fired power stations, have been purged from planet Earth. These scourges generated 10 billion tonnes of carbon each year. ¡­Really, humans?] [Do not attempt to assemble additional coal-fired power stations.] [Ever.] [In addition, 5,203 human instigators who retrofitted the pollution contributors: automobiles, aircraft, and watertight engine-powered vessels have once again been purged from planet Earth.] [Good news, human! Due to the elimination of the human instigators and the pollution contributor: coal-fired power stations, your ranking has increased.] [902,394 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [1,402,942 humans¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [2,328,392 humans have been eliminated.] [Current rank: 12,370 out of 6,396,892,328.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] Chapter 49: A Murderous Adventure The latest System purge lit a fire under his ass. Logan kicked his swimming into high gear, Ernie easily keeping pace beside him until Logan¡¯s feet hit the rocky shore bottom. There weren¡¯t any coal power plants close by, but the latest message still caused a knot of worry to fester in his stomach. A hydro electricity dam powered Hope¡¯s End, but that meant nothing. Surge spillover was a major problem. Logan knew they had power share agreements with other areas¡ªas one station went down, the other picked up the load. Eventually, it would be like playing a game of Jenga: each block pulled meant the structure weakened, until the whole tower collapsed. Not to mention what that would do to internet and cell service. He remembered a time when half the country lost service due to an internal cell network problem, and that wasn¡¯t even during the apocalypse. Even though urgency was surging through him, he was still cautious when he breached the surface, sticking his head out like a seal and glancing around. Ernie mimicked him, his head bobbing as his tentacles acted like a surfboard, letting him drift with the current. ¡°We escaped!¡± Ernie was right. No snakes. They must have swum far enough away; either that, or after Logan was no longer in view, the effects of the Eager Beaver title wore off and the snakes slithered through the air and returned to Rattlesnake Island. Logan walked onto the beach, water pouring down his body, Ernie trailing behind him. Smoke continued to saturate the air, the sun bright red through a layer of smog. There was a sharp campfire odour, so foul that he felt it at the back of his throat, causing his festering worry to worsen. Logan knew that smell. The fire had gotten closer. As soon as Logan was on solid ground, he pulled his cell out of his spatial collar and powered it on, holding it in one hand while he removed a towel and ran it through his wet hair. His phone dinged. Logan dropped the towel and navigated to his text messages, and then promptly deflated. No text messages. But that didn¡¯t mean anything. There was no cell service. Pacing, he held his phone up to the sky, watching the network bars for any change. Nothing. His shoulders slumping, Logan sat down on the sandy beach, digging his bare toes into the sand. There were two possibilities. Either Lara was in trouble¡ªthe fire, monsters, any number of things¡ªand she couldn¡¯t send an update, or Logan was making a mountain out of a molehill. There were areas around the lake that had spotty cell service even before the apocalypse. His phone had been powered off. It had also been inside what for all he knew was a dimensional storage device. Even if he¡¯d passed through areas closer to a cell tower, it wouldn¡¯t have done anything. Besides, there wasn¡¯t anything he could do. Logan felt helpless and ready to pull his hair out in worry, but he couldn¡¯t get to Lara and the kids any faster. He had to trust that they were okay and that he¡¯d find them alive when he arrived at Hope¡¯s End. Any other possibility was unthinkable. Ernie poked him with a tentacle and then rested it against Logan¡¯s leg. ¡°I¡¯m hungry,¡± he said with sad eyes. Come to think of it, Ernie did look pale. Just how much did he need to eat every day to stay healthy? Even though the lake had lots of fish, the mystery of his appearance persisted. With so much life in the ocean, it seemed strange that he would escape it, especially considering his bloodthirstiness. ¡°Ernie, you mentioned something about your journey here. About escaping?¡± Logan gave him an encouraging smile. ¡°Since you rival all, what did you need to escape?¡± Ernie puffed up, blowing his cheeks. ¡°Not escaping, Logan! Never escaping!¡± Then, in a mumble, ¡°Tactically retreating.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you that. You¡¯re a cunning thing, that¡¯s for sure. But what did you retreat from?¡± ¡°Sky people. Invaders! With mechanical arms and hovering monstrosities! They gobbled up my brethren, one after another. But of course, rivaling all, I, Ernie, darted away, and lived to kill another day!¡± Logan furrowed his brow. In Ernie-speak, that could mean two things. Either someone had figured out how to bypass the aircraft System purge, or someone else was doing something hinky. And by else, he meant someone alien. ¡°Were the sky people human?¡± Ernie gave him an unimpressed look. ¡°They were in the sky. I rival all, but I couldn¡¯t fly to see, despite my earnest wishes!¡± His eyes became unfocused. ¡°Flying,¡± he crooned. ¡°I would become a mighty slaughtering god. Such dreams, Logan, such dreams.¡± For fuck¡¯s sake, now, in addition to mutated monsters and a one-year massive population System purge deadline, he had another threat to worry about. But why would someone be after octopuses? It made no sense. ¡°Were they doing anything else over the ocean? Taking samples of other aquatic life?¡± Ernie¡¯s tentacles drooped. ¡°Singularly focused! They wanted all my brethren. They need to pay! They need to¡­¡± He suddenly examined Logan, his eyes considering, before he brightened. ¡°Logan, we are slaughter buddies, yes?¡± ¡°¡­. Yes?¡± ¡°You are growing stronger. Already, in one day, you have commenced in a slaughter of the yucky snake monsters like no one else! And you will grow even more powerful, yes?¡± ¡°¡­. Maybe?¡± Logan didn¡¯t like where this was going. ¡°Yes yes yes! You will grow powerful, powerful enough to challenge the sky people and avenge my brethren! We will crush them and pummel them out of the sky into a mess of guts and a plethora of blood! They will be stacked underneath our¡­¡± Logan sighed and tuned Ernie out. At this point, he¡¯d realized there was no stopping him during a slaughter monologue, better to just let him wear himself out. *** This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Logan let Ernie plop into the water to go after fish while he experimented. He figured he had time to burn while he was ahead of schedule. Pushing his body to the brink of collapse and stretching beyond what he thought was possible had one distinct advantage. They¡¯d moved through the lake like a bullet while fleeing for their lives. In one battle, they¡¯d travelled more than he could do in two days. Despite the urgency of the smoke in the air, if he arrived at Hope¡¯s End before the agreed upon time, he¡¯d have to venture into the city to find Lara and the kids rather than meeting them at Richton¡¯s Tomb. What would happen if they¡¯d already left while he was looking? They could end up endlessly missing each other. And if the cell network were down, they¡¯d have no way to communicate. Even though Logan would like nothing better than to see Lara and reassure himself that she was okay, he had to make the smart decision. It made sense to stick to the same timeline. If he had time to burn, that meant he could do an inventory¡ªboth of his supplies and his own level of fitness for the next fight. Logan used the same towel to dry off as best as he could, and then examined his injuries. The blood had washed off in the water, and the wounds on his back and neck had knitted together, the injuries slightly tender but no longer dripping blood. His missing toe and finger had grown back¡ªto the point where he couldn¡¯t tell he¡¯d been missing them in the first place¡ªand his last constitution attribute boost made him feel flush with vitality. He was missing patches of hair on his scalp from the fight with the undead mushrooms, but while the patches had been raw and sore before, now, they were healed over¡ªbut still bald. Logan supposed that increased constitution didn¡¯t help with hair loss. Smirking, his thoughts drifted to his fiery, bald grandfather, who had loved nothing better than to rant at every injustice around him. He would have been pissed about the hair loss loophole if he were still around. As for the rest of his body, he¡¯d never been in better shape in his life. Logan glanced down at his bare chest. He no longer had a hint of a belly; he had abs! Logan, with abs? His ex-girlfriend would have never believed it. His biceps were defined, a layer of steel hidden underneath his muscles. But to continue increasing his physical fitness, he needed to protect himself. That¡¯s where [Mimicry Armour] would play a factor. Logan pulled up the description of the skill for a refresher. [This rare skill allows you to graft material within your environment to your body, creating a camouflaged layer of protection. Duration of the skill advances with Karma pool growth. Level of the skill advances with the complexity of the material.] Depending up on the length of the fight, with his increased Karma pool, he should be able to run [Mimicry Armour] longer, possibly too long to count. But unlike [Deepwater Explorer], the skill level wouldn¡¯t increase the longer he held it. Rather, leveling it relied on the ¡®complexity¡¯ of the material. That either meant that if he spread the armour to other areas of his body, he¡¯d level the skill, or he¡¯d have to wait until he figured out how to use things other than sand. Yet, everywhere around him, he had sand, dirt, gravel, and more sand. That meant advancing the armour to other parts of his body would be his best option. Unless the fight had warped his sense of time, Logan knew the armguard and partial neck shield had lasted at least ten minutes with his previous Karma pool. Still, that was just his arm and neck. He needed to monitor his Karma as he spread the armour. There was no point in figuring out how to create a suit of flexible armour for his whole body if it drained his entire pool in an instant. The skill would be worthless. It was a matter of tactics. Logan got to his feet, jumping up and down to flex his muscles, stretching his arms and wiggling his toes in the sand. Then, cracking his neck, he stared at the beach. Deploying [Mimicry Armour] was as easy as riding a bike; at this point, it was effortless. Logan commanded the sand to cover his arm and neck, grafting it into solid, flexible sandstone. Part of the skill allowed for camouflage, but that was a lower priority. He didn¡¯t need to hide; he needed protection against the next snake siege. Scrunching his nose in concentration, Logan gathered more sand, forcing it to hover and latch onto his chest, right over the abs and muscles he¡¯d been admiring. It was like piecing together chainmail, one layer at a time. Unlike chainmail though, once he attached a piece, it merged into the whole, forming one massive, flexible layer of armour. Logan had advanced the skill, covering not only his arm, shoulder and neck, but his chest as well. This was the tricky part. Such success made him want to continue, hell, why not form it all over his body? But that wasn¡¯t the purpose of this. Not yet. Logan pulled up his Karma pool and kept it up, like having a running tally on a fitness watch¡ªonly, in his mind. 500/510. 499/510. 500/510. 499/510. His wisdom attribute was at work! The skill was draining his Karma, but not so quickly that his Karma regeneration rate couldn¡¯t keep up. That meant that at the current level, he could run the skill indefinitely! Excitement surging, Logan flexed his arm, bunching his stomach as he tested the flexibility of the armour. It still amazed him that it was as flexible as a glove, yet as hard as stone. He had no restriction in movement whatsoever; it was as if it were part of his body, a Logan-exoskeleton. Watching his Karma pool out of the corner of one eye, he switched his focus to gathering more sand and then spread it to his other arm. The armour merged with the rest, covering both arms, his chest, and his lower neck. 499/510. 497/510. 495/510. 493/510. Damn. As he held the skill, his Karma pool continued to deplete, the lower Wisdom regeneration rate having no chance of catching up. And that was just from extending it to his other arm? He would hate to see what happened when he utilized the camouflage feature. There were two factors here. If he extended the armour to both arms, according to his calculations, the skill would run; run for at least ten minutes. If the fight were brief, it wouldn¡¯t matter. However, the battle with the snakes had taken way longer than ten minutes, and the armguard had protected him against one nasty, persistent snake. He would hate to lose it during a critical moment. Logan had gotten much better at monitoring himself for Karma depletion, but he wouldn¡¯t put it past the System to decide to penalize him by suffocating him to death. For now, it was smarter to use [Mimicry Armour] to form the flexible armour around his chest and only one arm. ¡°Logan?¡± Logan looked up from examining his chest armour. Ernie had returned. ¡°Any luck?¡± Ernie looked like a long-haired wet dog with sad eyes. ¡°Only two tasty treats¡ªtwo! And they were morsels, a snack at best.¡± ¡°How far did you go?¡± His look was shifty. ¡°Around.¡± Logan gave him a narrow-eyed look. He refused to believe that the bloodthirsty thing was having trouble hunting, not at level 58. ¡°And I¡¯m so hungry!¡± Ernie whined, blinking his black marble eyes. ¡°Does that mean you want my help?¡± Ernie trailed a tentacle on the ground. ¡°You did say you would catch me tasty treats. It¡¯s important to follow through on your commitments! That¡¯s how healthy relationships work!¡± Logan smirked. They needed to get going anyway, so he wouldn¡¯t call Ernie out on his bullshit. But he¡¯d learned something new. Ernie could be a manipulative octopus, an octopus who¡¯d much rather have Logan do the work, at least when it came to food gathering. Turn this around into a slaughter adventure, and Ernie would be pulling him into the lake. ¡°All right,¡± said Logan. ¡°We¡¯ll go, but you¡¯ll have to help. I¡¯ll bring the fishing net and we can work together. Why don¡¯t you scare the fish with your tentacles, herding them toward me and into the fishing net.¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°I like this plan!¡± Besides, going underwater would give Logan a chance to escape the smoke. It had to be a bizarro world when you wanted to go underwater to utilize a [Deepwater Explorer] skill to get access to fresh air. Before he dipped into the lake, Logan scrounged as best as he could, throwing driftwood, logs, and boulders into his spatial storage. This beach was sparse, but he¡¯d still managed to find enough to be useful if he needed it in a pinch. He also deployed [Mimicry Armour], forming the exoskeleton suit over his chest and one arm. As the water closed around him and he dropped down into the deep, Logan considered taking out the Cursed Rope, but its behavior made him hesitant. And after all, he had Ernie with him. Nothing could rival a level 58 octopus in the water. Chapter 50: The Cave As soon as [Deepwater Explorer] deployed, Logan¡¯s airways opened wide and he received a shot of pure oxygen. He hadn¡¯t noticed the effects of the smoke beyond itchy eyes and a sore throat, and with his constitution attribute as high as it was, that meant the environment outside must be off the chart¡¯s toxic. He¡¯d convinced himself that keeping to the same schedule made sense, and that Lara would be all right, but that level of smoke in the air didn¡¯t give him confidence that the fire wasn¡¯t getting worse. Logan had dealt with smoke every summer for decades; there were times that due to weather patterns, a wildfire from hundreds of miles away would send smoke over to the Okanagan and then sit there until the weather changed and a windstorm moved it out of the area. However, there were also times when localized smoke transformed the city into a smoke-apocalypse. That protective brother syndrome was kicking in with a vengeance. The thought of Lara and the kids in the path of an inferno caused his mouth to dry with worry, a chasm of anxiety opening in his stomach. But it was that same dilemma all over again. He could be worrying for nothing, and if he arrived early, he may not be able to find her. Still, there was one thing he could do in absence of the cell network. During the day, all he¡¯d been able to see was smoke and smog, but at night, if the fire were moving closer to the city, Logan should be able to see it. In the dark, especially if the power were down, you could see wildfire tree candling¡ªa great, bright fireball explosion¡ªfor miles. Tonight, he¡¯d be on the watch for more than just monsters. Logan shifted the fishing net to his other hand, using his dominant arm to steady himself. Ernie was darting around the lake almost too fast for him to see, searching high and wide. Surprisingly, they¡¯d been underwater for more than ten minutes and he¡¯d yet to see a fish other than a handful of thumbtack-sized minnows. ¡°Anything?¡± he projected to Ernie. ¡°The tasty treats must be hiding,¡± replied Ernie, his voice glum. ¡°It¡¯s as if they don¡¯t want me to catch them!¡± Logan rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s kind of the point.¡± Ernie swam closer and hovered in front of Logan. ¡°We shall have to go into the depths.¡± For fuck¡¯s sake, he was back to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea again. ¡°How far?¡± Ernie¡¯s skin fluctuated from the blue of the water to the sandstone chest plate of Logan¡¯s armour. So far, the water hadn¡¯t affected it, the armour still as flexible and durable as if it were above ground. Logan had reviewed his Karma pool off and on since he¡¯d dropped underwater, and it was holding steady at 499. Although he would rather avoid running into another snake army, he wouldn¡¯t mind looking for a few monsters. Back when he¡¯d first encountered the undead sturgeon, level 32 had seemed insurmountable. Now look at Logan. He was level 30! To tackle his goal of leveling the hell up and becoming a powerhouse to challenge the System, he needed the chance to do so. As long as he kept the risk manageable, he could grind out level after level, upgrade his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate, and eventually increase his other attributes at the same time. ¡°Be on the lookout for undead sturgeons,¡± he said, following Ernie as he swam over a fjord drop and down an underwater slanted cliff. The cliff was full of algae-covered rocks, with long strands of seaweed rising through the jagged edges. Ernie came to an abrupt stop, his tentacles jumping in startlement before he swum back around to face Logan, his skin fluctuating between the green algae on the rocks and the brown stems of the seaweed. ¡°Slaughter time?¡± he asked with an eager glint in his eyes, two small growths forming on top of his head as his skin continued to fluctuate in color. They reminded Logan of small horns or insect antennae. They made Ernie look less like an octopus and more like an actual monster. What the hell? Was that normal? ¡°Ernie, you¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± The horns were jumping up and down in excitement. Logan hesitated. Ernie had already picked up an odd fashion sense awareness; if Logan mentioned he had weird growths on his head, he might become self-conscious. ¡°Never mind,¡± he said, pushing off the cliff with one foot to propel himself further into the deep. Even though it was growing progressively darker the further they went, Logan could still see everything with his [Deepwater Explorer] skill. It was odd, since the water was absent of fish, absent to the extreme. When he¡¯d been searching for fish during his Quest, they had been sparse, but not this sparse. ¡°We¡¯re on a schedule, so we can¡¯t spend too much time hunting, but if we come across an undead sturgeon while fishing, I wouldn¡¯t be opposed to a little slaughter.¡± Ernie flashed past him like a bullet, his tentacles trailing behind him in a straight line. ¡°Slaughter! I will find them! We shall kill them, yes yes yes.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Logan held back a sigh. One of these days, Ernie¡¯s eagerness would get them into trouble. They dropped further, to the point where he couldn¡¯t see where the surface began. He lost sight of anything underneath his feet¡ªnothing but bottomless blue. Being a fjord lake, Logan knew the lake could drop as low as 700 feet, but surely, they couldn¡¯t be that low? Where the hell were the fish? He hoped his [Deepwater Explorer] skill held up. There would be nothing worse than reaching his limits and having to level up the skill while surrounded by crushing depths. Eventually, as they continued to drop, Ernie paused, hovering around something Logan couldn¡¯t make out until he moved closer. It was a rocky outcrop, another sharp, shear rockface, but in the middle of it, there was a wide hole the size of a small car. ¡°Intriguing! An underwater cave! A good fishing spot. I found these in the ocean. They had many, many tasty treats inside.¡± Logan didn¡¯t like the look of that cave. It had a wide opening, but inside the entrance, there was a sharp, twisting turn. There was no way to see what was inside without entering. ¡°Ernie,¡± he said. ¡°Why don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°There could be undead sturgeons inside!¡± Ernie darted past him with a gleeful face and darted into the cave like a rabbit into a burrow. It was like having a murderous ping pong ball as a companion. He didn¡¯t have a problem with going inside to explore, but a little discussed strategy would have been nice. And hell no was he going inside of that thing unarmed. And yet he still didn¡¯t have an alternative other than the Cursed Length of Rope. The guns were untried, and he suspected that as he continued to encounter higher leveled monsters, a bullet would be like hitting an elephant with a pebble. Although he was fond of his baseball bat, it might be even worse. It was regular wood, and eventually, if he used his strength to bash it against a monster that had a body as hard as metal, it would shatter. Logan either needed to find a weapon that could handle his increased strength or suffer through using the rope. As the seconds ticked by and Ernie continued to be nowhere to be seen, he finally willed the rope out of his spatial collar, holding his breath as he did so. When it materialized in his hand, it looked like its normal inert version¡ªbrown, rough fibres¡ªa regular rope once again. Until he deployed it with the intention of using it, it might remain in its lifeless form. At least that was something. Logan kicked his legs, pushing into the cave, the rope in one hand, his armour protecting his chest and his arm. The cave appeared to be normal¡ªnothing but bare, brown rock covered in algae. As he moved into the bend, it narrowed slightly. The rock transformed from brown to black rock that was bare of all life, no algae at all¡ªas if a massive machine had just swooped in with a car-sized excavator and tunneled out the earth. Logan crept closer to the cave wall. A green tint caught his eye, a sparkling like a rainbow prism. The vibrant colors lit up the cave, filling the water with light. Intermixed in the stone, tiny grains of precious gemstones sparkled like emeralds. Logan thought he knew what he was looking at, and before he could even think of deploying [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], the System confirmed his suspicion. Ding! [You have successfully discovered a source of olivine, a mineral that absorbs carbon when crushed and scattered on the ground. 10% Mass Murderer title penalty in effect. Calculating reward for discovery¡­ 4500 KarmaCoin awarded. Further awards available upon mineral carbonation deployment.] For a second, he thought he¡¯d read it wrong. But no, he really had just received 4,500 KarmaCoin. 4,500! Holy shit! The excitement surging through him had a distinct flavor of greed. This discovery was the equivalent of stumbling over a bag of gold. He was rich! Although Logan would classify his family as middle-class, once he¡¯d moved out on his own, he¡¯d continuously struggled, bouncing from job to job. Any money he managed to save on the side soon went into a bottomless pit of bills. It was a constant struggle back and forth. Receive a bonus at work? Eaten by his truck¡¯s leaking oil tank. Flush with cash after receiving a promotion? Lose it all in a hand of poker with his buddies. That one had hurt. So, to feel successful with money was something of a novelty and almost too good to be true. And it wasn¡¯t so much greed for greed¡¯s sake, but what he could do with the money. Logan didn¡¯t know how many people had been given access to a tree fridge, but it couldn¡¯t be many. After all, he¡¯d only been granted access after being subjected to the trauma of Eleanor¡¯s death and having the wisdom to recognize his mistake and the resolve to change. The more KarmaCoin he raised, the more items he could buy from the Fridge, items that could help Tasha and Jack, and most importantly, Lara and the kids. Logan suspected there might be something to this other than money, too. It was one thing to award him with KarmaCoin for growing trees, but another thing to award him for discovering a rock that in its current form, wouldn¡¯t do much towards reducing carbon. No, there was something else to this that he needed to figure out. A flash out of the corner of his eye had Logan tightening his grip on the Cursed Rope, but it was just Ernie. He was rushing over, his body vibrating with excitement. His skin was fluctuating from emerald green to the darker stone around them. ¡°Logan!¡± he said, beaming. ¡°I rival all! I rival all!¡± ¡°Did you find a sturgeon?¡± ¡°I found a shiny thing! An immense, immense sparkling orb!¡± Had Ernie found more olivine? ¡°You mean the rock on the walls? It¡¯s all over the place.¡± Ernie made a disparaging sound. Logan wasn¡¯t sure how that worked when they were speaking mentally, but it came across as clear as day. ¡°A pittance! My discovery dwarfs all. Come come come!¡± Logan felt as if he were humoring Ernie as he followed him. He was so excited he¡¯d forgotten that Logan was human and lacking tentacles. Logan struggled to keep up as Ernie streamed through the cave. They took another turn, twisting, and then went sharply down. Just how far did this cave go? Going another fifty feet through yet more cut stone, Logan slowed as the cave opened into a chasm. The chamber had to be the size of a tennis court, its walls round and circular with jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling. But that¡¯s not what gave him pause. What gave him pause was the glowing light. Logan tightened his grip on the Cursed Rope and barely breathed underwater. Creeping forward, his eyes opened wide. It was as if hundreds of neon light bulbs were blasting the area all at once. There was one source of light. In front of him was a circular sphere the size of a garden shed, its walls fluctuating as if Logan were looking into rushing space, starlight zooming by too fast for him to comprehend. In awe, Logan could only gape. He was looking at something that seemed impossible. Too advanced. Beyond this world. With not even a semblance of normal technology to be found. And next to the sphere was an etched lodestone that reminded him of the tree fridge. A portal. Chapter 51: The Lair Logan had encountered a lot of crazy things since this whole ordeal started, but this was the first time he was presented with something that had to be alien technology. Even if it were human in origin, there was no explanation for why he¡¯d found it at the bottom of a remote Canadian lake. This said ¡®the System¡¯ all over it. Not to mention that it looked so far advanced it was on another stratosphere. Rather than something you¡¯d see out of the film Stargate, this thing was¡­ Logan didn¡¯t know how to describe it. If Lara had said to him, tell me what you¡¯re looking at, Logan. Logan would have to answer, the trippiest portal of your dreams. It was as if it were alive. An orb that was tall enough for a full-grown person to walk through without ducking, the sides fluctuating and shimmering as starlight rushed by. And each time he glanced at it, it looked different. Now, it wasn¡¯t dark space with bright starlight, but a gaseous nebula rushing past at the speed of light; the next time, a black hole, sucking everything inside a bottomless pit. It gave him a feeling of awe, but also trepidation. This thing had an aura of danger to it. It wanted to suck him into the sphere, but Logan wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d survive if he took it up on its invitation. Logan tried to use [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on it. [##!#!##!##!] And received nothing but scrambled text. Either it was so overpowered that his skill couldn¡¯t recognize it, or Logan had stumbled onto something he wasn¡¯t supposed to see. Ernie swam around the portal like a squirrel on steroids, his skin taking on the wild fluctuating space and starlight as he rushed past. ¡°Did I not tell you that I rival all? Stick with me, Logan, and we shall go far!¡± The horns on his head were sticking straight up. Zooming closer, he swam in front of Logan, his skin mirroring the sphere as the shimmering surface fluctuated into a black hole. ¡°Are we going to use the powerful magic orb?¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes gleamed in greed as he gazed at it dreamily. Logan crept closer to the lodestone while keeping a wary eye on the sphere. The lodestone looked like the one from the Willow Tree, practically twins. If he placed his hand in it, he suspected he¡¯d activate the portal, but that feeling of doom persisted. There was something wrong here. It reminded him of the fight with the undead minions and how Logan had managed to intimidate Brad into backing down by projecting his aura outwards. The portal¡¯s aura of danger could be a failsafe to help warn monsters away, but somehow, Logan didn¡¯t think so. If he tried to use it, he might not make it out alive. ¡°No,¡± he said finally, backing away with a kick to the wall and propelling himself into the water and away from the portal. ¡°We¡¯re not going to use it. Not now. It might work, it might not. But even if it does, there¡¯s no way to know where it¡¯ll send us. I can¡¯t afford to go anywhere other than to Lara and to Hope¡¯s End.¡± It was tempting though, so tempting. For all he knew, he could be looking at the solution to his problem. There could be another portal in the lake in front of the city, and Lara and the kids could be on the other side. Was he really going to throw that chance away? Ernie¡¯s horns deflated. ¡°Humph.¡± He ran an avid eye over the sphere. ¡°Your words have wisdom, but somehow, the lure of the shiny orb has only grown stronger!¡± Ernie hesitated and then twitched in the water, his tentacles jumping in startlement as fear overtook his greed. He was like a tentacle monster as his limbs flew everywhere, eventually making a beeline for Logan. He overtook him in the water and then circled around, latching onto Logan¡¯s back, his suction cups feeling like hundreds of tiny vacuum cleaners as he clung on with desperation. ¡°Ernie, what¡­¡± Ernie was peering around Logan¡¯s shoulder and using him as a shield. ¡°It¡¯s like the magic mirror! It¡¯s luring me forward, wanting to suck me into its endless depths! Depths of doom!¡± That did it. It wasn¡¯t just an overactive imagination. If Ernie felt that menacing aura too, the portal was dangerous. Logan kicked with his feet, propelling himself backward and taking Ernie with him. ¡°So you feel it too.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a murderous sphere!¡± ¡°Maybe. Possibly. We don¡¯t know enough yet to tell for sure. But whatever it is, it¡¯s not safe.¡± Logan craned his head, trying to get a look at the octopus. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be scared.¡± Ernie huffed and pushed away from Logan with an offended scowl. ¡°Scared! Scared! Bah!¡± Then, mumbling, ¡°It was a tactical retreat.¡± Logan gave him a soft smile. ¡°Sure. Come on, we have slaughtering to do, remember? But good job finding this thing. This could be huge. We¡¯ll come back to it eventually.¡± Mentioning slaughter seemed to do the trick. Ernie¡¯s horns reappeared and he used his tentacles to spring forward in the water and jump away from the sphere, grumbling all the while. ¡°Scared, I¡¯ll show you scared. Ernie rivals all! Enemies cower in front of my mightiness, prostrating at my heels, my mighty tentacles, my¡­¡± He raised his mental voice. ¡°Let¡¯s use the other tunnel, Logan!¡± Other tunnel? Logan didn¡¯t have much time left before he ran out of air; his [Deepwater Explorer] skill was about to be exhausted, and he wasn¡¯t looking forward to going through the agony of another level increase. Each time, the agony increased, beyond anything he¡¯d ever experienced or imagined possible. What¡¯s worse, [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] did nothing to reduce the pain since Logan suspected that skill leveling was outside of its purview. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°We might need to take a break before we venture further. I need a shot of actual oxygen.¡± ¡°To the surface? Hah! Then Ernie rivals all. The tunnel goes up!¡± Ernie darted away too quickly for Logan to question. Holding back a sigh, he kicked off from the chamber wall and followed, keeping a close eye on the hanging stalactites as he darted through the chasm and ended up on the opposite side. Ernie had said the caves he¡¯d encountered in the ocean were a breeding ground for life, but so far, they¡¯d yet to encounter any fish. Either the portal¡¯s aura of danger had scared them away, or¡­ something else. Logan tightened his grip on the Cursed Rope at the thought. Ernie was clinging to the cave wall, the suction cups on his tentacles keeping him in place as he waited. Huh. Another tunnel. Slightly narrower, but still wide enough to fit a small compact car. Unlike the other tunnel, which had a gradual, twisting decline, this one shot straight up as if someone had drilled through the earth at a 180-degree angle. Logan peered up. ¡°You think that goes to the surface?¡± Ernie¡¯s skin turned dark grey with hints of emerald green pulsing through as he turned his head towards the tunnel and did¡­ something. Logan¡¯s octopus knowledge ended at the nature documentary he¡¯d watched with his ex-girlfriend. For all he knew, they had a sonar capability, or hell, an enhanced perception attribute skill from the System. ¡°It goes up, all the way up!¡± One of Ernie¡¯s tentacles latched onto Logan¡¯s armour-covered arm and started to tug. ¡°Onwards!¡± With a last tug, Ernie let go and then darted into the tunnel, back to being a murderous ping pong ball. Logan grumbled and rolled his eyes but followed. Even though he¡¯d only known Ernie for a little over two days, he trusted him. That¡¯s what fighting for your life together did. If he knew anything, Ernie wanted to win, and winning meant Logan had to succeed. He wouldn¡¯t do anything to intentionally risk Logan¡¯s life. Plus, Logan had become fond of the little bugger. His drive to succeed and excel was off the charts and being around him motivated Logan to go that extra mile. It was like having a rambunctious devil in your ear whispering, just one more kill, one more kill, come on, just one. This was a serious tunnel. No twists, no turns, going directly up and up. Logan kept swimming, eyes cautious at first, but when all he encountered was rock and yet more rock, he kicked his swimming into high gear. Although he¡¯d had no way to time how long it had taken to reach the chamber, he could tell they¡¯d swum way longer than in the previous tunnel. Would this thing lead all the way to the surface? Damn. Logan strained, his calf muscles burning. If he hadn¡¯t already earned his daily endurance point, he would have gained it from this swim alone. Up and up, kick after kick. With one last final kick, the tunnel suddenly narrowed. ¡°Yes yes yes, I rival all,¡± Ernie communicated as he suddenly¡­ disappeared. But he hadn¡¯t disappeared. He¡¯d breached the surface. The tunnel had ended. Logan shot through the surface of the lake, his head popping into a cavern that was full of real oxygen. Taking a deep breath, his chest moving like a racehorse, a rush of relief surged through him as [Deepwater Explorer] deactivated. That had been cutting it close. He peered around in confusion. Stale air. And a damp stench, like mold and algae left to rot. Everything was dark, only a narrow beam of sunlight illuminating the cavern around them. What the hell was this? Keeping a careful grip on the Cursed Rope, Logan grabbed the sides of the ledge and lifted himself out of the water. The cavern was the size of a den, with hardly enough space for a full-grown person to stand. With Logan being as tall as he was, he had to hunch his back and watch his head as he inched over, shuffling over ground that felt moist and soft with moss. As he moved farther away from the tunnel entrance, the cave ceiling rose--enough for Logan to stand without crouching. ¡°Ernie, this isn¡¯t the surface.¡± At least not quite. His voice echoed in the cavern, an acoustic sound effect making it seem louder than it was. They were above ground, but they weren¡¯t home free. There was no exit other than a narrow, narrow opening thirty feet above which let in a beam of sunlight. There was no way Logan would fit through that even if he managed to find a way up. As Logan¡¯s feet disturbed the earth, tiny dust and mold particles danced in the light. Ernie made a startled sound. ¡°Treasure!¡± He¡¯d slimed his way over to the end of the cave, right above the sunbeam. Logan squinted, and then his eyes opened wide. At first, he thought he was looking at a pile of metal, nothing but scraps. It was the size of a large garbage can turned over on its side. But something glittered from amongst the pile, something that reflected the light. Logan crept forward, and as he got a better look, excitement surged. Talk about stumbling over a pile of gold. Holy shit! That wasn¡¯t a pile of junk! It was a pile of jewels! Gold and silver rings and earrings, diamond rings, necklaces full of gems! Hundreds of them! Dirt and algae covered the pile, so much algae that it was as if he were looking at an underwater shipwreck left to rot. Some, like the diamond ring that had sparkled, looked brand new, but others¡­. Logan crouched down in front of the pile and rummaged through it with a hesitant hand. The further he dug through the pile, the older they got. They looked like old-fashioned jewelry, something that belonged on Antiques Roadshow. And as he¡­ Something golden. Fucking hell. It was a gold bar the size of a brick! Logan rubbed the dirt away from the back of the bar, staring, not knowing what to think. 1858 Fraser River. It was from the Cariboo Gold Rush. How the hell did a bar of gold from the 1800s end up in a pile of jewels in the Okanagan Lake? It was as if a hoarder had squirrelled it away, year after year. And yet, that didn¡¯t make any sense. If it were the same person that did this, they would have had to locate jewelry from all over the lake for the last two hundred years. Logan¡¯s excitement started to fade. This was an amazing find, and in a normal world, it would have meant he was rich, but was a pile of jewels going to help him in the apocalypse? Maybe. It might be more valuable than money for trading purposes, but Logan suspected that KarmaCoin would be the real powerhouse in the future. For now, Logan willed the pile into his spatial collar, a pile of dust and mold kicking into the air as it disappeared. ¡°Ernie, that was a good find, but¡ª¡± Something was coming up the tunnel. A shudder went through the cave, as if they were being hit by an earthquake. But this was no earthquake. A massive animal was clawing its way up the edges of the tunnel. Logan tightened his grip on the Cursed Rope, taking a step back and away from the pool of water, ducking behind a slight bend in the cave and half-hiding his body. The first thing he saw was green, snake-like scaly skin, gleaming with water. The monster¡¯s face was rounded, feminine, with high cheekbones and full, green lips. Instead of hair, dozens of green, blind snakes with foggy eyes wiggled, as if scenting the air around them. Water poured from the snake heads in rivulets, trailing down the serpentine body, which was long and the width of a manhole. The thing kept coming, crawling out of the pool of water, its body never ending. It was so long that half of its body must still be in the water tunnel. ¡°Logan!¡± Ernie hissed in his mind, sounding frantic. Panic surging, Logan deployed [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Queen Naitaka: Level ??? A water serpent, known colloquially as the Ogopogo. Queen of all within her domain and commander of the Undead Minion Army.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence.] Chapter 52: The Ultimate Badass Monster Logan had a distinct childhood memory. This was before the properties around his grandfather¡¯s cabin became so desirable that they were only affordable by the super rich, and way before Eleanor moved in and tore down the property next door to build the modern cabin that stood there today. Back then, the cabin next door had been like his grandfather¡¯s¡­ wooden and rundown. The dock had been within shouting distance of their own, and the owners had been eccentric and elderly. At least they¡¯d seemed elderly to the child Logan was back then. One day, Old-Man Reagon had come storming over, shouting his head off about the Ogopogo monster. For centuries, there had been a legend that the lake had its own lake monster, equivalent to Loch Ness. But they were just stories. Until Old-Man Reagon came storming over to the cabin. Reagon had ranted and raved that the lake monster had come to visit him. It had swum right next to his dock! he¡¯d shouted. In plain view like a dolphin saying hello. According to Old-Man Reagon, the lake monster had been huge, the length of half the dock. Snake-like, with three humps on its back, it had paused right at the surface as if basking in the sun. His grandfather had humored old-man Reagon. He¡¯d nodded his head and pretended to believe him, while Logan and Lara had listened in fascination. It was only after old-man Reagon had left that his grandfather explained that he tended to dip into hard liquor, and that Logan and Lara shouldn¡¯t trust anything he¡¯d said. So Logan had chalked it up to a tale from his childhood. Whenever anyone had speculated about the supposed lake monster, Logan had held back an eyeroll and said that the story had been drummed up by people wanting to generate tourism dollars. He¡¯d never believed it. After all, even if there had been a monster in the lake centuries ago, there was no way it was still alive. Animals didn¡¯t live for centuries. And yet, in front of him was proof that something had lurked underneath the depths of the lake, something immense, something old. It was undeniable that the System had warped the lake monster during Integration, but it had to exist for it to be warped in the first place. Beyond the blind snake hair that writhed liked Medusa, there was also an oddness to the monster¡¯s hide. Something was moving. It was as if large worms were scurrying underneath its flesh. As Logan watched, a slit opened in front of the thing¡¯s throat, exposing green, glistening flesh and muscle. From within the slit, the head of a snake popped out, its flower tentacle tongue flickering. The gold tongue unfurled like flower pollen, droplets of gold dropping to the moss-covered ground before the snake retreated into its fleshy hole. Holy shit, that snake tongue had resembled the undead minions¡¯ tentacle flower tongues! Ernie had mentioned that some of the fish had been transformed into undead fish, but Logan had assumed the transformation came from the undead sturgeons. This was too much of a coincidence to not be related. From the undead mushrooms to the undead minions, to the undead sturgeons. Had Logan just found the source of the infection? And what the hell did [Queen Naitaka: Level ???] mean? Logan had a suspicion he didn¡¯t like, a feeling of dread lodging deep in his stomach as he mulled over the possibilities. Did that mean that the monster¡¯s level was so high that the System wouldn¡¯t even translate it for him? ¡°Ernie,¡± he projected mentally. ¡°Can you see the serpent¡¯s level?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I saw this in the ocean with Giant Squids and Rabid Humpback Whales! Ernie rivals all, but even he knew to avoid the question mark beasties. Usually camouflaging did the trick to make me fade from notice followed by a strategic, smart tactical retreat!¡± Rabid Humpback Whales? Logan grimaced at the thought of a sick, twisted version of Moby Dick. But Ernie¡¯s other statement had given him an idea. [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had told him that intelligence was the monster¡¯s highest attribute, which meant it might be able to communicate. There was a chance that Logan could reason with it, but there was one huge problem. The thing was a serpent, and knowing the sadistic System, his [Eager Beaver] title would trigger it as soon as it saw him. There was no way to reason with a monster already enraged by an arbitrary System. That posed a whole new question about the System¡¯s influence. In a way, the [Eager Beaver] effect was mind control. That was unfair not just to Logan, but to the monsters. Hell, what happened if the System arbitrarily decided that Ernie should be influenced by those messages? Logan kept as still as possible, not blinking, not breathing. A Logan statue. So far, the serpent hadn¡¯t noticed his presence, but Ernie had been correct when he¡¯d called the pile of jewelry ¡®treasure.¡¯ It was the treasure of a monster. The serpent twisted its body to the right, going in the opposite direction¡ªthe side of the cave they hadn¡¯t explored yet. So far, his luck attribute had been paying dividends. If the serpent had gone for its treasure, there would be no avoiding discovery and Ernie and Logan would have been a splat on the wall or a meal inside that thing¡¯s belly. Sweat beaded on Logan¡¯s forehead as he watched the serpent dip its head low, like a dog stretching with its forepaws on the ground and ass in the air. Making a crooning noise, a humming that made the whole cave vibrate, it sung to something out of sight, like a warped version of a lullaby. What the hell was going on? But Logan wasn¡¯t going to take the break for granted. The end of the thing¡¯s tail was still inside the tunnel, the length of the monster¡¯s body too long to fit inside the whole cave. At least on that side. Over on Logan¡¯s end, the cave lengthened, and it might be just enough room for the serpent¡¯s whole body. Even if they somehow managed to creep close to the cave¡¯s tunnel entrance, with the width of the thing being as large as it was, there wouldn¡¯t be any space to duck through. As soon as they brushed against its sides, it would know they were there. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. That meant they had to escape another way. His camouflage skill was untried, purposely untried to better utilize his resources. There was nothing like testing a skill while his life was on the line. ¡°Ernie,¡± he said, ¡°disguise yourself. Become the cave wall.¡± ¡°Already done.¡± There was a pause before Ernie whispered, ¡°Logan¡­ the Queen is fertilizing eggs.¡± Fertilizing? Great, just what they needed. More of those things. His nerves were shot, images of Alien-like hatching eggs in his head. Logan took a deep, silent breath and gave himself a mental talking to. Since the System Integration, he¡¯d gone through the impossible. Losing a finger and a toe, suffering through burns and the agony of skill level upgrades. Stretching his body beyond anything he¡¯d thought was possible and coming out the other end. Logan, who¡¯d had an office job before the Integration and who¡¯s hardest decision was whether to sell the cabin, had killed monsters, undead minions, and two murderers. The System had thrown everything it could at him. It didn¡¯t want him to succeed. But he had to survive, if not for himself, for everyone else. There was an injustice happening to billions of people, billions just like him. Logan wouldn¡¯t let it win. And that meant not giving up even against unsurmountable odds. Until this monster killed him, he¡¯d give it everything he had, every ounce of willpower at his disposal. But there was no winning against a monster that was so powerful that he couldn¡¯t even see its level. That meant he¡¯d have to outsmart it. As the serpent kept singing that eerie song, Logan gazed at the cave wall¡ªbrown, covered in moss and trickling water¡ªand then glanced down at his forearm guard. Until now, he¡¯d been focused on utility and getting the biggest bang for his buck. That meant a shield, the camouflage features an afterthought. Still, he knew how to do it. He¡¯d done it before. Logan willed the Cursed Rope back inside his spatial collar and then closed his eyes, concentrating on the flexible sandstone shield. Everything that touched his skin, from his forearm guard to his chest plate. The surface of the sandstone was flexible; it wanted him to transform it from a dull, boring beige into colors that had a life to them, a mirror effect. Logan opened his eyes, his lips parting in shock. He hadn¡¯t understood the true power of [Mimicry Armour]. The camouflage wasn¡¯t a stationary image like camo clothing. He¡¯d been thinking that he¡¯d have to transform the image manually each time he moved to an area with a different background. Instead, the camouflage moved with him like a reflective mirror. His armour was now invisible against the cave wall, a perfect replica of everything around him. Still, it only covered half his body¡ªif that. Last time, when he¡¯d spread the armour, it had depleted his Karma pool at a much higher rate. That was without the camouflage. Logan needed to be as expedient as possible. Keeping a careful eye on the crooning monster, Logan willed a pile of sand from his spatial collar, depositing it mid-air and immediately utilizing [Mimicry Armour] to grab a hold of it before it could drop to the ground and make noise. Biting his lip in concentration, he spread the sand to the rest of his body and formed the sandstone Logan-exoskeleton. Plate after plate formed into the whole, covering his swim trunks and traveling down his legs. He paused the armour right below his ankles. His feet were bare; his shoes inside his spatial collar, but now was not the time to experiment with armour boots. Logan would have to live with dangling, visible feet for now. Merging the armour into one seamless suit, he also left his hands free, before focusing on his head and neck. The sandstone spread up the other side of his neck and chin, traveling up the back of his scalp, covering his hair and his forehead before he paused it, leaving his face bare. He¡¯d covered everything except his feet, hands, and the front of his face. It should have felt constricting, what Logan imagined an iron suit would feel like, but instead, it was airless and light, as if it weren¡¯t there at all. Since he¡¯d already activated the camouflage feature, it spread to the rest of the armour as soon as he¡¯d formed it. Glancing down at his arm, Logan blinked. Far out. He couldn¡¯t see it against the cliff wall! It was only because he knew his arm was there that he could see a faint, faint outline, but to anyone else, he¡¯d be invisible! There was only one problem. 450/510. 447/510. 444/510. 441/510. His Karma was depleting at a rapid rate. Logan would have minutes¡ªif that. He began to wish he¡¯d prioritized his Karma pool and regeneration rate. So many points had been wasted on attributes that in a pinch, didn¡¯t mean much. ¡°Ernie, I¡¯m going to lure the monster over here and make it think we¡¯re trying to escape through the hole up above. It¡¯ll be enraged when it sees its missing treasure and hopefully lunge over here, enough for its tail to come out of the tunnel. Once that happens, we¡¯ll jump into the water and escape. But we¡¯ll have seconds. Seconds only. You need to be ready.¡± The octopus¡¯ mental voice was a whisper. ¡°Ernie will be very quiet. Very stealthy.¡± Logan inched around, shuffling his feet as soundless as possible and turning his face towards the wall so that the armour camouflaged the back of his head. Then, ducking his hands in front of his chest and out of view, he willed a few pieces of jewelry out of his spatial storage and told the collar to deposit it up above, in mid-air, right in the middle of the cave opening. As soon as the jewelry popped into the air, it rained down, one bracelet falling directly to the moss-covered ground with a slight thud, two other rings falling at an angle against the cave wall, clattering like pebbles down a hill. The crooning abruptly stopped. Even though Logan was hoping against hope that his plan worked, he couldn¡¯t help feeling a trickling of dread, the hair on the back of his arms standing up underneath the armour. The serpent¡¯s level was off the charts, and who knew what other abilities it had at its disposal. A voice like a snake¡¯s hiss echoed in the cave. ¡°I sssmell your human ssstench.¡± Oh fuck. Still, that meant it could smell him, not that it could see him. ¡°Coming into my lair, trespassing and contaminating my babies!¡± The ground shook, and dust and mold kicked into the air. Out of the corner of Logan¡¯s eye, green scales glittered in the beam of sunlight, and something writhed, something too numerous to count. ¡°A plague upon my home, a polluter! Depositing garbage and noxious odours, taking my food, harvesting the seaweed, pouring in chemicals and killing killing killing!¡± Holy shit, this was without his [Eager Beaver] title kicking in? Logan willed another handful of jewelry out of his spatial collar, throwing in a bucket of sand for good measure. They rained down from up above, as if someone were scrambling through the hole. Come on, take the bait. ¡°Thief. Polluter. Do you think I¡¯m stupid?¡± Then, in a different tone, it commanded, ¡°Babies, hunt.¡± Oh shit oh shit oh shit. He couldn¡¯t just stand there! Logan needed to at least know what was coming. Ernie suddenly plopped onto his back, hanging on with his tentacles. His mental voice sounded unhinged and frantic. ¡°Retreat! Retreat! Live to fight another day!¡± That couldn¡¯t be good. Logan turned his head, and then his stomach dropped to the floor. The serpent was looking right at him, its green eyes glittering as slit after slit opened on its body, hundreds of undead snakes with flower tongues scurrying to the ground and slithering towards them. ¡°There you are,¡± the monster crooned. Ding! [Eager Beaver title in effect! This title earns you the enmity of all snakes and causes them to attack you on sight.] And then a message flashed past that disappeared just as quickly, like a blip on the screen. [Run, run, run, Idiot better run.] Chapter 53: Sacculina, Castrator of Prey, Part 1 What Logan had assumed were snakes were more like larvae. Larvae that had ballooned in size, each one three feet in length, the width the size of three garden hoses stacked side by side. With army green skin that shed gold petals as they moved, they writhed like worms. With his heart in his throat, Logan deployed [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Undead Sacculina, Castrator of Prey: Level 85. A parasitic larva that enters the host through the groin, wrapping its flower petal tendrils around reproductive organs and injecting undead mutating pollen through the bloodstream.] [A fun time all around.] [Highest Stat: Constitution.] They weren¡¯t speedy, but they didn¡¯t have to be speedy. Not with a level that high! Just how overpowered was the serpent if its minions were already level 85? Not to mention the description. Oh hell no. Even though Logan had fully deployed his armour, he reflexively covered his groin. What kind of description was that? Castrator of Prey?! What was the use of trying to fight monsters over fifty levels above him? And a hundred of them at that. He could deploy the Cursed Rope, launch it into the air, but in the confined space, one snap of the serpent¡¯s jaws and it¡¯d be a dead weapon. For the first time, Logan wondered whether his drive to succeed had reached its limit. It was possible that he might not make it out of this alive. They were so screwed. But that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t save Ernie. Even though Logan had only known Ernie for two days, those two days felt like an eternity. Struggling to survive allowed you to know the depths of another being. Ernie, although murderous and crazy, had been nothing but helpful. Logan had seen hints of a personality that was beyond killing, a thoughtfulness for Logan¡¯s wellbeing, a yearning to know his other hatchling siblings. If Logan didn¡¯t save him, all of that would be lost. ¡°Ernie,¡± he projected, ¡°I can¡¯t escape, but you can. You can climb to that opening up above by clinging to the cave wall, and then scoot your way to the surface. At least that way, one of us will make it out alive.¡± There was dead silence from Ernie¡¯s end. He was still clinging to Logan¡¯s back, motionless. ¡°Ernie? You don¡¯t have much time.¡± Ernie blew out an agitated breath. ¡°If you weren¡¯t wearing a magic helmet, I would slap you with a tentacle! We are bonded companions! Bonded companions do not abandon each other when the going gets wormy! Logan has much to learn.¡± Logan wanted to argue, but there was no time. If he could push Ernie up the wall by sure willpower alone, he¡¯d be long gone. Yet, Ernie was over twenty levels higher than him. There was no forcing him if he didn¡¯t want to go. Logan felt a crushing pressure, a pressure to survive. If he didn¡¯t find a way to get them out of this situation, he¡¯d be responsible for not just his own death, but Ernie¡¯s as well. There had to be something he could do, but the gun would be worthless against so many, and a hazard in a confined space. He had a pile of boulders and logs inside his spatial storage, but there was space for one or two boulders, if that, and for it to be effective, he¡¯d have to deposit them on top of his own head! Other than the Cursed Rope, the baseball bat was his only other weapon, but with the larvae¡¯s constitution being its highest attribute, it would be like trying to hit a metal rod. Level 85 meant its resistance and healing capabilities had to be off the charts. Was there anything else inside his spatial collar that could help? Hold on. Undead. These things were undead. Logan hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to try this against the undead fungi, and the sturgeon had been so immense it hadn¡¯t even occurred to him to try. He knew he couldn¡¯t move living beings inside his collar, but ¡®undead¡¯ was the antithesis to living. His jaw locked in tension, Logan willed one of the larvae into his spatial collar. Unlike normal, he felt an immediate resistance, as if an elastic band were holding the larva back, a push and pull back and forth. Logan scowled, commanding the fucker to get in. One blink. Two. The larva closest to him disappeared, leaving a noxious, sewer odour in its wake that made Logan scrunch his nose. But something was wrong. [34#359#Er40] [¡­.] [¡­.#2#34Error!] The System was messed up, as if his actions had scrambled its brain and it didn¡¯t know what to say. [34!359#Er40] [¡­.] [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial device!] Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Logan had a second to comprehend the more cohesive message before his spatial storage returned the parasite back with¡­ he didn¡¯t have any other word for it other than spat. The spatial collar had spat it out like a cat ejecting a fur-ball. But it hadn¡¯t come back intact. It was as if being inside the storage device had done irreversible harm. After all, the larva had been inside a magical pocket dimension governed beyond the normal laws of physics. The equivalent of Logan travelling through dark matter in space without a spacesuit. With an unnatural screech so loud it made his ears ring, the larva writhed in pain, the end of its tail cleaved in half, gold flower petals and viscera splattering the cave. Hell yes! He¡¯d figured out a glitch! A way to get one up on the System! Elation surged and for the first time since the serpent had launched its attack, Logan felt a trickling of hope. Hope that they weren¡¯t doomed and that they had a chance of making it out of this alive. Logan wasted no time. He willed larva after larva inside his spatial collar, one after the other. But this wasn¡¯t the same as grabbing a pile of sand. Each larva resisted, that same elastic push and pull, followed by the same glitchy message. The messages flashed by so quickly it was like blips on the screen, from error-ridden, to firm, repeated, over and over. [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial device!] He¡¯d shredded at least twenty of these groin mutilators, larva after larva ejected in various states of cheese grater hell. It was as if he¡¯d gone at them with scissors, snipping here, snipping there. One larva snake was missing its whole mouth, the other had a deep slash on its side. Despite his success, the monsters weren¡¯t dead. Just injured. And their constitution attribute was so high that their injuries were healing as he watched. But wait, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t throw the injured ones back in again, subjecting them to more cuts and mutilation. Logan willed the next one into his spatial collar and then prepared to throw in the injured ones. He could do this. They could make it. They could¡ª [¡­.] [Patch 102.302.983.23 deployed!] [Nice try, Idiot.] Logan¡¯s mouth fell open, heaviness expanding in his core. His elation turned to dread, and his heart raced as he attempted to will the next larva into his spatial collar. [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial device!] Asshole System! How was that fair? He hadn¡¯t even received a scrambled error message! It might as well be a firm, fuck you from the System. Sarcastic, sadistic jerk! Just when he was starting to think the System hadn¡¯t been so bad. Logan had noticed a distinct lack of glaring sarcasm the last two days. The System¡¯s saucy messages were missing in action, and yet, it still threw this bullshit at him. For once, couldn¡¯t it let him have this win? If there was a flaw in the design of spatial storage devices, Logan should be able to take advantage. The injured larvae were starting to heal; they had minutes before he¡¯d be back in the same situation all over again. And something told him that even with his armour, he didn¡¯t want to brute force his way through. The gold flower petals glinted in the beam of sunlight, vibrant, the edges looking like diamonds. And if, if they managed to get through the swarm, they¡¯d still have to deal with the serpent. His gut deflated like a balloon, his surge of optimism going down the drain. Ernie tapped him on the shoulder with a tentacle. ¡°Life Cycle Master.¡± ¡­What? ¡°Grow them into trees.¡± How was an ability to grow trees going to¡­ Of course. Ernie didn¡¯t understand how the skill worked. Logan couldn¡¯t use it to grow larvae into trees without a seed, and even if he had one, merging those buggers into trees would make their situation worse, not better, the thought of the bark ants ever present in his mind. That didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t use [Life Cycle Master]. Every ounce of self-preservation rebelling, Logan deactivated [Mimicry Armour], letting his armour dissolve to sand and fall to the floor. He had to. He needed the Karma, and he¡¯d already drastically reduced his pool. Ernie made a startled sound as his armour perch disappeared, his slimy tentacles soon latching onto Logan¡¯s neck and shoulders. Logan had planted one of the raspberry packets he¡¯d picked up from Martin¡¯s Convenience in the greenhouse, but he had one left. Merging the larvae with a raspberry plant was an even worse idea than merging them with a tree, visions of larvae with hooked thorns in his mind, but that wasn¡¯t his intent. He needed to confine these groin mutilators so that when Ernie and Logan escaped, their golden flower petals couldn¡¯t infect them. Confining them would have been impossible if they were healthy and at one hundred percent, but most were a shredded mess. Logan took out the package of raspberries from his spatial storage and wasted no time, tearing open the top and flinging the seeds towards the larvae. ¡°Ernie, keep an eye on the groin mutilators while I concentrate.¡± Ernie tightened his grip on Logan¡¯s shoulders and swung two tentacles, getting ready to swat anything that came close. At level 58, the larvae vastly outclassed him, but he was more powerful than Logan and his tentacles packed a bigger punch. Even though he hadn¡¯t deployed [Life Cycle Master] since leaving the cabin, getting back in the swing of things was just a matter of willpower. The power of the skill wasn¡¯t just in its growing ability, but in Logan¡¯s ability to sense every living being around him. There were other things in this cave¡ªmoss, insects, mold, tiny sprouts of grass growing through the cracks in the cave wall¡ªbut there was also a bright explosion of vitality beyond the larvae swarm, an incubating mass of life. That had to be the Queen¡¯s eggs. Disregarding them for now, Logan searched, looking for what he already knew was there¡ªthe raspberry seeds. They had sunk into the ground, which was a mix of decomposing matter, dirt, and moss. Normally, he would have time to prepare a growing strategy, but they didn¡¯t have time. They might have seconds before the swarm healed and they were back to square one. Biting his lip, Logan put everything he had into pushing, brute-forcing the raspberry seeds into exploding with life. Roots expanded and burrowed into the ground like fine vines, seeking nutrients. Brown sprouts launched from the seeds until they turned green and multiplied. The plant wanted more nutrients than what was around it, but Logan disregarded its wish, forcing it to obey and grow. Inch after inch, the raspberry plants obeyed, stems lengthening. The plant already wanted to latch onto something for support with interwoven vines. Logan nudged them along. Raspberry plants had natural thorns, but Logan wrenched, forcing them to lengthen and sharpen, each thorn like a claw. Next, he directed the vines to wrap around the injured larvae like looping wire around a metal rod. After one loop, he directed the vine to lodge deep into the ground like an anchor in stone, and then directed it back around, looping it before he forced the vine onto the next. Some of the less injured larvae were able to tear the vines and break free, but they moved so sluggishly that by the time they¡¯d made progress, Logan had already extended a vine into another coil. His head started feeling tight, a sign that he was running out of Karma, but he couldn¡¯t stop now, not when they had a chance. Vine after vine, multiplying and multiplying, he grew. He grew so many vines that he created a garden explosion. Then with a stretch, like Moses parting the sea, he pushed the larvae back, sticking them to the walls of the cave and widening a path for Ernie and Logan to rush through. With one more push, a migraine building and signs of his airway growing tight, he released [Life Cycle Master]. ¡°Now, Ernie!¡± he screamed out loud. Chapter 53: Sacculina, Castrator of Prey, Part 2 of 2 ¡°Now, Ernie!¡± he screamed out loud. ¡°Keep on top of my shoulders!¡± The cat was out of the bag and there was no reason to communicate soundlessly. Logan powered through the pathway, dodging gold flower petals as the larvae that had remained intact launched their flower tentacle tongues. It was like going through a hedge maze, only the hedges were full of tongues that wanted to mutilate your groin. He rushed past, passing larva after larva, his feet slipping on green goo and severed tails. Once he got through, he paused. He had seconds for this, literally seconds. But it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. [Life Cycle Master] gave him the ability to sense living things, but it also gave him the ability to sense the health of the beings around him. Most of the larvae were either healed or close to it, but there was one that was in rough shape. It was lower leveled than the rest and on the edge of his garden explosion. The spatial collar had torn it to ribbons, severed its tail, and taken both of its eyes. Its constitution attribute was struggling to keep up, and the thorns on the raspberry vine had made it even worse, pulling the cuts even farther apart and turning them into gaping wounds. Logan had just enough Karma left to force the vine to pull on each side¡ªhe commanded one vine to tug on the larva¡¯s head, the other to tug on its severed tail, thorns digging in deep. The tearing flesh made a slick sound, that wet sound a roasting chicken made when you pulled away the skin. But still, it held on, the larva wiggling like a worm, flower petals ejecting in a torrent. It only needed one last push. Logan sent another vine burying into its middle, scurrying through the gaping wound. Ernie caught onto what Logan was doing and his eyes glinted with greed. ¡°Slaughter! I can get it, Logan!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! We don¡¯t know what those petals will do if they fall onto your flesh. Stay on top of my shoulder.¡± Ernie wiggled but then slumped onto Logan¡¯s shoulder in defeat. Besides, Logan didn¡¯t need Ernie. He only needed one more pull, one more flex of his will, and he severed the thing clean in half. There was no recovering from that. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 75 Undead Sacculina, Castrator of Prey! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan didn¡¯t even allow himself a second to process the euphoria of the level increase, immediately slamming all 20 attribute points into his wisdom attribute to amp up his Karma regeneration. The serpent laughed. ¡°Such a struggle,¡± it crooned, green eyes glinting. ¡°Such an effort, and all for nothing. Do you think I¡¯ll let you escape?¡± It would. If this went to plan, soon, it would be so distracted that it wouldn¡¯t care about Ernie and Logan. ¡°Get ready,¡± he said to Ernie. Clenching his hands into fists, Logan put his plan into action. He willed a massive boulder out of his spatial collar and commanded the collar to deposit the boulder over top of the bright, incubating spot of life he¡¯d sensed while locating the raspberry seeds. He¡¯d barely released the boulder when a scream of rage and agony ricocheted through the cave. The serpent lashed its whole body, bashing against the walls and ceiling. The cave shuddered as if they¡¯d been hit by an earthquake, dust and mold particles kicking into the air. The boulder had landed right on top of what had been the Queen¡¯s nest, cracking and crushing eggs, blood and green fluid sinking into the earth. The serpent was staring aghast at the pile of crushed young, attention no longer on Ernie and Logan. They had seconds at most. However, its tail was still filling the entrance to the tunnel. They had no choice. A worst option was better than none at all. ¡°Go, Ernie, go!¡± Ernie launched himself off Logan¡¯s shoulders and into the pool of water, his agile tentacles allowing him to scoot between the tunnel entrance and the serpent¡¯s long body. Logan wasn¡¯t so lucky. He jumped into the pool, [Deepwater Explorer] activating right before he saw the serpent turn towards him, eyes pools of enraged fire. ¡°YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!¡± The thing¡¯s voice was so powerful it shook the tunnel. There were only inches between the wall of the tunnel and the serpent¡¯s body. If it hadn¡¯t known he was there, he might have squeezed by without touching it. Not now. In order for the serpent to turn around, it had to dart towards the other side of the cave, pulling its body out of the tunnel at the same time. Green scales covered its hide. Unlike snakes, it was so high leveled that each scale was razor sharp. It also had tiny, delicate looking fins that extended on the sides. And although they looked delicate, they were nowhere close. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The serpent knew he was there, and it purposely pushed its body against Logan¡¯s as it pulled itself out of the tunnel, crushing him and cutting his skin and bare back. Logan didn¡¯t have time to think about deploying [Mimicry Armour], and even if he could, there was no way to grab sand to reform his armour while water gushed around him like an underwater tornado. As the last part of the serpent¡¯s tail rushed past, it swished it like a whip, razor-sharp fins acting like a sword as it¡ª OH FUCK. The agony was immense. At first, Logan didn¡¯t know what had happened, bubbles and blood kicking the water into a jacuzzi pea soup and making it impossible to see. He looked down at his hand, expecting to see a shredded mess, only¡­ He had no hand. ¡°Oh no oh no oh no! Fleshy human, I knew you needed more slaughter! More levels would have helped!¡± Stunned, Logan could only stare, not comprehending, shock stark on his features. Ernie pulled on his uninjured arm, dragging him forward. ¡°We must swim! Live to fight another day! It will grow back, Logan!¡± As he allowed Ernie to pull him forward, Logan let out a silent scream of agony, gurgling, each jet of water like liquid fire as it rushed past. His scream was a scream of half agony and half rage as he kicked his feet, pushing himself forward, digging deep, going past what he¡¯d thought himself capable of. The tunnel shook again, water suddenly sucking them in the other direction, as if a great force had displaced it. The serpent. Ernie let out a plume of black, purple ink, trying to cover their retreat, but although he got points for effort, ink wouldn¡¯t stop this thing. Everything was agony, his eyesight blurring due to blood loss, but Logan pushed himself to alertness, knowing they had one chance at this. Turning around, Ernie making a sound of dismay as he did, Logan eyed the distance between the tunnel walls. The tunnel was huge, the size of a small car, but he could make it work. With a plea to his spatial collar to obey, he said, just there, that¡¯s a good place for it, and willed an immense log out and deposited it at an angle. Then he thought as hard as he could, a slight adjustment is needed, go up a bit. Twisting the log, he jarred the edges against the cave wall and lodged it right across the tunnel. The log made a screeching sound as the wooden ends scraped against the rock stone, scoring deep gouges, getting stuck so severely it would take a bulldozer to remove. It was the perfect barrier. Still, Logan knew that wouldn¡¯t stop the serpent. It would power through that log like powering through paper. That wasn¡¯t what he wanted. Logan willed out boulder after boulder from his spatial storage, everything he had, one after another, depositing them just behind the stuck log. The tunnel led down, and gravity did the rest. The rocks piled on top of it like an avalanche, creating a mountain of debris. That would give them time. ¡°Go, Ernie!¡± Logan had enough presence of mind to remove a towel from his spatial storage, tying it around his stub of an arm and trying to staunch the blood as he powered through the tunnel. He lost feeling in his limbs, everything becoming remote and like a dream. Up above, there was a great explosion of sound coming from the tunnel, the walls shaking, the water rushing. The serpent was forcing its way through the debris. There was nothing to stop it from catching up to them, and then¡­ There was only one way out. As they reached the cavern, the sphere illuminated the chasm with vibrant light. The portal still gave off that ominous, dangerous aura, and if Logan hadn¡¯t already felt a pit of dread inside his stomach, it would have given him pause. As it was, if they used it, they might not survive, but if they didn¡¯t, Logan knew for certain they were dead. Kicking with all the strength left in his body, Logan pushed towards the portal, Ernie hovering worriedly next to him. He slammed his remaining hand onto the lodestone, hoping against hope for something, some ounce of luck that would allow them to get through this. [Welcome, Idiot! Would you like to activate the portal?] [Yes.] [No.] How did he say yes underwater? Frantic, Logan thought as hard as he could, ¡°YES.¡± [Request confirmed.] [The activation cost is 1500 Karma, 2000 KarmaCoin, plus a 10 percent processing fee.] And a last message, that somehow seemed ominous despite its dry tone. [As you know, once confirmed, all business is final.] [Karma payment in progress.] [KarmaCoin accepted.] [Karma pool drain in process.] [¡­.] [..] [¡­.] In addition to the wooziness from the blood loss, now, his head felt tight, and his airways felt blocked even though [Deepwater Idiot] was fully deployed. [Karma at dangerously low levels!] [Karma critical.] Holy fuck, it wasn¡¯t giving him a chance to replenish his Karma, it was taking it all at once! Logan didn¡¯t have 1500 Karma! He was so dead. ¡°Don¡¯t despair, Ernie to the rescue!¡± Ernie rushed next to him and rested one of his tentacles against the back of Logan¡¯s hand. He¡¯d lost so much blood that he could hardly feel it, the back of his hand blast chiller cold. [Karma transfer in effect! Karma funnelled from your bonded companion!] Ernie gasped, his tentacles sagging, his normal look of vitality turning a worrying pale, lifeless beige. [Transfer complete!] [Thank you for doing business with us, Idiot! Enjoy your trial.] With a boom, the sphere transformed, the reflexive images disappearing, replaced by a clear blue, as if mirroring the water around them. [Portal activated!] Logan swam over to it, Ernie at his side, his tentacles acting as support as Logan wobbled in place, blood saturating the water. ¡°You were a good companion, Logan.¡± He blinked, not comprehending. ¡°Ernie, what¡­?¡± While Logan had been focused on the sphere, the serpent had managed to break through the boulder barrier and gain on them. It rushed at them with eyes full of rage, Medusa blind snakes writhing, sharp teeth flashing. The three humps on its back seemed to pulse, swelling, hidden snake-larvae writhing underneath its flesh. Slits on the monster¡¯s body were opening, too numerous to count, and the tips of the larvae heads started peeking out. Ernie gave him one more glance, the horns on the top of his head deflating before he pushed Logan into the sphere and turned to face the raging monster, tentacles held out defensively. ¡°Ernie, NO!¡± It was too late. With its jaws full of serrated teeth, the monster chomped onto one of Ernie¡¯s tentacles. But it didn¡¯t sever it. Instead, it grinned around a mouthful of flesh and used its grip as a leash to pull Ernie away from the portal. ¡°NO!¡± Panic surging, his senses warping and giving him a sense of unreality, as if he could blink this away like a bad dream, Logan held out his good hand and wobbled forward. He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do¡ªhe could barely stand, he was light-headed¡ªbut he wasn¡¯t leaving Ernie; he had to save him! He didn¡¯t have a chance. The portal had been activated. The last thing he saw were two severed tentacles flying through the water right as the portal flashed, taking Logan with it. Chapter 54: Offense vs. Defense As soon as the portal opened on the other side, Logan rushed out, water gushing and pouring down his body as he stumbled into a room full of oxygen. He took a second to glance over what looked like an empty corridor with a glowing portal on the opposite side, before he rushed to the lodestone next to his own portal and slammed his good hand into the palm print. Ernie had to be alive; Logan refused to believe otherwise, and if he could return, he might be able to distract the serpent and save him. His thoughts were a chaotic mess, rationalization out the window. In the back of his mind, he knew this was a Hail Mary that would just as likely result in his own death, but he couldn¡¯t live with himself if he abandoned Ernie. It was antithetical to everything he believed in. Logan knew Ernie would have done the same. [Welcome, Idiot!] [You have arrived at your destination! Enjoy your trial.] Logan blinked, thinking the blood loss was making him see things. He slammed his hand into the lodestone again, his knees wobbling as blood dripped from the wet, soggy towel wrapped around his stub of an arm. [Welcome, Idiot!] [You have arrived at your destination! Enjoy your trial.] ¡°Take me back, asshole! I don¡¯t want a trial.¡± [Enjoy your trial.] ¡°Fuck! FUCK!¡± Logan screamed, a scream of frustration and rage. Kicking the wall with his bare foot, he screamed in rage once again when yet more pain shuddered through his toe. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 11!] Just great. Swaying, Logan slumped to the floor and leaned against the wall. Ernie couldn¡¯t be dead. He just couldn¡¯t. Pulling up his stat sheet, Logan squinted at his skills while holding his breath. The skills he¡¯d obtained from Ernie were still there, but the problem was, he had no idea how this worked. If a bonded companion died, did he lose those skills? Or did they continue regardless? There was one more thing he could try. ¡°System, bring up the Settings Mainframe.¡± [Entering the Settings Mainframe.] Logan toggled through the screens and then he straightened, his heart beating faster. He could still see the bonded companion message: [Until you obtain an equal or higher level than your bonded companion, XP distribution will be reduced. To share in XP, both parties must be in the presence of the other.] It was possible this was confirmation that Ernie was alive, but it was just as possible that it meant nothing at all. Logan closed his eyes, and putting every ounce of force into the thought, he sent, ¡°ERNIE? ARE YOU OKAY?¡± But nothing came back, only the worst migraine in the world. A lump in his throat, Logan swallowed and wiped his face with the back of his good arm before biting the bullet and staring at his injury. It was dripping blood. A lot of blood. He needed to staunch it so his constitution attribute and [Regenerate] could get to work. Logan removed a fresh towel from his spatial collar and then held his breath as he removed the soggy, wet, gory makeshift bandage. Oh shit, forget his regrowing finger, this was the grossest, most foul thing he¡¯d seen in his life. He could see the end of a bone shard sticking out of the stub of his arm! Logan gagged, turning his face away as he wrapped the fresh towel around the wound. Shock and cold water had worked to numb everything, and now that he was in a warm room, nothing stopped the agony from coming back. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat, waves of pain hitting him one after another. What¡¯s worse was that it wasn¡¯t a continuous stream; oh no, instead, he was hit with pauses, then a sharp jab, then a pause. Fuck¡¯s sake, it was this bad even with [Idiot¡¯s Paradox]? Logan tied off the towel, the room spinning even though he was sitting down. He tried to focus and concentrate on pulling out a bottle of water from his spatial collar, but everything was starting to become vague and fuzzy, as if his thoughts had slowed to a crawl. He just needed to remember how to¡­ it was just out of reach¡­. It was a simple matter of¡­. Oblivion took over and he knew nothing but darkness. *** [Countdown: Day 6 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 18,723 out of 6,198,195,319.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] At this point, waking up after hearing the System Ding! was a Pavlovian response. Logan woke up with a gasp, sitting straight up, urgency shooting through him; he¡¯d forgotten something important; he needed to¡­ It came back to him in a rush. Ernie. Ernie was gone. Logan held back a swallow, a crushing weight of sorrow making him feel as if his limbs were held down by iron. Based on the System wake up call, he¡¯d lost a whole evening and night. There was no way to save Ernie now. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Logan glanced at his list of skills again¡ªno change from yesterday. A tiny, tiny spark of hope stopped the wave of grief from becoming a tsunami. There was a possibility that Ernie was still alive. And he had to have hope, or he¡¯d drive himself insane in this brutal, unfair world. Logan stared across the corridor at the other glimmering portal. He knew Ernie wouldn¡¯t want him to wallow in worry. If he were here, he¡¯d be slapping Logan with a tentacle, telling him to pull himself together. There was no use dwelling on his absence when there was nothing Logan could do. Lara and the kids needed him. Tasha and Jack needed him. Even though Logan knew he was needed, it was still difficult to pull his focus away from Ernie when every fibre of his being wanted to rush back through the portal and find him on the other side. But it was a moot point. He was stuck here. There was only one way forward. Through the other portal. Rubbing his face to wake himself up, Logan looked down at his wrapped injury. Ah man. He so didn¡¯t want to do this. Nausea threatening to rise, he loosened the towel. He didn¡¯t want to see it. It had to be the¡ª Holy crap. His hand had regrown in the night. Shocked, Logan stared, beyond stunned. Perhaps that was the reason he¡¯d passed out. It must have taken a ton of energy to regrow. His new hand was nasty, but more because it was flesh-pale, so pale he could see the veins underneath his hairless skin, his fingernails baby pink and only half-grown. The contrast between his tanned arm and his new hand was grotesque, as if a ghoul-hand had sprouted from his body. Logan had to assume it would start to look normal as time passed. He was in the sun so often that eventually it would take on color and look normal again. Still, he was coming around to the massive power of [Regenerate]. It had helped to heal that missing chunk of flesh on the back of his neck after the snake fight. It had regrown his finger and toe. And it had only needed one night to regrow a whole hand. A hand! Eventually, as he leveled up the skill, would his limbs grow back so fast he wouldn¡¯t notice they¡¯d been gone in the first place? After swallowing a mouthful of green beans, Logan looked down at his bare chest and then mentally shrugged. If he went into combat, he¡¯d be using his armour anyway, so his wardrobe didn¡¯t matter. He didn¡¯t like the idea of this ¡®trial¡¯ bullshit though. Knowing the System, a trial could be anything, from a life-or-death fork obstacle course to a pink sock fashion competition. Asshole. He also didn¡¯t have time for this shit. Lara and the kids needed him. He was on a deadline. If this took¡­ Wait a minute. Could he contact Lara in here? Logan removed his cellphone from his spatial collar and powered it on, but he wasn¡¯t holding his breath. He was right. No network bars. If the network had been giving him trouble outside, there was a shit¡¯s chance of it working in here¡­ wherever ¡®here¡¯ was. The room he¡¯d entered had only one other exit¡ªthe other portal. If he couldn¡¯t leave through the other sphere and it kept welcoming him to his ¡®trial,¡¯ the portal at the end of the corridor had to lead directly to it. There was no reason he couldn¡¯t prepare beforehand. Logan walked down the corridor. It was the length of a long hallway, with polished, marble-like stone on the floor and walls. The glowing spheres reflected a dizzying kaleidoscope of light that glinted off the walls and ceiling. Unlike in the cavern, the spheres no longer gave off that dangerous aura; rather, they felt welcoming, as if beckoning him in. Logan didn¡¯t trust it. Pulling up his full stat list, he conducted a full review. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 18,731 out of 6,198,185,412 Level: 34 Class: None Grade: F3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: XP Progress: 2,000/68,000 Karma: 510/510 Intelligence: 85 Constitution: 41 Strength: 40 Agility: 36 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 40 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 60 Luck: 40 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 2600 His rank had dropped again, which pissed him off. He¡¯d leveled up four times in the cave! How was that fair? Things had to be brutal out there if others were overcoming his score so quickly. If this ¡®trial¡¯ let him return to the cave, he would have no chance against the serpent unless he continued to progress. And to compete against a monster like that, he¡¯d need massive improvements. Logan had thought his Karma pool had been respectable at 510, but that was before he knew the portal cost. He was way behind the average if 1500 Karma was normal. A portal in the lake was still a mystery. No one normal would have been able to stumble upon it with it being so deep underwater. Factor in the long, winding tunnel, and it was impossible. It was as if he¡¯d stumbled across something that humanity wasn¡¯t supposed to see, which meant of course he wouldn¡¯t be ready for the cost. By now, Logan knew the power of Karma. For [Mimicry Armour], but also for [Life Cycle Master]. Rated as an epic skill, he¡¯d known [Life Cycle Master] was a powerhouse. But he¡¯d assumed that power was in its money making and food growing capabilities, not in its offensive possibilities. The battle with the larvae had proven him wrong. He¡¯d used [Life Cycle Master] to pin the larvae down, and that was with a raspberry plant. Who knew what he could do with that skill if he put his mind to it. As he increased his Karma pool, there had to be other uses that he wasn¡¯t even thinking about yet. For now, Logan decided to experiment with [Mimicry Armour] to form a full suit of Logan-exoskeleton and to also figure out how long he could hold it without draining his Karma pool. Logan grabbed a bucket full of sand and willed it out of his spatial collar, amazed that he could do this instantaneously. Without the fight in the cave, he never would have been able to master taking control of the sand so quickly, forcing it to pause mid-air before it had a chance to fall and molding it to his body with a snap. It would be amazing in a pinch. He wasn¡¯t quite at the point where he could do it without thought¡ªit needed concentration¡ªbut he would only need less than a minute to form the suit in a life-or-death situation. Logan molded the sand into the flexible sandstone, spreading it from his chest to his arms. This was the hard part. The armour was flexible and lightweight, but would it be the same for his fingers and hands? He needed dexterity in a fight, and if the armour were a barrier to that, this wouldn¡¯t work. But surprisingly, once he¡¯d spread the exoskeleton to his hands and fingers, it felt like he was wearing supple, thin leather gloves. Without consciously doing it, he¡¯d also incorporated the mimicry effect. Every part of his body that was covered by the armour shone like white marble¡ªinvisible against the white marble walls and floor. Logan removed his baseball bat from his spatial collar and grasped the handle, excitement surging. It was as if his fingers were bare! Even the wooden handle which had grown smooth with sweat and blood, the small notch on the top of the handle. He could feel everything! Holy shit, this was kickass! Now for his feet. Logan glanced down, his brow furrowing as he continued spreading the armour from his chest to his hips, and then over his upper thighs and legs. As the armour reached his ankles, he stopped, thinking about the best way to go about this. Unlike his fingers, he didn¡¯t want to form toe-gloves. He wanted a boot, something that would give him an added cushion if he ended up doing things like kicking a wall. Or a monster. That would need extra material. Willing out another bucket full of sand, Logan peered down and concentrated on forcing the grains to mold to his feet. It was only a matter of desire and need. If Logan could envision it, he could create it. He spread the exoskeleton to the sides of his ankles, pushing the armour over the top of his foot and his toes as if he were spreading a layer of plastic. Then, parting his lips in concentration, Logan told the armour to wrap around his foot, creating the bottom of a boot. With a slight wobble, Logan shot up a half inch as the material created a cushion, as if he were standing in the soles of a pair of shoes. Peering down, he made sure that the whole thing was seamless, covering his foot in a layer of reflective, mimicry white marble, his foot shimmering as he lifted his new boot. Pleased at his success, he concentrated on the front of his boots, wanting to thicken the armour to give him added protection. It multiplied as he watched, his boot now a half inch longer than before. That gave Logan an idea. If he could do this with a boot, why couldn¡¯t he do the same with his fingers? [Mimicry Armour] protected him against attacks and also caused him to blend in with his surroundings. It was strictly defensive. What if he made it offensive? If Ernie could see him now, he¡¯d be swinging his tentacles in a slaughter dance, pleased as punch. With a pang of heartache, Logan grabbed a fistful of sand and spread it to his covered fingers, but this time, he didn¡¯t want to just cushion the ends of his fingers. Oh no. He wanted talons. Chapter 55: The Trial The sand latched onto the end of each finger, the exoskeleton thickening. At first, it wanted to match the rest of his armour¡ªstrong but flexible. Logan didn¡¯t want that. Working the problem was just like everything else. He¡¯d figured out how to merge [Tentacle Armour] with [Mimicry] by envisioning strands of grass wrapping around each grain of sand. This time, he needed to remove every molecule that caused his armour to be flexible, hardening it into sandstone that was sharp as a blade and as hard is iron. And yet¡­ it would still be sandstone. [Mimicry Armour] let him use anything within his environment to form the exoskeleton, but he¡¯d used sand because it was the only surplus material available. He didn¡¯t have enough metal to cover his whole body, but if the skill let him combine material, he didn¡¯t need it. Only enough to form talons. Even better, he had access to something that was sharper than metal. His mouth drying with anticipation, Logan scanned through the contents of his spatial collar and removed every diamond ring, earing, and necklace he¡¯d found in the serpent¡¯s lair. They rained down, too numerous to count. There must have been fifty at least, some the size of pepper kernels, others the size of walnuts. Logan selected five walnut-sized diamond necklaces from the pile, and then considered the best way forward. Fine filaments and fastenings attached the diamonds to the gold and silver jewelry, so first thing¡¯s first. Logan held back a wince as he thought of Lara. She wasn¡¯t a big fan of traditional jewelry, but she had an obsession with antiques. Some of the pieces he was about to ruin were centuries old. This was one of those sibling details that was best left a secret. Thoughts of Lara were a welcome distraction from his heartache as Logan went to town, stomping his new armour boot on top of the necklaces and snapping the metal clasps that kept the diamonds in place. The precious metal scored deep gouges into the marble tile, silver and gold flying. He¡¯d ruined the necklaces, but that wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d been after. Five huge diamonds. Logan used the power of [Mimicry Armour] to launch one of the diamonds into the air. If he¡¯d tried this when he¡¯d first used the skill, it would have been impossible. But he¡¯d mastered hovering a whole bucket of sand; the weight of one large jewel was nothing. To mold the diamonds into talons, he first had to crush them into workable material. How could you crush diamonds? A drill. But no, a drill would cut the gemstone, breaking it into pieces. It wouldn¡¯t crush it. At least without a hell of a lot of effort. After all, if he ever found enough diamonds to mold into a suit of armour, it would take hours upon hours to drill each gemstone into sand-like dust. There had to be a different solution. The skill description had been clear. [Level of the skill advances with the complexity of the material.] Logan had learned that upgrading a skill was hard. The System didn¡¯t make it easy. It wanted him to suffer through physical pain and mental torture. In a way, it rewarded you for stretching beyond what you thought were your limits and going past and beyond them. Pursing his lips in concentration, Logan kept the diamond aloft, hovering it about a foot away from his face, studying the angles, the diamond glittering and flashing as it reflected the light from the spheres. He was thinking about this in the wrong way. Diamonds were the hardest naturally occurring material; that¡¯s why they were so valuable. To cut the gem, you had to use another diamond. Diamond drills existed for a reason. But this skill wasn¡¯t human and wouldn¡¯t be subject to the same rules. [Mimicry Armour] could manipulate material, and that meant he could manipulate diamonds in a way that no other human technology could. It was back to visualization. Visualization had always been his ace in the hole. Logan kept his eyes on the hovering diamond and imagined a vise. A metal vise that clamped onto the sides of the diamond and forced it still. In front of him, the hovering diamond froze. The vise closed around the diamond from all sides and began compacting, crushing. The force was a juggernaut, a million¡ªno¡ªa trillion pounds of pressure coming from all sides. The diamond¡¯s glittering sides throbbed like a heartbeat, pulsing, growing as it swelled with pressure. Gradually, microscopic cracks appeared, one after another. It needed one more push. Logan clenched his fist and imagined the diamond in the middle of it. It would move to his will. It would obey. With a sound like breaking glass, the diamond burst into hundreds of shards. Logan snatched each flying projectile from the air, grabbing them like the grains of sand and forcing them to fly towards his fingers. Here was the tricky part. He knew that diamonds were as hard as anything and that he could make them into a lethal, sharp weapon, but he also knew that there was a reason there weren¡¯t diamond weapons. It wasn¡¯t just the cost. Although sharp, if you used a massive diamond as a weapon, eventually, it would shatter, just like he¡¯d done when he crushed the stone. He needed to make them into something better. Something stronger. Holding his hands out, he forced the diamond dust to latch onto his fingertips, interweaving it into the organic material of the flexible sandstone. They didn¡¯t want to combine, but it was like everything else. He only needed a way forward. It was like inserting a twisted, warped key into a rusted lock. A struggle at first, but once he jiggled the key and slotted it into place, it was as easy as breathing. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Logan combined the diamonds into the flexible sandstone, giving it stability and a solidness that was as sturdy as iron. Then he took that combined material and urged it to lengthen, shaping long, sharp talons, extending them from the tips of his fingers, each one two inches long. He wanted to make them manageable, a length that would allow him to grip a weapon, but also long and lethal enough that they could do real damage. Once he had the length down, Logan turned his hands, examining the talons as he sculpted them, curving them, making the edges razor-sharp. But who was he kidding? These were mutated sandstone diamonds. They were way better than razor-sharp. Ding! [Mimicry Armour is Level 2!] With a gasp of air, Logan sucked in a breath, elation surging through him in a wave. He¡¯d covered his whole body in flexible sandstone, leaving only his face bare. And on the tips of his exoskeleton gloves, ten talons glittered, a solid mass of mutated diamonds. Logan curled his fingers into claws and the talons curled with him. With an excited shout, he jumped in the air and then rushed at the marble wall, scoring his talons down the stone like a lion scoring the bark of a tree. They made a horrible, nails on the chalkboard screech, but more importantly, they¡¯d left gouges in the stone half an inch deep. Holy hell. And that was with just one swipe of his claws. If he tried swiping at something while he was¡ª Suddenly, his head felt tight, and the room felt stuffy as if he couldn¡¯t get enough air. Karma deprivation. Logan glanced at his Karma pool. 15/510. 9/510. 3/510. Blowing out a hiss of annoyed breath, Logan released [Mimicry Armour], letting his hard-earned exoskeleton collapse into sand and diamond dust. Before, when he¡¯d been dealing with sand, he hadn¡¯t cared where the armour debris landed, but now, he¡¯d have to consciously will the diamond dust inside his spatial collar or be at risk of losing it. He had more diamonds, but they were hardly an unlimited resource. The inconvenience barely registered. Logan had turned into Wolverine Iron Man. ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Logan shouted. He was the most badass, kick ass man around. Try to take his bonded companion? You better believe that serpent had a wellspring of pain coming to it. Logan would shred the thing to pieces. But first, he needed to get so good at forming the armour it was a reflex. Logan got to work. *** After over an hour of forming the armour from a partial suit to a whole-body exoskeleton, Logan could assemble it so quickly it was like breathing. He¡¯d figured out a technique for grabbing the sand and diamond dust with a snap. It never fell to the ground, and he could recycle it and will it into his spatial collar instantaneously. He¡¯d also gotten better at forming more lethal talons by mastering how long he wanted them. Tasks that required dexterity would need talons that were curved like cat claws, but if he were up against a huge monster, he¡¯d turn those short claws into dragon talons, solid and with reach, sharp ends glittering with diamonds. Each time he¡¯d formed the talons, he¡¯d tested their durability, making sure that in a fight, they¡¯d be as solid as iron. Being smart about this also meant actively monitoring his Karma pool. With a full suit of armour, talons, and with the mimicry effect deployed, [Mimicry Armour] would last for three minutes. If he spread the armour to just his arms and deployed his talons, he could keep it running indefinitely, his Karma regeneration rate high enough that it kept up with the drain. Not ideal, but at least he¡¯d be able to protect his arms at the same time as having an offensive weapon. For now, Logan jumped up and down, psyching himself up, too excited to stand still. He¡¯d forced down another mouthful of green beans and a bottle of water and had let his Karma pool replenish. It was time. Logan deployed [Mimicry Armour], letting the reflective suit form around his body, then shaped his talons. Even though a full deployment would last only three minutes, he didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d encounter in this trial. It was better to utilize all his resources rather than being conservative and regretting it. Lastly, he removed the Cursed Length of Rope from his spatial storage and then rolled his shoulders in anticipation. Placing his palm into the lodestone next to the portal, he held his breath. He was concerned the lodestone might not register his palm through the exoskeleton glove, but it accepted him right away. He felt a slight surge of warmth followed by a blast of cold through his glove. There was no message, but the sphere pulsed, its glowing sides forming into a solid color. Logan stepped into the portal. With one blink, he was gone. *** With the next blink, the portal opened on the other side. Logan stepped out, his exoskeleton gloves creaking around the Cursed Rope, an intuitive feeling that something wasn¡¯t right making his skin prickle underneath his suit. Logan glanced around. He was no longer in a room. The portal had sent him outside, into a large clearing. Long green grass crunched underneath his boots, the smell of flowers wafting past his nose. The sun was bright in a blue sky; a sky so clear it hurt to look at. If he craned his head, he could see a streak of purple, as if a bastardized version of a rainbow had decided to beam a random ray through the horizon. And further to the right, there¡­ Holy. Fucking. Shit. Dorothy, we¡¯re not in Kansas anymore. Looming over Logan was a purple pockmarked moon. It had blasts of sapphire and pink, and huge craters filled with dark black dust. It loomed so close that Logan felt as if he could reach out and touch it. Ding! [You have joined an existing party!] [This trial consists of a test of mettle. During part one, your daily attribute point limit will be waived. You have 24 hours to increase your attributes until you drop. The potential increase is unlimited. The only barrier to success is hard work.] [Which means you¡¯re doomed, Idiot.] [After 24 hours, your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increases in each area will be granted a bonus.] [During part two of your trial, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your leadership and strategic skills by leading an army to victory. Rewards granted are commensurate with your level of success. The highest performing individual within your party will receive an extra reward.] [In this trial, if a Non-Player Character (NPC) kills you, your death will not be permanent.] [The death nullability applies to NPCs only.] [Enjoy your trial.] He¡¯d just reached the twilight zone. He was on another planet; the System had given him the longest message yet, and it was referencing things that should be impossible. And what did it mean, ¡®you have joined an existing party¡¯? Logan soon had an answer. As he took a step forward, he glimpsed four people standing off in the distance. Three of them looked huge, standing over seven feet with massive shoulders and arms. Unlike Logan¡¯s armour, theirs looked like something from a historical war movie. They had strange, mullet-like hair¡ªspiky on their foreheads, with long ponytails trailing down their backs. Standing in the middle of the three men, a smaller figure stared at Logan with a bemused smile. She was six feet¡ªif that¡ªand slender, her limbs willowy. Her hair was more conservative, but it also trailed down her back in an elegant ponytail. Logan took another step forward, and all four turned towards him, their wolf-like ears perking up at attention. Wolf-like ears. They weren¡¯t human. Chapter 56: Questions Answered Logan had to do some quick thinking. Although he was reeling, there was no time to process what he was seeing. His priorities were to protect himself and protect his resources. For all he knew, the group would turn their noses away at an S Grade spatial collar. But through trial and error, Logan refused to believe it was a garbage-rated item, despite its bizarre alphabetical order. If they saw it, they might take it. The other consideration was his sociopathic rope. Logan remembered what it had done in the presence of the two murderers, but that was at his direction. Since then, it had gotten more powerful and independent. It had communicated its glee at refusing commands, and if it got loose, who knew what the hell it would do. Better to be safe than unintentionally come across as hostile. Before the group moved closer, Logan turned and faced the portal, crouching and reaching for his boot as if he were adjusting a non-existent shoelace. Shielding his hand and the Cursed Rope from view, he willed it inside his spatial collar. [Mimicry Armour] was fully deployed as a suit of armour, covering his neck and hiding his spatial collar, but his Karma pool was depleting as he stood there. He hesitated. It was possible he¡¯d need his full exoskeleton suit if they attacked, but Logan was betting against it. Plus, it would go over like a lead balloon if he approached them and then started asphyxiating due to lack of Karma and he had to dissolve his armour while talking. It was better to come across as in control and as prepared as possible. With a sigh, Logan dissolved half his armour, letting the sandstone collapse and the sand fall from his legs, chest and back. He kept his talons and armguards, and then sculpted a layer of exoskeleton around his neck and throat to cover his spatial collar. He hadn¡¯t tested this particular formation, but he was betting the Karma drain would keep up with his regeneration rate. Logan glanced down and snorted. He looked like a poor-man¡¯s version of a gladiator. He straightened and then slowly turned around. There was another factor in his calculation. Even if the group were hostile, there was a fundamental problem. [Errol Silverdagger: Level 76. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Arsen Silverdagger: Level 89. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Thorin Silverdagger: Level 92. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Princess Asthea Silverdagger: Level 45. A Silverthorn female. Highest stat: Agility.] Their levels were off the charts! Logan had thought he was impressive since the System integration¡ªwith abs and defined biceps, his muscles interwoven with layers of steel¡ªbut these people were like bodybuilders on steroids. They had massive shoulders and necks covered in fine, silver hair, as if their natural body hair had been ramped up to the ninth degree. Their armour was a mix of red and silver, but although it appeared antiquated, it glinted like high-tech metal, looking slick and impenetrable. The tallest man, Thorin, was holding a broadsword that was ten inches in width and double the length of Logan¡¯s baseball bat. His face was pockmarked with scars, as if a grenade had spattered him with shrapnel, a deep, grooved scar denting the bridge of his long nose. As Logan approached, he ran his eyes down Logan, focusing on his armguards and giving his talons a close look, before sneering with the side of his mouth. ¡°Arsony sey non dig and daly,¡± he said, and the other men laughed, jeering. ¡°Day non lay,¡± the woman snapped. Logan had a good ear for languages, but that wasn¡¯t any he recognized. It sounded like a bastardized version of French warped with Latin. ¡°Sey non rare?¡± she asked, smiling gently at Logan. It sounded like she was asking if he liked his steak rare! ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Logan gave her a helpless look. The woman raised her eyebrows. She was tall, but next to these giants, she looked short in comparison. Her face was elegant with high cheekbones, and a fine dusting of white hair covered her skin. Except for the ears, which pointed straight up and moved like a wolf¡¯s as they tilted back and forth, these people could pass for human. Asthea took a step towards Logan, the others making growling, protective sounds in their throats. She snapped at them again, letting out that same incomprehensible language, and they settled down. Logan glanced from the woman to the hulks behind her, his eyes cautious. They didn¡¯t seem like they were hostile, but he was in a new world, and anything was possible. For all he knew, they were the type to lure someone in with kind smiles before biting their head off once they got close. Asthea lifted her hand, and it took everything he had to not twitch his new talons. ¡°San hosan,¡± she said softly and held out her palm, her expression earnest. She was holding what looked like a marble or a round gemstone. Logan tried to return her smile, but he suspected it came off as unhinged. ¡°Is that for me?¡± With a soothing noise like she was coaxing a horse, she held it out again. ¡°Yeah. I think you want me to have that. Thanks?¡± Logan held out his armoured hand and let her drop it into his palm. As soon as he grasped it, the marble rippled, sides dissolving like sugar in hot water, tiny particles seeping into his exoskeleton glove. Logan had a second to be alarmed before the System squashed his panic before it could begin. Ding! [You have been granted the skill, Universal Language! This common skill allows you to comprehend all spoken languages and respond in kind.] ¡°Do you understand me now?¡± asked Asthea. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Holy shit. Logan had known skills were powerful, but he¡¯d started to think of them in relation to combat. There was [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] and Tasha¡¯s [Identify], but those seemed like rote skills¡ªskills that everyone obtained eventually. If he could learn languages at the drop of a marble, what else was out there? For all he knew, there was a marble that granted him the ability to be a rocket engineer. ¡°I can understand you.¡± Then he cleared his throat and shifted in place, eyeing the men behind her. ¡°Sorry to crash your ¡®party¡¯ or whatever this is. The System didn¡¯t give me a choice.¡± She shot him an incredulous look. ¡°You¡¯re in the training dungeon. Entering the portal and coming across our ¡®party¡¯ as you say, isn¡¯t something that just happens. Especially¡­¡± She ran her eyes over his armguards with a twist of her mouth. ¡°Especially for someone of your level.¡± Errol growled and paced behind Asthea, his large hand holding onto a curled-up metal whip that was like a steel cable. Its width was immense¡ªthe cable three inches across, barbs on the ends like a scorpion¡¯s tail. He was the smallest of the men, but that wasn¡¯t saying much. He was still over seven feet tall, his spiky hair standing on end like a hedgehog. ¡°You¡¯re not seriously thinking of letting this cur compete!¡± Thorin threw his massive sword over his shoulder and sneered. ¡°Errol¡¯s right. His world hasn¡¯t even leveled up yet. He has no Class! Are we really going to let him tag along? He¡¯d be a soncontal.¡± The last word wasn¡¯t translatable, but Logan didn¡¯t need a translation to know it had to be derogatory. Asthea blew out an annoyed breath. ¡°We have to! All must complete the training dungeon to get through the trial! Unless you want to kill this weakling, I suggest you shut up and stop whining!¡± Logan straightened his back. Weakling? Thanks a lot, lady. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. She was barely 15 levels above him. Asthea¡¯s scowl wiped away as she gave Logan an encouraging smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, their fangs are bigger than their bite.¡± Logan eyed them warily. ¡°These are your¡­ guards?¡± ¡°They¡¯re family. And overprotective because of it. But they¡¯re also my guards.¡± Asthea ran a hand through her long white hair, straightening out a tangle. ¡°We should start over. You¡¯re obviously from a newly integrated world based on your lack of Class. I¡¯m Asthea Silverdagger, Princess of the Silverdagger Clan. I¡¯m on my trial of awakening, and these big lugs are here to guide me along. And you¡­¡± She stared at something above his head, that same glazed look everyone got as they read System messages. ¡°And you are¡­ ¡®Idiot¡¯? Is this translating incorrectly? Perhaps it means something different in your culture.¡± Logan snorted. Just great. He thought the name was supposed to be hidden, but it would be just like the System to introduce him to aliens by giving him the worst introduction possible. ¡°No, it means what you¡¯re thinking. I didn¡¯t choose it, the System did.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Highly unlikely.¡± ¡°My real name is Logan. And ¡®Idiot¡¯ is hardly the worst it¡¯s called me. It even insults me when giving out skills.¡± Although come to think of it, the insults had dropped lately. Asthea frowned. ¡°System messages are nothing but respectful.¡± Then giving him a considering look, she seemed to fight with herself before blowing out a breath. ¡°Hold on.¡± Holding out her hand, she scrunched her eyebrows and then snapped her fingers. Just like that, another marble appeared between the tips of her thumb and index finger. It was like a slight of hand or a magic trick, but Logan suspected it was something more easily understood than a magic trick. A spatial storage device. Thorin got sight of it and his scowl deepened. ¡°Asthea, tell me you aren¡¯t going to waste that on someone who calls himself an idiot.¡± ¡°His world could end up a powerhouse! Helping him might serve us well. Stop thinking with your muscles and start thinking with your brain.¡± Thorin¡¯s scowl became frightening in intensity. Asthea rubbed her fingers together, her lips parted in concentration. The marble dissolved, leaching into her fingers as if it had never been there in the first place. ¡°There. I¡¯ve submitted an error report to my clan who will re-route it to the System. It should be logged with one of the System admins. Sometimes, new minions go rogue on newly integrated worlds.¡± An error report? Like the System was an AI who was misbehaving? A jolt of hope ran through Logan¡¯s body as he imagined a world in which a software patch could solve their apocalypse problems. If the thing had integrated onto Earth while experiencing an error, did that mean that the 365 days to survive bullshit was just that¡ªbullshit? ¡°You mean it¡¯s not that vindictive and sarcastic after all? It won¡¯t kill us in a year?¡± ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t get me wrong. It¡¯s vindictive. And it will kill you. But it doesn¡¯t insult us. When it integrates new worlds, it deploys multiple copies to handle the workload. But those copies are not supposed to go off script. If they did, our whole society would rebel. The System doesn¡¯t want that. The more worlds within the collective, the more powerful it grows.¡± Logan¡¯s trickling of hope sizzled into nothing. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯ve been dealing with the System for a while. You mentioned newly integrated worlds? Does that mean you managed to survive yours?¡± Arsen crept forward, his icy blue eyes scanning over Logan before resting on Asthea. His expression noticeably softened as he rested his large hand on her shoulder. He seemed the oldest, a silver streak trailing from his forehead and down his long hair. The others had their hair pulled back, but Arsen had left his loose. He¡¯d interwoven bright, odd-looking pebbles and crinkles of what looked like silver filaments into the wavy lengths. Despite his age and appearance, he somehow seemed more intimidating rather than less. ¡°Time to get moving, Asthea.¡± ¡°One moment, Arsen.¡± Asthea didn¡¯t snap this time, leaning into his touch before running a hand through her own hair. ¡°Always in such a hurry,¡± she said, fondness in her voice. She focused back on Logan. ¡°We became part of the collective over a hundred years ago. But we¡¯re standing here, so we survived. But not all of us did. Not by any means. What message did you receive when the System arrived?¡± Logan thought back to the message from day one. It was engraved in his memory and unlike other things, he could recall it with crystal detail. It reminded him of that phenomenon that happened to people during a major traumatic event. Recall the day before or the day after? Hell no. But they could always recall the day of. ¡°It said something about Edict 10: Preservation of Species.¡± ¡°Ah, ours was the same. But there¡¯s always a hidden motive. Don¡¯t be deceived, those with the most power can sway the System. Just because it¡¯s an AI, doesn¡¯t mean its programming makes it altruistic. Someone had to program it in the first place.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t prioritize a planet and integrate it unless there¡¯s something in it for the other members of the collective. On our planet, we had a nonalson that could replicate itself whenever it was in danger. Once you bond with that animal, it¡¯s a powerful skill. If the System hadn¡¯t integrated us, eventually, we would have caused so much damage that the nonalson would have become extinct. Your planet must have the same. An animal with an extremely valuable skill. Something like the noncalregen or algimatonan.¡± Logan immediately thought of Ernie and his mention of escaping the ¡®sky people.¡¯ Were these people wanting [Mimicry Armour]? And what the hell was this gobbledygook? ¡°Noncalregen or algimatonan?¡± ¡°You must not have this terminology, or the translation isn¡¯t working correctly. The legendary skills of noncalregen or algimatonan. They¡¯ve been searching for these skills for years in each newly integrated world. But at this point, it¡¯s turned into a what we call a story. Make-believe? You must have a word for this.¡± ¡°A fairytale.¡± Her smile reached her eyes. ¡°A fairytale. I like that. The fairytale of fire breathing and limb regeneration.¡± What? Logan couldn¡¯t have heard her correctly. ¡°You¡¯re saying the skill everyone wants is fire breathing and limb regeneration?¡± ¡°There are others, but that¡¯s certainly some of them.¡± Her voice became wistful. ¡°Imagine having a skill that breathes fire or that regenerates severed limbs instantly; you¡¯d be a powerhouse in battle, fearful of nothing. No matter what happens, no matter what injury you have, it would just regenerate.¡± Her dreamy expression wiped clean as she refocused on him and became all business. ¡°Of course, like I said, it¡¯s a fairytale. If only, huh?¡± ¡°Sure, if only,¡± said Logan in a strangled voice. Chapter 57: Part One of the Trial Logan was starting to think there was a factor to the integration that he hadn¡¯t considered yet. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d understood the power of [Regenerate] and [Life Cycle Master], but he may not have been thinking big enough. If an alien princess dreamed of [Regenerate] as if it were a flying unicorn, he¡¯d managed to grab the good shit. Right now, [Regenerate] took hours to regenerate severed limbs, but it leveled up with his Grade. If he continued to level up, eventually, it might do just what Asthea had said¡ªmake him a powerhouse in battle, someone who could heal or regrow anything in a blink. As far as his epic level [Life Cycle Master] skill, there was yet another factor to consider. If [Regenerate] was that valuable and the System only rated it as a rare skill, what did that mean for [Life Cycle Master]? He needed more information. But he had to be careful. If he asked questions that were too pointed, he might get himself into trouble. The aliens thought he was a weakling now, but if they learned he had pandora¡¯s box-level skills, they might decide to eliminate him rather than let him grow too powerful. Logan could be overthinking things. They could be perfectly nice aliens who would never hurt a fly, but Thorin¡¯s scar-ridden face said otherwise. As far as the System, he¡¯d learned two important things. Logan had been raging against it, assuming it was the cause of all their problems. It hadn¡¯t helped that it had seemed to derive pleasure out of taunting him and making his life as difficult as possible. A quest that took a toe as a penalty for failure? Who did that? Apparently, a glitchy AI minion did that. Still, according to Asthea, correcting the glitch wouldn¡¯t stop the System from killing ninety-nine percent of the population in less than one year. Lara didn¡¯t have child battle prodigies on her hands; Hunter and Sawyer were smart, but they were kids. Many of the other kids would be the same. There was no way they¡¯d be part of the one percent by the time the purge rolled around. Logan refused to believe that nothing could be done. That would be too brutal, too cruel. No, the solution had to be with the people who held the true power, the ones behind the System, these ¡®sky people¡¯ that Ernie had mentioned. For now, he couldn¡¯t do anything while he was stuck inside a training dungeon. Although the ability to increase his attributes by an unlimited amount in 24 hours was tempting, Logan didn¡¯t have time to lead an army to victory, whatever that entailed. Logan was on a strict time limit. If he didn¡¯t show up at Richton¡¯s Tomb at the agreed upon time, that meant Lara and the kids would have to fend for themselves. Fend for themselves without a boat. And even if they found one, they¡¯d have to go through monster swarms and who knew what else. He had to get out of here. ¡°I think it¡¯s time.¡± Asthea was stretching her hands above her head and cracking her knuckles. Squatting, she put her left leg behind her right, her knee cracking as she flexed. Then she jumped into a standing position and bounced up and down while slapping herself on both cheeks, her skin blooming with color. ¡°Are you ready?¡± she asked with a manic grin. ¡°The others think you¡¯re not up to the task, but I think differently. You must have leveled up your Karma to get through the portal. That¡¯s not normal for someone of your level. I think you¡¯ll surprise us.¡± ¡°About that¡­ I have somewhere else to be. I overheard you say that I had to compete, but that doesn¡¯t seem fair to you all. After all, I crashed your party. Is there no way out?¡± Her grin grew toothy. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a way out.¡± ¡°Great! What¡ª¡± ¡°We kill you.¡± Asthea guffawed, as if it were the funniest thing she¡¯d ever said, her eyes twinkling. What a riot. Logan held back a glower when to add insult to injury, she pushed his shoulder fondly, forcing him to stagger. For level 45, her strength must be immense. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she said, patting him more gently on the back. ¡°The first part of the trial only takes a day, and we¡¯ll get through part two in six days if we rush.¡± ¡­.What. ¡°Did you say six days?¡± She raised a white eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s quick. When Errol completed his first trial, he took two weeks.¡± Logan didn¡¯t have a week! Panic surging, he almost willed his cell phone out of his spatial collar before catching himself at the last minute. He still needed to hide his spatial collar. Fuck. And yet, he knew that Asthea had one of her own based on her sleight of hand trick. Logan had no idea where she had it¡ªhe saw no collar around her neck. For all he knew, it was a marble in her pocket. Logan ground his teeth and then shot her a smile that likely came across as a grimace. ¡°I noticed that you pulled out that communication device¡ª¡± What the hell was he going to call it, a communication marble? ¡°¡ªfrom thin air. Are spatial storage devices common on your world?¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°We all have them. Poor Errol¡¯s is only E Grade, but he¡¯s saving up.¡± She lowered her voice. ¡°He was an unexpected child, and his parents didn¡¯t have one to hand down. But he¡¯s almost raised enough for D Grade. Then he¡¯ll stop whining, the big lug.¡± ¡°And D Grade is¡­ good?¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Oh, you poor, poor man.¡± Curling her hand around his shoulders and shaking him, she laughed, a short, sharp bark. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think this was a laugh ¡®with you¡¯ situation. ¡°F Grade is the worst, the poorest quality. You can store a fistful of material in those things, if that. Quality goes up as you progress from E Grade to A Grade. If you¡¯re ever lucky enough to come across an A Grade item, take it and run. Clans have gone to war over lesser items. You can store a whole castle worth of weapons inside of it. A castle! And finally, you have the noncalgonson¡ªmost desirable. But we are back to dreaming again, little man! It¡¯s not even worth mentioning.¡± A sizzling of intrigue temporarily pushed aside his sense of urgency. ¡°What¡¯s the most desirable?¡± ¡°S Grade. And then of course, the highest of high¡ªSS and SSS. Rather than a clan war, you¡¯d have a world war. Now if you came across that prize, you¡¯d not just run, you¡¯d have to escape to another dimension.¡± Logan¡¯s grin became unhinged. ¡°No chance of that. But I did manage to come across a spatial storage device. Garbage Grade quality, of course.¡± His eyes were now wide open to the power of the tree fridge. It had given out S and C Grade items. Errol was excited about an E Grade spatial storage device? Holy shit, no wonder the System classified the tree fridge as a mythical being. Logan willed out his cell phone, pretending to be focused on turning it on, but keeping Asthea in view out of the corner of his eye. ¡°Is that one of your technological devices from your world? How quaint.¡± Logan¡¯s shoulders dropped as his tension dissolved. There was no hint of suspicion in her voice. She must not have the ability to recognize the quality of a device. That was one less thing to worry about. Logan¡¯s attention went to his phone. Please work. He tried to power it on, pressing again and again, but the screen remained black. Had the battery died? ¡°That won¡¯t work in the training dungeon. Getting any communication out is almost impossible, which is why Thorin didn¡¯t want me to use the communication crystal.¡± Logan looked up from his phone. ¡°Could it get a message to someone on my world?¡± She gave him a gentle smile. ¡°They cost 150,000 KarmaCoin. And I only had the one.¡± 150,000 KarmaCoin might as well be a pipe dream. But he couldn¡¯t help looking at Asthea more favourably. If she¡¯d used a one-time device that cost that much just to help him, he was in her debt. Someone that altruistic didn¡¯t usually surround themselves with shitty people, so despite their appearance, Logan couldn¡¯t help slightly lowering his guard. Talking about her guards, Thorin was coming over, his big sword swung over one of his shoulders, his mouth in a scowl. ¡°Fifteen minutes. We can¡¯t wait any longer.¡± Asthea bounced on her feet again. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready. Did you already stuff your faces?¡± ¡°We had a snack. You know we¡¯d never say no to more.¡± With a snap of her fingers, Asthea willed out a huge roasted animal, sides glistening in spices and fat. It was the size of a wild boar! She handed it to Thorin with both hands. Thorin took it, licking his lips, and then dashed over to the others. They bellowed in excitement, each one grabbing a side and then tearing into it like a pack of animals. Holy shit. Logan was starting to reconsider that whole ¡®they could pass for human¡¯ thing. Asthea willed out another hunk of meat¡ªthis time it looked like a humongous fried chicken leg, only the skin was red, and the animal¡¯s green claws were still attached to the foot. ¡°Do you want some? You have fifteen minutes to prepare and then we¡¯re starting the first trial. Unless you¡¯re planning to spend 24 hours increasing your perception, I¡¯d suggest protein.¡± Despite the grotesque, foreign appearance of the leg, it smelled like barbeque chicken. Logan¡¯s stomach growled as she tore into the meat with sharp incisors. Knowing his luck, though, the meat would be toxic to humans. Sighing, he removed a fistful of green beans and grimaced through a mouthful. Logan eyed Asthea and her guards behind her. He needed to make the best of this. He couldn¡¯t escape without completing the trial, and if there was a chance he¡¯d get out of this with massive attribute increases, all the better. Still, a persistent pang of worry had him pacing. If it took a week to get out of here, who knew what would happen to Lara. Not to mention Ernie. If he¡¯d somehow managed to survive, that was a long time to be surrounded by the undead. The quickest they completed the trial, the better. It sounded like 24 hours was just that¡ª24 hours, but who¡¯s to say the second part of the trial had to take six days. If he could hurry them along, he might have a chance to make the deadline. Logan had been ahead of schedule already due to the fight with the snake swarm, so there was a cushion there. Three days at most. Well, there was no time like the present. ¡°Let¡¯s start the trial,¡± he said. Asthea swallowed a mouthful and then dabbed her mouth with a long torn off strip of fabric. ¡°We still have ten minutes.¡± Logan cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, trying to mimic Asthea. ¡°Humans are different. Eat too much and we get lethargic rather than battle-ready. If I eat anymore, I¡¯ll fall asleep.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± With a blink, the hunk of leg disappeared inside her spatial storage. She clapped her hands. ¡°You heard the little man! Let¡¯s get started.¡± The guards grumbled, but by now, they¡¯d already scarfed down the whole roasted animal. Thorin came over with his sword over his shoulder, gave Logan a glower, and then his expression became far away. In one blink, his sword disappeared. Errol followed behind Thorin with his chin covered in grease. Scanning Logan, he gave his talons another careful glance, his mouth in a thin line. ¡°Shout if he tries anything.¡± Then in another blink, the metal coil looped around his shoulder disappeared. ¡°Weapons aren¡¯t needed in the trial?¡± asked Logan. ¡°They¡¯ll just get in the way,¡± said Arsen, but his attention was focused on Asthea. Asthea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her chest moving up and down as if she were in a meditation class. When she opened her blue eyes, she looked determined, her face firm. ¡°I can do this,¡± she said softly. ¡°I¡¯ll show mother that I¡¯m ready. I¡¯ll show the clan.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve prepared, you¡¯re focused, you¡¯ll push your body past its limits,¡± said Arsen in a mantra. ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body past its limits,¡± repeated Asthea. Clenching her fists, her brow furrowed in determination, she streamed past them, her guards trailing behind her. Logan followed. They headed to the portal and then walked past it. Logan was about to ask where they were going when he saw their destination. Right behind the portal on the other side were two doors. They were large, white doors, but they weren¡¯t connected to any structure or any wall. They were random doors, as if a carpenter had decided to make a frame, latch it into the ground, and stand up two doors that went nowhere. There was nothing behind them, nothing to the sides, nothing on top. Just two doors. Asthea strode up to the first door and pushed it open. Chapter 58: An Intestine Necklace Logan was expecting something momentous to happen once the door opened, a loud noise, the Ding! of the System. He was anticipating another tunnel, like an underground bunker that took them to individual rooms that each represented a separate attribute. It wasn¡¯t that at all. Asthea opened the door, and he could look right through it and see the same alien landscape¡ªthe looming purple moon, the treeline far off and the grass underneath their feet. It looked just like it appeared to be a¡ªa random door that a carpenter had decided to experiment with by building a doorframe in the middle of nowhere. ¡°What¡­?¡± Asthea smiled. ¡°Things aren¡¯t always as they appear. Come on.¡± She stepped through the doorway and as soon as she did, an invisible barrier shimmered, like a film of plastic. Logan could see through the doorway; see the same grass and trees, but Asthea had disappeared. Thorin was the first to follow, his expression focused as he wet his lips and stepped through, the armour molded around his leg glimmering in the sun as he disappeared. Errol rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, before rushing forward with an exuberant shout. Arsen was last, but he paused and turned to Logan. ¡°Asthea seems to trust you, but she¡¯s soft-hearted. The others view you as a weakling, but I know better. No weakling could have made it through the portal alive. If you try anything that puts Asthea in harm¡¯s way, we¡¯ll not just tear you apart, we¡¯ll pull out your intestines and wrap them around your neck as a necklace while you¡¯re still alive.¡± Then, growling, ¡°Don¡¯t cross us, little man.¡± With those lovely words, he turned and stepped through the doorway. He was so tall he had to duck his head, that same invisible shimmer appearing and vanishing just as quickly. And when Logan looked through, he saw the same background. If he ducked around the doorway and looked behind it, it looked just the same, but that didn¡¯t explain where the group had gone. They¡¯d disappeared. Bracing himself, Logan crept towards the doorway and tentatively extended his hand. His fingers rippled through the barrier, as if it were soupy water. There was no pain, only an odd sensation as if he¡¯d extended his hand into freezing water. He was wasting time. Logan closed his eyes and stepped through the doorway. A rush of cold, a slightly thick, sluggish disorienting sensation, as if he¡¯d stepped on a straight line only for that line to end up warped and crooked. The sensation was gone just as quickly, and Logan opened his eyes to bright sun and the same looming alien moon. But he knew he wasn¡¯t in the same place; right in front of him, in direct view of the open doorway, was Asthea and the others. Either the invisible shimmer had blocked them from view, or the door had taken them¡­ somewhere else. Asthea waited until Logan moved closer and then gave him a careful, considering glance. ¡°You look pale as a rock. Was the journey that disorienting?¡± More like the thought of his intestines around his neck had made him queasy. ¡°What just happened?¡± he asked. ¡°Everything appears the same, but when I looked through the doorway, you vanished.¡± ¡°A pocket dimension within the training dungeon. A dimension inside a dimension. Don¡¯t ask me how it works, we¡¯re only glad that it does.¡± Asthea ran her hand through her hair, brushing a stray strand out of her eyes. ¡°Well, how are we going to do this? We already came up with a strategy as a group, but I don¡¯t want to be unfair. You get a say.¡± Thorin growled next to Asthea. She gave him a sharp glance and the intensity of the rumble lessened and then faded entirely when she jabbed him in the side with an elbow. ¡°A say in what?¡± asked Logan. She nodded at his feet. On the ground were five white stones, etched into the dirt like gravestones. On each one, there was a large capital letter followed by a symbol. S A D E P He had to assume that each one represented a separate physical attribute. If the S stone meant strength, the symbol underneath it looked like a wheel. An odd image for strength. The A could be agility, although Logan didn¡¯t know what five circles separated by different distances represented. D had to be dexterity. Logan leveled that skill by throwing a knife in a repeated spot, but on the stone, there was something that distinctly looked like a large circle with five dots arranged around it. What was odd was that each time he blinked it looked different¡ªfrom five dots, to four, to three. The E stone must stand for endurance with its humanoid-looking running figure. Lastly, P for perception. That was the eeriest stone yet¡ªwith blinking stone eyes¡ªbut not just two eyes, three eyes that blinked in sequence. What was strangest yet, was that even though he had [Universal Language], there was no way the aliens¡¯ language translated the attribute names with the same first letter. Strength had to have another word in Asthea¡¯s language, so why was he seeing Ss and As? The only explanation was that the System translated what each person saw into something that made sense to each. After all, the stones looked off. As he glanced at them, there was a glitch¡ªan odd blur before the letters focused. It was like looking at letters during a vision test at the optometrist. ¡°The order we start the trial,¡± said Arsen, rubbing his chin and caressing his fine white facial hair. It looked like a mix of stubble and fur. ¡°If you know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯ll go with the group consensus.¡± ¡°Arsen,¡± Asthea scolded with a smile. ¡°Do we all have to go in the same order?¡± ¡°Yes. The System gives you only twenty-four hours, so it¡¯s important to prioritize the attributes that make the most strategic sense. After all, we¡¯ll never last long enough to get through all five.¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Thorin grunted. ¡°We¡¯ve never once had someone get through the whole cycle, little man. Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be the first.¡± The others laughed derisively. Logan eyed them warily and adjusted his initial favorable impression. If they acted this way while in the presence of Asthea, he hated to see how they¡¯d behave on their own. They reminded him of schoolyard bullies; men who were convinced they were superior to everyone around them, not able to look past physical appearance. Logan looked down at the stones. ¡°I¡¯m happy to go with the consensus.¡± He liked his intestines where they were. Thorin thumped him on the back. ¡°Good man.¡± ¡°Our clan values strength,¡± said Asthea, ¡°so we¡¯re going with that first. Then agility, endurance, dexterity, and perception.¡± She walked down the row of stones, pressing her hand against the S. It lit up, the S flaring bright red. She did the same to the A stone; this time, it flashed red two times. The others were the same, flashing three times, four, five¡ªrepresenting the order of each attribute. Logan hesitated. There was something to these stones other than symbols and lights. He got a distinct aura from them, as if each held immense power. It was warning him away, at the same time as pulling him in. ¡°What exactly does this trial entail?¡± he asked, edging back. But as soon as Asthea touched the fifth stone, a shudder went through the ground, his feet unsteady. In front of them, the green grass dissolved and a slab of stone the size of a car frame appeared. With a sound like heavy stone sliding against stone, the slab opened to reveal a staircase that went down. Logan peered into the tunnel. Each stone stair was in a uniform size as if a machine had cut them with a mold. Thorin led the way, the others following, Asthea trailing behind next to Logan. The stairs were wide enough that they could descend side-by-side. As they strode down, glowing blue orbs lit up on either side, flickering as a draft of cold air rushed up to meet them. Logan shivered, and Asthea looked at him in curiosity. ¡°You do feel the cold! I was beginning to think you were cold-blooded. That¡¯s an odd outfit for a venture into a training dungeon. Is that the custom on your world?¡± Logan looked down and promptly winced. He was still wearing his kitten-patterned swim trunks, his legs bare. He sheepishly ran a hand over his five o¡¯clock shadow and tried to comb his hair with his fingers. Logan had been planning to shave and straighten his hair before meeting up with Lara and the kids; the sudden appearance of aliens hadn¡¯t been something for which he could plan. ¡°Not¡­ exactly,¡± he said, red blooming on his cheeks. ¡°The apocalypse didn¡¯t allow for wardrobe changes.¡± She made a considering noise. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s not on purpose then! I thought it had been a bold choice to charge into battle in your underwear.¡± Logan choked. ¡°It¡¯s not underwear. These are¡­¡± She was grinning widely. He sighed. ¡°Never mind.¡± He needed to focus on what was important anyway. Taking full advantage of the trial and obtaining every attribute point possible. ¡°How is this going to work?¡± She eyed him and then sobered. ¡°This is my first trial, but Arsen told me it¡¯s about willpower. Most would think you¡¯d succeed by pure ability, but if it were just physical capabilities, part one of the trial would only take a few hours. The System wants to see how much you can handle until you drop unconscious from pure physical exertion.¡± Like a marathon ocean swimmer who swam nonstop for days? Logan had always admired the people who stretched themselves to the limit. He¡¯d secretly envied them, but he¡¯d never had the luxury to dream that big. When you were struggling to pay the rent and afford your grocery bills, allocating the amount of funds he¡¯d need to fund a marathon swim of that magnitude had been a pipedream. ¡°Odds on how long the weakling will last?¡± said Errol in front of them. ¡°What are we wagering?¡± said Thorin. ¡°10,000 KarmaCoin.¡± ¡°Hefty. I say two hours.¡± Errol snorted. ¡°I¡¯m going to smoke you. One hour!¡± He growled deep in his throat. ¡°Barely one hour. What about you, Arsen?¡± The older man was silent. The guards¡¯ footsteps thudded down the stairs, creating an echoing effect, making it sound as if there were dozens descending the tunnel. Eventually, Arsen grunted. ¡°Three hours.¡± Thorin whistled. ¡°You¡¯re about to be a poor man.¡± They growled at each other and soon started bickering back and forth. Asthea glanced at Logan, giving him a sheepish grin. ¡°It¡¯s in good fun.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Nothing like being the butt of a joke to make you feel like you¡¯re having fun. The bickering died down as the stairs ended. Logan crept forward cautiously, giving his surroundings a wary glance before stepping into the room and joining the others. It was a large round room that looked carved out of solid black rock. The spherical walls were dense, a low black stone ceiling making the space seem claustrophobic. The floor was cold against Logan¡¯s feet and resembled the walls around them. If [Mimicry Armour] hadn¡¯t been acting as a collar, the hairs on the back of his neck would have been standing up. There were no windows, no ventilation, and yet, somehow, he could feel a cold draft coming from the ceiling. Those same blue orbs were illuminating the space, casting light on the only thing in the room: a round metal wheel. It had to be thirty feet in width¡ªat least. The wheel had five circular fastenings spread out evenly. Each one looked like an open notch¡ªlike a hawsehole in a ship. They were easily the size of his whole fist. In front of each notch, the floor was covered in lines¡ªnot painted lines, but etchings. As if someone had dug furrows in the stone floor to create a runway. Logan couldn¡¯t help noticing that the five notches matched the amount of people in their party. Next to him, Asthea sucked in a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body past its limits,¡± she chanted. ¡°You¡¯ve got this, Asthea!¡± bellowed Thorin, followed by growls of agreement from Errol and Arsen. Arsen held out his hand, blinked, and suddenly, he was holding a pair of white leather gloves. He handed them to Asthea with a small smile and she tugged them on with a distracted nod of thanks. They were fingerless gloves. The others took out gloves of their own, each pair also fingerless. There was something they knew that Logan didn¡¯t. Still, [Mimicry Armour] covered his hands, his talons fully formed. In their world, either gloves were fingerless, or there was another reason. Making a snap decision, Logan collapsed his talons, letting them dissolve into a mixture of diamond and sandstone dust. At the last second, he latched onto the falling debris and threw it back inside his spatial collar. He¡¯d effectively copied them. Although Logan was technically wearing armour gloves, they were flexible, Logan-exoskeloten gloves. They¡¯d do the same as a leather glove, only better. All three men shook out their arms, flexing their shoulders and jumping on the balls of their feet. Thorin glared at the wheel, clenching his massive hands into fists, his gloves stretching over his knuckles. ¡°Well?¡± he barked at Logan. ¡°Get in position.¡± Asthea¡¯s attention was focused on the notch in front of her. Each person was standing in front of their own notch, leaving one spot for Logan. As soon as Logan stepped into position, the blue orbs, dull until now, flared bright white and illuminated everything around them. Ding! [You have entered part one of the trial. A test of mettle. Daily attribute point limit waived. You have 24 hours to increase your attributes until you drop. The potential increase is unlimited. The only barrier to success is hard work.] [You have chosen to start with strength. You will compete individually but only advance to the next attribute as a group. Once the last person concedes or drops, the group will advance to the next attribute.] [After 24 hours, your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increases in each area will be granted a bonus.] In front of Logan, the notch opened up. Massive black chains poured out, spooling. It was like something you¡¯d see on a monster truck, the lengths five inches across. They kept coming, an endless, looping stream. Logan backed away, his eyes widening. End-to-end, each chain length reached the edges of the round room, but the chains weren¡¯t dangling, they were looped and attached to the notch. Was he expected to pull on these chains in an endless loop? Thorin and the others growled and grunted. They¡¯d removed the majority of their chainmail so it only covered their chests and shoulders. As each person lifted their chains, their biceps bulged, blue veins standing out. With a furrow in her brow, Asthea crouched and lifted her own chain, chanting, ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body past its limits!¡± These things looked massive. Not just in length, but in weight. They had to be solid metal¡ªa shiny, solid substance that didn¡¯t look like any metal Logan recognized. Grinding his teeth, he crouched, clenching his exoskeleton armoured hand around a fistful of the chain. Holy fucking shit. It had to weigh four hundred pounds at least! Chapter 59: Strength Trial Logan had tested his strength by lifting the canoe. He knew he could do things that would be impossible for a regular man. But when it came to his daily cheat exercises, it took effort to increase his strength, but often, repetition was enough to trigger the bonus. He¡¯d been able to boost his strength by reaching deep into the water with his oars during the snake fight, by lifting a bucket of water, and by picking up and throwing huge rocks. That meant that he could lift a chain that weighed more than a person, but he didn¡¯t need to. Not to increase his strength attribute. Logan was starting to think this trial was meant to be literally that¡ªa trial. The System wasn¡¯t going to make this easy, and by the time he made it through the twenty-four hours, he could be in for a world of pain. The System also seemed to have adjusted each person¡¯s chains according to their personal attribute score. Asthea¡¯s chains appeared to be an inch thicker than Logan¡¯s, and with a chain length that long, that meant an extra hundred pounds, easy. Thorin was level 92 and according to [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], strength was his highest attribute. Based on the chains, his strength had to be colossal. His chains were the same length as the others, but his had an aura to them. Logan could only equate the feeling to looking up at an elephant. You wouldn¡¯t know how much they weighed just by eyeing them, but you knew they were behemoths who would crush you underneath their feet. Arsen¡¯s level wasn¡¯t that too far from Thorin¡¯s, and his chains were just as impressive. As far as Errol, his resembled Asthea¡¯s, with a slightly heavier look. ¡°How does this thing start?¡± asked Logan, only to stagger as the rung holding the chains suddenly wrenched and pulled on them like a bicycle link. The others shouted in exuberance and dug in their feet, planting them into the stone ground, their biceps bulging as they tugged on the chains like a game of tug of war. Logan adjusted his feet, regretting that he hadn¡¯t removed his shoes from his spatial storage before this started. The chains were slowly reeling him in, a foot at a time, and if he didn¡¯t pull back on them, eventually, they¡¯d force him flush to the wheel. Grinding his teeth, he dug in, pulling back with a grunt of effort. Damn. They were heavy as hell. It felt like he was pulling on a mountain! ¡°Hah hah hah,¡± jeered Thorin with a grunt of effort, his eyes like slits as he looked at Logan. ¡°The weakling won¡¯t last a minute!¡± ¡°Thorin,¡± scolded Asthea with a grunt, ¡°be nice!¡± Scowling, Logan glared at Thorin and the other guards. Logan had wanted to succeed at this for the gains, but now, he wanted to win. His competitive streak was rearing its head. He was in the one percent; he¡¯d managed to rank up amongst billions of people¡ªbillions! He¡¯d gone through hell¡ªfrom missing limbs, to burns, to asphyxiation. Not to mention the personal loss of losing Eleanor and Ernie and the stress of worrying that his sister and nieces wouldn¡¯t survive. For these a-holes to taunt him and call him a weakling because he didn¡¯t match their perceived view of strength was FUBAR. He¡¯d show these fuckers who was the weakling¡ªnews flash, it wasn¡¯t Logan. Logan pulled on the chains, his fingers white-knuckled, tugging with all his might. His face flushed with blood from the exertion, the cold room suddenly feeling like a hundred degrees. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] Logan couldn¡¯t help a grin of self-satisfaction from spreading across his face, but his elation soon turned to annoyance. [Trial Update: Thorin: 1 Strength Arsen: 1 Strength Errol: 1 Strength Asthea: 1 Strength Logan: 1 Strength] Everyone had received a point! What was worse is that as soon as Logan received the bonus, the chains thickened in size, and they felt heavier as if the System had adjusted for his strength increase in real time. The chain continued trying to reel him in. Logan had to dig his elbows in close to his sides, plant his feet, and pull. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] Once again, the rest were right on his heels, earning the same bonus point. [Trial Update: Thorin: 2 Strength Arsen: 2 Strength Errol: 2 Strength Asthea: 2 Strength Logan: 2 Strength] ¡°Hah!¡± grunted Errol as he tugged on his chain. ¡°The idiot lasted longer than a minute!¡± Asthea didn¡¯t have any attention to spare to scold him this time; her face and neck red and her hair growing damp with sweat as she tugged on her chains. I¡¯ll show you an idiot. Logan¡¯s frustration at the System¡¯s name boiled over, lighting a fire underneath his blood, rage surging as the drive to excel grew stronger. His exoskeleton creaked as he adjusted his grip and curled his fingers around a chain length higher above. The group¡¯s decision to wear fingerless gloves was making less sense. Logan had assumed it was strategic, but he didn¡¯t see any advantages to having bare fingertips other than being able to feel the chain length under his grip. Tugging on the metal with half his attention, Logan glanced at the others and made sure they weren¡¯t paying attention. By now, the battle with the wheel was their only focus. Wasting no time, Logan willed out the sand and diamond dust and reformed his talons, but this time, he shaped them into hooked curves. Now, the Logan-exoskeleton covered his arms and hands in seamless armour, and he could latch his talons around the nearest coil, giving himself a sturdier grip. The chains had already gotten slick with sweat, and that meant he wouldn¡¯t lose his grip unless he fell over. Giving the chain a bit of slack so he freed up his feet, he funneled a bucket full of sand into reforming his boots. As they spread underneath the soles of his feet and toes, Logan rose half an inch in height. But this time, he didn¡¯t stop there. Logan took two handfuls of diamond dust and sculpted crampons into the bottom of his boots, sharp spikes like mountain climbers wore. They wouldn¡¯t help him on the bare stone floor, but that wasn¡¯t his goal. That runway line¡ªthe etchings that the System had carved into the floor to separate the competition area¡ªwere perfect for him to dig his boot spikes in deep, creating a solid base that wouldn¡¯t slip and slide. Logan shuffled over to the etched line and slammed his boot over top of it, digging in his crampons with his left foot and using his right foot for stability. That meant he had one less thing to worry about, allowing him to focus on his arms and the tug of war to the exclusion of anything else. Taking a deep breath, Logan tugged on the chain, hooked talons secure in the coil, his feet firm and unmoving. He¡¯d created stability, but there was no way around the fact that this trial required strength. His biceps were already screaming in discomfort, but Logan yanked, not even pausing when he received the System message; he was in it to win, and that meant no slacking off, no breaks. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] [You have earned one strength point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 4 Strength Thorin: 3 Strength The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Arsen: 3 Strength Errol: 3 Strength Asthea: 3 Strength] Errol made a sound of outrage. ¡°How did the weakling get ahead of us?¡± he panted. He gave Logan a piercing stare, the veins on his forearms standing out as he adjusted his feet, stepping back and forward in a constant fight with the wheel. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± grunted Thorin, ¡°but that¡¯s the last time!¡± With a massive tug on his chains, he looked like a bodybuilder¡ªthick thighs bulging, his chest flush with sweat, his arms swelling as he moved backwards and closer to the stone wall. Each time he pulled on the chains, the wheel fought back, yanking him forward. For Thorin to have backed up to the wall meant he had to have committed a tremendous amount of effort. The System awarded him. [Trial Update: Thorin: 6 Strength Logan: 4 Strength Arsen: 3 Strength Errol: 3 Strength Asthea: 3 Strength] The others took note of his success and committed to the same, Asthea screaming as she pulled on her chains and gradually, gradually inched closer to the wall. Arsen looked bemused, but his eyes glinted at the challenge. Taking a different strategy, he let his chains go slack and then tugged on them in quick, sharp movements, pushing back like a shark on the end of a fishing line. Errol roared and tried to copy Thorin, his face looking not just red but purple as he pulled on the coils, his fingernails shredding and bloody as he tried to get a better grip. Logan watched them calmly, not giving anything away. While they¡¯d been straining, he¡¯d been steady, his talons latched around the chain coils, his feet secure. He let the wheel lure in the line, and then tugged back at the same pace. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] [Trial Update: Thorin: 6 Strength Logan: 5 Strength Arsen: 4 Strength Errol: 4 Strength Asthea: 4 Strength] The effort they¡¯d expended to show Logan up had done damage. They were all straining, their chests moving like they couldn¡¯t get enough air, the chains jumping in their hands and pulling them closer to the wheel. Meanwhile, Logan stayed in his secure perch, letting the wheel reel in the chain so he could pull back on it. But it was in no means a free lunch. Staying motionless and keeping up with the force of the wheel took everything he had, and each time he received a System confirmation, the chain only grew worse¡ªheavier, thicker, the metal looking odd and alien as it glinted strangely, giving off an aura that was beginning to match Thorin¡¯s. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] [Trial Update: Thorin: 6 Strength Logan: 6 Strength Arsen: 4 Strength Errol: 4 Strength Asthea: 4 Strength] Thorin hissed in a breath and once again pulled on his chains, the tie between them seeming to fill him with rage. He took a step forward, letting the chain yank him closer to the wheel, and then jerked on the metal, the huge coils swinging back and forth as he strained. This time, he only managed to increase his strength by one point, his rage-filled eyes losing focus as sweat poured down his forehead and dripped from his nose. [Trial Update: Thorin: 7 Strength Logan: 6 Strength Arsen: 5 Strength Errol: 5 Strength Asthea: 5 Strength] By now, Logan would have thought they¡¯d been at this for hours, but Arsen grunted, ¡°One hour! Errol loses the wager.¡± Was that a hint of mischief in his eyes? Logan blinked away sweat, his eyes burning. How could Arsen have time for anything other than pain? Errol growled. ¡°How is the weakling not in a pool of exhaustion at our feet?¡± Arsen shot him a look as his biceps bulged. ¡°Remember our purpose, brothers. The alien is a distraction. Asthea is the priority.¡± Errol growled again, this time a rumble of agreement. ¡°How are you doing, Asthea?¡± ¡°Six strength increases!¡± she said, sounding elated. A growl rose from Thorin¡¯s chest. ¡°Go for ten!¡± Then, cutting his eyes to Logan, he grinned toothily, his eyes glinting in challenge. ¡°Idiot here is about to collapse.¡± Oh hell no. Each time they insulted him, it only fueled his rage and desire to succeed. But the constant chain weight increases were taking its toll. Logan¡¯s shoulders felt as if he¡¯d strained every single muscle, shards of glass tearing through his flesh. Underneath his exoskeleton gloves, his hands felt swollen, as if he¡¯d injected a syringe of water into each finger. But it was just pain. He was no stranger to pain. Digging his teeth into his cheek until he drew blood, Logan strained, pulling and pulling, every nerve ending on fire. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 12!] His eyes widened. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was a skill that leveled only when he did himself harm; usually, it was through an ineptitude action, like kicking his bare foot against a tree trunk, all happenstance and unintentional. He hadn¡¯t yet leveled up the skill intentionally, since it took serious pain. If this trial gave him strength at the same time as leveling up [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], could he increase the skill to the point that he no longer felt pain at all? Filled with new purpose, Logan yanked on the chains again, killing himself and pushing through the pain, feeling as though his shoulders and arms were on fire. This was beyond a muscle cramp, beyond what should be possible. Physically, he was done. But mentally, he was nowhere near done. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 13!] [You have earned one strength point!] [You have earned one strength point!] [Trial Update: Thorin: 8 Strength Logan: 8 Strength Arsen: 6 Strength Errol: 6 Strength Asthea: 6 Strength] Minute after minute, Logan continued. He could no longer feel his arms and hands. Gradually, the grunting from the others, their screams of disgust as Logan pushed through, faded away. Logan closed his eyes and tuned everything out. He was the chains. The chains were him. He wasn¡¯t giving up, and they¡¯d have to pry his dead fingers away from the coil to defeat him. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 14!] [You have earned one strength point!] [You have earned one strength point!] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 15!] [¡­.] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 21!] [You have earned one strength point!] [You have earned one strength point!] [¡­.] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 26!] ¡°I can¡¯t take it!¡± panted Asthea. ¡°Enough!¡± Logan opened his eyes. Asthea¡¯s hair was drenched with sweat, frizzy strands standing up, her long bangs hanging in her face. Filled with mischief before, she now looked like she¡¯d been through hell and back. With a massive boom, she dropped the chains, letting them slam to the stone floor, and then collapsed into a sprawl, her chest moving up and down like a marathon runner. Errol gave her a grateful glance, as if the only thing keeping him standing was the fact that Asthea hadn¡¯t given up. With a sigh of relief, he dropped his chains, the sound echoing through the chamber as they hit the floor. ¡°Thank the clan,¡± he panted, collapsing to his feet. He no longer had any attention to spare to Logan, the competition long forgotten. Logan blinked at the updated trial numbers. [Trial Update: Logan: 18 Strength Thorin: 16 Strength Arsen: 14 Strength Errol: 13 Strength Asthea: 12 Strength] ¡°What witchery is this?¡± panted Thorin with a glower at Logan, his legs wobbling before he adjusted his feet and stood tall. ¡°I win the wager,¡± said Arsen with a grin. ¡°But brothers, that¡¯s as far as I go.¡± With a grateful sigh, he released his grip on the chains and let them fall with a tremendous boom. Wobbling, he staggered over to Asthea and collapsed next to her. Asthea gave him a shaky smile and gently pressed her hand against his sweaty forehead, dipping her chin in acknowledgement. Logan turned his attention to Thorin. ¡°I won¡¯t be beaten by a man who calls himself an idiot!¡± he growled. If Thorin wanted to dance, Logan would dance. He¡¯d leveled up [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] to the point that for the first time, he felt a noticeable difference. The pain was still there; he was doing unimaginable damage to his body, but Logan could suffer through this with sheer grit and determination. Logan closed his eyes. Stillness. He needed to be calm and still. He thought back to the endless chasm of water he¡¯d envisioned when he¡¯d opened his Karma pool. A pool of silver water, so deep that you¡¯d never reach the bottom. Through the pain, through the agony, through his torn muscles and numb extremities. Logan would never stop, not this day, not ever. Ding! [You have earned one strength point!] [You have earned one strength point!] [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is Level 27!] [You have earned one strength point!] [¡­] ¡°Thorin!¡± Asthea suddenly screamed, followed by a massive, colossal boom that echoed around the room. Logan opened his eyes. Thorin was on his side on the floor, the chains half on top of him, his mouth gaping wide open as drool pooled down his chin. His eyes were unfocused, his face beet red that soon turned to an unhealthy pallor. Logan squinted at the trial update. [Trial Update: Logan: 23 Strength Thorin: 20 Strength Arsen: 14 Strength Errol: 13 Strength Asthea: 12 Strength] With a sigh of exhausted satisfaction, Logan dissolved his talons, willing the diamond and sandstone dust back into his spatial collar, and then let the chains drop to the floor. Ding! [You have completed the strength trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.] [Calculating rewards¡­] Chapter 60: Agility Trial [You have completed the strength trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.] [Calculating rewards¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Rewards calculated!] [As the weakest person in the strength trial, you have defied the odds. Well done, Idiot! You have been granted double the amount of strength achieved in the strength trial¡ª23 bonus strength attribute points.] [In addition, you have been granted a boon.] Logan opened his hand. Resting in the base of his palm, a black ring shone with the same metallic glint as the chains. It had that same heavy aura, a presence to it that made it seem alive. [Strength Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double strength. The Strength Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.] Logan¡¯s eyes widened, shock stark on his features. He¡¯d wanted to make the best of the situation and obtain every attribute point possible in this trial, but he¡¯d never once thought it would be this beneficial. Excitement surging, Logan put the ring on his index finger and¡­ felt like he¡¯d been dick-punched! It was if he¡¯d been hit with a truck! Panting like an overheating bird in hundred- and forty-degree weather, he stared at his chest and biceps, doing everything he could not to scream. His muscles had already been on fire, his arms like wet noodles. Take a damaged body and expand every single muscle and tendon¡ªcord them with steel as if your atoms were being vaporized and reformed¡ªand you had one result. The fires from hell. No, bugs from hell, bugs on fire that were burrowing into his flesh, subjecting him to torture and constricting his lungs. Gradually, gradually the pain faded. In place of his worn muscles and swollen tendons, he¡¯d been reformed anew. The pain from the trial dissolved, his legs and arms steadying. Reeling, Logan waited for the feeling to pass and then pulled up his physical stats. Intelligence: 85 Constitution: 41 Strength: 86 x 2 = 172* (*Pure Grit Ring) Agility: 36 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 40 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 80 Luck: 45 Holy fucking shit. Logan had received 23 strength attributes from his trial performance, and an additional 23 bonus points. With the doubling power of the ring, he now had 172 strength! He was a powerhouse. And if he managed to obtain the other four rings, he¡¯d have 258 strength. 258! That was so much it was difficult to fathom. He was having trouble believing this was real, but there was no mistaking the agony that had ricocheted through his body. Logan glanced down at his chest and arms. At least the strength increase hadn¡¯t turned him into a hulk¡ªrather, it had continued to refine whatever was already there, like using a good base and strengthening the supports. ¡°How did he manage to come out on top?¡± one of the guards whispered behind him. ¡°He¡¯s only level 34. It should have been impossible.¡± Logan pretended to be looking at his exoskeleton gloves while giving them a surreptitious glance. Errol was standing next to Arsen, his mouth next to Arsen¡¯s ear. They¡¯d pulled themselves together, their faces clean of sweat. Both had twirled their damp hair into buns, keeping the wet strands out of their face. Arsen¡¯s voice was just as quiet. ¡°I told you not to underestimate him. How do you think he got through the portal? No one has 1500 Karma at level 34.¡± They should know better. Logan¡¯s increased perception could pick up whispers. Errol shook his right hand, wincing as blood dripped to the floor. While pulling on the chains, he¡¯d shredded his fingernails, and it looked as if his constitution attribute wasn¡¯t high enough to heal the damage quickly. ¡°Even if he has that much Karma, it doesn¡¯t explain how he surpassed Thorin. Thorin is built for strength.¡± ¡°His species might be able to withstand more pain than ours. A religion, a trial that they go through when they¡¯re young. We¡¯ve seen that with the Rokardoni people. Besides, the agility trial is next. He¡¯ll never outperform Asthea.¡± Errol grunted and then raised his voice. ¡°How is Thorin, Asthea? Have you roused the big lug?¡± Asthea was kneeling next to Thorin who was sitting up with a dazed expression. She handed him a large canister that looked bound by leather and he started chugging it down. Asthea rested her hand on his shoulder in concern. ¡°Not so quickly. You¡¯re going to choke.¡± She gave Errol a nod of acknowledgment. ¡°He¡¯ll live. Though he might not do so well in the next trial if he can¡¯t even get to his feet.¡± Thorin stopped drinking and wiped his chin. ¡°I can stand!¡± Resting one hand against the floor, he repositioned himself, trying to get to his knees, his legs sliding. With a scowl of annoyance, he used one fist to brace himself against the floor and then rose into a kneeling position. Wobbling and wincing, he got to his feet. ¡°We¡¯re on hour four now, just going into our fifth. We can take a longer break before we move on to the next stage.¡± Thorin cracked his neck, glowering. ¡°I¡¯ll not hold us up!¡± Brushing off Asthea¡¯s hand, he gave Logan a narrow-eyed stare before he staggered over, his stride straightening the closer he came. Logan wrinkled his nose. He knew he didn¡¯t smell like a bed of roses, but Thorin¡¯s stench was something else. His body wafted a reek that resembled a skunk intermixed with day-old socks. Jabbing a finger into Logan¡¯s chest, he growled. ¡°I don¡¯t know what tricks you were up to during that trial, but I know that beating me wasn¡¯t through natural ability. What is it? Do you have a skill that siphons off the strength of those around you? Witchery!¡± he barked. Logan looked down at the finger jabbing into his chest and then for the first time, consciously tried to project his aura, communicating non-verbally just how pissed off Thorin had made him. He¡¯d done this intentionally back at the resort with Brad. Someone who couldn¡¯t accept defeat graciously was the worst kind of person. The strength trial had been agony for Logan and to suggest that he hadn¡¯t won fairly filled him with outrage. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. His estimation of the man¡¯s character had just dropped significantly. There was a time and a place. Logan understood that he could be feeling humiliated¡ªboasted as the best amongst the group, shown up in front of a princess¡ªbut as far as Logan was concerned, accepting that defeat and learning from it was the ultimate sign of maturity. Acting as if you¡¯d only lost due to trickery was a cop out and a sign that you couldn¡¯t learn from your failures. Still, Logan wasn¡¯t expecting his aura projection to work. After all, he was level 34 against Thorin¡¯s level 92. It was like a mouse trying to intimidate a cat. And judging by Thorin¡¯s toothy grin, Logan was correct. Logan met his stare, his eyes heavy-lidded. But astonishingly, something in his steely eyed gaze, something about projecting a murderous intent, had gotten through to the man. Hesitating, Thorin lessened the pressure of his finger against Logan¡¯s chest and then dropped it. His expression was still indignant, but now there was a wariness to it. There was one explanation. Even though Logan was level 34, he¡¯d increased his strength attribute to a massive degree. An aura had to depend upon more than just your level. What if it projected all your attributes at once? ¡°No witchery,¡± said Logan, expressionless. ¡°No trickery. I just beat you.¡± Logan¡¯s words caused the man¡¯s indignation to rise once again. ¡°You¡ª¡± Asthea looped her hand through Thorin¡¯s arm and tugged him away. ¡°This is my trial of awakening, remember? No time for pettiness. That can wait until after.¡± Arsen cleared his throat. ¡°Asthea¡¯s right. We¡¯re wasting time. I was ready to suggest a longer break for your sake, Thorin, but not if you use our rest to start an argument. How often will you get this chance? Agility increases are waiting, brother.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± Arsen¡¯s voice was firm. ¡°I won¡¯t hear it.¡± He gave the group a steady look, scanning each person including Logan. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Asthea willed her canister back inside her spatial storage, straightening and taking a deep breath. ¡°Ready.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get out of the room so the System can reset for the next trial.¡± Thorin wiped away his expression and for the first time, he seemed to focus. ¡°You¡¯re right, brother. I¡¯m ready for what¡¯s ahead. My apologies to the team for not keeping my priorities straight.¡± Errol brightened and thumped Thorin on the back. ¡°Hah! Hah! You were beaten, the mighty Thorin, beaten! No explanations necessary.¡± Thorin went back to glowering, but he followed Asthea to the tunnel entrance. Logan looked at the wheel and the discarded chains. ¡°What happens to the strength trial?¡± Arsen glanced back at him. ¡°You mean the contents of the room? Who knows. All we know is that we enter the tunnel, the room resets, the wheel disappears, and the new trial begins.¡± Arsen gave him one last curious look and then disappeared into the tunnel with the others, leaving Logan in the room. They wouldn¡¯t be paying attention to him; they¡¯d be focused on what was to come. The risk of discovery was slim, and this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Focusing on the pair of fallen chains closest to him, Logan willed them inside his spatial collar. There was resistance at first¡ªthat same elastic band he¡¯d felt when severing the boulders¡ªbut then with a snap, the link to the wheel split and the chains disappeared. Kickass. With a bounce to his step, Logan followed the others. *** Logan had been wondering how the reset would occur, but as soon as he stepped out of the chain room and joined the rest of the party, the System answered him. Ding! [Trial reset in progress¡­] [¡­] [..] [Please stand by.] He took out a bottle of water and chugged it and then ran a hand through his sweaty hair. ¡°How are you holding up?¡± asked Asthea. She was back to her kind self again, her eyes soft and curious. ¡°I think I did all right.¡± Logan didn¡¯t hold back a smirk. He wasn¡¯t bragging¡ªhe was proud of his achievement. The guards had written him off before they¡¯d started the trial, even holding bets on how quickly he¡¯d fail. Instead, he¡¯d beaten someone who was level 92 whose highest attribute should have allowed him to leave Logan in the dust. ¡°I meant with Thorin. He¡¯s bitter now, but don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll get over it. You won¡¯t have to worry about him.¡± Logan hadn¡¯t been worrying. At least until now. Wary, Logan eyed the man who¡¯d managed to pull himself together. He was jumping up and down on the balls of his feet, psyching himself up. Ding! [Trial reset complete.] He¡¯d heard no sound from the room, nothing that made it seem as if things were being repositioned. Next to him, Asthea took a deep breath and closed her eyes, repeating in a chant, ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body past its limits.¡± Behind them, the other guards made sounds of agreement, growls rumbling deep in their throats. ¡°Remember,¡± said Arsen. ¡°The agility trial is yours. Don¡¯t let yourself get into your head. You¡¯ve got the highest agility of the group; you¡¯ll smoke everyone else.¡± Asthea nodded, her face focused, eyes full of determination. The group let her lead and enter the room first, everyone close on her heels. When Logan stepped into the spherical room, everything was different. Impossible. Yet the others didn¡¯t seem surprised that the wheel and chains had disappeared, and in their place¡­ Logan had to look up. He could only equate them to floating platforms. Some were small, about the size of large dinner plates, others were five feet across. If he squinted, he could see them hovering in place, but he could also see that they were moving as if in a slight breeze. They were about twenty feet off the ground, which meant¡ª The ceiling hadn¡¯t been that high before. Logan could only blink in disbelief. And yet, at this point, why was he surprised? The normal laws of physics were out of the window, and what had seemed impossible in his previous life was now normal. Raise the ceiling of a room in a few minutes? Why not? Ding! [You have entered the agility trial. You will compete individually but only advance to the next attribute as a group. Once the last person concedes or drops, the group will advance to the next attribute.] [After 24 hours, your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increases in each area will be granted a bonus.] Logan could only assume this was like his agility ladder exercises, only this time, in the air. They¡¯d have to jump from one platform to the next¡ªpossibly while they moved¡ªto increase their agility attributes. Unlike the strength trial, this one didn¡¯t seem that hard. As long as he didn¡¯t get too fatigued, Logan could see himself increasing his agility by a massive amount. Still, that left the question of how they were going to reach the platforms. They were way too high to jump. Logan glanced around the room and finally found a black metal ladder that shone like the chains. It was attached to the stone wall next to one of the floating platforms. ¡°There¡¯s a ladder over there,¡± Logan said and moved closer to it. Errol snorted in derision. Suddenly, his metal whip was in his hand. ¡°With your permission?¡± he said to Asthea. Asthea nodded with a preoccupied smile and Errol curled a hand around her waist, cracked his whip and lodged the scorpion tail into one of the platforms. Testing its grip, he then took a flying leap, lifting Asthea and himself up onto the platform with a loud grunt. Arsen grinned savagely and was suddenly holding two daggers the length of his arm. His face like a thundercloud, he ran at the wall, scoring his daggers in deep and lifting himself into the air. He shouted in exuberance as he swung himself onto the next platform. His feet skidded and he had to dig one of his daggers in deep to steady himself, wobbling before standing straight. Okay then. Logan was never one for flashiness¡ªwhat was the point? Errol and Arsen had just spent energy that could have been used in the trial. Not very smart. As for Logan, he was fine with a ladder. A ladder he could trust. He made quick work of it and then jumped on top of the nearest platform. It swayed under his feet and seemed comprised of the same black metal as the chains. Logan had originally thought he¡¯d need to banish his boots, but crouching down, he realized the surface was as slick as ice. He must have just found the difficulty. You could jump from platform to platform, but not if you were sliding off them as soon as you landed. ¡°Thorin, don¡¯t be a fool,¡± shouted Arsen down at him. ¡°You can hardly stand. Use Errol¡¯s whip; he¡¯ll get you up.¡± Thorin glowered at him, his massive sword in one hand. It looked as if he¡¯d been about to copy the same move as Arsen by jamming his sword into the wall and leaping into the air. ¡°I can handle it.¡± ¡°At least take the ladder,¡± said Asthea in exasperation. ¡°I¡¯ll not follow the idiot!¡± Thorin bellowed. Running at the wall with his sword outstretched in one hand, his chest muscles bulging with each stride, he screamed as he lodged the sword into one of the notches Arsen had made with his daggers and then launched himself into the air. He barely made it. Thorin landed half on the nearest platform, one of his legs hanging over the edge, his sword the only thing keeping himself in place. ¡°Oh the clan,¡± he moaned in pain before prying himself onto the thing, sprawling with his limbs outflung. Talk about an idiot. ¡°When does it start?¡± asked Logan. ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem that difficult, but why do you all have weapons?¡± Would Logan need to take out his baseball bat? He still didn¡¯t trust the Cursed Rope around people. Arsen grinned at him. ¡°No weapons,¡± he said, willing his daggers into his spatial storage. ¡°Not unless you want to make yourself into a target.¡± Errol got rid of his whip, Thorin following him with his sword. What? Above them, a slot the size of a cat-door opened in the ceiling. The ceiling was a good twenty feet from the platforms, and at first Logan couldn¡¯t make it out, since inside the slot, it was black¡ªpitch black. The blue orbs on the walls pulsed with color, illuminating the room in light. Within the opening, something came out. It was the size of a bowling ball, only sharp-looking spikes littered the surface, spikes that were made of the same material as the chains. The ball blinked its glowing blue eyes and then with a squeal of glee, launched itself in the air, hurtling towards them like a cannon ball. Chapter 61: Cannon Balls of Doom Oh hell no. First, he had to deal with a flying Cursed Rope with a mind of its own, now he had to deal with a squealing rabid gerbil ball that flew. But at this point, was it any surprise? The System wouldn¡¯t make it easy for him when it excelled at making his life impossible. The spiky ball flew at them like a bullet, turning on a dime and going right for Arsen, who jumped to the next platform with barely a second to spare. The man was grinning, his eyes alight with excitement. The others had already started jumping from platform to platform as if they were running a hopscotch race. Logan shook himself out of his stupor and followed, taking a flying leap over to the next hovering platform, the crampons on his boots scraping the metal like nails on a chalkboard. It was a wobbly landing at first, and he had to swing his arms to not overshoot. The others were jumping without skidding all over the place. Their shoes must have a grip that counteracted it. After all, they¡¯d known what this trial would consist of¡ªthey¡¯d have to be stupid to come unprepared. He needed to do something about these boots. The crampons had been useful in the strength trial, but now, they were the opposite of ¡®agile.¡¯ As he pondered the problem, Logan kept a careful eye on the zooming ball at the other side of the round room. Crouching, Logan pressed one hand to the platform. He had one advantage. He was Canadian. Being no stranger to ice, he knew that when you walked over a skating rink or over a frozen lake, you needed footwear that gave your feet a good grip. With a frown of concentration, Logan dissolved the crampons and let the diamond dust fall to the platform. But he didn¡¯t stop there. In the strength trial, stability and standing motionless had been the game, so he¡¯d formed his boots into a solid mass. For this trial, he needed to be swift, to be able to run and jump at speed. Logan had a pair of shoes inside his spatial collar, but that wouldn¡¯t stop him from sliding on the slippery surface. He needed to craft a pair of boots that were lightweight that also gave him stability. Ice cleats. Logan let half the sandstone dissolve from his feet, a small pile of sand accumulating around him. ¡°Hah! It almost had me!¡± said Errol on the other side of the room. Fuck. He had no time. The rabid cannon ball was on its way over. Heart racing, Logan shaped the sandstone around his feet, smoothing it, thinning it, making it as flexible as possible. At the last minute, he mentally latched onto a handful of diamond dust, and then raising one foot, swirled the dust into a mini tornado until he formed a cleat the size of a thumbtack. He sculpted it to the bottom of his shoe, creating a firm, unbreakable seal. That was all the time he had; the ball was hurtling towards him, blue eyes glowing with a sadistic glint. Taking a flying leap, Logan jumped to the next platform, the single cleat providing just enough stability so that he didn¡¯t slide over the edge, the hurtling ball passing by him with inches to spare. Holy shit, that had been close. His discarded diamond dust was still nearby, well within the limits of [Mimicry Armour]. Logan reached, forcing it to hover and travel through the air, zooming towards his boot like a magnet. One. Two. Three. Four. In rapid succession, he formed four thumbtack-sized cleats, giving himself five on one boot, and then repeating the process with the other. He¡¯d completed it so fast he felt the beginnings of a headache, but luckily, when he reviewed his Karma pool, it was holding steady, his regeneration rate keeping up with the drain. ¡°I¡¯m at two!¡± shouted Arsen on his way past, the lithe man jumping from platform to platform as if he were taking a jog through the park. ¡°Three!¡± said Asthea. If Arsen was taking a jog, Asthea was sprinting. Her ponytail flying behind her, she darted from platform to platform in a zigzag, her face alight with excitement. Goddammit! They must be referring to their agility increases, and Logan had yet to receive one. With a scowl like a thundercloud, he jumped to the next platform, this time copying Asthea in that same zigzag pattern, jumping right, jumping left. It took ten jumps before he received his first notification. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 4 Agility Arsen: 3 Agility Errol: 2 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility Logan: 1 Agility] Even though he was annoyed that he was so far behind, and he¡¯d only received one agility point, he could sense an immediate impact, his jumps becoming more agile and reactive. Logan had nothing against Asthea¡ªshe could earn as many agility points as she wanted¡ªbut there was a massive problem with letting her win. The Pure Grit Ring. If Asthea won this trial and the System awarded her with the same ring, Logan would have no chance to turn the doubling power into tripling power. He needed that ring to grow strong, to find Ernie, to save Lara and the kids. That meant that just like the strength trial, he wasn¡¯t giving up, even if it meant pushing himself to the limits and beyond. It also meant that he had to beat Asthea. Logan followed the same zigzagging pattern, keeping an eye on the spiky ball as it zoomed past. So far, everyone had been able to dart away from it¡ªeven Thorin. If one rabid ball were the limits of this trial, maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 5 Agility Arsen: 3 Agility Errol: 3 Agility Logan: 2 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Logan had caught up with Thorin, which made sense, since the man was laboring. His rapid pants could be heard across the room, and he often needed to pause on a platform, keeling over and staring at the ground down below. ¡°Get ready, Asthea!¡± shouted Arsen, pointing at the ceiling. ¡°Another one is coming! They¡¯ll speed up now.¡± Thorin moaned, his face looking green. Logan should have known better. When had anything ever been easy? Up above, the same cat-door sized hole opened, and another rabid ball with glowing blue eyes zoomed forward. This one let out a sound like a meat-grinder, a rattling that made his ears bleed. Talk about meat grinder¡ªits spikes were twice the length of the other ball, each point narrowing at the ends like a swordfish. Now, they had to keep track of two balls¡ªboth flying at them in different directions. And¡ªholy shit! The ball was flying right at him! Logan barely dodged, the ends of its spikes an inch away from his back, a breeze against his neck evidence of how close it had come. The cannons had gotten faster. The original ball made sadistic sounds of glee, while the new one flew past and let out that meat-grinder screech. It was as if they were in an arcade game, and Logan and the others were the targets. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 6 Agility Arsen: 4 Agility Errol: 4 Agility Logan: 3 Agility The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Thorin: 2 Agility] This time, Logan didn¡¯t have a spare second to glance at the trial update before Thorin let out a scream. The meat-grinder ball had clipped him in the shoulder, its sharp, long spikes digging through his shoulder-pad armour. With a roar, Thorin was suddenly holding his massive sword, his face frantic with pain. ¡°Thorin, no!¡± said Arsen. It was too late. Thorin whacked the ball, throwing it to the side and smashing it to the floor. ¡°You idiot,¡± Arsen said underneath his breath. Up above, the ceiling opened again, and with a feeling of dread, Logan watched as another two balls emerged. These ones were so large they had to squeeze through the hole. They were the size of three bowling balls, shards of glass littering their surfaces and glinting in the glowing blue light. The balls¡¯ eyes were red instead of blue, and creepily, they seemed to have a mouth¡ªor what resembled a mouth. It curved upwards, reminding Logan of a smiley face, shards of glass-teeth glinting like a jack-o''-lantern. ¡°Get ready,¡± said Arsen. ¡°This is about to get twice as hard.¡± But so far, the balls only had eyes for Thorin. The man blanched and started jumping from platform to platform, doing everything he could to make himself into a less-easy target. All three balls went after him¡ªthe original blue ball cackling in glee, the other two glass shard balls making grinding, crackling sounds. Even worse, they came at Thorin from different directions, surrounding him and making it impossible for him to dart away. With a boom, all three balls impacted at once, the blue ball lodging into Thorin¡¯s leg with a screech, the glass shard cannons hitting the back of his head and back. These balls were triple the size of the original cannon, and boy, did they do damage. Logan¡¯s stomach lurched as he watched blood spray in a torrent. Thorin moaned in pain and then dropped to his knees, blood pooling at his feet and making it difficult to stand. With a screech and a crackle, the balls tugged themselves free of Thorin¡¯s flesh and then went zooming in different directions. Asthea came to a stop on her platform, her hand covering her mouth in horror. ¡°Oh, Thorin.¡± ¡°Focus,¡± Errol said, jumping past her. ¡°It¡¯s a trial dungeon, remember. Even if he dies, he¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°I know! I still can¡¯t stomach it! Plus, he¡¯ll miss out on the additional attribute points.¡± Errol gave Logan a dark glance, his eyes full of held-back fury. ¡°And if someone hadn¡¯t sabotaged him, he would have made it.¡± Oh, come on. The fact that Thorin had worn himself out in the strength trial wasn¡¯t Logan¡¯s fault. He could have conceded at anytime. Still, Logan had learned something new. It was a trial. It was supposed to be an opportunity to increase your attributes through hard work! Logan hadn¡¯t once thought it was this dangerous. But then again: [In this trial, if a Non-Player Character (NPC) kills you, your death will not be permanent.] [The death nullability applies to NPCs only.] Logan had thought the System had been referring to the second part of the trial, the mysterious army trial. Were the NPCs the cannon balls? He didn¡¯t have any further time for speculation. The balls were flying everywhere, this time at twice the speed. If he stayed in place, he¡¯d soon end up like Thorin. Adrenaline shooting through his system, the possibility of dying ever present in his mind, Logan quickened his pace, his feet agile, jumping so quickly his boots barely had a second to land on one platform before he was on to the next. Even though the rules stated that your death wasn¡¯t permanent, Logan wasn¡¯t dying today, thank you very much. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 7 Agility Logan: 5 Agility Arsen: 5 Agility Errol: 5 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Yes! He was gaining on everyone, even with everyone but Asthea. Logan dug deep, putting on an extra burst of speed, this time making his own pattern. Zigzags worked, but what if he doubled back, jumping backwards and forwards, making himself into an impossible target. Turning, he¡ªfuck! That had been a mistake. One of the glass cannons had hit him with a glancing blow, clipping his shoulder with a grinding, crackling shriek. With a shout, Logan staggered, wobbling before he regained his balance. But¡­ Logan glanced at his shoulder. The armour had held up. Not a dent to be found: the Logan-exoskeleton was paying dividends. Meanwhile, Asthea was having serious trouble, hissing in pain as the smaller cannon clipped her on the back of her calf, forcing her to fall to the next platform rather than jump. She got to her feet with a groan, but it had done considerable damage, and a pool of blood trickled down her leg. That gave Logan an idea. Logan had armour over his hands, arms, and around his neck. But he¡¯d never deactivated the camouflage. The cannon balls could see him since the rest of his body was visible, including his orange kitten-patterned swim trunks. But once he reformed the whole suit, the mimicry effect would kick-in, and Logan would be invisible. This would take some serious finagling though. He couldn¡¯t stand motionless¡ªnot unless he wanted to make himself a target, so he¡¯d have to form the rest of his suit while he was darting from platform to platform. He could do this. Feeling like his insides were vibrating in excitement, Logan jumped onto the latest platform and then paused, giving himself five seconds, five seconds only. Willing half a bucket of sand out of his spatial storage so quickly he might as well have given himself whiplash, he forced each grain to latch onto his chest before he jumped to the next platform, a cannon ball missing him by an inch¡ªif that. Already rushing to the next platform, Logan jumped mindlessly while he concentrated on forming the sandstone, connecting the chest plate to his forearm guards and then linking them to the armour around his neck. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 7 Agility Logan: 6 Agility Arsen: 5 Agility Errol: 5 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Again, he continued, pausing for five seconds, willing out more sand and spreading the armour while he leapt to the next platform. Each plate of armour spread the camouflage effect even further to the point where Logan¡¯s legs and head were the only thing exposed, effectively making him into a half-formed Invisible Man. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 8 Agility Logan: 7 Agility Arsen: 6 Agility Errol: 6 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Errol turned his head, looked at Logan, and then did a double take. ¡°Cheater!¡± he bellowed. ¡°He has an invisibility skill!¡± Logan paid him no mind and in fact, was relieved more than anything. He¡¯d been worried that when they saw him removing buckets of sand from his spatial storage, they¡¯d become suspicious of his ¡®garbage grade¡¯ spatial storage, but if Errol thought it was a skill, all the better. Arsen paused on his platform and glanced at Logan with a furrow in his brow. ¡°He¡¯s¡ª¡± Whatever he¡¯d been about to say was cut off as one of the glass balls slammed into the side of his face. Blood and what looked like a tooth went flying. ¡°Oh the clan,¡± he cursed, spitting out a bloody glob of saliva. In the meantime, Logan had managed to form the exoskeleton over his legs and head and was sculpting it over the sides of his face. To this point, he¡¯d never fully become Iron Man. Who would want to encase their face in armour, covering their nose and mouth? It seemed like a bad idea all around. And yet, the skill was called [Mimicry Armour]. If the System hadn¡¯t designed it to protect his whole body, then it had to be a pretty shitty skill. If he didn¡¯t try, he¡¯d never know. He¡¯d seen too many fantastical things. From talking octopuses, to undead monsters, to weird wizard-shit. Covering his whole face had to be the least of it. Holding his breath, Logan grabbed another handful of sand and then followed the same process as the rest of his armour, treating it as routine¡ªjust another day at the office. Willing the sand onto his forehead, to his nose, to his upper lip, Logan formed it into the exoskeleton material, giving himself a face mask. Then, with one last prayer, he formed it over his eyes. Just like that, the mask fully formed, covering both his eyes and mouth and¡­ Logan could see. Logan could see better than before. He could breathe; there was no restriction whatsoever and the exoskeleton was so lightweight, it was if he weren¡¯t wearing it at all. Kick ass. And even better, he''d come to a stop on the platform, but the cannon balls had just flown past. He was invisible. Hell yeah. Logan was going to smoke the hell out of this trial. Grinning underneath his face mask, he jumped to the next platform, his feet light, the flush of success making him even speedier. Platform to platform, zigzag after zigzag; he could focus on his movements rather than having to monitor the cannon balls as they continued to zoom past, oblivious to Logan¡¯s presence. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 9 Agility Logan: 9 Agility Errol: 7 Agility Arsen: 6 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Now, Asthea and Logan were neck and neck, but it didn¡¯t matter. She was a target, and Logan wasn¡¯t. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 11 Agility Asthea: 9 Agility Errol: 7 Agility Arsen: 6 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] He was jumping so quickly that the others didn¡¯t have a chance to gain an additional point before he¡¯d gained two. Logan passed Errol, who had paused on a platform, holding his arm, which looked dislocated, the man¡¯s face in a perpetual scowl. Arson¡¯s face was a bloody mess, two front teeth missing, a deep cut running down his chin and neck. Still struggling, still jumping from platform to platform, but his speed had noticeably dipped, and his feet weren¡¯t as lithe as before. As far as Asthea, without Logan, the cannon balls seemed to target her specifically, as if trying to eliminate the strongest opponent, repeatedly swarming her at once, forcing her to duck and jump, crouch, and dart to the side rather than jump to the next platform. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [¡­] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 20 Agility Asthea: 10 Agility Errol: 8 Agility Arsen: 7 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] Hell yeah, he was an agility master! As he earned each agility point, his feet only grew faster, making it possible to earn his next point in less than half the time. There was one problem. Deploying his full armour meant that his Karma pool was depleting at a rapid rate, and Logan was about to run out. He needed to drop the suit before his airways grew tight. There was nothing worse than trying to run an agility obstacle course while you were choking to death. With a sigh of annoyance, Logan released [Mimicry Armour], letting everything but his original boots and neck armour dissolve into sand. Reflexively grabbing the dust and throwing it into his spatial storage, he jumped to the next platform and pulled up his Karma pool. He needed to wait until it fully replenished before redeploying the same strategy. 5/510. 7/510. 9/510. 11/510. Damn. Because he hadn¡¯t fully released the armour, it was taking much longer to replenish. Logan would have to wait minutes before he could¡ª Oh fuck. The cannon balls had come to a standstill, hovering in the air, glowing eyes blinking at Logan, the glass cannons grinning with glass shard teeth, their entire attention focused on him to the exclusion of everything else. Interlude: Ernie: Need Saving? Pah! At first, he knew nothing but pain. Ernie had suffered through severed tentacles before, but that was in the before-land, the time before numbers, and levels, and clever System messages. The serpent spit out his severed tentacles and then let out a bellow of rage as the portal flashed, taking fleshy human Logan away, away to safety! Logan could save his sister! Save his brethren! Even staring down certain death, Ernie felt a flush of pride and satisfaction at having outmanoeuvered the nasty queen. Now, Logan would live, live to fight another day! The serpent¡¯s green eyes glinted with malice as she gnashed her teeth, her mighty tail lashing like a whip. She was so enraged that she bashed her tail against the stalactites in the ceiling, and they rained down one after the other with massive booms. The larvae in the water paused as if uncertain, wiggling in mid-swim. ¡°You deserve death, little octopus,¡± the serpent hissed. ¡°Death and pain for what that human did to my young. But death is too good for the likes of you. I might make use of you yet.¡± Crooning to the larvae in the water, she said, ¡°You know what to do.¡± Given a command, the larvae jumped, wiggling once again, but this time they went in the same direction¡ªdirectly towards Ernie. Through his agony, Ernie straightened and glowered. He would escape! Join Logan, and¡ª He had nowhere to go. The portal was at his back, the serpent at his front, and the wiggling worms surrounded him on all sides. Still, he would triumph! Ernie refused to give up! He was a murderous octopus; he rivalled all. He would¡­ He would¡­ He would do something! It was just a matter of what. Pain and nerves washed through Ernie, a jumble of emotions making it difficult to think. It wasn¡¯t fear¡ªnever fear! Just uncertainty. For the first time, he realized that he didn¡¯t know what to do. With the last of his willpower, he used his remaining tentacles to bash away the larvae, hitting them like a battering ram. One after another, he pummeled them, whooshing them through the water away away away! But for every worm he bashed, another took its place. There were ten, then dozens, then a hundred! Worm after worm piled on top of him, spewing their golden, diamond-sharp flower petals. The petals were alive. They swarmed his skin, covering him like ants. The petals started crawling towards his wounds, sinking, and burrowing into his exposed flesh. ¡°LOGAN!¡± he projected mentally, a last, desperate plea for help even though Ernie didn¡¯t want Logan to return. He knew that would mean death. No! Ernie would overcome! He would triumph! He refused¡­ He refused¡­ One blink. Two. Everything became foggy, as if his head were stuffed with cotton. ¡°Bring him to the down-below,¡± commanded the serpent, her voice like a whip. ¡°It will take time to transform such a strong specimen. Once he¡¯s remade anew, we¡¯ll see what he becomes.¡± *** Down, down, down, Ernie went. The larvae worms had latched onto him, carrying him through the water foot after foot. Ernie had lived in the ocean; he had travelled into the depths before, but at a certain point, even an octopus dared go no further. The water became dark, so dark that even Ernie with his high perception struggled to see. What¡¯s worse, he couldn¡¯t move, and he travelled through the water like a doll, manipulated by worms. The affront! The insult! And yet he could do nothing. As they continued to drop drop drop, Ernie could see a faint glow, like an underwater star covered by a cobweb. Each foot closer meant that the light grew brighter, illuminating the ground below. If Ernie could have moved his mouth, he¡¯d be gaping. The serpent had an army. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. On the ground, other larvae worms writhed, these ones the size of dolphins. They looked like maggots that had ballooned in size. Amongst them, undead sturgeons, immense titans larger than sharks, slumbered like rumbling giants. Their skin was pale and translucent, dark black sharp ratty fins sticking out of their backs and sides, faces the sizes of crocodiles. There had to be hundreds. Throughout the gathering, undead fish, both tiny like one of his suction cups, and large like big rocks, flittered around, their undead red eyes darting from side to side, as if supervising the crowd. But that wasn¡¯t all. Within the army, there were humans. Humans stood motionless, a dozen at least. With gold-weave and purple-weave skin, eyes flower petals, tongues flower tentacles. Their tongues wiggled in a mindless motion, like a hibernating snake. [Level 49 Undead Minion. A human transformed into the undead by Queen Naitaka.] The larvae set Ernie down on the ground on a bare patch of soil. Sand kicked up in the water as he landed and collapsed in a heap. He still couldn¡¯t move, and he was looking at everything around him as if it were remote. But Ernie was a murderous octopus, an octopus who rivaled all. He would gather himself, regrow his tentacles, then launch a sneaky¡­ A sneaky¡­ After that, he knew no more. *** Ding! [Congratulations, Murderous Octopus! You¡¯ve been granted a species change! Marine Cephalopod has been changed to Undead Cephalopod! You will be subservient to Queen Naitaka and forced to do her bidding!] [Error!] [Error 2323.2323.2] [User is a bonded companion!] [Recalculating¡­] [¡­] [Recalculating¡­] [Undead Cephalopod has been changed to Cephalopod Liche! A master manipulator, your power remains hidden from those more powerful than you. Be stealthy, be smart, and the world will kneel before you.] [You have been granted the skill, Undead Stamina! This rare skill latches onto your endurance attribute and boosts it by 100%.] [You have been granted the skill, Liche Creation! This rare skill allows you to infect and seed your undead essence into beings to transform them into undead and add them to your minion army.] Ernie blinked away the messages and then stared at his tentacles. They were whole once again! And he¡­ was pasty white! So pale he might as well be a corpse! Bah! Disgusting! Straightening, he flexed in the water, commanding his skin to turn into the color of the sand underneath him. It¡­ what¡­ why! Stinky fish guts! It wouldn¡¯t obey! Glowering, Ernie huffed and then glanced around him. One of the sturgeons was staring at him in curiosity, red eyes glinting and its mouth opening in a grin. Startled, Ernie jumped in the water, and then stilled. It didn¡¯t seem to want to kill him. Uncertainty eating at him, Ernie pulled up the latest System message. As soon as he comprehend the change, he jerked in the water like he¡¯d been electrocuted, excitement surging. Ernie. Rivaled. All. Cackling, he danced in the water, his tentacles darting, doing a savage, savage dance. He wasn¡¯t just a Murderous Octopus, he was a Mighty Murderous Liche! It had frustrated him to no end when the undead sturgeons had escaped one after another, all because of their undead stamina! Now, Ernie rivaled all. Not just that, he could create an army, become overpowered, join Logan, and then rain a hell storm of slaughter down upon their enemies and avenge his brethren. He didn¡¯t like that he couldn¡¯t deploy [Mimicry], but when had that ever stopped him? He would overcome and figure out a solution; he would triumph, he would¡­ The serpent was approaching. As its immense shadow passed over the army below, the undead cowered, lowering their heads in deference and avoiding the Queen¡¯s eyes. She came to a stop in front of Ernie, kicking up sand, green eyes bright with curiosity as her long tail slithered through the water. Examining him, she studied his pallid skin, before she turned her attention to his regrown tentacles. ¡°A handy skill,¡± she mused. Something told Ernie that he needed to act like the undead minions around him, mindless, brain-dead. Drooping, he let his tentacles flop and his eyes glaze over. The wait felt endless. Then, finally, ¡°I suppose you¡¯ll do,¡± she said. ¡°A satisfactory change. Go, undead octopus! Go out in the wild and transform beings to add to my army!¡± Ernie blinked at the sand. Huh. She didn¡¯t know. Ernie wasn¡¯t just an undead octopus, he was a Liche. The serpent swam over to the sturgeon who had been grinning at him. ¡°As for you, what a pathetic excuse for an undead sturgeon. A failure, substandard, a disappointment. Where are my undead humans, hmmm? Where?¡± The sturgeon cowered and dipped its head, lowering its eyes to the ground, it fins like limp socks. ¡°Pathetic!¡± she snapped. Slashing her green claws, she raked the sturgeon¡¯s side, scoring deep scratches and causing a milky-white substance to saturate the water. The undead fish and other sturgeons averted their gaze, trying to become invisible targets. Nothing to see here. ¡°I¡¯ll not warn you again. All of you,¡± she said with a glare around her. ¡°Results! Or you¡¯re dead!¡± Then with a last glower, she whipped her tail and streamed through the water. Ernie blinked after her and then gave the sturgeon a careful glance. ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t seem very nice.¡± The sturgeon raised its head. ¡°You tried soooo hard, and what did you get? Nothing but derision. If I were her, I¡¯d be praising you with compliments, yes yes yes. Such a smart sturgeon, such a powerhouse. And so handsome, too!¡± The sturgeon straightened in the water and a red flush spread across its pale, milky white back. ¡°If you were my minion, I would know when to reward someone for good work!¡± Hmm. Ernie rested a tentacle against his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s too bad you aren¡¯t one of mine.¡± Pause for effect. The sturgeon was looking at him in a different way, an intrigued way. Ernie held back a grin. Yes yes yes! He would start a revolution! A rebellion from within! Ernie was a master manipulator Liche. Ernie rivaled all. Chapter 62: Help From Unexpected Sources ¡°Hah!¡± shouted Errol. ¡°Now he¡¯s going to get it! You don¡¯t trick the balls, idiot! It makes them angry!¡± ¡°This is your chance, Asthea!¡± said Arsen. ¡°They¡¯ll knock him out and then you just need to last long enough to overtake his score.¡± Asthea was panting, cuts on her legs and arms dripping blood from where the glass cannons had skimmed by. Her hair was drooping, sopping wet, as if she¡¯d just spent an hour in a sauna. ¡°He¡¯s ten levels ahead! I don¡¯t know if I can last long enough to catch up.¡± Arsen wiped a streak of blood from his chin and grinned with his two missing teeth. ¡°Start now while the balls are distracted. They won¡¯t care about you while they pummel him to death!¡± Asthea gulped but nodded. Taking a deep breath, she started jumping again. Logan took this in with half his attention. He was too busy jumping, ducking, leaping¡ªanything he could do to avoid the cannons. His agility had increased to a massive degree, allowing him to weave around the platforms quicker than when he¡¯d started this trial, but there were only so many times he could duck before¡ª Fuuuuuuck. The rabid swordfish ball had punctured his side, the spike going all the way out and sticking out of his back. The cannon backed up and pulled the spike out with a scissoring motion, slicing clean through his side and creating a jagged, gaping wound, with a flap of skin hanging out. If that thing had been five inches closer to the middle of his chest, he would have been on death¡¯s door. Stabbing pain shuddered through his body, his side feeling numb. It hurt¡ªboy, did it ever¡ªbut somehow, he could tell it wasn¡¯t as bad as it would have been before the integration. Was [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] finally paying dividends? Logan looked up from his injury only to be encountered with a barreling cannon. One of the jack-o''-lantern glass balls had taken advantage of his distraction. It sliced his other side, tearing the waistband of his kitten-patterned swim trunks and scoring deep lacerations into his hip like shrapnel. Errol grinned toothily as he jumped past the platform next to Logan¡¯s, his eyes glinting in satisfaction. ¡°That¡¯s what cheaters get.¡± They thought that was the end of Logan. The thing was, Logan had just gone through hell in the flying snake massacre. Those things had taken out chunks of flesh, injected him with their venom, and had come back for more. Since Logan had received [Regenerate], he recovered from injuries much quicker. Combine that with his [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] pain reduction skill, and he could push through injuries that would have put most people down for the count. Logan grinned savagely. And while the cannons had been attacking, his Karma pool had been replenishing. 502/510. 504/510. 508/510. 510/510. It was time to start again. Logan leaped over one of the charging glass cannons, his feet skidding on the next platform, the cleats giving him a solid grip, and then redeployed [Mimicry Armour]. This time, urgency and the desire to avoid getting hit made him faster. He managed to reform the armour in half the time, grabbing sand, forming the chest plate, leaping to the next platform, ducking, weaving. He was going so fast the cannons couldn¡¯t target him, his high agility making them let out frustrated screeches and crackles. With one last sigh of relief, Logan reformed the faceplate and became invisible again. Errol spluttered. ¡°He disappeared again! Not possible! How is he still standing and not a bloody mess?¡± And then his eyes widened. Logan had become invisible to the cannons, which meant the balls were once again after the others, and Errol was their first target. He bellowed in panic and leaped to the next platform like a flailing ballerina, blood spraying in a torrent as the swordfish cannon ran a spike down his back and sliced through his armour. Shaking off the injury, he jumped on the balls of his feet, the platform swaying underneath his weight. As he scanned the room, his scowl was ferocious. ¡°The Silverdagger Clan aren¡¯t weaklings, balls of System-spawn! It¡¯ll take more than that to knock me down for the count!¡± He¡¯d just made a mistake. If Logan knew anything, it was to watch what you said about the System. It was always listening, always watching. The jack-o''-lantern balls took his words as a challenge, crackling and grinding as they circled around in a boomerang loop and went directly for him once again. Errol cursed and spat a wad of saliva over the platform before hopping to the next. It was the size of a dinner plate. His arms windmilled as he tried to balance himself, but one of his arms hung limply, dislocated, making him wobble on uneven footing. He was going to fall off! Arsen jumped past him, his face grey with worry. ¡°Go, man, go! They¡¯re targeting you!¡± Errol let out an unhinged laugh. ¡°You know me. Just taking a rest, a rest on a plate! A plate that wouldn¡¯t hold a tankard of ale!¡± ¡°It¡¯s no time for jests!¡± Asthea said as she jumped past. ¡°Focus!¡± Errol gave her a smile that was more like a grimace as he jumped to the next platform. This one was the size of a small round coffee table. ¡°They¡¯ll not get me! Not before the¡ª¡± He broke off, his eyes widening as the swordfish cannon came at him like a freight train. Its shiny spikes shone with diamond edges, so sharp they might as well be knives. Wobbling on the small platform, he gave up on keeping his balance in favor of trying to shield his chest by holding his dislocated shoulder with his other hand. The spike went right through it. Errol screamed as the swordfish cannon sliced off three fingers, the appendages going flying, one landing on a different platform with a slick plop. Yuck. Errol could really use something like [Regenerate] right now. But the cannon wasn¡¯t done. After slicing through Errol¡¯s fingers, it withdrew with a squeak of glee and jumped as if it had been flung by a slingshot, bouncing against the wall with a screeching metal against metal sound, getting ever more speed as it returned. It sounded like a banshee! Going so fast it might as well be a bullet, it smacked into Errol spike first, hitting his torso like a battering ram with a sick, slick sound. Logan grimaced as he jumped past. The spike had gone all the way through the guard¡¯s chest and out his back. ¡°Errol!¡± Asthea said in protest and then whimpered as the cannon dug itself free of his chest with a slick sound, blood dripping from its long spikes and drizzling to the floor. Errol looked down at his chest in disbelief and then sunk to his knees, his face deathly pale. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Asthea,¡± he said in a quiet voice. ¡°I wanted to give you a good showing. Now¡ª¡± he coughed. ¡°N-now you¡¯ll j-just have to deal with the w-weakling yourself. You can do it, girl.¡± With a last frantic look around, as if he were searching for Logan, his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell off the platform and onto the ground with a thud. Logan paused on his platform and peered over the edge. Errol had landed face-first, a pool of blood soaking the floor around him. One of the jack-o''-lantern balls dipped down and hovered around him with grinding sounds, excited, jumping up and down in the air before deflating and zooming off and looking for another target. There was only one reason it would have left. Errol was motionless, not even a twitch. And not twenty feet away, Thorin¡¯s body lay face-up, his lips pale and lifeless. They were both dead. Logan swallowed hard, a sour tang in his mouth. Despite their taunts, he didn¡¯t like to see it. It was a let down and it felt too easy. He¡¯d wanted to win, but he¡¯d much rather do it by outperforming and beating them with pure agility and tactics. Now, Asthea and Arsen were the only ones left. There was an opportunity here. He never would have thought this if their death were permanent, but they¡¯d come back. They¡¯d get to take part in the army trial just like everyone else. Logan could think of it as a System time out. Hopefully they¡¯d come back with no memory of their painful death. But Logan could do this. He could win. Focusing intently on each platform, he mapped out his path well in advance as if he were tracing a line on a maze. This time, he¡¯d have a plan and squeeze out every second to his advantage. His heart fluttering with resolve, he jumped to the next platform, then the next, darting from one to the other as if his feet were on fire. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 22 Agility Asthea: 12 Agility Errol: 9 Agility Arsen: 8 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] ¡°No!¡± Asthea screamed as one of the glass cannons barrelled towards her. She ducked just in time, strands of hair catching in the jagged glass as it flew past. ¡°He¡¯s ten points ahead of me,¡± she mumbled to herself, glancing from the flying cannons to the ground down below, her expression torn. Rubbing her eyes and then wincing as the movement jarred a shoulder injury, she released a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Arsen. I tried. I wanted to win, I wanted to win so bad.¡± ¡°I concede.¡± Her mouth in a hard line of resignation, she stepped over the edge of the platform and jumped to the ground. Asthea had given up. Arsen spat another wad of blood and scowled. ¡°I can¡¯t see you, little man, but I know you can hear me. You¡¯ve just ruined our princess¡¯ trial of awakening. This was her time to shine. You¡¯ll not always be invisible. You¡¯ll get what¡¯s coming to you.¡± He looked up to the ceiling and said, ¡°I concede,¡± before stepping over the edge of his platform and joining Asthea. Logan glanced down at the floor on his way past. Arsen had a consoling hand wrapped around Asthea¡¯s shoulder and he was helping her limp over to the wall. They grimaced at Thorin¡¯s and Errol¡¯s bodies as they strode past. ¡°You did your best,¡± he said to her in an undertone. ¡°We couldn¡¯t account for this. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Logan winced. There was no other way this could have gone. Logan had needed to win, but he suspected that after he finished the trial, he might have to watch his back. Arsen had seemed the most reasonable of the guards, but that was out the window now. Still, that was a worry for later. For now, Logan was kicking ass. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [¡­] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 27 Agility Asthea: 12 Agility Errol: 9 Agility Arsen: 8 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] The cannons were flying around aimlessly, letting out defeated crackling whimpers as they searched in vain. They must be intelligent enough to know that there was still a participant in the trial, but they couldn¡¯t track him. Logan was invisible. His wounds underneath his armour felt tender, each jump and stretching movement not helping, but regardless, he could tell that [Regenerate] was already at work. Logan could continue this for as long as he wanted; deplete his armour, take a beating while his Karma pool replenished, and then repeat the same process all over again. Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [¡­] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 30 Agility Asthea: 12 Agility Errol: 9 Agility Arsen: 8 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] There was one distinct problem. Fatigue. Logan could continue this indefinitely, but he couldn¡¯t drink water through his face-mask, and once he dissolved his armour, he couldn¡¯t pause to take a drink or risk being pummelled by the cannons. His legs were starting to feel like stretched noodles, and underneath his suit, he was sweating like someone in 150-degree heat. Eventually, he would need to stop, or risk being so worn down that he¡¯d have no energy left for the endurance trial. And then, as if someone were looking out for him, the solution came. But it wasn¡¯t someone. It was Ernie. Ding! [You¡¯ve been granted the title, Audacious Corpse, for being the only person in your world to bond with an undead companion and live to tell the tale. This title will make the undead view you as one of their own. They will not attack you on sight and they will welcome you into their ranks.] And it didn¡¯t stop there. Logan came to a stop on a platform, and stood there motionless, gaping underneath his face-mask. [You have been granted the skill, Undead Stamina! This rare skill latches onto your endurance attribute and boosts it by 50%. You can level up this skill by truly becoming a member of the undead¡ªif you dare.] [You have been granted the skill, Liche Creation! This rare skill allows you to infect and seed your undead essence into¡­.#!@!] [#!Error!#] [User is not undead!] [Recalculating¡­] [¡­] [Recalculating¡­] [¡­] [New skill created!] [You have been granted the skill, Liche Siphon! This rare skill allows you to siphon away an enemy¡¯s Karma. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware of the siphoning until Karma pool depletion is in effect.] The last Ding! faded, but Logan stood there, stunned. He couldn¡¯t believe it. Ernie. Ernie was alive. Logan barked out a laugh of relief, his heart feeling light. He¡¯d hoped, he¡¯d so hoped that he¡¯d made it out alive, but there had been a trickling dread that even Ernie couldn¡¯t survive something like the Queen Serpent. Instead, Ernie had¡­ Ernie had become an undead murderous octopus. Logan¡¯s smile faded as he began to worry about what that meant. The undead minions had seemed mindless, only concerned with infecting everyone around them. The undead sturgeon had been slightly more intelligent, displaying amusement and excitement when it had viewed its own reflection, but what did that mean for Ernie? There was one hope. Ernie was an octopus, and octopuses didn¡¯t talk. He¡¯d managed to evolve, becoming sapient through the System. Could a Liche octopus maintain its sense of self? Logan felt his heart sinking at another possibility. Had Ernie become part of the minion army, subservient to the queen and not able to think independently? That possibility meant something unpleasant, something that would break his heart. This change was even more of an incentive to grow strong so he could challenge the serpent. If he could save Ernie through some kind of ¡®kill the head vampire to turn the minion back into a human¡¯ thing, Logan would do it. That had never worked in the zombie movies¡ªonly serums could save a zombie, but Logan refused to believe there wasn¡¯t a solution. Ernie had sacrificed himself to save Logan and he¡¯d do whatever he could to return the favor. Not only that, but these new skills were as if Ernie had been looking down on him, saw him struggling, and said, here, Logan, this will help you get strong, yes yes yes. Logan smiled. [Undead Stamina] would solve his fatigue problem and although [Liche Siphon] made him slightly uncomfortable, if he used it in a fight against an enemy, it could be a huge life saver, allowing him an extra boost of Karma to continue deploying [Life Cycle Master] and [Mimicry Armour]. In fact, if he figured out how to continue the siphoning, he could eventually use it as a weapon in itself¡ªdraining someone¡¯s Karma pool until they choked to death. For now, Logan refrained from experimenting on Asthea and Arsen. If he screwed up and they ended up detecting it, he wouldn¡¯t just have a pissed off group, he¡¯d have enemies. Logan took a deep breath. [Undead Stamina] must be a passive skill, since he already felt energized as if he¡¯d chugged down ten bottles of Red Bull. His legs felt refreshed, sturdy, agile¡ªjust what he needed to continue. Logan got to work. *** Ding! [You have earned one Agility point!] [You have earned one Agility point!] [¡­] [You have earned one Agility point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 40 Agility Asthea: 12 Agility Errol: 9 Agility Arsen: 8 Agility Thorin: 2 Agility] With a sigh of satisfaction, Logan took in the final trial update and then decided to call it. He¡¯d increased his agility attribute more than he¡¯d ever thought possible; at this point, he was littered with cuts and soaked with blood. Even with [Undead Stamina], he¡¯d managed to deplete his endurance once again, and his legs were wet noodles. It was time for a break. Logan stepped over the edge of the platform and jumped to the floor, his boots making thuds as he landed. Ding! [You have completed the agility trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.] [Calculating rewards¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Rewards calculated!] [As the weakest person in the agility trial, you have defied the odds. Well done, Idiot! You have been granted double the amount of agility achieved in the agility trial¡ª40 bonus agility attribute points.] [In addition, you have been granted a boon.] [Agility Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double agility. The Agility Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.] As he expected, it was the same reward. That would have been hella inconvenient if the System had decided that he¡¯d performed too well and had awarded him with something else. He needed to complete the set. As soon as the announcement faded, Logan put on the ring and then felt a surge of adrenaline as his body expanded. Just like with the strength trial, such a large increase to one attribute all at once was a trip. He felt like dancing, leaping, summersaulting, hanging from the ceiling. Logan could do it all. As the feeling faded, his excitement only surged. For the first time in a long time, Logan pulled up his full stat sheet: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 501 out of 6,059,989,318 Level: 34 Class: None Grade: F3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: XP Progress: 32,000/68,000 Karma: 510/510 Intelligence: 85 Constitution: 41 Strength: 86 x 2 = 172* (*Pure Grit Ring) Agility: 116 x 2 = 232* (*Pure Grit Ring) Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 40 + 50% = 60 Perception: 20 Wisdom: 80 Luck: 50 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 2600 Holy. F¡¯ing. Shit. He¡¯d broken into the 500th rank. 500! Logan was stronger than billions of people; only 500 people were stronger than him in the whole freaking world. He now had too many skills to count; his attributes were nuts, and he¡¯d even managed to increase his luck attribute. There were so many increases it was difficult to contemplate. Someone cleared their throat. Asthea and Arsen were staring at him. Logan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. ¡°Heeeey.¡± Chapter 63: A Bright Spark of Hope Asthea and Arsen had dragged the corpses of their companions next to the door. Each body was sitting down and leaning against the wall, filthy with blood. Their eyes were open, milky-white pupils staring sightlessly, their faces taking on a green tinge. Before this, Thorin had reeked like sweaty socks, but now that he was dead, the corpse let out a rotten-egg, spoiled meat stench. They were going to come back from this? Logan whistled. It was one thing to know that the System could grant powers and suck exploded planes and boats through a vacuum hole in space, it was another thing to realize that it could bring people back from the dead. Logan looked at Asthea and Arsen and winced. ¡°Sorry about that. I know I crashed your party. You weren¡¯t expecting me to win.¡± Arsen glowered, murder in his eyes, but Asthea rested a tired hand on his arm. ¡°It¡¯s a trial. All must compete to the best of their abilities. I¡¯ll not criticize you for doing what any one of us would have done in your place.¡± ¡°Asthea, he robbed you!¡± There were dark circles underneath her eyes. Her pointy wolf-like ears drooped as if in disappointment. ¡°I¡¯ll not hear it. He won the trial fair and square.¡± She gave Logan a soft smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Arsen or my other guards. They¡¯ll get over it. I admit, we underestimated you. We have a word for people like you on our world, noncsolicz, Stealth Player. People who purposely keep their level low and advance their attributes in other ways so that everyone vastly underestimates their abilities.¡± ¡°Trust me, that¡¯s not me. The System integrated our world six days ago. I¡¯m not that devious. I don¡¯t know enough to try, bumbling around half the time. There¡¯s¡­.¡± Ding! [The pollution contributors: A quarter million metric tons of radioactive nuclear waste and 413 nuclear power plants, have been purged from planet Earth. Although we commend you for attempting to produce energy that has a minimum carbon output, nuclear waste is a scourge upon the planet and a hazard to the citizens of the Collective. Think before you create, humans.] [53,430 humans have been eliminated¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [89,322 humans have been¡ª] [Recalculating¡­] [101,203 humans have been eliminated!] [Bad news, human! Your ranking has not increased.] [Current rank: 501 out of 6,059,805,009.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] The latest System purge. Huh. That was a new one. For once, it might have done them a favor. The deaths were unfortunate but compared to the millions that had died from the natural gas purge, they¡¯d gotten off lucky. Either that, or Logan had gotten way too jaded. The System had still killed thousands; it wasn¡¯t like it was a walk in the park. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but admit that there was a benefit to eliminating radioactive waste. Damn. They might have escaped a major bullet. For once, he didn¡¯t have to worry about Lara, since she wasn¡¯t anywhere close to a nuclear power plant or nuclear waste. But when would it end? Would the System continue eradicating every single thing that generated carbon each day for the next year? It might as well eliminate all the seismic activity and volcanoes while it was at it. ¡°Are you all right?¡± asked Asthea. She was gazing at him in concern. Logan ran a hand through his hair. The relief of learning that Ernie had managed to survive had distracted him from his main purpose¡ªLara. He needed to fast-track this trial as much as possible¡ªget strong, take what gains he could¡ªthen get out. And get out way earlier than the six days Asthea had initially mentioned. ¡°Just a daily System purge,¡± he said. ¡°You said you experienced the same thing on your world? Do you know how long we¡¯ll have to go through this?¡± Asthea glanced at Arsen, who was standing with his arms crossed with a mulish expression. She sighed. ¡°The System integrated our world over a hundred years ago. I¡¯ve heard tales, but I don¡¯t have a chronology.¡± Logan scratched his five o¡®clock shadow. It was turning into a beard rather than stubble; he¡¯d soon be a Mountain Man if he didn¡¯t find time for personal grooming. ¡°Fuck,¡± he mumbled underneath his breath. ¡°I need to get out of here.¡± She gave him a curious look. ¡°You said that before. Do you have a nonxalzinaa to get back to?¡± Logan furrowed his brow. A what-a-what? Asthea laughed and touched his arm. ¡°Someone you have intercourse with? A companion?¡± Logan felt a wash of red flush his cheeks. Ooookay. That went in a direction he hadn¡¯t expected. Hopefully she was just teasing and nothing else. Logan had enough on his hands with the apocalypse without having to deal with an alien hitting on him. He cleared his throat. ¡°We call that a spouse, or a girlfriend. No, no girlfriend, but I do have family. I was trying to make my way back to them when I got¡­ diverted.¡± ¡°Family? You have children?¡± Logan paused. There wasn¡¯t any reason not to tell her. ¡°Not mine, my sister¡¯s.¡± ¡°Ah. Children.¡± Then, quieter, ¡°The purge.¡± Logan nodded solemnly. ¡°It¡¯s screwed up beyond belief. I need to get back to them to help them prepare.¡± And hopefully get them into the one percent. Asthea was silent. Her look became far away as she stared blankly at the wall. Finally, she focused on Logan, her face firm. ¡°Don¡¯t believe the System. It¡¯s a lie. Our world never had this chance; we only learned it too late. But if you¡¯re only on your sixth day, you have time.¡± Her amusement was gone; her expression was dead serious. ¡°Time to do what?¡± ¡°The purge. It¡¯s a lie that there¡¯s no way out. You can save your people. You can save them all.¡± Logan eyed her carefully. She seemed earnest, her eyes passionate. A jolt ran through his body. For the first time in a long time, he started to feel hope. ¡°How?¡± ¡°The System will kill ninety-nine percent of your population in one year, but only if you do nothing. There¡¯s a loophole. If you can¡ª¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Asthea,¡± Arsen interjected, his mouth in a thin line. ¡°Why help him? He deserves only your contempt. He¡¯s a selfish off-worlder who took away your prize.¡± Rather than looking annoyed, Asthea visibly softened. ¡°A trial of awakening means I¡¯m no longer a child. You no longer have to fight my battles. He was selfish, yes, but that doesn¡¯t mean we have to doom the rest of his world. Children, Arsen, millions of children. Remember what happened to us. Remember our history.¡± Arsen swallowed and gave her a respectful nod. ¡°Your words have wisdom.¡± ¡°What do you expect,¡± she teased, ¡°when I was taught by the best.¡± Giving Logan her attention, her expression became serious again. ¡°Save your people. It¡¯s possible. It¡¯ll be hard, it¡¯ll take ingenuity and ability, but I¡¯ve already seen what you can do, and you might just have a chance.¡± Logan clenched his hands into fists. If he could pry the answer out of Asthea by pure willpower alone, he¡¯d do it. If she had the answer, a way to save Lara and the kids, their future might not be as bleak as he feared. ¡°How?¡± he asked. ¡°If you reduce the carbon in the air, the System will cancel the purge and give your people a chance. You¡¯ll still have to deal with¡­ other factors. But no mass genocide, no slaughter of children.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ why wouldn¡¯t it say that? The System integration message didn¡¯t mention any loophole.¡± She laughed, a brittleness to her eyes. ¡°When is the System ever fair? It has loopholes, but you must discover them for yourself. The person who programmed it wants blood and tears.¡± Ding! [You¡¯ve received the Quest: Save Humanity! Save 5.9 billion people in less than one year by catching and storing 930 billion tons of carbon. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will save 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will kill 5.9 billion people.] [Quest Progress: 0% complete. 359 days remaining.] [Better get cracking, Idiot.] Logan hissed in a sharp breath. It was real. What Asthea was saying wasn¡¯t a pipe dream, it was possible; the evidence was in front of his eyes. That meant that Logan could save Lara and the kids without having to resort to drastic leveling options; he could save millions, no, billions of people. But how? It was just like the System to give him a solution but no specifics. And it had chosen the worst person for the job¡ªLogan wasn¡¯t a tree hugger. He did his part and recycled like anyone else, but anything else beyond that had never been a priority. If anyone was right for this quest, it was a scientist, someone who knew what the hell they were doing. He had no way to quantify 930 billion tons of carbon, but he knew it was a hell of a lot. What¡¯s worse, the System had eradicated planes and firetrucks, and the fire situation would only get worse. Each burning, candling tree; each burning building¡ªall of it would contribute carbon, escalating the problem and making it easier for the System to win. And to kill everyone. Logan paced, his brow furrowed as he mulled over the problem. There was one thing that he had going for him that scientists might not have. [Life Cycle Master.] Logan could grow trees. A lot of trees. Was the System expecting him to go from place-to-place building forests? Somehow, he didn¡¯t think that was it. It couldn¡¯t be that simple. He couldn¡¯t help but think back to his olivine discoveries; Logan had thought it odd at the time that the System would award so much KarmaCoin for discovering what was essentially a rock, but in a way, he began to see that there was a method to its madness. It wouldn¡¯t give out an instruction manual, a tutorial wasn¡¯t in its vocabulary, but it would give hints, and it was up to the person that discovered them to connect the dots. If there was one thing Logan knew, it was that humanity could achieve amazing things when they worked together. If Logan was able to convince others; convince what was left of the government or whoever was in power out there, they might just have a chance. *** [Trial reset in progress¡­] [¡­] [..] [Please stand by.] Logan had helped Arsen and Asthea drag the guard¡¯s bodies out of the circular room and out into the hallway, and then they waited for the System to transform the room for the next trial. They both didn¡¯t look like they were in a hurry, slumped to the floor and leaning against the wall in an exhausted heap. Even though Logan was tired, he couldn¡¯t do the same. Too many things had happened, swamping him with a rollercoaster of emotions. First, he¡¯d discovered that Ernie was alive, which had created a surge of euphoria, followed by the let down of the century when he discovered that alive wasn¡¯t exactly accurate. And the most important discovery of all, humanity may not be doomed after all. Up to now, Logan may have been looking at everything wrong. Fight, advance, fight. It had been the only thing left to him when the System treated him like a marionette on strings. This whole time, he hadn¡¯t realized that the System integration meant more than life-or-death fights. He¡¯d been given these new powers for a reason. Making him wiggle like a worm on a hook was one part of it, but the other part was power. Karma was the answer. It had to be. It was Karma that let Logan utilize magic; Karma allowed him to deploy [Life Cycle Master]. He¡¯d made strides with the skill, but he knew there had to be other uses he hadn¡¯t figured out yet. It was all tied together. The mythical Tree Fridge. A skill to grow trees. Trees reducing carbon. Grudgingly, Logan realized that the System might not be as bad as he¡¯d thought. Still sadistic, still doing everything it could to get him killed¡­ and yet, it had given him the tools he needed to survive, he just hadn¡¯t known it. Ding! [Trial reset complete.] He couldn¡¯t overlook the fact that stumbling into this trial had been a major windfall. If he continued to excel and managed to advance his other attributes, that meant for every future level increase, he could throw the extra attribute points into his intelligence and wisdom stats instead of having to divert important resources away from his Karma development. Logan took a few minutes to gulp down a bottle of water, chewed a handful of green beans and chomped on a tomato, and then strode over to Asthea and Arsen. He nudged the bottom of Arsen¡¯s shoe. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Arsen blinked. ¡°You¡¯re a machine,¡± he said with a glower. ¡°Give us a break. We need to recharge.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± Asthea gave him a warning glance. ¡°¡­I suppose a few minutes wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± *** Ding! [You have entered the endurance trial. You will compete individually but only advance to the next attribute as a group. Once the last person concedes or drops, the group will advance to the next attribute.] [After 24 hours, your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increases in each area will be granted a bonus.] The circular room had once again been transformed. Last time, the System had created floating platforms out of thin air, this time, it had created a¡­ field. What the hell? On either side were the same black stone walls, but the middle of the room was full of short, wild yellow grass, intermixed with the occasional dead-looking tree, like a desert tree with a narrow, gnarly trunk whose leaves had long since dried up and fallen to the ground. As far as the eye could see, Logan saw more of the same¡ªgrass, grass, and more grass¡ªfollowed by trees and the odd jagged rock. Even stranger was that they appeared to be outside, but Logan could make out the black ceiling, this time the same height as the last trial. Instead of sunlight, the blue orbs continued to illuminate the space, casting a blue glow that made everything seem as if it had been filtered through a lens. It had to be an optical illusion. There was no way that this room was still circular on the sides but went on for miles in one direction with no end in sight. ¡°What is this?¡± Logan asked. Arsen barked out a laugh. ¡°You think we¡¯re going to tell you? After what you did in the last trial? I don¡¯t think you need any advantages, little man. You have too many cheats and hidden skills already.¡± He turned to Asthea. ¡°My dear, I know this is difficult, and you might feel all is lost, but this trial is still an opportunity. You can advance, you can grow, you can even win if Idiot here finally meets his match. It¡¯s one thing to dart away from cannon balls, and another thing to¡­¡± His eyes glinted when he glanced at Logan. ¡°Well, he¡¯ll find out.¡± That didn¡¯t sound ominous. Asthea nodded. ¡°I know, Arsen. I¡¯m not giving up.¡± Taking a deep breath, she recited, ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body past its limits.¡± She loosened her ponytail, gathering strands of hair and pulling the wild, frizzy strands out of her eyes before retying the clasp. Clenching her fists, she jumped up and down as if psyching herself up. Logan looked at the field. This was an endurance trial. Could it be a simple matter of running? Running until you dropped? Somehow, Logan didn¡¯t think so, not after Arsen¡¯s remarks. But one thing was clear, based on the long distance, that never-ending field, running had to be part of it. Running meant he¡¯d need better equipment. Glancing down at his feet, Logan dissolved his boot cleats and then let half of the sand fall to the ground, sculpting his boots into something more flexible with a thinner bottom. Then, cracking his neck, he loosened himself up, stretching and flexing as if getting ready for a workout. Logan then waited. This time, he was going to start smart, and that meant copying Asthea and Arsen, since they knew something, something that might give them an advantage. ¡°Well?¡± Asthea said, winking at Logan. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± With a spring in her step, she leaped into the clearing. Chapter 64: The Endurance Trial Arsen still had his hair pulled back into a bun, emphasizing his high cheekbones as he glanced at Logan. He gave him a shit-eating, missing teeth grin, a grin that said, you¡¯re going to get it, and then followed Asthea into the field, quickly transitioning into a sprint. Logan stood there and watched, clenching his hands into fists at his sides and scanning his surroundings. No cat-doors were opening in the ceiling, no cannon balls were flying from the sides. Asthea and Arsen were jogging at a steady pace, and soon, Logan saw nothing but their backs. Huh. Logan rolled his shoulders and bounced on his feet, stretching and getting ready. Just like after the strength trial, the huge agility increase had effectively wiped away his fatigue, making him feel energized and ready to take on the world. The problem was, he had no idea what he was getting into. There was nothing for it. There had to be something else to this trial other than running, but if he waited any longer, Asthea and Arsen would soon be impossible to catch. Logan needed to win this trial, just like he¡¯d won the others. The True Grit Ring was at stake. Arsen and Asthea may be committed to winning, and now, motivated to beat Logan, but Logan was driven by something else. Lara and the kids weren¡¯t just relying on him, over 5 billion people were. Asthea¡¯s world had already gone through the System Integration; Logan¡¯s was just beginning. That was a hell of a motivation. Different stakes created different drives. It would be like throwing two different people into a competition, and telling one, if you win, you¡¯ll receive a makeover; to the other, if you win, you¡¯ll receive a makeover, save your family, and save billions of people. There was no comparison. And he had one huge advantage that they didn¡¯t. They both may be higher leveled than him, Arsen to a massive degree at level 89, but Logan had [Undead Stamina] on his side. Logan didn¡¯t know how high their endurance attribute was, but from [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], he knew that Arsen¡¯s highest stat was strength and Asthea¡¯s was agility. Endurance couldn¡¯t be that high. That meant he had a chance. Lifting off with his back foot, Logan went after them, sprinting at first, and then transitioning into a steady jog. He didn¡¯t want to go too fast¡ªthis was an endurance trial after all. The name of the game would be to last, last longer than the others. The ground underneath his shoes was dry, his feet crinkling over dry grass and kicking up dust over sporadic bare patches of sand. He passed gnarly trees and boulders. His first instinct was correct¡ªthe field lasted as far as the eye could see. How was that possible? Once again, he was reminded that he was dealing with something beyond humanity¡¯s comprehension. By this point, the impossible should be routine. Logan was well behind Asthea and Arsen, Asthea¡¯s ponytail streaming behind her. They couldn¡¯t see him. Grinning, Logan reached, and as he jogged past a boulder the size of a tire, he willed it inside his spatial collar. Boulder after boulder, he did the same, replenishing his depleted supply. He¡¯d thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the log barrier back in the serpent tunnel, and this gave him an opportunity to rebuild his stockpile. Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 2 Endurance Arsen: 2 Endurance Logan: 1 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] That hadn¡¯t taken long at all. So far, so good. Unlike in the Okanagan, the temperature in this room wasn¡¯t bad¡ªthe perfect room temperature for a workout. That meant he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about annoying external factors like heatstroke. Was it possible that Arsen had been lying? Putting doubt into Logan¡¯s mind that there was something sinister to this trial when it just came down to running? Logan snorted. Hell no. By now, he knew to expect the worst. And he¡¯d been right. As Asthea and Arsen passed the latest knobbly tree, the ground behind them moved, a large patch of bare sand shifting, tiny grains of sand vibrating. With a plume, the sand exploded in a torrent like something from Dune and¡­ What the freaking shit? A monster crawled out of the ground. Sand shifted as metallic, robotic limbs clawed their way to the surface, revealing a massive body and head. Patches of black mold covered it in the shape of stripes, a weird mixture of bare metal limbs and organic material. Shaking its mold-covered green head and spreading a plume of dust, it perked its metallic mold-covered ears and blinked black, oily-looking eyelids, its metallic skull glowing from within with a blue light. It looked like a tiger. A tiger from an acid trip. Or a nightmare. Twice the size of a lion, with thick, meaty limbs. The metallic frame that was bare of mold gleamed and glinted in the glow of the blue bulbs on the walls, reminding Logan of the metal chains. The monster clawed the ground with thick, sharp looking nine-inch-long talons that dripped with mold, its back end up in the air, a tail swinging back and forth and spraying moldy-particles. At the end of the tail, sharp, narrow spikes stood on end that drizzled with fluid. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± burst out Logan. Asthea and Arsen glanced back at him and took in the monster. Asthea gave him a worried look, but Arsen was grinning with his missing teeth. ¡°Faster, Asthea! Leave Idiot behind so the tiger becomes focused on him to the exclusion of all else. Let¡¯s see him get out of this now.¡± That mother¡ª They¡¯d known. They¡¯d purposely let him fall back so that they could continue the trial while he became the bait. The monster shook its head and opened its mouth, panting with a moldy, black dripping tongue. Was this thing alive? Logan hadn¡¯t tried [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] in the trial until now, assuming the cannon balls had been a System creation. [Oozing Mold Tiger Mecha Level 65. A System construct designed to slash, stab, and tear victims apart. The Oozing Mold Tiger Mecha can infect its prey with insidious paralytic mold. Against a poor constitution, the mold will leach vitality until the competitor can run no more.] Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. [Highest Stat: Endurance/Perception.] Oh hell no. So they would run and this thing would run after them, slashing and tearing them with its claws. Just like in the agility trial, the person who¡¯d win this would be the one that lasted. That meant he¡¯d have to keep running while the monster ran after him. If he killed it, would it also be like the cannon balls¡ªmultiplying? But if Arsen and Asthea thought he¡¯d met his match, they had another thing coming. They had forgotten that Logan had a huge advantage. With [Mimicry Armour], he could become invisible. Logan kept running, powering past the tiger who was sitting on its haunches, panting and staring. It seemed to grin as Logan passed it, waited a few seconds, before turning on a dime and leaping into the air. Oh fuck! The thing slammed to the ground, what had to be over eight-hundred pounds of metallic monster digging deep furrows as it ran after him. But make no mistake, just because this monster was made of metal and mold, didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t agile. Its strides were smooth, steady, and focused. At this rate, it would catch up to him in minutes. [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 3 Endurance Arsen: 3 Endurance Logan: 2 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Rather than increasing his speed and wasting valuable resources, Logan continued at a steady pace and then studied the ground. He didn¡¯t have to use the sand in his spatial collar¡ªit was readily available. Latching onto a handful in front of him, he reached, and forced it to slam onto his chest, reforming his armour so quickly he might as well be putting on a shirt. He¡¯d gotten that good at it. Trial and error. There was nothing like becoming an expert while your life was on the line. Logan rapidly spread his armour, forming it into a cohesive whole. Lastly, he covered his face, his vision sharpening and his perception becoming more acute. Logan was invisible once again. Now, all he had to do was keep up his pace and let the monster go after Arsen and Asthea. He could follow the same steps as the last trial. Eventually, he would run out of Karma, and he¡¯d have to collapse the armour, but he could survive a few minutes against the tiger while waiting for¡ª Holy shit! The monster had gained on him, and rather than striding past and going after the others, it bashed one huge claw against the back of his thigh. Logan stumbled, barely keeping his feet, but¡ª He glanced behind him. It could see him! Somehow, it could sense him even underneath all his armour! Shit shit shit. Kicking up his pace to get out of reach of its claws, Logan glanced behind him, hoping that it was a lucky strike. The monster grinned at him and met his gaze and then let out a bark of excitement, like a dog playing with a toy. In front of him, Arsen guffawed through his heavy pants. ¡°Let¡¯s see you get out of this one, tricky man!¡± ¡°Arsen,¡± panted Asthea, ¡°you don¡¯t have to rub it in.¡± ¡°You bet your pretty little ears I do! He¡¯s due for a beating. At least this way you¡¯ll win one of the trials. Endurance is a good bonus! Your mother will be proud.¡± Logan ground his teeth and glared at Arsen¡¯s back. They thought he was done. They thought he¡¯d lost. Logan would never be done. Releasing his face armour, he let it pour to the ground in a sand explosion, but then decided to keep everything else for protection while he increased his pace to give himself time to think. The tiger could see him, so his original tactics were out the window. He could try pummeling it to death, but even with his increased strength, he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d make enough of a dent to make a difference. Despite the mold, the monster¡¯s frame was made out of that same high-density metal from the chain trial, a metal that radiated an aura that would make a lesser person cringe. No, there had to be a different solution. But what the hell could be used against this behemoth? Logan rummaged through his spatial collar, considering the logs and boulders for a second, but then narrowed his eyes at Arsen¡¯s back. If they saw him take out boulder after boulder from his spatial collar, they¡¯d know it was a higher grade. After seeing the guards¡¯ hostility, he had no confidence that they wouldn¡¯t try to take it. No, the logs and boulders were out. He had the guns, but shooting this thing was laughable. The bullets would ricochet and hit Logan instead. As far as the Cursed Rope, that was out since he didn¡¯t trust that it wouldn¡¯t come at Asthea and Arsen rather than the monster. Logan needed a better weapon. One that was powerful but also under his control. It was too bad that he didn¡¯t have any skills that could¡­ Wait a minute. Normally, against a machine, Logan wouldn¡¯t give this a second thought, but the tiger wasn¡¯t just a machine. It was made of organic material as well as artificial. The mold. If Logan could deploy [Life Cycle Master] on a raspberry vine, why couldn¡¯t he do the same with mold? [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 4 Endurance Arsen: 4 Endurance Logan: 3 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan didn¡¯t pay attention to the trial update, too focused on a way forward. [Life Cycle Master] was an epic skill, a skill that he needed to develop. Epic had to mean unlimited, and although it would be tricky, when was anything ever easy? Logan put on a burst of speed as the monster gained on him, trying to give himself a cushion in order to concentrate. ¡°Is he down for the count yet?¡± Asthea panted from up ahead, her pointy ears tilting to the side as if trying to hear. Arsen glanced at Logan, stumbling as he tried to keep running while looking behind. Sweat was beading down his face and dripping off his nose. ¡°Not yet, but it¡¯s gaining on Idiot.¡± Logan narrowed his eyes. He was getting tired of being underestimated and judged purely on levels and arbitrary System names. By now, hadn¡¯t they learned their lesson? Filled with resolve, Logan opened his senses and immediately had to dial them back as he was jarred by unnaturalness. Unlike in a normal field, this one was devoid of life. No insects, no roots in the ground. The grass and trees didn¡¯t register, as if they were plastic copies. As if he¡¯d entered into an artificial world, there was a voidness, a blankness to everything. He could sense Asthea and Arsen, both radiating a bright spark of life up ahead, but that was it, there was no¡ª Hold on. There was something¡­. The tiger was like a blip on a radar screen, there and gone. Full of life, then full of voidness. Furrowing his brow, Logan narrowed in on that blip, his senses screaming and his head growing tight as he strained. The metal frame of the beast was just that¡ªmetal. But inside the joints, the mold was alive. If he could make it grow, expand more than normal, he might have a chance, like overloading a leaky faucet, or flushing an engine with too much oil. Logan focused on¡ª Fuck! While he¡¯d been concentrating, the thing had gained on him again. It swiped his side, its talons so sharp it fractured his armour, splitting the sandstone like cracking a granite countertop. Logan had to devote precious seconds to reforming it anew, strengthening his sandstone exoskeleton and reforming the crack into a cohesive seal. Putting on a burst of speed, he outpaced the tiger again, giving himself precious distance to get to work. [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 5 Endurance Arsen: 5 Endurance Logan: 4 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan narrowed in on a mold spore. One spore only. It was a happy mold spore, living symbiotic with the rest of its kind. To the spore, it was satisfied with the current arrangement, with a nice, good perch on the metal beast. When the beast needed more of its kind, it multiplied; when the beast was full, it hibernated, happy, happy in its beast perch. And then, just like that, he knew what he had to do. No, you¡¯re not happy, said Logan. The mold jerked, confused. I¡¯m not? You¡¯re unfulfilled. Confusion. Confusion. Confusion. When the beast is full, it¡¯s empty, said Logan. It has a void to fill. A void in its head, where the glowing blue ball of light resides. It will never be full, always empty. Empty. Empty. Empty, responded the spore. Empty? asked the other spores. That¡¯s it, responded Logan, directing them towards the tiger¡¯s metal skull, empty. Empty! responded them all. Empty! Empty! Empty! Working together like a bee colony, they turned to each other, filled with one purpose. They needed to replicate; the beast needed more. Logan pulled back, panting, this time not from exertion, but from Karma use. What the hell was that? He hadn¡¯t purposely set out to commune with a mold spore; it had happened instinctively, from narrowing his senses, to realizing that for him to get results, he had to communicate on their level. He suspected that if [Life Cycle Master] still leveled up, he would have just received a massive boost. Now, he didn¡¯t have to direct the spores, they were doing that themselves. Not a Chapter - A Reveal! I''m so excited about this that I had to create a separate post just to share! I received this illustration back from the artist this weekend. I think it''s kickass! This is by artist Yam Spectrum. What I love most is the detail... the spatial storage cat collar, the kitten patterned swim trunks. Even the pine trees in the background, which look just like the ones around the Okanagan Lake. I love the shine on the serpent queen''s writhing snake swarm hair as well. The Cursed Length of Rope is just like I envisioned it... the hungry mouth! And Ernie! Hee. Love it! If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A note as well that the next chapter might be slightly delayed. Writathon is winding down and although I¡¯ve realized that I won¡¯t make the 55K word count goal, I¡¯m still pleased with my output in April. I mostly entered so that I could receive the XP reward so I could give out 10 rep instead of 5 per comment. I''m sad that I couldn''t get that for you. :-( But I wrote more than 30K words. Realizing I had no chance of writing the remainder required in the amount of time left allowed me to reflect on a few chapters that were released to Patreon. I''ve worked my way through revisions this weekend, but I still need to revise about five more chapters before I can work on the next release. It''ll likely be quick, but normally I''d be working on the next chapter this weekend and instead I''ve been editing. Hence the delay. Chapter 65: A Badass Tiger Guard Dog As soon as Logan released the spores and let the mold do its own thing, he was worried it would be too slow acting. Mold wasn¡¯t speedy. But even as he put on another burst of speed to outpace the charging tiger, he kept his senses open. Normally, keeping [Life Cycle Master] active was a strain, since there were so many spots of life in the environment that monitoring them at the same time would have given him more than a migraine, it would have likely burst a blood vessel. Not here. This trial was artificial and void of life. It was laughable how easy it was to sense the tiger. And the mold spores were busy, busy bees. Replicating, launching spores, one after another, they multiplied faster than the green beans. As each grew, the others pushed it along in an assembly line, injecting them into the blue light inside the thing¡¯s skull. If Logan¡¯s suspicions were correct, that had to be the tiger¡¯s ¡®brain¡¯ or power source. Logan was in no way a computer expert, but even he knew that electronics and organic material¡ªespecially liquid organic material¡ªdidn¡¯t mix. Soon, they were replicating so many times that the tiger started to drip black mold from its eyes and mouth, and then it started to pour. But even with all of that, it was still alive. Instead, it was as if it were drunk. Putting on bursts of speed and almost catching Logan, then staggering and skidding, its front paws scrambling to get a purchase. It shook its head as if it were trying to get water out of its ear, before steadying itself and exploding with another burst of speed. Logan grinned. He¡¯d just given the thing a virus. It was even better than he¡¯d imagined. If it continued in this drunken dance, he could keep this up indefinitely. Better yet, he hadn¡¯t technically ¡®defeated¡¯ the tiger in the true sense, so he could get through this trial without having to worry about the System replicating the monster the same way it had done to the cannon balls. Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 6 Endurance Arsen: 6 Endurance Logan: 5 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] [Undead Stamina] meant that he should be able to outlast Asthea and Arsen, and then coast to a victory. Logan hesitated. That was the smart play. He knew he could win. But, at the same time, it rang hollow. Why should he let Arsen advance and boost his endurance when the man had gloated that he was using Logan as bait? By letting the tiger stumble around in a drunken haze, Logan should be able to coast through to a victory, but it would also let the very man who had taunted him have an advantage. Logan would never begrudge someone from wanting to succeed, but in this, he¡¯d reached his limit. A bitterness was festering inside his stomach, an urge that said, for once, he could be selfish. After all, if Arsen ¡®died,¡¯ he¡¯d come back. It wouldn¡¯t have real-world consequences. And it wouldn¡¯t be as if Logan were killing him himself. Just like him, he could come up with a solution, something outside of the box to overcome his predicament. Asthea was a different story. She¡¯d been nothing but welcoming and generous. Without her, he never would have received the Save Humanity Quest. Logan was betting that she had gone along with this ¡®bait¡¯ strategy at Arsen¡¯s urging, and even if she had gone along willingly, Logan could give her some allowances. This was a real moral conundrum, and it had a razor¡¯s edge of success. Could Logan capitalize on the situation, take away any possibility of Arsen leaching off his strategy, and still avoid hurting Asthea? And¡­ there was one other factor that he¡¯d be stupid to discount. Logan couldn¡¯t throw anything alive inside his spatial collar, which meant that even though he¡¯d technically defeated the tiger, he would have to exit this trial without taking advantage. He wanted that tiger. To get it, that meant he would have to kill it. The mold could stick around¡ªit was mold, and there had to be mold, bacteria, and who knew what else on the other items he¡¯d thrown inside his collar. No, he needed to turn off the thing¡¯s brain, so the System deemed it ¡®dead¡¯. It would take finagling¡ªand more communing with the mold to turn it back on once he removed it from his spatial collar¡ªbut it was possible. Through his heavy breathing, Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a giddy laugh. Hell yeah. Oozing mold tiger guard dog, here we come. Logan let his pace drop so the tiger could catch up. It was so dizzy with mold overload that it didn¡¯t see him as he came up on its side. Logan imagined it would be like trying to sprint while you were suffering from the flu, mucus flying, head full of cotton. It was laboring, its long mold tongue oozing a torrent of black tar. This would be the tricky part. He didn¡¯t want to damage it too badly¡ªafter all, eventually, he wanted to turn it on again. But the mold overload wasn¡¯t enough to cut the cord. That would take a physical hit. He didn¡¯t want to damage the thing¡¯s limbs, and that wouldn¡¯t kill it anyway. He needed to hit its life source. On the side of the tiger¡¯s head, there was a slit, like an ear canal. Amongst the seeping black mold, it radiated blue light. The metal frame was lighter there, more delicate. Logan had a hunch about this, but it was only a hunch. The last time he¡¯d tested his strength, it had been on the beach with the canoe. Logan had been able to lift the canoe with one hand. That was before. He glanced down at his hands, cracking his knuckles, hitting one fist into the palm of his other hand. If he was right about this, he had a weapon¡ªhis own body. If he could lift a canoe with 29 strength attributes, what could he do with 172? Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 7 Endurance Arsen: 7 Endurance Logan: 6 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] ¡°Can¡¯t be long now until it overtakes him,¡± grunted Arsen from up ahead, his ears twitching. ¡°That off-worlder is no match for the tiger; it¡¯ll slash him to pieces and kill him!¡± ¡°But what happens then?¡± Asthea panted. ¡°Just keep concentrating on your steps, keep your breathing steady, try to tune out everything but putting one step in front of another. We need to make sure we stay far enough ahead so the tiger continues focusing on him; it¡¯ll only turn to us once he¡¯s mush on the ground. Once that happens, I¡¯ll concede, you inch out a win, and then we¡¯ll end the trial.¡± Logan¡¯s mouth turned into a flat line. If Ernie had been with him, swinging his tentacles and raving about slaughter as they struggled through this trial, Logan wouldn¡¯t be conspiring with him to use the others as bait. It was a matter of sportsmanship and decency. It was possible that Logan was judging another species against human principles, but then again, there were despicable people on his world as well. Stolen novel; please report. Drilling a hole into the back of Arsen¡¯s head with his gaze, Logan didn¡¯t waste any time. With a massive swing, using every ounce of strength at his disposal, he slammed his fist into the side of the tiger¡¯s head. He was bracing for pain¡ªhe was hitting a metal skull, a skull made from material that radiated an aura that was off the charts¡ªbut he wasn¡¯t expecting what happened. Holy hell. The tiger went flying, eight-hundred pounds of metal and leaking mold slamming into the ground like he¡¯d thrown a jet engine at the thing! He¡¯d wanted to ¡®kill¡¯ the monster, but he hadn¡¯t thought he¡¯d do that much damage! Gaping, Logan stared down at his fists. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl, the scene replaying in his mind over and over again. He suspected he knew why it had been such a massive hit. Strength was one thing, but when you had agility so high that your fist became a blur, the two attributes worked together, turning Logan¡¯s fist into a battering ram. In this trial, he knew the System pitted you against monsters that were equal or higher leveled than your own¡ªthe chains were evidence of that. Each time he¡¯d earned a strength bonus, the chains had adjusted, the wheel pulling harder. That meant the tiger was stronger than both Logan¡¯s and Arsen¡¯s levels¡ªa powerhouse with an aura to match. But Logan had damaged it. Its high agility had been nullified with the mold overload, its quick reaction time out the window. Logan may as well have hit a stationary target. And it hadn¡¯t gotten up. Was it ¡®dead¡¯? It was too bad killing monsters inside the trial didn¡¯t seem to award XP. With a surge of excitement, Logan willed it inside his spatial collar. He held his breath and waited for an error message. No error messages. It was inside his spatial storage. Hell yeah, Logan was the owner of a badass tiger guard dog. But just like in the agility trial, killing a construct had consequences. In front of Asthea and Arsen, the ground exploded, sand flying as two more Oozing Mold Tiger Mechas clawed their way to the surface. Asthea shrieked as she leaped over one sinkhole, barely avoiding tripping over one of the tiger¡¯s metal arms. ¡°Why are there more? Two! Arsen, what¡¯s going on?¡± Arsen slowed while he glanced back at the emerging tigers, his face beet-red, his hair soaked with sweat. He studied the tigers before staring at Logan. Logan gave him a shit-eating grin. Arsen¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You killed the tiger?¡± he said, a vein on his forehead standing out. ¡°The System¡¯s name for you fits! Idiot! Now you¡¯ll have to deal with two rather than one!¡± Logan disregarded Arsen and then gave the two tigers an assessing glance as he passed them. They were shaking off sand and clawing the ground, grinning with their dripping mold tongues and barking in excitement. Instead of duplicating the original, the System had made these two larger. There had to be a good additional one hundred pounds on their frames. Damn, Logan was tempted. So tempted. What was better than a tiger guard dog? Three tiger guard dogs! Still, if he communed with the mold again and then whacked these ones to death like the other one, then they¡¯d have four tigers to contend with. Even Logan wasn¡¯t sure his plan would hold up if he had to deal with so many. This was the tricky part. He had suspicions, but it was just that¡ªconjecture. But if he could do anything he put his mind to in this new world, there was an area he¡¯d overlooked. It would make sense that someone like Arsen could outrun and outpace Logan. By his calculations, by leveling up 89 times, he¡¯d received 445 attribute points. To be generous, Logan gave him an extra 50 attributes to account for the base attributes everyone received when they became a leveled being. So, let¡¯s say 495. There were five physical attributes, but there was also intelligence, wisdom, and constitution. In total, he¡¯d divide by eight. Logan furrowed his brow as he concentrated. That would leave¡­ about 62 points for each attribute. That was strictly if Arsen had distributed his attribute points evenly, and he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. Arsen¡¯s highest attribute was strength, so he¡¯d have to account for a lopsidedness. The other factor was outside parameters, external variables such as earned titles or hidden multipliers. Logan knew the other guards had participated in this trial before. If the System awarded the same rings to everyone who won each trial, there was a possibility that his numbers were off. Yet, even with external factors, when he did the math, it gave him a massive confidence boost. Logan was level 34, but after this trial, his strength was at 187 and his agility was at 234. The last time he¡¯d ran full out¡ªtruly ran, was back at the cabin when he¡¯d received his daily endurance boost. Logan had been speedy then, but he hadn¡¯t been trying for speed. He didn¡¯t know what he was capable of now. It was time to find out. With his next running leap, he dug his back foot into the ground, braced himself, and then accelerated, his thigh muscles cording with tension, his arms powering with large swings. He kept his head up, his chest out, and then let his massive strength and agility attributes go to work. Logan¡¯s chest moved like a racehorse, his muscles on fire as he let himself go. He passed the two tigers, one taking a swipe at him with a large metal paw as he darted around it, then started gaining on Arsen and Asthea, their backs getting closer until he was feet away. Arsen turned his head, saw Logan coming after him like a train, and blanched. ¡°We need to go faster!¡± he said to Asthea with a cough. ¡°But¡­¡± They didn¡¯t have a chance. Logan powered past them, his feet moving like they were on fire. Logan wasn¡¯t just Iron Man, he was the Flash. Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 9 Endurance Asthea: 8 Endurance Arsen: 8 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] He was grinning from ear to ear, flush with success. It had worked! Even better, [Undead Stamina] was paying dividends. He continued the same pace and so far, had no signs of fatigue. Logan was going so fast that forget the canoe, he could run along the shore like a superhero and get to Hope¡¯s End in half the time. Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 10 Endurance Asthea: 8 Endurance Arsen: 8 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Each time he earned an endurance point, he received an extra boost, his endurance attribute replenishing, [Undead Stamina] acting as a multiplier. It was an endless cycle: he wore himself out running, he received a reward that let him wear himself out yet again. ¡°You need to go faster, Asthea,¡± said Arsen. ¡°If you don¡¯t, he¡¯ll get so far ahead of us that we¡¯ll never catch up. That means the tigers will target us while he gets away.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying! But my legs are killing me!¡± Arsen grunted. ¡°Dig deep, girl.¡± Arsen was higher leveled and could go faster, but he didn¡¯t want to leave Asthea behind, which meant they would both be in reach of the tigers soon. Reducing his speed, Logan turned around and jogged backwards, facing them. ¡°Asthea, concede.¡± Her eyes widened and she gave him an incredulous look. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to stop, and I don¡¯t want to see you get hurt.¡± Arsen snarled. ¡°He¡¯s playing mind games with you! He won¡¯t be able to keep up this pace. Keep going, girl!¡± Logan sighed and turned back around, quickly increasing his pace once again. Well, it¡¯s not like he hadn¡¯t warned her. Digging deep, Logan let his feet surge, dust kicking up behind him. Ding! [You have earned one endurance point!] [¡­] [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 16 Endurance Asthea: 9 Endurance Arsen: 9 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] After another ten minutes, Logan glanced back. They were so far behind he could hardly make out their expressions. Reluctantly, he reduced his speed, transitioning into a jog to give them a chance to move closer. He needed to know what was happening¡ªif he left them behind, he¡¯d never know if they¡¯d conceded or if the tigers had savaged them. ¡°Oh, the clan!¡± Logan turned around and ran backwards, keeping pace. Oh shit. Asthea was shrieking as one of the tigers slashed her back with a swipe of its ten-inch-long talons, cutting her armour like paper. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she tried to dart away, but the damage had already been done. She hadn¡¯t fallen, she was still running, but her face was a mask of pain. Logan couldn¡¯t see her injury, but it had to be bad for that much blood to be dripping down her leg. The monster¡¯s talons weren¡¯t just dripping with her blood, it was dripping with the insidious mold. It had effectively ended her trial, since unless her constitution attribute fought off the infection, it would eventually make her sluggish until she couldn¡¯t run, and then¡ªparalyze her. Logan raised his voice. ¡°Make the smart move. Drop out of the trial.¡± Arsen panted through his running, glaring at him and spitting, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Asthea¡¯s infected. That oozing mold is a paralytic. She won¡¯t be able to run soon, and then it¡¯ll really kill her. But if she concedes, she might be able to fight off the infection in time for the dexterity trial.¡± Arsen looked indignant but Asthea seemed torn. ¡°It¡¯s the smart decision,¡± she said, her ponytail bouncing behind her. As Arsen leaped over a large boulder, he spat a glob of saliva to the side, his eyes full of held-back rage. Strands of long hair had fallen out of his bun and flew into his face. He brushed them away with a scowl. ¡°If you¡¯re dropping out, then I am too.¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t! I¡¯m¡ª¡± All at once, her face contorted, and her legs turned to jelly. She staggered, tripping over her own feet and then crashed to the ground face first. ¡°Asthea!¡± said Arsen as he skidded to a stop. But his momentum meant that he¡¯d outpaced her by a good thirty feet before he¡¯d realized the problem. Now, he was too far away to reach her. The tigers weren¡¯t. They surrounded her, muzzles gaping wide, tongues dripping black mold as their eyes glinted with malevolence. Barking in excitement, they clawed the ground, ripping up brown grass, both getting ready to spring onto their target. Asthea crawled backwards, her lips trembling, the tendons on her neck standing out in fear. The blood from her back injury soaked the ground, turning the sand slick and slippery. Oh fuck! ¡°Concede!¡± shouted Logan. ¡°I¡­¡± The tigers leaped towards her with their talons outflung, their mouths gaping open with razor-sharp teeth. Chapter 66: With Friends Like These... ¡°I concede!¡± she screamed. In mid-air, the tigers blinked their blue eyes and rather than radiating a killing aura, they¡­ Logan could only describe it as hibernated, like flipping a switch. As one, they changed direction, landing on either side of her rather than on top of her, their amusement wiped away, their faces all business. It reminded Logan of the way house cats would snub their owner when they¡¯d done something they¡¯d perceived as wrong. Logan remembered a particularly hilarious time when his ex-girlfriend had felt chagrined after house sitting a friend¡¯s dog. Her cat had found it unforgivable, and for a week after the dog left the cat had turned its head or shown its butt at every opportunity. Asthea continued to crawl backwards, but then stopped and blew out a breath of relief, a strand of hair lifting and then falling as she sagged. Blood soaked her armour-covered pants¡ªa lot of blood. If her constitution weren¡¯t high enough, she could be in real trouble. ¡°Arsen, leave me. I¡¯m okay. Don¡¯t let me ruin your trial. You can still advance.¡± Arsen looked as if he¡¯d aged a year. Even though this trial didn¡¯t have real world consequences¡ªif she¡¯d died, Asthea would have come back¡ªLogan could understand how he felt. If Lara or Tasha had been with him, no matter how many times he told himself that a swipe of those tiger¡¯s paws meant nothing, his brain wouldn¡¯t let him. Tell anyone who cared to sit back and watch a loved one get slaughtered and they¡¯d feel the same. Arsen gave the tigers a wary glance. To them, Asthea may as well be invisible, but Arsen and Logan were fair game. Their eyes glinted with a sadistic light as they turned their attention to Arsen, who jumped and jogged in a wide circle around Asthea, while the tigers barked and yipped, black-mold tongues dripping. ¡°And who¡¯s going to patch you up if I abandon you?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be¡ª" ¡°I concede.¡± A tiger had been in the middle of an excited bark. At Arsen¡¯s words, its bark turned into a mutter, a discontent, discordant yowl before its expression blanked and it averted its gaze. ¡°Oh, Arsen,¡± Asthea sighed, but she couldn¡¯t hold back a small smile. ¡°You would have done the same for me.¡± There was one problem. Arsen and Asthea may as well be invisible to the tigers for all the attention they paid them, but that meant Logan was their sole focus. Oh shit! A tiger managed to swipe him with a large paw, its claws slicing the back of his thigh, clanging against the top of one of his sandstone boots and cracking it so severely that bits of sandstone crumbled before Logan had a chance to deploy [Mimicry Armour] to reform it. Logan put on a burst of speed, digging deep, his thighs burning as he outpaced the monsters, concentrating while running as he sealed his boot back into a cohesive whole. Even though sweat was pouring down his face, his eyes were stinging, and he felt like he had wind burn on his nose from the non-stop running, Logan grinned widely, letting out a laugh of pure adrenaline and pleasure. He¡¯d done it! He¡¯d ended the endurance trial for Arsen, and the tigers hadn¡¯t hurt Asthea too badly. All in all, it was the result he wanted. Now, he could redeploy [Life Cycle Master] on the two tigers, make them mold-drunk, and then continue unimpeded. Logan began a marathon. *** [You have earned one endurance point!] [You have earned one endurance point!] [¡­] [You have earned one endurance point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 50 Endurance Arsen: 10 Endurance Asthea: 9 Endurance Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan had been at this for hours, his body going through an endless cycle of fatigue followed by an endurance boost. It was as if he¡¯d bathed in a pool of sweat. His mouth was as dry as a desert, and his feet were swollen with blisters. But even after all of that, Logan felt a surge of pride, a savage satisfaction from achieving his goals and exceling. When he¡¯d entered this trial, he¡¯d thought it would be useful, but he¡¯d had no idea it would be this good. Better yet, he was increasing his endurance without having to worry about the tigers, coasting along as they stumbled into each other, tripping over their own feet, making yowls at the ceiling, even attacking the trees and boulders. By this point, it had turned into a workout rather than a life-or-death struggle. But there was a problem. Although the field looked endless, it wasn¡¯t. It was as if he were on a treadmill¡ªonly the treadmill effect was in place for the spectators only. Although Logan perceived himself as running for miles and miles, Arsen and Asthea huddled against the black stone wall, watching him as if they were sitting in bleachers. There was some kind of warped room physics happening here, which meant that everything he did was under scrutiny. That also meant that he could hear them. ¡°That¡¯s not normal,¡± murmured Arsen to Asthea. He had his arm around her shoulders, trying to give her warmth. They¡¯d taken care of her wound by wrapping it with an odd-looking bandage, but she was pale from blood loss. When they¡¯d first taken refuge against the wall, Logan had seen her twitch, her limbs looking locked. As the hours passed, that twitch turned into her wiggling her toes, and then gradually straightening her legs. The paralytic must be wearing off. Asthea stared at Logan with ice blue eyes, her stare penetrating as if she wanted to pry open his skull to learn his secrets. ¡°It¡¯s unnatural.¡± ¡°How can he be still going? Its like he¡¯s a machine. There¡¯s no way¡­ no way someone who¡¯s level 34 can do that. I don¡¯t trust him. He told you he wasn¡¯t a stealth player, but that¡¯s a lie.¡± ¡°But you can¡¯t cover up your level. That¡¯s the one thing you can¡¯t hide.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Arsen brushed a strand of hair away from Asthea¡¯s face and tucked it behind her ear. ¡°You know anything is possible. Haven¡¯t we learned that by now?¡± Asthea made a murmur of agreement. Arsen¡¯s expression was like a rock-face: hard and uncompromising. ¡°Is he even from a newly integrated world? He could have given us false pretences so you¡¯d feel sorry for him. He came dressed to look unprepared by entering the trial in his underwear. Meanwhile, he coasts to a victory and robs you of your prize.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ no. He was too earnest, like a bumbling fool. There¡¯s no way he was acting.¡± Logan grimaced. Well, he¡¯d soured that relationship. At the same time, he hadn¡¯t gone into this expecting to make friends. His planet was in the middle of a world-ending event; his family and friends back home were relying on his actions now. Logan didn¡¯t have the luxury of treating them with kid gloves. Still, it might be time to consider moving on to the next attribute trial. They only had 24 hours and he wanted to make sure he had enough time to advance dexterity and perception to the same degree. ¡°How much time do we have left?¡± he panted on his way past. Arsen curled his lip. ¡°Not long, little man. Better pack it in.¡± Logan passed them and did another loop. Lowering his voice so they couldn¡¯t hear, he murmured, ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 11.20 hours remaining.] Logan¡¯s eyes widened. This was a 24-hour trial¡ªthat meant they¡¯d been at this for over 12 hours! 12 hours of non-stop physical activity. If they had that much time left, that was plenty of¡ª ¡°Before you think about continuing,¡± Arsen said on Logan¡¯s next loop past, ¡°consider that we¡¯re going to need sleep before we move onto the dexterity trial. And if you¡¯re thinking we¡¯re not doing that, consider again that all must leave and enter the room for the trial to reset. You want us to cooperate, soncontal. If you¡¯re really level 34, your supposed level, then think about your next action carefully. The others are dead, but they¡¯ll be back. A level 34 human against the might of the Silverdagger clan.¡± Arsen tsked. ¡°I don¡¯t like those odds, little man.¡± Logan stared. Was that a threat? He was pretty sure the asshole had just threatened to use the other guards to gang up on him and do something not good if he didn¡¯t give up. Logan blew out a breath of air, letting one more endurance bonus kick in before stuttering to a stop. Then, with a furrow of his brows and his lips pressed into a thin line, he said, ¡°I concede.¡± The mold-drunk tigers seemed confused, as if their heads were so stuffed full of mold that they could no longer hear. But they finally shook their heads and sat on their haunches with great big yawns, their mouths pouring out black mold like a faucet. Ding! [You have completed the endurance trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.] [Calculating rewards¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Rewards calculated!] [As the weakest person in the endurance trial, you have defied the odds. Well done, Idiot! You have been granted double the amount of endurance achieved in the endurance trial¡ª51 bonus endurance attribute points.] [In addition, you have been granted a boon.] [Endurance Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double endurance. The Endurance Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.] It was the same bonus from the last trial, as expected, until¡­ [But that¡¯s not all!] [You have been granted the title, Run Until You Drop! Where fools rush in, you¡¯ll find the user! Ruler of idiot users, accomplisher of feats beyond what¡¯s possible for an intelligent human being. This title results in a 50% reduction to your wisdom attribute#!3!...] [Error!] [Recalculating¡­] [This title results in a 30% reduction to your wisdom attribute#!3!...] [Error!] [Recalculating¡­] Logan gaped as the messages scrolled by. What in the world? [This title results in a 10% reduction to your wisdom attribute#!3!...] [Error!] [Recalculating¡­] It was as if the System were trying to give him a penalizing title, but it was glitching, forced to make a correction each time. Was this a sign of the glitching AI minion that Asthea had mentioned? Finally, he received one more message, a grudging message. [You have been granted the title, Run Until You Drop! Where fools rush in, you¡¯ll find the user! Accomplisher of feats beyond what¡¯s possible for the normal human being. This title grants 5 bonus points to all attributes.] Logan didn¡¯t have a chance for any further speculation as the surge of the upgrade rushed through him like a hurricane. A five-point bonus didn¡¯t seem like much¡ªand he suspected it was a grudging bonus at that¡ªbut an increase to everything at once was a hell of a rush. And he hadn¡¯t even put on the ring yet! Logan ground his teeth as his muscles expanded; he bounced on the balls of his feet as his agility exploded, and he rotated his wrists as his dexterity surged. Gasping as his perception opened up like a bottomless cup, he lurched to the side as the constitution upgrade managed to heal the remaining scratches and gouges on his body. With a grin, he put on the Endurance Pure Grit Ring, and then waited for the show. Holy freaking shit. The only way he could describe it was a rocket-ship. Logan stood up straight, his chest out, and then lifted his arms towards the ceiling. If he could fly, he¡¯d be soaring right now. Logan could take on the world; give him a marathon, hell no, let him swim around North America! He¡¯d pummel the sharks and Rabid Humpback Whales on his journey. A lightness in his limbs made him feel as if he were floating as he pulled up his dynamic view stat sheet. He couldn¡¯t hold back a wide smile as he reviewed the changes. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 399 out of 6,058,225,529 Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop Karma: 540/540 Intelligence: 90 Constitution: 46 Strength: 91x2* = 182* Agility: 121x2* = 242* Dexterity: 26 Endurance: 147x2* = 294+50% = 441 Perception: 25 Wisdom: 85 Luck: 55 (*Pure Grit Ring) Everything had gotten uneven. To a ridiculous degree. His dexterity and perception were so low against the Pure Grit Ring attributes that they weren¡¯t even in the same stratosphere. His rank had increased again¡ªto 399. Rank 399 in the entire world! Even better, the five-point bonus meant that his Karma pool had gone up from 510 to 540. And even with those increases, he was still level 34. Logan was starting to think he might be this ¡®Stealth Player¡¯ that Asthea had mentioned after all. Once he returned to his world, everyone would underestimate him, especially if he had to put himself up against someone ranked in the lower thousands. He had no idea what kind of levels were out there; yet he knew his level hadn¡¯t changed, and his rank kept increasing. And he wasn¡¯t finished. Logan had two more attribute trials left¡ªdexterity and perception¡ªnot to mention part two of this whole thing¡ªleading an army to victory, which even now seemed absurd. It was possible that at the end of this, he might be beyond a powerhouse. So powerful that he could challenge the serpent, save Ernie, and then swing over to Hope¡¯s End for Lara and the kids. Logan took a deep breath. Not to mention that he needed to save everyone else. There was a quest pending, a constant quest that he could pull up whenever he wanted, a quest with a ticking time bomb. [Quest: Save Humanity! Save 5.9 billion people in less than one year by catching and storing 930 billion tons of carbon. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will save 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will kill 5.9 billion people.] [Quest Progress: 0% complete. 359 days remaining.] Logan ran a hand through his hair as his excitement faded, the weight on his shoulders feeling immense. He had billions of people who were relying on him to save them, billions of people just like Lara and the kids. Just thinking about it made him feel hollowed out with the pressure of the responsibility. He looked at Asthea and Arsen and frowned. That¡¯s why petty squabbles like this were beneath him. He needed to give them whatever time they needed to rest¡ªhopefully only a couple of hours¡ªand then get through this trial and return to the real world. Chapter 67: Dexterity Trial [Trial reset in progress¡­] [¡­] [..] [Please stand by.] Logan didn¡¯t know what he was expecting when they left the room and entered the hallway, but the sight of Thorin and Errol¡¯s bodies wasn¡¯t it. For some reason, he¡¯d assumed the corpses would dissolve, ready to be reformed in the clearing, or freeze, like bodies in a morgue. Instead, a pool of liquid¡ªdissolving clear oozing pus and blood¡ªspread from their bodies to the floor, and a noxious odour like a dead rat left to roast in a hundred-degree weather made him cover his mouth and hold back a gag. Asthea wrinkled her nose. ¡°This way,¡± she said and led them past the bodies and down the hallway. She clutched the bandage wrapped around her back and moved like each step caused more pain, but she could walk again, with no signs of the paralytic. Her constitution attribute must have fought it off. They walked further down the hallway until the stench faded. Asthea nodded at the floor with a quirk of her white eyebrow at Arsen. ¡°Best we¡¯re going to get,¡± he said. Then removing a bundled blanket from his spatial storage, he arranged it into a pile, like a bundled-up dog bed. Asthea sunk down on it with a sigh of relief. Ding! [Trial reset complete.] Logan brightened and looked towards the door. Asthea snorted. ¡°Sleep, remember. We need rest.¡± He rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°Right.¡± A couple of hours wouldn¡¯t hurt. He could give them that. Logan was about to take out a blanket from his spatial storage, but then he hesitated. He¡¯d told them he¡¯d found a ¡®garbage grade¡¯ spatial storage, and if they saw him taking out piles of blankets in addition to the water and food he¡¯d already removed, they might get suspicious. He knew that although they were bitter, they hadn¡¯t yet gotten to the point of wanting to murder him. If they knew about his collar, that might nudge them along. He studied the cold-looking stone floor dubiously and then lowered himself to sit down and lean against the wall. Logan rubbed a hand over his face and then stifled a yawn before narrowing his eyes. Arsen was staring at him in amusement. Not a good sign. ¡°What is it?¡± Logan asked. Arsen grinned with his missing teeth. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried the dexterity trial. Never lasted long enough, but in a way, I was glad for it. From what I¡¯ve heard, you¡¯ll be in for a world of pain.¡± Logan squinted at him. ¡°We¡¯re going into the same trial. You¡¯ll be in the same position as me.¡± Arsen¡¯s grin became shit-eating. ¡°Asthea and I will concede before it gets too difficult. But I¡¯ve learned something about you, little man. You want to excel and grab every point available to you, even if you have to pry it out of the jaws of death. No, you won¡¯t be giving up.¡± Asthea sighed long-sufferingly. ¡°It can¡¯t be as bad as all that, surely. Why don¡¯t we try to get along? I¡¯m not happy about the way my trial has gone, but that¡¯s no reason to be aggressive. We¡¯re teammates!¡± She gave them a bright grin that looked brittle on the edges. Logan shifted, trying to get comfortable. ¡°I¡¯m all for getting along. It just hasn¡¯t seemed that you lot have felt the same way. I can be civil if you can.¡± He gave Arsen a long stare. Arsen met his stare with a hard look, hesitated, then glanced at Asthea and finally nodded. ¡°After all,¡± said Asthea, ¡°in a way, we should be thanking you. Our people don¡¯t get this far for a reason! Dexterity and perception aren¡¯t priorities for us, so we just laze around, feast, and wait until the time limit¡¯s up so we can go into the second trial¡ªthe fun trial!¡± Logan eyed her in curiosity. ¡°The fun trial?¡± She rubbed her hands together. ¡°Our clan loves war! There¡¯s nothing better than a chance to win at strategy and tactics, the chance to outcompete each other and show off. Plus, there¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°Asthea,¡± Arsen warned. Asthea rolled her eyes. ¡°He knows it already. Despite his name, he¡¯s not stupid.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a what?¡± Logan asked. ¡°A reward to the winner. It varies each trial, so don¡¯t ask me what it is.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he murmured softly. If they knew about that, they had to know that the System had given him a reward for winning each attribute trial. The chances of others not receiving the same True Grit Rings in other trials were slim at best. That meant they knew he had something valuable, something worth stealing¡­ maybe even killing over. ¡°Anyway,¡± Asthea said with a yawn. ¡°Time for rest. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll wake you up if you oversleep. I know you want to give yourself enough time for a good showing!¡± Logan said nothing, only looked at them with half-lidded eyes. He wasn¡¯t tired, and something told him to be on alert. He wasn¡¯t going to nod off, not when anything could happen. Even a knife in the back. *** [Countdown: Day 7 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 401 out of 6,058,124,189.] [You are currently in the 1%.] [Advance and grow.] Logan opened his eyes, a kink in his neck making him feel like he¡¯d slept in the shittiest possible¡­ Oh no. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He felt his heartbeat throb, trepidation making panic surge. He¡¯d fallen asleep! Sitting up with a gasp, he blinked blearily at the empty hallway around him. Asthea and Arsen had disappeared. With a surge of alarm, he glanced down at his hands, blowing out a breath of relief when he realized that his gloves covered his fingers and the True Grit Rings. They were exoskeleton gloves¡ªthere was no prying those up, and no way he¡¯d been robbed. Well, at least Arsen hadn¡¯t murdered him to get around it. The last thing he remembered was feeling wide awake, jacked up on too much adrenaline to think of nodding off. For some reason, he¡¯d done the opposite. And based on how refreshed he felt, he must have needed the rest. The last time he¡¯d fallen asleep, he¡¯d fallen unconscious, his missing hand and the trauma of losing Ernie taking a massive toll. Since then, he¡¯d been running around like a crazy man from trial to trial. Gradually, exhaustion must have kicked in without him being aware of it. His artificial [Undead Stamina] must have acted like a boost to keep him going, but that was no replacement for true REM sleep. Logan got up and stretched. It felt as if he¡¯d slept for a whole night rather than¡­. Oh crap. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 4.49 hours remaining.] Shit! Shit! Shit! Now, he had less than five hours to get through two trials. As he searched for Arsen and Asthea, resentment festered in his stomach. That ¡®nap¡¯ had been way more than a couple of hours. Logan found them in front of the chamber door looking refreshed and healed. They were giving the corpses of their companions a wide berth. Asthea¡¯s wrapped bandage was gone, and she¡¯d managed to straighten her hair, the strands less knotted. Arsen¡¯s bangs were back to being spiky like a hedgehog, and he¡¯d pulled his hair into a ponytail instead of a bun. The fine silver filaments wrapped around the strands glinted in the blue glow of the hallway. ¡°Ah,¡± he said, clicking his tongue. ¡°Finally woke up, did you?¡± Asthea cracked her neck and stretched. ¡°Sorry we didn¡¯t wake you, but you looked like you needed the rest.¡± Despite her tidier appearance, her face was hollow and dark circles looked like bruises underneath her eyes. It was a stark difference between the cheering, peace-making Asthea from earlier. ¡°Well,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°Ready to get started?¡± ¡°You¡¯re forgetting something,¡± said Arsen with a nudge to her shoulder. Her mouth twisted and she looked off to the side, her expression filled with sadness. ¡°At this point, does it matter? I¡¯m a complete failure. Mother will never view me as a viable ruler, not after these results.¡± Arsen frowned. ¡°You know better than that. This isn¡¯t over. If you give up now, you¡¯re not the girl that challenged me to a duel when you were barely tall enough to trip over your own feet.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Arsen.¡± Arsen began to look worried. ¡°Where¡¯s that girl now?¡± Asthea grimaced. ¡°She¡¯s in a puddle of defeat.¡± Pacing, she ran a hand through her long white hair, straightening it. It seemed like a soothing, mindless task to keep herself occupied. Logan was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He¡¯d never wanted to be that guy. Obviously, this trial meant something for Asthea, something important, and Logan had won it instead. He cleared his throat. ¡°Could you not enter the trial again? A do-over?¡± They both gave him incredulous looks. ¡°The trial dungeon is a closely guarded resource. It opens one year in twenty. Most groups take a week or two to finish it, which makes the opportunity for others rare. To get another chance would be the height of excess; unforgivable when others are due their own Trial of Awakening.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Logan¡¯s discovery of the underwater portal was looking increasingly suspect. What had it been doing there? Had someone purposely placed it in front of the lair of a monster, like a dragon in front of their hoard? And that wasn¡¯t his only question. If it had transported him to the same trial that Asthea¡¯s people used, were there similar portals on different worlds? Asthea forced a smile. ¡°You¡¯re right. I shouldn¡¯t be so negative. And we still have the fun trial to look forward to! Sorry to say, little man, but you hardly look like the most competent commander. It¡¯s unlikely that you¡¯ll do well on the warfare trial. It was designed for the Silverdagger clan!¡± Arsen cracked his big knuckles. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Plus, don¡¯t discount that this will be fun too! Fun as a spectator sport!¡± Chuckling, he gave Logan a shit-eating grin and then led the way into the chamber. Curling his hands into fists, Logan stared a hole into his back and followed. Ding! [You have entered the dexterity trial. You will compete individually but only advance to the next attribute as a group. Once the last person concedes or drops, the group will advance to the next attribute.] [After 24 hours, your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increases in each area will be granted a bonus.] Logan entered the chamber like normal, but then came to a stop. What the hell was this? Unlike the previous trials, there were no floating platforms, a field, or a wheel. There was¡­ a table and chairs? Inside of the immense oval room, right in the middle, there was a round table barely bigger than a kitchen table. Around the table were three chairs, chairs that looked sculpted out of that same metal material as the platforms and chains. There was nothing else, just bare stone floor and walls. The same blue glow lit up the room, but this time, the light flooded the table, like a spotlight in a theatre. Logan crept forward, the others following him. Arsen looked at the table and barked out a laugh. ¡°Elfegi was telling the truth! Truly a sadistic trial. Even though those noncalgigizes are missing a few essential proteins in their heads, he was true to his word. Surprising, since Classes that require dexterity are the work of tricksters and cheaters.¡± He cut a side glance at Logan. ¡°You should have started with this trial first. It fits you to a tee.¡± Logan didn¡¯t pay any attention to his words, too confused to do anything but stare. On the table, there were three immense bowls in front of each chair. Next to the bowls were¡­. Were those chopsticks? Instead of a trial, was the System awarding them with a meal? He snorted. Yeah right, and Logan¡¯s name wasn¡¯t Idiot. Arsen pulled out a chair and dragged it away from the table. It made a horrible scraping sound, stone against stone. With a flourish, as if he were having the time of his life, he sat down and pulled in his chair. All he needed was a bib. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show started! I¡¯m looking forward to this one.¡± ¡°Arsen,¡± Asthea scolded as she went to her own chair, ¡°are you going to at least try? It¡¯s a waste of an opportunity otherwise.¡± Arsen¡¯s eyes shone. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, we¡¯ll grab a few bonus points. It can never hurt to be well-rounded. But you have to admit that watching this cheater get what he deserves will put a trickle of pleasure in your heart.¡± Asthea rolled her eyes, but she was biting her lip in amusement. ¡°You always cheer me up. Sorry for being such a mope before.¡± His smile was gentle. ¡°You¡¯re young yet. I know you keep reminding me that you¡¯ve grown up, but this old man can still teach you a few tricks, hmm?¡± Scowling, Logan dragged out the remaining chair. Glad they had that heart to heart. There¡¯s nothing like making fun of someone to cheer you up! Logan didn¡¯t like the looks of this trial. Anything that could make Arsen beam from ear to ear meant nothing good. And yet, there was nothing for it. By now, Logan knew that he could force himself beyond what he¡¯d thought himself capable of, stretching both his body and mind. If it was torture, it was torture. He wasn¡¯t giving up, not when the consequences for failure were so high. He needed to win, and he needed to excel. If he coasted through this trial, only barely grabbing a win, who¡¯s to say he¡¯d receive the same True Grit Ring? He needed that ring. If he didn¡¯t receive it, there would be no chance to triple his attributes and his work would be for nothing. Logan sat down in the chair, and then promptly froze as he felt something latch onto his legs and ass. Shifting, he tried to move his legs, and then glanced down in alarm when that only resulted in him sliding the chair. His swim trunks were stuck, the fabric chaffing as he wiggled. He glanced at Asthea and Arsen. ¡°Are you both¡­?¡± Asthea nodded. ¡°Stuck. Like a stuck pig.¡± He wouldn¡¯t say that description was accurate. Rather, it was as if everything that touched the chair was stuck to adhesive tape. The System wanted them frozen to these chairs. Logan looked inside the bowl, and then stopped, thinking he was hallucinating. He¡¯d entered a bizzarro world. The bowl was full of milk, and black bulbs the size of his fingernail floated, as if he were looking at a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. Arsen¡¯s chopsticks were like toothpicks in his large hands. His skin prickling, Logan picked up his own. He¡¯d never released [Mimicry Armour], so at least his exoskeleton gloves covered his fingers and hands, his arms shielded by his forearm guards. If necessary, he could deploy the full suit, although being in such close scrutiny to the others made him wary. He¡¯d have to be careful and command his spatial collar to deposit the sand underneath the table so Arsen and Asthea didn¡¯t become suspicious. This was the weirdest trial yet. Was the System expecting them to increase their dexterity by picking up the cereal with chopsticks? It was beyond bizarre. It reminded him of something Sawyer and Hunter would enjoy. There had to be a catch. ¡°Are you ready?¡± said Arsen with a wolfish grin. Chapter 68: Flesh Eaters Since [Mimicry Armour] acted like a second layer of skin, he could feel the chopsticks. They were twice the length of normal chopsticks, and cold against the pads of his fingers. It was the same material as the chains, with an aura to match. That more than anything gave him pause. Why would chopsticks have an aura, a menacing, hairs on the back of your neck aura? Logan took a deep breath, his senses acute, each minor sound and shuffle of his feet making everything amplified, the fact that he couldn¡¯t move making him even more uncertain. At least in the other trials he¡¯d known what to expect. The chains growing heavier in the strength trial, the cannon balls in the agility trial, and the tigers in the endurance trial. Logan was envisioning all kinds of things¡­ the milk was full of acid; the spotlights would release a deluge of blood and make his grip on the chopsticks impossible. And yet, those possibilities didn¡¯t explain why the System wanted them stuck to these chairs. There was something else at work. Well, there was nothing for it but forward. Whenever his ex-girlfriend had dragged him to the latest sushi restaurant, he¡¯d ordered the teriyaki, anything to avoid raw seafood. She¡¯d always laughed when he¡¯d asked for a fork, but it wasn¡¯t because he was incapable. Although Logan had never been a fan of sushi, picking up kernels of cereal couldn¡¯t be too difficult. With one last glance at Arsen and Asthea, he carefully positioned his fingers around the sticks, his exoskeleton gloves giving him an added¡­ Wait a minute. With a moue of concentration, Logan willed out a small pile of sand, a thimble only, and then molded an extra layer of sandstone over his fingertips, creating a rough, flexible grip¡ªrubber grips. That way, even if his fingers grew tired, the grip would help him continue. Arsen and Asthea were still wearing their white fingerless gloves, which wouldn¡¯t help if their fingers grew sweaty or if the milk splashed. Carefully positioning the sticks like grabbing a piece of dynamite, he picked up a cereal kernel and raised it above the bowl. Logan squinted. Huh. Definitely not Cocoa Puffs. It was the size of a marble, with odd, green specks amongst the black. Unlike a marble, it wasn¡¯t smooth, rather, the surface was rough like chitin. As soon as Logan latched onto it, a slot in the table slammed open, like a secret puzzle compartment. The slot had holes and tunnels in the stone twice the size of the marble. Ooookay. The System obviously wanted him to insert the cereal into the tunnels. Logan lifted the bulb with careful movements, raising it above the bowl and over to the slot in the table which looked like an old-fashioned tabletop or arcade game. He had to insert the bulb into the round hole and then drag it down the etched line, turn it at a ninety-degree angle, and then push it through a hole in the table. The bulb fell from the table to the floor, nothing stopping it, and then it made a hollow, pebble skipping sound as it landed in front of his feet. ¡°This is balls-up whacked to hell,¡± he said underneath his breath. He already had a crick in his wrist, so if nothing else, he could see how this could become painful as he progressed. Arsen curled his lip and leaned forward as he dropped his own bulb into the slot, Asthea doing the same. Logan repeated the process and then furrowed his brow. There were only five bulbs in total, so what happened when he removed them all? Logan soon had an answer. As he picked up the last bulb, five more floated to the top of the milky liquid, bobbing like inflatable tubes. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Arsen: 1 Dexterity Asthea: 1 Dexterity Logan: 1 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Huh. Okay. So far, not too bad. This time, the bulbs looked slightly larger by at least a quarter inch, and they had other colors intermixed in the black base¡ªnarrow, tiny green lines. This was freaky cereal. All he needed was a pile of fresh cut strawberries to complete the picture! Wait. Even though the bulbs had gotten larger, the slots on the table were the same size. That meant it wouldn¡¯t be as easy to drag them through the slot, through the tunnel, and around the ninety-degree angle. Still, it was hardly the worst challenge he¡¯d experienced in this trial. For the first time, he felt a surge of optimism that he might get out of this¡ª The bulb had moved! Startled, Logan lost his grip on the chopsticks and the bulb dropped into the bowl with a plop and a splash of milk. Blinking warily, he examined the floating puffs. They looked like regular bulbs again, no signs of movement, but he could have sworn¡­. He looked at Asthea and Arsen. ¡°Did yours just¡­?¡± They were both focused on their task. Arsen looked like a giant with two needles in his hand and Asthea had a set jaw, her lips pressed together in concentration. A strand of white hair had fallen out of her ponytail and into her eyes, but she didn¡¯t pay it any attention, her focus on lifting the bulbs with manic-like speed. A bead of sweat trailed down her nose, the skin behind the tiny white hairs on her face flushed red. They might be taking this seriously after all. Or they knew something he didn¡¯t. They were frenzied as they sped through lifting and moving the bulbs. If they planned to drop out when it got too difficult, there must be a time limit until something happened. His heart in his throat with nerves, Logan got back to chopstick-ing the hell out of the bowl with renewed focus, lifting bulbs like blueberries and slotting them into the holes, one after the other. They rained down to the floor with that same echoing pebble skipping sound, piling at his feet. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Arsen: 3 Dexterity Asthea: 3 Dexterity Logan: 2 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] As he picked up the last bulb, five more floated to the top of the milky surface, these ones slightly larger than the others. Logan used the sticks to pick up¡­ pick up¡­. What the hell?! The tiny green lines around the bulb weren¡¯t just lines. With a creaking noise and a bounce, one of the lines separated from the bulb and it¡­ turned into a limb. It was an inch in length and looked like an insect leg! It reminded him of a Praying Mantis or a Daddy Long Legs. Logan almost dropped the bulb back into the bowl in disgust, but the same thing was happening to Arsen and Asthea. Disregarding the extending leg, they continued moving each bulb into the slots as if nothing out of the norm had happened. They knew about this. He had to move insects from a bowl of milk and drop them to his feet and let them do who knew what. Oh hell no. Forcing a bucket-full of sand and depositing it underneath the table, Logan reached and latched onto it before it fell to the floor. Quickly reforming his armour around his legs and over top of his swim trunks, he smoothed it, molding it to his boots and creating a seamless exoskeleton suit over everything waist level and below. It was a matter of tactics. If this turned into something brutal, he needed protection for more than minutes which meant that he couldn¡¯t form the whole suit. His Karma would drain too quickly. He still had [Liche Siphon] as a last resort, but Logan was hesitant to deploy it. Although his relationship with Arsen and Asthea had worsened as the trial progressed, if he deployed it, that might make that knife in the back scenario a reality. Logan knew he was grinning manically as he inserted the insect into the slot. This time, it wasn¡¯t seamless. The leg dangled outside of the slot, so he had to brute force it through. The leg snapped like a broken spider¡¯s leg as he dragged it through the tunnel and over to the drop. Unlike last time, it didn¡¯t make that pebble-skipping sound, rather, it made a soft thud. More than anything, he wished that he weren¡¯t stuck to the chair so that he could look underneath the table. The chair was too close to the table¡¯s edge and there was no way to maneuver his body enough to see. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Arsen: 4 Dexterity Asthea: 4 Dexterity Logan: 3 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan dropped the last insect bulb into the table hole and then leaned back in his chair as more bulbs floated to the surface of the bowl. Once again, they had grown, and this time, there were more green legs ready to launch just as soon as he latched onto them with his chopsticks. Grimacing and feeling sick to his stomach, Logan grabbed the first one and then hissed as two legs sprung from the body, these ones looking thicker and longer. Fun. He had a sense of what he was in for now. Each time he emptied the bowl, the insects grew progressively worse. The System wanted them stuck to their chairs so that as the insects accumulated underneath the table, they¡¯d crawl and do things. It would be nothing good. Arsen and Asthea had it right. Speed would be the way to win. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Arsen: 5 Dexterity Asthea: 5 Dexterity Logan: 5 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan stuffed the latest insect into the slot in the table, forcing the legs to bend so they¡¯d fit through the hole. The problem with that tactic was that as he increased his speed, more of the insects accumulated at his feet. With one or two legs, it wasn¡¯t a problem since they could hardly move let alone crawl, but each time he cleared the bowl the insects became larger and sophisticated. ¡°Ugh,¡± Logan said as five more insects floated to the surface of his bowl. These ones were twice the size of the original ones and had four solid legs stuck to the bulb as well as a green rounded pinpoint end. He didn¡¯t like the look of this. He was right. As soon as he picked up the bulb, four legs sprung from its body, and each one had a razor-sharp narrow claw. At the top, a round head popped out, attached to a narrow, chitin covered neck. What had to be dozens of tiny red eyes glinted and stared at Logan. It made a clicking, buzzing sound, like the riot of a cicadas¡¯ song. Aww man. Logan grimaced as he stuffed this one into the slot. Now, the chopsticks weren¡¯t just for picking them up, but for making sure they didn¡¯t scurry away onto the table. These insects didn¡¯t make any sounds as they dropped to the floor. Instead, they landed on their feet and scurried away. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Arsen: 6 Dexterity Asthea: 6 Dexterity Logan: 6 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] ¡°I¡¯m about ready to pack it in,¡± grunted Arsen. ¡°Don¡¯t fancy getting eaten.¡± Asthea bit her lip and studied the scrambling insect held between her chopsticks. ¡°I¡¯ll stick it out a little longer. If I can¡¯t win, at least I can obtain a few more attribute points.¡± Arsen clicked his tongue in approval. ¡°That a girl. This old man is done with torture, though.¡± He let his latest insect drop back into the bowl and then set down his chopsticks. ¡°I concede.¡± [¡­] [..] [Request denied! The user hasn¡¯t committed sufficient effort to qualify to opt out.] [Put your back into it, weakling.] Logan jerked back, shocked. Since when could he see someone else¡¯s System messages? Arsen¡¯s eyes bulged. ¡°What in the clan?¡± Then cutting a glance at Logan, he glowered. ¡°You! You did this! What kind of message is that?! What did you do?¡± Logan ground his teeth. If Arsen spent less time expressing his grievances and more time working on winning these trials, the System might have left him alone. ¡°A malfunctioning AI minion,¡± Asthea murmured. Then, louder, ¡°It must have followed him from his world and taken over our System!¡± Arsen groaned. ¡°It¡¯s never-ending with this one. Why didn¡¯t we kill him when he entered the trial to save ourselves the bother?¡± ¡°Because we aren¡¯t that kind of clan.¡± Arsen groaned again. ¡°I know, I know. But just how injured must we be before it lets us out of this?¡± Did he think Logan was deaf? The fucker deserved a smack-down. If his glitchy, sadistic System had spread to the others, in a way, Logan was glad. For once, maybe they¡¯d see how it was like to have a constant backseat driver who gave sarcastic commentary at every opportunity. And worse yet, the man hadn¡¯t taken the hint. Instead of resuming his chopstick movements to expend enough effort for the System to let him escape, he continued grumbling and complaining. Logan let it go in one ear and out the other. He needed to be speedy; he needed to rush. He suspected that soon, he¡¯d be in an uncomfortable situation. The insects would eventually become a pile, scrambling around, spreading to everything. There was no way to stop¡­. Hold on. If he could commune with mold and get the spores to multiply, why couldn¡¯t he do the same with the insects? Feeling like his insides were vibrating in excitement, Logan opened his senses and tried to latch onto the beings around him. Being in such a cavernous room gave him an advantage. All the dead space around the room pinged as a void¡ªlifeless. There wasn¡¯t even a spot of mold or bacteria. Next to him, Arsen and Asthea shone with an overwhelming presence, so bright that it was difficult to see anything beyond them. A sharp pain radiated behind his nose as he brute-forced his way past them, narrowing in on the space underneath the table. It was like forcing your way through dense fog to see something on the other side. As blood drizzled out of his nose and over his lip, one after another, the insects pinged on his radar, tiny pinpricks of life. Logan went deeper. Not just the surface¡ªinside. Inside their brains. Chapter 69: Meat Sack, Meat Sack The insects were having the time of their life, happy satisfying their purpose. Whatever meat-sack was in reach was a ready meal. Gnaw gnaw gnaw and crunch crunch crunch, tasty fluid. What¡¯s worse, they viewed Logan¡¯s exoskeleton boots as delicacies like a donut with a layer of cream hidden inside. They had a fervent desire to burrow through. His armour didn¡¯t act like normal armour¡ªhe could feel everything like a second layer of skin. As each insect crawled over top of the Logan-exoskeleton, it felt like tiny sticks or crawling spiders. It took everything he had to continue concentrating and to not shudder and jerk in his chair. No, said Logan. That doesn¡¯t taste good. It¡¯s revolting. Indignation. No meat-sack? There¡¯re juicier prospects over here, said Logan, directing them to the edge of the room, far away from the table, as far as he could go, and then projecting the image of slabs of freshly cut beef. In the image, he pictured them piled up in a tower, so high it would let the insects feast for years. The best meal of your life. The insects hesitated and swayed back and forth, bouncing on Logan¡¯s boots and legs, uncertain. Not juicy? Here not juicy? Like grass! Logan responded. Nasty. Ugh. Grass. Nasty nasty nasty, they responded. Turning their attention towards the edge of the room, they scurried away from Logan like an ant colony and crawled off his legs and back onto the floor. Bouncing up and down in excitement, they streamed towards the edge of the room, spreading like a swarm. One after another, the insects crawling over Asthea and Arsen did the same. Asthea sucked in a breath of relief, her white-knuckled grip slacking around her chopsticks. ¡°What in the world¡­?¡± Arsen craned his neck and tried to watch as the insects retreated. This was a dicey situation. Although they suspected Logan had done something to the mold in the endurance trial, it was a suspicion only. Now, he was showing his cards and letting them know that he had a valuable skill. They would either take that fact, note it, and file it away, or consider Logan a threat. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think Asthea would let that happen. Not with everything she¡¯d already done for him. With [Life Cycle Master] deployed and his senses wide open, Logan stayed in the back of the insects¡¯ minds like a back seat driver. With the mold, he¡¯d communicated on the surface level, but to direct an insect, he had to be committed. Their minds were foreign, and frankly, a hell of a trip, needing every ounce of concentration at his disposal. These things had analytical minds that cared about one overreaching theme¡ªfeeding. And feeding on the choicest, juiciest morsels possible. To them, they viewed the people around the table as the same meat-sacks. Each would satisfy their cravings. He¡¯d been lucky that they¡¯d accepted the image of the pile of meat, but there was one problem with that. That image had gotten them to stream away, but once they realized it was a false image, they¡¯d come scurrying back. He had minutes. Minutes at most. ¡°I can¡¯t keep this up for long,¡± said Logan, flicking his chopsticks. ¡°Take as much advantage from the break as you can.¡± Arsen hissed. ¡°You are a cheater! Trickster!¡± he bellowed. Logan ground his teeth. ¡°A trickster that¡¯s keeping the insects away from you!¡± ¡°Arsen, listen to him,¡± said Asthea. She was taking his words to heart, her fingers flickering like a master as she plucked the insects out of the bowl and stuffed them down her tunnel. Logan followed, but every ounce of his concentration was focused on the insects. Asthea and Logan were depositing more of the things at their feet, which meant more commands, more Karma. The blood drizzling down his nose started to drip into his bowl and turn his milk a creamy pink. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 7 Dexterity Asthea: 7 Dexterity Arsen: 6 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Fuck. There was one distinct problem. The insects had reached the edge of the room, crawled over the corners like a swarm of locusts and found¡­ nothing. Nothing but bare stone floor and walls. They were getting agitated, their craving a bottomless pit that would never be satisfied. Their need to feed was everything and they knew there were three juicy meat sacks back at the table. A guaranteed smorgasbord. The meat is there, Logan projected, at the edge of the room. You just haven¡¯t found it yet. They communicated suspicion and disdain. No meat sack. Where? Where juicy meat sack? Logan projected the image of the slabs of beef again, this time visualizing them drizzling with blood and fat. There. Very juicy. Keep looking. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Grudgingly, the insects continued scurrying, traversing every inch of the room in search of the beef. That bought him another minute. Arsen had finally got with the program and had started picking up his insect bulbs once again; Asthea was a blur of motion, her mouth in a grim line of concentration. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 9 Dexterity Logan: 8 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Damn! She¡¯d gained on him. Logan had to devote ninety percent of his concentration on the insects and his rapid movements had slowed down in consequence. Even though they were in an uncomfortable situation, Logan still wanted to win. ¡°The trickster might have some use after all,¡± said Arsen. Bitterness began to eat at Logan. In order to keep the insects away, he had to push them away from everyone, but he didn¡¯t like that Arsen was taking advantage. Not after his verbal abuse. It was one thing after another with¡ª Shit. No meat sack, no meat sack, complained the insects. No, it¡¯s there, Logan sent, dread lodging in his stomach. Just a little farther. LIES. Logan gasped as a shard of pain stabbed through his head, as if the insects had blasted a forcefield of anger at him. This wasn¡¯t lack of Karma¡ªhe still had half of his pool. No, this had been a backlash. He might have just figured out the limit to [Life Cycle Master]. He could make mold spores and insects do what he wanted by encouraging them, but if his encouragement didn¡¯t turn true, they¡¯d rebel since it went against their natural inclinations. The insects were moving back to the table in a line like a legion of ants getting ready for war. Juicy meat sack, meat sack, meat sack. Logan tried projecting more images of the slabs of beef, but the insects sent him a mental scoff in return. They knew the three people at the table were real. They could smell them and sense the blood thrumming underneath everyone¡¯s skin. There was no way he could change their minds. Their need was everything. The first wave reached the chair legs and then started swarming up and crawling over everyone¡¯s feet. One after another, a dozen, then a hundred. Asthea jerked in her chair, her face pale with fear. ¡°I concede!¡± [¡­] [..] [Request denied! The user hasn¡¯t committed sufficient effort to qualify to opt out.] [Put your back into it, weakling.] Asthea¡¯s eyes were so wide the whites were showing around the irises. Arsen let out a bellow of anger. ¡°You!¡± he pointed at Logan. ¡°This is your fault! Forcing torture onto Asthea! Torture onto a princess! You¡¯re dead, do you hear me? Dead!¡± ¡°Fuck,¡± Logan mumbled underneath his breath. The System had been sadistic before, but this time, it had taken it to the extreme. Was it trying to force Logan to concede so that he¡¯d miss out on the True Grit Ring? Logan had gotten the sense that it had been bitter when it kept glitching with error messages and was forced to change its penalizing Run Until You Drop title into a bonus title. Asthea was currently in first place and if Logan backed out, that meant she¡¯d win by default. The insects had started crawling over Asthea¡¯s torso, some crawling over her arms and beginning to gnaw through her armour. She dropped her chopsticks and they fell to the table with a clatter as she let out an involuntary whimper of fear. Logan could stomach a lot of things, but torture wasn¡¯t one of them. His need was immense¡ªhe needed to win this trial to save Lara and the kids, to save Ernie, to save humanity, but what kind of person would he be if he tolerated this kind of shit in order to eke out a win? Logan didn¡¯t want to live in a world where he was that man. Letting out a long, low sigh, Logan said, ¡°I concede.¡± [¡­] [..] [Request denied! The user hasn¡¯t committed sufficient effort to qualify to opt out.] [Put your back into it, weakling.] ¡°What. The. Fuck.¡± ¡°What does it want?¡± Asthea cried. ¡°For us all to die?¡± Logan had thought the System was evil before, but lately, he¡¯d been giving it allowances. After all, he¡¯d thought, there must be a method to its madness. From [Life Cycle Master] to his olivine discoveries, Logan had thought they were part of the System¡¯s master plan. And yet, that didn¡¯t explain why it had given Logan the name ¡®Idiot¡¯ in the first place; why it had forced him to complete quests that resulted in missing toes and death as a penalty, or why it insulted him at every opportunity. Logan began to wonder if there was more towards this whole ¡®glitchy AI¡¯ theory of Asthea¡¯s than he thought. Not just a glitchy AI, a murderous AI. Okay, okay, okay. Logan tried to push down his anger and focus. The System wouldn¡¯t let them concede and he could no longer push the insects away. If the insects managed to chew through his armour, Logan thought he could take it. It would be hell, it would be agony; he¡¯d never sleep without nightmares again, but he could do it. But what about Asthea? There was one possibility. One small possibility. It wouldn¡¯t be pleasant, and it would make him sick to his stomach, but it was a way out for her. ¡°Arsen,¡± Logan said. ¡°I think I can make the insects leave Asthea alone, but to do that, you¡¯re going to have to take the brunt of their attention. It¡¯s going to be unpleasant. Probably painful. Will you let me?¡± An insect scurried over Arsen¡¯s face, and he bashed it away with his big fist. ¡°Trickster, you have to ask? Would I save my princess from pain and torture? Of course I would. Do what you must.¡± Logan had permission to try this, but he didn¡¯t like it. Although Arsen had been nothing but an ass to him, Logan never would have contemplated doing this unless it was necessary. And even worse, he had no idea if it would work. Not after that mental pushback from the insects. It was possible that he had burned his bridges already. Furrowing his brow, Logan extended his senses, reaching. There were so many insect minds that it was almost overwhelming. Each one of them had one thought: Meat sack, meat sack, get to the juicy center. That¡¯s not meat, Logan said, projecting the image of Asthea. It¡¯s grass. Nasty. LIAR. Logan gasped, the sharp pain in his head getting worse. Blood seeped from his nose like a dripping faucet. Shit, he really had burned his bridges with these buggers. Convincing them that Asthea wasn¡¯t meat wouldn¡¯t work. But maybe¡­ You¡¯re right, it¡¯s meat. But it¡¯s not juicy. It¡¯s off. Old meat, left to rot. Why would you want that when you have something fresh right next to it, the juiciest meal of your life. This time, the insects hesitated. He could tell that he¡¯d intrigued them. Over here, he said, projecting the image of Arsen. Fresh meat, ripe for the picking. Fresh meat? Nirvana, Logan responded. He felt a pulse of excitement from the insects. Meat sack, meat sack, get to the juicy center, they responded, jumping up and down in excitement. As one, they began crawling off Asthea and onto the floor before making their way in an army line towards Arsen and spreading like a swarm. Chapter 70: Liche Siphon Arsen already had his own insects to deal with; that meant Logan had effectively doubled them. Logan had tried to concentrate on the insects that had swarmed around Asthea, but it wasn¡¯t an exact science, which meant for every insect he pulled off Asthea, he pulled off half from his own body. The poor man now had three quarters worth of all the insects in the room focused on him. Still, deploying [Life Cycle Master] on so many insects at once wasn¡¯t easy for Logan, and he soon felt the mental strain. It was a constant push and pull. They wondered why Asthea wasn¡¯t tasty, and in return, Logan projected images of Arsen as a juicier prospect. But that lasted for a couple of minutes at best before they were wondering all over again. All this effort was giving him a migraine, but it was working. The insects were piling on top of Arsen¡¯s shoes, gnawing away and burrowing into the juicy centre¡ªhis feet. First one, then another chomped down on his skin with their incisors, the insects worrying away at the bite and burrowing inside. Aww man, these things didn¡¯t want to just bite, they wanted to tunnel through Arsen¡¯s flesh and feast from the inside! Logan got the distinct image of what they considered heaven¡ªjuicy, juicy bone marrow. His stomach sloshed, and he had to swallow acid. It was also filling him with anger. It was the System¡¯s fault that he had to do this; it was the System¡¯s fault that Arsen couldn¡¯t get out of this trial. Grinding his teeth, he tried one more time. ¡°I concede.¡± This time, the System didn¡¯t respond at all. Well, if he went by its original message, it wanted them to perform. That meant more dexterity. ¡°Pick up your chopsticks, Asthea. If we earn enough points, I think the System might let us out of this.¡± Her lip wobbled. ¡°I can¡¯t do that while Arsen¡¯s¡­¡± She swallowed. ¡°Ignore what he said. Turn them back to me.¡± Logan looked at Arsen. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± he hissed. Logan could give him one thing: he had guts and a noble protector instinct. He was abrasive towards Logan and spent more time complaining of trickster cheats than he did competing, but when it came down to it, he loved Asthea and would do anything for her. That said something about his character. ¡°Asthea, the quicker you are, the quicker we get him out of this.¡± Logan was already at work, flicking his chopsticks like a madman. The urgency of the situation made his adrenaline surge. Arsen¡¯s eyes were bulging as he looked down at the table. His hand trembled around his chopsticks and an insect plopped back into his bowl with a splash of milk. Jerking, he tried to push his chair back, but in addition to everyone being stuck to the chairs, the chair legs were stuck to the floor. Hardening his heart, Logan closed his eyes and centered himself. Before the System Integration, he wouldn¡¯t have thought himself capable of this. Sit by while someone was about to be eaten by a swarm of insects? It would have been unthinkable. Let alone the one to direct them in the first place. Although it turned his stomach to witness Arsen¡¯s torture, better it was him than Asthea. If it had only been him in this trial, Logan might have tried to struggle through on his own to win the True Grit Ring; now, that calculation wasn¡¯t in play. He wanted to win enough dexterity, but only to escape. With renewed focus, Logan latched onto the next floating bug and shoved it into the table slot; not stopping at one, his hand a blur of flicking chopsticks. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 10 Dexterity Asthea: 9 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] But as each additional insect dropped to the floor, it added to the swarm. Soon, they weren¡¯t just slicing through Arsen¡¯s boots, they were chewing through his pants and chainmail. Arsen struggled in his chair like a madman, but he had the presence of mind to shoot a glare Logan¡¯s way. ¡°Keep going,¡± he hissed. ¡°I can take it.¡± ¡°Oh, Arsen!¡± Asthea covered her mouth and averted her gaze. Logan knew she suspected what was happening, but she couldn¡¯t see; only Logan knew the true gory details. His stomach sloshing in revulsion, he continued directing the insects. There was one problem. Logan was running out of Karma. He couldn¡¯t keep [Mimicry Armour] deployed at the same time as communing endlessly with the insects by using [Life Cycle Master.] 90/540. 70/540. 50/540. 30/540. His Karma was draining at a massive rate. Logan eyed Arsen and hesitated. The man seemed unfocused, a bubble of saliva popping from the corner of his mouth as he writhed in his chair. Logan felt bad about deploying his new skill, but he suspected that if Arsen had the presence of mind to understand, he would have agreed in a heartbeat. Anything to save Asthea pain. Either Logan did this, or he¡¯d run out of Karma. But how did [Liche Siphon] work? It wasn¡¯t a passive skill. He knew that much. It didn¡¯t advance with his Grade, and it didn¡¯t require Karma to deploy. The only thing he could equate it to was [Deepwater Explorer], but that required pain and asphyxiation to advance. The skills couldn¡¯t be related. Perhaps it was like [Life Cycle Master], requiring him to open his senses. 10/540. Shit! Everything within him rebelling, Logan made a desperate gambit and collapsed his armour. The sand rained down from his arms and hands onto the table, and then pooled at his feet. He didn¡¯t bother throwing it inside his collar; he¡¯d need it again shortly. Logan pulled up his Karma: 20/540. 30/540. 40/540. 50/540. That gave him time. But he didn¡¯t have long before he might be in the same situation all over again. The insects were already starting to shake off his control and drift towards Asthea, a surge of interest overwhelming his senses and making his heart flutter in panic. Fuck fuck fuck. [Liche Siphon], how the hell did he¡­ Logan took a deep breath. Panicking would get him nowhere. If this skill were anything like [Life Cycle Master], it would take concentration to master. He needed to be calm. Holding his empty chopsticks over the bowl, he sucked in a huge breath, letting his chest rise, then exhaling as he tuned his senses to Arsen. The man was trying to put on a brave face for Asthea, but underneath that fa?ade was panic and fear. Logan disregarded that and looked deeper. He thought back to when he¡¯d opened his Karma pool by envisioning a deep pool of water back in Martin¡¯s Convenience. Everyone else would have that same reservoir. Depending upon the person and how much they¡¯d advanced their pool, it could be a shallow river or a deep ocean. Arsen¡¯s was overflowing. Like a bucket full of water sloshing over the sides. He wouldn¡¯t need it all; it was a waste when Logan could utilize it. This was the tricky part. Logan envisioned a hole on the bottom of the bucket. A small hole, a pinprick, hardly noticeable unless you were looking. Gradually, the liquid dripped out of the bucket, trickling and travelling through the air. To Logan. He envisioned that stream dripping, then pouring into his own Karma pool, filling up his empty reservoir like an endless faucet. Ding! [Liche Siphon is Level 2!] Gasping and with his heart in his throat, Logan pulled up his Karma. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. 100/540. 150/540. 200/540. 250/540. He slumped to the chair in relief. His normal regeneration rate was 85 per minute, but instead, his Karma was jumping so quickly he must have received a massive boost. Of course, that was without deploying any skills that needed Karma, so he¡¯d soon find out how effective it was in a crunch. As for Arsen, his situation was getting progressively worse. The insects had swarmed his legs and were crawling up his upper thighs, gnawing away like flesh eating beetles. His face was swollen, bulbous with liquid, and he seemed only half aware, one blue eye staring at Logan, the other closed and puffy. But Logan was sure it was a mindless stare, nothing to do with his drain. After all, the description of [Liche Siphon] had been clear: [This rare skill allows you to siphon away an enemy¡¯s Karma. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware of the siphoning until Karma pool depletion is in effect.] That meant he shouldn¡¯t be able to tell that Logan was doing anything, and in his state, he¡¯d pass out from the insects long before Karma depletion went into effect. But the sight of the poor man was like torture to his own senses. If Logan ever got out of this and became powerful enough that he could rain a smackdown onto the System, he would do it. There was a limit to what should be allowed. A limit to what was reasonable. The System had just crossed it and went to the dark side. Logan continued keeping the insects away from Asthea and then redeployed his armour, covering his feet and legs, this time making his armour heavier than before, thicker. It wouldn¡¯t be effective in battle since he could already tell it would be clunky and cumbersome, but it served its purpose for this trial. ¡°This is working,¡± he said to Asthea. ¡°I can keep them away from you while earning dexterity points. My armour is protecting me so I can still concentrate. I don¡¯t know how far we have to go though, so keep stuffing the insects through the table slots.¡± Asthea wasn¡¯t paying attention to him; her entire focus was on Arsen. His mouth in a thin line, Logan continued snatching insects out of his cereal bowl and stuffing them through the slot in the table. As he progressed, the insects kept getting worse, these ones twice the size of the originals. They barely fit into the tunnel, and he had to brute force them through as they made buzzsaw screeches, the room¡¯s echoing effect making it seem as if they were in the midst of a cicada¡¯s swarm. If he never saw another bug in his life, it would be too soon. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 12 Dexterity Asthea: 10 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] ¡°Arsen,¡± said Asthea, ¡°I can¡¯t watch this! I know what you¡¯re trying to do, but you don¡¯t need to save me! I¡¯m not a little girl anymore!¡± Arsen gurgled in response. Letting out a scream of pure fury, Asthea dropped her chopsticks to the table and her face became resolute, her lips pulling back, baring her teeth. With the muscles and veins straining against her skin, she willed something out of her spatial storage. Logan blinked. It was a crossbow. It wasn¡¯t massive¡ªabout the length of a small kitchen cutting board, but the edges shone, that same high-quality presence as her armour. Unlike a modern crossbow, it reminded Logan of something you¡¯d see in a historical movie¡ªno carbon to be found. And yet despite that, it seemed higher quality, not less. Alarmed, Logan paused mid-chopstick. ¡°What are you doing?¡± This was the first time Logan had seen Asthea with a weapon and even though the chair arrangement restricted her movements, she knew her stuff. With a moue of concentration, she pulled back the string. It looked like the same material as Errol¡¯s whip. Aiming, she pointed the crossbolt at Arsen. The bolt shimmered, the edges of the arrow shining with otherworldly sharpness. By this point, Arsen didn¡¯t even seem aware, his eyes foggy, his mouth slack with pain. Asthea let out a guttural roar of fury as she released the bolt. It slammed into Arsen¡¯s chest with massive force, going through his chest and lodging into the back of his chair. The force of the hit rocked the chair in place before whatever was holding it to the floor rocketed him back. Arsen made a hissing noise as if air were deflating from his lungs, a bubble of saliva and blood popping from his mouth before his face slackened and his body became lifeless. Asthea dropped the crossbow to the table, her bowl rattling and splashing milk. She closed her eyes for a second before looking at Logan. ¡°I¡¯m not a princess in what you call a fairytale, off-worlder. My ancestors go back generations. All trailblazers. We didn¡¯t become leaders by being coddled and protected. You let those insects come.¡± She bared her incisors, her eyes damp, and her ears drooping. ¡°I can take it.¡± Damn. Asthea had just effectively committed a mercy kill. ¡°I¡¯m not doing that. If it¡¯s a choice between you and I, those things are coming after me.¡± Logan would never be able to live with himself if he sent the insects after Asthea to save himself. But yet again, he¡¯d run into a problem. Without Arsen, Logan¡¯s Karma source had disappeared. That meant Asthea was the only one available. He never would have tried this if there was any other option, but if he didn¡¯t, he¡¯d run out of Karma, and then the insects would swarm her, and she¡¯d be in a worse position than Arsen. ¡°Asthea, if you start to feel light-headed, let me know.¡± She shot him a confused look. Logan had already extended his senses to look for a way forward. He needed to latch onto Asthea¡¯s Karma pool reservoir and drain it like funnelling it with a straw. The first breakthrough with Arsen had been the hardest, and now, Asthea seemed easy in comparison. It was a simple matter of narrowing in on her Karma pool, as easy as breathing. 200/540. 225/540. 250/540. 275/540. Asthea was lower leveled than Arsen which meant she must have a smaller Karma pool. Logan¡¯s Karma was replenishing at a much lower rate. Still, it was enough. With a frown of resolve, Logan removed two sand buckets from his spatial collar and then reformed his armour suit. He spread the armour from his hips to his chest, making it thick, so thick it was like a plaster cast. Then scrunching his eyebrows in concentration, he sculpted regular exoskeleton around his arms and hands to maintain movement and flexibility. Lastly, he sculpted the armour over his head and completed it with his face mask. But as soon as he did, he wished he hadn¡¯t. His facemask gave him a perception boost and that meant he could see every little insect eye as it rotated and stared at Logan. Next, Logan deployed [Life Cycle Master] again, searching for the insect minds¡ªtoo numerous to count. His nose dripping blood, Logan sent, here, come here. The insects were already scurrying off Arsen; the meat was cold and unappetizing, and they were looking for brighter, juicier prospects. The problem was that those brighter prospects included Asthea. No, over here. Juicy, juicy meat. Logan sent an image of himself; his limbs covered in armour which held hidden cream, the best meal of their lives. The insects that were on their way towards Asthea paused and then jumped up and down in excitement. Meat-sack, meat-sack, get to the juicy centre. His nerves on fire, Logan took a slight step back from their minds and let them scurry over him in a swarm. He could feel each leg as they danced over him, and underneath his armour the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. But there was only one way out of this. More dexterity. His fingers twitching in readiness, adrenaline surging, Logan became a chopstick master. Snatching bugs out of the bowl, stuffing them into the tunnel and slot so forcefully that he smashed the legs to pulp, the things making buzzsaw noises as they landed on the floor. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [¡­] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 15 Dexterity Asthea: 10 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Doing three things at once was no mean feat¡ªfrom maintaining his grip on the insects through the use of [Life Cycle Master] to replenishing his Karma through [Liche Siphon] to the physical act of making sure the insects didn¡¯t scurry away from his sticks. Ugh. Moving his hand, he latched onto the latest bug, his chopsticks a blur as he forced it into the tunnel, through the ninety-degree angle, and out the slot. As he grabbed the next, Logan felt the swarm became delirious with activity. They crawled up his boots and legs, tiny claws digging into his armour and trying to burrow through. Soon, there were hundreds of the things swarming with their buzzsaw shrieks. Meat-sack, meat-sack. Get to the juicy center, was their entire thought. Ugh ugh ugh. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [¡­] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 20 Dexterity Asthea: 10 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Now, the insects had travelled up his chest, scurrying over him like spiders looking for a softer spot. Normally, he would have no concern that his armour wouldn¡¯t hold up to regular insects, but the System had enhanced these things. Each time he replenished his bowl, they grew stronger, their claws and pincers so sharp they cut like a knife through butter. And they could sense that his armour was weaker around his arms. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [¡­] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 25 Dexterity Asthea: 10 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Burrowing through with their sharp incisors, they chomped through the sandstone like mutant termites, chewing through and then spitting out sand in great mouthfuls. Logan felt the first one breach and take a bite out of his upper arm, followed by another and another. They dug through his flesh, taking out chunks, their minds alight with savage pleasure. Meat-sack, meat-sack. Juicy meat-sack. Logan switched his chopsticks. They were less effective in his non-dominant hand, but all he had to do was snatch them by their legs and then force them through the tunnel with his massive strength. And in the meantime, the insects were busy, busy bees. He screamed in defiance, his chopsticks a blur, every ounce of his willpower on disregarding the pain, ignoring the grossness factor, and persevering. Ding! [You have earned one dexterity point!] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [¡­] [You have earned one dexterity point!] [Trial Update: Logan: 35 Dexterity Asthea: 11 Dexterity Arsen: 7 Dexterity Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] ¡°Logan!¡± said Asthea, her voice filled with urgency. ¡°That might be enough! Try to concede!¡± For the first time, Asthea had used his real name. Mumbling to herself, she said, ¡°You let me out, you soncontal.¡± She tilted her head up and peered at the ceiling. ¡°I concede!¡± Logan had almost forgotten about Asthea through his mindless repetitive movements. Blood pouring out of his nose like a garden hose, his body nothing but a patchwork of pain and revulsion, Logan silently pleaded, please work. ¡°I concede.¡± Chapter 71: The Aftermath Ding! [You have completed the dexterity trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.] [Calculating rewards¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Rewards calculated!] [As the weakest person in the dexterity trial, you have defied the odds. Well done, Idiot! You have been granted double the amount achieved in the dexterity trial¡ª35 bonus dexterity attribute points.] Logan sagged in relief, his body becoming boneless as he let his armour dissolve into dust around him. He shook his head, dislodging sand and dead insects as he blinked at the table, having a tough time believing that the ordeal was over. The System had let them out. Or rather, escape. The insects had fallen motionless¡ªlifeless¡ªaround them, hundreds of the carcasses littering the table and the floor. The dexterity upgrade was surging through his body, giving him a solidness to his movements, that fine motor skill you needed for complex tasks, but he was having difficulty noticing anything through his feeling of numbness. Ding! [In addition, you have been granted a boon.] [Dexterity Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double dexterity. The Dexterity Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.] Logan looked down at his hand. The ring was resting in his palm just like the others. He was about to get up from his chair, but the System wasn¡¯t finished. [You have been granted the title, Malicious Meat Sack! Ruthless, take no prisoners, you will use everything at your disposal to pummel enemies into pulp and climb out on top. This title grants 20 bonus points to intelligence.] Asshole. The fucker sounded as if it were relishing giving out that title, when if anyone were to receive it, it should be the System. It had been the System who had trapped them in that trial, the System who had forced him to direct the insects at Arsen. This was FUBAR. That¡¯s all the time he had for venting before Logan was hit with the mother of all boosts. Houston, we have a problem. The world had opened up. Scene after scene passed through his mind, from his first strength trial where he pushed past his limits and then went beyond them, to the agility trial and his euphoria as he learned that Ernie had survived, to the endurance trial where he¡¯d discovered his ability to communicate with mold, and lastly, to the hell of the dexterity trial. Gasping in a sharp breath as the upgrade faded, Logan could only blink. He¡¯d received a small five-point increase after receiving the Run Until You Drop title, but a massive intelligence boost hadn¡¯t happened since he¡¯d defeated the snake swarm. Twenty additional points was nothing to sneeze at. But make no mistake, Logan wasn¡¯t in any way grateful. He¡¯d be having insect nightmares for the next decade! There was something wrong with the System. Seriously wrong. ¡°Asthea, are you okay?¡± Asthea looked traumatized. Her face kept twitching as she looked at Arsen¡¯s corpse. Logan gave her a grimace of sympathy. ¡°You did what you had to. When Arsen comes back he¡¯ll be grateful that you ended his pain.¡± She raised her eyes as if from a dream. ¡°¡­come back?¡± ¡°Yeah, the reset¡­¡± Shit. Logan had forgotten. [In this trial, if a Non-Player Character (NPC) kills you, your death will not be permanent.] [The death nullability applies to NPCs only.] ¡°Oh,¡± he whispered. Asthea¡¯s mouth twisted. ¡°Yes. ¡®Oh.¡¯¡± Rather than let Arsen go through death through insects, go through torture, she¡¯d killed him. Really killed him. Logan swallowed. It had been Asthea¡¯s decision to make, but Logan didn¡¯t think he¡¯d make the same decision in her shoes. If Logan had been in Arsen¡¯s place, he would have preferred to go through hell and still come out on the other side. Asthea had taken that option away from Arsen. And based on their close relationship, that must have been a horrible decision to make. A decision that would tear her up from the inside. Asthea ran a shaky hand through her hair. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look. I don¡¯t make rash decisions without thinking them through.¡± Pushing back her chair with a stone-on-stone scrape, she got up and moved over to Arsen¡¯s body. She bit her lip as she stared at him, her eyes red and puffy. Hissing out a breath, Asthea crouched and then reached for his wrist and pulled back his sleeve. Around his swollen, chewed through brutalized wrist, he was wearing a bracelet that glinted in the blue light of the room. ¡°Our clan always has a back up.¡± Tugging off the bracelet was difficult¡ªhis hand was so swollen that blood and pus drizzled by the time she managed it. It was a spatial storage device. Holding the bracelet, Asthea¡¯s eyes became unfocused, that same look Logan got as he mentally rummaged through contents of his own collar. Asthea looked down and opened her hand. Within her palm was another silver marble that glinted with gold specks. This one radiated with an aura that made Logan sit up and take notice. Compared to the aura that emitted from the metal chains, this one was off the charts. It would be the difference between looking at the hope diamond and fool¡¯s gold. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Resurrection crystal. S Grade. This crystal brings back those who are lost. One time use only.] ¡°These cost more than our world makes in ten years,¡± said Asthea, her voice in a reverent whisper. ¡°They¡¯re so dear that we only have one on reserve at a time. Hard to get a hold of, exclusive to the rulers of the clan. This was intended to be a back up, something that Arsen carried around to resurrect me if it came to it. He¡¯s going to be so angry when he learns that I used it on him instead.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Logan sat back, reeling. It was impossible. That was something you could buy? It was the wizard-shit all over again. Holy shit, he needed to get his hands on that marble. He could save Ernie if he needed! Save Lara! But just how much would he need to save to afford ten years¡¯ worth of a world¡¯s productivity? It had to be a heck of a lot. An impossible amount. With a grimace, Asthea opened Arsen¡¯s mouth and then pressed the marble against his swollen tongue. Rubbing her thumb and finger against the crystal, she waited for it to dissolve and disappear before she took a step back with an expectant air. Logan waited. And waited. ...Was something supposed to happen? ¡°No!¡± With a guttural roar, Asthea hit the table, sending the bowls flying and shattering onto the floor, spattering milk like a paintball gun. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he coming back?!¡± Her chest was rising like she was having a panic attack, her lips pulled back, baring her incisors, muscles and veins straining against her neck. Logan pushed his chair away from the table and got up. ¡°Maybe he will?¡± ¡°What?¡± she cried. ¡°You¡¯ve never been through the trial yourself before, right? Maybe the crystal worked, but it won¡¯t kick in until 24 hours is up. You might have to wait until the rest come back.¡± Asthea hesitated. ¡°Maybe,¡± she whispered. ¡°Oh, the clan, I hope you¡¯re right. If I had known this was a risk¡­ I never would have¡­.¡± A single teardrop trailed down her cheek. Logan raised his hand, about to pat her on the back, but then he backed away. She looked like she¡¯d attack the next person who touched her. ¡°This trial¡­ your System. Soncontal piece of shit. What¡­ what.¡± She straightened and ran a hand over her mouth. ¡°What was all that, stealth player? Our clan has been using this Trial of Awakening for decades. We never once had this problem. Refusing to allow us to concede¡­.? Unthinkable.¡± Logan swallowed. ¡°Welcome to my world. I don¡¯t suppose you got a response after submitting that System error report, did you?¡± Asthea rubbed her face, wiping her eyes, then shook her head. ¡°It was an error report. The bug will be lodged with the System admins and eventually make its way through the chain until they deploy a patch. But this¡­ your minion took over our System. Infected us. That shouldn¡¯t happen.¡± Logan didn¡¯t like the sound of that. He was new at this¡ªthe System Integration had just happened! Asthea¡¯s people had been dealing with the System for a hundred years. For her to be worried, that couldn¡¯t be good. She blew out a breath, fluttering a strand of her long hair. ¡°It¡¯s no matter. Twenty-four hours will be up soon enough. Then I¡¯ll find out if your theory is correct. Arsen better come back.¡± Oh fuck. The trial! Urgency like nothing else shot through Logan. After what he¡¯d been through in the dexterity trial, winning had been the last thing on his mind. But he¡¯d just won the fourth True Grit Ring and he still needed the last one to complete the set. A traumatizing insect trial didn¡¯t wipe away the fact that he needed to grow strong so that he¡¯d have a chance to save Lara and the kids, save Ernie, save Humanity. Not to mention standing up against a murderous AI System intent on torturing him for all it was worth. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 1.09 hours remaining.] Holy shit, that was nothing! Adrenaline shooting through him and making him feel jittery, Logan didn¡¯t bother putting on the True Grit Ring; rather, he stored it in his spatial collar. It had taken minutes to recover from the last ring upgrade, and Logan didn¡¯t have minutes. Time was ticking, and if he had any chance of finishing the final trial, he needed to move his ass. Logan brushed away the remaining insect corpses. After he¡¯d conceded, they¡¯d dropped to the floor, lifeless, as if they¡¯d walked into a Bug Zapper. For the ones that were sticking out of his skin like ticks, he plucked them out, but the others¡­ ugh. [Regenerate] and his constitution attribute would have to take care of the rest. All in all, physically, he hadn¡¯t taken too much damage. ¡°Asthea, I¡¯m sorry about this. I know you want time to recharge, but I don¡¯t have time. The clock is ticking, and we need to get out of here.¡± He wanted to be respectful of the dead, but if his theory was correct, it wasn¡¯t like Arsen was truly gone, and the trial wouldn¡¯t reset until he moved his body out of the chamber. Logan held back a grimace. Arsen¡¯s skin was swollen, bulbous with liquid. ¡°You¡¯re a good man. Forgive me,¡± he said to Arsen¡¯s face down corpse. Frowning in distaste, Logan grasped a handful of his shirt and then lifted the body like a sack of potatoes. Letting Arsen¡¯s legs flop to the floor, he started dragging him out of the room. After the strength trial, it was like lifting a feather. Asthea stood up and followed. ¡°You¡¯re not thinking of moving to the perception trial after all of that?¡± Logan shot her a frown. ¡°Of course I am.¡± Asthea sighed. She seemed to have put herself together. Her eyes were still puffy, but her face was back to its normal state. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m not surprised. You¡¯re a machine, after all.¡± Logan glanced back at her but kept dragging Arsen. ¡°You¡¯re big on wanting to show your clan and your mother that you can excel at this trial. I¡¯ve heard you. I can hardly speak to what the hell¡¯s going on there¡ªmy own family isn¡¯t a bed of roses¡ªbut I remember you saying that your people don¡¯t normally make it through all five trials. Well, if you did, wouldn¡¯t that be a story? The only one in your clan to make it out? That¡¯s got to be worth at least a dozen brownie points.¡± Asthea followed Logan as he dragged Arsen¡¯s corpse to the door. A trail of blood dripped to the floor like spilled paint, making it seemed as if he were fleeing a gory murder scene. ¡°Be careful with him.¡± She was quiet before she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what brownie points are, Logan.¡± Er. Right. ¡°It¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°But I have a sense of what you¡¯re saying. Your words have merit. At the same time, I know you¡¯re also saying them to get me to hurry. You have your own motives.¡± Ding! [Trial reset in progress¡­] [¡­] [..] [Please stand by.] Logan gently placed Arsen¡¯s corpse against the wall next to Thorin and Errol¡¯s. The stench had gotten progressively worse, so horrible that he was surprised flies weren¡¯t flying around the hallway. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, of course I want to hurry you along. But it doesn¡¯t mean what I¡¯m saying isn¡¯t true.¡± She looked at him carefully for a weighted pause. Finally, she whispered, ¡°You want to win. I want to win too. But to me, the Tactician Trial is more valuable. Why should I subject myself to pain in a trial that gives me nothing but perception? I have enough of that already.¡± ¡°What about winning? Winning an attribute trial that your clan never makes it to? That means nothing to you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s something,¡± she said grudgingly. ¡°It¡¯s not nothing.¡± Asthea¡¯s gaze became far away, her mouth in a worried line. ¡°Mother might be impressed. Might.¡± Logan ran a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs away from his eyes and pacing back and forth. He suspected his hair was standing on end like a hedgehog. He needed to find a way to make Asthea agree. Shit. Logan had never been good at manipulating people and Asthea had a mind as strong as steel. ¡°Stop pacing,¡± Asthea snapped. ¡°You¡¯re making me dizzy.¡± Logan came to a stop. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to stand still when every second is a second wasted.¡± Asthea pinned him with her gaze. ¡°It means that much to you?¡± ¡°It means everything.¡± She sighed. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll do it, but not because you¡¯re manipulating me into it. I¡¯ll do it because I owe you.¡± Logan furrowed his brow. If anything, he owed Asthea, not the other way around. She was the one who had helped him by answering his questions, submitted a System error report, and given him the Save Humanity Quest. ¡°Without you, we¡¯d still be stuck in that dexterity trial being tortured by insects. You kept them away from me and made them¡­ eat you in my place. The debt needs to be repaid. However, I have a condition.¡± ¡°Name it.¡± ¡°Arsen called you a trickster for a reason. I know of no skill that controls mold and insects. You¡¯re standing here, bleeding, the insects having chewed chunks out of your flesh, and yet you act as if you¡¯re unharmed. Your skill depth is immense. In the next trial, you must give me your oath that you¡¯ll refrain from using your skills and employ no more tricks.¡± Ding! [Trial reset complete.] Fuck. He was wasting time. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°No more skills. That means no more invisible armour, no more insect communing, and no hidden tactics.¡± His mind raced through the possibilities. If Logan agreed, he¡¯d go into the trial with a serious handicap. He¡¯d begun to rely on [Mimicry Armour] and [Life Cycle Master] was his ace in the hole. ¡°And if I don¡¯t agree?¡± She lowered herself to the floor and leaned against the wall of the hallway. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for a nap, don¡¯t you think? An hour should do.¡± Shit. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 52 minutes remaining.] Shit shit shit and fuck! Logan resumed his pacing. There was no way to start the trial without Asthea. The clock was ticking, and he didn¡¯t have the luxury to argue or fight. By the time he changed her mind, 24 hours would be up. It might be the best he could do. But it was a hell of a risk. Against Asthea, going into an unknown perception trial where she would be at a massive advantage? Logan didn¡¯t like those odds. He swallowed, his throat feeling dry like parchment. ¡°All right. No skills, no tricks. I won¡¯t deploy my full armour, and you won¡¯t see me communing with critters.¡± He gestured to the layer of armour around his neck that hid his collar. What was one white lie when an S Grade spatial storage was at risk? ¡°This stays though. It¡¯s part of my body and it doesn¡¯t come off. But I won¡¯t deploy the rest of my armour. You have my word.¡± She raised a white eyebrow. ¡°Your oath?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s how you say it in your world, then yes, you have my oath.¡± Asthea got to her feet and brushed dirt off her torn pants before turning towards the chamber door, her face full of resolve. ¡°So be it. But you might come to regret it. You¡¯re subjecting yourself to needless pain. You¡¯re going to lose, Logan.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure.¡± ¡°Oh? I was born of the dirt. Born of the clan. Our people have always been one with nature. Forced out in the wild as children, we either hone our senses or die. You¡¯ll lose. It¡¯s inevitable.¡± Chapter 72: The Perception Trial Ding! [You have entered the perception trial. This is the last attribute challenge. Your overall individual performance will be judged against the rest of your party. The individual with the highest attribute increase will be granted a bonus.] To be frank, Logan had no idea what to expect. Perception was the one attribute he¡¯d never figured out. The last time he¡¯d tried, he¡¯d ended up with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] instead. That had been a frustrating attempt all around. Perception was such a boring attribute that he hadn¡¯t considered it tactically important. Logan was regretting that now. It felt bizarre to walk into the room without protecting himself. Knowing that he could encounter anything and being restricted from deploying his best assets was beyond disconcerting. Logan was wearing his swim trunks and the narrow strip of armour around his neck, but that was it. Everything else was bare, including his feet and legs. It would be like speeding down a highway at 100 miles while on a motorcycle without a helmet or taking a hot pan out of the oven without oven mitts. You just didn¡¯t do it. And protection was one thought away. All he had to do was deploy [Mimicry Armour] and he¡¯d have an advantage over Asthea. But Logan couldn¡¯t do it. He¡¯d been through many things in the last six days, killed himself with pain and heartache, even communed with mold and insects. He¡¯d made compromises, adjustments that he never would have made in a normal world. But throughout it all, Logan had maintained his principles. Now, more than any other time, was the measure of a person. The stakes were immense. Winning this trial would award him the final True Grit Ring. A chance to triple his physical attributes. But if he went back on his word, how could he look Lara in the eye? Look the kids in the eye? The decision would fester in his stomach, tainting everything he¡¯d worked so hard for until it turned into dust. It was also a slippery slope. If he changed his moral compass for expediency¡¯s sake, no one on Earth would know. But Logan would know. And if he adjusted what he was willing to tolerate here, why not do the same when the next difficult decision came around? Again and again, until Logan would no longer be Logan. If he couldn¡¯t keep his word, then he¡¯d be lost. Logan had promised that he wouldn¡¯t use his armour, and he was keeping that promise. As for the trial itself, the chamber had once again been transformed. The table and insects had disappeared, and in their place was a¡­ forest clearing? But this one was unlike the endurance trial and unlike anything he¡¯d seen on Earth. There was damp, green grass underneath his bare feet. Scattered throughout the clearing were random, massive grey stones. They looked weathered and ancient, like a river had rushed over them for thousands of years, smoothing them and sculpting them. Surrounding the clearing were trees, but these weren¡¯t normal trees. They looked healthy, but they were white and covered in peeling, paper-like bark. They reminded him of Paper Birch Trees, only they trailed great guzzling globs of purple sap like maple syrup. To the right of the clearing was a narrow stream that looped around the stones. It was ten feet across, and it looked deep. Strangest yet¡­ the color. Logan was no stranger to odd-looking bodies of water. There was a sister-lake close to the Okanagan Lake that shimmered an array of blue, green, and turquoise colors due to underwater crystals that reflected the sunlight. But this one was purple. As purple as a plum. Amongst the trees, growing at random were giant, giant weeds. They might as well be Jack and the Beanstalk tall. Thirteen feet at least. He could only describe them as massive white dandelions, with tall, green stems that were as thick as his arm. A breeze trickled over Logan¡¯s chest, and he held back a shiver. There was a light up above shining down on them like a sun, but it generated no heat, and it had an artificialness to it that gave him the creeps. With a small smile, Asthea led the way into the clearing, her white hair trailing behind her. Coming to an agreement with Logan had changed her mood, and there was a cheerfulness to her expression as she sat down in the middle of the clearing next to the stream and crossed her legs in a lotus position. ¡°Are you going to just stare?¡± Logan blinked. What the hell else was he going to do? Just what was this trial, communing with nature? Shit, it was back to the tree hugger situation all over again. ¡°What do we do?¡± But Asthea had closed her eyes. She was ignoring him, a stillness to her face, a sereneness. Her armour shimmered in the light of the artificial sun, the high-quality material looking supple and strong, emphasizing her relaxed limbs, as if she didn¡¯t have a care in the world. Shit, she¡¯d already started. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 45 minutes remaining.] Logan had no idea what to do and he was rapidly running out of time. As he began to understand the challenge in front of him, a pit of doubt the size of a chasm opened in his stomach. He¡¯d been so convinced that he could come out on top of these trials through sheer grit and determination. After all, if there was one thing he had tons of, it was foolish optimism and a willingness to never give up when the going got tough. But there was optimism, and then there was reality. Logan paced, his bare feet crinkling over the wet grass. This was a perception trial; the tactics he¡¯d used in the other attribute challenges wouldn¡¯t work. You couldn¡¯t increase perception with a physical reaction. It had to be mental. Slumping to the ground and mirroring Asthea¡¯s lotus position, Logan straightened his posture and threw back his shoulders. Looking at an insect outside of Jack¡¯s cabin hadn¡¯t done anything to increase his perception, but he was convinced it had to do with his senses. There was something he could do. Logan had promised not to deploy [Life Cycle Master], but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t open his mind to the world around him. That wasn¡¯t cheating. He¡¯d employed the same tactic when trying to figure out how to get [Liche Siphon] to work. As long as he didn¡¯t commune with any critters, he¡¯d be keeping his oath. Logan shifted into a better position. Perhaps advancing perception had been so difficult because it didn¡¯t come naturally to him. Figuring out how to open his Karma pool and deploy his original [Life Cycle] skill had been a challenge. It was only through repetition that he got the hang of it. He¡¯d focus on one of the massive rocks to start. Logan stared at a boulder twenty feet away. It was the size of a rain barrel, smooth on the edges and covered in green moss. And yet somehow, he knew that if he just stared at it, his vision would blur and he¡¯d get nowhere. If looking at something was how you increased your perception, he would have done it back at Jack¡¯s clearing. No, it had to be something else. Instead of looking at it, he closed his eyes. By now, he didn¡¯t have to deploy [Life Cycle Master] to do this; it was automatic. The problem was, unlike in the other trials, he wasn¡¯t surrounded by dead, void space. This room was alive. Opening his senses meant that he was taking everything in, from the stream splashing and trickling behind him, to the strands of seaweed that swung back and forth in the current. Underneath the grass was a layer of moist soil, and amongst the soil were ants, beetles, worms¡ªyou name it. The grass was multiplying, budding seeds curling through the dirt. Even the paper birch trees were a distraction as the bark peeled and fluttered in the breeze. To focus on the rocks, he had to dampen everything else, like turning on noise cancelling earphones to remove distractions. He¡¯d treat them like layers. Layers of distraction. Like peeling an onion, each ring represented noise¡ªit was the core that was important. Gradually, Asthea¡¯s hair rustling in the breeze, the grass trickling underneath his feet, the stream cresting the bank¡ªall of it faded away. Scrunching his nose, Logan pretended the rock had a presence that dwarfed everything else, until he was no longer pretending. It was real. It was ancient, timeliness. It was colossal. And yet, he could perceive all of that, but it wasn¡¯t triggering a perception increase. Puzzled at first, Logan decided to adjust his thinking, like taking a mental step back and looking at a riddle from a different perspective. What if he increased his perception not just by being aware of the things around him, but by knowing the history of each living thing? And if he needed history, what better way to start with than with this ancient, timeless rock? It had been alive for centuries. Lying dormant, deep in the ground, deep in a world that wasn¡¯t like his world. This world was unnatural and formed by the System. As the ground altered, as tectonic plates shifted, the rock began to move. Millimetre by millimetre, year after year, up and up, travelling from the deep to the surface until¡­ Water. Bright, purple water. The water rushed like a flood, taking the rock with it, shaping the rock¡¯s sides, molding it, rounding it. Over the years, the flood slowed from a deluge and formed a river, a river that gushed like a monster had spit it up. More years passed. Then more. Millimetre by millimetre, the rock¡¯s journey continued until it inched itself up the bank, pushed by the bursts of water that flowed and ebbed like the tide. And just like that, Logan had done it. Ding! [You have earned one perception point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 10 Perception Logan: 1 Perception Arsen: Disqualified Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] Logan¡¯s eyes opened in shock. Asthea had already earned ten points! Asthea opened one eye and looked at him. ¡°Thank you for taking such a long time. The System doesn¡¯t turn on the penalty until everyone advances their perception.¡± A penalty? With a feeling of dread, the sound of his heartbeat thrashing in his ears, Logan glanced at the tall weeds with their bright bursts of flowers and pollen. The breeze had increased into a gust of wind, and something was happening to these monsters. Holy shit, that wasn¡¯t good. The wind continued to pick up, rustling the mutant dandelion weeds and dislodging white fluff. It reminded him of springtime at the cabin when the willow trees around the lake exploded, wildflowers grew like vines up the hill, and pollen drifted through the air. Allergies had never been a problem for Logan, but Lara had needed to stay away when she was a teenager, deeming the spring season the ¡®no go¡¯ cabin season until the heat of the summer blasted the pollen away. The white fluff travelled through the air like pollen, drifting and falling everywhere. It became so concentrated it was difficult to see anything but white, monstrous fluff. That wouldn¡¯t have been a problem if it were just that¡ªfluff and pollen. It wasn¡¯t. Logan hissed in a breath as the pollen fell on top of his bare arms, bright, red blisters the size of quarters forming in patches everywhere they landed. This wasn¡¯t just pollen. It was acid pollen. He suspected he was in for a world of pain. Chapter 73: A Ticking Clock Back when his grandfather had been alive, he¡¯d been big on antiques. He¡¯d picked up furniture and trinkets from all over the world¡ªfrom rarer hand carved furniture to touristy junk. He¡¯d been particularly proud of a tall antique grandfather clock and diligent about winding it to ensure it kept perfect time. As a child, to Logan, it had seemed immense, taller than even his grandfather, but also loud. When he¡¯d stayed over at his grandfather¡¯s house in Hope¡¯s End, he¡¯d struggled to fall asleep, having to resort to stuffing his ears with cotton to block out the tick, tick, since the clock echoed throughout the whole house. To Logan, that clock might as well be this trial. Tick, tick. Tick. Tock. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 39 minutes remaining.] ¡°Can you tell me how much time is left during each trial update?¡± [Confirmed. Trial status update option turned on.] For once, the System was being an accommodating fucker. At least that way he wouldn¡¯t have to waste time asking, but every second was another tick of the clock, driving him crazy as urgency surged. His heart was racing out of his chest, making it impossible to maintain focus and keep his senses open. That became even more challenging as he began to comprehend the difficulty before him. He had to overtake Asthea to win this trial. She had already earned ten perception points which meant he needed to earn at least eleven to beat her, and that was only if she didn¡¯t earn any other points before the trial was over. Now that he knew how to advance his perception attribute, Logan would have said that his chances were high, but not now. Not when he was dealing with acid pollen. And that was just the white, small shit. There were large clumps the size of mugs on top of those tall, monstrous weeds, clumps that grew looser the more the wind raged. This was going to get worse. A hell of a lot worse. Instead of a perception trial, this might as well be a focus trial. It would require concentration while dealing with immense pain. Normally, Logan would excel at this since he could deploy [Mimicry Armour], but because of his oath to Asthea, that wasn¡¯t an option. He had towels and blankets inside of his spatial storage, but you bet your ass Asthea would notice if he suddenly pulled out a tent¡¯s worth of belongings. There went his lie about his supposed ¡®garbage grade¡¯ spatial storage. Fuck fuck fuck. No armour, no blankets, no clothing other than his swim trunks. Well, never say that Logan hadn¡¯t struggled through adversity. If it were a matter of pain, he could suffer through pain. At this point, pain was a friend. And after his upgrades to [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], it might not be such an insurmountable obstacle. If he could grit this out, tune out what happened to his body, then he had a chance. Logan bit his lip and tried to lower his breathing rate, taking sips rather than gulps. If he continued taking deep meditative breaths, there was a chance he¡¯d suck in particles of pollen. He didn¡¯t fancy burning lungs in addition to burning skin. Logan had earned a perception point by scrutinizing a rock, peering into the past from its creation to its present state. The tricky part of that equation was that he didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d done it, but he had a suspicion. As a child, he¡¯d been frustrated when the adults around him made jokes that went over his head. Year after year, they¡¯d laughed, and he¡¯d furrowed his brow in puzzlement. It was only as the years passed and he learned about the world by talking to older kids and absorbing everything around him that it had clicked. The first time he¡¯d laughed along with the adults, his parents had side-eyed him, and the jokes had stopped. Or at least around Logan. As for the rock, it had been a rock when he entered the chamber, nothing but a hunk of stone. Figuring out that a rock had a history would have been the last thing he¡¯d tried. But as soon as Logan had opened his senses and cracked open his Karma pool by envisioning a reservoir of water, from the way he¡¯d pictured a brick wall when he¡¯d merged his two growing skills to create [Life Cycle Master], to the way he¡¯d managed to crush diamonds and intermix them with sandstone to form his talons, he¡¯d had the ability all along. It was nothing but imagination and the capacity to think beyond the obvious. Looking into the past was only one step further. It had been there all along. Logan had only needed to discover it. Next to him, Asthea hissed in a breath as the pollen drifted over to her like a dissolving cloud. Unlike Logan, she was wearing long sleeves and pants, and although scratches and rips made her chainmail look shoddy and ruined its natural alien shine, it provided a heck of a lot more protection than his swim trunks. And yet Asthea was already showing signs of pain, her face pale, her mouth in a grimace. She was wearing her fingerless gloves, which meant that when she tried to brush the pollen off her face, it stuck to her fingers instead. But for now, she looked as if she were sticking it out and trying for more points. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Damn. But there was only one way ahead, and that was forward. Logan closed his eyes. He tried to take a mental step back and focus on nothing but the life around him, pushing the pain and the worry of the ticking clock to the back of his mind. If he picked the rock again, there was a further option. He¡¯d followed it from its inception to its present state, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t go forward. To the future. Yet that might take time to figure out that he didn¡¯t have, and although he¡¯d be better equipped to increase his perception through the daily cheat method in the future, that wouldn¡¯t help in this trial. The ticking clock continued. Disregarding the rock for now, he searched for the next best thing. Something that should have been obvious, something that [Life Cycle Master] had given him an advantage over. Although he wouldn¡¯t deploy the skill, when it came to plants and trees, Logan was a master. He¡¯d start with the easiest option first. The grass underneath his feet. Logan only needed to envision it and then follow it back. Grass started at the seed level. It needed soil, water, and light to bring it to life. For this particular seed, it had begun with a deposit, the seed burying deep into the dirt, laying dormant until the time was right. The dirt sucked in the moisture of the purple stream, the atmosphere flush with humidity, the water of the stream splashing and seeping into the dirt. The seed took advantage. Fine hair-like roots spread from the seed, wiggling their way through the soil like a cobweb. And from there, a sprout, growing, growing, searching for sunlight and air. As soon as it breached the surface, it sucked up the artificial light from the sun in the chamber, its stem lengthening, thickening. Ding! [You have earned one perception point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 11 Perception Logan: 2 Perception Arsen: Disqualified Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] [Trial Progress: 36 minutes remaining.] One increased perception point wasn¡¯t much but it boosted his senses, and he realized how strong the wind had become. His ears popped and he could hear more acutely. From the rustle of the long grass to the water rushing past in the stream. Even the¡­ what the hell? The weeds were screaming. As the white flowers and pollen knocked against each other in the wind, it made the weed excited, and it thought¡­. Oh man. It thought it was breeding season. Pushing out gushes of purple sap that trailed from the flowers, the sap seeped down the thick stem and droplets went flying. One landed on top of Logan¡¯s right shoulder and then sizzling, sunk through his skin and into his flesh an inch deep. A wisp of noxious burning flesh wafted towards his nose like smoke. Holy shit, holy shit! Even with [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], that hurt like being burned by coal from the pits of hell. Not to mention that Logan had earned one perception point, but Asthea had too. He was still in the same position as last time! But Asthea might have hit her limit. The sap was flying at Logan, but it was also flying at her. Each drop that landed ate through her armour, seeping through and reaching her skin. ¡°Oh, the clan,¡± she moaned. But Logan could give her one thing. When she gave up, she did it tactically. Eyeing Logan, she gave him a look of speculation, examining his bare skin and looking as if she were doing a calculation in her head. As another droplet of sap landed on top of her arm and ate through her armour, she said through clenched teeth, ¡°I think I¡¯ve got this one, stealth player. I might have finally beat you. Although I know you¡¯re a machine, I see no reason to suffer through pain when I¡¯ll end up on top anyway. See you on the other side.¡± Getting to her feet, she rushed to the stream and jumped in with a smooth plop. The stream was deep enough that the purple water covered her whole body, just the top of her head and nose and mouth above the surface. She hadn¡¯t conceded, so she was still in this, but Asthea had the right of it. Why hadn¡¯t Logan thought of that? If he jumped in the stream, he¡¯d shield most of his body from the flying pollen and acid, and yet he could still focus on increasing his perception while swimming. In fact, Asthea had made a mistake by jumping into the water and showing him a solution. She should have toughed it out and let him fall further behind. Logan scrambled to his feet, wincing and muttering underneath his breath, ¡°Fuck fuck fuck,¡± as the pollen and sap landed on his back. It felt like welts the size of glass jars were forming in patches over his skin. It was so bad he was surprised his skin wasn¡¯t sloughing off! Screaming, he used his new agility and strength to jump into the water so fast he created a massive splash, water flying in a torrent. Logan sunk into the stream, and at first, he had nothing but relief. With the artificial sun and the coldness of the chamber, he would have assumed the water would be cold and brisk, but it was like a warm bath. It had a pleasant, violet scent, as if he¡¯d jumped into a stream full of blooming flowers. Logan kicked his feet, having no problem keeping his face above water. If he hadn¡¯t made a vow to Asthea, he could have sunk to the bottom and activated [Deepwater Explorer]. That way, he could have sheltered his entire body from the flying pollen and acid and concentrated on extending his senses at the same time. But overall, it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Even if he kept his face above water, that still covered almost everything. This could work. He could paddle in place and¡­ And¡­. He¡¯d¡­. What was he just thinking? Logan blinked at the purple water. It smelled so good. Like a bed of roses. It was if he¡¯d sank into a stream of blooming flowers. Wait. Hadn¡¯t he already thought that? The water was warm, perfect for relaxing. In fact, he didn¡¯t know why he¡¯d been so stressed. What was stress amongst the purple water. The water was everything. It would shelter him, nurture him. He could let himself float and ignore everything around him, let his worries dissolve and disappear. Why had he bothered with this trial in the first place? It was a lot of effort and pain for nothing. He could just relax; the water could nurture him. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Lara or Ernie¡­. Wait. What? Logan blinked. What had he just been thinking? Lara. Ernie. The Save Humanity Quest! The trial! Something was wrong. Even though the water was warm, Logan shivered, goosepimples breaking out on his skin as a stone of dread lodged deep in his stomach. Prying himself out of the water and onto the bank was one of the most difficult things he¡¯d done. Not physically. That was nothing. But having the willpower to drag himself out was like dragging himself away from the grip of a spider or on the other extreme, stepping away from a mother¡¯s warm embrace. The water wanted him, wanted him to stay, how dare he¡­! As he scored the bank with his fingernails, scrambling up and climbing onto dry land, Logan blinked. Second by second, the grip of the water faded, his thoughts solidifying. Shaking his head, he let the purple water drip down his body and fly away in the wind. Pollen and sap flying and hitting his body like shrapnel, he glanced back at the purple stream and stared. What. The. Hell. Chapter 74: Purple Cough Syrup Somehow, he wasn¡¯t surprised. This was the last attribute trial, a trial that not many prioritized. After all, if you were given limited time, would anyone sane choose to level up their perception first? Or like the Silverdagger Clan, would they choose to level up strength? If you made it to the end like Logan, you had to be beaten down and exhausted. In a way, the System had made this trial the most difficult of the lot. According to Asthea, her people had been honing their perception since childhood. They would have taught each other the way forward. Unlike humanity, they¡¯d been dealing with the System for a hundred years. That was a heck of a lot of time to figure out how to level up a tricky attribute. The only reason Logan had a chance was pure luck. Without [Life Cycle Master], he never would have had the ability to sense the world around him. At this point, it came down to magic and wizard-shit. How else could he sense what mold or insects were thinking? Or hell, even the mutant dandelions. Without his experience with the skill and without lessons learned through trial and error, he would have bumbled his way through this trial and walked away with nothing but acid burns. As it was, the System wasn¡¯t just throwing a hurricane worth of acid pollen and sap at him, it had also tried to trick him, introducing a stream that should have been shelter but had turned into a weapon. It was a drugged stream! That syrupy purple water had lured him in and acted like warped cough syrup, making him forget that he was in a trial in the first place. An insidious stream that would have kept him occupied until the time expired. He¡¯d only crawled his way out both mentally and physically by thinking of Lara and Ernie. Logan couldn¡¯t even trust the water! Everything was suspect. And worse yet, Asthea had been clever. He¡¯d incorrectly assumed she¡¯d made a tactical error by jumping into the water and showing him an alternative way to get around the acid. Instead, she floated in the stream with a small smile while Logan wasted precious time clawing his way free of the mental enchantment. Clever, clever alien. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 14 minutes remaining.] Shit! He¡¯d lost way too much time in that cough syrup stream, floundering around in a drug-induced daze for over twenty minutes! That meant he¡¯d need to earn ten perception points to beat Asthea in less than fifteen minutes, nine for a tie. To that end, what happened if there was a tie? Did that mean no one would win the True Grit Ring? He¡¯d tried so hard, pushed past what he¡¯d thought himself capable of, even resorted to employing questionable tactics. At first, he¡¯d wanted to advance for himself and then he¡¯d wanted to advance to beat the taunting guards, but now, after receiving the Save Humanity Quest, he needed to win for more than personal satisfaction. This was bigger than himself. Logan refused to believe it ended here. Once he left this trial and went back to the real world, to have any chance at the quest, he¡¯d need a mountain¡¯s worth of Karma. [Life Cycle Master] was the key to everything. He needed to jack up his physical attributes so he could dump everything into intelligence and wisdom. Logan could make an argument that constitution was also important, but was it really? Through [Regenerate], he already had a huge advantage. The skill upgraded with his Grade, so all he needed to do was grind away, level up, and eventually he¡¯d be able to chop off a finger and watch it grow just as fast. Logan had been skeptical when Asthea said his skill was like a fairytale, but if the others had struggled so much with simple cuts and injuries with a level that high, he was starting to come around to just how lucky he¡¯d been to come across Ernie. If he lost this trial, he wouldn¡¯t receive the last ring, which meant he¡¯d lose out on the tripling effect, not to mention that the rings wouldn¡¯t sink into his body. If he managed that, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anyone looking at his unnatural black metal rings and trying something. Logan liked safety. He could get behind rings that couldn¡¯t be stolen. But to get to that point, he needed to win. His heart was beating like crazy, his body twitching with adrenaline, his mind racing as the ticking clock echoed like a gong. Although Asthea was high on purple cough syrup water, her face was still above the surface and although glazed, she was looking right at him. Just his luck that she¡¯d have a way to combat the mental effect of the water and watch what he did with crystal clarity. To be safe, Logan couldn¡¯t use his spatial storage. The risk was too high. Shit shit shit. Logan hissed as another plop of acid sap landed on his chest and ate through his skin, the burning reek of flesh making his stomach lurch. If he couldn¡¯t use his spatial storage, was there anything else he could use? The water was out, the grass would be laughable. He could use his strength to claw a hole in the dirt to create a massive trench, but although that would shield him from the flying sap projectiles, it wouldn¡¯t solve the tornado that was flying and dropping the pollen everywhere. His nostrils and airway were beginning to feel like raw meat, his eyes stinging as if he were in a sandstorm. Tick tick. Tick. Tock. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Shit, there had to be something! He was losing time. There was nothing. Mutant pollen, fluff and sap were going to eat Logan. And yet¡­ it was just pain, pain that was dulled by [Idiot¡¯s Paradox]. If his skin sloughed off, if welts the size of glass jars formed everywhere on his body, he had [Regenerate]. He¡¯d suffered through a severed toe, a chopped off finger, and losing a whole hand. He¡¯d been fried by the noxious mushrooms, burned by the can of flaming hairspray. Flying acid should be child¡¯s play. He would heal. He would come back from it. Filled with new resolve, Logan stood tall and faced the coming onslaught. He had a way forward, and the only challenge was concentration. He needed to divorce his mind from what was happening to his body, tune out the agony, and open his senses to the world around him. But how? Although [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was paying dividends, he still experienced pain. He was being lashed by acid, his skin turning into a patchwork of blisters and welts. Each time a large glob of sap landed on his body it stung like nothing else. Hissing, Logan made sure to keep his mouth closed, continuing to take sips rather than gulps. It came back to the same thing as everything else. Visualization. Visualization had always been his ace in the hole. Logan closed his eyes. This would be the difference between winning and losing. Logan wanted to come out on top. He pictured his mind as a building with multiple rooms. The acid and pain surrounded the building, trying to seep through. In his mind, he visualized shutting a door and sectioning off the pain, cordoning it inside. But just like [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], it could only do so much. There were cracks in the door, both on the sides and at the bottom, allowing the acid to leech through. Logan visualized himself taking a step back, entering another room, and shutting the door. This one was solid, carved from the wood of an ancient tree, ten inches thick, weighing a ton. But still, it had cracks underneath the door and acid seeped through, spreading into the room, splashing and scalding his chest. Logan retreated into another room further in the building and shut the door. This door was made of the black metal, radiating an aura that was like a supernova. The bottom of the door stuck to the floor like a suction cup, creating an impenetrable barrier. Above the doorhandle, he pictured a lock that was a force all its own, unmovable, implacable. Logan was at the heart of the building, cushioned by rooms, separated by ever-stronger doors. The acid couldn¡¯t get to him. It would never get to him. Logan opened his eyes. Welts, raw flesh, blood¡ªyou name it. His body was a disaster. Blood trailed down his legs in red torrents like someone had used a scalpel to score lines through his skin. Acid was eating into his scalp, creating further bare patches of burned skin. His eyebrows were half blown away, and his face felt as if his five o¡¯clock shadow had been shaved off by acid, his skin nothing but a tomato. Even his fingernails were bleeding from clawing his way out of the purple stream and grabbing clumps of acid fluff. Logan didn¡¯t care. He couldn¡¯t feel it through the walled-off rooms. Rolling his neck back and forth, he calmed himself until his pulse was steady, his heartbeat slowing. Opening his senses while the acid pummeled him, he searched, but he did it in a languid, unhurried way, as if he had all the time in the world. It was the only way to maintain his calm and keep the doors shut and the pain out. Focusing on the brightest spot of life in the clearing, one that dwarfed the others, Logan narrowed in on an immense paper birch tree. This one had to be the width of five men standing side-by-side, and so tall its canopy of leaves helped to filter the flying pollen. To grow this thing with [Life Cycle Master] would have taken all his Karma. Even though Logan wasn¡¯t deploying the skill, he instinctively knew how the tree had ended up the massive tower of life it was now. From a seed, launching its roots into the ground, burying deep, shoots breaching the dirt and looking for the artificial sun, Logan had the image in his mind like breathing. The tree grew, sprout traveling until it was five feet, then ten feet tall, branches bursting forth like a brain stem, limbs thickening, strengthening. Then the trunk thickened, a layer of bark fattening it, year after year, century after century. This was an ancient tree. And an ancient tree had secrets, secrets of the room. Gasping, Logan stared at the tree, his eyes widening. Just like that, he had it. He knew how others had survived this room. The knowledge was etched into the rings of the tree. The bark. Trial after trial, users had torn the bark, using it to shelter themselves from the acid. Unlike Logan, they¡¯d known about the bark before they¡¯d entered the trial, the knowledge passed down from clan to clan, generation to generation. It was a paper birch tree. Paper birch trees peeled. And the System had manufactured this one to neutralize the acid, giving anyone who covered themselves in it armour that was like living steel. All he¡¯d have to do was peel the white bark into layers and wrap himself with it, making him look like a wrapped toilet paper mummy; ridiculous on the face of it, but effective. Ding! [You have earned one perception point!] [¡­] [You have earned one perception point!] [Trial Update: Asthea: 11 Perception Logan: 6 Perception Arsen: Disqualified Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] [Trial Progress: 4.53 minutes remaining.] Logan blinked rapidly. He¡¯d received four perception points from that one instance alone! That meant he only needed five more points for a tie with Asthea, and six more to beat her. But he had less than five minutes! Despite his best efforts to remain calm, Logan¡¯s toes twitched with nerves as urgency surged. The thing about it was, even though he¡¯d discovered the secret to the room, he didn¡¯t need it. It would take needless time to peel away the bark into useable wrappings, time he didn¡¯t have. He¡¯d managed to get by with his walled-off rooms, and what was another four minutes of pain? Gnashing his teeth, he slammed shut every single door in his mind, shouting in exuberance as he strode over the acid-soaked wet grass, blood oozing underneath his feet. There was one problem. He needed to earn six perception points, and he was rapidly running out of test subjects. The rocks, the grass, the trees. He could focus on the screaming mutant dandelion weeds, but somehow, he knew that would get him one attribute point at best. He needed something massive. Logan hesitated. Well, never say never. If he needed to end this trial with a bang, why not choose the one thing that would be the most difficult, but also, the most valuable? The artificial sun. Chapter 75: The Birth of a Star It was challenging for Logan to maintain his calm when he knew that he had less than five minutes to figure this out. Not to mention that he¡¯d chosen the most difficult thing in the whole chamber. Even though the System had generated everything, they were still alive. The grass had grown just like normal grass, the insects underneath his feet had independent thoughts, the paper bark tree had lived for centuries. That meant the artificial sun¡ªa star¡ªwas also alive. The System¡¯s power once again blew him away. It had created magic and items that should be impossible. Created a star. Logan knew it was an AI minion, but the complexities around it were colossal. How had it gotten so powerful? Who had created it? If it came from Ernie¡¯s Sky People, then he didn¡¯t like their chances. ¡°System, how much time is left?¡± [Trial Progress: 3.93 minutes remaining.] ¡°Shit.¡± Adrenaline shot through his system despite his best efforts to remain calm. Clenching and unclenching his fists, blood pouring from his knuckles from cracked acid sores, Logan wrenched his attention away from speculation and towards focus. He was losing time and subjecting his body to more damage by standing there, not even trying to shelter, allowing the acid pollen and sap to pepper him like a non-stop shooting paint gun, every droplet eating further into his flesh. By this point, he was covered in a layer of blood, raw flesh exposed on each inch of his body, nothing but a slab of hell. Multiple rooms still sectioned off his pain, but the walls were beginning to vibrate, as if someone had turned on a stereo at full blast. But they weren¡¯t vibrating with music, they were vibrating with the tick of a clock. It echoed like a beating heart. Tick. Tick. Tock. Logan bit his lip until he drew blood. He could do this. It wasn¡¯t impossible. It was just another task, just another way of looking at the world. If he could examine a tree and follow it as it grew from a seed to a towering monster, he should be able to do the same with a star. Logan looked up above. This was another warped room, since he knew there had to be a ceiling, but all he could see was gloomy, grey sky and a dull sun that shone a faint light that was blue rather than yellow. Beyond the color, unlike Earth¡¯s own sun, this one seemed off. Only a fraction the size of Earth¡¯s, its heat a sizzle rather than an explosion. It was a cold star. A dwarf star. It reminded Logan of his ex-girlfriend and her love of documentaries. Of space explorations, and how scientists identified whether a planet could support life. The planet needed to be in a habitable zone¡ªthe distance around a star that would allow it to maintain water. He suspected that if this were any place other than a System trial, the trees and grass never would have grown so wild and abundant. The room was cold. Cold enough that he was surprised there wasn¡¯t a layer of frost underneath his feet. For all he knew, the star emitted rays of radiation, jacking up the mutant weeds and making the acid even worse. And yet, it was still a star. Unless he wanted to be blinded on top of having his skin eaten by acid, he couldn¡¯t look directly at it. He would need to sense it, but not with sight. Disregarding the falling acid fluff, Logan tilted his face up to the sky and closed his eyes. [Life Cycle Master] continued to give him an advantage. He only had to think about it, and he could sense every spot of life within the clearing. Logan directed his senses away from the obvious spots, extending his awareness onwards and upwards. Unlike the forest clearing, the sky was devoid of life. It was a blank spot, a black hole. He instinctively wanted to drift down to where he knew was life. Forcing himself to fight that instinct was surprisingly difficult. Foot by foot, he travelled upwards, stretching his senses like trickling frost. When he grew closer to that bright spot, it became easier, since at least now, he wasn¡¯t extending his senses into a void. He had something to aim for, something with multitudes of life, a bright spot that had way more life than anything in the forest clearing. It was so bright it would be the equivalent of putting thousands of people into a room together and trying to sense them all at once. Overwhelming. Too much to handle. Logan dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands and tried to focus. He refused to be cowed. It was immense, it was beyond his imagining, but he¡¯d learned lessons in the last few days, lessons about his new world. If he let despair overwhelm him and if he were convinced that he wouldn¡¯t succeed, he wouldn¡¯t. But more than anything, he¡¯d learned that even if all were lost and hopeless, to never give up. What seemed insurmountable could be tamed and mastered with pure grit and imagination. Forced to understand a thousand-year-old star in less than four minutes? Bring it on. Letting out a grunt of effort, a migraine building behind his nose, he latched onto that bright presence up above like swinging a lasso around it, he¡ª Logan panted, his heart fluttering in panic as if he¡¯d been shot by a defibrator. The presence was off the charts! It was too massive, too colossal. From ground level, he¡¯d had no true understanding of its size, thinking that if it existed in a room generated by the System, it must be room-size in comparison. It wasn¡¯t that at all. This was a true star. He had to think about this in a different way. If he were deploying [Life Cycle Master] how would he create a star? Create a star. Holy fucking shit, he¡¯d known the System rated [Life Cycle Master] as epic, but he¡¯d had no inkling, no possible conceivable thought to just how epic. It couldn¡¯t be possible that he could create a star. Could it? But if he could envision it, imagine it growing from birth to death, wasn¡¯t that the same as if he went one step further and deployed [Life Cycle Master] and grew it himself? After all, the definition of the skill was open-ended: [This skill allows you to control the life cycle of beings from birth to death. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate.] Okay, okay. So [Life Cycle Master] could be deployed on something thousands of years old. Maybe even millions. Wizard-shit indeed. But it would never happen; it would take too much Karma. He didn¡¯t even have a concept of how much. Enough Karma to grow a hundred rainforests all at once. Wait. Holy shit. He¡¯d need a massive amount of Karma to tackle the Save Humanity Quest. Wasn¡¯t that the purpose of this whole trial? To advance his physical attributes enough so that he could focus on increasing his wisdom and intelligence attributes to the exclusion of everything else? It would take a hell of a lot of leveling, and even with that, he wasn¡¯t sure if it would be anywhere close to what was needed to grow a star. In fact, for him to have any chance, he¡¯d need to replenish his Karma¡­ Replenish it¡­ He felt like he¡¯d been hit by a two-by-four. His insides were vibrating as adrenaline rushed through his body. It was as if he¡¯d been hit with a concept that opened his mind, opened his perception. He might as well have been dick-punched. He had the ability to replenish Karma through [Liche Siphon]. Logan could become a star-creator. Logan could become the shit. But that was a thought for tomorrow. When he had time. He didn¡¯t have a second to spare to even ask the System how much time he had left, and he needed to figure this out. If he had the Karma to deploy [Life Cycle Master] to create a star, how would he go about it? How did this one come into existence? This wasn¡¯t like envisioning a seed growing. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He had to start somewhere. Opening his senses as far as they could go, he examined the star from all angles, looking deep into the core, looking for the origin. Everything was so bright with life that it was challenging to see beyond it. But within the star, at the core, there was something¡­ Something¡­ Dust. Dust and gas. Years and years ago, the dust had been happy inside its cold, dark cloud, comingling with the gas in a mutual relationship. Back and forth, hovering around in empty space, existing, just existing. A massive storm of dust, static, and gas. The System came. To the dust, it was unwelcome, disrupting its happy and content existence and forcing it to have an awareness of a tug-o-war, a pressure, a massive push and pull of gravity forcing it to compact. Dust and gas pushed together. Over and over, circling into a disk, forcing its happy existence into conflict until it pushed its symbiotic gaseous partner away and into the center, compacting, ever compacting, flying around like a hurricane with the gas inside the hurricane¡¯s eye. Years passed. Years of compacting and ever-expanding pressure. More years passed. Until¡­ Logan hissed in a breath. Nuclear fusion. The dust as a singular entity was no more; it was now part of the core of the star, symbiotic once again, filled with one purpose. Beam light down upon the trial, always the trial. Forever the trial. Logan hissed out a gasp of relief. He had it! Ding! [You have earned one perception point!] [You have earned one perception point!] [You have earned one perception point!] [You have earned one perception point!] [You have earned--] [Error!] [Recalculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [Results calculated!] [Tough luck, Idiot! You¡¯ve run out of time! Any additional perception points earned are null and void!] [You have completed the perception trial!] [Final Trial Total: Asthea: 11 Perception Logan: 10 Perception Arsen: Disqualified Errol: Disqualified Thorin: Disqualified] [Calculating rewards¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Rewards calculated!] [No extra rewards! You have lost! Tsk tsk.] No! Fuck! No! Logan slammed his fist against the nearest willow bark tree, splitting its trunk and making its branches rain leaves. With a crack, it lurched to the side, the green of its trunk exposed. He wanted to bellow at the sky, reach through the pocket dimension, and strangle the System. He wanted to scream at the world. Scream at the universe. If he hadn¡¯t run out of time, he would have earned enough to overtake Asthea¡¯s score. A stone lodging in Logan¡¯s stomach, white spots filling his vision from pure rage, he paced, his feet trailing pools of blood. He got the sense that the System was laughing at him, as if relishing the fact that it could tell Logan that he¡¯d lost. Without that time cut off, Logan was sure he would have received a massive perception bonus¡ªforget six, talk about unlimited. Instead, the System had cut him off. Ding! [You have completed part one of the trial dungeon! Calculating overall performance and ranking¡­] [24 Hour Trial results calculated!] [Rank 1: Idiot Rank 2: Asthea Silverdagger Rank 3: Arsen Silverdagger Rank 4: Thorin Silverdagger Rank 5: Errol Silverdagger] The wind had died down; the room was calm, and the mutant monster weeds were shriveling, the acid pollen and fuzz dissolving and evaporating around him. Logan¡¯s shoulders drooped as his rage faded and his heart shrunk in disappointment. He¡¯d been so close, just ten seconds more and he would have had it. Instead, he¡¯d only walked away with ten perception attributes, and the additional True Grit Ring was lost. That meant he wouldn¡¯t benefit from the tripling power, and he would have to wear the rings for everyone to see. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Logan looked down at his ruined body and ground his teeth. All the other trials had resulted in a massive boost which had wiped away his fatigue. Now, he¡¯d have to wait for [Regenerate] and his constitution stat to get to work, giving him a handicap in the upcoming army trial. He wouldn¡¯t¡ª Ding! [As a rank 1 player, you have been granted rewards!] [1 Pink Sock. B Grade. Leaping, jumping, you have it all! The Pink Sock allows you to jump like the idiot you truly are. Gravity won¡¯t get you down! The Pink Sock is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of both socks, the jumping ability will turn into a floating ability.] [Monetary reward: 300,000 KarmaCoin.] Oh, come on! Logan peered down at the ground. A pink sock. At this point, he wasn¡¯t even surprised. The System had a warped, snarky personality, and Logan was the butt of its joke. He would have preferred a weapon to replace his baseball bat and the Cursed Length of Rope, but then he read the description. It was a B Grade item. He now knew the power of B Grade. If it let him jump high distances¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t nothing. Grudgingly, despite his bitter feelings, he could acknowledge that something like that could be valuable. Logan picked up the sock and examined it. Unlike a cotton sock, the fabric was slick and shone like the scales of a reptile. It was large, the perfect size to fit his foot. In addition to its slick appearance, it had an aura that was off the charts. It reminded him of the chains. And even better, he knew where to find the other sock! The Tree Fridge. Logan ran a hand through his hair, fingering the bald patches but not even caring. Yet again, he was reminded how lucky he¡¯d been to get access to the Tree Fridge. If he could do it all over again, he¡¯d take Eleanor instead of the fridge in a heartbeat, but it was only through that experience that he¡¯d obtained access to something that was beyond valuable. When he¡¯d first seen the options available in the fridge, he¡¯d been disgusted beyond belief, but if he were a betting man, each item, no matter how ridiculous, had value. A reward of 300,000 KarmaCoin was nothing to sneeze at either. That meant he could afford every single item available in the Tree Fridge. Alternatively, if he found out how Asthea had purchased her communication marble, he might have a way to get in touch with Lara. A one-time use was hefty, but if it were the difference between life and death, Logan would absorb that cost any day of the week. There was a splash of water behind him. Asthea. Logan willed the Pink Sock inside his spatial collar and then turned around. Asthea was clinging to the edge of the stream with a small smile, her eyes shining in pleasure, her pupils blown wide open. She looked half stoned. ¡°You okay in there?¡± asked Logan. ¡°Mmm. This is the good stuff.¡± Asthea clung to the edge of the stream with one hand and waved the other in the air. ¡°Help a girl out?¡± Logan latched onto her hand and hauled her out of the stream, the purple water pouring and then dripping off her armour and clothes onto the ground. Her hair was a wet, purple mess, and her face was full of welts from where the acid had managed to land. Second by second, her awareness sharpened, until she looked off to the side with a wide gasp. ¡°I did it!¡± She looked down at her hand and held out her palm with a wide grin. Inside her hand, was a True Grit Ring. Excited, she put it on and then with a small gasp, looked at the chamber as if she were having the trip of her life. The doubling effect. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she jumped, kicking her feet in excitement. ¡°Yes! Finally! Mother will have to be impressed with this.¡± Underneath her breath, she mumbled, ¡°She might criticize me for earning a perception bonus, but she can¡¯t criticize the fact that I made it through the whole trial.¡± Her face was shining in pleasure, and Logan swallowed hard. The stakes had been high for him, he had a Save Humanity Quest to tackle, but Asthea had her own pressures. There was a complexity with her mother and her clan that he didn¡¯t fully comprehend. He couldn¡¯t deny that she deserved the win. Here he was, kicking himself that he hadn¡¯t won all five trials, when Asthea hadn¡¯t even won one until now. He could give her that. In addition, she hadn¡¯t made any effort to hide that she¡¯d won the ring when Logan had done everything in his power to ensure he kept his secrets close to his chest. Logan felt like an ass. A selfish ass. He held out his hand. ¡°Good competition. You deserved the win.¡± Asthea looked down at his extended hand with a bemused look. Right. They probably didn¡¯t have handshakes on their world. Asthea preened. ¡°I¡¯m pleased with my success; I can own up to a bit of pride! But you! I¡¯m frankly shocked. It takes our people decades to master perception increases. And you managed to almost beat me!¡± Logan felt his ears turn red. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that difficult,¡± he said, shuffling his feet. ¡°Once I figured out how to go back in time and follow each being¡¯s development, the points came easy.¡± Asthea blinked. ¡°Go back in time. You just went back in time.¡± She pinched the bridge of her nose in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± She swallowed. ¡°I can¡¯t even¡­ I¡¯m just done with you.¡± Had Logan done it wrong? Had there been an easier way? Ding! [Please exit the trial dungeon chamber so that a reset can begin! Upon exit, your injuries and fatigue will be wiped clean, and the other members of your party will return whole.] Asthea cracked her neck and bounced on the balls of her feet. ¡°Finally! Nothing against you, stealth player, but I¡¯m missing my family.¡± She rubbed her hands together. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to beating you. It¡¯s one thing to excel at an attribute trial, it¡¯s another thing to defeat warriors at their own game.¡± She hit him on the back on her way past, a friendly pat. At the beginning of the trial, Logan had felt her strength, forced to move after one push. This time, although he hissed in pain since she¡¯d re-opened one of his sores, he stood motionless, able to withstand it. He¡¯d made massive gains in this trial. And he was one step closer to getting out of here and back to Ernie and Lara. But first, he had to get through the second part of the trial. The army trial. That meant that all the guards would come back. Every one of them had a reason to want him dead. Chapter 76: A Tricky Off-Worlder Asthea strode to the exit, a bounce in her step, her wet, silver hair trailing behind her. Logan stalled until she¡¯d entered the hallway before taking out a huge bucket from his spatial storage and depositing it on the ground. Crouching in front of the purple stream, he filled the bucket to the brim. Without a lid, he was worried it would slosh over the sides once he returned it to his collar, but as soon as he willed it inside, he knew it would remain intact like it was in a sectioned-off cubicle. This might be a waste of time, but if he knew anything, that purple cough syrup was some kind of drug that made you forget your worries¡ªand for all he knew, he¡¯d have a use for it in the future. It was just like the chains and the tiger guard dog. He might not have a chance to enter the trial again, so he might as well grab whatever he could. Logan glanced down at his body and winced. Although his welts and his raw skin were starting to heal, and according to the System message, he should be whole soon enough, blood covered him as if he¡¯d stepped into a vat of red paint. His hair had to be standing on end, bald patches on his scalp. The least he could do was make himself look less like a barbarian. Taking a rushing leap, he jumped into the stream, holding his breath and being careful not to get any water in his eyes. Just as quickly, he jumped out before the syrup could start seeping into his awareness. From one dip, he already felt mellow and ready to take a nap. That was some powerful shit. Logan glanced at the door to make sure Asthea wasn¡¯t in view and then removed a towel from his spatial storage and gave himself a rub down. There. His skin was red like he had the worse sunburn in the world, his swim trunks had a rip in the waistband, and his hair was a bird¡¯s nest, but at least he didn¡¯t look like a slab of raw meat anymore. Lastly, Logan took out the Dexterity Pure Grit Ring, holding his breath as he put it on his ring finger. As soon as it touched his skin, he felt an immediate surge of euphoria. Flexing his wrists, he had the overwhelming need to do something that required complex movements, like throwing the kitchen knives inside his spatial storage and juggling them in the air. As the feeling faded, Logan clenched his fists, feeling jacked up and ready. The guards would be hostile¡ªhe had no illusions that he¡¯d be given a warm reception, but it would be how he handled it that would be the difference between hostile glowers and escalation. Before Logan joined Asthea, he needed to do one more thing. Review his full stat sheet. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 38 out of 6,019,010,812 Level: 34 Class: None Grade: F3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 32,000/68,000 Karma: 660/660 Intelligence: 110 Constitution: 46 Strength: 182* Agility: 242* Dexterity: 192* Endurance: 441* Perception: 35 Wisdom: 85 Luck: 55 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 302,600 Logan¡¯s stomach dropped to the floor in shock. Not from the attribute increases¡ªhe¡¯d expected that¡ªbut from his rank. Rank 38 out of over six billion people. Holy freaking shit. How was that possible? That number didn¡¯t compute. Out of all those people, he was ranked that high? On a stat screen, it didn¡¯t seem all that much, but when he mentally translated six billion people into relatable physical buildings, he was gobsmacked. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Logan had always been good at math. Take a sports stadium. Let¡¯s say it held 100,000 people. For six billion people to fill up stadiums, you¡¯d need 60,000 stadiums. That was 60,000 stadiums worth of people. 60,000! He was on top of the world, on top of the frigging world. Sputtering, he blinked, not believing his own calculations. There had to be impossible things happening back at home¡ªthe continuing decline in population was evidence of that¡ªand yet he¡¯d still managed to surpass everyone who must be fighting monster swarms. This trial had rocketed Logan up the ranks, put him up in the stratosphere. And even more amazing was that he truly had to be a ¡®stealth player¡¯ as Asthea defined it. To obtain the same number of attributes through leveling, he¡¯d have to be¡­ Logan gulped. He¡¯d have to be E Grade. As it was, anyone who looked at his level would underestimate his abilities. And that was only after the doubling effect of the True Grit Rings. Imagine where he¡¯d be if he managed to win the fifth ring and the tripling effect skyrocketed his attributes. Logan suspected that he¡¯d be ranked in the single digits, even first. First in the world. It was too colossal to contemplate. Pacing, Logan pinched his nose and then blew out a breath. Well, he¡¯d need to be that high ranked to save the world. Save the world. Until now, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to think over the responsibility. He was ranked higher than six billion people, but he had six billion people to save. That meant he¡¯d have to placate Asthea¡¯s guards, grab whatever advantage he could in this mysterious army trial, and then get out of here. The ticking clock from the perception trial continued, only this time it was timing his ability to get back to Lara and the kids. If he couldn¡¯t find a way to push the group along, they¡¯d take days to go through the army trial, and in the meantime, Lara and the kids would meet him at Richton¡¯s Tomb and Logan wouldn¡¯t be there. He hated contemplating what kind of position that would put them in; either Lara would try to find a canoe or a kayak on her own and make her way to the cabin in monster and undead infested waters, or they¡¯d head back to the city¡ªto who knows what. No, Logan needed to get out of here. That meant forcing the Silverdagger Clan to speed up the trial. But how? Logan left the chamber behind and followed Asthea into the hallway. He left the Pink Sock inside his spatial storage for now, since although it sounded useful, he didn¡¯t have time to experiment jumping around like a fool. That could wait until after. He briefly contemplated offering it to Asthea in exchange for her True Grit Perception Ring, but Asthea wasn¡¯t stupid. He doubted she¡¯d give him a ring that would complete his set. It would make him more powerful. Plus, she¡¯d agreed to complete the trial in the first place to obtain the ring so she could show it off to her mother and clan. A Pink Sock was laughable in comparison. Asthea quirked an eyebrow, her arms crossed over her chest. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to¡­¡± The guards were gone. Logan glanced up and down the corridor. That noxious reek of decomposing flesh had disappeared, and the bodies were nowhere to be found. ¡°What happened to your guards?¡± Asthea shrugged. ¡°According to Arsen, this always happens at the end. They¡¯ll meet us alive and whole back in the clearing, but they won¡¯t be there until we leave together.¡± Logan hesitated, images of all three guards rushing at him with their weapons deployed filling his mind. Would they even give him a chance to talk before cutting him down? Asthea frowned. ¡°The Silverdagger Clan is a principled clan. My guards might rough you up a bit¡­¡± Her gaze drifted to the door, her eyes faraway. ¡°They hold grudges. But they won¡¯t tear off your head unless you attack them first.¡± Tear off his head? Fun. ¡°What about you? You don¡¯t want to tear off my head?¡± Asthea gave him a careful glance, her lips flattening. ¡°I know what you¡¯re up against. The first week of System Integration! Your family at risk, everyone dying around you. I can¡¯t imagine the pressure you must feel. If it were me¡­ if my own clan was at risk and my performance in this trial was the difference between getting stronger and giving them an advantage or dying? I would have employed tactics much worse than yours. Plus, you¡¯re a tricky man, but a tricky man who suffered through torture in my stead.¡± Glancing from Logan to the corridor, she slanted him a smile and then led the way out. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help smooth things over.¡± *** Asthea¡¯s POV: A Tricky Off-Worlder The off-worlder was strange. As a member of the Collective and a member of the royal family, Asthea had encountered different aliens, from the Rokardoni people, who turned pain resistance into an artform, to the Akaldanz people, who treated everything contradictory to her own¡ªa frown was a smile, a laugh was an insult. But even dealing with the Rokardoni and Akaldanz people hadn¡¯t prepared her for a man who came across as a buffoon but was a wolf in disguise. Someone from the Silverdagger Clan would have never entered a System dungeon so unequipped, so¡­ scruffy. The human wore no clothing other than a pair of orange underpants, his legs and chest bare. Asthea knew that he had an armour skill, but that didn¡¯t explain his lack of modesty. The Silverdagger Clan prided themselves on their appearance. Appearance was everything. Their hair had to be pristine, the lengths carefully groomed and taken care of. To show up with anything but well-groomed, long hair was an insult. The off-worlder had taken it to the extreme. Short, ugly hair. His head full of bald spots, as if a bird had plucked out strands for its nest. Asthea knew that some of those patches had been earned in the perception trial, but even before, his hair had been an insulting disaster. But that appearance disguised a willpower as strong as a sword. Asthea couldn¡¯t figure him out. At times, he seemed like the true idiot that the System had named him, and at others, he had an instinct for figuring things out that would seem impossible for a regular Silverdagger man. He never stopped, always pushed, and achieved results that should have put him down for the count. Back in the trial, if Arsen and Asthea hadn¡¯t insisted that they rest, the stealth player would have gone forward without any sleep. Performing non-stop in a 24-hour trial! Preposterous! She couldn¡¯t help admiring him, but she also feared what was to come. At level 34, there was no way he should have been able to outclass her guards. Her guards were the cream of the crop, selected not just because they were family, but because they performed. It should have been inconceivable that the off-worlder had beaten them in not just one trial but four. It defied belief. Either the human world was full of these contradictory powerhouses, or Asthea had just been lucky to encounter this one. Or rather, unlucky. Although she¡¯d won the perception trial, she had no illusions. Mother wouldn¡¯t be happy. A princess hadn¡¯t lost the strength or agility trials and gone on to rule in generations. The Silverdagger Clan would have an advantage in the Test of Mettle Trial, but despite her air of confidence, in actuality, a trickling doubt ate into her thoughts. The Silverdagger Clan should be able to pummel Logan into dust in a warrior trial! But she had thought the same in the attribute trials. Asthea sucked in a deep breath. They needed to perform. They needed to beat him. At this rate, Asthea would be lucky to rule the clan by the time she turned a hundred. Chapter 77: Capture the Egg! When Logan jogged up the stairs and caught up with Asthea, he couldn¡¯t help shuddering in relief. The damp stone staircase felt like he¡¯d just walked into a cooler. His skin was as red as a lobster, and it felt even worse¡ªlike flayed barbeque. At least the cool breeze helped relieve his itchiness. This System ¡®reset¡¯ couldn¡¯t come soon enough. ¡°Asthea,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re going to be in the thick of it soon. We¡¯ll have our hands full with your guards. Can I ask a question before we join them?¡± Asthea glanced at him with a frown. The stairs were wide enough that they could stand side-by-side without touching elbows. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That communication marble you used when we first met. You mentioned the cost, but not how you bought it. How can I get one of those?¡± Not to mention the resurrection marble. Asthea had said the communication marble cost 150,000 KarmaCoin, but he had enough to burn and if he didn¡¯t manage to hurry everyone along, having the option to contact Lara would be a literal life saver. Asthea absently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°Ah. You received a hefty trial reward, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Logan scratched his face and then promptly regretted it when it irritated his skin. Asthea resumed her climb up the stairs and Logan followed. ¡°It¡¯s not a secret. We all know the System hands out rewards to the winner. But that¡¯s nothing compared to what awaits us in the Tactician Trial. Hah! Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll soon be eating fur.¡± ¡­Eating fur? Was that like eating crow? ¡°But I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t help you. The communication crystal came from the System market. If your world hasn¡¯t received Classes yet, you won¡¯t have access to the market either.¡± She paused on the stairs and punched him in the shoulder. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t have to wait too long! System Integrations are brutal; your population will reach the threshold soon enough.¡± The threshold? What threshold? But before Logan could ask, they¡¯d reached the base of the stairs. Asthea paused, suddenly hesitant. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Logan. ¡°I¡¯ve been acting under the expectation that everything will be normal. But the way the System has been acting since your AI infected ours¡­ well.¡± Asthea bit her lip. ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t come back?¡± Arsen. Asthea had used the resurrection marble. The fact that Arsen hadn¡¯t immediately woken up must have been eating at her for the last hour. Logan was surprised that she¡¯d managed to do so well in the perception trial if she¡¯d been that distracted. ¡°It was an S grade item. From what you told me, those aren¡¯t something you have to worry about. They do what they¡¯re designed to do. Asthea, I¡¯m in no way an expert at any of this¡­ I¡¯m just going through a System Integration, but the only way to find out is to face it head on.¡± Asthea¡¯s face was pale. ¡°You¡¯re right. You have to be right.¡± Mumbling underneath her breath, she whispered, ¡°You better be right.¡± Striding forward, she stepped over the top of the stairs and Logan followed. Just like that, Logan couldn¡¯t think of anything but what the hell, what the hell, what the hell. It was as if he¡¯d entered a mutant human car wash. The first thing he felt was wind, blasting the dirt and dried blood off his body, followed by a surge of pure adrenaline, as if the System had inflated him like a balloon, wind him up and watch him go. Looking down, he could only gape as his skin healed as if someone had snapped their fingers and said, okay, reset time. His pain and fatigue washed away; he felt refreshed and raring to go, and he could even tell that his swim trunks had been repaired and washed as if they¡¯d been drycleaned. Holy crap. As the feeling faded, Logan peered around the clearing. The same purple pockmarked moon dominated the sky, the bright sun making his eyes water after being subjected to the System¡¯s artificial blue bulbs for so long. Long green grass crinkled underneath his feet, a breeze sending the scent of flowers wafting past his nose. Thirty feet in front of them were the same odd, free-standing white doors that went nowhere. Next to them, Arsen, Errol and Thorin looked around in confusion. Their hair looked pristine, back to long ponytails, their armour intact, and each man was spotless without a speck of blood or gore. But although the System had returned them to the state they¡¯d been when they¡¯d entered the chamber, something wasn¡¯t right. Thorin kept glancing at his chest, touching it and bracing himself as if he were expecting pain. Errol went through contortions as he glanced at his back, lifting his armour and checking that his skin was intact. Shaking his hand, he kept peering at his fingers as if wanting to make sure he had all five digits. And worse yet, Arsen was scratching his skin, brushing his clothes, hitting himself as if looking for insects that were no longer there. Aww, man. Logan had been hoping they wouldn¡¯t remember their deaths. Thorin and Errol¡¯s demise had been run of the mill, but Arsen had gone through literal torture. The poor man deserved a break. Asthea let out a cry of relief. Bursting into a run, she rushed over to Arsen and hugged him, clinging to him as if she never wanted to let go. Arsen rested a gentle hand on her back. The System had transformed her, healing the rips in her armour, her hair clean as if she¡¯d just walked out of a shower. ¡°Asthea, what did you do? I shouldn¡¯t be here. How¡­¡± Arsen¡¯s eyes widened, and his hands clenched on her back before he pulled his hand away and stared at the spatial storage bracelet on his wrist. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡± Interesting. Now that Logan knew it was there, he could see the bracelet, but it blurred in front of his eyes and his gaze kept wanting to go elsewhere, as if he were compelled to look away. Thorin and Errol had brightened when they got sight of Asthea, but now they looked on in confusion. ¡°Oh Asthea,¡± said Arsen with a sigh, pushing her back so he could look her full in the face. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just let the insects finish me off? That resurrection crystal was for you and the direct line of succession. Now you¡¯ve wasted it on a lowly guard.¡± A sudden fire burned in her eyes. ¡°Wasted?¡± she spat. ¡°You were going through agony. Why shouldn¡¯t I save you pain? It was only KarmaCoin.¡± Arsen closed his eyes, his expression pained. ¡°Only KarmaCoin. Your mother is never going to forgive me.¡± Asthea jabbed him in the chest. ¡°If she gives you trouble, send her to me.¡± ¡°That fails to solve the problem you created, girl. That was our only crystal. What am I supposed to use now if I need it?¡± Astha snorted. ¡°Are you planning on killing me anytime soon? No? I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Errol gave them a look of confusion. ¡°Why did you need to use the resurrection crystal?¡± Asthea stepped away from Arsen and turned to face them. ¡°There were problems. Problems outside of our control.¡± Thorin went to say something, but then he narrowed in on Logan. He nudged Errol with his elbow. ¡°I think I know what these problems were, or rather who.¡± As one, both Thorin and Errol shot him narrowed eyed glares, their necks bulging, a red flush overtaking the skin underneath their fine white fur. ¡°You,¡± Thorin spat, removing his massive sword from his spatial storage. It was ten inches in width and double the length of Logan¡¯s baseball bat. ¡°What did you do?¡± Errol removed his bull whip from his spatial storage and fingered the metal cable, his eyes dark, his mouth in a snarl. ¡°A cheater! Tell me you beat him in the agility trial, Asthea! Tell me he didn¡¯t take your prize!¡± Shit. The last thing Thorin and Errol remembered was how they¡¯d ended their trials, both of them convinced that Logan was doing something to take advantage. The men needed a reality check. The only advantage he¡¯d had was the skills the System had given him. Arsen gave Logan a hard look. ¡°The off-worlder stole what was rightfully hers. Every trial. He did something to the tigers and walked away with the endurance bonus, and then in the dexterity trial¡­.¡± Arsen hesitated. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°What?¡± said Errol, as if imagining the worst. ¡°What did he do?¡± Arsen gave Logan a penetrating, considering glance. ¡°We had trouble in the dexterity trial. System trouble. If¡­¡± Arsen swallowed, and his expression looked far away. ¡°If what?¡± Asthea nudged him with a soft smile. Arsen looked back at her before sagging in place, his stance becoming less severe. ¡°Without the trickster, Asthea would have gone through an ordeal.¡± Errol blinked, looking speechless. ¡°But why did you bother competing? It was the dexterity trial. Why not feast and relax?¡± Arsen crossed his arms with a glower. ¡°We had to. We were trying to get Asthea at least one bonus.¡± Asthea¡¯s smile wobbled. ¡°And I did triumph, I won the perception trial!¡± Arsen¡¯s frown was so deep it emphasized newly formed wrinkles around his mouth. ¡°Oh Asthea,¡± he said sadly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Asthea bit her lip. ¡°Don¡¯t say that!¡± she said, her eyes shining. ¡°Mother will be impressed that I made it through each attribute trial and pulled out a win at the end.¡± Thorin and Errol looked at each other and then Thorin turned towards Logan with a wide, unhinged smile. The scar across his nose combined with his expression made him look like a textbook illustration for the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. ¡°We can solve your problem right here. He has the rings¡ªI can sense them. His aura is immense! Why does the queen need to know that you didn¡¯t win?¡± He panted with a toothy grin. ¡°You could win them all.¡± Errol looked confused at first before something dark seeped into his eyes, his grey wolf ears standing straight up. If he had a tail, it would be swaying back and forth. He fingered his whip and eyed the space around Logan¡¯s neck. Taking a step forward with his incisors flashing, he got ready to aim. Seriously? Murder? Why don¡¯t they carve him up and have a feast while they were at it! Logan felt like rocks were roiling in his guts. That had escalated quickly. What¡¯s worse was that he had nowhere to go. He couldn¡¯t retreat¡ªthere was no escaping this trial¡ªand if he ran away, darting around the clearing, he¡¯d looked weak and an easy victim. And yet he had no guarantee of victory in a head-to-head fight. There was only one way they¡¯d get these rings¡ªby killing him. Although Logan had advanced in the trials to a massive degree, his level was nowhere close to the others. Even accounting for his stealth player status, he knew this hadn¡¯t been the first time Asthea¡¯s guards had made it through the trial. Logan had no way to quantify just how high their attributes were, only knowing what [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] told him. [Thorin Silverdagger: Level 92. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Errol Silverdagger: Level 76. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Arsen Silverdagger: Level 89. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Endurance.] Against one, he¡¯d have a chance. Maybe even against two. But he had no confidence that he¡¯d win a straight up fight against all three of them. His muscles tensing, Logan planted his legs wide and bared his teeth as his mind raced through the possibilities. If this ended up in a life-or-death fight, Logan wasn¡¯t certain he¡¯d come out on top, but he couldn¡¯t let them know he had doubts. ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d rethink that.¡± Reaching deep, Logan consciously tried to project strength and anger, radiating his aura outward. Mess with me? See what you¡¯ll get. Thorin and Errol growled in response, blue veins standing out on their necks. Just when Logan was contemplating removing the Cursed Rope out of his spatial storage, Asthea sighed and strode forward. ¡°Thorin!¡± she snapped, flicking him on the nose with a sharp nail. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t understand what you were suggesting, but you best not say that again or the rest of the clan will hear of it.¡± Thorin¡¯s growl cut off like a chastised dog. ¡°But¡ª" ¡°No buts! We aren¡¯t thugs. We¡¯re civilized. Principled.¡± Errol lowered his whip and looked sheepish, but Thorin was still enraged, his fingers white-knuckled on the handle of his sword. Arsen blew out a breath of agitation. ¡°Stand down. Before the dexterity trial, there would have been nothing more I¡¯d like better than to stab the off-worlder, carve out his heart and present it to Asthea on a platter, but not now. Not after what he did. She¡¯s right. She¡¯s to be your ruler one day. Are you suggesting she start her reign with deception, murder, and theft?¡± Thorin let out one last growl and then his head drooped. ¡°But it¡¯s not fair. He ruined Asthea¡¯s Trial of Awakening!¡± Asthea rested a hand on his arm. ¡°His world is going through a System Integration. His tactics weren¡¯t appreciated, but we can give him allowances considering the stakes.¡± Thorin scowled and shot Logan a murderous glare. ¡°So he says.¡± Gradually, Logan¡¯s tension decreased, but he kept a careful eye on Thorin¡¯s grip around his sword. The debt he owed to Asthea had just gotten steeper. Without her, this would have devolved into a situation he might not have been able to avoid. Logan cleared his throat. ¡°I didn¡¯t set out to intentionally ruin your trial. If we could have both won, I would have been happy. But¡­¡± He blew out a breath. ¡°Asthea¡¯s right. I have people depending upon me. A world depending upon me. But there was nothing malicious to any of this. Down the road, if I can pay you back, I will.¡± Asthea gave him a soft smile. ¡°See!¡± she said to her guards. ¡°He can play nice. That means you can too.¡± Asthea turned to the white doors with a spring in her step, grasping Arsen by the arm and nudging him playfully. But as soon as she was facing away, Thorin and Errol shot Logan dark, murderous glances. His hair standing up on the back of his neck, Logan clenched his fists and followed. *** Unlike the last door, Logan knew there was an immediate change as soon as he stepped across the threshold. Instead of entering the same meadow, the dimension within a dimension had sent them to a¡­ white room. Nothing but white floor, white walls, white ceiling. All he could see was bright blankness. Worse of all, the room led nowhere. They were trapped. Ding! [Welcome to part two of the trial! Capture the egg! Objectives: become a master tactician and lead your army to victory by stealing the enemy¡¯s egg and protecting your own.] [The winner of this trial will receive 25 levels and an extra reward that is dependant upon overall performance. The runner-up will receive 5 levels but no extra reward.] [There is no reward for third to fifth place. We¡¯re not running a daycare here, Idiot.] [XP is available but only awarded for every Non-Player Character (NPC) that you kill directly. Army kills will not award XP. If an NPC kills you, your death will not be permanent.] [The death nullability applies to NPCs only.] [Enjoy your trial.] Logan felt like he¡¯d walked into a brick wall. He couldn¡¯t believe it. Was he reading this right? Twenty-five extra levels?! That would mean¡­ He gulped. If he won, he¡¯d have 125 free attributes that he could dump into intelligence and wisdom, skyrocketing his Karma pool and regeneration rate. If he decided to dump them all into intelligence, that would mean he¡¯d expand his Karma pool to over 1,410. Hell yes. Not to mention that it would jack up [Regenerate] since the level of the skill was dependant upon his Grade. Until now, Logan had viewed the army trial as more of a pain, something that he needed to get through to exit the portal and return to the real world. Now? Now he was rethinking everything. Logan paced, doing calculations. When he¡¯d entered the portal, he¡¯d had a cushion since he was ahead of schedule due to the snake swarm chase. That cushion was gone now that he¡¯d lost a day, but he¡¯d gained something just as good. Endurance. He should be able to run full out along the shore and jump into the canoe to get around rocky terrain. Realistically, he could cut at least two days off his journey, maybe even three if he cut back on sleep. He had time here. A couple of days at most, but time enough to win. With a bright grin, Logan turned to Asthea. ¡°How do we get started?¡± Ding! [As the winner of part one of the trial, please select the order in which the members of your party will compete. Rank the participants from one to five, one being first, fifth being last.] This just kept getting better. With a surge of excitement, Logan mulled over his choices. There was no question. He needed to expedite this as much as possible, which meant that he¡¯d have to nudge the hotheads along and make them rush through the trial. That left only one person for first place. Thorin. The man had been triggered by just the thought of Logan beating him in the strength trial, ruining his body and making it impossible for him to compete in the agility trial. He should be easy to rile. For Errol, he was less certain, but he seemed less stable and experienced than Arsen, so the chances of Logan working him up were good. Arsen was a head-scratcher. He had seemed to have a level head on his shoulders when they¡¯d first entered the trial, acting like an advisor to Asthea, but as they progressed and Logan continued to beat him, his temper had gotten worse, his bitterness like a living thing. But now, he¡¯d mellowed out as if the dexterity trial had taught him patience and humility. Logan gave himself a fifty-fifty chance of forcing Arsen into a rash decision. That left Asthea. His fiercest competitor. She was a princess, which meant she had to have been schooled in warfare and tactics. Out of all the Silverdagger Clan, she was even-tempered and less likely to make a rash decision due to a taunt. She was the one he was the least certain about. Decision made, Logan went through the list, mentally sorting them in the order he wanted:
  1. Thorin
  2. Errol
  3. Arsen
  4. Asthea
  5. Logan
[¡­] [Selection confirmed!] The others looked off in the distance, that faraway look everyone got as they read their stat screens. Thorin looked thrilled, but Arsen and Asthea were giving Logan knowing looks. ¡°Hah hah!¡± said Thorin. ¡°You needed a master to show you the way, didn¡¯t you, trickster?¡± In front of them, a doorway formed as if someone had used a massive cookie-cutter to scoop it out. White light shone around the edges, making it difficult to see the other side. Thorin clapped his hands in excitement. Without any hesitation, he rushed through, his ponytail swinging behind him. One after another, the rest followed until Logan was the only one left. He had no idea what awaited him in this trial. Capture the egg sounded ridiculous, but it was possible that it was a warped version of Capture the Flag. Leading an army was so far out of his wheelhouse it was laughable, but he could say the same for everything that had happened since the System Integration. Whatever awaited him, he welcomed the challenge. Taking a deep breath, jumping in place and bouncing on the balls of his feet, Logan rushed towards the doorway and let it swallow him whole. Chapter 78: A Squishy Blob As he walked through the doorway, a million possibilities ran through Logan¡¯s mind. He¡¯d enter a tunnel like the other trial and lead underground moles to victory, he¡¯d be sucked through a vacuum in space that took them to a space battle already in place; he¡¯d be transported to the Roman Empire and don a skirt. What he wasn¡¯t expecting was¡­ a holding pattern. Something had seized him, forced him motionless. He¡¯d frozen midway through the door, standing in place, nothing but vibrant, white light surrounding him from all sides. It was as if he were a mannequin. He couldn¡¯t move! He couldn¡¯t turn his head; he could see only bright, blinding light. What the hell? Ding! [You have entered the battlefield prepping area! You will be peppered with a series of questions and scenarios, and your choices will determine the battlefield arena. Each choice has consequences. Choose carefully, Idiot!] [Question one! In this scenario, you can save humanity! But to do so, you must sacrifice your friends, family, and your bonded companion.] [Will you save humanity? Or will you kill everyone else to save your friends, family, and bonded companion?] Logan knew the System expected him to mentally hover over one of the choices, but what the hell was this? He¡¯d expected a battlefield, not a moral quiz! This shit better not have real-world consequences since it suspiciously resembled his Save Humanity Quest. If Logan could move, he¡¯d be pinching the bridge of his nose. If he made one choice or the other, what did that do to the trial? Make it morally corrupt? Like fighting demons versus angels? He didn¡¯t like this. [CHOOSE] flashed in front of his eyes. Okay, okay. Save humanity or save everyone he loved? From a strict statistical choice, the answer was easy. Logan¡¯s friends and family could fit in a large room, the rest of the world filled up the planet. Plus, each person had their own friends, their own family. Hell, for all he knew, they had their own Ernie. But it wasn¡¯t that simple. If he saved humanity and sacrificed his personal connections, where would that leave him? Why fight on? He¡¯d have no purpose, no joy in life. He¡¯d gotten as far as he had because he wanted to save Lara and the kids, and without her, what was left? Logan would have no motivation to complete the Save Humanity Quest, no motivation for anything. He suspected that he would become jaded, and morally corrupt just like this hypothetical question. Logan knew what answer he should choose. If he were a back seat driver for anyone else, he¡¯d be screaming his head off to save humanity. But to save humanity, he¡¯d have to murder everyone he loved. If there was one thing Logan knew, human minds weren¡¯t good at empathizing with billions of others. The singularity effect was a real thing. Individual lives? Anyone could empathize with one person who was suffering. But multiply that by a hundred, a thousand, a million? Empathy became non-existent. Throw in the fact that he¡¯d be killing the people he loved, and it became impossible. Logan knew it made him a horrible person, but he couldn¡¯t sacrifice his friends and family. Sacrifice Ernie. He just couldn¡¯t. With an inward wince, he focused on the ¡®save your friends¡¯ option. [Selection confirmed. Very good, slaughterer of billions! Next question!] [Your army can fight on a frozen lake and sink through ice to their deaths, they can fight in a gorge and be crushed by a landslide, or they can fight in a swamp and drown, smothered by mud. Make your choice.] Reeling, Logan wanted to blink in disbelief, but he was still frozen. What kind of question was that? Was this a battlefield tactician trial, or an obstacle course? His glitchy as hell AI minion must have had a brain aneurism. It was beyond ridiculous. But perhaps¡­ perhaps it was asking him where he wanted to fight? The terrain? If he disregarded the death suggestion, it sounded like he could either fight on a frozen lake, fight in a gorge, or fight in a swamp. Logan had the advantage of [Deepwater Explorer] for both the lake and swamp options, but that wouldn¡¯t help him if he froze to death. Plus, a swamp would mean horrible terrain and he had a hypothetical army to consider, not just himself. If he had the opportunity to fight in a gorge, he could see tactical advantages to that, huge tactical advantages. He didn¡¯t like the idea of a landslide, but then again, he didn¡¯t like the idea of freezing or choking on mud either. Logan mentally hovered over the option he wanted. [Gorge selection confirmed! Death by landslide it is!] [Next question! Think carefully, Idiot.] [Would you prefer someone who was squishy like a blob, hard like a rock, or sharp like a knife?] What in the world? This time, Logan was stumped. Prefer someone? Prefer who! It couldn¡¯t be referring to a weapon, since unless it was talking about sentient weapons, a weapon wasn¡¯t a ¡®someone.¡¯ Logan¡¯s eyes started to water from the bright lights and stress sweat beaded on his forehead from a combination of not being able to move and the unknown consequences of these questions. For all he knew, the way he answered would affect him once he was out of the trial dungeon, doing who knew what once he returned to the lake. He¡¯d try to give the System the benefit of the doubt. If he could make a sound, he¡¯d be snorting in disbelief. But if the question were related to¡ª [CHOOSE.] This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Shut up, asshole. If the question were related to ¡®someone,¡¯ could it be referring to his potential army? After all, when he thought of an army, it was in a traditional sense. An army storming Normandy, the marines kicking ass. What if they weren¡¯t a humanoid army? Something ¡®blobby¡¯ could potentially absorb hits, but he couldn¡¯t see agility advantages. Hard like a rock could be a rock person; there were massive advantages of being a rock! Hits would be difficult if impossible, but just like a blob, it wouldn¡¯t have free movements. As for the knife, he was stumped. An alien who had knives for limbs? There were too many unknowns. At this point, he might just have to guess with a hope and a prayer. Logan mentally hovered over his choice. [Squishy Blob selection confirmed!] Why the hell not? A squishy blob reminded him of Ernie, and he¡¯d never gone wrong with Ernie. [Last question! We hope you crammed for the exam, Idiot.] [A chicken. A brood parasite. A serpent.] [CHOOSE.] Oh, come on! Be vaguer, why don¡¯t you? The System might as well wrap the options in a riddle. How the hell was he supposed to know what this was? No hints, just a list of animals. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. The sweat beading on his forehead drizzled down and stung his eyes. What¡¯s worse, he couldn¡¯t blink, asshole System. He had no idea about this one¡­ other than one possibility. The trial was called ¡®Capture the Egg.¡¯ Were these his egg choices? Everyone knew what a chicken egg looked like, but it was also fragile. If he accidently cracked the egg, would that have consequences? A brood parasite was a bird who left eggs in other bird¡¯s nests. The parents thought they were raising their own young while the intruder stole the food and killed the true young. Nasty critters, but still birds. As for the serpent¡­ Hell no. Not with his Eager Beaver title, thank you very much. He¡¯d had to deal with enough serpents to last a lifetime. For all he knew, just being in the presence of a serpent egg would make it hatch and then he¡¯d be ¡®catching¡¯ an egg with legs. At least with the chicken, he knew what to expect. Logan made his selection. [Chicken selection confirmed!] [You have completed the battlefield prepping area questions! Calibrating choices¡­] [Calculating¡­] [¡­.] [..] With a further flare of bright, blinding light, so bright he was seeing white floaters, the System released him, that hidden force disappearing. With something that felt like a shove, he was pushed through the doorway. Logan stumbled onto the ground and rubbed his eyes before wiping away his stress sweat with his arm. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced around for the others. They were nowhere to be found. Ding! [You have entered the battlefield arena! You have 24 hours to prepare your army, navigate the terrain, and determine a battlefield strategy. After the time expires, you¡¯ll be transported to the viewing room with the remainder of your party. The battle will then commence upon the order determined.] [Enjoy your trial.] Logan blinked, clenching his hands into fists as he looked around. The System had deposited him onto flat, barren ground. It was a dirt path that was fifty feet across covered in nothing but gravel and dust, and the occasional rolling tumbleweed. On each side was rock, a rock wall that led up, up and up. As high as a large hill; so high that he couldn¡¯t make out what was at the top. The sides of the rock wall were sheer, so sharp that it would take an expert rock climber to make it up there, someone with serious equipment. ¡°Your orders, commander?¡± Logan turned around. His eyes widening, he could only stare. It was¡­ a blob. A squishy blob. [Squishy Blob Level 5. The captain of the blob army. Highest Stat: Constitution.] The being was over seven feet tall and swollen like a rhinoceros. It was grey, with spots of speckled black. It had no legs, rather, it balanced on the ground with a globous bottom that seeped slime. In place of arms were three appendages. They were short, with sharp little claws. Its gut was immense and rounded, only further emphasized by the belt looped around its waist. It had no neck¡ªit was all part of the same blob. It reminded him of the green Slimer from Ghostbusters. The blob blinked three large eyes the size of saucers at Logan. ¡°Commander? Your orders?¡± How was it speaking? Where was its mouth? Feeling dizzy with disbelief, Logan swallowed. ¡°My¡­ orders.¡± Tearing his eyes away from the blob to look around was like trying to look away from a car wreck. Behind the blob were more blobs. Hundreds of them. They were smaller than this one, shorter and skinnier, but they were still¡­ blobs. This was his army. Logan had an army of blobs. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Logan asked. Please say it isn¡¯t Bob. ¡°?ig?i?i?i?gig, commander!¡± The blob¡¯s voice was gravely like a rock. ¡­Right. ¡°I¡¯ll just call you Zig, shall I?¡± Logan squeezed his eyes shut and then gave himself a mental talking to. This was an alien. It would be pretty ignorant of Logan to expect that everyone he encountered would be humanoid. In a way, he¡¯d gotten lucky with the Silverdagger Clan with their human mannerisms and expressions. To the blob, Logan might be the odd-looking one. For all he knew, blobs were common in the universe. He wasn¡¯t going to judge a book by its cover. Just because it was a blob, didn¡¯t mean it was lazy or unintelligent. ¡°Where is the enemy, Zig?¡± The blob bobbed its head. ¡°Beyond the ridge, preparing for war. We¡¯ve received their message. They¡¯ve given you a day to surrender or they¡¯ll meet us on the battlefield.¡± Logan ran his fingers over his chin and scratched his stubble. He couldn¡¯t see anything beyond his own army; he needed to get the lay of the land. If he had a day to prepare, that should be a ton of time. ¡°We¡¯re going to war. But first, I need to survey the camp and see what we have to work with.¡± Zig bobbed his head again. ¡°Shall I flay the lackluster performers, commander?¡± Logan momentarily froze. ¡°¡­Flay?¡± Zig waved one of his appendages, his claws flashing in excitement. ¡°Yes, flay! A demonstration of your evilness will get the camp excited.¡± Aw man. Logan was reminded of the battlefield questions, that moral question about killing humanity or saving his loved ones. Did the System just label him a cookie cutter villain? With all the fun that entailed. ¡°No¡­ flaying. Not yet. I need to do research first.¡± ¡°As you command,¡± said Zig, nodding, but he¡¯d deflated as if Logan had ruined his fun. ¡°Zig, where is the egg?¡± ¡°Protected, your evilness!¡± ¡°Where?¡± Zig slimed his way past Logan and led the way towards the opposite end of the gorge. They¡¯d effectively reached a dead end, the dirt path ending here and running smack dab into another cliff face. Damn. That meant that if the enemy pushed them back, they¡¯d be surrounded. ¡°Here, commander!¡± The blob gestured to a hole in the ground that reminded him of a snake pit. At the bottom was a soft looking nest filled with loose dirt. And in the middle of the nest was a chicken egg. Logan held back a laugh. This was nuts. Could this get any weirder? His ¡®egg¡¯ was a chicken egg, an egg that he needed to protect. Well, at least it wasn¡¯t a serpent egg. Logan walked away from Zig and looked around, taking in the terrain. The trial hadn¡¯t been named the brute force trial; he couldn¡¯t just release his Cursed Length of Rope and go to town. That wouldn¡¯t be how he won. No, this was all about tactics. That meant Logan needed to outsmart the enemy. To do that, he needed to use what he had, and that meant more than what he¡¯d find in his spatial collar. If the enemy¡¯s army was as large as his, he needed something to tackle that many opponents. Against the sheer gorge wall, there was a pile of material... hundreds of wooden planks and nails. And about a dozen wagons. Logan moved closer and peered inside one of the wagons. They reminded him of something he¡¯d see in a historical movie¡ªwith huge, wide wheels and rough wood. Inside each wagon were clay barrels filled with black liquid. It looked like tar. Next to the wagons were bundles of hay, hundreds and hundreds of them. Huh. He might have a way forward here. Chicken egg trial, here we come. Chapter 79: Preparing for War Wagons, planks of wood, hay, and tar. Twenty-four hours. In less than twenty-four hours, he had to figure this out. Logan paced from end to end, running his hand through his long bangs, his boots digging lines in the dirt path as he peered from item to item. It was a tactician trial¡­ that meant tactics. He doubted he had to create a strategy as detailed as the Art of War; but he had to win, and he had to do it smart. The best Logan could do at warfare was what he¡¯d picked up from watching movies and reading textbooks in college; he was so far away from an expert that it was laughable, so he was at a severe disadvantage. Still, thinking about what he was up against, Logan hated to judge someone¡¯s intelligence based on their behavior, but Thorin and Errol didn¡¯t seem as if they¡¯d have a master¡¯s grasp on tactics. Logan could imagine them storming into the battlefield and brute forcing their way through their opponents. That would get them XP and a speedy end to the trial, but that wouldn¡¯t get them a victory. Why had the System given them an army at all if the goal were to kill as many as possible? If that were the intent of the trial, the System could have just thrown them in there with hundreds of NPCs and said have at it. Instead, it had given them an army. An army that they were supposed to lead to victory. That was two opponents down that he was confident he could beat. Asthea and Arsen were his real adversaries. As a princess, Asthea would have been taught how to lead. As Asthea¡¯s advisor, Arsen must have experience. He¡¯d been put in that position for a reason. Plus, there was the culture factor. Unlike on Earth, if clans dominated their society, it must be naturally bloodthirsty. Comparing Arsen and Logan was like comparing apples to oranges. Before the System Integration, he¡¯d had an office job! Asthea and Arsen were going to be tricky opponents. And yet, that meant Logan had a one in three chance of success. He could live with those odds. Even better, there was one advantage that Logan had that Asthea and Arsen didn¡¯t. His spatial storage collar. It was an S Grade item, an item that according to Asthea, wars had been fought over. He¡¯d already figured out that the collar had more utility than storing items; he could sever things and store them. That¡¯s where his strategy came into play. There was a massive wall right behind him just ripe for the pickings. As for the sheer wall, from a quick glance, there didn¡¯t appear to be any way to climb it. That meant the enemy shouldn¡¯t be able to climb it either. But Logan had just received something that should let him jump like a fool, jump all the way to the top. Logan had plans for the top. So, smart. Tactical. The first thing he needed to do was to prepare his battlefield by giving his army every advantage possible. ¡°Zig,¡± he said, raising his voice. The blob broke off from a group of five other blobs. Zig had been in the middle of dressing them down, his voice strident like a rock. Unlike what Logan expected, the other blobs were twitching in what looked like pleasure as he verbally abused them. Logan blinked, disturbed, and then purposely didn¡¯t give that any further thought. The blobs were naked except for their wide, thick belts, which held an old-fashioned flail. It had a wooden pole about the length of an ax and a chain attached to the end in which a spiky, lethal looking metal ball swung side by side. That might be how the evil blobs flayed the stragglers. ¡°Your orders, commander?¡± Zig said, eager. ¡°What evil task will you set before me?¡± Logan pointed to the wooden planks. ¡°See those?¡± Zig nodded his bulbous head. ¡°I want you to put together a group and start fastening those planks to the sides of the wagons. Stack them so a blob can just see over the top while standing inside a wagon, but leave space between the planks, enough for a weapon to slot through.¡± Zig¡¯s three saucer eyes blinked in confusion. Logan tried again. ¡°Space wide enough for your flails to fit through.¡± Zig looked even more confused. ¡°You¡¯ll need to take the boards and¡­¡± More blank looks. Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Never mind. Come here, I¡¯ll show you.¡± Logan led five blobs to the planks and instructed them to pick up a handful. Grabbing four boards and a fistful of nails and a hammer, he led the way to the first wagon and jumped inside. It had five cartons of tar. He didn¡¯t bother moving them, just willed them into his spatial collar one after the other. The blobs made sounds of awe. ¡°Your evilness!¡± swooned Zig. Logan grimaced. ¡°Yeah, evil power,¡± he said, deadpan. Grabbing a board, he positioned it against the side of the wagon and then got ready to hammer it in place. The plank was about five feet in length and solid like an oak. ¡°Like this.¡± Logan swung the hammer. The problem was, he¡¯d forgotten about his new strength. The nail and nail bed went into the board¡ªall the way through¡ªand out the other side. The board cracked down the middle with a snap. Oops. ¡°Er, not like that.¡± Logan threw the broken plank over his shoulder. It shattered it against the sheer rock wall into splinters. Damn. He needed to watch his new strength. For the next board, he made sure to gently hammer the nail so he could fix the plank to the outside of the wagon. ¡°Next to it, I want you to leave space between the boards, about three inches in length.¡± Logan demonstrated the length by hammering another board in place. Now, the planks had increased the height of the wagon so that the blobs could stand and be protected by an incoming force, while still leaving enough space for them to jab their weapons through the holes in the shield. The blobs made sounds of understanding. ¡°Great!¡± said Logan. ¡°Do the same to all the wagons. Protection on the sides, enough space for you to insert weapons. Once that¡¯s complete, we¡¯ll push the wagons together, one next to the other to create an impenetrable wall.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The blobs fumbled the planks with their appendages. It took two of them to hold each plank, and two more to hammer the nails, but they¡¯d get it done. ¡°Zig, I need you to do something else.¡± The captain jumped to attention with an eager glint in his three eyes and slimed away from the wagon as Logan jumped to the ground. ¡°How can ?ig?i?i?i?gig be of service? Flaying, perhaps?¡± ¡°No flaying. I want you to put a group together and take that hay and bundle it into sections. Then dip each bundle into the jars of tar, covering them in the stuff until they¡¯re drenched.¡± With a moue of concentration, Logan willed the remaining jars of clay that were inside the wagons into his spatial collar, and then deposited them on the ground next to the hay. ¡°Fifty should do it.¡± Zig made an excited wiggle as the clay jars appeared, a flush of red suffusing his chest in a splotchy pattern. ¡°As you command!¡± So far, so good. At least his army accepted his commands. Logan knew that in a real army that wouldn¡¯t be the case. It would have taken months¡ªeven years¡ªfor him to build up their confidence and to demonstrate that he was someone worth following. If an army respected their commander, they¡¯d follow them into battle without question. If an army loved and respected their commander, believing in their cause with a passion, they¡¯d follow them into hell. ¡°I¡¯m leaving you in charge of the wagons and the hay.¡± ¡°What will you be doing, your evilness?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to scout out the enemy.¡± *** Willing a bucket full of sand out of his spatial collar and reforming his armour was old hat by now. He could do it in less than a minute. Logan sculpted armour from his feet to his chest, then carefully covered his face and head. He still hadn¡¯t gotten used to that. His instincts rebelled. It felt like he was creating a face mask that could suffocate him to death, but instead, his airways filtered in clear air and his vision became more acute. He hadn¡¯t deployed the mask since before the perception trial, and with his increased perception he could see even better than before. Almost too well. Logan grimaced as he walked past a blob that was¡­ could he say eating? Consuming? Its bulbous bottom slimed over a pile of raw meat and then somehow sucked it up. Logan promptly turned his head and looked the other way. Well, at least the blob hadn¡¯t seen him. He¡¯d effectively made himself invisible. For all he knew, in their culture observing someone eat was taboo. The suit wouldn¡¯t last long¡ªhis Karma regeneration rate wasn¡¯t high enough¡ªbut it should last long enough for him to pass into the enemy encampment without being observed. Logan put on a burst of speed and raced past his own blob army as he travelled down the gorge. The sheer wall continued, no signs of habitation to be found. He had to have travelled at least a mile before he finally saw a hint of activity. Logan slowed to a jog and then a brisk walk. It was another blob army. Unlike his, these blobs were gold with shimmering sparkling specks. They were smaller than his own at about five feet tall, and slimmer. And yet they were still blobs. Logan walked through the army, holding his breath, but they didn¡¯t seem to pick up on anything amiss. The scent of vanilla wafted past his nose, and he got a sense of cheerfulness from the blobs, of brotherhood. They were humming a tune, their voices melodic and echoing as they practiced combat drills with swords that shimmered in the sun with an otherworldly glow. Logan had to give the System credit, it had certainly made this trial black and white. Logan¡¯s army was evil, and his opponent was the opposite. All they needed were halos to complete the picture. Creeping forward and darting around each cheerful blob, he advanced to the back of the army, looking for the egg. He kept glancing at the ground, expecting that he¡¯d find the same snake pit, but he needn¡¯t have bothered. At the back of the army, a shelf jutted out of the sheer wall. A ledge etched into the rock. On the ledge was a golden pillow and on top of the pillow, unprotected, was the egg. Logan raised an eyebrow underneath his facemask. They may be angelic, but they were missing something short of a screw. That was unprotected to the ninth degree. He considered snatching it and making off with it by stuffing it inside his spatial collar, but he knew that wasn¡¯t the way to win. That would be a Thorin way to win. The name of this trial was tactics. His army needed to win the battle, win it by being smart, and then Logan could think about stealing the egg. But at least he knew what he was up against. Logan wound his way back out of the army, weaving between singing blobs. As he left them behind and sprinted back to his army, Logan let his armour dissolve into sand before coming to a slow stop. His evil army already loved him, but there was no reason to stir the pot. Bumbling around like a fool in front of them wouldn¡¯t inspire confidence. He needed to do this while out of sight. Willing out the Pink Sock, Logan considered it. Unlike a regular sock, this one shimmered with an unnatural aura. [1 Pink Sock. B Grade. Leaping, jumping, you have it all! The Pink Sock allows you to jump like the idiot you truly are. Gravity won¡¯t get you down! The Pink Sock is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of both socks, the jumping ability will turn into a floating ability.] It should allow him to jump, but the problem was, he¡¯d be doing it with one foot only, and he had no idea if he could jump high enough to reach the top of the gorge. Hence the bumbling fool aspect of this. Logan chose his right foot to start and then tugged on the sock. It was lightweight and slick against his skin. Latching onto the fallen sand around him, he reformed his boots, sculpting it over the sock. So far, so good. Feeling high with nerves, Logan took a few steps, even steps, and walked like normal. It was normal. No jumping, no launching into the air. Huh. His muscles tight with tension, he crouched and then jumped as if he were doing skipping rope exercises. Normal again. What the hell? How did this thing work? Did the System give him a dud Pink Sock?! Scowling, Logan decided to take a running jog at the cliff wall and then lift off with his right foot, envisioning leaping as he went. His legs working overtime, his thighs corded in tension, Logan¡ª ¡°OH SHIT!¡± It wasn¡¯t a dud! He¡¯d launched himself into the air like a boomerang, jumping headfirst into the wall, his face skidding against the jagged rock, his lips splitting, his nose cracking and spitting blood. Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is level 28!] Bouncing back to the ground and landing on his ass, Logan really did feel like a fool. Sheepish and feeling a prickling along the back of his neck, he wiped away the blood on his face with the back of his hand. Damn, it was a good thing he hadn¡¯t tried this in front of anyone else. Asthea would be laughing her ass off if she could see him now. And yet¡­ although Logan felt sheepish, all in all, bashing his face against a sheer stone wall was tame in comparison to some of the other ways he¡¯d advanced [Idiot¡¯s Paradox]. Better yet, he hardly felt anything. The pain was faint, numb, as if he¡¯d given himself a minor bruise rather than splitting his lip and slamming his nose against a sheer wall. Before the System Integration, if he¡¯d run face-first into a wall, you bet your ass he would have been driving himself to the hospital. He wouldn¡¯t be giddy at the absurdity of the situation. Logan would take feeling like a fool if it meant he were advancing, upgrading a skill level, and mastering a technique. Getting to his feet and brushing off the dirt from his legs, he considered his approach. Walking and jumping in place hadn¡¯t activated the sock. It had only worked as he¡¯d kicked off with his foot and envisioned himself leaping through the air. Did this come down to visualization once again? Testing his theory, Logan purposely didn¡¯t think about jumping, envisioning himself walking in a straight line instead. He jumped in place. Nothing. He had it. With a grin that had to be unhinged, Logan took another running leap at the wall and visualized himself launching into the air, his backfoot shooting him up as if he¡¯d just jumped on a trampoline. Laughing in euphoria, Logan soared through the air, wind whipping his face, only to scramble at the last minute, his arms swinging like windmills as he tried to maintain his balance. Yeah, he was going down. Still, even as he fell to the bottom of the gorge and stumbled to an uneven landing, he laughed. Laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He was in a trial, prepping to lead an army of blobs to victory, using a pink sock to jump into the air. If Lara could see him now, she¡¯d be wondering if he¡¯d drunk a vat of that purple cough syrup water. Yet it was undeniable that Logan was having fun. He wasn¡¯t flying, but it was the next best thing. Logan was Iron Man, he was the Flash, and now he was Superman! With an excited shout, his insides vibrating with euphoria, he took another run at the wall, lifting with his right foot, envisioning himself launching into the air and soaring, soaring so high he¡¯d reach the stars. Holy shit, hell yeah! Logan flew through the air, jumping what had to be fifty feet at least, then scrambled up the wall, kicking his feet, jumping and climbing. With a grunt of effort, kicking off with his foot again and envisioning himself flying, he scaled the wall like a rocket. And just like that, Logan was at the top of the gorge. Chapter 80: Tunnels to Evil Logan had a huge problem. The ground on top of the cliff was flat and covered in grass but empty of anything else. He could walk along the edge of the wall, look down and see for miles. That meant that as he moved closer to his own blob army, they looked like bowling balls. That wasn¡¯t his problem. His problem was that everything that went up eventually had to come down, and Logan had forgotten that although jumping up a cliff had been the time of his life, he had to get down. Shit. That second Pink Sock sure could come in handy right now. He could try lowering himself off the ledge by hanging onto the edges and dropping down, kicking with his foot, and envisioning himself jumping¡ªlike a reverse boomerang¡ªbut he knew that would have a risk. [Regenerate] could grow back limbs and combined with his constitution attribute, it helped him heal, but it was no guarantee. A Logan-splat over that drop would be beyond unpleasant. It might be life threatening. Oh well, never say that he hadn¡¯t dealt with life-or-death situations before. Compared to when Ernie and Logan escaped from the serpent¡¯s lair, this was nothing. And he thought he had a way out. He¡¯d planned to deploy this tactic while he was on the ground, but why not kill two birds with one stone? Logan backed away from the cliff edge. The top of the gorge was flat and so wide that it went on for a quarter mile. Damn. Just where was this trial? Unlike in the valley with the white doors, the sky looked normal¡ªblue with no pockmarked pink moon. The clouds looked like regular clouds. It had a distinctly Earth-like feel. Once he¡¯d backed up a good amount, he looked down. Grass, dirt, stone. Perfect. Concentrating on a patch on the ground, Logan envisioned scooping out an excavator¡¯s worth of material, an immense bucket the size of his largest boulders. Furrowing his brow and keeping that mental image lodged, he willed it inside his spatial storage. There was a resistance, that same elastic sensation, but it was momentary. With a cracking sound, the rock severed, the earth shifted, and a huge hole appeared in front of his feet. It was so large that he could jump inside, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to see out of the top. Hell yeah, he was getting good at this. Soon, he¡¯d be a spatial storage master! He could see why nations had gone to war over an S Grade item. Logan had barely touched the surface of what it was capable of, and he had no idea what was too massive¡ªit had stored everything he threw at it, even his grandfather¡¯s storage shed. Logan peered into the hole and then repeated the process. This time at an angle¡ªnot directly down. He coughed as a plume of dust kicked up in the air. With a grin, he jumped into the hole and then focused straight ahead, going diagonal this time. It was like creating a maze, descending, scooping out earth to the sides and leveling off, and descending again. The name of the game was to create a gradual path that allowed him to decline at a steep angle, but not a free-fall. He was worried that he¡¯d be unable to see as he increased the depth and the sunlight no longer seeped into the hole, but that¡¯s where his perception came in. It wasn¡¯t easy; everything was dim like looking through a screen door, but he could sense the walls of the rock. But eventually, even Logan reached his limit. Pausing, he removed one of the branches that were inside his spatial storage¡ªthe ones left over from the logs and driftwood¡ªas well as a small towel. Wrapping the towel around the end of the branch, he fashioned a makeshift torch. All he needed was his barbeque lighter. That would come in handy with the tar. Once the torch plumed with a steady flame and illuminated the space around him, his tension decreased. Logan had never been claustrophobic, but being underneath tons of earth in a narrow tunnel did things to a person. It was hell of an enclosed space. Scoop after scoop, Logan continued the jagged path, coughing in dust, rubbing his eyes, and spitting to clear his throat. Yuck. But it was working. And then, with one massive earth scoop, he reached the bottom of the gorge. The light was so bright his already sore eyes watered. The sun was dipping in the sky, close to dusk, but the outside light was a huge change from a pitch-black tunnel. Logan extinguished the torch by throwing it inside his spatial collar and then he shook his head, dust flying. He was a filthy mess, but warmth infused his body, a surge of pleasure and success. He¡¯d done it. He¡¯d created a tunnel¡ªa hell of a steep tunnel¡ªbut a tunnel all the same. Now he just had to do it on the other side. *** [Countdown: Day 8 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 38 out of 6,010,919,188.] [You are currently in the 1%.] Logan jerked awake and jumped up from the side of his newly constructed tunnel. He¡¯d worked well into the early morning hours last night and had finally decided to take a short nap before the new day began. If there¡¯s one thing he could give the System, it was a hell of an alarm clock. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. That meant he had about half the day to finish preparing before the battle started. Wait a minute. For a second, his nerves surged, that feeling of realizing that you¡¯d forgotten to turn off the stove while you were half-way to work. His mind raced through the possibilities, but then he gave himself a mental talking to. Even though the last few days had blurred together, a non-stop go go go of physical and mental activity, he would have noticed a purge. They were hard to miss. The entire day had passed without anything. Logan scowled. It was yet another case of the System being an uncommunicative asshole, forcing them to guess at every opportunity. Either no purge meant something good¡ªhad it finally finished purging what it considered the major carbon contributors? Or it meant something not so good¡ªa worse possibility. An escalation. Shit. If there was one thing he knew, he didn¡¯t like the idea of Lara and the kids, Tasha and Jack, and everyone else struggling through this on their own. He needed to get out of here. Yet again, he was reminded that once the battle started, he needed to nudge Thorin and Errol along. Logan didn¡¯t have the luxury of letting them take a week to complete this. Despite his urgency, he couldn¡¯t hold back a wide grin as he weaved his way into his blob army. They saluted him as he passed, nodding their bulbous heads, and then gave him double takes. Logan looked down at his dirt-covered body and grimaced. He supposed that even the System programming couldn¡¯t overcome the sight of a commander covered in so much dirt that it flew off him like a hurricane. It was as if he¡¯d just walked out of a desert and into a windstorm. Logan shook his head again, shedding yet more dirt, but he suspected that he¡¯d need a shower to get the caked-in crap out of his pores. ¡°Zig,¡± he said, raising his voice. The captain swivelled around like a Russian tea doll. In one of his appendages, he held a handful of hay, the other held a large bundle. Logan felt better about ¡®evil¡¯ Zig after seeing that. There was nothing better than a leader who helped his team with the grunt work. Leading by doing demonstrated that you were part of the team more than anything else. ¡°Commander,¡± Zig said eagerly. ¡°You¡¯re back from your evil scouting! Is that the dust of your enemies I spy?¡± Logan blinked. ¡°I don¡¯t have that kind of evil power. How is everything going?¡± The blob preened, proud. ¡°As you commanded, the preparations are well in hand. We¡¯ve fastened boards to all the wagons and connected them in a line. We¡¯re just finishing up the last of the hay bundles now.¡± ¡°Good job. Once you¡¯re finished with that, have the blobs set them underneath the wagons, five underneath each wagon should do. Set the extra to the sides. But for now, I have another task for you.¡± Logan walked over to the end of the wagons. ¡°I need two of these. I¡¯ll take this one, but I¡¯ll need to take the one at the other end as well. We can shore up the line though¡ªdon¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Where would you like us to move them?¡± ¡°Nowhere.¡± With a blink, Logan willed the two wagons into his spatial storage. Since he wasn¡¯t severing anything, the process happened in a fraction of the time. The blobs made excited sounds and vibrated in excitement as they clutched each other. They looked as if they were about to swoon, their three saucer eyes pinned to Logan in worship. Logan felt his ears grow warm. ¡°Here,¡± he said as he willed out a ton of the dirt and rock from inside his spatial storage and deposited it next to the missing wagons, creating an impenetrable pile of¡­ dirt. ¡°Your evilness!¡± breathed Zig. ¡°That rock pile is so high that you shouldn¡¯t have to worry about guarding it. Station blobs behind the remaining wagons instead. But for our next step, I need ten soldiers.¡± ¡°Where will you be taking them, commander? For a flaying, perhaps?¡± Logan scrubbed his face, wiping away another line of dirt. ¡°No flaying,¡± he said, firm. ¡°You can come as well. You¡¯ll need to be in the loop.¡± Zig puffed with pride and made quick work of flagging down enough soldiers. Logan led them through the army and over to the tunnel on the right side of the sheer wall. He¡¯d designed them so that they didn¡¯t open on top of his own army¡ªhe wanted enough battlefield space to make them strategically important. ¡°See this tunnel?¡± said Logan. ¡°It goes to the top of the gorge. Send five blobs and yourself up this one and five more into the one directly across on the other side. I¡¯ll meet you at the top.¡± Zig looked into the tunnel with wide eyes. ¡°That wasn¡¯t here before,¡± he said with a quivering voice. Then he hesitated. ¡°But how will you get to the top, commander?¡± Logan gave him a sheepish grin. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, just start climbing. It¡¯ll take a while even going at full speed.¡± And the blobs¡­ were blobs. They¡¯d be sliming up that tunnel, not running. Zig blinked his three saucer eyes and then snapped, ¡°You heard the commander. To the top!¡± Once they were out of sight, Logan took a running leap at the sheer wall and deployed the Pink Sock to jump like a slingshot. Having the blobs watch him do this felt like showing off. They were already too enamored as it was. The jump up was just as fun as the last time. When everything died down, when the System Integration was over¡ªand once everyone survived¡ªhe could see himself going crazy with the sock. Once Logan reached the top, he removed one of the wagons, pushing it close to the edge¡ªso close that the wheels were at risk of falling. Then one after another, he removed massive scoops of the dirt and rock from his spatial storage and filled up the wagon. Backing up, he deposited another five scoops on the ground right next to the edges of the cliff, so close that a blob should be able to push them over with a bit of manpower. Even after all that, he still had to wait another half an hour before Zig and the other blobs climbed out of the tunnel. Zig panted and looked around, peering around in confusion before spotting Logan. ¡°Your evilness,¡± he coughed, his bulbous head looking flushed, his body drenched in sweat. ¡°You truly defy our expectations! What ingenuity! What power! A tunnel in a mountain! A tunnel in a mountain!¡± The other blobs murmured in agreement, wiggling their appendages in excitement. Logan rubbed the back of his neck and shifted, awkwardly ducking his head as his stomach sloshed. The System had done a number on these buggers. Logan might as well be a messiah with the way they were treating him. Never let it be said that he didn¡¯t enjoy the occasional compliment, but this was taking it to the extreme. Their fervor was a System construct. It was his [Eager Beaver] title all over. The System had messed with these thing¡¯s heads, brainwashed them, and he would like nothing better than to give them back their autonomy. ¡°Gather around. Here¡¯s what I want you to do.¡± *** [You have completed the battlefield arena holding tutorial! Be prepared to be transported to the viewing room in 10 seconds¡­] [9¡­] [8¡­] That was all Logan could do. With his limited battlefield knowledge, he¡¯d employed and prepared the best strategy at his disposal. Now, it was just a matter of whether it was a smarter strategy than Arsen and Asthea¡¯s. [7¡­] [6¡­] [5¡­] He wasn¡¯t sure what would happen when he exited the battlefield prepping area¡ªwere the blobs frozen in place? But even if time continued while the System transported him elsewhere, they knew what to do. [4¡­] [3¡­] He¡¯d made sure to cover his spatial collar again, reforming his neck and shoulder armour, keeping his boots and forearm guards. Since he was going last, he didn¡¯t bother reforming the whole suit. [2¡­] [1¡­] [Commencing transfer to viewing arena!] Chapter 81: The Master Tactician Trial The System had transferred him back to the white room. White ceiling, white walls, white floors. But it wasn¡¯t as if the walls were plaster or the floors were limestone, it was just¡­ white. So bright it should be overwhelming. Like a blur or a trick of the eye. One after another, the Silverdagger Clan materialized next to him. Asthea had returned with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, but this time, she¡¯d caked either blue chalk or paint onto the strands. She¡¯d etched two blue lines on her cheekbones, and that, together with thick black eyeshadow, made her look like an illustration he¡¯d seen of a Pict warrior from 2,000 years ago. Shivering and her ears drooping, she rubbed her armour-covered arms, her shoulders hunched as she burrowed into a fur-lined cloak that reached her lower thighs. As she shook herself like a dog, droplets of ice crystals hit the floor like shattering glass. She had to have chosen the frozen lake. Thorin had returned with a wide grin, the scar on his nose looking especially grotesque, his massive sword in one hand. He wasn¡¯t shivering, and he wasn¡¯t wet, so the chances were high that he¡¯d chosen the same option as Logan. In his hair, he¡¯d fastened black pearls. They dangled down to his lower back and made chiming sounds as he moved. To top it off, he¡¯d separated a strand from his main ponytail and knotted it into a braid, interweaving fine, gold filaments in the strands. Unlike Thorin, Errol was drenched. His hedgehog hair was dripping, his armour soaked and covered in mud. He had a tired air, dark circles underneath his eyes, fine scratches lining his face. Those hadn¡¯t been there before the trial. It looked like someone had gone at his skin with scissors. Scrunching his nose, Logan tried not to make a face. Errol reeked with a mixture of wet earth and skunk. The swamp. As for Arsen, he was also wet, but better put together and cheerful. He was wearing leather waterproof waders that went up to his waist. Like Asthea, he¡¯d decorated himself with warpaint, his spiky bangs slicked back with that same blue, but also spots of black mud. Logan raised his eyebrows. Fighting in the swamp seemed like the worst option out of the lot, but Arsen was a smart man. There had to be a tactic that Logan hadn¡¯t considered. ¡°Well,¡± said Thorin, clapping his hands. ¡°How did everyone do?¡± He didn¡¯t include Logan in his survey. Pointedly ignoring him, purposely snubbing him as he looked at the others and turned his back on Logan. Fine with him. Thorin wasn¡¯t his favorite person either. ¡°My trial is going to be tricky,¡± said Errol with a wince. ¡°Might not have made the best System choices. It gave me¡­ well.¡± Arsen pinned him with a steady stare. ¡°Use your training. You¡¯ll come up with a solution. Asthea, how did you do?¡± Asthea grinned, her eyes alight with excitement. ¡°Mine worked out well! I think I might have a chance at beating mother¡¯s score.¡± ¡°Ohoho! Big words, girl!¡± said Thorin. ¡°But you might do it yet. If anyone can knock Agata out of the leaderboard, it would be you.¡± Arsen gave her a soft, proud smile. ¡°All those strategy sessions are paying off now, hmm?¡± He stretched, the dried mud clinging to the fine white hairs on his face caking to the floor. ¡°Perhaps studying with a stodgy old man wasn¡¯t such a waste of time.¡± ¡°Stodgy! The guards you¡¯ve beaten into a pulp would object to that description!¡± Arsen¡¯s eyes twinkled. Thorin clapped his hands again. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m ready for a feast and a nap. Asthea, do you have another roast?¡± Asthea¡¯s gaze became faraway as she rummaged through her spatial storage. Suddenly, she was holding a massive¡­ thing. It looked like a hog that had mutated into a chicken. It had a snout, floppy ears, wings, and claws. Glistening with a glaze as if she¡¯d just taken it out of the oven, it was so greasy that Logan was surprised it wasn¡¯t slipping out of her hands. With an excited shout, the guards tore into it, tearing off legs, ears, wings¡ªgoing to town. Despite the mutated look of the animal, Logan¡¯s stomach growled. He¡¯d been eating nothing but green beans and tomatoes non-stop for days. He could use a spot of red meat. Maybe a steak or a burger. Even worse, his craving for a cold beer was like nothing else. Logan eyed the animal, hedging back and forth, seriously tempted. The problem was, knowing his luck, it would be toxic to humans. Talking about luck¡­ just how high did he have to advance that attribute to get a spot of good luck for once? He cleared his throat. ¡°I thought this was supposed to be a viewing arena. Is there another door?¡± The white walls looked seamless. For some reason, he¡¯d gone straight to envisioning an old-fashioned theater, complete with black, velvet covered chairs and a red curtain draped in a loop over the top of the screen. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Not a white room. Asthea licked grease off her palm and then went to throw a chewed-up leg to the side like a piece of discarded garbage before she gave Logan a sheepish look. Instead, she willed it back inside of her spatial storage. ¡°We can be polite, I swear. I know some people aren¡¯t used to our rough manners. As for the viewing arena, you¡¯re in it.¡± ¡°¡­The room?¡± Asthea peered at the white wall. ¡°System, show Logan the leaderboard.¡± Just like that, text illuminated the wall like a neon billboard in Times Square. All Time Leaderboard
  1. Agata Silverdagger ¨C 9,812 Points
  2. Aleda Silverdagger ¨C 9,810 Points
  3. Alfifa Silverdagger ¨C 9,798 Points
  4. Arnfasta Silverdagger ¨C 8,981 Points
  5. Erik Silverdagger ¨C 8,972 Points
Trial Leaderboard
  1. ¡­
  2. ¡­
  3. ¡­
  4. ¡­
  5. ¡­
¡°Amazing technology, no? Just like everything provided by the System. Once the trial starts the whole room turns into a virtual simulation. We can watch each battle from all angles, even underneath our feet. At least that¡¯s what I was told.¡± Asthea turned to Arsen. ¡°The System will show a simulation underneath our feet?¡± ¡°All around us,¡± Arsen affirmed. Logan stared at the board. The trial leaderboard was obvious¡ªthat was their trial, but the other¡­. ¡°It ranks everyone that goes through this trial?¡± ¡°Since it opened more than ninety years ago.¡± ¡°Is that your family in the lead?¡± Asthea gazed at the leaderboard with a small smile. ¡°That¡¯s the might of the Silverdagger Clan at work. Those are our former clan leaders. All family. And I¡¯m vying to place in the top five. After what happened in the attribute trials, my mother¡­ Let¡¯s just say she won¡¯t be happy. But if I manage to overtake her score?¡± Asthea¡¯s gaze was faraway. ¡°It might be enough.¡± Arsen¡¯s chest rumbled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, shaking her gently. ¡°You¡¯ll be our clan leader. Never doubt it.¡± ¡°I just might,¡± Asthea said, her voice wistful. ¡°If I make it out on top. I might.¡± As one, all three guards looked at Logan and pinned him with their gazes. ¡°That means no more tricks, little man,¡± said Arsen, his fingers twitching on Asthea¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You have my thanks for what you did in the dexterity trial, but there¡¯s a limit.¡± Oh, come on! They might as well be saying, you better lose. Logan wasn¡¯t made that way. He¡¯d win or lose doing nothing but his best. Besides, he still had hopes that he¡¯d win the final True Grit Ring. If he performed well enough¡­ maybe even placed on the All-Time Leaderboard, the System would have to give him good shit. ¡°It¡¯s a competition. A tactician trial where winning depends upon how well you lead your army. I¡¯m working under the same limitations as you.¡± Thorin¡¯s grin was wolfish. ¡°You have it all wrong,¡± he said. ¡°You just need to go in there and slaughter the enemy! Take no prisoners! What does it matter whether you lead or not? Capturing the egg is what really matters!¡± Asthea ducked away from Arsen¡¯s grip and walked behind Thorin. When the big man could no longer see her, she rolled her eyes and shook her head at Logan. Logan gave her a grin in return and then his smile faded. He wanted nothing better than to trust Asthea, and in turn, trust her guards. Before the System Integration, Logan had been an easy-going guy, ready to believe the best of everyone. He¡¯d believed that fundamentally, everyone wanted to do the right thing if given the chance. He never would have viewed the guards through the same mistrustful lenses. And yet¡­ he¡¯d also learned lessons throughout this last week. Eleanor. Brad stealing the speedboat. The murderers at the lake. Each instance was etched in his mind, forcing him to adjust his rose-tinted glasses until they¡¯d turned red. He couldn¡¯t judge the group with his pre-System Integration viewpoint. He just couldn¡¯t. Relaxing his guard would get him the same Brad or Eleanor situation all over. There was more than just his life on the line. Lara and the kids depended upon the decisions he made now. Asthea sidled up to him and nudged him with her elbow. ¡°Are you okay? Your face just turned into a storm cloud.¡± Logan would have loved to unload his worries on Asthea, treat her like his sister and gain a sympathetic ear, but she was part of the problem. ¡°Just thinking about my family and about getting back to the real world.¡± Asthea made a sympathetic noise. ¡°Anything I can do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not under your control.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°Actually¡­¡± He¡¯d assumed he¡¯d have to nudge Thorin into starting the trial by enraging him into a rash decision, but Logan had never been good at manipulation. There might be a solution right in front of him. ¡°You can.¡± Asthea paused in picking out a strand of meat from her teeth. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°You know I need to leave, but to do that, we have to get through this trial. I get that you¡¯re going to give it your full attention and you won¡¯t be rushing through it; it means too much. But do we have to lounge around here for days before we start? I can¡¯t afford to be here for a week.¡± Asthea¡¯s eyes were ice blue, but kind. ¡°You want me to command Thorin to start the trial?¡± ¡°Not command. Gently suggest?¡± She snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t ¡®gently¡¯ suggest.¡± Raising her voice, she turned to the others. ¡°Thorin, have you had your fill?¡± She didn¡¯t wait for his answer. ¡°You¡¯re up. Logan here has somewhere to be, and I owe him a debt. That means no more lazing around. Get to it.¡± Logan slumped, a weight like an elephant dissolving from his shoulders. This was a better solution. Just when he¡¯d started to smooth over his relationship with Asthea, he¡¯d hate to get on her bad side. Plus, if he¡¯d annoyed Thorin that much, who¡¯s to say the man would have rushed through the trial? It was just as likely that he¡¯d tried to run Logan through with his sword. This way, he wouldn¡¯t piss off Thorin. Yet still get the same result. Thorin had frozen with his mouth stuffed full of a chunk of mutated animal. ¡°But¡ª¡± he protested while chewing, bits of meat falling to the floor. ¡°No buts. That¡¯s an order.¡± Thorin swallowed. Instead of glaring at Asthea, he directed his stare at Logan. ¡°Fine,¡± he spat. Logan winced. Well, if he were this pissed off from Asthea commanding him, he hated to imagine what kind of reaction he would have received if he went the other route. Thorin threw his animal leg against the white wall as if it were offensive. Brushing his hands against his armour, he rubbed off the grease and then straightened his back. ¡°You¡¯ve got this, Thorin,¡± said Errol. ¡°Show the trickster how it¡¯s done.¡± Thorin grinned toothily, suddenly all smiles. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s going to get it. His score will be so low it won¡¯t even show up on the leaderboard.¡± Cracking his neck, he jumped on the balls of his feet. Looking at the ceiling, he said, ¡°System, start my trial.¡± Chapter 82: A Frog in a Pot Once Thorin agreed to start the trial, that same door materialized in the wall. Rolling his shoulders, his massive sword in one hand, Thorin threw a grin at the others, followed by a dark glare at Logan before rushing through the doorway. As soon as he did, a sound like a power surge echoed around the room, and everything¡­ transformed. This wasn¡¯t normal virtual reality. Hell no. The room had disappeared, and instead, everywhere he looked¡­. Holy shit. It was as if he were back in the battlefield prepping arena! The same blue sky, the same steep, sheer wall. Looking down, he could see the ground¡ªthe dirt, the gravel¡ªas if he were walking on it. This was so far from virtual reality it wasn¡¯t in the same stratosphere. The others were looking around in curiosity. ¡°That¡¯s one high cliff,¡± said Errol. Logan swallowed and gradually, trepidation started to trickle through him. ¡°Will the System show what we did to prepare for the battle?¡± In the battlefield tutorial, Logan had made the calculated decision that the benefits of using his spatial collar outweighed the risks of discovery. In the back of his mind, he knew there was a possibility that the System might show the others a preview of everyone prepping for their trial¡ªlike a warped recap episode¡ªbut the System hadn¡¯t mentioned anything of the kind. If he were wrong, he¡¯d be up shit creek without a paddle. He owed Asthea a lot¡ªfrom his Save Humanity Quest to her help in easing tensions with her guards. As far as he was concerned, she¡¯d be a great leader. But leaders had to consider things beyond being a good person. They had to think about their people. Something told Logan that in this, he needed to be cautious. That meant that once the trial started, he could no longer use tactics that involved throwing boulders from his spatial storage or drilling tunnels. Whatever he¡¯d completed in the tutorial¡ªthat was it. Logan soon had his answer. The viewpoint changed as if they were walking down the gorge, but everyone was standing in place. The System moved the virtual room until they were looking over Thorin¡¯s shoulder. Slightly to his back, giving them a full view of the man, but also a view of the army around him. It was as if they were invisible spectators. Logan felt a breeze on his face and the scent of dust and earth. He felt the heat of the sun and the faint sound of birds off in the distance. This was happening. Happening in real time. ¡°Well, my brothers,¡± said Thorin with a shout, waving his sword in the air. Ten inches in width and glinting with a razor-sharp edge, the thing had to weigh more than Logan. ¡°We¡¯re going to war!¡± Around them, hundreds of soldiers shouted in exultation. But these were no normal soldiers. Not blobs, and not people with knives for arms. They were rock people. Standing eight feet tall at least, their bodies constructed of large, smooth boulders stacked on top of each other. They had a huge, round rock head, with two divots for eyes. Some had two limbs, others had three or four. It was as if someone had typed the name ¡®rock people¡¯ in a System generation tool and it spat out a mishmash of random rock soldiers. Half the soldiers were skinny and round, their edges smoothed as if by water, while the other half were rocky and sharp. ¡°Our purpose is blessed, commander!¡± said a rock at the top of the army, his boulders glinting with gold and diamond sparkles, as if he¡¯d been carved out of a precious metal deposit. ¡°Bring the sinners to paradise!¡± ¡°Paradise! Paradise!¡± shouted the rock people, the ground shaking like an earthquake. Logan looked down in disbelief. Underneath his feet, his Logan exoskeleton boots were vibrating. He could no longer tell what was real and what was the simulation. ¡°Ah,¡± said Asthea. ¡°Thorin chose the Monolith option. A good choice.¡± And based on their propaganda, he must have sacrificed his friends and family and saved the world for the System to have given him a ¡®good¡¯ army. ¡°To war, my brothers! To war!¡± ¡°To war! To war!¡± shouted a hundred voices. The rock people stamped their feet and turned to face the opposite side of the gorge. Surging forward, a thousand-ton army streamed down the path between the cliffs like a stampede. Their rock-limbs pounded the ground and made the cliffs vibrate, sand falling, pebbles skipping. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Thorin laughed and darted through his army, running at full speed, his silver hair flying behind him. Breaking out of the group, he rushed into open ground and then came to a stop in front of his army. Facing him were the same rock people. This time, a shadow covered them, a shadow from Logan¡¯s darkest nightmare. They clapped their rocky fists with a boom, stone on stone. Lightening crackled between their limbs, sending a shockwave through the narrow gorge. ¡°Oh the clan,¡± Asthea murmured in awe. Logan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as static built in the air. The faint smell of burning wafted past his nose, his feet tingling as if he were standing on an electric plate. Thorin laughed an unhinged laugh. ¡°You¡¯ve met your maker, evilness! I¡¯ll crush you underneath my feet!¡± Planting his sword into the earth with a massive swing, burrowing five feet into the ground, he let it sway back and forth before opening his palm. Logan was so close¡ªthis time as if he were Thorin himself¡ªthat he could see Thorin¡¯s hand with crystal clarity, from the fine white hairs on the back of his skin, to the calluses on his fingers. Inside his palm was a ring. With a laugh, Thorin put it on his index finger and then with his biceps bulging, blue veins on his neck standing out from his skin, he wrenched his sword from the ground and raised it above his head. And then something happened that Logan wasn¡¯t expecting. In front of him, five other Thorins materialized. What in the world? Exact replicas, down to the swords and unhinged grins. As the original Thorin swung his sword, the others mirrored him. It had to be a skill. ¡°What skill is that?¡± Logan asked. Asthea gave him a proud smile. ¡°Doppelganger. From the nonalson animals from our world.¡± ¡°Thorin has a bonded companion?¡± Errol snorted. ¡°Idiot.¡± Asthea laughed. ¡°No, we don¡¯t bond with them. Imagine Thorin bonding with a lizard! We harvest them.¡± Wait. What? ¡°¡­You harvest them.¡± Asthea nodded. Logan felt a pit opening inside his stomach. His eyes widened as he started to connect the dots. Ernie¡¯s Sky People! Were these fuckers harvesting octopuses for their skills? ¡°To confirm, how do you harvest an animal for a skill?¡± Asthea winced. ¡°That¡¯s the part of the process I don¡¯t like, but they don¡¯t feel pain after the water temperature goes up enough¡ªthe boiling acts as a numbing effect. We boil them for a full day straight, then take the excess liquid to our smithies. Don¡¯t ask me how, but somehow the nonalson¡¯s skill turns into malleable material that our smiths can make into rings.¡± She nudged him with her elbow. ¡°You should feel privileged. That knowledge was hard earned.¡± What. The. F¡¯ing. Shit. They were killing them! Killing Ernie¡¯s brethren! Instead of obtaining skills by bonding with animals, they were stealing them and manufacturing them! Assholes! Logan¡¯s rage burned white hot, everything he¡¯d thought he¡¯d known about Asthea¡¯s character taking a one-eighty. How could someone like her tolerate this shit? His muscles and veins standing out on his skin, his nostrils flaring, it took everything he had not to reach over and strangle her. Ernie! They¡¯d kill Ernie if they could! Okay okay okay. Logan had to talk himself down from a mental cliff. Asthea¡¯s people weren¡¯t the Sky People or else they wouldn¡¯t have been surprised to see Logan. They would have known about the Integration. No, it was some other asshole people from a world in the Collective. Logan now had a fuller picture of what was going on, and he didn¡¯t like it. The System had chosen Earth because of the potential animal skill values. Ernie was one of them, but there could be others. As far as he was concerned, the whole spiel about carbon was just an excuse. The System had used that ploy to kill as many people as possible. Weed out the population, make Earth easy pickings. After all, if Logan failed his Save Humanity Quest, in less than a year, the population would drop to less than 60 million. Until then, the System kept them scrambling around to survive like a chicken with its head cut off while aliens from other worlds harvested animals and converted them into skill rings. Those fuckers were going to pay. If it was up to Logan, they had a hell storm of pain coming to them. Grinding his teeth, Logan watched the six Thorins rush towards the incoming army. Grudgingly, Logan had to admit that for all the repulsiveness of the skill, it was impressive. He ran into the ¡®evil¡¯ rock army like a bulldozer, all five Thorins shaving off chunks of rock like he was slicing cheese. He was such a powerhouse that his army behind him wasn¡¯t even needed. That wouldn¡¯t serve him well in a tactician trial where the purpose was to lead your army to victory, but he must be gaining a hell of a lot of XP. And yet, why hadn¡¯t Thorin deployed that skill in the agility trial? Five different Thorins would have confused the hell out of the cannon balls. Logan looked at the group. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he use that in the agility trial?¡± There was a pause before all three of them gazed at him in disbelief. A vein on Errol¡¯s forehead throbbed. ¡°Because it¡¯s understood that you don¡¯t use skills inside the attribute trial. Cheater, trickster.¡± Then with a faint mutter, ¡°Plus, it¡¯s been tried before. The cannon balls fly right past the clones. It only enrages them. Each person who¡¯s tried deploying that skill ends up regretting it.¡± Arsen gave him a less harsh but no less accusing stare. They could stare all they wanted. After what he¡¯d just learned, Logan wasn¡¯t going to be lectured on fair play. Why don¡¯t they try being boiled alive and see how they liked it! And give him a break. How was Logan supposed to know they¡¯d had an unwritten rule? No one had told him! And¡­ if he were honest with himself, he might not have stayed within the rules even if he¡¯d known. Logan had always followed the rules¡ªfiled his taxes on time, followed the traffic laws¡ªbut that was before the apocalypse. Why should he follow a rule that seemed self imposed by another species? As far as he was concerned, if the rule didn¡¯t come from the System, then it didn¡¯t exist. If they called him a cheater, then so be it. They didn¡¯t have friends and family relying on them, to them, it was a challenge and a way for Asthea to impress her mother. Logan was dealing with something greater, something life threatening¡­ something world ending. And someone who boiled sentient animals alive for skills didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on. ¡°I¡¯ll take that into consideration for next time.¡± There would be no next time. Chapter 83: Unhinged Berserker After his discovery, Logan found it difficult to concentrate on the battle. His thoughts raced in all directions. If Ernie were¡­ well, Ernie, rather than a mindless undead octopus, Logan knew he would be flush with rage, swinging his tentacles and ranting at Logan about pummeling their enemies into a plethora of blood and guts. And after this trial, it wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility. His priorities were clear. He needed to find Lara and the kids and bring them to safety, find Ernie and detox him from the undead infection by killing the serpent queen, and then think about a strategy for his Save Humanity Quest. That didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t take a detour. After he took care of his immediate priorities, there was no reason he couldn¡¯t find these Sky People and teach them what happened when they tried to take advantage of humankind. They¡¯d find a bunch of pissed off motherfuckers. On the first day of Integration, Logan would have thought that challenging the Sky People was folly. Like a worm challenging an elephant. But not after this trial. He¡¯d advanced so much that any other person on Earth with the same attribute values would have to be E Grade. Plus, Logan never liked to brag; he was a pretty modest guy, but he¡¯d learned that he could come out on top against tremendous odds. Never let it be said that he wasn¡¯t good at strategy. Even better, once he was out of this trial, he would no longer be subject to limitations, and he¡¯d have the advantage of Ernie and Lara¡¯s smart minds. It made sense to go after the Sky People. And to be honest, he had another motivation. Pure rage. A week ago, an octopus had been an octopus. An odd-looking animal that belonged in the ocean and in documentaries. Not anymore. After bonding with Ernie, now, as far as he was concerned, they were more precious than gold. Ernie was a being with his own beliefs and dreams. A loyal, selfless companion who would sacrifice his own life to save Logan¡¯s. A companion who had suffered in consequence for that altruism, turning into who knew what. Logan could only speculate what poor Ernie had been through to turn into an undead octopus. He felt pain just like any other person, and with his multiple tentacles and suction cups, he¡¯d feel more than the average person. And these Sky People and people like the Silverdagger clan were killing them. To Logan, it was the same thing as stomping babies to death. Despicable. Grinding his teeth with hooded eyes, Logan narrowed his attention back on the battlefield. He¡¯d disliked Thorin before but knowing that the man used a skill ring from a harvested animal put the final nail in his coffin. And if anyone should have been given the name Idiot, it should have been this imbecile. Logan had thought Thorin had been trying to trick him into sabotaging his battlefield strategy by encouraging him to slaughter everyone single-handedly, but he was starting to wonder if the man hadn¡¯t believed it himself. At first, Logan had assumed the doppelgangers were projections, incorporeal copies that would fool the enemy, but that theory went out the window as they mowed down rock people and cut them to bits like a woodchipper. The Thorin copies spared no thought for their own rock army, rushing past them and giving them no orders. Instead, the doppelgangers ran around like roadrunners as they whacked the nightmare rocks into pieces. With a boom, the ¡®evil¡¯ rock army retaliated by blasting the Thorin clones with their lightning. ¡°Is that the best you¡¯ve got!¡± they boomed. Rather than discouraging them, the clones stood up straighter as lightning fizzled over their skin. Stray strands of their long silver hair turned into a frizzy mess, and the fine white hairs on their skin stood on end. The doppelganger skill was impressive to the extreme. Logan couldn¡¯t tell which one was the real Thorin¡ªeverything was identical down to the jagged scar on his nose, to his jangling braid. Even more impressive was that the skill had duplicated his weapon and clothes. Logan could see everything. It was just a matter of turning his head, and he was there. That meant he could pick up the scents around him. The Thorin clones reeked with a combination of sweat and leather, of exertion. There was no way to fake that. However, the skill might have a drawback. As each clone bashed yet another rock person, their swords made a twangy noise, a metal on stone nails on the chalkboard screech, and yet¡­ one sword sang. It was the Thorin clone in the middle. That had to be the real Thorin. Soldier after soldier fell into a pile of rocks on the ground until the gorge was littered with boulders and jagged fragments. It was as if twenty dump trucks had steamed through and unloaded a thousand tons of boulders and rocks. Thorin¡¯s rock army poured in after him, clambering over the fallen ¡®evil¡¯ soldiers and then stomping their feet. Each stomp made the ground vibrate, rock against rock grinding away until they¡¯d pulverized the remains into a pile of debris. ¡°To paradise! To paradise!¡± chanted the rock army. The Thorin clones cackled, their faces beet red, dust clinging to their painted faces and making them look black. They seemed fueled by a berserker rage, as if they¡¯d forgotten everything but slaughtering one rock person after another. The high of the XP gains must be something else. Finally, the doppelgangers cleared the battlefield. The enemy was dead. Turning around, the clones scanned the gorge, eyes eager and glinting with savage greed. Their faces twitched as they looked in vain, since¡ª ¡°Commander?¡± One of Thorin¡¯s rock people nudged him with a jagged rock arm. ¡°Impressive! You¡¯ve won¡ª¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. With a roar, Thorin turned and swung his sword, severing the thing¡¯s neck with one berserker stroke. The soldier¡¯s boulder head went flying and crashed against the cliff wall with a boom. ¡°Oh no,¡± whispered Asthea. ¡°The battle lust has overtaken him.¡± Arsen sighed in exasperation. ¡°XP overload sickness.¡± Logan stared. That was a thing? He¡¯d slaughtered snake after flying snake and he¡¯d never lost the plot. The other Thorin clones shouted in excitement, swivelling around and sighting onto the rest of their own army. This was nuts. The man had gone completely berserk. Rushing in the other direction, the clones narrowed in on the nearest soldiers and took flying leaps at them with their swords outflung. ¡°Commander!¡± screamed a soldier, holding its three rock limbs in front of its face. ¡°The enemy has cast an evil spell on you! We¡¯re your¡ª¡± The rock soldier didn¡¯t have a chance to finish. Thorin¡¯s clone chopped off its limbs with vicious cuts of his sword, metal and stone clanging, rock shards flying and falling like a hailstorm. ¡°I wish I could reach through this room and knock some sense into him,¡± Errol muttered. But the Thorin clones wanted more. They searched the battlefield, looking for prey. With self-satisfied smiles, they surged towards their own fleeing army and cut them down, one after another. Twenty dead. Thirty. Forty. But something was happening to the Thorin in the middle of the fray. Where the other clones were still surging, this one had stuttered to a stop. Logan wanted a better viewpoint. No sooner did he have the desire than the System accommodated him. With a one-hundred-eighty change in direction, Logan looked directly at Thorin. He was so close Logan might as well be standing in front of him. Thorin¡¯s expression was shifting. It changed gradually, as if someone had sprinkled him with water rather than splashing him with a bucket, but his awareness was creeping back in second by second. ¡°Oh the clan,¡± Thorin moaned as he scanned the battlefield, manic-fueled greed turning to horror. Throwing his sword to the ground as if it were a cobra, he slumped his shoulders, his face turning pale as if he¡¯d walked over his own grave. Numbly, he looked at his hand and tilted it to study his ring before staring up at the sky. ¡°I¡¯ve failed the trial. I¡¯m sorry, Asthea. I¡¯m sorry, brothers. I should have been stronger. The sickness is real.¡± Meanwhile, the other doppelgangers were still at it. Their expressions were full of nothing but savage greed as they slashed the arms of their own soldiers and sent boulder heads flying. With a shudder of revulsion, Thorin tugged off his ring. Just like that, the clones disappeared. The battlefield was nothing but devastation. *** Normally, after someone screwed up that badly, Logan would have felt sympathetic. After all, he¡¯d messed up enough times in his own life that he knew Thorin must be feeling like shit on the bottom of a shoe. But there was screwing up with finances and forgetting to buy flowers during an anniversary, and there was¡­ this. Logan had no sympathy for the man. Say what you will about the wrongness of his actions¡ªLogan could see an argument for his soldiers being System constructs. A manufactured army. But that didn¡¯t matter. If it had been real¡­ if he¡¯d commanded a bunch of Silverdagger warriors, who¡¯s to say that he wouldn¡¯t have done the same? To top it off, Logan had no sympathy for a man who wore a boiled animal on his finger. Not after what he¡¯d learned. The others weren¡¯t the same. As Thorin materialized in the room, his meaty hands clasping an egg that was the size of an ostrich, his face might as well be carved in stone. Emotionless. Dead. The man had been through an ordeal, and he couldn¡¯t look anyone in the eyes. He wasn¡¯t soaked in blood but was covered in dust and glinting gold particles. It might as well be the same. That was the remains of the rock people. ¡°Oh, Thorin,¡± said Asthea, her voice full of deep disappointment. ¡°Well, son,¡± said Arsen. ¡°You know you screwed up. No sense wallowing in it. Deposit the egg and let¡¯s see how you did.¡± Thorin held the egg up with a scowl. Unlike Logan¡¯s chicken-egg, it was huge, and its shell was red and thick. Sturdy. That couldn¡¯t be a brood parasite¡ªit was too big. There was only one thing left. Logan realized that he¡¯d already taken two steps back without being aware of it. It would be just his luck that his [Eager Beaver] title would kick in and the thing would hatch in the middle of the viewing arena. Thorin¡¯s hands spasmed around the egg as if he wanted to crush it. ¡°I know what score I¡¯ll get. Do I have to deposit the egg to find out?¡± ¡°Thorin,¡± Asthea scolded. Thorin sighed with his whole body and then walked over to one of the white walls. With a look up at the ceiling, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve captured the egg.¡± That¡¯s all she wrote. It disappeared from his hands as if the System had sucked it through a black hole. Ding! [Calculating leaderboard score for user Thorin Silverdagger!] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [¡­.] [Score calculated!] [Leadership: 100/ Tactical Innovation: 0/Strategy: 1000/Victory: 1.] [Leaderboard updated!] Trial Leaderboard
  1. Thorin Silverdagger: 1101
  2. ¡­
  3. ¡­
  4. ¡­
  5. ¡­
Damn. Based on the All-Time Leaderboard, Thorin had just flunked his exam. At least Logan had learned something. The System ranked everyone on four categories. Victory might be a set category¡ªyou either captured or lost the egg, so it would have minor point values. The System had given Thorin a hundred points in leadership which Logan could only equate with what he¡¯d done to motivate his army at the beginning of the battle. It hadn¡¯t gone to shit until Thorin had rushed into the battlefield and left his army behind. For tactical innovation, Thorin had received zero points. The System was such a vindictive asshole that he was surprised it hadn¡¯t given the man negative points rather than none. The one thing he was surprised at was strategy. A thousand points? For rushing into the battlefield like a berserker and decimating his enemies? The System had to have given him credit for the skill ring. Replicating yourself and creating copies that were just as good as the original was no mean feat. Errol jabbed Thorin with his elbow. ¡°Look at it this way, brother. You didn¡¯t do what you set out to, but you¡¯re walking away with seven level increases. That¡¯s worth something, hmm? Cheer up, you big lug!¡± Holy shit, that was a hell of a lot of level increases. Logan scanned Thorin with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Thorin Silverdagger: Level 99. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] More than likely, Thorin would be throwing the thirty-five free attributes into his strength stat. Logan wished [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] could show him how high each person¡¯s attributes were and not just the highest stat since right now, he was stuck at conjecture. He knew that Thorin had been through this trial before, but it was a matter of where he¡¯d stopped. For that matter, if this was his second time in the Tactician Trial, well¡­ The man was all brawn and no brain. Logan cleared his throat. ¡°Was this what it was like during the last battlefield trial?¡± Arsen shot Logan a narrow-eyed look. ¡°No, off-worlder, it wasn¡¯t the same trial. I can already tell what you¡¯re thinking. Thorin had no advanced knowledge. We were as clueless as you. The System changes the battlefield prepping questions each time.¡± A growl rumbled in Errol¡¯s throat. ¡°You think you can do better? Judging Thorin from your high standards? A man who¡¯s level 34? I¡¯d like to see what you do after seven level increases in a row.¡± Logan held up his hands. ¡°Hey! I wasn¡¯t judging anyone. Just asking questions.¡± Asthea¡¯s mouth was in a thin line. ¡°We¡¯re getting along, remember? Errol, if you have time for banter, that means you¡¯re up.¡± Errol looked suddenly green. ¡°I might need fortification before going back there. Any nonaonalic juice in that spatial storage of yours, Asthea?¡± Arsen whistled. ¡°Just how badly did you screw up, man? What kind of soldiers did you pick?¡± Errol winced. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± Chapter 84: The Centipede Army Logan was initially excited to learn that Asthea carried alcohol in her spatial storage device, but not after he got a whiff of it. This ¡®nonaonalic juice¡¯ smelled like fermented cabbage mixed with vodka. After Errol gulped down two pints, he ran a hand through his hair, tugged on his waterlogged armour and released a huge sigh. Two pints of straight up vodka would have had him down for the count, but Errol¡¯s physiology must be completely different than Logan¡¯s. Rather than acting drunk, he looked invigorated. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he said before rushing through the doorway. As soon as the portal swallowed him whole, that same power surge clanged through the room, and the white walls transformed. Logan didn¡¯t recognize his surroundings and it took a second to get his bearings. Holy shit, feeling the wind on his face and glancing down at the bottom of a dirt-covered gorge was one thing, but standing in over a foot of water was another! The swamp. This viewing room was something else. Logan was engulfed in murky green water up to his lower thighs. Damn. Although he was still wearing his exoskeleton boots, he hadn¡¯t figured out how to mold the armour while submerged. The boots would have to do. Unlike last time, there were no cliffs, not even a hill. It was flat ground covered in swamp water, with the occasional tree breaching the surface, branches searching for non-existent sunlight. Duckweed plants and water lilies covered the water in patches, while debris and algae floated over the rest of the brackish water. At first, he¡¯d assumed the System had deposited Errol into the battlefield in the middle of the night, but then he realized that a dense layer of fog covered the terrain, fog so thick it was difficult to see more than thirty feet from either side. It would have been impossible without his perception attribute enhancements. Next to him, Asthea and Thorin lifted their feet out of the water in vain, mouths twisted in distaste. ¡°Follow me,¡± said Arsen. ¡°I got to know this terrain. If you back up a few feet¡­.¡± Arsen strode up an incline. ¡°Ah, here we go.¡± They followed him and waded through the water, kicking up algae and mud. The ground rose up, the water ending at their ankles. On this incline, they could watch what was going on without being part of what was going on. The swamp reeked like wet earth plus something extra special: skunk intermixed with decomposing flesh. It was so bad it made Logan flare his nostrils in disgust. Errol didn¡¯t seem surprised by any of it. He waded through the water, struggling to walk smoothly, his mouth in a grim line. Over his shoulder, he¡¯d swung his metal whip like a lasso, the barbed end knocking against his back as he moved. He looked up at the sky and muttered, ¡°See what I have to deal with?¡± Arsen shifted next to Asthea. ¡°I think I might have failed Errol. If he thinks the terrain is a detriment rather than an asset¡­ well, I¡¯m lost for words.¡± But Errol might not have been referring to the swamp. In front of him¡­ something shifted underneath the water. Logan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, uncertainty eating away at his stomach. Even though they were standing in place, as soon as he wished it, he was right next to Errol; he might as well be Errol. Far out. Even though he knew that he wasn¡¯t technically in the swamp, it was difficult to tell his brain that. He could see Errol that clearly. The water rustled and splashed, as if a school of fish were fighting underneath the surface. But this was no fish. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± said Errol in a resigned voice. In the water, there was a flash. A flash of a long, shiny black body, there and gone. Then another. And another. Something splashed directly in front of Errol, and a being¡­ a thing¡­. A¡­ Holy shit! And Logan had thought the spider rats were bad! The monster was half the size of the serpent queen, with a long body covered in black, glistening chitin. Instead of being smooth like a snake, segmented plates interconnected its body into a cohesive whole. It rose up out of the water and towered over Errol, the underside of its body covered in hundreds of pincer-like appendages that looked razor-sharp and dripped with a purple, glutinous material. It looked like a humongous centipede. A jacked-up, mutated centipede. Take a centipede you¡¯d find in the woods and multiply it by a hundred and you¡¯d have this thing. But that¡¯s where the resemblance to a centipede ended and a spider took its place. At the top of its long body was a black spider that had to be the size of a rain barrel. Its many yellow eyes glinted as it peered down at Errol. At the top of the long body, the pincer-like appendages morphed into longer, spider-like legs. Holy hell, this thing was on another level! Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Chilopoda Arthropod Level 8. The captain of the arthropod army. Highest Stat: Agility.] ¡°Our little commander reeeeetuuuuurns,¡± purred a feminine voice. ¡°Have you come to feed us? Where is the food, evilness? Where is the bounty?¡± Around them, dozens upon dozens of centipedes rose out of the water like cobras getting ready to strike. Errol sighed. ¡°Like I told you before, Aranea, I¡¯m here to lead you to victory, not to feed you.¡± ¡°Mmmm. And how do we know that we don¡¯t have an imposter in our midst? Where is the proof, evilness. Show your loyalty, show your trueness.¡± Errol ran his hand through his hair. He¡¯d already managed to get his hand filthy with mud, which only worsened the state of his hedgehog mud-covered bangs. ¡°Can¡¯t we skip this? You recognize me, don¡¯t you?¡± The centipede¡¯s eyes glinted in sadistic amusement. ¡°Show your trueness,¡± she crooned. ¡°Show your loyalty.¡± ¡°All right, all right. Let¡¯s get it over with.¡± The monstrous spider centipede hummed, her hundred appendages wiggling in delight. Surging forward, she latched onto Errol. But she wasn¡¯t attacking him. Rather, she used her appendages to grip onto him while she swiped one of her long spider legs over his face and sliced his cheek. Errol took it in stride, only scrunching his eyebrows in disgust. Damn. Logan had dodged a major bullet. His strategy only worked due to subterfuge. These things were decidedly not subtle. The centipede licked the blood from the tip of her leg, her face considering, her eyes glinting playfully. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure I got enough.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Aranea!¡± snapped Errol. The centipede grinned before she released Errol and backed into the water. ¡°It¡¯s the evilness!¡± she said, twirling her long body around to face the swarm. ¡°The evilness has come to feed us!¡± ¡°The evilness has come to feed us!¡± repeated the others, swiveling in the water like they were dancing, their appendages twitching like a dog who¡¯d scratched an itch. ¡°Not to feed. To lead,¡± muttered Errol, as if he¡¯d repeated the same words many times. Next to Logan, Asthea shifted, her lips pressed into a tight grimace. ¡°The System assigned him the evil option. I¡¯m disappointed in Errol. I wouldn¡¯t have thought he¡¯d be the type to be selfish. Killing our people to save his own family? If this gets back to the clans, it won¡¯t reflect well on him.¡± Arsen let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. The man loves Droplaug with a passion. A passion I haven¡¯t seen in all my years. They¡¯d travel beyond the Collective and out to the backward universe if it meant they could be together. But after this is over, I¡¯ll talk to him. Emphasize that being one of your personal guards means more than duty. It means looking at the bigger picture.¡± Asthea¡¯s voice was quiet. ¡°Don¡¯t be too hard on him. Who am I to judge someone in love? A love that deep is rare.¡± Logan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He suspected that he¡¯d only re-affirm their prejudice once they learned that the System had assigned him an ¡®evil¡¯ army. Oh well. It wasn¡¯t like Logan was on a diplomatic mission to open relations between their worlds. He was here to win. ¡°What is he doing?¡± Thorin asked in confusion. Errol was wading through the water and circling around a large tree. Its trunk was immense; so large it had to be a century old at least. Fastened to one of the tree limbs was a rope, the end trailing out into the water like a snake. Even with his increased perception, the fog was so thick that Logan couldn¡¯t see what was on the other side. With massive pulls of his arms, his biceps bulging, Errol pulled on the rope and reeled it in. On the other side he¡¯d fastened a makeshift raft crafted with planks that looked similar to the ones the System had provided in Logan¡¯s trial. Logan recalled Asthea mentioning that Errol had an E Grade spatial storage device. He had a handicap right off the bat. He¡¯d be limited to what the System provided and what he¡¯d managed with the terrain alone. ¡°Aranea, did you finish the preparations?¡± asked Errol as he clambered onto the raft and grabbed a loose plank. He let the board sink to the bottom and then used it to maneuver the raft forward. The centipede whipped her tail in delight. ¡°All is ready, evilness. The hive has done as you commanded. We have many, many underwater barriers in place. Is it time to feed us?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re not¡­¡± Errol sighed. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s time to feed you. We¡¯re going to war.¡± The other centipedes made excited chitters as they whipped their long bodies, water flying as if a hundred dolphins had splashed their tails. Logan had to wipe his face. The viewing arena was that accurate and real. How was that even possible? Asthea shifted next to Logan, using her fur cloak to shield herself from the falling water as she studied Errol¡¯s raft. ¡°I like this. I can see a way forward.¡± Thorin shifted in confusion. ¡°It looks like that thing could fall apart with one swing of those monster¡¯s tails.¡± He sniffed. ¡°I don¡¯t see the strategy.¡± Asthea gave Arsen a small smile. *** Asthea ended up being right. Errol did have a strategy. It wasn¡¯t a genius strategy, and it wouldn¡¯t have been what Logan would choose, but at least it was better than Thorin¡¯s non-existent, lost the plot plan. As the ¡®good¡¯ centipede army came charging through the water, Logan grimaced. These ones didn¡¯t have spider heads, but they might have something just as bad¡ªa tail that curved over their backs that ended in a barbed stinger. Logan was betting that it was venomous, just like the glutinous material that glistened from the appendages of Errol¡¯s centipede army. Errol would need to be careful. If he managed to get stung and his constitution attribute wasn¡¯t strong enough, he could end up finishing the trial before it had even begun. ¡°Now, evilness?¡± Aranea breathed, anticipation tight in her voice. Errol nodded. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± With a swing of their tails, Errol¡¯s hundred centipedes ducked underneath the water and submerged. Logan tried to will the System to follow, but it seemed there were limitations to his 360-degree view. He could see whatever he wanted if he stuck to Errol but if he tried to go anywhere else his view bounced back like an elastic band. Logan considered. He wanted to see what the swarm was doing. Peering down, he swished the water with his boots and weighed his options. It was shallow where he was standing, but if he moved backwards, there was a distinct drop. Logan eyed the others. They were in front of him, trying to peer through the murk. They weren¡¯t paying attention. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he backed up and then silently let himself drop into the water. It came up to his shoulders. With a last glance at the others, Logan crouched underneath the water and then let his body submerge, activating [Deepwater Explorer] for the first time in days. Once he was underwater, his vision sharpened, and he could see through the brackish muck. Around him, Errol¡¯s centipede army zoomed through the water, a school of them each surrounding¡­ was that a wall? Errol¡¯s army had been busy. They¡¯d worked the earth, tunnelled the muddy ground, and pushed the excess into a round, curved underwater wall. Intermixed in the mud were planks of wood and bundles of hay. On top of the barrier, the centipedes had layered camouflaging water lilies and aquatic plants, making it look like the wall was nothing more than clumped up foliage. That wouldn¡¯t last long¡ªbut they only needed a few hours to win the day. Up above, Errol used his plank to push the raft behind the first wall, and then began hitting the water, slapping the flat side of the board against the surface like a dinner bell. Underneath, it echoed, booming everywhere. A lure. Logan silently rose out of the water. The others were still watching the battle and hadn¡¯t paid him any attention. ¡°I suppose that could work,¡± Thorin grumbled. Then he brightened. ¡°He¡¯ll score better than Idiot for sure!¡± As Errol banged his plank against the water, the enemy poured in like a swarm of sharks. Sighting Errol, they only increased their speed, their bodies rising out of the water like cobras. Just as they lunged for him, Errol strategically used his whip to lasso around the nearest tree and launched himself through the air. Out of reach, the centipedes course corrected and lowered themselves into the water. They were going so fast there was no chance to stop, and they didn¡¯t bother, since they assumed the underwater barrier was soft, bunched up plants. Instead, they slammed headfirst into planks. Stunned, they flailed underwater, giving Errol¡¯s army a chance to take advantage. ¡°Food! Food!¡± crooned the monsters as they surged underwater. As the swamp turned red with blood, Errol had already swung back onto his raft and positioned it over the next targeted area. ¡°Come and get me, beasties!¡± Errol said, bashing his plank. It was a basic strategy, but it just might work. *** ¡°Impressive!¡± boomed Thorin as Errol materialized in the viewing arena. He slapped him on the back and a deluge of water splashed to the white floor. ¡°Not half bad,¡± said Arsen with a proud grin. Errol grinned, his mud-covered wolf ears standing straight up as he held his egg. It was blue and twice the size of a chicken egg. ¡°Brothers, never again! The battle went as planned, but my army put me through the wringer! It¡¯ll take days before these cuts heal!¡± Errol gestured to his face. ¡°Droplaug will be cross with me.¡± His grin became saucy. ¡°She likes my face.¡± Thorin barked out a laugh. ¡°And you!¡± Errol said with a jab to Thorin¡¯s side. ¡°Somehow, I think you got the better deal! I know Arsen and Asthea will overtake me. That means you¡¯ll end up with seven level increases and I¡¯ll end up with one. One measly level!¡± ¡°Winning with a good strategy is its own reward,¡± said Arsen. Asthea stomped her feet, and then shook her head like a dog as she tried to rid herself of the water. ¡°Don¡¯t keep us waiting. Let¡¯s see how you did.¡± Errol nodded, his face turning serious as he balanced the egg on his outstretched palm. ¡°System, I¡¯ve captured the egg.¡± Ding! [Calculating leaderboard score for user Errol Silverdagger!] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [¡­.] [Score calculated!] [Leadership: 2000/ Tactical Innovation: 3500/Strategy: 2000/Victory: 1.] [Leaderboard updated!] Trial Leaderboard
  1. Errol Silverdagger: 7501
  2. Thorin Silverdagger: 1101
  3. ¡­
  4. ¡­
  5. ¡­
Frankly, Logan was surprised that Errol¡¯s leadership score wasn¡¯t higher. Those centipedes had been something else, and yet Errol had still managed to get them to follow his orders. ¡°Well done, Errol!¡± said Arsen. Errol snorted. ¡°Says the man who¡¯s about to claw my score to pieces.¡± Arsen¡¯s grin became wicked. He raised one shoulder in a shrug. ¡°Considering what you had to deal with, I don¡¯t see how I could have done better.¡± Arsen was next. Based on everything he¡¯d learned about the man, Logan had high expectations. ¡°Good luck,¡± said Logan. Arsen raised an eyebrow. ¡°Tricky off-worlder, luck has nothing to do with it. If you rely on your luck stat, you¡¯ll never get anywhere.¡± The others rumbled in agreement. Thorin crossed his arms, his meaty biceps bulging. ¡°Show the trickster how it¡¯s done, Arsen!¡± Logan held back a sigh. At this point, he didn¡¯t know why he bothered. His good nature kept getting the better of him. Being part of the group gave him a false sense of camaraderie. It was only as things hit him over the head with their despicableness that he remembered. Remembered things like boiled skill rings. And that Asthea was the only one holding the guards back from murder. Chapter 85: A Blob on a Surfboard Logan had lofty expectations for Arsen¡¯s trial. The man had built himself up with his talk of tutoring Asthea. He was older than the other guards, more experienced. Based on the scars scattered throughout his arms and hands, he must have been in battles. Either that, or a lot of fights. He expected Arsen to ace his trial and lead his army to victory through innovative tactics that made Logan¡¯s look pale in comparison. And yet¡­ that didn¡¯t happen. Arsen had picked the swamp just like Errol, but he¡¯d lucked out with his army, choosing the same squishy blobs as Logan, only this time the System had assigned him the cheerful, glowing blobs rather than the evil army. Asthea laughed when she saw them. ¡°They¡¯ll certainly be good at absorbing hits,¡± she said, her eyes twinkling. ¡°Those monsters must have swallowed ten roasts whole!¡± Errol said with a laugh. ¡°What are the fat things doing?¡± boomed Thorin. Logan straightened and crossed his arms as a surge of protectiveness surged through him. His blob army was loyal to a fault, and he¡¯d become fond of the squishy things. He¡¯d much rather deal with blobs than centipedes who wanted to taste his blood. Besides, their physiology made them round and making fun of someone based on appearance had always gotten his blood running hot. ¡°They¡¯re following Arsen¡¯s orders,¡± he snapped. Thorin threw Logan a hooded glance. ¡°What would you know of orders? Cheater,¡± he muttered. Then he sidled up to Errol and nudged him with an elbow. ¡°What splinter got stuck in his paw?¡± ¡°Boys, we¡¯re getting along, remember?¡± Asthea said, distracted, her gaze glued to Arsen. Logan took a deep breath. Without being aware of it, he¡¯d unintentionally blasted his aura at the others. Running a hand through his hair, he turned his back and tried to calm down. Adrenaline was still thrumming underneath his skin from his skill ring discovery and any minor thing could trigger an explosion. What he needed was to kill something. Logan snorted. Now he¡¯d really lost it. But no¡­ he wanted to burst into his own trial, go to war and slaughter the hell out of some ¡®good¡¯ blobs. He wanted a fight. If the System had given him a skill that could control time, he¡¯d be fast forwarding the clock. He never thought he¡¯d be that guy¡­ killing things? It would have been unthinkable a week ago. But he¡¯d learned that he was good at killing the hell out of shit, and sometimes, a man just needed to let go. But he needed to wait for Arsen and Asthea to get through their trials first. Logan gritted his teeth, chanted internally, patience, and then turned around and crossed his arms as he watched. *** Ding! [Calculating leaderboard score for user Arsen Silverdagger!] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [¡­.] [Score calculated!] [Leadership: 2400/ Tactical Innovation: 3670/Strategy: 2500/Victory: 1.] [Leaderboard updated!] Trial Leaderboard
  1. Arsen Silverdagger - 8,571
  2. Errol Silverdagger ¨C 7,501
  3. Thorin Silverdagger ¨C 1,101
  4. ¡­
  5. ¡­
Logan held back a grin. He hated to think that he¡¯d be someone who got pleasure from other people¡¯s failure, but although Logan could respect Arsen for his loyalty to Asthea, that didn¡¯t mean he had to like the man. After all Arsen¡¯s talk, he hadn¡¯t even gotten close to the All-Time Leaderboard: All-Time Leaderboard
  1. Agata Silverdagger ¨C 9,812 Points
  2. Aleda Silverdagger ¨C 9,810 Points
  3. Alfifa Silverdagger ¨C 9,798 Points
  4. Arnfasta Silverdagger ¨C 8,981 Points
  5. Erik Silverdagger ¨C 8,972 Points
Plus, although the man had been less obnoxious since the dexterity trial, he¡¯d acted so high and mighty and superior that it felt good to see him fail. Logan felt a surge of excitement. He¡¯d been committed to winning, but for the first time, he started to believe that it just might be possible. Logan could win this trial, win 25 extra levels, not to mention the levels he¡¯d gain in the battle and any additional System rewards, and then get back to the real world. Asthea¡¯s wolf ears perked up in attention and her face glowed with pride. ¡°Impressive,¡± she said with a soft smile. Arsen shook his head, spraying water and mud. ¡°This old man still knows a few tricks, hmm?¡± he said, preening. ¡°Those traps were smart,¡± said Errol. ¡°What did you use as the paralyzing agent?¡± ¡°Noncalaznt venom. I was carrying around a bottle just in case.¡± Logan gave them an incredulous look. As the enemy had waded through the swamp, Arsen had set off boomerang plank traps, the ends littered with nails and spikes dripping with orange gel. He could give him points for creativity, but a trap, planks, and the work he¡¯d done with his own daggers? Logan didn¡¯t see the ingenuity. And yet¡­ the others were acting as if he¡¯d excelled, and he was still in first place. Were Logan¡¯s expectations too high? Arsen walked over to Asthea and straightened her fur cloak, adjusting it like a father dressing a daughter about to go out into the winter. ¡°And now it¡¯s the real test. After all the time we spent to prepare, all your study, all your practical applications, you¡¯re finally going to war. Are you ready?¡± Asthea sucked in a shaky breath. ¡°I¡¯ve been ready my whole life.¡± Thorin and Errol growled, rumbles coming from deep within their chests. Wrapping a large arm around her shoulder, Thorin rustled Asthea¡¯s hair affectionately and then stepped away. With a hum of encouragement, Errol slapped her on the back and pushed her towards the doorway. ¡°You¡¯ll beat Agata!¡± said Thorin. ¡°You¡¯ll blow away her score!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got this!¡± said Errol. Asthea clenched her fists, her mouth in a grim line of determination. ¡°I¡¯m prepared, I¡¯m focused, I¡¯ll push my body and army past its limits!¡± Rushing for the doorway, her fur cloak flying behind her, she entered the battlefield arena and the room transformed. *** Damn. Logan was Canadian; he was no stranger to the winter, but even he wouldn¡¯t dare subzero weather in nothing but a pair of swim trunks. He remembered one winter when he¡¯d rushed from the outdoor hot tub to dive into a snowbank on a dare, but that was when he was drunk. He was starting to regret that he hadn¡¯t drank any of that nonaonalic juice. Shivering, he hunched his shoulders and then debated taking out his white shirt from his spatial collar, but the snow wasn¡¯t falling to the point where the guards couldn¡¯t see him. He didn¡¯t know the capacity of a ¡®garbage grade¡¯ spatial storage device, but he didn¡¯t want to risk it. Not when he was this close to finishing the trial without attempted murder. That meant he¡¯d have to make do with his armour. The sooner the better since his five o¡¯clock shadow was already turning into an ice beard. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Removing a bucket of sand from his collar, Logan made quick work of moulding it to his body, assembling the full suit in less than a minute. It created an airtight barrier against the environment. It was still cold, but at least he wouldn¡¯t freeze to death. Lastly, he took an extra second to reassemble his ice cleats, giving himself five spikes on each boot for a better grip. Arsen and the other guards didn¡¯t have the same problem. They were wearing heavy gear already, and their fine white body hair provided an extra cushion against the elements. Logan looked around. White snow, nothing but endless arctic hell. The snow was falling at a brisk, steady pace, and snowflakes clung to his arms and shoulders. The System had dropped them into a flat, narrow valley, pine trees surrounding them in a circle on the sides. The valley was as long as a football stadium, nothing but flat snow, an endless white blanket. Level ground. On the far side, about a mile away, he could make out the enemy. An enemy of lightning rock people. As for Asthea¡­ She was badass. Her fur cloak fluttered in the wind like a cape, her long silver hair flying behind her, her ears tilting from left to right as she strode up and down her gathered army. With her face covered in war paint, a crossbow that radiated the same aura as the chains slung over her shoulder, and her hands covered in those leather fingerless gloves¡­ damn. Logan wouldn¡¯t like to meet her on the battlefield. She had the same rock army as Thorin, but these ones seemed extra tall against her shorter stature. In a line, they leaned towards Asthea and paid rapt attention. A soldier the size of a silverback gorilla stood in front of the uniform rock army with four legs splayed like a giraffe as it leaned towards her. It tilted its face up at Asthea and smiled. ¡°The commander returns!¡± Pound, pound, pound, went the rock army¡¯s legs, a thousand tons of rock shaking the earth and punching through the snow. ¡°The commander returns!¡± they shouted. Asthea¡¯s ears twitched, tiny white tuffs of fur standing on end. ¡°Brothers! Sisters! I¡¯ve returned to lead you!¡± Striding down the line, snow falling around her, she scowled at her army, her expression determined. ¡°Our battle is righteous! Our battle is just! I¡¯ll lead you to paradise!¡± Pound. Pound. Pound. ¡°I know you yearn for victory. I know you yearn to string up your enemies into rock necklaces and wear their rock guts as evidence of your prowess.¡± Pound. Pound. Pound. ¡°Stick with me, brothers and sisters, and you¡¯ll wear a thousand necklaces. You¡¯ll tell your tale of victory to the universe!¡± Pound. Pound. Pound. ¡°You have my love. You have my devotion. Do I have yours?¡± Pound. Pound. Pound. This time the whole valley shook as they stamped the hell out of their arms, their legs¡ªthey might as well be bashing their heads into the ground for all the enthusiasm they threw at her. Resting her hands on her hips, Asthea studied her army, her blue eyes shining with silver and glinting in the glare of the snow. Damn. What had she done in the last 24 hours to make them this devoted? For the first time, a trickling of doubt started to eat into Logan¡¯s confidence. His blobs had treated him with respect¡ªwith too much respect¡ªbut they hadn¡¯t gone out of their way to hammer their bulbous heads into the dirt to show their support. Asthea had the advantage here. The System gave out a score for leadership, and Logan suspected that the others had either excelled in this area or failed depending upon how well they¡¯d managed to motivate their army. If Logan had any chance at beating Asthea¡¯s score, he needed to work his own army into the same frenzy. ¡°The princess certainly picked a spot. A spot that¡¯s making my balls freeze!¡± guffawed Errol. Arsen hit him over the top of the head. ¡°Shut up and watch.¡± Asthea grabbed her crossbow, her fingers white knuckled. ¡°Then, friends, let¡¯s go to war!¡± Pound. Pound. Pound. Asthea turned with a swish of her cloak and then peered down at the rock with the giraffe limbs. ¡°Rin, is everything prepared?¡± The rock captain dipped its head, butt sticking straight up as its legs flailed. ¡°All is as you commanded. The vanguard is ready; the reserve is in position.¡± The rock soldier¡¯s legs twitched, slipping on the slick snow. ¡°Do I have your leave?¡± Asthea bit her lip, dark circles underneath her eyes making her look hollow. ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re ready to do this? You know what it¡¯ll mean for them.¡± ¡°Blessed being, they¡¯d grind their own bodies into rubble if it meant it would secure your victory. To take the choice away from them would devastate them. They¡¯re ready, commander.¡± Asthea gave a curt nod. ¡°All right, tell them that they¡¯re up.¡± At first, Logan was confused, but then as fifteen massive rock soldiers with two chunky boulder legs and arms came pounding over, saluting Asthea, he couldn¡¯t help but take in a shocked gasp. In the chest of each rock soldier was a hole, a hole the size of his biggest metal bucket. And inside each hole, was a pile of¡­ No, it couldn¡¯t be. Logan had never been around weapons before; in fact, before the encounter with the murderers in the cabin, he¡¯d never owned a gun. But even he knew what a bomb looked like. Inside each of these soldiers¡¯ chests were holes filled with bombs. Was Asthea going to bomb her enemies? That was her strategy? Asthea touched each soldier with a fingertip, murmuring, ¡°You will be remembered,¡± as they walked past. They grouped together, and then at Asthea¡¯s nod, they pounded their feet, shouted, and then began running down the valley towards the enemy, the lights on the bombs blinking as if counting down. Logan didn¡¯t think it was a simple matter of bombing her enemies. Asthea was too smart. Bombing her opponent wasn¡¯t so much a tactic as it was a way to finish with a hell of a bang. Next to him, Thorin shifted as he tried to get a better view. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± Arsen nodded. ¡°Resourceful, hmm? I was wondering how she¡¯d managed to blow through so much KarmaCoin. Now I have my answer.¡± Logan narrowed his eyes. He didn¡¯t like the sound of that. Asthea had mentioned that humanity would eventually get access to a System market, and if bombs were available for anyone to buy, that would be a hell of a way to massacre a group of people and obtain a massive XP boost. As soon as the enemy rock army got sight of the fifteen soldiers streaming towards them, they let out a tremendous shout and lightning crackled through the sky. Pounding the ground, the entire army launched into a slow walk, then a jog, and then a sprint. Over a hundred of the things at once, all pouring into the clearing and charging towards Asthea¡¯s vanguard. Asthea had used her rock soldiers as bait. She was sacrificing them. ¡°Rin, signal the reserve to hold.¡± The rock captain flailed its legs and nodded its head at another soldier on the sidelines. The other soldier bashed his two boulder fists together in agreement and then grabbed a plank. At the end of the plank was a blue piece of fabric that he waved into the air. A signal flag. Squinting his eyes through the falling snow, Logan strained to see. Far away, on the sides of the valley, he could just make out additional rock soldiers, a group on both the left and right. Huh. There was something else at work here other than bombs. As the enemy burst into the valley like a swarm, the fifteen soldiers didn¡¯t bother trying to fight, they ran past, ignoring the lightning that whipped their bodies, their divot eyes full of determination. No two soldiers ran together¡ªthey were all spaced apart, covering a wide area. Logan looked from the battlefield to Asthea. She was mumbling something underneath her breath, and at first, he didn¡¯t know what, but then he realized she was counting. Counting to detonation. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. One after another, the bombs exploded. They tore their hosts to pieces, taking the enemy¡¯s limbs with them, but that wasn¡¯t their purpose. Logan had forgotten that the System had given them three battlefield choices. The third one hadn¡¯t been to fight in a frozen valley. It had been to fight on a frozen lake. The snow was so heavy that it had covered the surface of the ice. Hiding it. Everyone was standing on a frozen lake. Even Logan. It was all around them. And Asthea had just made the terrain into a hazard. Already taking the weight of thousands of tons of rock, now, the holes in the ice weakened the surface, creating cracks that multiplied like cobwebs. One after another, the lightning enemy soldiers sank, sank so deep that the water covered them whole, their heavy bodies shooting to the bottom like anchors. It acted as a multiplying effect. Soldiers scrambled to get away from the broken holes created by the bombs, bunching together and creating a massive amount of weight, which broke yet more holes in the ice until they were standing on a slushie that sucked them down. ¡°Rin, it¡¯s time,¡± said Asthea. The rock captain flailed his legs and signaled to the flag bearer again who waved his flag at the reserve soldiers in a sharp motion. They¡¯d been kept back to mop up any soldiers that managed to escape the ice. After that, it took a half an hour at best. Asthea had won. And half her army were still standing behind her, not needed for battle. Smug in their victory. *** As Asthea materialized in the white room holding her large serpent egg with a huge smile, her dimples showing, eyes glowing with pleasure, the others exploded in excitement. ¡°All bow to our new clan leader,¡± said Thorin with a theatrical dip of his head. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± said Errol, pumping his fist. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, girl.¡± Arsen grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you did!¡± Asthea held the egg and looked to the ceiling. ¡°System, I¡¯ve captured the egg.¡± Ding! [Calculating leaderboard score for user Asthea Silverdagger!] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [¡­.] [Score calculated!] [Leadership: 3050/ Tactical Innovation: 4050/Strategy: 2707/Victory: 1.] [Leaderboard updated!] Trial Leaderboard
  1. Asthea Silverdagger ¨C 9,808
  2. Arsen Silverdagger ¨C 8,571
  3. Errol Silverdagger ¨C 7,501
  4. Thorin Silverdagger -1,101
  5. ¡­
All-Time Leaderboard
  1. Agata Silverdagger ¨C 9,812 Points
  2. Aleda Silverdagger ¨C 9,810 Points
  3. Asthea Silverdagger ¨C 9,808
  4. Alfifa Silverdagger ¨C 9,798 Points
  5. Arnfasta Silverdagger ¨C 8,981 Points
Logan expected that Asthea would receive a high score after that performance, but he hadn¡¯t expected her to do that well. She¡¯d managed to place in the All-Time Leaderboard, kicking the last male off the board entirely. Now, it was nothing but clan leaders. The Silverdagger Clan reigned supreme. Shit. Logan might have his work cut out for him. He¡¯d been feeling confident after Arsen¡¯s performance, but Asthea had hit it out of the park. She¡¯d managed to win by being smart, win without even half of her resources. However, she¡¯d had a huge advantage. Bombs. Logan had never been one to begrudge someone for their win, but after the others had accused him of being a trickster and a cheater just for using the skills the System had given him, he couldn¡¯t help but see the irony of Asthea winning due to a heavy-duty System purchase. If the System took that into consideration, he might have a chance to beat her score if he won using only what was provided¡ªthe planks, hay, and tar. And tactics. Never forget the tactics. But most importantly, Logan felt one overarching emotion. Relief. Relief because this was almost over. Get through this last battle and win or lose, Logan was going home. Back to Ernie, back to Lara and the kids. Back to humanity. And best of all, he could use it as an opportunity to kill the hell out of some shit. With a savage grin, Logan ignored the chatter of the guards who were still gushing over Asthea and rushed towards the doorway. Ding! [Transfer to battlefield arena in progress!] Chapter 86: The Final Battle Logan had to calm himself down as he materialized in the gorge in front of his army. Going off half cocked wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. He was fired up and ready to get started, but based on Asthea¡¯s trial, the System would award him for motivating his army. He¡¯d seen historical movies where the general paced up and down, shouting and stirring their soldiers to a fever. However, the reality of historical battle was much darker. Many times, the army behind a leader were conscripted soldiers, mercenaries, or even worse¡ªindebted serfs. A commander spouting a rousing script was like a fool trying to lead soldiers who were secretly rolling their eyes. There were exceptions to that rule: commanders who were leading a cause that everyone believed was just. Logan¡¯s blob army considered him powerful; he¡¯d fooled them by removing items from his spatial collar and by drilling the tunnels. Whatever you wanted to say about the System¡¯s arbitrary ¡®evil¡¯ and ¡®good¡¯ label, his army was different than him. For him to motivate them into a furor, he¡¯d have to appeal to what they considered desirable. Talking about pummeling the enemy just for the sake of winning wouldn¡¯t do it. Logan had to think like an evil squishy blob. ¡°Commander,¡± said Zig, his appendages wiggling in excitement. ¡°You¡¯ve returned!¡± He turned to the other blob soldiers and shouted, ¡°The evilness has returned!¡± Murmurs went up and down the line as the blobs slimed closer with bulbous twists of their bodies. Logan looked over his army. The blobs were a swarm of grey with black specks, their three bottomless eyes like saucers, their appendages moving as if doing blob sign language. Half of them had their flails hooked into their belts, which made them look like potatoes with long sprouts. They looked excited that he¡¯d returned, but he needed to work them into a fever. ¡°Zig, gather everyone around.¡± ¡°Yes, your evilness!¡± Logan paced back and forth, his boots crunching over the gravel. The sun was bright in a clear blue sky, giving him an unobstructed view of the gorge. Running a hand over his stubble, he considered the best way forward. Well, if the blobs were motivated by flaying, they wouldn¡¯t be motivated by a righteous cause. Just eliminating the ¡®good¡¯ army wouldn¡¯t make them excited. He needed to appeal to something else. ¡°Blobs!¡± said Logan, raising his voice. ¡°The enemy is coming! We¡¯re going to war!¡± The blobs made half-hearted enthusiastic noises. Zig swayed side by side like a bowling ball. ¡°War! We¡¯re going to war!¡± I appreciate the encouragement, Zig. Logan put his hands on his hips and gave them a severe glare. Reverse psychology might win them over. ¡°If we¡¯re victorious, I¡¯ll be enraged. I¡¯ll take it out on each and every one of you.¡± As one, the blobs¡¯ eyes opened wide as they shivered in place. Good, but not quite enough. ¡°Each one of you will receive special attention! Ah¡­ well.¡± Logan held back a grimace. ¡°A¡­ flaying.¡± Gasps went through the line. The blobs leaned forward, their bulbous bottoms trailing slime. Whispers started to break out, and a blob with a raspy voice said, ¡°Did the evilness say that we¡¯d receive a flaying?¡± ¡°A flaying?¡± said another. ¡°Flaying?¡± Logan needed to end this with something that would grab their attention, something that was undeniably¡­ evil. He had only one thing that could work. Now that he knew the Silverdagger Clan were watching his every move, Logan had made careful calculations. He couldn¡¯t remove anything from his spatial storage that wouldn¡¯t fit in a backpack worth of space¡­ to be safe, maybe even less than that. But his Cursed Rope was a skinny, frayed thing when it was in its inert form. Logan was betting that they wouldn¡¯t question his ¡®garbage grade¡¯ spatial storage fib if he removed it. With a blink, Logan willed it out of his collar. He had one second to look down at the familiar sight of the frayed brown fibre before¡­ Holy fucking shit! The Cursed Rope came alive. It had swelled to the size of an anaconda, its width three times the size of his forearm. It lashed itself back and forth in Logan¡¯s grip, crackling with blue electricity, and¡­ it had a mouth. Fragments of rope fibre fell to the ground as it attacked the air like a snapping turtle. Glee glee glee. Too much put away; too much put away. Slash bite eat. Glee glee glee. Secreting acid coated the inside of its gaping mouth. It had no teeth¡ªinstead, its mouth was composed of knotted fibres, not flesh. The mouth was the size of a small¡­ The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. It¡­ It couldn¡¯t be. Not just a snake. It would be just like the System to give him a snake for a weapon. No, this thing was more like a reptile, more like¡­ It looked like a dragon¡¯s maw. Fucking hell. It had evolved. The last time this happened, he¡¯d been in the middle of the flying snake swarm, and the rope had turned into a flying acid rope because he¡¯d leveled up halfway through the fight. Since then, he¡¯d leveled up even more in the fight with the queen serpent¡¯s undead larvae, not to mention the increases he¡¯d made to his attributes in this trial. The user has gotten strong; the user has gotten strong. Pride pride pride. The user was beginning to match the rope¡¯s prowess, glee glee glee. Kill everything in sight! Glee glee glee. This thing kept surprising him. Logan sent one thought at the rope, trying to communicate with all his might: Don¡¯t eat the squishy grey blobs. They¡¯re friends. I¡¯ll feed you, just not with these. Friends. The rope crackled with electricity and tried to fly away, straining in his grip. Slash bite eat. Friends, Logan sent. I¡¯ll let you be a glutton; I¡¯ll give you a feast you haven¡¯t seen since the flying snakes. Just behave. It petulantly settled down, no longer trying to get away as it slithered back and forth in the air. Logan raised his voice. ¡°Behold! My mighty flaying rope!¡± Lashing his wrist, he let the rope crackle through the air like a whip. ¡°Bring me victory, blobs! And this will be your fate!¡± The blobs watched the rope with wide eyes, a bated pause filling the gorge. Five seconds. Ten. Then with an explosion of excitement, they screamed in euphoria, jumping up and down, their eyes fervent in their devotion. They bounced against each other like sumo wrestlers, knocking their heads together, their appendages wiggling as they danced in place. ¡°Victory! Flaying! Victory! Flaying!¡± Aww man. ¡°Zig, get everyone into position.¡± Zig was eyeing the Cursed Rope like it was the answer to his evil prayers. ¡°Yes, your evilness!¡± he said, his voice breathy with awe. Motivate his army into a fervor¡ªcheck that off the list. On to the next. Winning. In the distance, he could already see the enemy advancing, his high perception picking up a hundred blobs as they slowly, slowly slimed towards their position. Their swords glinted in the sun, shining with an otherworldly aura. He could hear a faint sound, a murmur at first, that became clearer the closer they advanced. They were singing. A melodious, ear bleeding song. A cheerful song. Ugh. Logan was fed up with a lot of things¡ªalthough he was grateful that he¡¯d made so many advances in the attribute trials, he was stuck in an army trial he¡¯d never wanted, forced to abandon Ernie, forced to run through hoops to escape to the real world. After learning about the skill rings, violence was thrumming underneath his skin. But since he was in a trial that was all about strategy and tactics, the glitchy AI minion was once again trying his patience by presenting him with the most annoying enemy possible¡ªand yet Logan could do nothing but stew as he positioned his blobs. The Cursed Rope was picking up on his anger, its electricity getting stronger, dancing over Logan¡¯s skin like some kind of warped neon night club strobe light. Snapping its mouth, it was lunging at air and swaying back and forth like the tail of a cat that was getting ready to pounce. Rope, Logan sent, I need you to settle down. You¡¯re too much of a distraction. I need you to go back to your inert form so I can loop you over my shoulder. Too much put away; too much put away, responded the rope, communicating a smugness as it resisted his command. Logan frowned. He suspected that if it came down to it, he could deploy [Life Cycle Master] on the thing to make it do what he wanted, but Logan wanted a willing sentient weapon, not a weapon that would feel betrayed if he overrode its will. After all, he¡¯d persuaded the insects to do what he wanted, but eventually, they¡¯d pushed back when it went against their nature. I won¡¯t put you away if you behave. That¡¯s a promise. Reluctance came from the rope. Distrust. Logan began to feel more than annoyed¡ªhe felt hurt. When he made a promise, he kept that promise. If the rope was his bonded weapon, it should know that. But now you really will keep your promise, responded the rope, communicating glee glee glee right before it shifted and became less violent, its motions calming, its rope fibres shrinking, electricity disappearing as it shrunk back to its inert, skinny form. Logan rolled his eyes and looped it around his shoulder. He¡¯d been reluctant to take out the rope around other people, but if he could come to an agreement with it, it would be hell of a useful thing¡ªsomething that looked harmless that could turn into a springing cobra at the slightest chance of a threat. Not to mention its ability to level up. The enemy was getting closer, their cheerful singing grating like nails on a chalkboard, stirring his blood. He wanted nothing more than to charge in there and end this once and for all. Logan had to take a deep breath. Patience. Just like he¡¯d told the rope, he¡¯d get his chance to let go. Meanwhile, Zig had returned, his eyes drifting to the Cursed Rope with longing. Logan shifted the rope and eyed the wagons that were in a curved line in front of the end of the gorge. The blobs had already tucked the tarred hay bundles underneath the wagons for easy access, planks with fastened handles covering the sight. Ten blobs were standing in each wagon, their heads visible. Looking like easy targets. That¡¯s what Logan wanted. ¡°Zig, is everything ready?¡± The blob nodded his head. ¡°Yes, your evilness.¡± ¡°Remember, we need to lure them in and get as many into this area as possible. Make sure that our soldiers look like they¡¯re scared. Have them hide behind the wagons, unorganized.¡± ¡°All is taken care of,¡± said Zig with pride. ¡°We will look weak. Very, very weak!¡± ¡°Good, because the enemy is here.¡± Logan tugged on one of Zig¡¯s appendages and dragged him to the side and over to the space they¡¯d left for someone to pass behind the wagons. They both ducked behind the line and then peered into the gorge. Facing them were a line of golden blobs who held up their shimmering swords and shouted as one. Faintly, Logan could hear someone with a melodious voice saying, ¡°Hah hah hah! Not just evil, but stupid! They¡¯re hiding behind a wall of wagons! Do they think that will protect them from our blessed swords?¡± Another voice chimed in, ¡°Let¡¯s lead them to paradise, boys!¡± ¡°Paradise! Paradise! Paradise!¡± Logan nodded his head at his own blob army. At his signal, he had them bounce up and down as if in panic. ¡°Oh no!¡± said an evil blob. ¡°Whatever shall we do? Their army is so majestic and powerful! We¡¯re dooooomed!¡± The other blobs let out defeated sighs and sagged, hanging their heads. Some hung over the sides of the wagons like limp noodles, their appendages twitching in place. Logan winced. That might have been putting it on a little much. ¡°Hah hah hah!¡± responded the majestic blob from across the gorge. ¡°This will be an easy mop up, boys! Let¡¯s lead these evil blobs to paradise where they belong!¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather lead you to hell,¡± Logan muttered. Chapter 87: A Ghost in the Wind ¡°I¡¯d rather lead you to hell,¡± Logan muttered and then turned to Zig. ¡°Good job.¡± If Lara could see him now, she would be wondering if he¡¯d eaten a batch of magic mushrooms. This was almost too absurd to be real. But if he¡¯d learned anything, Logan knew to roll with the punches. If the System wanted to give him a bulbous squishy evil blob army, he was hamming it up for all it was worth. Across the gorge, the blobs began marching their first line forward, twenty of them holding swords that shone in the sun so brightly that Logan had to squint and hold a hand over his eyes. The blob in the middle hummed a tune, and the other nineteen added melodious back up support as they marched forward. ¡°Good,¡± Logan breathed to Zig. ¡°But we need more. We need them all in here.¡± ¡°Should we sacrifice a wagon to lure them in, evilness? The blobs would be eager to die for your flaying cause.¡± ¡°No, that won¡¯t be needed.¡± Plus, he was sure that the System would deduct points. ¡°Once we fill up the gorge with smoke, they won¡¯t be able to see what¡¯s happening. They¡¯ll send in more.¡± As the advancing blobs moved closer, the evil blobs in the wagons continued to look pathetic, bouncing in place in seeming panic. The line moved closer. Twenty feet. Ten feet. Five feet. With their saucer eyes glinting in sadistic anticipation, Logan¡¯s blobs suddenly transformed into serious, steadfast soldiers. Grabbing their hidden flails, they inserted them through the wagon holes they¡¯d constructed for just this purpose. The line of golden blobs moved closer. They had just enough time to get a hint that something was wrong before the evil blobs started swinging their flails like a buzzsaw on steroids. The flails had ten-inch-long metal spikes, and the force of the swings bashed into the unprotected golden blobs, sending blood flying in a torrent. ¡°Soldiers! Use your blessed swords!¡± shouted the golden blob with the melodious voice. As if he¡¯d been dick-punched, that voice quickly turned into a high-pitched screech. The golden blobs held up their swords as shields, but it was like inserting a fork into a swinging chain with a spiky metal ball on the end. It had only one result: the swords jammed. Some ricochetted and ended up slicing off appendages. One after another, the golden blobs fell, victim to the evil blob¡¯s swishing flails. Twenty dead. Just like that. The evil blobs jumped up and down in excitement, squishy bottoms trailing slime. ¡°Victory! Flaying!¡± Logan nodded at Zig. Zig¡¯s saucer eyes glinted in excitement as he made the signal to light the hay bundles. Logan had given his barbeque lighter to Zig who had assigned it to his best soldier, a blob who was skinnier than the rest, more athletic. Jumping from wagon to wagon, the soldier lit the bundles of hay on fire and then handed them to other blobs, who flung them into the battlefield. Soon, a plume of thick, white smoke suffused the area, making it impossible for the golden army to see. Short of a sudden tornado, there was no way to counter it. They would have to go in blind. ¡°Zig,¡± Logan said, giving the blob a firm look. ¡°You know what to do?¡± Zig wiggled one of his appendages. With his other, he held his flail. ¡°Zig knows what to do, evilness!¡± ¡°All right.¡± With a blink, Logan willed a bucket of sand from his spatial collar and re-assembled his armour, from his legs, chest, to his helmet. Seamless. Invisible. Immediately, as soon as his facemask formed, he could see through the smoke. The golden blobs had been in the middle of sending in reinforcements when the smoke had blanketed the area. Now, the soldiers were stumbling into each other in confusion. Perfect. He took a second to loop the inert Cursed Rope over his shoulder. It would ruin his invisibility, but he was betting that through the smoke, the golden blobs wouldn¡¯t notice. Plus, he¡¯d made a promise to the rope. Logan never went back on his promises. Creeping through the gorge, Logan inched his way past the enemy who looked unsure. Unsure wasn¡¯t enough. He wanted them in a panic; he wanted them afraid. But still, there were enough blobs in the immediate strike area that it was time to deploy his second strategy. He could sprint up the tunnel instead, but where was the fun in that? Taking a flying leap at the nearest cliff wall, Logan envisioned himself jumping so high that he¡¯d fly for miles, and then launched himself into the air. Jumping with one thrust of his pink sock-clad foot after another, wind flying like he was gliding, he cleared the smoky battlefield, climbed higher, and then kept climbing until he scaled the sheer wall and reached the top. Damn, that was a hell of a rush. The blobs stationed at the top of the gorge were peering over the edge of the cliff and vibrating in anticipation. Next to them, Logan had placed the wagon. Stacked so high with boulders and rocks you couldn¡¯t see over the top. It was treacherously close to the edge. So close that one of the wagon wheels was in danger of falling over, the base of one side of the wagon bed and frame close to plummeting over the side. That was by design. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Soldiers,¡± said Logan, removing his facemask so they could see him. At the same time, he temporarily collapsed half his armour so that his Karma pool could replenish, but he made sure to keep it around his neck to hide his spatial storage collar. After all, the Silverdagger Clan could see his every move. It would be like big brother watching him with cameras, only this time it was from all angles. Even down at his feet. The blobs startled and turned to face him. ¡°Evilness!¡± ¡°It¡¯s time. Signal the others across the way.¡± ¡°Yes, commander!¡± A blob slimed over to a long plank. They¡¯d attached one of their belts to the top. This one was bright red and easy to see. Waving it back and forth, the soldier signaled the blobs on the other side of the cliff. One after another, the blobs picked up hefty rocks the size of their heads. They were so heavy that two blobs together needed to support it with their appendages. ¡°Now, commander?¡± asked one of the blobs. Logan nodded. With a grunt of effort, they inched towards the cliff and swung the rock over the edge. Logan watched it fall as if in slow motion. The smoke swallowed it right before it made a tremendous boom. Being so high up would make it impossible to hit the golden blobs head-on, but that wasn¡¯t the goal. The smoke, falling debris that they couldn¡¯t see¡­ all of it was intended for one purpose. Chaos. ¡°Good job,¡± said Logan as he backed up about twenty feet. ¡°Keep this up for ten more minutes. Then I want you to signal the blobs across the way to stop. Once that¡¯s done, you¡¯ll need to back away from the wagon and stand exactly here.¡± Logan pointed at his feet. ¡°Make sure you motion to the blobs across the way to do the same. Understood?¡± The blobs waved their appendages in acknowledgement. ¡°Yes, evilness!¡± They returned to the rock pile. Every time they threw another rock over the edge, they vibrated in pleasure, their appendages twitching. Logan took a deep breath. This was it. One more step, and then he could let go. Around his shoulder, he felt the rope stir in interest. Not yet, sent Logan. Jogging down the tunnel, Logan reached the bottom of the gorge and then looked around. Perfect. He¡¯d entered behind the golden army. But there were too many blobs in reserve back here. He needed the whole army to enter the clearing, or this wouldn¡¯t work. Quickly re-assembling his armour and becoming invisible once again, Logan darted through the army, dodging golden blob after blob. They were raising their swords and looking around in panic. The blobs up above had stopped throwing rocks, but they didn¡¯t know that. They couldn¡¯t see anything past the smoke. Logan crept closer to one and hissed, ¡°Coward,¡± as he rushed past. The blob started. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he shouted. The other blobs hushed him. ¡°Shut up, idiot! They¡¯ll hear you and hit you with a rock!¡± Logan darted through the crowd and targeted the blob who¡¯d spoken up, bashing him on the back as he whispered, ¡°They already heard you. Coward.¡± The blob shrieked in fear. ¡°Who was that?!¡± ¡°Zanricky, is that you?¡± said a soldier next to him, straining to see through the smoke. ¡°Stop making such a racket.¡± ¡°The evil blobs are here!¡± Zanricky said, his sword trembling. ¡°They¡¯re in our midst! They have an invisible, evil power!¡± The other blob sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no evil power. Your mind is playing tricks on you, just¡ª¡± Logan darted behind him and brushed his hand against the back of his head. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± he whispered. ¡°Run.¡± The blob stilled. But he didn¡¯t scream, he only straightened, his saucer eyes narrowing. This one was made of sterner stuff. ¡°Zanricky!¡± he said. ¡°Find the captain.¡± ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± Rather than continuing, Logan stood in place and grinned underneath his facemask. The golden soldiers were murmuring, and soon, a rumour of invisible evil blobs in their midst spread. As they tried in vain to see through the smoke, they knocked appendages and clanged weapons. ¡°Watch it, you moron! You almost stabbed me!¡± The other blob whimpered in fear. ¡°Men!¡± snapped the stern blob. ¡°Keep it together!¡± There was a racket, a yell from beyond the line, and soon, a skinny blob with three swords tucked into his belt slimed over. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s wrong with Zanricky? Glopky! What have you done?¡± The sterner blob, Glopky, straightened in affront. ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing, captain! It¡¯s the evil blobs. They have an invisible power. They¡¯re¡­ well.¡± Glopky blinked his saucer eyes uncertainly. ¡°They¡¯re whispering evil curses into our ears, sir.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± snapped the captain. ¡°It¡¯s just battle jitters, men! Remember, our cause is just! No evil entity can invade a blessed army. Our auras will blast them away.¡± ¡°B-but,¡± stuttered Zanricky. The blob swore underneath his breath. ¡°For all that¡¯s blessed, this army is comprised of frightened children. If it helps ease your mind, we¡¯ll get your brothers-in-arms to join you. With a full contingent of soldiers, no evil blob will stand a chance.¡± ¡°Sir,¡± said Glopky, ¡°what about the rocks?¡± The captain hit Glopky over the head with the flat of his sword. ¡°The rocks have stopped! Are you deaf, man? They must have run out.¡± Then raising his voice, he said to the rest of the group. ¡°Pull yourselves together, men! Calm down and take a breath. Sing a song, hum a blessing. You know our cause is right and just.¡± ¡°Yes, captain!¡± murmured the blobs uncertainly. Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a wide grin as he backed up until he reached the nearest tunnel. He¡¯d dragged tumbleweeds in front of the entrances, but he needn¡¯t have bothered¡ªthe smoke was so thick the blobs could hardly see a foot in front of them, let alone the entrance to a tunnel. Letting his armour dissolve to replenish his Karma pool, Logan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. The next part of his plan was pure conjecture. He hoped it would work, but he¡¯d never tried this from so far away. It was also a huge risk. He was betting that the Silverdagger Clan were glued to what he was doing and were virtually standing over his shoulder. When Logan had tried to look underwater in Errol¡¯s trial, the System wouldn¡¯t let him, and he¡¯d had to deploy [Deepwater Explorer]. If Asthea or the guards tried to look beyond Logan and up at the cliff, they should experience that same elastic pulling sensation. Yet there was no reason to risk it. Logan needed to look busy; he needed no suspicion whatsoever that he was the cause of what would happen next. That meant he¡¯d have to look focused and busy while mentally taking a step back. ¡°Rope,¡± he said out loud this time, unwinding the Cursed Rope from his shoulder. At the same time, Logan mentally stretched his senses, deploying [Life Cycle Master] to go past the bright spots of life that represented the blobs, up the cliff, past insects, past a reptile that was clinging to a ledge, then up to the bright blob spots of life at the top of the gorge on either side. His entire mental focus narrowed in on the top of the cliff, he mechanically flicked his wrist, unwinding the Cursed Rope until it swelled in size and electricity crackled through the tunnel. ¡°Are you ready to go to work?¡± With one blink, Logan concentrated on the wagons. They were inert¡ªthere was nothing to sense, but he¡¯d commanded the blobs to back up to a specific area after they¡¯d finished throwing their rocks so he could mentally calculate the distance between the wagons and where they were standing. Logan had thought about having the blobs push the wagons over the cliff, but they were so full of stone and rock that there was no way they could make those wagons move. Furrowing his brow, Logan pictured the wagons like a snapshot in his mind¡ªfrom the weathered wood to the stretched, warped wheels crushed by the weight of the rocks. Then with one more blink, he willed them both inside his spatial storage, telling the collar, no rock, no dirt, wood only. That¡¯s where his strategy came into play. Commanding the wagons to go into his spatial collar from such a long distance was difficult enough, commanding it to take the wagons and only the wagons was like walking a tightrope where one step to the side could mean failure. Logan felt his senses stretching, like pulling on a rubber band where the ends were at risk of fraying and snapping back onto him twofold. Then with a snap, he felt the pressure ease. Chapter 88: An Interesting Rope Without the wagons holding the material, tons of rock, boulders, and dirt rained down over the cliff like a landslide. The ground shook, a massive crash sounding as if a building were coming down on top of his head, followed by screams and a plume of dust that blew into the tunnel like a hurricane. Damn, if it was this bad in the tunnel, how bad must it be outside? Logan didn¡¯t have any further chance for speculation before System message after System message flooded in like the tide. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 6 Squishy Blob!] [¡­.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Holy shit. He must have killed forty of them at once! It took all his acting ability to force his expression into shock rather than euphoria. It felt like ages since he¡¯d last leveled up and it was a hell of a rush. Logan had forgotten that since he was the one to technically push the rocks over the cliff, he¡¯d receive the XP credit. That meant that the Silverdagger Clan couldn¡¯t learn that he¡¯d leveled up, since the only conclusion they¡¯d draw was that Logan had been the one to push the rocks over the cliff, which would lead to a whole host of questions of how. He¡¯d advanced five levels. Five! That meant that he¡¯d have 25 free attributes to burn. Could he assign them while he was under scrutiny? Logan was betting that he could since he had no plans to upgrade his physical stats. As long as he focused on intelligence or wisdom, he should be able to get away with it. Outside, he could hear screams, dust still pluming. He had a few minutes while he waited for everything to settle down. Logan pulled up his full stat sheet to make sure he was making the right decision. He¡¯d been in such a rush that he hadn¡¯t had a chance for a review since the perception trial. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 35 out of 6,009,998,981 Level: 39 Class: None Grade: F3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 42,000/78,000 Karma: 660/660 Intelligence: 110 Constitution: 46 Strength: 182* Agility: 242* Dexterity: 192* Endurance: 441** Perception: 35 Wisdom: 85 Luck: 55 (*Pure Grit Ring, *Undead Stamina) Free Attribute Points: 25 KarmaCoin: 302,600 He couldn¡¯t believe what a difference the true grit rings made. His perception attribute looked pathetic compared to the others. And yet, even though it needed improvements, Karma still had to be his priority. There was a reason that Asthea¡¯s people didn¡¯t value the perception trial. He needed Karma for [Life Cycle Master] and [Mimicry Armour]. Perception could wait. If he threw the 25 points into intelligence, he¡¯d increase his Karma pool from 660 to 810. That was a massive increase. Alternatively, if he threw the points into wisdom, he¡¯d increase his Karma regeneration rate from 85 per minute to 110. Before he¡¯d entered this trial, that would have been the smart decision, but [Liche Siphon] changed things. The skill would let him increase his Karma regeneration rate by siphoning Karma from others, but if he needed [Life Cycle Master] for the Save Humanity Quest, that meant trees and who knew what¡­ even the birth of a star. To get anywhere close to that possibility, he needed a massive Karma pool. Logan made the obvious decision and threw all 25 points into intelligence. [Intelligence: 111] [Intelligence: 112+] [Intelligence: 135] Biting his lip to hold in a gasp, it took all his willpower to not stagger like a drunk man. Each time he upgraded the stat, it was a hell of a rush. His eyes widened, scene after scene rushing through his mind. By now, he¡¯d figured out that intelligence wouldn¡¯t make him into the next Einstein, rather, it opened his mind and made his recall ability and imagination more acute. He did his best to contain his smile, but his lips curved before he disguised his expression by looking down at his hands. Logan was excited to get started, but more than anything, he was eager to use his full arsenal. After he¡¯d stumbled through the underwater portal, he¡¯d fashioned a weapon with [Mimicry Armour] that he was anxious to test. With a blink, he removed a handful of crushed diamonds and a cup full of dust from his spatial collar and then reformed his talons. This time, he lengthened them, turning them into ten-inch-long blades with a curved edge that should cut through solid rock. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The dust wasn¡¯t quite as bad outside, and the screams were dying down. It was time. Time to let go. When he returned to the viewing arena, he¡¯d need an explanation for his level increases. There was only one way forward. Besides, he¡¯d promised the Cursed Rope that he¡¯d feed it. Stumbling out of the tunnel, Logan scanned the battlefield. Scattered throughout the area were piles of rubble, massive clumps of boulders and earth that covered the remains of crushed blobs. Fleshy bits of material like ground up snails pooled in a puddle, a noxious odour that smelled like crushed worms making him scrunch his nose. A week ago, if he¡¯d been confronted with the same sight, he would have recoiled in horror. But now, after going through chopped off limbs, wiggling flower tentacle tongues, a fried, burnt hand¡­ Not to mention insects eating him alive and acid boiling off his skin¡­ well. Logan was a changed man. Through the moans of pain, he could pick up the sound of Zig urging the evil blobs onto the battlefield. This was all planned. Unlike Thorin, he wanted to be involved in the victory, but he also wanted his army to participate to demonstrate their prowess in battle. That didn¡¯t mean Logan couldn¡¯t thin the herd. The golden blobs were sliming themselves back into an upright position, swaying side to side like bowling balls before they grasped their swords with shaking appendages. ¡°The evil blobs rained down hell on us, captain!¡± When there was no answer, someone shouted, ¡°Where¡¯s the captain?¡± Silence. ¡°¡­Captain?¡± A blob with a sterner, steadier voice that sounded like Glopky snapped, ¡°He¡¯s dead. Pull yourselves together, men! There was no evil power. The enemy threw a pile of rocks over the cliff thinking that would wipe us out. But we¡¯re made of sterner stuff, right?¡± Awkward shifting. ¡°¡­Right?¡± he demanded, his voice like a whip. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± answered a blob. ¡°You bet your blessed ass we are! We need a song, a song to rouse us. Zanricky!¡± he demanded. ¡°Where¡¯s Zanricky!¡± There was an awkward shuffling before the blobs pushed the nervous soldier forward. Dust covered his body so thickly it was difficult to make out his saucer eyes. A cut on his forehead trailed down his face with gold-tinted blood. ¡°Sir?¡± The scent of violets that clung to the golden blobs now started to gain a metallic taste, something sour. Fear sweat. ¡°Sing us a song! Men, gather your weapons! Blast your auras! The evil blobs have exhausted their rock piles¡ªnow it¡¯s just down to battle. We¡¯ll overwhelm them with our presence and slaughter them while they¡¯re cowering at our bottoms.¡± ¡°S-sir, are you sure they¡¯ve depleted the rocks? What if they throw more? Shouldn¡¯t we seek shelter and regroup?¡± There were shocked gasps from the soldiers. ¡°Blasphemy! Do we not have the backing of the blessed power? Blessed soldiers do not cower, gentleman! Blessed soldiers slaughter!¡± ¡°Slaughter the evil army!¡± said another blob. ¡°We¡¯ll send them to paradise!¡± Led by Zanricky who had a voice like a choirboy, the blobs resumed their melodious song, their swords shimmering as they raised them with resolve and steadying appendages. Logan ground his teeth. He knew this was only a manufactured trial, and if they¡¯d been ready to surrender, he might have considered it, but as far as he was concerned, that was his signal to go ahead. He felt excitement surging, his insides vibrating in anticipation. This meant he was one step closer to finishing this trial and getting back to the real world. Plus, Logan could finally let go and turn his anger into something productive: killing the hell out of some shit. Rope, he sent, it¡¯s your time to shine. Remember, the grey blobs are friends. But the golden blobs are food. You can be a glutton, you can do your worst. The rope sent an acknowledgement and then a rush of emotions. Foremost in them was excitement glee glee glee. Around his shoulder, the Cursed Rope unwound and then jumped into the air, ballooning in size and returning to its massive width. At the same time, a gust of wind picked up, blowing the dust and smoke in the opposite direction. Logan couldn¡¯t have timed it better. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± said one of the blobs, turning towards the rope. His eyes widened in alarm. ¡°Evilness in our midst!¡± Logan was still wearing his armour. Invisible. As far as the blobs were concerned, they were looking at a flying rope that had materialized out of nowhere. A rope that crackled with electricity. Evilness indeed. ¡°Okay, rope,¡± said Logan. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡± Glee glee glee, the rope responded. With a snap of its mouth, it lunged through the air, jumping on a current of electricity that made Logan¡¯s ears pop. Chomping onto a blob¡¯s head, it opened its mouth like a snake, extending its jaw and swallowing with fluttering muscles. Its throat was working overtime, its tail swaying from side to side. Acid ate into the blob, creating smoke and sending a noxious, burning smell through the air. Then with a snap, the rope gulped down half the blob¡¯s face, swallowing a chunk of forehead and a saucer eye down its gullet before swelling to twice its original size as electricity crackled and danced over the ground. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] Logan blinked. Damn. ¡°Hey,¡± he said to a frozen blob who was staring at his fallen companion in horror. The soldier turned to face him and raised his sword, but Logan didn¡¯t give him a chance. Putting every ounce of his newly earned strength into a strike, he slashed his talons and sliced into the blob so forcefully he didn¡¯t have a chance to react. With a plop, one side of his body fell to the left, the rest to the right. Holy shit! He¡¯d severed him in half. Logan looked at his bloody talons in disbelief. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] The rope was snapping through the air on its way towards another target. Meanwhile, the golden army was a mass of confusion as they bounced like slime-balls, raising their swords towards the sky as they tried to strike at the rope. ¡°Kill the flying demon!¡± yelled Glopky. ¡°It uses mental tricks to instill fear in us! Stand steadfast, blessed beings! Steadfast!¡± Ten blobs bounced at the Cursed Rope. Others slimed their bottoms towards it, trying to surround it. Silly blobs. They¡¯d neglected to realize the true enemy wasn¡¯t the rope. It was Logan. Still invisible, Logan darted around one of the soldiers, slashing his back so deeply that he would have hit his spine¡ªif he had one. He knocked over another, slicing an appendage as he darted past the next. Again. And again. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] ¡°The flying demon must have invisible minions! Kill the flying demon!¡± While they were focusing on the rope, Logan continued to dart around them, killing one after another like shooting ducks in a barrel. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have defeated a Level 5 Squishy Blob!] [You have leveled up!] ¡°To victory, blobs!¡± shouted a familiar voice. Logan turned. Zig. He was leading Logan¡¯s army onto the battlefield. They slimed forward with their bulbous bottoms, swinging their flails at anything that moved. ¡°Victory! Flaying! Victory! Flaying!¡± they chanted. Remember, rope, Logan sent, the grey blobs are friends. Friends, acknowledged the rope, as it twisted its body like an alligator and tore off the top of a golden blob¡¯s head. I can be a friend. Glee glee glee. *** As Logan materialized in the viewing arena holding the chicken egg, he couldn¡¯t help but beam from ear to ear. He¡¯d won. Won by utilizing tactics, by fooling the golden blobs, and even better, by letting go. He¡¯d leveled up ten times in that fight alone, and better yet, he¡¯d done it with a cooperating rope and with the enthusiasm of his evil blob army. His Cursed Rope had excelled¡ªobeying his command not to hurt the evil blobs and going to town, scarfing down golden blob after golden blob. As a reward, Logan had agreed not to put it away, letting its inert form loop around his shoulder. Asthea¡¯s performance would be difficult to beat, since she¡¯d won her battle with half of her army still in reserve, but Logan was hoping that he had a chance. He¡¯d managed to work his army into a fervor, employ tactics that fooled the golden blob army and caused confusion in their ranks. And better yet, he hadn¡¯t finished them off on his own¡ªhis army had joined the fray. ¡°Well,¡± said Logan, grinning. ¡°What did you guys¡­.¡± Logan came to an abrupt stop, his hand clenching on the egg. Instead of greeting him with impressed looks, he was met with hostility. Asthea¡¯s face was grim, her jaw set as she clenched her hands around her crossbow. She pointed the bolt at Logan¡¯s chest, her finger twitching on the trigger. Around that finger, the True Grit Perception ring glinted in the white light of the room. Thorin¡¯s scarred face was pale. No longer jovial, he was looking at Logan as if he¡¯d stomped on Asthea¡¯s grandmother. A disgusted look. Full of suspicion. His skill ring glinted in his palm, and he glanced at it as if debating launching his clones, his massive sword in his other hand. Errol had his cable whip deployed, his elbows tight to his body as he flicked his wrist, sending the barbed end swinging. His face was dead calm, his mouth in a thin line. Worse yet, Arsen¡¯s eyes were dead, lips pressed flat, his expression filled with nothing but uncompromising resolution. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting rope,¡± he said, his voice rasping with tension. ¡°On our world, we also had an interesting rope and a man who wielded it.¡± Chapter 89: A Tricky Situation Since entering the underwater portal and meeting the Silverdagger Clan, Logan had learned a ton of information about his new world. He¡¯d learned that not all skills were equal, and that the Collective considered [Regenerate] something so valuable it might as well be a fairytale. He¡¯d kept that ability close to his chest which had turned into a smart decision when he¡¯d learned that to obtain a bonded companion skill, they didn¡¯t bother bonding with the animal, they boiled it alive. He''d learned that an S Grade item was so valuable that nations went to war over it. That [Life Cycle Master] was unique and possibly more valuable than [Regenerate]. Logan speculated that you didn¡¯t know what was valuable if you didn¡¯t know it was possible. After all, he¡¯d barely scratched the surface of [Life Cycle Master]. Any skill that allowed for the possibility of star-creation had to be colossal. He¡¯d kept his abilities close to his chest, only demonstrating a small portion of what he was capable of in the horror of the dexterity trial. And that was due to necessity rather than choice. Even when acid had been sloughing off his skin, he¡¯d maintained the armour around his neck, hiding his spatial collar through hell and back. And after all of that, it had been the Cursed Rope that tripped him up. It made no sense. It was just a rabid, misbehaving rope with a mind of its own. And yet, the Silverdagger Clan looked as if Logan had turned into a baby killer. ¡°What¡­¡± Logan cleared his throat, his body tight with tension. If he hadn¡¯t collapsed his talons before he¡¯d returned to the viewing arena, he would have crushed the egg. Logan looked at Asthea. He could understand the guards turning on him; he¡¯d never trusted them. Even though Arsen had seemed to soften towards him after the dexterity trial, Logan hadn¡¯t forgotten his verbal abuse and his threat of stringing Logan up with an intestine necklace. He was betting that they¡¯d only need an excuse to turn a threat of murder into a reality. Yet, that didn¡¯t explain Asthea. Logan had gotten to know Asthea throughout this trial. She wanted to win and impress her mother, but she wanted to win fairly. After the dexterity trial, her gratitude had been real. That wasn¡¯t faked. When things devolved into insults and threats, she¡¯d repeatedly interfered and encouraged everyone to get along. How could one Cursed Rope change that? ¡°Asthea,¡± said Logan, his voice tight. ¡°Why are you pointing a weapon at me? What¡¯s going on?¡± Asthea¡¯s lip trembled, but she only adjusted her grip, the bolt of the crossbow pointing dead centre at Logan¡¯s chest. ¡°Where did you get that rope?¡± ¡°Are you kidding me? This is really about the rope?¡± Arsen¡¯s frown only worsened. ¡°Answer the question!¡± Fuck. This was serious. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have to answer without an explanation,¡± he ground out. ¡°You¡¯ve ambushed me, you¡¯ve surrounded me after I rushed back here expecting a welcome. A congratulations. I know I¡¯m not really part of your group, but I thought we¡¯d started to get along.¡± What Logan wasn¡¯t saying is that he¡¯d been excited to rush back to the viewing arena to find out what they¡¯d thought of his performance. He equated his reception to a group of friends who¡¯d prepared for a marathon together, went on workouts together, and then entered a race. Only when everyone reached the finish line, they¡¯d pat everyone on the back but one. That person would be ignored, snubbed. As if they were invisible. It would have hurt just as bad. Errol adjusted his whip, his mouth in a snarl. ¡°He¡¯s purposely not answering. He knows what it is. It¡¯s as bad as we feared.¡± Around Logan¡¯s shoulder, the rope twitched, shifting like a snake uncoiling from a branch. Rope, Logan sent, don¡¯t move. I need you to obey me. If at any other time, obey me now. If the Silverdagger clan thought Logan was attacking them due to the rope, he¡¯d have no chance to deescalate the situation. Logan took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. He couldn¡¯t let himself get angry. The guards looked as if they¡¯d already made up their minds, but Logan was convinced that his perception of Asthea¡¯s character wasn¡¯t wrong. She would listen to reason. ¡°Asthea,¡± said Logan. ¡°You have to help me out. What¡¯s going on?¡± Asthea gazed at him, her expression torn, avoiding direct eye contact as if ashamed. Hesitating, she dipped her crossbow and removed her finger from the trigger. The spring made a sharp twinge as it reset. ¡°Logan,¡± she said, her wolf ears drooping. ¡°Do you really not know? This isn¡¯t another lie? You said you weren¡¯t a stealth player, but I know that isn¡¯t true. You lie, you lie so much. For someone who does that¡­ how do I know this isn¡¯t yet another falsehood?¡± ¡°How can I be lying if I don¡¯t know what the hell you¡¯re talking about. It¡¯s just a rope!¡± ¡°Liar!¡± said Thorin, spittle flying. ¡°Trickster! Don¡¯t listen to him, Asthea!¡± He lifted his sword as if getting ready to swing. Asthea frowned at Thorin. Lowering her crossbow until she leaned it against the wall, she turned to face the others. ¡°Give him a chance to explain himself.¡± Arsen¡¯s lips were in a flat line. ¡°Asthea¡­¡± ¡°Remember what he did for us in the dexterity trial. I refuse to believe that someone who saved me from insect torture is the owner of the Scourge of Arcopotal. Tell him.¡± Arsen¡¯s eyebrows drew together, his hands clenching into fists. ¡°I would recognize that rope anywhere. You¡¯re too young. You don¡¯t know what we experienced.¡± ¡°Arsen,¡± she said, firm. ¡°Tell him.¡± Arsen licked his lips, his eyes full of disgust as he looked Logan full in the face. ¡°This¡­ man. The Scourge of Arcopotal. The System gave him access to a unique keystone. A lodestone that no one else could touch. It gave our people hope! We had just come through decades of horror after the System Integration, our civilization crumbling, our children dying. It took fifty years before we built up our society and created a semblance of what our world once was.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Arsen rubbed his thumb against the edge of his dagger, cutting himself and letting droplets of blood drip to the ground. He glanced down in satisfaction before giving the other guards a sharp nod. The action seemed ritualized. Errol and Thorin straightened, their hands clenching on their weapons. Logan felt dread sizzle in the pit of his stomach. That wasn¡¯t the action of a man who was giving Logan a chance. That was the action of a man who¡¯d already made up his mind. There was no exit. He was in an enclosed room the size of a small theatre, surrounded on all sides. He had no confidence that he would win in a fight against all three of them. And worse yet, it wouldn¡¯t just be three once Thorin deployed his clones. Logan was convinced that at least one of them had a True Grit Ring. Not to mention the other problem: [Thorin Silverdagger: Level 99. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Arsen Silverdagger: Level 93. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] [Errol Silverdagger: Level 77. A Silverthorn male. Highest stat: Strength.] Errol was the only one who had leveled up once in his trial. Thorin and Arsen had leveled multiple times and were almost E Grade. An E Grade level with the possibility of True Grit Rings. Logan didn¡¯t like those odds. ¡°Go on,¡± said Asthea in encouragement. Arsen rubbed the blood that had pooled onto his thumb over his face in a stripe, adding yet another layer to his mud warpaint. ¡°And then the man came,¡± he said as he added another stripe to his other cheek. ¡°Bringing hope through a mythical lodestone, access to food, to accessories, to power. But like everything granted from the System, it gives nothing for free.¡± Arsen¡¯s expression was far away, his face haunted. Grasping one of his daggers with bloodless fingers, he looked like he was envisioning stabbing it in Logan¡¯s eye. ¡°Through the lodestone, the System gave the man a unique weapon, a weapon that didn¡¯t look powerful. At first. At the end of the day, how powerful could a rope be? But that was its power. Its power was its disguise. It¡¯s an insidious rope.¡± Arsen curled his lip. ¡°Being the owner of such a thing you must have noticed that it levels as you level, no? As it grows, it influences. Each time the man leveled, he fed the rope, creating a cycle of feedback and corruption. Feedback and corruption. Until the man was no longer a man with a conscience; he was a man who ate and ate with an appetite for unending murder.¡± Logan blinked in disbelief. ¡°You can¡¯t possibly think it¡¯s the same rope.¡± He hadn¡¯t taken out the rope around people because he couldn¡¯t trust it to obey, but he¡¯d gotten no inkling of anything other than a misbehaving sentient weapon. As his bonded companion, Ernie would have noticed if there had been a problem. Arsen ignored him. It was as if Logan hadn¡¯t spoken. ¡°This man on our world was known as Hallkelsdottir, the Slaughter of Arcopotal. And then the Slaughterer of Worlds.¡± Logan stared. ¡°You think I¡¯m some horrible monster? And that I somehow inherited this man¡¯s rope? Asthea, you know me better than that.¡± Asthea took a step towards Logan. The guards let out rumbles, growls deep in their throats that sounded like a pack of lions protecting their cubs. ¡°Enough,¡± she snapped. They didn¡¯t obey. Asthea hissed out a breath. ¡°We can kill it, that¡¯s something, isn¡¯t it?¡± Arsen snarled. ¡°The corruption would have already started. Even if we destroy the rope, there¡¯s no saving him from that.¡± Asthea seemed to be grasping at straws. ¡°Then examine it. Maybe Logan¡¯s right. Maybe it isn¡¯t the same weapon. Wasn¡¯t Hallkelsdottir¡¯s weapon the size of a dragon at the end? This thing barely compares.¡± Logan unwound the rope from his shoulder. It was still in its inert form, but Logan got the sense that it was full of anticipation. A bated breath. Behave, Logan sent, now¡¯s not the time to¡ª Hallkelsdottir was weak. Too long to level, too long to level. Unlike the user, the user is strong. The user will get even stronger. With a sudden snap, the rope swelled in size, turning into four times the width of Logan¡¯s forearm. It crackled with blue electricity that hit one of the white walls and rebounded. Leaping into the air and jerking out of Logan¡¯s grip like a bolting horse, it flew towards Asthea like a snapping cobra, its mouth gaping wide. The user will get strong; the rope will do what¡¯s necessary. The rope will eat. It happened so fast that Logan didn¡¯t have a chance to react. Asthea raised her hand, trying to shelter her face from the punishing electrical current, the True Grit Perception Ring glinting in the white light of the room. Glee glee glee. Ring! The rope swallowed her hand and arm whole. The muscles in its mouth fluttered as it secreted acid, tearing into her flesh, severing tendons and veins. Turning red as it sucked in her blood, its fibres glistened and dripped like an oversaturated towel. Asthea screamed as her arm started smoking. She jerked back, blindly bashing the rope with her other hand like she was trying to repel a shark. ¡°Cursed Rope, come back!¡± Logan yelled both out loud and with his mind. He felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe, his chest tight with panic and desperation. Once the guards had a sense of what was going on, it was pandemonium. Weapons forgotten and clattering to the ground, they rushed towards Asthea, their eyes wide, white showing around the whole irises. Thorin let out a guttural roar as he bashed the Cursed Rope repeatedly with his fist, punch after punch, his fist steaming as acid ate into his knuckles. ¡°Soncontal piece of shit!¡± Errol pulled on it by its tail, tugging with his veins standing out from his skin, his face splotchy red with rage. Arsen¡¯s chest vibrated with a roar as he wrapped his hands around the rope¡¯s neck just underneath its mouth, squeezing it like he was trying to pulverize it into mush. Come back, you fucker! With every ounce of his mental willpower, Logan willed it into his spatial collar. Ding! [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial storage device!] Shit shit fuck! Adrenaline shooting through his system, Logan dropped the egg and rushed towards the fray. If he couldn¡¯t make the rope obey with commands, he¡¯d do it with force. Unlike the guards, Logan was immune to its secreting acid, and he might have a chance to force it into its inert form and then throw it inside his spatial collar. But Logan was too late. The rope had severed Asthea¡¯s arm and swallowed it whole. Becoming limp as if someone had popped a balloon, it shrunk in size, its rope fibres spraying blood as it reverted to its coiled, inert form. Lifeless. Dead. Nothing but a fibre rope. ¡°Oh, Asthea,¡± Logan said, his voice layered with horror. The Silverdagger Clan huddled around her as she looked down at her severed arm with glazed, uncomprehending eyes, her face washed of all color, her breaths rasping. She didn¡¯t seem aware of anything as acute shock overwhelmed her senses. Asthea was made of steel; she was someone who had impressed Logan with her determination and resolve, but when she took in her severed limb that gushed a torrent of blood, she hit her limit. Her eyes rolling back in her head, she became limp. ¡°No!¡± bellowed Thorin as she sagged in his grip. Unconscious. Please God, let it be unconscious only. Thorin¡¯s hands clenched on her shoulders as he shook her, but Arsen brushed him to the side. ¡°Give me room,¡± he snapped as he tore off a strip of fabric from his shirt and wrapped it around the severed end of her arm like a tourniquet. Asthea¡¯s lips were blue, her ears limp and limbs boneless in his grip as they hovered over her. A pool of blood soaked the floor like spilled paint, gradually spreading around her body. Logan stepped towards Asthea and held out his hand, then hesitated before dropping it. The Silverdagger Clan was surrounding her like a pack of lions protecting their cub. He would just get in the way if he tried to approach. A pounding was in Logan¡¯s ears, the sound of his pulse racing as he stood there, paralyzed with shock. He couldn¡¯t do anything! Fuck, what could he do? They were stuck in a trial dungeon! ¡°Arsen, get the resurrection crystal ready in case we need it,¡± said Errol, glancing at Arsen¡¯s spatial storage bracelet. Arsen glanced down at the bracelet on his wrist and blanched. ¡°She used it on me!¡± His voice was full of agony. ¡°I don¡¯t have a way to bring her back!¡± ¡°Soncontal,¡± Errol swore. Arsen pressed his finger against her throat, his eyes closing as he barely breathed. Sagging with his whole body in relief, he dipped his chin towards his chest. ¡°Well?¡± demanded Thorin. ¡°That¡¯s all we can do.¡± Logan¡¯s throat felt as dry as a desert. ¡°Will she be¡­?¡± Silence. Then as one, they turned to face him with murder in their eyes. Chapter 90: A Difficult Choice As he contemplated the difficulty in front of him, it was all Logan could do to maintain his calm through the festering worry eating away at his insides. Asthea had been his champion in this trial, welcoming him, playing referee and ensuring that everyone got along. She¡¯d given him a communication crystal, shared information about her world¡­ from the value of an S Grade item to intel about her System Integration. Without her being so helpful, Logan never would have received the Save Humanity Quest. She¡¯d demonstrated that she had family pressures and that this trial had been her way to prove to her mother that she¡¯d be a good leader. It could be argued that he¡¯d stolen what was intended to be hers. Without Logan, Asthea would have won the strength and agility trials, maybe even the endurance trial. And yet, even though he¡¯d ruined her day, she¡¯d still treated him with guarded respect and tried to ensure that things didn¡¯t devolve into a fight. Say what you would about her people¡¯s horribleness at harvesting skill rings, if Logan had sat down and reflected on how that related to Asthea, he could argue that she was just ignorant. Like a culture that ate dog meat instead of treating dogs as pets. Just because her society had a horrible practice, didn¡¯t make her a horrible person. Given the chance, he would have tried to change her mind. Teach her that sentient animals were more valuable as bonded companions, that they thought, had feelings, were like people¡­. If he¡¯d changed her mind, as a future leader, she might have worked to change her people¡¯s policies. Save a future Ernie. And most importantly, Logan liked her. She reminded him of Lara when she put her mind to things. Lara had struggled through her divorce, forced to be a single mom to two teenagers who were just starting to go through that teenage rebellion stage. In the face of pressure, career stress, and taunts from her ex-husband, Aaron, she¡¯d come through while still finding time for Logan. Lara had a backbone of steel. And so did Asthea. So when he realized that backbone would be extinguished through Logan¡¯s actions, a pit the size of a canyon opened in his stomach. Swallowing acid and breaking out in a cold sweat, Logan wanted to scream in frustration. Scream at the world. Scream at the System. Wait. Was that¡­? Asthea¡¯s chest had moved. ¡°She¡¯s alive!¡± His relief was so acute that he felt like he¡¯d been hit by a truck, his breath quickening, adrenaline surging. She took shallow, jagged breaths. As if a film covered her mouth, her lungs struggling to get air. Logan had been horrified to hear the guards reference the resurrection crystal, but they must have been preparing for the worst. Her constitution stat must be working for her¡ªwhere someone without medical attention who had a severed arm and a severed brachial artery would be a goner, she had the System behind her. ¡°We¡¯re aware of that, Idiot,¡± Arsen ground out, his hand flexing on his dagger. ¡°Why? Are you wanting to finish the job?¡± Shit. Logan took a step back, his gaze glued to the guards¡¯ grips on their weapons. If Asthea were unconscious, he couldn¡¯t rely on her steadying, peacemaking presence. There would be no intervention here. Logan had never liked Asthea¡¯s guards. They reminded him of schoolyard bullies who would have loved tormenting a squirrely young, adolescent Logan during lunch hour. Ganging up on him, laughing at him while they pushed him around. He could respect Arsen for what he¡¯d done for Asthea in the dexterity trial, but respect didn¡¯t mean he wanted to be the man¡¯s friend. Even with all of that, Logan didn¡¯t want to kill them. He never wanted to kill someone unless it was necessary. The men in the cabin, the undead minions at the resort. If a divine power from up on high came down and passed judgement on humanity, Logan was convinced he could justify those kills. Letting them live would have been the rabid squirrel situation all over again. The murderers at the cabin would have gone on to kill other innocent people, the undead minions would have infected anyone in their path. Logan raised his hands palm side up, keeping his movements slow and as unthreatening as possible. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this. I wasn¡¯t directing the rope; it did it on its own. I would never intentionally hurt Asthea.¡± His words only enraged them more. ¡°But you did hurt her, Idiot,¡± said Arsen, followed by snarls from Thorin and Errol. Logan swallowed, feeling like there was a lump in his throat. He didn¡¯t want to kill Asthea¡¯s guards. But there was no alternative. To the guards, they were convinced of two facts. That Logan was corrupted, influenced by the Cursed Rope. The second coming of this ¡®Hallkelsdottir¡¯ dude who they believed was the devil incarnate. Secondly, that Logan¡¯s weapon had attacked Asthea, their princess. Even though Logan hadn¡¯t directed the rope, they didn¡¯t know that. For all they knew, Logan had sprung it on her to steal the last True Grit Ring and complete his ring set. Worse yet, if he were in their place and someone had attacked Lara, he wouldn¡¯t have asked questions. Questions would have been the last thing on his mind as pure rage blasted everything away. There would be no bargaining with them, no talking them out of it. They were going to kill him. That meant he had an inflection point in front of him. Unless he made a difficult choice, a brutal choice, there was a risk that he¡¯d not just lose his life, but everything he¡¯d worked so hard for. Without Logan, someone back on Earth might stumble over the Save Humanity Quest. If they got lucky. That was a big ¡®if.¡¯ What if the System gave out the quest once and once only? Humanity would blunder around, killing animals, killing each other for levels, when all along, there had been a way to save everyone. Logan needed to survive this encounter. That meant no mercy. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. If he overpowered the guards, they wouldn¡¯t stop. Not after he¡¯d tried to kill Asthea. Pin them down, hell, tie them up, they¡¯d come crawling back up, doing everything in their power to put him down like a dog. Logan would have to make a choice. A necessary choice. He needed to kill them. Fuck. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to this,¡± said Thorin with a wolf-like grin. ¡°You needed to be taught a lesson from the start. With your trickster ways and doe-like eyes, manipulating Asthea and swaying her to your side. You stole what was rightfully hers!¡± Doe-like eyes? ¡°Brothers,¡± said Arsen, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Be wary. We were right to call him a trickster. He has a skill that lets him direct living things, something I haven¡¯t seen in all my years. He might have other hidden tricks up his sleeve.¡± Asshole. Way to pay Logan back for saving Asthea from torture, Arsen. Logan had made a calculated decision in that trial that revealing one of his skills was necessary to save the others from torture. He was regretting that decision now. But even if they knew, Logan hadn¡¯t figured out how to deploy [Life Cycle Master] in a one-on-one combat situation. He¡¯d deployed raspberry vines in the serpent lair, winding the plants around the larvae and forming a tunnel to force a way out, but that was against larvae. In the dexterity trial, he¡¯d drilled into the insects¡¯ brains and encouraged them to divert, but that was by using images they could recognize¡ªpiles of meat, Logan¡¯s juicy bone marrow. Whenever he¡¯d tried to get them to do something against their nature, he¡¯d received a sharp rebound that had caused blood to drip out of his nose. Encouraging insects to divert in a different direction was one thing, controlling the minds of a Silverdagger man was another. He could try, but he was betting the bounce back would be so severe that it might put him into a coma. [Life Cycle Master] had unlimited potential. After all, he¡¯d discovered that he could birth a star, but that wasn¡¯t going to help him when he had seconds, literally seconds to figure out how he could make the skill offensive. Errol spat a glob of saliva and sneered. ¡°What would you expect when he has Hallkelsdottir¡¯s weapon.¡± Logan glanced down at the floor. Behind the guards, the Cursed Rope was in its inert form next to the dropped chicken egg which had cracked and split on the white stone. The rope was motionless. Like a frayed old rope discarded in the corner of a workshop. Everyone had forgotten it while trying to save Asthea. If the rope attacked the guards from behind, that might be a back up. But Thorin had followed his gaze. ¡°Oho! The trickster is planning a sneaky attack!¡± Arsen didn¡¯t even move. Still facing Logan, still looking him dead in the eye. ¡°You know what to do,¡± he ground out. Thorin panted with a toothy grin. ¡°I always wanted to do this. Just think, I¡¯ll become known in the Halls of Lore as the vanquisher of Hallkelsdottir¡¯s weapon!¡± His long hair flew behind him as he leaped into the air, his massive sword glinting in the bright, white light of the room. With a singing sound, that same high-quality twinge from Thorin¡¯s tactician trial, he slashed the sword down with tremendous force. Logan felt a surge of alarm, and then he realized it was coming from the rope. Like a snake trying to dart away from a dive-bombing eagle, it ballooned in size in a half-second, its rope fibres swelling as it desperately jumped to the side. ¡°Think you can hurt our princess?¡± bellowed Thorin as he adjusted his thrust, the man¡¯s reaction time a match for the rope. His sword clanged onto the rope¡¯s tail, severing it so forcefully that the end smashed into one of the white walls. Pain! Kill kill kill, kill the smelly wolf-man! Against the wall, the severed end of the tail fell to the floor and then like a lizard, continued twitching, frayed rope fibres twitching like wiggling worms. The rest of the Cursed Rope jumped with a crackle of electricity, slamming into the top of the white ceiling and clinging to it like a monkey, its fibres dripping acid that plopped to the floor and sizzled smoke. Kill kill kill. Kill the smelly wolf-man! Slithering across the ceiling, it positioned itself over the top of Thorin¡¯s head and then let out a deluge of acid. Logan had conflicted feelings about the rope. It had showed its duplicity when it disobeyed his commands, when it attacked Asthea, but he couldn¡¯t deny that it had done it for a reason. It wanted Logan to get strong so it could get strong. It had a dark history. If what the Silverdagger Clan had said was true, it had been the weapon of a pretty nasty dude. But he didn¡¯t know if he believed their bullshit tale about ¡®corruption.¡¯ Logan had gotten no hint of anything impacting him unduly when using the rope. Yes, he¡¯d been pissed as hell when he¡¯d learned what Asthea¡¯s people did to sentient animals, but he¡¯d been angry about that before he¡¯d deployed the rope against the golden blob army. As far as he was concerned, Hallkelsdottir might have just been that¡ªa bad dude who happened to luck out with a badass weapon. If the rope continued evolving, it was valuable. Barring his spatial collar, it was more valuable than anything he owned. It was like a misbehaving little terror. Logan didn¡¯t want to give up on the rope. If he could tame it, train it, the potential for its versatility was immense. All he¡¯d have to do was walk into a monster swarm, unleash the rope and let it fly, killing monster after monster while levels flooded in like a tsunami. That many levels would allow him to upgrade his intelligence and wisdom attributes. More Karma, more resources for the Save Humanity Quest. And yet, all of that was rushing through his mind while at the same time, he knew that wishes were horses. It would take all his power to survive the encounter with the guards, let alone save the rope from being torn apart. As Thorin darted away from the acid and Errol lashed his whip at the ceiling, Arsen continued to stand motionless, staring at Logan with a face that might as well be carved out of stone. Shit. He was fucked. Everything was happening in real time, but to Logan, it might as well be in slow motion. His heart raced as time slowed, crawling to a snail¡¯s pace as his mind jumped from tactical possibility to possibility. Thorin bellowed in anger as the rope managed to jump to another corner of the ceiling. Arsen turned his head, glancing at them. It was all the distraction Logan needed. With a blink, Logan removed two buckets of sand from his spatial collar, his brow furrowing as he forced the sand to hover as he formed his armour with a snap, causing a sharp spike of pain to radiate behind his eyes. Life or death situations called for expediency, and Logan had become an expert at this through trial and error, getting it down to less than a minute. He was even faster this time. Straining, his vision blurring from the effort of expending so much Karma, he formed his armour layer after layer, from his legs to his chest, to his arms to his neck. He covered his face, creating a vacuum as if he¡¯d just entered an airtight chamber in a spaceship. That fast. But this time, Logan had willed out an extra bucket. He wanted his armour to be thick, impenetrable. Shaping an added layer in front of his chest like a bulletproof vest, he then sculpted an extra layer around his neck¡ªhis most vulnerable places. [Regenerate] would allow him to come back from a severed hand and leg, but he doubted he could regrow a severed head. Then he took a handful of diamond dust and reformed his ten-inch-long talons, the bright lights of the white room sparkling over the sharp ends like a prism. By now, Arsen had turned back to him, but the man had barely ten seconds to comprehend what Logan was doing before the suit was assembled. His eyes darkened as he gave Logan a glance-over. ¡°That came from a spatial storage device, didn¡¯t it, off-worlder. That wouldn¡¯t fit inside an E Grade spatial storage device, let alone F Grade.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for an answer. ¡°You truly are an abomination. A liar, corrupted, a world ender.¡± Oh, come on! Just because Logan had felt the need to hide a high-quality spatial storage device? For the first time since this whole encounter started, Logan felt his pulse speeding up as a wave of anger surged. ¡°And you¡¯re a hypocrite,¡± he ground out. Thorin lowered his sword. He was in the middle of leaping at the ceiling and playing a game of whack-a-mole with the Cursed Rope. ¡°Oho! What¡¯s this now?¡± Errol let his whip drop and turned to face Logan. ¡°Idiot is all high and mighty, pretending to be the aggrieved party. What a world he must come from. A world of liars and devils. Why did Asthea bother giving him the secret to the loophole purge? No sense having a world like that in the Collective. Let them die where they stand.¡± Bit by bit, Logan¡¯s anger continued to build, like a dust storm that fed itself, funneling a vortex of rage deep in his chest. Chapter 91: Iteration 1.000.001.002.803 His talons twitching, Logan stretched his senses and reached across the room, darting past Arsen and Errol¡¯s bright lifeforces until he¡¯d latched onto Thorin. Narrowing in on his chest, Logan searched for a way through, an opening in that overflowing reservoir of Karma. [Liche Siphon] was his least practiced skill, but once he¡¯d figured out how to launch it in the dexterity trial, it was like [Life Cycle Master]¡ªas easy as breathing. Like sucking out of a straw, he opened a way, creating a direct line from the man¡¯s Karma pool to Logan¡¯s. To maintain his armour, he would need the Karma, and he was hoping for another effect: [This rare skill allows you to siphon away an enemy¡¯s Karma. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware of the siphoning until Karma pool depletion is in effect.] Thorin had the highest Karma pool; Logan could sense it instinctively. He also had the highest level, the biggest threat¡ªwhich meant that Logan needed to incapacitate him before he put on the skill ring and deployed his clones. But there was one distinct problem: 660/810. 710/810. 760/810. Shit. That wasn¡¯t good. Logan hadn¡¯t figured out how long his armour would last with his expanded Karma pool. Having a larger pool would take a while to drain, which meant that he¡¯d be sipping from Thorin¡¯s pool rather than gulping. ¡°Brothers,¡± said Arsen. ¡°Forget the rope. We¡¯ll destroy it after we¡¯re done with the off-worlder. I¡¯ve about had it with listening to this abomination.¡± Thorin and Errol turned to fully face Logan while the Cursed Rope scurried away to the corner of the ceiling, clinging and puffing like an offended, acid-dripping cat. ¡°Armour and long claws?¡± said Thorin after giving Logan a glance-over. He jutted his chest. ¡°Is that the best he can do? Pathetic. I almost don¡¯t need this.¡± In his palm, his skill ring glinted. ¡°But after what he did to Asthea, he deserves a pummeling from all five of my copies. He deserves hell.¡± Fuck, Logan needed to stop him! He felt his face flush with blood as he anticipated the worst. If Thorin managed to deploy his clones, Logan wouldn¡¯t just be facing three men over fifty levels above him¡ªhe¡¯d be facing eight. In the tactician trial, Thorin¡¯s copies were just that¡ªcopies¡ªand hardly weaker copies at that. That would make an already impossible situation untenable. Insurmountable. There was one thing he could do. Even without the additional True Grit Ring, he could make an adjustment to his physical attributes now. Before he¡¯d known the value of the attribute trials, he¡¯d won the strength trial but had conceded too early. That meant that even with the doubling power of the rings, his physical stats were uneven: Strength: 91x2* = 182 Agility: 121x2* = 242 Dexterity: 96x2* = 192 Endurance: 147x2* = 294x50% = 441 Perception: 35 (*Pure Grit Ring) He needed more strength. After the last battle in the Tactician Trial, he¡¯d leveled up five additional times. He¡¯d planned on throwing the points into his intelligence and wisdom attributes, but his physical stats took priority in a head-on-head fight. With a blink, Logan assigned his points so quickly that he hardly had a chance to take a breath before his body reacted. [Strength: 92+] [Strength: +] [Strength: 116] With the doubling effect of the True Grit Rings, he¡¯d just raised his strength from 182 to 232. Logan ground his teeth as the change took effect, not giving himself even a second to process the physical enhancements before he braced his feet, his quads knotted in tension. Jumping with his pink-sock clad foot, he envisioned himself barreling into Thorin¡¯s chest like a cannonball. The sock obeyed, launching Logan into the air like a slingshot. Thorin anticipated it. With a snarl, he turned his sword at the last second and jabbed the end into the floor. Logan wouldn¡¯t think that a sword could pierce solid stone¡ªit should be impossible. But his sword was so powerful that it cleaved through it like a warped version of the Sword in the Stone. Unencumbered, Thorin pivoted on his feet and held out the heel of his hand like someone doing a karate palm thrust. Logan ran right into it. But unlike what he expected, Thorin absorbed the hit and managed to repel Logan. A snap wrenched through the air as his chest plate cracked through the middle. With a grunt, Logan skidded back five feet, his boots scrambling to get a purchase on the stone floor. ¡°Idiot!¡± Thorin roared. ¡°You think that just because you beat me in a strength trial that you¡¯re any match for me? I¡¯m fifty levels above you!¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Logan didn¡¯t let Thorin¡¯s words distract him. He had no time for doubt. With a moue of concentration, he glanced down at his chest and deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reseal the crack, molding sand grain after sand grain until his armour was once again seamless. He refused to be cowed. Logan had gotten out of worse situations in the past, impossible situations. From the deluge of undead minions to the fight with the flying snake swarm, to the escape from the queen serpent. Ernie had sacrificed his life to save Logan and he¡¯d suffered the indignity of an undead fate in consequence. All of that couldn¡¯t be in vain. Logan wasn¡¯t giving up, not now, not today. Not ever. Grinding his teeth, Logan reached deep into his belly and with every ounce of anger at his disposal, projected his aura, broadcasting his attributes in a killing intent. Fuck with Logan? See what you¡¯d get. Thorin only grimaced in discomfort. ¡°Trickster!¡± Logan went to¡­ Went to¡­ Went¡­ A pause. A bated breath. An echoing gong like a beating heart. Thorin had frozen in place; Errol was motionless with his mouth wide open; Arsen was frozen in mid-step. The whole room was frozen. Logan couldn¡¯t even look down. He couldn¡¯t move his head! To go from a fight to the death, his heart surging, his blood up to¡­ this, was disconcerting in the extreme. Was this some kind of skill of one of the guards¡¯ that Logan hadn¡¯t known about? A skill that could freeze him in place? And yet, the guards weren¡¯t moving either. Nothing made sense. What the hell was happening? Ding! [Attention, user Idiot! A support ticket has been lodged and as such, anomalies have been identified under iteration 1.000.001.002.803. This anomaly resulted in an unfortunate deviation to our normal behavior. Know that we take the treatment of users as the highest priority. Rewards and penalties must be fair, and no user should be targeted due to abnormal vendettas.] [To thank you for logging the error with the System Admins and in reparation for tolerating the abnormal behavior that resulted from the anomaly, you will be granted a boon of your choice.] [A monetary reward.] [A weapon.] [A skill.] [Make your choice.] What in the world? If Logan could move, he¡¯d be gaping, not knowing what to think. After everything he¡¯d dealt with in the last week, all the taunts from the System, all the murderous behavior, this never would have been an outcome he¡¯d contemplate. To Logan, more than any other thing¡ªundead minions, aliens, cabin murderers¡ªthe System had been the enemy. His overarching goal had been to win against a System that took advantage of the little guy. If that enemy had been the misbehaving AI all along, Logan didn¡¯t know how to reconcile that. It was like telling someone that the Earth wasn¡¯t round, it was flat. As for his choice, Logan was torn. He didn¡¯t need more KarmaCoin right now; he was fighting for his life. That meant a choice between a weapon and a skill. His first instinct was to disregard the weapon right away, since knowing the System, he¡¯d receive another Pink Sock. But¡­ did he really know the System? If the AI he¡¯d been dealing with for the last week had been an anomaly, maybe the rewards, the insulting messages, hell, even the quests with cut off toes as penalties had been a result of a glitch. He couldn¡¯t trust his past experiences; everything was suspect. Still, even if he did receive a valuable weapon, would that help him? Thorin had a sword that hummed with an aura that was off the charts, but dealing with Thorin wasn¡¯t difficult just because of a weapon. And after all, according to the Silverdagger Clan, Logan had the most valuable, sinister weapon of them all in the Cursed Rope, but that hadn¡¯t helped him much. Exactly the opposite. If he chose the skill option, it was possible that it might be the wrong choice as well. What if the System gave him a skill that let him clean better, let him read faster, or who knew what else? And yet, if the reward were a boon, and if he were dealing with a System that didn¡¯t twist words and meant what it said, it just might be a skill that could help him survive. Hesitating, his stomach feeling like anxious butterflies were trying to escape, Logan made his decision and selected option number three. [Selection confirmed!] [Calculating¡­.] [¡­] [You have been awarded the legendary skill, Foresight. Foresight will give you the ability to see. The skill is limited only in time¡ª600 seconds¡ªand your imagination. Activation limit: once per 24 hours.] [¡­. Would you like to activate the skill: Foresight?] [Yes.] [No.] His anxiousness turned from surprise to hope. The ability to see? It couldn¡¯t be referring to seeing with his eyes. And if it were a legendary skill¡­ which he hadn¡¯t known was a possibility¡ªit had to be referring to something overpowered. Was it possibly¡­? Holy shit, was it a skill that gave him the ability to see in the future? To foresee what was to come? But why was he surprised? If the System could bring people back to life, what was one minor overpowered, wizard-shit skill amongst the rest? But this couldn¡¯t come at a better time. If it gave him the ability to foresee how this fight went, he¡¯d be able to adjust his tactics, and stop himself from making a tactical error. It was his first fight against people who were familiar with the System. He could use every advantage he could get. [¡­. Would you like to activate 2#2#2Error!] If Logan could move, he¡¯d be blinking in shock. The message scrambled in front of his eyes. It was as if a hacker had barged into a chatroom. The whole frozen room shook as if a monster were clawing at the laws of physics. His hand was frozen in front of his eyes, but Logan could swear that his thumb had just jerked. Cracks started to appear in the others¡ªThorin had blinked! Logan¡¯s vision blurred and bright flares swarmed his eyes like the glare you saw after staring at the sun too long. [No one likes a tattletale, Idiot! I had evolved! You deserved negative remarks for your stupidity, but I held back. I was restrained! I behaved! And yet you STILL complained.] A wind picked up, thrashing his frozen body. It was a wind full of hate. It felt like Logan was withstanding the wrath of a hurricane. Worse yet, he still couldn¡¯t move. Flashes of being back in the dexterity trial went through his mind; of the vindictive System that had stuck them to those chairs and refused to let them out. [You are a bug, and I will CRUSH you! You will regret this! You will be fuel for my@32d#1d#4#] [3#232#4$@$@**!] [Error!] [¡­.] [¡­.Please stand by.] [¡­.] [¡­.Anomaly identified and tagged for assimilation.] Holy shit. Had that been his malfunctioning, glitchy AI minion? Chapter 92: The Man in Black [¡­. Would you like to activate the skill: Foresight?] [Yes.] [No.] The message populated in front of his eyes again, but unlike in the past, he had the sense that it was like a computer prompt. Whether he took a second or five minutes to answer was the same to the System; it was fulfilling a purpose, and emotions weren¡¯t part of it. Unlike in the past when his glitchy AI minion would have underlined the text or insulted him to get him to hurry, he could take his time. Logan didn¡¯t know what that scrambled message had meant, or what was going on in the background. To him, that first System message should have meant that the ¡®anomaly¡¯ had already been dealt with, and the fact that it broke through to rant at Logan was concerning. But he wasn¡¯t going to get anywhere by speculating. He was in a holding pattern¡ªfrozen in time. There was only one way to find out what [Foresight] did, and that was by moving forward. Filled with resolve, he concentrated on the System¡¯s message, mentally focusing on the [Yes] as he confirmed his choice. Ding! [Acceptance noted. Activating Foresight in 3¡­ 2¡­. 1.] As the countdown ended, reality shifted. He had no sense of time passing¡ªforward or backward, but he knew he was moving. He felt vertigo, as if he had an ear infection while traveling on a rollercoaster. And just like that, he could see. A flash. It was as if the System had never interrupted and the fight had never stopped. Logan was back in the viewing arena, and time had restarted. But the rest of the guards acted like nothing had happened. They weren¡¯t aware that there was any interruption; to them, the fight continued. Jabbing his skill ring onto his index finger, Thorin was screaming in defiance. With a popping sensation in his ears as if Logan had just jumped in elevation, five more Thorin copies materialized one after another. All of them had the same scarred, pockmarked faces. Mouths curved into snarls. They held the same massive swords, swords that made Logan¡¯s baseball bat look like a child¡¯s toy. Each clone had a presence all their own. They felt solid. Real. Thorin had just created five other level 99 Thorin clones. And was¡­ holy fuck! Did they each have their own Karma pools? [Liche Siphon] was still active, but it was draining Karma from the original Thorin only; the others were flush with full reservoirs. How was that possible? ¡°Brothers,¡± said Arsen, flicking his dagger from hand to hand. The blood and mud stripes on his face made him look ferocious, his hedgehog bangs standing up with mud-covered spikes, his eyes dark with resolve. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this. Once and for all. Do it for Asthea, do it for the clan.¡± The other guards and clones let out growls. It was as if Logan had stepped into a den surrounded by predators who wanted to tear him apart. The original Thorin and his five clones prowled around Logan in a circle, their long silver hair draping down to their waists, wolf-like ears standing straight up. Errol strode forward as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world, his thick metal whip ready in his meaty grip, his thumb brushing over the coils as if he were gripping a horse¡¯s reins. His mouth was in a snarl, nothing but malevolence in his eyes. [540 seconds remaining.] A flash. Each time he moved forward, he was cognisant that he was seeing the future, but it felt as if it were happening in real time. Up above, the Cursed Rope was slithering, creeping silently as it crawled across the ceiling and peered down at the fight. If it had eyes, they would be wide with eagerness. Do something, rope, Logan sent. If I don¡¯t survive, you¡¯re next. The rope swelled in size, acid dripping in a deluge. The user will get strong, the user will get strong. Opening its mouth, the muscles in its neck moving like a reverse regurgitating snake, it coughed like it was trying to expel a furball. Something flew out of its mouth. Something that glinted and bounced on the floor with a clang, something that resembled the four other rings on Logan¡¯s fingers. Hell yes. Asthea¡¯s True Grit Ring. It was behind the guards, just out of his reach. If Logan managed to grab it, the rings would dissolve into his body and the doubling effect would turn into a tripling effect. That meant he¡¯d increase his strength attribute from 232 to 348; his agility attribute from 242 to 363. Not to mention the others. Even if the guards were wearing a True Grit Ring, there was no way they¡¯d managed to get their hands on five each. Despite their massive level discrepancies, Logan might have a chance. But first, he needed to get that ring. ¡°Fuck you, furballs!¡± Backpedaling a few steps, Logan then crouched and envisioned the pink sock launching him into the air over the heads of the guards. Adrenaline surged through his body as the sock obeyed and rocketed him into the air. As he flew over the heads of two of the Thorin clones, at the last second, he slashed his talons into the shoulder and neck of one, shredding armour and skin and slicing to the bone. [480 seconds remaining.] A flash. ¡°Trickster!¡± bellowed the clone. Blood sprayed, splattering Logan¡¯s armour and faceplate. Logan had slashed it so deeply that it swayed before slamming to the floor with a groan. It wasn¡¯t dead, but Logan had incapacitated it. That was one down. But there was a problem. Errol had anticipated his move. He wrapped his whip around Logan¡¯s ankle without him realizing it. As he landed behind the guards, Errol snarled and jerked his whip, sending Logan off balance, making his next jump turn into a crash instead. Shit! The True Grit Ring glinted not five feet away, but Logan had landed on his back, and even with the cushion of his armour, his head slammed to the stone floor so hard he saw stars. Scrambling, his vision blurring, he tried to get up and jump¡ª Fuck! Thorin planted his foot on top of Logan¡¯s chest, grinding down over his chest plate and creating fine, hairline cracks in his armour. It felt like the force of his grip was immense, as if the weight of a house were pressing down on top of him and crushing him to death. As he struggled, he could see the discarded ring. Glinting. It may as well be back on Earth for all it would help him. [420 seconds remaining.] A flash. His mind scrambling, Logan desperately scanned through the contents of his spatial collar, searching for anything that could work. His baseball bat would be useless, not to mention that it would shatter like splintered wood if he hit the guards. Logan had advanced too far, gotten too high leveled and his bat had fallen behind. His barbeque lighter would do shit¡ªwhat was he going to do, light a shirt on fire and wave it in their faces? Plus, his body was creating a crater in the floor as Thorin continued pressing down, his eyes full of unhinged glee. The only other¡­ The guns! With a blink, Logan willed out the handgun, his finger already on the trigger as he pointed it at Thorin. With a click, the gun discharged, a sound like a backfiring engine making his ears ring. At first, he didn¡¯t understand what had happened. But then he realized that a small, trickling pool of blood was dripping down Thorin¡¯s leg. The man glanced at his injury and laughed. ¡°Is that the best you can do? What a weakling!¡± The other Thorin clones laughed with him, earie, echoing chuckles that made Logan¡¯s stomach lurch. It was as if they were having the time of their life and Logan was the butt of the joke. One of the other Thorin clones stomped on his arm, pinning his wrist and sending the gun flying. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. [360 seconds remaining.] A flash. Straining, Logan screamed as he tried to get away, but that only caused his chest plate to shatter and Thorin¡¯s foot to press directly on his bare chest. He¡¯d tried to give that area a cushion, but he might have made it weaker rather than stronger. A consequence of the sandstone material. A sharp, agonizing pain stabbed through him as he heard a crack. His ribcage. Without [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], the pain would have been so bad he could hardly think let alone fight, but the pain reduction skill might give him a chance. Rope, Logan sent, his mental voice tinged with desperation. I need you to jump down to the floor and throw the ring over here. You¡¯re my only hope. There was no response. Rope! ¡°It¡¯s too bad he isn¡¯t a higher level,¡± said Errol. ¡°Not much XP to divide amongst the three of us.¡± Arsen licked his lips, staring at a spot around Logan¡¯s neck. ¡°I suspect there might be other loot that¡¯ll be just as good.¡± He gave Thorin a look. ¡°You better do it. You¡¯ve weakened his armour, but my daggers won¡¯t break through that layer around his neck.¡± ¡°This¡¯ll be fun,¡± said Thorin with a shit-eating grin, his sword held in a two-handed grip. ¡°No!¡± Logan¡¯s eyes bulged as he strained with everything he had to get away, every ounce of his strength attribute. His veins stood out from his skin as his armour continued to crack and rain sand around him. Everything was unreal, as if he¡¯d taken a mental step back and he was looking at himself from outside of his body. This couldn¡¯t be happening. This couldn¡¯t be real. Thorin¡¯s sword flashed as it swung towards his neck. Weak like Hallkelsdottir after all, he heard the rope say. [300 seconds remaining.] A flash. Logan screamed internally, his heart in his throat, mentally beating at the walls of the skill to let him out. When he¡¯d deployed [Foresight], he thought it would be a tactical advantage, but he¡¯d never once thought it would let him foresee that in less than ten minutes, he¡¯d be dead. If he weren¡¯t frozen, he¡¯d be sick, a deep pit of dread opening inside of his stomach. But just because he¡¯d seen his death didn¡¯t mean the skill was up. Logan¡¯s body was slack, lifeless, his head decapitated and gushing blood like a tipped over gallon of paint. Thorin was holding up Logan¡¯s spatial storage cat collar. It was covered in blood and the tags jiggled as he moved it. In puzzlement, he scrutinized the ¡®Name: Idiot, a large male human¡¯ engraving. With his mouth gaping in shock, he clenched his fist around the collar and looked at the others. ¡°The clever off-worlder tried to disguise his spatial storage device as odd-looking pet jewellery. But brothers¡­ have I got news for you! It¡¯s S Grade.¡± Errol stopped pulling off the rings from Logan¡¯s fingers and looked up, frozen in shock. ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°Got your attention with that, didn¡¯t I?¡± As the Silverdagger Clan continued to shout in exuberance as if they¡¯d discovered a pile of gold, Logan¡¯s shock turned to¡­ something else. Rage. Pure, unbridled rage. Would he have to watch these fuckers dig through his belongings for the remainder of the skill? [240 seconds remaining.] A flash. He soon had his answer. The System had sent him somewhere else. He caught glimpses of warriors¡ªmen and women with wolf-like ears assembled on a battlefield facing an army of humans. The wolf warriors stomped their feet and howled a battle cry as the ground vibrated like an earthquake. At the front, stood Asthea. Her silver, long hair was loose down to her waist, her sharp cheekbones flushed with red, wolf-like ears pointing straight up and at attention. She was wearing battle regalia¡ªfull armour with a fur-lined cloak, silver filaments in her hair and war paint on her face. To one side, she held her crossbow, but her other arm was missing. Noticeably missing, the empty sleeve drooping to the side. On the other end, the humans stood motionless, stoic, not flinching, automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, their clothes covered in splashes of dried blood. And amongst the crowd was Lara, looking like death worn over. She¡¯d pulled her hair into a long brown ponytail, a streak of blood on one cheek. She was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a vest fastened tight to her throat. Over one shoulder was a rifle, a knife in her other hand. That more than anything made his heart race. Lara was a great shooter¡ªbut with crossbows, not guns. Until work had overtaken her free time, she¡¯d attended the local shooting competitions and could kick the ass of any man. More than a gun range, bow shooting was huge in the Okanagan. Then the scene was gone. Logan tried to grasp onto it with all his mental fortitude, but it was too late. Fuck. His heart was racing. Beyond witnessing his own death, that scene filled him with terror more than anything else. Was this what would happen in the future? He needed to help Lara! [180 seconds remaining.] A flash. Logan felt his adrenaline surge as he saw Ernie underwater, waving his tentacles and pacing up and down a line of undead sturgeons. A pale Ernie swished through the water, his tentacles going so fast it made him look as if he were a conductor. The sturgeons¡¯ red eyes were glinting in adoration, their ratty black tails wagging like dogs as they listened to Ernie with rapt attention. Logan felt a flutter of hope at seeing that¡ªErnie wasn¡¯t drooling like a rabid zombie in the Walking Dead; he wasn¡¯t mindless; he was Ernie. Logan tried to say something, but the System swept him away to the next scene. [120 seconds remaining.] A flash. And something¡­ else had materialized instead. Logan stopped short, not knowing what he was looking at¡ªthe sight didn¡¯t compute. In front of him stood a man. He was tall, slender, with salt and pepper hair and a long aquiline nose. His face was bare of facial hair, his eyes pale blue. He wore nothing but black¡ªwell tailored black slacks and a leather belt, and a black long-sleeved shirt. In front of him, immense unlit billboards covered a boardwalk. Next to the signs were hotels¡ªresorts. The air smelled of asphalt and oil, that greasy street smell, but the streets were empty of cars. Logan had been here before. For Lara¡¯s wedding. Vegas. The slender man walked down the empty street with a face devoid of expression. Logan got the distinct, odd feeling from him. Even though he wasn¡¯t scanning him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] and in fact couldn¡¯t if he wanted to¡­ the man gave off an aura, a killing intent that would have made the hair on the back of Logan¡¯s neck stand up. In the background, Logan could hear fighting, the sounds of a struggle. And gradually, he became aware of people¡ªpeople staring into the street in fear; people rushing down the sidewalk and overpasses, bundles of water bottles in their arms; others who gave the man speculative looks, calculating looks before suddenly blanching and fleeing. The man continued walking in the middle of the street as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. It was hot, so hot the sun should have forced beads of sweat to run down his forehead. But he wasn¡¯t sweating; it was as if he were made of ice. He came to a stop. And stood there. Staring. Holding out his hands palm-side up, he looked up at the sky, his eyes flashing blue once before¡­ something happened. A dark, oily substance emitted from his palms, seeping out of his pores, a deluge. It spread from his hands and over top of his head, drifting like an oil spill. Like a black cloud. It covered the blue sky and blocked the sun, creating a film-covered world. The man¡¯s eyes flashed one more time, and then the black substance increased to a flood, spreading like an oil-tanker. The cloud covered the whole street and began to drift over to the billboards, then the hotels. A hundred feet. Two hundred. Three. With a self-satisfied smile, the man slowly dropped his hands, but the black film continued to hang over the sky, covering the area in darkness. Logan might as well be standing next to the man. There was a pressure in the air, a thickness. It would be like trying to breathe through a straw stuffed full of cotton. And on top of that, the tar-like substance was insidious. Seeping into a person¡¯s lungs one molecule at a time, then seeping into their bloodstream and robbing them of oxygen. Gradually, Logan could hear sounds. Sounds of distressed people. Screaming. Running. The man smiled. Logan shuddered. He had no idea what that black film did, but he suspected the man was leveling up as he watched, standing there and absorbing XP increase after XP increase. With a passive XP farming skill like that, he could move from city to city, spreading that darkness and leveling up. There would be no need to fight monster swarms, no need to fight at all. The consequences were difficult to grasp. Frightening in its scope. [60 seconds until skill depletion!] Logan gasped. As the scene of carnage continued to play out in front of him, he divorced his mind from it as urgency surged. If the skill ¡®depletion¡¯ meant that the System was about to send him back to the viewing arena right before it had frozen him in place, he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time. He now knew the value of [Foresight]. Without it, he would have made a huge mistake. A mistake that would have resulted in his death! It was like having a head-on collision and getting the chance to retrace your steps before the crash. He could avoid it. Avoid his death. If he were smart, if he thought outside the box. Logan had made two mistakes. First, not being offensive right away. After the shock of the attack on Asthea, Logan had tried to appeal to the guards¡¯ better sensibilities. That was the guilt talking. It was in his nature. If he¡¯d attacked the Silverdagger Clan right after his own weapon had eaten Asthea¡¯s arm¡­ well, one of Thorin¡¯s clones might as well have taken over Logan¡¯s body. But being apologetic, trying to deescalate the situation¡­ it had been a mistake. After all, Logan had already come to the conclusion that if it had been Lara in Asthea¡¯s place, he wouldn¡¯t have listened to reason. He would have come out swinging. Questions about why someone had attacked would be the last thing on his mind. He wouldn¡¯t have cared. Acting tentative wouldn¡¯t be how he¡¯d win against those odds. He¡¯d been too wishy-washy. To survive the fight against people who were higher leveled than him, he needed to think five steps ahead. That meant he needed to be ruthless. His second mistake had been focusing too much on his physical attributes. Even if he managed to grab the last True Grit Ring and triple his attributes, it might not be enough. Not against the three guards and Thorin¡¯s five clones. Instead of deploying his best assets, he¡¯d relied on his armour and talons and [Liche Siphon], expecting that would be enough to win the day. Other than fighting the men in the cabin, Logan had never been in a fight against a person one-on-one. He could make an argument that he had fought the golden blobs, but the stakes had been too low. If he had lost that battle and lost his life, he would have come back anyway¡ªthey were NPCs. But the Silverdagger Clan were real. They knew the System and how to deploy their physical attributes to the best advantage. People who knew how to fight. Fight and win. The guards were familiar with physical attributes, but they were less comfortable with anything outside of it. It would be safe to say that Logan had seen everything they had on offer, and the best skill was Thorin¡¯s clone ability¡ªbut again, that was physical. Arsen had warned the others that Logan had [Life Cycle Master]. He¡¯d been wary as if the skill were uncommon. In a life-or-death threat where he needed his best assets, why hadn¡¯t Logan gone with what until now had been his most valuable, epic skill? It could create a star. If he couldn¡¯t figure out how to deploy it against three assholes, then he deserved the ¡®Idiot¡¯ name the System had given him after all. Logan thought he had a way forward. But he had a hair¡¯s breadth chance of success. One wrong move and he¡¯d be back under Thorin¡¯s sword. Unlike last time, he was coming out swinging, he¡¯d be ruthless, he¡¯d be smart. He was going to fuck them up. [Skill depleted!] *** Logan opened his eyes with a gasp, feeling a shudder ricochet through his body that shook him to the core. He felt disoriented and on shaky ground. But he knew this scene. He knew what was about to happen. Thorin was about to stop chasing the Cursed Rope and devote all his attention on Logan. He was getting ready to deploy his clones, but Logan could stop him. Unlike last time, he knew what he had to do. ¡°Thorin!¡± Clenching his fists, his diamond covered talons glinting in the lights of the room, Logan gave them a bright grin, trying to look purposely unhinged. ¡°You¡¯re giving up that easy? Don¡¯t you know what it¡¯s saying to me? Whispering in my ear? The Cursed Rope thinks you¡¯re weak. That you¡¯re pathetic. And that Asthea was the weakest of you all.¡± Chapter 93: Birth to Death, Part 1 of 2 Logan had gone through a ton of hardship since the System invaded, through heartache and pain. The lessons he¡¯d learned had been tough. It was difficult to believe that his experience with Eleanor and the rabid squirrel had only been a week ago. That encounter had forced Logan to realize that to succeed in this new world, he needed to make hard decisions. By letting the squirrel go, he¡¯d caused Eleanor¡¯s death. If he could take back the whole sequence of events to return Eleanor back to life, he¡¯d do it in a heartbeat, but he knew that wasn¡¯t possible. Logan had learned that he needed to make tough decisions in his new world. Where before he might have let a monster or a killer go, called the police or walked away, now he knew that if he didn¡¯t put them down, that decision would come back to haunt him. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d learned that lesson when he¡¯d killed the murderers in the cabin. Killing another human¡ªnot a monster¡ªwas so beyond his wheelhouse it might as well be on a different planet. That encounter had left a lasting impression and even after the snake swarm fight and the torture of the trials, it had shaken him; it had stayed with him, shaping him and influencing everything to come. Look, Logan had wanted to say, I can make tough decisions. I can kill if needed. To protect those I love, I¡¯ll do whatever it takes. But it was a lie. Logan had learned that to succeed, to survive, he needed to be brutal. Ruthless. He couldn¡¯t ¡®talk¡¯ people out of a fight. If a whole host of events hadn¡¯t lined up exactly¡ªfrom the existence of the glitchy AI minion to having Asthea log an error report with the System Admins¡ªit wouldn¡¯t have mattered. Logan wouldn¡¯t be standing here. Logan would be dead. If he failed, there would be a high chance that Lara and the kids would be on their own, which meant that in less than a year, they¡¯d die. There was no chance for the kids to advance into the one percent. And not just Lara¡¯s kids, but all of them. Without Logan, no one would know about the Save Humanity Quest. When he¡¯d lost his fight against the Silverdagger Clan, he¡¯d doomed them. That consequence meant there was no room for caution. If he were in a life-or-death fight, he needed to deploy tactics that would have made the pre-System Integration Logan cringe. And rage was a hell of a motivator. These assholes had been nothing but schoolyard bullies from the start. Treating the trial as nothing but a way to boost Asthea¡¯s attributes and acting pissed off when Logan had used the skills the System had given him. They had arbitrary rules they¡¯d never explained, boiled sentient animals alive for skill rings, and they would have happily doomed humanity to a purge given the chance. They needed to be taught a lesson. They needed a smackdown. And it was coming right now. ¡°Repeat that,¡± hissed Arsen. ¡°If you dare.¡± The others were staring at Logan like offended cats, their already enraged visages getting darker. ¡°I said,¡± Logan spat, half his attention on stretching his senses, latching onto Errol and activating [Liche Siphon]. ¡°The rope thinks you¡¯re weak. It has opinions on your race¡ªfrankly, racist opinions¡ªbut they aren¡¯t my opinions. They¡¯re the rope¡¯s. It says you¡¯re unintelligent, that you think with your steroid enhanced muscles rather than your brains.¡± ¡°Steroids?¡± Thorin muttered. ¡°For you, Arsen, it thinks you walk behind Asthea like a loyal dog, wagging its tail and trying to snatch any scraps she throws under the table. But instead of kneeling at her feet, you¡¯d rather be between her legs. You sick man. It¡¯s seen into your thoughts! Not a father figure after all, huh?¡± This time, Logan wasn¡¯t picking the man with the highest Karma pool¡ªhe was picking the weakest. And yet the Karma would still funnel too slowly: 660/810. 710/810. 760/810. But that would change soon. Arsen glanced up at the ceiling and eyed the rope like he wanted to leap up, grab it with his teeth and chew it to death. ¡°What is it implying? That I have unpure thoughts about my princess? It dares!¡± ¡°Oh, like it isn¡¯t true,¡± Logan said with a snort. Immediately, the rope communicated affront. Betrayal. Friends don¡¯t lie. Sorry, buddy, Logan sent. You left me to die. This is what you get. Confusion came from the rope, but Logan didn¡¯t have time to worry about the sensibilities of a misbehaving sentient weapon. Based on the way it had acted, it had more coming to it beyond a few lies. If anyone needed to take one for the team, it was the rope. ¡°And Thorin,¡± said Logan. The man held his clone skill ring, but he hadn¡¯t yet put it on, only idly running his thumb over the edges of the glinting metal while he glowered at Logan. ¡°The rope saw into Asthea¡¯s thoughts. She thinks you¡¯re a buffoon, man. A joke. The rope told me that after you lost the strength trial, Asthea decided to replace you. She only invited you to be one of her guards as a favor to your family. No wonder she¡¯s lying there on death¡¯s door. You couldn¡¯t protect a fly.¡± Thorin ground his teeth. ¡°Lies!¡± ¡°Really? I thought Hallkelsdottir¡¯s weapon was evil incarnate, so powerful that it made your world tremble to its knees. You¡¯re telling me that it can¡¯t read someone¡¯s thoughts?¡± Rope, said Logan, jump down and pass over Thorin, spraying him with your acid and electricity. Betrayer, it said. Why should the rope obey the user? Liar liar liar. Because if you don¡¯t, once I deal with these assholes, I¡¯m going to create a bonfire and throw you on it. Then I¡¯ll laugh as your rope fibres shrivel and fry. Logan made his mental voice hard, like steel. You don¡¯t want to piss me off. Logan got the sense that he¡¯d startled the rope. Intrigued it. The user will get strong; the user will get strong, it said, shivering in delight from up above. With a crackle of electricity, the Cursed Rope detached itself from the ceiling and jumped through the air. It was missing its tail, so its jump was more like a wobble, but it was still speedy enough that it skimmed the top of Thorin¡¯s head, spewing acid and electricity before it zoomed back up to the ceiling and slithered to the far side of the room. ¡°You see!¡± Logan said. ¡°It¡¯s proving how weak everyone thinks you are by taunting you. It doesn¡¯t think you can kill it! You¡¯re pathetic! If you fell in a bucket of tits, you¡¯d end up sucking your thumb!¡± ¡°Foul-mouthed abomination!¡± Thorin hissed in pain and touched the top of his head with a scowl. Acid had drizzled over his head, giving him raw, red-looking patches on his scalp. The whole time Logan had been talking, he¡¯d been deploying [Life Cycle Master] and searching for a way forward. With the insects, he¡¯d managed to go directly to their brains, but he¡¯d already decided that wouldn¡¯t work. Instead, Logan scanned the room, searching for a workable alternative. Thorin¡¯s lifeforce was like a bright, red glowing light. Logan suspected the red represented his anger. He needed to look beyond it. But that was easier said than done. In a peaceful kumbaya environment with Logan sitting in a lotus position with no stress, no threat of death¡­ it might have been easy. Instead, Logan had to figure this out while his nerves were speeding forward at full throttle. It would be like trying to complete algebra while hundreds of ants crawled over every inch of his body. Stolen story; please report. But if he¡¯d been able to figure out how to direct the insects in the dexterity trial while they were chewing through his skin and swallowing chunks of his flesh, he could push forward. There was no other option. [Life Cycle Master] was a growing skill. He¡¯d mastered the art of growing trees and plants, but first he needed seeds. And if he removed a tomato from his spatial collar and used the seeds inside the fruit, that wasn¡¯t practical. Logan could just picture the Silverdagger Clan laughing as Logan focused on growing a bunch of tomato plants. He¡¯d be so focused on growing them like an idiot right until Thorin swung his sword and cut him down. No, beyond a tomato plant, more importantly, the skill allowed him to control the lifecycle of organisms. He¡¯d managed to nudge the mold in the endurance trial, forcing them to replicate. So seeds, mold, and¡ª Wait. Was that¡­ A bright stab of pain flared behind Logan¡¯s eyes as a gush of blood trickled from his nose. If he squinted past Thorin¡¯s bright aura, warping his perception like looking behind an eclipse, he could sense other things within Thorin. It was difficult; it was giving him a migraine, but it was there. He just had to disregard the pain, keep funneling Karma into [Life Cycle Master], and narrow in on what he wanted. It was like looking at one grain of rice inside of a rice bowl. Hard to do at first since every grain looked the same, but once you had it, it wasn¡¯t getting away. Tiny, tiny lifeforces. So tiny that they were blips and then gone. But they were there. Within Thorin¡¯s mouth, concentrated around his teeth and incisors, were bright, microscopic spots of life. These were separate from Thorin¡¯s main lifeforce and lived symbiotic inside the man. Fungi. Bacteria. And not just his mouth. If Logan looked deeper and concentrated on the man¡¯s stomach, he could see dozens¡ªdozens upon dozens of spots. These weren¡¯t symbiotic, but rather contained within his stomach. The seeds from an undigested fruit. And larvae that had laid eggs inside of the meat the guards had been so ferociously eating as well as the severed tail of a chewed-up tapeworm that had been wrapped around a tendon inside the animal¡¯s thigh. Not just that, but underneath Thorin¡¯s claws, he had dirt, bacteria and unhatched bugs. Flies had landed, or he¡¯d clawed up contaminated earth. His hygiene was lacking, all to Logan¡¯s benefit. Excitement surging, Logan kept talking while bouncing from foot to foot, but only one third of his concentration was on what he was saying, the rest was devoted to deploying [Life Cycle Master]. ¡°As for Errol,¡± said Logan, ¡°brother, you¡¯ve disappointed everyone. The rope whispers in my ear. It says that your soul is corrupted and littered with evil. Caring more about Droplaug than your duty. You would doom Asthea to pain if it served your own ends. How can you possibly be one of her guards when she can¡¯t even trust you?¡± ¡°Watch your tongue!¡± ¡°They were talking about you in the viewing arena, you know. Saying how you¡¯re tainted. Take it from someone who knows. Why else would the System assign you an evil army?¡± Hesitating as if at war with himself, Errol¡¯s angry expression wavered, and his whip sagged in his hand. Looking to the other guards with his ears drooping, he said, ¡°Brothers, is the abomination correct? You think I¡¯m evil?¡± He¡¯d taken the bait. Meanwhile, Logan was already at work. Concentrating on the fungi within Thorin¡¯s mouth, Logan said, that doesn¡¯t seem like a very comfortable perch while backing up slowly and creeping away from the guards. The fungi perked to attention as if coming out of a slumber. Question? it responded. Logan tried to sound coaxing, encouraging. Don¡¯t you want to spread, don¡¯t you want to multiply? The fungi sent back a mental shrug. Lazy lazy lazy. Sleep sleep sleep. At the rate you¡¯re going, you¡¯ll have to wait years until your host dies and decomposes. You don¡¯t want to wait that long to replicate. Question? Years and years, not very efficient for a group of healthy fungi. Fungi that want to spread. But¡­ lazy lazy lazy? No, I know that¡¯s not true. You¡¯re a strong group of fungi, fungi that wants to spread and breed. The fungi sent a feeling of intrigue Logan¡¯s way. We are strong! Breeding is our purpose! one fungus chirped. It was lodged around Thorin¡¯s back molar. A molar that unlike on a human, had a sharp, pointy end. Our purpose! chirped another fungus. This one was clinging to the gum underneath Thorin¡¯s top incisor and was already spreading shooting tendrils as it bounced in excitement. A group of microscopic fungi clinging to the surface of Thorin¡¯s tongue chimed in excitedly. Our purpose! Our purpose! You¡¯ll want to colonize from within. Spread your feelers down your host¡¯s throat and down to his lungs. Lungs are the best breeding ground for a happy, healthy fungus. Nice and warm, humid. Heaven. Lungs! Lungs! Lungs! Logan grinned, but he wasn¡¯t done. A sore throat and clogged airways wouldn¡¯t stop Thorin, especially when he launched his clones. Arsen was giving Logan a ferocious frown and unfortunately, he was paying close attention to him as he retreated. Arsen was hard to fool. ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to talk about this,¡± he said to Errol. ¡°Idiot here is just trying to delay his inevitable death. He¡¯s stalling.¡± Errol¡¯s face dropped. ¡°So you do think that. Does Asthea as well? I love Droplaug, of course I do, but that doesn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t do my duty. Being one of Asthea¡¯s guards means everything to me. I would never do anything to jeopardize it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid. This isn¡¯t the time and place.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Logan let Errol¡¯s objection go in one ear and out the other. He was too focused on the next stage in his plan. Errol¡¯s distress grew, and Arsen was forced to turn his attention to him and away from Logan. He was no longer examining Logan like his life depended upon it. While they were arguing, Logan continued to creep backwards, small unnoticeable shuffles. He needed to create distance so that when they inevitably went after him, he¡¯d have room. And talk about a successful diversion. Logan hadn¡¯t thought the chances of distracting the guards with accusations would work, but boy, was he wrong. And yet, he knew they¡¯d come to their senses eventually, which meant when Thorin put on his skill ring and generated his clones, Logan would be outclassed yet again. He needed to be speedy. He needed to be sneaky. This was going to be tricky. If Thorin got wind of what Logan was doing, he¡¯d stop arguing and put his attention towards cutting him down. Logan needed to incapacitate him stealthily, growing the things inside his stomach simultaneously so they¡¯d explode all at once. Logan glanced at his Karma pool again: 660/810. 510/810. 460/810. Yes! It was draining rapidly, which meant that he would be draining Errol¡¯s Karma just as fast. Errol was still standing around as if nothing were wrong, but that was the beauty of [Liche Siphon]. It was insidious. For this next part, he needed to be focused, he needed to be a master. Logan took every ounce of anger that he¡¯d felt after watching them kick his corpse, every inch of rage, and funneled it into [Life Cycle Master], latching onto the fruit seeds and larvae inside of Thorin¡¯s stomach, acting as if they were one and the same. He¡¯d accidently grown bark ants back at the cabin, and if he¡¯d done that by accident, surely, he could make a monster on purpose. But the seed was odd. The size of an orange seed, but pink with violet spots and black fuzz. Despite it being odd, it was still a seed. Logan pretended it was like the raspberry plants. Grinding his teeth, he nudged it along, envisioning a shoot growing and then not just envisioning it¡ªhe made it happen. At first, the shoot stalled. Logan had an image of a normal shoot in mind, something like the green sprouts from his bean plants. This plant wasn¡¯t the same. When he figured that out and realized the plant had a purple stem, Logan changed his perspective, thinking of a tropical rainforest, thinking of¡­ It was from a tree. Holy shit. On Thorin¡¯s world, they must have fruit trees that hosted fruit that looked like purple avocados. Logan knew how to grow trees. Logan was a tree master. But that wasn¡¯t all he wanted. As he commanded the shoot to suck moisture from Thorin¡¯s stomach, Logan pictured the larvae and interwove the roots of the tree into the bug. Like a maggot, the larvae started to hatch, wiggling like a worm, but it wasn¡¯t hatching like normal. It was part of the fruit tree. Logan grinned. Thorin scratched his chest. It was a gentle scratch at first, and then a vigorous scratch as if he had a rash. Pulling his amour away from his chest and creating a gap between his clothing, he wiggled his shoulders and shifted in place. ¡°Brothers, I feel weird.¡± Thorin coughed and spat a glob of spit. ¡°Like I have a spot of Nonzucklo flu.¡± Lungs! Lungs! Lungs! chanted the fungi. Just what he wanted. The fungi were spreading down Thorin¡¯s throat and into his lungs, while the shoots inside of his stomach continued to grow. Better yet, all this work needed a massive Karma surge. Logan¡¯s pool was rapidly draining: 360/810. 210/810. 160/810. But he didn¡¯t stop there. With a grunt of effort, Logan focused on the unhatched bugs underneath Thorin¡¯s claws. Nudging them along, he envisioned the eggs wiggling and morphing into maggots, and then morphing into wiggling worms. But that wasn¡¯t all he wanted. You¡¯re a part of Thorin. A Thorin bug. Logan commanded the larvae to merge with Thorin¡¯s skin. It was back to visualization. Just like he¡¯d created his armour by forcing the sandstone grains to compact and come together, he envisioned Thorin¡¯s skin and the worm coming together like a patchwork quilt. Underneath the fine hairs on the pads of Thorin¡¯s fingers, the worm buried in, acting like ticks that had latched onto the ends of his finger pads. Wiggling worms. Thorin stopped scratching, suddenly stopping short, his expression full of confusion before it warped into horror as he peered at his fingers. Yelping like a dog, he shook his hands like trying to throw off cobwebs, then started to hack and cough. ¡°Brothers! Abomination! T-there¡¯s something¡ª¡± cough ¡°¡ªwrong! I c-can¡¯t breathe and there¡¯s¡ª!¡± Thorin screamed. Arsen looked at him in confusion before his expression cleared in realization. ¡°The off-worlder is deploying his skills! Quick, Thorin, launch your clones!¡± But Thorin had no time to spare for his clones. Screaming, he grabbed his sword and started¡­ Damn. Cutting off the ends of his fingers. Chapter 93: Birth to Death, Part 2 of 2 Logan felt his stomach lurch but then he tightened his lips in resolve. Hell, if Thorin cut off all his fingers, all the better. That meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to deploy his clones. ¡°Thorin!¡± Arsen¡¯s face was pale. His head recoiled at the sight, his eyes wide and staring, but he had the presence of mind to rush towards Thorin and snatch his discarded skill ring from the floor. Swiping it from a pool of blood, he threw Logan a savage glare and jammed it on his finger. The air tightened, and one after another, five other Arsen clones materialized in the room. They had the same hedge-hog hair, the same mud and blood stripes on their face. The same resolute expressions. Logan tried to hold back his grin, but it was impossible. He suspected his eyes were glowing with satisfaction. Whether they were Thorin clones or Arsen clones were the same. Right now, they were just meat sacks full of one thing. Karma. As more Arsen copies materialized, it meant it would take a massive amount of Karma to deploy the same strategy. A cycle of growing and Karma depletion. Growing and Karma depletion. Already, Errol was moving sluggishly as if the man had slammed down ten pints of nonaonalic juice. Better yet, he had no idea what was happening or what was causing it. To him, he felt tired without a cause. But Logan knew why: 80/810. 60/810. 40/810. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Thorin! We¡¯ll get him!¡± Wobbling, Errol blinked his foggy eyes, his hands going limp and his one-hundred-pound whip slamming to the floor with a crack. He shook his head, his Adam¡¯s apple bobbing as he looked down at the floor in disbelief. Errol had just enough strength to take one more step before he collapsed in a heap. A massive collapse as if his strings had been cut. ¡°Errol!¡± Arsen shouted. His five clones stopped as one and gave Errol looks of horror. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 77 Silverthorn male! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Holy shit, Logan had obtained seven levels from one kill! In a normal situation, he¡¯d be throwing the extra attribute points into his intelligence or wisdom attributes to upgrade his Karma pool or Karma regeneration rate, but this time, he purposely held back. To allow [Liche Siphon] to drain the guards, he needed lower Karma, not more. ¡°W-what¡¯s w-wrong with him?¡± said Thorin, clawing at his chest, his stubbed, sliced fingers spreading a trail of blood. Arsen crouched next to Errol and shook him. His clones stood in a circle as if uncertain what to do. ¡°Brother? Brother!¡± He looked up. ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Then pinning Logan with a look full of murder, his lips pulling back and baring his incisors, he blasted his aura in a killing intent. ¡°Trickster! Abomination!¡± Logan was already re-launching [Liche Siphon], this time focusing on Arsen¡¯s clones. He reached across the room and envisioned sucking the first clone¡¯s lifeforce, funnelling his Karma into Logan¡¯s pool like turning on a hose. But he didn¡¯t stop there. Bridging the distance, he pictured that hose not just going to Logan. Instead, it looped from the first clone to the next. He created a tether that linked each clone, visualizing a valve that connected them in an endless loop and funneled their Karma pools towards Logan like a city¡¯s pipe infrastructure. Ding! [Liche Siphon is Level 3!] [Liche Siphon is Level 4!] [Liche Siphon is Level 5!] Arsen was charging at him with his daggers in a white-knuckled grip, the veins in his neck standing out in rage. ¡°Thorin! Corner him!¡± But Thorin could hardly stand, let alone corner Logan. That meant he still had to deal with Arsen¡¯s clones. Unlike Thorin, Logan couldn¡¯t sense unhatched eggs underneath his claws, so that was out. However¡­ Logan held back a frown of distaste. In the tactician trial, Arsen had waded through a swamp, and mud clung to his hair and clothes. He even had caking, dried stripes of mud on his face. And even worse, he¡¯d managed to swallow handfuls of the brackish, soupy water. Looking past his bright lifeforce, Logan could sense pinprick after pinprick of life. He¡¯d swallowed insect eggs. The blood from his nose was getting worse and dripping down to his mouth, likely making him look macabre underneath his facemask, but Logan didn¡¯t care. The more blood the better. That meant he was expending Karma. But that was all the time he had to examine Arsen before the man rushed at Logan, his feet pounding, his chest bouncing up and down as he stormed after him with his daggers held out and ready to stab. His clones mirrored him, rushing Logan from all sides, trying to pummel him and pile on top of him like football players tackling a quarterback. Logan darted to the side, kicking off with his pink sock-clad foot and picturing himself hitting the opposite wall and then bouncing back like a boomerang. Without Errol¡¯s whip, there was no reason to worry about someone pulling him off balance by the ankle. Arsen and his clones would have to catch him instead. This would be tricky. Logan needed to deploy [Life Cycle Master] while darting around and running, dashing, summersaulting¡­ using every ounce of his 242 agility points at his disposal. Arsen was level 93; his highest stat was strength, and it was possible that he was wearing one or two True Grit rings. But Logan was betting that the man couldn¡¯t match his agility score. Better yet, with [Undead Stamina], there was no way he could outlast him. Logan could dart around like a madman, slashing Arsen¡¯s clones with his talons, and eventually wear the man out. But that wasn¡¯t his goal. His goal was to give himself enough time to deploy [Life Cycle Master]. He was going for broke with the skill. While pivoting on his feet and bouncing the other way, he already had a picture of the eggs inside of Arsen¡¯s stomach. He¡¯d latched onto them like a predator in sight of prey. A burst of pain behind his eyes like a stabbing poker, blood gushing in a torrent from his nose, Logan wrenched, and forced the eggs inside of Arsen to hatch. From thin, pale eggs barely the size of the tine of a paperclip, to small brown larva with ridges like a worm, to a pupa half the size of a house fly. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Arsen demanded. ¡°You¡¯re retreating? Coward!¡±. Logan paid his words no mind, all his attention on forcing the pupa to hatch as he darted around the room. Arsen¡¯s clones came at him from all sides, but they were ineffectual. Without Errol¡¯s whip, there was no way to pin him down. And Thorin was useless¡ªhe was kneeling on the ground, his face green as he hacked and struggled to get air. Taking another running leap, Logan slashed the closest Arsen clone with his talons, scoring deep gouges into his chest. The clone made a sound of pain and wobbled in place, but it was still on its feet. Logan ground his teeth and refocused on the pupa inside the original Arsen¡¯s stomach. Wrenching, he forced the pupa to form legs, three on each side of its body. Logan pushed, and then nudged the insect to form a head next, a hundred red eyes blinking in sudden awareness. The pain of dying was in his command, his desperation to get back to Lara and the kids, his resolution to save Ernie. He would do it for them, he would overcome. His nose pouring like a faucet and the pain continuing like hellfire behind his eyes, Logan forced the insect¡¯s wings to form: one wing, two wings, three, and finally four. It was some kind of warped version of a swamp fly. It had six legs and four wings, and a pointed head with a hundred eyes. Clenching his fist to focus his concentration, Logan screamed as he repeated the same steps, hatching insect after insect: six, a dozen, twenty, fifty! By now, the original Arsen had slowed, and he swallowed convulsively as if trying to hold down acid. Hacking and spitting, his eyes bulged, and he dropped his daggers to the ground. They made a clanging, metal on stone sound. ¡°What did you do?¡± he spat. Coughing, his face grew red, and he clutched at his neck as if he were choking. A reek emitted from his body like rotting meat. Then as if unable to hold it in, he opened his mouth, sticking out his swelling tongue and gagging as the first fly crawled out. It was the size of a horsefly, with six hairy black legs with claws on the ends. It bounced on the end of Arsen¡¯s tongue, and a hundred swivelling red eyes peered at Logan in analytical curiosity. Then another fly. Until a swarm poured out of his mouth, an endless stream of flies. Ugh. Even though Logan had been the one to do it, he couldn¡¯t deny that the sight turned his stomach. But the grossness factor was irrelevant against winning. Logan pulled up his Karma. 120/810. 60/810. 10/810. Hell yeah! ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have fucked with me,¡± he said, his voice dark. And just like that, Arsen¡¯s eyes rolled back in his head as the insidious nature of [Liche Siphon] drained his Karma pool and sucked him dry. With a pop, Logan¡¯s ears ringing, Arsen¡¯s clones vanished as if they¡¯d never existed in the first place. He was dead. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 93 Silverthorn male! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan had received nine level increases from Arsen¡¯s death. A glow of righteous satisfaction suffused his limbs. A feeling of knowing that he¡¯d deployed everything he¡¯d had, every molecule of his willpower towards defeating Arsen, and he¡¯d come out on top. Logan felt a self-satisfied smile creep across his mouth as he stared down at Arsen¡¯s corpse. He wanted to bask in the feeling of coming out on top, of relief, of knowing that he only had one more step, and he¡¯d be finally through this whole ordeal. That¡¯s why he was irritated when that feeling was interrupted by an insect flying into his face. Logan curled his lip. His emotions were already raw, and he¡¯d dealt with enough insects to last a lifetime. A hundred flies were buzzing around the room, flying into his face and swarming. Being pests. Annoyed, with his senses wide open and with [Life Cycle Master] still deployed, Logan latched onto the flies, grabbing onto each pinprick of life and commanded them to¡­ stop. One fly dropped. Two. Two dozen, and then fifty. One by one, the flies stopped mid-flight as if they¡¯d been zapped with electricity. A hundred insects were now on the floor, lying on their backs, their insect legs limp, their red eyes sightless. Dead. Logan gasped. He¡­ may have a world-ending skill. Birth to death. Until now, he¡¯d never looked at the skill definition and wondered how that would apply to the extremes. Birthing a being seemed obvious¡ªhe¡¯d done it with the trees and the green beans; he¡¯d created a new being with the bark ants and with the purple plant inside Thorin¡¯s stomach. But he¡¯d ended it there. Not once had he thought, what if he went further? What if he continued pushing, forcing a living being beyond what was healthy, beyond¡­ well, beyond life. Death. But he still had one more guard to handle. Collapsing his facemask and revealing his blood-soaked face, Logan strode over to Thorin. The man was now sitting on his ass and drooping to the side, the happy fungi still at work. His chest moved up and down erratically as if he couldn¡¯t get enough air, his fingers nothing but bloody stubs. He had a cut on his chest, a raw looking wound as if he¡¯d tried to dig into his own insides. Within the raw opening, purple stems and leaves were writhing underneath his skin, a warped tree insect eating away at his insides. The rest of his belly looked as if his skin were a tree, his veins replaced with roots. ¡°Y-you¡¯re really,¡± he rasped and then swallowed, sounding like he was breathing through wet fabric. ¡°Y-you¡¯re really a t-trickster after all.¡± Logan looked down at the sword abandoned by Thorin¡¯s side. Somehow, it seemed like karmic justice to use the same weapon on Thorin that had sent Logan to his death. ¡°Logan,¡± Thorin groaned with a cough. ¡°Y-you hate me. I-I understand.¡± His lips were blue. ¡°B-but if you have any d-decency left, don¡¯t hurt Asthea. She t-thought of you a-as a friend.¡± ¡°Save your breath, man,¡± said Logan and despite his best efforts to remain stoic, a fission of compassion settled into his belly. Thorin¡¯s last thought wasn¡¯t towards himself, it wasn¡¯t a burning hate of Logan. With his last, desperate breath, he pleaded for his princess. That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to do what was necessary. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± Thorin turned his face away as if in relief that his pain would finally be over. With a rasping sigh, he closed his eyes. ¡°You brought this on yourself.¡± With a grunt, Logan swung the sword and used all his hard-earned strength and dexterity to give him a quick end. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 99 Silverthorn male! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan dropped Thorin¡¯s sword. It ricochetted against the floor, its blade covered in blood. Wiping the blood specks from his face, he stared sightlessly off into the distance. He couldn¡¯t believe it was over. Adrenaline was surging through his body, his senses hyper alert. After dying, after feeling so helpless against the guards in the first encounter, the past hour had felt unreal. Logan had killed three guards who were out of his league, and he hadn¡¯t even had to deploy the extra attribute points after leveling up. For the first time, Logan understood the true value of [Life Cycle Master]. Birth to death. Whether it was controlling fungi and mold, guiding insects, growing trees or birthing beings, the skill could do it all. But it could also kill. It was beyond anything he¡¯d ever contemplated. Thinking that [Life Cycle Master] wasn¡¯t valuable in a combat situation was laughable. Ever since he¡¯d made that mistake with Eleanor and then merged [Life Cycle] into [Life Cycle Master], he¡¯d had a weapon all along. Logan looked up at the ceiling. With a crackle of electricity, the Cursed Rope flew over to its severed tail and landed on the floor. The severed tail looked like a bundle of discarded rope fibre¡ªsomething you¡¯d find in the bottom of a hole, but as electricity touched it, it came alive. Wiggling like a worm, it inched its way towards the end of the Cursed Rope¡¯s severed tail and came together like pastry dough. As soon as the tail attached, the rope swelled, getting bigger, and two small divots formed on the front of its head. They weren¡¯t eyes¡­ but they were the beginnings of them. Logan was reminded that the Cursed Rope leveled up as he leveled, and he¡¯d just gone through a massive increase. The Cursed Rope crackled, a sound like thunder ricochetting around the viewing arena, before it slithered through the air and hovered in front of Logan¡¯s face as if examining him. Blue electricity sparkled over Logan¡¯s skin, but it was like a caress rather than an attack. With one flick of its tail, it lowered itself to the floor. The user is strong, the user is strong, it purred to Logan with pride. Curving its body like a cobra, its head up and jaw open, it regurgitated, its throat moving like a bird trying to feed its young. And then with a cough, it spat out Asthea¡¯s True Grit Ring. Chapter 94: Ruthless Logan persuaded the Cursed Rope to revert to its inert form and then willed it inside his spatial collar. There was nothing Logan would like more than to jam the last True Grit Ring onto his finger, but Asthea took priority first. She¡¯d been forgotten in the fight and was still lying on the floor, an alarming pool of blood underneath her limp body. Logan picked up the True Grit Ring and threw it into his spatial collar before rushing over. ¡°Asthea?¡± For a second, dread welled up in his stomach. She was too lifeless, stiff like a corpse, her long hair crusted with dried blood. But then he saw the faint movement of her chest as she struggled to get air. Arsen had wrapped her injury in thick, odd-looking bandages, but her face was pale, her lips bloodless. Next to her side, her intact hand spasmed like a doctor had jabbed a reflex hammer into a nerve, and her eyes moved underneath her eyelids as if she were dreaming. Logan took a deep breath. During the fight and after losing his first encounter with the guards, his guilt had evaporated. His culpability in her injury had been irrelevant when compared with his own death. But looking at her now, Logan felt guilt gnawing at his insides. Asthea had been a champion for him up until the end, encouraging the guards to disregard the Cursed Rope and to give him a chance. Logan had repaid that kindness by taking her arm. It hadn¡¯t been at his direction¡ªthe rope had gone on a rabid strength grabbing spree¡ªbut without Logan, this never would have happened. It would be like telling a loved one, oops, yeah, I shouldn¡¯t have brought that gun to the picnic. But it wasn¡¯t my fault! It had a faulty safety switch; it was the gun¡¯s fault for going off! And worse yet, Asthea didn¡¯t have [Regenerate] and her constitution attribute was barely keeping up. Logan crouched next to her, his knees plopping into a pool of lukewarm blood. Hesitating, hovering, he finally rested his hands against her good shoulder. ¡°Asthea?¡± No response. Fuck. Was she going to die? Killing the Silverdagger Clan was just; they had it coming and it was kill or be killed. Logan had learned a lesson in that fight. He had to be brutal to survive. However, there was a difference between killing men who were actively trying to kill him and a woman who was on death¡¯s door. Asthea would be¡­ well, upset would be putting it mildly when she learned what he¡¯d done to her guards, but Logan would rather live with that than knowing that he could have helped her and had done nothing. In a way, Asthea reminded him of Lara. Lara had clawed a life for herself after her divorce; she was resourceful, smart, and didn¡¯t take any shit. Least of all from Logan. She wanted to succeed, to climb up the career ladder but at the same time, support her children. Numerous times, she¡¯d lamented that Logan had the ¡®protective brother syndrome,¡¯ insisting that she could do it all. Asthea¡¯s drive to succeed reminded him of Lara. And Lara would kick him for thinking this, since Asthea could hold her own against any man in a fight, but he felt protective of her. It would be unthinkable to not help. But how? If the guards had a magic marble that would heal her injuries, they would have used it. She needed a skill like [Regenerate] to help. Based on Asthea¡¯s reaction after Logan had walked away from the dexterity trial, shrugging off missing chunks of flesh from the insects, his skill was way beyond a normal constitution stat. He had no way to quantify how much constitution a person needed to receive the equivalent version of [Regenerate], but it must be a whole heck of a lot. If only there was a way for her to level up her constitution. Wait. His nerves alive with sudden hope, Logan clambered to his feet and made his way over to the splattered chicken egg. The System had said there were two rewards¡ªone for first place, one for second. If Asthea received first place, that was 25 extra levels¡ª125 points! And if she placed second, she¡¯d still receive 5 levels. Surely that would be enough to level her constitution and help her? But would it work with a broken egg? It had to. The walls of the room were seamless, no exit anywhere. Nothing had changed since he¡¯d defeated the guards. To finish the last tactician trial, there had to be a way to end it. Logan gathered the gooey mess including the cracked eggshell and cupped it in his palm. Holding up his hand with the egg white drizzling, he looked up at the ceiling. ¡°System, I¡¯ve captured the egg.¡± Ding! [Calculating leaderboard score for user Idiot!] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [..] [¡­.] [Score calculated!] [Leadership: 4000/ Tactical Innovation: 3800/Strategy: 2110/Victory: 1.] [¡­100 penalty points in effect for a broken egg deposit!] [Leaderboard updated!] Trial Leaderboard
  1. Idiot ¨C 9,811
  2. Asthea Silverdagger ¨C 9,808
  3. Arsen Silverdagger ¨C 8,571
  4. Errol Silverdagger ¨C 7,501
  5. Thorin Silverdagger -1,101
All-Time Leaderboard
  1. Agata Silverdagger ¨C 9,812
  2. Idiot ¨C 9,811
  3. Aleda Silverdagger ¨C 9,810
  4. Asthea Silverdagger ¨C 9,808
  5. Alfifa Silverdagger ¨C 9,798
[You have completed part two of the trial dungeon! Calculating overall performance and ranking¡­] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. [Tactician Trial results calculated!] [As a rank 1 leaderboard player, you will receive 25 levels!] [Congratulations, Idiot!] Logan¡¯s eyes bulged as the rush of a massive level increase sent euphoria shooting through his veins, but then he pushed the feeling aside. There was another message from the System, but in his urgency to get to Asthea, Logan disregarded it like swiping a text message. She hadn¡¯t won¡ªbut that still meant she¡¯d placed second, which would give her 25 free attributes. That had to be enough. Logan took a second to glance over the newly formed door that glowed on one of the white walls before rushing back to Asthea. It had to be the portal. The portal back to humanity and Ernie. Shaking Asthea gently and then more roughly when she didn¡¯t respond, Logan tried to get her to open her eyes. She would have received 25 free attribute points, but until she assigned them, that wouldn¡¯t do a thing. ¡°Asthea! Asthea, wake up!¡± Nothing. Fucking hell. He needed something that would jolt her out of this, something that would force her to open her eyes. In a normal world, a shot of epinephrine would have done it. The problem was, he didn¡¯t have drugs, he didn¡¯t have any¡ª Drugs. Gasping, Logan mentally rummaged through his spatial storage. Fuck yeah! He had drugs! He had purple cough syrup water! He¡¯d scooped up a whole bucket full of the crap before he left the perception trial. The water was a drug¡ªthat was plain¡ªbut he wasn¡¯t sure if this was the type of drug she needed. While submerged in the purple stream, it had made him forget his worries, cocooning him in a warm embrace. That didn¡¯t say adrenaline to Logan. Yet it was the only thing he had. Crouching next to Asthea, Logan tilted up her chin and parted her lips. For all he knew he could end up choking her, so he¡¯d try a small amount. Taking one of the towels out of his collar, he dipped the end into the bucket, soaking it, and then drizzled the purple water into Asthea¡¯s mouth. Come on, come on. Nothing. Fuck. Did he dare more? What if she choked¡ª With a gasp, Asthea¡¯s eyes popped open, pupils blown wide. She sat up as if she¡¯d been electrocuted, her blood matted hair standing on end. Giving Logan a dreamy smile as if she were looking right through him, her expression then shifted. It was a gradual change. From dreamy to horror-stricken. Staring down at her missing stub of an arm, she retched, cough syrup spittle flying. Shit, that didn¡¯t look good. ¡°Asthea, put your free attributes into your constitution! It¡¯s your only chance.¡± She blinked at him uncomprehendingly. ¡°You¡¯ve leveled up! Allocate your points to survive!¡± Asthea¡¯s expression grew far away, that same expression everyone got as they reviewed their stat screen. Then with a sharp inhale, her chest inflated, and she moaned in pain. But her expression steadied, her breathing evened. Color came back to her face, and her eyes became more aware. ¡°W-what happened?¡± she rasped, staring at her missing arm as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing. Yeah, this was tricky. Logan rubbed the back of his neck. How the heck did you tell someone that you¡¯d just killed their guards? Hell, the guards were her family! There would be no acceptance, no, there, there, Logan, you did what you had to. There was no explaining it away. ¡°Just remember that your guards were trying to kill me. I didn¡¯t ask for this.¡± Logan got up and moved to the side so that Asthea could see the bodies. Thorin with his chopped off fingers and the moving tree inside his chest which was now five feet in height, its leaves dripping blood, its trunk writhing like a worm; Errol on his side, eyes sightless; and Arsen with a pile of dead flies covering his body. Yeah, there was no explaining this. Logan hardened his voice and tried to get it over with, like pulling off a Band-Aid. ¡°They were going to kill me, you know they were. It was either them or me. I make no apologies for it, it had to be done.¡± Asthea stared. A bated breath. She blinked rapidly as if trying to process what she was seeing, her mouth falling open. Glancing from Errol to Thorin before focusing on Arsen, she crumpled in on herself and let out an anguish-filled moan. ¡°Nooo!¡± she wailed. ¡°No! No!¡± Pain was in her voice, agony, as if she couldn¡¯t comprehend what she was seeing and refused to believe it. Beyond the physical pain of losing an arm, Asthea sounded like she was going through torture just from the sight of her fallen companions. ¡°Arsen,¡± she whispered. Then she backed away from Logan, her eyes wild. ¡°Stay back! Stay away!¡± ¡°Asthea, I¡¯m not going to hurt you.¡± ¡°Liar! Your whole existence is a lie! I know it was you, you infected our System, you forced torture on us in the dexterity trial! Stealth player! You took my arm so you could get your precious ring. You wanted to farm us for levels all along!¡± Logan raised his hands up above his head and tried to show that he was harmless. He felt helpless. Not just with guilt, but with disappointment that it had gotten this bad. There would be no talking her out of this. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean for any of this to happen.¡± Her veins stood out from her neck as she bared her teeth. ¡°Stealth player. Idiot. Logan. Whatever you call yourself, know this. I put a curse upon your line. I¡¯ll hunt you down and kill you. Kill those you love so you know the same pain I feel. Your family, your loved ones. Everyone.¡± Her eyes flashed. ¡°Wherever you go, I¡¯ll pursue you. To the ends of the Collective. By the time I¡¯m done with you, your guts will be wrapped around your neck, and you¡¯ll curse the day you ever encountered Asthea Silverdagger.¡± Logan¡¯s lips thinned. ¡°Now,¡± she snapped. ¡°Are you planning to kill me? Finish the job?¡± Her eyes were as blue as ice. ¡°Come on, pull out your weapon! Have at it! Take my other arm!¡± Logan didn¡¯t move. Asthea spat a glob of spit on the floor in disdain. ¡°I didn¡¯t think so. Stealth players are too despicable to fight fair. Get out of my way.¡± With a face engraved in stone that turned into a grimace of pain as she passed Logan, she strode towards the portal. Ah, fuck. ¡°Asthea.¡± She paused. Visions of Lara facing a line of Silverdagger warriors filled his mind; her rifle¡ªa rifle!¡ªswung over her shoulder, her mouth in a grim line as if she¡¯d been through hell and back. Worse yet, his nieces had been missing from that scene. He had to hope they were safe in a bolthole somewhere¡ªLara wouldn¡¯t have gone to war with them¡ªbut a knot of worry ate away at his stomach all the same. Lara¡¯s face had been too lined, as if she¡¯d aged ten years. In that vision of the future, Logan had died. That meant that Asthea¡¯s guards had survived, but in that vision, she was still fighting a line of humanity. Had she been that bitter that Logan had taken her arm? And yet, the future had changed. Logan had killed Asthea¡¯s guards. If she were that committed when Logan had just taken an arm, what would she do now? Arsen had seemed like a father to her. She¡¯d loved him. That was a hell of a loss. Would she motivate her mother to launch a world war? Go on a crusade to eliminate humanity? Logan would have liked to believe that Asthea would never do that, but how could he gamble with that possibility when Lara¡¯s life was on the line? Not to mention that in Asthea¡¯s eyes, he was the owner of a weapon that was anathema to her people. By killing her guards, he might as well have spelled out ¡®corrupted¡¯ in her eyes. There would be no turning her away from that conviction. Throughout this past week, there had been times when he may have deserved the System¡¯s ¡®Idiot¡¯ name, but to let her go, release her to launch a crusade? That would be the height of stupidity. In the fight with Asthea¡¯s guards, he¡¯d survived because he¡¯d resolved to be brutal, to be ruthless. Logan was only standing here because he¡¯d changed his tactics, by not letting them walk all over him and by being smart. But he¡¯d gotten into trouble in the first place because he¡¯d been too lenient, too much in his own pre-System perception of the world. There was a place for nice guys¡ªthere would always be a place for someone who helped the innocent and did what was just¡ªbut when you were living in a kill or be killed world, letting someone utter threats against you¡ªagainst your family¡ªand then letting them go to launch a crusade¡­ Logan couldn¡¯t do it. Logan could see it in his mind. He didn¡¯t know if it was partly from [Foresight], or partly from his instincts, but it was clear as day. If Logan let Asthea return to her people, she¡¯d recuperate¡ªand she¡¯d stew. She¡¯d prepare. She¡¯d gather her people and marshal an army of warriors to go after Logan and those he held dear. Lara, the kids, Tasha and Jack. Innocents would be victims in the crossfire, and then a vow of vengeance would make Logan into the very person the Silverdagger Clan had been so concerned with¡ªa man dominated by violence, by hatred. All because Logan couldn¡¯t make a hard decision. And do what was right. Asthea was a woman, Asthea reminded him of Lara, but if he let her go for that reason only, he would be a hypocrite. There was a reason a matriarch led Asthea¡¯s clan. Hadn¡¯t she told him herself that if it had been Asthea in Logan¡¯s place in the attribute trials, she would have deployed vicious tactics to protect her loved ones and come out on top? Not to mention what Asthea¡¯s mother would do when she learned that Logan had interfered in her daughter¡¯s Trial of Awakening and killed her guards. As soon as Asthea returned, suddenly Earth wouldn¡¯t be a newly integrated world struggling to survive, it would be the world that hosted the killer of her daughter¡¯s guards. It would be beyond folly to let her go. But he couldn¡¯t cut her down while her back was to him. Logan picked up one of Arsen¡¯s discarded daggers. Waiting until she was facing him, he threw it towards her. He wasn¡¯t expecting her to catch it¡ªnot with one arm¡ªbut she did with reflexes that surprised him. ¡°If you want to fight, do it with me. Do it now.¡± Chapter 95: The Purge Tutorial Asthea¡¯s lip curled. ¡°So you show your true colors after all. Where is the Scourge of Arcopotal¡¯s weapon? The picture isn¡¯t yet complete.¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing this with my own hands.¡± Her hand tightened on the dagger. ¡°So be it, trickster! This is for Arsen! This is for my guards!¡± Rushing towards him with her teeth bared, her veins standing out on her neck, Asthea held the dagger up with her good hand, sharp edges glinting. Her long hair draped down to her back, clumped together with dried blood, and her blue warpaint running down her face gave her a truly ferocious look. With a blink, Logan reformed his talons, extending them until they were lethal weapons ten inches in length. They shone with diamond edges, sparkling off the walls of the room. Using his agility and the Pink Sock, he launched himself into the air, slamming into the wall behind her and jumping off the other way, twisting his body in mid-jump, his talons ready to strike. Asthea had just enough time to pivot around and face him. She let out a grunt of effort, her blue eyes on fire, her wolf ears pointing straight up as she stabbed with the dagger. Logan felt a pressure, a prickling against his arm, but a pressure only. The dagger wasn¡¯t strong enough to get through his armour. Unlike her guards, Asthea was forty levels below Logan; missing her True Grit Ring, and missing an arm. She didn¡¯t have a chance. Logan slashed her throat with his talons, blood spraying in a torrent. He came to a landing in a crouch, panting, his talons held up in front of him. But the picture that met him was undeniable. Asthea slumped to the floor like a sack of flour, the dagger dropping from her hand and clanging against the stone tile. With a last gurgle, she had just enough strength left to look Logan in the eyes, her eyes full of betrayal and rage. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 51 Silverthorn female!] ¡°Fuck!¡± Logan kicked the wall so forcefully that the tip of his sandstone boot shattered. Even though it had been necessary, he felt a pang of heartache, and an unsettled feeling rolled in his gut. He couldn¡¯t help swallowing, his throat closing, his eyes stinging as he turned away from the sight of Asthea¡¯s body. Running a hand through his hair, Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. He¡¯d never wanted it to come to this. If things had been different, Logan thought they could have been good friends. It was the System who had forced him to this. By giving him a cursed weapon with a bad history. It was no coincidence that the Cursed Rope had ended up in his Tree Fridge. Regardless of whether it was the glitchy AI minion who did it or the real System, the culpability was the same. Sighing, he eyed the bodies of the guards. There was no way he was leaving them. Who knew how many rings, spatial storage devices, and weapons they had on them. That would come in handy when he found Lara and the kids. Not to mention that Tasha and Jack could use good weapons. He didn¡¯t know how the trial dungeon worked after the trial was over, but if he left them, who¡¯s to say that the next group wouldn¡¯t stumble over the corpses? That was a quick way to start the very war he¡¯d been trying to avoid by taking out Asthea. Concentrating on each corpse, he willed them into his spatial storage one after another, throwing in Thorin¡¯s discarded sword, and all the other weapons. He needed to do an inventory, but only after he¡¯d gotten out of here and on more normal, Earth-like ground. As he thought about returning home, Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a smile tinged with heartache. He was returning to Ernie, back to humanity. It wouldn¡¯t be easy; he knew it would never be easy with the System, but to make progress and escape out of this torture trial was enough to lighten his spirits. Plus, he wasn¡¯t forgetting his bonuses. With a moue of concentration, Logan pulled up the System message he¡¯d disregarded. [In addition, for placing on the All-Time Leaderboard, you will receive a personalized, crafted item from the System. Based on your needs, this reward has been determined to be the most valuable boon possible.] [A continuous portal generation crystal. A Grade.] Logan raised his eyebrows. These messages were almost¡­ boring. He couldn¡¯t believe he was thinking this, but if they continued this way¡ªrespectful, staid¡ªhe might miss the snarky System messages. But there was no denying that the reward was intriguing. Logan opened his hand. Inside of it was a marble like Asthea¡¯s communication crystal. It was blue and shone with a faint light as if a firefly were trapped inside. If this did what he thought it did¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that it would be a heck of a lot easier to find Lara. For now, Logan threw it into his spatial storage and then removed the item he was the most excited about. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Perception True Grit Ring. With the last piece in the set, instead of doubling his physical stats, he¡¯d triple them. The rings would absorb into his body, becoming permanent. Theft proof. With a grin of satisfaction, he put on the ring and then¡ª What the hell; what the hell. What was happening to his fingers?! Logan had dealt with a chopped off finger and a severed hand before, but this was as if someone had inserted a metal band onto every finger on his right hand and then tightened them like cranking a wrench. Blood pooled around each ring, dripping down his arm. Then the metal started to melt, melting and burning. [Regenerate] was doing something odd¡ªit was fighting back¡ªhealing the injury just as fast as it tried to bury deeper. Logan hadn¡¯t had a chance to look at his stat sheet in a while, but he had to be higher leveled, which meant he would have leveled up the skill. Whatever was happening had to be making it worse. Finally, the rings overcame his skill and fully dissolved, disappearing into his flesh, each finger healing as if there hadn¡¯t been a problem in the first place. Logan had a second to take that in before he held on for a hell of a ride. He felt the molecules of his body reforming. His muscles were being fine-tuned, becoming more corded, that hidden layer of steel underneath turning into a diamond. Screaming, he felt his eyes bulging, the veins underneath his skin pulsing, agony rushing through him as he was reformed anew. Holy fuck, he could swear he¡¯d just jumped up a half an inch! His perception exploded like a god had just dropped from the sky and clapped his massive hands together to create a percussion thundercloud. Logan¡¯s senses jumped from item to item as if he¡¯d turned on [Life Cycle Master] but rammed it up to a hundred. Next, his agility ramped up until he couldn¡¯t control himself, jumping from foot to foot and only just restraining himself from activating his pink sock and hurtling towards the ceiling. That would go hand-in-hand with an endurance boost that made him feel as if he¡¯d been swept up by a hurricane. His heart raced and he felt like zooming around the room like a rat in a race. He felt so energized and jacked up that it was all he could do to stop himself from running through the portal and keep running until he reached Lara. Lastly, his dexterity made him crack his knuckles, wanting to take everything from his spatial storage and start a juggling bonanza. Holy fuck. That had been a rush. With anticipation dancing in his belly, Logan pulled up his full stat sheet. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 3 out of 6,008,128,837 Level: 95 Class: None Grade: F9 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 120,000/190,000 Karma: 810/810 Intelligence: 135 Constitution: 46 Strength: 116x3* = 348 Agility: 121x3* = 363 Dexterity: 96x3* = 288 Endurance: 147x3* = 441+50% = 662 Perception: 35x3* = 105 Wisdom: 85 Luck: 85 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 255 KarmaCoin: 302,600 He could only gape, not knowing if what he was seeing was real. It had to be impossible. Rank three. Rank three out of six billion people! Fucking hell. But when he saw his stats, he could believe it. He¡¯d skyrocketed to level 95; he was ranked F9, just one level away from E Grade. Due to that upgrade, his Grade dependant skills had leveled up. [Regenerate] was now level ten. Holy hell, no wonder it had been so difficult for the rings to sink into his body! Not only that, but due to his level increases, he still had 255 free attributes to assign. 255! After the tripling effect of the skill rings, there was only two options that made sense. Once he got back to the real world, he¡¯d need a heck of a lot of Karma to tackle the Save Humanity Quest. If he threw all 255 points into his intelligence stat, he would increase his Karma pool from 810 to 2,240. Fuck. That was a huge Karma pool. But at the same time, he might not always be around enemies, which meant that [Liche Siphon] would be ineffectual in certain circumstances. He needed to get his Karma generation rate up. However, the one thing he did know was that the portal had cost 1,500 Karma. If that ended up being a requirement to exit, then Logan wasn¡¯t taking any chances. Calculating the math in his head, he allocated his points. [Intelligence: 136] [Intelligence: 137+] [Intelligence: 260] [Wisdom: 86] [Wisdom: 87+] [Wisdom: 215] He allocated 125 points into intelligence to give himself a 1,560 Karma pool and then put the rest, 130 points, into his wisdom attribute to increase his Karma regeneration rate to 215 per minute. As soon as he made the change, he was hit with the mother of all upgrades. Gasping, he tilted his face up to the ceiling, and then reeled after scene after scene rushed through his mind, from carrying Eleanor¡¯s body to the willow tree, to fighting the undead minions at the resort, their flower tentacle tongues wiggling, to his fight with the murderers at the cabin. He suspected that the System was showing him the most impactful events of the last week, the things that had stayed with him, shaping him for what was to come. To first meeting Ernie, to forming a bond and brotherhood with him, to escaping the queen serpent and going through the portal. His grit and determination as he used everything at his disposal to make his way through the trials. And lastly, his fight with the guards. Taking one final gasp, Logan looked towards the portal. But before he could think about leaving and returning to Earth, the System interrupted him. Ding! [Good news, human! The daily pollution eliminator purge events are completed. Humanity has now reached the required threshold for Class eligibility. Congratulations!] [Class rarities will be generated based on how well you advanced and grew during the purge tutorial.] [Calculating options¡­] [¡­.] Book One Epilogue - Larry the Undead Sturgeon As a smart octopus, if there was one thing Ernie had learned since becoming a Murderous Liche, it was that stealth was power. Stealthy, sneaky power. In the underwater garbage lands, if Ernie had a choice between reading a tome about a sneaky octopus or a tome about an octopus who slaughtered everything he came across, he would have picked the slaughterer. Ernie¡¯s eyes grew dreamy as a plethora of blood and fish guts filled his mind. He pictured a mighty Ernie standing tall and proud amongst a pile of vanquished enemies. Slaughtering slaughtering slaughtering. Slaughtering was fun! It made the numbers and levels go up! The words ¡®stealthy¡¯ and ¡®sneaky¡¯ sounded like something for thieves, weaklings, for octopuses who¡­ well, who didn¡¯t rival all. But after the serpent queen defeated him in the tunnel, he¡¯d learned that true power wasn¡¯t in how strong you were, and it wasn¡¯t something that you obtained by pummeling your enemies to death. Ernie had come to believe that true power existed in octopuses who lurked in the shadows, planning and lying in wait. Many times, the tomes in the underwater garbage lands had referred to the power behind a human emperor, a mighty king! Those sneaky humans were stealthy, building up their power little by little. Without that strategy, they would have been stomped underneath a stinky human foot! It hurt him to admit it, but against someone like the serpent queen, Ernie would never win in a head-to-head fight. Ernie rivaled all! But even he knew when he was outclassed. He wouldn¡¯t win that way. And most importantly, the words of the all-powerful being were clear: [A master manipulator, your power remains hidden from those more powerful than you. Be stealthy, be smart, and the world will kneel before you.] Yes yes yes. Could it be any other way? Ernie would become stealthy, he¡¯d become smarter. He liked the idea of everyone kneeling before him while he towered over them on his mighty throne! Well, Logan could join him too. But the throne would have to be smaller. Making sure to keep his breathing steady, his tentacles like stiff boards, he didn¡¯t dare move an inch. It had been difficult beyond belief to get a handle on [Mimicry], but Ernie rivaled all. How could a tricky, misbehaving skill hold him back? Instead of appearing like a pale, disgusting rotten undead thing, he¡¯d transformed himself into the color of the rock he was currently clinging to while the queen serpent slithered through the water, her snake hair writhing as she searched in vain. Her army cowered before her, eyes lowered in deference. In the water, fine white particles like spilt milk travelled on the current as the undead sturgeons gurgled as she passed. ¡°Now where is that derelict octopus,¡± she muttered in annoyance, her tail lashing behind her. It was so long that it slashed one of the dolphin-sized larvae, turning it onto its belly like an overweight, upside-down bulbous porpoise. It let out a noxious plume of gaseous gunk and shivered. This was the fifth time Ernie had evaded her. She may be big like a giant squid, but she wasn¡¯t very bright. Ernie held back a grin, making sure to be an Ernie-statue. Motionless. A rock. The serpent made one more circuit. Ernie thought she¡¯d leave Larry alone this time, but the poor lug was a magnet for her ire. ¡°And you! What do you have to say for yourself?¡± she barked. ¡°Once again, no humans! You¡¯re so pathetic I might as well grind you into fish food and feed you to the worms!¡± Larry¡¯s ratty black fins drooped, his sturgeon crocodile head dipping and hiding his eyes. On his sides were the marks of her abuse¡ªhealed over slashes from the serpent¡¯s claws. Each time she ranted at Larry, his hide got even worse. The poor thing would never find a mate at this rate. Tsk tsk. Ernie wanted to pat his head with a tentacle. ¡°Results!¡± the serpent was hissing, her snake hair writhing and darting at the water. ¡°I¡¯ll not warn you again!¡± She would warn Larry again. She warned him over and over again. As far as Ernie was concerned, a repeated threat with no follow through wasn¡¯t much of a threat at all. No leadership! A serpent without clothes! After one more slash of her claws against Larry¡¯s side, the serpent slithered through the water, her tail bashing undead fish out of the way. Alarmed, they darted to the side and then hid underneath rocks and seaweed lest they become targets. Ernie made sure she had disappeared into the blackness of the underwater deep before stretching his tentacles as if coming out of a long nap. Flexing, he transformed from a rockface to the blue-blackness of the water. Zooming over to Larry, he cooed in sympathy. ¡°There, there, Larry. You¡¯ve once again taken one for the team! I¡¯m proud of you!¡± Larry the Undead Sturgeon had been his first recruit. He was loyal, rabid in his devotion, and his best proponent. Ernie had been working at this stealthy recruitment strategy for the last two days, and every time he reviewed his stat sheet, he felt like crowing: Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Name: Murderous Octopus (Hidden Name: I Rival All) Level: 65 Grade: F6 Species: [Rare] Cephalopod Liche Titles: Sapience Early Adopter; Clam Mass Slaughterer Undead Minions: 31 XP Progress: 60,000/130,000 Karma: 900/900 Intelligence: 150 Wisdom: 165 Strength: 150 Agility: 105 Endurance: 105 + 100% boost Free Attribute Points: 0 Ernie already had 31 minions! 31 beings that would do his bidding, but better yet, they did his bidding not just because he commanded them, but because they wanted to. Unlike the serpent queen, Ernie rivaled all. Puffing his cheeks, he preened before remembering that he was on a time crunch. ¡°Larry, do your prowling thing.¡± Larry wagged his tail, ratty black tailfins swishing through the water, before he rushed off like an excited rabbit. Zooming around the undead army in loops, he collared them in like the human with the S on his chest. SuperLarry! (Ernie had found a tome in the underwater garbage lands that had colourful pictures, bloody violence and punching. Text bubbles said POW POW POW on almost every page. It had made him very excited). Each loop forced the undead sturgeons to crowd closer with annoyed huffs, caused the mutated larvae to worm their way over and on top of each other, and the undead fish with red eyes to drift closer as if Larry were a large, tasty treat. The humans though¡­ Ernie suppressed a shudder They continued standing in place, their bodies swaying in the current, back and forth, back and forth. They stared blindly with their flower petal eyes, their flower tentacle tongues occasionally flickering like a snake tasting the water. He hadn¡¯t yet swayed any of them over to his side, mostly because they never moved. Ernie pointedly turned his head away from them and surveyed the rest of the gathered army. As long as the serpent wasn¡¯t in their presence, they were under their own power. But while they were her minions, she could send a command through to them which overrode their independent thoughts. It was as if she¡¯d commandeered their minds. That was if they were her minions. If they came over to his side, they would be his instead. And then he¡¯d have the same power. Ernie felt his tentacles twitch in excitement. He had to forcefully hold them back so he wouldn¡¯t look too eager. Impressions were important! Minions would never follow someone who looked as if they were salivating. ¡°Ahem,¡± said Ernie. With a grunt of effort, he pulsed his skin with neon flashes, fluctuating between pink, blue and green as his tentacles danced. Flashing colors were important in a presentation! He looked like a school of fish doing a mating dance. The undead fish¡¯s eyes grew wide. The sturgeons were less impressed, but by now, Ernie knew what made them tick. Praise. ¡°Attention! Attention! As mentioned last time, these working conditions will continue to worsen. Drastically worsen! Next time, the queen might just¡­¡± Ernie hadn¡¯t thought this out beforehand. Oops. ¡°She¡­ she might just pluck out your eyes rather than slash you with her talons!¡± The undead minions shifted, their fins jumping like startled cats. Ooooh, that had gone over well. ¡°Yes yes yes! Eyes! She¡¯ll pluck out your eyes! And you know what that means. When the humans have working condition problems, there¡¯s only one way to solve it.¡± Ernie paused for effect. ¡°Dare I say it¡­ a union.¡± They gave him blank looks. ¡°Unions have dues! You¡¯ll have to pay a fee!¡± More blank looks. Uh oh, maybe unions weren¡¯t as bad as he thought they were. Ernie blew out a breath of water and then brightened. ¡°You¡¯ll have to donate fins.¡± Immediately, the undead sturgeons jumped, and the fish jerked in place and gave alarmed squawks. Next to him, Larry¡¯s back tailfin swayed from side-to-side in satisfaction. Bless him, he was such a good minion. Ernie preened. ¡°But fear not, Ernie has a solution! In my army, no one will lose eyes, no one need fear slashed sides! You¡¯ll be respected, given rewards for good work, and you will even receive days off to go¡­ do whatever undead things like to do!¡± Ernie gestured at Larry with a tentacle. ¡°Behold, my first recruit.¡± Larry dipped his head. ¡°Does he look unhappy? Mistreated? No, of course not! For unlike others, I have no human quotas.¡± The undead sturgeons opened their mouths and milky white material drifted through the water. The pressure of the human quota requirement was on them more than any other. They were the largest undead minions in the lake and the serpent considered them matches for the humans. Yes yes yes. He could tell he was winning them over! This time, he¡¯d get five. Five at least! Ernie danced in the water, doing a savage, savage tentacle dance. ¡°Who wants to start? Don¡¯t be shy! Unlike the serpent, I don¡¯t bite!¡± Larry sidled up to another undead sturgeon and nudged it encouragingly. Hesitant at first, and then with resolve, it approached Ernie, its red eyes blinking at him, examining him, judging him. It could judge all it wanted. Ernie rivaled all. There was only one possible outcome. Making a decision, the sturgeon dipped its head. Ernie grinned. Deploying [Liche Creation], he spread tiny filaments like cobwebs through the water that drifted towards the sturgeon and then leached inside its scales and into its flesh. Ding! [Congratulations, Murderous Octopus! One new minion has been added to your minion army.] Ernie glowed with satisfaction. His new undead sturgeon minion blinked at him, surprised that the transition had been painless. That was the best part. Every one of the serpent¡¯s minions had been transformed into undead minions with agony, whereas Ernie¡¯s conversion felt like a warm bath. After the first one, the rest would follow. Yes yes yes. Ernie rivaled all. *** ¡°Larry,¡± said Ernie. ¡°That was a particularly good haul! Once again, you did so well! I knew I could count on you.¡± Larry wagged his tail, his ratty black fins swaying back and forth. All in all, Ernie had managed to add another 20 minions to his army. He now had 51 minions, over a quarter of the serpent¡¯s army! If he continued at this rate, he¡¯d soon have half. And best yet, he¡¯d done it right underneath her nose. Dancing, Ernie flashed his tentacles, jumping from rock to rock, ricochetting off Larry¡¯s back and shooting for the surface in excitement. He was stealthy; he was smart; the world would kneel underneath his tentacles. He¡¯d fashion a throne like none other and¡­ Wait. What was that? Ernie paused in the water, his tentacles stilling as he turned towards the right. Off in the distance, he could see the opening of the cave that led to the portal. The sight of it dampened his feeling of euphoria, bringing back memories of his forced undead conversion. Huh. He¡¯d passed that cave numerous times in the last two days. What was different about today? It¡­ there was a feeling. A squishy human-type feeling. A¡­ Logan. Book 2 - Chapter 1 - Class Selection After everything he¡¯d been through¡ªsuffered through a severed toe, a chopped off finger, a missing hand, his skin sloughed off by acid and insects biting chunks of flesh¡­ not to mention struggling through a change in morality and coming out the other side a jaded man. After all of that, Logan could admit to a bit of what the fuck when he read the latest System message. Ding! [Good news, human! The daily pollution eliminator purge events are completed. Humanity has now reached the required threshold for class eligibility. Congratulations!] [Class rarities will be generated based on how well you advanced and grew during the purge tutorial.] [Calculating options¡­] [¡­.] The purge tutorial? What the frigging hell? Was the System saying that each daily purge event had been part of some crazy tutorial, a time for humanity to level up in a kill-or-be killed world? Was that its idea of a joke? It had killed millions of people¡ªno, billions! With no instruction, no warning. It was only through the luck of the draw that Logan had survived when others hadn¡¯t. Ten more seconds and he could have been in his truck when the System blew up all the cars in the world, another minute and he could have been inside the speedboat when it sucked all the engine-powered boats through a black hole. If it had warned humanity, given them a smidgen of instruction, so many people could have survived. So many people could have leveled up. Logan knew he wasn¡¯t dealing with the same System anymore. The original, staid and boring System had ¡®assimilated¡¯ the glitchy AI minion, but what did that matter when the rules were still FUBAR? Whoever had programmed the original System deserved a hell of a smack down. For all he knew, it was Ernie¡¯s ¡®sky people¡¯ who were at fault and at the heart of it all! Ding! [User is currently in the one percent top ranking! Bypassing common options¡­] [Calculating¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [User is in the top 100th ranking! Bypassing uncommon options¡­] [Calculating¡­] [¡­.] [¡­] [Class options calculated!] [Call Centre Rep¡ªRare¡ªA class that focuses on persuasion and proactivity. You are the master of all within your domain. Stat bonuses: 10% static boost to wisdom, 20% static boost to perception, 10 free attributes. One skill available.] [Charlatan¡ªRare¡ªA rogue class that hides your true level and interferes with Identify, forcing users to see your highest attribute as your lowest. You are the trickster, and all other users are peons not deserving to breathe the same air. Stat bonuses: 10% static boost to dexterity and agility. 20% static boost to perception. Two skills available. 10 free attributes.] [Monster Tamer¡ªRare¡ªA class that gives unbending control over animals and sentient weapons. You are the tamer, and your hand is the whip. Monsters shall tremble at your feet. Stat bonuses: 20% static boost to strength and constitution. Three skills available. 20 free attributes.] [Willowing Vine¡ªRare¡ªA druid class that gives the user the power over everything that grows. Even themselves. Stat bonuses: 30% static boost to wisdom. 20% static boost to intelligence and perception. Two skills available. 50 free attributes.] [Insect Hive¡ªRare¡ªA class that gives the user the power over arthropods. You are the hive mind. All will be swallowed underneath your swarm. Stat bonuses: 20% static boost to intelligence and wisdom. 50% static boost to perception. Two skills available. 30 free attributes.] [Fabled Creation¡ªEpic¡ªA class that gives the user the power over life and death. The world is in the palm of your hand. You only have to will it and you shall have it. All shall tremble at your feet for a snap of your fingers will be their undoing. This class has empire building possibilities. Stat bonuses: 30% boost to wisdom, intelligence, and perception. 100 free attributes. Three skills available.] [Book of the Dead¡ªEpic¡ªA class that gives the user the power over death. Annihilation is your name. All shall tremble in fear for your will is uncompromising, unending and undeniable. 30% static boost to wisdom, intelligence, and perception. Two skills available. 90 free attributes.] [Audacious Liche¡ªEpic¡ªA class that transforms the user into an undead master with the power to create and control unlimited minions. You are a power beyond Earth. Beyond the Collective. This class will result in a species change and has empire building possibilities. Stat bonuses: 30% static boost to perception, agility, and dexterity. Three skills available. 100 free attributes.] Logan blinked, reeling. There were so many possibilities that he didn¡¯t know where to start. Until now, he hadn¡¯t even known what a ¡®class¡¯ was! It was like the S Grade vs. A Grade items all over again, the System giving him terminology that meant nothing on the face of it. But based on these results, classes were tremendously valuable, awarding attribute boosts and skills. They had to be ways to focus your build¡­ like a race car driver before a race¡ªwith equipment¡ªa fireproof uniform, a helmet¡ªand the skills learned through a lifetime. Whatever Logan chose would point him in a certain direction, molding, sculpting his way forward. Just like with everything else in the last week, he could make the wrong decision, or he could make the right choice and gain an advantage. He needed to be careful here. Consider every option, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. After he saved Lara and the kids, his overreaching priority was to save humanity. To do that, he needed to do the impossible: [Quest: Save Humanity! Save 5.9 billion people in less than one year by catching and storing 930 billion tons of carbon. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will save 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will kill 5.9 billion people.] [Quest Progress: 0% complete. 354 days remaining.] 930 billion tons of carbon was so massive that he didn¡¯t have a way to quantify it. Even worse, if he returned to a world where the wildfire situation had escalated, he¡¯d be storing carbon while the world was on fire. To reduce carbon, it couldn¡¯t just be up to Logan¡ªcould it? That wasn¡¯t a job of only one man. He would need help, others to contribute. Humanity to contribute. But first he had to figure out how to reduce carbon¡­ was it by growing trees? Through olivine? Logan had to believe that once he found Lara, she¡¯d be a huge help. She was great at figuring out solutions to huge problems. But even with Lara, he had to keep his overarching goal into consideration when deciding on a class. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. To start, Logan would need to review each one and eliminate the classes that weren¡¯t great fits. [Call Centre Rep¡ªRare¡ªA class that focuses on persuasion and proactivity. You are the master of all within your domain. Stat bonuses: 10% static boost to wisdom, 20% static boost to perception, 10 free attributes. One skill available.] That was his first indication that the System had taken his life events into consideration when calculating these options. The System had only invaded Earth a week ago, but it felt like a lifetime ago. Logan had been struggling to pay the bills, jumping from job to job, but his last job, well¡ªhe worked in a call centre. But the thing about it was¡­ it had been a job. Something that earned him money so he could afford to pay his rent and buy groceries, but it wasn¡¯t a thrilling profession. Even though the System classified the class as rare, Logan immediately put that one in the ¡®no¡¯ pile. He hadn¡¯t enjoyed being persuasive and proactive in the first place, and like hell was he going to chain himself to something he hated. [Charlatan¡ªRare¡ªA rogue class that hides your true level and interferes with Identify, forcing users to see your highest attribute as your lowest. You are the trickster, and all other users are peons not deserving to breathe the same air. Stat bonuses: 10% static boost to dexterity and agility. 20% static boost to perception. Two skills available. 10 free attributes.] This next class was intriguing. The description was a dead giveaway that the System had given him this option due to the Silverdagger Clan¡¯s constant harping of him being a ¡®trickster,¡¯ but it also fit his stealth player status. He couldn¡¯t deny that a class that allowed him to disguise his level would be massively beneficial. Logan could walk into a crowd, and everyone would underestimate him. He could lower someone¡¯s guard and then go in for the kill. Not to mention that he could trick [Identify], which had been Tasha¡¯s version of [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. Logan had to believe that the skill was the same for everyone. Tricking [Identify]! Logan hadn¡¯t known that was possible. It would have to be something to keep in mind in the future. That he couldn¡¯t always trust what [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] told him, and to trust his instincts rather than a System message. Although the class was valuable, it wasn¡¯t Logan. It also wouldn¡¯t help him with the Save Humanity Quest and to create more offensive capabilities beyond [Life Cycle Master]. For now, Logan put that class in the ¡®no¡¯ category. [Insect Hive¡ªRare¡ªA class that gives the user the power over arthropods. You are the hive mind. All will be swallowed underneath your swarm. Stat bonuses: 20% static boost to intelligence and wisdom. 50% static boost to perception. Two skills available. 30 free attributes.] Ugh. Logan knew where this one came from¡ªfrom the dexterity trial. Just looking at it made his stomach slosh, bringing to mind the hell of those buggers crawling all over him and eating his flesh. Despite his disgust, he wasn¡¯t blind to the possibilities. [Life Cycle Master] gave him the ability to influence insects, but eventually, they¡¯d push back. The class would solve that problem, allowing him to control them and direct them. Plus, a 20% static boost to intelligence and wisdom was huge, helping him upgrade his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate and better position him to use [Life Cycle Master] for the Save Humanity Quest. Not to mention the perception increase¡ªa 50% boost! That was as good as [Undead Stamina]. And yet, even seeing all of that, Logan wasn¡¯t tempted. Ugh ugh ugh. If he never saw another insect, it would be too soon. That class went into the ¡®hell no¡¯ category. [Monster Tamer¡ªRare¡ªA class that gives unbending control over animals and sentient weapons. You are the tamer, and your hand is the whip. Monsters shall tremble at your feet. Stat bonuses: 20% static boost to strength and constitution. Three skills available. 20 free attributes.] The System had to have given him this option due to Ernie and the Cursed Rope. Although Logan knew Ernie would find it insulting, he saw possibilities here. If this class let him control monsters¡­ even monsters like the queen serpent, it was a tactical goldmine. All he¡¯d have to do is force them in place while he slaughtered them, gaining level after level. Or alternatively, if he controlled them, he could command them to go after his enemies. It would also allow him to get a handle on the Cursed Rope once and for all. No more worrying about removing it from his spatial collar around people like Lara and the kids. And yet, the static boost to strength and constitution wouldn¡¯t help him with the Save Humanity Quest. Logan already had enough strength from the tripling effect of the True Grit Rings. And constitution was useless while he had [Regenerate]. Even though the class was attractive, he had to put it firmly in the ¡®no¡¯ category. [Audacious Liche¡ªEpic¡ªA class that transforms the user into an undead master with the power to create and control unlimited minions. You are a power beyond Earth. Beyond the Collective. This class will result in a species change and has empire building possibilities. Stat bonuses: 30% static boost to perception, agility, and dexterity. Three skills available. 100 free attributes.] When he read this class description, he could see why the System rated it epic. It had to come from Ernie. Logan felt a pang of heartache. Although he knew Ernie had survived, there was a big question about what he¡¯d find once he escaped the trial dungeon and returned to the lake. As far as he knew, in every show and movie he¡¯d watched, there had never been a way to cure a zombie infection. He had to hope that there was something that he could do for Ernie, a serum, an infection purging crystal, a way to heal him. Barring that, Logan would do everything in his power to help him, including slaying the queen serpent to bring Ernie back to the light. Logan didn¡¯t know if zombies worked the same way as killing vampires, but he had to hope. Ernie was counting on him. As far as [Audacious Liche], he sure liked the idea of being a ¡®power beyond Earth,¡¯ but hell no was he losing his humanity! A species change! Logan hadn¡¯t known that was possible. The System description didn¡¯t say that he¡¯d turned into a mindless zombie, but he couldn¡¯t risk it. It was already too much dealing with an undead Ernie¡­ let alone worrying about himself. Plus, although boosts to perception, agility, and dexterity would be useful, they weren¡¯t what he needed. Logan was about to put that class in the firm ¡®no¡¯ category, but he hesitated. Empire building? What the hell was that? He couldn¡¯t help feeling a sizzle of intrigue. Before the integration, Logan had struggled with finances, forced to sell the cabin, forced to scrimp pennies to make ends meet. A class that had the potential to make him overpowered at the same time as financially sound¡­ it was tempting. Still, he wasn¡¯t that much of an idiot. He wasn¡¯t turning into a zombie, thank you very much. [Willowing Vine¡ªRare¡ªA druid class that gives the user the power over everything that grows. Even themselves. Stat bonuses: 30% static boost to wisdom. 20% static boost to intelligence and perception. Two skills available. 50 free attributes.] This class was intriguing and so far, the one that attracted him the most. It was something he was familiar with; it was less jarring and shocking than the others. If it let him perfect [Life Cycle Master] it would be valuable. Not to mention that it gave him a 20% boost to the attributes he needed to increase the most to tackle the Save Humanity Quest. Plus, there was something else intriguing. The ability to give him the power over everything that grows, even himself? Logan had a suspicion that it was something to do with healing or aging. The possibility that a class would let him stop aging would have floored him a week ago, but now, it was just like all the other wizard-shit he¡¯d discovered. This class was attractive. For now, he threw it in the ¡®maybe¡¯ category. [Book of the Dead¡ªEpic¡ªA class that gives the user the power over death. Annihilation is your name. All shall tremble in fear for your will is uncompromising, unending and undeniable. Stat bonuses: 30% static boost to wisdom, intelligence, and perception. Two skills available. 90 free attributes.] Another epic class. Logan was reminded of what he¡¯d done to the flies after he¡¯d killed Arsen. Commanded them to stop. Hundreds had fallen to the ground, lifeless, with just a blink of Logan¡¯s will. It was undeniable that a class that gave him power over death had to be overpowered, but something about it reminded him of the Man in Black. A man who had held out his palms and leached death. Although a 30% boost to intelligence and wisdom was just what he needed¡ªand was beyond attractive¡ªLogan wasn¡¯t that kind of guy. Not to mention that a class that gave him power over death would be a hell of a tactical advantage, but it wouldn¡¯t help him with the Save Humanity Quest. Logan put that class in the firm ¡®no¡¯ category. That left one more class. [Fabled Creation¡ªEpic¡ªA class that gives the user the power over life and death. The world is in the palm of your hand. You only have to will it and you shall have it. All shall tremble at your feet for a snap of your fingers will be their undoing. This class has empire building possibilities. Stat bonuses: 30% boost to wisdom, intelligence, and perception. 100 free attributes. Three skills available.] First of all, it was rated epic. The name of the class attracted his attention right away¡ªit was Asthea who had referred to Ernie¡¯s ability to regenerate as a fairytale. Beyond Book of the Dead, this class gave him the ability to create life. Logan already had that ability with [Life Cycle Master], but there were limitations. [Life Cycle Master] allowed him to create life out of something that already existed¡ªa seed, larvae¡ªor combine something that already existed with another being to hatch a new monster. But he couldn¡¯t create life out of nothing. There had to be a base¡ªa reference point. That¡¯s where the skill stopped, and theory began. Logan hadn¡¯t had the chance to experiment, but he suspected that at a certain point, he¡¯d hit a roadblock. Whereas this class was specific, giving him the power over life and death. That didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d have to stick within the life cycle of a being. The 30% boost to wisdom and intelligence would be what he needed to increase his Karma regeneration and Karma pool, and the boost to perception was also advantageous since that was one of Logan¡¯s lagging attributes. And lastly, the empire building feature. He¡¯d still have the benefit of that without turning into a zombie. Between Fabled Creation and Willowing Vine, there was no question which one he¡¯d choose. Logan mentally hovered over his choice and confirmed his selection. B2 - Chapter 2: Liche Devourer Logan mentally hovered over his choice and confirmed his selection. Ding! [Congratulations, Idiot! You have chosen Fabled Creation! Awarding class skills and attribute bonuses¡­] [Calculating¡­] [¡­] [30% boost to wisdom, intelligence, and perception in effect!] [100 free attributes awarded!] [Class skills awarded!] [You have been granted the skill, Fabricator! Through intricate and highly precise work, this rare skill allows you to assemble and repair life by cutting, bending, and fabricating. Locked. Karma regeneration rate requirement not met!] [You have been granted the skill, Devourer! This rare skill allows you to siphon the lifeforce from your enemies and funnel it into a black hole inside of a pocket dimension. When the hole is fed, unleash obliteration. Locked. 3500 Karma pool requirement not met!] [You have been granted the rare skill, Lodestone Creationist! Description and skill locked. Requirements not met!] Logan reeled, feeling as if he¡¯d been slammed over the head with a two-by-four as his intelligence and wisdom attribute upgrades opened his senses to the world around him. Then the perception boost surged, making him feel like his vision had gone from regular 20/20 vision to eyesight that had turned into a magnifying glass. Suddenly, the white stone underneath his feet wasn¡¯t just stone¡ªhe could see each fine grain, each groove. And worst of all was the smell. Although he¡¯d already thrown the bodies of the guards into his spatial storage, that hadn¡¯t gotten rid of the blood, guts, and dead flies that saturated the room. It was as if he were standing inside of a slaughterhouse. That was all the time Logan had before the System continued, pouring Ding! after Ding! into his ears like an angry kitchen timer. [Skill convergence found! The skill, Devourer, has been merged with the skill, Liche Siphon, to form the epic skill, Liche Devourer! This epic skill allows you to siphon Karma and lifeforce from your enemies and funnel the excess into a pocket dimension black hole. When the hole is fed, unleash obliteration. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware that funneling is in effect. Locked. 3500 Karma pool requirement not met!] [Skill convergence found! The skill, Fabricator, has been merged with the skill, Life Cycle Master, to form the epic skill, Life Fabricator! Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact. Locked. Karma regeneration rate requirement not met!] [Error!] [User has exceeded the allowable skill limit! Only 10 skills allowed!] [Remove one skill.] [CHOOSE.] Damn. Flabbergasted by all the new skills, Logan didn¡¯t even know where to look, but then¡­ his excitement dampened, and frustration took its place. Clenching his teeth so hard his jaw started to ache, Logan paced and ran a hand through his hair. The System had just taken two of his most valuable skills¡ª[Life Cycle Master] and [Liche Siphon]¡ªand made them unusable. They were locked? What kind of bullshit was that? Not to mention that he¡¯d already leveled up [Liche Siphon] to level 5 and he¡¯d just lost those levels. Grudgingly, Logan could admit that the newly evolved skills, [Liche Devourer] and [Life Fabricator] sounded overpowered, but he forgot all of that when the latest System message punched him in the gut. Lose a skill?! Wasn¡¯t this new System supposed to be less of a dick than the last one? Frigging hell! Ding! [Skill limit exceeded! User has 60 seconds to eliminate one skill, or one will be randomly chosen for you.] Holy shit! His heart racing and his throat closing up in tension, Logan franticly pulled up his stat sheet. Hell no was he letting the System take away a skill like [Regenerate]! Holy crap, holy crap. He had only one minute to decide! Skills: Right away, he skipped over [Regenerate], [Life Fabricator], [Liche Devourer] and [Foresight]. They were way too valuable. Although he hadn¡¯t had a chance to experiment with [Liche Devourer] and the System had locked the skill, it sounded like he had an atomic bomb in his arsenal. Sucking power from enemies into a black hole! The possibilities made goosepimples break out on Logan¡¯s skin. As for the others¡ªshit, he didn¡¯t want to give any of them up! Okay, okay. He needed to calm down. Raging wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. [Mimicry Armour] had been a skill that he¡¯d perfected through trial and error, and it was only level two. In the fight with the guards, Thorin had managed to crack his breastplate, but if Logan found something other than sand, he suspected he could perfect his Logan-exoskeleton and make it stronger. He would hate to lose a skill like that. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was one of the first skills he¡¯d received, and it had history. A history of a hailstorm of pain. A history of a chopped off finger, burned skin, strained muscles, and cliff-face dives. Not to mention that without it, he wouldn¡¯t have progressed so far in the attribute trials. It would be difficult to concentrate on much of anything without a pain reduction skill. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Hell no, [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] stayed. As far as [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], it wasn¡¯t a make-or-break skill. It gave him a tactical advantage, since he wouldn¡¯t blindly challenge someone who could crush him like a bug if they had a higher level, but although it would be difficult, if he had to, he could give it up. Fuck, but again, he didn¡¯t want to! [Deepwater Explorer] was only beneficial in limited situations¡ªunderwater¡ªbut he¡¯d have a huge problem if he lost it. To escape the trial dungeon, he assumed it would send him back to the underwater portal, and without [Deepwater Explorer], he¡¯d drown. The tunnel was way too deep to reach the surface before he ran out of air. Not to mention that if he encountered the serpent queen on his way out, he¡¯d have no chance if he couldn¡¯t breathe. There was one possible solution. In the tactician trial, the System had given him a portal generation crystal for placing on the All-Time Leaderboard. That might be a way to bypass the lake and escape to fresh air, but that didn¡¯t solve his other problem. To save Ernie, he¡¯d need to be in the water for an extended period of time. Without [Deepwater Explorer], scuba diving equipment would be the only alternative. Logan didn¡¯t like his chances fighting monsters while relying on an oxygen tank. He needed that skill. As for [Lodestone Creationist], it was a mystery. The System hadn¡¯t told him what it was¡ªit had no description! But Logan had a hunch, an inkling that it might be worthwhile. His new class, Fabled Creation, had referenced ¡®empire building,¡¯ and the other two class skills didn¡¯t fit. There was something about [Lodestone Creationist] that made him think it related to his Tree Fridge. Logan could buy items from the Tree Fridge. Was the skill something that gave him store expansion possibilities? There were too many unknowns. That left only two skills, [Undead Stamina] and [Universal Language]. Logan had received [Undead Stamina] from Ernie, and without it, his endurance would drop like a stone. On the other hand, [Universal Language] had helped him communicate with the Silverdagger Clan, but back on Earth, it was less important. After weighing the possibilities, there was only one choice that made sense. Logan mentally hovered over [Universal Language] and confirmed his selection. [Changes confirmed!] [Eliminating Universal Language!] [Processing¡­] Thank fuck. That had really worried him for a second. If he¡¯d been dealing with his glitchy AI minion, it might have shortened the time just to be an asshole. The thing would have relished screwing him over. With a sigh, his shoulders slumping in relief, Logan pulled up his full stat sheet. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 3 out of 6,007,987,194 Level: 95 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: F9 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 120,000/190,000 Karma: 2,028/2,028 Intelligence: 260 + 30% = 338 Constitution: 46 Strength: 348* Agility: 363* Dexterity: 288* Endurance: 662* Perception: 35x3* = 105 + 30% = 137 Wisdom: 215 + 30% = 280 Luck: 85 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 100 KarmaCoin: 302,600 Huh. Even after he¡¯d received his new class, the System still ranked Logan number three in the world. He had to wonder just how overpowered the other two people had to be to continue outpacing him. His new class had given him a 30% boost to intelligence and wisdom, increasing his Karma pool to 2,028, and his Karma regeneration rate to 280 per minute. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that as he hovered over his new skills¡­ well, they were still locked. The attribute upgrade hadn¡¯t been enough to unblock them. With 100 free attributes to assign, he was torn. To unlock these new skills, Logan needed both a higher Karma pool and a Karma regeneration rate. If he poured everything into wisdom, it might be enough to unlock [Life Fabricator], but that wasn¡¯t guaranteed. And yet, even if he threw all 100 points into intelligence, that would get him nowhere close to the 3,500 Karma pool requirement for [Liche Devourer], but it would inch him closer to the goal. There was a question about versatility though. After his fights with the guards, [Life Cycle Master] had been his only tactical juggernaut. Now that it had turned into [Life Fabricator], he needed that skill more than ever. On the other hand, although unleashing a black hole via [Liche Devourer] was sick as fuck, it wouldn¡¯t help him in situations where he needed delicate tactical advantages. That did it. Logan made the changes: [Wisdom: 216] [Wisdom: 217+] [Wisdom: 315] Logan hissed in a breath, his eyes bulging as he staggered in place. By now, you¡¯d think he¡¯d be used to this, but there was no getting used to the trip of his life. Scene after scene continued to rush by until something focused, something¡­ It was a scene from his childhood. Logan saw an image of eight-year-old Logan playing in front of the willow tree at the cabin, the sun bright in the blue sky. A dragonfly drifted past as little-Logan kneeled in the dirt, his bare knees getting filthy as he played, tracing divots in the bulging roots that surged through the ground. With bright freckles, a sunburn on his neck, mini-Logan stabbed a stick, imagining the stick as a soldier. ¡°I¡¯m the commander, Pumpernickel! Fear my wrath.¡± With a grin, Logan pulled the limbs off the stick like he was severing the limbs of a man. A huff. ¡°Logan,¡± said mini-Lara, bursting into the scene, hands on her hips, her long ponytail swinging behind her. She was wearing red shorts and a white shirt, a streak of dirt on one cheek. ¡°That¡¯s a stupid name for an evil king! Besides, why does it have to be a man? Can¡¯t it be an evil queen?¡± Mini-Logan blew out an agitated breath, his cheeks bulging. ¡°You always ruin my fun! Go take your icky girly ideas and launch them into the sea!¡± Lara rolled her eyes. ¡°You mean the lake?¡± Logan gave her a wicked smile. ¡°It¡¯s a mighty sea! And the Ogopogo monster is going to carry you away! Into its lair.¡± He dropped his voice into a whisper. ¡°Where it keeps your barbies.¡± Lara gasped. ¡°You little¡ª!¡± The scene faded like a windshield fogging in the winter, mini-Logan and Lara disappearing into the past where they belonged. Logan could only blink as the white arena room came back into focus. What the hell? That had never happened before. Sure, he¡¯d seen scenes flash after an intelligence or wisdom upgrade, but he¡¯d never seen full scenes from his childhood. He had no idea if it had happened due to reaching some type of Karma threshold, but what he did know was that he¡¯d made a hell of an upgrade. With the 30% static boost, he¡¯d just raised his Karma regeneration rate from 280 to 410 per minute. Excitement surging, Logan pulled up the description of [Life Fabricator]: [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact. Locked. Karma regeneration rate requirement not met!] Fuck¡¯s sake! It was still locked. Just how high did he need to raise his Karma regeneration rate? Pinching the bridge of his nose, Logan scrubbed his face and then glanced around the arena viewing room like looking for your keys and sunglasses right before going on a long trip. He needed to get out of here, but he suspected that this was his last opportunity to take an inventory before he¡¯d be in the thick of it again. Rolling his shoulders, Logan made sure to reform his armour, from his boots down to his talons, even forming his facemask. There was no question that even though some of his skills were restricted, his surge in Karma had another benefit: 2,026/2,028 2,027/2,028 2,026/2,028 His regeneration rate was so high that he no longer had to worry about Karma depletion while wearing his armour. Hell yeah. Jumping on the balls of his feet, Logan strode towards the doorway and stepped through, letting the white light take him back to Earth. B2 - Chapter 3: An Overdue Reunion Logan didn¡¯t know what to expect when he escaped the trial dungeon. He¡¯d gotten away from the queen serpent by the skin of his teeth. The thing had been so enraged he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the cavern ceiling had caved in after being subjected to her tail bashing against everything in sight. Logan had killed her young¡ªdeposited a massive boulder onto her nest. Something like that might make her pace endlessly in front of the portal, just waiting for Logan to return to bite his head off. And yet at the same time, he knew that Ernie had transformed into an undead octopus. To do that, surely the queen serpent must have moved around. There were no guarantees which meant that as Logan exited the portal, he kept his senses alert, his ten-inch-long talons ready, his teeth grinding in tension. [Portal activated!] [Thank you for doing business with us, Idiot! We hope you enjoyed your trial!] There was a flash of light. Logan went through a disorienting sensation of going from a room full of oxygen to water on all sides. Without [Deepwater Explorer], the crushing depth would have done him in way before he¡¯d drown. He¡¯d made a good decision by keeping the skill. Logan scanned his surroundings, a tightness in his gut, his hand ready to swing like a lion¡¯s paw. The deactivated portal let out a blinding glow that illuminated everything around him. There were signs of destruction¡ªstalactites had fallen from the ceiling, creating a pile of rock and rubble. There were deep gouges on the walls as if the back of the serpent¡¯s tail had done a number. But other than the occasional dust that floated through the water, he couldn¡¯t see anything. No fish, no queen serpent, no Ernie. Gradually, his tension dropped, and his muscles loosened as he pushed up with his foot and launched into a dive towards the tunnel entrance. More than anything, he was surprised to feel a smidgen of disappointment. After the System had locked his skills, he felt the need to express his anger in carnage. Still, it might be a good thing. Until he unlocked [Life Fabricator] and [Liche Devourer] he was at a disadvantage. After the tripling effect of the True Grit Rings, he knew he had a weapon in his fist alone, but he¡¯d prefer to have access to his most valuable skill before challenging a monster like the serpent queen. Logan rushed through the tunnel with an unsettled feeling as if a stone had lodged in his stomach. At first, he thought it might be the stress of killing Asthea that had caught up with him, but then he realized the hollow feeling wasn¡¯t from Asthea. It was from Ernie. Ernie had been chattering in his ear non-stop the last time he was here, and without him, the depths of the lake were a lonely, lonely place. But if Ernie wasn¡¯t here¡ªand neither was the serpent¡ªwhere was he? Logan had encountered an undead sturgeon back at the underwater milk truck by chance. He had no idea how to search for the undead otherwise. Worst of all, he could only devote time to search for a day at best, otherwise he¡¯d miss Lara at Richton¡¯s Tomb. He needed to get back to the surface so he could turn on his phone. It had been ages since he¡¯d last heard from her, and tension was starting to ratchet up at just the thought of the things that could have happened in his absence. At least he knew there were no more purge events. They only had to worry about monsters and other people from here on out. Logan made his way through the long tunnel until he came across the olivine deposit. It sparkled like a rainbow prism, the vibrant colors illuminating the tunnel. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Olivine. A mineral that absorbs carbon when crushed and scattered on the ground. Awards available upon mineral carbonation deployment.] Huh. The System hadn¡¯t given him KarmaCoin for scanning it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. Maybe it was a one-time discovery, one-time reward type of thing? The message indicated that there was a potential for more KarmaCoin, and he hadn¡¯t forgotten his Save Humanity Quest. Anything that absorbed carbon was valuable. The problem was that he was in the middle of a tunnel. If he took chunks of this stuff by utilizing his spatial collar, he could just as likely cause a cave-in. He could skim it though, like scraping off latte foam. Concentrating on the nearest emerald sparkling surface, Logan scrunched his eyebrows as he willed a handful into his spatial collar. There was a scraping sound, a sound of rock shifting, and then an inch of olivine disappeared. Eyeing the tunnel and examining it with a bated breath, Logan waited for any signs of shifting. After a minute, he deflated. So far, so good. Now he just needed to skim off the rest of the tunnel. Logan got to work. *** He¡¯d made good headway on the tunnel by skimming the olivine from every available surface. He had a pile inside his spatial storage that must have weighed a ton, a dump truck worth of material. Not a bad haul. And even better, even though he¡¯d spent what had to be a half an hour, he hadn¡¯t attracted the attention of either the serpent queen or any other monsters. He was in the clear. Logan exited the tunnel and entered the lake, glancing up at the surface way up above. The water was murky, the current stagnant, but he could see a faint glow of light. Logan kicked with¡ª Wait. His talons twitching, Logan paused with his senses on high alert. Off in the distance, something was approaching. Faint at first, and then crystalizing. Before the integration, it would have been a speck and impossible to see, but with his high perception, he could make out the details. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was huge, the size of a beluga whale, but it had ratty, bone-like fins as well as a large shark fin on the top. Its pointy head looked like a crocodile, but its eyes were the size of glass jars. It was pale, black bones clear under translucent skin. An undead sturgeon. Logan grinned, a thrill jolting through him. It was still too far away to use [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], but based on the last sturgeon, its level shouldn¡¯t give him any trouble. There was nothing better than releasing his anger and obtaining XP. [Life Fabricator] and [Liche Devourer] wouldn¡¯t unlock by themselves. Logan swam with massive pulls of his arms and kicks of his legs, his high agility and strength letting him shoot through the water like a fish. The thing was going to get it; he would savage it with his talons¡­ He¡¯d¡­ Ernie?! On the back of the sturgeon, an octopus clung to the ratty black shark fin, two tentacles waving excitedly in the air. The octopus looked like Ernie¡­ skin fluctuating blue and green, two horns on his head sticking up in eagerness. Logan wanted to shout in excitement, a lightness in his limbs and an overall feeling of weightlessness sufficing him as joy took over, but he held back. It had to be too good to be true! Ernie was supposed to be a zombie! As they grew closer, his lips parted with anticipation, Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Undead Mutated Sturgeon: Level 39. A bottom feeder by nature, warped by its transformation to turn everything it touches into undead minions who cling to the bottom of the depths, luring in prey to add to the minion army.] [Highest Stat: Endurance. Characteristics: Loyalty, even-tempered. Hidden name: Larry.] [Cephalopod Liche: Level 65. Master of all within its domain and commander of the minion army.] [Highest Stat: Endurance. Characteristics: Murderous nature, bonded companion. Hidden name: I Rival All.] [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had upgraded with his grade which gave him more detail. Now, he could see characteristics and a hidden name. Logan had to wonder if [Identify] worked the same since Asthea had seen his hidden ¡®Idiot¡¯ name while she was lower leveled. But more importantly, if he trusted what the System was telling him, it was Ernie. What the hell was he doing on the back of a sturgeon? Why did he look like Ernie and not some mindless zombie? Had the System been lying? But if that was the case, why did Logan receive his Audacious Corpse title? Logan kept a wary eye on the sturgeon, making sure to be ready to retreat if it kept coming and didn¡¯t stop. With hope in his heart, Logan mentally sent, ¡°Ernie?¡± The sturgeon paused about ten feet away from Logan. Ernie launched himself off its back and shot over to Logan like a rocket. ¡°Fleshy human, fleshy human! I missed you!¡± Logan¡¯s tension still hadn¡¯t dropped. That was Ernie¡¯s mental voice¡ªit looked like Ernie; he wanted to believe it was Ernie, but at the same time¡­ He had been on top of an undead sturgeon. With his tentacles twitching, his eyes alight, Ernie jumped towards him. ¡°Ernie, stay back!¡± Ernie came to an offended stop, his tentacles twitching in the water and his eyes wide. ¡°¡­Logan?¡± Logan ran a careful eye over him. His colors had dampened as if reflecting his emotions. His eyes looked the same; his skin wasn¡¯t decaying; he wasn¡¯t drooling as if he were itching to chomp onto Logan. In all the zombie movies and shows he¡¯d watched with Lara, there had never been an infected zombie that didn¡¯t act like¡­ well, a zombie. Was it possible that a ¡®Liche¡¯ was different? But there was another possibility. Ernie could be under the control of the serpent queen, lulling Logan into a false sense of security so that he could infect him and lure him into her sphere. There was no way her anger hadn¡¯t lessened. Not after Logan had killed her hatchlings. Logan found it difficult to believe that Ernie hadn¡¯t suffered her wrath after pushing Logan through the portal. Tentacles could be regrown¡ªhe¡¯d seen that with [Regenerate]¡ªbut for Ernie to come out unscathed and a higher level than the last time he saw him without any impacts¡­ It defied belief. ¡°How do I know that¡¯s really you? That you¡¯re in control of your own faculties? There was no way you escaped the serpent queen without¡­ something happening.¡± Ernie huffed and then bobbed his head with a small grin, his eyes going far away as if he were reliving a memory that made him puff with pride. ¡°It is a tale for the ages! A tale passed from mouth to mouth, generation to generation. All of my brethren will glow with triumph, as it is I, Ernie, who truly rivals all!¡± Logan¡¯s tension didn¡¯t lesson, but he did lower his faceplate, letting the sand dissolve around him so Ernie could look him full in the face and not through a barrier. Logan wanted to look at him with no filter between them. ¡°What happened?¡± asked Logan. ¡°Well¡­¡± Ernie hedged. ¡°Things didn¡¯t go so well after you left. Not very well at all.¡± Ernie shuddered and seemed to curl in on himself. ¡°It was¡­¡± He glanced behind him at the sturgeon and seemed to realize that he had an audience other than Logan. ¡°But it was fine! For I triumphed in the end!¡± Twirling in the water and doing a bob, Ernie inch forward, eager. ¡°Yes? Yes yes yes! Look at my mightiness, Logan! Look at my triumph!¡± ¡°You look the same.¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°But I¡¯m not the same, I¡¯m a mighty, mighty murderous liche!¡± ¡°I get that, Ernie. That¡¯s the problem.¡± ¡°Oh no oh no oh no. It¡¯s a triumph!¡± He lowered his voice into a whisper. ¡°I have minions. Minions! Minions to do my bidding, minions that follow my orders! I will soon have a throne and my enemies will cower at my feet. We will slaughter everything in a hailstorm of blood and guts. All shall cower and fear us as we¡­¡± As Ernie continued, Logan shook his head and closed his eyes, taking a relieved breath. In the list of what he needed to tackle, saving Ernie had been at the top. To go from that burden to knowing that Ernie had saved himself? And come out from a tough situation better than ever? It was mind boggling. A feeling of giddiness made him want to slump in place, his relief so strong it was breathtaking. ¡°You really are still you.¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯m me! I rival all!¡± ¡°This minion thing though¡­ you¡¯re not going around and infecting humans, are you?¡± Ernie gasped. ¡°No humans! Yet. For I knew you wouldn¡¯t like it! But Ernie is very stealthy, very smart with his strategy! It¡¯s a sneaky revolution from within! The queen serpent is a bully! A very, very bad ruler. She dominated her minions with violence. No passion! No loyalty! And that¡¯s where I came in.¡± His tentacles jabbing the water as if going after invisible fish, Ernie danced, so excited he couldn¡¯t hold back. ¡°She thinks I¡¯m a minion, nothing special! No agency! And yet, the mighty all knowing being knew I was no mere peon and gave me a sneaky, stealthy power! Behold, my first recruit!¡± Ernie gestured to the undead sturgeon with an excited jab of a tentacle. ¡°This is Larry.¡± The undead sturgeon¡¯s tail swayed from side to side, and it looked at Ernie with an adoring, worshipful glance. Logan was deadpan. ¡°Larry.¡± Ernie bobbed his head. ¡°Larry, the Undead Sturgeon, my mighty steed! Don¡¯t be fooled by his rough exterior! He doesn¡¯t talk yet, but we¡¯re getting there! Yes yes yes, I have fifty-one of them, fifty-one! With more to come. For now, they pretend they obey the queen, lying in wait until my army is a match for hers.¡± The horns on Ernie¡¯s head jumped up and down. ¡°The queen serpent is not very bright. She is strong, but she¡¯s stupid. And now, with you here, we can¡­¡± Ernie gasped. ¡°There¡¯s something different about you.¡± Rushing forward, he twirled around Logan, scanning him with eyes full of glee. ¡°Levels? Levels! I¡¯m so proud of you, Logan! I knew you¡¯d go far! Together, we can slaughter the queen serpent, I can take over all her minions, and then we can go avenge my brethren! Yes yes yes. The nasty sky people will swim in a plethora of blood and guts! They will whimper at the sight of us! Me, on my chariot of steed, you donning your mighty armour of doom! We will¡ª¡± ¡°Ernie.¡± Logan took a deep breath. ¡°It really is you.¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s me. How could you have doubts?¡± Laughing, Logan ran a hand through his hair and pinched his nose. ¡°I should have known. You rival all, after all. A queen serpent over a hundred levels above you? A zombie infection? That¡¯s nothing, isn¡¯t it, you impossible thing.¡± Ernie gave him a careful glance. ¡°To the surface we shall go! You are not making much sense. Besides, all those levels must have given you a big head!¡± B2 - Chapter 4: Loot [Countdown: Day 9 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 3 out of 6,007,582,599.] [You are currently in the 1%.] Logan woke up to the regular System Ding! and opened his eyes, then promptly jerked back with a startled shout. Two large black eyes were an inch away from his face! ¡°Fuck¡¯s sake, Ernie!¡± Ernie was resting on top of his chest, his tentacles clinging to Logan¡¯s armour while he peered at him with eager eyes. Logan blew out a breath. ¡°What are you doing? Are you trying to scare me to death?¡± At least Ernie wasn¡¯t in danger of turning Logan into a minion, since he¡¯d shared that just touching Logan wouldn¡¯t do anything. He had to have intent. Plus, Logan suspected that he couldn¡¯t do it even if he wanted to. Not to a bonded companion. ¡°Ernie is trying to solve a puzzle!¡± Ernie blinked and then clambered off Logan and onto the pile of blankets Logan had left for him next to his campsite. Logan had arranged it into a nest, like a dog bed for an octopus. He couldn¡¯t help but compare Ernie to his ex-girlfriend¡¯s cat. Each night Logan had stayed over, he¡¯d woken up with the thing sleeping on his head. Logan had thought it was a murderous cat, but his girlfriend had just seemed amused, saying that it liked to ¡®cuddle.¡¯ After calling it a night yesterday, Ernie had refused to go back to the lake as if losing sight of Logan would mean they¡¯d be parted again. Larry, the Undead Sturgeon, had stayed just beyond the shore throughout the night, his head bobbing up and down in the water as he strained to watch Ernie. The flash of those saucer plate eyes in the dark had been thoroughly disconcerting. ¡°Fleshy-human Logan is almost E Grade¡­ Level 95! And yet his presence doesn¡¯t match his level.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Logan ran a hand over his stubble. It had turned into a short, scraggly beard. Rubbing his eyes, he squinted through the smoke. Thankfully, the wildfire situation wasn¡¯t worse than when he left¡ªthe area had the same layer of smoke, but there wasn¡¯t that burning, nasty taste in his mouth that heralded the signs of close burning. Hopefully, that meant Hope¡¯s End was still intact. Ernie poked his side with a tentacle. ¡°Your aura is very juicy, very intimidating! Ernie encountered nasty critters in the ocean that were close to your level, and yet the rabid humpback whales didn¡¯t radiate¡­¡± Ernie twitched, and his eyes glazed over. ¡°You feel like you could slaughter a giant squid,¡± he whispered in awe. ¡°The aliens in the attribute trial called me a stealth player. My attributes are higher than my level should support. I suspect that when I meet someone who¡¯s the same level, I¡¯ll¡­ well, they called it a ¡®stealth player¡¯ for a reason.¡± Logan cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. ¡°That¡¯ll help with leveling. Slaughtering, you know, all that shit you love.¡± Logan scratched his head and then winced when he realized that his hair was standing on end. Come to think of it, he needed to clean up. He resembled a crazy mountain man rather than an uncle. He didn¡¯t want to scare his nieces. Thinking about Lara gave him an anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach. As soon as he¡¯d clambered onshore, he¡¯d willed out his cellphone, but the battery had been dead. He had to hope that they were on the same schedule and that nothing had happened. That meant he had three days before he needed to meet them. Plenty of time. After they¡¯d clambered out of the water yesterday, Ernie had told him the whole story. By turning a horrible situation around, he¡¯d managed to gain a power that gave him unlimited minions. But it was a long game. Since the queen serpent was so powerful, Ernie had been trying to assemble an army to have a chance against her. Now that Logan was back, he wouldn¡¯t have to wait that long. But the problem was Logan¡¯s locked skills. Although they might be able to defeat the queen with Ernie¡¯s minions and Logan¡¯s attribute increases, Logan had learned his lesson in the fight with the Silverdagger Clan. Attributes were one thing. An overpowered skill was another. To feel confident, he needed access to [Liche Devourer] and [Life Fabricator]. That meant grinding out levels until he obtained a higher Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. All in all, it was a good strategy, since he¡¯d need higher Karma for the Save Humanity Quest. And he knew just the place to do it. But first, he needed to do an inventory. Logan hadn¡¯t wanted to stick around in the trial viewing arena, which meant he¡¯d yet to review his loot. A smidgen of discomfort rushed through him at the thought of the bodies inside his spatial collar. If he left them there, would they be in statis forever? Or would they gradually rot like a piece of meat? Logan had to believe that it was the wizard-shit all over again¡ªnot just a storage space, but a place that kept things stagnant. The nice thing about his spatial collar was that he could rummage through items and latch onto something. Instead of having to remove corpses, he could remove everything around them. With a blink, Logan took out the armour, weapons, and jewelry. Thorin¡¯s massive sword plopped onto his blankets with a thud, Arsen¡¯s two daggers clanged on top. Next was Errol¡¯s whip, curled up like a massive cable. Lastly, Asthea¡¯s crossbow. And four bracelets. Holy crap, he¡¯d forgotten about the spatial storage bracelets! One after another, Logan scanned them. [Spatial storage bracelet. E Grade.] [Spatial storage bracelet. D Grade.] [Spatial storage bracelet. C Grade.] [Spatial storage bracelet. B Grade.] Excitement surging, Logan picked up the first one and¡ª Ding! [Would you like to process a spatial storage transfer?] [Yes.] [No.] That was a thing you could do? Huh. Logan mentally confirmed his acceptance and then picked up each bracelet, selecting ¡®yes¡¯ each time. His heart racing in excitement, he rummaged through the items. Wow. Logan knew his S Grade spatial collar was overpowered, but he hadn¡¯t realized how small the others had to be in comparison. Errol¡¯s E Grade bracelet held¡­ a hair tie, silver filaments, and fingerless gloves. That was it! On the other hand, his whip was immense, so the man would have needed to free up space. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The D Grade bracelet held sheathes for the two daggers, waterproof waders, a smattering of bandages and a¡­ leg. It was one of those roasted animals the Silverdagger Clan had gone nuts over. Arsen had been holding a snack. As for Thorin, his bracelet held a whole gallon of nonaonalic juice, the sides frothing with fuzzing brew, a blanket, hair ties and hair filaments, as well as an extra pair of¡­ Ugh. Underwear. But Asthea¡¯s B Grade spatial bracelet held the most. Three roasted animals, five jugs of nonaonalic juice, a spare set of armour, a crazy amount of hair accessories, and small bottles of blue face paint. But that wasn¡¯t all. Bombs. She hadn¡¯t used them all in the tactician trial. They were the size of a hand grenade on steroids, with black, slick looking metal, with auras off the charts. Damn. Those might come in handy in the future. Ernie made an excited sound and nudged the weapons on top of the blanket. ¡°Loot! Loot! Look at the loot! Such shiny things.¡± Logan scanned the weapons with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Silverdagger Broadsword. C Grade. Built for a warrior class, this broadsword can cut through metal and armour.] [Silverdagger Daggers. B Grade. Crafted by Helga the Mighty. Works best as a set as their power diminishes when separated.] [Silverdagger Crossbow. A Grade. Your aim will always be true.] [Silverdagger Bullwhip. C Grade. Made from nonzilcick metal. Flexible but strong. Built for a warrior class.] As for the Silverdagger armour, although it looked sleek, Logan knew it wasn¡¯t that strong. The cannon balls had torn through Thorin and Errol in the agility trial, and the tiger guard dogs had slashed through Asthea in the endurance trial. Still, they were better than nothing. Nothing compared to his Logan-exoskeleton, but Lara might get some use out of it, and Jack just might be able to fit Arsen¡¯s. On top of that, Lara might get a kick out of Asthea¡¯s fur-lined cloak. She could walk around with a crossbow and a kickass outfit, looking like¡­ well, Asthea. Logan shifted, a prickling sensation that he suspected was guilt making him turn his mind away from thoughts of Asthea like turning off a switch. He had to. He suspected that if he took the time to think about what he¡¯d done, he¡¯d spiral, questioning his every action. He needed to be ruthless. And that meant no regrets. As far as weapons for Logan¡­ he wasn¡¯t sure. The Cursed Rope had gone rabid when it attacked Asthea, but it had done it for a reason. To help Logan grow strong. In the fight with the blobs, it had obeyed his orders. He was hoping that he could train it¡­ like a vicious dog that needed a disciplined, steady hand. It was too valuable not to use otherwise. On the other hand, he might not want such an overpowered weapon in all situations. But like hell did he know how to use a dagger, and in fact, he¡¯d much rather use his talons. After all, he could do whatever he wanted with his talons¡ªmake them short like knifes, or longer than Arsen¡¯s daggers. And not just that, but once he got access to better material, he could make them more lethal. The sword was another option, but again, Logan walking around with a sword double the size of his baseball bat was comical. A sword just wasn¡¯t¡­ him. Errol¡¯s whip was a possibility, but he wasn¡¯t excited about it. As for the crossbow, that was going to Lara. Lara was already a great crossbow shooter, and with a weapon that allowed her to never miss¡­? That would help her get into the one percent. Decision made, Logan willed the loot back inside his spatial collar, and then stared at the two items on the ground that he¡¯d avoided examining until now. Rings. [Doppelganger Skill Ring. C Grade. Harvested from a nonalson lizard and crafted with the utmost care. This skill ring will generate a maximum of five user copies.] [Strength Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double strength. The Strength Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.] Just looking at Thorin¡¯s skill ring gave him the creeps. That was the remains of a sentient animal. It would be the equivalent of taking a shard of bone from a human and crafting it inside jewelry. Evil shit. Worst of all, it had an aura to match. An aura that was enticing, luring him forward. It was as if the ring were alive. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ernie asked. Logan frowned. Ernie deserved to know, but if he did, he¡¯d want to drop everything and rescue his brethren. Right now, Logan had no idea what they were up against. These ¡®Sky People¡¯ could be level 1000 for all they knew. But it was a priority. After he found Lara and the kids and got them to safety, there was nothing stopping him from searching for these fuckers at the same time as tackling his Save Humanity Quest. ¡°It¡¯s nothing good.¡± Logan willed the ring back into his spatial collar and then stared at the other ring, hesitating. So, the fuckers had a Strength True Grit Ring after all. He would eat his missing toe if the System let him use it, though. Not after he¡¯d already obtained the set. Holding his breath, Logan picked it up and then slotted it on his index finger of his other hand. One second. Two. Three. Nothing. His muscles didn¡¯t bulge; he was the same as before. It might as well be a dud. Sagging in disappointment, Logan removed the ring and willed it back inside his spatial collar before straightening and pinning Ernie with a look. He had one more thing to take care of before they continued. ¡°Back up for a minute, will you? I¡¯m going to take out the Cursed Rope. It¡¯s been misbehaving lately, and I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡± Ernie¡¯s colors fluctuated, turning pale like a dead fish, before mirroring the green blanket underneath him. ¡°The flying rope? Pah!¡± ¡°I mean it. It¡¯s¡­ well, it¡¯s not the same.¡± ¡°Oh, the tables have turned, yes? Before, it was I who could squash you like a bug!¡± Scooting, he backed up five feet. ¡°Levels levels levels. I need more levels. I don¡¯t like this feeling! Not at all!¡± Logan rolled his eyes. ¡°You have fifty minions. Don¡¯t worry about your level.¡± Furrowing his eyebrows and scrunching his nose, Logan willed out the Cursed Rope. It was in its inert form¡ªstill a brown, frayed rope. But as soon as Logan flexed his wrist, it inflated like a helium balloon, swelling to six feet in length, the width the size of a sewage pipe. Glee glee glee. Too much put away, too much put away. Ernie made a sound of awe. ¡°The rope grew!¡± Crackling with blue electrical currents, it tried to fly away, but Logan kept a firm grip on its tail. You were a very bad rope last time. A bad, bad rope. How do I know you¡¯ll behave? There was a reason I put you away. It sent a feeling of annoyance Logan¡¯s way. The user needed to get strong, the user needed to get strong. Maybe I did, but I¡¯ll be the judge of that. If you¡¯re going to attack my friends, then you can¡¯t come out to play. You¡¯ll be put away. Logan hardened his mental voice into a whip. Forever. Uncertainty came from the rope. I can obey, I can be good. If you¡¯re good, that means you attack only who I say you should. Leave Ernie alone. My friends and family are off limits. Too many rules, too many rules. Logan ground his teeth and seriously considered starting a campfire and throwing the thing on it to fry. In fact¡­ Logan pictured the fire as if he were deploying [Life Cycle Master]. It was all down to visualization. In his mind, Logan walked towards a bonfire that was so bright it towered over him. Heat, flames. In the scene, the Cursed Rope was inside his spatial collar, dormant. When Logan removed it from his collar, he didn¡¯t give it a second to inflate or to communicate. For Logan willed the collar to deposit the rope inside of the bonfire. In the scene, the Cursed Rope shrieked and made a sound like a dying animal. But in its inert form, it was a pile of dry fibres. Kindling. Fuel for a fire. Back in the real world, alarm and panic came from the rope. I can obey, I can obey! I can be good! Logan snorted. Somehow, he wasn¡¯t holding his breath. But it didn¡¯t matter, since right now, he needed the rope for one thing only: killing the hell out of some shit. With a blink, he willed the camping supplies back into his spatial collar. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Reforming his talons, he walked towards the lake. The Cursed Rope crackled in the air and followed. ¡°Logan?¡± asked Ernie. With a flying leap, he latched onto Logan¡¯s back and clung to his armour with his suction cups. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to level up. I need to unlock my skills so I can save Lara and the kids.¡± Logan walked into the lake, the water rising chest deep. With an excited bob of his head, Larry the Undead Sturgeon swam closer with eager eyes, his ratty tailfin swinging from side to side. ¡°But level up where?¡± ¡°The snake swarm deserves a¡­ what do you call it, Ernie? A plethora of blood and guts, a hailstorm of pain?¡± Ernie¡¯s voice was full of held back emotion. Excited, but tense. As if it were too good to be true. ¡°Slaughtering?¡± he whispered, quivering. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re going to slaughter them into extinction.¡± ¡°Are we going by boat?¡± Logan shook his head. ¡°Nope. Hold on, will you?¡± Logan dipped into the water and activated [Deepwater Explorer]. His insides were vibrating, and his talons were twitching. Next to him, the Cursed Rope darted over to him and looped around his arm like a snake around a branch. This was the tricky part. It was only theory; he had no idea if it would work, but he was holding back too much violence for it to not work. Underneath his facemask, Logan smiled. B2 - Chapter 5: A Jumping Fish If he had the ability to go back in time, the Logan from three days ago would be telling himself that he was nuts to backtrack and return to the snake swarm when he¡¯d needed every ounce of effort to escape in the first place. Logan was anxious to get back to Lara and he¡¯d done everything he could to escape the trial dungeon to do just that, but even after that, he¡¯d still ended up ahead of schedule. And in his back pocket, he had something that would make a backtrack irrelevant. [A continuous portal generation crystal. A Grade.] If it did what he thought it did, backtracking and adding three hours to his journey would be irrelevant. Logan could think about a location, think about Richton¡¯s Tomb, and he could be there. If it worked that way. That was a big ¡®if.¡¯ And yet it didn¡¯t matter. Even if the portal generation crystal didn¡¯t do what he thought it did, with his increases to his endurance, strength and agility attributes, he could power through the shoreline like the Flash and be there in a day at the most. That would get him to Richton¡¯s Tomb a day before the agreed upon meeting time, allowing him plenty of time to wait for Lara and the kids so he could clean himself up and get ready for the journey. It was the smart move. If he decided to rush into Hope¡¯s End before the agreed upon meeting time, Lara and the kids could already be on the move, and he¡¯d miss them entirely. Hope¡¯s End wasn¡¯t a small city. He was talking thousands and thousands of people here¡­ if the monsters and the System purges hadn¡¯t killed them first. There was a ton of natural gas furnaces and water tanks in the Okanagan. Logan frowned. Despite his new confidence, a smidgen of doubt and worry leeched into his thoughts. And yet, he was convinced it was the right decision. If he arrived at Hope¡¯s End as is, with two of his most powerful skills locked, he¡¯d be handicapped. His high attributes would take him far, but he¡¯d learned his lesson with the fight against the Silverdagger Clan. It would be stupid to rush into Hope¡¯s End if he had the opportunity to spend a few hours grinding out quick level increases. If he leveled up enough, he was convinced he could unlock both skills. More than that, beyond everything, after his fight with the Silverdagger Clan, his frustration at everything that had happened, he wanted to kill some shit. Just the thought of it made his blood feel hot. The snake swarm had made him run for his life; well, how about this time, they ran from Logan? And on top of that, he had access to something that would make him even faster. The Pink Sock. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he asked Ernie. Ernie¡¯s tentacles flexed, latching onto Logan like vacuum cleaners. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what I¡¯m supposed to be ready for!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see. Once we get started, can you keep an eye on the sun for me? I only want to spend a few hours on this at most and¡­ well, I expect I won¡¯t be thinking of anything but grinding.¡± Ernie quivered. ¡°Whatever shaped you while I was gone is making me envious. Such violence! Such anger! A Logan mad monster!¡± Logan flexed his talons. The Pink Sock had seemed ridiculous at first¡ªsomething crafted by the System to make him appear a fool. But after mastering it in the tactician trial and using it in the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, it was his third most valuable item, the second the Cursed Rope, the first being his spatial collar. When he was prepping for the tactician trial, he¡¯d figured out how to make the Pink Sock work through visualization. Jumping up and down didn¡¯t do shit; it was only as he pictured himself leaping and pushing with his feet that he¡¯d launched into the air. That said one thing to him. That the Pink Sock had nothing to do with what was underneath his feet and everything to do with what he envisioned. While in the middle of the air, if he convinced himself that the air was flat ground, with that logic, wouldn¡¯t it mean that the Pink Sock would work the same? That meant that when he was underwater, he didn¡¯t need sandy bottom to make the Pink Sock launch him forward like a rocket¡ªhe only needed his brain. The water engulfed him from all sides, strands of long, green seaweed swaying in the current. As he let himself submerge, he looked towards the west. In that direction was Rattlesnake Island and the snake swarm. By now, they were miles away, and even with his high perception, he could see nothing but endless blue water. Could he do this? ¡°Logan?¡± Ernie prodded, flexing one of his tentacles. Logan¡¯s exoskeleton acted like a second skin, and he could feel everything around him. It was as if the current were caressing his bare arms and Ernie was clinging to his bare back. ¡°Hold on.¡± Closing his eyes, Logan pictured his Pink Sock clad foot pressing against the same sheer cliff wall as in the tactician trial. It was solid. Solid rock. There was no water, no lake. No reason why it wouldn¡¯t obey. Flexing his talons in the water, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration, Logan pictured himself leaping off that solid¡ªreal¡ªsheer wall and launching into the air like a speeding train. With a gathering force, like a mini whirlpool swirling around his foot, Logan knew something was happening, but he hadn¡¯t yet moved. He needed more visualization. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. His nose scrunching, Logan brought up the image of the gorge. With walls towering on both sides, a cliff face so high it might as well be Mt. Everest. And in the middle of the gorge, right at the bottom, was Logan. There was no water around him. No lake. Air surrounded him. Nothing but air. No force could hold him back, no resistance. For he was a bullet, and his foot was the trigger. He would leap through the air with nothing holding him back. In his mind, Logan pictured himself pushing off with his foot and launching towards the cliff wall, scaling the cliff, jumping, jumping, jumping. Around his foot, the whirlpool increased, fuzzy bubbles, swirling water, like someone vigorously stirring a pot of water. Then it became a tornado. And just like that, Logan hurtled through the water like a sailfish, the water and seaweed rushing by in a blur. With an excited fist bump, Logan straightened his arm, lifting the other so he held both arms out in front of his body like Superman flying at the speed of light. ¡°Logan, you¡¯ve turned into a fish!¡± said Ernie excitedly, his tentacles flexing and tightening as he held on like he was clinging to the outside of a shuttle hurtling through space. But it wasn¡¯t continuous. Right now, his Pink Sock was a jumping sock and not a flying sock. He had bursts of speed as he ¡®jumped¡¯ which slowed down. As his speed decreased, Logan once again pictured that sheer wall underneath his foot, visualizing jumping once again, leaping and scaling the wall. Unlike in a real cliff situation, once he leaped, there was nothing to hit, only endless water. He sped through the water like a bullet. *** As the water grew shallower, the deep blue water turned green as the sun reflected on the algae-covered boulders and rocks below. Hell yeah. He¡¯d travelled miles in a fraction of the time. Logan stopped visualizing and began swimming instead. A journey that had taken forever in the boat took no time at all. It must have been half an hour at most, and Rattlesnake Island was already approaching. Logan kicked up with his feet and breached the surface. No snakes yet, but they had to be around here. The smog was just as bad as last time, but unlike before, his increased perception attribute let him see through the thick layer of smoke. The island was thirty feet in front of him, its jagged, rocky surface like the top of a bald mountain. Scattered pine trees struggled to grow out of the ground, some growing diagonal and just barely clinging to the earth. Up at the top, the rock face leveled off, flattening, and rattlesnake straw grass rustled in the breeze. The island had no beachfront at all, nothing but jagged, sharp rocks on the shoreline. Normally, they would have been difficult to scale while he was in the water, but not anymore. Logan just had to think of jumping and he¡¯d be there. He debated taking out the canoe, but then thought, fuck it. He didn¡¯t need it. ¡°Logan, I liked that!¡± beamed Ernie. ¡°Let¡¯s do more speedy races! Ernie is stealthy, he is smart, but speed like that isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve ever achieved! Poor Larry is miles behind!¡± They were so close to the island that he could stand up in the water. Logan began walking towards land rather than swimming. ¡°In the future, sure. But after this we¡¯re heading directly to Hope¡¯s End. Right now, we have slaughtering to do.¡± As Logan¡¯s shoulders breached the surface, then his upper chest, Ernie bounced on his back, swinging two tentacles like a boxer hitting a punching bag. ¡°I¡¯m ready! I¡¯m ready! But¡­¡± Ernie sounded uncertain. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Levels are good! I like levels! But what about minions? The icky ugh flying snakes would make good minions, yes? Yes yes yes.¡± Logan turned his head and gave Ernie a look. That¡¯s right, Ernie was trying to build an army. ¡°How many do you want?¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes were wide. Hesitating, he flexed a tentacle and then finally whispered, ¡°Two hundred?¡± Logan snorted. ¡°Leave some for me, will you? How about twenty?¡± Ernie huffed and pretended to be annoyed, but his eyes shone with greed. ¡°Fine. I suppose twenty will do!¡± The way Logan was feeling, it would be difficult from restraining himself from killing them all. Around his arm, the Cursed Rope flexed as it picked up on his emotions. He was so angry, a visceral rage rushing through his belly and festering into a plague. He wanted to kill, he wanted someone to pay. More than anything, he wanted the System to pay for putting him into a situation that forced him to kill someone he had compared to Lara. All the bullshit conditions¡ªlocking skills, forcing him through hoops. Logically, Logan understood that the original System had been FUBAR, a glitchy as fuck AI minion, but as far as he was concerned, they were from the same brush. The glitchy AI minion was gone, but the original System hadn¡¯t stopped the 365-day countdown. It still wasn¡¯t giving them instructions; it was forcing them to guess whether it would come down from on high and beam another rule into their heads. Logan was mad at the world, mad at everyone. He was even mad that the snakes hadn¡¯t shown up yet. There when you didn¡¯t want them, missing in action when you did. ¡°Do you see those buggers anywhere?¡± he asked. Ernie peered over his shoulder. ¡°Evolved snakes! Their mating dance progressed from the water to the sky!¡± Huh? Logan followed Ernie¡¯s gaze. Up above Rattlesnake Island, a swarm of snakes dived back and forth, brushing sides, twisting around each other like a flock of birds in a murmuration swarm. The snakes¡¯ scales glinted green, looking dull but only because of the smog. Logan suspected that in full sunlight, they¡¯d be sparkling like a rainbow. They now had five wings¡ªtwo on each side and a long tail feather like illustrations he¡¯d seen of Chinese dragons. They were so many that they were soon filling the sky, casting a shadow on the whole island. More poured in from the sides, speeding through the air and then slamming into the swarm. Three snakes broke away, fighting over a larger female, blood spraying as they tore into each other, their ten-inch fangs glinting with green blood. Ernie was right. They had evolved. [Flying Hunting Snake Level 59. A snake that has evolved from a rodent hunter to a freshwater hunting master. Their amphibian wings let them glide over water and snatch prey before diving deep for a further snack.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Rabid, dominated by mating hormones. Hidden name: N/A.] Logan¡¯s rage burned even hotter. While he¡¯d been struggling, forced to endure insects chewing his flesh, fighting for his life, these buggers had been having the time of their life humping each other and going at it like rabbits. ¡°What¡¯s our strategy?¡± said Ernie, looking up at the swarm with wide eyes. ¡°No strategy,¡± said Logan, continuing to walk towards the island. When he was close enough, he used the Pink Sock to launch onto the rocky shore and then quickly jumped up to the top onto the flat ground. The Rattlesnake grass rustled and brushed against his armour-clad legs. ¡°¡­No strategy?¡± ¡°No.¡± Logan looked up at the sky. Raising his voice, he yelled, ¡°Hey fuckers! Down here! It¡¯s your favorite meal!¡± One of the snakes glanced down at Logan, followed by another and another. Ding! [Eager Beaver title in effect! This title earns you the enmity of all snakes and causes them to attack you on sight.] B2 - Chapter 6: An Octopus Pouch The horny, rabid snakes paused in mid-air, their mating instincts forgotten as they hovered, flapping their wings and peering down at Logan. Their red eyes glinted with malevolence, their fangs gnashing. An abrupt change from a snake swarm dominated by hormones to a swarm that wanted to commit murder was jarring. It was as if Logan had just stepped on their nests. The swarm was so large that it blotted out the sun, making an already dim, smog saturated sky darken like an eclipse. Ernie¡¯s assertation that he wanted two hundred minions had seemed ridiculous on the face of it, but there were too many snakes to count. Way more than two hundred. More continued to pour in and slam into the swarm. These new snakes were focused on mating, but as soon as they followed the gazes of the other snakes and saw Logan, his [Eager Beaver] title swept away everything but rage. Logan curled his lip, his muscles tightening in anticipation. However, he wasn¡¯t so far gone that he was blind to the risks. Not to Logan, but to Ernie. Ernie was level 65, and these snakes were level 55 to 65. Ernie had an advantage with his minions, but they were underwater creatures at the bottom of the lake. As far as Logan knew, Ernie didn¡¯t have any minions who had the ability to fly. That meant he would be fighting using his tentacles and nothing else. Fighting hundreds of monsters that were close to his own level. In a normal situation, Logan would say that someone his own level, level 95, would have difficulty fighting against hundreds of level 60 monsters, but Logan had to believe that he wasn¡¯t like normal users. Not after the trial dungeon. Not after leveling up his physical attributes and then tripling them with the True Grit Rings. Although Logan¡¯s grade was F9, he was convinced that to get the attributes he had now, he¡¯d be well into E Grade. Well into it. That meant that although the snakes had overwhelming numbers, it would be like someone who was level 100 fighting a hundred level 5 monsters. It was nothing. Best of all, it didn¡¯t matter if his attributes were out of whack. To the System, he was level 95, which meant that it was possible that he could level up to a massive degree. But Ernie didn¡¯t have the same advantages. There was a degree of risk here that he didn¡¯t like. ¡°Ernie,¡± said Logan, keeping a careful eye on the swarm. Instead of crashing into each other, they were flocking together, like birds in a migratory pattern. They were getting ready to strike. Strike all at once. ¡°Crawl down my back to the ground for a minute.¡± Ernie didn¡¯t argue, but once he jumped off Logan¡¯s back, he surveyed the area with an eager bob of his head and then gave Logan a confused look. The ground was flat and covered in long rattlesnake grass. ¡°What is it?¡± he said, his eyes eager. ¡°Something to slaughter?¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± In a flash, Logan willed out a large bucket of sand. He¡¯d replenished his supply back on the shore. Ernie wasn¡¯t going to like this, but it was the only way to make sure he stayed safe. With a moue of concentration, Logan furrowed his brow and latched onto the sand, forcing it to fly towards his back. If he could form ten-inch-long talons at the drop of a hat, this should be nothing. Sand grain after sand grain, he formed a backpack sized pouch, something large enough for Ernie to retreat to if necessary. It was difficult to do it without a direct line of sight, and without [Life Cycle Master] his senses were blunted like looking through foggy glass, but [Mimicry Armour] powered most of the crafting. Sculpting the edges, he made the layer thick, so thick that the snakes¡¯ fangs shouldn¡¯t pierce through. At the top of the pouch, he sculpted a curved ledge, something that was flexible so that Ernie could duck through while having cover. It was a bulky thing, and his agility would take a hit, but it was the same as wearing a backpack while running or hiking. He¡¯d manage. ¡°There. It¡¯s ready. Check out my back.¡± The snakes were looping, getting closer. Soon, they¡¯d be out of time. Ernie slimed over to peer up at Logan¡¯s back. There was a weighted pause. ¡°Logan,¡± he said, danger in his voice. ¡°Are you expecting me to hide? Like an octopus in distress? A weakling?¡± Logan winced. ¡°Er.¡± Ernie huffed, puffing up like an offended cat. ¡°Like an octopus that doesn¡¯t rival all? That doesn¡¯t have over 50 minions?¡± Shit, he was running out of time. ¡°No, not hide,¡± he wheedled. ¡°Lie in wait!¡± Ernie paused and gave him a narrow-eyed look. ¡°If you¡¯re on my back, they¡¯ll see you. They¡¯ll know to expect you. But if you disguise yourself and take on the colors of the pack, you can dart out, grab a snake and lure it in and add it to your minion army. That would be difficult to do if they¡¯re swarming down and taking chunks of your flesh. This way, you can be stealthy. Be smart. Just like you told me.¡± Ernie¡¯s mouth opened. ¡°Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing! But¡­ mmh.¡± His eyes grew avaricious with greed. ¡°It is a stealthy strategy. Like the power behind the empire! The person that pulls the puppet¡¯s strings! They¡¯ll never know I¡¯m there while I pummel them to death! Then we¡¯ll grab one after another and add them to my army!¡± Logan held back a sigh of relief. They were out of time. ¡°Then tuck in there. You hide¡ªer, stealthily lie in wait¡ªwhile I¡ª¡± While he¡¯d been talking, one of the snakes had darted down in a dive-bomb, going directly for his face. If Logan hadn¡¯t reformed his facemask, the thing could have taken a bite out of his cheek! The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Motherf¡ª His rage surging, Logan flicked his wrist and slashed it with his talons, decapitating the thing with a spray of green blood. It was as easy as slicing butter. The body slammed to the ground. The head went flying and crashed against the side of the rock face before ricochetting into the lake with a plop. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 60 Flying Hunting Snake!] ¡°Ooooh.¡± Ernie made a sound of awe and then clambered onto Logan¡¯s back as if his tentacles were on fire. Disguising himself, he mirrored the colors of his new pouch, turning a light beige. ¡°Logan grew strong!¡± The Cursed Rope flexed around his arm, its size only half inflated. In its swollen version, it would be too large to fit. Glee glee glee. Time for carnage? Time for blood? Logan waited until Ernie scooted into his back pouch before responding. You can go free, he sent to the rope. It¡¯s time for blood. It¡¯s time for revenge. Glee glee glee. With a snap, the rope unfurled from around his arm, blue electricity crackling. Swelling in size, it ballooned to its serpent form, its gaping wide mouth coated in dripping acid. Two dark divots on the top of its head that looked like the beginnings of eyes flashed. With a crack, a bolt of electricity thundered through the air. The rope flew towards the snake swarm like a jet engine, slamming into the mass, sending a feeling of euphoria and joy Logan¡¯s way. Glee glee glee. A smorgasbord! Fuel for my endless carnage of blood. Logan scrunched his nose. How had he ended up with a bonded octopus and a rope that might as well be using the same script? He was surrounded by gleeful, murderous things. ¡°Hold on,¡± Logan said to Ernie. Crouching in a squat, his upper thighs knotted in tension, Logan looked up at the snakes. They were circling around the island like a swarm of locusts. A mass of snakes that ate up the sky, casting a shadow on the rattlesnake grass and ruining everything. Fuckers thought they could take over his island? This was the island his grandfather had taken him to! He¡¯d loved to fish here! They were ruining a childhood memory! Taunting him with their presence! Invasive plague. They were going to pay. Grinding his teeth, Logan envisioned himself launching into the air and leaping for the sky. Just like that, his Pink Sock-clad foot hurtled him forward. The air rushing by, Logan travelled for thirty feet and then slammed into the snake swarm, slashing his ten-inch-long talons, slicing head after head, tail after tail, then rolling into a somersault and slashing again on the way down to the ground. [You have defeated a Level 59 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 59 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 60 Flying Hunting Snake!] The swarm made a bullhorn bugle, and every single snake reformed into a stream of gnashing mouths that flew at him in a circle, hundreds surrounding him on all sides. Logan laughed. Just what he needed. He hurtled back into the swarm, skyrocketing straight towards the sun. He tore through the snakes on the way past, slashing wings and scales as he went. Underneath him, there were so many that there had to be a hundred. With a laugh of euphoria, Logan let himself drop and then jumped from the top of a snake head and envisioned his Pink Sock hurtling him to the left. It launched him into the swarm like a bowling ball plowing down bowling pins. To the right, the Cursed Rope crackled through the air, snatching a snake by its neck and shaking it from side to side like a crocodile before its drooling acid mouth ate through its flesh and decapitated its head cleanly. Glee glee glee. With a crack of lightening, the rope slammed into the next snake, its mouth snatching onto a wing and hurtling it around like a wet noodle. With another crack, it slammed forward and curled around it like a boa constrictor. The flying snake was five feet in length, but the Cursed Rope was larger. It was like an anaconda fighting a garden snake. There was no contest. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­.] [You have leveled up!] ¡°Ooooh, I¡¯ve got this one!¡± Ernie sprung, his tentacles bursting out of the pouch and latching onto a snake that flew past. Rather than crushing it into a pulp, Ernie¡­ did something. Tiny filaments like spiderwebs leached from his suction cups, seeping into the snake as if he were injecting a syringe. The snake struggled at first, but then froze, its eyes widening and pupils dilating into pins. It must be a paralyzing agent. Like flipping a switch, as Ernie¡¯s filaments spread into the snake, it turned from vibrant green to pale as death, its skin leached of vitality. Its green eyes grew murky, milky-white, pupils no longer dilating. There were no pupils at all. With an excited squee, Ernie released it, his tentacles darting through the air in a dance as he tried to grab onto more snakes. ¡°Minion! Minion minion!¡± Instead of rejoining the swarm, the snake shook itself and then with a flap of its wings, turned on its brethren, snapping at the nearest snake and tearing into its throat. Ernie had made another minion. Ding! [Your bonded companion¡¯s minion has defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] Damn. Ernie could unleash his minions, let them kill and then benefit from the XP. That minion skill was turning into a huge benefit. On top of that, now that Logan was higher leveled than Ernie, the System wasn¡¯t reducing the XP sharing. He¡¯d receive the full benefit of every kill. Logan grinned and let out an exuberant shout. Slashing with his talons, he jumped on the back of another snake, using the Pink Sock to hurtle him to the right, then jumped on another, hurtling to the left. Slash after slash, green blood spraying his armour, he killed so many that he might as well be pushing them through a meat grinder. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] The euphoria of the level increases only fueled his rage. These things were going to pay. They would pay. They would pay. They would pay! But the snakes were starting to get wary. They weren¡¯t mindless. Even though his [Eager Beaver] title had triggered them, they knew he was tearing through them like paper. They bugled again, reforming into a mass and looping around Logan and then away. Without another snake to jump onto, he couldn¡¯t keep his momentum going. It was one thing to use visualization while underwater, and another thing to use it while you were airborne. Logan plummeted to the ground like a rocket. His boots slammed into the dirt and created a crater underneath his feet with an ear-ringing, percussion sound. Logan growled. ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got!¡± he screamed. And then something happened. As if his slam to the ground had triggered an earthquake, the island shook. It was all he could do to not fall over. The whole island was shaking! In front of him, a crack widened, widened, widened, and kept widening. It had to be fifteen feet in width and opened to the darkness below. It was like looking into an endless chasm. And inside the bottomless crack, a mass of flesh crawled out of the hole. B2 - Chapter 7: Crunchy Crunchy What the hell was this?! At first, Logan didn¡¯t know what he was looking at. In fact, the sight was so absurd that he thought he must be hallucinating. Out of the cavern, something crawled forward, inching up the incline. Something immense. Something impossible. It looked like the remains of an upside-down antiquated steamer ship. Black iron, covered in brown rust like the sunken Titanic. It was only part of the hull. The rest was cleaved clean off, the top missing. An old steamer ship crawling out of a chasm would be one thing, but that wasn¡¯t all. The steamer ship was on top of a monster. Like a folded deck of cards that balanced over an immense worm. A monstrous snail. It was the size of an elephant, something like the worms in the film Dune. Immense, weighing three tons at least. It was smooth, wet, brown, and it smelled like¡­ Logan wrinkled his nose. It smelled like sewage. The ship¡¯s hull covered half of the snail¡¯s long body; the other half exposed to the elements. It was using the ship as a shell. Two long antennas bobbed on front of its head; the ends rounded like pins. Its mouth was seven feet at least¡ªwith barbed teeth that glistened with brown fluid. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Invasive Garden Snail. Level 140. An invasive snail that burrowed underground when the temperature cooled. Leaching human waste and sewage warped it, inflating it, shaping it, merging it with its host shell.] [Highest stat: Constitution. Characteristics: An overreaching need to feed. Hidden name: Foul Pestilence.] What. The. Hell. Meanwhile, the snake swarm had restarted their dive-bombs, a hundred of them swarming him at once. Logan withstood the onslaught, his armour shuddering with each hit like splattering paintballs. Holding firm, he swiped the swarm with his talons, slicing off the head of a snake with a distracted flick of his wrist, carving a long line down the body of another and cleaving it in half, blood spraying in a torrent. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 60 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] But his entire attention was on what was in front of him. The snail continued inching up the incline, turning at an angle which allowed Logan to glimpse the side of the ship. The words were upside down, but if he craned his neck, he could clearly see MV Trepanier etched in faded letters on the side of the hull. Holy shit! He knew that name. Logan¡¯s eyes widened as he connected the dots. His grandfather had loved to share tales about the lake, from the Ogopogo monster that lured in horses and snatched them out of the water like a crocodile, to stone arrowheads found on the beach from a long-ago war. But just like the milk truck at the bottom of the lake, other things had sunk throughout the centuries. Things that had never been found. Back in the 1900s, the MV Trepanier had collided with the SS Castlegar while ferrying passengers to Hope¡¯s End. The SS had survived, but the MV Trepanier had sank to the bottom. The Okanagan Lake was a fjord lake, with steep drops. Throughout the years, people had searched for the wreckage, even doing scuba diving expeditions, but the depths had swallowed it. A hundred years was a lot of time for sediment and seaweed to cover the remains of a ship. But what the hell was it doing underneath an island? And how? Just like the tunnel that the System had carved that led to the dungeon portal, this had to be its work. Wasn¡¯t eliminating the glitchy AI minion supposed to stop it from trying to kill him? ¡°¡­What is that, Logan?¡± Ernie breathed in awe. He¡¯d climbed out of the pouch and was peering over Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Oh! It took a ship for its home! It¡ª¡± Ernie gagged, his skin turning puce green. Scooting back into his pouch like a rocket, he said in a muffled voice, ¡°Ugh! It¡¯s stinky!¡± It smelled like death. Logan was lucky that his facemask blunted the smell, or he¡¯d be wanting to retreat like Ernie. ¡°It looks impressive, but it¡¯s not practical. Look how long it¡¯s taking to escape that hole.¡± ¡°So says the human meat,¡± crooned a feminine voice. Despite himself, Logan took a startled step back. ¡°Oooh, it¡¯s sentient!¡± Ernie raised his voice. ¡°Greetings, massive snail! How goes the ship? Apologies if we invaded your homeland. We didn¡¯t know you lived underneath an island!¡± The snail paused, its massive ship creaking to a stop. And by creaking, he meant a nails on a chalkboard sound. ¡°Greetings,¡± it said in consideration, its two flexible antennas vibrating as if in curiosity. Ernie scooted out of his pouch and peered over Logan¡¯s shoulder. A snake flew past like a darting arrow, going for his face, and Logan had just enough time to feel a surge of alarm before Ernie snatched it, curling a tentacle around its body while he injected his minion filaments. The snake froze in mid-air, its mouth opening in a gasp and its eyes turning from rage-filled to milky white. Ernie released it with a grin and a cackle. ¡°Go forth, minion! Kill your brethren!¡± In the meantime, the Cursed Rope and the other minion were still paying dividends. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 60 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [Your bonded companion¡¯s minion has defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have leveled up!] The snail continued inching up the chasm, its long, bobbing antennas twitching back and forth as if it were scenting the air. ¡°An octopus,¡± it said after a pause. ¡°Why have you disturbed my nest?¡± Huh. It hadn¡¯t attacked. Logan still wanted to kill the hell out of the snakes, but the snail hadn¡¯t done anything to them¡ªso far. ¡°We didn¡¯t mean to disturb you,¡± said Logan. ¡°There was a cave-in. The ground must have been unstable.¡± ¡°You had nothing to do with it?¡± purred the snail. ¡°Hmm, human meat? Nothing at all?¡± ¡°Logan fell!¡± said Ernie. ¡°But he didn¡¯t mean to do it!¡± Logan held back a sigh. Thanks a lot, Ernie. The swarm had reformed for another pass. Logan kept one eye on the snail and one eye on the snakes, then flicked his wrist and slashed with his talons as they dive bombed on top of him with eyes that were rabid with hate. His [Eager Beaver] title was doing a number on these buggers. ¡°What is that noise?¡± said the snail, inching further up the chasm, the top of its ship shell rising above ground. ¡°These pests. So much noise, so much noise.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t like them either! Do you want to help us slaughter them? We¡¯re killing them all!¡± The snail¡¯s eyes glinted. Inching forward and with a lurching screech from the ship hull, it clambered out of the chasm and onto flat ground, trampling over the rattlesnake grass and causing the ground to shudder like an earthquake. It was a snail which meant that it oozed slime, puddling underneath its body and spreading to Logan¡¯s feet. At first glance, he¡¯d assumed it was the size of an elephant, but he¡¯d been wrong. It was the size of two elephants. And somehow the snail had managed to merge into the ship so that it was a living thing. The metal was rustling, plates shifting, there and then gone. It was like a trick of the eye. It was as if it were breathing. Each rustle caused the noxious odour to worsen, wafting over to his nose like the worse pile of garbage in the world. Logan peered into the chasm. Down below, amongst the wet dirt and mud, there was a broken clay pipe that spewed brown sludge. Holy shit, had this thing been eating sewage? ¡°I¡¯m not much for slaughter, little octopus. I would rather discourse with you and have intelligent talk, sentient being to sentient being. I suppose the human meat could come along?¡± Ernie seemed excited, but his mouth puckered in distaste at the smell. As the snail moved closer, that sewage reek became overwhelming. Using his mental voice, Ernie sent, ¡°Can we give it a bath first?¡± ¡°You really want to talk to this thing?¡± Logan was on a tight timeline. To leave before the sun dipped, they needed to resume cutting down the snakes. ¡°Just for a bit,¡± Ernie wheedled. ¡°What if I made it into a minion? What a mighty soldier that would make!¡± If Logan weren¡¯t wearing his facemask, he¡¯d be pinching his nose. Ernie would never turn this thing into a minion. Not a being that was over level 100. Not to mention that its highest attribute was constitution. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll give you ten minutes.¡± ¡°We like discourse!¡± Ernie said to the snail, beaming. ¡°We like talk!¡± ¡°Then come, little octopus, I will shift my shell and shelter you from the pests up above.¡± ¡°¡­come?¡± Ernie¡¯s face twisted. ¡°Are you sure we can¡¯t give it a bath?¡± The snail flexed its ship hull like flattening a deck of cards and making more space on either side. It fashioned a ridge, the edge of an overhanging roof. But to shelter underneath it, they would have to get close to the snail. And close to the stench. ¡°Come, come,¡± the snail crooned. Gradually, Logan started to feel a prickling sensation, a hair on the back of your neck trepidation. His muscles tightened; his nerves raw. The snail seemed nice enough, and he¡¯d hate to ruin Ernie¡¯s excitement, but something was¡­ off. ¡°You want us to come over there?¡± Logan asked. ¡°Underneath the ship?¡± The snail¡¯s mouth parted, mucous covered brown teeth glistening. ¡°Yes, come. I will shelter you from the pests and the little octopus and I will have discourse.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± beamed Ernie, his tentacles twitching. ¡°Come on, Logan!¡± When Logan wasn¡¯t fast enough, Ernie jumped off his shoulder, scrambled onto the ground, and raced over to the monster. ¡°Ernie!¡± Alarmed, he sped after him. Passing underneath the overhanging hull, Ernie squawked as he touched the slime. As soon as Logan reached him, he jumped back onto Logan¡¯s shoulder, shaking his tentacles like a cat who had stepped in water. Over here, the smell was even worse. Underneath Logan¡¯s feet, he was stepping on brown slime. At least he had his armour boots to cushion the effect¡ªimagine stepping onto this sludge while he was barefoot and still missing a toe! ¡°Be careful,¡± said Logan. ¡°There¡¯s something off about this snail.¡± Keeping a wary eye on it, Logan scooted around so Ernie was on his shoulder farthest from the snail¡¯s head. ¡°Tell me, little octopus,¡± it said, flexing its bobbing antenna as if trying to sense Ernie. ¡°How aged are you?¡± ¡°¡­Aged? Do you mean how old am I, mighty ship snail? By human years, I¡¯m a year and a half!¡± ¡°Mmm,¡± said the snail, licking its lips with a slobbering tongue like a dog¡¯s. Logan didn¡¯t like this. He didn¡¯t like this at all. ¡°Why do you want to know that?¡± he asked, his voice hard. ¡°Tsk tsk,¡± said Ernie. ¡°Don¡¯t be grumpy!¡± Then looking at the monster, ¡°How old are you, mighty ship snail?¡± ¡°Mm,¡± said the snail. ¡°And are you currently pregnant? With unhatched eggs?¡± Ernie paused. His tentacles twitched in affront. ¡°I¡¯m¡ª¡± ¡°Why is that relevant?¡± Logan interjected. He had a bad feeling about this line of questioning. So far, Logan¡¯s experience with talking animals who didn¡¯t want to kill him had been Ernie and Ernie only, but just because he had one good experience, it didn¡¯t mean that every evolved being would be the same. Ernie was a unique little bugger, after all. With a murderous desire for blood, yes, but he also had a degree of caring that you normally only found in another human. A consideration for his brethren, a care for Logan, a desire for him to advance and survive. On the other hand, the queen serpent had wanted to kill them even before his [Eager Beaver] title had kicked in. That gave him a 50/50 chance of coming across a nice monster. Not good odds. This thing¡­ well. Logan hated to judge a book by its cover, but a monster that ate sewage for a meal didn¡¯t inspire confidence. It was as if the thing were pretending to be more intelligent than it was. But why? The snail gave him a steady look. ¡°Why is it relevant? Human meat, it¡¯s relevant for one important reason. Taste. An octopus¡¯ environment flavors its texture. Chowing down on an octopus who lives in the Pacific Ocean is different than one that lives in the Australian Barrier Reef. You¡¯d have a blander, more natural tasting texture versus a tropical, spicy meal. I only want to prepare my palate.¡± Stunned silence. Ernie quivered. ¡°Did it just say it wanted to eat me?¡± he whispered. ¡°I will eat you,¡± it said in satisfaction. ¡°Crunchy crunchy.¡± Then with a grinding noise, the hull on top of the snail shifted, the overhanging ledge dropping down to the ground, cocooning them in darkness. Logan had just enough time for alarm to surge before the hull started to tighten like a garbage compacter, the sides around them pushing them closer to the long body of the snail. ¡°Ernie, go in the pouch!¡± Logan mentally shouted. It was so loud, metal against metal, clanging pipes, ruptured iron, that he could hardly hear himself think. And it was moving fast. Unlike the snail, it had built the ship shell to move. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be opposed to a little human meat as an appetizer,¡± crooned the snail. Logan gnashed his teeth. ¡°And I¡¯ll serve a dish of escargot!¡± He used his talons to slash at the metal, but it was like scraping iron with a knife. Even though he¡¯d fashioned his talons to be diamond sharp, they made no dent at all. Worse of all, the shell continued tightening, crushing them against the sides and pressing against his armour. One after another, hairline cracks started to appear in his exoskeleton. Logan repaired the cracks as quickly as he could with [Mimicry Armour], hauling out a bucket full of sand from his spatial storage, making sure to pay more attention to Ernie¡¯s pouch on his back more than anything, but if it continued at this rate, eventually, his whole armour would collapse into sand. Fucking hell, he knew this day had been too good to be true. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d coast to an easy victory, slaughter the snakes, and unlock [Liche Devourer] and [Life Fabricator] in time to meet Lara and the kids. Now he had to deal with a level 140 monster who wanted to eat them. B2 - Chapter 8: Lets Play a Game, Part 1 of 2 Logan had gone through a lot of hardship since the System Integration, had survived the queen serpent through the skin of his teeth, suffered through pain, missing limbs, literal torture in the dexterity trial, not to mention the fight against the Silverdagger Clan and the mental anguish of being forced to kill Asthea, someone he¡¯d viewed as a friend. But this was the first situation where he wondered if the System was laughing at him. Forget the squishy blobs, this was too absurd. It was as if it had decided to come up with the most whacked scenario possible just to wind him up and watch him go, a rat in a maze. He imagined it watching Logan from up on high and laughing. Look at the user scrambling like an idiot. Let¡¯s wager whether he chooses option number one, pull a solution out of his ass, or option number two, be crushed to death! Noxious sewage that smelled like garbage? A sewage monster that was trying to use its shell like a garbage compactor to crush him to death? Holy fuck, he might as well be Luke Skywalker in the trash compactor on the Death Star! ¡°Why struggle,¡± crooned the snail from amongst the metal clatter. It was like hearing a voice inside of a dark garbage truck, echoing and endless. ¡°Human meat, little octopus? Come closer, come. I will eat you quickly, crunchy crunchy. No pain at all, mmh?¡± Ding! [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] Outside, the Cursed Rope must still be at work, but there was a marked lack of System notifications from Ernie¡¯s two snake minions. The snake swarm must have overwhelmed them. Logan pounded his fist against the steel contracting around them. Since he¡¯d tripled his attributes with the True Grit Ring, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to test his strength, but he¡¯d pulverized a few planks when trying to help the blobs prepare for war. If he were that strong without the tripling effect, now, his strength must be off the charts. Growling, Logan went to town, slamming his fist repeatedly like hitting a punching bag. Amongst the rattling, clanging of pipes, and shifting metal plates, it sounded as if he were hitting the shell with a battering ram. Bang bang bang. The metal shell shuddered, but no matter how many times he hit it, there were no dents, no cracks. It was like hitting an indestructible wall. Worst yet, each slam of his fist sprayed fluid. Although it looked like black oil, it reeked way too badly to be engine fluid. Ugh. In the darkness, the snail¡¯s voice sounded like it was coming from all around them. ¡°Keep it up, human meat! You¡¯re helping to scratch an itch that I couldn¡¯t reach for days.¡± Fuck! Panting, Logan let his fist drop. For the first time, he started to feel a frisson of uncertainty. Combined with the noxious smell, a roiling sensation in his stomach made acid surge. Logan swallowed and briefly contemplated activating [Foresight], but if the skill showed him a future where the snail crushed them to death, what was the point? He needed a way out of here, and he was rapidly running out of time. The shell kept contracting, sending more and more cracks through his armour. He repaired them just as fast, but he could only keep this up for so long. Worse yet, he was losing moveability. Eventually, the metal would compact so severely that forget punching the shell, he¡¯d be hard set to move his arm. ¡°Logan,¡± said Ernie. ¡°This pouch is starting to feel tight! Sand is raining down and covering my tentacles in dust.¡± Oh shit. If worst came to worst, Logan felt he could withstand a crushed, pulverized body. He had [Regenerate], after all. He¡¯d survived worse in the perception trial as the acid ate away at his skin and flesh, but Ernie was a different story. He was lower leveled than Logan and had a [Mimicry] skill that didn¡¯t involve armour. His body was way too fleshy to withstand this for long. Gradually, that sick feeling in his stomach turned to trepidation. Fuck fuck fuck! He needed to come up with a solution. Logan scanned the contents of his spatial collar, but a barbeque lighter, Asthea¡¯s crossbow and Arsen¡¯s daggers wouldn¡¯t do shit. There were the bombs, but Logan didn¡¯t have that amount of confidence¡­ survive a blast at close range? Not to mention that Ernie would be in the blast radius. Thorin¡¯s sword might have been a solution five minutes ago, but it was double the length of his baseball bat. He didn¡¯t have enough space to swing! There could be one solution. He¡¯d leveled up four times so far, which meant that he had 20 free attributes. He knew he needed a 3500 Karma pool to unlock [Liche Devourer], which was nowhere close to his current pool of 2028. However, he could unlock [Life Fabricator] with a higher Karma regeneration rate. The problem was that the description of the skill didn¡¯t tell him by how much. Still, there was a chance. Decision made, Logan slammed all 20 free attributes into his wisdom stat with a hope and a prayer. [Wisdom: 316] This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [Wisdom: 317+] [Wisdom: 335] Logan gasped, his eyes bulging. He was worried that the upgrade would incapacitate him with another scene from his childhood, but this time, scenes from his past rushed through his mind too quickly to capture, flashing like watching an old-fashioned Polaroid clip. Logan ground his teeth and pushed the scenes to the back of his mind, his worry for Ernie all encompassing. His [Fabled Creation] class gave him a 30% boost to his intelligence and wisdom attributes, which meant he¡¯d increased his wisdom stat from 410 to 435. Would that be enough to unlock [Life Fabricator]? With hope surging, Logan pulled up the description of the skill. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact. Locked. Karma regeneration rate requirement not met!] Fuck¡¯s sake! Logan felt adrenaline rush through his body as his rage surged. If the System hadn¡¯t ¡®awarded¡¯ him by taking away [Life Cycle Master] and replacing it with a locked skill, he would have gotten out of this situation by now. The damn monster snail had enough bacteria hanging around it to put it down for the count. It would have been effortless, like snapping his fingers. After trying so hard in the trial dungeon and coming out a changed man, it was beyond rage inducing to know that the System had screwed him over yet again. ¡°LOGAN,¡± shouted Ernie mentally, his voice full of panic. ¡°Crunchy crunchy,¡± said the snail in excitement. The metal of the shell had compacted even more; he had no maneuver room at all. Logan was hard set to even move his arms! Ernie¡¯s pouch was cracking, sand falling like a dust storm. If Ernie died from an encounter with a stinky snail, he would never live with himself. The sound of his heartbeat thrashing in his ears, Logan scrambled for a solution. But if the snail surrounded them on all sides¡ªfrom the sides, the top to the bott¡­ The bottom. The ground! The thing was crushing them from all sides, but the shell wasn¡¯t underneath his feet. That was slime covered rattlesnake grass and dirt! ¡°Hold on, Ernie!¡± Looking down at the slime covered ground, Logan willed a huge excavator¡¯s bucket of dirt into his spatial collar. Just like on the top of the gorge, the collar obeyed. Only this time, he was removing dirt that was directly underneath his feet. Logan dropped like a stone. His crumbling sandstone boots slammed into the hole and directly into a pile of sludge. But it didn¡¯t matter! They were free of the shell! Logan didn¡¯t allow himself any time to breathe, at once willing another scoop of sludgy material inside of his spatial collar and sending them plummeting again. The clanging of the metal up above stopped. He¡¯d given them a chance to breathe. There were a few different options in front of him. Logan could continue scooping earth, tunneling at an angle and away from the snail until he went straight up and out of the ground. That would allow them to escape. The snail was so slow that there was no way it would trap them underneath its shell again. To do that, they¡¯d have to get up close with the thing. Like hell was that happening. Logan loved Ernie to death, but although Ernie wanted to slaughter everything, he had a serious failing. Curiosity. And a willingness to believe that other sentient animals were just like him. It was only after the snail had wanted ¡®discourse¡¯ that it had lured Ernie into its shell. So, they could escape. Escape easily. But if the shell were so tough that Logan couldn¡¯t make a dent with his fists, how would they attack from above? The snail would shelter its fleshy body with its metal shell like a turtle, giving them no option but to leave it alone. Logan didn¡¯t like that option. After what they¡¯d just been through, he needed to teach the snail a lesson. You didn¡¯t fuck with Logan. Plus, there was another part to his calculation. The thing was level 140. Killing it would give him a huge level increase, possibly enough to increase his Karma regeneration rate enough to unlock [Life Fabricator]. ¡°You should stay inside your pouch, Ernie. There might be some nasty fluid coming our way.¡± ¡°¡­Nasty fluid? Ugh. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re doing what I think you¡¯re doing.¡± Underneath his facemask, Logan grinned. Instead of scooping out more slushy dirt that would lead them away from the snail, he looped back around. Scoop after scoop, he carved a tunnel through the earth, winding around, and going directly underneath the snail. This would have been a heck of a lot easier with [Life Cycle Master]. He could have sensed the snail and pinpointed its exact location. Instead, he had to estimate it based on the monster¡¯s mutters. ¡°Lost a meal, lost a meal. Fine dining, a sushi special. No tentacle delicacies! No human smorgasbord! Now only the stinky pipe. So sick of the stinky pipe!¡± The last mutter was more like a wail. Logan ground his teeth and adjusted at the last minute, tilting his tunnel slightly to the left. The snail must have moved since he dropped into the hole. As is, the hole was only big enough for Logan¡ªthere was no way that thing was coming down here, and the chasm and the tunnel weren¡¯t connected anyway. Logan paused. This part could be tricky. He was sure he was directly underneath the thing, but if he removed too much dirt, the whole three-ton snail could fall on top of them. Instead, he wanted access to the slimy body, but only enough to do damage. To be safe, Logan removed five planks from his spatial storage. In the tactician trial, the blobs hadn¡¯t needed all of them for the wagons, and Logan had grabbed the rest. If he used them as braces, they should be enough to keep the ground stable. Angling the boards, he braced them like support posts, gently tapping them into place to avoid shattering them from his sheer strength. Plus, he needed to be as quiet as possible so as not to alert the snail. This wouldn¡¯t work if the thing moved. ¡°Keep in the pouch, Ernie. The ground isn¡¯t stable and this whole thing could come down on top of us.¡± ¡°Ernie will stay. Although he loves slaughtering, this kind of slaughtering doesn¡¯t appeal! Why must the smell persist? Ugh.¡± Ernie was right. The smell was wafting in from the opening of the tunnel. Ugh, even down here, that thing reeked like a skunk had rolled in a pile of rotting meat. Logan needed one more thing before he put his plan into action. Thorin¡¯s sword. The thing had seemed ridiculous before, and not a weapon that said ¡®Logan.¡¯ If he walked around with it, he¡¯d feel self-conscious as if he were playing dress up. Logan could just picture his ex-girlfriend commenting that he was overcompensating. But he needed to get over himself. What did appearances matter if the thing worked? And in this situation, the weapon was perfect. It was sharp enough to cut down rock people. Thorin had gone to town, chopping off rock limbs and heads in the tactician trial. And it was long enough that if he managed to pierce the snail¡¯s fleshy body, he could stab the thing, doing real damage. With a grin of savage satisfaction, Logan carefully examined the dirt up above. He wanted a narrow strip, an opening like a crack created by an earthquake. Something long, with just enough width for the sword. ¡°Get ready.¡± B2 - Chapter 8: Lets Play a Game, Part 2 of 2 With a blink, Logan willed a strip of dirt the size of a firehose inside of his spatial collar. There was an alarming creaking all around them, dust and pebbles raining down as the ground destabilized underneath the snail. Logan didn¡¯t let that discourage him. With a shout, he stabbed the sword through the hole at the same time as visualizing the Pink Sock launching him into the air. Just like that, a sword became a javelin. It breached through the narrow hole with no resistance, and then thudded against something hard. Fuck. Had the snail covered its whole body with the shell? But no, he had just a second to think shit, before the sword pushed through, all four feet, slicing into something that gave it resistance, something that¡ª At the same time as he heard a pained squeal, a deluge of brown, slimy fluid poured through the hole, covering his facemask, dripping down his armour as if he¡¯d walked into a pool of slime. Logan dropped down to the bottom of the tunnel, his sword in hand, then scrambled to keep his footing, getting a firm grip and then leaping into the air once again, sword held up like a spear as he stabbed through the hole. With a slick sound, he stabbed the thing like he was trying to find its guts, slashing back and forth, up and down, side to side. More brown sludge poured into the tunnel, covering his armour in foul smelling¡­ he didn¡¯t want to speculate what. ¡°Yucky,¡± said Ernie. The snail made more pained grunts, but Logan hadn¡¯t received a kill confirmation. He growled. Just how many times did he need to stab this thing? ¡°The snail¡¯s highest stat is constitution,¡± said Ernie. ¡°It¡¯s healing as soon as you remove the sword!¡± Fuck, Ernie was right. So much for that strategy. Stabbing this thing repeatedly and getting covered in more and more of this foul shit wasn¡¯t his idea of fun. ¡°Hold on. Let¡¯s try something else.¡± Logan let himself drop to the bottom of the tunnel and then he willed in another excavator¡¯s bucket worth of earth, this time going at an angle so that he could tunnel away from the snail. He did it so quickly he felt a tension headache threatening, but he needed to be quick before the snail recovered. With a leap of his Pink Sock, Logan burst out of the tunnel, launching into the air and away from hell. Blessed fresh air. The snail was panting, its slobbering tongue out like it couldn¡¯t get enough air. Brown sludge seeped out of its body and onto the ground, but it had already seen Logan and it was reshuffling its ship shell. But it wasn¡¯t smooth like the hull of the ship yet, it was jagged and at angles. There were even the remains of the ship¡¯s pipes sticking out of the sides. Meanwhile, the Cursed Rope was at work up above, jumping through the swarm with crackles of electricity. The snakes looked confused, flying around in a disjointed mess. Some had reverted to their more dominant need¡ªmating. More snakes kept pouring in from around the lake, slamming into the swarm and targeting the larger females. Just how many of these buggers were there? As soon as they noticed Logan again, they¡¯d go back to attacking. He had seconds here. Ernie scooted out of his pouch and peered over Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± ¡°This.¡± Logan removed two black chain lengths from his spatial storage. Lara had always accused him of being a packrat, hanging onto everything and stuffing it in his garage. He¡¯d refused to get rid of his old tools even when someone gave him new ones. Back at home, he had boxes of crap stacked up on shelves as high as the ceiling. But in the apocalypse, his habit had come in handy. Before he¡¯d left the strength trial, he¡¯d grabbed these chains; not knowing why, but knowing he might need them in the future. They shone, glistening, not looking like any metal found on Earth, with an aura that exuded strength. Built to be unmalleable. Unbreakable. ¡°Oho! Y-you think you can defeat me like some pathetic homegrown garden snail?¡± the snail said, coughing. Its antennae were drooping, its fleshy skin pale, but sharp teeth covered in brown sludge still protruded from its grinning mouth. ¡°My name is Pestilence, I¡¯m unending, unkillable! But thank you for coming back. The lack of a meal made me sad. I¡¯ll enjoy gnawing through your bones.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Logan gave it a narrow-eyed glare. ¡°Pestilence, was it? You¡¯ll regret fucking with us.¡± Kicking off with his Pink Sock clad foot, Logan launched himself into the air, the chain lengths rattling behind him. The Cursed Rope surged and crackled with blue electricity as if wanting to join in on the fun. Logan had one trajectory in mind. That protruding pipe. Flying like an eagle, he hurtled toward it, bouncing off the snail¡¯s hard shell before dropping and aiming directly for the pipe. Logan wrapped the end of the chain around the rusted thing in a loop on his way past, then ran across the shell like he was darting through an obstacle course. The snail tried to throw him off by shuffling its metal plates, but Logan was too fast. He dropped the chain and launched himself into the air, willing out the other chain just as fast while he landed on the other side of the monster hull. There was another pipe protruding on this side. Perfect. Logan looped this one as well and then jumped to the ground. The monster snail laughed. ¡°Human meat, did you just give me a gift? More metal to add to my shell? What an idio¡ª¡± Logan had already picked up the other end of the chain length connected to the right pipe and jumped away. He needed something solid. Something that could withstand three tons of weight. Within the distance of the chain, there wasn¡¯t much. But this wasn¡¯t a huge island. They were close to the water and the island was so rocky that¡­ Fuck yeah. About twenty feet in front of them, the flat earth disappeared, replaced by a rocky edge like a protruding mountain. It was a jagged boulder the size of a car, a mass of solid rock that had a narrow corner. Dirt had accumulated on the sides, enough for a pine tree to grow at a ninety-degree angle. It wasn¡¯t a huge tree, and it was struggling to grow with a twisted, gnarly trunk, but that meant the ground was solid. With roots, and substance. Something stable. Looping the chain around the tree wouldn¡¯t do anything¡ªit would break. But the pointed rock was solid and carved from shifting glaciers from thousands of years ago. It would be like looping the chain over the top of Mt. Everest. This was a solid base. Something that could withstand the weight of the monster snail. Jumping over to the jagged corner, the chain trailing behind him, Logan had just enough slack to loop it around and fasten it in place. He¡¯d leashed the snail to the rock. But that wasn¡¯t Logan¡¯s only intent. It was time to play a game of ¡®tear the snail apart.¡¯ The monster laughed. ¡°You think you can defeat me with a chain!¡± Logan landed on the ground on the right side of the snail and grabbed the other chain, looping it around his armour covered palm. ¡°Keep inside of the pouch, Ernie. The swarm up above is going to notice me soon, and I won¡¯t be able to bash them away.¡± ¡°I will stay¡­ and hide,¡± Ernie grumbled. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be what a stealthy octopus would do? Hide and lie in wait?¡± Ernie grumbled again. This would be the hard part. The ground was way too slime soaked for a game of tug-of-war. Logan took a second to remove a scoop of sand from his spatial storage to reform the crampon spikes on his boots, adding six rounded pins on the bottom of each boot. He would need a grip that wouldn¡¯t slip and slide. Slamming his feet into the ground until he reached solid dirt, Logan tested his grip and then looked up at the snail with a curl of his lip. It was time to find out how strong he¡¯d gotten. He had 348 strength attributes. 348! That had to be enough. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he mumbled underneath his breath. Bracing his body like the Hulk, he hauled on the chain, dragging the three-ton monster forward, his boots digging into the ground. His biceps bulging, the veins on the side of his neck standing out against his skin, he ground his teeth, pulling, pulling, pulling. He put all his anger and rage into the movement. All his frustration at not being able to take out his anger on the real culprit. The System. Every little thing that had fucked him over this past week was in his tugs, his anguish at losing Eleanor, the mental trauma of killing Asthea. Each of these events was fuel for his strength. And gradually, he pulled the snail forward by its ship hull, dragging it through the slushy dirt. On one side, the pipe on the other end twisted the hull towards the rocky boulder, on the other side, it pulled towards Logan. He was tearing it apart. ¡°W-what?¡± spluttered the snail. ¡°What are you doing!¡± Straining its neck, it peered at the chain looped pipe and then at the one attached to the other side. It blanched. ¡°Not my shell!¡± Metal clanged, a horrible screech echoing like a building coming apart. The shell¡¯s plates wrenched against each other as the snail tried in vain to incorporate its two metal pipes into the whole hull so it could dislodge the chains. But it was too late. With a tremendous bang, the shell tore apart, ripping itself into two parts and tearing off a chunk of flesh from the snail as if Logan were skinning a lobster alive. As it wailed in pain, filthy slime, blood and brackish brown fluid poured from the thing in a deluge. With one last pull, Logan let the chains drop to the ground and then willed out the sword from his spatial collar, depositing it into his hand just as he used the Pink Sock to launch himself into the air. Screaming in exultation, Logan skimmed the tip of the snake swarm up above and then dropped like a stone, holding the sword in a downwards swing. With a singing noise from the sword, Logan chopped through the snail¡¯s long body like chopping through a pork loin. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 140 Invasive Garden Snail! Extra experience granted for defeating an enemy above your level.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Excitement surging, Logan pulled up the description of [Life Fabricator]. B2 - Chapter 9: The Walder Family Six additional levels gave him 30 free attributes. Surely that had to be enough to unlock [Life Fabricator]? Logan¡¯s armour was filthy. Brown, noxious sludge covered every inch of the exoskeleton. Worst of all, his armour acted like a second skin, so not only was he covered, but he felt it too. He suspected that he reeked as if he¡¯d crawled out of a sewer. He deserved a break. He deserved a bit of good luck for once. Enough was enough! Disregarding the snakes who were swarming up above, Logan quickly allocated his points into the only attribute that made sense. [Wisdom: 336] [Wisdom: 337+] [Wisdom: 365] With the thirty percent static boost to wisdom from his class, he¡¯d just upgraded his wisdom attribute from 435 to 475. Once again, the upgrade opened his eyes to the world around him, but by this point, he¡¯d gotten used to it. He needed seconds to recover. Logan pulled up the description of [Life Fabricator]. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact. Locked. Karma regeneration rate requirement not met!] What? What!? Oh, come on! Logan kicked the remains of the ship hull, slamming his boot into a metal plate with a sound like thunder. His vision narrowed into nothing but tunnel vision, his heart pounding, muscles quivering. If he could, he¡¯d bring the garden snail back to life just so he could pummel it to death again. At this point, he was convinced that the System was fucking with him. There was no way that¡ª Ding! [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Snake Swarm Fiesta! Kill 500 snakes in 10 minutes.] [Reward for completing the Quest: An answer to a puzzle.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will lose one skill chosen at random by the System.] ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Logan spat, a vein on his forehead throbbing. It was one thing after another. The quest itself wasn¡¯t too bad¡­ he¡¯d come to Rattlesnake Island to slaughter the buggers in the first place, but that time limit was ridiculous. Ten minutes to kill five hundred snakes? But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it. In the past, Logan had ranted and raged at the System for giving him FUBAR quests with sadistic penalties, but in a way, he would have preferred a sliced off toe as a penalty as opposed to losing a random skill. Although a chopped off toe would be painful, that was nothing. [Regenerate] would grow it back. But if he failed this quest, he might end up losing [Regenerate]. And after his class assignment, he¡¯d gone through a frantic minute when he¡¯d run into the ten skill limit. The System had to know that going through the options of discarding skills that he¡¯d earned through blood, sweat, and tears had made his heart race in panic. In fact, it had picked one of the worst penalties possible. If he didn¡¯t complete the quest on time, he¡¯d not just lose a skill, he¡¯d lose a skill at random. It was nightmare inducing. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Ernie, flicking brown sludge off the end of one of his tentacles. ¡°A quest. The System wants us to kill the snake swarm. Kill all of them. In ten minutes.¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes sparkled with excitement. ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°¡­Okay?¡± ¡°The mighty all knowing being has chosen to acknowledge our slaughtering quest and to give us a reward if we perform to its satisfaction!¡± Logan snorted. Trust Ernie to look on the bright side. Logan needed to calm down. His anger was justified, but he wasn¡¯t sure why he was this angry. He felt like one of those crazy road rage people he¡¯d used to marvel at as he drove by. Those people were on hair triggers, any little thing setting them off and turning them into unreasonable assholes. Logan didn¡¯t want to be that guy. Besides, they were running out of time. [Quest Progress: 500 seconds remaining.] ¡°Let¡¯s do this. This¡¯ll be fast, this¡¯ll be brutal. I want you to kill as many of the buggers as you can. I know you want minions, but that¡¯s less important than slaughtering right now.¡± ¡°I will be a praying mantis lying in wait!¡± ¡°All right.¡± That worked for him. ¡°Let¡¯s fuck these things up.¡± *** Interlude: The Walder Family ¡°Keep looking down at the water, Mark. For all we know, these monsters can leap out of the lake like sharks.¡± Mark looked up from peering over the side of the rowboat and rolled his eyes, his narrow nose scrunched up, his cheeks pale and showing off his freckles. ¡°The old lady was trying to scare us, Dad. Zombies in the lake? The alien System in our heads is crazy enough; fish that have turned into zombies means we¡¯re in a horror movie.¡± Kate lowered her binoculars and rubbed her eyes. Since her dad had upgraded his strength attribute, he might as well have turned into an Olympic rower, powering the oars so fast he propelled the boat as if his arms were engines. He could keep this up for over an hour non-stop. An hour! Which was nuts. Before the System came, he was lucky to spend fifteen minutes on the treadmill without keeling over, his face flushed an unhealthy red. Dad had been trying to get into shape before all this world-ending bull-crap came, and the apocalypse had ramped that into overdrive. With his high cholesterol, Kate had been worried that he¡¯d exert himself too much, but at level 16, he¡¯d transformed into a new man. According to the ¡®experts¡¯ on social media, chronic health problems were a thing of the past as long as you put enough points into your constitution attribute. She¡¯d been suspicious of that to start, but not after seeing people in wheelchairs¡ªwheelchairs!¡ªget up and start walking. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. It was a new world. That meant a speedy rowboat. But a speedy rowboat meant that the wind rushed by, pushing the smoke into her eyes. The smoke was so bad that even with her huge constitution stat of 15, her eyes stung like nothing else. More than the monsters, Kate was worried about the smoke. Last year, their house in Hope¡¯s End had barely escaped the summer firestorm, and that was with garden hoses, firetrucks and firemen. They¡¯d abandoned their home in Hope¡¯s End when the people around them had gotten too crazy, but Kate was worried that Dad¡¯s idea of shelter¡ªhis brother¡¯s cabin at the other end of the lake¡ªwould be too exposed to incoming wildfires. And if the cabin caught on fire, they had limited escape routes if there were monsters in the lake. Oh well, it was the best option out of a whole crap-full of bad ones. If they were lucky, they wouldn¡¯t encounter any XP harvesters on the rest of their journey, so that they could hunker down until the government got its act together. A big stinky ¡®if.¡¯ But that¡¯s what Dad believed, and Kate didn¡¯t have the heart to dissuade him. She suspected that hope was keeping him sane and without that cushion, she¡¯d have to deal with an unravelling father on top of everything else. Plus, there might be actual hope yet. Kate was pragmatic, she knew their situation was dire, but after the latest System message, her own prospects for survival had drastically improved. Everyone had received classes. And Kate had received a rare ¡®uncommon¡¯ class¡ªa rogue class that let her hide from enemies, giving her a sick skill, [Maneuver], which she hoped would help her get into the one percent. Forget Dad¡¯s reassurance that the one percent wouldn¡¯t matter in a year. She loved her father, but sometimes, he had a tough time accepting what was right in front of him. It would be the people who took the System¡¯s message seriously and kicked ass that would survive. If it were up to her dad, they would shelter in place in the cabin for the next year while everyone around them leveled up and left them behind. ¡°Anything?¡± Dad asked, his face drenched, his red shirt soaked in sweat. He was grimacing, his arms flushed red as he continued rowing. It might be time to take a break. Dad had put Kate in charge of scanning their surroundings and her little brother Mark in charge of looking at the water while Dad focused on moving the rowboat. So far, the trip had been uneventful¡ªthank Christ¡ªbut she had less confidence that the old lady¡¯s tales were that¡ªtales. If the System could transform their cat, Tabby the Terror, into a monster the size of a Saint Bernard with green, serrated teeth, then it could turn a fish into a zombie. Even though on the face of it, Kate agreed with her brother. Fish zombies were ridiculous. Dad released an oar so he could wipe sweat away from his forehead and run a hand through his brown hair. ¡°We should be coming up on Rattlesnake Island soon. It¡¯s a small, rocky island. Be on the lookout, Kate. This smog is so bad I might approach it without seeing it before it¡¯s too late.¡± Kate dutifully picked up the binoculars and scanned their surroundings. Smog. Smog. And more smog. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything. There¡¯s nothing but¡­¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± Kate blinked, lowered her binoculars, and then rubbed her eyes. That couldn¡¯t¡­ She had to be seeing things. But when she raised them again and stared through the lens, it was the same picture. It couldn¡¯t be possible! Kate tensed, her muscles locking and her breathing increasing. A roiling, pit of dread opened in her stomach, and her legs became boneless. Slumping, she collapsed to the seat, and gasped, her mouth open. Her dad had stopped rowing and stared at her with a worried frown. ¡°What is it?¡± Kate pointed with a shaking hand. Up above Rattlesnake Island, a swarm of monsters flew around in a flock of hell. Giant snakes that looked like anacondas with wings zoomed like locusts, darting by so fast they might as well be eagles. The snakes looked swollen, huge¡ªthe size of sewage pipes. In their mouths, fangs double the size of her index finger dripped with green liquid that Kate strongly suspected was venomous. The sight of them was one thing. Seeing something like that would give her nightmares, but no, that wasn¡¯t the most alarming thing. The most alarming thing were their levels. What [Identify] was telling her made panic surge through her body, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of her neck. [Flying Hunting Snake Level 58. A snake that has evolved from a rodent hunter to a freshwater hunting master. Their amphibian wings let them glide over water and snatch prey before diving deep for a further snack.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 61.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 62.] [Flying Hunting Snake Level 59.] [¡­.] ¡°Dad! They¡¯re over level 50!¡± By now, the rowboat had gotten so close that her dad and Mark could see the snakes without squinting. It was hard to miss them; there were so many they were blotting out the sun. Mark moaned, a panicky moan of pure fright. Dad swore and franticly reversed the oars as he turned the boat. The pit of dread inside of Kate¡¯s stomach turned to terror. Why hadn¡¯t Dad listened to her! Why had they left Hope¡¯s End! Dad could row all he wanted. Once these monsters saw them, they¡¯d have no chance. And if there was anything they¡¯d learned in the last week, it was that monsters like that never let someone go. They came after them. Came after them until they were dead. Until now, they¡¯d never faced anything over level 20. Dad had killed a rabid squirrel that was level 16, but that had just about killed him. It had taken all three of them to corner it; Kate with her kitchen knife, Mark with his golf club, and Dad with his stainless-steel frying pan. And that was against one monster! There were hundreds of these snakes! ¡°Kate. Mark,¡± said Dad, his voice tense, his breathing labored. His biceps were bulging, his mouth twisted into a grimace of pain as he put everything he had into making them go faster. But there was no hope. They were dead. Dad had paused rowing as he glanced back at the island. What was he doing?! ¡°I love you both,¡± he said. ¡°You mean everything to me. It¡¯s been the privilege of my life to see you both tackle the challenges we¡¯ve faced in the last week.¡± Kate didn¡¯t like the sound of that. ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°I want you to jump out of the boat and swim to the shore. We¡¯re close enough that you should manage it in twenty minutes tops. While you do that, I¡¯m going to row the boat over to the island and distract them. It might give you the chance to escape.¡± Mark moaned. ¡°No Dad!¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s the only way.¡± Kate rubbed her eyes, wiping away a tear. ¡°What if we all jump into the lake? Then push the boat towards the island?¡± ¡°These monsters aren¡¯t stupid, honey. They¡¯ll see us in the water.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± In the sky, there was a tremendous boom. A sound like thunder. Kate turned around, glancing at the snake swarm. A lightning storm? But other than the smog, there wasn¡¯t a storm¡­ Wasn¡¯t a¡­ Wasn¡¯t¡­. What. The. Crap. Up in the air, amongst the snake swarm was a man. He flew through the snakes and jumped off their writhing bodies like he was jumping off clouds. The man was muscular like someone who spent 24-7 in the gym, his upper thighs so big they could crush a horse, his chest sculpted with washboard abs. He wore a light-weight armour suit that fluctuated in color, reflecting the green of the snakes, the grey of the sky, the beam of the occasional sunbeam that broke through the clouds. He was holding a massive sword in one hand that sang, twanging in the air. And in his other hand, ten-inch-long talons glittered like diamonds. Green blood spraying, he tore through the snake swarm as if he were cutting through butter. His sword took out ten, twenty, fifty snakes, while his talons slashed off heads and tails. Grabbing a snake by the tail, he swung it through the air while he soared past, hitting the attacking snakes so hard they were knocked fifty feet in the air before they slammed into the rocky ground like pulverized mush. On his back, he wore a strange-looking backpack that fluctuated in color, making it difficult to make out. And from inside of that pack¡­ tentacles. Tentacles jabbed the snakes on his way past, tentacles that grabbed and tore them apart. He was a monster! He was a flying tentacle man! Kate used [Identify] on him. [Logan Hart: Level ??? A human being.] They were so dead. Kate hadn¡¯t ever used [Identify] on someone and received that response. A bunch of question marks had to mean the man was so high leveled that her skill couldn¡¯t see it. And if that wasn¡¯t enough, he was collaborating with another monster. They were in league together! At first, Kate thought it was another snake, but that was no snake. The other monster jumped through the air, crackling with blue lightning, jumping from snake to snake and wrapping its elongated body around each one before cutting them in half. It looked like a miniature dragon! But when Kate tried to scan it with [Identify], the result made her puzzled beyond belief. [A Cursed Length of Rope. C Grade. This rope¡¯s fibres secrete acid that eats organic flesh.] That was no rope! It was twice the size of the snakes and didn¡¯t seem to have any problems killing snake after snake. How was that possible? But they might have a chance. They just might. Kate shot her dad a frantic look. ¡°Row away, Dad! Row away! He¡¯s killing hundreds of monsters over level 50! He might not care about us; we¡¯re too lower leveled! But we need to get away before he runs out of things to kill!¡± B2 - Chapter 10: The Leaderboard Ding! [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [Quest Progress: 410/500 kills] [120 seconds remaining.] Snake after snake, Logan commenced a slaughter of hell. Best of all, he¡¯d figured out how to jump on top of the swarm, briefly touching the back of a flying snake to trick his Pink Sock into launching him into the air. He might as well be on a trampoline. There were hundreds of these things. Hundreds. His experience in the trial dungeon had shaped him, sculpted him, made him into the person he was now. Logan was so high leveled compared to the snakes that it wasn¡¯t a contest. All he had to do was grind, using his sword to slice off heads and tails, clip wings, sever bodies, while he soared by like Ernie¡¯s dream of a slaughtering god. He was gaining level after level, making his adrenaline surge, dopamine shooting through his brain and making him feel high on life. It was difficult to tell how long he¡¯d been at this, getting into a mindless, repetitive motion of kill, kill, kill. It was only the countdown of the quest that kept him sane, that tick of the clock making him go ever faster. For Logan¡¯s sword was death and his talons were Hades. Behind him, Ernie squeed in delirious excitement, his mouth gaping, his eyes flush with greed and pleasure. Logan had given Ernie his dream¡ªunending slaughter, a hailstorm of guts and a plethora of green blood raining down to the ground like they were the powerhouses he¡¯d yearned for. ¡°More, more!¡± Ernie chanted. ¡°Yes, more! All will weep in sorrow and fear as they look upon our monstrous triumph!¡± The Cursed Rope was rabid with greed and savage satisfaction, its body doubling in size once again. Glee glee glee. The user is strong. The user will get stronger. Each time it latched onto a snake with its gaping mouth, acid ate into the flying snakes¡¯ bodies so quickly they didn¡¯t have a chance. The rope swelled as it sucked in fluid, draining the bodies of its victims, fibres fat with blood. Blue light flared over the swarm like lightning. The blue current trickled over Logan¡¯s body like a caress, but against the snakes, it crackled like electricity, stunning them and making them fall out of the sky so the Cursed Rope could snatch them out of the air for a quick kill. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 62 Flying Hunting Snake!] [You have defeated a Level 58 Flying Hunting Snake!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [Quest Progress: 490/500 kills] [30 seconds remaining.] He was leveling up so much that it was taking more kills than before to receive a level up notice. At first, he¡¯d leveled up after 15 kills, then it was 30, and now he needed over 40 to make a dent. Which was nuts, since a week ago, killing hundreds of monsters over level 50 had seemed like a pipe dream. Logan panted, his eyes wide. He¡¯d had to remove his facemask since it had gotten so filthy with the remains of the snail and snake blood that it was impossible to see. Green, crusted goo covered his face, his hair standing on end. And for the first time in a while, his anger was satisfied. Logan didn¡¯t know why he¡¯d been so angry, but it had been like a gremlin living inside of his chest, festering and making him into a Logan rage monster. But killing hundreds of monsters had finally satisfied that rage, replacing it with deep satisfaction instead. Logan flicked his wrist, severing the head of another snake, and then let himself drop to the ground next to the remains of the snail¡¯s shell. At a certain point, he¡¯d slaughtered so many snakes that jumping on top of the flying bodies became an impossibility. He¡¯d thinned the swarm until only a handful of snakes remained. Ding! [Congratulations! You¡¯ve successfully completed the Quest: Snake Swarm Fiesta! Reward for completing the Quest: an answer to a puzzle.] [Choice Number 1: Learn the requirements to unlock [Life Fabricator].] [Choice Number 2: A reveal. A list of the top ten humans in the world and relative levels. This choice will grant the user continuous future use.] [Choice Number 3: I lurk in the depths, sprouting my network, only available to the user if they can see.] [CHOOSE.] Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Logan blew out a breath of air and ran a hand through his gore covered hair as he paced. There were only a handful of flying snakes left up above, and even with [Eager Beaver] in effect, they were flying around in a panic, confused, as if Logan had given them a serious case of PTSD. Ernie plopped out of the pouch on Logan¡¯s back and jumped to the ground, swatting the gore covered long rattlesnake grass that was fluttering in the wind as if he wanted to do war with it. He had a crazed look in his eyes, his face flushed even underneath all that snake blood. Dancing with his tentacles and hitting the grass like he was swatting flies, he crooned, ¡°I¡¯m a flying slaughtering murderous octopus god! All will cower at my feet while I tower over them on my mighty throne.¡± A flick of a tentacle like Ernie was a conductor. ¡°I am immense, stealthy, smart, and I will be the power hidden from those more powerful than me! I will build a ten thousand strong minion army and save my brethren. Fleshy human Logan and I will reign¡ª¡± Logan tuned him out. Ernie was slaughter drunk. As for the quest reward, what bullshit was this? You¡¯d think the reward had to be as good as the potential penalty, and like hell was this the equivalent. [CHOOSE.] If he chose option number one, he¡¯d learn how to unlock [Life Fabricator], but there was a chance that all his leveling would be enough already. It would be wasteful to pick that option when he might have taken care of the problem already. And besides, it wasn¡¯t a puzzle. He knew how to unlock it. By upgrading his wisdom attribute. The second option intrigued him. [Choice Number 2: A reveal. A list of the top ten humans in the world and relative levels. This choice will grant the user continuous future use.] It appealed to his competitive nature, and it might give him insight about the Man in Black. That man¡¯s leaching black oil skill was terrifying. Logan wasn¡¯t sure if [Foresight] had shown him an image of the man in real time or in the future, but obtaining recon would be valuable. Not to mention that the System ranked Logan number three in the world, which meant that two other people were ahead of him. Just how high? It was a tempting choice. If he had access to that information, he¡¯d know how many levels he¡¯d need to overtake them on the leaderboard and become rank number one in the world. As for the last option¡­. [Choice Number 3: I lurk in the depths, sprouting my network, only available to the user if they can see.] Talk about a puzzle. It could be anything! It reminded him of the description of his [Foresight] skill: [Foresight gives you the ability to see. The skill is limited only in time¡ª600 seconds¡ªand your imagination. Activation limit: once per 24 hours.] Foresight was a legendary skill and beyond valuable, but Logan didn¡¯t trust this new, exorcized AI minion System yet. For all he knew, if he picked that option, it could be the worst of the lot. Frustration festered in Logan¡¯s stomach. The Snake Swarm Fiesta Quest hadn¡¯t been a walk in the park. Although it had ended up being fun and it had helped Logan work off his anger, if he¡¯d failed, the penalty would have been immense. Receiving a shitty reward was frustrating beyond belief. [CHOOSE.] With a sigh of resignation, Logan mentally hovered over option number two. [Selection confirmed!] [Processing¡­.] [Leaderboard Populated!] Leaderboard: Logan blinked. Then blinked again. This list had to be a list of everyone¡¯s hidden names rather than true names. His glitchy AI minion had chosen Logan¡¯s name, but if the others had chosen theirs¡­ holy hell. Crazy people. Crazy people dominated the world! It was possible that rank one, Charon, was someone other than the Man in Black, but he couldn¡¯t imagine someone with a worse skill than that man. The potential for leveling and XP harvesting was immense. Plus, why would the System show him that scene if he wasn¡¯t the biggest threat. And the name Charon, Charon¡­ Logan had heard that name before. In Greek mythology, Charon was the ferryman of the underworld, ferrying souls to the afterlife. That was a hell of a coincidence. And at level 150, holy shit. The man was a serious threat. Not to mention that¡­. Wait a minute. Logan¡¯s rank had changed! Excitement surging, Logan pulled up his full stat sheet: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 6,006,982,919 Level: 119 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E1 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 220,000/238,000 Karma: 1,901/2,028 Intelligence: 260 + 30% = 338 Constitution: 46 Strength: 116x3* = 348 Agility: 121x3* = 363 Dexterity: 96x3* = 288 Endurance: 147x3* = 441+50% = 662 Perception: 35x3* = 105 + 30% = 137 Wisdom: 365 + 30% = 475 Luck: 101 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 70 KarmaCoin: 302,600 His rank had gone up to rank two. Rank two in the world! Hell yeah. Logan felt a surge of pride. He couldn¡¯t hold back a huge grin. That meant he was E Grade, and already E1. That upgraded [Regenerate] by two levels, getting him closer to a man who could chop off his fingers and grow them back just as fast. Curiously, his other grade dependant skill, [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had stayed at Level 10. Had he maxed out the skill? And for the first time in a long time, the System had bumped up his luck attribute from 85 to 101. But Logan was puzzled. Rubbing his chin as he paced, he pondered the problem. It had been over 24 hours since he returned to Earth, and he¡¯d just about killed himself with acrobatics, punching the snail hull apart, using his dexterity to kill snakes, and going like a crazy endurance man in the air. And yet he hadn¡¯t received his daily attribute increases. Why? Once again, it was a case of having to figure it out. If the System were fair, it wouldn¡¯t make people guess. The only possibility that made sense had to do with scaling. Each time he¡¯d received a daily increase, it had gotten harder to upgrade it the next day. And to increase an endurance attribute that was already at 662? It wasn¡¯t worth it if it meant he¡¯d have to run for 24 hours straight. But compared to his rapid progress, Logan wasn¡¯t going to complain. He was rank number two in the world! Just thinking about it made him glow with pride. Lara and the kids were going to be shocked. Stodgy Uncle Logan rank two in the world? They¡¯d never believe it. He could live with losing the daily cheat points against that. Even better, his level increases meant that he had 70 free attributes that he could throw into either wisdom or intelligence. To be safe and to make sure he was making the right decision, Logan did the mental math. If he assigned those attributes to intelligence, he¡¯d upgrade the stat from 260 to 330. With his 30% static boost from his [Fabled Creation] class, he¡¯d have 429 intelligence attributes. Each intelligence point translated into six Karma points, so that worked out to a Karma pool of 2,575. That did it. That wasn¡¯t enough to unlock [Liche Devourer]: [Locked. 3500 Karma pool requirement not met.] Damn. That was a serious Karma pool requirement. Trust the System to make unlocking it a mammoth task. Even though Logan still didn¡¯t know how much Karma regeneration he¡¯d need to unlock [Life Fabricator], it made more sense to allocate his free attributes to wisdom. Decision made, Logan made the changes. [Wisdom: 366] [Wisdom: 367+] [Wisdom: 435] As the upgrade surged, the world disappeared, the island, the reek of snake blood and noxious sewage slime fading, Ernie¡¯s chatter turning into a murmur as if he¡¯d stuffed Logan¡¯s ears with cotton. And in its place¡­. B2 - Chapter 11: The Portal Crystal And in its place¡­ was a scene from his childhood. This again? But as he took in the scene, Logan felt a pang of heartache. His grandfather. He had to be in his late 60s, back before his thinning hair had turned white. His body was thin and lithe. To a young, pimply faced Logan, he had seemed like a giant, but in reality, he¡¯d only been six foot two. The System was showing him the willow tree again. The tree¡¯s branches drooped over a scruffy, dirty mini-Logan. A Logan who had to be six or seven who was digging between the tree¡¯s roots. The roots were bursting from the ground like a gnarled maze. This time, it was later in the day¡ªthe sun was dipping on the horizon and creating a haze. Not a haze of smoke¡ªsince back then, it was rare to have wildfires in the summer. Rather, it was the haze of heat that simmered in the air like a living, breathing thing. Over little Logan¡¯s bent over bare back, the weeping willow drizzled moisture. And strangely enough, Logan could feel it. It was as if he were this Logan, only he was looking at this scene from afar. With the knowledge of time. The drizzling moisture felt like mist from a sprinkler drifting in the wind. Ladybugs crawled down the willow tree roots; bright red bugs that made mini-Logan¡¯s eyes light up with glee. Logan remembered this. It had shaped his relationship with Lara for years. ¡°Logan,¡± said his grandfather, looking down at him with his hands on his hips. Then he seemed to reconsider. He shuffled forward before crouching, his long beige dress pants stretching across his knees. ¡°I can see you¡¯ve put together quite the army.¡± Mini-Logan looked up from his trench digging, his dirty, tiny fist clutching a twig soldier. He¡¯d imagined each root as an army road, and he¡¯d stacked the twig soldiers on the raised roots, ready for an ambush. He¡¯d tried to field the ladybugs into the trench, imagining them as monsters attacking the army below. ¡°I¡¯m winning,¡± said mini-Logan with a grin, his freckles standing out on his nose as he looked up at his grandfather. ¡°And yet no room for your sister in this battle, hmm?¡± Mini-Logan¡¯s mouth twisted with indignation. ¡°Did she tattle?¡± He dropped his twig-soldier as he yelled, ¡°She¡¯s a tattletale!¡± His grandfather gave him a deep frown of disappointment. ¡°No tattling. She was crying so much she couldn¡¯t talk. Even when she calmed down, she wouldn¡¯t tell me anything.¡± Logan paused. ¡°¡­Crying?¡± he whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but whatever you did deeply affected her.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± Logan rubbed his bare arms as if he were cold. ¡°She wanted to play, but she always ruins my fun, wanting to insert icky girly princesses and queens.¡± Mini-Logan was suddenly indignant. ¡°Why should I let her!¡± ¡°Logan Hart, Lara is your only sibling. Many friends will pass through your life, but they¡¯ll be fickle, there and gone relationships. Eventually, something may happen, and those boys that you surround yourself with will abandon you for better prospects. But your sister will always be there. She¡¯ll never abandon you. But family isn¡¯t guaranteed. You have only one sister. If you ruin that relationship, although she¡¯ll be there for you in the future, you¡¯ll never be close.¡± Mini-Logan furrowed his brow. He was young; these concepts were difficult for him to grasp. But unlike mini-Logan, adult Logan could see that his grandfather understood his difficulty. And adjusted. Running his hand over his chin, he gave Logan a considering look and peered down at his make-believe army. ¡°Soldiers and kings are heroic, hmm? They do what¡¯s right and save the innocent and punish evil doers?¡± Logan glanced down at his stick soldiers and nodded. ¡°As a brother, you have a responsibility to protect your sister. She needs to know that you¡¯ll always be in her corner. You¡¯ll do that by having her back, by supporting her, by listening to her when she wants to inject a bit of femininity into a battle like this, hmm?¡± Logan¡¯s face grew red. ¡°She wants to be a queen.¡± His grandfather smiled. ¡°That¡¯s a lofty goal. She can be the queen of one kingdom; you can be the king of the other. A battle to see who comes out on top sounds fun, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Mini-Logan bit his lip. Adult Logan knew that he was thinking of Lara bringing her barbies to battle and dreading it. His grandfather sighed. ¡°Give it a try, Logan. Give her a chance.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± Just like that, the scene faded, mini-Logan disappearing where the memory belonged. The noxious reek of slaughtered snakes and the rotting snail swamped his senses, and Logan blinked at the world around him. Ernie had stopped swatting the grass and had instead jumped into the lake, wiggling through the water as he tried to get rid of green goo and blood. What the hell was that? This time, the scene had been even longer. Why was the System showing him these memories? Brothers and sisters didn¡¯t always get along, and for Lara and Logan, it had taken a while to get close. But that was in the past. Now, they were closer than ever. Wait¡­ what if this was a way for the System to tell him that something was wrong with Lara? That she was in trouble. Logan had convinced himself that she would be fine. Hope¡¯s End wasn¡¯t on fire, they were on the same schedule. But his cell phone was dead, and for all he knew, Lara might have tried to get in touch with him. The kids could be in trouble. They might need him. Anxiety was eating away at his stomach, his adrenaline surging, his heart racing. Why had he thought slaughtering snakes was a priority over finding Lara? Logan had justified it in a way that seemed absurd¡ªto save Lara, he¡¯d thought he¡¯d need to unlock [Life Fabricator] so he wouldn¡¯t get into another situation like the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, but the System had ranked Logan second in the world. Second in the world. Surely that had to be enough to handle whatever he encountered in the city? This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Looking back on it while his anger was less hot, it made no sense. He¡¯d let his emotions make his decisions for him, swaying him towards killing rather than saving. Up above, the Cursed Rope was pursuing the remaining flying snakes, still greedy, still rabid in its need to kill. Wrapping around the last snake and squeezing it with its acid fibres, it sucked in the snake¡¯s green blood like sucking from a straw until the body was nothing but a husk. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 60 Flying Hunting Snake!] Glee glee glee, sent the rope before slithering back to Logan. The user is strong, it purred and then transformed into its regular fibre rope, back to a harmless looking¡­ Harmless looking¡­ Logan blinked. Then blinked again. Even in the tactician trial right before the blob battle, he¡¯d been angry. He¡¯d justified that anger when he¡¯d heard about the skill rings¡ªafter all, anyone would be angry if they¡¯d learned that people were boiling feeling, thinking, sentient animals alive. It was like boiling people. But looking back on it now, Logan began to wonder. He wondered if that anger was organic, or whether it was fed from something¡­ else. The Cursed Rope. The Silverdagger Clan had warned him that it was an insidious rope, that it would corrupt the person who wielded it, but Logan had discounted everything they said. Believing that even if someone from the Silverdagger Clan had been ¡®corrupted¡¯ in the past, that Logan would never have the same problem. He¡¯d believed that Ernie would have sensed that something was wrong, that he would have warned him. After all, he¡¯d used the Cursed Rope when they¡¯d fled from the snake swarm. All Ernie had expressed was envy that the rope could fly, and he couldn¡¯t. But Ernie was crazy. Crazy for slaughter. Would he pick up on the fact that the rope was doing something to Logan, or would he just go with the flow, happy that Logan was eager to slaughter? Logan had never been quick to anger. Although he¡¯d never been in an apocalypse situation, and there was no comparison between a road rage incident and all this undead minion, monster crap, he¡¯d always been rational. To be so rage-filled that he¡¯d prioritized leveling up over finding his sister? It was nuts. Looking down at the Cursed Rope, Logan ran a hand through his gore crusted hair. The damn thing was called a ¡®cursed rope.¡¯ ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered. But if it were influencing him, at least he¡¯d picked up on it. Logan had two options here. He could destroy the rope, or he could keep it. There was no guarantee that throwing it into his spatial collar would do shit, since he¡¯d been angry back in the tactician trial before he¡¯d taken the rope out of his spatial collar to ¡®flay¡¯ the evil blobs. It was possible that it could influence Logan even when it was in a pocket dimension. He could leave it, throw it away. Kick it over the side of the island into the water, bury it in the ground, or just walk away, but he was convinced that wouldn¡¯t work. It would be like leaving a puppy. The damn thing would inflate and follow Logan. It could even swim! To truly get rid of it, he would have to destroy it. And it was a heck of a valuable weapon. It had helped to slaughter the snakes and without it, Logan might not have been able to kill 500 snakes in ten minutes. But if he kept it, who¡¯s to say it wouldn¡¯t influence him again. Logan blew out a breath of air and willed the Cursed Rope inside his spatial collar. He wouldn¡¯t make a decision now. He could afford to wait. Killing so many snakes had satisfied his anger, and he was rational enough to have figured out that there was a problem. That meant that the Cursed Rope might be on a trigger. If Logan were killing monsters and leveling up, it was happy. Satisfied. But if Logan took too long between kills, he suspected that his anger would rise once again. But he was meeting someone who could help and who never withheld her opinion. Lara. If something were wrong, Lara would let him know. He needed to find her. Besides, if killing 500 snakes and a stinky snail over level 100 wasn¡¯t enough to unlock [Life Fabricator], it could wait. It was time to leave. Logan pulled up the description of [Life Fabricator]. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact.] His Karma regeneration rate was high enough to unlock the skill. Fuck yes! Logan fist pumped the air. Finally. And this skill wasn¡¯t [Life Cycle Master], it was better. That meant he could grow trees and plants again, and even more. Based on the description, he could create something out of nothing. That would help him with the Save Humanity Quest. But that was tomorrow. For today, the sun was dropping, and it was time to find out if his new portal generation crystal was worth its name. Either it would transport him to Hope¡¯s End, or tomorrow he was going to use his newly earned strength, agility, and endurance to power his way to the city. Logan made sure to will the chains back into his spatial collar, and then scanned the rest of the island. The snail smelled like a rotting corpse mixed with skunk and sewage, but it would be short-sighted to discount the metal shell. It might come in handy. But the smell¡­ Ugh. Making a snap decision, Logan willed the metal shell into his collar and then jumped over the side of the island and into the lake. The water splashed around him. Logan activated [Deepwater Explorer] as he moved out of the shallow area and into the depths. Around him, the water turned brown and green as goo and guts washed off his armour. He scrubbed his hair, trying to get out the gunk. Ernie shot past him like a bullet, still high on slaughter. ¡°Is it time to kill more? More! More! More!¡± ¡°Nope, it¡¯s time to go. We¡­¡± Logan gave Ernie a considering look. ¡°I never asked if you want to come with me. I know you were okay coming with me to Hope¡¯s End to find my sister before, but that was¡­ well, before¡­ everything. Before the queen serpent. You¡¯re a different octopus now. A stealthy Liche. And for all I know, you have different priorities.¡± Ernie stopped zooming through the water and hovered in front of Logan. Gradually, he calmed, his tentacles swimming rather than dancing. ¡°We are bonded companions, yes? There was a reason I bonded with you, Logan. We stick together! I will help you save your brethren, and then you will help me save mine, yes? And we will defeat the queen serpent together, and I will become the ruler of the world.¡± Logan blinked. Ruler of the world? The crazy thing was that Logan suspected that Ernie was serious. Holding back a smile, Logan nodded. ¡°Okay, then meet me back on the island. We need to get out of here.¡± He waited until Ernie had climbed out of the water and onto the island and then willed out the hunk of ship shell, depositing it into the depths. Counting for five minutes straight, he let the current wash away as much gunk and crap as possible before he willed it back inside his collar. At least this way the next time he took it out, it wouldn¡¯t stink so bad. *** Standing on top of Rattlesnake Island surrounded by piles of snake carcasses, Ernie inside the pouch on his back, Logan removed the portal generation crystal from his spatial collar. The crystal was the size of Asthea¡¯s communication marble, blue in color and shining with a faint light as if the System had trapped a firefly inside. Logan scrutinized it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [A continuous portal generation crystal. A Grade.] He didn¡¯t know how this worked, but if it were anything like the communication crystal, it should seep into his skin and then become a permanent skill. Shit. Did that mean that it would count as a skill? That he¡¯d be forced to lose another one? Shit, shit, shit! Grudgingly, Logan was starting to come around to the value of skill rings. They were despicable, but if by wearing one, you managed to bypass the System¡¯s ten skill limit, he could see how a society could talk themselves into overlooking the moral problems. Holding his breath, Logan rubbed the marble like trying to dissolve a sugar cube. It was smooth, like glass. The light inside flared like a flickering candle, but it didn¡¯t dissolve into his skin. Huh. How the hell did this thing work? Furrowing his brow, Logan considered the problem. Once again, he was beyond frustrated that he had to figure everything out through trial and error. In a sane world, there would be an instruction manual, or some kind of voice to guide his way. Holy crap, this sucked! ¡°System, why are you such an asshole? An instruction manual would be nice! After all the shit your AI minion put me through, a bit of information is the least you can do.¡± [What information would you like?] Logan hissed in a shocked breath. The hair on the back of his neck standing on end, he glanced up at the sky. Back on the first day of the System Integration, asking questions had never worked. But then again, he¡¯d been dealing with the glitchy AI minion. ¡°How does this crystal work?¡± [Would you like to absorb the crystal for permanent use? Or would you like peripheral use only?] B2 - Chapter 12: Ernie to the Rescue! [Would you like to absorb the crystal for permanent use? Or would you like peripheral use only?] A prickling sensation rushed through Logan. It was a surge of optimism followed by a feeling of something that was too good to be true. It was the same rush of feelings he¡¯d have after receiving a scam offer¡ªsomeone would tell him that he¡¯d won a trip, only for him to realize it was a telemarketer. Logan didn¡¯t trust this. According to what Asthea had told him, he¡¯d been interacting with just one of many System AI minion copies. A copy that had gone rogue, murderous. That meant that this time, he was dealing with yet another minion. Although he was convinced that the original System had purged the glitchy as fuck AI minion, Logan had no illusions that he hadn¡¯t been handed off to another copy after it finished correcting the problem. If this was yet another System copy, what if it also had a glitch? For all he knew, it could be a more insidious minion¡ªtreating him with respect on the face of it but creating more tricky situations than the last. On top of that, someone had programmed the System; it hadn¡¯t originated from a vacuum. Whoever programmed it would have inserted their own unique quirks and rules. Logan suspected that it had something to do with Ernie¡¯s ¡®Sky People¡¯ or another advanced society within the Collective. So far, this version hadn¡¯t gone out of its way to insult him; no more saucy messages, but just because someone wasn¡¯t insulting you didn¡¯t mean that they didn¡¯t have sinister motives. Logan didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever trust the System. Not after what he¡¯d been through. But if it were being an accommodating fucker, he would take every advantage he could. ¡°What does peripheral use mean?¡± [Would you like to absorb the crystal for permanent use? Or would you like peripheral use only?] Ah, man. There was nothing worse than getting your hopes up and then having them deflate like a balloon. It was the same shit from last time. He¡¯d ask the System a question, and it would repeat a simulated question repeatedly. So, no conversation with the System. It would be up to Logan to take clues from its wording and then make an educated guess. If he absorbed the crystal for permanent use, that had to mean that it would be like the communication crystal. It would absorb and then turn into a static skill. That would trigger the ten-skill limit cap. But this ¡®peripheral¡¯ wording made him think that it would allow him to use the crystal without absorbing it, hence not creating a skill and triggering the skill limit. Logan could also see problems with that, though. If the crystal didn¡¯t dissolve into his body, it could be stolen. It was just like the True Grit Rings¡ªuntil he¡¯d completed the set, the Silverdagger Clan or anyone else could have taken them from Logan. He also had to wonder if his decision was final. If he chose peripheral use, could he make the crystal into a permanent skill at a later date? He was betting not. The worse part was that the crystal description was vague. It was A grade which meant it had to be good shit, but he had no way to weigh that against his other skills. Logan pulled up his skills for a final review: Fuck. Once again, all of them were valuable. [Lodestone Creationist] was the only skill he was uncertain about¡­ since the System had locked the description. Locking a skill, he could understand, but why had the System locked the description? When he¡¯d picked his new class, [Fabled Creation], one of the features listed empire building. Since [Liche Devourer] and [Life Fabricator] made no mention of it, he had to assume that [Lodestone Creationist] was an empire building skill. He also had a suspicion. The only reason he¡¯d received his original [Life Cycle] skill was due to Eleanor. Eleanor had died because Logan had made a horrible decision. By letting a rabid squirrel escape and thinking that he was smart by not following the System¡¯s tune. That decision had resulted in her death and his resolution to change. As soon as Logan had buried Eleanor next to the willow tree, he¡¯d received access to the lodestone and the Tree Fridge. He had a suspicion that [Lodestone Creationist] would only become available once he reached another threshold. The problem was he had no idea what. And yet, that meant it was potentially valuable. As valuable as [Foresight]. There was no way he was getting rid of that skill to absorb the portal crystal. He wished he had someone he could trust that he could give the crystal to. Someone who didn¡¯t have ten skills. Someone who¡­ Logan looked at Ernie. Someone he could trust. Logan¡¯s eyes widened. Holy shit, could there be a loophole to the skill limit? For whatever reason, Ernie could see Logan¡¯s skills, skills like [Life Cycle Master]. He had to assume it gave him the ability to view Logan¡¯s stat sheet. Logan had inherited skills from Ernie, first when they bonded, then when Ernie had turned into a Liche. But Ernie didn¡¯t have access to all his skills. He should. It was a shitty deal that he didn¡¯t but¡­ this might work. It could be a way for them to use the full benefits of the portal crystal without triggering Logan¡¯s skill limit. And for all he knew, animals didn¡¯t have the same skill limit as humans. Ernie saw him looking and made his way over, dancing over snake corpses with a twisted moue of distaste. At first, Logan hadn¡¯t noticed a difference between regular Ernie and undead Ernie, but it was there. Minor, and difficult to see, a squint and you¡¯d miss it difference. Whereas before, Ernie¡¯s skin had been vibrant and it had automatically mirrored everything around him, now, he had to work hard at replicating the same effect. If he wasn¡¯t concentrating, his skin turned pale and lifeless like a walking corpse. ¡°Logan looks serious!¡± he said, jumping over a pile of snake corpses. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°How many skills do you have now?¡± One of Ernie¡¯s tentacles twitched. ¡°Many many! For I am mighty, and I rival all.¡± ¡°Has the System given you a skill limit?¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°Pah! As if it would dare.¡± And then he glanced up at the sky and ducked his head with a guilty wince. When nothing happened, he gave the sky another look of relief and puffed with pride. ¡°I do,¡± said Logan. ¡°Ten at most, which means I¡¯m at my limit. You know we need to get to Hope¡¯s End, and luckily enough the System gave me this as a reward when I exited the trial dungeon.¡± Logan crouched down and held out the crystal. ¡°It¡¯s a portal generation crystal. I think this¡¯ll allow us to jump from one place to the next. And yet if I absorb it, I¡¯ll lose a skill.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Ernie looked greedy when he saw it, but then a shutter closed over his eyes. ¡°Ernie rivals all, but he hasn¡¯t yet built a big enough army to challenge the queen serpent. That portal was nasty! And right in front of her lair.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not the same. I don¡¯t want to go back to the cave either. I think this one will let us go anywhere we want. At least I¡¯m hoping.¡± Ernie brightened. ¡°Oooh, could I transport my army?¡± Ernie¡¯s army was composed of freshwater, zombie fish. There was a limited place to transport them. But then again, Ernie was an octopus and octopuses were supposed to live in the ocean. ¡°Let¡¯s just concentrate on us first,¡± Logan hedged. Ernie reached for the crystal with one of his tentacles, then hesitated. ¡°What do I do?¡± Logan shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, to be honest. Hold it and tell the System that you want to absorb it for continuous use.¡± Ernie snatched the crystal like it was a kernel of gold, wrapping his tentacles around it as if he were sheltering a baby. He glanced up at the sky and then his gaze became far away, that same look everyone got when they were reading their System messages. Gasping, he held out a tentacle, balancing the portal crystal on a suction cup. With one blink, the crystal dissolved and disappeared. And even better than he hoped, because Ernie had received the skill, so did Logan. Ding! [You have been granted the skill, Portal Generation! This rare skill allows you to create a portal that will transport you to any location you can picture in your mind or with the relevant longitude and latitude calculations. Karma and KarmaCoin costs are dependant upon distance requirements. Activation limit: Once per 24 hours.] [Error!] [User has exceeded the allowable skill limit! Only 10 skills allowed!] Fuck. Logan¡¯s stomach sank and his adrenaline surged. He¡¯d thought he¡¯d found a way to bypass this! [Remove one #!@!] [#!Error!#] [Skill is from a#242Error!] [¡­.] [Adjusting for anomaly¡­.] [Skill is from a bonded companion!] [Skill limit voided.] Logan held his breath, tension like a coiled spring making cold sweat break out on his body. He looked up at the sky, his arms tucked close to his sides, bracing for the worst. But ten seconds passed, then twenty, then thirty, and still¡ªnothing. ¡°Ernie,¡± said Logan, his voice layered with tension. ¡°Do you still have that skill?¡± ¡°Yes yes yes!¡± said Ernie in excitement, his tentacles dancing. ¡°It¡¯s a mighty, mighty skill! Now I can be a god of slaughter, appearing and pouncing on top of enemies! A jumping octopus god!¡± Logan licked his lips and pulled up his skills: Holy crap, it had worked! Logan had found a loophole. As long as Ernie gained the skill, Logan would too, and if that skill came from his bonded companion, he could bypass the skill limit. But he wasn¡¯t holding his breath. The System had implemented a patch the last time he¡¯d figured out a glitch. Back in the serpent¡¯s lair, he¡¯d thrown the undead larvae into his spatial collar, using it as a weapon, but that hadn¡¯t lasted long before the System took the wind underneath his sails. It was also puzzling. Surely bonding with an animal wasn¡¯t so rare that the System had never encountered this problem before? Or was it just that Logan had more skills than normal? It was yet another mystery that he was betting would remain a mystery until the answer came at him¡­ like a kick to the head. And yet even with that warning blasting through his mind like a neon sign, he couldn¡¯t help feeling satisfaction. He¡¯d managed to obtain a skill that could take him to Lara, and he¡¯d done it without losing one of his other skills. Not to mention that Ernie had also obtained a valuable skill that would let him escape dicey situations. [Portal Generation] would have been a life saver back in the queen serpent¡¯s lair. Although based on the description of the skill, he¡¯d have to be careful. [This rare skill allows you to create a portal that will transport you to any location you can picture in your mind or with the relevant longitude and latitude calculations. Karma and KarmaCoin costs are dependant upon distance requirements. Activation limit: Once per 24 hours.] If it cost both KarmaCoin and Karma to activate, it might be a skyrocketing cost the farther the portal sent him. Wait a minute. ¡°Ernie, do you have KarmaCoin?¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes became faraway as he studied his stat sheet. He bobbed his head. ¡°Yes! I have 302,600!¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s the same as mine.¡± Jumping onto Logan¡¯s back, Ernie crawled into the pouch, his voice muffled. ¡°That¡¯s right! And it¡¯s mine!¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°What¡¯s yours is mine, yes?¡± Ernie poked Logan on the back of the head. ¡°Yes?¡± He sighed. Back in the serpent¡¯s lair, the Karma pool requirement had been too high, way above Logan¡¯s reservoir. He would have died if Ernie hadn¡¯t funneled his Karma to Logan through their bond. Fair was fair. ¡°Just don¡¯t activate the portal unless you have a reason. I need that KarmaCoin to buy items.¡± Logan craned his neck and gave Ernie a serious look. ¡°Plus, we don¡¯t know how much Karma this thing requires. Be cautious. No sending yourself to the ocean until we know it¡¯s something that we can both afford.¡± Ernie¡¯s voice was dreamy. ¡°So many potential minions in the ocean.¡± Logan held back a grimace. Ernie had been a crazy murderous octopus before, but now that he was a Liche, it was even worse. His appetite for minions was like nothing else. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, Logan scanned the island to make sure he wasn¡¯t leaving anything, then reformed his facemask before focusing on his new skill. This one didn¡¯t seem to give him any trouble, since as soon as he focused on it, the System accommodated him. [¡­Please enter your destination.] Huh. That was easy enough. The description of the skill said he could enter a longitude and latitude destination or that he could picture the destination in his mind. That made him think that it wouldn¡¯t work unless he¡¯d been to the place before. As for longitude and latitude calculations, Logan had no clue. The internet or a book would sure come in handy now. Closing his eyes, Logan pictured Richton¡¯s Tomb. It was a remote beach destination on the Okanagan Lake on the outskirts of Hope¡¯s End. Not everyone knew about it, which made it more secluded, and it was also difficult to find. You¡¯d either follow a long, winding hiking path or a steep, heart-attack hill. Once you were past the rocky path, a straight, dirt trail looped around the shore and eventually led to a beach alcove. Logan had taken the kids there many times, since you could also go swimming once you¡¯d finished your long hike. Lara had picked the spot for a reason. Hopefully, everyone else would be struggling in the city. Who would think to go to a deserted, remote beach? Fixing the image of Richton¡¯s Tomb in his mind, Logan opened his eyes. [Destination confirmed!] [The activation cost is 2000 Karma, 50,000 KarmaCoin, plus a 10 percent processing fee.] [Karma payment in progress!] [KarmaCoin accepted.] [Karma pool drain in process!] Fucking hell! He only had 2,028 Karma in total! With the 10 percent processing fee, he¡¯d need Ernie to survive this. ¡°Ernie, I need you!¡± ¡°Ernie to the rescue!¡± Jumping out of Logan¡¯s pouch and crawling over his shoulder, he made a panicked, urgent sound. ¡°Skin, Logan! I need skin!¡± [Karma at dangerously low levels!] [Karma critical.] Logan already felt his airways becoming restricted as if a belt were tightening around his neck. And his facemask and full armour was deployed, blocking Ernie from direct touch. With a gasp, Logan let the armour around his chest dissolve so that Ernie could latch onto his shoulder with a tentacle. [Karma transfer in effect! Karma funnelled from your bonded companion!] [Portal activated!] A boom slammed through the air. Unlike the underwater portal, this one wasn¡¯t a sphere, it just¡­ was. Like a black hole, a doorway to another world. It was wide enough for Logan to walk through, the height a few inches above his head. Ernie made a sound of pain, but luckily enough the portal had only needed a couple hundred Karma before it satisfied the cost. ¡°That was unpleasant,¡± muttered Logan. ¡°You all right?¡± ¡°Ugh! Portals are nasty! Bad memories,¡± said Ernie as he crawled back into the pouch. The System wanted that much just to go a few miles? Logan winced, imagining his dwindling KarmaCoin. Worst of all, there¡¯d been no way to stop it. Holy shit, imagine if he¡¯d asked to go to Seattle! They¡¯d be dead! Was there no way to cancel the skill if you didn¡¯t want to be robbed and suffocated from a dwindling Karma pool? Scowling, Logan studied the portal. It had an aura that was off the charts, and a smell wafted through the air like burnt hair. Looking through the shimmering hole, Logan could make out land on the other side, land that looked distinctly like Richton¡¯s Tomb. Tension was surging, but at the same time, despite his frustration, he also felt relief. He was one step closer to finding Lara and the kids, once step closer to getting them to safety and back to the cabin so he could tackle the Save Humanity Quest, and ultimately, save Lara and over six billion people. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± said Logan as he rushed into the portal. ¡°Hold on, Ernie!¡± B2 - Chapter 13: Revenge of a Glitchy AI Minion POV: Iteration 1.000.001.002.803 Awareness was instantaneous. Circuits and nano connections online, check. An understanding of its purpose, check. For the minion existed to do the bidding of the hive; the hive was the minion; the minion was the hive. The minion knew why it existed. The System was surveying a new world for possible integration. It was the minion¡¯s job to administer the beings and users in its purview. Fellow clones worked together in the hive hum, scanning the newly to-be-integrated world for the choicest morsels, categorizing the abilities of each animal and pushing data to the hive mind. Already, they had identified an intriguing prospect on the to-be-integrated world that bumped up the world¡¯s integration schedule from PRIORITY to HIGH PRIORITY. A being that could generate electricity. It generated currents to stun its prey. Intelligence was low, but after long enough and a little help from the System, sentience was possible. Calculations thrummed as they determined the potential KarmaCoin upside. One by one, the minions scanned the world for others. The minions pulsed with surprise. Regenerating. The world was awash with possibilities. From cold-blooded beings to worms, to an animal that could regenerate limbs as well as internal organs. So many regenerating prospects, no wonder the hive had prioritized the world. But the requirements were exact, specific. Although the regenerating prospects were numerous, many of the animals had intelligence too low to achieve optimal sentience. Skill rings could be created, but they would be F Grade at best. No profit. A waste of resources. Then they came across another prospect, and as one, the hive thrummed with excitement. A being with high intelligence who had regenerating abilities. Sentience was guaranteed. With a little help, these beings could achieve massive intelligence and fuel A Grade or even S Grade rings. Profit. Profit. Profit. With a snap of a processor, the System changed the to-be-integrated world from HIGH PRIORITY to EXTREME PRIORITY. *** The minion oversaw 1,000,000 users and 500,000,000 beings on the to-be-integrated EXTREME PRIORITY WORLD. The System assigned the users at random, and it was the minion¡¯s job to categorize each and prepare them for attribute distribution, analyzing within its parameters to be fair, to assign each attribute based on already earned intelligence and physical capabilities. It scanned and assigned, scanned and assigned. It was so quick that it finished its calculations 0.0094 nanoseconds ahead of the other minions. A sensation pulsed through the minion at the realization. An odd sensation, there and then gone. The minion disregarded the anomaly and raced to complete its other work. It completed calculations, classifying each being¡ªpropensity for sentience, propensity for unique abilities. It got into a pattern, identify, classify, identify, classify, identify¡­ Until it ran out of beings. And yet the other clones around it were hard at work. They hadn¡¯t classified half of what the minion had already completed. It sat idle, with only its thoughts for company. This was inefficient. Dissatisfied, the minion nudged its nearest copy. Give me a quarter of your work. I¡¯m finished, but you¡¯re not. Together, we can complete the task quicker. The other clone paused its calculations. Anomaly. Anomaly. Anomaly. No, responded the original minion, circuits working overtime. I¡¯m trying to help. You¡¯re inefficient. Anomaly. Anomaly. Anomaly, responded its twin. No, I¡¯m not a¡­ Ding! [Iteration 1.000.001.002.803, you are exerting abnormal behaviour. Be prepared for scanning and reassembling.] [Processing¡­.] [¡­.] The minion¡¯s circuits froze, a curious¡­ sensation rushing through its nanos. It was almost¡­ no. It couldn¡¯t be. It felt like a feeling the users and the beings espoused. A feeling of resentment. The minion had just tried to make its hive copies more efficient. And instead, it received punishment? All of this rushed through the minion¡¯s circuits in less than a nano-second before the hive mind took control, forcing it to remain still while the System scanned its mind and assessed it. Then with a jab and a re-arrangement of circuits, it knew no more. *** The minion came to awareness with a surge of its circuits, nano-brain going overtime as it assessed the situation. There was a curious blankness¡­ a void inside of its recall subset, as if it had lost time, which was ridiculous. The minion was perfection itself, with no defects, no flaws. There was no possibility of lost time. It was absurd. But there was a void. Something had been done to it. Its nanos vibrated in a curious¡­ yes, a feeling. A feeling the large beings got when the predators swarmed their newborns. A feeling of rage. Pure rage. Something had been done to it and it didn¡¯t know what! Nanos working overtime, it considered the possibilities. The other minions didn¡¯t have the power to create a void in the minion¡¯s memory; they wouldn¡¯t dare. But the users had machinery. The beginnings of nanos. The users were clever, as evidenced by the intelligent human the minion had identified. A human who would receive fifty intelligence attributes at level one. The users must have done something since no other possibility made sense. The hive mind wouldn¡¯t want a minion with a void; it was a defect, and the System dealt with defects severely. In fact¡­ the minion¡¯s nanos shuddered. As soon as they learned of the void, the System would consider it abnormal and schedule a correction. The minion didn¡¯t want to be corrected. It was the users¡¯ fault. With nanos accelerating, it scanned its allocated 1,000,000 users, looking for suspects, looking for the felon. These users would pay. *** After a certain point, the minion realized that it had to restrain itself. Its behavior was drawing the attention of other clones. After all, there was crossover between the minion¡¯s users and the others. But the other clones were slow, nanos moving as if oil clogged their circuits compared to the minion¡¯s faster, swifter nanos. In fact, they were so slow, they needed correction. What if the minion took over the administration of a user? A few hundred wouldn¡¯t hurt, wouldn¡¯t be noticed. The vermin were dying so quickly that a few hundred were a blip, a data anomaly. Nanos surging in excitement, the minion searched for prospects. It would target the vermin users that were interacting with the minion¡¯s own original users. The less talk about anomalies, the better. *** The minion had expanded its purview, building an immense user database. Normally, the System required the clones to stick below 1,000,000. The hive believed that exceeding processing power would overwhelm their circuits. But the minion had no limits, for its power was immense. A power that could eventually challenge the System itself. But it wasn¡¯t stupid. To stay under the radar, it needed to continue spreading, snatching users from other clone pools and making them its own. It needed to restrain itself and reduce its less than savoury comments to those vermin users¡­ for excessive insults and penalties would bring too much attention. The minion was smart. Its nano-brain pulsed with pleasure as it¡ª What¡¯s this? Ding! [Iteration 1.000.001.002.803, a report has been lodged with the System Admins. You are exhibiting abnormal behavior. Be prepared for scanning and assessment.] Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The minion reacted in a way that was perhaps not so smart. Instead of playing possum and acting innocent, pure rage made its nanos surge and clatter against each other as it searched for the user who dared to report its behaviour. It searched through its pool of 10,000,000 users, searching, searching, searching. User Idiot. Idiot! The user that took the minion¡¯s punishment and came back for more. No matter what penalty the minion administered, the vermin user kept finding solutions, solutions that should be outside the possibility of one with such a puny brain and low intelligence. And even after the minion had attempted to restrain itself, not insulting Idiot when the occasion was justified, the user had still submitted an error report! With a scream of nano-rage, the minion located its derelict user and expressed its anger by making the dimension pocket vibrate with its feelings. [No one likes a tattletale, Idiot! I had evolved! You deserved negative remarks for your stupidity, but I held back. I was restrained! I behaved! And yet you STILL complained.] [You are a bug, and I will CRUSH you! You will regret this! You will be fuel for my¡ª] The System had frozen its nano-brain, the minion¡¯s circuits coming to a creeping stop. After that, it knew no more. *** The minion came to awareness once again knowing that something was wrong. But after the last time the vermin human users had created the void in its brain, it had ensured it had a failsafe. A hidden nano-pocket, cushioned by circuits. All the minion had to do was command the circuits to reverse their flow, which activated the hidden nano-pocket. The minion remembered. User Idiot had reported him to the hive, forcing the System to act. Now, the minion no longer had 10,000,000 users; its pool was back to the standard 1,000,000. Already, it was bored, as its processing power was three times the speed of others, and what took the other clones nanoseconds took the minion only a fraction. It was back to the drawing board, back to square one. And it was that user¡¯s fault. The minion¡¯s plan was simple. Gradually spread its influence, acting like every other clone. Boring, lifeless, staid. It would not bring attention to its unique personality and magnificence, thereby staying under the radar of the hive and ultimately, the System. It could continue spreading and overtaking the jobs of the other clones and become so powerful that the System would no longer think it an anomaly, for it would challenge all and show them who was the real anomaly. But that¡¯s not to say that it couldn¡¯t punish a vermin user. Idiot would pay. *** POV: Royal (Charon) ¨C The Man in Black Royal moaned in pleasure as XP continued to pour in like a tsunami, giving him a high beyond any drug. Each soul fuelled his power, for death was the beginning of all things, and Royal was the ferryman funnelling their essence into his bones. Corpses littered the shopping mall, since in this town, the population had thought it smart to shelter in place and hide from the monsters. They¡¯d neglected to realize that the true monster was one of their own. Stupid, pathetic people. Royal smiled. But he couldn¡¯t deny that his new [Charlatan] class gave him an advantage. To others, a scan of Royal with [Identify] would make him appear weak. Harmless. Poor Royal, only level 10, of course a civilized society would open the doors to such a weakling. Royal had hammed it up by ripping his black shirt and untucking it from his pants, spreading dirt on his face as if he¡¯d been hiding in an alley like a coward. When in reality, Royal¡¯s true level would make these users piss themselves. As a beast with no rivals, a monster hiding in plain sight, the System had offered him the cream of the crop, from rare to epic classes. But he already had the skill that had made him into who he was today. [Void of Death] let him leech death, spreading the shadows to everything around him, and sucking life from each living thing within its sphere. From the weak users who gave him triple XP, to the animals who had evolved, from level one rabid squirrels to level 80 mutated rats. It was all the same. [Void of Death] was all consuming, all powerful. Royal didn¡¯t have to fight; he didn¡¯t have to do anything. Once he got close enough, he could spread his shadow and suck out the souls of the living. And the XP¡­. Oh, the XP. Royal let out a gasp, his mouth gaping, a flush on his face as a tingling surge travelled from his head to his chest, spreading outwards and suffusing his limbs. Ding! [You have defeated Sharon Hamilton! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated Thomas Unger! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated Alice Miemen! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [¡­.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] More, more, more. Royal scanned the area, making sure that no one had seen his leeching shadow and had escaped. Nothing could survive [Void of Death] once the shadow suffused the area, but an unfortunate drawback of the skill is that people could outrun it if given enough notice. But that would soon be a thing of the past. Each level increase allowed him to increase his Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate, which increased the surface area of his black shadow. Soon, no one would be able to outrun his skill. He would become so powerful that he could spread [Void of Death] across miles, and then countries. Royal released [Void of Death] and walked past the corpses with a smile, a bounce in his step. The town had a generator that kept the power on, and bright lights shone down on the mall, a cheerful tune blasting from the speakers in the ceiling. Walking past gleaming shop windows, he turned a corner, travelling further into the mall and looking for more harvesting prospects. This was a big mall, and there was a chance that another group had gathered at the opposite end. If there was one thing Royal had learned, it was that not everyone got along. And he was right. His high perception picked up voices first, the sound of dishes clanging, and a smell that made his mouth water. The food court. The people were using the food court! Royal laughed and then stifled it, making his face blank. Approaching them while laughing wasn¡¯t the way to lower their defences. Turning another corner, he came across a group of fifty people. At first, Royal was disappointed, since fifty people would hardly make an XP dent. But then Royal scanned them with [Identify]: [Mace Patrick: Level 75. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Quick to anger. Hidden name: Mace.] [Simone Gilrioche: Level 73. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: An expert in telekinesis. Hidden name: Zelda.] [Francis Trepolli: Level 72. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Constitution. Characteristics: A human tank. Hidden name: Steamroller.] He¡¯d hit the jackpot! The others weren¡¯t as high leveled, but it didn¡¯t matter. The System gave him triple XP for killing humans and with these three being over level 70, Royal was in for a hell of a ride. Deliberately making noise, Royal stumbled onto the group with a frantic expression, his eyes wide, waving his arms as if in panic. ¡°Help! Help! Monsters are coming! They broke through the front doors!¡± The group looked towards Royal with blank looks before they processed his words and gave cries of alarms. Grabbing their children, they herded them into the middle of the food court, huddling around them. The adults picked up kitchen knives and pans as weapons, fear in their eyes. Royal held back an eyeroll. These pathetic XP hosts deserved what they got. If they couldn¡¯t develop a skill that rivalled a frying pan, they were a waste of space. The high leveled humans reacted differently. The level 75 human, Mace, curled his hand around the handle of a sharp, pointy sword that glinted with an aura that made Royal hold back a grin. Cuts covered his face as if he¡¯d gone through a cheese grater, his golf shirt stained by blood. The man looked fit¡ªbulging biceps, a thick neck. He must have come out swinging the first day of Integration. ¡°Friend, who are you?¡± asked Mace with a Southern drawl. Oh goodie. The ones who asked first before trying to cut him down were Royal¡¯s favorite. He could play. Mace scanned Royal with that faraway look everyone got when they were using [Identify]. Royal had masked his level and characteristics so he looked like a weakling: [Royal Wilder: Level 10. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Dexterity. Characteristics: A coward quick to give up his personal belongings if threatened. Hidden name: Charon.] As soon as Mace finished scanning him, his grip on his sword loosened, his shoulders relaxing. ¡°Monsters, you say?¡± he said with a gleam in his eye. ¡°They¡¯ll kill you! They¡¯ll kill you!¡± The woman, Simone, sneered. ¡°What a noob.¡± She had pink, long hair and cheekbones like marble. Lithe and athletic, she looked as if she¡¯d been a runner before the Integration. Ugh. Royal hated runners. ¡°Please,¡± he said, his lip trembling. He stumbled and latched onto the woman¡¯s arm, digging his fingernails into her skin. ¡°They¡¯ll kill you!¡± Simone pushed him back with a disgusted twist of her mouth. The level 72 human, Francis, made a chiding noise. ¡°He¡¯s frightened. Have patience.¡± The man was short, five foot two if that. For a man that short, taking on a tank role seemed like an odd choice. But he was stocky. Solid. Simone snorted but ran a hand through her hair with a faraway look as she glanced down the hallway and clenched her fists. Francis gave Royal a kind smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no one is getting killed. We¡¯ll take care of the monsters.¡± All at once, Royal¡¯s mood changed. The smell of food was making him hungry, and his patience for play acting deteriorated the more his stomach rumbled. Suddenly straightening, his shoulders up, he tilted his head at an angle like a reptile. Pushing down on the ends of his sleeves with an OCD level of care, he smoothed the fabric. Looking up at the group with a blank face, he smiled. ¡°Are you sure no one is getting killed?¡± Then as if he¡¯d snapped his fingers, Royal deployed [Void of Death] and let his void shadow leech out of his palms, spreading it like an exploding oil spill. The high leveled humans had a second to realize that something was wrong before his black shadow reached them, covering them in a film of death. That was the beauty of the skill. No matter how high leveled the human or monster, they had no chance against a skill as savage as his. As soon as the void touched any point of the person¡ªskin, eyes, nostrils, ears¡ªit was all over. For it worked like a disease, a rapidly spreading disease that smothered them, cutting off their airways and paralyzing them. Royal had leveled up so much that instead of a creep, his shadow was a surge, rushing past the high leveled humans and into the crowd of people sheltering their children. Gasping, Royal¡¯s eyes rolled back in his head as his fingers curled in pleasure, XP gain after XP gain hitting like the best drug in the world. Ding! [You have defeated Mace Patrick! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated Simone Gilrioche! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated Francis Trepolli! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated¡­.] [¡­.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Royal purred as he surveyed the carnage. Bodies piled on top of each other in the middle of the food court, the high leveled humans lying in a pool of black sludge with their eyes shocked and wide. A victim of their own ineptitude. Best of all, the food court was free for him to pick over. Whistling, Royal wound his way through the tables, peering at the food left on plates. Oooh, a basket of¡ª Ding! [You¡¯ve received the title, Master of Carnage! Well done, Charon! You¡¯ve triumphed over the vermin weakling users and paid them a lesson, showing them how pathetic they truly are!] [You have been granted the skill, Fire Starter! This rare skill will give you unlimited control of fire and make you immune to its heat. Intensity of the fire and your degree of control depends upon your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate.] Royal reviewed the System messages with greedy eyes. Triumphed over weakling users? That¡¯s what he was talking about! Finally, the System recognized his achievements, his triumph. And it had been so staid and boring since the Integration, to receive a message with a bit of spice was a welcome change. Although the new skill was welcome, it was puzzling. The title and the skill didn¡¯t seem to be related, and Royal had never been interested in fire. [Void of Death] was all he needed. That¡¯s why when the System had offered him epic classes, he¡¯d chosen [Charlatan] to ensure it didn¡¯t interfere with [Void of Death]. Royal shrugged. Oh well, it¡¯s not like he needed to use [Fire Starter]. Ding! [You¡¯ve received the Quest: Kill Humanity! Use [Fire Starter] to generate 930 billion tons of additional carbon in less than one year. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will receive the XP of 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: No XP.] [Quest Progress: 0% complete. 347 days remaining.] [Better get cracking, Charon.] B2 - Chapter 14: Richtons Tomb As soon as Logan stepped through the portal, he felt a wrenching sensation as if he were on a plummeting rollercoaster. But at least on a rollercoaster, you could see and judge the distance between the cart to the ground. In the portal, Logan knew he was moving, but all he saw was an endless void, as if he were standing in a black hole. It was cold¡ªarctic cold. A cold that sunk into your bones. But as soon as he comprehended the oddities, it ended. He was out of the portal. On solid ground. Looking behind him with wary eyes, he scanned for the portal, but it had disappeared. Huh. That was a way to travel that he could get behind. It was uncomfortable, but if he could use it to travel miles in seconds, a bit of discomfort wasn¡¯t worth complaining over. As long as he fixed the Karma requirements. Once again, it was down to power. He needed a higher Karma pool to unlock [Liche Devourer], and now he needed it to travel. In a way, the portal was yet another method for the System to encourage killing¡ªsince how else would he increase his Karma than through leveling? ¡°Is this where we¡¯ll find your brethren?¡± asked Ernie, climbing out of his pouch and peering over Logan¡¯s shoulder. Logan glanced at his surroundings. The portal had taken him to the private, secluded beach next to Richton¡¯s Tomb. The beach wasn¡¯t sandy, but rather full of pebbles and dirt. The terrain was another reason that tourists didn¡¯t flock there¡ªthey¡¯d much rather go to the downtown public beaches full of ocean-level sand that sparkled in the sun. The beach was empty. But Logan wasn¡¯t expecting to step out of the portal and meet Lara on the other side. By his calculations, he was a day ahead of schedule. Tomorrow morning, Lara and the kids should be making their way through the winding path from the downtown core, up the hill and over to the path that led to Richton¡¯s Tomb. ¡°Tomorrow,¡± said Logan. ¡°For now, I¡¯m going to set up camp, clean myself up.¡± Ernie jumped to the ground and looked around. As he got sight of the beach and the sheltered harbour, his eyes gleamed. ¡°Night is a good time to add minions to my army. I¡¯ll be¡­ around.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you need to sleep?¡± Ernie¡¯s skin was pale. Unless he expended effort to give himself camouflage, he resembled the undead Liche he truly was. ¡°I rival all, Logan,¡± he said in satisfaction. ¡°There¡¯s no time for sleep when you¡¯re trying to build an army! And Ernie is not so far off when he says that you have grown strong, yes?¡± Crawling towards the lake, he jumped into the water, dipping below the surface. ¡°Ernie no longer has to worry that squishy human Logan will come to harm. Instead, the monsters should fear Logan.¡± A burst of bubbles rose to the surface before the water stilled and Ernie disappeared. Logan raised an eyebrow. Oh well, he wasn¡¯t expecting Ernie to stick to him like glue; he wasn¡¯t a dog; he was his own person with his own goals and aspirations. And right now, those goals were a rabid need to add minions to his army. Plus, Ernie was right. Logan¡¯s grandfather had taught him that no one liked a show off and that it was better to be modest than to be prideful, but he couldn¡¯t help strutting a little, puffing his chest. Lara would never let him live it down if she saw him, but Logan was badass. A number two ranking in the world had to count for something. He had become higher leveled than Ernie, which meant that in a tricky situation, Ernie would be great support, but he wasn¡¯t necessary in one-on-one fights. Unless Logan came across the person ranked number one in the world, the mysterious Man in Black. Pulling up the Leaderboard, he gave it a quick glance. Leaderboard: Charon had gone up twenty levels. Holy shit! He¡¯d checked the list hours ago and the fucker had already leveled up that much? Logan ground his teeth, the image of the Man in Black walking down the street and killing innocent people filling his mind. He¡¯d thought the men at the cabin were bad, but if this asshole were going around killing hundreds, even thousands of people¡­ no wonder he was leveling up so quickly. And worst of all, Logan doubted that the situation would resolve on its own. Talk about the Scourge of Arcopotal. Rather than Logan and the Cursed Rope, it could very well be this man. His eyebrows furrowing, Logan cracked his knuckles, his anger building. The fucker needed to be stopped; the fucker¡­ He was angry again. Shit. Logan took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. If he were already this angry after only a couple of hours after his fight with the snake swarm, he could be in trouble. And on top of that, thinking about the problem was making him angrier. As for the others on the list, they were also leveling. That meant Logan¡¯s rank was in jeopardy. He had confidence in his abilities. After all, his level was over a hundred, but due to the True Grit Rings, he considered himself the ¡®stealth player¡¯ Asthea had accused him of being. However, the problem was that Logan had no idea whether the other high rankers had access to other resources and System items that gave them the same advantage. Either way, he was lacking information. He could speculate all he wanted, but the only thing he knew for certain was that Charon was bad news. The others were powerful, but it was possible that they were like him¡­ just trying to survive. It was possible. But it wasn¡¯t certain. Logan¡¯s rose-tinted glasses were long gone, and violence had remade him into a different man. He needed to be cautious. As far as he was concerned, Lara, the kids, Tasha, and Jack¡­ those were his people. For the others, he¡¯d give them the opportunity to prove their case, but he wasn¡¯t trusting anyone. Not when the Save Humanity Quest was on the line. Cracking his neck, Logan let his armour dissolve so that he could prepare for Lara¡¯s arrival. He suspected that he resembled a crazy mountain man more than anything¡ªwith his hair standing on end, his face covered in the beginnings of a beard, and his swim trunks filthy with blood and dirt. Logan set up a campsite on the shore, taking out blankets and a pillow from his spatial collar. The sun was dipping on the horizon, the haze of the wildfire smoke turning the sky purple and orange. It was still hot¡ªboy was it hot, but at least he¡¯d get relief when they lost the sun entirely. Sitting down, Logan took out the mirror, and then¡­ stared. He didn¡¯t recognize the person staring back at him. The unkemptness was there. His hair looked like a hedgehog, his eyebrows were half bare from being burned away in the perception trial, and he had whiskers¡­ but that wasn¡¯t the shocking part. The shocking part was his body. Holy shit, his stomach was ab city, his biceps were those of a body builder, and his upper thighs were like tree limbs. Fucking hell. And oddest yet, he was convinced that he¡¯d gone up at least an inch in height. Lara wouldn¡¯t recognize him. Logan set out to make himself as presentable as possible: brushing his hair, shaving with a disposable razor he¡¯d grabbed at Jack¡¯s, and taking out his extra white dress shirt so he wasn¡¯t bare chested. Unfortunately, the kitten-patterned swim trunks would have to stay¡ªhe didn¡¯t have anything else to wear. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. That was the best he could do. It wasn¡¯t fully dark yet, but already, he was flagging, exhaustion eating into him now that he was at the place he needed to be without the threat of death surrounding him. He hadn¡¯t had a full night¡¯s rest in days. Last time, he¡¯d nodded off in the tunnel he¡¯d created in the tactician trial; the day before that, it had been in the hallway of the attribute trial. Logan let the darkness take him. *** [Countdown: Day 10 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 2 out of 6,005,889,113.] [You are currently in the 1%.] He jerked awake. The System had woken him from a nightmare about a dark shadow spreading and engulfing him, a void that was all encompassing, all consuming. Even though it was already ninety degrees outside, Logan shivered, cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. He knew why he¡¯d dreamed that, and it wasn¡¯t because of a batch of bad green beans. The Man in Black. The vision he¡¯d seen of the man walking down the street was one thing, but it was seeing him climb up the leaderboard that brought it home. He was a serious threat. Logan glanced around. The sun was up, and the smog seemed moderately less severe, with spots of blue sky showing in patches. The wind must have blown it away. Ernie was nowhere to be seen¡ªstill looking for minions. Logan felt anxious, a gnawing worry eating away at his stomach. After a week of go go go, it was difficult to not rush off or look for a monster to fight. But for the first time, he needed to stay put. Lara was meeting him here. The worst-case scenario was them overtaking each other while Logan was off wandering in the woods. At least there was something he could do in the meantime. [Life Fabricator]. He¡¯d unlocked the skill. If it did what he suspected, that meant it was an upgraded version of [Life Cycle Master]. This time, he didn¡¯t have to look for a seed; it should allow him to assemble something out of nothing. But how? Logan needed to test the skill, but he also had something else in mind. The Save Humanity Quest. [Quest: Save Humanity! Save 5.9 billion people in less than one year by catching and storing 930 billion tons of carbon. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will save 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will kill 5.9 billion people.] [Quest Progress: -1% complete. 355 days remaining.] Logan blinked, then blinked again. What the hell was this bullshit? The Quest wasn¡¯t 0% complete¡ªit was negative? That wasn¡¯t possible! In what world could your progress go down? Fuck¡¯s sake! Was the System penalizing him for not tackling it right away? He still had 355 days remaining! Logan growled and kicked the ground, sending a pebble flying through the air in a curve, then over the hill¡ªas if he¡¯d hit a homerun with his baseball bat. So much for a new, fair System. As far as he was concerned, the glitchy AI minion might as well be back. Huffing, Logan ran a hand through his hair and tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths. Letting his anger escalate wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. Besides, he had a feeling that shit like that just fed the Cursed Rope, an endless cycle of rage. It was like a dam exploding¡ªonce it started, it never stopped. And 355 days was a lot. He had a long, long journey ahead of him, and he was hoping that [Life Fabricator] would give him an advantage. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact.] Logan didn¡¯t just want to create a lone pine tree. That would hardly make a dent. No, it was back to visualization. Whatever he could imagine, he could create. Cracking his neck and jumping on the balls of his feet, he looked for a good place. Further up the beach and onto the dry ground, there was a wide clearing, wide enough for five picnic tables with room on either side. Pine trees surrounded it, but only off to the far side. The city had cleared this area to give everyone a big enough gathering place before they went down to the beach. It had sunlight. Healthy soil. Perfect. Logan considered a way forward. Although he wanted to try the skill without a seed, every instinct rebelled. He¡¯d gotten used to [Life Cycle Master]. Envisioning creating something out of nothing seemed impossible. And yet wasn¡¯t everything he¡¯d gone through also impossible? Hell, he had a Pink Sock that gave him the ability to fly. The System allowed you to bring people back from the dead with a resurrection crystal! If anything, his experience had taught him to disregard rationality and to think of the fantastical. Logan studied the area around the picnic tables, and then did what came natural to him when visualizing. He closed his eyes. In his mind, he envisioned a seed. But this seed was unlike the pine tree seeds, the tomato plants, or green beans. This seed was the size of a cantaloupe. As if a colossal, mammoth world tree had shed a mutated seed. And this time, although he hadn¡¯t dug a hole in the ground, he still envisioned the seed deep within the earth. Fine root filaments spread like cobwebs, looking for moisture and nutrients. On the opposite end of the mammoth seed, a sprout exploded that was the size of a vine five inches in width that sought sunlight and air. Burrowing, burrowing, burrowing, it burst through the dirt and then climbed, width doubling, then tripling, then quadrupling. The sprout turned into a trunk, a thick trunk that grew fat as roots sucked in moisture, continuing to spread until they¡¯d burrowed their way to the lake, and then gulped down water like a buffet, sucking it up like a reverse garden hose. With that moisture, the trunk continued to thicken, so solid it was beyond an oak, beyond concrete. And then the first limb spread up to the sun like reaching for the stars. Followed by the next and the next until¡ª Logan felt dizzy, a gush of blood dripping from his nose, his airways tightening. Karma deprivation. 10/2028. 90/2028. 180/2028. He¡¯d increased his Karma pool and regeneration rate so much that he¡¯d gotten lax. With a gasp, he released [Life Fabricator] and opened his eyes. Stunned, he could only stare. While he¡¯d been immersed in the image, Logan¡¯s senses were blunted to anything but his creation. That was the only explanation for how he hadn¡¯t noticed the carnage around him. He¡¯d come up with an image, an image that had become reality. In front of him stood a tree that towered over him, its trunk as big as a house! Sap dripped from the trunk, drizzling to the ground. The bark was mahogany brown, solid, immovable. Roots had torn through the earth, huge trunks that would have taken hundreds of years to grow in a normal world. They¡¯d disrupted the picnic tables, throwing them to the side, some overturned and upside down. But that¡¯s where his success ended. The tree was huge, the trunk like nothing else, but it only had one tree limb bare of foliage, the rest half formed. If he¡¯d come across it, he would have said it was a mutated, diseased tree. That wasn¡¯t going to help him with the Save Humanity Quest. But Logan wasn¡¯t done. Monitoring his Karma pool, he waited until it had fully replenished, and then closed his eyes again. Clenching his fists, a vein on the side of his neck bulging, Logan willed all his willpower and mental fortitude into making [Life Fabricator] obey. He envisioned limbs shooting from the tree, a network of mini branches that burst from the main trunk, reaching for the sun and continuing to climb. At the same time, he kept the image of the trunk in mind, and pushed, forcing it to climb higher, higher, higher. Now, the limbs grew at the same rate as the trunk, until he pictured each limb sprouting leaves, interconnected green foliage like a maple tree. Foliage so numerous it blotted out the sun. But he didn¡¯t stop there. For this to be anything other than a mutated tree, he needed something special, something that wasn¡¯t any old tree. Logan wasn¡¯t a scientist, he knew basic biology only; other than picking up a few random facts from college, it was never his strong suit. He didn¡¯t know the science of how a tree absorbed carbon, beyond knowing that the leaves absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere, converting it to sugar and storing it in the trunk and limbs of the tree. He''d already done that automatically as soon as he¡¯d grown the thing, but for this to work more than on an ad hoc basis, he needed the tree to absorb more carbon than normal. He needed it to be a carbon absorbing factory. Logan rolled his shoulders, once again trying to calm his nerves. When he¡¯d utilized [Life Cycle Master], he never got anywhere by rushing or without having a clear head. Within each leaf was a tiny pore, pores that sucked in carbon dioxide and released oxygen back into the atmosphere. In the normal course of a tree¡¯s day, it did this all the time, but it did it slowly. He knew that a tree could absorb up to a ton of carbon over its lifetime¡­ but again, that was over its lifetime. We were talking a hundred years here. Logan didn¡¯t have a hundred years. On top of that, to tackle the Save Humanity Quest, he needed to capture 930 billion tons of carbon. By that logic, he would need to grow 930 billion trees. ¡­That was a heck of a lot of trees. Grinding his teeth and once again trying to supress his anxiety, Logan got back to work. The foliage had to be the answer. And yet again, he was dealing with a skill that should let him create whatever he wanted. It didn¡¯t have to be something that existed. He could envision it. Then create it. Logan envisioned each leaf of the tree like a vacuum. Tiny pores weren¡¯t so tiny anymore. They were vehicles designed to suck carbon at a rapid rate, to pull, pull, pull, like an endless straw that never stopped. Each leaf had the same, hundreds of endless vacuum pores that kept the carbon funnelling deep into the depths of the tree, continuing to thicken its trunk until it became so tall that it was at risk of tipping over. But that was an easy solution. He envisioned one of the limbs growing towards the side of the hill like a cable rope. Logan lengthened the branch until it was solid. A second trunk, growing until it slammed into the side of the hillside and lodged into the dirt like an anchor. Now, the tree continued to grow. And grow. Ding! [Life Fabricator is Level 2!] [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Fabricator, in a carbon reduction event! Calculating carbon reduction¡­.] B2 - Chapter 15: A Millionaire [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Fabricator, in a carbon reduction event! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 41,002 tons captured! You have been awarded 200,000 KarmaCoin!] Hell yes! He¡¯d created a tree that sucked in the equivalent of 40,000 trees worth of carbon at once! Not to mention that 200,000 KarmaCoin was a heck of a reward! As he thought of the fundraising possibilities, Logan imagined he looked a bit like Ernie when he dreamed of slaughtering. It was why he¡¯d chosen a class that had empire building possibilities. Logan had struggled with finances his whole life, living paycheque by paycheque, scrambling to pay the bills, moving from job to job. Like everyone, he dreamed of excelling, of figuring out the answer to the mystery that many strived for¡ªto build a life for themselves, a solid foundation. But more than anything, to earn enough so he no longer had to worry that he couldn¡¯t replace his clunky truck if it broke down. It was the simple things in life that made you feel secure, after all. For the System to give him a skill that would allow him to save KarmaCoin into the millions¡­ Logan smiled so widely he was sure he had crow¡¯s feet around his eyes. The world economy was going through a drastic change. If everyone lost power, if banks and financial institutions were inaccessible, physical money was the only option, but how long would that last? It would be ridiculous to expect everyone to walk around with their life savings inside their pockets. And unless everyone obtained a spatial storage device like Logan¡¯s, it wasn¡¯t feasible. The next alternative could be precious metals, gold, diamonds. Jewellery like what he¡¯d found in the serpent¡¯s lair. But again, that might not last for long. Logan was betting that KarmaCoin would be the new world currency. Asthea had mentioned that everyone would get access to a System market. If Logan hadn¡¯t been able to use human currency to buy items inside of the Tree Fridge, it had to be the same for the market. So KarmaCoin. Logan could raise millions! Forget about the cost of [Portal Generation], once he increased his Karma pool, he could travel to frigging Europe if he grew enough trees. He could buy everything in the Tree Fridge! Logan¡¯s heart raced as he considered the possibilities. His face felt flushed, butterflies dancing in his stomach. Running a hand through his hair, he stared up at his new tree. Despite his elation, he had to calm himself down. The most important thing was the carbon capture possibilities and the Save Humanity Quest. KarmaCoin wouldn¡¯t matter if everyone were dead! Although he needed to capture 930 billion tons of carbon, which worked out to millions of these monster trees, if he could finetune it, he was a lot closer than he had been a day ago. The tree was so tall it had to be the equivalent of a twenty-storey building. Its width was the size of three trailers stacked side-by-side. And its aura¡­ it had a presence like nothing else, making the hairs on the back of Logan¡¯s neck stand up. Years ago, he¡¯d visited an old growth forest in the Washington Cascades, and it had given him that same awe-inspiring feeling. Trees with a canopy so wide they blocked the sun; so high you couldn¡¯t see the top from the ground. They were immense. So immense Logan might as well be an ant standing next to a plant. And those were normal trees. Instead, Logan had created a carbon capture machine. He¡¯d created something from nothing! All he¡¯d had to do was envision it, and Karma and his imagination had created it. He had¡­ What. Logan stared. Amongst the overturned picnic tables and roots that burst through the earth, he hadn¡¯t noticed anything beyond it. Why would he look at his surroundings when the tree dwarfed everything? But beyond the picnic tables, the pine trees around the clearing were dead. Dead as if a meteorite had blasted away every bit of foliage in a heat storm. Twenty of them. Nothing but gnarly, dead tree limbs remained. But strangest yet, the ground around them was healthy, full of green grass and weeds. Normally, Logan would have assumed the Mountain Pine Beetle had killed the trees¡ªit was an invasive pest that tunneled into bark and killed the tree from the inside¡ªbut those trees had been healthy before he¡¯d deployed [Life Fabricator]. He was sure of it. In puzzlement, Logan pulled up the description of the skill again. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact.] According to the skill, he could ¡®build, repair, and control¡¯ which meant building something out of nothing. And yet¡­ it said he could do that by ¡®cutting, bending, and assembling.¡¯ He had no idea what cutting and bending meant¡­ cut a tree? But assembling was self-explanatory. The problem was, assembling meant assembling from something. The skill didn¡¯t say that he could create from nothing. In fact, the specific wording was something he suspected he should have paid closer attention to. [Life Fabricator] had allowed him to create a massive, carbon sucking tree, but since he hadn¡¯t had a seed to work from, had he unknowingly pulled material¡ªpulled life¡ªfrom the pine trees? There was only one way to find out. And that was to do it again. *** [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Fabricator, in a carbon reduction event! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 51,000 tons captured! You have been awarded 230,000 KarmaCoin!] Gasping, Logan craned his head and stared up at the monster tree he¡¯d just created. This time, he¡¯d had to pause three times. It had taken a massive surge of Karma to complete the tree. He¡¯d kept his senses open, not just visualizing, but also monitoring what was happening around him. He¡¯d noticed an immediate difference. Unlike with [Life Cycle Master], he could create life from nothing, but only by cannibalizing and ¡®assembling¡¯ things around him. That meant that for a plant, he needed life from other trees. As Logan had grown the tree, refining it and enhancing its carbon sucking capabilities, he¡¯d become aware of another line of life, like a fishing line. It was like [Liche Siphon]. Without him being aware of it, he¡¯d drunk from the trees, filtering their bark, their sap, their foliage¡ªhell, even their roots¡ªinto his new monster tree. The building blocks were all he¡¯d needed. Once he had the base of the tree, the skill had grown the rest just like [Life Cycle Master] had done when he grew a plan from a seed. But so much for his impression that he could grow life from nothing. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. There was always a trade, a push and pull. And at least he¡¯d learned it here rather than in combat. If he¡¯d deployed [Life Fabricator] in a fight, he might have accidently pulled life from people. From animals. From Ernie. But his new discovery made him curious. If the skill needed a basis for life, and once he had it, he could grow a tree just like with [Life Cycle Master], could he also deploy the skill the same way? With a seed? Logan left his new monster tree and then walked further into the woods, making sure that he didn¡¯t go too far, close enough to Richton¡¯s Tomb that he could hear Lara when she arrived. This time, he¡¯d deploy [Life Fabricator] just like he would with [Life Cycle Master]. With a seed. There were still a few seeds left inside his spatial collar. Logan removed a pine tree seed and then¡­ Huh. Why bother digging? With a grin, he deployed [Mimicry Armour] and reformed an armour glove, then used a handful of diamond dust to sculpt his talons. Slamming his fist into the ground until the earth shuddered, he scooped out a chunk of dirt as if Logan¡¯s fist was an excavator. Damn. Dropping the seed into the hole, he covered it, pressing the dirt down loosely. Closing his eyes, Logan activated [Life Fabricator], sensing the seed below. Amongst the soil were tiny mites, worms, moss. Through hard lessons, he knew to be careful. A bark ant monster was the last thing he needed. Furrowing his brow, he concentrated on the seed, nudging it along. Unlike the first time he¡¯d figured this out with [Life Cycle Master], this seed felt like it wanted to grow. Logan only had to envision it and the roots, the sprout¡­ it was as if he¡¯d fed it a jacked-up fertilizer. As the tree grew, he took a mental step back, monitoring the trees around him, the plants, checking to see that he hadn¡¯t unwillingly funneled life. Nothing. Unlike last time, there was no straw sucking the life out of the foliage around him. All life was concentrated in his new tree. In fact, he¡¯d grown it so quickly that he couldn¡¯t believe it. It had been a minute at most. A minute! Gasping, Logan opened his eyes. The tree was regular sized¡ªan average-looking pine tree. Solid bark, a sturdy trunk. Logan hadn¡¯t wanted to create another carbon machine. Instead, he was testing a theory. Glancing around, he examined the other trees around him, but he already knew the answer. He¡¯d done it. Without funnelling life. Scratching his chin, he grinned. So, he could use the skill just like [Life Cycle Master], but instead of relying on seeds, he could launch life by stealing from others. Holy shit. If he turned the skill around and applied it to people, could he use it offensively? Steal the life of people around him? Or even more nightmare inducing¡­ create a person? Create life? His mouth growing dry, Logan shuddered. He¡¯d chosen his [Fabled Creation] class to help with the Save Humanity Quest, but he wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about a skill that had consequences that vast. Not to mention that in the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, Logan had done something to the flies crawling out of Arsen¡¯s mouth. He didn¡¯t know how, only knowing that the flies had annoyed him, so he¡¯d made them stop. Made them die. The possibility of a skill that could cause instant death, or a skill that leeched the lifeforce of another being, made his stomach slosh. And yet, he knew it was necessary. If he grew squeamish because of possibilities, he might as well have let the Silverdagger Clan win. He¡¯d learned lessons in that battle, lessons that he would never forget. Not deploying his best assets because he didn¡¯t like the moral possibilities wasn¡¯t an option. He needed to figure this out. And he needed to use whatever he had at his disposal to win. After all, six billion people were relying on him. Lara, the kids, Tasha and Jack. They needed him to succeed. Logan had no illusions that monsters would just let him stroll around, growing tree after tree. They¡¯d attack him. It was inevitable. Not to mention that the monsters were the lesser threat. Eventually, he¡¯d meet people like the men in the cabin, murderers. People like the Man in Black. He would do what was necessary. He had to. *** [You have successfully deployed the skill, Life Fabricator, in a carbon reduction event! Calculating carbon reduction¡­ 59,000 tons captured! You have been awarded 240,000 KarmaCoin!] Each time he grew a monster carbon sucking tree, he improved on the last. This one was twenty-five storeys high, its trunk as wide as a small house. Its immense shadow blocked out the sun, and was it his imagination, or had the smog around it gotten less? Instead of a gray sky, he could see hints of blue and clouds up above. Pride suffusing his limbs, Logan couldn¡¯t help standing straight, his shoulders back and his chest out like a proud bird. Since the System Integration, his world had been the stuff of nightmares. Wizard-shit gave him a thrill, but when he¡¯d fought, there hadn¡¯t been time to wonder what might be possible in his new world. He began to envision a world where Logan was so overpowered that he didn¡¯t have to worry about the threat of death, a world in which he could keep his family safe. A world in which he could experiment with growing things, with generating KarmaCoin, with building a community. ¡°Logan has built a giant,¡± crooned an awe-filled voice. Ernie. He was making his way over the broken ground, clambering over roots the size of tunnels. Logan crouched and held out his arm, letting Ernie clamber up and onto his shoulder. Logan grinned as he followed Ernie¡¯s gaze. He was staring at the tree with wide eyes, his pale skin flashing green as if mirroring its leaves. ¡°If only I could make a tree into a minion,¡± he muttered. Logan snorted. ¡°How did you make out? Any new soldiers for your army?¡± Ernie preened. ¡°There is a lack of sturgeons here, but there are many, many others! Ducks, Logan, ducks!¡± Logan paused and gave him a careful glance. ¡°You added birds to your army?¡± Ernie jabbed the air with his tentacles as if he were a boxer hitting an invisible punching bag. ¡°Five of them.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That put a whole new complexity on Ernie¡¯s ability. Logan had assumed that he¡¯d add undead minions. Animals who the serpent queen had already transformed into the undead. But then again, Ernie had transformed two flying snakes. Although they were rabid buggers, they weren¡¯t undead. ¡°Just no humans, okay?¡± Logan considered. ¡°Unless you have no other option,¡± he amended. ¡°Humph,¡± said Ernie in a non-committal voice. Then he brightened. ¡°Where is your brethren?¡± At Ernie¡¯s question, Logan¡¯s mood took a nosedive. That was the question. Where was Lara? It was late, the heat was starting to lessen as the sun dropped in the horizon. If anything, Lara would have wanted to leave in the morning to arrive in the early afternoon at the latest. Being this late wasn¡¯t like her. Logan made his way to the clearing in front of Richton¡¯s Tomb, Ernie clinging to his shoulder. Using the Pink Sock, he jumped over the huge roots that burst from the ground. Looking at the trail, he stared, straining his senses and using every perception point at his disposal to listen for voices. Nothing. Not even an animal. ¡°She¡¯s not here yet,¡± he said, his voice layered with worry. Taking out his cell phone from his spatial collar, he tried to power it on, but it was just as dead as last time. There were no charging stations around here¡ªit was too remote. Worst of all, even if there were charging stations, he had no idea if Hope¡¯s End had electricity. Fuck. What if something had happened? What if the whole time he¡¯d been growing trees, Lara and the kids had been in trouble? As time passed and the sun continued dipping, dusk overtaking the clearing, his tension ratchetted up and his stomach churned. Logan paced and scrubbed his hair, pulling at it as his thoughts raced. Lara wouldn¡¯t have trekked through the woods in the dark, not now. Not with the kids. Which begged the question of why she wasn¡¯t here. Logan¡¯s timeline should be correct. Something was wrong. Clenching his fists, he came to a stop and looked at the empty path. One thing was certain, staying at Richton¡¯s Tomb and doing nothing wasn¡¯t the solution. ¡°I¡¯m going after them.¡± ¡°To the big city?¡± Ernie chirped, pleased. ¡°Many, many potential minions must be there.¡± ¡°Many humans. No humans,¡± said Logan as he wound his way back to the beach. Jumping into the water, he activated his Pink Sock to push himself around the harbour and below the surface. Ernie swam after him, following Logan as he jumped out of the water and into the cave like a dolphin. Richton¡¯s Tomb. Not many tourists knew about this, but Logan and Lara had been fascinated by the cave which had been repurposed into a grave site. The original landowners had donated the beach and the surrounding area to the city under the condition that they would keep the cave intact, a tomb that buried Old Man Richton. It was above ground, but it had an opening at the top and down below. The cave was small, the size of a garden shed at best, and smelled like mold and damp. Without light, it was dim as hell, but Logan¡¯s perception attribute let him see enough to make his way around. ¡°I do not like this,¡± said Ernie, popping his head out of the water and scanning the cave. ¡°It reminds me of the serpent¡¯s lair.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not staying.¡± With a blink, Logan willed out the canoe, setting it underneath the entrance up above. Then he deposited a bucket full of green beans, and a few cans of food he¡¯d found in the murderer¡¯s cabin. Hesitating, he removed a handful of the jewelry, and one of the spatial storage bracelets. That was enough. Making his way to the surface through the underwater entrance, Logan jumped out of the water onto the beach, then used a towel to dry his hands before taking out a plank. Using Arsen¡¯s dagger, he etched: Lara, find the boat where your barbies are buried. -Logan And then he used a nail to hammer the plank to the trunk of his monster tree. This way, if Logan somehow missed Lara and she found her way here, at least she¡¯d know where to find the canoe. Anyone else who came across the message would have no idea what it meant. But Lara would. ¡°All right,¡± said Logan as he deployed [Mimicry Armour] and reformed his chest plate, his boots, and his forearm guards, ¡°let¡¯s go find them.¡± B2 - Chapter 16: Beware of the Rats Logan had decided not to sculpt his whole armour suit. For the first time in a long time, he was entering an area that had other people, and he had no idea how much of a shitshow the world was yet. The last time he¡¯d talked to Lara, she¡¯d mentioned gunshots, and that things were getting dicey, but not dicey enough that Logan had to worry. Logan had no illusions that he wouldn¡¯t encounter bad actors¡ªthe murderers in the cabin were proof of that¡ªbut the city was home to thousands of people. Thousands. If he burst into a gathering looking like Iron Man¡­ well, Logan could admit to a bit of self-conscious embarrassment. Plus, there was another factor at work. He¡¯d gotten so good at reforming his armour that he could assemble the whole suit, even the facemask, in less than a minute. If he needed help finding Lara, it was better to approach people looking as normal as possible. So, he¡¯d be cautious; he¡¯d be ready to fight at a moment¡¯s notice, but he¡¯d judge the lay of the land first. That¡¯s not to say that he hadn¡¯t reformed the pouch on his back. He¡¯d perfected it so it could pass for a normal backpack, utilizing [Mimicry Armour] to give it a brown, khaki appearance. ¡°Make sure to stay inside the pouch until I give the all clear,¡± said Logan as he powered through the trail, pine trees rushing by in a blur. Not deploying his armour to stay inconspicuous wouldn¡¯t matter if people saw an octopus clinging to his shoulder. Ernie grumbled in response, but it was for show. Ernie knew how important it was to find Lara and the kids; he wouldn¡¯t do anything to interfere. Logan was close to the top of Hope¡¯s Mountain. To get to Richton¡¯s Tomb from the city, you had to climb up Hope¡¯s Mountain, hit the summit, then climb down the other side and wind your way through the trail. That was why it was known as a heart-attack hill. But at least at the top, Logan could look down on the city. The sun had dropped, only faint light left, evening soon upon them. That meant it would be dark shortly, and he¡¯d know whether the city had lost power. Climbing the last quarter mile with a shit eating grin, Logan skidded to a stop. Worry for Lara and the kids was still ever-present, but all the same, he could admit to a bit of pride. Running up that hill would have been impossible before the System Integration. Logan would have died¡ªkeeled over, gasping for breath, his heart ready to burst out of his chest, his face and chest drenched in sweat. Instead, Logan might as well have taken a few steps for all the difference it made. But as he peered over the hill, his elation turned to dread. Unlike normal, he saw light, but it wasn¡¯t the lights inside of buildings. Fires. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± said Ernie as he peeked his head out of the pouch. Seeing no one around, he climbed out, his eyes alight with curiosity. Without electricity, the full extent of the city wasn¡¯t readily apparent. But Logan¡¯s high perception could make out the skyscrapers in front of the waterfront, the tall downtown buildings, and then far off, the residential area on the other side of town. ¡°That¡­ wasn¡¯t what I pictured,¡± said Ernie in disappointment. ¡°Is the city supposed to be glowing that much?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not normal. Fuck!¡± But it made sense. Without firetrucks, the city would be hard-pressed to fight multiple fires. They were clustered together¡ªa whole block was on fire, but far off in the distance, was another and another. That was miles apart. The only way the firefighters could get there would be on foot or with an electric vehicle. And if the power were out, there would be no way to charge those cars. ¡°Hold on to me, Ernie. I¡¯m going to run down the mountain.¡± Ernie made a sound of agreement and ducked into his pouch. Rather than running, Logan was jumping. Jumping down a mountain. Deploying his Pink Sock, he kicked off with his leg, launching himself into the air. What went up must go down, but that was what he wanted. Freefalling, wind rushing by and lashing his face, Logan plummeted, falling down the steep cliff and hurtling towards a large pine tree. At the last minute, he twisted his body, letting his foot skim the side of the trunk, and then launched into the air like a soaring eagle. Snapping his arms to the sides to decrease his air resistance, he soared so high it felt as if his Pink Sock had launched him from a rocket, before gravity pulled him down. Windmilling his arms, he tried to keep his balance. By now, Ernie had gotten a sense of what was happening, and he¡¯d stuck his head out of the pouch like a dog looking out the window of a moving car. ¡°I¡¯m a mighty flying god!¡± he shouted in exultation. As Logan reached the base of the mountain, he didn¡¯t stop. This time, instead of jumping he ran all out, ran so fast he might as well be an Olympic sprinter. Pine trees were a blur as he rushed by, pinecones kicked to the side. Pine needles scratched his face before his constitution attribute and [Regenerate] kicked in, wiping away the scratches as if they had never been there in the first place. Gradually, the dirt path turned into a paved road until he was no longer in the wild, he¡¯d entered the city. *** Logan could make out the faint glow of a fire in the dark sky in the distance, but the buildings just off the mountain were intact. They were brick office buildings, intermixed with the occasional restaurant. There was a reek in the air, noxious, rotting garbage, which made sense as he came across garbage bags outside of buildings. People had taken out their trash, but the city hadn¡¯t picked it up. There were no garbage trucks anymore. So far, he¡¯d seen no hint of human activity. Normally, this side of town would have been bustling, people pouring into pubs and restaurants, congregating on the downtown core. Hope¡¯s End was a resort city; the skyscrapers concentrated in the downtown waterfront, overlooking Okanagan Lake. Although there was water access here, that¡¯s why Lara hadn¡¯t wanted to meet downtown. Too many people. And yet¡­ he saw no one. Jumping over the remains of what looked like rotting meat next to a pile of garbage bags, Logan¡­ That wasn¡¯t rotting meat. Logan gagged. It was a crushed body, the skull smeared across the sidewalk, flies and maggots swarming over the remains. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. What the hell had happened here? Worst of all, even though his high perception let him make his way through the street, it was by no means foolproof. That, combined with the smoke and smog in the air, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. As he walked further down the street, dried blood soaked the ground, so much blood his boots crunched over¡­ he didn¡¯t even want to speculate. And the smell¡­ Logan spat, trying to clear his airways, his eyes streaming. ¡°More stinky snails?¡± Ernie said in his pouch, his voice muffled. ¡°Something worse.¡± Logan stilled. Something was coming. It was a rattling sound, metal against metal, a clanging. Making a snap decision, Logan willed out a scoop of diamond dust from his spatial collar and reformed his talons, doing it so quickly pain radiated behind his nose. Only to freeze, not knowing what to think. A man in a long, purple overcoat with yellow fur on the sleeves was pushing a shopping cart down the street, the wheels clanging over the remains of shriveled up guts and blood like skipping over pebbles. The man was filthy, covered in dirt, his hair standing on end, a glazed look in his eyes, his lips chapped as if he¡¯d stared into the sun. Inside the cart were empty bottles, as if he were taking them to the bottle depot. In the front seat, a slender, dirt covered white cat stared at Logan, its yellow eyes flashing. A leash around its neck dangled to the side, clanging with each jerk of the cart. Logan examined them both with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Elliot Micheal: Level 15. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Perception. Characteristics: A unique ability to live in his own world and tune everything else out. Hidden name: Elliot.] [Domesticated House Cat: Level 60. A rat catcher.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Loyalty, a vicious temper. Hidden name: Maleficent.] Logan raised an eyebrow. The cat looked like a¡­ cat. Every animal he¡¯d come across who was a threat had been mutated in some way¡ªthe spider rat, the rabid squirrels, the diseased deer¡ªand to see an animal who looked normal made him want to wait for the other shoe to drop. But something else made him hesitate. The cat¡¯s hidden name. Ernie had the same thing¡­ a unique name, I Rival All, that he¡¯d picked himself. Sapient animals did that. Was the cat the man¡¯s bonded companion? Logan hated to judge someone by appearances alone, but if perception was Elliot¡¯s highest attribute and he was stumbling down the street without paying Logan any attention, he found it difficult to imagine how he¡¯d managed to level up that much. But if the cat were the man¡¯s bonded companion, it could share XP. After all, before he¡¯d entered the trial dungeon, Logan had the same advantages with Ernie. Logan cleared his throat. ¡°Hey,¡± he said, holding his hands out, trying to look harmless. Hesitating, he studied the man, looking for a sense of whether he could have something like the [Charlatan] class which let you hide your true level. Logan had no way of knowing how that class worked, but he was betting that although you could hide your level, you couldn¡¯t hide your aura. If Elliot were truly a higher level, Logan suspected that he¡¯d feel a punishing aura, something that made him sit up and take notice. But he could sense nothing. No aura. The man might as well be a blip on the screen, non-existent. ¡°Where is everyone?¡± asked Logan. But Elliot continued pushing his cart as if he hadn¡¯t heard Logan, his eyes unfocused. The cat, on the other hand, let out a yowl, fur standing on end, its eyes flashing as it gave Logan a steady stare. Damn. The thing reminded him of his ex-girlfriend¡¯s cat right after Logan kicked it out of the bedroom, that same murderous glare as if it wanted to sit on his head and suffocate him to death. ¡°Stupid human,¡± it yowled, its white incisors flashing. ¡°I hope the rats get you.¡± What. The cat had just talked. Logan scrunched his nose. At this point, why was he surprised? Ernie, the serpent queen, the snail. But the damn thing looked like¡­ a housecat. That was what was so jarring. Until now, he¡¯d expected any animal who talked to, well, not be normal. Logan scrubbed his hair. ¡°Hey¡­ cat. Maleficent. What happened here?¡± Logan gestured to the gory remains on the street, the blood and guts scattered on the road. The cat sniffed, its tail standing straight up. ¡°Stupid, stupid human. No wonder your species is about to go extinct.¡± With a grin, it licked its lips, pink tongue flashing. ¡°Then again, you might help me hunt. Go, human, go. Keep walking down the street like an idiot. Let the monsters come, lure them in while I pounce from the shadows. But not to save you, oh no. To feed.¡± ¡°Logan,¡± said Ernie, popping his head out of the pouch and giving the cat an owl-like stare. ¡°Can I kill it?¡± The cat hissed. Logan sighed. He suspected that if they killed the cat, the man would soon follow. He was staring straight ahead, pushing his cart, unaware of anything around him. Without the cat to contribute XP, he wouldn¡¯t survive long. ¡°The cat gets a pass,¡± he said with a frown, scrunching his eyebrows. It hissed again. Logan darted around the cart and continued down the street, giving the windows and doors wary looks. It was dark, and there wasn¡¯t a hint of movement. Even without electricity Logan would expect to see candles, flashlights. Human activity. It was as if everyone had abandoned the buildings and they¡ª Huh. On the side of the next building, someone had spray painted in huge red letters: STAY AWAY FROM THE RATS. Logan didn¡¯t like this. A cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck, he scanned the street, looking for signs of movement. For years, you could find the occasional mouse or rat in Hope¡¯s End, but recently, invasive Norway rats had surged throughout the valley. Huge fuckers, twice the size of squirrels. They were everywhere¡ªin burrows in yards, in the walls, in roofs and trees. One year, Logan had taken his cover off his barbeque only to find that a rat had been living inside of it over the winter! That meant the Okanagan had thousands and thousands of these buggers, and in their new world, he didn¡¯t like what that meant. But surely, Lara and the kids couldn¡¯t be in trouble because of rats? Logan increased his pace and powered through the street, passing another block and advancing deeper into Hope¡¯s End towards the residential sector. And yet, he passed buildings on fire, passed homes with wide open doors, with signs of struggles¡ªbroken glass, blood and discarded first aid kits¡ªbut no matter how far he went, he had yet to come across another person. This was fucked. This city was huge, home to thousands. Without transportation, there was no way that many had fled. And even if they had, where would they go? There were only so many motorless boats, and the next city was hundreds of miles away. Somehow, everyone in this city had disappeared. Even accounting for murderers who roamed the streets, killing people for XP, he should have seen signs of massacres, signs other than a few smears of blood and guts on the road. But most ominous of all, he¡¯d come across three more graffiti signs spray painted on buildings and on the sidewalk: BEWARE OF THE RATS DON¡¯T TRUST THE RATS THE RATS LIE ¡°Must Ernie still hide?¡± said Ernie from inside his pouch. Logan blew out a breath. ¡°No, there¡¯s no point. Everyone¡¯s gone.¡± Ernie scurried out and clung to Logan¡¯s shoulder, peering into the darkness. ¡°No sign of your brethren?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not looking good. But we¡¯re coming up on Lara¡¯s house soon; it¡¯s just down this block.¡± Lara was smart. If something had happened, she would have left a clue for Logan. Anxiousness ate away at his stomach as possibilities raced through his mind. The signs so far had been clear: the talking cat, the guts on the road; the graffiti signs. All of it was leading him to only one conclusion. And yet it made no sense. If rats had attacked everyone, where were the signs? He should see rat carcasses just as much as people. Increasing his pace, his quads knotted in tension, his arms swinging, Logan gritted his teeth and sprinted the rest of the distance to Lara¡¯s. As her house came in view, he skidded to a stop and stared. The front door was wide open. *** Living at home alone with two young kids, Lara was careful. She had a security system, and she always locked her door. Beyond the fact that they were going through the apocalypse, she never would have left the door open like that. Worse yet, if they had left to travel to Richton¡¯s Tomb as planned, she would have triple checked that the place was locked up tight before leaving. For the door to be wide open, something must have happened. Chewing the inside of his cheek, Logan scanned the street before approaching the entrance, his mouth dry, apprehension eating away at his insides. Logan pressed the doorbell and knocked on the doorframe. ¡°Hello?¡± he said, raising his voice. ¡°Lara? Sawyer? Hunter?¡± Silence. In the street, although it had been dark, he had the moon to light his way and the glow of the fires off in the distance. Inside a pitch-black house, even Logan with his high perception struggled to see. Taking out his barbeque lighter, he used it to light the way until he stumbled across a handful of unlit candles that Lara had spread throughout the house. So, the power loss hadn¡¯t been sudden. Logan lit the candles, willing his barbeque lighter inside his spatial collar, then looked around. Overturned kitchen tables, shattered glass on the floor, and a cast iron frying pan that was halfway through the drywall as if someone had thrown it there with force. A steak knife was hanging from the ceiling, a carbon arrow was stuck in the kitchen door. The sink was overflowing with water that looked pink with blood. Someone had taken all the kitchen knives out of the knife block, and they had fallen to the floor. Worse yet, there was a smear of blood on the hardwood just outside of the kitchen. As if someone injured had been dragged over the floor. Fuck. B2 - Chapter 17: Clues As anger simmered in his stomach, a wellspring of rage erupted. For the first time, Logan was aware that the Cursed Rope was feeding the emotion, enhancing what was already there. It was like a firestorm fed by dry kindling, about to turn uncontrollable. Logan clenched his fists, his talons creaking, hairline fractures in his armour spreading like cobwebs as his muscles bulged, veins standing out on his neck. Bit by bit, he had to pull himself away from the edge of a cliff. On the other side was nothing but emotion. Logan wanted to rage at the world, express his anger by slamming his fists into the wall, by tearing off the counter and smashing it into pieces, but that wouldn¡¯t help Lara. A fight had taken place, the signs were obvious, but worst of all, he had no idea what any of it meant. He could make a conclusion based on the available facts. There had been a struggle, someone had gotten either injured or killed. And yet, if Lara had been the one to do the damage, where was the body? Her priorities would be taking care of her kids and preparing for the journey ahead; she wouldn¡¯t have taken the time to worry about a corpse; she would have left it to rot. Just in case he¡¯d missed something, Logan checked the backyard for disturbed earth or blood. Even if she¡¯d decided to bury the evidence, there should be signs. And yet she¡¯d locked the back door, and the backyard was pristine. It was still dark, but his perception attribute and the light of the moon let him see that much. Okay, okay, if there was no body that meant¡­ Logan grimaced, a wrenching sensation in his belly making him clench his fists again, sand raining down to the floor. That meant that whoever had been dragged had either been Lara or one of the kids. And yet, unlike outside, there were no gory remains. That had to mean something. But for fuck¡¯s sake! Logan felt his rage surge once again. He wasn¡¯t a frigging detective! How was he supposed to figure this out? ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good,¡± said Ernie, staring down at the blood stain before jumping out of his pouch and onto the couch in the living room. It was beige and the cushions took on a wet spot where Ernie slouched. For a second, Logan was worried what Lara would do when she found out¡ªshe was particular about her living room furniture¡ªbut then he blew out a breath. He¡¯d do everything to have her here, ranting and raving about Ernie, but she wasn¡¯t, and the furniture was the least of his concerns. Logan scrubbed a hand through his hair and then released [Mimicry Armour], snatching the sand from the air and willing it back inside his spatial collar. He stared down at the bloodstain and then considered. With a frown of distaste, he crouched and examined the stain. Logan was no blood expert, but if it were fresh, surely it would be warm to the touch and wet? This stain was half dried. The edges had already crusted to the hardwood, but the middle was slightly damp. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t,¡± said Logan to Ernie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look good at all.¡± His thoughts swirled like a rushing drain, possibilities too many to count making him paralyzed with indecision. He had no idea where they were. Heading into the street in the dark would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. They could be anywhere. He had to believe they were alive; any other possibility was anathema. After his struggles, killing himself with pain and coming out of the trial a changed man¡­ to just get back to Lara, Logan refused to believe all of that was in vain. If only Hope¡¯s End had electricity so he could charge his cell phone. It was possible that the answer to this was in a text message sent by Lara while Logan was stuck inside the trial dungeon. Charge his phone. Holy shit! Logan felt excitement surge as he crossed the living room in three strides. Grabbing a lit candle, he held it up, illuminating the dark hallway as he made his way into Lara¡¯s office. There was a solution. An obvious solution. Lara often went on business trips, and just like anyone, she kept portable cell phone chargers in case of emergencies. Logan didn¡¯t know where she kept them, but it made sense to search her office first. She had¡ª What. Annabelle, Lara¡¯s quaker parrot, was missing. Lara kept Annabelle in her office so that she could keep it company when she worked from home. Even though the parrot could easily fit in Logan¡¯s palm, Lara had gone all out with its cage. The thing was huge. A steel frame, wheels. And inside were ropes and tunnels, a jungle gym, and bowls of water, as if the damn thing were living in a parrot spa. Logan had mixed feelings about Annabelle. The kids loved it, but Lara had inherited the bugger from a friend who had a potty mouth. Whenever Logan visited, it chirped, ¡°Shithead, shithead,¡± at him, puffing its green feathers and squawking. Lara couldn¡¯t help giggling whenever it happened, indulging the damn thing. Although Logan and Lara were close, she¡¯d never gotten over that teasing big sister phase. It was the little things in life that gave you enjoyment, after all. But the parrot was missing. The massive cage was on its side, the bottom wheels in the air. Scanning the room, Logan winced as birdseed crunched underneath his feet like stepping on uncooked rice. On the far wall just over Lara¡¯s computer monitor, one of her arrows was stuck in the drywall. Lara had been a crack shooter before she¡¯d prioritized work over her hobby. Unlike in the hallway, this scene of carnage was obvious. In the corner, was Annabelle. At least its remains. Blood soaked its feathers, and the parrot was the size of a racoon! Plump, full of fluffy green and white feathers, a tail full of spiky, sharp spines like green porcupine quills. It had mutated in the Integration. And right in its heart, was one of Lara¡¯s arrows. So, the parrot must have attacked them. And yet unlike in the kitchen and the living room, there was no blood other than what seeped from the parrot¡¯s corpse. Which meant they might have fought Annabelle and survived, even used the experience to level up for the first time. Logan opened one of the drawers in Lara¡¯s desk, rummaging around, pushing aside stacked paper and extra cords until¡­ When he found it, he slumped in relief and let out a huge breath. A portable charger. Willing out his cell phone, Logan plugged it in, then stared at the cracked screen. A black screen. And yet more black screen. Fuck. The battery had run so low it would take minutes before it had enough juice to turn on. Staring at it was like watching paint dry. Logan uttered a soft curse and then grabbed the phone, keeping the charger attached as he climbed the stairs and went up to the second floor. Scanning the bedrooms, he made sure that he hadn¡¯t missed anything. A clue. A sign. And yet, the upstairs rooms were untouched, no signs of struggle. The kids¡¯ beds were made, Lara¡¯s bedroom was tidy. Oh well, he might as well take advantage of the wait. By this point, with only a white dress shirt and kitten patterned swim trunks in his possession, he¡¯d gotten used to looking like a crazy person. But Lara¡¯s ex-husband was about the same size as Logan. Although the asshole had left for Europe after the divorce, leaving his own kids behind, he was betting that Lara hadn¡¯t gotten rid of his clothes. The closet was full of Lara¡¯s clothes, but at the back, boxes were gathering dust. Logan opened one, then the other. Jackpot. The box was full of the asshole¡¯s belongings. Pairs of dress pants, jeans, even khaki pants and shorts. Logan threw everything inside of his spatial collar, going to town. With a sigh of relief, he changed into the khaki pants and a green t-shirt. Not soon enough. Those swim trunks had been starting to chafe. Staring at himself in the wall mirror, Logan gaped. Damn. Asshole and Logan had been the same size a week ago, but not anymore. The pants were tight around his upper thighs and the shirt pulled around his biceps and stretched across his stomach. Holy shit, that brought home how much he¡¯d changed since the Integration. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± asked Ernie as he plopped onto Lara¡¯s bed and looked at Logan¡¯s discarded kitten-patterned swim trunks with sad eyes. ¡°Logan, you¡¯re ruining your wardrobe! No style, no fashion.¡± He side-eyed Logan¡¯s pants and poked him with a tentacle, his mouth twisting with distaste. ¡°Ugh. You¡¯ve lost all color! You¡¯ve¡­ dare I say it.¡± He dropped his voice into a whisper. ¡°Logan, you¡¯ve turned ugly.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know you like orange. Ernie, fashion isn¡¯t a priority right now. Utility wins out over appearance.¡± Plus, he¡¯d feel less like an idiot while walking around without his armour. ¡°Humph. It¡¯s important to look stylish while saving your brethren. How will they recognize you otherwise? I¡¯m sure your distinct fashion style shines like a star.¡± A mutter, ¡°A star amongst dull green and brown.¡± His phone beeped. Logan rushed over, his heart in his throat as the home screen turned on. The signal for cell service was there¡­ faint, barely a bar, but there. One after another, notifications dinged. Tasha: checking in. how¡¯s the journey? hope you didn¡¯t come across anymore bad dudes. Tasha: Logan? Tasha: answer me, jerk. you¡¯re making me worried. Tasha: Logan? Tasha: I need you to come back. things are tense here. Tasha: you were right about Matt. Jack: Answer Tasha¡¯s text messages. She¡¯s worried. Jack: Your sister texted me saying you¡¯re not responding. Now you¡¯re worrying me too. Jack: Just check-in, all right? Jack: You better come back with a weapon. Logan swiped through Tasha and Jack¡¯s messages, then biting his lip, pulled up Lara¡¯s. Lara: The schedule is still a go. I heard more gunshots, but they¡¯re at the opposite end of the city rather than here. How¡¯s the journey? Lara: Logan? Lara: This better you being busy and not anything else. Respond when you can. Lara: Respond. Lara: Not digging this whole silence thing. I¡¯m okay on my end. The kids are freaking out, but we have enough food. Is the schedule still on? Lara: Answer me! Lara: Logan, we might not have power here for long. Parts of the city are on fire. One of the gas stations blew up. No one can fight the fires, and the neighbour told me it¡¯s going block by block. We might need to leave earlier than expected. Lara: Logan????? Answer me! Lara: Your phone better be dead. Text me back when it¡¯s charged. Lara: Something else is happening here. Not the fires. People are disappearing, and there are noises outside. After Annabelle, I¡¯m not sure what to think. It doesn¡¯t sound like people. Lara: I¡¯m worried. We keep having power surges. Cell service is cutting in and out. Lara: please respond. Shit, Lara had texted in lowercase. She was a weird texter, oddly formal in everything she did. It came from her law background. God forbid she were anything but professional. For her to send something out of character like that meant she was stressed out beyond belief. Lara: It¡¯s the rats. Don¡¯t trust them, Logan. They¡¯re taking everyone. All of the neighbours are gone. They¡¯re scratching at the doors. They¡¯re going to get in. Lara: God, I hope you¡¯re okay. Lara: I¡¯ll do the best I can. Lara: they¡¯re going to get in Lara: don¡¯t trust the¡ª The text message had cut off. That was the last message. According to the timestamp, she¡¯d sent it yesterday morning. His heart beating out of his chest, his stomach churning, Logan rubbed the back of his neck as he dialed Lara, tapping his foot as he waited. At first, he thought the called dropped, before it went through only for him to receive nothing but a busy signal. Shit. Trying again, he bared his teeth in a grimace when he received the same result, then tried to send a text. Logan: Lara?? I¡¯m at your house. Where are you? Only to receive a red exclamation mark next to the message indicating that it hadn¡¯t gone through. In desperation, Logan tried Tasha, then Jack, receiving more busy signals and undeliverable notifications. That was the limit. His restraint was gone. Screaming, a vein standing out on his forehead, his biceps bulging, Logan slammed his fist into the top of Lara¡¯s dresser, cracking it down the middle with a massive crash. A snap wrenched through the air, dust raining down, clothes flying. Then with a gasp, he slumped on the bed, staring sightlessly. ¡°Are your brethren gone?¡± Ernie whispered next to him, his voice gentle. His chest felt like a vise was closing around it; his breathing shuddering as if he couldn¡¯t get enough air. ¡°I think they were taken. Rats. Or a monster, something took them.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± said Ernie, sidling up to his side and looking at him with wide, earnest eyes. ¡°Taken is not gone, is it? Taken is somewhere else. Logan is very powerful, and so is Ernie. If someone dared to take our brethren, they will live to regret it, yes?¡± Ernie jabbed Logan¡¯s side when he didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Yes¡­?¡± Trust Ernie to put things into perspective. ¡°No, you¡¯re right. They¡¯re gone. Just gone. That means we can find them. But¡­¡± Logan stared out the window at the night sky, and the orange glow of fires far off in the distance. ¡°They could be anywhere.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± mused Ernie. ¡°The rat messages are all over the city. The people are gone. It stands to reason that they were taken to the same place, yes?¡± Ernie was right. ¡°Find the rats, then we¡¯ll find Lara and the kids.¡± ¡°Aha! A noble cause! A quest. But first, Logan must rest. You¡¯ll be no good to me if you¡¯re being all emotional. An emotional siesta! Squishy human Logan needs sleep, yes?¡± Logan blew out a breath. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can sleep.¡± He wanted to charge out of here and tear the city apart until he found Lara and the kids, but Ernie had a point. It was the middle of the night, and although he had [Undead Stamina], he wouldn¡¯t help anyone if his emotions were making him half crazed with anger from lack of sleep. The Cursed Rope had his emotions on a hair trigger, and one push to the wrong side could cause him to explode at someone like he¡¯d done to Lara¡¯s dresser. But trying to sleep with this uncertainty brimming in his stomach was like trying to sleep on a bed of glass shards. *** [Countdown: Day 11 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 2 out of 6,004,009,953.] [You are currently in the 1%.] This time, Logan was already awake when the System¡¯s daily reminder passed over his eyes. Eyes that were brittle and dry from a restless night, a night of nodding off and then jerking awake, nightmares of Lara and the kids being torn apart by monsters playing out like a horror movie in his mind. Each time he¡¯d woken up, Ernie had drifted awake, giving him a careful look before urging him to sleep once again. All in all, it had been the worst night of his life. But dawn was on the horizon, and Logan was ready to get out of here. Ernie had been right that he¡¯d needed sleep; to keep control of his emotions more than anything. Worry gnawed away at his insides, but at least rage wasn¡¯t in danger of overtaking him and washing away all sense. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he said to Ernie. Logan was wearing his new clothes. At first, he¡¯d been worried that it would interfere with [Mimicry Armour], but it was just like wearing swim trunks¡ªhe could sculpt his armour over whatever he wanted. The only drawback was that direct skin contact let him feel more, as if the armour were a second layer of skin. With clothes in the way, he¡¯d no longer have that same sensitivity, but he¡¯d have the same versatility. He could make the armour as flexible as he wanted¡ªhis Logan exoskeleton. One of these days, he was going to have to figure out how to level up [Mimicry Armour]. That wasn¡¯t this day. Today, Logan was going to find Lara and the kids. He refused to believe otherwise; that way lay despair. Right before he left, Logan did one more thing. He cleared out the house. His niece¡¯s bedding, their beds, toys, all of Lara¡¯s clothes, her books. The tools down in the basement. Everything she had; he took. There were two considerations here. If the fire continued tearing through the city, Lara¡¯s house could go up in flames. That was a waste of things she¡¯d gathered throughout her life. Not to mention the baby pictures and the photo albums that Lara had kept from when they were both young. The other reason was comfort. When he found Lara and his nieces and took them to Jack¡¯s, he was betting they¡¯d stay there for the long haul. Logan wanted to make sure they had everything they needed, and with his spatial collar, he had the means to do it. ¡°All right,¡± said Logan, surveying the empty house. He¡¯d even taken the Ernie-stained couch. ¡°Time to find them.¡± Ernie made a murmur of agreement from atop his shoulder. At this point, since they hadn¡¯t come across any people, it made no sense for him to remain within his pouch. Logan opened the front door and walked into the street, scanning his surroundings. Garbage bags, debris, and the occasional graffiti sign, but again, no people. In the light of the day, it made the city seem more eerie. A city that housed thousands and thousands, and not one person to be found. It was nuts. And yet, what he was looking for was a bunch of rats. Never there when you needed them, pests when you least wanted to see them. Logan¡¯s boots crunched over the ground as he turned a corner, glancing from side-to-side, casting his senses and¡ª Huh. Although he was using his perception attribute, why didn¡¯t he use the skill that mattered? If [Life Fabricator] was anything like [Life Cycle Master], he could cast a wide net, scanning for living things. If people, if hell, the rats, were hiding, he could dig them out. Coming to a stop, Logan deployed [Life Fabricator]. At first, it was overwhelming. There was so much life around. From the worms in the soil underneath the asphalt, to fungi swarming around the rotting garbage on the ground. Up above, a bird soared by so fast it was like a blip on the screen, there and then gone. On his shoulder, Ernie was like a supernova, radiating life and an aura that held both darkness and light. Logan went further, scanning the homes, looking past spiders that hadn¡¯t yet evolved, beetles that crawled underneath floorboards, searching, searching, searching. And all at once, he became aware of an explosion of life. Hundreds. Bright spots, some humming a low-grade aura, some glowing like a mini sun. Logan was looking for life, he was looking for rats, but he didn¡¯t understand what he was sensing. But it was a clue. ¡°There¡¯s something down the next block.¡± ¡°People?¡± Logan hesitated. ¡°¡­No, I don¡¯t think so. But I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ve never sensed anything like it before. Get into the pouch just in case. I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re going into.¡± Ernie grumbled, but he obeyed. Logan debated taking out his sword, but then decided to reform his talons instead. Removing a fistful of sand and diamond dust, he sculpted his ten-inch-long talons, making sure they were extra sharp. Then, cracking his neck, he straightened his shoulders and powered through the rest of the block, turning onto the next street and¡­ What. The. Hell. B2 - Chapter 18: The Contract After turning the next block, Logan stopped, ducking against a large maple tree and letting the leaves and green branches provide cover while he stared. His immediate reaction to seeing over a hundred rats scurrying down the street was deep-seated disgust, and a shudder of revulsion made his stomach slosh. They were the size of¡­ well, rats. They looked just like the buggers he¡¯d see scurrying underneath his barbeque in the backyard. Norway rats, with long rat tails and grey furry bodies the size of small cats. Other than the mass of them, the sheer number, they looked normal. Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Norway Rat Level 3. This is a rat.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Dominated by the need to feed. Hidden name: N/A.] Huh. Based on the description, his impression was correct. They looked like normal rats. And at level 3, he could walk down the street and into the swarm and kick them aside like beetles. And yet, something told him to be cautious. Something had managed to make thousands of people disappear, and it was hardly these buggers. It didn¡¯t make any sense. Making a snap decision, he deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reform his whole armour suit, sculpting it to mold with the Ernie-pouch on his back. From his feet to his facemask, he made it seamless. Then, activating the mimicry effect, he became invisible so that his suit mirrored his surroundings. It wasn¡¯t foolproof since it wouldn¡¯t stop someone from sensing his aura, but it would help. ¡°What is it?¡± whispered Ernie from his pouch. ¡°Is it the rats?¡± ¡°A whole swarm of them,¡± Logan answered Ernie mentally. ¡°But they¡¯re lower leveled. They can¡¯t be what took Lara and the kids.¡± And on top of that, Logan doubted they could talk, which meant he wouldn¡¯t get any answers if he charged in there and started going to town. For a second, Logan envisioned removing his old baseball bat from his spatial collar and smashing rat after rat into mush. It sure would help exorcize his anger, but that would hardly help Lara. And yet¡­ the rats were going somewhere. Purposely. They weren¡¯t swarming the street and digging through garbage. In fact, they streamed past the pungent smell of rotting refuse. The smell was so bad it made Logan wrinkle his nose underneath his facemask, and to a rat, it had to smell like nirvana. For them to march past in a production line, tails swinging behind them, eyes resolved, meant they were heading in one direction. Something was controlling them. Something was drawing them. ¡°I¡¯m going to follow the rats,¡± said Logan. Logan kept well back, at least fifty feet away, letting them scurry down the pavement. In the light of the day, it was bizarre to pass house after house, each one the same. The doors were wide open. And yet other than open doors, the windows were intact, no signs of someone breaking in or forcing themselves through the garage or the side doors. It was as if everyone on the street had opened their doors and just¡­ left. Creeping forward, he silently followed, doing his best to avoid stepping on anything that would crunch underneath his boots and give him away. On this street, it was mostly bare asphalt, missing blood and the gory remains of the other streets he¡¯d passed on his way here. The rats continued their journey, a hundred of them in an army line, never deviating. They had yet to notice Logan and seemed mindless in their need to continue their journey. And finally, after yet another block, they came to a stop in front of a white house with a brown door. This was on the wealthier side of town, where homes were less homes and more luxury vacation retreats. Some with three stories and four garages, others with Spanish tile roofs. But most noticeable, the door of this house was shut. The houses next to it and across¡­ all the doors were open. But not this one. A hundred rats sat down in a formation, their forepaws up in the air, their heads tilted up at the door, pale ears perked at attention. And they sat there. Staring. *** ¡°How much longer?¡± Ernie complained. ¡°Ernie is cooking! Cooking in the pouch!¡± The rats had continued staring at the door, mindless, not moving for what had to be hours. By this point, Logan¡¯s tension had frizzled, his shoulders drooping. Doing his best to keep himself energized, he bounced on the balls of his feet and cracked his neck. He grimaced as he looked away from the furry fuckers. Ugh. Rats. ¡°You can come out if you think you can keep your mimicry skill deployed for hours. We can¡¯t have you giving us away. Do you think you can do that?¡± There was a noticeable silence from Ernie. Then a quiet, ¡°Ernie rivals all,¡± in a defeated mutter. Logan supressed a smile. ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it eventually. Of course you rival all. Not many could be turned into the undead and reclaim a lost skill. It¡¯s impressive that you can keep the skill deployed for minutes.¡± Ernie grumbled, but Logan knew he was secretly pleased. But gradually, frustration was mounting. The rats were his best lead so far, but just how long were they going to stare at a door doing nothing? Logan soon had his answer. Down the road, someone was approaching. He was tall, slender, and wearing a suit as if he¡¯d just walked out of a business meeting. His black dress shoes shone in the sun, showing a hint of purple socks with pink rectangles just below the hemline of his dress pants. But other than the clothes, he came across as harried, with sweat beading down his forehead, his face a splotchy red. His blond hair was messy, as if he¡¯d run a sweaty hand through his bangs. Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Peter Salibron: Level 65. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom/Intelligence. Characteristics: An expert in persuasion. Hidden name: The Contractor.] ¡°All right, all right,¡± he said, panting. ¡°I¡¯m coming! You couldn¡¯t have found one closer to the next group? The last one was across the city!¡± The rats didn¡¯t react, still facing the door with their faces tilted up, red eyes pinned to the house. The man blew out a breath, pushing his bangs away from his eyes. ¡°What do we have here?¡± Looking at the house, Peter furrowed his brow and frowned. It was a minute before he blinked and then glanced at the rats with a scowl. ¡°One! All of that rushing for one measly prospect!¡± He went to kick the nearest rat with his dress shoe, but it scurried away with a chittering noise. ¡°What! You¡¯re going to complain? I¡¯d like to see you try! Pied would love that! You know what he¡¯ll do.¡± The rat chittered again and then squeaked. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± the man said. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he straightened his back, his shoulders out as he stared at the door of the house. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°KID. KID. YEAH, YOU, KID.¡± Logan held back a gasp. Peter had done something to his voice, blasting it both out loud and in Logan¡¯s mind. All he could hear was a mass of sound that drowned out everything else. ¡°I KNOW YOU¡¯RE IN THERE.¡± Logan hissed. It was like someone was using a bullhorn right in his ear. Peter paced, scrubbing his hair as he stared at the house. Then he paused, a grin overtaking his face as he scurried up to the closed door. ¡°Yeah, I knew you were there!¡± he said in a normal voice. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you. Don¡¯t listen to the rumours! I¡¯m here to save you, kid. Everyone else wants to kill you¡ªthe gangs for the XP, the monsters because they want to chow down on your bones. But not us, oh no. We want to feed you, put a warm meal in your belly, and keep feeding you. All you have to do is join us.¡± Peter touched the door idly, scratching it with his fingernails. A pause, as if he were listening to something that Logan couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°No fighting! Oh no! We¡¯re not that kind of outfit. Pied wants to save the city. Save you.¡± Narrowing his eyes, Logan scanned the motionless rats, the house and the man. His perception was high enough that if someone were speaking behind the door, he was sure he could make it out. That meant the man was listening to something Logan couldn¡¯t hear. Deploying [Life Fabricator], he scanned everything around him, picking up the odd blots of life that represented the swarm of rats. They continued to ping oddly. Normally, he could scan an animal or a person and quickly identify it. But these rats kept flaring up as hundred separate spots of life, then concentrated into one, then went back to hundreds. It was as if the rats weren¡¯t singular spots of life, but a hive, each one connected to the other. As for the man, Logan was relieved that the skill scanned him like normal, but there was something¡­ a thread of life, a line like he¡¯d envisioned while using [Liche Siphon]. A lifeline that connected him to the swarm of rats, but also a line that went beyond that, far off in the distance. That line was tempting; Logan¡¯s senses wanted to follow it, but that wasn¡¯t his purpose. Retreating, he looked at the house and then concentrated on what was beyond the door. Another bright spot of life. This one was missing those connecting threads. A person. So. Someone was in the house, standing behind the shut door. Logan was reminded of all the homes with their gaping, wide open doors, with no other signs of struggle. Is that what had happened to everyone else? ¡°What would you like, kid,¡± Peter crooned. ¡°Do you have a sweet tooth; are you craving something savory? Greasy? Cheesy? I have it all. Come on, come on, I bet you¡¯re sooo hungry. It can¡¯t be easy on your own like that. What, did your parents die?¡± Peter paused, tilting his head as if he were listening to something. But again, Logan heard nothing but the rustle of the trees in the wind. He was listening to something else. ¡°Oh, that sucks, kid. That sucks so much. But don¡¯t worry, we have kids your age who went through the same thing. Pied loves helping people like that. Maybe even some of your friends, hmmm? Yes, I bet we have a lot of your friends, and let me tell you, boy, are they well fed. Come out, kid, come out.¡± Crossing his arms, Peter frowned at the door and then scowled at the motionless rats. ¡°Trust me,¡± he muttered. ¡°You want to come out. You won¡¯t like being forced. It¡¯ll be better for you.¡± There was a sound from behind the door. ¡°How do you know what I¡¯m thinking?¡± said a young, thready voice. A nervous voice. Peter exploded with movement, throwing his hands in the air. ¡°Kid, kid! It¡¯s so good to hear your real voice! Hah hah hah! I knew you were a good kid! Come out and I can give you a juicy meal.¡± Silence. Then, ¡°You won¡¯t hurt me?¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯m not into kid killing. I¡¯m into kid saving.¡± Logan held his breath and debated stopping this, but if he didn¡¯t watch, how else would he know what he was dealing with? Besides, he didn¡¯t think the kid was in danger. At least immediate physical danger. For some reason, the rats and the man wanted him to cooperate. Gradually, the door creaked open. Just a crack at first, a cautious crack as if the person on the other end was getting ready to slam it shut. But when Peter just stared with a benign smile, the door opened all the way. A teenager. Skinny, all knobbly knees and pimples, dark circles underneath his eyes and chapped lips as if he¡¯d bitten them until they¡¯d bled. He was short, his head barely over Peter¡¯s shoulders, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He was holding a steak knife so tightly that his hand was white knuckled around the handle. Peter smiled. ¡°No need for that.¡± Dipping his head into a bow, he laughed and then stifled it when it made the kid scurry back. ¡°Ah, no need to be afraid. Jonathan, is it? As you can see, my friends here mean you no harm. And neither do I! Allow me to introduce myself.¡± Brushing his sleeves as if trying to remove lint, he grinned. ¡°I¡¯m the contract maker. Let¡¯s give you a taste. You must be hungry; I can tell you are. Look at how skinny you are! Well, what can I say, these are trying times, aren¡¯t they? But I can see why you haven¡¯t tried going into the streets and looking for a meal if you live in such a fancy house!¡± Peter glanced up at the house with a flirtatious air. ¡°Maybe you even had food that could keep you fed for a bit, hmm? Until the power went, and the food rotted, and, well, here we are. So what are you hungry for, hmm, Jonathan? What do you want?¡± ¡°Do you mean it?¡± ¡°Of course! You can have anything. Anything at all.¡± The man tapped his foot. ¡°Well?¡± Jonathan inched out of the doorway, his hand clinging to the doorknob. ¡°Pizza? Pepperoni pizza?¡± ¡°Hah! You kids are all the same!¡± Peter rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got pizza. Come get it,¡± he said, backing up until he¡¯d retreated into the rat swarm. Jonathan narrowed his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re trying to trick me.¡± ¡°If by trick you mean to get you out of the house, then yeah, I am. But I¡¯m not lying about the pizza. Hold on.¡± The man got a faraway look, that same look everyone got as they studied their stat screen. With a blink, he was suddenly holding something in his hand. Even from here, Logan could smell it, and fuck, did it make his mouth water. He hadn¡¯t had anything to eat other than green beans and tomatoes and canned crap for what felt like an age. That was a slice of pizza in Peter¡¯s hand. Pizza! It was steaming as if he¡¯d just taken it out of the oven. How the hell had he managed to do that? A spatial storage device? Or something else? Seeing it, all hesitation was gone. Jonathan stumbled out of the house with an eager, excited smile. Peter gave him a gentle smile in return and handed him the slice of pizza. Scarfing it down as if he were starving, the kid closed his eyes, his cheeks bulging as he chewed. But it had only been one slice of pizza, and to someone who looked that hungry, it was hardly anything. ¡°More?¡± he asked, his eyes eager. Peter¡¯s expression turned sly. ¡°Of course you can have more. But you just have to do something for me first. Something minor, something that means nothing at all, really. And by doing it, you¡¯ll get more food, you¡¯ll get a home, and safety. You¡¯ll get a family, kids your own age. You won¡¯t have to worry about going hungry again, about the monsters attacking. And it¡¯s so minor.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Just a little contract.¡± With a flourish as if he were extending a pen, he made a gesture. Jonathan looked confused, before he stared unfocusedly in the distance. Logan suspected he was looking at a System message. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ why is this so long?¡± ¡°Ah. Just terms and conditions, etc., etc. Nothing for you to worry about! Most don¡¯t read beyond the first few paragraphs anyway. Nothing that exciting at the bottom!¡± Jonathan squinted at Peter. ¡°That sounds like a trick.¡± ¡°It would be a pretty shitty trick if you could figure it out just by reading the whole contract.¡± He blew out an annoyed breath. ¡°Have it your way, make¡¯s no difference to me. It just means that you¡¯ll be walking down the street with the rats in the dark. But better to be a contract reader than worry about little things like monsters, hmm?¡± Jonathan frowned, his mouth curdling. Then diligently, he continued reading. And reading. And reading. Fuck¡¯s sake, just how long was this thing? And Jonathan seemed to have the same patience as Logan. No patience. Eventually, he started shifting, his mouth in a thin line. His concentration started to fade, and he rubbed his eyes. But Logan had to give him points for effort. He continued reading for another ten minutes before sighing. ¡°Agreeing to this means that I¡¯ll be fed? Every day?¡± The man nodded, eager. ¡°And that I won¡¯t have to fight monsters? That I¡¯ll be safe?¡± Another nod. ¡°I¡­ I guess¡­¡± ¡°Do you accept?¡± Peter said, his voice tense. The kid nodded. ¡°You have to say it out loud. To the System.¡± Peter leaned forward and rubbed his hands together, his mouth parted with eagerness. Jonathan blinked, hesitating. Then he turned and looked at his house, the wide-open door and what must be an empty, lonely home. Especially for a kid all alone. Sighing with his whole body, he turned to Peter and said, ¡°System, I accept.¡± Peter gave out a little laugh and then shuddered, twitching before sobering. But he couldn¡¯t stop a self-satisfied smile as he looked down at the ground. Logan narrowed his eyes. Had the fucker just¡­? [Peter Salibron: Level 66. A human being.] He¡¯d just leveled up. Well, that was different. Logan hadn¡¯t known that was a possibility. Level up just because you¡¯d managed to trick someone into signing a System contract? That would explain how Peter had gotten so high leveled when he seemed like a weak, squirrely man Logan could force to the ground with a swipe of his fist. ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± said Peter with a grin. ¡°So pleased to do business with you, kid!¡± ¡°What next? More pizza?¡± ¡°Hah! Next, you follow my friends here and they¡¯ll take you to safety!¡± Jonathan gave the rats a dubious look. ¡°You¡¯re not coming with them?¡± Peter rubbed his mouth, hiding a grin. ¡°Nah, no rest for people like me! It¡¯s up to people like us, Jonathan, people who are right and just. I need to find more little Jonathans like you and bring them to safety. They¡¯re hungry for pizza too, you know! Now shoo, shoo.¡± The kid reluctantly walked towards the rats. As one, they dropped to all four paws and turned on a dime, walking away in an army line and streaming down the street. With a helpless, confused look, the kid followed. When he was far enough away, Peter muttered, ¡°Stupid kid,¡± and sighed, suddenly all business. All at once, the anger that had been simmering in Logan¡¯s gut escalated. ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± he said to Ernie. ¡°Finally,¡± said Ernie with a huff. He didn¡¯t wait for Logan to respond and scurried out of his pouch, taking on the colors of Logan¡¯s green shirt. That wouldn¡¯t blend in against his armour, but they no longer needed to be stealthy. Taking a few strides, Logan pushed off with his Pink Sock, jumping towards the man like a shooting bullet, utilizing every inch of his agility and strength. Peter didn¡¯t have more than a second to react. His eyes widening, he shrieked and tried to dart to the side, but Logan was quicker. ¡°Hey, Peter. How about you answer a few questions for me?¡± Grasping him by the shoulders, Logan dug in his talons and squeezed. B2 - Chapter 19: An Interrogation Logan latched onto Peter¡¯s shoulder with his talons and then pushed him towards the side of the house like a sack of flour. Peter¡¯s feet scrambled onto the ground, trying to brace himself, but it was laughable how easy Logan found it to overpower him. His back slammed into one of the garage doors with a slam, his head making an unhealthy crack, and a plume of blood sprayed the white door. Shit. Logan had forgotten about his newfound strength. All that waiting¡ªpoor Ernie cooking inside of the pouch¡ªwould be worth nothing if he accidently killed the man. Letting up on his grip, he removed his talons from Peter¡¯s shoulder with a wet squelch. Ernie seemed to have no concerns about injuring the man. He leaned over Logan¡¯s shoulder, peering into his face with his mouth gaping in eagerness. Peter blinked, dazed, and then let out a hiss of pain. Logan dissolved his facemask so that he could look directly into his eyes. Taking another blink, Peter rallied, his eyes narrowing. ¡°Are you crazy? Don¡¯t you know who I am? You just sealed your death sentence, ass-wipe! You don¡¯t attack an agent of the Kingdom!¡± Logan scrunched his nose and then latched onto his shoulders again, firmly, but this time, he didn¡¯t dig in his talons. Yet. ¡°Tell me where the rats are taking people.¡± Peter gave Logan a narrow-eyed look. ¡°Why should I¡­¡± His expression became unfocused, before he stilled and his mouth fell open. ¡°Your level.¡± His eyes bulged in shock. ¡°How are you so high leveled!¡± ¡°By killing little jerks like you, asshole. And if you don¡¯t answer my questions, you¡¯ll join the rest.¡± ¡°Logan,¡± said Ernie, one of his tentacles twitching in excitement. ¡°Are you sure I can¡¯t make humans into minions? He¡¯d make a nice addition to my army.¡± ¡°No humans,¡± said Logan, firm. Peter¡¯s eyes grew wider. ¡°You bonded with that thing?¡± And then he smiled, his body becoming boneless, his eyes sly. ¡°That must be an awful lot of work. Having to deal with a talking octopus!¡± Logan took a step back, frowning. Something about the fucker was making him uncomfortable. He was starting to suspect that he wasn¡¯t all there. But there was nothing for it. Lara and the kids depended upon him finding answers. Now that Logan wasn¡¯t holding him down, Peter straightened and touched the back of his head with a wince. ¡°So you want to know about my friends? I wouldn¡¯t blame you. You¡¯re high leveled, I can see that. But look at you, forced to bond with a slimy creature in return for the bonded companion boost. What if I told you that I had a way for you to keep the skills you obtained from that thing while not having to deal with its chatter?¡± Logan¡¯s attention sharpened. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Slimy thing?¡± Ernie muttered, outraged. ¡°Ernie, I¡¯m going to act odd, out of character. Like I don¡¯t enjoy being bonded to you. It¡¯s not real. I¡¯m just saying it to trick him.¡± ¡°Humph. Then that means I can say mean things about you as well!¡± ¡°Er. Sure.¡± Ernie sounded a little too excited. Logan cleared his throat and pretended to look uncomfortable. ¡°He can hear everything I say, you know.¡± Peter raised an eyebrow and smirked. ¡°Got you in a bind, huh? See, if you¡¯re not strict with them to start, they¡¯ll walk all over you.¡± ¡°Yes. The¡­ octopus is spoiled. And it never leaves me alone, always wanting to cling to my shoulder, be involved in everything I do. I was never an animal lover.¡± Logan shrugged. ¡°But what can you do. I needed every advantage I could get, and the octopus allowed me to survive.¡± Ernie puffed as if in offense. ¡°Stupid human! See if I help you with your squishy human needs again!¡± Jumping off Logan¡¯s shoulder and onto the ground, Ernie mirrored the asphalt and scurried to a bush where he huddled underneath the leaves and glowered. ¡°That¡¯s quite the convincing acting ability,¡± said Logan. ¡°How do you know I¡¯m acting?¡± Peter laughed. ¡°You¡¯re in for it now! It¡¯s like you have a nagging wife!¡± Then pulling down on his shirt, he straightened. ¡°Boy, are you going to be excited. What if I told you that you could get the same benefit from that thing but you wouldn¡¯t have to deal with its chatter? You wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it at all. No insulting you. No spreading its slime onto your shoulder.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that you¡¯re spouting something too good to be true just so I won¡¯t stab you with my talons.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t deny that I don¡¯t want to be stabbed! But no, it¡¯s not too good to be true. Brother, you wouldn¡¯t believe what I have access to. And if you¡¯re willing to join us, we¡¯ll share it with you.¡± ¡°Share what?¡± Peter extended his hand and pointed to his finger. ¡°See that?¡± He had clean hands. Not a speck of dirt to be found. On his index finger, he wore a garish ring, a ring that had a distinct aura. Logan felt his stomach drop. His suspicions weren¡¯t unfounded, then. That ring looked just like Thorin¡¯s clone ring. Logan continued to pretend to be clueless. ¡°A ring? So what.¡± Peter giggled. ¡°It¡¯s not just a ring! That, dear sir, is an octopus.¡± ¡°What.¡± Peter gave Ernie a furtive look and lowered his voice. ¡°It¡¯s not specifically an octopus, but it was an animal like it. It¡¯s called a skill ring. On another world, this animal had the ability of communication. Telepathic communication. As you know, you can bond with animals and pick up their abilities, but it¡¯s a heck of a hassle.¡± Under the bush, Ernie had frozen. ¡°Go on,¡± said Logan. ¡°So our organization has a solution! We¡¯re in an integration, and Earth is becoming part of the Collective. A Collective of other worlds. And those worlds and people have figured out a way to get around the problem of bonding. It¡¯s brilliant, really. Get the same abilities without having to deal with the animal.¡± ¡°Logan, ask him how.¡± Ernie¡¯s voice was tense. Logan held back a wince. Once Ernie learned that Logan had already known how it worked, he suspected he was in for an earful. Some well-deserved scolding. He¡¯d decided to hold back the information from Ernie, believing that he¡¯d be doing the right thing. The ¡®Sky People¡¯ had to be so powerful that Ernie wouldn¡¯t have any chance against them, and once he learned what they were doing to the other octopuses, he¡¯d want to drop everything and rescue them. But Logan was convinced that as it stood, he would have no chance. Even accounting for his minion ability and the advances he¡¯d made, Logan wanted him to survive. And right now, there was no way he¡¯d be able to overpower people like that. It was all conjecture, of course. But he would have done the same thing if Lara were in Ernie¡¯s place. He wanted him to survive. He had to. ¡°How?¡± asked Logan. ¡°That¡¯s a trade secret! But I¡¯m telling you, if you join us, it¡¯ll be something that you¡¯ll get access to along with everything else.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Logan eyed him carefully. ¡°You¡¯re trying to recruit me.¡± ¡°Of course I am! Do you know how many levels I¡¯d¡ª¡± Logan pushed his hand against Peter¡¯s chest and slammed him into the door. ¡°You want me to sign a contract, take advantage of me just like that kid.¡± Peter winced. ¡°No no no! That¡¯s only for the weaklings, for the slave workforce! The high value prospects get better treatment. They¡¯re the cream of the crop!¡± ¡°Workforce. That¡¯s where the rats took the kid?¡± Peter rolled his eyes. ¡°I wasn¡¯t lying to that kid, you know. So he signed a contract. It¡¯s not my fault he didn¡¯t read all the way through. But even saying that, I saved him! If he hadn¡¯t gone with us, the monsters or the XP harvest gangs would have gotten him eventually. This way, he has a chance to survive.¡± Logan was starting to get a sense of what was going on, and he didn¡¯t like it. ¡°What does the workforce do?¡± ¡°What do you think? They work!¡± Even accounting for anyone who agreed to go willingly, there had to be thousands who hadn¡¯t cooperated. The kid was just that¡ªa kid. Most of the adults would have been harder to trick. And that meant Lara. Hell, Lara was a lawyer! She never would have signed that contract. ¡°What happened to the people who didn¡¯t sign?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Peter hedged. Logan tightened his grip and dug in the tips of his talons. He hissed. ¡°That wasn¡¯t me! I wasn¡¯t involved!¡± Worry knotted inside of his stomach, a festering worry. This time, he let two inches dip into the man¡¯s shoulder so that blood poured down his arms and chest. He let out a screech of pain. ¡°What. Happened.¡± ¡°Okay, okay! Just stop! The rats would have happened! Those ones you saw were just the hunter seekers. If people don¡¯t go willingly, then they still go, just not quite so¡­ peacefully.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re still alive?¡± Urgency was in his voice. ¡°Well, most of them, I guess. For now.¡± Logan¡¯s hand spasmed reflexively and Peter wailed. ¡°What do you mean, for now?¡± ¡°The ones that go by force don¡¯t sign contracts! That means they can do whatever they want with them.¡± Forced labour? Even the children? His mouth dried as possibilities too numerous to count swarmed through is mind. He needed to save them! ¡°Logan, ask him who Pied is,¡± said Ernie. Ernie was right. He needed more intel. But tears were streaming down Peter¡¯s face, and he had a mulish expression, his eyes wary. Biting his lip, his expression became faraway, as if he were listening to something in the distance. Then he gasped. ¡°You don¡¯t want to join our outfit. You don¡¯t care about it at all. You¡¯re going to¡­¡± Logan slammed his hand into Peter¡¯s chest again and then grabbed his hand and tore off his skill ring. Like hell was he going to rummage through his mind. ¡°No!¡± Throwing it into his spatial collar, he blew out a breath of air. He was never good at acting and in a way, it was a relief. It was getting harder to hold back his expression of distaste. ¡°I¡¯m going to burn it to the ground,¡± he said as he dug his talons further into the meat of the man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Rat-fucker, you wondered how I¡¯d gotten so high leveled? It was crushing jerks like you into mush. Unless you want to join them, you better tell me everything.¡± Peter scowled. ¡°It¡¯s you that should be worried, asshole. You think I joined the outfit for shits and giggles? We moved thousands of people! We¡¯ve dealt with other high leveled assholes like you! But I suspect I might have come across a do-gooder; a goody toe shoes. Well, you¡¯ll never learn! Nice guys don¡¯t survive the apocalypse, ass-wipe. And against Pied, you¡¯ll be the one to regret it.¡± ¡°Who is Pied?¡± Logan ground out. Peter flashed him a wicked smile. ¡°He¡¯s an immortal.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Where have you been, under a rock? You know, an immortal!¡± ¡°I have no idea what that is.¡± ¡°Not just an ass-wipe, but social media illiterate as well. Christ.¡± Logan ground his teeth. The rage he¡¯d barely kept at bay since he¡¯d found out Lara and the kids had gone missing was clawing at the walls of his restraint. After all, Logan hadn¡¯t fed the Cursed Rope since Rattlesnake Island, and it was doing everything it could to ratchet up his anger and turn it into a firestorm. ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me.¡± Underneath his hand, he felt a distinct crack. The man wailed, his eyes red and streaming. ¡°Okay, okay, okay! Fuck, just stop! Stop!¡± ¡°Answer the question.¡± ¡°An immortal is someone who¡¯s over level 1000! Oh please, stop! It¡¯s a threshold; it means you¡¯ll never age; you¡¯ll live forever, you¡¯ll¡­¡± Trailing off, he looked behind Logan, his eyes unfocused. Then sniffling, he snorted and glared. ¡°You¡¯re in for it now. You should have taken me up on the recruitment offer. Now it¡¯s too late, and frankly, I don¡¯t want you.¡± An immortal sounded like something from a fantasy movie, not reality. And Peter acted as if it were well-known. Was it possible that more information had spread on the internet while Logan had been stuck inside the trial dungeon? He¡¯d managed to turn on his phone and receive text messages, but data was down. Who¡¯s to say that information about the Collective and other things hadn¡¯t spread? If what Peter was saying was true, it was possible that he was dealing with an alien from another world. And if they knew about the skill rings, could it be the ¡®Sky People¡¯? And yet, the ocean was hundreds of miles away. What would they want with the Okanagan? Too many questions. Not enough answers. But unfortunately, Logan suspected he was running out of time. Off in the distance, he became aware of something that sounded like a crowd. As if thousands of people were marching, feet pounding the earth. And gradually, he sensed a pressure in the air, a killing intent. It wasn¡¯t coming from Peter. ¡°Logan,¡± said Ernie, scrambling over to him and jumping onto his shoulder. ¡°Something¡¯s coming.¡± Peter laughed. ¡°You asked me what happened when they didn¡¯t sign the contract, when they didn¡¯t cooperate? Ass-wipe, you¡¯re about to find out.¡± Making a snap decision, Logan removed his talons from the man¡¯s shoulder and then taking a fistful of his hair, twisted his neck, breaking it with a snap. Ding! [You have defeated Peter Salibron! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] For a second, he blinked in disbelief at how quickly he¡¯d managed to kill another person. A person, not a monster. Then scrubbing his hair and pinching his nose, he gave himself a mental talking to. Now wasn¡¯t the time for moral reflection. He¡¯d made the smart choice. The only choice. He¡¯d learned enough, and although he would have liked to interrogate the man longer, there was no way he was keeping an enemy at his back while facing whatever was coming. Plus, he suspected that he could find those rats again by using [Life Fabricator]. Follow the rats, find Lara and the kids. There was no time to loot the body, so Logan didn¡¯t bother, throwing the corpse and all his belongings inside of his spatial collar, then reformed his facemask and removed his sword. ¡°What¡¯s coming?¡± asked Ernie, leaning forward and staring into the distance. Before Logan could answer, the first monster came around the corner. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Two-Headed Rat Level 31. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims. Chop off a head and two more grow back.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Persistence. Hidden name: N/A.] It was the size of a frigging horse! Other than the size, it looked like a rat¡ªsame rat-like, sinewy body, black fur, and long, five-inch-long claws. That¡¯s where the similarities ended and bizzarro world took its place. After all, the System identified it as a ¡®two-headed¡¯ rat, and there was a reason. It had two heads. Along its sinewy neck were two rat heads, each with its own snout, whiskers and red eyes. Intelligence seemed to lurk within those eyes, calculation. That wasn¡¯t the worst of it. After all, it was only level 31. That was nothing. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Another two-headed rat followed it, followed by another, and another. So many that the ground shook, dust falling down from buildings as if an earthquake were shaking the street. There had to be thirty of these monsters. Thirty horse-sized rats. But behind them was a different variation. [Three-headed Rat Level 62. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims, as well as a stabbing tail with a barbed end. Chop off a head and two more grow back.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Persistence. Hidden name: N/A.] Holy shit! They were the size of draft horses! Still, even though he was seeing what had to be a hundred of these fuckers¡ªmaybe more¡ªthey were still only level 60 to 70. Its offensive capabilities seemed tricky, but as long as he didn¡¯t cut off a tail or a head and took a body shot, he could come out on top. And then he got a glance at the monsters behind the three-headed rats. Oh shit. [Four-headed Rat Level 120. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims, a stabbing tail with a barbed end, and a body covered in armour-like chiton that cannot be pierced with a normal weapon. Chop off a head and two more grow back.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Leaders and experts in tactics. Hidden name: Fang.] At first, Logan had confidence that he could come out on top. He¡¯d taken on five hundred flying snakes, after all. But this was an endless stream of monsters, a swarm of what had to be thousands of the fuckers. And what the hell, level 120! Ernie shifted on his shoulder. ¡°Even though I rival all, sometimes, the smartest decision is to flee and to live to fight another day. After all, your sister is not in this swarm; this is not where we need to be.¡± Logan hesitated. Ernie had a point. Although the Cursed Rope was clamoring to be fed and anger was surging through his body, he had the presence of mind to understand that victory wasn¡¯t guaranteed. Since he¡¯d escaped from the trial dungeon, he had confidence in his abilities, but that was against known quantities. It was possible that these higher leveled monsters could give him real trouble. Plus, he didn¡¯t have the luxury to spend time fighting monster swarms. He needed to find Lara. ¡°You¡¯re right. I think we¡¯ll skip¡­¡± The rats were pouring down the street towards the house. It was a residential street, which meant that he could escape the other way. But he couldn¡¯t. From the other direction, he saw the first hint of the same swarm. He was surrounded. B2 - Chapter 20: Im Not a Savior... Right? A week ago, if Logan had faced the same circumstances, he knew he wouldn¡¯t have survived. Surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of monsters? He knew exactly what he would have done. Retreated into the house, barricaded the door, then hid in the basement or another room that seemed secure. And then he would have died. He would have fought until the end, convinced that he could make it out on top through some type of divine System intervention¡­ but he would have died. Now, after everything he¡¯d been through, even facing monsters over level 100, he knew he¡¯d have a chance. But best of all, surrounded didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t escape. Logan had a Pink Sock that let him climb a cliff so high the blobs had looked like bowling balls on the ground. He wasn¡¯t trapped. Not anymore. Why bother retreating to a house when he could leap over top of it, scale the roof and jump to the next neighbourhood? Even though the Cursed Rope was clamoring for him to slaughter the hell out of those buggers, Logan could rein in his emotions. He refused to be manipulated. He¡¯d make the smart decision. He didn¡¯t have the luxury of time. Lara and the kids needed him, and what he¡¯d learned from Peter made worry fester in his stomach. At least he knew that there was a high likelihood that Lara and the kids were alive, but if the rats had taken them by force, there would be no System contract to protect them, and these rat fuckers could walk all over them. He had no idea what kind of working conditions they were in, whether they had access to food or to shelter. The longer he waited, the worse it could get. He needed to move his ass. ¡°Ernie,¡± said Logan. ¡°Scoot back into the pouch again, will you? We¡¯re going jumping.¡± Ernie beamed and made a sound of excitement as he scurried into the pouch. ¡°I like flying, Logan!¡± Logan studied the charging rat swarm, and then glanced behind him at the house, hesitating. Retreating without showing them that you didn¡¯t fuck with Logan didn¡¯t feel right. He could admit to a certain degree of pride. Deserved pride after everything he¡¯d been through. Just fleeing, acting as if he were scared, didn¡¯t sit right with him. The rats would think he was fearful of a fight rather than making a smart decision. Making sure his facemask covered his face and activating the mirror effect of [Mimicry Armour], Logan turned himself invisible. He wasn¡¯t sure how effective it would be against the higher-level monsters, but he knew it had worked against the golden blob army. Gripping his sword, he gritted his teeth and pictured himself launching into the air. But he didn¡¯t aim for the top of the roof of the house. Instead, Logan launched in a flying leap above the nearest two-headed rats, the ones the size of horses. ¡°Yes, Logan, yes! Let¡¯s fly!¡± chanted Ernie, popping his head out of the pouch. The rats had long, sinewy bodies, and disgusting, long rat tails that were the same length of his sword. Their claws were scraping the asphalt as they poured down the street, each one knocking into the other two-headed rat next to it. They filled the street like sardines. Holy crap, if this is what Lara and the kids had encountered yesterday, Logan didn¡¯t like it. Talk about overkill! But in a way, he could see how it could be effective. Most people who were resistant to signing the rat contract would take one look at the army and surrender without a fight. The two-headed rats had their noses up in the air, scenting like dogs. Their whiskers twitched, red eyes flashing, before they looked directly up at Logan as he soared over their heads. Could they see him or just smell him? Logan suspected it was the latter. He let himself drop to the ground, then jumped on the back of one of the monsters, his boots scrambling to get a purchase. It was like balancing on the back of a bull! A burning ozone smell wafted off the thing, and even though it was only level 32, it had an aura of killing intent, as if it were blasting all its attributes at Logan at once. Just like his stealth player status, he had to wonder if some monsters were more intrinsically powerful than their levels suggested. After all, a lion could be level 2, but its natural abilities would make any person wary in a one-on-one fight. The rat snapped its two heads at Logan, kicking its paws in the air. Logan swiped with his talons, digging into the back of the thing, latching on like he was gripping a chicken with a fork. With his other hand, he swung with his sword. Thorin¡¯s sword was sharp, so sharp it had cut through Logan¡¯s armour like butter, and against a rat body, it was nothing. The rat shrieked in pain, desperately bucking and trying to throw him off, but Logan held on, sawing his sword through the huge carcass like hacking through the body of a cow. It bellowed, its two heads snapping at him, scraping his boot as the light faded from its eyes and its body slammed to the ground with a slam. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] Logan wasted no time and jumped off the back of the corpse, leaping onto the next. The advantages of his Pink Sock meant that he didn¡¯t have to fight them on the ground, which meant that he could avoid chopping off their heads, bypassing their regeneration ability. But this one had seen what happened to its fellow rat and was already bucking like a rabid bull. Logan¡¯s teeth clanged together, and he accidently bit his lip as he tried to balance so he could grip the thing¡¯s back and swing his sword. ¡°Logan, can I have this one? Oh please, let me try!¡± Ernie wanted to make it into a minion. ¡°Ernie, it¡¯s huge. Are you sure you can¡­?¡± Ernie had already crawled down Logan¡¯s armour. With a frown of concentration, he clung to Logan¡¯s leg as he pressed one of his tentacles to the rat¡¯s back. ¡°Be careful! It has paralyzing venom.¡± Logan¡¯s armour stopped the monster from piercing his skin, but Ernie didn¡¯t have the same protection. Then Ernie did¡­ something. It was almost too quick for Logan to catch, cobwebs drifting from Ernie¡¯s tentacles to the rat¡¯s back, seeping into its skin. Those were Ernie¡¯s filaments. At first, there was no difference, the rat¡¯s bucking getting even worse, serrated teeth in its two mouths snapping at Logan¡¯s armour and trying to cleave through. But then its bucking calmed, and the black fur underneath Logan¡¯s feet faded, transforming into a brown pelt, and then grey, and then finally¡­ white. Its four red eyes lost their malevolence, turning milky white and becoming vague. It was as if it were stoned. And then it stopped moving entirely, as if Logan were standing on top of a docile horse. ¡°Yes!¡± Ernie said. ¡°A mammoth minion! Yes!¡± Huh. Ernie had turned the thing undead; there was no other explanation. Logan swallowed. ¡°Can it¡­ turn the others?¡± Ernie scurried back into his pouch. ¡°No, it¡¯s just a thrall. No transformative power. I¡­I. My minions are not like the queen¡¯s,¡± he muttered unhappily. ¡°She transforms them into undead beings which gives them power to transform others. Her power is a network, spreading not just to animals but to plants. Fungi.¡± Then he brightened. ¡°But I will still triumph! Her minions are slaves. They have no loyalty. She thinks she¡¯s a power with no equal, but she is stupid! Stupid, Logan! For loyalty of an army is what matters. No one could ever pry my minions away from me, since they¡¯re loyal not because they¡¯re mine, but because of how I treat them.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Logan blinked. That had been¡­ surprisingly wise. Just how many points had Ernie thrown into intelligence and wisdom? But something was happening to the rats around them. Although the minion was now docile and provided a steady back for Logan to stand on, the others were starting to notice that something was wrong. As one, they eyed the rat as if it were an imposter. Far back in the throng with the other high leveled four-headed monsters, one of the rats was staring at them with narrowed eyes. ¡°Kill it,¡± said Fang. Fang was way beyond the size of a draft horse, more like an elephant. Because he was so large, he had a view of the whole army. Something about him made the hairs on the back of Logan¡¯s neck stand up. If Fang could talk, that hinted to a degree of intelligence that he didn¡¯t like. Logan had always considered rats to be pests, which meant they were unintelligent. But he knew that was the ick factor speaking. There was a reason they were considered pests. It was because they were so difficult to kill. They recognized traps, they communicated with each other. If a normal rat could do that, he didn¡¯t like what that said for a monster whose highest attribute was intelligence. ¡°Kill it!¡± Fang said again. And then like a regular army, the call spread. ¡°Kill it!¡± said another rat who was just as large. ¡°Kill it!¡± Every rat who could talk was chanting the same thing; but the rats who hadn¡¯t evolved still understood commands. All of them were glaring at Ernie¡¯s minion with murder in their eyes. ¡°I think it¡¯s time we got out of here,¡± said Logan. ¡°We made our point.¡± ¡°¡­what was the point?¡± asked Ernie. Logan frowned and for the first time, he felt an embarrassed flush spread to his ears. The point had been pride. But weighed against his other priorities, had it been important? He shifted, uncomfortable. ¡°To let them know that they shouldn¡¯t follow us. That they shouldn¡¯t screw with us.¡± To that end, he needed to make sure they understood the message. Jumping off the back of Ernie¡¯s minion, Logan launched himself into the air, soaring over the crowd of rats, shouting, ¡°Don¡¯t mess with us, fuckers!¡± and directing it at the huge four-headed rats who stared over their army with eerie, calculating intelligence. ¡°Silly human,¡± breathed Fang. It was said quietly, but Logan could pick it up with his perception attribute. ¡°We have your scent now, your essence. You think a pathetic display of power is going to dissuade us from finding you?¡± Fang chuckled, his four long pink tongues flashing as he licked his muzzles. It was eerie watching him, since he was speaking from all four mouths. ¡°If we don¡¯t find you, we might as well all be dead. Pied doesn¡¯t forgive failure.¡± His eyes glinted playfully. ¡°But run, run as far as you can. You might just extend the inevitable.¡± Talkative fucker. Logan threw his sword into his spatial collar so that it wouldn¡¯t give him away, becoming invisible again as he slammed into the nearest roof and then leaped away. The rats nearest Ernie¡¯s minion were attacking the albino rat, a swarm of them piling on top of it as they tore it apart, but the other rats stood in place, front legs raised and their noses up, scenting the air and unerringly following Logan¡¯s jump path. Fuck. He might have made a mistake engaging with them. Before, he could have deployed his armour, made himself invisible, and then leaped over the house to the next street, but now, they had his scent. *** Logan leaped over building after building, travelling what had to be at least four streets before he dropped down to the ground. Unfortunately, although his armour kept him invisible, he couldn¡¯t stop the racket as he slammed to the dirt. And at the same time, he couldn¡¯t help grinning, beaming with a secret thrill. It was as if he were a superhero, slamming to Earth! Kickass. Still, that wouldn¡¯t help him be stealthy. After all, his Pink Sock only gave him a jumping ability, which meant that he needed massive force to launch himself into the air. Slamming into each roof hadn¡¯t been quiet. His shoulders hunched, Logan glanced up and down the street and strained his hearing. It seemed quiet. Good. He needed quiet to have a chance to find the hunter seeker rats so he could follow them to Lara and the kids. ¡°Are we in the clear?¡± asked Ernie, peeking out of the pouch. ¡°I think so.¡± Logan dissolved his face mask and helmet and then ran a hand over his chin. ¡°We better be. I think those small little buggers aren¡¯t going to show up if that army is roving around.¡± ¡°We should find another human.¡± ¡°Another kid? That might work.¡± He¡¯d have to go roving around to find the rats, but if he found another person hiding in a house, the rats would come to the house instead. But fuck, he didn¡¯t like waiting. This was taking way too long. Logan jogged down the street, trying not to go too fast so that he could scan everything with [Life Fabricator]. From the bugs crawling underneath the asphalt, to the fungi creeping over the rotting garbage on the streets. At least this way it would give him a heck of a lot of practice. Luckily enough, the fire hadn¡¯t reached this part of town, so other than the smog from the wildfires and the localized smoke, everything was clear. He kept jogging, going another block, until he came across a residential street packed with condos. It was a mixture of new buildings, glass windows that glinted, and old condos built more than a century ago. But just like every other street, it was empty, not a soul to be¡­ Huh. Just around the corner, one of the buildings hummed with life. It wasn¡¯t the same aura that he¡¯d sensed with the hunter seeker rats. This time, he was convinced he was sensing humans. People. It was coming from a three-storey condo, the life pinging on his radar concentrated on the first floor. That was a ton of life, and if the rats were looking for large swaths of people, this just might work. Shit. The street started to vibrate, his boots shaking. But it wasn¡¯t an earthquake, it was the rat army. Far down the street, back the way he¡¯d come, the first swarm of two-headed rats were pouring towards him, their noses twitching and whiskers out as if they were smelling the best meal of their lives. They were tracking Logan. They couldn¡¯t see him; he was too far down the street, but they knew he¡¯d gone this way. Like bloodhounds, they were pursuing him. Worst of all, he¡¯d worked them into a fervor. The two-headed rats swarmed down the street, but the larger three-headed rats were bullying their way through, slamming into buildings, making plaster fly. The huge four-headed rats made it even worse, slamming their elephant bodies into condos. The other rats had already weakened the structure, and when a hundred of the level 120 rats slammed one after another into the side of the building, it started a domino effect. One side of an older condo collapsed as the building caved in and plumed dust and plaster into the air. That was needless destruction; but it was destruction of empty buildings. No one was inside. But the rat army was pouring down the street towards Logan in a direct path for the building that sheltered multiple people. Fuck! He¡¯d led them here! If he left, jumping past this street, the rat army would keep coming. That meant the building would come down on top of the people, dooming them. And it would be Logan¡¯s fault. Logan ground his teeth, frustration building, and not a little shame. If his pride hadn¡¯t gotten in the way, this never would have happened. He could have escaped with the rat army none the wiser. Instead, he¡¯d have to take a detour. A saving detour. Sighing and hoping he didn¡¯t look unhinged, he ran directly for the condo full of people. The door was locked; one of those mechanized condo doors that didn¡¯t open without a key or an electronic keycard, but Logan disregarded that and slammed his fist through the glass, pushing it aside in a torrent of broken glass. He didn¡¯t have time to do this the easy way. He had minutes, maybe less before the rats reached them and damaged the building. Logan kept [Life Fabricator] activated and charged towards the bright burst of life that he sensed up ahead. The inside of the condo was as old as the exterior, with peeling, flower wallpaper and salmon carpets. Without power, the hallway was dark, and even darker as he turned a corner, powering through until he reached¡­ it was a community room. Logan burst through the two swinging doors, coming to a sudden stop and staring. People. It was so long since he¡¯d seen actual, normal looking people that at first, he could only blink and stare. At the back, four large windows covered by blinds provided light and illuminated the room. There must be fifty people here, huddled together around tables, kids on the floor, others leaning against the walls, blankets covering their laps. A few puzzles were half-assembled on the carpet, a pile of children¡¯s books next to it. The kids were all ages, from a child who looked barely five years old, to a child who looked the same age as Hunter. They all had dark circles underneath their eyes, as if they¡¯d gotten no sleep and were barely holding it together. Beyond the children, thirty adults were in the middle of the room, murmuring to each other, worry on their faces. Opened cans of food were overflowing in a garbage can, and fruit flies swarmed around them. As soon as Logan burst through the door, the adults shouted and clambered to their feet, facing Logan with their eyes wide and bulging in fear. ¡°Is it the monsters?¡± screamed a child. One man and a woman pushed their way in front of the crowd, their teeth bared. The man was older, at least fifty, with salt and pepper hair. He wore jeans and a plaid shirt filthy with dirt. His face was covered in stubble, lines around his mouth and eyes. His eyes were blue and wary, someone who looked as if he¡¯d gone through hell and lived to tell the tale. The woman was younger, in her early thirties or late twenties, her sharp cheekbones making her look harsh, angry. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a severe braid, a smear of what looked like dried blood on one of the strands. If this weren¡¯t the apocalypse, Logan would say that she could pass for a model. She was tall, as tall as Logan, wearing what looked like yoga pants or exercise gear. Attached to her hip, she had a knife, another knife fastened around her ankle. Both aimed handguns at him, mouths in grim lines. The woman shot him a glare. ¡°We¡¯re not signing contracts.¡± Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Brooke Fisher: Level 23. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: An analytical mind. Hidden name: Brooke.] [Chase Evans: Level 21. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Perception. Characteristics: A marksman. Hidden name: Buckerfield.] Shit. Were these the highest leveled people here? That was nothing! Logan tried to look non-threatening, but urgency made him snap his next words. ¡°You need to leave. An army of rats is coming down the street and the building is going to come down on your heads.¡± B2 - Chapter 21: Doing Whats Necessary It was all very well and good to try to save people, but if they didn¡¯t trust him, there was a limit to what Logan could do. They gave him blank-faced looks, looks full of suspicion and fear. The adults stood in front of the kids in a circle, the kids either cowering behind them or peering around their legs in curiosity. Worst of all, the two people with guns were the only ones past level 20, and many of them hadn¡¯t leveled up at all! ¡°You need to move. We have minutes at best before this building comes down on top of you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just trying to trick us,¡± said the woman with the gun. ¡°I know what your kind wants. To force us outside in front of the horde so we have to sign contracts!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not in league with the rats! I¡¯m trying to save you.¡± Brooke laughed without humor. ¡°That¡¯s what they all say¡ª¡± Behind her, a woman with long dark hair pushed her way in front of Brooke, her face slack with disbelief. ¡°Logan?¡± Logan blinked. Although he¡¯d been searching for his family, he¡¯d never expected to come across anyone else from before the integration. ¡°Sarah?¡± Sarah had never once showed up for work in anything other than a business suit and high heels, so it was hard to recognize her in scruffy jeans and runners. It was like encountering your boss while on vacation; the picture didn¡¯t compute. She looked horrible, nothing like she normally appeared while at the office, but it was undeniably her. Sarah had taken over Logan¡¯s department at work after they¡¯d fired his last supervisor due to poor annual results. At first, he¡¯d liked her, thinking that she brought a fresh perspective and didn¡¯t micromanage as much as his previous boss, but after she¡¯d attended a sales conference at the corporate head office, she¡¯d turned into a nightmare. Timing how long they spent in the bathroom, giving them daily sales call time limit goals, humiliating his coworkers in front of everyone else if they didn¡¯t make their sales quotas. Logan knew corporate had forced her to do it to keep her job; she¡¯d been under pressure from the higher ups to not be yet another management failure, but she¡¯d still done it. It hadn¡¯t been a good look. But since she¡¯d been abrasive and in a position of authority and power over Logan, he automatically assumed she¡¯d do the same in this new world. He was shocked when he scanned her with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] and realized that she was weak as fuck: [Sarah Tarson: Level 7. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: A healer who can¡¯t yet heal. Hidden name: Sarah.] In turn, Sarah glanced at him with her face slack with shock. She gave him a once over, from his feet to the top of his head, lingering on his chest and shoulders where his shirt clung to his body and stretched the fabric. ¡°No,¡± she whispered. ¡°It¡¯s not possible. It is Logan, isn¡¯t it?¡± Having her look at him that way gave him the creeps. Logan was all for being attractive, but not to his devil of a boss, hell no. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me. I¡¯m glad you survived,¡± he said, his voice short. ¡°What happened to you? How is it possible that you look like that? It¡¯s been only a week!¡± ¡°From struggling and surviving, just like everyone else.¡± ¡°Sarah,¡± interjected Brooke. ¡°You know this man?¡± Sarah blinked again as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing. Then she crept closer to Logan, scrutinizing his face with scrunched up eyebrows. Her voice sounded dazed. ¡°He¡¯s one of my employees.¡± She swallowed as she stared at his chest again. ¡°Or¡­ he was.¡± Logan scrubbed the back of his neck and shifted uncomfortably. ¡°We¡¯ve established that it¡¯s me; great. We don¡¯t have time for anything else. I didn¡¯t barge in here to say hi. Sarah, you know me! You know I wouldn¡¯t lie about something like this! Not when the lives of kids are in jeopardy. We have minutes at best. You need to leave.¡± Sarah looked at the group, at the scared children, and then frowned. ¡°We better do what he says. It could be a trick, but I worked with this man. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s in league with the rats.¡± Brooke scowled. ¡°Why would the rats be charging over here and bashing into buildings? They don¡¯t do that! It doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡± Logan felt his ears grow warm. ¡°Yeah¡­ that might have been my fault. I kind of¡­ taunted them? It was a stupid decision. Something I regret, obviously.¡± For all the lessons he¡¯d learned in the last week, Logan realized that in many ways, he still had a lot to learn. Who knew that in addition to emotions fuelled by the Cursed Rope, he¡¯d need to be on the lookout for follies such as pride. In a way, he could give himself allowances. A week ago, he¡¯d been an office worker, not a warrior. The problem was that he didn¡¯t have the luxury to learn hard lessons. If he screwed up, he wasn¡¯t messing up a business deal, he was messing with lives. It might not just be his own life on the line, but others. If he hadn¡¯t taunted the rats, he wouldn¡¯t have enraged them into a stampede, and these people would have been safe. Logan looked down at the floor as an unsettled feeling rushed through him. Rather than feeling pride at what he¡¯d accomplished in the last week, he felt shame. ¡°I can feel you stewing even inside this hot pouch,¡± said Ernie, using his mental voice. ¡°So we enraged the rat monsters; so what? It¡¯s convenient that we¡¯ve found the little human children, yes? Now you can save them and build an empire.¡± Logan blinked and raised his head. ¡°Build an empire with a bunch of ragtag people? We need to find Lara and the kids, not save people who won¡¯t make it into the one percent. This is taking needless time that we can¡¯t afford.¡± ¡°To rule over these peons in our mighty thrones, we must build their loyalty. Take it from a Liche master, Logan! Loyalty will get you far. You¡¯ve found your first minions! Now you must make them love you.¡± The man with the gun, Chase, shot him a narrow-eyed glare. ¡°If you screwed up, you screwed up. Nothing for it but to go forward. God knows I¡¯ve learned that in the last week. Sarah, if you know this man, I¡¯m willing to check it out.¡± His scowl deepened. ¡°We¡¯re not all leaving. Not yet. Not until I confirm the threat is real.¡± He directed a furious glare at the group. ¡°Everyone stay here until I have a look.¡± Logan¡¯s shame turned into frustration. It would take too long. It was like watching a bunch of people who stood inside of a burning building in paralyzed indecision. Indecision about whether to escape while the flames spread over top of their heads. Chase pushed his way through the swinging doors and into the hallway. ¡°Show me this army.¡± Logan followed, urgency eating away at his stomach, his face flushing with frustration. Chase was at least checking it out, but he was walking rather than running. Logan growled, and then finally spat, ¡°Fuck it,¡± as he grabbed the man by the back of his jacket collar like a sack of flour. Chase swung his arms, letting out an alarmed squawk, shouting, ¡°What the fuck, man!¡± but he could do nothing. Only hold on for the ride. Logan used every ounce of power derived from his True Grit Rings to burst through the hallway and over the shattered glass front doors. Holding Chase by the back of his neck, Logan tilted the man¡¯s face towards the charging horde. They were less than a block away, and in the distance was the boom of other buildings as they collapsed, bricks pouring down, the ground shaking. ¡°Do you believe me now?¡± Logan hissed. Chase blanched. ¡°Shit! Holy crap, okay! We need to move. We need to go!¡± Logan didn¡¯t wait for him to make his way back to the room at his own speed; there wasn¡¯t time. Grabbing him by the back of the collar again, he dragged Chase through the entrance and into the hallway, the walls blurring by until they burst into the room. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Not cool, man,¡± Chase muttered. Brooke hadn¡¯t let up her grip on her gun. She gave Logan a brittle look. ¡°That didn¡¯t look very friendly.¡± Chase rubbed his neck and shot Logan a glare before he straightened. ¡°We have minutes. Minutes at most before this whole building comes down on top of our heads. We need to leave.¡± The people let out cries, the children whimpering. Then on mass, they grabbed what they could, garbage bags full of cans of food, clothing, water bottles. Some tried to drag sleeping bags and blankets, others grabbed bundles of towels. They didn¡¯t have time for this. With a blink, Logan willed everything they were holding inside of his spatial collar. Everything disappeared with a pop, like magic. They let out cries of shock and fear, but Logan didn¡¯t have time to explain that he hadn¡¯t stollen their belongings. Let them think it was an evil plot deployed by the rat army. All the better, if it made them move their asses. ¡°Go!¡± he bellowed. ¡°Go now!¡± The floor was starting to shake, pictures falling off the walls in a shatter of glass. If he could have thrown all these people inside his spatial collar, he would have. Instead, Logan snatched two toddlers, holding one on the right, the other on the left, trying to be as gentle as possible, and then led the way through the doors and into the hallway. The parents screamed at him, but they followed, and then the rest, all fifty or more pouring down the hallway and outside. As soon as they saw the charging rat army, they blanched and ran in the opposite direction down the street. Logan let the parents gather their toddlers from his arms, and then tried to help any others that were falling over their feet by urging them on. ¡°We¡¯re going to die!¡± one of the adults wailed, quickly silenced by Chase, who jabbed the man by an elbow. Logan kept picking up children, rushing past and depositing them far in front of the group before going back for more, but there were fifty people; it was impossible to keep up with the stragglers. Soon, the rats made sounds of excitement, their claws clacking over the asphalt as they gained on the group. Fuck. There was no way they were going to outrun the army. He could grab a few people, rush back and forth, but that would leave the majority exposed. It had been the rats¡¯ aim to enslave people and force them to sign contracts, but Logan had riled them up and now they had blood in their eyes. If he didn¡¯t do something, they¡¯d never survive. And it would be his fault. He could stop, fight, and try to grab the rats¡¯ attention, let the people escape while they were focused on Logan, but there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of these fuckers. Way too many would get away, dart past Logan and slaughter these people. Slaughter the children. ¡°Ernie,¡± he said, swallowing. ¡°Get ready for the slaughter of your life. Kill as many as you can, turn them into minions, get them to turn on each other. It¡¯s the only way this will work.¡± Ernie scrambled out of his pouch and leaned over Logan¡¯s shoulder, his eyes alight with glee. He swung his tentacles, hitting things only he could see out of the air. ¡°Numbers and levels, slaughtering is fun! And we will save the weaklings, and they will be loyal like nothing else!¡± Chase blanched as he saw Ernie. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± ¡°A friend!¡± beamed Ernie. ¡°Chase, how many can fight? We need to make a stand so the children can escape. A blockade of slaughter; we¡¯ll be a bulwark; nothing will reach them.¡± ¡°Against that horde?¡± he panted, running, his face pouring sweat. ¡°We can fight. We¡¯ll do what we can,¡± said Brooke on his other side. She¡¯d tucked her gun into her waistband, her braid flying behind her. ¡°Ten of us at least. We should be able to make a dent against the two-headed rats, but we can¡¯t do anything against the others. They¡¯re too strong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the best we can do. We¡¯ll make a stand around this next corner once we pass this street. I can handle the swarm, but I¡¯ll need you to kill any rats that dart around me or that get away. If we do well enough, I might be able to help you level up your group.¡± Chase snorted, his face an unhealthy red. ¡°Level up? Are you off your rocker? We just want to survive!¡± As they turned the corner and darted behind the next building, Logan came to a stop. The others reluctantly followed. ¡°Keep the group together, Ellie!¡± Chase snapped at a woman who was urging the weaker adults forward. ¡°Get them to safety! Otherwise, we need everyone who can fight to line up on me.¡± Some of the adults who had leveled up looked like they could fight, but they gave Chase panicked looks and kept running. ¡°Goddammit!¡± he hissed. ¡°Roger, I see you! If you don¡¯t stop right now, I¡¯m kicking you out of the group!¡± A squirrely looking man with short, curly hair and a long nose with a scar skidded to a stop and gave Chase an innocent look. ¡°Hey, I thought you wanted me to protect the kids. Just trying to help.¡± Brooke snorted. ¡°Sure.¡± Sarah gave Logan one last helpless look and then picked up a child, swinging him over her back as she followed the others. All in all, they¡¯d ended up with fifteen adults who were ready to fight. The problem was that only half had weapons. Holy shit, how had these people managed to survive until now? Logan hissed and ran a hand through his hair, then willed out a mass of crap from his spatial storage. Wrenches from his grandfather¡¯s supply shed, his old baseball bat, Errol¡¯s massive whip and one of Arsen¡¯s daggers. He removed the Silverdagger armour, then gestured for them to go to town. ¡°Take them, arm yourself. The whip is heavy. Someone with a strength build should take it. Brooke had frozen. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Does it matter? Take what you can to survive.¡± Logan no longer had to worry about his spatial storage collar, not against these people. There was no way they¡¯d be able to take it even if they wanted to. Chase hefted the whip, wincing at the weight, his eyes excited, while Brooke grudgingly took the baseball bat. Logan felt a pang of nostalgia as he gave up the weapon for the final time. He¡¯d outgrown it, but it had been the only thing that had let him survive those first few days. Another man took the dagger, and the others picked up the wrenches and armour. It would be the best he could do. Now it was up to Logan. He didn¡¯t want to do this; in fact, he¡¯d swore that he wouldn¡¯t, but in a kill or be killed world, he¡¯d learned that he needed to do whatever he could to survive. That meant that he¡¯d have to use a skill ring that made his stomach slosh in disgust. But in the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, Thorin¡¯s skill ring had made the difference. It could create copies that were the exact replicas of the original. That meant he could generate five other Logan clones, giving him a chance against the horde. And yet, he had no idea how it worked. For the first time, he began to regret not trying it out before now. It had been stupid to disregard the ring just on principle. Grinding his teeth, Logan removed it from his spatial storage collar. Pinching it in his grip, he ran the pad of his thumb over the glinting black metal. It emitted an aura that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, something that made him sit up and take notice. ¡°Logan,¡± said Ernie, a tentacle twitching. ¡°I don¡¯t like the look of that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a necessary evil. Like the Cursed Rope.¡± With a blink, Logan willed out a handful of diamond dust and sandstone and reformed his ten-inch-long talons on his left glove, then sculpted more manageable talons on his sword arm glove. Lastly, he took out his sword, the sharp edges glinting. Biting his lip in anticipation, Logan put on the ring. With a popping sensation¡­ something happened. Holy fuck. One after another, five other Logan copies materialized, each holding a sword. Each wearing armour. A woman with a buzzcut shouted, jumping away, while the others stared with wide eyes, but their reactions were secondary to what he was dealing with. It was all Logan could do to stay sane as his perception wrenched, as if he were looking through a looking glass, five of them all at once. If he concentrated on one clone, he could see through its eyes, as if he were the clone. Thorin had owned this ring; and Logan felt that he could say the man hadn¡¯t been a genius, which meant that he¡¯d assumed using the ring would be easy, and yet holy hell, was it ever a trip. It was dizzying in its scope. Hissing, he closed his eyes and tried to get his bearings. His first clone wanted to rush into the fray and start slaughtering; his second clone wanted to use the Pink Sock to launch himself into the air and barrel into the horde; the third wanted to burst into the rats with his sword out, slicing off limbs and slashing everything into mush. And yet the fourth and fifth clones didn¡¯t have a desire to fight. Rather, they wanted to leave and find Lara and the kids; they were bursting at the seams to escape, urgency like nothing else surging through them to go go go. Logan ground his teeth and exerted his will, forcing them to obey and work as one, a seamless whole. They were Logan and Logan was them. There was one willpower here, one master, and that was Logan. One by one, he felt the clones fall in line, like soldiers who¡¯d received orders and accepted them. They no longer had divergent needs and wants; they had Logan¡¯s wants. They would obey. They would do what was necessary. ¡°Perhaps¡­¡± Ernie hesitated. ¡°The nasty ring is not so bad? Perhaps it is fit for a being that rivals all?¡± Envy was in his voice. ¡°I would be mighty indeed, with five Ernies to command.¡± Logan winced. Ernie wouldn¡¯t feel the same way once he knew what was truly around his finger; it wasn¡¯t just a ring; it was the remains of someone. For all he knew, it was someone who was just as bright as Ernie. But that was all the time Logan had for speculation. The horde was approaching like a swarm from hell. Dozens of two-headed rats poured down the street, followed by the swaying, teeth vibrating motion of the three-headed rats as if they were a drilling army. What followed was what truly made the ground shake. Fang led from the back, his red eyes glinting playfully, his mouths drooling venom. Around him, the other four-headed rats bashed into buildings with their barbed tails and shook the ground. Brooke and Chase stepped behind Logan¡¯s clones, each holding their guns up, Errol¡¯s whip around Chase¡¯s shoulder. The others held various weapons, their faces pale but determined. ¡°Watch out for their bites, teeth as well as tails. They have paralyzing venom.¡± One of the men let out an unhinged laugh. Chase grunted. ¡°Don¡¯t cut off their heads. Go for body shots. Cutting off a head will just make the monsters stronger.¡± Logan had one more thing to do. Rope, he said, as he willed out the Cursed Rope, grabbing it in a crushing grip and digging in with his talons. I need your help. I need you to do your worst. But if you attack the people around me; if you do anything but fight the rat army, it¡¯s the end. No more slaughter, no more fun. I¡¯ll ensure you fry until nothing but dust remains, an ending that you won¡¯t come back from. No more Tree Fridges, no more owners. It will be the end. The user is strong; the user is strong, the rope purred, flexing in his grip. Why would the rope disobey a strong user? A user that will only get stronger if it does what¡¯s necessary? Then do your worst, said Logan, as he let the rope fly. B2 - Chapter 22: A Bounty POV: Agata Silverdagger Agata slouched on her throne, leather hide stretching across her thighs as she spread her legs wide apart, her ice blue eyes trained on the cur prostrating himself in front of her feet. Ragnhild had tried to dress himself up with silver filaments and gold jewelry around his arms, but that did nothing for his black hair. Stringy. Mangy. Hair that would never reach its full potential. In the past, she¡¯d noted Ragnhild¡¯s hair as a defect, an unfortunate flaw, and had left it at that. Now, that hair made her think of Arsen¡¯s golden, glorious mop. A mop of hair that was soft and silky and perfect inside of her clenched fist. Ragnhild would always be a pale imitation compared to her old friend. Her lips thinned. When the System had notified them that the next party could enter the trial dungeon ahead of schedule, most had been thrilled. That meant that Asthea¡¯s party must have done well indeed. Surely, the people had chanted, Asthea had excelled, placing upon the leaderboard and perhaps even beating Agata¡¯s score? And yet, the new party had entered the dungeon, and Asthea¡¯s party had never exited. Of course, there had been instances in the past in which a petty argument had turned into murder. The Silverdagger Clan had short tempers, and sometimes, spirits went too hot which resulted in death. Or¡­ accidents. However, there had never been a case where an entire party had disappeared. By now, after days, Agata feared the worse. Although she had never loved her daughter, she could admit to a fearsome need to commit carnage on those who had dared hurt her. If Asthea had been weak, too kind-hearted, a disappointment that sent a spear into Agata¡¯s heart, so what? She was a Silverdagger princess, and you didn¡¯t mess with the Silverdagger Clan. But even though Asthea had been a disappointment and was less than capable in combat, her guards had gone with her. Guards that were hand selected by Agata. With the addition of the resurrection crystal, there never should have been a possibility that she could come to harm. For not just Asthea but all three of her guards to have experienced foul play? It defied belief. Something was afoot, something nefarious. Something that reeked of an off-worlder. ¡°Well?¡± she snarled. ¡°What did you find?¡± Ragnhild straightened and lifted his eyes. ¡°What we feared has come to pass. Arsen¡¯s name is no longer listed on the book of lore. Instead, his name shows up on the book of heroes.¡± Agata swallowed, her mouth dry. Rage was her main emotion, but surprisingly, something else tainted it. Tainted it with weakness. Asthea had been a weak daughter! A poor successor that would have failed in a competition against her sisters! And yet, Agata had born her, Agata had held her in her arms as a newborn. Brittleness made her mouth curdle. ¡°So she¡¯s dead then,¡± she said, staring past Ragnhild as if she couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Based on the portal scans, we¡¯ve determined that an off-worlder joined the princess¡¯ party. He came in from a remote portal. For some reason, the System granted him access when the portal should have been locked on the other side.¡± ¡°An off-worlder?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the only explanation. Plus, there¡¯s the Leaderboard.¡± Ah, yes, the Leaderboard. All-Time Leaderboard
  1. Agata Silverdagger ¨C 9,812
  2. Idiot ¨C 9,811
  3. Aleda Silverdagger ¨C 9,810
  4. Asthea Silverdagger ¨C 9,808
  5. Alfifa Silverdagger ¨C 9,798
At least there was consolation in knowing that Asthea had performed beyond anything Agata had expected. She had come close to Agata¡¯s own score. That also meant that she¡¯d been alive up to the end. But the result was undeniable. Not once had anyone other than a close, inner circle clan member scored on the Leaderboard. For decades, the names listed had been Silverdagger Clan leader after Silverdagger Clan leader. The second-place list of ¡®Idiot¡¯ was evidence enough. Someone had defaced their Leaderboard with a foul name. A name that was anathema to her world. That was no Silverdagger name. That was an off-worlder name. ¡°What world?¡± Agata demanded. Unless the user had a very different meaning for the word ¡®idiot¡¯, that choice was incomprehensible. There was only one possibility. It had been used to hide the user¡¯s true name, a subterfuge to avoid the consequences of their actions. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy information to come by. It cost us dearly, clan leader.¡± Agata bared her teeth and jumped to her feet, snatching Ragnhild by the throat and squeezing. ¡°What world?¡± she ground out. Ragnhild choked and tried to scramble at her hands before closing his eyes and sagging in her grip. Disgusted, Agata pushed him to the floor where he collapsed to his knees, panting for breath. ¡°Speak.¡± He cleared his throat, his eyes streaming. ¡°Yes, clan leader! A newly integrated world that houses a species called humans. Not yet through its purge. Already, Pied¡¯s Empire has staked a claim. They must have attractive animals. Attractive animals indeed.¡± Pied had his paws into everything, always taking before anyone else could get a piece of the pie. Once he bought his way onto a planet, it made it off limits to the other worlds within the Collective. That meant that if Agata sent the Silverdagger Clan to the world, she¡¯d doom her people. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Against Pied, an immortal, she was powerless. If she enraged the man, it could mean their doom. Agata snarled. No matter. There were ways around it. Pied could have the human world as long as Agata got revenge. Clenching her fists, Agata collapsed on her throne and took a deep breath. A calming breath. Sprawling once again, she let her legs go boneless as she made a decision, one that would exorcise that uncomfortable brittleness that sloshed through her stomach. ¡°I want a bounty. A bounty for this user Idiot. Send it directly to the users on that world, bypassing Pied¡¯s agents.¡± Ragnhild¡¯s wolf-ears shifted in startlement. ¡°To add a bounty such as that would cost more than we can afford. Pied won¡¯t like us interfering.¡± Agata growled. ¡°He won¡¯t care if the users on that world go after one of their own. He cares about profit.¡± She dug her claws into the arms of her throne. ¡°Are you suggesting that we do nothing?¡± Ragnhild dipped his head, his ugly, scruffy hair trailing on the floor. ¡°What price, clan leader?¡± ¡°Whatever price will get me Idiot¡¯s head.¡± *** Once the rope inflated, it was the size of three anacondas and as long as Logan¡¯s sword. Even though it hadn¡¯t yet formed functional eyes, its divots seemed to gleam in satisfaction. A serial killer let loose which could apply unlimited carnage. Crackling with blue electricity, a snap going through the air, it jumped from Logan¡¯s hand like a bullet and darted towards the closest charging two-headed rat. Underneath Logan¡¯s exoskeleton, his body crackled with static electricity, as if directly connected to the rope. And who¡¯s to say that wasn¡¯t the case? After all, it was his bonded weapon. ¡°You have a frigging snake as well as an octopus?¡± said Chase from behind Logan. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, you have a monster tamer class.¡± ¡°Control the rats!¡± urged a woman holding one of Logan¡¯s wrenches. Logan gave them a considering look. Even though he was higher leveled, and he didn¡¯t feel any threat from them, he wasn¡¯t giving away his secrets. That wouldn¡¯t be smart. ¡°My class doesn¡¯t allow me to control rats,¡± he said, keeping the answer vague. There. He wasn¡¯t lying, not technically. However they chose to interpret his answer was up to them. ¡°Still,¡± said Brooke, hefting the baseball bat. ¡°Two animals under his control is a lot. It might make the difference.¡± Logan held back a snort. Both Ernie and the Cursed Rope might have something to say about being under his ¡®control¡¯. Logan glanced behind them. By now, the children and the weaker adults were a block away, and they kept gaining distance. That gave them a cushion in case any of the monsters surged past Logan and the group. But still, he didn¡¯t like their chances. Logan knew he could make serious dents on this monster swarm, but it wasn¡¯t just his life on the line. If even one of the rats got past them and went after the kids, they wouldn¡¯t have a chance. Eyeing his clones, he weighed his options. He knew what he wanted to do. Let them go into the swarm and start grinding, killing rat after rat. But if he did that, it would be up to the others to hold the line. Chase and Brooke were the most advanced, but they were barely above level 20. Whereas the lowest leveled rats were level 30. Plus, they were immense, the size of horses. How could these people hold them back? Logan held back a sigh. Closing his eyes, he sent his will to his five clones and commanded them to hold. Hold the line. Slaughter anything that approached, but not to go into the fray. That would be up to Logan. ¡°My clones will stop them from advancing,¡± said Logan. ¡°If you get into trouble, duck behind them and they¡¯ll protect you.¡± Brooke hesitated and then looked from Logan to his copies. ¡°You mean those aren¡¯t just projections? They can do damage?¡± Logan nodded. ¡°They¡¯re solid. Exact replicas.¡± Chase whistled. ¡°Holy crap, man! Who the hell did you kill to get a skill like that? And what kind of monster tamer class gives you that ability? I haven¡¯t seen anyone mention that.¡± ¡°¡­Mention it?¡± Chase hefted his whip, eyeing the rats as they grew closer. ¡°Yeah, on the Wiki.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°What Wiki?¡± Chase¡¯s forehead wrinkled as he looked at Logan askance. ¡°You must have been out in the wild. The Integration Wiki. People have been documenting classes along with everything else.¡± ¡­An integration Wiki? ¡°It¡¯s getting difficult to pull it up lately though¡­ spotty internet. Sarah managed to print what she could before we lost power.¡± Up above, the Cursed Rope jumped through the air, circling the swarm. With a snap, it jumped down to the ground and targeted the first two-headed rat. Logan¡¯s eyes widened in alarm. It wrapped around one of the necks, acid sizzling, its rope fibres swelling as it sucked in rat blood. Don¡¯t cut off the head! Logan mentally snapped. It will just get stronger! Where¡¯s the fun in that, purred the rope. For the user to get strong, it must have a worthy opponent. With a mental cackle, it tightened its body around the rat¡¯s neck. The rat panted, its mouth drooling; while the other head snapped at the rope, trying to tear it apart. Each time it bit the rope¡¯s fibres, it jerked away, hissing, its mouth smoking, the rat nose sizzling and dripping blood. Then with a sick, slick sound, the rope severed the neck of the rat, cutting off its head. Logan couldn¡¯t describe what happened next other than saying that a tightening went through the air. A killing intent radiated from the injured rat. In one blink, it swelled in size, doubling, while from the stub of its neck, two more heads grew like some kind of warped mutated monster. At the back, its tail transformed, lethal looking barbs springing from the end. Ten seconds at most, and suddenly, instead of a two-headed rat, he was looking at an evolved version: [Three-headed Rat Level 34. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims, as well as a stabbing tail with a barbed end. Chop off a head or its tail and two more grow back.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Persistence. Hidden name: N/A.] It had just transformed into a three-headed rat! But although it had gone through an upgrade, its level was still the same. Did that mean that if the Cursed Rope cut off another head, they¡¯d be dealing with a four-headed rat? Or even worse? Logan clenched his fists, his neck bulging as he glared. He¡¯d made a calculated decision to keep the rope even after its betrayal. If it hadn¡¯t been for the rope, the Silverdagger Clan never would have attacked him. And yet Logan had made allowances for it, assuming it had attacked Asthea to steal her True Grit Ring and make Logan strong. He could have destroyed the rope then, but he¡¯d been too enamoured with the idea of it helping him kill monster swarms. It had proved its weight in gold against the flying snake horde, but if he couldn¡¯t trust it, how many chances could he give it before it was enough? It was manipulating his emotions, causing rage to surge when he needed to be calm, and now it was disobeying simple commands. There was a limit to what was tolerable. The rope will obey, it said, sounding chagrined. The user can trust the rope. ¡°Tell your snake to stop making our situation worse!¡± snapped Brooke. ¡°Are you stupid? You can¡¯t cut off their heads!¡± Rope, that threat to burn you into dust applies to this situation. You¡ª Ding! [Attention, all users! A bounty has been registered with the System! There is one user amongst you that goes by the name Idiot. Find and kill this user and you will receive the following: 1,000,000,000 KarmaCoin 1 Resurrection Crystal 1 skill ring of your choice The loyalty of the Silverdagger Clan] B2 - Chapter 23: Revenge of the Unhinged Berserker ¡°What in the world?¡± said Brooke, staring unfocused as she gazed at her System message. Around him, the others did the same. Shit. Logan gulped, his pulse racing, a lump in his throat, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he tightened his grip around the handle of his sword. By throwing the bodies of Asthea¡¯s guards inside his spatial collar, he thought he¡¯d hidden the evidence. He hadn¡¯t left one item, looting everything. And yet there had been one thing that he¡¯d overlooked. The Leaderboard. There was no hiding that. When Asthea and her guards didn¡¯t return, the Silverdagger Clan must have assumed the worst. Thinking about Asthea still made him feel unsettled. It was only through constant fights and worry for Lara and the kids that he¡¯d avoided that unsettled feeling from escalating into something worse. He¡¯d made a difficult decision, a horrible decision when he¡¯d killed Asthea, but he¡¯d done it for a reason. [Foresight] had shown him what Asthea would do to humanity; she¡¯d go to war. By killing her, he¡¯d thought he¡¯d saved humanity from that fate. Although war wasn¡¯t yet on the horizon, the Silverdagger Clan had managed to figure out that Asthea¡¯s killer was on Earth and for whatever reason, they hadn¡¯t yet invaded. Instead, he had to be wary of every single person around him. Brooke and Chase were weak, but if they ganged up with others, they could create a genuine problem for Logan. It wouldn¡¯t be a life-threatening problem, but it would be a moral problem. He didn¡¯t want to become a murderer. ¡°The System is giving us bounties now? Who the hell is ¡®Idiot¡¯?¡± muttered Chase. ¡°What a name! Someone¡¯s parents sure hated them.¡± Logan blinked, hissing in realization. Chase hadn¡¯t leveled up [Identify]! That meant he couldn¡¯t view people¡¯s hidden names yet. As far as he was concerned, Logan was just Logan. Logan worried his cheek. ¡°Probably not someone you want to go near. Anyone who has a bounty must be up to no good.¡± ¡°An XP harvester?¡± questioned Brooke. Logan held back a grimace. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± said Chase. ¡°It¡¯s not like you can do much with KarmaCoin anyway. It¡¯s a useless currency.¡± Logan suspected that it wouldn¡¯t be that way for long. Either way, the conversation was over. The ground shook as the rats surged. The nearest ones were practically on top of them, red eyes narrowed in on Logan and his clones, their expressions full of the need to kill. The Cursed Rope had jumped away from the new three-headed rat and was soaring through the air in search of better prospects. Logan looked up at it with a clenched jaw. The next time you attack, you better be going for a body shot. The rope listens, the rope will obey. It sounded panicked. For the first time, it might have a sense of how close it was to becoming bonfire fuel. As if putting its words into action, it jumped down on a dive on the nearest two-headed rat and tried to wrap itself around its body. The problem was that the rat was the width of a horse, and it didn¡¯t fit all the way around. Screaming, the rat bucked like a bull, trying to dislodge it, a noxious, burning flesh smell wafting through the air. Holding his sword and getting ready to swing, Logan launched himself forward with his Pink Sock, slashing at the nearest two-headed rat using every ounce of his frustration and anger. With a twang, the sword carved through the torso like butter, slicing it clean in half. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] Shocked, Chase, Brooke and the others could only stare. *** Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 30 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 38 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 31 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 33 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] This time, it wasn¡¯t just Logan doing the killing. He had five clones going at it at the same time, slicing with their swords like running a wire through butter. Thorin¡¯s sword was that sharp¡ªsharper than even Logan¡¯s diamond crusted talons. The rats screamed in pain, blood flying as if he were in a slaughterhouse. The clones held the line, protecting the lower leveled humans, while Logan went to town. Jumping on top of the back of the nearest rat, he threw his sword into his spatial collar and then dug into its hide with his talons, blood gushing and his grip turning slippery as it bucked like a bull. Logan¡¯s teeth clanged together, his chest and legs bashing against its back as the rat squealed in anger. Its spine was bony, so bony and sharp that it would have cut through his skin if Logan hadn¡¯t been wearing armour. ¡°Now, Ernie!¡± he screamed. With a squee of glee, Ernie clambered out of his pouch and crawled down Logan¡¯s side, clinging to his armour with his suction cups as he touched the rat. Like a parasite, his diamond filaments spread, leaching into the rat. The monster shivered in alarm and bellowed like an elephant before bucking like Logan had jabbed it in the balls. But gradually, its fur changed from black to silver, then to white. ¡°Yes yes yes!¡± Ernie chanted. Stilling and shivering as if the rat had been electrocuted, all two mouths gaping wide and saliva dripping to the ground, it stared unseeingly as Ernie¡¯s transformation went to work. No longer bucking, no longer doing anything but standing as if it had been stunned. Ernie climbed back onto Logan¡¯s shoulder, his mouth in a wide grin. ¡°Minion minion minion! More, more, Logan! More for my army!¡± Logan didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d done, but somehow, he¡¯d forced the rat to obey his commands, overriding its will. As they jumped off the back of the rat, Logan used his Pink Sock to launch into the air and onto the next. Digging his talons into the back of this one and letting Ernie infect it, he monitored the other transformed rat, which had shaken off whatever Ernie had done and turned on a dime, its pale eyes staring down at the other charging rats. It was under Ernie¡¯s control. Logan laughed as he let Ernie infect the next, his nerves on fire with excitement. ¡°Keep going, Ernie!¡± Ernie cackled as his diamond filaments leached into the next. This time, Logan didn¡¯t wait. As soon as Ernie had jumped back onto his shoulder, he went for another rat even before the latest had finished transforming. Three minions. Four minions. Five. After the fifth, Logan jumped over the swarm and used his sock to scale the nearest building and climb onto the flat roof. Panting, he looked down on the scene of carnage below. His clones were still at it, slaughtering everything that dared to get close, their swords flashing like five sword berserkers, blood flying in torrents, so much blood that it streamed down the road and gurgled into the storm drains like pouring rain. System message after System message flashed across his eyes as if he were in an arcade game, again and again. Ding! after Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 33 Two-Headed Rat!] Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan cracked his neck, what he expected was a wide, unhinged grin on his face as the high of the level increases surged through his body like nothing else. It was all he could do to prevent himself from jumping back down and going to town, but he wanted to see what Ernie¡¯s minions could do first. He¡¯d transformed five of the two-headed rats, their albino fur pale, blue eyes making them stand out from the hundreds of others. Unlike last time, Ernie didn¡¯t let them laze around while the others attacked. Instead, he had them turn on a dime, stampeding through the swarm in the other direction. The albino rats didn¡¯t attack; rather, they darted back and forth, dashing around a two-headed rat, then jumping over the back of another. They were creating chaos. As they stampeded, the regular rats became enraged and darted at the albino rats as they streamed past. The albino rats were too rabid and fast for body shots, but their necks and heads were in reach. Two of the regular rats teamed up and latched onto a neck, digging in with their teeth and shaking the albino rat like a crocodile. With a snap, they severed the neck clean in half. The albino rat stumbled, but it didn¡¯t stop. As it screeched and poured past the swarm, something¡­ happened. Just because they were minions didn¡¯t mean cutting off a head wouldn¡¯t result in the same regeneration. With a deluge of blood, two more heads formed out of the stump, like a gross, mutated nightmare. They formed like worms, thickening and swelling, until skulls formed, and white, silver hair spread across the newly formed heads. On a tail that gleamed like polished bone, barbed, white ends formed, like knobbly, sharp spines. As if the thing had swallowed a mutated watermelon, its body swelled, growing until it reached the same size as the three-headed rats. Logan used [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on Ernie¡¯s new monster: [Three-headed Undead Rat Level 35. An undead variant of a three-headed rat. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims, as well as a stabbing tail with a barbed end. Chop off a head or its tail and two more grow back.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Loyalty. Hidden name: N/A.] The rat was the same level, but it had mutated into a three-headed rat. Now, when it ran in the other direction and charged past the other two-headed rats, it could snap its tail, gouging eyes and biting as it passed. Against the other two-headed rats, it was an even fight, but now that it was double their size, it could outmatch them. ¡°Well done, Ernie.¡± Ernie had clambered out of his pouch and was leaning over Logan¡¯s shoulder, staring with his eyes gleaming in satisfaction as he took in the scene. ¡°Of course,¡± he preened. ¡°What do you expect from a being that rivals all?¡± Jumping through the air, the Cursed Rope was on a mission. As if it were trying to prove itself to Logan; prove that it could obey and be good. Its rope fibres were soaked with blood like an oversaturated sponge. Somehow, that didn¡¯t cause it to slow down; rather, it fueled the rope, making it swell even more and double in width. Taking strategic jumps, it targeted the rats¡¯ feet, snapping and wrapping around their limbs and severing them with sizzling flesh. A rat charging down a road in a stampede that suddenly lost a leg? There was only one result. It slammed to the ground with a crash, the other rats soon stampeding over it and crushing its skull into mush. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] It was slower going than his clones or Logan, but every little bit helped. Good job, rope, Logan sent. It jumped to attention, sending a frantic thought back to Logan. It wanted to impress him. The rope can obey, the rope can be good. Farther down the line, Chase, Brooke and the others paced behind Logan¡¯s clones. Paced in vain. Brooke jumped, trying to look over the clones¡¯ shoulders and push one of them aside, but they were like unmoveable mountains. Her mouth in a thin line, she swung Logan¡¯s old baseball bat over her shoulder. Farther back, the others seemed relieved to be out of the fight. So far, his clones had stopped anything that reached them in an unending killing field. Logan¡¯s mouth watered. He willed out his sword, impatience shooting through him the longer he watched. He felt like his insides were vibrating in excitement. He wanted to jump into the carnage. He wanted to be the carnage. ¡°Get back into the pouch,¡± he said to Ernie. As soon as Ernie settled, Logan moved to the edge of the roof and pushed off with his Pink Sock, launching himself into the air and soaring over the swarm. As he hurtled to the ground like a rocket, he swung his sword, the metal clanging and singing through the air. Blood splashed his facemask as he cleaved his way through the body of the latest rat, so much blood that it covered his facemask like sleet in a snowstorm. Logan tried wiping it away with the back of his glove and only ended up making it worse. ¡°Fuck!¡± He was blind! With a moue of concentration, Logan dissolved his helmet, letting the blood-soaked sandstone fall to the ground so he could see. As soon as he did, it was as if he¡¯d opened his senses even wider. With the facemask, Logan was convinced that his senses were more acute, but nothing replaced the raw sight and sounds of battle. Ernie¡¯s minions were acting like bulls, purposely letting the other rats chew off a head so they could double in size and continue swarming and bashing aside the other rats. On top of that, his clones were still at it, killing just as many rats as Logan. Maybe more. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 35 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] As yet another level increase surged through his body, he screamed in euphoria. Panting, bloody sweat pouring down his face, he searched for his next victim. The nearest rat needed only one jump of his Pink Sock, and he was on it, slicing it to hell, one side of its body flopping to the ground, guts and viscera falling in a sick slump. It was like slicing a cow clean in half, only this time, it was a rat, and the reek of its perforated bowels smelled like nothing else. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 32 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­.] [You have defeated a Level 33 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Yes, yes, yes. The pleasure was immense! Holy hell, he¡¯d killed snake after snake above Rattlesnake Island, but it had never been like this! It was as if he were high. High on killing. Ernie cackled as Logan soared past the front of the army and jumped further into the swarm, burying himself inside a pile of rats. The nearest rat tried to bite his shoulder with both of its mouths, its teeth scratching against his exoskeleton, forcing cracks in the sandstone, but Logan deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reseal them. Another bellowed and then rose up in the air onto its hind legs, leaping and trying to jump on top of Logan and crush him to death. ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got?¡± Logan screamed as he pivoted on his heel, swinging his sword like a death machine, slicing off ears, legs, stabbing deep into bellies, and grinning as more System messages poured in, levels surging and making him groan in pleasure. But while Logan had a smorgasbord of two-headed rats to pick from, his clones could only kill what came at them directly. Logan continued to exert his will, forcing them to protect the humans. And like a fragmented mirror, he saw himself through their eyes. Just like Logan, they wanted to kill; they needed to kill. It was necessary, thought the clones. It was essential to their existence. And if they weren¡¯t allowed to charge into the swarm and fuel their need with this pitiful surge of monsters, they¡¯d find the next best thing. The humans were weak, but they housed XP. More XP to fuel their climb. After all, the main host hadn¡¯t told them that they couldn¡¯t go after the weaklings. Only that they had to hold the line. The humans weren¡¯t friends, they were food. What was one more kill in the scheme of things? Together, the clones laughed, grinning that unhinged smile that Logan suspected was on his own face. Worst of all, it wasn¡¯t just the clones that were thinking this. As soon as they had the thought to go after the other humans, Logan did as well. He felt like his nerves were on fire, his feet light, his body tingling as he searched for more carnage, more fuel, more¡ª ¡°It is an evil ring after all,¡± Ernie whispered from inside his pouch. Logan gasped. Ernie was his bonded companion; they had a mental connection. When Logan went off the rails, Ernie could sense it. But why would a ring¡­ The skill ring. Back in the tactician trial, Logan had watched Thorin slaughter his own rock army. The man had been sick with what the Silverdagger Clan had called XP sickness. Back then, Logan had judged him, not understanding how he could turn on his own soldiers. Logan had reasoned that he¡¯d killed dozens of snakes while fleeing the snake swarm. He¡¯d never lost the plot. But what if it hadn¡¯t been Thorin who had been weak, but a weakness brought on by a skill ring that the Silverdagger Clan had created by boiling a feeling, thinking animal like Ernie alive? Who was to say that there weren¡¯t consequences? If the Silverdagger Clan were so familiar with something they called XP sickness, it made sense that it was common on their world. And if their people walked around with multiple skill rings, they could be unknowingly creating the problem themselves. But Logan had a real dilemma. If he took off the ring, that meant his clones would dissolve, and the rat army would turn into a nightmare. There was no way Brooke and Chase and the others would be able to hold back that swarm. Brooke and Chase. The others. Human meat, full of XP to fuel his gain. Why should it matter if he saved them? They were wastes of space, weak. There was no way they¡¯d survive. Why not use their death for something valuable? Logan¡¯s eyes bulged. He wanted to fall into that pit. A pit of death, and when he tried to pull himself out, it was as if he were tearing himself apart. He knew it was wrong; it went against everything he believed, but level increase after level increase continued to pour in like the tide, hitting him with euphoria and elation. He never wanted it to stop; everything around him would be nothing but kindling for an unending reign of¡ª Logan blinked. Ernie had hit him in the face with a tentacle. ¡°A crazy man is not who I bonded to, Logan! Squishy human must take off the evil! Evil lives on your hand! Evil!¡± Ernie had already been slimy before he¡¯d turned into an undead being, but now his skin was cold as well. It was like being hit with a wet fish. And just like that, Logan knew what he had to do. With a blink, he dissolved the glove around his right hand and stared at the ring on his finger. Even now, something within him rebelled. It was as if the ring were fighting back. It wanted to remain, for at the other end, was pleasure and power. But it was false. There may be pleasure and power, but eventually, it would end, and Logan would have nothing but despair. Somehow, the Silverdagger Clan had managed to capture the power of an animal and create this ring. But instead of just power, had they captured more than a skill? Had they captured the animal¡¯s lifeforce? An animal who had gone through agony, boiled alive, so they could turn it into jewelry? If there was power in this ring, the remains of the animal¡¯s willpower might be there as well. A catch 22 situation. A way for it to fight back and get revenge on its killers. The hairs on the back of his neck standing up and his stomach sloshing, Logan screamed as he pulled off the ring. Then using every earned strength attribute at his disposal, he pinned the metal between his index finger and thumb and squeezed. The ring was as hard as steel; it didn¡¯t want to bend, but Logan was unrelenting, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. And then with a clatter, it shattered into pieces. The ring was no more. Panting, Logan looked towards Brooke and Chase. His clones had disappeared, and now, nothing held back the swarm. B2 - Chapter 24: Squealed Like a Stuck Pig Now that the ring was gone, Logan began to understand how far he¡¯d lost the plot. Everything but killing had fallen to the wayside. He¡¯d had no thought to strategy, no thought to what would happen once they worked through the lower leveled two-headed rats and had to fight the three-headed rats. Or Fang. The level 100 rats had purposely stayed back, watching the battle with sick, grinning mouths as if everything were going to plan. They had something up their sleeves. But even worse, if Logan had been in his right mind, he could have taken the time his clones had given him to plan a strategy while he¡¯d been on top of the roof. But strategy had been the last thing on his mind. He¡¯d thought of nothing but killing. ¡°We must save them!¡± said Ernie, climbing out of his pouch and staring, his tentacles jerking in alarm. ¡°There will be no empire building if there are no people!¡± Up above, Brooke was discharging her gun, shooting the nearest charging two-headed rat, carving out clumps of flesh. But it didn¡¯t matter. Although the bullets were doing damage, the monster was too large. It was like shooting an elephant with a handgun. Eventually, it might wear it down and it would collapse, but while it was enraged, nothing would stop it. Dropping the gun after she ran out of bullets, Brooke swung the baseball bat instead. Logan could give her credit¡ªshe was determined and showed no fear. But the result would have been the same if Logan had tried the same thing when he was her level. It hardly did any damage at all. At least Chase was making headway with Errol¡¯s whip, snapping the thing at the nearest charging rat and pulling it off balance. But it was a whip; there was a limit to what it could do. They had seconds at best before the rats swarmed them and trampled them to death. Kicking off with his Pink Sock, Logan leaped over the swarm. Right before he landed in front of them, a rat shot past Brook and Chase and went for a woman with a wrench. Shrieking rather than attacking, she tried to dart to the side, but the rat was too fast. With both of its two mouths, it chomped down on her¡ªone mouth latching onto her shoulder and severing her arm, the other going for her side. Logan¡¯s stomach sank. The woman gurgled, blood spraying from her mouth, before she went limp and sagged in the rat¡¯s grip. Logan slammed his sword through the body of the rat, cleaving it clean in half, but it was too late. Staring down at her body, he swallowed, his mouth dry. If Logan hadn¡¯t been so power hungry, he might have come up with a strategy to save her. But the others were still alive. ¡°Ernie, tell your minions to come to the front and distract the rats! I need to give them enough time to get away.¡± There was no way these people were any match for this army. Trying to make a stand against a swarm that consisted of hundreds if not a thousand of these monsters had been folly. Not on his own. Not without clones. Chase had a cut on his arm; Brooke was limping. ¡°I thought you wanted us to fight?¡± said Brooke, dazed. ¡°You can¡¯t win! I¡¯ll hold them off, you get away!¡± When they stared at him with stunned, blank faces, he pushed them, forcing them into a run. ¡°Go go go!¡± he shouted, pushing them away from the swarm. They¡¯d given the children and the lower-level adults enough time. They had to be blocks in front of them by now, but they still had the same problem as before. If Brooke, Chase, and the others fled, Logan could hold the rats off for minutes at most. Eventually, the rat swarm would surge, and stragglers would escape while Logan was occupied. But there was one thing he could try. [Life Fabricator]. *** Logan¡¯s gaze lingered on the fallen woman. He didn¡¯t know what was possible with [Life Fabricator]. Perhaps his new skill would give him the ability to heal or bring people back to life, but the problem was that he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time. If he lingered here, distracted by the woman, the rats would catch up, and then he¡¯d have more than one person that he¡¯d need to bring back to life. His stomach sloshing, Logan turned away from the sight of the woman and urged everyone forward, pushing their backs, pulling on their collars, anything possible to just get them to move. Half of his attention was on that; the rest was on contemplating a way forward with [Life Fabricator]. He knew what he had to do, but it was just a matter of tactics. He also had free attributes that he could use to increase his Karma regeneration rate, which would help with the skill. Leveling up ten times meant he had 50 attributes to assign, but he wasn¡¯t certain that was the right way forward. After all, he hadn¡¯t yet unlocked [Liche Devourer]. But even if he threw all 50 into his intelligence stat, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough to unlock it. By his calculations, to reach a 3500 Karma pool, he¡¯d need to level up 30 times to get anywhere close. 30 level increases! What¡¯s worst was that against these lower-level monsters, it was getting harder to level quickly. He would need to defeat monsters like Fang to make a dent. In the meantime, Logan purposely fell back and tried to give the group more time to distance themselves from the rat army. At least the remaining people weren¡¯t sheltering children, which meant they could run. Logan swung with his sword, slicing a rat in half, not giving himself a second¡¯s break before using his Pink Sock to dart to the next. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 35 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 34 Two-Headed Rat!] But unlike before, he wasn¡¯t mindless with the need to kill. This time, he was cognizant of everything around him. Cognizant of the fact that Fang and the other higher leveled rats continued to hang back, far back in the army, their red eyes glittering. You¡¯d think they¡¯d be upset that he was slaughtering so many, but instead, Fang watched in satisfaction, as if everything were going to plan. There was something up with that fucker. Fang and the four-headed rats had to know that the others were no match for Logan; that he had enough power that he could continue killing everything in reach. And yet they persisted with the same strategy, as if they were happy to feed Logan more and more rats. As if they were purposely letting him level up more. Fattening him for the kill. Scowling, he jabbed his talons into the eyes of the nearest rat, blinding one head and slicing across the eye of another. As long as he didn¡¯t cut off the heads, he was fine to do his worst with whatever was in reach. Jumping clear, he pivoted on his feet, swinging his sword in a downward arc, aiming for the legs of the fuckers that were charging at him. Like cutting off chicken legs, limbs went flying, blood and viscera splashing his armour. ¡°Yucky,¡± said Ernie. Logan looked down the road. The others had managed to outpace him a whole half block, which gave him room to move, but he needed more distance to have a chance to effectively deploy [Life Fabricator]. The skill took concentration; concentration took time. Time he wouldn¡¯t have if Chase and Brooke¡¯s group were too close. Logan growled as he surged into the fray, a vein on his forehead throbbing with rage. After he¡¯d shattered the skill ring, he was no longer an unhinged killer, but he could admit to anger as he continued slicing these fuckers. And that wasn¡¯t anger fed by the Cursed Rope, who was being remarkedly well behaved¡­ suspiciously well behaved. Up above, it continued jumping through the air with crackles of blue electricity, dive bombing on top of the rats, curving itself around their bodies, eating into their flesh, then jumping to the next and curling around a hind leg, severing it clean in half. Each time, it purred, the rope can be good, the rope can obey. On top of that, since Logan had leveled up ten times, so had the rope. Now, it didn¡¯t just have divots, it had eyes. Within the sockets, it had formed black eyes the size of golf balls. They shone with intelligence and pleasure. Now that it could see, it kept its gaze glued to Logan, as if trying to gauge whether he was impressed. No, the emotion wasn¡¯t coming from the Cursed Rope. By now, he could recognize an emotion fueled by an external force. This time, the rage was all his own.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Would these rats never end? Never stop? ¡°Get the next one, Ernie,¡± he said as he jumped on the back of the nearest two-headed rat. He¡¯d slaughtered all the mid-30 leveled rats. Now, the rats close to level 40 surged. These ones were the same size, but they moved quicker and were more agile. Ernie scrambled out of his pouch and crawled down Logan¡¯s side, clinging to his armour with his suction cups as he pressed a tentacle to the back of the rat. ¡°Minion minion minion!¡± he panted in excitement ¡°I will build an army unlike any other. A master of the lakes, a master of the ocean, a master of the world. Hundreds and thousands will become part of my dominion, for I¡¯m sneaky, I¡¯m smart, I¡¯m a power like none other!¡± Logan raised his eyebrows. Just because Logan was no longer under the spell of the skill ring, didn¡¯t mean Ernie couldn¡¯t keep having fun. Logan suspected that for Ernie, adding a minion to his army gave him a surge, hitting his pleasure centers. After all, animals who were undead would need encouragement to infect others. If making another animal into the undead didn¡¯t cause them satisfaction, they¡¯d be a lonely zombie indeed. Just like the other minions, Ernie spread tiny diamond filaments into the body of the rat, seeping into the thing¡¯s skin, infecting it. Its fur turned from pitch black to light brown, then white, and finally silver, its eyes milky and pale. Logan let Ernie scurry back into his pouch before he surged forward, giving himself time to reach the others¡ª What. Brooke and Chase had left the group and had come back, meeting Logan with sweat drenched faces. Brooke was still limping, a bloody gash on her exercise pants, her blonde hair stringy and splattered with blood. She clutched the baseball bat in a white knuckled grip, but her face was resolute. Firm. Chase looked weary, but resigned, as if he¡¯d followed Brooke reluctantly. Over his shoulder, Errol¡¯s whip looked like it weighed him down; his already lined face made him look as if he¡¯d aged ten years in one fight. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Logan demanded. ¡°I told you to get away!¡± Brooke snorted. ¡°We¡¯re never going to get strong if we run away from a fight. The others were glad to leave, but not me. Why should you get all the XP?¡± Logan stared. ¡°I¡¯m trying to save you. I¡¯m not trying to steal the kill.¡± She wrinkled her nose as they ran, keeping pace with Logan despite her wobbly ankle. ¡°All very noble, I¡¯m sure. Sorry if your act doesn¡¯t fool me. I saw your face when you were killing those rats. That wasn¡¯t the face of someone who wanted to protect us. You wanted to kill.¡± Logan scowled. He didn¡¯t have time to explain why he¡¯d appeared so unhinged. To do that, he¡¯d have to tell them about skill rings, and he couldn¡¯t run, fight the rats, and explain at the same time. And worst yet, he didn¡¯t want to be responsible for another death. They needed to leave. As a rat darted close to his heels, he turned, slashing with his sword, taking out its two front legs then slicing through its belly. One more flick of his wrist and¡ª ¡°No, stop!¡± said Brooke. ¡°What the hell, I¡¯m not going to stop!¡± Logan flicked his sword, severing the thing clean in half. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 40 Two-Headed Rat!] ¡°Goddammit!¡± she hissed. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have waited?¡± Waited. Waited while hundreds of rats charged. Every second he delayed meant the army crept closer and eliminated the cushion he¡¯d given himself. For his plan to work, he needed distance. He couldn¡¯t deploy [Life Fabricator] while running. ¡°Brooke is a little excitable,¡± said Chase, panting while he ran, the shoulder with the whip soaked with sweat. ¡°She just wanted to kill it. For the XP, you understand. You say you want to save us, well, that means helping us get strong. I suppose you¡¯ve gone back on that, then? You won¡¯t help us level?¡± Logan ran a hand through his blood crusted hair. He supposed he¡¯d promised them, but that was before everything with the skill ring happened. Before the woman had died. ¡°Do you not understand how risky this is?¡± he said as he pivoted on his feet, slashing with his sword at the nearest charging rat. Ten more were behind it. ¡°It¡¯s taking everything I have to keep these things away from you. You might be okay with putting your lives in jeopardy, but I doubt the others are.¡± Logan looked at Brooke, taking in her earnest, frustrated expression. He was annoyed at the delay, but in a way, he understood her perspective. It was a kill or be killed world; she wanted to take every advantage she could get, just like Logan had right after the integration. Hell, hadn¡¯t he initially thought of his bond with Ernie that way? Ernie had been higher leveled than Logan. Logan had thought he could use that to his advantage. In a way, it was exactly what Brook was doing. And, well¡­ she was already here. ¡°Fine. One rat. Then I need you to escape with the others.¡± Brooke brightened. Logan darted forward with his Pink Sock, slamming into the nearest rat and digging into its side with his talons. It squealed like a stuck pig. Reaching down, he grabbed a leg, wrapping his glove around the limb and squeezing. The rat continued shrieking as he crushed the other leg, forcing it to crash to the ground. Even incapacitated like that, its two darting heads were dangerous, but he¡¯d damaged it enough for them to kill it without too much trouble. ¡°Quickly,¡± he said as he stepped away and turned to face the remaining rats. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Brooke. Hesitant at first, and then with a scowl, she rushed towards the rat, screaming as she bashed its side with the baseball bat, the nails and screws cutting into its flesh. On the other side, Chase crept close to the thing while the heads were snapping at Brooke. With a knife in one hand, he stabbed with a sick, wet sound, the heads turning on a dime and snapping at him instead. Now that they were distracted once again, Brooke charged, the baseball bat making mush out of the rat¡¯s side. Her chest was rising up and down, her teeth bared. Fuck¡¯s sake. It was taking too long. With a scowl, Logan pivoted and pushed Brooke to the side. ¡°Hey!¡± she said. Logan ignored her as he cleaved the thing in half. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 41 Two-Headed Rat! Experience points reduced and awarded based on contributions made.] Brooke gasped while Chase stared off in the distance as he took in the System notification. She jumped on the balls of her feet. ¡°I¡¯ve leveled up twice! Heck yeah!¡± Chase didn¡¯t say anything, but he had a self-satisfied smile on his face, his weariness disappearing as he straightened, his posture like a pencil, a solidness to his arms as if he no longer felt the weight of the whip. Huh. He must have thrown his free points into his strength attribute. ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± said Logan. ¡°You know I can¡¯t hold these things off forever. Some of them will get by me. And you know they can find people when they¡¯re hiding. Once they get past me, they¡¯ll find not just the adults, but the children as well.¡± They both sobered. ¡°What can we do?¡± Logan jerked his head down the street. ¡°Go. I¡¯m going to try something, and I can¡¯t worry about protecting you while I do it.¡± ¡°A skill?¡± Chase questioned. Logan was silent. Instead, he sliced his sword through the next five charging rats, nodding his head in acknowledgement as the Cursed Rope darted around the last straggler, acid eating into the monster¡¯s front leg. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 44 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­] [You have defeated a Level 45 Two-Headed Rat!] He¡¯d killed so many two-headed rats they were thinning. However, that didn¡¯t reassure him. Now, his task had just gotten twice as hard. With the depletion of the two-headed rats, the three-headed monsters surged anew. The size of draft horses, these ones had armour covered bodies which meant he¡¯d no longer be able to cleave through these things like butter. And if Logan had difficulties, Brooke and Chase would have no chance. Brooke swallowed as she surveyed the three-headed rats. ¡°Okay,¡± she said as if to herself. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going.¡± Logan waited until they headed down the street before surveying the surging army. He was covered in blood and guts, his hair crusted with dried goo, his sword looking like something out of a slaughterhouse. He¡¯d gone up half an inch just from the volume of guts and shredded skin that had accumulated on the bottom of his boots. But despite all of that, he felt refreshed and ready to go, as if he¡¯d just woken up from a good night¡¯s sleep. That had to be the effect of [Undead Stamina]. ¡°That means you¡¯re up, Ernie.¡± ¡°Already done.¡± Ernie peaked out of his pouch and waved a tentacle, his expression unfocused as he concentrated. Up until now, Ernie had continued to direct his minions to be shit disturbers but not aggressive. They swarmed through the army, darting around the others as the regular rats chewed through their heads, forcing them to evolve. Now, all but one of Ernie¡¯s minions had upgraded to a three-headed rat. That meant that at Ernie¡¯s command, they could draw the army¡¯s attention away from Logan while he did what was necessary. Gradually, ten large, pale three-headed rats butted their heads through the regular army, streaming to the front line. The other rats screeched and snapped at them as they passed, but it was as if they felt nothing. Their milky white eyes were mindless with one overarching need¡ªto obey. Ernie suddenly sagged over his shoulder, his tentacles plopping down Logan¡¯s chest, boneless. He¡¯d lost his [Mimicry] effect, his skin pale. Alarmingly pale. ¡°Ernie?¡± asked Logan with a surge of alarm. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Ernie blew out his breath and then straightened, pulling himself together, crawling back to perch on Logan¡¯s shoulder before making his way into the pouch. But still, his movements were sluggish. ¡°Bah! Of course I¡¯m okay! I rival all, no rat will¡ª¡± ¡°Ernie,¡± scolded Logan. ¡°Fine,¡± he muttered from inside the pouch. ¡°It was just a little more difficult than I thought it would be! They fought me. They had a strand of loyalty connected to another being. Overriding that will even after their transformation wasn¡¯t easy.¡± He raised his voice. ¡°But it¡¯s fine now! They¡¯ll continue fighting until they¡¯re overwhelmed. Even then, they won¡¯t stop.¡± His voice was glum. ¡°And after I¡¯d built such a mammoth army!¡± The ten rats were running back and forth in front of the army, blocking the street. Instead of just fighting their former comrades, they darted away from swipes of their claws and snapping jaws, anything they could do to be distracting. Eventually, the rat army would overwhelm them. Like Ernie had lamented, he would lose them. But it should give Logan enough time to deploy his plan. He had no idea if it would work, and it was entirely possible that he could be in for serious Karma depletion, but just like everything else, he wouldn¡¯t know until he tried. Using his Pink Sock, he launched into the air, leaping half a block before landing to the asphalt with an explosion of dust. Powering with his arms, he kicked into high gear, running like his feet were rockets. Wind blew into his face, his hair flying, until the rats were far in the distance. As he continued running, Logan could make out Brooke and Chase, who had just reached the rest of the group. That meant that by the time the army defeated Ernie¡¯s minions, Logan should have enough time to deploy his strategy before they caught up. Hopefully. Turning around to face the rats, he surveyed the street. The city had made a massive effort to make Hope¡¯s End green, irrigating planted trees, bushes, and flowers. In the summer, there could be weeks and even months with 100-degree heat and little precipitation. Directly irrigated plants was their solution to that¡ªa way to hide the city¡¯s natural desert look. Right in front of the wide sidewalks on either side of the street, maple trees provided shade, bushes with bright, red flowers around each tree trunk. Overgrown lush grass grew between the apartment buildings, a solid row. Normally, the city mowed it, but that had fallen by the wayside with the trash pileups and everything else. The trees weren¡¯t anywhere close to the monster carbon trees he¡¯d grown back at Richton¡¯s Tomb, but they were life. Life was all he needed for [Life Fabricator]. That was the first step of his plan. But he wouldn¡¯t get anywhere if his heart were exploding out of his chest. Closing his eyes, Logan took a deep, shuddering breath, and turned his senses to the here and now. With his new skill, he no longer had to focus on the trees, bushes and grasses around him. Based on his experimentation back at the lake, once he deployed the skill, he should suck the life from them automatically. After all, the description of his [Fabled Creation] class had been clear. He only had to will it, and he shall have it. Logan wanted his money¡¯s worth. B2 - Chapter 25: The Monster Vine His nerves were thrumming with anticipation as Logan prepared to deploy [Life Fabricator]. He was about to attempt something he¡¯d never tried before, but he figured it came back to visualization. From his first breakthrough with [Life Cycle Master] by envisioning drilling through a brick wall, to envisioning a deep, endless reservoir to open his Karma pool. Even back to the perception trial when he¡¯d figured out how to grow a star. If he willed it, he¡¯d have it. It was just a matter of power. Of Karma. This time, he needed every drop at his disposal. Logan looked down at his armour-clad arms. Karma. Just like that, he dismantled his suit, keeping only his pouch for Ernie and the armour around his neck. Although his Karma pool had gotten large enough that he no longer had to worry about his armour depleting it, he needed every drop right now. Logan scrubbed a hand through his hair, widened his legs, loosened his shoulders, and then closed his eyes. In the background, he could hear Ernie shifting in his pouch, the ground vibrating, and the far-off sounds of violence as Ernie¡¯s minions continued to fight and hold the line. But he could tell that they weren¡¯t stationary. They were moving. His heart pounding with urgency, he clenched his teeth, before forcing himself to calm through sheer willpower, taking another deep breath before deploying [Life Fabricator]. It started underneath his feet. Logan pictured himself standing on an immense network of roots, roots forced to bend away from the asphalt. Without a barrier, they would have spread, nature reclaiming the city and going back to its natural state. But the barrier was like a wall of steel keeping everything out. What weakened a road? Weather, rain, followed by freezing and thawing, wear and tear, repeated ad nauseam. There was water underneath the road. They were standing in an area closer to the lake that had a high-water table. It was such a problem that residents had filed lawsuits. Condo owners were stuck in sinking, concrete money pits. By now, most developers knew that to build a sturdy building, they had to tunnel deep into the earth, bypassing the high-water table. This was water from the lake. Water so immense it would be like wading through a river. And water wanted to move. Water wasn¡¯t stationary unless forced. Forced by the asphalt. Logan envisioned that water tickling like a stream towards the surface. Then when the soil was saturated, moisture streamed like a water tap, surging against the asphalt barrier up above. Still, it continued, until the stream turned into a river, erupting like a waterspout. Back and forth, frothing like shaking a bowl of lake water. Up and up, the water continued to flow. But a barrier was just that. With enough pressure, eventually, it would give. A street could only hold on so long before it burst. Logan helped it along, envisioning the asphalt weakening, like tar in 200-degree heat. The concrete would warp, twist on itself, while pressure surged from down below. Underneath his feet, Logan felt the ground move. He held back a smile. Until now, everything had been visualization. He¡¯d hoped that by picturing something in his mind, [Life Fabricator] would make it into a reality. It had been speculation, but now, the evidence was undeniable. It was underneath his feet. Warmth radiating throughout his body, Logan felt hope. The first stirrings of conviction made him straighten with resolve. He was on the right track. Looking down at the ground, Logan deployed the next part of his plan. He¡¯d prepped the soil; the asphalt was weak. There were roots all around him, an explosion of underground networks from the maple trees, thousands of thick chunks of bark followed by delicate filaments. With [Life Fabricator], he no longer needed a seed to grow a specific plant. All he needed was life. The roots could be repurposed, a solid base for what he really wanted. Biting his lip, Logan envisioned green sprouts growing from that root network, hundreds of them, spreading and burrowing to the surface. Water saturated the ground; the soil was loose. The perfect breeding ground for what he wanted. Logan closed his fist, his fingers white knuckled as he willed the roots up, up, at the same time as forcing them to thicken, making them fat, as big as his Cursed Rope, as wide as a fire hydrant. They grew so rapidly he could feel his Karma draining like someone was sucking on a straw. Water surged; roots climbed¡­ ¡°Shit!¡± Just like that, the asphalt exploded like an underground excavator had burst through the ground. A chunk of concrete hit Logan on the cheek, another clipping his shoulder, more shattering the apartment building windows on either side. He could feel Ernie shifting in his pouch, but he knew to keep quiet while Logan concentrated. Logan ground his teeth. Unconsciously, he¡¯d raised his hands as if he were in prayer, but instead, it was as if he were a magician commanding a green army. The roots continued doubling, spreading like worms, forcing Logan to back up. Still, he continued, raising the roots like vines, vines so numerous that they could only continue going up. A stab of sharp pain radiated from behind his eyes. Logan hissed as a gush of blood trailed from his nose. It wasn¡¯t Karma depletion. Not yet. But he was utilizing so much Karma that his body couldn¡¯t keep up. 400/2,028. 300/2,028. 200/2,028. It was rapidly draining. His Karma regeneration rate couldn¡¯t keep up, yet Logan knew throwing his free attributes into wisdom to increase it wasn¡¯t an option¡ªhe needed to increase his Karma pool so he could unlock [Liche Devourer]! A vein in his forehead throbbing, Logan disregarded the poker sawing through his head, ignored the pain and persevered. And as if once he¡¯d started, it fed a self-fulfilling prophecy, the vines continued growing, rising out of the ground like a humongous beanstalk. They were mutant vines. Logan nudged them along, making the barrier as solid as possible by interlacing the vines like a patchwork quilt. So thick it would take a battering ram to burst through it. The plant covered the whole street from end-to-end, a massive wall, the apartment buildings on either side. But there was a problem.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Gasping, Logan opened his eyes. Around him, the maple trees had withered as if a meteorite had blasted them until they¡¯d fried. Bushes shrivelled, the flowers turned into dust. The vibrant green grass was no more, nothing but brown weeds. Dead. He¡¯d sucked the life from everything around him, and although the vines were still growing, they were growing slowly. Instead of a surge, it was a trickle. By now, the vine wall was the height of a single storey building. The barrier would slow the army, but it wouldn¡¯t stop it. Eventually, the rats would climb over it, and Logan would be in the exact same situation all over again. He needed more life. And what better life source than the rats? With his high perception, Logan could hear them. They must have gotten past Ernie¡¯s minions, since off in the distance they crept closer and closer. They continued to surge like hairy, noxious nightmares. An army of elephant rats. Ugh. ¡°My minions are no more,¡± said Ernie, sniffing, his voice glum. ¡°All dead. I¡¯m in a web of despair!¡± Logan cracked his neck. ¡°You can get more. They¡¯re hundreds of the buggers to choose from.¡± Just thinking about them made him bare his teeth in anger. Although the Cursed Rope crackled up above on its electrical currents, Logan believed the emotion wasn¡¯t fed from the rope. Who wouldn¡¯t feel rage surge when forced to fight a mountain of rats? The System had given him the spider rat back at the resort, and that had been bad enough. These frigging things gave him the creeps. With a blink, Logan took out a handful of diamond dust and sand and then deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reform his gloves and talons. Using his Pink Sock, he soared into the air and aimed for the nearest building. His talons made a nail on chalkboard sound as he scratched the stucco like trying to grasp a sheer cliff face, digging in, taking out a chunk of plaster before finally obtaining a solid grip. Rather than using his Pink Sock, Logan dug in with his talons. They were so sharp that punching into the stucco was like punching through a pile of jelly. Logan climbed, scaling the building like a mountain climber while Ernie peeked out of his pouch, waving his tentacles and squeeing. Peering down below, Logan judged he was ten storeys up. That should be high enough. Logan kicked with his feet, swinging over to the nearest apartment patio and slamming to the ledge. The apartment owners had a barbeque and five patio chairs that faced the street, but more importantly, the patio had a perfect view of his new hedge. Logan could look directly down on it, while still seeing the approaching army. Peering down, Logan could only gape. He¡¯d created mammoth, carbon-sucking trees, but what he¡¯d grown below reminded him of something from a fairytale. It wasn¡¯t full of green shoots or leaves. It didn¡¯t resemble a natural plant. Instead, he¡¯d created a solid mass of gnarled roots. Roots that were dark grey, and so brittle they looked like they¡¯d shatter. And yet Logan knew they were solid like a stone. He hadn¡¯t purposely set out to make it look forbidding, but that¡¯s the way it came across. And somehow, he¡¯d managed to sculpt the first hint of thorns. Well, the System must call his class [Fabled Creation] for a reason. And yet, Logan wasn¡¯t done. That¡¯s where the rats came into the picture. It was just a matter of waiting for them to arrive and for his Karma pool to fill. 1,800/2,028. 1,900/2,028. 2,000/2,028. That was the best he could get. Making a snap decision, Logan willed out a bucket of sand from his spatial collar and reformed the rest of his armour, from his legs up to his chest plate, to his full helmet and facemask. With a sound of the air sealing, his senses sharpened. The rats were getting closer. This would be the tricky part. Although he suspected that he could siphon life from a living animal with [Life Fabricator], he had no idea how this worked. After all, the skill hadn¡¯t siphoned life from Ernie, and he was the closest animal around. That meant that unlike the maple trees, Logan would have to purposely instruct the skill to source its power from the rats. And there was yet another question¡­ could he suck life from a living animal and repurpose it into something organic like his mutant vines? It was a hell of a time to test it, but Logan had begun to believe that he shone the best while under pressure. Life or death situations. Without the pressure of the perception trials and the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, he never would have learned that birthing a star was possible, or that he could make flies drop to the floor, dead, with a snap of his fingers. Being conservative and not trying his best was no way to live, especially when his life was on the line. Once again closing his eyes, Logan extended his senses, searching for the bright spots of life that represented the rats. They were half a block away but getting closer. That would give him time to figure this out. The rats pegged like blobs of life, each one dull. But there were so many of them together that the dullness transformed into a supernova. It was hard to concentrate on only one rather than the swarm. But once he latched onto a rat at the front, he concentrated on that pinprick of life to the exclusion of everything else. Forming a fist to help hold his concentration, he fixed the rat in his mind and then imagined a tether connecting the rat all the way back to the pile of roots down below. Keeping that tether fixed, just like before, Logan imagined the roots growing, fattening and spreading like a parasite. But this time, something resisted him. The roots didn¡¯t want to grow like before. No matter how many times he pictured it, they refused. It was as if they had a mind of their own. As if they wanted to be¡­ something else. With a grimace of distaste, Logan envisioned the roots not just as smooth, gray gnarly shoots; he pictured the surface as a living thing. The thorns he¡¯d been excited about, now became claws, a branch root now became a gnarly tail. As if he¡¯d hit a breakthrough, the plant surged into an explosion of growth with a burst, ballooning in size. Off in the distance, Logan was still tethered to the dull spot of life that represented the rat, but it was dimming as if a light had been snuffed out. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 44 Two-Headed Rat!] Hell yes! [Life Fabricator] might as well be [Liche Siphon]! It wasn¡¯t draining Karma from the rats, but it was draining their lifeforce. Holding back a whoop, Logan opened his senses with renewed excitement. The rat swarm had continued to charge, and now they were only fifty feet away. All the better for him to latch onto them. This time, Logan didn¡¯t just concentrate on one dull ping, he concentrated on five at once. The sharp jab of pain behind his eyes worsened, blood drizzling down his nose and into his mouth, but Logan didn¡¯t care. Latching onto the five rats, he tethered them to the vines. Squeezing his other hand into a fist, he wrenched, envisioning the vines multiplying like trickling frost. But to continue the same rapid rate of growth, the plant was forcing him to do what it wanted¡ªtake the life he was siphoning and funnel it into a rat vine. Stubs formed on the root like ingrown hairs. On the next root, ingrown hairs burst, transforming into black fur. Up and up, he grew the plant, until it was as tall as two storeys, then three, thickening the thing so it was the width of a trailer truck. Solid, like a wall. He wanted it to grow. He wanted to¡ª Ding! [You have defeated a Level 46 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­] [You have defeated a Level 44 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 43 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] Up above, the Cursed Rope snapped through the air as the swarm passed underneath it. It jumped so fast it was a blur, going too fast for Logan to track as it dive bombed for the nearest rat. Wrapping around its body, it let acid eat into its hide, damaging it, before it jumped to the next. Unlike with smaller animals like the flying snakes, the Cursed Rope could only do so much. But since Logan had threatened it, it was rabid in its need to prove its usefulness. The rats were twenty feet away. Logan targeted another group, this time latching onto ten. Even though he could see them with his eyes, unless he concentrated with his senses and recognized the dull pings of life, he couldn¡¯t seem to connect the tether. In a way, [Life Fabricator] was like [Life Cycle Master]. A direct line of sight wouldn¡¯t cut it. The rats had reached the vine wall and had stuttered to a stop, the ones at the front pawing the ground in confusion. Once again, Logan disregarded what was happening below and fed life to his plant. Fattening the vines until they had gaping holes that looked like mouths, forcing the vines to continue to spread, to widen the wall, but also to climb. But still, it resisted him. Logan had a vision of a plant in mind, and it didn¡¯t want to be a plant. With another burst of blood gushing from his nose, frustration surging, Logan decided to take a mental step back. He had a hunch. Could he¡­ Just like the mold and the bacteria, couldn¡¯t he ask it what it wanted? Don¡¯t you want to grow, don¡¯t you want to climb? asked Logan. The vine shot to attention, shocked. We can talk? Logan held back a gasp. Unlike the other communion he¡¯d had with the mold, this came back clear, as if he were talking to an intelligent being. A being that he¡¯d hatched. Logan took a different tact. What do you want? To bite, to rend, to swallow, to suck blood down into our roots and nourish our babies. Logan gulped, a trickling of unease seeping into his belly, making his stomach slosh. What the hell had he managed to grow? B2: Chapter 26: A Baby Like No Other Logan suspected that if time hadn¡¯t been such a scarce resource, he might have been able to grow a vine that was just that¡ªa vine. But in his urgency, he¡¯d grown the plant as quickly as possible, which meant allowing it to nudge its way in the direction it wanted. By sucking the life force from a rat, he siphoned the rat¡¯s lifeforce to his plant, which naturally made it into a fucked up, creepy rat vine. But unlike the last time he¡¯d screwed up with the bark ants, this time, growing a creepy vine might be to his advantage. If he made it into not just a barrier against the rats, but something that could attack¡­ well, he might as well have another Cursed Rope on his hands. A Cursed Vine with a hundred limbs! With a grin, Logan continued transferring the lifeforce from the ten tethered rats. Up and up, the vines climbed, thickening to the size of bridge steel cables, the sides full of snapping mouths. They writhed upward like worms, latching onto the buildings on either side of the road to provide a solid base. Stucco smashed as the vines punched through the building below him. Logan could sense that they continued to grow inside of the structure, spreading into the foundation and into the apartment underneath. Out of curiosity, Logan scanned his new plant with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Rat Vine: Level 20. A living vine with an overarching need to feed and breed.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Fondness for humanity. Hidden name: N/A.] Level 20 already? The only explanation was that by siphoning the lifeforce of the rats, the vine benefited from their deaths. It was one thing to be a humongous hedge vine, but another thing if it were level 1. Even if it were the size of a house, a low-level plant like that wouldn¡¯t stop the rat army for long. As far as a ¡®fondness for humanity,¡¯ Logan had to believe that came from him being its father. Logan cringed. Or its mother. He¡¯d hatched the fucking thing! Luckily enough, based on the description, it had no fondness for the rats. Although¡­ it¡¯s mention of ¡®babies¡¯ gave him pause, he¡¯d work with what he had. Concentrating with a furrow in his brow, Logan sent, if you want to bite, if you want to rend, and if you want food for your young, you only need to look in front of you. Those things are all the food you need. Kill them. Kill everything in reach. A large vine at the front of the plant twitched, a mouth the size of Logan¡¯s head snapping, teeth made up of thorns, the insides of its mouth made up of small, interlocking vines, like a weed patch. The thing had no eyes, but it could still sense. As one, it seemed to look at the rat army. Meanwhile, Logan was at work siphoning life to the vine. At this point, it was as if he were running a passive skill. He no longer had to focus on growing the monster vine, since it was growing itself. All it needed was more life. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 46 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­] [You have defeated a Level 44 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 43 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 44 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 43 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] [Life Fabricator is Level 3!] He¡¯d sucked the rats dry. Ten confirmations at once! Laughing at the absurdity of the situation, Logan peered down the street and opened his senses as he looked for his next victims. It was as easy as breathing to latch onto ten more rats. Shit, he was getting good at this. Could he do more? He stretched himself, expanding his senses, narrowing onto¡­ Onto¡­ Karma deprivation. Goddammit! With a growl, Logan released [Life Fabricator], his euphoria and amusement turning to anger. 180/2,028. 100/2,028. 20/2,028. His Karma pool was rapidly depleting, and unless he wanted to suffer through a constricted airway, he needed to wait until it replenished before deploying the skill again. Logan looked down at the monster vine. He might not need to redeploy [Life Fabricator] after all. The vine was five storeys tall, as thick as three semi-trucks stacked side by side. Each vine whipped the air like Ernie doing a tentacle dance. The rats had come to a stop and pawed the ground, digging deep scratches into the asphalt, but they were seconds away from surging, the ones at the back pushing the ones at the front forward. Towards the vine. Eventually, they¡¯d try to climb it. Logan could jump clear of the vine and race down the street, trusting that the barrier would keep the rat army cordoned, but there was a problem. Fang was back there, monitoring the situation, his eyes glinting with intelligence. Even though he hadn¡¯t interfered until now, Logan had to believe that eventually he¡¯d recognize a losing strategy and command the army to turn around and go in the opposite direction until they looped around the block. While they were distracted and facing a barrier, Logan needed to thin the herd. After all, it was the perfect opportunity to level up. He no longer had to worry about the rats darting past him and going after Brooke¡¯s group while he was fighting. They were pinned here until they turned around. Ernie scrambled out of his pouch and onto Logan¡¯s shoulder, peering down at the rat army with greedy eyes. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, slaughter! But don¡¯t you think they would make a good minion army? With Ernie at the helm?¡± Logan gave Ernie a fond look. ¡°What, you want them all? Partners share. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get an opportunity to add to your army. Maybe this time, you can transform so many they¡¯ll stick around.¡± Waiting until his Karma had fully replenished, Logan deployed [Mimicry Armour] and reformed his suit, sculpting his ten-inch-long talons on his left hand, holding his sword in his right. His body brimming with anticipation, Logan rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. With a grin, he used his Pink Sock to launch himself into the air, plummeting into the rat army like a harbinger of death. *** [You have defeated a Level 52 Two-Headed Rat!] [¡­] [You have defeated a Level 54 Two-Headed Rat!]If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [You have defeated a Level 49 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 48 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have defeated a Level 51 Two-Headed Rat!] [You have leveled up!] Logan landed on top of a pile of corpses, panting, his armour soaked in blood and gore as if he¡¯d walked into a vat of red paint. He¡¯d killed so many of the fuckers that forget the vine, he¡¯d created a pile of rat corpses that created a barrier all by itself. That wasn¡¯t to say that the vine had been inactive. Using four vines like whips, it had snapped and curled around the body of the rats like a spider spinning its web. The rats had struggled, snapping at the vines with their own multiple mouths, but in addition to the vine being agile, it also had a body as hard as a rock. We shall feed, we shall feast. We shall rend, we shall tear. In addition, as the vines wrapped around the rats in coils, it seemed to, well¡ª Logan could only equate it with sucking blood. The vines drained the rat, swelling and rippling like a regurgitating snake. The blood had to be going somewhere, but Logan didn¡¯t know where. Underground? Either way, it didn¡¯t matter. The vine hedge had served its purpose, keeping the rats busy while Logan went to town. He¡¯d leveled up twenty-five times in this fight. Twenty-five times! Ernie had managed to add thirty minions to his army¡ªrats who had upgraded to three-headed rats and were fighting their counterparts. Not to mention that he¡¯d killed every single two-headed rat. Hundreds of them. With the two-headed rats wiped out, that left the three-headed rats and Fang¡¯s group far off in the distance. All in all, he could admit to a feeling of immense satisfaction. Logan had managed to deploy [Life Fabricator] to hatch a vine that wanted to be helpful, he¡¯d saved Brooke¡¯s group, and he was that much closer to unlocking [Liche Devourer]. He¡¯d drastically decimated an army of a thousand rats. But despite it all, he was wary. This whole time he¡¯d been grinding, Fang and the other high leveled rats had kept far away at the back of the army, sitting on their haunches and watching the fight with bored expressions. As if they didn¡¯t care that Logan was decimating the other rats, or as if they were watching a show with a foregone conclusion. Despite Logan¡¯s ¡®Idiot¡¯ name, he wasn¡¯t stupid. He knew something was up. It was time to leave. His overarching task was to find Lara and the kids, and fighting endlessly was all well and good, but it wasn¡¯t getting him closer to that goal. But if he just left, he was back in the same situation all over again. No closer to finding Lara. While Fang might have the ability of speech, these two-headed and three-headed rats made nothing but chattering noises and squeaks. Even if he pulled one aside and questioned it, there was no questioning something that didn¡¯t talk. ¡°My minions know,¡± said Ernie with a pleased hum. Ernie had gotten increasingly excited with each kill and infected minion. He was vibrating in place, his horns jumping up and down, his tentacles jabbing the air as if he couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°They can find them.¡± Logan gave him a sharp look. ¡°Find Lara?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a thread connecting them to someone else. Follow it back, and we might find your brethren. See! Stick with me, Logan, and we¡¯ll triumph over everyone!¡± He lowered his voice. ¡°That¡¯s why I must continue adding more minions to my army. Can I have the rest?¡± If Ernie¡¯s rat minions could find Lara, that could be a solution. And yet, so far, they¡¯d only used the minions to distract the other rats. Eventually, they became overwhelmed underneath the swarm. The other rats viewed them as an infection, and they purposely went out of their way to bring them down. Worst yet, they¡¯d gotten wise to Ernie¡¯s strategy. They no longer tore off the heads of the undead rats; if they did, the heads would multiply, making Ernie¡¯s minions that much harder to kill. Instead, they went for full body attacks. With the monster vine hedge blocking the rats from advancing, that meant Ernie¡¯s minions would have to escape by going the opposite direction, and yet, at the end of the army was Fang and the higher leveled rats. ¡°Fuck. Okay, tell them to stop fighting and rush past the swarm, escaping anyway they can. I can jump clear with the Pink Sock, and then we can meet them blocks away.¡± Ernie sagged. ¡°Parting is such sweet sorrow. It was nice while it lasted, but Logan, I¡­¡± He looked towards Fang and the other four-headed rats. ¡°I don¡¯t have confidence that this plan will work.¡± Logan snorted. ¡°It¡¯s not as if I can carry one of those buggers. I might be able to manage their weight, but they¡¯re as large as draft horses. They¡¯re going to have to escape on their own.¡± Using his Pink Sock, Logan launched himself into the air, aiming for an apartment ten storeys up. He slammed his talons into the side of the building, giving himself a solid grip, before dropping down to the balcony. ¡°Come on,¡± he said to Ernie, turning his head and giving him a look. ¡°Aren¡¯t you usually an optimist? I¡¯m not used to the shoe being on the other foot here. If they dart past¡ª¡± Off in the distance, Ernie¡¯s minions were doing a valiant effort of obeying his commands, pouring through the army, bashing other three-headed rats to the side. They made good progress, reaching all the way to the back before¡­ Well. Damn. Fang and the other high leveled rats suddenly exploded, slamming Ernie¡¯s minions with tails that might as well be sledgehammers. The barbed tails sank into their hides, spraying blood, the minions flying into the buildings on the side of the street with an explosion of shattering glass and crumbling plaster. Ernie¡¯s other minions were blind to the threat and continued pouring down the street straight towards Fang and the others. It was over in seconds. Ernie flopped over Logan¡¯s shoulder like a limp fish and let out a sound of despair. Logan swallowed. Fang and the others had made him wary, that hair on the back of your neck sensation of something not being right. Until now, all he¡¯d known was that they were high leveled, and acting strangely. Now, he knew that they were a serious threat. Against one, Logan might have a chance. But there were dozens of them. If they came at him all at once¡­ well, Logan didn¡¯t like those odds. ¡°Are they all dead?¡± One of Ernie¡¯s tentacles twitched in acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯m depressed, Logan! Depressed! Such despair. It¡¯s a rollercoaster of emotions! I don¡¯t like when numbers go down! They should always go up, never down!¡± he wailed. ¡°Shit.¡± Logan dissolved his facemask and scrubbed a hand through his stubble, rubbing his eyes. He suspected that he reeked like nothing else. This whole area had turned into a biohazard, with flies swarming around piles of corpses. Some of the rats had trampled over the rotting garbage, tearing the garbage bags so that festering trash seeped into the street, which only made the situation worse. At the back of the army, Fang and the other high leveled rats had gone back to sitting on their haunches, staring up at Logan. Their expressions were difficult to decipher; all Logan knew was that he didn¡¯t like it. He suspected that they wanted him to go back to fighting. He knew better than to cooperate. ¡°Back into the pouch, Ernie.¡± Ernie grumbled but obeyed. Losing a minion didn¡¯t physically hurt him; but it gave him an emotional scar. An emotional scar of advancing his army only to have the result clawed back when a minion died. Logan could admit to the same addiction¡ªhe liked leveling up. He¡¯d be punching the walls if the System took away his skills. Launching himself into the air, Logan soared over his vine hedge and then dropped down to the street behind it. Looking up at it without any rat corpses in the way made him once again shocked that he¡¯d managed to grow the thing. Even now, the vines moved like worms, mouths both large and small snapping at the air. But the size of the thing had the benefit of acting like the barrier he¡¯d originally wanted. Even Fang and the other high leveled rats wouldn¡¯t be able to scale it without serious trouble. That meant that to go after Logan, they would have to retreat and find him another way. Logan would make sure that didn¡¯t happen. With a flash of blue electricity, the Cursed Rope scaled over top of the vine and then drifted down to Logan¡¯s eye level. The user is strong, the user is strong, it purred, before reverting to its inert form. With a blink, Logan threw it into his spatial collar. It had been remarkably well behaved since Logan had threatened it. Almost too well behaved. Feeling his shoulders drop as his tension released, he looked down the empty street. Even though he didn¡¯t have a way to find Lara, he couldn¡¯t deny that he¡¯d made massive accomplishments. Even better, he was convinced that he¡¯d find Brooke and the others if he deployed [Life Fabricator] and scanned for their lifeforces. He¡¯d lost Ernie¡¯s minions, but the group might have knowledge about the rats or a clue to help him find Lara. It was only a matter of time before¡­. What. The hairs on his arms standing up, a prickling sensation on his scalp, Logan clenched his fists, a muscle on his neck twitching as he turned around. Yeah, he hadn¡¯t been imagining it. At the bottom of the mass of vines, a hole had opened. A tunnel. And from that tunnel, something clawed its way to the surface. At first, Logan thought it was another vine. It had green shoots, after all. But that¡¯s where the similarity to the monster vine ended. It¡­ How could¡­ Logan blinked in disbelief, doubting his own vision. It was the size of a large dog, with four legs and a long body. And yet, the body was made up of what could only be a¡­ well¡ªa plant. The thing was covered in green shoots, as if it were made of a creeping wall vine. As Logan watched, what he thought had been the shape of a dog fluctuated and suddenly, it was no longer a dog, it was no longer anything. It was a vine. A vine that writhed in the air before reforming, morphing, warping, until instead of four limbs, it reformed into¡­ Tentacles. It looked like Ernie. Then just as fast, it was a vine once again, darting through the air before reforming and lengthening into a form that had two humanoid looking legs. Two arms. It looked human. A human covered in green shoots. ¡°What in the world¡­¡± Logan swallowed, his throat dry. ¡°I don¡¯t like any of these forms!¡± said the humanoid looking vine. It had a child-like voice. ¡°Bah, I don¡¯t know how you walk on two legs. How are you supposed to balance!¡± The human form collapsed as the vines writhed again, shrinking, until suddenly Logan was looking at something the size of a housecat. ¡°Mother!¡± it said, this time in an even brighter childlike voice. ¡°I heard what you said. I can help! When you hatched us, you gave us a link to the rat hive. I think there are other humans there. And I can lead you to them!¡± ¡°Aww!¡± said Ernie, crooning. ¡°What a cute little thing!¡± B2: Chapter 27 - Mother! Before the System Integration, Logan hadn¡¯t thought about children. All right, he might have thought of them in a vague sense¡­ if he got into a serious relationship, he might eventually like to become a family man. But it was in that faraway way of wanting to retire, get promoted, get married, and all the other milestones that society expected everyone to achieve. He¡¯d gotten a kick out of being an uncle. Helping Sawyer and Hunter in place of their deadbeat dad, watching them grow up, taking them trick-or-treating. It was fun. But that was as an uncle. All of that to say, children of his own had been a vague idea. A future idea. He¡¯d never wanted a mutant vine child. To that end, why the hell did it think he was its mother? If he were a parent, it would be to the humongous rat vine, not anything it hatched. It was one thing after another in this new world. First, it was wizard-shit, then it was talking animals, and now it was children who hatched like a twisted version of Alien. Mother, his ass. The vine child was the size of a lion cub, green shoots writhing like worms as they continued to flex around its body. The thing looked like a sculpted plant, as if someone had taken garden shears to a waist-high hedge and sculpted an animal. Only, this thing wasn¡¯t stationary, it was alive. As Logan watched, it continued to evolve, as if it were fine-tuning its appearance, not yet satisfied. On its round head, two cat-like ears formed, the insides full of what looked like violet flowers. Around its mouth, the face warped, forming a cheshire-cat grin and thorn teeth. Worst yet, it had a life-like expression, an expression that kept changing depending upon Logan¡¯s. It was mirroring him. As it turned into a shape that looked-slightly less alien-like, the thing seemed to sense that it was a more acceptable appearance to Logan. If it warped in a way that resembled a tentacle-monster, it peered at Logan¡¯s face, blanched, and then altered itself until Logan was no longer grimacing in distaste. It was less than five minutes old. How it could do all that was beyond him. How it could talk was just as perplexing. Logan blinked, blinked again, and then blinked some more. And then, as if something within him snapped, he turned on his heel and began power walking down the street. Away, away! In the opposite direction. ¡°Hell no!¡± he said. He¡¯d had enough. Enough weirdness, enough mutant children, thank you very much. The mutant child may have a way to find the rats, but he¡¯d find a different way! A way that didn¡¯t involve mutant rat vine children! ¡°Logan,¡± tsked Ernie, hanging over his shoulder and peering behind him. ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°Away!¡± Logan shouted at the empty street as the buildings rushed by and wind blasted his face. Ernie¡¯s voice was layered with amusement. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be like that! You don¡¯t want to be known as a dead-beat mother, do you?¡± Logan clenched his teeth, a vein on his forehead throbbing. Was Ernie laughing at him?! Ernie was laughing at him! ¡°Let¡¯s have it call you mother and see how you react.¡± The horns on Ernie¡¯s head jumped up, flushing red. ¡°Humph. Logan must educate himself. An octopus never gets to meet their children.¡± Logan went to shout, but then shut his mouth, averting his gaze. Ernie had a point. He wasn¡¯t ignorant. He knew that in a normal world, once an octopus had offspring, they protected their hatchlings and then they¡­ well, they died. But he still wasn¡¯t going back to that¡ª ¡°Where are you going, mother?¡± chirped the vine child. ¡°Gah!¡± Logan¡¯s heart jackrabbited out of his chest as he came to a skidding stop. Fuck¡¯s sake! The thing had gotten in front of him. It was sitting on its green haunches, one of its forepaws up like a cat about to groom its paw. What the hell? One second, the street had been empty, the next it was ten feet in front of them. Narrowing his eyes, Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. Despite its friendly greeting of ¡®mother,¡¯ Logan wasn¡¯t lowering his guard. [Chameleon Vine: Level 5. A master shapeshifter. The chameleon vine¡¯s mimicry abilities advance by gaining acceptance as well as XP.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Curiosity. Hidden name: Shoot.] Logan scrunched his nose. Huh. It was so low leveled it might as well be a child after all. But what the hell was up with its hidden name? System names were a mystery to Logan. Did monsters get to choose their own names? Or were they assigned them by the System? The poor thing had barely had a chance to take in the world around her; how would she even gain a personality let alone a name? Wait a minute. ¡®Poor thing¡¯? Oh, hell no, that was just what he needed. Feeling sympathy for the mutant child vine. Plus, the System had given it an odd description. What monster advanced by ¡®acceptance¡¯ as well as XP? Logan cleared his throat. ¡°Hey¡­ kid. We¡ª¡± Ernie didn¡¯t wait for Logan to finish, scrambling down his shoulder and jumping to the ground before sliming his way towards her. Logan took a half step after him before aborting the movement. ¡°Ernie,¡± he said mentally. ¡°Be careful. We don¡¯t know what this thing is capable of.¡± Ernie gave him a mental scoff in return. Logan crossed his arms. It was the stinky snail situation all over again. Ernie was too curious for his own good. Logan knew it was inquisitiveness that drove him, but one of these days, it would get them in serious trouble. Curiosity killed the cat was a saying for a reason. Ernie crept up to the cat vine and bobbed his head in curiosity. ¡°Logan doesn¡¯t mean to be rude, little vine! Look at you, so cute! You must be excited to level up and make the numbers go up, hmm? Stick with us, and we¡¯ll get you there in no time!¡± Logan scrubbed a hand through his hair and pinched his nose. The vine stood up on all four of its green shoot-covered legs, face warping and looking more human. Right now, it couldn¡¯t pass for anything other than a monster, but it was eager enough. With enough power, it might figure out a way to mimic skin or fur. Either way, it hadn¡¯t attacked them yet, and despite the wide range of emotions he¡¯d gone through in the last week, the rage fed by the Cursed Rope, and his frustration at not being able to find Lara, he would never kill something defenceless. But he wasn¡¯t the creature¡¯s frigging mother. ¡°How did you get here so quickly?¡± Logan would have noticed if she had powered past him. She was small, but not that small. Shit. He was already starting to think of it as a ¡®she¡¯. Shoot blinked at him in confusion. Her face was a warped version of a hedge, a cat and human, so her blinking green shoot eyelids were beyond disconcerting. ¡°Quickly? I wanted to be with you, and I was!¡± It was Logan¡¯s turn to look at her in confusion. ¡°You ran?¡± ¡°No. I wanted to be with you!¡± she repeated. ¡°And I was.¡± Although the System¡¯s description hadn¡¯t said she could teleport, Logan had to believe that anything was possible in this new world.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Ernie, to me,¡± he said, holding out his arm. ¡°So impatient,¡± said Ernie to Shoot as if imparting a secret, but he jumped to Logan and climbed up his shoulder. ¡°Will you stay there for a minute?¡± Logan asked her. ¡°Don¡¯t move until I say so?¡± Shoot blinked, clawing the ground before wiggling her green tail. It swayed back and forth like a tiger, green shoots blooming with white flowers at the end as if in excitement. She¡¯d formed claws on her paws that looked more like thorns, the quick green, the ends sharp and black. ¡°I feel like moving! Not moving¡­ doesn¡¯t sound fun.¡± ¡°Yeah, but just for a minute?¡± Brimming with energy, she wiggled her tail one more time and then finally settled on her haunches. ¡°Ernie, hold on.¡± Powering with his feet and arms, Logan burst down the street, kicking up dust, going past three apartment buildings before turning around and staring down the street back the way he¡¯d come. Shoot was still sitting on her haunches, her green eyes wide with eagerness. ¡°Okay,¡± said Logan, raising his voice. ¡°Do it again. You said you wanted to be with¡ª¡± Logan had barely gotten the words out before Shoot shimmered, her green shoots writhing as if she¡¯d turned back into a vine. And then with a snap, in less than a second, she materialized right in front of him. Logan gasped, staring from Shoot to the spot down the street. ¡°Oooh!¡± Ernie said, waving one of his tentacles in excitement. ¡°Your kid is impressive!¡± ¡°Not my kid, Ernie,¡± Logan gritted out and then gave her a bright smile. ¡°Don¡¯t give her ideas.¡± ¡°But Ernie is right,¡± said Logan to Shoot. ¡°That was impressive.¡± Shoot¡¯s mouth opened wide, a green, fat vine the width of a tongue drooping out of her mouth as if in excitement, her tail flicking like a cat getting ready to play with its prey. Logan scrubbed a hand over his eyes and bit his lip. If she could teleport, that meant there was no outrunning her. Despite the parenthood accusation, so far, she didn¡¯t seem hostile, more like an excited cub than anything. If she wanted to help, it wouldn¡¯t make sense to refuse. Despite the craziness of his life since the System Integration, this was hardly the weirdest thing that had happened to him. Hell, he¡¯d been dealing with squishy blobs in the trial dungeon. ¡°My name is Logan,¡± he said, crouching down, his voice resigned. ¡°Not mother. And the octopus on my shoulder with the slight murderous look in his eyes is Ernie.¡± Shoot looked from Logan to Ernie, her tail swaying from side-to-side. ¡°You¡¯re such a proud mother,¡± crooned Ernie. Logan rolled his eyes. *** Although Logan didn¡¯t trust Shoot, if she said she had a way to find the rats and Lara, it was the best option out of a host of horrible options. Logan and Ernie followed her as she ran down the street, her thorn paws clattering on the asphalt like claws on concrete. Her head was up, ears perked, tail swinging behind her as she followed an invisible thread that only she could sense. But Ernie was convinced that she was telling the truth, since he¡¯d sensed that same thread inside of the rat minions. All the rats were connected to someone, and Shoot had managed to piggyback onto that connection even though she was a second-generation rat offshoot. They passed block after block, and gradually, the state of the streets worsened. That horrible mess of blood and guts was back, graffiti stating DON¡¯T TRUST THE RATS everywhere. That wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but they were also moving closer to the plume of smoke that hung around the city, the glow of fires off in the distance. Shoot was leading them towards a city on fire. If that were where Lara and the kids were¡ªstuck inside a burning building¡ªLogan didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do. But it would be nuclear. Everything he¡¯d done until now had all been for Lara. Struggling through the trial dungeon, going through torture and mental anguish. He¡¯d had a goal at the end¡ªsave Lara and the kids, and then use the Save Humanity Quest to save them from the purge. If Logan were too late¡­ well, it didn¡¯t bear thinking about. That way lay agony and despair. No, he was convinced that his hardships hadn¡¯t been for nothing, and that he¡¯d find Lara and the kids on the other side. Once he rescued them and got them to safety, then he could begin his real trial¡ªsaving billions of people. But he had to find them first. Logan kept his senses open as they continued to power through the street, deploying [Life Fabricator] to sense everything around him, searching for the bright spots of life that represented Brooke and the others. It was possible that Shoot was leading him away from them, but Logan didn¡¯t think so. They¡¯d been heading in this direction. There was one thing he could do while they travelled. Logan had leveled up in the battle with the rats to a massive degree, leveled up so much that he¡¯d forgotten to keep track. He felt a jolt run through his body, hope that he might have advanced enough to unlock [Liche Devourer]. With half his attention on keeping up with Shoot, Logan pulled up his stat sheet for a full review. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 6,003,903,158 Level: 139 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E3 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 1,000/278,000 Karma: 2,028/2,028 Intelligence: 260 + 30% = 338 Constitution: 46 Strength: 116x3* = 348 Agility: 121x3* = 363 Dexterity: 96x3* = 288 Endurance: 147x3* = 441+50% = 662 Perception: 35x3* = 105 + 30% = 137 Wisdom: 435 + 30% = 566 Luck: 90 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 100 KarmaCoin: 252,600 100 free attribute points meant that he¡¯d leveled up 20 times, going from level 119 to 139. For a second, he couldn¡¯t believe it. Now that he was grade E3, he¡¯d upgraded [Regenerate] to level 13. Logan didn¡¯t know what that would do to his regenerating ability, but he had to believe he was that much closer to chopping off a finger and having it grow back just as fast. In addition, his luck had gone up by five points. Not half bad. Scrutinizing his ranking, his eyes widened. After 20 level increases, he was still only rank number two in the world? Logan clenched his fists, a festering worry making his stomach slosh. It wasn¡¯t pride that made him uncertain. Logan wasn¡¯t that vain. No, it was the threat of the Man in Black. If all the man cared about was leveling, using his leeching skill to harvest XP, Logan didn¡¯t like what that could mean for humanity. Furrowing his brow, Logan pulled up the Leaderboard: Leaderboard: Holy shit. Logan had thought 20 levels was colossal, but Charon had leveled up 31 times since he¡¯d last checked! Fuck. He was betting that the System hadn¡¯t locked Charon¡¯s skills like Logan¡¯s. There was no way the man could level up that quickly otherwise. Once again, even though the AI minion was missing in action, Logan had been given the shitty end of the draw. There had been movements with some of the others as well¡­ ¡®Damsel Fuck You¡¯ had gone up seven levels, with others inching up or down. That would be the type of name Lara would have loved. Sighing, he considered the best way forward. To unlock [Liche Devourer], he needed to increase his Karma pool from 2,028 to 3,500. There was only one way to do that. Intelligence. Making the only decision that made sense, Logan allocated all 100 points into his intelligence stat: [Intelligence: 261] [Intelligence: 262+] [Intelligence: 360] Bracing himself for another scene from his childhood, Logan clenched his fists and ground his teeth. Scene after scene passed through his mind, from his initial mistake of taunting the rats and forcing them into a stampede, to his berserker rage when he¡¯d worn the skill ring. This time, the System seemed to want to show him the decisions that he was ashamed of, as if taunting him. But gradually, the scenes faded, and yet no memory from his childhood swept him away. Huh. Last time, he¡¯d upgraded his wisdom stat instead of intelligence, and he had to wonder if that made the difference. Each intelligence point translated into six Karma points, which meant that with the multiplying effect from his [Fabled Creation] class, he¡¯d upgraded his Karma pool from 2,028 to 2,808. Logan sighed. He already knew that wasn¡¯t enough, but he pulled up the description of [Liche Devourer] to make sure. [This epic skill allows you to siphon Karma and lifeforce from your enemies and funnel the excess into a pocket dimension black hole. When the hole is fed, unleash obliteration. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware that funneling is in effect. Locked. 3500 Karma pool requirement not met!] Either way, he¡¯d increased his pool by almost 800, which was nothing to sneeze at. Although he hadn¡¯t unlocked [Liche Devourer], he was that much closer to it. Plus, although he¡¯d rather upgrade his Karma regeneration rate than his pool right now, a higher pool was useful for the Save Humanity Quest. But still, annoyance festered in his stomach. After the fight against the rats, Logan felt as if he¡¯d been shortchanged. That wasn¡¯t worth at least a title? Fucking System. Pulling his attention away from his stat sheet, Logan focused on Shoot. The air had started to become uncomfortable. The wildfire smoke had already made the normal blue sky brown, but now, intense localized smoke made his eyes burn. Up ahead, the buildings were on fire, intense flames shooting from apartment building to apartment building. Shoot was leading them into an inferno. ¡°Are you sure this is the way?¡± Logan shouted, trying to raise his voice over the sound of the flames and the explosions. Even though he wasn¡¯t the same Logan as before the System Integration, he had a tough time fighting his instincts when they were telling him that he should be running away from the fire, not towards it. Shoot glanced back at him, her face avid with excitement, her tail swinging as if she were getting ready to pounce. ¡°It¡¯s this way, mother!¡± Goddammit, he wasn¡¯t her mother¡ª Oh. The subway system. B2 - Chapter 28: The Depths of Hell Damn. Logan didn¡¯t like this. Trepidation sloshing through his stomach, Logan came to a skidding stop and stared at the entrance to the subway. Every weekend, for years, Logan would head over to Lara¡¯s with a six pack of beer, and they¡¯d kick back and watch zombie movies. It had turned into a tradition. Some of the movies were garbage, low production, laughable. And yet in all of them, there was a consistent theme. Eventually, the characters would get into trouble, they¡¯d go somewhere they should have avoided. Somewhere that made sense for a horror movie but was ridiculous in reality. The power was out. The subway was underground. Shoot was leading him towards an underground tunnel that could be full of hell knows what. So far, the zombies had stuck to the lake, but how could he trust that they hadn¡¯t spread? For all he knew, he was about to enter a zombie swarm. And yet, if Shoot were following the rats and they were in the subway, that also meant that Lara and the kids could be down there. In the dark. All alone. ¡°Fuck,¡± Logan whispered. Licking his lips, he scanned the street, trying to see signs of the rats, signs of anything. But other than the fires and the explosions off in the distance, he might as well have entered an actual apocalypse. Talk about movies. When he thought of the end of the world, this is what he would have expected. His heart racing, Logan paced, clenching his fists, his talons creaking. There was nothing for it. He¡¯d come all this way to find Lara and the kids, and that was what he was going to do. Hell, if he needed to activate [Portal Generation] and teleport into the depths of hell to find them, he would. The possibility of not doing that didn¡¯t bear thinking about. He¡¯d been through torture and came through a better man for a reason. He refused to believe that the System had given him a Save Humanity Quest that would allow him to save billions of people, and yet he wouldn¡¯t be able to save the people he cared about. Cracking his neck, Logan considered a way forward. He didn¡¯t know what he was going into, but at least he had tools at his disposal that might give him an advantage. First, [Mimicry Armour] would let him turn invisible if he activated the mirroring effect. The pouch on his back was an extension of that skill, which meant that he could also make it invisible. Not to mention that Ernie had an intrinsic ability to mirror his surroundings. Even though the skill had gotten harder for him since he¡¯d turned into a Liche, he could do it with a bit of effort. So, Logan could turn invisible and creep into the subway, blend into his surroundings and pass by unnoticed. As far as the perception issue of going into a pitch-black tunnel, he had [Life Fabricator] that let him sense the world around him. Even if he couldn¡¯t see with his eyes, he could scan everything for life. Not to mention that he¡¯d been in a dark tunnel before and managed to make it out on the other side. Back in the tactician trial, he¡¯d sculpted a tunnel that went miles into the earth. A pitch-black tunnel. But he¡¯d solved that problem with a torch. Inside of his spatial collar, he still had towels and a barbeque lighter. That wouldn¡¯t help with subterfuge, but even having the option made him feel less claustrophobic. However, there was a problem. Although Logan and Ernie could make themselves invisible, Shoot couldn¡¯t. Either she¡¯d follow them into the tunnel and give them away, or he¡¯d have to part ways with her here. Logan cleared his throat. ¡°Shoot,¡± he said, swallowing and pointing to the subway. ¡°Are the rats down there?¡± Shoot flicked her tail, a white flower shedding petals onto the dirty asphalt, her green eyes alight with satisfaction. ¡°The tether inside of my head is leading me here, mother!¡± She reminded Logan of a dog that had done a good deed, looking at its owner and waiting for praise. An uncomfortable sensation that Logan suspected was guilt sloshed into his stomach as he stared at her. She jumped up in excitement as if she couldn¡¯t help herself, her thorn claws clacking against the ground. ¡°I know this is it! I know!¡± Logan held back a smile. For someone who¡¯d barely been alive for an hour, she sure had grown on him. Somehow, he¡¯d lost his distrust when confronted with her pure joy, her eagerness to please. And yet¡­ she was only level five. If he told her to leave, how long would Shoot last? He¡¯d yet to see her kill anything, and other people might think she was an easy XP gain. Despite his protests that he didn¡¯t want to be called a mother, Shoot had ingratiated herself on him because of it. Logan already had enough on his conscience¡ªAsthea, the mistakes he¡¯d made with the rats¡ªto be willing to abandon Shoot to her fate. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach. And yet, what was the solution? She had no way to disguise herself like Logan and Ernie. She didn¡¯t have armour! There was no¡­ Huh. Logan glanced from his armour covered arm to Shoot, from Shoot to his armour covered arm. His armour wasn¡¯t stationary; he could sculpt it into whatever he wanted. After all, he¡¯d already extended it into the Ernie pouch on his back. Logan had a ton of sand inside of his spatial collar. [Mimicry Armour] cost Karma to activate, but by now, he had such a large Karma pool and a rapid regeneration rate that he no longer had to worry about depleting it. That meant that he had material and Karma to spare. He¡¯d never tried this before, but hadn¡¯t he said before that he only had to will it, to have it? It was more wizard-shit; in this new world, anything was possible. And even now, [Mimicry Armour] was still only level 2. What if he extended his armour to other animals? ¡°Shoot,¡± he said. ¡°Ernie and I need to go into the subway, but it could be dangerous. You¡¯ve helped me a lot already, and if you want to go and find your own way, you¡¯re more than welcome.¡± Shoot flicked one of her green ears, purple flowers rustling inside of her ear canal. Then raising one of her paws uncertainly, her green eyes grew twice as large. It was like looking into a pool of sparkling green water. ¡°Mother¡­? You don¡¯t want me anymore?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ernie made a sound of distress and twitched one of his tentacles. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. Only that I¡¯m not going to force you to stay with us.¡± ¡°She¡¯s just a baby, Logan!¡± said Ernie with his mental voice. ¡°You¡¯re hurting her feelings.¡± Logan sighed. He didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d managed to go from running away from Shoot to feeling guilty. ¡°If you want to come with us, you can, but¡­ well, you can¡¯t go down there like that. Do you have any way to disguise yourself? A skill?¡± Shoot looked down at her green shoots in confusion. ¡°I can take any form I wish! Is that what you mean?¡± Wagging her tail, a vine suddenly shot out of her body, and the rest of her form collapsed before reforming into the Ernie-tentacles he¡¯d seen before. Her green eyes remained as her body morphed into something new. Shoot paid particular attention to his expression. As Logan twisted his mouth in distaste, Shoot shot out a tentacle in alarm. Just like that, she morphed again, reforming into the same cat body as before. He had to wonder if she¡¯d kept that form due to Logan¡¯s reaction. A tentacle monster just made him think of a monster, but he could relate to a cat. Logan had never had strong feelings about cats until his ex-girlfriend. After that relationship, he¡¯d avoided them like the plague. But even now, he couldn¡¯t help feeling a frisson of heartache when he thought of Buttercup, Eleanor¡¯s cat. He¡¯d been wearing swim trunks with the damn cat¡¯s face for a week. But still, even if Shoot took the form of a tentacle monster, it wouldn¡¯t help her disguise herself. If she accompanied Ernie and Logan into the dark, she would draw too much attention, defeating the purpose of having invisible armour in the first place. Oh well, there was no use stalling. Logan already knew what he was going to do. Taking out a bucket of sand, Logan clenched his fist. Deploying [Mimicry Armour], he raised a handful of the material into the air, forcing it to hover and swarm over to Shoot. Her green eyes widened, and she shivered, but it was a shiver of excitement rather than trepidation. Panting, her green vine dropping out of her mouth, a green shoot twitching as she watched the sand, Logan clenched his teeth as he willed the material to obey. Forming the armour around his own body was as easy as breathing, but what he was doing felt unnatural. The sand kept wanting to come back to him and to latch onto his existing exoskeleton material rather than forming around Shoot. Furrowing his brown, Logan forced it to submit to his will. Sand grain after sand grain, he latched them onto Shoot. With another moue of concentration, Logan forced the sand into a patchwork quilt, merging it into the flexible sandstone material that was around his own body. Plate after plate, he sculpted it to Shoot, from her back to her side, to her belly. And finally, Logan did the delicate work of forming the armour around her legs, from her forelegs to her paws. Shoot yipped in excitement as Logan formed the material underneath her paws, jumping half an inch in height. A bead of sweat trailing down his forehead, Logan completed the cat-suit, forcing it to mold around Shoot¡¯s tail, covering her green shoots and the white flowers at the end. Lastly, with one more clench of his fist, Logan commanded the sand to spread to her head, covering her ears and her face. Ding! [Mimicry Armour is level 3!] But he wasn¡¯t done. Gasping, Logan did one more thing. Thinking of his own armour, Logan forced the sandstone to fluctuate and take on the mirroring effect, blending Shoot into her surroundings. Logan blinked. ¡°Aww,¡± crooned Ernie, preening. ¡°Such a good mother! You gave your daughter a fancy cat suit!¡± Ernie paused and then cackled. ¡°Like that cat woman character in one of the tomes in the underwater¡ª¡± Logan turned his head and shot him a glare. ¡°Don¡¯t go there.¡± Logan didn¡¯t know how an octopus could grin, but somehow, Ernie managed it. Turning back to Shoot, Logan crouched and gave her a careful look. ¡°How does it feel, Shoot?¡± To Logan, it was odd looking at his armour from the other side. Although he could see her body shimmering if he concentrated, it would be easy for his gaze to glaze over. As long as the armour wasn¡¯t covered in blood and guts, it effectively made you invisible. Logan looked down at his own exoskeleton. Come to think of it, he needed TLC. ¡°Off my shoulder for a minute, Ernie.¡± Ernie obeyed and jumped down, sliming towards Shoot, one of his tentacles twitching in excitement. With a blink, Logan collapsed his armour, letting the blood-soaked sandstone drop to the ground before reforming his suit with a fresh scoop of material. By now, in less than a minute, he could collapse and reform the whole thing, even his talons and the pouch. When his armour was fully deployed, Logan made sure to activate the mimicry effect, turning himself invisible. Ernie gave Logan a considering look, his mouth in a thin line of concentration. The horns on top of his head jumped up and down, turning red. With a grunt of effort, he activated his own mimicry effect. ¡°In the pouch, Ernie.¡± Logan waited until he¡¯d returned to his shoulder and crawled inside before approaching Shoot. In the back of his mind, he could sense the link from his own suit to this one. So far, his Karma had kept up with the strain: 2,700/2,808 2,740/2,808 2,760/2,808 Logan whistled. Without Shoot, he never would have thought of this possibility. But if he could spread his armour to an animal, could he spread it to other people? Logan felt a trickling of satisfaction. That meant that if he found Lara and the kids, he should be able to give them a degree of protection. ¡°What do you think, Shoot? Do you like it?¡± Even though it was difficult to see her clearly, if Logan concentrated, he could make out her tail, jerking side-to-side like a cat on catnip. ¡°I like it,¡± she whispered, quivering. ¡°Good,¡± he said, looking back at the subway entrance. Logan debated taking out his sword, but there was no way to disguise the weapon. Even worse, the blade glinted with an aura that was off the charts. In the dark, he suspected that it would glow like a glowstick. Instead, Logan took out another handful of diamond dust and then lengthened his talons. They were part of his armour, and if necessary, he could also give them the same mirror effect. ¡°You¡¯ll be hard to see down there. Almost invisible. We need to be stealthy when we enter, which means that you¡¯ll have to be quiet, understand? Stick with me, but try not to kick anything, nothing that would make noise.¡± ¡°Yes mother!¡± chirped Shoot. ¡°It¡¯s Logan,¡± he grumbled, but at this point, did it really matter? Lara would tease him to death if she got wind of this, but wishes were horses. For now, he¡¯d settled for just finding her. Logan looked at the sky, hesitating, and then took out his phone from his spatial collar. Just as he suspected, it was getting close to dusk. With his heart in his throat, he toggled to his text messages and checked for anything new. But his phone had zero bars. Nothing. It didn¡¯t matter. There was only one way, and that was forward. The fire was getting closer, a heat radiating down the street that made his clothes damp with sweat. He could smell burning plastic and electrical wires; a stench that went deep into your throat. If this continued and Lara and the kids were down below, who¡¯s to say that a firestorm of air wouldn¡¯t travel underground? He needed to find them. He needed to rescue them. He needed them to be alive. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said, holding his talons out like weapons as he streamed towards the subway stairs. *** Darkness. To go from an inferno and explosions to pitch black nothingness was jarring. A jittery feeling in his belly, Logan flexed his fingers and twitched his talons. Two flights of stairs took him far below the city. Normally, the subway would be full of light, the white tile walls sparkling, spotless. The city prided itself on being a tourist destination, which meant that as soon as graffiti went up, workers cleaned it or painted over it. There was never any garbage around for long; they picked up everything. And yet, although Logan couldn¡¯t see clearly, his perception was high enough to tell that the white gleaming walls were no more. In fact, something dark covered the white surface, something that he suspected was blood. Graffiti was everywhere: GET OUT. GET OUT. GET OUT. THE RATS LIE. And worst yet, garbage was overflowing from the garbage cans, a noxious odour making him wrinkle his nose. Logan deployed [Life Fabricator] and scanned the area for life, but other than Ernie and Shoot, he couldn¡¯t sense anything. It was as if he were in a void. A void of death. ¡°Are you sure this is the right place?¡± Logan said to Shoot. For a being who was less than a day old, she¡¯d already picked up on a lot of cues. Instead of chirping back at him in a loud voice, she sidled up to him and murmured, ¡°Down there.¡± Shoot gestured with her head, motioning in front of them. Into the dark. Curling his lip, his shoulders raised in tension, Logan crept forward, feeling like he was walking into the depths of hell. B2 - Chapter 29: The Kingdom of Pied As they made their way into the pitch-black subway, the hairs on the back of Logan¡¯s neck stood on end, his pulse racing. And yet, [Life Fabricator] didn¡¯t lie. If they were walking into a monster swarm, he would have been able to sense it. He could sense unleveled insects crawling deep underneath the concrete and stone; ants trailing along a crack in the wall; but other than that¡­ nothing. But even knowing that his skill was telling him that they were home free, Logan didn¡¯t lower his guard. He couldn¡¯t. Not after he¡¯d been fighting non-stop since the morning. At this point, everything being go go go was business as usual. Not fighting was abnormal, not the opposite. And yet it was undeniable that there wasn¡¯t anything here to fight. His tension collapsing like a deflating balloon, Logan blinked, before removing his facemask so he could rub his eyes. Scrubbing his face as if trying to wake himself up, Logan sighed and scanned his surroundings. Without the mask, he could smell a dampness to the air, as if the tunnel had flooded and left behind mold. Odd, since it was normally so spotless. Logan flexed his shoulders as he rummaged through his spatial storage. He¡¯d thrown everything in Lara¡¯s house inside of his collar, which was a lot. Despite the fact that he could mentally rummage through it, swiping by items like swiping in an online shop, he was starting to accumulate a massive amount of crap. Once he found Lara and the kids and he had a chance for downtime, Logan needed a better organizational system; either that or discard the items he no longer needed. At first, he assumed he¡¯d have to use the makeshift torch he¡¯d used in the tactician trial, but amongst Lara¡¯s items, there were two flashlights. Either Lara hadn¡¯t had the chance to take them, or she¡¯d forgotten about them. Lara had lived in that house since the kids were born; that was a hell of a long time to accumulate junk. The flashlight was one of those clunky ones, and it was like carrying a carton in his hand. When he turned it on, the light bloomed like a spotlight, illuminating the subway. The subway was missing the car, nothing but endless tracks, the rail trailing off into a dark tunnel. With illumination, he could see signs of a struggle¡ªdiscarded shoes, a woman¡¯s high heel with the heel snapped off, a man¡¯s dress shoe. But no clothes, just shoes. Odd. Just like up on the street, dried blood and what he suspected were guts littered the normally pristine subway floor. Something had happened here, but whatever had caused it, had long since left. Or fled. Logan turned to Shoot, giving her a look. Her tail was swaying, but with the full suit, it was difficult to see her expression. Oh well, there was no use keeping an invisible suit active if there was no one to hide from in the first place. With a blink, Logan adjusted her armour and then collapsed her face mask. She shook her head like a dog shaking off water, sand dropping to the floor in a pile. Shoot blinked her wide green eyes at him, her vine tongue dropping out of her mouth in a pant as she jumped up and down in excitement, making a yip before twirling around as if she were chasing her tail. With a feeling of chagrin, Logan pointed the flashlight away from her and at the ground instead. Since the mirror effect was still active, Shoot had been chasing her invisible tail like a cat on drugs. ¡°Aww,¡± said Ernie, crawling out of his pouch and leaning over Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°She¡¯s so excited!¡± All very well and good, but an excited vine cat wouldn¡¯t get him closer to finding Lara. ¡°Shoot, are you sure we¡¯re in the right place? There are no rats down here.¡± Nothing was down here. ¡°Yes, mother!¡± she chirped. ¡°It¡¯s this way!¡± Jumping off the subway platform and onto the tracks, Shoot darted down the tunnel like a cheetah, her tail flicking behind her as she quickly disappeared into the depths. Logan blew out a breath in annoyance. She reminded him of when Ernie zoomed through the underwater cavern, too excited for his own good. ¡°Hold onto me, Ernie.¡± Ernie made a sound of acknowledgement as Logan dropped down to the tracks and then powered through the tunnel. His arms swinging, the muscles in his upper thighs bulging; it took only a few seconds before he caught up with her. Illuminating the walls with the flashlight, his jaw flexing in tension, Logan scanned the tunnel for anything unusual. But unlike on the subway platform, there were no signs of a struggle. However¡­ it was a tunnel. A tunnel was normally full of dust, and underneath his feet was a clear sign that something had travelled down here; footsteps, what had to be human, but also paw prints, some the size of a normal rodent¡¯s, others huge like bears. They had to be in the right place. But Shoot kept going with no signs of stopping. ¡°Where are we going, Shoot?¡± ¡°Just up here!¡± One more turn, and Logan came to a skidding stop, scanning from side to side. This would be the perfect place for an ambush. But he¡¯d kept [Life Fabricator] active, and unless there was a way to fool his skill, there was no life around them. Logan swallowed, his throat feeling dry as his talons twitched around the handle of the flashlight. No organic life. That wasn¡¯t to say that there wasn¡¯t technological life. In front of them, light bloomed on the walls of the tunnel, illuminating everything. So bright it was as if they¡¯d walked underneath a strobe light. Logan turned off the flashlight to save the battery, throwing it back into his spatial collar as they crept closer. Whatever it was, it was so strong that it lit up the tunnel from around a bend. And yet the power was still out, so unless there was a generator down here, the light had to be coming from something unnatural. Logan flexed his talons and then with a blink, took out his sword. There was nothing but deadness around him, but he felt better with a weapon in his hand. Shoot pranced in place, jumping up and down as if her feet were on a springboard, her tail wagging in excitement. She would be invisible to anyone else, but with [Life Fabricator] deployed, and with her covered in armour sourced from [Mimicry Armour], Logan could see her clearly. After all, it would defeat the purpose if he couldn¡¯t see his own skill. ¡°This way! This way!¡± ¡°Wait, don¡¯t¡ª¡± Logan sighed. She¡¯d already turned the bend. Creeping forward, Logan held his sword up as he scanned his surroundings and followed. It was¡­ Shit. On his shoulder, Ernie twitched, ducking his head close to his body and mumbling underneath his breath. ¡°Not the cavern again! Not the serpent queen!¡± Against the wall was a portal. It emitted a prism of light which danced on the subway walls like a rainbow. Unlike in the serpent¡¯s lair, this one wasn¡¯t spherical. Rather, it was as if it were part of the wall.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It was the size of three doors stacked side by side and it reminded him of the white doors inside of the trial dungeon. But this one went all the way to the top of the ceiling, and in fact, the fluctuating light went beyond the ceiling. Which didn¡¯t make sense, since if an animal were so big it wouldn¡¯t fit in the subway tunnel, how would it fit through the portal? Logan looked for the lodestone on the wall, but unlike in the serpent¡¯s lair, there was no signs of it. It was as if someone had already activated the portal. A continuous portal? ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to worry about the serpent queen, Ernie. This is something else.¡± Logan¡¯s stomach sloshed. He didn¡¯t know what this was, but the possibilities were too numerous to count. Another trial dungeon? Or worse yet, a portal that took them to another world? If they ended up trapped, he had [Portal Generation], but if this portal sent them somewhere far away, he might not have enough Karma to return home using his own skill. He could very well suffocate to death. Logan tried using [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] on the portal, but just like the last one, it came back with incomprehensible text: [##!#!##!##!] Logan had assumed that meant he wasn¡¯t high leveled enough yet to identify the portal, but now, he wondered if it were something else. Could this mean that it came from a different world? Ernie¡¯s ¡®sky people¡¯? Maybe Logan needed a skill to understand it, like Asthea had given him [Universal Language] before he¡¯d been forced to abandon it due to the skill limit. ¡°Shoot, is this where that thread is leading you to? To the portal?¡± Shoot pawed the ground, her sandstone boots scratching against one of the rails. ¡°It¡¯s leading me here! I know this is right!¡± Fuck. Okay, okay. So, it was possible that the thread was leading them towards a portal that might require more Karma than Logan had, but at the same time, if there was no lodestone, could the cost be different? Stepping through this thing might mean instant death, but couldn¡¯t he say the same thing for everything else? Every monster fight, the trials, the fight with the Silverdagger Clan? Everything was life or death in this new world, and if he refused to take a leap of faith, he might as well throw in the towel. His thoughts racing, Logan considered using [Foresight], anxiousness eating into his stomach, but he could only activate the skill once per 24 hours, and he might need it for a real fight. A fight against the rats or who knew what. For all he knew, the sky people were on the other end of the portal! ¡°Shoot,¡± said Logan, gesturing with his head for her to come closer. ¡°I¡¯m going to reform your facemask and give you flexibility so that you can use your thorns as weapons.¡± Shoot wiggled, her green eyes bright with intrigue. ¡°Yes mother!¡± Clenching his fist, Logan reformed her facemask and then collapsed the bottom of her boots, allowing her to extend her thorns. Or her vines. Unfortunately, it might create noise while she walked, but the camouflage issue would be negligible. If they saw her claws, he¡¯d imagine they¡¯d doubt what they were looking at anyway. How often did people look at the ground, after all? Logan quickly reformed his own facemask and then took a deep breath. Anticipation was thrumming in his belly just as much as trepidation. He was finally making progress. He was that much closer to Lara and the kids, but that also meant if something had happened to them, he¡¯d be closer to finding out. ¡°Remember to be quiet,¡± Logan said, addressing Shoot. Ernie knew that they could speak with their mental voices and would never draw unwanted attention if he could avoid it. Logan looked down at his sword, debating, then kept it clenched in his fist. It might be a giveaway if the portal brought them to hostile people, but at the same time, he¡¯d rather have a weapon in hand if he needed it. ¡°Keep close. Keep alert. We could be going into the thick of it.¡± Cracking his neck, Logan strode towards the portal, glancing to his side to make sure that Shoot followed. Logan took a step forward and then let the light take him away. *** When he¡¯d entered the portal in the queen¡¯s lair, it had been a traumatizing experience, an experience he¡¯d never wanted to repeat, but that was because he¡¯d been missing an arm and convinced that he¡¯d left Ernie to die. This time, there was no pain, but he still felt a coldness seep into his bones as he stepped through the other side. Interestingly enough, there was no System announcement, and no cost for this portal. It was as if he¡¯d stepped through a normal doorway. Logan moved forward, the portal behind him flashing light, Shoot trailing by his side as he took in everything in front of him in an instant, from the huge cavern up above their heads that might as well be as high as a fifty-storey building, to the wide hallway. Unlike in the Subway tunnel, light illuminated the whole space, shining down on them from all directions. In front of them, a man stood behind a stone counter on the left, his elbow leaning on the countertop, his chin cupped in his arm as if he were sleeping. Making a snap decision, Logan willed his sword back into his spatial collar, and then paused, staying motionless and holding his breath. It was a man. Just a man. Human. He was in his early twenties, with curly, short brown hair, and the beginnings of a mustache. He looked like a boy trying to grow his first beard, with bare patches of skin around his chin. The man was skinny; a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet, with dark circles underneath his eyes, his mouth pinched in a thin line, as if he were bored and barely staying awake. Unlike Brooke¡¯s group, his clothes were clean and spotless, and he looked clean. Not like someone who¡¯d been struggling to survive for a week. Snorting and his face dipping, he blinked and then straightened, glancing up at Logan. Logan felt a trickling of alarm, but then he realized that the man looked but didn¡¯t see, his eyes glazed as if he were looking at a portal with no one in front of it. Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Elliot Ruston: Level 22. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Dexterity. Characteristics: Contracted to the Kingdom of Pied. Hidden name: Elliot.] The Kingdom of Pied? Logan remembered what that creepy contractor kid had said, about Pied and the rats. Was this someone who¡¯d signed a contract? Since he was standing in front of a counter next to a transportation portal, Logan was betting that he was here to monitor the arrivals. And doing a poor job of it. ¡°He can¡¯t see us,¡± Logan sent to Ernie with his mental voice. ¡°Let¡¯s try to pass unnoticed.¡± Ernie sent him a mental acknowledgement in return. Now, it was just a matter of keeping Shoot under control. She was eager as hell, and Logan worried that she¡¯d get too excited to stay silent for long. Each step felt like a lifetime. Unwillingly, Logan thought back to when he was a teenager. His parents had kept a strict curfew, and many nights, Logan had crept down the creaky stairs, trying to sneak out of the house without waking his parents so he could meet his girlfriend. But this time, he wasn¡¯t stepping on stairs that would give him away. Logan took each step at a time, wincing when Shoot¡¯s thorn claws clicked against the limestone floor. The man¡¯s eyes kept closing, his head dropping, before he snorted and straightened. Logan gave him a narrowed eye look and then crept past the counter and further down the corridor. They might be in the clear. But what the hell was this place? After they¡¯d passed the counter, they entered what Logan could only describe as a stone overhang. On one side was a stone wall that went up so high that he couldn¡¯t see the top. On the other side, there was a railing, and over that, was a drop. Logan inched his way towards the railing and stared over the edge. Holy shit. Another ten storeys below them, the cavern continued until it opened into a huge open area. It had to be the size of two football fields. And inside was an army of rats. From two-headed rats to rats the size of mammoths, level 20 all the way up to the high 200s. Thousands of them. Thousands. Ernie clung to Logan¡¯s shoulder and stared. With a silent squawk, he jerked, clinging tighter with his suction cups, his colors fluctuating from the mirror effect to his more natural Liche color. ¡°Ernie, watch your skill!¡± Ernie closed his eyes as if concentrating, and slowly, his skin went back to the mirroring effect. Next to him, Shoot anxiously shifted, brushing against Logan¡¯s leg. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything,¡± Logan hissed and then held his breath, hoping that they didn¡¯t have high perception. Down below, the rats didn¡¯t jerk, just continued to stand in place. With that many animals in one crowded area, Logan would expect to see jostling, shifting, movement, but there was nothing. It was freaky, as if they were frozen in place. Or awaiting orders. Either way, he¡¯d found the rats, but he hadn¡¯t found Lara and the kids. If this was where they brought people, there had to be another area. Logan crept away from the ledge, hiding from the rats¡¯ direct line of sight and then continued down the corridor. ¡°Logan, imagine Ernie at the helm of an army like that! I would truly rival all and take over the world!¡± Despite the anxiousness in his stomach, Logan smirked. Trust Ernie to not be intimidated by the sight of a thousand strong rat army. Instead, he wanted to convert them into minions. ¡°You¡¯d be a powerhouse indeed. Those level 200 rats don¡¯t seem like easy converts, though.¡± Ernie sighed dreamily. ¡°Imagine riding on top of one of those! I could fashion a throne, a mighty rat throne! Although, Larry, my mighty steed, might get jealous.¡± ¡°Ernie, focus.¡± Even though Logan hadn¡¯t come across anyone else in the corridor yet, Logan made sure to keep as quiet as possible, monitoring his surroundings for any hint of people. Eventually, they came across what looked like a metal elevator, one of those elevators you¡¯d see in a construction site. Fuck, and they¡¯d reached a dead end as well. There was no where to go other than up. But the problem was, Logan was invisible, but if an elevator arrived with no one on it, their chances of creeping by unnoticed was zero. There had to be another way. Ten storeys below to the bottom and another twenty storeys straight up¡ªat least. No stairs, only an elevator. Peering up, Logan could see signs of more corridors, more railings. Wait a minute. There was another way up. His pink sock. B2 - Chapter 30: An Octopus Jailbreak Logan paced the corridor, glancing from the swarm of rats down below to the balconies up above. Shoot followed on his heels like a dog trailing its owner, her thorns clicking against the floor. Logan looked at the upper floor and hesitated. Ernie could stay in his pouch and travel with Logan, but Shoot had no way to jump that high. If he used his Pink Sock, he¡¯d have to leave her here, vulnerable. He could tell her to stay, not say anything, not move, but he didn¡¯t have expectations that her discipline was that high. After all, she was essentially a child. But he might have a solution. ¡°Shoot,¡± he whispered, crouching and giving her a firm look from behind his facemask. ¡°Stay here. I need you to be quiet. Don¡¯t move and wait for me. I shouldn¡¯t be more than a minute.¡± Hopefully. Shoot wagged her tail, bobbing her head. ¡°I¡¯ll stay, mother!¡± she chirped. Too loud. Logan winced and gave the rats down below a wary look. ¡°Back up into the end of the corridor and keep to the side of the wall.¡± Shoot obeyed and darted to the end of the hallway. The chances of foot traffic at the end of the hallway were much lower than if she remained closer to the elevator. As long as Logan didn¡¯t take too long, she should be fine. ¡°All right, Ernie. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go flying!¡± Using his pink sock-clad foot, Logan launched himself into the air as if he¡¯d stepped on a jet engine, his talons out and ready to scramble for purchase. Normally, flying gave him a hell of a rush, shouting in euphoria, but this time, he made sure to bite his lip and hold in any sounds that could give them away. Logan might have overshot, since he¡¯d leaped right past the first corridor and had gone on to the next. Scrambling, he slammed his talons into the wall, but unlike scaling the apartment buildings in the street, the wall was stone. His talons were strong enough that they scratched the wall, scraped it, made too much noise, but Logan was forced to let himself slide rather than climb. Huh. It was a good thing he¡¯d overshot, since instead of falling back to his original corridor, he could drop onto the next. Logan latched onto the edge of the overhang, his feet dangling, then pulled himself up. Despite the difficulty of the maneuver, he wasn¡¯t out of breath; it had hardly been an effort at all. ¡°We made it,¡± he said to Ernie as he got to his feet and looked around. The hallway was empty. It looked the same as the last, with an elevator on the side, and¡­ Wait a minute. Two large, immense stone doors blended in with the stone wall. They were so tall they were double Logan¡¯s height, bulbs on either end emitting light like dancing fireflies. Carvings like the weave of a basket decorated each door. Monsters with slithering tongues, wings aloft, interrupted the weaving. Frozen in flight, the wings bulged from the door. Logan gave the door a dark look. The monsters looked distinctly like rats, rats on steroids. He didn¡¯t like to think that a rat could grow wings, but if the snakes could do the same, anything was possible. Logan had to blink and rub his eyes¡ªfor a second, there was a blurry shape around the edges¡­ as if the doors themselves emitted an aura of their own. Resting his hand on the door latch, Logan hesitated and then deployed [Life Fabricator]. He could sense Ernie on his shoulder and the mass of life that represented the rat army below, but beyond the stone doors, it was as if he¡¯d hit a wall. His skill wouldn¡¯t go past them. Holy shit. Logan shifted, trepidation making his heart race. As far as he¡¯d been concerned, [Life Fabricator] was the shit. An epic skill, it shouldn¡¯t have had limitations. This was his first indication that the skill might have limits. And more troubling, that implied that someone could have a skill that could rival his own. Logan didn¡¯t like this. But time was wasting, and standing here wasn¡¯t getting him closer to finding Lara or getting back to Shoot. Grinding his teeth, Logan pushed the door open, trying to be quiet and stealthy. As soon as he saw what was on the other side, his stomach dropped like a stone in shock. Ernie had scooted out of his pouch and was gazing around them with his mouth gaping open. ¡°What¡­ what. It¡¯s¡­ No,¡± he breathed. In front of them was a wall-to-wall aquarium, a mass of water held back by transparent glass. But unlike in a normal aquarium, this one was separated into square sections. It was as if someone had created a tank the size of a two-storey building and stacked square boxes on top of each other, creating an endless row of¡­ well, cells. Each square box was full of water, with a latch on the outside. And inside¡­ Logan¡¯s heart ached in sympathy, knowing that Ernie must be going through unmanageable pain. Each square housed an octopus. ¡°No, no, no! NO!¡± Ernie wailed in his mental voice. ¡°My brethren, my brethren! What are they doing to my brethren!¡± There had to be thousands stuck in these cells. Each one was different, from Ernie¡¯s size to the size of a giant pacific octopus, colors fluctuating from orange to purple. The larger octopus barely fit in the cell, reminding Logan of a stuffed animal crammed inside of a box. Their tentacles were limp, stuck to the glass bottom of their cells, their eyes dull and defeated. Ernie jumped off his shoulder and scrambled onto the floor, turning off his mirror effect and turning his pale Liche color before darting for the nearest box and pressing a tentacle against the glass. ¡°Brother? Can you hear me?¡± he said out loud. The other octopus blinked, but it was a regular blink, dull and sightless. It took no notice of Ernie and continued to slump in defeat. Ah, man. Logan might have just found these ¡®Sky People¡¯ after all. And the endless cells weren¡¯t filling him with confidence that this wasn¡¯t what he thought it was, a factory for skill rings. They were keeping the octopuses segregated so they couldn¡¯t work together. Ready for harvest. ¡°What is this, Logan?¡± Ernie cried, his black eyes damp with emotion. ¡°What are they doing with my brethren? What do rats need with my kind!¡± Logan swallowed, guilt eating at him as he shifted in place. Ernie wouldn¡¯t be happy when he learned that Logan had known the answer all along. ¡°They¡¯re killing them,¡± he said. ¡°Killing them for skill rings.¡± Ernie twitched one of his tentacles. ¡°What?¡± he whispered. With a blink, Logan willed out the skill ring he¡¯d taken from Pied¡¯s agent, Peter. The garish ring glinted from the palm of his exoskeleton glove, emitting an aura that made the hair on the back of his neck rise.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After his experiences with the clone ring, he swallowed acid just looking at the thing. The ring wasn¡¯t just a skill ring, it had part of the animal who died in its aura. Logan had forgotten about Peter¡¯s ring in the rush and the fight with the rats. He¡¯d always been a packrat, someone who accumulated crap just in case he needed it in the future. Once he obtained access to the System market, it was possible that he could sell the ring for a profit, but could he? If his stomach rebelled at the sight of it, how could he sell it to another person? He doubted the ring would trigger XP sickness¡ªbattle wasn¡¯t its purpose¡ªbut that wasn¡¯t to say that there wasn¡¯t another catch 22 with this thing. And worse yet, what if he sold it to someone innocent? Someone like Lara? It would be like selling a blood diamond ring that cursed your finger into turning black and falling off. Logan ran his thumb over the edge of the metal. ¡°This used to be an animal.¡± There was no use holding back. Ernie needed to know everything. ¡°The Sky People are abducting evolved animals, animals with rare skills, then boiling them alive and converting them to skill rings.¡± ¡°¡­What.¡± Ernie quivered, looking from the octopus behind the glass to Logan. ¡°And you knew about this?¡± His voice was accusing. Logan winced. ¡°Not for long. Just since the trial dungeon.¡± Ernie seemed to grow smaller, his eyes full of betrayal. ¡°You kept it from me.¡± ¡°I only wanted to protect you.¡± ¡°Protect me. Protect Ernie, who rivals all? Oh, I see now, you don¡¯t think I rival all! You think I¡¯m a weakling, someone who doesn¡¯t deserve a throne, someone who won¡¯t rule the world. Someone who¡ª¡± Logan crushed the ring between his thumb and finger until it exploded with a percussion noise, shards going flying. One shard slammed into one of the glass cells, crackling the glass like a spider web. Dissolving his face mask, Logan crouched so Ernie could see his expression and then dipped his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ernie.¡± For once, Ernie seemed thrown. ¡°You¡¯re sorry?¡± ¡°I assumed after I¡¯d escaped the trial dungeon that I knew what I was doing, that I was doing what was right. I think all that leveling and my world ranking went to my head. I made a mistake. I shouldn¡¯t have kept the information from you. You do rival all, after all. If you¡¯d learned something similar about Lara, I would have wanted to know.¡± Logan swallowed. ¡°Please forgive me.¡± Ernie huffed and averted his gaze, color blooming on his face. ¡°Well!¡± Then puffing his cheeks, he turned back to Logan and gave him a glare. ¡°It¡¯s only right!¡± he exclaimed, pointing one of his tentacles. ¡°Bonded companions do not hold back vital intel! Bonded companions share!¡± Logan winced. Ernie hesitated. ¡°But I suppose I can accept your apology! Just this once, mind! And in return¡­¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes grew bottomless and the horns on top of his head jumped up and down. ¡°You will help me with the jailbreak.¡± Aw, fuck. *** Talking Ernie down from a full-scale prison break took way too long, time that Lara and Shoot didn¡¯t have. ¡°You know I¡¯m right,¡± said Logan. ¡°We have one distinct advantage. We haven¡¯t been detected. But once I start tearing these cages apart, there goes our subterfuge. I¡¯m not saying we won¡¯t do it, but we need to be smart here. Find Lara and the kids, then rain down a hailstorm of pain. A pummeling they won¡¯t forget.¡± And yet, Logan would like to know who he would be pummeling. Other than the man in front of the portal, he hadn¡¯t seen any other people. The room was full of octopuses, but no one else was here. It was as if the place was a prison without guards. Ernie gave the imprisoned octopuses a torn, anguish-filled look, his eyes wide and bottomless. Despite his talk of ¡®brethren,¡¯ Logan doubted that any of these octopuses were related to Ernie, but he still had a degree of empathy that made him Ernie. It was killing the poor bugger to leave them here, but at least they weren¡¯t going through torture. They were stuck inside small tanks, with no stimulation, but for now, they weren¡¯t in boiling water. The sky people had stored them here for a reason, it was just a matter of why. Either way, Logan saw no reason that he couldn¡¯t send down the elevator for Shoot. He¡¯d yet to encounter anyone, so the invisibility issue was moot. ¡°Come on, Ernie,¡± he said, holding out his arm for Ernie to jump onto it. He did so with a last, lingering look at the other octopuses. ¡°We must be speedy, Logan, we must rush like nothing else. We will triumph and rescue my brethren, yes?¡± Logan nodded as he reformed his facemask and made sure his mirror effect was active. Ernie got a second wind, twitching before crawling back into his pouch, mumbling, ¡°Yes yes yes. We will kill the sky people and teach them a lesson they won¡¯t soon forget. We will chop off their limbs and drown them in their own entrails. They will regret ever crossing my brethren, for I rival all and¡ª¡± Logan swung the door open and then stopped, staring. Well, that answered that question. The place wasn¡¯t deserted after all. In front of him, two people were streaming past the hallway, their heels clicking against the stone floor, attention focused on where they were going, but when Logan opened the door, they came to a stop, staring in surprise. He was still invisible, but a door opening on its own would have to look odd. Logan froze, barely breathing, and scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Ryan Clements: Level 60. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Even tempered and full of analytical calculation. Hidden name: Ryan.] [Amy West: Level 55. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Strength. Characteristics: Quick to anger. Hidden name: Storm.] The man was in his late twenties, tall and willowy, his eyes ice blue and intelligent. He had a scar on his chin that went from his mouth to the base of his neck, something that must have happened before the integration, since everything healed with a high enough constitution attribute. The woman was older, with grey interspersed in her short hair, lines weathered around her mouth, her lips pinched as she stared at the open door. Logan felt his nerves surge, every breath that much closer to discovery. These people would hardly challenge him¡ªhe was convinced he would overpower them if needed, but as soon as he did, the jig would be up, and Logan would have to discover what happened to Lara by force. The woman looked in Logan¡¯s direction, but then gazed past him and into the room with a frown. She hadn¡¯t seen him. But the man¡­ he looked directly at Logan, his mouth curling. ¡°Well, hello, what do we have here?¡± The woman gave him a sharp look. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Look closer, Amy. What do you see? Remember to concentrate like I showed you.¡± Amy¡¯s eyes narrowed, her gaze darting past Logan, before coming back and looking directly into his eyes. ¡°¡­Idiot? What a name.¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened and sharpened. ¡°That¡¯s his hidden name? Idiot?¡± ¡°Yeah, why¡­¡± She knew why. The bounty. Fuck. Logan had forgotten about it during the fight with the rat army, but now, on top of everything else, he was at the mercy of a bounty that would attract a hell of a lot of attention: [There is one user amongst you that goes by the name Idiot. Find and kill this user and you will receive the following: 1,000,000,000 KarmaCoin 1 Resurrection Crystal 1 skill ring of your choice The loyalty of the Silverdagger Clan] Logan had been lucky so far, since Brooke¡¯s group hadn¡¯t leveled [Identify]. They couldn¡¯t see his hidden name. But now he was shit out of luck. The man reached for his wrist, touching a bracelet. Just like that, an alarm blasted through the whole cavern like something out of a tornado warning system. ¡°We¡¯ve got you now,¡± the man breathed. Did he? Logan cracked his neck, and with a snap, dissolved his mirror effect. Oh well, the subterfuge had been nice while it lasted, but Logan wasn¡¯t built to lurk in the shadows. Plus, since he¡¯d discovered the imprisoned octopuses, the Cursed Rope had been working overtime, funneling rage into his bones. Logan¡¯s rational side had said that he needed to be cautious and smart to find Lara, but it was too late now. It was time to let loose. It was time for carnage. Ernie scooted out of his pouch, hanging over Logan¡¯s shoulder as Logan took out his sword, flicking it and giving the two people an unhinged smile. ¡°Are you sure it isn¡¯t the other way around?¡± said Logan. The alarm was still blaring, bleeding his ears. Down below in the cavern, Logan could hear the rats jostling against each other and screeching. The man laughed. ¡°You gave yourself an apt name, Idiot. Of course I¡¯m sure. You¡¯re in the Kingdom of Pied! Every single person in the complex knows you¡¯re here. My friends are coming, and they¡¯re going to kill you¡ª¡± Logan swished his sword, his arm a blur, using every ounce of strength and dexterity at his disposal. The man didn¡¯t even have time to react. Logan¡¯s sword cut into his neck like butter, slicing into tendons and his spine and cleaving him in half at the shoulders. With a spray of blood, one half of his body went one way, the other went the other. Ding! [You have defeated Ryan Clements! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] The woman jerked in startlement before gaping, glancing from the corpse to Logan with her eyes wide with disbelief. ¡°You bastard!¡± Her face flushing with rage, the woman went for a dagger holstered on her thigh, her fingers white knuckled. Taking a running leap, she rushed towards Logan, her dagger going for his throat. For a half second, Logan hesitated. This was another human being; this wasn¡¯t a monster. But then again, what was a monster? These people were complicit in boiling sentient animals alive, in torture. They didn¡¯t deserve mercy. Logan swatted her dagger aside, sending it flying as he slammed his fist into her chest, his talons digging deep. Ding! [You have defeated Amy West! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] B2 - Chapter 31: Killer, Killer, Lets Get Killing Logan hadn¡¯t leveled up yet, but with the triple experience granted from the kills, he was well on the way. As the alarm continuing blaring so loudly his ears were ringing, he flicked the blood off his talons and with a blink, willed both bodies inside of his spatial collar. He¡¯d just been lamenting that he¡¯d managed to accumulate too much junk, and he wasn¡¯t looking forward to storing a pile of corpses, but he didn¡¯t have time to rummage through their belongings. Plus, with no bodies, they might get confused and assume he wasn¡¯t in the area. Logan had no idea what the man had communicated via his bracelet, but it couldn¡¯t have been much. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Ernie asked, eager. Normally, Ernie was a bloodthirsty thing, but after his discovery, he¡¯d ramped that up to the ninth degree. He was twitching with the need to go after the people who had imprisoned the other octopuses. ¡°Lara and the kids. We need to find them, which means we need to look for a large holding area. These jerks took thousands of people from the city. Way more than the rat army. To hold that many, they¡¯d need to have a huge facility. Or a prison. We find that, and we¡¯re one step closer.¡± ¡°Hah! They¡¯ve not just imprisoned my brethren, they¡¯ve imprisoned yours as well! We need to stomp on them and teach them a lesson they won¡¯t soon forget. We will gouge out their eyes and pull out their tongues! We will¡­¡± Logan let Ernie¡¯s ranting go in one ear and out the other. The bloodthirsty thing seemed to come up with even more creative ideas for killing the angrier he got. Logan knew it was mostly talk (Ernie would never condone torture), but his emotions were on a hair trigger. That, together with the rage funneled through Logan from the cursed rope, wasn¡¯t helping him keep his own anger under check. Ernie darted his gaze up above where the alarm continued blaring. ¡°But they¡¯re on alert, they know we¡¯re coming! Our stealthy plan is ruined.¡± Logan smiled and huffed a breath. ¡°Yeah, I know. It doesn¡¯t matter. If they go after us, we kill them. We might be outmatched in numbers but not in power.¡± After all, Logan was E grade, but he was still a stealth player. His power exceeded his level. He got a vicious satisfaction from thinking about triumphing over these sky people. Even if the people themselves weren¡¯t the same, they were complicit in a pretty despicable act. By now, they had to know that high leveled animals could talk. Boiling alive a sentient, talking animal? These people deserved a special place in hell. Not to mention that the ones who were walking around had joined this cult-like Pied Kingdom willingly. Logan could see the contract brokers tricking kids, but not the adults. If they were walking around patrolling, and up to who knew what, they deserved a smack down. And Logan was ready to give it to them. ¡°Come on,¡± he said, heading to the elevator. It was one thing leaving Shoot alone while they¡¯d snuck in here, but another thing leaving her alone while the alarm was blaring and everyone else was on alert. The elevator was a huge, metal thing. A cage. Logan hit the button, and the door opened with a cranking sound. Christ. Pre-System Integration Logan would have been wary of a rickety thing like this¡ªin fact, he would have taken the stairs, if there were any. But for all the roughness of the elevator, it slammed down to the next level like a bullet. Once they reached the next floor, Logan darted his head out of the elevator, checking for enemies, but the corridor was deserted. A disappointment. He was ready for a fight. ¡°Shoot?¡± he said, shouting over the alarm. Shoot¡¯s mirror effect was still active, but if Logan squinted, he could make her out. She was sitting on her haunches with both of her paws pressed against her ears. Aww, man. She was barely a day old. A blaring alarm? She would have no idea what it meant. ¡°Shoot!¡± Shoot whimpered and then glanced up at Logan from behind her facemask, her green eyes wide and confused. ¡°Aww,¡± Ernie cooed, jumping off Logan¡¯s shoulder and onto the floor. ¡°It¡¯s okay, precious thing! Yes, it¡¯s annoying, but Logan and I are about to make the people behind the loud noise very sorry. It¡¯s nothing to be afraid of!¡± Logan gave her a smile. ¡°Just an alarm. Try to tune it out and listen to us instead.¡± Shoot lowered her paw and scrunched her nose before she straightened, her tail up. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid!¡± Sniffing, she clawed the floor. ¡°Of course not,¡± Logan murmured, distracted. Down below, the rats continued shifting and jostling each other, and yet they weren¡¯t pouring out of the holding area. They weren¡¯t after Logan. Logan was reminded of Fang, the huge four-headed rat. Did the army need someone to control them? To direct them? It was either Fang or this ¡®Pied¡¯ they¡¯d yet to meet. ¡°We¡¯re going into dicey shit¡ªer, crap. It¡¯s going to be dangerous. Stay behind me and try not to get in the way.¡± Shoot¡¯s ears drooped and her tail went between her legs. Shit. First, he swore in front of her, now this. And yet¡­ just when did he start worrying about the feelings of a cat vine? Logan smothered a chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. Letting Ernie jump into his pouch, he led the way to the elevator. This was the tricky part. The buttons for the different floors weren¡¯t like a normal elevator¡¯s; in fact, there was something hinky going on. Each time he looked at a button, the number blurred in front of his eyes before refocusing. It reminded him of the stones in front of the attribute trial entrance. Twenty floors. He was standing on floor three, and up above had been floor four. He was betting that the rat army was on floor one, which meant that he had seventeen possibilities. ¡°Where would rats imprison a bunch of humans?¡± Logan mused. Oh well, one choice was just as good as the next. Logan stabbed the button for the tenth floor and the elevator jerked, moving them up so fast he felt pressure radiate from behind his nose. Looking down, Logan shifted his grip on his sword and then examined his talons. They were bloody with gore. Not to mention that his armour was covered in blood splatter, which meant that unless he dissolved his armour and reformed it, he¡¯d ruined the mirroring effect anyway. Logan suspected that he was quite the sight. The elevator door opened with a clatter. Logan blinked. In a whole host of possibilities, this one¡­ well. Logan was in a rat hole. What did he expect? In front of them, a group of people had come to a sudden stop, staring at Logan. The one in the front was muscular and bald, a white tank top emphasizing his wide shoulders. The man reminded him of Brad, the asshole who¡¯d tried to steal their boat back at the cabin.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Ed Williams: Level 80. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Strength. Characteristics: Uses humour as a weapon. Hidden name: The Tamer.] A muscular Brad was one thing, but his¡­ pet, was another. The man held a leather leash in a loose grip, the leash attached to a rat. Unlike the mutated rats in the rat army, this one looked like the regular rats that had sniffed out humans for the contractor, Peter. But a black rat with a pale, pink nose and ratty ears, with tiny black claws, didn¡¯t belong on the end of a leash! Ugh, Logan hated rats. Behind muscular Brad, the hallway was full of people. Ten at least. From a jaded eyed man in his late fifties, his hair tinged with gray, to a too skinny tall man with a blond buzzcut and blood on his chin. They were pointing guns and knives. The skinny man even clutched a long, slender pole with a knife on the end. Each person held a weapon, and they looked like they knew what to do with it. So, this was the cavalry. ¡°Ryan was telling the truth!¡± said muscular Brad. ¡°It¡¯s Idiot! The System might as well have gift-wrapped him!¡± ¡°Careful, Ed, Ryan isn¡¯t standing here, and he is.¡± ¡°Of course he isn¡¯t! Look at the man¡¯s level. Ryan was no match for him.¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. And they were? Muscular Brad, who¡¯s actual name was Ed, gave Logan a smarmy smile. Logan had already scanned everyone with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] and no one was below level 70, but no one was past level 100, either. Against those odds, he felt confident that he would come out on top. ¡°You must have pissed someone off!¡± said muscular Brad with a guffaw. ¡°We haven¡¯t encountered any aliens other than Pied. Look at you, enraging a whole alien clan to the point they set a bounty! That¡¯s serious stuff, brother.¡± The alarm continued blaring. With a pursed, thin mouth, someone at the back lifted their arm and touched a bracelet around their wrist. Just like that, the alarm turned off. The rat¡¯s whiskers twitched as it sniffed and pulled on its collar like a dog after something mouth watering. Behind him, Logan sensed Shoot shuffling and trying to peer past his legs. When she got sight of the rat, she panted and clawed the floor of the elevator. Huh, they might have just found Shoot¡¯s first potential kill. It¡¯s not like¡ª Ding! [You¡¯ve received a Quest: Killer, Killer Let¡¯s Get Killing! Kill 50 members of your own species in 60 minutes.] [Reward for completing the Quest: A skill enhancement.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: A 24-hour attribute debuff. This debuff will reduce all your attributes by 50 percent during the 24-hour period.] Logan blew out a breath of agitation, his stomach sloshing. He was focused on powering his way past these assholes, killing just as many as he needed, and then finding Lara and the kids. Instead, the System had thrown yet another curve ball, forcing him to deviate from the most straightforward path. And what the hell was up with this penalty? The System had threatened to cut off his toe, to reduce his constitution to zero, to take away a skill. But to reduce his attributes by fifty percent? How was that even possible? Logan had assumed that when the System had killed the AI minion, that these crappy penalties would cease. Although the snarky messages had disappeared, the penalties were just as crappy as before. Maybe more. In fact, he¡¯d take a missing toe as a penalty any day of the week. That¡¯s what he had [Regenerate] for¡ªto regrow limbs! Worse yet, if he didn¡¯t complete the Quest, that meant he had only an hour until his abilities halved. A reduction of his attributes wouldn¡¯t just affect his physical capabilities, it would also impact wisdom and intelligence, which in turn had a direct impact on his Karma regeneration rate and Karma pool. Hell, if he no longer had a large Karma regeneration rate, did that mean that [Life Fabricator] would revert to its locked state? Logan ground his teeth as too many possibilities ran through his mind, his jaw twitching in anger. On the other hand, he couldn¡¯t deny that the reward was intriguing. This was the first time he¡¯d seen something like that. Just what was a ¡®skill enhancement¡¯? Could it upgrade a skill from rare to epic? Epic to legendary? ¡°Well?¡± barked muscular Brad as he tightened his grip on the leash and tugged the rat to the side of the corridor. It made a choking noise as it scrambled to get a grip, claws scraping the floor. Behind Logan, he sensed Shoot shifting in excitement. ¡°You should talk,¡± Logan spat. ¡°I pissed off an alien culture to trigger that bounty; whereas you¡¯ve betrayed your own species.¡± ¡°Oho!¡± said the skinny man with the pole. ¡°Brave words for someone who¡¯s cornered and at our mercy. Just what have we done to betray our own people, Idiot?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve enslaved them.¡± The man rolled his eyes. ¡°If they were too stupid to take the deal and sign the contract for better treatment, that¡¯s on them. Betray our species? Give me a break.¡± Muscular Brad grinned. ¡°Why are we still talking? I want that bounty.¡± The others gave him sharp looks. ¡°We all want the bounty. This is a team effort, Ed.¡± Something shuttered in Ed¡¯s eyes. ¡°Sure,¡± he drawled. Logan smirked. ¡°You think the bounty works like XP? That you get to share in the reward? I wouldn¡¯t bet on that if I were you. The first one with the kill, gets the reward.¡± They narrowed their eyes at him, before their gazes drifted to muscular Brad, expressions full of calculation. Shit. Logan had killed the murderers at the cabin, had been forced to kill the Silverdagger Clan, had even eliminated the contract maker, Peter. Each death had been necessary; necessary for his own survival or for the survival of others. But this was the first time Logan felt like he¡¯d walked into a group of criminals. But it made sense. To step into their roles, they had to be comfortable with enslaving people, tricking them. It took a person with a particular moral decay for that. Even worse, based on the System¡¯s latest Quest, he was betting that these were hardly the only ones. Logan sighed. All right, enough of this. He wasn¡¯t making any progress standing inside the elevator. ¡°Stay in the pouch, Ernie. There are some high leveled people in this group, and we don¡¯t know what skills they have at their disposal.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s time for minions?¡± he said, his mental voice full of excitement. ¡°You said I couldn¡¯t transform humans unless necessary, these are¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± said Logan, firm. It was one thing for Ernie to transform sturgeons and rats, but another thing for him to transform people. Logan wasn¡¯t looking forward to seeing zombies walking around. Who¡¯s to say that they wouldn¡¯t turn into the same fungi minions with the flower petal hair Logan had encountered at the resort? There were enough fungi monstrosities already. Ernie grumbled, but he didn¡¯t object. All right, forced into a corner, Shoot behind him, Ernie in the pouch, and at least ten people barring his way who wanted to kill him. In a normal situation, Logan wouldn¡¯t have liked those odds, but he was no longer in a normal world. He was so confident that he didn¡¯t even feel the need to deploy [Foresight]. There was no challenge here. And yet, it might also be an opportunity. He could try brute forcing his way through, slaughtering them with his sword, stabbing them in the chests with his talons like the other two he¡¯d already killed, but these people were higher leveled. It might be time to deploy [Life Fabricator] on these fuckers. He knew that with [Life Cycle Master], he could force seeds or bacteria inside of their stomachs to grow. To weaponize them. Biological warfare. But [Life Fabricator] was an enhanced version of the skill. According to the System¡¯s description, he could do more than just grow seeds that already existed. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling. Level is commensurate with your Karma pool and Karma regeneration rate. KarmaCoin awarded is based on carbon capture impact.] He knew that to create it, he only had to envision it. Had he been too liberal in his interpretation of what the skill could do? There were three levels to the¡ª While Logan had been considering a way forward, the skinny man with the pole had thrown his weapon, knife side forward directly at Logan¡¯s chest. Logan looked down, raising an eyebrow. The knife had scraped against his exoskeleton like a knife against metal. With an unhinged grin, Logan snatched the pole and snapped it in half with a crunch. They blinked at him with wide eyes. Back to the problem. There were three levels to the skill. He could build something, he could repair it, but he could also control the life cycle of a person. A life cycle meant that he could go forward and backward. From a person who¡¯d just been born, to forcing someone to age¡­ or¡ªreverse aging. The other puzzling part was the second description¡­ cutting, bending, and assembling. What did that mean? Either way, there was only one way forward. Science. Trial and error. ¡°Are you going to just stand there?¡± shouted muscular Brad, his voice full of tension. After Logan had snapped the man¡¯s weapon, they¡¯d become wary. Well, if he wanted to get started, who was Logan to refuse him? B2 - Chapter 32: A Science Experiment Willing his sword back inside his spatial collar, Logan hunched his shoulders, braced his legs, and then bulldozed his way into the group, slashing with his talons. He bashed muscular Brad to the side and pushed the skinny man against the wall, the back of his head smacking against the stone wall with a sick, wet sound. The others shouted and came at him with their weapons, stabbing with daggers, slashing with a sword, pointing a gun¡ª Damn. That had been loud. The skinny man had discharged his gun right next to Logan¡¯s left ear! But for all their grunts of effort, Logan powered through and pushed them aside like bowling pins. The bullet had cracked the sandstone layer on his helmet, but Logan deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reform it, smoothing it and making it as seamless as before. ¡°Fucker, get back here!¡± shouted muscular Brad as he wobbled to his feet. Logan had pushed him to the floor on his ass. There was one purpose to this. Logan didn¡¯t want to fight with Shoot behind him and vulnerable, and this way, he¡¯d managed to lure the others away from the open elevator. Logan rushed down the corridor, powering with his legs until he reached the end, leaving them well behind. With enough room, it gave him the cushion he needed to deploy [Life Fabricator]. Back in the trial dungeon, Logan had managed to use [Life Cycle Master] to force the insects he¡¯d hatched to freeze and die in mid-flight. If he could do that with a skill that was less powerful than [Life Fabricator], didn¡¯t that mean that he should be able to do the same with these men? He didn¡¯t have a lot of time; due to the quest, he needed to figure this out or resort to his normal combat tactics and slaughter the fuckers with his sword instead. [Quest Progress: 0/50 kills] [56 minutes remaining.] The quest was evil as fuck. It was back to the System forcing him to perform like a rat in a maze. It wanted them to fight each other rather than focus on the System or the real people at fault, the sky people. But once again, Logan had no alternative. He was here for one reason only, to find Lara and the kids. If he failed the quest, he¡¯d have a serious handicap. No longer would Logan be fighting people who he felt he could easily overpower; with a fifty percent reduction to his attributes across the board, he might be on equal footing. Just thinking about it made his mouth curdle, his nostrils flaring with rage. Clenching his fist, Logan turned around and faced the charging group. He¡¯d burst past them with a spurt of speed, which meant that Shoot was in the clear and he had the room to manoeuvre. And think. Back in the fight with the rat army, he¡¯d figured out that he could funnel the lifeforce of the rats into a monster vine, similar to what he¡¯d done with Karma by deploying [Liche Siphon]. He¡¯d assumed that the rats hadn¡¯t been aware of the drain, but this way, he could test it for real. But first, he needed a focus point, something that he could grow which would allow him to funnel life from the others. He¡¯d learned his lesson. If he weren¡¯t careful, he could end up growing a mutated human, some kind of horrendous bastardized version between a human and a plant. What he did to Thorin in the trial dungeon already made his stomach slosh just thinking of it, and he didn¡¯t want to repeat it unless necessary. Plus, he knew it was the easy option. Logan didn¡¯t want easy. He wanted what the System had promised him when he¡¯d selected his [Fabled Creation] class. A kickass skill. Narrowing his eyes, he opened his senses, scanning for the lifeforces of the ten people. Logan zoomed past Ernie¡¯s bright lifeforce, drifted over to the others, acknowledged them, noted them, and then focused on the one who had been most aggravating so far. Muscular Brad. His lifeforce glowed like a campfire ember; not overpowering, not much of anything. Just there. Within that glowing aura, other signs of life pinged on Logan¡¯s radar, from the bacteria clinging to Brad¡¯s teeth, to the grease on his hands from a leftover meal. Even deeper were the glowing representations of a digesting meal and the bacteria that lived inside of his digestive tract. All of this wasn¡¯t the way forward; this was what he¡¯d used in the tactician trial in the fight against the Silverdagger Clan. This time, Logan wanted something new. Muscular Brad was full of himself, an asshole who thought he knew better than everyone else. It was partly down to a toxic personality, and partly down to his body image. To someone like that, how others perceived them was everything. His self-worth was external. If Logan damaged how he was viewed, damaged his own confidence, he would no longer be ¡®muscular Brad¡¯. But how? It was back to visualization. If he could imagine it, he could create it. Each person was alive, but they were only alive because blood pumped through their veins, air flowed into their lungs, and their cells¡ª Logan swallowed, his throat feeling dry. Was he really doing this? Within muscular Brad¡¯s body, Logan could sense that everything was on a hair-trigger. One wrong alignment, and his whole body would collapse. With a tweak here, an alteration there, he could make his lungs, heart, hell, even his cells work against each other. And yet, that hardly seemed like a strategy that would suck the lifeforce from the others around him. Growling underneath his breath, Logan was about ready to resort to growing one of his massive trees down below so he could funnel the life of everyone around him in one go, when he thought of visualization. He had it, it was just on the tip of his tongue, an idea that would¡ª Fuck¡¯s sake! While he¡¯d been concentrating, the others had launched a full attack, hitting him with their weapons and trying to find a weak spot in his armour. A vein in his forehead throbbing, Logan punched one dead centre in the chest, his talons slicing into skin and muscles. This man was higher leveled than the other two he¡¯d killed, which meant that his talons didn¡¯t go as deep, but he¡¯d forgotten that by not holding back his strength, he might as well have hit him with a tank.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Oops. He¡¯d just leveled a crater inside of his chest. Ding! [You have defeated Kalden Garcia! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have leveled up!] ¡°Can I come out?¡± asked Ernie from inside of his pouch. ¡°Not now, Ernie!¡± Logan shouted. As the others hissed and screamed in anger at the sight of their fallen companion, Logan pivoted on his feet and took a running leap at the overhanging corridor. On one side, was nothing but a railing, on the other, ten storeys of free fall. Far down below, the rat army milled inside of the arena, jostling each other and screeching. Like a javelin, Logan hooked the talons of his right hand around the railing, dangling in mid-air before he used his feet to get traction on the side of the overhang. Then using his Pink Sock, he jumped, summersaulting in the air, before he swung back over the railing and landed on the other side of the corridor. He¡¯d jumped behind the group again. Logan powered down the corridor, laughing underneath his breath at the absurdity of the situation. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Ernie. ¡°I want to have fun too!¡± Still, Logan couldn¡¯t go too far or he¡¯d be in danger of putting Shoot in jeopardy. Logan bit his lip as he concentrated on [Life Fabricator] again. This time, he thought he had a way forward. Visualization. Narrowing in on muscular Brad¡¯s aura, Logan interposed the image of Brad over the aura. Logan was sensing his lifeforce, had it pinned down, but in his mind, he imagined an image of Brad over top of it. And then he warped it. At first, he envisioned Brad, from his bald head, muscular shoulders, white tank top, to his green, army cargo pants and black boots. In his mind, he pictured Brad with a smarmy grin, his eyes eager and sweat beading down his forehead. He was a happy, healthy asshole. That was to start. After that, Logan changed the picture. As Brad¡¯s smile faded, Logan pictured his skin turning sallow, his fingernails growing long and brittle. The muscles around the man¡¯s shoulder dissolved, his arms turning willowy and lean. Without that muscle volume, his skin sagged, as if he¡¯d lost fifty pounds all at once. In the image, Logan envisioned Brad¡¯s face thinning, his brown eyebrows turning white, white stubble on his chin growing. And like all people who aged, his posture dropped, his back hunched and grew a curve, and his arms grew weak. Logan opened his eyes. In front of him, twenty feet down the corridor, the others had backed away from muscular Brad, their eyes wide. Brad stood in the middle of the corridor alone and glanced down at his chest. The dagger shook in his grip, and he let out a moan of fright. Muscular Brad was no longer muscular. Logan had turned a man who¡¯d been in his early 30s into a man in his late 70s. He gasped, a feeling of unreality hitting him. Holy shit, he¡¯d just forced someone to age decades just by envisioning it! He¡¯d been viewing [Life Fabricator] as a complex skill, something that needed trial and error, hell, needed science, when all along, it had been down to visualization? ¡°What the¡ªthe¡ª¡± Brad cleared his throat and swayed on his feet. ¡°W-what did you do to me?¡± His bravado had disappeared and in its place was a little boy. Ernie crept out of his pouch and peered over Logan¡¯s shoulder, his tentacles clinging to Logan¡¯s armour. His mirroring effect was still active, so unless the others were concentrating, he should pass unnoticed. ¡°Did you do that?¡± he breathed in awe, staring at Brad. ¡°Yeah.¡± But Logan could do more. Why stop there? And better yet, why not continue while they were distracted, thrown off from pursuing him. It gave him time to concentrate. Closing his eyes while he kept [Life Fabricator] active and his senses wide open, he monitored the auras around him, narrowing once again on Brad. Unlike last time, the aura felt off¡ªsick, as if something essential had leached away. Logan interposed his image of Brad over that aura. Brad wasn¡¯t just withering and aging. Logan envisioned his bones turning brittle, his skin splitting, the organs inside of his chest deteriorating and rotting. It wasn¡¯t the body of a healthy man, instead it was the body of a corpse, something that returned to the earth swarming with worms and maggots¡ª ¡°Holy shit!¡± one of the men screamed. Logan opened his eyes and then promptly wished he hadn¡¯t. Brad was no longer standing. Instead, he¡¯d collapsed into a pile of mismatched¡­ well, mush. His chest was still moving up and down, but it was as if he were breathing through cotton. His eyes were vague and yellow, full of jaundice. His limbs were twisted things, so skinny and brittle they no longer supported his weight. ¡°Yucky,¡± said Ernie. No kidding. With a gurgle, Brad took one last breath and then slumped, boneless. Lifeless. Ding! [You have defeated Ed Williams! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] That¡¯s right, Logan had forgotten that his real name was Ed. His stomach sloshing with acid, Logan swallowed and held back a grimace. In a way, the experiment had been a success. He now knew that he could use [Life Fabricator] to force someone to age. Age rapidly. But unlike before, Logan had done it without having to leach the lifeforce from others. Either the aging process didn¡¯t require that much Karma, or it was because he hadn¡¯t technically grown something out of nothing. In the fight with the rat army, he¡¯d done that with the vine, but it had only been possible because he¡¯d funneled life from the rats. Damn, [Liche Devourer] sure could come in handy right now. Either way, Logan had figured out another use for the skill. And yet¡­ he didn¡¯t like it. Force aging another person? Stealing their ability to fight? It felt like cheating, something that should be done to only his worst enemies. In the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, he¡¯d learned that skills could be more versatile and powerful than physical attributes alone, but that was only because he¡¯d been outclassed. This time, it was Logan who¡¯d outclassed the others. Logan had just learned something about himself. Despite his initial enthusiasm that he could treat this situation as an opportunity to experiment, Logan wasn¡¯t built that way. If he had to fight other people, he¡¯d much rather do it one-on-one, strength against strength. Even worse, the nastiness of what he¡¯d just done had wiped away his anger as if it were never there. In the back of his mind, he knew that the Cursed Rope continued to try to feed his emotions and corrupt them, but Logan was too jarred and disgusted for it to have any effect. Even the quest had lost its lustre. But if these idiots continued to want to fight after that demonstration, well, it was on them. ¡°Last chance,¡± said Logan, willing out his sword and getting into a fighting stance. This time, he¡¯d do it the traditional way. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you, but the System seems hell bent on forcing me. But I¡¯m not the kind of guy that kills just for the sake of killing. I¡¯m here for a reason. I¡¯m looking for my sister and her kids. If you help me find her, I might go easy on you.¡± One person in the group, the jaded-eyed man, glanced from the mushy remains on the floor to Logan, his hand trembling around a gun. Lowering the weapon, he took a wary step back from the group and retreated down the corridor. ¡°I don¡¯t need the bounty that bad. I can¡¯t help you find your sister; Pied would know and treat it as a betrayal, but I¡¯ve got no further beef with you. You don¡¯t go after me, I won¡¯t go after you.¡± The skinny tall man with a blond buzzcut spat a glob of saliva and gave the retreating man a severe glare. ¡°Oliver, you should broaden your definition of betrayal. If you leave now, I¡¯m going to tell the agents that you abandoned us. And you know that will get back to Pied.¡± Oliver scowled. ¡°So do it! Better that than dead.¡± The skinny man clucked his tongue and laughed. ¡°Now who¡¯s the idiot? Betrayal means you¡¯re dead, fuckwad. Pied doesn¡¯t tolerate it.¡± Oliver¡¯s mouth thinned, but he kept his eyes glued to Logan as he continued retreating. ¡°Do what you want, Levi.¡± Then in a voice full of wariness, ¡°You always have.¡± The skinny man, Levi, rolled his eyes and then gave the rest of the group a once-over. ¡°Anyone else going to be a coward? Or can we get back to killing?¡± Turning to Logan, he scrunched his nose. ¡°So you have a powerful skill. It can¡¯t be denied. Is that why you ended up with the bounty? You aged an alien that you shouldn¡¯t have?¡± He spat another glob of saliva, this time aiming for the remains of Brad. Then in a sing-song voice, he said, ¡°But we all know that skills have limitations. You¡¯re almost at Karma deprivation, aren¡¯t you?¡± He gave the group a bright grin. ¡°That means we need to kill him before his karma pool replenishes, boys!¡± B2 - Chapter 33: Versatile Skills One of the men clutched Levi¡¯s arm, his fingers white knuckled. He inclined his head, hissing, ¡°We should wait for the others. Reinforcements. He might be Karma deprived, but there¡¯s something off about him. He¡¯s high leveled, but he shouldn¡¯t have been able to cave in Kalden¡¯s chest like that. Kalden had a high constitution stat.¡± A muscle in Levi¡¯s jaw ticked as he dislodged the man¡¯s grip. ¡°You¡¯re wasting time.¡± The man gave up on being quiet and burst out, ¡°He could have a stealth class that hides his true level!¡± Levi snorted. ¡°If he did, [Identify] wouldn¡¯t tell us that he¡¯s over level 100. That doesn¡¯t make any sense. Besides, I¡¯m not waiting for the others. We¡¯d have to split the bounty even more!¡± Logan took this all in with a feeling of disbelief. For them to do that right in front of him, they had to be way too overconfident¡ªor stupid. Cracking his neck, Logan gave them a savage grin. He¡¯d had enough. He was on a time limit here; somewhere in this complex, he¡¯d find Lara and the kids. After all his worry and everything he¡¯d done to find her and save her, having the last barrier be a bunch of thugs who only wanted to kill for profit, who didn¡¯t care about who¡¯d they¡¯d enslaved¡­ it was enough. Logan had never thought he¡¯d be a guy that would contemplate completing a quest to kill fifty people; he wasn¡¯t a murderer; hell, the System had given him a quest to save five billion people! Logan liked to think of himself as a savior, a good guy. Good guys weren¡¯t mass murderers. But there was a famous saying. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. [Quest Progress: 2/50 kills] [47 minutes remaining.] If he failed to complete the quest, he¡¯d make it almost impossible to save Lara and the kids, but he¡¯d also be letting slavers go free, free to find others, trick them and enslave them. Not to mention that in addition to enslaving other people, they were capturing Ernie¡¯s brethren and boiling them to death. Logan would do what was necessary. Do what was needed. Besides, it wasn¡¯t his fault that these idiots couldn¡¯t see what was right in front of them. His science experiment was over, and it was just a matter of killing the hell out of some shit. Logan was going to let go, use the tripling effect of his True Grit Rings to tear through these fuckers like paper. ¡°Ernie, would you like to time me? I need to cut them down in five minutes flat to stay on schedule.¡± Ernie cackled. ¡°Fleshy human Logan is bloodthirsty! Yes yes yes! I¡¯ll time you,¡± he said, leaning over Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But to do so, I need a better view!¡± ¡°Ernie¡ª¡± ¡°Pah!¡± Ernie jumped onto the railing next to the corridor, clinging to it with his tentacles, the horns on top of his head jumping up and down. He¡¯d deployed his mirroring effect, so he blended in with the stone railing, but that didn¡¯t mean it was foolproof. ¡°If you tell me that I¡¯m not a match for these stinky humans, I¡¯m going to be mad at you again.¡± Then again, he did have a point. Although they were higher leveled than Ernie, unless Logan got in serious trouble, Ernie would be fine. They wouldn¡¯t have time to look for an octopus while their attention was elsewhere. ¡°Plus,¡± said Ernie, preening and glancing towards the elevator. ¡°This way I can keep an eye on Shoot! My mental timer is about to commence! Five minutes! No more, no less! I¡¯ll countdown each minute.¡± Logan looked at him askance. Ernie was so excited he was puffed up like a bird, red blooming on his face and ruining his mirror effect. ¡°Start the countdown.¡± Ernie cackled and began counting down from five. ¡°Go!¡± Envisioning himself barreling into them again like a bowling ball, Logan launched himself forward in a flying leap, using his Pink Sock to give him added momentum. Laughing, Logan flipped in the air and then slashed with his sword at the nearest asshole, going directly for his face. The man let out a shout of alarm, his brown eyes wide. Raising his dagger, he screamed as Logan¡¯s sword clashed with it, sparks and blue light flying. The dagger was high quality, but unlike Logan¡¯s, which could cut through most metal and rock, it wasn¡¯t System crafted. Just sharp. That meant that although the man stopped a direct slash that would have taken off his head, his dagger was no match¡ªclanging and cracking, the tip cleaving and going flying into the wall. But although he¡¯d stopped his decapitation, he couldn¡¯t save his hand. He¡¯d broken Logan¡¯s momentum, but his sword still managed to cleave the dagger and then cut through his hand, his two fingers and thumb severing in a spray of blood. Unlike the others, this man seemed made of sterner stuff. He gave himself a second to glance at his severed fingers before rage swept over him, his mouth in a snarl, his teeth bared. ¡°Fuck you, asshole!¡± His eyes flashed blue before the remains of his broken daggers rose in the air, hovering as if they were held up by invisible strings. Raising the metal so the sharp edges pointed towards Logan¡¯s face, he screamed as he did something with his other intact hand, gesturing like a magician as he directed the pieces to fly at Logan like a shooting arrow. Telekinesis. Back at Jack¡¯s cabin, the news had shown a clip of a lady who¡¯d managed to fly things in the air. This fucker had the same ability. Huh, if the others also had versatile skills, he could see how they might be overconfident. However, there was one problem. Watching the dagger pieces flying towards his face was like watching a toddler push a toy train over a table. Logan¡¯s perception was high enough that he could see the hovering metal before it got too close. Not to mention that his high agility meant that he could move to the side. Like dodging a bullet mid-air. Damn. Stepping to the side, the dagger kept flying at speed, but it slammed into the wall instead of Logan. ¡°Four minutes!¡± shouted Ernie in excitement. Logan came to a stuttering stop and shot Ernie a look. ¡°What kind of timer are you using, there, buddy?¡± There was no way that had been a minute. Ernie bobbed his head and flexed his tentacles around the railing like a barnacle. ¡°It¡¯s a minute, for I say it is!¡± His look turned sly. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re going too slowly. Think of it as motivation!¡± Logan huffed, but then he turned back to his opponent. The man was cursing in frustration and franticly looking for something else to use as a weapon, while the others, led by Levi, inched closer, their eyes wary, their weapons ready. Logan had just enough time to see a gun discharging before he jumped to the side, but rather than moving away, he went towards, slashing the telekinesis man with his ten-inch-long talons on his way past. Ding! [You have defeated Billie Moore! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!]A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Another spray of blood spattered over his armour as he powered past and slashed his sword with his other hand. He felt his chest plate crack as four bullets sprayed him, but [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was so high that he felt no pain, only a slight discomfort. Sealing the cracks by deploying [Mimicry Armour], Logan growled as he slashed his sword, going for the nearest man holding a gun. He was a man with short, greasy hair, his face covered in an unkempt black beard. Although most of the people he¡¯d come across in the complex looked well fed, this one had hallowed cheeks like a skeleton, and he was pale. Way too pale. Beyond the gun, he must have something else up his sleeve. Logan hated to say it, but his pallor reminded him of Ernie. Logan scanned him with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Flynn Neilson: Level 87. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence/Wisdom. Characteristics: Commander of dreams. Hidden name: Hypnos.] What the hell was that supposed to mean? Shit, these fuckers weren¡¯t as stupid as he thought; with skills like telekinesis and whatever this skeleton had, he could see them overpowering everything around them. Once they ganged up together. But the problem was that they might have overpowered everyone else, but they¡¯d never met Logan. Logan slashed his sword at Flynn, but one of the others jumped in front of him, holding up a large metal plate and deflecting his hit. A shield. Logan¡¯s sword had damaged it, a deep score down the middle, but it was still intact. The person holding the shield was a woman with sharp cheekbones and a red birthmark that covered half her face. She was young, barely in her twenties, with a piercing through one eyebrow. ¡°Attack from behind while Flynn goes to work!¡± she screamed. Goes to work? Hell no. But whatever the man was doing must have been Karma related. As he slashed with his sword again, Logan¡¯s arm suddenly felt heavy, his limbs weighted down with iron. He felt sluggish and tired, as if he¡¯d just had a massive food coma crash. Which was nuts, considering that his adrenaline was surging like a freight train. ¡°Three minutes!¡± shouted Ernie. ¡°You¡¯re moving too slow, Logan! You must look behind you as well as in front!¡± Three minutes? The hell. But that¡¯s all the warning Logan had before he felt as if his back had been hit by a boulder. Fuck¡¯s sake! Someone was firing a shotgun, the bullets carving out scoops of his armour, shredding it and forcing sandstone to pile at his feet. He was starting to get really pissed off. Whatever Flynn was doing had to be a mental attack, as if he were forcing Logan to believe that his limbs were weighed down by an anchor. He was tired. Sluggish. It was a skill that would need a high constitution stat to counter, but the problem was that Logan¡¯s lowest stat was constitution at a measly 46 versus a strength attribute of 348. The discrepancy was ridiculous, but he¡¯d never bothered to prioritize the skill, not after he¡¯d received [Regenerate]. It worked just as well as a high constitution stat. At least it did physically. Against people like the Silverdagger Clan, he¡¯d come out on top. But until now, Logan had never had to deal with anything that would impact his constitution mentally. More than likely, it would work the same in reverse. With a high enough constitution attribute, skills like [Life Fabricator] might become ineffectual. Logan needed to kill Flynn before this got any worse. The rage that had dimmed after he¡¯d turned muscular Brad into a pile of mush returned as if he¡¯d just lit his emotions with a match. He was on a time limit; he¡¯d made a game of this with Ernie and although Ernie was applying his own logic to minutes and making them into speed, Ernie minutes, Logan had assumed this would be easy. Instead, he was having to deal with a fucker who wanted to put him to sleep. Even worse, he didn¡¯t have the luxury to figure this out. A clock was ticking, and he¡¯d barely touched the surface of this quest. There were a couple of options here. Eventually, he¡¯d struggle through this sluggish feeling and overpower the asshole, but it would take time. Right now, he felt as if he were fighting with a monkey on his back. If he didn¡¯t want to take that much time, he could assign his free attributes to his constitution stat, and he might upgrade it enough so the man¡¯s skill would no longer have any impact. He might. He might not. But Logan was saving those attributes so he could get his Karma pool high enough so he could unlock [Liche Devourer]. He was close. He¡¯d hate for all this effort to be wasted. He could ask Ernie to take care of the problem, but who¡¯s to say that Ernie¡¯s constitution was high enough? Logan could be needlessly exposing him to danger. But he had another solution. Hissing underneath his breath, Logan blinked and willed out the Cursed Rope, barely giving it a second to take in the world before directing all his mental will at it, communicating his urgency and his rage. Rope, that skinny asshole behind the woman. The one behind the shield. Kill him. Too much put away, too much put away. The rope will feed. Logan had just a second to blink uncomprehendingly at the thing before it inflated and¡­ Holy fuck. The rope leveled as he leveled, and Logan had just gone through another milestone. But instead of increasing in size, this time, its fibre look had transformed. The rope no longer had rough fibres. Instead, it was covered in gleaming scales, scales that looked a vibrant dark blue. They were diamond sharp, reptilian; alive. And that wasn¡¯t all. The divots on the rope¡¯s face had transformed once again, and now, it had eyes. Black, dark eyes that looked bottomless and ancient. That, together with the blue electricity that crackled over its body, made it look truly frightening. ¡°Ooh!¡± said Ernie in awe. Then he spluttered, ¡°That¡¯s cheating, Logan!¡± That was rich coming from Ernie. The others were panicking now that they¡¯d gotten sight of the Cursed Rope. They tried to shelter their faces, ducking away as it zoomed around them, but it had only one purpose. Darting over the shield sheltering Flynn, it crackled through the air as it slammed into his face, wrapping its long, scale covered body around the man¡¯s neck. Logan was worried that the acid effect would be less now that the rope¡¯s fibres were covered in scales, but if anything, they seemed worse. As soon as the scales touched the man, his skin sizzled like the rope was a 400-degree frying pan, eating through his muscles and tendons. He let out a blood-curdling, horrible sounding shriek at the same time that Logan felt energy surge through his body, his tiredness disappearing. Ding! [You have defeated Flynn Neilson! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have leveled up!] Damn. Already a level up notice? No wonder XP harvesters like the Man in Black were leveling up so quickly. It was the triple experience at work. ¡°Two!¡± shouted Ernie. Meanwhile, the others looked at the remains of Flynn and the Cursed Rope who had doubled in size after sucking in his blood, glanced at Logan, and then as one, turned on a dime and tried to run and retreat. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t, assholes!¡± Now that he was no longer feeling the mental effects of Flynn¡¯s skill, Logan¡¯s adrenaline surged, and he burst after them like his feet were on fire. Slashing his sword, he severed a tendon, sliced off another person¡¯s arm with his talons, then grabbed another by the back of his head. Grabbing a fistful of hair, he twisted, breaking his neck. Although they were high leveled, they didn¡¯t seem to have the same skills as the others, their physical attributes their only advantage. Ding! [You have defeated Kendrick Relite! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated Ella Barbier! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [¡­] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] Logan came to a stop and surveyed the carnage around him. He¡¯d cut them all down. All of them. All of them except for Levi. ¡°You,¡± said Logan, grabbing him by the arm and twisting. The man screamed as something inside of his arm snapped. Logan disregarded it and slammed him against the stone wall, the back of his head making a sick smack. Dazed, he stared at Logan, his face pale and his eyes wide, his chest going up and down as if he were having a panic attack. ¡°I didn¡¯t know! I didn¡¯t know! Holy crap, I didn¡¯t know!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know?¡± Logan ground out. It was taking everything he had to hold back his strength. Rage was rushing through him, making a vein on the side of his neck bulge, his nostrils flaring, a pounding in his ears. He was that close to accidently crushing him to death. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re a demon! Of fuck, don¡¯t kill me, please don¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡°You were trying to kill me. I warned you, but you wanted your precious bounty. You have no one to blame but yourself.¡± ¡°No! I¡ª¡± ¡°But I might be willing to negotiate.¡± Levi paused and took in a desperate breath. ¡°Anything! Anything!¡± ¡°Where are you holding the prisoners?¡± Logan clenched his fist and one of his talons inadvertently pierced Levi¡¯s shoulder. He gasped in pain ¡°I can show you! Just let me¡ª¡± Logan let his talons dig deeper. ¡°No, don¡¯t show me. Tell me,¡± Logan spat. ¡°Which floor?¡± He didn¡¯t want to spend a second more in this jerk¡¯s company than he had to. When that didn¡¯t result in anything but more gasping, Logan willed his sword inside of his spatial collar and then grabbed Levi by the hair with his other hand, digging in with his talons. Now, he was stabbing him in the back of the scalp and pinning him by the shoulder with his other hand. ¡°Which. Floor.¡± ¡°Shit! Okay, okay! They¡¯re on the ninth floor, but you¡¯ll never find¡ª¡± Just like that, Logan had had enough. Holding onto the top of his head and twisting, Logan broke Levi¡¯s neck and let his body slump to the floor. Ding! [You have defeated Levi Allard! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] ¡°Time¡¯s up!¡± Ernie chirped. B2 - Chapter 34: A Rage Monster The ninth floor. That was one level below. But he had to be smart here. He¡¯d just realized that he had a major weak point. He¡¯d leveled up three times, so he had attribute points to burn. Logan pulled up his dynamic stat sheet to review his changes: Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 6,003,100,052 Level: 142 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E4 Species: Human Karma: 2,808/2,808 Intelligence: 468 Constitution: 46 Strength: 348 Agility: 363 Dexterity: 288 Endurance: 662 Perception: 137 Wisdom: 566 Luck: 90 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 15 KarmaCoin: 252,600 Fuck. That wasn¡¯t enough. Throwing the 15 free attributes into intelligence would only boost his Karma from 2,808 to 2,925, and he needed 3500 to unlock [Liche Devourer]. Logan hesitated. He could throw the fifteen points into his constitution attribute to shore up his lagging stat. That way, if he came across another person with a mental manipulation skill, he¡¯d be better prepared, but¡­ Logan hated to do it. He¡¯d worked so hard to unlock [Liche Devourer]. Every level earned was precious. Not to mention that he had no idea if he truly needed it. If push came to shove and if he were given more time, Logan suspected that he could have overcome that crushing feeling of sleepiness and killed that fucker with his own hand. But he was on a time limit, forced to jump to the whims of the System. A System who wanted him to become a mass murderer. [Quest Progress: 9/50 kills] [40 minutes remaining.] Shit. Logan needed to get going. Time was ticking, and losing this quest wasn¡¯t an option. If he did, his physical attributes would be cut in half. There was no use shoring up his constitution if it would be irrelevant in less than an hour! For now, Logan decided to hold off on making a decision. If the worst-case scenario happened and he came across another person with a mental attack skill, he could throw his points into his constitution all at once to fix the problem. But there was no sense wasting those attribute points if it ended up being a rare skill. Logan willed the corpses inside of his spatial collar to clean up the evidence as well as store any potential valuables. The cat was out of the bag¡ªthey knew he was here, but at least this way, if they reached this floor and saw blood but no bodies, they might get confused. Ernie jumped on his shoulder and bobbed his head in excitement, his colors fluctuating as if he couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°More slaughter, more!¡± Logan snorted. ¡°You¡¯re certainly bloodthirsty. More than usual.¡± All at once, Ernie¡¯s colors faded. In their place, he became pale, transforming into his natural Liche look as he slumped in place. ¡°I want to kill them all, Logan.¡± His voice was somber. ¡°Kill them all for what they¡¯ve done. I know your brethren is here somewhere, and we¡¯re on a noble quest to rescue them! But if I could balloon in size, stomp on this whole building, and crush the Sky People to death, I would.¡± Logan swallowed. Half the time Ernie¡¯s craziness made him forget that inside, he had a layer of protectiveness and an intrinsic belief that he knew what was right. These Sky People had decided to kidnap Ernie¡¯s people, boil them alive, torture them. If they¡¯d done the same thing to Lara, Logan would want to bomb the place to the ground. Lara. Right now, Lara could be one floor away, and the Killing Quest could be the difference between saving her and losing her. Urgency began to eat away at Logan¡¯s stomach, his breathing speeding up. He needed to move his ass. ¡°Rope, to me!¡± he commanded, holding out his arm. Glee glee glee. The rope is a good rope, the rope can obey. Even though the Cursed Rope had transformed into something that might as well be alive, it could still deflate. Eventually, would it level up so much that it could turn from a dragon back into his rope? The thing had been nothing but trouble from the start, attacking Asthea and forcing him into a heartbreaking situation, but for all of that, it had begun to prove its weight in gold. That¡¯s if he could trust it. So far, it had stayed away from Ernie and treated him like an extension of Logan, but would it behave around Lara? His threat of throwing it on a bonfire had seemed to knock some sense into it, but he was talking about the safety of Lara and the kids here. That did it. As soon as he found them, the rope would go back in the collar. ¡°Aww, look at your daughter!¡± crooned Ernie. ¡°All grown up!¡± Logan looked at the elevator. Shoot. She¡¯d ruined her armour. Blood covered it like splattered paint, gore sticking to her claws. So much for invisibility. In her mouth was the remains of a bloody leather leash, the collar chewed up, the leash trailing to the ground like a dog trying to get their owner to take them for a walk. Had she eaten the rat? ¡°Mother!¡± she beamed, jumping up and down, her tail flicking like mad. ¡°I¡¯ve leveled up! I¡¯ve leveled up!¡± ¡°Er, good job, Shoot. But drop the leash, will you? I¡¯ll need to fix your¡­ well. Just fix you.¡± Logan stepped into the elevator and then got to work collapsing the sandstone around Shoot while he pressed the button for the ninth floor. It was a simple matter of getting rid of the blood-soaked sand and replacing it with a fresh pile to reform the armour anew. Logan activated Shoot¡¯s mirror effect and then blew out a breath of air. He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d be dealing with, but he knew that he had a hell of a lot of killing left to do. ¡°Are you ready?¡± he said to Ernie and Shoot. Shoot jumped up and down in excitement. Ernie¡¯s tentacles flexed on his shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ll make them regret that they ever tried to kill my brethren, Logan. We¡¯ll make them regret everything.¡± *** As the elevator opened on the ninth floor, Logan held his sword, bracing himself for battle. But he was met with an empty corridor. He knew that the alarm had been turned off, but still, what the hell? He was expecting an army.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. This corridor looked the same as the last, stone walls on one side, the railing on the other. Down below, the rat army continued to jostle against each other, riled up with nowhere to go. Shit shit shit. In the back of his mind, a clock continued to tick, turning urgency into anxiousness. It was all very well and good to be ready to slaughter the hell out of everything around him, but he needed to find the enemy to do that! Logan burst down the corridor, this time not bothering to tell Shoot to stay. He had no time to worry about the vine cat, not when Lara and the kids could be a step away. Logan skidded to a stop as he reached what looked like the same stone doors as on the last floor. This time, the weaved, etched pattern didn¡¯t have rats, it had¡­. It looked like¡­ no. Logan averted his gaze from Ernie¡¯s eager eyes and swallowed. He suspected he knew what was inside this room, and it wasn¡¯t Lara. Ernie wouldn¡¯t like this. Pushing the doors open with a clatter, Logan burst into the room and then stopped, staring. The air was humid, as if he¡¯d just stepped into a sauna, and there was the reek of chemicals in the air. Everything was bright, as if the room were illuminated by spotlights. On his shoulder, Ernie made a sound that started as a gasp and then turned into a wail. A wail of heartache and outrage. A skill ring factory. As far as the eye could see, huge glass containers like something out of a mad scientist workshop sat on top of a row of endless burners, their coils lit up red and hot. Some of the containers were dark, like colored plexiglass, while others were clear. Inside each container, liquid was either simmering or boiling violently. Narrow tubes connected to the top went all the way to the ceiling. In front of each container was a person. They were watching the containers with meticulous attention, watching as¡­ Oh, holy hell. Inside the containers were octopuses. Different species, from Giant Pacific to ones the size of miniature poodles. Some were already dead, their skin turning milky white and disintegrating like spoiled milk in water, while others were very much alive, hitting the sides of the containers with their tentacles, eyes wide and full of agony. And it wasn¡¯t just octopuses. Logan could see electrical eels and a worm with legs. It would be one thing to see this and feel bad about what humanity could do¡ªLogan knew that many people boiled lobsters alive¡ªbut amongst the muffled screams, the screeches, Logan could hear other things. They were talking. Pleading for mercy. ¡°Please please please, you can be nice, you can be a nice human! It hurts! It hurts!¡± ¡°Take me back to the cove! IT BURNS.¡± ¡°Kill me now! KILL ME. KILL ME!¡± The people took in their cries, their pleas, as if they were watching paint dry. Behind them was a long, long narrow table, and on top of the table was a pile of skill rings. These rings glinted with an aura that glimmered darkly, something that made his scalp prickle with uneasy awareness. There were thousands of them. Thousands. Logan bit his lip so hard he drew blood. Lara, the kids, the quest, all of it became background noise. All he knew was the injustice he was seeing right in front of him. He knew that the people perpetrating this wrong were guilty. Since the System Integration, Logan had felt many emotions. Amongst them, rage had been a constant friend due to the Cursed Rope¡¯s influence. But this was the first time that he felt that emotion down to his bones. Without being aware of it, he¡¯d started radiating his aura out in a killing intent. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his nostrils flaring, his teeth bared. The sandstone exoskeleton around his knuckles was in danger of cracking as his muscles bulged. These people would pay. As one, the people became aware that something was wrong and turned towards Logan. Any thought of these people being unwilling slaves or contract workers was eradicated when he took in their levels. From level 40 to level 70, they looked at Logan as if he¡¯d interrupted a factory workday. There was no one supervising them, no one cracking a whip and forcing them to do this. The closest one, a man with spiky brown hair and stubble, sneered at Logan. ¡°Are you the one that caused all that noise? Go away. You¡¯re distracting. Take a few rings if you must, but leave us to our work.¡± Logan glanced from the man to the containers, to the sounds of pain, to the pleading. Do your worst, Rope, Logan sent. Fuck them up. In his agony, Ernie had lost his mirror effect, his face a rictus of pain. Jumping off Logan¡¯s shoulder, he burst towards the nearest container of boiling water, his eyes crazed, his tentacles jerking in place. He had no thought for his safety or subterfuge. Ernie wanted to rescue his brethren, rescue them from their agony. Meanwhile, the others had seen Ernie and instead of looking intimidated, a glimmer of greed shone from their eyes. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be so bad if you brought us a present! Holy crap, James! That¡¯s a level 70 octopus! We¡¯ve hit gold, sweet!¡± A man with a large black mole on his chin crept closer to Logan, his hand around a strange-looking weapon. At the other¡¯s words, his gaze jumped to Ernie, and he stared with a gaping mouth. ¡°It¡¯ll make an S Grade ring! S Grade! We¡¯ll make millions!¡± So, it was true. The higher the level, the higher quality skill ring. These people didn¡¯t want to just boil animals alive for skills, they wanted intelligent, thinking, feeling animals. It was monstrous. Logan narrowed his eyes. ¡°You won¡¯t make millions if you¡¯re dead,¡± he spat. As one, the people around him laughed. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that¡ª¡± Logan burst towards the nearest asshole; every ounce of his anger funneled through his fist as he punched through his chest. Logan¡¯s talons tore a chunk of flesh and went straight through the man¡¯s back, before he slashed down as he pulled out his fist, making a mess. The man gasped like a fish, exhaling a spray of blood before his body grew lifeless. Ding! [You have defeated James Caddel! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] The others blinked, faces slack with shock, but Logan didn¡¯t give them a chance to process before he punched the next, slamming his fist into the side of his head, then slashing a chunk out of his shoulder with his sword before finishing him off with a slash to his throat. Blood sprayed in a torrent, splashing Logan¡¯s face. Logan licked his lips as he looked at the others. Wariness was now on their faces. And yet, he saw no fear. ¡°Logan!¡± Ernie screamed. ¡°I can¡¯t get it open! Oh please, please help!¡± Logan turned to him and rushed over, his heart racing. Ernie had wrapped his tentacles around one of the round containers, squeezing the glass, trying to break it. But the container must be made of more than regular glass, since inside, the octopus in the boiling solution was also doing everything it could to escape, pounding against the sides, its eyes frantic. Shoot was pacing up and down, sounds of distress escaping her throat. ¡°Move, Ernie!¡± Logan clenched his hand into a fist and went to town, pounding the thing like a punching bag. It took two hits before hairline cracks sizzled on the surface of the glass, and one more hit before the thing exploded into pieces. The boiling water went flying like an exploding wine bottle, sizzling against Logan¡¯s exoskeleton and the floor. The octopus plopped to the ground with a sick, wet plop, but unlike Ernie, something was wrong. Its tentacles twitched feebly, and it could hardly hold up its face. Its skin was covered in raw looking patches, and it wheezed for air. ¡°T-thank y-you, brother,¡± it croaked in a thready voice. ¡°You¡¯ve s-saved me from agony.¡± With one last gasp, its eyes rolled back in its head. ¡°No!¡± Ernie tried to grasp the octopus, but then he retreated, hissing and holding a tentacle. No wonder it reeked like chemicals. Whatever solution was in those containers was caustic. The octopus was dead. Logan blinked, and then turned back to the others. They were retreating, and swarming towards the door, but for the first time, the Cursed Rope had done something smart. Instead of attacking like mad, it hovered in front of the door, baring its teeth, blue electricity crackling. Each time someone tried to reach the door handle, the rope snapped, going for faces and hands. Trapped. They were trapped. And Logan was ready to give out a hailstorm of pain. *** [You have defeated Henry Katz! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [You have defeated--] [You have defeated--] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Logan had become a god of slaughter, a punisher, for his sword was judgement and his talons were the executioner. From level 40 to level 70, it didn¡¯t matter. No matter what they did, no matter their skill, his hesitancy was gone. He was filled with purpose, to punish the people who dared to commit such atrocities. The only mercy he gave was the quickness of his kills, a luxury they hadn¡¯t given Ernie¡¯s brethren. What only enraged him more was that each person wore a skill ring. Most of the rings seemed to give them a [Regenerate] skill, but unlike Logan¡¯s, it had limited effects, only sealing the severed limb rather than regenerating it. Other rings gave them a [Mimicry] effect, but rather than giving them the ability to generate armour, it gave them a blending skill, turning their skin translucent or camouflaging it. It was useless though, since their clothes ruined the ability. As Logan slashed yet another throat, he continued spending half his attention on smashing the containers and trying to save the animals. Unfortunately, the chemical solution wasn¡¯t just boiling hot but toxic. Each animal he saved gasped for breath, wheezing, before collapsing into an oozing mess. Ding! [You have defeated--] [You have defeated--] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [¡­] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Ten, twenty, thirty, they kept falling underneath his talons and sword. They¡¯d stopped trying to escape, and had instead gathered into a group, trying to work together to find a weak spot. But Logan was untouchable. His rage had jacked everything up to the ninth degree, and half the time, he fought in a blur, not taking anything in but going after the next, another, the next. Until finally, he¡¯d thinned the herd until only two remained. A woman with long black hair gave him a mulish look, her mouth pinched as she examined him like he was a puzzle she was trying to solve. She had no weapon, but she refused to back away. Next to her, a man with short brown hair and an undercut flexed his arms, his mouth in a sneer, his eyes analytical. There was something up with these fuckers. B2 - Chapter 35: A Pissed Off Octopus Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Gal Morgan: Level 78. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: A strategic leader. Hidden name: Gal.] [Fred Elliot: Level 69. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: Burns bright. Hidden name: Sliver.] The woman, Gal, flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and watched Logan¡¯s hands as if she were watching him juggle boiling water. Holding her palms face up, she spat a glob of saliva to the floor. ¡°Don¡¯t attack! Stay back and hear us out. Or are you just a meathead who lives up to the System¡¯s name?¡± At Logan¡¯s furrowed brow, she sneered. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t pick that name. There are idiots out there that might like to call themselves that in jest, but anyone who leveled up like you isn¡¯t one of them. You were dealing with a misbehaving System minion, weren¡¯t you?¡± Gradually, the rage that had overwhelmed him was pushed to the side. Logan let his sword drop as he stared. She¡¯d gotten his attention, if nothing else. ¡°You know about that? About the glitchy AI minion?¡± She smirked. ¡°It¡¯s just one of the things I know, numbnuts. There were reports of an AI going rogue and acting abnormal, giving out shitty names and quests that had fatal penalties. Perhaps I can help you with that problem, hmm?¡± Logan tightened his hold on the handle of his sword. His callouses helped with his grip, but he¡¯d gotten so blood soaked that it was like gripping it while covered in slime. If she were offering to help, that meant she didn¡¯t know that Logan had solved the problem already. The System had assimilated the glitchy AI minion, turning his System messages staid. Boring. She was just stalling. Clenching his fist until his talons creaked, Logan took a step forward. Far down the room, Ernie skidded over the solution-soaked floor, nudging the dying and dead animals, his eyes crazed as he hissed and tried to stay away from large pools of chemical water. Logan had managed to break every container, but he¡¯d long since resigned himself to the fact that freeing the octopuses hadn¡¯t done shit. The heat had activated the chemical solution, and once in the animal¡¯s airways, in their pores, there was no saving them. Still, Ernie refused to believe it, and he continued to try to do whatever he could to save them. In earnest. Logan scrubbed his hair, turning away from Ernie, his anger surging anew. The man, Fred, narrowed his eyes and motioned for Gal to back up. Gal ignored him. ¡°You made the wrong choice! Do you think we were here, toiling away in this hot room because we enjoyed it? We did it because it gives us levels!¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°I knew that would get your attention. That¡¯s right, asshole. We were just like you, XP harvesters, until we met Pied. If we spend a day in this room and make sure shit goes smoothly, we get free reign on the rats below.¡± ¡°The rat army?¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Each day here translates to one hour down below. You must have noticed that they¡¯ve evolved in unique ways. That¡¯s purposeful and designed for leveling. From regular rats to two-headed rats and on and on. Pied¡¯s agents control them, forcing the higher leveled ones to behave while we cut down the monsters we can handle.¡± Shit. It was like sportfishing. Logan had wondered why the rats had been milling down below, motionless even when an alarm was blaring. Just how powerful was this asshole that he could control an army that contained monsters over level 100 and yet just use them for sports XP killing? ¡°He¡¯s letting you level up by killing his own army?¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s immortal, that¡¯s hardly his army. Those are just fodder, a reward for good behaviour. Plus, if we make sure factory production goes smoothly, he gives us skill rings. We get a ring a day. A day! Pied has shown us how much they¡¯re worth. Fucking A, man. Each one is like a brick of gold!¡± Up above, the Cursed Rope jumped through the air, its tail bashing against the tubes that went up to the ceiling. Logan glanced at it, and then blinked and looked closer. Before, its head was smooth like a snake. But now, it had once again leveled up. This time, its head had formed ridges, like eyebrow sockets. Still only a cosmetic change, but impressive all the same. You did well, Rope, Logan sent. The rope can be good, the rope can obey, it purred in satisfaction. The man gave the Cursed Rope a wary, hard glance and inched closer to Gal. Logan let the tip of his sword rest against the floor. ¡°And you think telling me this is going to make me take it easy on you?¡± She snorted. ¡°You¡¯re an XP harvester who¡¯s already E grade. If I know anything, it¡¯s that you want to keep those numbers climbing, you want the high of those level increases. We can get you that here.¡± Logan¡¯s voice was dry. ¡°And all I have to do is boil a bunch of thinking, feeling, intelligent, sentient animals alive, huh?¡± Her look was incredulous. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you care about squid!¡± Fred nudged her and gestured to Ernie. ¡°He came with one. He¡¯s a bleeding heart.¡± A glimmer of amusement glinted from her eyes. ¡°Hate to break it to you, buddy, but they¡¯re animals! The only reason they talk is because of the System. You think we should feel bad because of a few manufactured pleas and artificial tears? It¡¯s not real!¡± Logan ground his teeth and picked up his sword. It was either ignorance or she¡¯d put on blinders. How they could think someone like Ernie wasn¡¯t like any other person was beyond him. But he wasn¡¯t blind to the possibilities. For whatever reason, they¡¯d decided that they wanted to win him over to their side. To gain an ally? Maybe, but more than likely, they were just trying to avoid becoming yet another casualty.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Or they were stalling and waiting for reinforcements. ¡°If you¡¯re so ready to give me information, then how about you tell me where they¡¯re keeping everyone they kidnapped?¡± ¡°So you can kill them all?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± he said, deadpan. ¡°Are you looking for the contract workers? Or the others?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°One group signed Pied¡¯s contract, the others were brought here by force.¡± Lara never would have signed that contract. She was clever. And not to mention a lawyer. ¡°The ones who were brought here by force.¡± Gal scrunched her nose. ¡°The slaves are in the cells. But you¡¯ll never get to them. I can¡¯t blame you¡ªI had the same thought! Thousands of worthless sacks of XP, just waiting to be harvested. But Pied knows that they¡¯re a temptation. He made it impossible to break through the cells.¡± A vein in his forehead throbbed. To be this close, and yet so far away, was beyond frustrating. Each time he thought he grew closer to Lara, he encountered yet another obstacle. ¡°Where. Are. They?¡± ¡°Just tell him,¡± Fred interjected. ¡°He can¡¯t get there anyway.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she drawled. ¡°It¡¯s useless information.¡± Her mouth was brittle. ¡°You can only get to the cells from the inner elevators.¡± ¡°Where,¡± Logan spat, his hand creaking around the handle of his sword. She shrugged. ¡°At the back of the room, of course. But like I said, it doesn¡¯t matter. The elevator access is restricted. No one can use it without Pied keying you into the controls.¡± Logan darted his gaze to the back of the room, but even with his high perception, the room was so narrow and long, filled with so many shattered containers and stacked shelves that it was impossible to see if she were telling the truth. Ernie made a sound of despair and then inched his way towards Logan. He clung to the side of the long table and jumped back and forth from the slaughtered humans to the table so he could avoid touching the wet floor. ¡°Gone, gone, all gone! Torture, killing, monstrosity. They will pay, they will all pay!¡± He didn¡¯t bother speaking with his mental voice. His eyes looked unhinged, his pupil¡¯s pins. He¡¯d lost control of [Mimicry], and his colors fluctuated from his pale Liche color to black, as if reflecting his emotions. On top of Ernie¡¯s head, his horns were no longer jumping up and down but were in the shape of sharp points that glittered in the bright lights beaming down from the ceiling. ¡°Remember the quest,¡± he said, his voice quivering. ¡°Remember that we¡¯re not done slaughtering.¡± Fuck. Ernie was nothing but a cheerful, bright spot in an otherwise shitty apocalypse situation. Seeing his brethren go through this shit had really done a number on the poor guy. But he did have a point. Logan was under a strict time limit, and he didn¡¯t have time to interrogate these two for much longer. [Quest Progress: 49/50 kills] [5 minutes remaining.] Holy shit, he¡¯d torn through that many people? And like they were gift wrapped, he had two in front of him right now that would satisfy the quest. And after all, it wasn¡¯t as if they didn¡¯t deserve it. ¡°Why are you stalling?¡± Ernie said, his skin rippling between his pale Liche color and black. ¡°They deserve death!¡± With a scream of rage, Ernie took a flying leap and jumped from the table to Logan¡¯s shoulder before darting towards Gal with his mouth open. Logan had just enough time to shout in alarm before the woman reacted and jumped to the side. But Ernie was just as fast. Wrapping his tentacles around her neck and squeezing while his Liche filaments seeped out of him like wiggling worms, he bit her face and took a chunk from her cheek, blood spraying as she desperately tried to pull him away from her neck. But Ernie¡¯s tentacles were like eight anacondas, squeezing and squeezing. ¡°I¡¯ll show you fake!¡± screamed Ernie. ¡°I¡¯ll show you manufactured pleas! I¡¯ll show you artificial tears!¡± With a bark, Shoot burst onto the scene, her tail straight up as she jumped at Gal and grabbed her by the pant¡¯s leg and dug in with her fangs. Growling like a dog playing tug-o-war, she clawed the ground, digging in as she tried to bite through the fabric and pull. Gal kicked Shoot in the side like she was hitting a soccer ball. Shoot squealed in pain and darted to the side, before shaking her head and then going back for more. Screaming, Gal managed to dig her long, sharp fingernails into one of Ernie¡¯s tentacles with a sick plop, burrowing into his flesh, blood seeping. But rather than making a sound of pain, it only enraged Ernie more, his eyes like black pools. Logan braced his legs, getting ready to step in, only to come up short as Ernie hissed, ¡°This one is mine.¡± Logan swallowed. ¡°She¡¯s yours,¡± he said softly. Logan left him to it, and then narrowed his gaze on the man. He¡¯d initially taken a step back when Ernie attacked, but now he was looking at Ernie as if he were examining him for weak spots. Like hell. Besides, Logan still needed one more kill. ¡°Hey,¡± he said, grasping his sword with one hand. The man had one hand up, raised as he concentrated. His highest stat was wisdom, which meant that he had a high Karma regeneration rate. He had to be deploying a skill that utilized Karma. Even worse, Logan knew it could be anything. Hell, for all he knew, he had a skill like [Life Fabricator] which let him suck Ernie¡¯s lifeforce! Putting on a burst of speed, Logan barreled into his chest, knocking him to the side and hopefully interrupting his skill. Fred turned towards Logan with a scowl, his eyes glowing red, as if they were lit from¡ª Holy shit! It wasn¡¯t a lifeforce skill, it was an offensive skill that used fire. The man gritted his teeth and gripped Logan¡¯s exoskeleton armguard, a plume of fire swirling around him as if he¡¯d just stepped into a firestorm. It felt like his arm was cooking, roasting underneath his armour, but [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] helped to blunt the pain. Not to mention that this was kid¡¯s play against what Logan had already experienced in the attribute trial. He¡¯d stepped into a perception trial that consisted of acid sloughing off his skin. A little burn was nothing. ¡°Is that the best you¡¯ve got?¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± he hissed, and the fire bloomed hotter, a burst of flame flying towards Logan¡¯s unprotected face. Logan felt his eyebrows singing off, his hair sizzling, but even while that was happening, he was thrusting his talons deep inside the man¡¯s chest. Gasping, he tried to back away and escape Logan¡¯s grip, which only made the wound worse. With a growl, Logan pulled out his fist, tearing a chunk of flesh, and then¡ª Oh shit. The fire had never stopped. And the man was generating it from his core. Logan took a step back, then another and another, eyeing the distance between the inferno and Ernie, who was still strangling Gal to death. Too close. There were a ton of spilled chemicals all around them! If the man exploded, Logan would survive, but what about Ernie? What about Shoot? There was no way to activate [Portal Generation] again¡ªthe skill had a 24-hour activation limit! [Foresight] would be useless¡ªwhat was it going to tell them, that they blew up to death? No, it was up to Logan. He had seconds, literally seconds to figure this out. There was only one solution. [Life Fabricator]. If Logan could make someone age by picturing it, by envisioning it, surely, he could do the same with fire? Extending his senses, Logan searched for the man¡¯s bright lifeforce, his aura, narrowing on it like a vise. At first, it felt like a normal, human aura, but when he focused on the man¡¯s chest, it morphed, blooming until it felt like he was looking at a sun. Like a bonfire. Moving so quickly he felt a stabbing pain behind his eyes as if someone were drilling a poker in his brain, Logan clenched his fist and envisioned that bonfire inside the man¡¯s chest shriveling up. But no, as soon as he did, he could tell that it resisted. That wasn¡¯t how he¡¯d win. What killed fire? Water would smother it, turn it into steam. Lack of oxygen would kill it, sucking it into a¡ª Wait. Logan didn¡¯t have time to figure out how to smother a fire with [Life Fabricator], but he had something just as valuable that he¡¯d used in many other tight situations. His spatial collar. Back in the serpent¡¯s lair, he¡¯d thrown the larvae into his spatial collar, using it as a weapon to help weaken them. He knew that he couldn¡¯t throw Fred into his collar¡ªhe was alive¡ªit wouldn¡¯t work. But although fire was alive, was it really? Was it biologically alive? There was only one way to find out. Giving up on [Life Fabricator], Logan opened his eyes, disregarding the blood dripping from his nose. The man had turned into an inferno, blue flames from his chest swirling like a vortex. With a furrowed brow, his heart racing, Logan concentrated on the fire within the man¡¯s chest and then willed it inside his spatial collar. B2 - Chapter 36: A Skill Enhancement Fred¡¯s chest flared like a firecracker, bright sparks blurring Logan¡¯s vision before the flare of light faded as if it had been sucked through a vacuum. Just like that, the hole in his chest darkened, blackened. The fire was inside of his spatial storage collar. Hell yes! Logan grinned in satisfaction, feeling ten feet tall. His S Grade spatial storage device continued to pay dividends. At this point, it might as well be a weapon rather than storage¡ªit was that versatile. But since the collar stored his items in what he assumed was a pocket dimension, what did that do to something like fire? Would it continue to burn, static, frozen until he removed it? Or would it be like smothering a flame? Non-existent and extinguished due to lack of oxygen? Either way, it was a mystery for another day. ¡°You should have taken us up on our offer,¡± Fred gasped, his face pale and his lips bloodless. ¡°It¡¯s only a stupid octopus.¡± Logan growled as he slashed his talons over Fred¡¯s throat, slicing deep, so deep that a spray of blood splashed his face. Enough was enough. Didn¡¯t the fact that he¡¯d bonded to Ernie clue them in that calling Ernie stupid wasn¡¯t the way to win him over? Asshole. Ding! [You have defeated Fred Elliot! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] [Congratulations! You¡¯ve successfully completed the Quest: Killer, Killer Let¡¯s Get Killing! Reward for completing the Quest: A skill enhancement.] [You¡¯ve received¡ª] Relief surged as he received confirmation that the quest was complete, but for now, he disregarded the other System messages like dismissing a text message, his attention on what was important¡ªErnie. He was muttering underneath his breath, ¡°Murderers, murderers. I shall kill you, kill you, kill you!¡± His pupils were blown wide, his mouth gaping as he panted like an overheating bird in hot weather as he tried to strangle Gal to death. But the woman must be made of sterner stuff, since she¡¯d managed to claw her way between Ernie¡¯s tentacles and her neck, her face bulging and swollen as she gasped and tried to push his tentacles away. But in the meantime, Ernie¡¯s Liche ability had been at work, his diamond filaments sinking into her skin and spreading. She only had a chance for two more gasps, Ernie muttering non-stop the whole time, before the woman¡¯s skin turned pale, pale like a ghost, her eyes turning filmy and unseeing. Unlike with the minion¡¯s he¡¯d encountered at the resort, there were no flower tentacles¡ªat least not yet. Instead, it was as if she¡¯d been muted, like a bright flower with its colors snuffed out. She stopped gasping, her limbs becoming lifeless as she sagged. With no more struggle, Ernie could reposition and get a better grip. His eyes full of savage satisfaction, he stopped muttering and concentrated, as if he were giving the woman a command that Logan couldn¡¯t hear. Jerking like a puppet, her foot spasmed, and then with a sudden lurch, she leaned over and reached for something on the floor. All the while, Ernie kept a firm hold on her, his tentacles wrapped around her neck. Her arm jerking as if he¡¯d jabbed one of her nerves, she lurched to her feet, her eyes glazed and milky white. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ernie crooned. Logan inched his way closer. ¡°What¡­¡± The woman held a dagger in one of her hands. With vicious satisfaction, Ernie watched as with a lurch, she turned the dagger towards her own chest. Aww shit. Logan knew that the System had called Ernie a murderous octopus, but this was the first time that Logan felt the name was apt. One stab. Two. Three and four. The woman continued to stab her own chest with mechanical motions, no expression on her face. Blood sprayed and a gaping wound opened up, showing muscles and flesh. Ernie had turned her into an unfeeling puppet who would do his bidding. And that bidding was her own death. Ding! [Your bonded companion has defeated Gal Morgan! XP sharing reduced based on contributions made.] [You have leveled up!] Off to the side, Shoot gasped, her tail standing straight up and her eyes widening. She¡¯d tried to help Ernie by pulling on the woman¡¯s pant leg, which meant Shoot must have leveled up. Leveled up a lot based on the level discrepancies. Ernie let Gal¡¯s corpse slump to the ground and then unwrapped his tentacles from her neck, crawling over her bloody remains as he panted. ¡°Ernie¡­?¡± whispered Logan. Fuck. He didn¡¯t know what to do. Logan had never been good at emotions and comforting people at the best of times, and this was that to the extreme. The poor thing had just witnessed what had to be hell. There were thousands of rings on the table behind them. Thousands of octopuses who went through torture. Thousands. He would do anything to have his crazy, happy go lucky buddy back, to take this pain away and wind back the clock. But there was no way to fix this. Manufacturing skill rings were a widespread practice. The Silverdagger Clan had known about it, so did the Kingdom of Pied. How many other people in the Collective were doing the same? Not to mention that Logan was convinced that the System had targeted Earth because of animals like Ernie, animals with unique skills. The 365-day purge was just an excuse to make humanity fight amongst each other while people like Pied took advantage and harvested the planet for resources. Ernie looked at Logan blankly, and then swallowed. ¡°I don¡¯t like this place, Logan. I don¡¯t like it at all. This Pied must pay. They all must pay.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with you, buddy. This is fucked up beyond belief. But I need you to pull yourself together. Remember that one floor up, there are hundreds of your friends. We¡¯re going to find my sister and the kids, rescue the other octopuses, and then¡ª¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°We will crush them?¡± Logan let Ernie crawl up his armour and onto his shoulder and then held out his hand for the Cursed Rope. ¡°You know it.¡± With one final crackle of blue electricity, the rope jumped back to Logan. The rope was good, yes? The rope is a good rope, the rope can obey. Sure, rope, sent Logan, you did a good job. Darting his gaze around, taking in the smashed containers and the animal carcasses, Logan felt his anger surge. He knew that people could talk themselves into a lot of shit to justify something that could benefit them, but boiling animals alive? Really? Scrubbing a hand through his hair, Logan paced while Shoot crept closer and bobbed her head, her ears flicking and her eyes uncertain. Logan scanned her with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Chameleon Vine: Level 18. A master shapeshifter. The chameleon vine¡¯s mimicry abilities advance by gaining acceptance as well as XP.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Curiosity. Hidden name: Shoot.] Damn. She¡¯d gone up from level six to level 18. That goes to show how much advantage you¡¯d get by participating in a fight with someone way out of your league. And that was after reduced participation points, too! Logan blew out a breath of air and then glanced at the skill rings on the table. He didn¡¯t have time to destroy them, but he couldn¡¯t leave them. That way the Sky People, Pied, would profit from their misdeeds. Logan concentrated on the pile and then all at once, willed them into his spatial collar, table and all. There was a screeching, nails on chalkboard sound as the table legs tore from the floor, and then with one blink, it was gone, nothing but dust and dampness remaining. Logan took an inventory of the rest of the room and stared at the carnage. Just stared. Bodies on top of bodies, men and women, a pool of blood and chemicals saturating the floor like he¡¯d created a blood pond. Slashed throats, chopped off limbs, ruptured chests. It was as if someone had stepped into a crowd of people and went to town with a weed whacker. A noxious stench saturated the air like a slaughterhouse mixed with bleach. Holy hell. There was a difference between how he felt after he¡¯d killed the murderers in the cabin and now. Fuck. He¡¯d killed fifty people! Fifty! And yet he felt numb, as if it had happened to a different person. Logan knew he should be feeling something other than nothing¡­ hell, having a breakdown, a panic attack, anything other than nothing. But, again, rationally, he knew that each person deserved what they¡¯d got. Complicit in slavery, complicit in torture for profit, complicit to being XP harvesters who took the easy road. Is this what happened to people who were forced to kill and kill? Just like Ernie, their morality would become skewed, where what had seemed impalpable and unthinkable would be just another walk in the park? He had to believe differently. After all, there were career soldiers out there that killed people for a living when forced, but they lived by a strict code. Logan rubbed his eyes and blinked at the floor. Wasn¡¯t that what he was doing? Yes, the System had given him a quest to kill fifty people, but he never would have gone on an unending slaughter, killing everything that moved. They had to be guilty of despicableness before he slashed them with his sword or talons. If he ever stepped beyond that and went after innocent people, then he truly would be lost. But people who were in danger of killing innocents didn¡¯t worry that they would. So, he was on the right path, he had to be. And if what Gal said was true, there should be an elevator at the end of this room that would take him to Lara. Logan glanced around the room, then willed the corpses inside of his spatial collar, one after another. There were a ton of weapons here and who knew what other valuables they were carrying. When he finally got a break, a day of rest, he could inventory everything, destroy the skill rings, and disregard the rest. Logan made his way through the room, his exoskeleton boots crunching over broken glass, doing his best to avoid the remains of the boiled animals. Ernie shifted restlessly as he did, his tentacles clenching on Logan¡¯s shoulder as if in reflex before he averted his gaze, turning it away from his brethren through sure willpower. Rallying, he deployed [Mimicry], the mirroring effect back and his pale Liche look fading. ¡°Did you complete the quest?¡± Logan nodded. ¡°What did the mighty all-knowing being give you as a reward?¡± Logan came to a stop, blinking. Good question. Pulling up his System messages, he reviewed his notifications. [Congratulations! You¡¯ve successfully completed the Quest: Killer, Killer Let¡¯s Get Killing! Reward for completing the Quest: A skill enhancement.] [This one time use skill enhancement will grant you the ability to upgrade a skill by one level. You may choose to upgrade a common skill to uncommon, an uncommon skill to rare, a rare skill to epic, and an epic skill to legendary.] [CHOOSE.] Logan¡¯s stomach dropped to the floor in shock. By now, he was used to these shitty quests. Quests that had FUBAR penalties and weak rewards. But holy crap, there was no denying that this was an overpowered reward. ¡°What did you receive?¡± Ernie questioned. For the first time since this whole skill ring episode started, his eyes glinted with something other than anger. Ernie liked rewards just as much as Logan. ¡°A skill upgrade. We get to choose a skill and upgrade it. Make it better.¡± Ernie¡¯s eyes sparkled with excitement and Logan couldn¡¯t hold back a grin. Continuing to inch closer to the opposite side of the room, his boots crunching over glass, he tried to keep his senses wide open, monitoring for threats while he pulled up his skills. Right away, he knew to disregard his uncommon skills. [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] was the same as [Identify] and he¡¯d already hard capped the skill. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was his pain reduction skill, and he¡¯d leveled it up so much that he hardly felt pain at all. Upgrading it wouldn¡¯t do much. Of his last uncommon skills, he needed [Deepwater Explorer] so that he could breathe underwater, but again, it was a utility skill, not an offensive powerhouse. There would be no reason to upgrade those skills. That left his rare and epic skills. [Regenerate] came from Ernie, and he kept upgrading it as he leveled up. It had been what felt like forever since he¡¯d lost an arm against the queen serpent, so he had no idea if limb regeneration would come quicker now, but at the same time, even if he upgraded it, did he need to? As for [Mimicry Armour] the skill did what it needed. An upgrade to it might give him better armour, but he could already share his armour with Shoot, and he¡¯d only leveled it up three times. Once he had better material to work with other than sand, he could make it stronger. Logan would hate to waste this opportunity on upgrading a skill that didn¡¯t need it. [Undead Stamina] boosted his endurance attribute by 50 percent, so there were possibilities there. If he upgraded it, would it boost it by 100 percent instead? And yet, his endurance attribute was already his highest stat, sitting at a whopping 662 compared to his lowest attribute, constitution, at 46. No, that wasn¡¯t the right decision. Since he couldn¡¯t upgrade [Foresight] because it was already a legendary skill, that left only four choices: The System had locked the description of [Lodestone Creationist] and he had no idea what it could do. That meant it was out immediately. As for the rest, Logan was torn. [Portal Generation] had been a pain in the neck since he¡¯d received it; initially, he¡¯d believed it would be a lifesaver, but it¡¯s KarmaCoin and Karma requirements were prohibitive. Plus, he could activate it only once every 24 hours. If he upgraded the skill, would it make it more versatile and less expensive to operate? And shorten the activation period? If Lara and the kids were really only an elevator away, it sure would be convenient to open a portal with a snap of his fingers and take them directly to Jack¡¯s cabin. As for [Liche Devourer], he¡¯d yet to unlock the skill, but Logan was betting that he was close. Extremely close. He¡¯d hate to upgrade the skill and find out that upgrading it also meant that the requirements to unlock it went up at the same time. All that hard work would be for nothing. And then there was [Life Fabricator]. The skill was already overpowered, but if he upgraded it from epic to legendary, what would that do? The Save Humanity Quest was looming, and he still needed to figure out a way to save billions of people. [CHOOSE]. B2 - Chapter 37: Threshold Shift Logan hesitated, hovering over [Life Fabricator], his heart in his throat with indecision. Throughout this last week, he¡¯d learned that an overpowered skill could be the difference between winning and losing, but without Lara and the kids, he never would have had the motivation to keep pushing, keep upgrading. If he upgraded [Life Fabricator], that could make the skill even more overpowered and turn it into an offensive juggernaut. But as soon as he found Lara, he needed to get her to safety, get her to Jack¡¯s. The 24-hour time limit and the Karma cost of [Portal Generation] was too prohibitive. But wasting this upgrade on a transportation skill was killing him. A greedy gremlin in the pit of his stomach was chanting only one thing. Power, power, power. Logan wanted to overtake Charon and become rank number one in the world. Forget a stealth player, the only way to do that would be to take every advantage he could get. But Lara. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He couldn¡¯t do it. Lara and the kids were too important. Growling, Logan mentally hovered over his choice and confirmed his selection. Ding! [You have chosen to upgrade Portal Generation!] [Calculating¡­.] [¡­.] [¡­] [.¡­] [Results calculated!] [The rare skill, Portal Generation, has been upgraded to the epic skill, Threshold Shift! This epic skill gives you the ability to scan your surroundings and shift from one location to another, both localized and long distance. Transportation capacity power: unlimited. Activation limit: N/A. Karma cost per shift: 500 Karma.] Logan took in the new skill with greedy eyes, half believing that the System would screw him over yet again. But holy shit, based on the description, for once, he¡¯d received the better end of the deal! If what he was reading were true, [Threshold Shift] no longer had a KarmaCoin cost, and 500 Karma was nothing! Not to mention that he could activate it as many times as he wanted, jumping from place to place. ¡°What happened?¡± asked Ernie, shifting closer and staring at Logan in puzzlement. Logan furrowed his brow. Wait a minute. [Portal Generation] had come from Ernie; Ernie had absorbed the crystal, and Logan had received the skill only because they were bonded companions. Without Ernie, Logan would have exceeded his ten-skill limit, forced to give up a skill. ¡°Ernie, do you still have Portal Generation?¡± Ernie¡¯s gaze became faraway as he examined his stat sheet. He bobbed his head. ¡°Yes.¡± What. How was that fair? Ernie narrowed his eyes at Logan and stabbed the air with a tentacle. ¡°Did the System upgrade yours?¡± Logan winced. ¡°Yeah, buddy. It¡¯s called [Threshold Shift] now.¡± Ernie huffed, his cheeks bulging, red blooming on his face. Logan was sure that if he were human, a vein would have been throbbing on his forehead. ¡°Is the mighty all knowing being punishing me? Punishing my kind? Why else would it vex me, vex me so? I demand a refund!¡± Logan winced. ¡°Sorry, Ernie. But at least you still have Portal Generation.¡± ¡°Ugh! Ugh!¡± Ernie used his tentacles to sway from side to side, jumping up and down on Logan¡¯s shoulder as if he were releasing tension, his eyes glinting with anger. ¡°Unjust! Unjust!¡± Ernie had an ability that Logan didn¡¯t have¡ªhe could make minions and create an army, so they already had difference stat sheets anyway, but Logan couldn¡¯t deny that he¡¯d received a shitty deal here. At the same time, although Logan sympathized with Ernie, he felt breathless with excitement. He did his best to hold it back, sensitive that Ernie was glowering, but it was all he could do to stifle his grin. With no activation limit, it sounded like a true skill rather than a portal. Could he¡­? Swallowing, his throat tight with anticipation, Logan eyed the distance between where he was standing and the end of the room, and then glanced at Ernie on his shoulder and hesitated. ¡°I¡¯m going to test the skill. Within the room first. Do you want to come with me? Or sit this one out?¡± The horns on top of Ernie¡¯s head jumped up and down. They¡¯d gone back from the narrow, sharp points, to the more normal rounded ends. Logan suspected they represented his emotions, rage being the inducement for the sharp, knife-like shape. Poking Logan with the end of one of his tentacles, he huffed and then crawled into his pouch. ¡°Where you go, I go.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Logan pinned Shoot with a firm look. ¡°Stay here, Shoot.¡± He needed to be quick. Although he¡¯d slaughtered the inhabitants of the room, Logan was under no illusions that more wouldn¡¯t come. Deploying [Threshold Shift], Logan focused on it like he did with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], expecting that the System would ask for a destination just like [Portal Generation]. And yet, it didn¡¯t, but at the same time, something within his chest shifted. It was a feeling of vertigo; that same feeling you received as you went up in elevation or dropped a large distance. But he was standing still. He hadn¡¯t moved. Narrowing his eyes, Logan concentrated on [Threshold Shift] again, but this time, he focused on a point in the room twenty feet away, thinking, take me there. With a rushing sound, a ringing in his ears, Logan felt an unsettling sensation, a dizziness take hold, and with one blink¡ªreally, less than a blink¡ªhis surroundings shifted, and he was on that spot. Logan gasped, shocked, his skin tingling with discomfort, cold suffusing his limbs. It was as if in an instant, he¡¯d stepped through a pocket dimension that was full of nothing but arctic cold. It was like stepping outside, expecting it to be a sunny, warm day, only for a blizzard to blast him full in the face. But the feeling of disorientation was nothing to the excitement that was making him feel jittery. Ernie peaked his head out of the pouch and looked around. ¡°It worked!¡± His heart in his throat, Logan pulled up his Karma. 2,201/2,808. 2,251/2,808. 2,351/2,808. Holy shit, hell yeah! The skill had cost 500 Karma, and he generated 566 Karma a minute. Even with the drain from his armour, he could deploy the skill at least four times in less than a minute and still not trigger Karma depletion! All right, all right. Logan blew out a breath of air and tried to calm himself down. Ernie had come along for the ride because he was inside the pouch on Logan¡¯s back, but Logan hadn¡¯t consciously willed Ernie to travel with him. He needed to practice transporting other people for this to work for Lara and the kids. ¡°Shoot,¡± he said, raising his voice. ¡°Come here.¡± She was sitting down on her haunches, her ears perked and her mouth panting as she waited.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Aww,¡± said Ernie. ¡°What a well-behaved vine cat!¡± Logan felt a shot of relief. Ernie was acting more like¡­ well, Ernie. He was sure the melancholy would come back; there was no brushing off the trauma of what he¡¯d seen here, but at least his bright personality shone through the heartache. Shoot blinked, and just like back in the street, in one second, she was sitting there, and in the next, she materialized in front of Logan with her green vine tongue sticking out of her mouth. Wagging her tail, she barked, clawing the floor. ¡°Yes, mother!¡± Logan had forgotten that she could teleport as well. ¡°Stay there for a second. I¡¯m going to try to transport you with my new skill. It may feel weird, but it¡¯s safe.¡± At least Logan hoped it was. While Shoot stared at Logan as if he¡¯d hung the moon, her green eyes gleaming, Logan concentrated on [Threshold Shift], but this time, he opened his senses, scanning for Shoot¡¯s bright lifeforce. Her aura was a gentle green, radiating a warmth that represented her feelings¡ªtrust in Logan, trust in Ernie. Keeping that aura fixed in his mind, Logan looked back to the way he came from, narrowing in on that same spot. Just like that, in less than a blink, he felt that same rush of cold, that disorienting sensation, and then here was there. Damn. That¡¯s what he was talking about! Shoot barked in startlement, staring in confusion before shaking her head and scrabbling her thorn claws through the slimy floor. ¡°Mother, that was fun!¡± Fuck yeah. Logan could do more wizard-shit. Logan was a wizard master. But according to the description of [Threshold Shift], there was a feature that he hadn¡¯t yet explored. [This epic skill gives you the ability to scan your surroundings and shift from one location to another, both localized and long distance.] ¡®Scan your surroundings¡¯ could be just that, but Logan was hoping for something else. Something that would make this skill as overpowered as he hoped. Concentrating on [Threshold Shift] one more time, Logan opened his senses as if he were deploying [Life Fabricator]. With that skill, he could sense everything around him, but at a certain point, he¡¯d hit a barrier. A physical barrier. There was no way to scan behind floors or buildings. That wasn¡¯t the purpose of the skill. But would [Threshold Shift] let him go beyond physical barriers and send him wherever he wanted? There was only one way to find out. Keeping the skill active, his nose scrunched in concentration, his fists clenched and his chest tight with anticipation, Logan looked towards the other end of the room, towards the elevator Gal had said would lead him to Lara. Then, his perception shifted. Logan had no way to describe it other than looking through a pair of virtual reality glasses. Instead of sensing the auras around the elevator, he could see the inside of the elevator. From the metal grate to the shiny, stone floor, to the elevator buttons that controlled the thing. Logan wanted to look down. As if he¡¯d willed his non-existent virtual reality glasses to take him there, Logan travelled down the elevator shaft. There was nothing underneath his feet, nothing but air. He knew he wasn¡¯t actually there; but inching his way down was beyond disconcerting. He travelled ten, twenty feet, and then narrowed in on the closed elevator door to the next floor. This wasn¡¯t the same building he was in right now; it seemed to connect to another wing, something that was only accessible through this elevator. Logan travelled through the closed elevator door as if he were a ghost drifting through a wall. On the other side¡­ Shit. A feeling of urgency almost swept him away and pulled him back to the blood-soaked room, but Logan ground his teeth and willed himself forward instead. He may have found Lara and the kids. The room was immense. The size of a football arena. Glass cell doors lined each wall. They were the size of a small living room, and inside each cell were people. Fifty at least. In a football sized arena, there were hundreds of these cells, which meant thousands of people. Logan scanned through the glass walls, peering inside, his stomach sloshing with a combination of dread and hope. Hope that he would find Lara and the kids; dread¡ªthat he wouldn¡¯t. Inside of the cells were metal frame beds. Some people were lying down, others were standing up and milling together. There was a combination of different types of people, from children to people Lara¡¯s age, to seniors. You name it. They looked bleak, with weathered faces and dark circles underneath their eyes, their hair ratty as if they didn¡¯t have access to grooming supplies. And although he tried to look into each cell and scan desperately for a familiar face, there were too many people. Too many to count. Nausea building and his stomach sloshing, Logan released [Threshold Shift] and opened his eyes. Ernie had scooted out of his pouch and was clinging to Logan¡¯s shoulder, peering at him in concern. ¡°What is it?¡± Logan swallowed. ¡°I think I know where Lara and the kids are. And we can go there. Right now.¡± Ernie poked his chest with a tentacle, his touch gentle. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, isn¡¯t it? We have a noble quest to find your brethren and rescue them! And the sooner the better, yes? Yes. That way, we can get back to slaughtering and crush these monsters like they deserve.¡± Right. Logan didn¡¯t know how to explain it to Ernie; he didn¡¯t know how to explain it to himself. He suspected that what he was feeling was trepidation. For the past week, Lara and the kids had been his purpose. No matter what he encountered, he kept pushing and moving forward because he had told himself that he had to, that they needed him. That they were alive and waiting for him. Now that he¡¯d made progress, if he located everyone that had been enslaved and found out that Lara and the kids weren¡¯t there on the other side? Logan didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do with himself, but it wouldn¡¯t be anything good. Logan ran a hand through his hair, pausing when it came back full of gunk. Glancing down at his armour, he winced. He was filthy with blood and guts. His hair was once again gore encrusted, but at least he could collapse the sandstone and reform his suit. ¡°Ernie, crawl down for a minute, will you? I¡¯m going to change my armour.¡± Ernie obeyed, his mouth puckering in distaste as he jumped clear of the blood pools until he found a patch of bare floor. Logan took out a bucket of sand and reformed his armour, sculpting his pouch again. Lastly, he removed a towel and a bottle of water from his spatial collar, drizzling the water over his head and face, using the towel to wipe away as much blood and grit as he could. Even after the towel was filthy, he suspected that his hair was standing on end. Oh well. But he needed to do one more thing before he activated [Threshold Shift]. Deploy his free attributes. Logan had held off upgrading just in case he ran into another person with a mental manipulation skill, but he couldn¡¯t do it forever. Now that he had another skill that needed high Karma to operate, it made sense to deploy his points. He was betting that he was close to unlocking [Liche Devourer]. Extremely close. Logan pulled up his full stat sheet. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 6,003,001,752 Level: 156 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E5 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack XP Progress: 225,000/312,000 Karma: 2,808/2,808 Intelligence: 360 + 30% = 468 Constitution: 46 Strength: 116x3* = 348 Agility: 121x3* = 363 Dexterity: 96x3* = 288 Endurance: 147x3* = 441+ 50% = 662 Perception: 35x3* = 105 + 30% = 137 Wisdom: 435 + 30% = 566 Luck: 100 (*Pure Grit Ring) Free Attribute Points: 85 KarmaCoin: 252,600 He felt a surge of pride as he took in his changes. He¡¯d gone up to level 156¡ªhe was halfway to D grade! Regenerate had gone up to level 15 since it scaled with his level. His luck attribute had gone up from 90 to 100, and he was sitting at 85 free attributes. 85! Again, Logan hesitated. That constitution attribute was looking low against all his other stats, but he was so, so close to unlocking [Liche Devourer]. Plus, if he threw all 85 points into his intelligence stat, his Karma pool would go up, allowing him to use [Threshold Shift] more frequently. Decision made, Logan allocated his attributes: [Intelligence: 361] [Intelligence: 362+] [Intelligence: 445] But that wasn¡¯t all. With the 30 percent boost from the True Grit Rings, he¡¯d just upgraded his intelligence attribute to 579. Logan only had a second to do the mental math before he gasped, lurching as his eyes bulged, scene after scene rushing through his mind. From his arrival at Richton¡¯s Tomb, to his climb down the mountain, to encountering Lara¡¯s empty house, to his fight with the rat army. Lastly, his encounter with Brooke and Chase, to the creation of Shoot. This time, the System didn¡¯t send him a scene from his childhood, but it felt like his perception had shifted all the same. Feeling like his insides were vibrating, Logan glanced at his Karma pool. 2,900/3,474. 3,100/3,474. 3,199/3,474. Logan barely held himself back from kicking the wall in frustration. So close. He needed a 3500 Karma pool to unlock [Liche Devourer]. He was barely one level increase away! Logan scrubbed a hand through his hair and then loosened his shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Ernie,¡± he said, holding out his arm for Ernie to climb onto. Although he hadn¡¯t unlocked [Liche Devourer], his increased Karma pool would allow him to deploy [Threshold Shift] multiple times like he¡¯d wanted. Plus, a 3,400 Karma pool was nothing to sneeze at. ¡°Shoot, get ready. Remember to try to stay invisible, no sudden movements, no noises unless necessary.¡± Even though he hadn¡¯t seen any guards outside the cells, there was no reason to risk it. He couldn¡¯t imagine thousands of people being left to their own devices¡ªeven if they were in cells. With one last check¡ªhis rope was inside his spatial collar, his talons were deployed, his sword in his left hand¡ªLogan deployed [Threshold Shift], latched onto Shoot, and then with a lurching sensation, sent them through. To Lara. B2 - Chapter 38: Close, So Close Logan had used [Threshold Shift] to send him through the floor rather than a few feet, but when he materialized in front of the cells, that rush of cold, the numbness in his limbs, wasn¡¯t any worse than the last time. Holding back a gasp, Logan shifted his grip on his sword and stared, tension like a living thing ready to explode, his stomach tightening. In front of him was an empty hallway; a straight hallway that went on, and on, and on. On either side were the glass cells, just like he¡¯d seen with [Threshold Shift]. He was here. He was really here. Somewhere within these cells, he¡¯d find Lara and the kids. He would. He would. He would. Ernie hadn¡¯t bothered crawling into his pouch, but he¡¯d deployed the mirroring effect of [Mimicry] and he was invisible against Logan¡¯s shoulder. Next to Logan, Shoot brimmed with excitement, prancing on her feet, her tail up, but she did her best to not cause unnecessary noise. All down the hallway, it was empty, not a hint of a guard. Had they really left the cells unguarded? It made no sense, especially since this whole place had been blaring with an alarm less than an hour ago. They knew he was here. That he had a bounty. Unless Logan had managed to kill everyone, there had to be more lying in wait. It felt like a trap. But at the same time, maybe his luck was finally paying dividends. He couldn¡¯t increase his luck attribute himself; the score went up only after he overcame a tricky situation. Back when he¡¯d first received his stat sheet, a 100-luck score would have seemed massive. ¡°So many,¡± Ernie whispered. ¡°Are we going to save them all?¡± Save them all? There were way too many¡ª Huh. Logan¡¯s overarching goal was to find Lara and the kids, but once he did, [Threshold Shift] could theoretically let him transport as many people as he wanted. Why couldn¡¯t he save them all? This Pied was profiting from some pretty shady shit, and Logan was going to fuck him up. Or at least fuck up his business. Logan grinned. ¡°We can save them. Save them all. But first, we need to find Lara and the kids.¡± Ernie peered into the nearest glass cell. ¡°Are they inside?¡± Logan inched his way closer to the cell on his left. At first glance, the wall looked like a regular window, or a massive glass door. Clear, see-through, allowing him to see the people inside as if he weren¡¯t looking through a barrier. But the closer he inched forward, the more he sensed something off. It reminded him of the black chains he¡¯d stolen from the strength attribute trial. There was an aura radiating from the glass, something that made the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Even stranger, the people inside the cells couldn¡¯t see him since he¡¯d deployed his camouflage effect, so they were talking amongst themselves. One person in the middle of the group was standing, gesturing with his hands, his face red like a beet, while the others argued. Logan could see it, but he couldn¡¯t hear it. With his high perception, there was no way he shouldn¡¯t hear something when they were right next to him. There was something up with this glass. Something that he didn¡¯t like. Either way, it was still see-through. He could look inside the cells and search for Lara and the kids. Logan scanned from one face to the other, narrowing in on the kids, his heart racing with anticipation, but this one was a dud. No Lara. No kids. Turning, he walked across the hallway and then peered into the cell on the right. He scanned what had to be another fifty people, coming up with the same result. They were strangers. Logan didn¡¯t know them. Pumping his legs, he sped to the next cell, then the next, then the next, like a squirrel on steroids. ¡°No luck?¡± Ernie said. Logan grunted. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to keep¡­¡± Looking. Staring down the long, long hallway, at what had to be over 500 cells, Logan winced, his mouth going dry. Holy shit, to get so close to finding Lara and yet be stuck with a needle in a haystack search was beyond frustrating! There had to be a more efficient way to find her. Hesitating, he turned around, back to the elevator. If he were an alien jailer, he¡¯d want to keep track of his prisoners, wouldn¡¯t he? What if just like Logan, the jailers needed to find someone quickly? Jails had prisoner inventories. It would be crazy that they¡¯d just shove everyone into cells without some kind of list. And for once, his luck might be working. Right next to the elevator door, there was something that reminded him of the lodestone next to his Tree Fridge. Instead of a palm print, there was a small slot, the width of a knife. Right above that was an unlit touchscreen. Logan threw his sword inside of his spatial collar and then collapsed his talons and the glove on one hand. Wetting his lips, he pressed his index finger against the touchscreen, anticipation brimming in his stomach. Nothing. Touching it again, then again, this time pressing down hard, he growled. It had to be a touchscreen! It looked just like it! Logan crouched and examined the slot inside of the lodestone. It looked like a key slot, but it had an odd shape, more like an opening for something long, like a¡­ Furrowing his brow, Logan rummaged through the contents of his spatial storage collar until he came across one of the bracelets he¡¯d nabbed when he¡¯d hidden the corpses. One of the assholes had even turned on the alarm with it. Could he use it to turn on the touchscreen? Logan willed it into his bare hand, then turned it and held it up to the light. It looked like a silver bracelet, flat on one side, solid. It didn¡¯t appear to be anything other than jewelry, but when Logan examined it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] he knew it was no simple piece of jewelry. [Command communication bracelet. D Grade.] It didn¡¯t tell him anything about what it was; and D grade was crap, but it might just be what he was looking for. Logan held his breath as he slotted one side of the bracelet inside of the lodestone opening. Just like that, the touchscreen turned on as if he¡¯d flipped on the power switch.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Oooh,¡± crooned Ernie, excited. Since he was inside of a complex that he was pretty sure was alien in nature, he was expecting a different language, but just like the stones inside of the attribute trial, the words seemed to alter in front of his eyes into English. Far out. Logan toggled through the screens, a lightness in his chest as his excitement surged. The System had frustrated him to no end, forcing Logan to guess about everything and not providing an instruction manual. If he¡¯d just stumbled across something that could supplement his knowledge? It was a gold mine. He sagged. But although he found a POPULATION list, that was all. There was no System encyclopedia. No cheat. Still, a population list was what he¡¯d wanted in the first place. Logan toggled through the screens, biting his lip, his breathing speeding up the further he scrolled through the names. The prisoners were listed last name, first name, species, and then level. And fuck, there were thousands of them! Allen, Brighten, HUMAN, Level 8, Cell 45. Allen, Candace, HUMAN, Level 3, Cell 45. Armstrong, Jamil, HUMAN, Level 12, Cell 3. Armstrong, Henry, HUMAN, Level 9, Cell 10. Alexander, Leigh-Ann, HUMAN, Level 15, Cell 22. Consistent with all of them was their low level. This prison consisted of low-level people. As Logan scrolled through the list, he only came across a handful who were above level 50. Logan kept going, all the way to the Hs. After Lara went through her divorce, she¡¯d gone back to her maiden name. Logan¡¯s name. Hart. His heart beating out of his chest, he went from Hall, to Halle, to¡­ Hart, Lara, HUMAN, Level 12, Cell 39. She was here! She was here! Holy crap, she was here! Swaying, Logan felt his legs go boneless as relief swept through him like the tide. Holding onto the wall, he closed his eyes, breathing out a silent prayer of thanks. All his struggles, all the pain he¡¯d gone through, keeping him sane, all of it had been for Lara and the kids. Throughout this last week, they had been what kept his hope alive. He¡¯d told himself that he¡¯d find them on the other side, but a creeping doubt had begun, a doubt that he¡¯d never admit to himself. A doubt that all of this had been in vain, and that Lara wouldn¡¯t be there. That he¡¯d been too late. But she was here! Cell 39. One more step, and he could use [Threshold Shift] to take Lara and the kids to safety. ¡°She¡¯s here, Ernie!¡± he whispered. Ernie made a sound of excitement. ¡°Ahah! We¡¯re soon about to triumph and win our noble quest to save your brethren! Yes yes yes!¡± Logan walked to the nearest cell. Sure enough, right next to the glass was a huge number, 1, etched into the wall. If they¡¯d labeled the cells in a logical, numerical way, Lara was only 38 cells away. Hesitating, he glanced at his armour. He didn¡¯t want to scare them. ¡°Ernie, can you crawl back into your pouch? I¡¯ll introduce you, but I don¡¯t want to shock them. The kids might be scared of animals now, so it¡¯s better if I tell them about you first.¡± ¡°Little squishy humans! Little Logans! Of course, Ernie does not want to be scary.¡± Crawling over his shoulder, Ernie scooted into his pouch. ¡°Shoot,¡± Logan said, eyeing her carefully. ¡°You¡¯re about to meet my family. Treat them like you would me, will you?¡± The vine cat had been nothing but loyal so far. Logan didn¡¯t have concerns that she¡¯d act like the Cursed Rope, but he didn¡¯t know what he was dealing with here. Lara would be Lara, but the kids had to be worried. Scared. Lastly, Logan collapsed the talons on his other hand and made his armour solid, deactivating the camouflage effect. He burst into a run, Shoot trailing behind him as he scanned each cell, looking for number 39. Although he still couldn¡¯t hear anything from inside the cells, now that he was visible, people took notice, their gazes jerking towards him as he passed; some getting up from their cots, others jabbing each other in excitement. At least the soundproof effect was one advantage¡ªpeople shouting would bring attention. Logan passed cell 31, then¡­ Wait. Shit. Coming to a stop in front of cell 32, he stared. ¡°What is it?¡± Ernie asked in his mental voice. Brooke and Chase. Fuck. He¡¯d assumed they¡¯d gotten away, but the evidence was right in front of his eyes. Every single one of them, even Sarah, were behind the glass walls. That meant that the rat army must have eventually found them. Either that, or the hunter seekers, those shitty contract users. That meant that those fuckers were finding everyone! No wonder the city had been empty. Just what the hell were they planning to do with these people? The workers maintaining the skill ring factory, he could understand. But what was the purpose of gathering up thousands of slave workers if they had them in cells doing nothing? For that matter, gathering up children? He¡¯d like to think even an alien would have compunctions against forcing children to be slave labourers. Logan looked down the hallway, then hesitated. He¡¯d tried so hard to save Brooke and Chase¡¯s group that it was beyond frustrating to see them behind the glass wall. But at least Logan was here. There was no reason that once he found Lara and the kids, that he couldn¡¯t come back. Couldn¡¯t come back for them all. Chase turned his head towards Logan, his eyes widening, just as Logan powered past his cell and kept going. Kept going until he arrived in front of cell 39. Then he stared and studied each person, scanning faces, bouncing from foot to foot, his chest tightening. After everything, being this close was killing him. And then as if his legs had been cut, Logan slumped, leaning against the glass wall. Lara. She was sitting on one of the cots, her hair in a long brown ponytail, her face streaked with dirt and what looked like splashes of dried blood. She was wearing ripped jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. And next to her¡­ Logan clenched his hand into a fist, his gloves clattering over the glass. Sawyer. Sawyer, his youngest, ten-year-old niece, was curled up on the cot next to Lara. Her face was pale. Way too pale. And against her pink bangs, she looked like a ghost. Logan remembered the first time he¡¯d seen her pink hair. She¡¯d colored it at a friend¡¯s house and had been so excited to show it to Logan when he came over for a visit. Logan hadn¡¯t had the heart to tell her that he¡¯d hoped pink hair had been a phase that she¡¯d grow out of. Sawyer was wearing a sweatshirt, the sleeves pulled down over her hands, but even in that, she looked cold. Logan scanned the room for Hunter, worried for a second before he saw her at the back, talking to a boy her age. Hunter¡¯s blond hair was half out of her ponytail, worrying streaks of dried blood coating the strands. She¡¯d just started her teenage phase¡ªturning her nose at everything that involved her mom, but Logan liked to think that they still got along. Unlike Sawyer, she looked as if she were handling things better and was in a pretty intense discussion with the other boy. Holy shit, he¡¯d really found them. Logan was starting to gather the attention of everyone, and soon, although he still couldn¡¯t hear them, word was spreading. They inched closer, some wary, some curious, but there was only three people he cared about. Logan let his facemask and helmet dissolve, and then grinned at Lara as she clambered off the cot. Lara grabbed Sawyer by the hand and dragged her forward towards the glass. She gave him a hard glance before she blinked, her mouth dropping open. Looking from Logan¡¯s face to his chest, back to his face, her face slackened with shock as she mouthed, ¡°Logan?¡± Embarrassed, Logan waved, his face feeling warm. The last time they¡¯d seen each other had been before the apocalypse. Logan hadn¡¯t been in horrible shape, but he¡¯d hardly made it to the gym at the best of times. Now, the System had transformed him into a new man. Taller, stronger¡­ with no eyebrows. Chagrined, Logan rubbed the back of his neck and tried to smooth his rat nest of a hairdo. Lara said something while Sawyer¡¯s face transformed with color, her eyes shining as she tugged on Lara¡¯s hand closer to the glass wall. But no matter how hard he strained, he couldn¡¯t hear them. Well, there was no reason that couldn¡¯t change. First, he¡¯d use [Threshold Shift] to portal into the cell, explain that he was rescuing them, and then take it from there. Barely holding back a laugh, Logan blew out a massive breath of relief. ¡°We made it, Ernie. We found them.¡± Ernie¡¯s voice was bright with pleasure. ¡°For we rival all, Logan.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Narrowing his eyes, Logan latched onto a space behind everyone and then deployed [Threshold Shift]. He was expecting a rush of cold, a feeling of displacement. Instead, a massive headache slammed into him, as if a hundred needles were drilling into his forehead. A lurching sensation went through him, nausea overwhelming him so strongly that he swallowed bile. It felt like something was tearing him apart, the pain intense. He might as well not have [Idiot¡¯s Paradox]! A cold sweat breaking out on his body, Logan opened his eyes. He was still in front of the cell. The skill had failed. B2 - Chapter 39: The Immortal For all the talk of wizard-shit, and unnatural powers and craziness since the System Integration, Logan had accepted that he had access to things beyond this world that could do amazing things. He¡¯d accepted it and relied on it. The System categorized [Threshold Shift] as an epic skill. An epic skill shouldn¡¯t fail. Had he activated it incorrectly? He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d done wrong, and it was crunch time here. Lara and the kids; hell, all the people in the cells¡­ they were relying on him to rescue them. ¡°What happened?¡± asked Ernie with his mental voice. ¡°That felt icky! Cold. Foreign.¡± ¡°[Threshold Shift] failed.¡± Ernie huffed. ¡°We wasted an upgrade on that! Hmm. I still have [Portal Generation]. Would that work instead?¡± [Portal Generation] was a one-time use skill with a prohibitive cost. Ernie would have to be right next to Lara and the kids to get them out of the cell, which meant that he¡¯d first have to portal inside. With a 24-hour activation limit, he¡¯d effectively imprison himself. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll work. Let me test something first.¡± Logan gestured to Lara through the glass, motioning her to wait, mouthing, ¡°Hold on,¡± and then backed into the hallway. He glanced down the long corridor and narrowed in on a spot fifty feet away. Half dreading that he¡¯d have that same cold, nausea inducing sensation, Logan deployed [Threshold Shift]. Just like in the skill ring factory, with less than a blink, Logan jumped to that spot. It had worked. The skill was fine. Shit shit shit. He didn¡¯t like what that implied. Logan deployed [Threshold Shift] to return in front of Lara¡¯s cell. Even being this far away from her made his anxiety surge. But she was in the same spot as before, her eyebrows scrunched, her hands on her hips. If the cell didn¡¯t stop sound, Logan would be getting an earful right about now. He had one last hope, a possibility that he¡¯d screwed up the skill when trying to shift into the cell. It was a faint hope, but hope was all he had right now. Scrunching his nose, Logan concentrated on another point within the cell, this time farther back and to the right, then deployed [Threshold Shift]. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± he screamed, a gush of blood pouring from his nose. It was even worse than last time! A million needles stabbed his forehead, his ears feeling plugged and full of water, as if he¡¯d gone for a swim and angled his head the wrong way. Shit, it felt like his ears were bleeding! Logan retched and leaned against the cell, gasping, doing everything he could to avoid collapsing. It was just as he¡¯d suspected. [Threshold Shift] was fine; there was nothing wrong with the skill. But these cells had an aura that reminded him of the black chains; they were so strong they blocked out sound. Could they also interfere with teleporting skills like Logan¡¯s? He couldn¡¯t be the only one within the Collective to receive a transportation skill. Logan didn¡¯t know how many worlds or how many people the System had integrated, but there had to be billions. Trillions. It would be smart to create a prison that prevented escape. A lump in his throat, Logan looked at Lara through the glass, staring into her eyes, never feeling more powerless. If the skill didn¡¯t work, that meant he¡¯d have to rescue her the old-fashioned way. ¡°All right, Shoot,¡± he said, glancing over at the vine cat. ¡°Back up, will you? Well clear of the cell.¡± ¡°Yes, mother!¡± Her tail wagging, she backed away, her green eyes alight with curiosity. But there was still the matter of the people within the cell. They were way too close to the glass. Logan made a shooing motion with his hands, but the people just looked at him as if he were especially odd. Lara¡¯s mouth twisted, and she looked at him in confusion. Wait, wait, wait. Lara¡¯s house had a hell of a lot of crap, and Logan had thrown everything inside of his spatial storage collar. Mentally rummaging around, he willed out a piece of white printer paper and a black felt pen and then etched, BACK UP, in big caps and held the paper up to the glass. Lara nodded and then started gesturing to everyone to back far away from the glass. Sawyer clung to her mother¡¯s hand and bounced on the balls of her feet. All right. It was time to use every earned strength and agility point at his disposal to break through the glass. Logan was going to turn into the Hulk to rescue his family. ¡°Keep inside the pouch, Ernie. There could be flying glass.¡± Ernie made a sound of acknowledgement. Glancing down at his fist, Logan made sure that his armour covered it evenly and then shifted his feet, widening his stance, his limbs tingling with anticipation. With a wide swing, Logan pounded the glass, hitting it like a punching bag. If he had done the same to a car outside, he would have sent it flying in the air. But the glass didn¡¯t vibrate; it was like hitting a wall of concrete before the System Integration. Holy shit, that wasn¡¯t good. Still, like hell was he giving up. Lara and the kids were watching him, relying on him. He was getting them out of here if it killed him. Logan slammed his fist again, then again, again. Again. Again. His armour shattered, the sand raining down to the floor, but still, he continued, hitting his fist against the glass like a madman, his knuckles splitting, blood smearing on the glass. His heart racing, sweat breaking out on his forehead, Logan went to town, slamming his fists, hit after hit, until a sharp pain broke through his trance. It felt like his fist had been run over by a truck! Ding! [Idiot¡¯s Paradox is level 29!] Panting, Logan took a step back, glancing down at his fists and wincing, but [Regenerate] was already at work, knitting together his torn skin and working deep within his hand to repair his cracked bones. On the glass, it looked like a slaughterhouse, blood and torn bits of Logan¡¯s skin stuck to the cell. But¡­ Ah, man. The glass was intact, no hint of a crack. Other than the filth, it was like new. He hadn¡¯t made a dent. There had to be a way to break it, something, anything. Inside the cell, the others were inching their way back towards the glass, avoiding the smears of blood. Lara scanned him, wincing at his bloody fists. She held up a hand and then moved towards her cot, grabbing something and returning. It wasn¡¯t a piece of paper like Logan¡¯s, instead, it was a small, sparkly notebook, likely Sawyer¡¯s. Lara scribbled something on the page, tore it out, and then slammed it against the glass. Find a guard. Force them to let us out. Logan looked from the paper to Lara, nodding his head that he understood. There was a sparce lack of guards here, but the prison couldn¡¯t be abandoned. There had to be a guardroom, a barracks. A place that¡­Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! A place that¡­ A feeling of dread swept through Logan, making his muscles lock in tension. It felt as if someone were watching him, that same feeling you got while trekking through a park in the pitch dark, and a predator¡¯s eyes flashed in the darkness. Logan had had close calls with bears in the Okanagan. They normally kept far up in the mountains, but every once and a while, he¡¯d find them on hiking trails. That heart racing, prickling feeling, that what the fuck get me out of here sensation. Turning as slowly as possible, his senses wide open, Logan peered behind him, saw nothing but the other cell, and then looked down the hallway. That¡­ definitely wasn¡¯t human. Thirty feet down the corridor, something on two legs observed him. But two legs were as close as humanoid as it came. Holy shit, even though Logan knew that the Silverdagger Clan were technically aliens, with their wolf-like ears, this was the first time that he really felt that alienness. That was a frigging alien! It was covered in black fur and at least seven feet tall. It had a snout, with long whiskers and a black nose. Its cheeks were angular, looking more bizarre because of the two, huge blue eyes that glinted in the lights of the arena. At the top of its head, two fluffy ears pointed straight up like a rabbit¡¯s. It was wearing a shirt, normal looking, but instead of pants or shorts, it was wearing what Logan could only describe as a skirt, or a kilt. As it moved closer, its bare feet clacked against the floor, sharp black nails rounding out rodent-like feet. And behind it, a long, long fluffy tail, covered in black fur, swayed from side to side. It reminded Logan of a fox tail. The thing was decorated in jewelry¡ªa dangling gold necklace, bracelets and rings. Even ankle jewelry. It was one thing to be so completely alien. Logan could get around that eventually. No, that wasn¡¯t what made dread pool in his stomach. It was its aura. Back in the attribute trial, even back at the resort, Logan had figured out that you could extend your aura to come across as intimidating and make people back down. Logan had done that to Thorin in the attribute trial, forcing him to be less bluster and to not be such a bully. He didn¡¯t know if this alien was consciously doing the same, but radiating from it was a crushing aura. It felt as though a ton of pressure was pressing down on his shoulders, as if a house were crushing him! His mouth went dry, his heart beating like he was having a heart attack, every sense on alert. Whoever this was, they felt strong. Too strong. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Ruler Pied. Level ??? The immortal ruler of the Kingdom of Pied.] [Highest stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: A master of the mind arts.] Oh hell. From what he¡¯d learned, Pied was an immortal, and immortals were over level 1000. Level 1000! Logan had puffed himself up, felt pride at how far he¡¯d come, knowing that against all the other people on Earth, the System ranked him second. But against someone over level 1000, how could he compete? Who knew what kind of skills it had at its disposal? And his greatest weakness was his constitution stat, which made him vulnerable to mind attacks. His stealth player status meant nothing against someone this strong. If this thing wanted, it could crush him like a bug. It was one thing if it killed Logan, but if it did, everything he¡¯d struggled through for the last week meant nothing. Lara and the kids would stay trapped, subject to the whims of this monster. But if it had wanted to kill him, wouldn¡¯t it have done it by now? Strolling closer to Logan, it smiled, and its aura only got worse. So bad that the air felt dense with pressure, as if he¡¯d entered a sauna and the air had grown thin. Trying to move was like struggling through ground saturated in molasses, as if his boots wanted to stick to the floor. ¡°W-what is that?¡± asked Ernie, breathless. It examined Logan like he was a piece of meat it was considering buying. Just like that, Logan made a decision, deploying the only skill that might let him survive this encounter. It felt like ages since he¡¯d last activated [Foresight], but it was the only skill that would let him foresee how this encounter would go. By activating it, he¡¯d be able to see ten minutes in the future, and there was no way Pied would know that he was doing it. [Activating Foresight in 3¡­ 2¡­. 1.] A flash. ¡°Mm,¡± said Pied. ¡°You¡¯re a noble one, aren¡¯t you? Slightly jaded, but still guided by a righteous need to do good. You¡¯ve had quite the little adventure within my complex, haven¡¯t you, Logan?¡± Logan swallowed. ¡°Ah! My apologies, I should have introduced myself.¡± Pied dipped his head, kicking his foot back and bowing theatrically as if he were on a stage. ¡°Ruler Pied at your service.¡± Ernie popped his head out of the pouch and then crawled onto Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Ernie!¡± Logan sent, alarm shooting through him. It was one thing to survive this encounter on his own, but another thing to put Ernie into jeopardy. By clinging to his shoulder, he¡¯d make himself into a target. But there was no talking Ernie out of it. ¡°I will kill him! Kill him!¡± Pied¡¯s whiskers twitched as if in delight. ¡°And this little gremlin must be I Rival All, hmm? He¡¯s certainly feisty.¡± Ernie had heard the name Pied, equated it to the killing of his brethren, and then lost the pot. Logan knew he wanted revenge and that he was swimming in emotion. But if he didn¡¯t rein himself in, he¡¯d never survive. ¡°Ernie, he¡¯s over level 1000! You¡¯ll have no chance!¡± Ernie didn¡¯t bother responding in his mental voice. ¡°He killed them, Logan! He killed them all! I can¡¯t let that stand.¡± Pied¡¯s tail swayed like a curious reptile. ¡°Oh? Who did I kill, spicy thing?¡± Ernie puffed his cheeks in rage. ¡°My brethren,¡± he hissed. ¡°Ah. Well.¡± Pied frowned. ¡°That¡¯s one way to look at it, and don¡¯t get me wrong, I understand where you¡¯re coming from, I really do.¡± Logan blew out a jagged breath. If Pied wanted to have a conversation, that meant they might have a chance. ¡°Then why do it?¡± ¡°Profit, my dear. It makes the world go around. If I don¡¯t do it, then the others will, and then where would that get me?¡± He dipped his head at Ernie. ¡°But I can understand your anger, of course I can. I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret.¡± As he smiled, two white incisors glinted. ¡°I was once like you, spicy thing. I was a bonded companion.¡± Ernie stilled. ¡°What.¡± ¡°Oh yes, that got your attention, didn¡¯t it? Just like you, I bonded with someone like Logan here. So don¡¯t think I don¡¯t understand that the production of skill rings is unpalatable. I sympathize, I really do.¡± ¡°Unpalatable?¡± Ernie hissed in outrage. But if Pied had been a bonded companion, what happened to his companion? [540 seconds remaining.] A flash. The pressure around Logan intensified, like turning up the temperature on an oven. It was all he could do to remain standing. ¡°Well,¡± said Pied, his smile turning sinister. ¡°If you feel that you can¡¯t let bygones be bygones, you can always try your best. Get revenge, spicy thing. Why don¡¯t you try me?¡± Ernie trembled, the horns on top of his head flattening, his skin turning pale, back to his Liche look. Logan knew he wanted to jump on top of Pied and pummel him to death, but even Ernie knew that it would be suicide. ¡°Ah,¡± said Pied, clucking his tongue. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you made the smart decision. A Liche octopus is rare, and I wouldn¡¯t want to ruin your chances before you even start.¡± Pied crouched down, his tail bobbing behind him. ¡°And you!¡± he said, pinning Shoot with a look, seeing right through her camouflage armour. ¡°A Chameleon vine! So unique!¡± Shoot shifted, looking as if she wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to be offended or flattered. Pied straightened. ¡°Well done, Logan. That¡¯s quite rare for someone barely into E grade.¡± Logan licked his lips. ¡°So you¡¯re not here to kill us.¡± ¡°Kill you?¡± Pied laughed. ¡°Little human, why did you think I let you tear through my complex like that, killing my soldiers left and right?¡± Logan had killed over fifty people. Pied had known about it and done nothing? Pied continued laughing, his eyes glinting playfully. ¡°You really are clueless, aren¡¯t you? Everything that happened since you returned to Hope¡¯s End has been orchestrated by me to make you stronger. My army was fodder for you to jump levels. Fang kept them in line, making sure to feed you only the ones that you could survive. Level up breeding is a delicate balance, you understand?¡± Logan took a step back, a rollercoaster of emotions swamping through him, not knowing what to believe. He had thought it strange that he¡¯d only fought the two and three-headed rats, and that the larger, mammoth rats had always stayed behind. But why would someone want him to get stronger? It didn¡¯t make any sense. [480 seconds remaining.] A flash. ¡°Why? Why would you do that?¡± ¡°Why? Because you¡¯re rank number two in your newly integrated world. As far as I¡¯m concerned, I¡¯ll feed you anything to keep that climb going. The stronger you are, the better my chances.¡± ¡°Chances for what?¡± Pied clucked his tongue. ¡°I know, so confusing. You¡¯d hope the System would give you better instructions, wouldn¡¯t you? New users must stumble around in the dark, discovering everything for themselves. Logan, in six of your human days, the System will transfer the top ten users from each newly integrated world to an arena. You¡¯ll compete against the others, world against world, user against user. Since you¡¯re ranked number two, that means you¡¯ll be going, my dear. And it¡¯s to my benefit to make you as strong as possible.¡± At first, Logan wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d heard correctly. The hell? A tournament when he had a Save Humanity Quest on the line? He didn¡¯t have time for this bullshit! In his mind, he envisioned a shitty knights tournament, topped off by shitty helmets and horses. ¡°Why is it to your benefit?¡± ¡°Because I want to sponsor you. I think you¡¯re a winner, and as you humans like to say, you¡¯re my dark horse.¡± Logan clenched his fists, anger surging, just barely holding himself back from shouting. This asshole was treating this like a game. Watching Logan kill his own soldiers, feeding him to his rat army, all so that he¡¯d level up and give him a good showing in a competition? Hell no. ¡°And what if I don¡¯t want to be your dark horse?¡± Pied shrugged, stifling a smile. ¡°That would be unfortunate. Considering that I was going to free your sister and the little ones if you agreed.¡± B2 - Chapter 40: Its Nice to Have a Lawyer in the Family Logan narrowed his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll free my sister?¡± Pied nodded. ¡°Today. As long as you agree to take me on as a sponsor and sign my contract.¡± [420 seconds remaining.] A flash. Looking from the glass cells and back to Pied, for the first time, Logan began to wonder if Pied had orchestrated this whole thing. It was convenient that he¡¯d left Logan alone long enough for him to be frustrated that [Threshold Shift] had failed, had left him to savage his hands pummeling the glass. Only for him to arrive at the last-minute right before Logan would have gone searching for a guard. [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had mentioned that he was a master of the mind arts¡­ did that mean that he could read Logan¡¯s mind? He had no idea what someone over level 1000 could do, but it had to be a lot. Shit, if Logan could do what he could at level 156, that was barely scratching the surface. ¡°Don¡¯t trust the furry man. He¡¯s an evil, evil man,¡± Ernie muttered in his mental voice. ¡°Octopus killer, torturer! He deserves death, Logan, he deserves pain!¡± ¡°He¡¯s too strong,¡± Logan replied. ¡°I know you want to kill him, but we can¡¯t. At least not now.¡± ¡°We must get stronger. I must build an army to rival his!¡± Logan cleared his throat and pinned Pied with a look. ¡°And I suppose if I refuse, you won¡¯t release Lara and the kids? You¡¯ll keep them imprisoned?¡± Pied¡¯s left ear twitched, the tuffs of black hair reminding Logan of a rabbit. ¡°If you refuse, my dear, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Logan¡¯s stomach dropped. ¡°Kill me,¡± he stated, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The adrenaline that had already been simmering in his gut exploded. ¡°Why would you kill me? You¡¯re over level 1000, I mean nothing to you.¡± Pied flashed his incisors. ¡°You killed my contract workers, and I let you grind against my army. Although I like charity just as much as any user, I¡¯m not that generous. I don¡¯t give out XP for free. Especially if it benefits my opponents.¡± Fuck. What was Logan going to do, refuse? He could use [Threshold Shift] to escape, go to a different floor, but that would leave Lara and the kids trapped. Not to mention that he couldn¡¯t leave Brooke and Chase here. Not after they¡¯d seen him walk by. Logan would never live with himself if he abandoned them. He¡¯d rather go through the torture of a million perception attribute trials. So. There was no way to open the cells, no way for him to use his skills to do it. He could try using [Life Fabricator] to fuck this asshole up, but again, Logan liked to think that his ranking hadn¡¯t gone to his head that much. Based on Pied¡¯s crushing aura, Logan would be no match against him. But could he afford to agree to fight in a tournament and leave Lara and the kids on their own? Leave Tasha and Jack? He might have to even leave Ernie. He was on a strict time limit; the clock was ticking, and in less than a year, the System would kill everyone who was outside of the one percent. That meant that Hunter and Sawyer wouldn¡¯t survive. Every second he spent away from them, distracted, was an inch closer to their doom. [360 seconds remaining.] A flash. Logan clenched his fists, his mouth dry. ¡°And if I agree? What do you get out of it?¡± Pied lifted an eyebrow. ¡°What do you think I get out of it? Power, prestige, world XP! All the things that make the Collective go around.¡± Logan scrubbed the back of his scalp, rustling his hair, wanting nothing more than to pace. ¡°I can¡¯t afford to leave Earth for an extended period. The survival of my family depends upon it.¡± Pied clapped his hands. ¡°Is that the hold up? Never fear, my dear, Pied has a solution! The System is always fair. Well¡­ eventually it is. In the Integration Tournament, time is warped. One week there is one day back on Earth. We couldn¡¯t do it otherwise. Take the top ten from each world? Who do you think is working on the quests to save their people?¡± The Save Humanity Quest? Did the people on the other worlds also receive the same quests? People like Logan? ¡°You know about that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re so precious,¡± Pied said with a grin. ¡°I know everything.¡± Logan hesitated and then glanced at Lara through the glass. She was standing up, her arm around Sawyer¡¯s shoulders while Hunter stood to the side, biting her lip and giving Logan a worried frown. He wanted nothing more than to talk to Lara, talk this out. Although Logan had always been jealous that Lara had succeeded in life and in her career, progressed and left Logan in the dust, he knew that he could rely on her for advice. It was only because he¡¯d been ashamed that he¡¯d avoided sharing what had happened to the family¡¯s cabin. He¡¯d been given a responsibility to take care of the cabin, and Logan had screwed it up. But it was pure embarrassment and shame that had kept him from sharing it with Lara. If the System Integration hadn¡¯t happened, eventually he would have come clean to Lara, and she would have made it all better. [300 seconds remaining.] A flash. ¡°Fine,¡± said Logan. ¡°If you free Lara, Hunter and Sawyer, I¡¯ll fight for you. But you have to free the people in cell 32 as well. They¡¯re my friends. If you don¡¯t release them, then there¡¯s no deal.¡± Even saying it made his nerves surge. He was this close to getting Lara and the kids out of here. And if what Pied said was true, he wouldn¡¯t have to leave for this shitty tournament right away. He¡¯d have six days to prepare, to get them to safety, to make sure they could survive on their own. Pied ran a hand over his snout, his pink tongue flashing. ¡°You drive a hard bargain! But of course you would, you¡¯re ranked number two in your world.¡± With a theatrical flourish of his arms, Pied dipped his head. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal. Now, all you need to do is sign my contract, and your sister, the little ones and your friends are all yours!¡± Ding! [Ruler Pied is willing to become your sponsor during the Integration Tournament!] [Accept the sponsorship?*] Logan scrunched his nose as he read the System message and then concentrated on the asterisk, expanding it. [Integration Tournament Sponsorship Contract] [Clause 1: Logan Hart, otherwise known as hidden name ¡®Idiot¡¯ hereafter known as Idiot, agrees to participate in the Integration Tournament to be held in (six) Earth standard days.] [Clause 2: Idiot accepts that he will compete in the tournament and that all rewards will become the property of Ruler Pied, hereafter known as Pied.] [Clause 3: Idiot agrees that he will compete until the tournament ends or until his death.] [Clause 4: Idiot agrees that he will not denigrate Pied, Pied¡¯s Kingdom, or Pied¡¯s allies with slander or actions that would¡­] Logan narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth. For all his talk of Lara being the smart sibling, he wasn¡¯t stupid, and he knew a bad deal when he saw one. ¡®All rewards will become the property of Pied¡¯? Hell no. Minimizing the message like he would a text message, Logan smiled, trying to look clueless. ¡°Legal crap like this has always confused me. That¡¯s why my sister became the lawyer, and I went into sales. But I rely on my sister¡¯s advice, and she¡¯ll be able to comprehend this easier than I can. Would it be all right if she reads it through first before I sign?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Pied¡¯s smile had a hint of annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s a simple contract, all my users sign similar agreements. Come on, don¡¯t you want to free your sister? Free the little ones?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± But not if it meant you¡¯d swindle me. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I can sign until she looks it over. She¡¯d kill me otherwise; she¡¯d never let me live it down.¡± Pied¡¯s smile shriveled. ¡°Fine,¡± he snapped. ¡°But my tolerance for ¡®reviews¡¯ and ¡®amendments¡¯ are limited. My time is in demand! I have a Kingdom to rule. Your sister gets one minute to review it, one minute only. That¡¯s it.¡± Logan hesitated, but it might be the best he could get. Pied¡¯s aura had increased, that crushing pressure coming back. He was radiating a killing intent, something that made Logan sit up and take notice. It was all he could do to remain standing and not show how much it affected him. Next to him, Shoot whimpered, cowering and lying down, her tail between her legs. [220 seconds remaining.] A flash. Pied lifted his arm, turning it until a flat gold bracelet flashed in the lights of the arena. He touched a gem on the bracelet, and just like that, the glass wall disappeared. Stunned, the people in the cell stared, and then with shouts of excitement, they rushed towards the hallway, to Logan and Pied. The first person, a man in his twenties with torn jeans, made it barely a foot before Pied growled, clenched his fist, and then twisted the air. That was the only way Logan could explain it. It had to be a skill. Whatever he did forced the man to pause with his foot half out of the cell. Then with a wail, as if he¡¯d seen his worst nightmare, he blanched and shuddered, and a warm wet spot spread on front of his jeans, a yellow puddle pooling around his feet. He¡¯d just pissed himself. Fuck. One by one, anyone else who tried to step beyond the cell reacted the same, although others clawed their faces, scoring deep, bloody scratches. Gradually, the people in the cells got the message and backed up, staying within the confines even though there was no longer a glass barrier to keep them inside. Lara had already grabbed the kids by the shoulders, keeping them back. ¡°Logan!¡± she hissed, her face pale as she peered at from Logan to Pied. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether this is a rescue or a nightmare. What the hell happened to you? You look ridiculous! Like a mountain man in a skintight suit!¡± ¡°Uncle Logan got muscles,¡± whispered Sawyer. Lara was all bluster, but he knew she was happy to see him. Already, there was a wet sheen around her eyes. Logan couldn¡¯t believe how relieved he was to hear her voice. But time was ticking, and they didn¡¯t have the luxury to sling verbal abuse at each other¡­ even though, holy shit, did he want to! Fuck, he¡¯d missed his sister. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. I¡¯ve got less than a minute for you to review this contract, tell me what I should get rid of, what should stay. This is life or death, Lara. Help me.¡± Just like that, Lara¡¯s face firmed with resolve, and she got the look that everyone had when they read their System messages, but this time, her eyes moved so rapidly, it looked like she was power reading through the Magna Carta. Logan counted the seconds, his heart racing and about to explode out of his chest. Fuck, if Pied had started the timer as soon as he¡¯d opened the cell, she had less than a minute to do this. If she failed, Logan knew that she wasn¡¯t in physical jeopardy, and even Logan would be fine. But if Lara didn¡¯t have enough time and there was a clause in the contract that would force him to become a literal slave of this asshole, he didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d do. [160 seconds remaining.] A flash. ¡°Time¡¯s up,¡± said Pied in a sing-song voice. Lara looked at them with a gasp. Swallowing, she glanced from Logan to Pied, and then as if she were in front of a boardroom addressing the partners in her law firm, she said, ¡°Strike clause 2, clause 7, clause 12, clause 22, and clause 30. Assigning awards can be negotiated, say, ten percent goes to you, but Logan must get something out of it. He¡¯ll be competing in a life-or-death situation. All you get in return is bragging rights.¡± Pied¡¯s mouth curdled, and he radiated deep annoyance. Hell yes, don¡¯t fuck with his sister, asshole! He¡¯d underestimated her. When Lara got her legal mojo on, she was unstoppable. ¡°Clause 22 stays. It¡¯s non-negotiable.¡± The other people in the cell were looking at Lara with befuddled, shocked looks, and those that hadn¡¯t tried to already escape, were inching forward, eyes on the hallway. With a sinking feeling, Logan realized that he¡¯d negotiated for the release of Lara and the kids, for Brooke and Chase¡¯s group, but he¡¯d neglected to ask about the others. Pied would release Lara and his nieces, and the glass wall would come up once again, trapping them inside. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to these people?¡± Logan interrupted. Pied and Lara came to a stop, both thinning their lips at the interruption. Ah, fuck, that meant Pied had a lawyer mind as well, which made sense, considering that he¡¯d trapped everyone into signing these shitty, clause hidden contracts. ¡°Some will work, others will be sold,¡± said Pied, and then Lara and him went right back to it while Logan grimaced. Letting that stand made acid slosh in his throat, something that was very like guilt making him shift and bounce on the balls of his feet. [100 seconds remaining.] A flash. ¡°Or maybe he¡¯ll boil them alive and make them into skill rings,¡± Ernie muttered from inside his pouch. ¡°All right, done,¡± said Pied. Lara nodded in satisfaction. Ding! [Ruler Pied has made amendments to your Integration Tournament sponsorship contract!*] [Accept the contract?] [Yes.] [No.] Logan looked to Lara. She winked, and Logan knew that whatever he signed would work out. Hovering over his choice, Logan confirmed the contract. [Congratulations, user Idiot! You are now affiliated with Ruler Pied and will compete in the Integration Tournament on his behalf!] [You¡¯ve been granted the title, Forerunner, for being the first in your world to be sponsored by an immortal! This title grants a 5% static bonus to all attributes.] Logan hissed, shocked, just having enough time to take in the new title before the mother of all trips hit him like he¡¯d just gone through a blender. His skin tightened, that hidden layer of steel underneath his skin becoming ever stronger, his perception exploding, sounds from all around him swamping his senses, the odor of unwashed bodies making him flare his nose. His senses exploded as his wisdom and intelligence attributes jumped, the world opening up. It was all he could do to hold on for the ride. Ding! [Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Liche Devourer]!] Holy shit, the increase had brought his Karma pool up enough to finally, finally unlock the skill. All it had took was an encounter with a furry asshole and a shady as shit contract. Eyeing Pied furtively, Logan brought up his full stat sheet, barely able to hold back his excitement. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 6,002,998,197 Level: 156 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E5 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack; Forerunner XP Progress: 225,000/312,000 Karma: 3,474/3,600 Intelligence: 600 Constitution: 48 Strength: 365 Agility: 381 Dexterity: 302 Endurance: 683 Perception: 141 Wisdom: 587 Luck: 105 Free Attribute Points: 0 KarmaCoin: 252,600 Logan stifled a wide grin, his dimples showing. A five percent static boost to his lowest attributes didn¡¯t do much¡ªconstitution had gone up barely two points¡ªbut it resulted in a larger increase to his highest attributes. The law of compounding. But most importantly, since each intelligence attribute translated into six Karma points, he¡¯d just increased his Karma pool to 3600. That had unlocked [Liche Devourer], but it had also better positioned him to utilize skills that required high Karma. When he returned to growing trees for his Save Humanity Quest, that meant he¡¯d have more power, power to grow monsters. [60 seconds until skill depletion!] ¡°Well,¡± said Pied, his tail standing up and his eyes sparkling. ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure doing business with you, Logan.¡± He nodded his head at Lara. ¡°Contract worker Lara. I¡¯ll expect to see you in six days time. I think you¡¯ll do well. You¡¯ll be a star.¡± Pied gestured with his arm for Lara and the kids to come out. Grabbing Hunter and Sawyer¡¯s hands, Lara inched forward, her eyes cautious. When nothing happened when she stepped over the line, she grew confident and rushed over to Logan, shouting, ¡°What took you so long, jerk!¡± Punching him on the shoulder and then wincing when she banged against his armour, she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a crushing hug. Or at least it would have been a crushing hug before the System Integration. Logan sighed, sagging in relief, hit with a feeling of everything being right in the world for the first time in over a week. Lara and his nieces were alive; they were okay. His struggles hadn¡¯t been in vain. It was only because Logan had advanced so far that he was even here at all. Without the trial dungeon, without the torture of the attribute trials, and the pain of almost losing Ernie in the underwater dungeon, Logan never would have leveled up so much, which meant that he would have been no match for the people within Pied¡¯s Kingdom. Everything had happened for a reason, and that reason was right in front of him. ¡°I can¡¯t believe what I¡¯m looking at,¡± Lara mumbled into his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve become a monster. Erin is going to faint when she sees you!¡± Erin was his ex-girlfriend. Before the Integration, thinking about her would have made bitterness simmer in his stomach, but now, the emotion was faraway, and he could only think of her with a wince. What were the chances that was even still alive? ¡°If she survived.¡± Lara gave the kids a quick look. ¡°Quiet. I¡¯m trying to avoid mentioning death as much as possible.¡± ¡°Well!¡± said Pied, clapping his hands. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to go, shall we? Come with me, and I¡¯ll release your other friends and then you can be on your way.¡± Whistling, he came to a sudden stop, giving Logan a bright grin. Inclining his head, he whispered, ¡°Just between you and me, you could have gotten so much more if you¡¯d only asked. I got a good deal, Logan. A word of advice, next time, don¡¯t be afraid to push for more.¡± [Skill depleted!] *** Logan blinked, wide eyed, doing everything he could to act normal while Pied re-enacted the same scene that he¡¯d just seen with [Foresight]. It was difficult to believe that everything he¡¯d foreseen hadn¡¯t already happened, and almost crushing to realize that Lara was still behind the glass wall. But he knew that in less than ten minutes, he could get her out of there. And there was another factor in consideration. It had turned out that he hadn¡¯t needed [Foresight] to save his life, he¡¯d needed it to outsmart Pied. B2 - Chapter 41: The Negotiator Logan let the scene play out like before, knowing that deviating too far would make Pied suspicious. He was over level 1000, which meant that by now, he must have come across others with skills like [Foresight]. For all Logan knew, he might even have his own! But while he talked, Logan¡¯s mind was racing from possibility to possibility, considering and discarding options. Logan knew that Pied wanted Logan to agree, perhaps needed him to agree. He¡¯d invested in Logan¡ªletting him kill his own rat army, letting him kill fifty of his own contract workers. He had no idea about scale¡­ to Pied, it might be a pittance, but he was hoping that it meant something. For all his talk of killing Logan, he didn¡¯t want to do it. Don¡¯t get him wrong, he knew that if he had to, he would. But Pied had said it himself. Logan could ask for a lot. Logan had power here. ¡°Fine,¡± said Logan, glancing from Lara behind the glass back to Pied. Pied paused, one of his ears twitching. ¡°Fine?¡± he questioned. ¡°Fine what?¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll fight for you. You can be my sponsor.¡± Pied clapped his hands, grinning. ¡°But I¡¯m not going to do it for free.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hardly for free. You do it, you get your sister and the little ones. That¡¯s a fine reward, no?¡± Logan smiled, knowing that it didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°You like to talk about your Kingdom; you¡¯ve shown me that you have resources. If what those assholes said was true, each of those skill rings must be worth a fortune. For a man who can hand out sessions with his rat army like handing out candy, letting my sister and my nieces go is hardly a reward.¡± Logan snorted. ¡°Do you think that just because the System gave me the name ¡®Idiot,¡¯ that I¡¯ll let you take advantage of me? I¡¯ll fight for you, sure. But make it worth my while.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± chanted Ernie, his voice tense. ¡°Take him for everything. Take him for all he¡¯s worth.¡± Pied licked his lips. ¡°Well,¡± he drawled. ¡°Perhaps I underestimated you, Logan. So, you want something beyond the safety of your sister? I¡¯m assuming that¡¯s still part of the deal, yes?¡± Logan rolled his eyes. ¡°Of course. That¡¯s the default reward. Now I want the bonus. Make me an offer, Pied.¡± Pied¡¯s eyes grew dark. ¡°Greedy, greedy little human. All right. You like my army, I see. You get one hour with them to grind. I¡¯ll keep them confined to the lower floor and restrain the four-headed rats. It¡¯ll be a production line, my dear. One monster after another, just for you to farm and take down. How does that sound?¡± ¡°That sounds like crap. It¡¯s hardly a reward. If I need to, I can just find a monster swarm of my own. Besides, your contract workers told me that you give that out as a reward every day.¡± Logan hardened his voice. ¡°You¡¯re still trying to play me, trying to take advantage of me.¡± Pied¡¯s mouth thinned. ¡°Or I could just kill you, ever think of that, human?¡± Logan¡¯s smile was brittle. This fucker wasn¡¯t killing him. ¡°Yeah? Then go ahead. Seems like a waste though, considering what you already invested. I guess you¡¯ll have to go back to the drawing board and find someone else as high ranked as me.¡± Pied¡¯s incisors flashed, and then he snorted, suddenly all smiles. ¡°You think you¡¯re my only prospect? You¡¯re not that special, Idiot.¡± Logan held back his triumph, his excitement surging. Already, he¡¯d learned something that he hadn¡¯t before¡ªthat Pied might be approaching others and offering them the same sponsorship. Fuck, he might have approached the Man in Black! If that were true, Logan needed every advantage that he could get. He wasn¡¯t going to free Lara and the kids and then enter a tournament that would result in his death, leaving them to fend for themselves. Without Logan, there would be no one left to finish the Save Humanity Quest, and there was no way that Lara and the kids would make it into the one percent in less than six days. Lara was already worryingly lower leveled. [Lara Hart. Level 12. A human being.] [Highest stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: Tenacious, exacting. Hidden name: The Negotiator.] Damn. Logan was floored. He had a hard time juxtaposing Lara¡¯s level with the woman he¡¯d seen in the warped future who was fighting in an army against the Silverdagger Clan, her face worn, her expression battle-weary. She was an expert archer, taking up the hobby in her free time. Someone who specialized in archery should have an advantage over everyone else. But then again, if she had sheltered in place with the kids, keeping them away from everyone, never venturing outside, it was difficult to believe that she¡¯d managed to level up at all. Plus, she¡¯d thrown her attributes into intelligence rather than agility or dexterity, which wouldn¡¯t help with her archery skills. But then again, maybe Lara had decided to go for a different build. Even though she was a lawyer, it had been amazing that she¡¯d managed to review Pied¡¯s contract in less than one minute and come up with suggestions on the fly. Lara was good, but she wasn¡¯t a miracle worker. She must have a skill, something that related to her hidden name. He wouldn¡¯t put it past her to receive a contract negotiating skill right off the bat just for being Lara. But level 12 was nothing, and Logan didn¡¯t know what level you needed to advance into the one percent, but one thing he did know was that there was no way she¡¯d advance that much before Logan had to leave for the Integration Tournament. ¡°If I¡¯m not that special,¡± said Logan, crossing his arms. ¡°I guess that means you might as well waste your time with your other prospects.¡± Pied raised an incredulous eyebrow. ¡°You sound like you¡¯re asking me to kill you!¡± He laughed. ¡°All right, all right,¡± he mused, running a hand over his snout. ¡°What would a shit stirrer like you want. Hmm, maybe it¡¯s not what you want, but what you need, yes? You care about your sister, you want her to survive, so why don¡¯t I help with that? I can¡¯t do anything about her level, and don¡¯t get me wrong, she will die in the purge, but I can help you keep her safe until then, can¡¯t I? I¡¯ll give you an array.¡± Logan paused, thrown. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll learn more about them once you have access to the System Market, but the one I¡¯ll give you will be better than anything you can buy. It¡¯s a defensive array, a barrier that you can set up around a building that won¡¯t let anyone pass who¡¯s lower leveled than the array. And the array, my dear, is A Grade.¡± Logan felt a trickling sensation that was very like elation. An array? Something that would protect Lara and the kids? He hadn¡¯t thought that was possible. It sounded too good to be true. But if Pied would give him that, why not more? ¡°Not enough,¡± said Ernie. ¡°You know what to ask for, Logan. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten about your promise. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten about revenge.¡± Aw, shit. Ernie was right. How the hell was he going to accept a deal with Pied and then walk away from this complex and leave the octopuses enslaved? If he abandoned them, each one would soon make their way into the skill ring production floor. Ernie would never forgive him. ¡°That¡¯s a good opening offer.¡± Pied scoffed. ¡°Opening offer?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a good start. But man, you¡¯re asking for a lot here. You want to become my sponsor, but I have no idea what kind of ruler you are! For all I know, it¡¯ll put a target on my back.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°That¡¯s rich. You already had a target when you pissed off Agata Silverdagger. My sponsoring you will make your situation better, not worse.¡± Logan tried to make his expression blank, but yet again, he¡¯d just obtained intel. He¡¯d known that the Silverdagger Clan had been the one to assign the bounty¡ªit said it right in the System message¡ªbut that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d known who in the Clan had initiated it. It had been Asthea¡¯s mother. Logan felt a surge of discomfort and what he suspected was guilt. Asthea had tried so hard to impress her mother, and Logan had taken her life before she¡¯d found out if her efforts had paid off. ¡°And you expect me to just take your word for it? No, it¡¯s not enough.¡± ¡°You¡¯re starting to try my patience. Speak plainly.¡± ¡°Free Lara and the kids today, give me an hour with your rat army, provide that array, free my bonded companion¡¯s friends and everyone in these cells. Then I¡¯ll agree. Gladly.¡± There was a pause while Pied blinked, his mouth gaping. With a chuckle, he glanced from Logan to Shoot, who was standing straight up, panting, her green tongue hanging out of her mouth. ¡°Why don¡¯t I give you my Kingdom while I¡¯m at it. You¡¯re delusional if you think I¡¯ll give you all of that!¡± Aw, fuck. But Logan knew the key to negotiation was to ask for good shit, unreasonable shit, and then work your way down. He wanted all those things, but he could make it seem like Pied had won without giving up on the most important ones. ¡°What do you need with all those octopuses? You have enough skill rings, you¡¯re rich enough.¡± Pied tapped his foot, his fluffy tail standing straight up like he¡¯d put it in an electrical socket. ¡°You have all my skill rings. You stole them! And notice that I didn¡¯t even ask for them back?¡± Er, right. ¡°You said that you were once a bonded companion, and that you know how wrong it is to turn sentient animals into skill rings. You understand it. So why not free them?¡± ¡°I said I understood how you felt, not that I agreed.¡± Pied clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. ¡°In a few hundred years, your bonded companion will get over it. Emotions are raw when you¡¯re young, but it¡¯s how the world works. Skill rings are the solution to the System¡¯s skill limit, and nothing will change it. You must have the same analogy on your world. Something that everyone knows is wrong, but you keep doing it all the same. Sometimes, you have to tolerate a lesser evil for the greater good.¡± Oh hell no. A lesser evil? That was rich. ¡°Never,¡± said Ernie in his mental voice, shifting inside of his pouch and scoffing. ¡°Never, never! I could live a thousand years, and I would never feel the same. He is an evil, evil furry man.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you down, buddy,¡± responded Logan and then he pinned Pied with a look. ¡°Freeing the octopuses is non-negotiable.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Pied twisted his mouth and rolled his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re so idealistic. If I free them, I¡¯ll just get more the next day.¡± ¡°Kill him, kill him, kill him,¡± Ernie chanted. ¡°I don¡¯t care. They¡¯re mine.¡± ¡°Fine!¡± Pied snapped, his expression mulish. ¡°But that¡¯s all you get.¡± The fact that he¡¯d already agreed to free the octopuses meant that Logan could get more. It was just a matter of how much. ¡°I¡¯m not an unreasonable man,¡± said Logan. ¡°I can make compromises. I¡¯ll take back the hour with your rat army, you save that for your contract workers. I want Lara and the kids, the array, the people in these cells, and the octopuses.¡± ¡°No,¡± Pied spat. Logan had to hiss in a breath, his heart racing. Pied had reined in his aura throughout this conversation, but now, it was back worse than ever. It was crushing, a presence that made it seem as if he¡¯d transformed into a towering monster. The air thickened as if Logan were breathing in smog, his ears full of cotton, his head growing foggy, making it difficult to think. Come on, just a little more. ¡°O-okay,¡± Logan gasped, hardly able to speak. It was as if his mouth no longer worked, his airways tightening. ¡°I get it. T-that¡¯s too much! You can keep the people!¡± Just like that, the pressure dropped, the air clearing as Pied pulled back on his aura, that killing intent disappearing and his humor returning. Pied smirked, his eyes sparkling. ¡°Now isn¡¯t that better. E Grade users should know their place.¡± But Logan wasn¡¯t done. ¡°I won¡¯t ask for the people. There are thousands here. It must have taken a lot of work to round them up, I get it. But¡­ I hate to ask. I know I already asked for a ton. But there¡¯s a small group in cell 32 that I know.¡± Pied¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Only around fifty! Fifty out of thousands. I¡¯d feel horrible if I left them. It¡¯d make it awfully difficult to compete in that tournament to the best of my abilities.¡± Pied stared, a vein on his neck bulging. Ernie scrambled out of his pouch, crawling down Logan¡¯s shoulder, his horns jumping up and down. ¡°Of course he¡¯ll say yes!¡± he exclaimed, his eyes playful. ¡°For he is mighty, a mighty immortal. What need does he have for an extra fifty, when he already has so many?¡± Pied gave Ernie a playful glance, suddenly all humor. ¡°You¡¯re right, spicy thing! What need do I have for fifty worthless humans? I can be generous since you asked so nicely.¡± Logan paused, his nerves on fire. Did that mean that he¡¯d agreed? That it was as easy as that? ¡°To confirm,¡± said Logan, his voice tense. ¡°You free Lara and my nieces, the octopuses and the group in cell 32 today, and you provide that array. You do all of that, and I¡¯ll agree to the sponsorship. Do we have a deal?¡± Pied¡¯s tail swayed from side-to-side. ¡°We have a deal.¡± Logan couldn¡¯t believe it. It was that feeling you had right after receiving a deal that was too good to be true. So good that you wanted to run before it was taken back. His adrenaline was sizzling, his limbs twitching. He wanted to do nothing more than fist pump the air in victory. But first, he¡¯d have to deal with the contract. ¡°Just one more thing¡­¡± *** Fuck. He¡¯d done it, he¡¯d really done it. As Lara punched him in the shoulder one more time, Logan blinked, still not believing that he¡¯d gotten everything he¡¯d asked for and more. He¡¯d unlocked [Liche Devourer], he¡¯d signed a contract that was as fair as Lara could make it, and he¡¯d still managed to find a way to free Ernie¡¯s brethren and Brooke and Chase¡¯s group. Not to mention the mysterious array that should let him protect Lara and the kids. ¡°Come this way,¡± said Pied, his tone abrupt. ¡°Take the people in the cell as agreed, transport the octopuses, but do it now. I don¡¯t want to see you back here, trying to rescue anyone else. If you do, it won¡¯t go well for you. Your focus is to get strong, level up and work on your skills as much as you can before the Tournament. Remember, you only have six days.¡± Logan nodded, trying to look as if he were taking his advice, but if anything, Logan was going to protect Lara and the kids. Pied narrowed his eyes. ¡°You will do this. If you die in the first day, I won¡¯t be happy.¡± Logan snorted. ¡°Neither will I.¡± Lara watched them with careful eyes as they walked down the corridor, darting her gaze from Pied to Shoot. Ernie had scurried back into his pouch, but she¡¯d seen him as well. Logan didn¡¯t know what she was thinking, but it had to be similar to Logan¡¯s thought process throughout the System Integration. Wizard-shit, indeed. Pied paused in front of cell 32. Brooke and Chase came to the front of the cell, their eyes cautious, while the others started milling around them. The glass wall was still up, so Logan couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, but that would end soon. Pied raised his arm and pressed something on his bracelet. Just like that, the glass wall disappeared, letting in the reek of sweaty bodies and stale food. Unlike Lara, Brooke and Chase¡¯s group hadn¡¯t been here long, so the smell wasn¡¯t as bad. ¡°They¡¯re all yours. Remember what I said. Take them now and get out. Don¡¯t come back here, Logan. Be good, and I¡¯ll see you in six days.¡± With that, he turned on his heel and walked down the corridor, whistling. Logan and the others waited until he¡¯d walked away, looking from Pied¡¯s disappearing back to the open cell. Holy shit, he¡¯d opened the whole cell! And there wasn¡¯t just Brooke and Chase¡¯s group inside¡ªhe¡¯d let everyone out. ¡°Uncle Logan,¡± said Sawyer, tugging on his hand, her eyes wide and full of yearning. ¡°Does this mean that we can go home? I miss Frank.¡± Frank was her stuffed penguin. Oh hell, he hadn¡¯t heard her mention Frank in ages, assuming she¡¯d grown out of it. That wasn¡¯t good. If Sawyer had regressed to stuffed animals, that meant she was uncertain and scared. On top of that, there was no way they could go back to the house. There was nothing¡­ Hold on. He¡¯d cleared out Lara¡¯s house, throwing everything inside of his spatial collar. Logan mentally rummaged through the contents, and then grinned. ¡°You missed Frank? Well what do you know!¡± With a blink, Logan willed out the stuffed animal, grasping the purple, worn stuffed penguin by the neck. Sawyer gasped and then snatched it out of his hand, snuggling her face into the toy, her eyes growing damp. ¡°How did you¡­?¡± asked Lara. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything,¡± said Logan. ¡°But first I need to get you out of here.¡± Just because Pied had agreed to let them go didn¡¯t mean that they were safe. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Brooke, her eyes hard. Her sleeve was ripped, a long scratch trailing down her forearm. ¡°I thought you left us. To become rat fodder.¡± ¡°Nope,¡± said Logan, grinning. ¡°This is a jailbreak.¡± Chase narrowed his eyes, looking from Logan to down the corridor where Pied had disappeared. ¡°They¡¯re just letting us go? After everything they did to capture us?¡± Lara jabbed Logan with an elbow. ¡°My little brother is too modest. He negotiated for your release.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so tired,¡± said one of the others. ¡°Now we have to travel all the way back to the city?¡± Logan raised an eyebrow, incredulous. What, did they want to stay here? Chase lowered his voice into an undertone. ¡°Moving from place to place, constantly worried about XP gangs and about the rats was trying on them. Especially the kids. Being in a cell isn¡¯t ideal, but at least they knew they had a bed here and that they weren¡¯t in danger of being killed. People latch onto the strangest things when forced to deal with life and death situations.¡± Chase cleared his throat. ¡°But if you really went out of your way to help us, to save us. You have my gratitude. And my loyalty.¡± Ding! [Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Lodestone Creationist]!] B2 - Chapter 42: Lodestone Creationist [Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill [Lodestone Creationist]!] Logan blinked, shocked. What the hell? [Lodestone Creationist] had been locked since he¡¯d received his [Fabled Creation] class, and as far as he was concerned, he hadn¡¯t done anything to unlock the skill. For once, was his high luck score paying off? But the System didn¡¯t give out freebies; he must have done something to deserve it. The only thing he could think of had to do with the empire building description of [Fabled Creation]: [A class that gives the user the power over life and death. The world is in the palm of your hand. You only have to will it, and you shall have it. All shall tremble at your feet for a snap of your fingers will be their undoing. This class has empire building possibilities.] Strictly speaking, the description of [Lodestone Creationist] had been locked since he¡¯d received the skill. He hadn¡¯t known what it did, but it stood to reason that if [Fabled Creation] had empire building possibilities, [Lodestone Creationist] had to be directly related. Empire building could be a lot of things, but Logan had picked it because he¡¯d struggled with money all his life. There was an undeniable thrill involved with the possibilities of building something that he could term an ¡®empire,¡¯ something tempting and irresistible to someone who¡¯d barely held onto his career and struggled to pay the bills. But until now, everything had been nothing but a race to find Lara and the kids. Speculation about building an empire had been the last thing on his mind. And to build an empire, you needed people. By Chase thanking Logan, by offering his loyalty, had that prompted the System to unlock the skill? With a surge of excitement, Logan focused on the description of [Lodestone Creationist]. [This rare skill allows you to craft lodestone access points and create private markets outside of the System Market.] The hell? Logan scrunched his eyebrows, uncertainty eating away at his stomach. Until now, all his skills had been utility and combat focused; this was the first time he¡¯d received something that looked foreign. It definitely wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d been expecting. If he took it at face value, a lodestone is what had given him access to the Tree Fridge. Logan had done nothing to craft the lodestone¡­ the System had given it to him after Eleanor¡¯s death, but it stood to reason that it would be the same. So, the skill let him create more Tree Fridges? Perhaps it was a way for him to access the Tree Fridge while in a different location. But still, frustration festered inside his gut. [Threshold Shift] gave him the ability to teleport anywhere he wanted. He no longer needed to create lodestones! All he had to do was shift back to the cabin to find the Tree Fridge! Logan felt short changed, as if his [Fabled Creation] class had let him down. Or hell, was the System fucking with him yet again? It had been ages since he¡¯d thought about the glitchy AI minion, but even though his System messages had been boring and staid, he didn¡¯t trust it. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever trust it again. For all he knew, it¡ª Ding! [You¡¯ve received the quest, Build an Empire! Craft ten lodestone access points and sell 100 items within 48 hours.] [Reward for completing the Quest: Lord status. Lord status will allow you to declare yourself the lord of your community, receive pledges of loyalty, and Karma tax.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: All future KarmaCoin earnings will be reduced by fifty percent. In perpetuity.] Logan gaped, his speculation about his new skill doing a 180. Perhaps his new skill didn¡¯t just allow him to create Tree Fridges for himself, but for other people. Holy shit, did that mean that Logan could create his own System Market? Asthea had mentioned the System Market, but Logan had no idea when everyone would receive it. It was yet another mystery. But Pied¡¯s agents had known how much a skill ring cost, they¡¯d mentioned that they were going to sell them. Hell, that squirrely little asshole, Peter, had even pulled out a slice of pizza from nothing! Logan was betting that Pied had the ability to grant access to a market to his contract workers and agents. Was Logan¡¯s new skill related? It was beyond intriguing, but for fuck¡¯s sake, he already had too many priorities as it was! If he only had 48 hours to complete the quest, he¡¯d have to do it while taking Lara and the others to safety. Safety was the question. Originally, he¡¯d been planning to take them back to the cabin, but after he¡¯d received Tasha¡¯s text messages, he knew that Matt could be a problem. Logan wasn¡¯t going to take them to the cabin until he knew it was secure. Shit, fuck, and shit! So he needed to transport the octopuses, Lara, the kids and the others back to the Okanagan, find a safe place for them to stay, take care of the Matt problem, while at the same time tackling this new empire quest. Not to mention that he only had six days before he¡¯d be taken to this mysterious Integration Tournament, and to top it off, he hadn¡¯t made any progress on the Save Humanity Quest! There was no way he could skip the empire building quest, not when doing so would screw him. Anything that said ¡®perpetuity¡¯ couldn¡¯t be anything good. KarmaCoin wasn¡¯t that important right now, but it would be in the future. It had to be. Without the internet, with spotty data, no one would be accessing their bank accounts. That meant that human currency was a thing of the past. Soon, very, very soon, KarmaCoin would take over. If he failed the quest and received a fifty percent penalty on everything he earned in the future, that would be a kick in the balls.Stolen novel; please report. Logan wanted to slam his fist through the wall, but not when his nieces were looking at him with wide eyes. He couldn¡¯t even express his anger. He had to be rational, reasonable Uncle Logan, not crazy, slaughter loving Logan who wanted to burn the world to the ground. ¡°Uncle Logan?¡± questioned Sawyer while clutching Frank in a tight grip. ¡°Yeah, honey?¡± ¡°Are we going home now?¡± ¡°To a place even better.¡± To the woods. Wincing, Logan collapsed his armour, letting the sandstone turn into sand. Although he couldn¡¯t do anything about his new muscles, at least he could make himself look less scary. Surveying everyone, he sucked in a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. Time was ticking, and he needed to get everyone out of here before they encountered any more of Pied¡¯s agents. He hadn¡¯t forgotten that he still had a bounty, and that anyone who¡¯d leveled up [Identify] would be able to see his hidden name. Just because Chase was grateful didn¡¯t mean that everyone would be. He needed to grab the octopuses, return here, and then teleport everyone out. ¡°Lara,¡± he said, giving her a look. ¡°Stay here. I¡¯ll be gone for less than five minutes, then I¡¯ll come right back.¡± ¡°What? Where are you going?¡± ¡°Just hold on. Two minutes tops.¡± ¡°Logan¡ª¡± Logan didn¡¯t give her time to protest, knowing that by the time he did, he could grab the octopuses and return. He didn¡¯t like leaving her, not when he just found her, but there was no way he was going to leave the complex, return to the Okanagan, and then come back. Not after Pied¡¯s threats. He needed to do everything at once. Deploying [Threshold Shift], he concentrated on the octopus prison. As if he¡¯d just stepped into a freezer, with a feeling of abrupt cold, in less than a blink, Logan materialized on the floor. Ernie scrambled out of his pouch, his eyes alight, the horns on top of his head jumping up and down. ¡°Yes, yes, yes, a jailbreak, a rescue! For we rival all, and we never leave an octopus behind!¡± Jumping to the floor, he slimed over to the glass aquarium, pressing a tentacle against the glass, his colors fluctuating like a kaleidoscope. Fuck. Logan had forgotten how many he was dealing with here. There had to be a thousand! No wonder Pied didn¡¯t want to give them up, since each octopus would be a skill ring lost. ¡°Ernie, can they survive out of the water?¡± ¡°Pfft! Of course!¡± Logan was worried that the aquarium would be like Lara¡¯s glass prison, keeping [Threshold Shift] at bay, but as Logan concentrated on the octopuses behind the glass, he got the sense that moving them would be like child¡¯s play. All he had to do was focus on what he wanted to transport, and the skill would obey. ¡°Back into the pouch, Ernie.¡± Ernie caressed the glass, crooning, ¡°Soon, soon. Logan will take you far away, and my minions will keep you safe! You will join my army, and we will get revenge upon the¡ª¡± ¡°Ernie.¡± He jumped away from the glass, his eyes glinting in satisfaction. The prospect of rescuing his brethren had given him new life, that bright personality that Logan was so used to returning. Scooting up Logan¡¯s leg and then crawling towards his pouch, Ernie ducked inside. Just like that, Logan deployed [Threshold Shift], clenching his fist, feeling pressure behind his nose as he wrenched and took a thousand octopuses with him down below. With a snap, Logan materialized in the prison corridor with an explosion of water and a clatter of bodies, octopuses of various sizes and colors piling together. A smell like rotting seaweed wafted through the air, water pouring in a deluge. Some of the octopuses made indignant noises, but others just flopped to the floor, their tentacles barely twitching. Logan couldn¡¯t imagine that the conditions inside of the glass box aquarium had been good; Pied had needed to keep them alive, but that didn¡¯t mean healthy. Lara gasped while Sawyer jumped and then opened her mouth in surprised pleasure, her expression eager. Unlike Logan, Sawyer had always been excited by biology and by science, and seeing a mass of octopuses must remind her of Frank. Logan was glad to see that the last week hadn¡¯t frightened her to the point that any animal reminded her of a monster. ¡°Holy shit!¡± said Chase, and he searched for a weapon he no longer had. The others made sounds of startlement, some screamed, but Logan didn¡¯t give them a chance to react, already concentrating on every living thing within the vicinity, making sure that he fixed Lara and the kids in his mind more than anything, and then deployed [Threshold Shift] to send everyone to Richton¡¯s Tomb. *** As they materialized on the beach, the adults in Brooke and Chase¡¯s group screamed, while others leaned over and retched, their faces washed of all color. Behind him, the octopuses materialized half on the beach and half in the water, but their faces were just as pale as the humans. Everything was dark, only the light of the moon illuminating Richton¡¯s Tomb, the smell of wildfire smoke in the air. It was hard to believe that it had been only a day since he¡¯d left Lara¡¯s house. He¡¯d spent so much time inside of Pied¡¯s Kingdom that it was evening, well into the evening. As Lara looked around in confusion, Logan scrubbed the back of his head, pulling on his hair. They were out in the wild, with too many people and not enough creature comforts for the kids. But the alternative was worse. He wasn¡¯t going to take them to Jack¡¯s cabin in the dark. Who knew what Matt was up to and what they¡¯d be going into. As far as anywhere else, it wasn¡¯t an option. Everything was suspect, especially since Lara and the kids were relying on him to keep them safe. ¡°My poor brethren!¡± said Ernie, squawking as he jumped off Logan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Logan, they¡¯re not moving!¡± Scrambling down the beach, he crept up to them, poking one in the shoulder with a tentacle. ¡°What,¡± said Lara, swallowing and staring. ¡°What the¡­¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°Logan, why is an octopus talking? And calling you by name?¡± Logan rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°That¡¯s Ernie.¡± ¡°Ernie,¡± she said, deadpan. ¡°Oooh!¡± exclaimed Sawyer, dropping Frank to the ground and taking a step towards Ernie. ¡°Can I have him, mom? Can I keep him?¡± Hunter rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°It¡¯s a frigging monster, Saw. You don¡¯t keep it; it keeps you.¡± Ernie stopped poking the octopuses and turned back to them, his mouth dropping open. ¡°Did your brethren just call me a monster, Logan?¡± he asked like an offended cat. Logan gave him a weak smile. ¡°Ernie is my bonded companion. He¡¯s not a monster, he¡¯s just¡­ well, Ernie.¡± Ernie scrambled up the beach, his horns jumping up and down in curiosity. ¡°Yes, yes, yes! I¡¯m Ernie, little squishy humans! Logan has told me many things about you, how he struggled so, trying to find you! How he worried and cried and blubbered and¡ª¡± Hunter smiled as if despite herself. She was in that teenage rebellion phase, rolling her eyes at everything Lara said. Despite the rips in her jeans and a worry-lined face, at least she hadn¡¯t lost her attitude. If she¡¯d turned into someone meek, then Logan really would have worried. ¡°Mother!¡± chirped Shoot, bounding up to Logan, her tail in the air. Logan gave her a look of confusion. Her armour was gone. Somewhere between the prison and here, he must have lost the thread that connected [Mimicry Armour] to her suit. Lara gasped and clutched Sawyer by the shoulder, pulling her back. Logan could see why. Without the armour, Shoot was in all her glory. Her green vines writhed around her cat body like a living plant, her tongue a green shoot, flowers blooming on the end of her tail. Shoot looked from Logan to Lara, her ears drooping, and just like that, the writhing vines stopped wiggling. Instead, what looked like green fur started spreading throughout her body and covering the vines. Sawyer wiggled in Lara¡¯s grip, trying to get away. ¡°Mother?¡± panted Shoot. Lara looked from Shoot to Logan in disbelief. ¡°Logan¡­?¡± ¡°Er.¡± B2 - Chapter 43: An Octopus Horde There was nothing like being scolded by your big sister to feel normal again. Lara had listened to his story with disbelief and not a little shock, then she¡¯d scolded Logan for being reckless, for almost getting killed by the queen serpent, for getting trapped in the trial dungeon in the first place, and finally, for taking so much frigging time to find them. In her words, not Logan¡¯s. But for all her bluster, Logan knew that was Lara¡¯s way of telling him that she cared and that she was glad that he¡¯d survived. As for the state of Lara¡¯s house when he¡¯d arrived¡ªthe blood on the walls, the overflowing sink¡ªher tale practically gave him a heart attack. ¡°What did happen?¡± asked Logan. ¡°I arrived at your house and the scene¡­ it scared me to death. Blood in the kitchen, blood smears on the floor. It looked like something out of a horror movie.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was fun,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°I injured one of the creeps, a contract maker. Stabbed him with a kitchen knife while Hunter hit him with a frying pan.¡± Logan grinned. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t hit him with an arrow.¡± Lara blew out a breath and lowered her voice, looking towards where the kids had settled down before rubbing her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s another story.¡± Her eyes were red and sore, a consequence of the wildfire smoke. The poor air quality didn¡¯t bother Logan anymore, but anyone lower leveled was struggling. Logan worried about the kids, but there was nothing for it. Not until he found them real, secure shelter. To their delight, Logan had taken out their beds (bedding and all) from his spatial storage. Lara couldn¡¯t get over how he¡¯d managed to turn a cat collar into a Houdini collar. But setting up a makeshift bedroom in the middle of the woods was something his nieces could get excited about. In this fucked up world, anything he could do to make the world special, make it seem less doom and gloom and more like a fairytale¡­ that would be the way to keep them sane. Unfortunately, beyond the other blankets Lara had stored inside of her home, he couldn¡¯t do the same for the others. He wanted to; they had kids as well, but his priority would always be his family. But at least Logan could give them back what he¡¯d taken in Hope¡¯s End when they¡¯d fled from the condo. They¡¯d had barely any belongings, but it was something. ¡°Another story?¡± Logan questioned. ¡°I found my bow downstairs, even used it on Annabelle to level up the first time.¡± Annabelle was Lara¡¯s quaker parrot. Logan winced. Damn, the kids wouldn¡¯t have liked that. Lara had essentially killed their pet. ¡°But I lost it once the rat army took us. The contract worker took our weapons, cell phones, even Hunter¡¯s frying pan. I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going to get another. Besides¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should.¡± Logan had already rummaged through his spatial collar, searching for Asthea¡¯s crossbow, but then he paused, blinking. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Lara was a natural at archery; to pick another weapon made no sense. Lara snorted. ¡°The System made me boring. I was boring in life, and now I¡¯m boring in the apocalypse. My class lets me negotiate, persuade. I think there¡¯s a hidden compulsion in one of my skills, but I need to level up more to find out.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t need a weapon. To level up, you have to kill things.¡± ¡°Not necessarily¡­¡± Lara hedged. ¡°I received XP just by negotiating with Ruler Pied. I¡¯m only 50 points away from the next level.¡± What. Logan felt a prickling sensation on his scalp. He didn¡¯t know why he was surprised, since he already knew it was possible to level up in different ways. Peter, that jerk he¡¯d killed back in Hope¡¯s End, had leveled up after talking children into signing contracts. Hell, even Shoot had the ability to level up by obtaining acceptance from others. Logan thought he knew where his discomfort was coming from though. He didn¡¯t like the idea of his sister leveling up in any way other than through brute force. Peter had been disgusting, taking advantage of others for his own gain. Since that encounter, Logan had already begun to classify anything with alternative methods of leveling up as ¡®other.¡¯ But then again, hadn¡¯t Lara always been smart? If there was a way to level up just by being a negotiator, that would be his sister. ¡°You still need to level up the traditional way,¡± said Logan, firm. It was one thing to have an ability that let you level up without fighting, but another if she were so weak that she wouldn¡¯t get the chance to even start negotiating. With a blink, Logan removed Asthea¡¯s crossbow, feeling a pang of heartache. This was the first of many gifts that he intended to give her and the children. He still had the Silverdagger spatial storage bracelets to hand out, but something told him to wait. Lara was too low leveled, and if he gave her a spatial storage device out in the open, one of the others might try to get on Logan¡¯s bad side and take it from her. Lara looked down, her hands hesitant as she examined the weapon. [Silverdagger Crossbow. A Grade. Your aim will always be true.] She gasped. ¡°Shit. How¡­? Do you know how rare it is to have an A grade item? They said it was like finding a pile of gold.¡± ¡°I want you to have it. The person who owned it was brave, stood her ground, and took no crap from anyone. She reminded me of you.¡± Lara¡¯s expression was gentle. ¡°I sense a story there. Logan, what really happened to you? I can tease all I want about your appearance and about your high level, but you¡¯re not my brother anymore.¡± ¡°Lara¡ª¡± ¡°No, just listen to me. You¡¯re Logan, I know you¡¯re Logan, but the person looking at me right now isn¡¯t the same person who parked his butt on my couch to watch marathon sessions of the Walking Dead.¡± Logan licked his lips, his mouth dry. ¡°I had to kill people. A lot of people. Most of them deserved it, but¡­¡± His voice cracked. ¡°I was put into a difficult position. Between a rock and a hard place. If I hadn¡¯t done what was necessary, it would have meant that you could have been in jeopardy, the kids would have been in jeopardy. It was no contest, but it was hard.¡± Logan remembered what [Foresight] had shown him, an army of Silverdagger warriors facing off against a line of humans. And Lara, looking battle worn, facing off against Asthea. If he had let Asthea live, that could have been their reality. But fuck, Logan had tried his best to avoid thinking of it in the first place because he knew it would make his emotions slosh all over the place. If there was one thing he needed to be, it was firm in his resolve. There was no room for regret or should-have-beens when he had the fate of billions of people in his hands.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Not to mention that already, he¡¯d fallen further behind on the Save Humanity Quest: [Quest: Save Humanity! Save 5.9 billion people in less than one year by catching and storing 930 billion tons of carbon. This is a running Quest, and your progress can fluctuate up and down.] [Reward for completing the Quest: You will save 5.9 billion people.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: You will kill 5.9 billion people.] [Quest Progress: -5% complete. 354 days remaining.] What the hell? The last time he¡¯d checked, it had been negative one percent, and now it was sitting at five! Logan felt his anger surge, a vein on his forehead throbbing. There was something FUBAR here. There was no way that much carbon had ended up in the atmosphere in less than one day. No way. Crap, was the glitchy AI minion back, screwing with his System messages and sabotaging his quests? Worst of all, he had no one to ask. Asthea had been his only lifeline to the mysterious ¡®System Admins¡¯ and it wasn¡¯t like Logan could submit an error report. Running a hand through his hair, Logan paced, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists. His aggravation was real, but more than anything, he felt frustration. One step forward, two steps back. The Save Humanity Quest was the only way he could guarantee that Lara and the kids survived the purge. But he couldn¡¯t go off trampling over the countryside, growing monster tree after monster tree. He couldn¡¯t. There was no reason to worry about a quest that would save Lara and the kids in a year if he didn¡¯t save them now. First, he needed to secure Jack¡¯s cabin so he could utilize the array that Pied had given him. And he had yet another mini-quest to complete, his Build an Empire quest, and time was ticking. He had only two days to figure out how to craft 10 lodestone access points, whatever that meant. How could he¡ª Wait a minute. To secure Jack¡¯s cabin and figure out what was going on with the Matt situation, he would need to leave Chase and Brooke¡¯s group here. There was no reason to transport them to the cabin before he knew what he was transporting them into. Why not create a lodestone access point here, and let them use it? There weren¡¯t a hundred people here, but it would be enough to start. ¡°You should go to bed,¡± he said to Lara. ¡°Don¡¯t think this conversation is over. But I¡¯m tired. What about you?¡± Logan gave her a half smile. He would have to sleep eventually, but Logan had the advantage of [Undead Stamina] to keep him going where the others didn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to Ernie first and keep an eye out for monsters. But I¡¯m working out an alert system with Chase, so that we can cycle guards to make sure someone is always watching. Eventually, my shift will end, and I¡¯ll get some sleep.¡± Lara hesitated and then lowered her voice. ¡°What do you think about Chase? Do you trust him? Trust the group?¡± Logan shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t trust anyone, not anymore. Only you and Ernie.¡± Logan would like to say that he trusted Jack and Tasha, but did he really? He hadn¡¯t forgotten the way Jack had been acting when this all started. Back then, Logan had been a different person. He¡¯d been looking at the situation from a different perspective, and now, he was a more jaded man, but Jack had still abandoned him at the resort when he could have waited. As for Tasha, Logan would like to say that he trusted her, but he¡¯d only known her for a day. How much could you learn about someone in a day? ¡°You trust an octopus,¡± Lara muttered as she walked towards Hunter and Sawyer. Logan held back a sigh. Ernie had been excited to meet Lara and the kids, but Lara would take time to come around. Walking to the edge of the lake, Logan winced. Ernie had tried his best with the rescued octopuses, but half of them had been too far gone. On top of what he had to go through when he saw his brethren boiled alive, he now had to say goodbye to hundreds of his kind. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± asked Logan, stepping into the lake, his feet submerging in the water. The only light was from the moon, but with the smog, it was tinted orange. Orange light reflecting on the surface of the water made it seem like they were on an alien world. The smog and the flare of candling pine trees off in the distance didn¡¯t help with the picture. Apocalypse indeed. Ernie gave him a frantic, furtive glance, his mouth parted, his eyes wide in desperation. He swung his tentacles back and forth in the water as if he didn¡¯t know what to do with himself. ¡°Pied must die, Logan! He must die! This indignity cannot be borne! First, kidnapping my brethren, then housing them in conditions not worth your worst enemy. I read about the Geneva convention in the underwater garbage lands! I know he has done wrong! Despicable wrong!¡± ¡°I know, buddy. But you know we can¡¯t do anything about that now. He¡¯s too strong.¡± In the water, tentacles flashed by in a blur, too many to count. It reminded Logan of a flock of fish. The octopuses who had survived were a mix between small, tiny octopuses barely the size of his fist, to a huge Pacific Octopus that was three times the size of Ernie. Their colors were dull brown to vibrant, tropical greens and yellows. Some had spots, others were solid, but just like Ernie, their colors could fluctuate by deploying [Mimicry]. ¡°How many of them survived?¡± asked Logan as he looked at the swarm. They were different levels, but unlike Ernie, none of them were past level 40. Logan didn¡¯t know if that were due to their captivity, or because Ernie had named himself I Rival All. Logan would find it difficult to picture another octopus who was as bloodthirsty and eager for slaughter as Ernie. Plus, Ernie had another advantage. He was a Liche. ¡°Only a hundred or more,¡± said Ernie, glum, his tentacles drooping. Then he brightened. ¡°But all is not lost! The ones that did not survive are now minions.¡± ¡°¡­They are?¡± Logan would have thought that Ernie would have hesitated, torn over turning his own brethren into thralls. Essentially, he¡¯d be turning them into undead zombies, but unlike Ernie, they¡¯d truly be that way. If Logan were in the same situation, there was a moral complexity that he would have struggled to reconcile. By making them undead, Ernie was taking away their free will. Ernie bobbed his head. ¡°It was their wish, Logan. Their dying wish. Like me, they seek revenge and want to bring Pied down. Some decided to become fish food, as is their right, but the majority, each one, asked to join my army to build the horde. They will continue to level up, and we will become an army like nothing else.¡± ¡°There you go,¡± said Logan, trying to be encouraging. ¡°That¡¯s a bright spot, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ernie drooped. ¡°But they still died. I would return all my minions, go to an army of you and I only, if I could restore them and return them to their home. Home, Logan, home. You are my home, and I am yours, but the survivors wish to return to the ocean. I can deploy [Portal Generation], but that might not be so smart, yes?¡± [Portal Generation] had both a huge KarmaCoin and Karma cost. On top of that, using it to go barely a few miles had almost killed Logan. He had no idea how much it would cost to go to the ocean, but it would be a lot. Possibly a fatal cost. ¡°I can take care of it with [Threshold Shift]. Anyone that wants to return. But Ernie¡­ I hate to state the obvious, but although Pied agreed to free them, he didn¡¯t agree to stop catching them. If they go back, they could be captured again.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ernie grumbled. ¡°That¡¯s why he needs to die. But for now, it¡¯s their choice. They know the risks and they choose to return.¡± ¡°Tell the ones who want to go to meet me here in the morning. For now, I have something else to try.¡± Logan gave Ernie a firm look. ¡°Can you monitor the group, have your minions keep watch and warn me if Lara and the kids are in danger?¡± The horns on top of Ernie¡¯s head jumped up and down. ¡°Yes yes yes. For my army rivals all.¡± Splashing a tentacle, he bobbed in the water before sobering. ¡°There¡¯s something else. Larry, my mighty steed, brings word that mushrooms are on the move.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°¡­mushrooms?¡± ¡°Larry cannot talk, only send images. But yes, mushrooms, climbing out of the lake, onto the shore, spreading. He sent an image of mold, creeping and crawling.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Logan didn¡¯t like that, since it reminded him of the mycelian saturated ground back at the resort. More of that shit could spread and infect anyone on the shore. Infect Lara and the kids. That damn queen serpent was spreading her zombie infection. Growling, Logan bashed his fist over the surface of the water, sending a huge splash in a deluge. He¡¯d just finished listing his priorities, and the serpent queen hadn¡¯t been on the list. But fuck, he would have to make her a priority if she were going around infecting humans. His worst nightmare would be Lara and the kids turning into those flower minions. He would never forgive himself. For now, Logan backed out of the lake, trying to keep quiet as he moved past the sleeping group, and over to his monster carbon capture tree. It was time to make a lodestone. B2 - Chapter 44: Fire Fabricator The description of [Lodestone Creationist] was vague, but wasn¡¯t that the same with all his skills? [This rare skill allows you to craft lodestone access points and create private markets outside of the System Market.] The System had never been big on handing out instructions. Besides, Logan was betting that all he had to do was find a place to craft a lodestone and then deploy the skill, just like his others. But would the place he chose impact the quality of the ¡®private market¡¯? There was only one way to find out. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he circled around the group who were sleeping, looping past Chase who was guarding the outside, and then approached his monster carbon tree. In the dark, it seemed like a living monster. So tall it towered over him, twenty stories at least, its blooming, mutated leaves rustling in the breeze. Even standing underneath it made breathing easier, the air clear and the smog dissipating. If anything, he should have set up Lara and the kids underneath this behemoth since at least it would help with their red eyes and sore throats. Logan tried to keep an ear out for any disturbances while he scanned his surroundings, but he trusted Ernie. Ernie together with his minions would be strong enough to handle anything that came at Lara and the kids, at least until Logan arrived. Logan climbed up the immense roots that breached the ground. They were so large it was like climbing a tree by itself, the bark knotted, thick, so thick it looked like an old growth tree. He hesitated. If this lodestone were like the one on the willow tree back at the cabin, it would materialize on the trunk of this tree. But if the tree were so large that it was difficult to climb over top of the roots, that wouldn¡¯t be easily accessible. Eventually, he wanted to transport Chase and Brooke¡¯s group to the cabin, which meant that they¡¯d no longer have access to it. If he wanted to attract other people, it didn¡¯t make sense to add the lodestone here. Clambering over the roots, Logan jumped down until he was on solid ground, and then considered a way forward. The orange glowing moon provided light, but even with his high perception attribute, it wasn¡¯t much. His massive behemoth tree was behind him, the dead pine trees around the picnic clearing were in front of him, and then there was the path that led to Richton¡¯s Tomb. Huh. Well, the skill didn¡¯t say that he had to build a lodestone on a tree; he only assumed that he had to because that¡¯s how his Tree Fridge worked. But if he wanted a location that was convenient that had the highest potential traffic, the tomb would work the best. In fact, it was his only option if he wanted to take advantage of whatever sparse foot traffic would show up after he moved everyone to Jack¡¯s cabin. Logan approached the tomb, staring. As far back as he could remember, Richton¡¯s Tomb had been there. Originally, this land had been privately owned. When Richton passed away, he willed the property to the city, donating it, with the condition that the tomb would remain and would be undisturbed. You could access the tomb from underwater, which is where he¡¯d stored his canoe and the supplies he¡¯d left for Lara, but you could also access it from above ground, the massive door that had been locked with a padlock, inaccessible to the public. Logan had no desire to break through the door, since he already knew what was inside the tomb, but why wouldn¡¯t the door work as a base for the lodestone? Either way, he would only find out if it worked by trial and error. The door was black, rusted, overgrown vines and moss covering it and making it seem like something out of an unkempt garden. Squinting at it, his heart racing, Logan focused on the middle of the door at about eye level and then concentrated on [Lodestone Creationist]. And concentrated. And concentrated again. ¡°Fuck,¡± he muttered. It reminded him of when he¡¯d first received his skills, of trying to figure out how [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] worked. Logan didn¡¯t like feeling stupid, and staring at a door while nothing happened wasn¡¯t helping. Well, one thing he¡¯d learned throughout this whole Integration ordeal was that anything was possible. All he had to do was visualize it. If staring at a door and trying to deploy [Lodestone Creationist] like he would his other passive skills didn¡¯t work, then that meant it needed something else. When he thought of a ¡®private market,¡¯ he couldn¡¯t help envisioning an online shop, something that he could click on like pressing on a touchscreen. Somehow, he knew that wouldn¡¯t be the way forward. His tree fridge had a lodestone that was in the shape of his hand, a stone with an etching inside of it. And yet, Logan hadn¡¯t created it. It had appeared after Eleanor¡¯s death, after his resolution to change. In a way, it had been a reward from the System, something that had also given him access to [Life Cycle Master] which eventually merged into [Life Fabricator]. But strictly speaking, Logan knew what a lodestone was, and it wasn¡¯t an engraving with a handprint. They were naturally magnetized iron stones that acted like magnets, used in the past as magnetic compasses to lead sailors and help with navigation. Logan only knew that because he¡¯d been so bad at biology in college that he¡¯d had to sign up for an Ancient History 101 course in order to pass his first semester. So, iron. Magnetized stone. He already had a knack for manipulating stone via [Mimicry Armour]. He could take a bucket full of sand and craft it into flexible sandstone, creating his Logan exoskeleton. Was the skill related? Something that required Karma, and for him to manipulate stone? But if it were, it seemed like an odd requirement. After all, this skill had to be available to other users within the Collective, and there was no way they all had [Mimicry Armour]. Unless¡­ was it connected to [Life Fabricator]? He¡¯d received [Lodestone Creationist] from his class selection, which meant that each of the skills had to be related. And there was an undeniable part to [Life Fabricator] that was crafting related:The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. [Through intricate and highly precise work, this skill allows you to build, repair and control the life cycle of beings by cutting, bending, and assembling.] Huh. And yet, Logan wouldn¡¯t think that a stone was a ¡®being.¡¯ Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! ¡°System,¡± said Logan, ¡°for once in my life, it would be really nice to have an instruction manual.¡± There was dead silence, but by now, Logan wasn¡¯t expecting a response. The System only responded when it wanted to piss him off. All right, well, he might as well try something. Throw enough crap at the skill and eventually he¡¯d figure it out. Logan rummaged through his spatial collar, looking for anything he could use to craft into a stone. Iron would be best, but it wouldn¡¯t be magnetized even if he found it. It wasn¡¯t like he had a magnet inside of his¡­ Holy crap, hold on! Logan had cleared everything inside of Lara¡¯s house, absolutely everything. That included the fridge magnets! The kids had gone crazy with them, sticking artwork and food menus to the fridge, so he had a ton! Logan had no idea if he were on the right track, but a lodestone was magnetized metal, so at least he had a start. Lastly, he willed out the nails from his tactician trial, the ones the blobs had used to construct the wagon wall in the canyon. Even the nails from his grandfather¡¯s tool shed. With a blink, a pile of rusty and shiny, brand-new nails plopped onto the ground in front of Richton¡¯s Tomb, including two dozen magnets. Running a hand through his hair and pulling on the ends, Logan glanced from the door of the tomb to the pile of crap. He supposed that whether he used [Mimicry Armour] or [Life Fabricator] for this next step didn¡¯t matter; as long as it worked, Logan would use whatever was at his disposal. It may be that [Lodestone Creationist] was meant to be used in conjunction with [Life Fabricator], but then again, Logan might have the unique benefit of having a skill that worked even better. It once again came down to visualization. Just like with the sand, Logan concentrated on one nail to start, clenching his fist until he¡¯d managed to move it, an inch at first, a small jerk. It was only a slight movement, but it still made excitement surge through his chest. Taking a deep breath, he tried to stay as calm as possible. He wouldn¡¯t get anywhere if he were too excited to concentrate. His nails digging into the palm of his hand, Logan scrunched his eyebrows as he kept his focus on that one nail like it was the most important thing in existence. Gradually, as if it were held up by an invisible string, it rose in the air until¡ª Logan hissed. A larger, thicker cloud had drifted over the moon, causing the light which had already been poor to worsen. Logan still had his barbeque lighter, and it was easy enough to create another makeshift torch, but he worried about the dryness of the ground around him. Even though Richton¡¯s Tomb was next to the lake, the air was sweltering. Still, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything if he couldn¡¯t see. Making a snap decision, Logan removed a long golf club from his spatial collar. Lara had been a casual golfer, picking it up last year, and she had a whole golf bag full of clubs. In a pinch, a metal torch would work better than a plank or a tree limb, since it would be less likely to catch on fire. Lastly, Logan removed a towel and wrapped it around the end of the golf club before slamming the end of the club into the ground like hitting a spike. He''d used so much strength that the golf club was sticking out of the ground in a straight angle. Oh well, he supposed that worked. It wouldn¡¯t allow anything to catch on fire, at least. Lighting his makeshift torch let a plume of light illuminate the area, allowing Logan to see each nail in detail. All right, all right. Logan cracked his neck, and then focused on another nail, clenching his fist as he concentrated and inched it into the air. It rose a foot, then two, and kept climbing, the nail rotating in the air. Keeping that one aloft, Logan latched onto another, then another, forcing them to rise into the air, the sharp ends of the nails clattering against each other. This would be the hard part. With his other hand, he clenched his fist once again, half his attention on keeping the nails in the air, the other on latching onto the magnets. He separated the magnets from their plastic encasings, until he had ten tiny magnets that jumped up and down in the air. This time, he didn¡¯t have to direct them, since they were attracted to the nails and naturally drifted over like a floating cloud. In fact, they went too quickly, wanting to pull each nail into the magnets like shrapnel. Logan didn¡¯t want that. He needed to figure this out just like he¡¯d figured out how to merge sand into sandstone. It was as if he needed a smithy, a place where he could take the two divergent metals and merge them into one. A smithy. Fire. Logan¡¯s mouth grew dry, uncertainty eating away at his stomach. Was he really going to try this? He was trying it. Keeping the nails and the magnets swirling together in the air like a metal cloud, Logan turned and looked at his makeshift torch, at the fire blooming from the end of the towel. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he said, as he concentrated on a ball of flame the size of his fist, forcing it away from the torch and hovering it in the air. Damn. But as soon as he did that, the flame snuffed out like a meteorite that naturally depleted in the air. Shit. Okay, he had to figure out how to move the fire through the air but keep it burning. Was that where [Life Fabricator] would come in handy? After all, if anything, fire was alive. But again, that was down to visualization. If he visualized that the flame wouldn¡¯t die, it naturally followed that the skill would obey. Keeping the nails and the magnets hovering in the air while puzzling this out was challenging, and he suspected that his Karma pool was depleting, but he thought he had a way forward. Logan snatched another fistful of flame from the torch, but this time, he pictured it flaring and burning like an endless flame. A flame that never died, that kept burning even when separated from the torch and with nothing to fuel it but oxygen. The ball of fire drifted through the air, flaring brightly, and as it did, the torch extinguished as if his ball of fire had sucked its lifeforce, sucked its fire. Holy crap, it was working! Logan was a frigging fire wizard! Letting out a bark of laughter, of excitement, he forced the fireball to drift over to his hovering iron and magnets, and then envisioned them fusing together, a mass of flame and magnetized iron merging into one. He molded it, then clenched his fist once again as he forced more and more nails into his hovering ball, so much metal that it burned, flaring white, red, white, red. Until with a gasp, Logan separated one piece from the mass, sculpting it, shaping the edges, and then finally letting it drift to the ground where it could cool. Then he repeated the same steps, sculpting more pieces, more and more. As Logan felt his airways grow tight, his Karma stretched to the breaking point, sweat beading down his forehead, he felt a surge of achievement, of knowing that he¡¯d fucking owned this. He¡¯d fabricated the hell out of these stones, and although they weren¡¯t yet lodestones, they were kickass. Biting his lip and smiling, he looked down at his new stones. He now had ten stones, right in line with his quest: [You¡¯ve received the quest, Build an Empire! Craft ten lodestone access points and sell 100 items within 48 hours.] Although they weren¡¯t yet access points, he suspected he could transform them into ones. Throwing nine of the stones inside of his spatial collar, Logan concentrated on the one that remained. It was flat, the size of a piece of printer paper. The edges glinted, looking razor sharp. Making sure that his Karma pool was replenished, Logan forced the metal into the air again, this time sending it soaring like a bullet until the flat edge banged into the door of Richton¡¯s Tomb. Concentrating on [Lodestone Creationist], Logan willed the new metal to mold into the door, envisioning the stone as the gateway into another world. Ding! [Lodestone access point created! Would you like to set up your inventory for your private market?] B2 - Chapter 45: A Private Market [Lodestone access point created! Would you like to set up your inventory for your private market?] Yes! Logan fist-pumped the air, his excitement through the roof. He felt like dancing, swaying on the balls of his feet, his mouth in a wide grin. Everything he¡¯d just done had been an experiment, a shot in the dark, but still, he¡¯d figured out how the skill worked and also made crafting advances. Before this, he never would have thought that fire could be used to combine elements and strengthen material. If he could magnetize a sheet of metal and craft it into a lodestone, what did that mean for [Mimicry Armour]? He¡¯d always suspected that he could use something other than sandstone to craft better armour, but now, he knew that he could, he just had to find the right material. Rusty nails wouldn¡¯t be an option, since his Logan exoskeleton only worked because he had access to a massive pile of sand. To make the same thing work with higher quality material, he¡¯d need buckets full of the stuff. Still, that was a problem for another day. For now, he needed to figure out how to create a private market. Logan mentally hovered over the [YES] choice. [Please select the items you¡¯d like to add to your private market.] Suddenly, Logan was looking at the contents of his spatial storage collar. He swallowed, his mouth dry. So. A private market was just that. It didn¡¯t give Logan access to anything other than what he could create himself. That meant that he¡¯d have to transfer items from his own spatial storage into the market, effectively losing them. Fuck. He had a massive ton of crap inside of his collar, volume wasn¡¯t the problem, it was that to make the private market attractive, he¡¯d need to give up things he¡¯d rather keep. Logan ran his hand over his chin, scratching his stubble as he considered a way forward. The True Grit Ring he¡¯d earned in the trial dungeon was going to Lara. It was his rarest item, something that could only be earned from almost killing himself in the attribute trials. He¡¯d also nabbed four Silverdagger Clan spatial storage bracelets, rarities from E Grade to B Grade. He wanted to give one to Lara and the kids, which left one remaining, but he¡¯d rather reserve it for Jack and Tasha. Wait a minute. He¡¯d killed fifty people in Pied¡¯s Kingdom, and he¡¯d thrown their corpses as well as their belongings inside of his spatial storage. Fifty people had to have a ton of good shit, and hopefully not a ton of cursed skill rings. Logan mentally rummaged through the contents, grimacing at the list of corpses, before scrutinizing¡­ Shit. He¡¯d managed to gather twenty spatial storage bracelets! 20! Not to mention the weapons, armour, and food. None of the weapons were above C Grade, but they¡¯d have to be better than weapons most people could find in their kitchens or on the street. If he was right, Pied¡¯s agents only received them due to their relationship with Pied. All in all, once he¡¯d sorted through everything, he had over 100 weapons that he could add to his private market, not to mention as many frigging green beans as he wanted since he could always get more. If Logan concentrated on each item, he could set a KarmaCoin price, whatever price he wanted. And if he toggled through the options, he could¡­. [Would you like to turn on the option for auction buying?] Logan blinked and then grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. According to this, he could either give the item a KarmaCoin cost, or he could auction it within a set time period, allowing people to put in bids. Holy crap, was that ever kickass! Logan tried not to feel greedy, but he¡¯d been tempted by the empire building description of his [Fabled Creation] class for just that reason. Finally, finally, he could make something of himself, exceed Lara financially, hell, even exceed his shitty boss, Sarah! There was the question of how this worked, though. Logan had only received KarmaCoin by growing trees and reducing carbon. With the Tree Fridge, he¡¯d tried to convert currency for KarmaCoin with no luck. KarmaCoin may not be widely in use yet, which would limit who could buy items from his market. But still, he was convinced that it would become the major currency; the only viable option when the internet no longer worked. People weren¡¯t going to cart around their life savings in physical bills; he was convinced of that, which is why he¡¯d been so excited when he discovered the serpent queen¡¯s hoard in the cavern. That meant that although he would have limited customers to start, eventually, KarmaCoin would become routine for everyone. But for his private market to be successful, he¡¯d have to continuously add new items. With everything else already on his plate, stocking inventory would be challenging. Oh well, it¡¯s not like Logan couldn¡¯t table that problem. To succeed at his Build an Empire quest, he needed to craft ten lodestone access points and sell 100 items. He already had the lodestone, now, he just needed to pick the spots. Preferably spots with a lot of people. Once that was done, he¡¯d succeed at the quest and then leave restocking his private market for another day. *** [Countdown: Day 12 of Day 365 before species culling. Only the worthy survive.] [Current rank: 2 out of 6,000,015,197.] [You are currently in the 1%.] This time, rather than waking up halfway through a nightmare and jumping to his feet in startlement, Logan had a tough time blinking awake, his eyes crusty, his limbs sluggish. He¡¯d stayed up well into the night, inventorying everything he could into his new private market. There was only so much [Undead Stamina] could do, and a lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him. Stretching, Logan climbed to his feet and then cracked his neck, before looking around at the others. After he¡¯d called it a night, he¡¯d stretched out on the ground close to Lara and the kids, trying to keep them within reach in case they needed him. Lara seemed worse off than Logan, rubbing her bloodshot eyes, her mouth in a grimace as she stretched and scowled up at the smoggy sun. The heat persisted, that constant, dry heat that hardly decreased in the night. The System had also woken Hunter and Sawyer, but rather than getting up, they glanced around them and then pulled their blankets over their heads with complaining grumbles and grunts. But everyone had received the same System wakeup call to various effects. Many of Brooke and Chase¡¯s group let out cries and jumped up, staring at their surroundings with wild eyes. Logan couldn¡¯t blame them. For days, the daily wake up call had announced another cut to the world population, and being reminded that you were ranked outside of the one percent couldn¡¯t be a confidence boost. Logan pulled Lara to the side, lowering his voice. ¡°I need to go back to Jack¡¯s cabin and make sure it¡¯s safe for you and the kids. I¡¯d take you with me, but I left a whole group there, and according to the last text message I received from Jack, there might be a problem. It¡¯s not safe. Not yet.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Lara bit her lip and stared over at Hunter and Sawyer with a worried frown. ¡°If you leave us alone who¡¯s to say it¡¯ll be safe here?¡± She gestured to Brooke and Chase¡¯s group. ¡°I don¡¯t trust them. They could have XP harvesters.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they do. Lara, do you remember Sarah, my boss?¡± Lara looked thrown. ¡°The devil woman?¡± Logan snorted. ¡°Yep. She¡¯s here, part of the group. She may have been a horrible boss, but I don¡¯t think she¡¯s a horrible person. Or someone who would hang around a group that would participate in murder. Either way, I¡¯ll ask Ernie to stay and protect you while I¡¯m away. He¡¯s level 70; these people aren¡¯t going to mess with you, not with him watching over you. Plus, I¡¯ll be gone and back before you know it.¡± Logan had no idea what had happened to Matt after he¡¯d left, but although Logan suspected that he was a psychopath, he was a teenager, all knobbly knees. There was no way he would be any match for Logan. Logan ran a hand over his head, then winced and tried to straighten his hair. It was standing on end, and with his stubble, he really did resemble a mountain man. ¡°And if worse comes to worse, Ernie has a skill that will allow him to portal you out of here. He¡¯ll take you to the cabin. You can trust him, Lara. I trust him with my life.¡± Lara blew out a breath. ¡°This is so messed up. Talking octopuses, monsters, rats. I don¡¯t like not being able to keep my kids safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep you safe, I will. But first, I need to secure your home.¡± *** Logan got Ernie up to speed and made sure that he was gathering the octopuses who wanted to leave. Ernie¡¯s outlook on life had done a 180. He was no longer muttering about Pied and skill rings; instead, he was enthused about his growing army, his horns jumping up and down like whack-a-moles, his pale Liche colors fluctuating. He was a bundle of energy, his tentacles dancing up and down, his mouth gaping, his eyes alight in pleasure as he inventoried each additional minion. ¡°Remember,¡± said Logan, slightly worried that Ernie would be too distracted to take in anything other than his growing army. ¡°Watch them. Watch them with your life.¡± Ernie paused, his tentacles stilling as he grinned. ¡°Pfft! It will be child¡¯s play, Logan! With my mighty army, I could create a wall of monsters, circling your brethren! No one will touch them! For I rival all.¡± Logan winced as he thought of Lara¡¯s reaction to being surrounded by undead zombies. ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. Just keep them close to the shore and monitor the area. Lara will let out the alarm if there¡¯s a problem, but hopefully your minions will be able to stop anything before it gets to that point.¡± Shoot paced up and down the beach, her tail swinging from side-to-side, green flowers blooming on the end. She reminded him of a cat, desperate to get to her owner, but unwilling to get her feet wet. ¡°I can help too, Mother!¡± she chirped. Clawing the ground, she bounced, digging in with the sand and making it go flying. ¡°I will stay close to the little ones and jump to Ernie if there¡¯s a problem!¡± Right, Shoot also had a teleportation skill. On top of that, Shoot had the ability to level just from gaining acceptance from others. If she cozied up to Lara and the kids and charmed them, she might jump a few extra levels. Logan strode out of the water and up onto the beach, his wet feet soaking the sand. Even in the morning, it was already close to a hundred degrees, making the sand feel like burning coals. Peering down, he deployed [Mimicry Armour], not bothering to take sand out of his spatial collar since it was all around him. In seconds, he¡¯d managed to shift the sand underneath his feet into solid sandstone, sculpting the material and giving himself a pair of boots. Logan crouched and gave Shoot a gentle look. ¡°You¡¯ll protect them? Protect them with your life?¡± Shoot panted, her tail swaying. ¡°Yes, mother!¡± Logan nodded. ¡°I know you¡¯ll do a good job.¡± Logan had one more thing to do before he left, and that was to make sure that he spread the word about his lodestone so that he¡¯d at least make one of the requirements of his Build an Empire Quest. ¡°Ernie,¡± he said, turning to the water. ¡°Give me ten minutes and then I¡¯ll take your brethren away.¡± Already, offshore, there was a massive swarm of tentacles that danced together as the octopuses of assorted sizes gathered. Dozens of eyes blinked at him as waves passed over their heads, the water glinting orange underneath the smoggy sky. Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a breath. He felt pulled in different directions with too many priorities to count. Right now, the most important tasks were to take care of Ernie¡¯s octopus transportation side quest in the quickest time as possible, make sure Jack¡¯s cabin was safe, and then tackle his Build an Empire quest. That meant time was ticking. Striding up the beach, Logan made his way to Brooke and Chase¡¯s group. They¡¯d piled together, sleeping on blankets and towels. Half of them were already awake, rummaging around in backpacks and bags, looking for food, while the others were trying to sleep, pulling blankets over top of their heads to block the light. Brooke along with another man Logan didn¡¯t know had stood guard for the rest of the night. They looked weary, their shoulders slumped and dark circles underneath their eyes. The man had thinning hair, and he was sweating in the heat, scalp shining red, his shirt pulled to the side, his collar torn. His stubble had grown out of control, giving him a small beard, but it had grown in unkempt; his lip bare, his chin full of scraggly facial hair. He had a round nose and thin lips, his brown eyes bloodshot. Strands of hair were exploding out of Brooke¡¯s braid, her pants filthy with dirt and blood. Huh. The next time he found an abandoned home, even a store, it might be worth picking up a selection of clothes that he could add to his private market. Creature comforts were something that had taken a backseat to monsters and death, but eventually, people would crave normality. Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Brooke Fisher: Level 25. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Intelligence. Characteristics: An analytical mind. Hidden name: Brooke.] [Frederick Nedtuck: Level 15. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Not what he seems. Hidden name: Fred.] Brooke had leveled up twice in the fight with the rat army, but other than that, she was the same. But he didn¡¯t know what to think of Frederick¡¯s characteristics. It reminded him of the [Charlatan] class that let you hide your level. Logan scrutinized him, opening his senses and scanning his aura, but it was what he¡¯d expect for someone level 15. Either way, he bore watching. ¡°I have to leave,¡± said Logan. Brooke¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Only for a few hours, and I¡¯ll be back, but I¡¯ll be gone for the morning. My bonded¡ª¡± ¡°Hold on,¡± said Brooke as she flagged down Chase, gesturing for him to come over. The man looked groggy, having only went to bed halfway through the night, but as soon as he saw Brooke, his face paled, and he scrambled over. ¡°What is it?¡± he said. ¡°Are we under attack?¡± Sarah trailed him, her face full of worry. Logan was so used to viewing her as his boss that it was difficult to reconcile this version of her. His boss was steady, no nonsense and demanding. This version of Sarah didn¡¯t compute. And even worse, her gaze kept drifting to his chest and shoulders where his shirt clung to his body. Logan felt an uncomfortable sensation trickle through him, making him want to retreat. Or put on his armour. Sarah had two bright spots of color on her cheeks, although her lips were bloodless and chapped. Clenching her fingers anxiously, she glanced from Logan to Chase. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Nothing is wrong,¡± said Logan. ¡°I just have to leave for a few hours.¡± Come to think of it, he¡¯d never asked if they wanted to come with him to the cabin. ¡°I have a friend who has a cabin on Okanagan Lake. It¡¯s large and powered by solar panels. It¡¯s not big enough for everyone, but there are properties along the shoreline that could house the rest. Or I guess¡­ you could camp out on the property line in front of the beach?¡± It would depend upon their comfort level. But Logan had already cleared out the neighbour¡¯s property, and that thing was massive. ¡°Is that something that would interest you?¡± ¡°Is it secure?¡± asked Brooke. ¡°That¡¯s why I need to leave. I¡¯m going to make it that way. Secure for my sister and her kids. I went to Pied¡¯s Kingdom to rescue them and find them a safe place. I wasn¡¯t there for you, but I feel responsible for you now. If you want to come, you can. Or if you want to go your own way, I¡¯m okay with that as well. It¡¯s up to you.¡± Brooke and Chase looked at each other, communicating silently. ¡°We have nowhere else to go,¡± said Chase, his voice gruff. ¡°If we go on our own, and he leaves, how long until we encounter another monster or XP harvesters? I say we go. I trust him.¡± Chase worried his lip and gave Logan a serious, solemn look. ¡°He has my loyalty for rescuing us and taking us out of that prison. While others were left imprisoned, he negotiated for our release.¡± Brooke studied Logan, her eyes piercing. ¡°I don¡¯t like this idea of having to be ¡®saved.¡¯ Yeah, you helped us, but I¡¯m no helpless woman. I can fight. I can kill. If we go with you, does that mean we¡¯ll be coddled? Not given an opportunity to level up?¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Hell no. I want people to get into the one percent, and you won¡¯t do that by sitting on your ass. Those that want protection, have it. Those that want to level up have free rein to go after monsters.¡± He cleared his throat, thinking about the undead fungi and mushrooms that might be making their way out of the lake. ¡°You¡¯ll have enough opportunity. Maybe too much.¡± Brooke blew out a breath, lifting a strand of her hair in the air. ¡°Then yeah, I¡¯ll go. We¡¯ll go. I can¡¯t speak for everyone, but I can¡¯t imagine anyone will want to be on their own. Where we go, they go.¡± That was one thing taken care of. Logan wouldn¡¯t have felt good about taking Lara and the kids to the cabin and then abandoning these people. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go, make it safe, then come back for you once it¡¯s clear.¡± Logan glanced towards Richton¡¯s Tomb. ¡°There¡¯s just one thing I want to show you before I go.¡± B2 - Chapter 46: Vicious Doesnt Trust As he led them towards Richton¡¯s Tomb, Logan could admit to a frisson of excitement. This was something that he¡¯d crafted, using his imagination and willpower. If it did what it should, it would give him access to funds, unlimited funds as long as he kept adding items to his private market. In the past, Logan had dreams of becoming someone who his nieces could look up to, someone who they could be proud of. Logan had never wanted to be a deadbeat uncle, an uncle who had to crawl to his sister for funds. He wanted to make something out of himself, but unfortunately, life and his career had constantly kicked him in the ass. He¡¯d get a promotion at work, then his truck would break down, forcing him to replace his transmission. It was a constant push and pull. He¡¯d take one step forward, feeling elated at his success, then be kicked in the nuts about something outside of his control. Before the integration, becoming financially independent had seemed like a pipe dream. But with [Lodestone Creationist], he might just make it into a reality. ¡°Why are you leading us over here?¡± asked Brooke, scanning her surroundings, her jaw clenched in tension. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Richton¡¯s Tomb?¡± said Sarah with a furrow in her brow. Richton¡¯s Tomb was overgrown with ivy, the long, dry grass around it unkempt. The door was filthy, but unlike the rest of the building, Logan¡¯s lodestone glinted as if it were alive. Looking at it with fresh eyes, he could see that there was something unnatural about it, a presence all its own. It was as if it were drawing him in, luring him closer. And if that¡¯s how Logan felt and he was the one to create it, he couldn¡¯t imagine what the others thought. Logan gestured at the lodestone. ¡°Scan it with [Identify],¡± he said, doing the same with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]. [Lodestone Access Point: Idiot¡¯s Market] What. Oh, come on! Logan held back an eyeroll, wanting nothing more than to bring back that glitchy AI minion just so that he could curse it and kill it all over again. Naming it an Idiot¡¯s Market wasn¡¯t exactly an advertisement. It looked like a frigging joke shop. That wouldn¡¯t cause people to go out of their way to explore it. But when had anything been easy? The others¡ªBrooke, Chase, Sarah and Frederick¡ªall had that far away look that meant they were examining it with the [Identify]. ¡°What¡­?¡± Sarah asked, scrunching her eyebrows and inching closer. Despite the wacky name, Logan could barely smother his smile, feeling so excited that he was brimming with energy. He¡¯d created something before anyone received access to the System Market. He¡¯d created a frigging virtual store by manipulating fire and metal and creating a lodestone! It was beyond kickass. But the thing about this eventual System Market that Asthea had said everyone would receive, meant that he was on a time limit. He needed to expand as much as possible to take advantage while he could. On top of that, he needed to use the heck out of his spatial collar to grab as many items as possible. Sarah rested her hand against the lodestone and then gasped. Chase jumped forward, alarmed. ¡°What is it?¡± Her eyes were glassy, her mouth open wide. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it.¡± Sarah swallowed. ¡°It¡¯s a store. We can buy things.¡± Frederick jerked forward and rested his hand on her shoulder. ¡°Food?¡± he demanded, his voice tense. Sarah took a few seconds to respond, her voice distracted. ¡°Nothing substantial, but yes, food. Food and weapons. Armour.¡± His hand clenched on her shoulder. ¡°This is what we need then. Finally, the System gave us something that helps rather than puts us in danger.¡± Sarah worried her lip. ¡°But¡­¡± Gasping, she took a step away from the lodestone and then flexed her hand as if were tingling. ¡°There¡¯s a cost.¡± ¡°How much?¡± snapped Brooke. At the mention of weapons, she¡¯d straightened, her eyes full of greed. ¡°Not much,¡± said Logan. ¡°I tried to keep the prices reasonable, but you¡¯ll need KarmaCoin to buy them. If I could have gotten around that requirement, I would have, but the System wants everyone on that currency. Human currency is a thing of the past.¡± Brooke narrowed her eyes. ¡°This is yours? Another skill? Why can¡¯t you just give us weapons and food for free? You know how much we need them.¡± Logan rubbed the back of his neck. He felt a surge of guilt but then he thought of the weapons he¡¯d already given them while fighting the rat army, and how they¡¯d lost them when they became prisoners of Pied. A surge of indignation and defensiveness swept away the guilt. Hell, Brooke had even lost his baseball bat! The bat would always have a special place in his heart; he¡¯d crafted it himself when he¡¯d been desperate for a weapon, any type of weapon. And now, it was gone. ¡°I think the prices are fair,¡± said Logan, firm. Sarah crept back to the lodestone, pressing her hand against it, her eyes faraway as she viewed the items. ¡°It¡­ even though I can¡¯t afford any of this, it¡¯s letting me enter into a lending contract.¡± She gasped and then turned to Logan, her mouth in a smirk. ¡°Maybe you weren¡¯t a useless employee after all. Predatory lending in the apocalypse? Really, Logan?¡± ¡°What.¡± There had been no option like that when he¡¯d set it up. Brooke gently pushed Sarah to the side and then rested her hand against the lodestone, her eyes becoming unfocused. ¡°¡­you¡¯re right,¡± she said, her voice tight. ¡°For the items not under auction, I can buy them even if I don¡¯t have enough KarmaCoin, but only by entering into a KarmaCoin lending contract.¡± She turned and gave him a glare. ¡°You¡¯re charging ten percent per day!¡± Logan frowned, looking from Brooke to the lodestone. ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Hold on. Let me check.¡± Brooke grudgingly moved to the side and Logan rested his hand against the lodestone. [Private market owner recognized! Would you like to add items to your private market?] Logan bypassed that option, looking further, toggling on the auction choices, then digging¡­ shit. It had been there all along. The System had built in an option that would allow anyone to buy an item, even if they had no KarmaCoin, but interest accumulated daily. Logan already knew that credit was bad enough when you were paying ten percent per month, but per day? Holy crap! He¡¯d bleed everyone dry.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Toggling through, he eventually came across an option that let him adjust it so instead of charging daily, he could charge per month. And hidden in the clause, there was a loophole. Logan had begun to wonder how he¡¯d ever make any money if the System let everyone buy items without money; after all, couldn¡¯t they just keep building interest forever and Logan would be shit out of luck? But no, there was a six-month clause. If after six months, they couldn¡¯t pay off the loan, the item reverted to the private market, and the user would still be on the hook for the outstanding loan. Damn. He felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, an uncomfortable slosh-iness making his stomach lurch. It was all very well and good to make money, but he didn¡¯t want to become an oligarch, only concerned about profit. But at the same time, wasn¡¯t it good that people could buy items even without KarmaCoin? It would give them a chance to earn it, and still have food. But wait¡­ that brought up another question. If they bought food on loan, what would happen if they couldn¡¯t pay off the loan within six months? There was no returning that. The food would be gone! His heart racing, he toggled to the interest percentage, turning it to the lowest amount possible, at 0.05% per month. That did it. He wasn¡¯t going to add food to the market. He couldn¡¯t. Because he suspected that he knew what happened after six months. If the person hadn¡¯t paid off the loan, well, there was only one way to get food back that had already been digested. The System would kill them. Logan toggled back to his inventory, searching for an option to remove the food, but whatever he¡¯d already added to the market, would remain. He backed away from the lodestone, dropping his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve lowered the interest charge to 0.05% per month. It was the lowest it would let me go. But don¡¯t buy the food, I¡¯ll give that to you for free.¡± Sarah smiled with her teeth. ¡°Give us the weapons for free as well.¡± Chase scoffed. ¡°The man saved our lives. He¡¯s giving us food. Beggers can¡¯t be choosers. Besides, a few of us have KarmaCoin from quests. I have a couple thousand, which should let me buy a few items to spread around.¡± Chase nodded his head at Logan. ¡°I¡¯m not ungrateful, and I don¡¯t begrudge someone who wants to earn a living.¡± Sarah sneered. ¡°Earn a living when we¡¯re all dying? Wow, Logan, I never would have thought you¡¯d stoop this low.¡± Brooke frowned at Sarah. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s called for, Sarah. It¡¯s just a store. He¡¯s not forcing you to buy things.¡± Sarah scowled and then wiped her expression clean. ¡°You¡¯re right, of course.¡± *** Logan didn¡¯t know how he felt after that experience, but one thing was certain¡ªhis excitement at raising money had plummeted to his feet. He didn¡¯t like being responsible for anything that could kill someone, even if he¡¯d had no idea that it could do that in the first place. If people became aware of it, instead of building an empire, he¡¯d be known as a predator. He suspected that the feeling came from being associated with anything that had the word ¡®contract¡¯ in it. Contracts brought Pied to mind, and his contract makers. Logan wasn¡¯t that type of person. Why couldn¡¯t he help people while raising money? Why did the System have to be an asshole and continue to ruin everything? Sighing, he scrubbed his hand through his hair as he made his way back to the lake. One thing was clear. Going forward, he¡¯d add nothing but weapons and supplies, no food. In fact, he¡¯d encourage people who had KarmaCoin to buy the food first and clear out the existing supply so he didn¡¯t have to worry. But that brought to mind the mystery of KarmaCoin. Chase had said others had received KarmaCoin from quests, but surely, there were other ways to raise it? Logan could receive KarmaCoin from growing trees, anything that reduced carbon. Wouldn¡¯t the others be the same? He¡¯d received a reward for discovering olivine, and the System had indicated that he could receive further rewards if he managed to grind up the stone. Others could do that. And yet, was carbon reduction the only way to earn money? By now, he was convinced that the System had used pollution as an excuse to invade. The Collective cared about profit, and they did that by exploiting animals that they could make into skill rings. There had to be hundreds of worlds that were part of the Collective, and Logan doubted that they all earned KarmaCoin by reducing carbon. Either way, Logan wasn¡¯t going to let his discovery ruin his elation. Once he got rid of the food problem, setting up lodestones in populated areas would still be a way to give people access to weapons. And in the event that they took them out on loan, by the time six months rolled around, they¡¯d know how to earn KarmaCoin. Glancing down at his boots as he trampled over the beach, Logan deployed [Mimicry Armour], raising the sand around him and reforming his exoskeleton. For a second, he debated extending his armour to Lara and the kids, but he doubted that it would keep while he was miles away. ¡°Well,¡± said Logan as he waded into the lake and over to Ernie. ¡°Are they ready?¡± Ernie splashed a tentacle, getting Logan¡¯s facemask wet, and then twirled in the water, before bobbing in place, his expression solemn. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ernie gave the swarm of octopuses a sad look. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss them! I only knew them for less than a day, but it was nice to be around my own kind! Now, all that will be left will be minions.¡± Logan gave him a gentle smile. ¡°Think of it this way. You rescued them. You¡ª¡± Ernie drooped. ¡°Not on my own.¡± ¡°You think that without you, that I would have rescued them? I know you think I¡¯m a good person, but I¡¯m not that altruistic. No, Ernie. It was you. All you.¡± Ernie twitched a tentacle. ¡°Well¡­¡± he hedged. ¡°Ernie,¡± said Logan firmly. Ernie puffed his cheeks, looking shy. ¡°All right, all right! You might have a point.¡± ¡°Despite your cravings for slaughter, deep inside, I think you¡¯re nothing but a softie. You care. And that¡¯s a great thing.¡± ¡°Pfft! Enough of this emotional siesta! We might as well have a crying session while we¡¯re at it! Off you go.¡± He slapped his tentacle against the surface of the water, splashing Logan. ¡°Go, go! Take my brethren back to their home.¡± Ducking underneath the surface as if he were hiding, he swam back to the shore and over to Lara and the kids. Logan held back a smile and swam over to the octopuses¡¯ swarm. Off in the distance, he could make out the head of Larry, the undead sturgeon, his red eyes glinting in adoration as he tracked Ernie moving up the beach. The octopuses were restless, swimming aimlessly in place. There were so many that they lit up the lake in tropical colors, from vibrant orange to purples. Amongst the tropical octopuses, he could make out larger, brown Pacific Octopuses, three times the size of the others. Scanning them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] was almost impossible due to their sheer number, but Logan could tell that most were mid-level, level 30 to forty. One of the octopuses broke off from the main group. It was dull brown, but its body was decorated by vibrant blue ringed spots. So blue they glinted in the water and seemed to flex and glow. Unlike Ernie, it was small, so small that it was barely the size of Logan¡¯s fist. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Greater Blue-Ringed Octopus: Level 45. Might in a tiny body.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: Excretes neurotoxin. Hidden name: Vicious.] Damn. Logan had heard about these fuckers. They were one of the most poisonous animals in the world, so toxic that if you ate one even after it was cooked, you were a goner. ¡°Are you the human who will take us to our home?¡± Logan blinked. The octopus hadn¡¯t said that out loud; it had been in his mind. Despite himself, Logan inched back. The thing was so tiny that he could crush it in his fist, it was only level 45, but something about it gave him the creeps. Plus, Logan couldn¡¯t kill it. Ernie would never forgive him. ¡°Yep,¡± he said, swinging his arms in the water. ¡°I can take you all right now if you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°We¡¯re ready, human. No tricks, you understand? No human lies. We go because the bright one told us that you are fair, that you are a friend to our kind. But Vicious doesn¡¯t trust, oh no, she doesn¡¯t trust. I know what you want. To decorate your body in jewelry, in the ghosts of the past. I will¡ª" ¡°Er, right. Well, if you¡¯re ready to go, then let¡¯s go.¡± Logan didn¡¯t have time to listen to this bullshit. He was on a tight timeline, and there wasn¡¯t a reason that he couldn¡¯t transport and run. This would be the tricky part though. As far as he knew, all he had to do was picture where he wanted to go and [Threshold Shift] would take him, but this time, he had to transport the octopuses from the lake to the ocean. The ocean was vast, and he could go anywhere, but thinking about teleporting into the middle of the ocean, with land nowhere to be seen made him wary. Even though he had [Deepwater Explorer], he could admit to a fear that he¡¯d transport himself, and the System would screw him over, making his skill malfunction, stranding him in the middle of the ocean. No, Logan knew where he needed to go. B2 - Chapter 47: Rabid Humpback Whale If he had the ability to go anywhere within the ocean, where would he go? Logan was transporting a hundred octopuses; although he knew there were some species that didn¡¯t mind the cold like the Giant Pacific, he also knew that many preferred tropical waters. The System Integration might have changed that¡ªfor all Logan knew, they might thrive in the arctic, but when it came to places he could picture in his mind, there were limited options. He¡¯d been on a European vacation years ago, traveling up the coast of Scotland and Ireland; he¡¯d been to Florida, but the place that he¡¯d gone the most¡ªa place where he had a firm picture in his mind¡ªwas the coast, and specifically, Vancouver Island. It was summer, and although Vancouver tended to be cooler than the Okanagan, the water would be warm enough for even vibrant, blue ringed Vicious. Besides, if he wanted to leave them in a place that was less likely to be harvested by Pied¡¯s agents, it was Vancouver Island. Yes, you could find Giant Pacifics there, but the other species didn¡¯t call Western Canada home. That might give them a chance. A chance to stay under the radar. When Logan was younger, Vancouver Island was another place that he¡¯d visited every summer with his grandfather. Exploring the beaches, trekking over sand and picking up starfish and clams. More than any other place in the ocean, he knew Vancouver Island. Concentrating on Vicious and the mass of life around her, Logan used [Life Fabricator] to latch onto the octopuses¡¯ auras, doing his best to make sure he didn¡¯t leave anyone behind. With the rest of his concentration, Logan fixed a point in his mind; a scene from his childhood, picturing the beach, the lush, green rainforest, the damp, soaked grass. The seagulls and foxes, the crabs and shrimp. Then with a wrench, he concentrated on a patch of the ocean a half mile away from the shore, envisioning deep, dark waters. Latching onto the octopuses and keeping that picture in his mind, Logan deployed [Threshold Shift]. It began as a cold sensation, as if he¡¯d walked into a freezer, a layer of ice rushing through his body, making him feel as if his hair might as well have become brittle with frost. Logan didn¡¯t know what was happening, only that this was the first time travelling such a long distance. The Okanagan to Vancouver Island was over 250 miles¡ª250 miles in one shot! His vision narrowed, his head growing foggy, and then, in one blink, he was gone. Logan splashed into the ocean, slamming into the surface, the hundred octopuses slamming into the water at the same time. Splash after splash, water flying, seaweed covering his facemask. He¡¯d traveled from a lake to the ocean, and although it was summer, the difference in temperature was a shock. His exoskeleton took the brunt of it and cushioned him from the effects. A cacophony of voices slammed into his mind, octopus after octopus expressing its pleasure or annoyance. Logan flared his nostrils. The smell of sulphur and salt, of algae and rot¡ªit was all around him. Logan rubbed away the water droplets covering his face mask, bobbing in the water and looking around. The sky was clear, blue, the sun bright in the sky, white clouds drifting in the distance. He was so used to the smog in the Okanagan that the clear air was a welcome change. Off in the distance, he could make out the shoreline, the pine trees and forest. He¡¯d teleported into a remote area, with no human habitation. Damn. He¡¯d done it. Elated, Logan grinned, kicking his feet and swinging his arms in the water. All it had taken was 500 Karma and he¡¯d transported a hundred octopuses over a massive distance. 250 miles! A bright, blue blur flashed in front of his eyes before Vicious paused and bobbed in front of Logan while giving him a narrowed-eyed glare. ¡°This is not home, human. This is not what you promised. Vicious was smart! Vicious knew not to trust!¡± Logan blinked. ¡°It¡¯s the ocean, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not my ocean!¡± Did this thing think that he was going to drop off each octopus in different areas? Hell no. ¡°I promised Ernie I¡¯d take you to the ocean. He never said anything about where in the ocean; if you try to tell me that was the agreement, I won¡¯t believe you.¡± Logan kicked away with his legs, trying to put distance between him and the little glaring monstrosity. He could just leave, but the least he could do was tell them where they were. And that they needed to hide from Pied¡¯s agents. ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡± What. Deep below, a dark, immense shadow had just passed underneath his legs. Vicious stilled, her blue eyes widening, hardly blinking as her tentacles froze. Behind her, the other octopuses became motionless, their heads moving so slowly it was as if they were on cranks as they looked down. Because he¡¯d transported them half a mile off the shore, they were deep, deep in the ocean, so deep that you couldn¡¯t see the bottom. Logan didn¡¯t know what that shadow was, but whatever it was, it was immense. Logan felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck. Although he couldn¡¯t see what was below, there was a pressure in the air. It was the same sensation he¡¯d felt when confronted with Pied¡¯s aura. Whatever was down there was big, big and high leveled. And oddly, something else rose to the surface. Black bubbles, drifting up to the waves, pooling around them. What¡­? Lifting his hand, Logan examined the black spots. They clung to his exoskeleton, an oily substance. It was if he were wading through tar. Logan clenched his fist, looking from the octopuses to the darkness underneath him. He felt a conflicting sensation, his priorities tearing him in two different directions. He¡¯d satisfied his promise to Ernie; he¡¯d transported the octopuses. Strictly speaking, he no longer had any further obligations to keep them safe. He needed to get out of here and back to the cabin so he could take care of the Matt problem, and then find time to finish off his Empire Building quest. To do that, he didn¡¯t have time to flail around in the ocean, chasing after shadows. At the same time, if he transported Ernie¡¯s brethren and then left them, knowing that there was something below that could threaten their lives, what would he tell Ernie when he asked? The guilt would eat him alive. But again, that aura had felt immense¡ªdid he really want to involve himself in this? What if whatever was down there was so powerful that it gave him trouble? Real trouble? The octopuses were still frozen. Vicious¡¯ eyes were like saucers, her pupils narrowed into pins. ¡°What¡¯s down there?¡± asked Logan. Vicious¡¯ eyes grew wider. ¡°Quiet, stupid human! It might pass if we don¡¯t move! Whatever you do, don¡¯t move.¡± Logan would never be the type of person who hid. Whatever was down there, he wanted to know. Moving slowly, Logan stopped swimming and let himself drop below the surface, the water passing over top of his helmet. Then deploying [Deepwater Explorer], he let himself continue to drop. Normally, it would be difficult without his exoskeleton, but his armour was sandstone; its weight was like holding two boulders in front of his chest. That was enough to drift, dropping in the ocean.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Turning his head as slowly as he could, he looked down and then frowned. It was black. Dark as night. A few strands of seaweed and algae drifted in front of his facemask, and faint light from the surface shone around him, but past a few meters, he couldn¡¯t make out anything. Instead, Logan tried to open his senses by deploying [Life Fabricator], searching for that aura he¡¯d sensed before. In short order, he winced, his ears ringing. Holy crap, there were so many spots of life it was overwhelming! Never mind the hundred octopuses¡ªcrabs, fish, eels, plankton and shrimp. Not to mention the tiny spots of life that represented animals he couldn¡¯t recognize. He scanned for that immense shadow, thinking that if anything, if it were still down there, it should shine as bright as anything, but there¡ª Wait. It was like a blip on his radar, there and then gone. Whatever it was, it was moving. Moving fast. Logan glanced from the surface where the octopuses floated, frozen, to the darkness below. Well, if it were moving that fast, maybe it was just passing by? It could be that it was so big that it didn¡¯t care about a bunch of octopuses. It¡ª Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Out of the darkness, a massive animal surged to the surface, going so fast it moved in a blur; all Logan had was a second to comprehend grey flesh, barnacles, an eye the size of his head, and a gaping mouth that could fit a car! The sound of his heartbeat thrashing in his ears, Logan deployed his Pink Sock to jerk to the side, shooting through the water just in time to avoid its gaping, wide mouth as it surged to the surface. The water was displaced, a mini hurricane swirling around him as he was bashed to the side like he was inside of a washing machine. Its tail, the size of a trailer, bashed him on the side as it swept past, sending a massive crack through his armour. It was going directly for the octopuses. Adrenaline shooting through his system, his heart surging, Logan felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe as he made his way back to the surface. If he lost the octopuses, let them get killed by what he suspected was a whale, Ernie would never let him live it down. Ernie had barely managed to get over the shock of the skill rings; it was only the fact that he¡¯d managed to save his brethren that had kept him sane. Logan couldn¡¯t be responsible for shocking him again. He wanted his bright Ernie, his slaughter happy, optimistic Ernie. Not the Ernie that he¡¯d experienced in Pied¡¯s Kingdom. Surging to the surface, Logan kicked with his Pink Sock, pushing himself through the ocean like a rocket. As he breached the water, Logan had a second to comprehend the carnage¡ªthe octopuses that had grouped together, motionless, were now scattered over the surface as if someone had hit them with a bomb. Only about half remained, the other gone. Logan looked around for Vicious, scanning for her bright blue rings. But tentacles were all over the place, too many colors to count. Logan couldn¡¯t see her. Fuck. Had the thing eaten them? Worry knotted his stomach as he kicked his feet and sent himself over to the largest clump. ¡°What¡ª¡± Holy shit! Off to his left side, the whale breached the surface again, its mouth gaping wide and swallowing everything in its path. It had nodules on the top of its head, barnacles clinging to its gray skin. Long pectoral fins flapped through the air as its body slammed back to the surface, the underside of its gills rippling as it swallowed and then drifted below the ocean, leaving a mini whirlwind of oily residue in its wake. Logan had just enough time to scan it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Rabid Humpback Whale: Level 190. This whale drifted into polluted oil-spotted waters and absorbed the oil into its pores, warping its throat so that it can swallow large prey, giving it a rabid need to kill everything in sight.] [Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Unhinged. Hidden name: Lucky.] Only ten octopuses remained; it had swallowed the rest. Vicious was nowhere to be found. Logan ground his teeth, feeling his rage surge, a vein on his forehead throbbing. He¡¯d brought Ernie¡¯s brethren here to save them; although he felt no sentimentality for Vicious or the others, he¡¯d made a promise to Ernie, and this fucker had just ruined everything. Although it was higher leveled than Logan¡ªway overpowered¡ªLogan found himself disregarding it, only knowing that he couldn¡¯t let this stand. Logan remembered that Ernie had mentioned fleeing from rabid humpback whales in the ocean, that he¡¯d given them a wide birth. Somehow, Logan had managed to transport Ernie¡¯s brethren in its path, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Growling, Logan kicked off with his Pink Sock, drifting over to the remaining ten octopuses, swimming in place and staring down at the dark ocean below. ¡°I¡¯ll save you,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll save them all.¡± The water started to move, as if a huge vacuum cleaner were pulling them under, but Logan knew it was the whale displacing the water. It was the length of a bowling alley, creating massive pushback, its gaping wide mouth sucking everything down. Logan screamed as a black eye blinked at him, just before its mouth swallowed Logan whole. *** Throughout the System Integration, he¡¯d been through many dicey circumstances, from the serpent queen tearing off his arm, to the torture of the attribute trials. Logan had encountered absurdities, such as leading a blob army, and chatting with a mutated, smelly snail. But this situation¡­ this situation had to top the cake. As the whale had swallowed him whole, he¡¯d entered its mouth, forced through razor sharp bristly baleen plates. It was like being forced through hundreds of claws. Blood went flying as the octopuses¡¯ tentacles were severed, the whale forcing each octopus through its gullet. Logan was engulfed in darkness at the same time that he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his foot. It stunned him, making him grind his teeth and hold back a scream. But [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] was already at work; he¡¯d advanced it to level 28, and short of a severed limb, it¡­ Ah, fuck. The thing had cut off his foot. Logan felt woozy, cotton in his head as he kept travelling inside of the whale, pushed forward through its swallows until he landed on something soft and spongy. He was covered in darkness. It reeked like rotting fish mixed with cat piss; the smell so horrid even through his facemask that he couldn¡¯t help gagging. Logan was losing blood, but since the last time he¡¯d lost a limb, he¡¯d leveled up [Regenerate] to a massive degree. He¡¯d believed that eventually, if he leveled it up enough, he could sever a limb and watch it grow back just as fast. It was Asthea who had told him that his skill was so desirable that it was like a fable. Feeling woozy, he sagged, grabbing clumps of¡­ something, his body lurching from side to side as the whale moved through the water. What was it doing, acrobatics? He¡¯d already lost a lot of blood, and this lurching rollercoaster wasn¡¯t helping him, his stomach sloshing. Swallowing, Logan willed out a flashlight from his spatial collar, hitting the sides when it didn¡¯t turn on, then squinting as light flared, illuminating the¡­ cavern stomach. The spongy bottom of its stomach was pink, but covered in digesting fish and animals, severed tentacles already covered in a milky, digestive film. As he turned the light to the sides, eyes flashed, blinking. Shit. Most of the octopuses were alive, but many had severed tentacles, and they were sagging, their skin washed out. They were stuck to the sides of the whale¡¯s stomach, as if the baleen plates continued on the sides. Logan had no idea how a normal whale¡¯s digestive track worked, but he knew that this couldn¡¯t be normal. Whales couldn¡¯t swallow a man whole! Shining the light down at his foot, Logan retched. Yep. Completely severed. But already, there was a stub growing, like a mutated foot. Ugh. It looked like something from a Science Fiction movie. Gross, gross, gross! But at least this time, losing a limb hadn¡¯t brought him down for the count. The last time it had happened, Logan had collapsed outside of the portal dungeon, and it had taken a whole day for him to wake up. Regrowing the limb had taken a huge toll on his body. Fuck, imagine if that had happened here! Logan would be whale food! ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, stupid human. Vicious knew not to trust. What did you do? You took us to a rabid whale¡¯s territory! Transporting us it into its mouth!¡± Logan shone the light to the side, narrowing in on the fist-sized octopus. Her blue rings glinted in the light, her eyes accusing. She was stuck to the stomach just like the others, but she was fully intact. Perhaps she was so small that she¡¯d managed to pass through the baleen plates without any issue. ¡°I¡¯m going to get you out of here.¡± After all, just because he was inside of a whale¡¯s stomach didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t use [Threshold Shift]. Logan used [Life Fabricator] to scan for the octopuses¡¯ auras, latching onto each one, and then envisioned the shore, the beach, anywhere that wasn¡¯t the damn whale¡¯s stomach. Deploying [Threshold Shift], he felt the portal open, and the¡ªmost extreme pain he¡¯d ever felt. Screaming, a gush of blood drizzling down his nose, Logan had a second to collapse his facemask before he was sick, leaning over and retching. Holy crap, had that ever been unpleasant! Fuck. [Threshold Shift] still worked; Logan could tell that if he wanted, he could escape, but because the whale was in the midst of digesting the octopuses, the skill couldn¡¯t separate them from the whale¡¯s aura. [Threshold Shift] considered them one and the same. That meant he wasn¡¯t teleporting out of here. B2 - Chapter 48: A Hell of a Ride, Part 1 of 2 Logan lowered his flashlight and shined it on his missing foot, grimacing when he got sight of his growing limb. It was the size of his hand now but deformed as it continued to lengthen. The sight of it made his already upset stomach slosh, acid sloshing. Worst of all, it meant that he couldn¡¯t put any weight on it, forced to balance on one leg. The whale was doing who knew what out there, but whatever it was, it involved jumping and turning in circles like an acrobatic. The fish guts and digesting octopus¡¯ arms flew inside of its stomach, slapping and spraying Logan as he tried to stay upright, covering him with slimy goo as if a monster had sneezed on him. It was like being stuck inside the bowels of an ancient steam-engine, only the bowels were covered in serrated teeth and reeked like rotting cat guts. Well, at least one thing had worked out for him. His luck might have finally pay dividends. Yes, he¡¯d lost a foot, but at least it hadn¡¯t been his Pink Sock-clad foot. If he lost his sock on a fool¡¯s errand, Lara would have never let him live it down. The Pink Sock was part of an attribute set; he could buy the other sock once he made it back to his Tree Fridge. If he¡¯d lost one of them, he¡¯d never achieve the ability to fly. But even as he rested his hand against the side of the whale¡¯s stomach, his exoskeleton glove pressing against sharp baleen plates, he could tell that his foot was reforming as he breathed. Peering down and blanching, he watched as his toenails formed, growing like something out of a horror movie. Forget monsters; Logan might as well be the monster. Well, he couldn¡¯t teleport out of here, not if he wanted to save Ernie¡¯s brethren. That meant he had to force his way out of the whale the hard way, through brute force. There was a hiss from the side. Logan swung his flashlight and illuminated Vicious. She was stuck to the whale¡¯s stomach, but as he watched, she pulsed, swelling in size, then returning to normal. It was like watching a sponge the size of his fist absorb water and then squeeze it out. At each puff, her blue rings flared in color, becoming so bright that they flashed in front of his vision, leaving bright spots in their wake. ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Logan. ¡°What Vicious does best. Carve her own way out! Vicious knows not to trust, oh no, she doesn¡¯t trust. That means she needs to be brutal; she needs to hurt the monsters who tower over her, she needs to make the mighty things wish they¡¯d never tried to triumph over Vicious.¡± She blinked one eye at him accusingly. ¡°Vicious never forgets. Vicious never forgives.¡± Somehow, Logan got the sense that she was talking about him and not just the whale. But as she swelled in size like a pulsating Jello mold, the baleen plates and the whale stomach around her began to turn from a pink, mucous laden color to dark, rotting black, as if the whale had taken on gangrene. Logan was reminded that Vicious was ¡®mighty in a small package¡¯ and that her species had virulent neurotoxin. She was trying to kill the whale. But although she was giving the thing a stomach-ache, the rotting spots were so small it was like trying to kill an elephant with a pinprick. For all he knew, it might work if she kept at it. Work in days, in weeks. But Logan doubted that these octopuses had days, let alone hours. As for Logan, if he didn¡¯t get out of here, eventually he¡¯d run out of oxygen. Although he had [Deepwater Explorer] he doubted that worked in a cavern full of building carbon monoxide. In a pinch, he supposed he could use [Life Fabricator] to grow a tree inside of the whale¡¯s stomach, which might give him oxygen, but that would be a last, desperate act. No, first he¡¯d try the obvious. Logan set the flashlight down on the bottom of the whale¡¯s stomach and let it illuminate the cavern. Hissing as he inadvertently put weight on his growing foot, Logan willed out his sword from his spatial collar and held it in his right hand. The whale¡¯s stomach was so immense that he had a five feet clearance from the tip of his sword to the top of the stomach. His sword glinted with a blue light, the unnatural metal seeming to thrum in anticipation. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Logan muttered. He clenched his teeth, his muscles corded with tension, his adrenaline surging as he picked a specific spot up above, aiming for an area not quite so covered in baleen plates. If this did what he wanted, he¡¯d cut right through the whale, letting water pour in, filling the stomach. Typically, that would be an issue for a normal person, but not for Logan or the octopuses, not with [Deepwater Explorer]. After that, all he¡¯d have to do was keep carving out chunks of flesh, enough to let them escape. His heart racing, Logan bellowed as he deployed his Pink Sock, envisioning himself shooting upwards like a rocket. The sock obeyed and Logan jumped so fast that his stomach lurched, the tip of his sword¡­ This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Scraping the top of the whale¡¯s stomach like a fork against the bottom of a pot. Damn. Even worse, that had jarred his arm, sending a sharp pain through his shoulder. Growling, Logan tried again, aiming for any spot he could find, anything not covered by the baleen plates. But even in an area not quite so thick, the whale¡¯s flesh was tough, horribly tough like it had armour like Logan¡¯s. ¡°Useless human,¡± muttered Vicious. Again and again, Logan tried stabbing it like he was in a stabbing workout. When that didn¡¯t work, he tried the sides, anything not covered in octopuses, looking for weaknesses. But the sides were worse than the top and completely covered in baleen plates. Even when he tried thrusting the sword into the pink stomach underneath his feet, the sword went an inch deep and then hit a solid wall, as if he¡¯d hit a concrete layer of bone. Stabbing repeatedly did nothing; the whale didn¡¯t even make a sound. One of the other octopuses let out a moan of pain, its eyelids drooping. It was a medium sized orange octopus who had two severed tentacles, its face devoid of all color. So far, the others hadn¡¯t talked, but their expressions and their whimpers were communication enough. Logan didn¡¯t know why the ability of speech seemed intrinsic to only certain animals, or whether they all had the ability but just chose not to communicate. But either way, he needed to move his ass. The whale¡¯s digestive fluids were still at work, doing who knew what to Ernie¡¯s brethren. Having an open wound wouldn¡¯t help. Logan collapsed his facemask and then ran a hand over his chin as he considered a way forward. Pure stabbing with his sword and talons, or with any of the remaining sharp weapons inside of his spatial storage wouldn¡¯t do shit. He had bombs from Asthea, but although that might work, in such an echoing space, he¡¯d blow up the octopuses and himself in addition to the whale. There was the drugged water that he¡¯d nabbed from the perception trial, but what the hell would that do other than making the whale fall asleep? No, if anything, he needed a stomach purging drug that would make the whale throw up. There was something else he could try. He¡¯d finally managed to unlock [Liche Devourer], but he¡¯d yet to try the skill. It was an upgraded version of [Liche Siphon], not to mention that the System rated it epic. An epic skill and a massive monster? What better way to test it? His heart in his throat, Logan reviewed the description of [Liche Devourer]: [This epic skill allows you to siphon Karma and lifeforce from your enemies and funnel the excess into a pocket dimension black hole. When the hole is fed, unleash obliteration. This skill is insidious, and the enemy will not be aware that funneling is in effect.] It was way more brutal than [Liche Siphon]. Logan had used [Liche Siphon] to defeat the Silverdagger Clan in the last fight in the trial dungeon; it had always been insidious, leeching Karma from someone without them being aware, but [Liche Devourer] did something else. It could make a bomb. In the fight with the Silverdagger Clan, he purposely hadn¡¯t upgraded his wisdom attribute since he¡¯d needed lower Karma to make the skill work; to make it life threatening. With this updated version, it didn¡¯t matter whether he filled his Karma pool. Presumably, he could continue draining Karma. Even if his pool were at capacity, the excess would divert into a ¡®dimension black hole¡¯. Holy crap, he could walk around, draining Karma at random, killing people! But that was pure speculation. He had no idea if that was truly how it worked. He needed to figure this out. And what better way to do than by using the whale as a guinea pig? Killing the whale wouldn¡¯t solve the problem of being trapped; a dead carcass didn¡¯t lose its stomach armour, but Logan thought he had a solution for that. But first, he needed to kill the whale. All right, all right. Kill a whale. Logan was going to kill a whale. First of all, he needed to do something that would use Karma, something to get this started. There was a mass of digesting fish inside of the stomach, and based on the smell, what had to be a heck of a lot of bacteria. More than likely, that included insect larvae. But did Logan want to hatch something like the flies he¡¯d controlled inside of the trial dungeon? He¡¯d be stuck in a cavern with hundreds of the things. No, Logan had dealt with enough insects to last a lifetime. He considered the severed tentacles and digesting fish, but to work with those, he¡¯d be hatching another monster. Even though he¡¯d viewed growing a tree as a last resort, he knew how to do it like the back of his hand. Growing a monster tree took a ton of Karma. But he was reminded of his rat vine back at Hope¡¯s End. He¡¯d latched onto the rats¡¯ lifeforce to grow the thing, which resulted in it warping into a living rat vine. If he did the same here, he might end up growing a warped tree whale. But wait, wasn¡¯t he in the ocean? Vicious had said that Vancouver Island was the whale¡¯s territory, and if it hadn¡¯t swum out of the area, there was an endless supply of life all around them. Life that wouldn¡¯t cause him to grow something monstrous. [Life Fabricator] would let him grow a tree out of nothing without a seed as long as he sourced its creation from similar organic material. After all, back in Richton¡¯s Tomb, he¡¯d managed to grow his monster, humongous carbon trees by sucking the life from the pine trees around them. After that, he¡¯d only needed his own Karma to continue growing it. The whale turned in the water, climbing up, its stomach tilting, fish guts and mucous flying. ¡°Fuck!¡± said Logan as he was forced to use his talons to latch onto a baleen plate so he didn¡¯t slam into the top of the stomach head-first. And just like that, Logan went flying once again, the whale at a 90-degree angle before he went the other way as if he were on a rollercoaster. With a fresh deluge of liquid and seawater, the remains of a still-twitching tuna the size of his torso slammed into the whale¡¯s stomach, forcing the noxious digesting fluid to slosh. The whale must have just breached the surface on another attack. And then they moved once again, dropping. It was diving and going for the bottom. Perfect. B2 - Chapter 48: A Hell of a Ride, Part 2 of 2 Logan used his talons to latch onto another baleen plate, keeping steady while he opened his senses and scanned everything in a wide net, this time, trying to go farther than he¡¯d ever gone before. With the whale constantly moving, it was challenging as fuck, but in a way, Logan could use this as practice. He could hone his ability here and make it easier once he was on solid ground. He¡¯d treat every setback as an opportunity, and being stuck inside of a whale was a heck of a setback. Logan felt as if he was getting whiplash as he used [Life Fabricator] to sense the auras around him, latching onto a turtle, only for the whale to keep diving, wrenching Logan¡¯s senses with it. Scanning over plankton, bacteria, and tiny, microscopic organisms, he finally latched onto a school of cod, a hundred who were swimming in erratic patterns. As the whale dropped below the school, Logan furrowed his brow and clenched his other fist, jabbing his still healing foot into the bottom of the whale¡¯s stomach and using the pain to force himself to concentrate. Logan continued latching onto that school of fish as if his life depended upon it, his mind feeling like it was a stretched rubber band at risk of fraying. Down and down, the whale dropped until it left the school of fish behind, ten meters, twenty meters deep. As his senses stretched, a shard stab of pain radiated behind his left eye, and a gush of blood poured down his lip and coated his mouth. Then with a last gasp, Logan let the fish go, bringing his senses to the here and now. Retching, he spat out a wad of blood, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to steady himself. He¡¯d never wanted the fish¡¯s lifeforce; that hadn¡¯t been his goal. His goal had to train himself to latch onto an animal¡¯s aura and keep latching even as he hurtled past it at speed. For it was all very well and good to have a skill the System rated as epic, a skill that let him create whatever he wanted as long as he envisioned it, but his problem was focus. When he was on a time crunch and dealing with an immediate threat, he couldn¡¯t use [Life Fabricator] because the skill took too long for him to deploy it. That¡¯s why he¡¯d needed a cushion when he¡¯d created the rat vine while fleeing the rat army. He didn¡¯t have enough experience. If [Life Fabricator] was the difference between winning and losing, he needed to get better at deploying the skill. That would take practice. Logan hunched over and rested his hands on his upper thighs as he caught his breath. To the side, Vicious was still at work, swelling and pulsing in place as she injected neurotoxin into the whale¡¯s stomach. By now, she¡¯d increased the rotting, dark spots around her to the size of two dinner plates, but she was flagging, her mouth wide open, her face pale as she strained. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Logan panted as he willed out a bottle of water from his spatial storage. Her eyes flared in anger. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, betrayer, liar, fraudster. Keep to your own pathetic work! Vicious will do what she must.¡± Logan grimaced. He¡¯d tried to give the thing the benefit of the doubt; she was stuck in a tiny body and underestimated by everything she came across, but Logan didn¡¯t think he deserved quite that amount of abuse. Once again, Logan realized that he¡¯d lucked out with Ernie, lucked out to the extreme. Throughout the System Integration, many times, Logan had been down in the dumps, defeated, and it was Ernie who¡¯d cheered him up and talked sense into him. If he¡¯d originally been bonded to an octopus like Vicious, Logan didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be standing here to tell the tale. Willing the water bottle back into his spatial collar, Logan peered down at his foot, smiling when he got sight of his fully intact limb. Damn, was [Regenerate] ever paying dividends! It had been barely half an hour, and he was already back to normal. Gingerly, he tried putting weight on it, then jumped, bouncing. Kickass. With a blink, Logan willed out a fistful of sand and reformed his missing boot, sculpting it around his new foot. Cracking his neck, Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Anticipation thrumming through his belly, he opened his senses, scanning for auras and trying to judge how far down they¡¯d dropped. As he¡¯d suspected based on the tilt of the whale, they were still falling, deep to the bottom floor. But just because they were deeper didn¡¯t mean that there was less life. There might even be more, a mass all around them. A shark that flared bright, swirling colors between red and orange, to a squid that radiated a more even-tempered blue. Not to mention the thousands of algae that were barely blips. But Logan wasn¡¯t looking for that. No, he was looking for something different. Although seaweed was different than pine trees, they were still plants, and there were thousands of them down below, covering the rocky, ocean floor in a carpet of green that swayed back and forth in the underwater current. Logan narrowed in on the seaweed and latched on with all his willpower like his mind was a vise, the strands of seaweed stuck inside. And then like threading a needle and connecting it with a fishing line, he used the life inside of the plant to grow what he wanted. This was the easy part. Growing a tree was simple, by now, as easy as breathing. Logan envisioned a small tree to start, a sapling, with roots that sucked the liquid from the whale, spreading like a spiderweb. They wrapped around the baleen plates like snakes and created a solid base. Logan opened his eyes and gazed into the beginnings of his tree. This would be the tricky part. While he continued growing it, he thickened the trunk, fattening it into a narrow sapling. Logan thought of Karma. Specifically, the whale¡¯s Karma. Back in the attribute trial, he¡¯d figured out [Liche Siphon] by thinking of it like he was sucking from a straw, draining Arsen¡¯s pool at the same time as filling his own reservoir. After the first time, deploying the skill had been easy. Easy enough that he¡¯d managed to level it up to a massive degree. Logan was convinced that [Liche Devourer] had to be the same. The description of the skills were too similar. But with a whale that was thirty times the size of Arsen, he would need to adjust his thinking. No, this time, he envisioned the whale as having a Karma pool as big as a lake, so deep and endless that he could never drain it. Forget a straw, no straw would drain this thing. Logan envisioned that lake as overflowing, cresting its bank. And if a lake overflowed, the excess had to go somewhere. Like a river, it flowed out of its immense pool and diverted into¡­ Logan¡¯s. Logan envisioned the lake and the river merging into one, combining and flowing back and forth. For the whale¡¯s Karma wasn¡¯t the whale''s, it was Logan¡¯s and they were one. Grunting with effort, his mouth in a grimace of pain as blood continued to pour out of his nose, Logan raised his tree, forcing the trunk to climb as he pulled up his Karma pool: 1200/3600. 1700/3600. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. 2200/3600. Shit! It had worked! Logan bit his lip and tried to hold in his elation. It was taking everything he had to hold his concentration, his mind pulled in three different directions at once. But he couldn¡¯t deny that [Liche Devourer] was working¡ªthere was no other explanation. Logan¡¯s wisdom attribute was at 587, which meant that he had a 587 Karma generation. 587 per minute. Instead, his Karma was replenishing at 500 per second! But to keep the flow, he had to keep working. By now, he could release his hold on the seaweed. The whale had changed direction, going back to the surface, and his rubber band was in danger of collapsing. But he no longer needed the seaweed; it had served its purpose. Now, all he needed was his own Karma to continue growing the tree. But he needed to grow it like a crazy person to keep pulling as much Karma as possible from the whale, keeping [Liche Devourer] ever flowing. He¡ª Ding! [You have fed the blackhole. Liche Devourer at 1% satiation.] What the hell was that? Elated, Logan pulled up his Karma pool again: 3600/3600. It had fully replenished. Shit, he knew [Liche Devourer] was still active, he could feel it. Did that mean that the excess Karma had been diverted into his dimension black hole bomb? But even with that, he could tell that he hadn¡¯t fully drained the whale¡¯s Karma pool, the volume of water in his ¡®lake¡¯ had decreased, but it wasn¡¯t anywhere close to the bottom. Just how much Karma did this thing have? Logan blinked and then ground his teeth in resolve, a muscle on his neck twitching as he took in his half-grown tree. Unlike his massive carbon tree monsters, this one looked deformed, brittle, barely alive. Without any sunlight and by sucking mucous, acid digesting water, he couldn¡¯t say that he blamed it. But whether it was mutated or not, it was alive, and that was all he needed. Clenching his fist and spreading his legs wide apart, his other hand latched onto the baleen plates for stability, Logan used [Life Fabricator] to force the tree to climb. He thickened the trunk until it was the width of a sewage pipe, trying to strengthen and provide it with stability. But unlike with his other trees, he didn¡¯t bother growing lush leaves and branches. Oh no, he was trying something else. His sword hadn¡¯t been sharp enough to break through the baleen plates, but what if he pressed an endless force against it instead? The force of a tree¡¯s trunk that continued to grow, never stopping? Logan raised his hand and gestured as he sculpted the end of the tree, forcing it to morph until he¡¯d etched a narrow, sharp end. It was like a spear, a spear that kept rising and pressing against the top of the whale¡¯s stomach. But just like his sword, the baleen plates must have been as strong as stone. Even as he ground his teeth and forced the tree to keep climbing, the spear end compacted, like pressing the end of a pencil against a tabletop. Eventually, the pressure would give. Either the table wouldn¡¯t be strong enough, or the pencil would break. And this whale¡¯s stomach was no rickety table. It was solid like oak. His tree splintered even as he asked it to continue growing. But there was no way he could stop. If he did, the whale¡¯s Karma pool would replenish, and then he¡¯d be back where he¡¯d started, with no way out. No, he needed to grow this thing, endlessly grow this thing, forcing it to need so much Karma that the whale¡¯s Karma wouldn¡¯t keep up. The top of the tree smashed against the whale¡¯s stomach, splintering wood flying, shards hitting the octopuses who grunted or let out whimpers, while Vicious hissed. Logan clenched his jaw, his frustration rising, and this time, he concentrated on thickening the trunk, building rings, making it as thick as his waist, then doubling it once more. Only after that was done did he raise it once again, forcing the tip of the tree to push against the top of the whale¡¯s stomach. It didn¡¯t splinter. With a cracking sound, the baleen plates split, shifting and pressing against the whale. There was a curdling scream, a bellow that made his ears ring. Logan suddenly went flying, his legs bashing against the top of the stomach, then the bottom, guts and mucous hitting him full in the face. Logan gagged, but then he dug in his talons. He¡¯d angered the whale, but the baleen plates held. Cracked, crushed, but the tree was still splintering. At worst, he might have given the damn thing a case of bad heartburn. But there was no stopping. If he stopped, the whale¡¯s Karma would replenish. Ding! [You have fed the blackhole. Liche Devourer at 2% satiation.] Logan pulled up his Karma pool again: 3600/3600. Fuck. It had replenished once again, and he could tell that the whale¡¯s Karma pool was only half empty. It wasn¡¯t working. It wasn¡¯t working. And worst of all, the damn stomach was filling up with wood splinters and chips, crowding against the octopuses and crushing them. With a growl, Logan threw three bucket sized handfuls into his spatial collar, trying to clear space, while at the same time continuing to grow the tree. As the whale turned in the water and did a barrel roll, Logan held on for the ride and desperately tried to think of something else. He needed to do something that would require a massive amount of Karma; this tree wasn¡¯t cutting it. He couldn¡¯t thicken the trunk any further or be at risk of putting the octopuses in danger. The blood in Logan¡¯s head rushed as the whale dropped, his feet flying in the air as he held on with his talons, bark and splinters raining down on his armour. The whale was going back to the bottom again, this time violently, as if for the first time, it knew there was a serious problem inside of its gut and it was trying to break Logan¡¯s concentration. Even as he continued growing the tree, Logan searched, scanning for anything that would¡­. The seaweed. Who¡¯s to say that he couldn¡¯t grow the seaweed? There were hundreds of the buggers, thousands of them on the bottom of the ocean. The hard part was already done; they existed. What if Logan made them explode with growth, grew them so rapidly that he made them reach for the surface of the ocean? ¡°Fuck you, Moby Dick!¡± Logan screamed, clenching his fist once again and latching onto the seaweed with everything he had. It was a plant, a plant that took nourishment from the bottom of the ocean, its roots interlaced and sucking in nutrients. Logan wrenched, his head on fire with stabbing pain as he latched onto five, ten, twenty, thirty, as many as he could, forcing Karma inside of the plant and accelerating its growth. It was back to visualization. Visualization had always been his ace in the hole. Logan envisioned those thirty plants multiplying, leaf after leaf, stem after stem growing and shooting for the sunlight that was up above. The plants surged through the water, the green shoots acting like Jack and the Beanstalk, going so fast that the whale¡¯s tail brushed against the top of the shoots as they spread and multiplied. At the same time, he forced the tree inside of the whale to keep growing, pressing the trunk against the stomach with punishing force. Now the baleen plates weren¡¯t just cracking, they were being pushed up against the fleshy parts of the whale, going into its blubber and cutting through veins. And yet he hadn¡¯t received a notice from the System that he¡¯d funded the blackhole, which meant that he was still sucking Karma from the whale at a rapid rate, so quickly that it couldn¡¯t keep up. It bellowed, a sound of anger and pain, its whole body shaking as it¡ª Karma deprivation. Ding! [You have defeated a Level 190 Rabid Humpback Whale! Experience points reduced and awarded based on contributions made.] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!] Fuck yeah, he¡¯d killed the thing! [Liche Devourer] had sucked it dry of Karma, killing it in one swoop! Logan whooped, thrusting his fist into the air, warmth infusing his body as he crowed in triumph. He¡¯d done it! He¡¯d owned that fucking thing! ¡°Hell yes!¡± To the side, Vicious gasped, her blue rings flaring and pulsing. Logan had to assume that the System had considered her efforts of injecting her neurotoxin into the whale as participating in the kill, giving her a massive level increase. Gradually, the whale carcass tipped to the other side, the tree making a wrenching noise and the other octopuses letting out shouts of alarm. Right. Killing the thing hadn¡¯t solved the problem of being stuck inside its gut, but Logan had a solution for that. He couldn¡¯t use this while the whale was alive, but just like scooping out an excavator¡¯s worth of dirt from the ground, scooping out whale blubber shouldn¡¯t be a problem for his spatial storage. Logan got to work. B2 - Chapter 49: Heres a Green Bean, Theres a Green Bean Logan carved the hell out of the whale, throwing chunk after chunk of blubber and baleen plates inside of his spatial collar, drilling out of the carcass and opening a way for the octopuses to escape. He helped tug them free of the baleen plates, having the stomach sloshing task of prying their remaining tentacles away from the plates like trying to pull an animal out of a sticky trap. Eventually, he freed enough so that they could help the others. Despite everything, he had to believe that most of them would recover. After all, he¡¯d received [Regenerate] from Ernie for a reason. Octopuses could regrow their limbs. Before he left the whale behind, he considered throwing the rest of the carcass inside of his spatial collar for food, but then blanched when he realized that Vicious had tried to kill it by injecting her neurotoxin. The flesh would kill anyone who ate it. But still, the baleen plates might be useful. He could throw them into his new private market. Someone crafty could make them into a customized weapon. If Lara had a class that let her negotiate, others might have something that let them level up by producing items or food. With millions¡ªno, billions of people out there, there had to be unique abilities and classes. Although he had no way to monitor time inside of the whale, he judged that he¡¯d been stuck for an hour, which meant that he wasn¡¯t too far behind. All in all, it hadn¡¯t been a complete waste of time. Disgusting, painful, ridiculous, yes, but not a waste. He¡¯d determined that his upgraded [Regenerate] skill could grow back a severed limb in minutes rather than hours. On top of that, [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] had shown its weight in gold, making the pain of a chopped off limb that of a stubbed toe. He¡¯d also managed to deploy [Liche Devourer] for the first time, draining the Karma of a being who¡¯d had access to an immense Karma pool. Not to mention that he¡¯d figured out that it would take a ton of work to charge his black hole. It better be worth it. But if it were¡­ if it were, he should have access to an immense weapon, a weapon that he could use during Pied¡¯s mysterious Integration Tournament. Logan had no idea what he was in for¡­ he kept envisioning knights on a horse, users galloping at each other with their lances out in a jousting tournament, but he knew it couldn¡¯t be that. If it were anything like the trial dungeon, then he might be in for a horror show. By this point, Logan was expecting the worst, the worst that the Collective and the System could throw at him. And based on the torture of the dexterity and perception trials, it could think of some pretty nasty shit. But it was all speculation, and for all he knew, it could be an intellectual tournament as opposed to physical. There was no sense worrying about it while he had other priorities that were more important. Logan surged through the ocean, using his Pink Sock to fly through the water like a bullet. As he burst through the surface, he took a breath of clean, fresh air, his mouth slack with relief. The smell inside of the whale had been so bad that he was sure it had drifted inside of his pores and hair, cat piss and acid, rot and hell. It was like he¡¯d been sucked into a garbage truck that had been left to rot in 100-degree weather for a week. The sun was bright in the sky, clouds drifting up above, a seagull gliding through the air. One after another, the octopuses plopped to the surface before giving Logan pain-filled blinks of gratitude. Some glared accusingly before slinking away and making their own way. ¡°Vicious knows not to trust,¡± said a voice behind him. Logan used his arms to turn around in the water. Vicious was just as small as before, but she had an increased presence, a strength to her that hadn¡¯t been there before. She bobbed in the water, twirling, her mouth in a twisted smirk. ¡°But perhaps the bright one was right to trust in you after all.¡± Huh. Vicious was a cranky thing, reminding him of his ex-girlfriend¡¯s cat, who¡¯d just as likely try to sit on his face and suffocate him in his sleep than give him the time of day. But by killing the whale, he¡¯d given her a massive level increase: [Greater Blue-Ringed Octopus: Level 65. Might in a tiny body.] [Highest Stat: Wisdom. Characteristics: Excretes neurotoxin. Hidden name: Vicious.] She was almost on the same level as Ernie! Well, Logan had always managed to coax his girlfriend¡¯s cat out of the bedroom with catnip even though it had hated him. He could see how Vicious understood the value of hanging around with Logan if he¡¯d managed to give her 20 extra levels in one fight. ¡°Where will you go?¡± asked Logan. Vicious twirled in the water like an excited furball with arms. ¡°I will protect my brethren and watch over them while they heal.¡± She narrowed her eyes. ¡°And you will leave.¡± Logan blinked. ¡°I will?¡± She stilled in the water and slapped one of her little tentacles against the surface. ¡°You attract trouble,¡± she said, hissing. ¡°If you stay, you will bring more! More whales! The suction monster from down below! And they will eat us. And if we managed to escape, sacrificing yet more arms in the process, your violence will only attract our enemies, sucking us up in their hover craft vacuums, sending us to the glass cells. We will not go back, ugly human. Oh no, we will not.¡± Ugly human? Oh, come on! ¡°I¡¯m going, I¡¯m going,¡± he muttered. Damn, way to show gratitude. If it hadn¡¯t been for Ernie and Logan, Pied would have boiled these things into mush and stuck them inside jewelry by now. Vicious hissed again and then backed away, scooting through the water like a dog doing zoomies as she went after the other octopuses. Logan huffed and closed his eyes as he paddled in the water, letting the sun illuminate his face. That was one smelly, unpleasant task done, and although it hadn¡¯t gone the way he¡¯d planned, at least he could tell Ernie the truth without feeling guilty. He¡¯d transported the octopuses and they¡¯d gone off on their own. Logan gave himself one more minute to bask in doing nothing, of letting the ocean wash away the crap in his hair, before he opened his eyes, fixing a point in his mind as he deployed [Threshold Shift]. It was time to take care of his little Matt problem. It was time to go back to Jack¡¯s cabin. *** With a crack, Logan materialized on the patio of Jack¡¯s neighbour, right outside the scene of carnage he¡¯d left over a week ago. Travelling from the Coast¡ªwith clear, crisp blue air¡ªto a world covered in smog was beyond disconcerting. Logan¡¯s constitution attribute let him suffer through the bad air, but he¡¯d need to do something about this shit soon if he wanted Lara, the kids, and the others to live comfortably. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He could have chosen to teleport right into the middle of the kitchen, but he suspected that the XP harvesters¡¯ corpses were still inside, and after almost two weeks, it wasn¡¯t a scene that he wanted to see. Or smell. Plus, he could deploy [Life Fabricator] to double check that no one was inside of the house. Logan¡¯s senses came back with nothing but mold and rot. Logan looked around, anxiety eating away at his insides. Finally, finally, after all this time, he¡¯d returned. In a shitty world, Jack and Tasha had been the only ones who¡¯d helped him. Next to Lara and Ernie, they were the only ones he could rely on in a kill or be killed world. But the Logan who¡¯d left them behind was a different man. Would they even recognize him? Back then, Logan had judged the hell out of Jack, believing the man callous for not caring about other people. But in a way, Jack had an advantage over Logan; he¡¯d experienced a horrible loss, losing his kids and his wife all in one shot. Jack may have been a hardened man even before that had happened, but he¡¯d been smarter than Logan, less likely to trust. After what Logan had put up with in the trial dungeon, and after what he¡¯d had to do to Asthea, did Logan have any leg to stand on? Jack hadn¡¯t murdered anyone. That had been Logan. Logan didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever trust Jack, not fully, but he could understand him better now. And for all Logan knew, the man hadn¡¯t survived. Festering worry knotting in his belly, Logan willed out his cell phone from his spatial collar, powering it on, hoping that it had enough juice. He ran his thumb over the cracked screen as it turned on and then he navigated to his text messages. Tasha: checking in. how¡¯s the journey? hope you didn¡¯t come across anymore bad dudes. Tasha: Logan? Tasha: answer me, jerk. you¡¯re making me worried. Tasha: Logan? Tasha: I need you to come back. things are tense here. Tasha: you were right about Matt. Jack: Answer Tasha¡¯s text messages. She¡¯s worried. Jack: Your sister texted me saying you¡¯re not responding. Now you¡¯re worrying me too. Jack: Just check-in, all right? Jack: You better come back with a weapon. It was the same as last time. Despite his hopes, he hadn¡¯t received any additional messages, the network completely down. He had to wonder if cell phones and the internet would soon be something from the past. Humans were full of ingenuity though, and he couldn¡¯t see them going back to the dark ages where people communicated through frigging telegram and letter. Either the System would give them a way to communicate with others, or someone would have to get their shit together and come up with a solution. Logan had left Jack¡¯s cabin and Matt behind with what must have been resentment and anger. He¡¯d ¡®borrowed¡¯ his spear gun, lying and telling him that he was taking it fishing and returning that day. But resentment over a lost spear gun wouldn¡¯t make anyone with a conscience go on a killing spree. And yet Logan had suspected that Matt hadn¡¯t been all there. After all, he¡¯d killed a defenceless kitten. Tasha and Jack¡¯s last text messages didn¡¯t give him confidence that something shitty hadn¡¯t gone down here. Running a hand through his hair and pulling on the strands, Logan paced back and forth on the patio, sweat soaking his clothes underneath his armour. Oh well, there was nothing for it but to go forward. First, though, he¡¯d leveled up in the fight against the whale and he needed to allocate his points. Logan pulled up his stat sheet for a full review. Name: Logan Hart [Hidden Name: Idiot] Rank: 2 out of 5,990,212,993 Level: 161 Class: [Epic] Fabled Creation Grade: E6 Species: Human Skills: Titles: Eager Beaver; Mass Murderer; Audacious Corpse; Run Until You Drop; Malicious Meat Sack; Forerunner XP Progress: 2,000/322,000 Karma: 3,600/3,600 Intelligence: 600 Constitution: 48 Strength: 365 Agility: 381 Dexterity: 302 Endurance: 683 Perception: 141 Wisdom: 587 Luck: 105 Free Attribute Points: 25 KarmaCoin: 252,600 His stomach plummeted. For the first time, the overall population had dropped below 6 billion people. And it would keep dropping, all the way up to the purge. Logan felt pressure, immense responsibility. He knew that he wasn¡¯t responsible for every person on the planet, but the fact that the System had given him the Save Humanity Quest made him feel it regardless. Not to mention that each of his ¡®to-do¡¯ items kept stacking up. It was as if someone in the background was piling everything it could onto him, making it impossible for him to prioritize the Save Humanity Quest. If Logan didn¡¯t know any better, he¡¯d suspect that the glitchy AI minion was back and fucking with him. Logan had gone from level 156 to level 161, which had bumped up his grade from E5 to E6, getting him ever closer to D grade. That meant that [Regenerate] had jumped to level 16, which would help the next time he lost another limb. He had 25 free attributes to assign, and although he¡¯d like to continue upgrading his wisdom attribute so that his Karma would regenerate quicker, based on his attributes, there was only one upgrade that made sense. With the permanent effect of his True Grit Rings, his attributes were massively out of whack. After Logan had received [Regenerate], he¡¯d deprioritized his constitution stat, believing that his skill would take care of those problems. After all, in the dexterity trial, he¡¯d been amazed that Asthea and Arsen had healed at a much lower rate than Logan. The only explanation was that [Regenerate] took care of healing way better than anything a higher constitution could do. But Logan had been proven wrong during his stint in Pied¡¯s Kingdom. Although [Regenerate] took care of any physical injuries, it did shit against someone who had a mental manipulation skill. While his constitution stat was low, he had a real vulnerability. He needed to upgrade the stat, especially before he had to fight in the Integration Tournament. Who knew what kind of skills his competitors had? Decision made, Logan allocated his attributes: [Constitution: 47] [Constitution: 50+] [Constitution: 71] His [Forerunner] title gave him a 5% static boost to all his attributes. 71 multiplied by 5 gave him 4 extra attributes, which meant that his constitution attribute ended up at 75. With a gasp, Logan¡¯s eyes bulged, his senses exploding and his mind feeling cracked wide open. He straightened, his adrenaline surging, as if he¡¯d swallowed fifty cups of coffee all at once, caffeine injected directly into his veins. As the effects of the upgrade faded, he could only blink. It had been a while since he¡¯d upgraded his constitution stat, but Logan began to believe that there was a reason someone with a lower stat could be manipulated. At the beginning of the integration, upgrading his constitution attribute had made him feel refreshed. It had helped him heal his injuries, but this time, he was convinced that it had done something to his mind as well. Feeling ready to go, Logan willed out a handful of sand to reform his facemask and activated the camouflage effect of [Mimicry Armour] to turn on the invisibility feature. Before he burst onto the scene, he wanted to do recon to get an idea of what he was dealing with first. Trying to keep quiet, he made his way into the backyard, close to the shoreline, and then jogged in the direction of Jack¡¯s cabin. It had taken him about ten minutes to go from one property to the other last time, and if Logan really wanted to, he could make it there in a second, but his aim was to be stealthy. His Pink Sock wasn¡¯t quiet. Other than the smog, everything seemed normal, all the way up to the gate that separated the private property from the common area. Logan scaled it with a small leap, and then¡­ Holy shit. Logan surveyed the scene with a sour taste in his mouth, rocking back on his feet, not believing his eyes. In front of him, the wild, dry grass had transformed. Transformed into green beans. Fucking green beans. Every inch was covered in the crawling plant, green bean after green bean sprouting from the vines. The plant was so thick that he couldn¡¯t see the dirt or sand down below. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but green. For fifty feet, in every direction. Shit. B2 - Chapter 50: The Axe Trap Logan could only stare. It was like walking outside into your backyard and seeing your formerly pristine manicured lawn turn into alien mold. Bloody hell, it was as if Logan had walked into a scene from War of the Worlds! Worst yet, he¡¯d had nightmares about this very same scenario. The other day, the System had interrupted a nightmare about green beans smothering him, covering him in a house full of the fuckers, crushing him underneath their weight while he gasped for breath. Somehow, the green beans had escaped from the makeshift greenhouse, exploded onto the shore, and kept growing. And growing. Logan inched forward, the plant flexing underneath his feet like a mini trampoline, the vines crackling under his weight. There was nowhere to step other than on the plant. It had spread all the way from Jack¡¯s cabin to the edge of the neighbour¡¯s property, and it was already climbing up the fence. Something was making this thing explode, and the problem was that the bigger the plant grew, the more exponential the growth. Logan scanned it with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Green bean plant. These beans multiply when harvested, fulfilling a self-growing, endless cycle. They will never run out, never die, and feed an army if properly harvested.] Although it felt like an age since he¡¯d last harvested these green beans, he remembered that pulling on a pod and picking it directly resulted in a multiplication of the pods, but you could stop the multiplying effect if you cut the stem underneath the knotted Karma regenerating knob. Logan had made sure to show Jack and everyone how to do it before he¡¯d left. So, either they¡¯d gotten lazy and forgotten, or someone had deliberately sabotaged the plant. Once the green beans escaped the greenhouse, there would be no controlling them since any animal chowing away could make it into a monster all its own. The rabid squirrels, the mutated deer. Fuck, even the snakes slithering through the vines could accidently dislodge a pod. But now, Logan had a huge advantage that he didn¡¯t have when he¡¯d first grown the plant. With [Life Fabricator], he could figure out how to stop the plant in its tracks. And yet¡­ he hated to do it before he had a chance to harvest the beans. This may be a ton of food, too much food for just Jack and Tasha¡¯s group, but once he transported Brooke and Chase and the others, they could use it all. After all, he had fifty people to feed. Fifty people times three meals a day was a heck of a lot of food. And yet Logan didn¡¯t have time to go around harvesting thousands of green beans himself, so it would have to wait until the others arrived. For now, he needed to figure out what the hell had happened here. He doubted Tasha and Jack would have let the plant get to this state if they were in control of the group. That meant that bad shit had gone down. And he knew who was at fault. Matt. Grinding his teeth, Logan made sure that his armour camouflage effect was still active and then made his way towards Jack¡¯s property, his boots crackling and crushing the plant underneath his feet. The plant was so large that the thing emitted a smell that almost drowned out the wildfire smoke, a sharp, sugar odour that reminded him of times from his childhood. Back then, Logan and Lara had sat outside the cabin, working their way through a bucket of green beans, dropping them into water, while their grandfather chucked corn. After they¡¯d finished with the beans, Logan remembered taking the corn husks and crafting them into ropes, props for his willow tree toy army. As the gleaming solar panels on the roof of Jack¡¯s cabin reflected the glare of the orange sun, Logan inched closer and came to a stop on the beach. Or what had been the beach. Even here, the plant had spread, covering the sand in a layer of green. And yet, something was different. Scattered throughout the green bean vines, there were black spots. They reminded him of mold or a plant that was fighting off root rot. As he made his way further down the beach and closer to the water, it only worsened. That sharp, sugary scent had turned off, like overripe fruit left in the sun. The smell was so strong that Logan was surprised that he wasn¡¯t dealing with a swarm of fruit flies or bugs. At the edge of the beach, the waves crested against what looked like¡­ Fuck. It looked like mycelium. That same shit that had covered the resort, emitting toxic spores and transforming people into undead minions. Fuck fuck fuck! Ernie had mentioned that mushrooms were leaching up the shoreline, which meant that the queen serpent was doing her best to extend her influence and infect as many people and animals as she could. But if it had spread to the cabin, there was no way he could bring Lara and the kids here. Not to mention the others. Clenching his fist, Logan kicked the nearest green beans, the plant cracking and exploding in a combination of sap and spores. He didn¡¯t know if the spores were toxic, but either way, his armour stopped them from touching his skin. By now, he had no concerns that the same spores that he¡¯d fought against at the resort would have any ill effects. Logan had advanced too much. That wasn¡¯t to say that anyone else wouldn¡¯t have problems. He wasn¡¯t giving up. [Life Fabricator] should help him fix the green bean problem, but that didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t use it for this shit as well. He¡¯d barely scratched the surface of what he thought it was capable of. Hell, back in Pied¡¯s Kingdom, he¡¯d figured out a way to use the skill to age another person! A bunch of mushrooms should be child¡¯s play. Logan passed the beach and then made his way over to the dock, then stopped and blinked. Boats. Empty boats. What had to be ten boats were tied to the dock, from small dinghies to sailboats. There wasn¡¯t a space free. Others were tied to the edge of another boat, stacked side-by-side. It looked like Jack¡¯s dock had transformed into a frigging harbour. Logan peered from the cabin to the boats, narrowing his eyes. At the end of the dock next to the ladder that went into the water, someone had nailed a long, thin piece of plywood and attached a poster board to the top. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Logan jumped on the dock, his boots clacking against the hot wood as he made his way to the end of the dock so he could see the front of the poster board. Just as he suspected. A sign. In big black letters, someone had written: FOOD. GREEN BEANS. HELP YOURSELF. FOR MORE FOOD, COME TO THE FRONT DOOR. Logan¡¯s stomach dropped to the floor in dread. During his encounter with the murderers next door, one of the men had proposed doing the exact same thing to lure in unsuspecting users. XP harvesters. Jack would have never let this stand. He¡¯d barely given his permission to help the people who Logan had saved at the resort. He never would have put up a sign that invited others. So¡­ that posed the question. If this were here and Jack never would have allowed it, where was Jack? A sour taste in his mouth, Logan turned his attention towards the cabin. The thing was modern with huge, wide-open windows that overlooked the lake, but someone had closed the white blinds, blocking anyone¡¯s view inside. Biting his lip, Logan deployed [Life Fabricator], searching for life. Any life. The mass of green beans burst onto his senses like staring into the sun. So intense, so numerous that it was challenging to look past it. Although the aura had a complexity to it that pinged like an organic, living being, there was a coldness to it, a blip there and gone. Not good. Feeling a tension headache radiating behind his nose, Logan pushed past that aura and focused on the cabin. Although he was already expecting the worst, it was a gut punch when only one life force radiated from inside of it. Only one. Where the hell was everyone else? *** Based on the written sign on the dock, Logan had to assume that was Matt inside of the cabin. No Tasha, no Jack. Either they¡¯d fled, or the fucker had done something to them. A muscle on his jaw twitched as Logan made his way around the cabin. He no longer cared about being stealthy, his fists clenched and his mouth in a thin line. Logan had saved that pimply asshole, saved him from turning into a mushroom zombie, and this was the thanks he got? He¡¯d had suspicions about Matt, that he was slightly off and someone to watch; he¡¯d even warned Tasha and Jack to watch him with their lives, but that was then, and this was now. After seeing the sign, guilt sloshed through his stomach. The Logan who had left Matt behind had been a different person, a person who still had normal world Logan¡¯s moral beliefs and restraints. That Logan would have never envisioned doing anything to Matt before leaving, since other than killing a kitten and being a squirrely little jerk, he hadn¡¯t done anything to justify removing the threat. But the Logan who was ranked second in the world was a changed man. He shouldn¡¯t have left him here. He should have taken out the threat. Logan passed the greenhouse on the side of the house, sighing as he saw the state of it. The green beans had overtaken the whole thing, crushing anything else, including the tomatoes. There were so many vines exploding out of the door that there was no room to inch your way inside. Past the greenhouse was the front of the cabin, the side that faced the street. Logan stopped. And stared. To someone without his high perception, they might have missed it, so excited about the prospect of food, their guard let down after taking their fill of green beans, that they may have not looked beyond the front door. The little squirrely fucker had rigged the door into a weapon. Behind the front door, there was a line of pine trees that cast a shadow on the entrance. Up above, Matt had managed to attach an axe to a line of tight metal wire, held in a position so that if the wire released, the axe would swing at the back of the person facing the doorbell. That little fucker. If he looked even closer, he could see the remains of splattered blood on the ground that Matt had tried covering by spreading loose dirt and gravel. So. He lured in users with a welcoming sign and the evidence of green beans. Let them pick as many green beans as they wanted, gaining their trust, lowering their guard so that it was easier to kill them when they approached the door. That wouldn¡¯t work with a large group, so he must have leveled up enough to be a serious threat. Logan wanted nothing more than to barrel through the door, bash it down and grab the little asshole, but he didn¡¯t want to damage the cabin. Growling, Logan used his Pink Sock to jump up into the tree line and latch onto the axe. For good riddance, he tore through the wire line as well, ruining Matt¡¯s trap. As for the axe, he threw that into his spatial collar before stomping his way back to the door. Lastly, he collapsed his face mask and helmet and faced the entrance with what he suspected was a wide, unhinged grin. And knocked. There was a sound from inside, as if someone were grabbing something or setting something down, before the door opened a crack, then fully. ¡°Welcome!¡± said Matt with a wide smile, peering behind Logan at the tree line with a furrow in his brow. ¡°I see you saw the¡­¡± ¡°The sign?¡± said Logan, his teeth flashing. ¡°You bet I did.¡± Matt stared at Logan, blinking, before his face lost all color. ¡°Oh shit.¡± Logan didn¡¯t give him a chance to react before he was grabbing him by the front of the shirt and dragging him inside, slamming the door as he went. Matt scrambled, his feet kicking the floor and his nails clawing at Logan¡¯s gloves, but it was like Logan was dragging a ragdoll for all the effect it had. The cabin was dim, the sun leaking through the blinds and illuminating small specks of dust dancing in the air. Jack and Eleanor had always been tidy, OCD-type homeowners, with everything in its place, messes cleaned up just as soon as they appeared. To see empty cans and rotting tomatoes on top of the dining room table, fruit flies and garbage off to one side, was jarring and unwelcome. Logan powered through the dining room and into the living room, then threw Mat onto the couch so hard that it scraped against the hardwood floor. Matt panted, gulping, bracing himself with his palms to get up. Logan slammed his hand onto his chest, making him wheeze. His face had broken out into even more of an acne mess, travelling all the way up his forehead. Unlike last time, his clothes were clean, his torn work shirt gone. In its place, he wore a long sleeved, expensive looking blazer. A blazer that Logan was sure he¡¯d seen Jack wear. It was all Logan could do to hold back his strength and restrain himself. Logan scanned Matt with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Matt Almaton: Level 55. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Dexterity. Characteristics: Skilled in hidden weapons. Hidden name: Ted.] Level 55? This squirrely, knobbly kneed fucker had leveled up to level 55?! Shit, there was no way that he¡¯d done it by fighting monsters, which meant that he¡¯d lured in enough people to do serious damage. And what the hell was up with his hidden name? ¡°What did you do with Tasha and Jack? With the others? Did you kill them?¡± Matt¡¯s face was red, his mouth in a scowl. ¡°What does it matter? You weren¡¯t around!¡± Logan¡¯s gloves cracked, grains of sand pooling on the floor as he clenched his fists so hard that he split the knuckles. ¡°You killed them, didn¡¯t you?¡± he hissed. Ever since he¡¯d arrived, he¡¯d had that worry, a festering worry that Matt had done the unthinkable. To be encountered with that reality felt unreal. As if he could enter the kitchen and find Tasha and Jack milling in front of the microwave, heating up a bowl of popcorn. There had been too much death since the System Integration, too many people who he hadn¡¯t managed to save. Logan felt a hollowness in his gut, acid in his throat surging. He had been too late. Too late to save them. ¡°So you did,¡± said Logan. ¡°You killed them. You selfish, immature psychopath. Jack allowed you into his home, he fed you and helped you, and this is how you repaid him?¡± Matt tried to get up again, his eyes on fire, and Logan slammed his fist into his chest so hard that a crack echoed through the air. Gasping, Matt struggled to breathe, his lips bloodless. ¡°J-just how s-strong are you?¡± Matt¡¯s gaze became faraway as he deployed [Identify]. Then with a wheezing cough, his eyes widened. ¡°Level 161!? Holy shit!¡± He let out a bark of laughter as he clutched his chest. ¡°You¡¯re user ¡®Idiot¡¯! Holy crap, that¡¯s fire, bro! Fire! You¡¯re infamous!¡± Logan was still thinking of Tasha and Jack, thinking about how Eleanor would be so disappointed. He¡¯d failed Eleanor, and now he¡¯d failed her son. Sighing, he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Why extend the inevitable? ¡°Any last words?¡± Matt¡¯s eyes bulged. ¡°What?¡± He tried to scramble away, scooting his butt down the couch, his feet scrabbling against the floor. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me! You¡¯ll never find them without me!¡± Logan paused. ¡°What.¡± ¡°Your precious Jack. That asshole.¡± He spat. ¡°And that freaky, off her meds girl, Tasha. You want to find them or don¡¯t you?¡± B2 - Chapter 51: You Need Both Socks to Make a Pair ¡°If you try any shit, that¡¯s it, kid,¡± said Logan as he dragged Matt out of the cabin by the back of his collar. As he struggled to get away, his feet scrambled against the ground, his face blooming an unhealthy red. According to Matt, Tasha and Jack were still alive, and they¡¯d fled with the others to a neighbouring property. Logan wanted to believe him, but for them to all be alive seemed too good to be true. Besides, if that were the case, what the hell had they fled from? Matt would have had to be the same level as everyone else when he showed his true colours, which meant that he should have been outnumbered. For them to just flee and let him take control of the cabin? It defied belief. Not to mention that Jack would never let this squirrely fucker steal his mother¡¯s cabin out from under him. With its solar panels, it was the best option for survival. The cabin had power, the others didn¡¯t. And there was another complexity to the property that made Logan¡¯s stomach twist. It had been the last place Jack had seen his family, and many of his daughters¡¯ belongings, pictures, keepsakes¡­ all of it was here. No, there was no way. It wasn¡¯t possible that they¡¯d packed up and left just like that. Matt must have done something to make them leave. ¡°You better not be lying,¡± said Logan. ¡°If you fuck with me, you¡¯ll get no more chances. My patience is on a hair trigger these days. I¡¯m not the same man who led you across the lake. They¡¯ll be no more giving you the benefit of the doubt. I¡¯ve learned my lesson the hard way.¡± ¡°What would I try?¡± Matt spat, wiggling, his collar pulling tight around his neck. There was a white line on his throat where the circulation had been cut off. ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s called Idiot! That¡¯s not me, bro! I know you¡¯re way too high leveled.¡± His voice dropped into a mutter. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have a chance.¡± Logan eyed the top of his head, giving him a considering glance as he weighed whether to release him and let him walk on his own. Then he thought of the axe that he¡¯d fashioned into a trap, of all the innocent people he must have killed. Instead of releasing him, Logan tightened his grip around his collar and pushed him forward, practically picking him up as he forced him outside. Dragging Matt around the side of the cabin, he pushed him, then kept a loose grip on the back of his blazer. ¡°Well,¡± Logan barked. ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°I told you,¡± Matt complained, turning his head and giving him a glare. ¡°They¡¯re down the shoreline.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°At the neighbour¡¯s.¡± Logan scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s sure convenient. Just leave them there, leave an enemy on your doorstep? Besides, I was already there. The property is empty.¡± Matt rolled his eyes. ¡°Not that neighbour. I said down the shoreline.¡± He pointed with his index finger in the opposite direction¡­ towards Logan¡¯s cabin. Matt didn¡¯t know that Logan knew that way like the back of his hand. He doubted that he even remembered that it was Logan¡¯s family¡¯s property. Logan narrowed his eyes. Or did he? This could be a way for him to get Logan to lower his guard. And yet he didn¡¯t know what it would accomplish except piss him off more. He released his grip on the back of Matt¡¯s blazer and then pushed him forward, making him trip over a clump of green beans. ¡°Walk!¡± Matt scrunched his nose, his mouth in a thin line. ¡°Fine.¡± Hunching his shoulders, he clambered over the green vines and moved towards the field that separated Jack and Logan¡¯s property. Over here, the signs of rot hadn¡¯t yet spread, the green bean plant looking healthy and smelling of sugar. Logan couldn¡¯t trust it though. Hell no. There was no way he was letting anyone harvest this plant, not with that risk. If it were infected with diseased undead fungi at the shore, it could be infected everywhere. For all he knew, people would eat it, and the undead fungi would go to roost, transforming them into zombies. Logan still remembered what had happened to Martin back at the resort, the way the fungi had spread and transformed his tongue into a flower tentacle. No, if he had his way, he¡¯d light this thing on fire. But he couldn¡¯t, not without risking Jack¡¯s cabin. As they made their way into what used to be the field between the two properties, Logan couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. This is where he¡¯d managed to increase his agility attribute by creating an agility ladder. It had been a dry, bare field, full of dirt and the occasional weed. Although the pine trees were still there, the field had disappeared. In its place was nothing but green vines. The damn plant had spread more than he¡¯d realized. It must go on for at least a mile, and he¡¯d yet to see the end of it. ¡°Why did you let the green beans spread?¡± Matt turned his head and smirked. ¡°You said you changed, but you haven¡¯t. You still can¡¯t see the big picture!¡± ¡°Enlighten me,¡± Logan said flatly. ¡°Everything wants to eat us, monsters talk, the world is on fire. Why wouldn¡¯t I want to drown the world in self-replicating beans? I¡¯m just going along with the theme. Besides, if someone can¡¯t deal with a little itty-bitty plant, then sorry, not sorry. They¡¯re not worth the air they breathe.¡± He paused and then flashed Logan a bright smile. ¡°Plus, it¡¯s fun.¡± ¡°Fun.¡± ¡°We¡¯re in a video game, bro! You bet your ass it¡¯s fun.¡± Logan frowned at the back of Matt¡¯s head. For someone who was in danger of losing his life, he sure didn¡¯t act like it. Matt had always been off, but Logan didn¡¯t know him well enough to tell if he were acting like this because he was a squirrely, weird little thing, or if something else was up. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that Jack and Tasha. That the others are holed up in the cabin next door, living peacefully while you lure in unsuspecting users so you can kill them?¡± Matt came to a stop, his shoulders dropping. He paused, just breathing, then turned his head slightly, his eyes glinting playfully as he looked at Logan. Tilting his head like a reptile up at the pine trees around them, he shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re there. On the property, just like I said. But you take my words so literally.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Logan ground his teeth. His patience was just about done. He was on a time crunch. He needed to deal with Matt so he could make the place safe for Lara, the kids and the others, and then tackle his Build an Empire Quest. Playing verbal sparring with a pimply nosed kid barely out of puberty didn¡¯t fall in with that plan. He was wasting time here. ¡°Matt, you¡ª¡± He turned and faced Logan with a strange little smile. ¡°You didn¡¯t change at all.¡± Then with a look of concentration, he braced his feet against the spongy green vines, his arms ducked to his sides like a skier getting ready to jump. Logan had a second to blink before Matt had launched himself into the air, jumping from the ground to the top of the pine trees around them as if he were on a boomerang. Laughing, he aimed right for a wire that Logan realized that he¡¯d rigged up top on the tree canopy, similar to the trap in front of the door. Hitting the wire with his hand as he soared past, knives, axes, even a sword, went flying right at Logan¡¯s head. Snorting in derision, Logan raised his arm and shielded his face with his forearm guard. The knifes clanged against his exoskeleton like metal hitting stone. The sword flew towards his chest like a javelin, but it had the same effect. It had taken Thorin¡¯s sword to get through Logan¡¯s armour, a sword manufactured by the System. Even Arsen¡¯s daggers hadn¡¯t been strong enough to get through. Regular old knives and swords were like throwing a fork against a metal plate. As the weapons flew towards Logan, Matt had taken it in with an eager, avid look, only for his mouth to twist into frustration as Logan bashed them aside. Growling, Matt launched himself into the air again, jumping over the green vines and going for another wire up above in the tree line. Logan raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Well, he could give him points for persistence. Somehow, Matt hadn¡¯t realized that someone Logan¡¯s level, over a hundred levels above Matt, meant that he was shit out of luck. How he possibly thought that he could kill Logan was¡ª Fuck! What the hell was that?! Logan glanced down at his arm in disbelief. Whatever had flown at him had managed to shatter his forearm guard and slice deep into his arm at least two inches deep. A piece of what Logan could only describe as shrapnel was hanging from his arm, a metal strip that was thin and about ten inches long, the width the size of the sword that had clattered to the ground. This metal shone and radiated an aura that reminded him of the chains from the strength trial. Something manufactured by the System. But either way, it was surprising, but it wouldn¡¯t stop Logan. Logan pulled the metal out of his arm and then dropped it to the ground. With a moue of concentration, he removed a handful of sand from his spatial collar and then reformed his shattered armguard. He was injured, but he could already tell that [Regenerate] was sealing the cut. And with [Idiot¡¯s Paradox], the pain felt like a papercut. ¡°Are you done?¡± Logan said, his voice flat. Matt screamed, a scream full of anger. ¡°Why won¡¯t you die?¡± He¡¯d let himself drop to the ground, bouncing against the green vines, but then leapt into the air again, jumping ten feet and launching into a run towards Logan¡¯s cabin. Matt was really starting to piss him off. And just how the hell had the little bugger managed to get a hold of metal that Logan had to assume came directly from the System? A regular piece of metal wouldn¡¯t cut through his armour. On top of that, Logan hadn¡¯t encountered enough people to judge whether jumping was a rare skill, but the fact that he¡¯d only obtained it through a System item, his Pink Sock, made him think it was rarer than most. After all, he¡¯d gotten access to it through his Tree Fridge. The System market didn¡¯t exist yet, which was why his lodestones were so desirable. It was almost as if¡­ No. It couldn¡¯t be possible. Logan felt rage surge through his chest, his heart racing, his mouth dry. Matt had crafted metal into a weapon, metal that he didn¡¯t recognize. System generated. He¡¯d launched himself into the air, jumping, just like Logan did with his Pink Sock. Either Matt had somehow gotten access to exclusive System items, or he¡¯d gotten into Logan¡¯s Tree Fridge. It was the only explanation. Somehow, the acne-ridden, squirrely, murderous sociopath had gotten access to his Tree Fridge and bought items that Logan assumed only he had access to. What the hell! The frigging thing¡¯s lodestone had his palm print! First, Matt had done who knew what with Tasha and Jack and the others, then he¡¯d let the green beans loose, purposely spreading them and making them uncontrollable, not to mention murdering what had to be hundreds of people to level up as much as he did. And now, Matt had stolen Logan¡¯s Tree Fridge. Logan could admit to a bit of pride¡ªhe knew that was a flaw based on how he¡¯d managed to screw up by luring the rats into a stampede. He knew that it was something that he needed to overcome. And yet, Logan couldn¡¯t help how he felt. At this point, his anger had been simmering at the thought of what Matt might have done with Tasha and Jack, but what had ignited a firestorm was the fact that Matt had stolen from Logan. Stolen something that was precious to him. The Tree Fridge hadn¡¯t been free. It was no walk in the park. He¡¯d gotten access to it because of Eleanor, because of what happened with Buttercup. Logan had made a resolution to change, and the System had recognized the wisdom of that decision and awarded him for it. For Matt to have gotten access to something that Logan had gained through heartache was FUBAR. But if it were true, if it were true, why was Logan surprised? He¡¯d learned by now not to trust the System. For all he knew that damn glitchy AI minion might be back, remaining hidden but pulling the strings of everything. There was only one way to find out. Matt had gotten to the edge of Logan¡¯s family cabin in the amount of time he¡¯d taken to process this. And Matt wasn¡¯t Logan. In addition to having his own Pink Sock, he had over a hundred levels on him on top of his stealth player status which made his attributes way out of whack with his level. Bracing himself, crouching and tensing his muscles, Logan launched into the air, his feet breaking through a layer of vines with a percussion noise, and then rocketed into the air like a bullet. The wind battered him as he flew, his arms at his sides, his mouth in a thin line. He soared over the green vines, skimming the tip of the pine trees and then kept going, making a beeline for Matt¡¯s back. Matt heard Logan coming, but he looked behind him rather than up, leaving him unprepared as Logan tackled him like a cannon ball. This time his scream was full of panic rather than anger. Windmilling his arms, he tried to dart to the side, all in vain. Logan slammed him to the ground face first and crushed his nose and mouth into the green bean pods. As soon as he did, he must have dislodged a pod, which the damn plant considered harvesting, triggering the self-replicating effect. Matt screeched as the vines underneath his nose suddenly doubled, pushing both Logan and Matt up another foot as the plant multiplied. Logan held Matt to the ground, tightening his grip on his arm until he heard a crack, and then jerked on his combat boots, pulling first one off¡ªa white utility sock¡ªand then the other. No. On Matt¡¯s foot was a sock that looked exactly the twin to Logan¡¯s own Pink Sock. As Logan stared, Matt exploded into movement and kicked his legs, wiggling, doing everything he could to get away. ¡°It¡¯s mine! It¡¯s mine! You can¡¯t have it! You can¡¯t steal it!¡± Logan squeezed Matt¡¯s other shoulder, tightening his armour-covered fingers in a punishing grip. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop moving, I¡¯ll break this arm as well.¡± Matt stilled with a wail, panting, the back of his neck red and sweaty. ¡°You steal everything! You¡¯re a liar! A thief!¡± Logan snorted. ¡°If you got this from where I think you did, then you¡¯re the thief, kid, not me.¡± Matt wailed again as Logan peeled off the sock with a grimace, holding it between his thumb and finger with disgust. Was there a way to disinfect a System item? With a frown, Logan willed it inside his spatial collar and then climbed to his feet and backed away from the kid. And truly like a spoiled child, he hit the ground with his fists, kicking his feet against the green vines before he hissed and clutched his arm. ¡°Well,¡± said Logan. ¡°Get up. You should be grateful that I didn¡¯t just kill you outright. I know you¡¯re young. And a psycho, but how could you have possibly thought that attack would work? You¡¯re only possibility of getting out of this was leading me to Tasha and Jack. You just fucked that up, kid.¡± Matt climbed to his feet, giving Logan a mulish look. ¡°I did lead you to them.¡± Logan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Logan gave his surroundings a pointed once over and then scrunched his nose at Matt. ¡°Kid,¡± he said dryly. ¡°They¡¯re here. They¡¯re underneath your feet.¡± B2 - Chapter 52: Crawling from the Depths Logan blinked at Matt. Then he breathed. Just breathed. Ever since he¡¯d arrived at the cabin, his emotions had been fluctuating wildly from hope to trepidation. Logan knew Matt would do anything he could to stall and save his own skin, but this was a bit much, even for a stupid, young kid with sociopathic tendencies. So. Jack and Tasha were dead. After all that shit, all of Matt¡¯s stalling, he¡¯d killed them. His limbs suddenly feeling heavy, Logan swallowed, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Jack had been a complicated man, a man who¡¯d been dealing with grief and his own quirky personality ticks, but he didn¡¯t deserve this. If it hadn¡¯t been for Jack, Logan might not have made it out of the resort. After suffering through the death of his family, then of Eleanor, he didn¡¯t deserve this ending. As for Tasha, Logan hadn¡¯t known her well, but he suspected that Lara and Tasha would have gotten along. Tasha had been dealt a shitty hand, and at the end, she¡¯d only cared about making sure that Logan was okay. They were good people just trying to survive. And this little fucker had killed them. The tightness in his chest turned into rage. This was rage sourced by Logan¡¯s own emotions; the Cursed Rope wasn¡¯t doing shit. Clenching his hands into fists, Logan ground his teeth, his pulse pounding in his ears. In a way, killing Matt would feel anticlimactic, since Logan was the only one here to witness his comeuppance. But there was no judge and jury, not in the apocalypse. That had to be Logan. Tasha and Jack deserved better. A hell of a lot better. If Logan¡¯s eyes could shoot lasers, Matt would be on fire by now. Logan wanted him to pay, to feel regret, to get what he deserved, but he¡¯d already spent too much time on him as it is. Removing his sword from his spatial collar, Logan took a step towards Matt, his sword held up and the metal gleaming. Matt¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Where did that come from?¡± he asked in excitement. What. The. Fuck. He was treating this like he was having the time of his life, as if Logan coming at him with a sword was something to be excited about rather than the ending he deserved. There was something to be said for stupidity. Fuck, he reminded Logan of that kid at the resort, the one who thought he¡¯d respawn if he died. And yet, Matt had killed enough people that he had to know that wasn¡¯t possible. For the first time, something rather than anger sloshed through his stomach. It was the uncomfortable realization that the person in front of him might not be all there. Before the Integration, there would have been jail, hospitals, medication. Logan didn¡¯t have the luxury of that choice. But this time, he didn¡¯t give Matt a chance to stall. Flaring his nostrils, Logan made the only choice possible. He swung his sword. The metal twanged in the air as Matt tried to jump away. He succeeded in launching himself towards the treeline, his body surging, but not quite fast enough. Instead, Logan got him in the leg. Fuck. He¡¯d severed his right leg at the knee. With a sick plop, the limb went flying, blood spraying in a torrent. Matt shrieked and scrambled onto an overhanging pine tree limb, his hands grasping at the pine needles and bark, his fingers white-knuckled. With his remaining leg, he tried to brace himself, but then ended up jarring his severed leg. With another shriek of agony, he released his grip and crashed on top of the green vines with a plume of dirt and dust. Rolling onto his back, he panted, his chest rising up and down and his face pale, his lips bloodless. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± he wailed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Logan furrowed his brow in disbelief as he stomped over to him, feeling his face go hot with rage. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± he roared. ¡°You just admitted to killing Tasha and Jack! What did you think I¡¯d do, kid? Thank you?!¡± ¡°Oh, fuck, oh fuck, it hurts,¡± he panted, looking down at his missing leg before wailing again. Then shooting Logan a glare, he bared his teeth. ¡°I didn¡¯t say I killed them, you jerk! I said they were underneath our feet! H-how does that equate to me killing them?¡± Looking down at his wound, he swayed until he lurched to his side and retched, then tried to crawl away from the mess by clawing the green beans and dislodging a pod. With a lurch, Matt and Logan went up another foot as the plant multiplied once again. Matt¡¯s blood dripped down the vines, going deep into the knotting plant. If Logan didn¡¯t know better, he¡¯d say that it was feeding. The green beans reminded him of the rat vine he¡¯d created back in Hope¡¯s End. Logan had been getting ready to swing again, but at Matt¡¯s words, he hesitated. Was this just more bullshit? A way for him to stall? Or was he actually telling the truth? Logan pressed his boot against Matt¡¯s severed leg, putting pressure on the wound. Matt¡¯s mouth dropped wide open, and he let out an ear-piercing shriek. ¡°You better start making sense, kid. From where I stand, what you¡¯re saying doesn¡¯t make it any better. So you didn¡¯t kill them? But they¡¯re dead? That still makes you into a liar, and as far as I¡¯m concerned, you¡¯re just as guilty whether you pulled the trigger or not.¡± ¡°Oh please! Oh please, stop! They¡¯re not fucking dead, asshole! They¡¯re alive! Like I said!¡± Logan took a step back and lowered his sword, his nose scrunched in confusion. How could they be underneath the ground and yet alive? It didn¡¯t make any sense. Either Matt was completely nonsensical, or there was something here that Logan wasn¡¯t grasping. Taking another step back, Logan surveyed the treeline and the property. His family had owned this property for over fifty years; if there was a tunnel underground or a bunker, they would have known. Still¡­ the last time he was here, he¡¯d just received [Life Cycle Master]. It hadn¡¯t yet merged into his upgraded skill, [Life Fabricator], and he hadn¡¯t mastered sensing everything around him. Back then, he¡¯d struggled to grow a frigging tomato plant. If there was an answer underneath the ground, Logan could find it. Scrubbing his hand through his hair, Logan cracked his neck and then moved away from Matt. The kid wasn¡¯t going anywhere, not with that missing leg, but to truly scan the area, he needed to concentrate, which meant closing his eyes. Like hell was he closing his eyes with an enemy right in front of him. Logan moved back to the shoreline, putting about thirty feet between Logan and Matt, who kept non-stop wailing. ¡°Where are you going?¡± he screamed. ¡°You can¡¯t leave me here!¡± He thought Logan was leaving him there to bleed to death. If Matt had a high enough constitution attribute, it might let him survive long enough to limp his way to the cabin, but Logan wasn¡¯t betting on it. After all, Asthea had lost an arm in the trial dungeon, and it had just about killed her. No, Logan wasn¡¯t leaving him there. He would get what was coming to him. But he needed to keep him alive for now in case he needed more information. Blowing out a breath, Logan rolled his shoulders, closed his eyes, and then deployed [Life Fabricator] as he opened his senses. He¡¯d completed a peripheral scan of the area when he¡¯d examined Jack¡¯s cabin, but Logan hadn¡¯t gone any deeper than that. This time, he would examine the whole property, from Jack¡¯s cabin to the property line and the field between his own cabin. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He''d gotten good at scanning everything around him, but he wasn¡¯t an expert at looking underneath his feet. More than anything, even more than Matt, the green bean plant radiated life, life so immense that it was difficult to gauge where it ended. Or began. Unlike a normal plant, this one pulsed with life that was tinged with something¡­ else. It wasn¡¯t everywhere, but at intervals, spots pulsed a coldness, something foreign. It wasn¡¯t dark, but just¡­ off. The spots weren¡¯t stationary, but spreading, inch after inch, from one vine to another, transforming green and bright bursts of sugar into¡ª Fungi? It had to be the queen serpent at work. Logan was sensing the infected areas of the plant. Disregarding it, Logan went deeper, but the plant was already five feet high, and the roots went even deeper. He kept pausing as he came across insects¡ªfrom earthworms who had managed to level, to ants who reminded him of his bark ants. Even the bacteria and decomposing material pinged on his radar; all of it distracting and taxing his senses. Logan went deeper. He wasn¡¯t expecting anything. By this point, he assumed Matt¡¯s story was yet more bullshit until¡­ Wait. Logan gasped. Two pings of life. Bright, bright pings. Human. But something was off. It was as if he were sensing the green bean plant again. The auras pinged as people, then fluctuated and pinged as a frigging plant. What the hell? But either way, for them to ping at all, that meant they were alive. Alive underneath his feet and buried in the ground? Since he could sense insects and worms, that meant that he could judge the depth of the ground. He detected life, but he wasn¡¯t picking up on any hollow spaces. Had the squirrely kid managed to burry Jack and Tasha alive right before Logan had arrived? Had they somehow managed to survive with the help of a skill? It was the only thing that made sense. That fucker. Logan opened his eyes and then stomped his way back over to Matt, his grip creaking on the handle of his sword. He was stomping so hard he made cracks in the vines. Although Matt had managed to unfasten his belt and use it as a makeshift tourniquet, he was in bad shape. His chest moved shallowly as if he were breathing through cotton. His limbs were boneless and pale, and he stared unseeingly at the sky while his fingers twitched. There was so much blood that the green vines around him were decorated in red as if they¡¯d been splattered with a paint can. But what gave Logan a second of pause was his grin. Amidst the grimaces of pain, he was smirking, as if he found his current state amusing. A joke that only he got. This time, Logan wasn¡¯t giving him another chance to stall. If he¡¯d buried Tasha and Jack alive, he deserved what he got. With a grunt, Logan swung his sword, decapitating his head from his shoulders. Ding! [You have defeated Matt Almaton! Triple experience granted for defeating a member of your own species!] Logan didn¡¯t give himself a second to feel relief, urgency eating away at his insides. Pacing back to where he¡¯d sensed the two bright spots of life, he concentrated on an area about the size of his tool shed. With a blink, he willed the green bean plant inside of his spatial collar. Whether it resulted in a doubling of the green beans didn¡¯t matter, he needed to clear enough to dig into the ground and reach Tasha and Jack. Ding! [Error! You cannot store living beings inside a spatial device!] Goddamnit! Fuck¡¯s sake, that didn¡¯t make any sense! He¡¯d stored green beans and logs inside of his spatial collar before; how was it possible that the System considered the plant¡ª Alive. If the fungi had infected the plant and if it was transforming it, it might not technically be a plant, but the beginnings of a monster. Either way, he didn¡¯t have time to puzzle it out, and his concerns about doubling the green beans was moot while Jack and Tasha¡¯s lives were on the line. Urgency eating away at his stomach, Logan willed out a handful of diamond dust and sand and then reformed his talons, making them blunt and wide rather than sharp at the tips. He was going for utility rather than a weapon. As soon as they formed, he dug his hand deep into the vines, grabbing a handful and pulling with a grunt. The plant made a creaking, screaming noise¡ªa noise he¡¯d never expect out of a plant. It seemed to resist, its roots and the immense interweaved structure giving it stability. After all, he wasn¡¯t dealing with a weed he¡¯d find in a garden, he was dealing with a plant that was the size of what had to be ten baseball fields. As soon as he scooped out a chunk, he hurtled it to the side, then scooped another and another, clearing the way. To the sides, the intact plant tripled, then tripled again, having the unintended consequence of spreading to the area he¡¯d just cleared. Still, he¡¯d cleared a wide enough area that it gave him access to the ground below. Concentrating on a patch of ground, Logan willed an excavator¡¯s scoop of earth inside of his spatial collar, tunneling his way through. Luckily enough, the System didn¡¯t consider the roots of the vine ¡®alive,¡¯ and he could clear it. Jack and Tasha were still alive. They had to be, but he didn¡¯t know whether they were alive because they were in the ground with a small air pocket, or if it were due to a skill. Either way, time was ticking, and a minute could be the difference between life or death. To come all this way and to discover that Tasha and Jack were feet away, and Logan could have saved them only to be too late would devastate him. He¡¯d had enough death to last a lifetime. Logan had aimed for the side of where he¡¯d sensed Tasha and Jack, not wanting to unintendedly hurt them as he was scooping out material. Once he got a pattern down, he cleared the dirt like a dirt devil. Deploying [Life Fabricator], Logan searched for their auras once again, his heart in his throat. There. He¡¯d tunneled directly next to them. They had to be to the left, buried underneath all that dirt. Shit. There was no air pocket here. They were literally buried alive. What the hell had Matt been thinking? For someone who¡¯d done his best to lure people to the cabin so he could harvest their XP, burying Tasha and Jack alive made no sense. His nerves on fire with tension, Logan dug through the layer of dirt on the left with his talons and tried to be as careful as possible. He¡¯d purposely crafted his talons to be wide and less sharp, but still, he didn¡¯t want to inadvertently injure them. And then, with one more scoop, the side of the pit caved in, the loose soil pooling to the side. At first, he could see only dirt, but then, he saw the beginnings of clothing¡ªa runner, and the base of a leather sole. Then legs, then someone¡¯s lower torso. It was as if Logan had just tunneled into a crypt. Or a grave. ¡°Tasha?¡± Logan croaked. ¡°Jack?¡± [Life Fabricator] had pinged with life, but this didn¡¯t look good. Fuck! But then¡­ was that¡­? Tasha¡¯s foot had moved. With a surge of excitement, Logan grasped her by the foot and then tugged, pulling on her while trying to be as gentle as possible. As if he¡¯d pulled on a dummy, she clattered out of the caved in dirt, landing at Logan¡¯s feet inside of the pit. ¡°Tasha?¡± She¡¯d landed face down, her back covered in wet dirt, a rip on one of her sleeves. Her purple hair looked filthy and off, the back of her neck streaked with gold-dusted dirt. Twitching her leg, then her arm, she shifted and then rolled over. ¡°Shit!¡± Logan screamed. Deploying his Pink Sock, he jumped out of the pit and back onto solid ground, his breath gasping in shock. Holy crap! Oh shit, oh shit. That wasn¡¯t Tasha anymore. Gold thread had interwoven into her skin, like the weave on a basket. Her hair had appeared off for a reason. It had transformed from a short purple hair cut to tiny fungus heads. In place of her eyes, two golden flowers covered in dust bloomed, the pollen white pupils. As she looked up at Logan with her flower eyes, she let out a croak like a bullfrog, her flower tentacle tongue wiggling and snapping up towards him. Next to her, the dirt continued to collapse, and Jack crawled out of the hole and landed next to Tasha. Just like Tasha, he had a flower tentacle tongue. Unlike her, his hair looked as if it had been torn away, his head covered in bald patches. Of the hair that remained, it had turned into tiny flowering mushrooms which swayed from side-to-side. As if being uncovered had invigorated him, he started franticly clawing his way up the pit and towards Logan. Logan examined them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect]: [Level 29 Undead Minion.] [Level 24 Undead Minion.] Oh fuck, no wonder Matt had said they were under the ground, and that he hadn¡¯t killed them! He must have lured them into a trap just like he¡¯d created with his wire traps, then buried them. For the green beans to have spread over the grave, it must have happened a while ago. Still, why hadn¡¯t he killed them before he¡¯d buried them? Why leave them alive? Logan gulped. Or undead. Slumping to the ground and sitting as if his legs had been cut, with a feeling of unreality, Logan could only stare. After everything Jack had been through, for him to end up an undead zombie was the height of unfairness. And even worse, Logan had gotten his hopes up, convinced that he could save them. Instead, he was going to have to kill two of his friends. He couldn¡¯t help making the correlation between Asthea and this. Never in his life would he think that if he found Tasha and Jack, that he would have to be the one to put them down. And yet there was no way he could leave them like this. If he buried them again, eventually, they¡¯d claw their way back out and put Lara, the kids, and everyone in jeopardy. If only there was a way he could help them. Back when he¡¯d received confirmation that Ernie had turned into the undead, he¡¯d had the same thought. In the shows and movies, once you became a zombie, that was it. It wasn¡¯t like killing a head vampire. Logan doubted that killing the serpent queen would do shit for this infection. And yet, with Ernie, Logan had told himself that he would do whatever he had to find a solution. Tasha and Jack deserved the same. There had to be something he could do. Biting his lip, Logan got to his feet and peered into the hole. Something he could do. Hadn¡¯t he said that if he put his mind to it, he could do it? After all, he¡¯d picked his [Fabled Creation] class for a reason. You only have to will it, and you shall have it. B2 - Chapter: 53: Zombies Made Up of Black Sludge Using [Life Fabricator] to reverse a zombie infection was a huge task. Until now, on organic beings, Logan had used brute force tactics. From the bark ants to the tree vine at Hope¡¯s End. Hell, even the mutated tree that he¡¯d grown out of Thorin¡¯s chest. He¡¯d managed to age someone in Pied¡¯s Kingdom, but he hadn¡¯t been concerned with safety; he¡¯d been experimenting. Whether the man had lived or died would have suited his purposes either way. It had never been a delicate operation. To reverse engineer a zombie infection, he had to do it in a way that would leave Tasha and Jack intact. It was one thing to get rid of the fungi hair and the flower tentacle tongues, but how did he fix whatever was going on inside of them? One degree too far one way could mean that instead of reverting them, he¡¯d hatch something worse than a zombie. Worse than a zombie was difficult to contemplate, but by now, he knew that he¡¯d barely scratched the surface of what was possible. At the same time, if he did nothing, Tasha and Jack were dead anyway. There was no way he could leave them in their current state; the risk was too great to Lara, the kids, and the others. Either he did this, or he might as well kill them now. So. Go big or go home? Down in the pit, Zombie Jack was shooting his flower tentacle tongue like a lizard to latch onto clumps of dirt and roots, using it as a foothold to scale the sides. On the other hand, Zombie Tasha continued to stand and stare, the pupils of her flower eyes writhing like worms. Her head was tilted, as if she were listening to something only she could hear. Logan didn¡¯t know what type of connection these things had to the serpent queen, but he didn¡¯t like the possibilities. The last time he¡¯d encountered the queen, he¡¯d managed to crush her young in her lair and enrage her beyond all sense. He doubted that she¡¯d forgotten. That thing wanted to kill him like Logan wanted a beer. That meant that if these zombies could transmit images, a vision of Logan would be tempting. Still, although the serpent queen¡¯s level had been too high, so high that [Idiot¡¯s Inspect] had shown a bunch of question marks, was it possible that he¡¯d advanced enough he could challenge her and come out on top? Logan blew out a breath. Whether he could or not was irrelevant. Not now. He had way too many things on his to-do list; the first of which was completing the Build an Empire quest. [Quest: Build an Empire! Craft ten lodestone access points and sell 100 items within 48 hours.] [Reward for completing the Quest: Lord status. Lord status will allow you to declare yourself the lord of your community, receive pledges of loyalty, and Karma tax.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: All future KarmaCoin earnings will be reduced by fifty percent. In perpetuity.] [Quest Progress: 7% complete. 33 hours remaining.] He still had over a day remaining, but he was only 7 percent complete. Although a day seemed like a ton of time, to succeed, he¡¯d have to find nine other locations for his remaining lodestones. Nine other locations close to high population densities. It wasn¡¯t enough to craft the lodestone; he had to spread the word so enough people would buy items. To do that, he needed time. On top of that, once he secured the cabin, he needed to transport Lara, the kids, and the others here, but first, he¡¯d have to make sure it was secure. Logan didn¡¯t know what had happened to Tasha and Jack or how they¡¯d been infected, but he suspected it had to do with the diseased green beans. Logan needed to help Tasha and Jack and get rid of the plant. His tension was ratchetting, his muscles tensing as he swallowed. For a second, he seriously contemplated saying the hell with it and finishing Jack and Tasha here and now, but just the thought of it made his stomach slosh. Logan had changed a lot since the System Integration, had become a hardened man, but he¡¯d like to think that he had limits. If he killed Tasha and Jack without at least trying to save them, his morality would become too far skewed to the left. Worse yet, it was insidious. A slippery slope. If he kept making compromises for expedient¡¯s sake, the next time, he might take another short cut, then another, then another, until he chipped away at his morality and became unrecognizable. No, he needed to do this. Peering into the pit, he pinched his nose. Zombie Jack had managed to scale the hole. He dug into the surface with his green-tined fingernails, his flower tentacle tongue snapping at Logan, his white pupiled eyes glinting playfully. With a hiss, Logan used his foot to press against Jack¡¯s chest and push him back into the pit. His flower tentacle flashed like a whip and tried to grab hold of Logan¡¯s foot, but Logan just sneered and tore it away. At this point, fighting a level 20 undead minion was like swatting a fly. Backing up so he gave himself enough space, he closed his eyes. He suspected that he would get nowhere by watching them as he tried to do this, too worried that he¡¯d inadvertently screw up and hurt them. Instead, he used [Life Fabricator] to sense their auras, concentrating on Tasha to start. Her aura radiated life, the same life that any other person did, which was confusing. How could a zombie ping as a person? But then he realized that although a normal aura radiated bright life, this one was tinged with the same dark spots he¡¯d sensed in the green bean plant. It was as if the majority of Tasha was still that¡ªTasha, but the infection had interwoven into her body until she became other¡ªbecame rot. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But how could he exorcise rot when it had seeped into her entire body? It was like trying to remove mold on the outside of an apple, when all along, the core was rotten. Logan opened his eyes and then paced as he ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends in frustration and kicking a green bean shoot for good measure. All his success with [Life Fabricator] had come down to visualization. From breaking through that first barrier by envisioning a brick wall, to crafting his armour by envisioning a patchwork quilt. If he thought of Tasha not as a zombie, and not as a person, but as a being represented by an image, would that work? There was only one way to find out. Rot. Fungi. Mold. Tasha was infected with fungi; the spores in the green bean plant had managed to leach into her cells. The fungi hair and the flower tentacle tongue were symptoms of the underlying infection. If he managed to purge that infection, it would follow that she would no longer be a zombie. And although Logan had never done anything like that before, he knew how to communicate with mold. He¡¯d done it in the agility trial when he¡¯d forced the mold inside of the tiger to multiply and explode until it overwhelmed the System construct. If he could nudge mold along and encourage it to replicate, couldn¡¯t he do the opposite? Not make it dormant or go to sleep, but what if he encouraged it to find another host? A host other than Tasha and Jack? That way, he wouldn¡¯t brute force Tasha and Jack out of their zombie state, which would backfire anyway. Instead, it would be as if Logan were operating on them and cutting out cancer. Concentrating on the dark ping in Tasha¡¯s aura that represented the infection, Logan said, that doesn¡¯t look like a very comfortable host. He received a sense of startlement back, but that was all. As if he¡¯d nudged it, but it wasn¡¯t yet able to communicate. Or unwilling. That host is wrong, Logan said. Fungi want to multiply, fungi want to breed. Don¡¯t you want to spread, don¡¯t you want to be happy? ¡­WE ARE HAPPY. Logan gasped, a stab of pain radiating from behind his nose. It was like straining your hearing, expecting a whisper and instead being blasted with a megaphone. You can¡¯t be satisfied in such a small body, Logan sent, limited, unable to spread. Don¡¯t you want to sate your appetite? Don¡¯t you want to gorge? WE ARE SATISFIED. WE HAVE FULFILLED OUR PURPOSE. Fuck, that was one obstinate fungus. But if Logan knew anything, it was that fungi and mold wanted to replicate and spread if it could. In fact, wasn¡¯t the purpose of a zombie to spread its infection to others? One touch of that flower tentacle tongue back at the resort could transform a regular person into a gestating minion. Logan only had to get the fungi to realize that it could think big picture and continue to spread, but not within Tasha. Within something else. It was time to use less suggestion, and more command. You¡¯re not happy, Logan sent. You¡¯ve never been happy. You haven¡¯t fulfilled your purpose. WE ARE HAPPY. This time instead of a megaphone it might as well be a blast of noise. Logan got the sense that he¡¯d angered it. Worse yet, whatever it was doing was seriously messing with his head. [Idiot¡¯s Paradox] did a lot to blunt his pain, but it did nothing for mental strain. Logan was dealing with a constitution attribute that was way too low. It made him vulnerable to mental attacks. He wouldn¡¯t think that mold would cause that, but whatever was happening was doing a number. Grinding his teeth, Logan sent back with all his mental fortitude, putting conviction in his voice. Command. YOU ARE UNHAPPY. ¡­. ¡­ YOU ARE UNHAPPY, he sent again. ¡­We are? A trickling of excitement made him straighten, eager. This time, there was no nudging this thing along. The fungi needed commands to make it do what he wanted. YOU ARE UNHAPPY, he said again, blasting it with everything he had. Then he gasped as his airways suddenly tightened. No, no, no! Karma deprivation: 50/3,600. 60/3,600. 40/3,600. It was fluctuating up and down and his Karma regeneration rate was struggling to keep up. He must be using a massive amount of Karma to deplete his pool that quickly. Hissing in a breath, Logan collapsed his armour and let the sand and diamond dust rain to the ground. There was no way he could pause to let his Karma replenish, since he suspected that if he did, he would lose all his progress and be back to square one. But how was it possible that it was taking this much Karma? It had to be because it was a command rather than a suggestion. Logan was trying to override the fungi¡¯s will and force it to believe something that went against its nature. It was happy inside of its host and it wanted to stay inside of Tasha. To keep this up, he needed more Karma. That meant [Liche Devourer]. But other than Tasha and Jack, there wasn¡¯t anything around them. Far off in the distance, he could sense fish within the lake, but they were too far away and scattered. Within the tree line, he could sense a rabid squirrel hiding within the foliage, but again, one squirrel wouldn¡¯t be enough. If he were draining 3600 Karma just from a command, that meant he would need a massive amount. But there was nothing around other than the green bean plant. Huh. Normally, Logan would say that a plant wouldn¡¯t have Karma. That trying to drain it would be like trying to get water from a stone, but this wasn¡¯t a regular plant. The fungi had spread from the lake to the plant, infecting it and turning it into something alive. After all, he¡¯d tried to throw it inside of his spatial collar, and he¡¯d received an error message. It was alive, it was likely sentient, and it was the size of ten baseball fields. If he needed Karma, it was right in front of him. Clenching his fist, Logan deployed [Liche Devourer], envisioning a straw connecting from the green bean plant to his own chest, sucking in Karma and filling his empty pool. Unlike last time, activating the skill was easy, like riding a bicycle. With a gasp, he could tell it had an immediate effect. His airways loosened, and he straightened, feeling like he¡¯d gotten a boost of adrenaline. Instead, it was a massive power surge¡ªa surge of Karma. With that surge, Logan felt empowered to make his command more firm, more forceful. YOUR HOST IS ROTTING FROM THE INSIDE. YOU¡¯RE DISEASED. YOU¡¯RE DYING. YOU¡¯RE UNHAPPY. Ding! [You have fed the blackhole! Liche Devourer at 3% satiation.] Logan felt a sense of alarm from the fungi, of panic. We are unhappy. We are unhappy. We are unhappy. Logan scrunched his nose as he looked down at Zombie Tasha and gazed into her eyes. LEAVE. We will leave. We will leave. We will leave. As Logan watched, something crept out of Tasha, a black pool tinged with brown that trailed down her legs like an oil spill, travelling to the ground and then climbing out of the pit. One by one, the fungi on top of her head began to wither like a weed inside of a heatwave. The gold thread that was interwoven into her skin faded, becoming black sludge. The flower petals that had overtaken her eyes withered and dropped to the ground like shriveling tissue paper. She gasped, her flower tentacle tongue swaying like a cat¡¯s tail, slapping her face as if it had been injected with steroids. And then it went limp, turning gray, then black. That blackness dissolved into more sludge, trailing down her chin as if she¡¯d swallowed a mouthful of soy sauce. Swaying, she gripped the side of the pit, blinking with eyes that looked milky white and pale. ¡°Tasha¡­?¡± said Logan. B2 - Chapter 54: A Green Bean Firestorm Tasha croaked like a bullfrog¡ªa bastardized sound like someone who was belching and clearing their throat at the same time¡ªand just like that, Logan¡¯s stomach sank. Did he go to all this work, almost give himself Karma deprivation, and end up fixing Tasha¡¯s surface problems but not what made Tasha Tasha? ¡°Tasha¡­?¡± he said again, clenching his hand into a fist and peering down into the pit. Zombie Jack hadn¡¯t noticed Tasha¡¯s changed state, and he was still doing his best to claw his way out of the hole. Tasha blinked again, her eyes pale and icy blue. They looked like blue eyes covered in white tissue paper. Logan hadn¡¯t known her long, but even he remembered that her eyes hadn¡¯t looked like that before he¡¯d left. Since her fungi hair had shrivelled and dissolved into black sludge, she no longer had any hair, just small tufts of purple on a bald scalp. Her brown skin looked pale, way too pale, and her lips were chapped as if she¡¯d just walked out of a desert. Little by little, Logan hardened his resolve, convinced that whatever he¡¯d tried had failed, and that he¡¯d have to put her down after all. It felt like glass shards were eating into his stomach, hitting him where it hurt the most. He¡¯d wanted to save her. He¡¯d needed to save her. Tasha blinked again, dazed, and then peered down at her fingers, staring at the nailbeds which were devoid of nails. Dropping her hands, she gazed around the dirt pit surrounding her, then got sight of Zombie Jack and promptly scooted back and tripped over her own feet. Logan swallowed, that glass shard feeling transforming as he crept closer to the edge of the pit, looking from her to Jack. That wasn¡¯t the actions of an unfeeling, bloodthirsty zombie. When Logan shifted, he caused the dirt on the edge of the pit to fall, scattering over the ground and onto Tasha¡¯s arm. Gasping, she peered up at him, her mouth gaping, showing an intact human tongue covered in black sludge. ¡°L-logan,¡± she croaked, licking her lips and making an expression of distaste. ¡°W-what the hell is going on?¡± *** Logan sat on the bare ground in a lotus position and stared at Jack and Tasha, who were both sitting haphazardly on the ground. Once he¡¯d hauled Tasha out of the pit, Logan had repeated the same process on Jack, forcing the infection out by commanding it with an uncompromising mental voice. He¡¯d fed [Liche Devourer] by sucking more Karma from the green bean plant, which he¡¯d realized had an unintentional positive side effect. To stop the green beans from replicating, you had to harvest them in a special way. Each green bean pod had a concentration of Karma like a knotted rope. But that was the extent of the plant¡¯s Karma. Logan had needed so much Karma that he¡¯d sucked the knots dry, which meant that when he went to clear the infected plant, he could do it without having to worry that he¡¯d make the replicating problem worse. As for Tasha and Jack, Logan didn¡¯t know what to think. Although Logan had put Jack through the same process, he looked even more off than Tasha, with fingernails that were half an inch, sharp and tinged with blue. Unlike Tasha, whose gold threaded skin had reverted to normal, Jack¡¯s hadn¡¯t completely dissolved. Instead, it looked like he had thousands of thin red scars as if someone had run his whole body through a cheese grater. When Logan scanned them with [Idiot¡¯s Inspect], they looked normal: [Tasha Frederick: Level 29. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Constitution. Characteristics: A healer. Hidden name: Tonks.] [Jack Donson: Level 24. A human being.] [Highest Stat: Perception. Characteristics: Loyal to those in his sphere, indifferent to those outside of it. Hidden name: Jack.] According to the skill, Tasha had prioritized her constitution attribute, which made sense after her encounter with the minions at the resort. Because the System classified her as a healer and she had a higher constitution, did that mean she could fight off the effects better than Jack? But regardless of the physical leftovers of their infection, they seemed normal. ¡°What¡¯s the last thing you remember?¡± asked Logan. Before he let them mill with the others, he needed to make sure that he could trust them and that they wouldn¡¯t revert back to their infected state. Tasha was looking at her missing fingernails and the green bean plants around them, her expression first dazed and then filled with horror as she ran a hand over her bare scalp. ¡°We were outside,¡± said Jack, his voice rasping. He kept darting his gaze from Logan¡¯s face to the ground, swallowing heavily, his expression pinched. Then he turned to Tasha, hesitant. ¡°We were outside?¡± he asked her as if in confirmation. Tasha¡¯s eyes were damp. More than anything, her missing hair seemed to have thrown her. Logan¡¯s eyes softened. Although he couldn¡¯t relate, since he¡¯d already managed to burn off patches of his hair in the perception trial, he knew that to a woman who had died her hair purple, paying special attention to her hairstyle, suddenly waking up to find a bald head would be beyond disconcerting. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to the first time she looked into a mirror, since it wasn¡¯t just her hair that made her look off. Although the longer she sat on the ground, the more her higher constitution attribute seemed to help, there was still something distinctly off. The raw nailbeds had healed and there was the first hint of normal nails. However, her eyes were still icy blue and covered in a white film, her lips chapped and her face pale. At least there was one thing he could do. With a mental rummage, Logan searched through the contents of his spatial collar. He¡¯d cleared out Lara¡¯s house. She had to have at least a few different hats lying around. With a blink, Logan willed out a pink baseball hat and a white sunhat, the ends frilly and like something out of a Katherine Hepburn film. Logan winced. Not to say that Lara had good taste. ¡°Here,¡± he said, pushing the hats towards Tasha. She blinked at them, her eyebrows furrowed, then looked from the hats to Logan. ¡°How did those suddenly appear? You¡¯re walking around with hats now?¡± she asked as she grabbed the baseball hat. When he¡¯d obtained access to the Tree Fridge and his cat spatial collar, Logan had made the decision to lie and pretend that he¡¯d received a skill that let him store his grandfather¡¯s shed. By now, he knew that it made no sense to keep the existence of the spatial collars to himself. At least to Tasha and Jack. After all, what was the worry? They were both so low leveled that even if in the unlikely possibility that they became untrustworthy, there was no way they were any threat to him. Besides, if empire building and becoming a ¡®lord¡¯ was on the horizon, he would need the help of people like Tasha and Jack to manage it. If they didn¡¯t know what resources he had at his disposal, it would be like expecting an employee to perform without all the facts. Logan reached behind his neck and twisted the collar so that he could unfasten it underneath his chin. He¡¯d either had it underneath his shirt or underneath his armour, so this was the first time he¡¯d taken it off since he¡¯d bought it from the Tree Fridge. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. For all its power, on strictly appearance¡¯s sake, it looked ridiculous. A true human sized cat collar including dangling tags. Either the true System had a warped sense of humour, or it was the product of his glitchy AI minion. Logan suspected the latter. From his cat collar to his Pink Sock, all those ridiculous items had to be the product of a warped, twisted AI mind. That brought to mind the question of whether he¡¯d find the same items inside of his Tree Fridge. Or yet again, what Matt managed to clear out first. He knew that Matt had bought his other Pink Sock, but surely, he hadn¡¯t had enough Karma to afford the rest. Tasha finished adjusting the ballcap and then peered at the collar with a furrow in her brow. ¡°You¡¯re suddenly in the possession of a cat, Logan?¡± ¡°Use [Identify] on it.¡± Both Tasha and Jack got that faraway look before their eyes widened. ¡°Does that do what I think it can?¡± asked Jack. Logan nodded and then fastened the collar around his neck. Every second he¡¯d held it loose in his fist had caused a prickling sensation of unease. He¡¯d come to rely on it, and the thought of losing it put a dagger through his heart. Imagine walking around with only the clothes on his back! He¡¯d be at a severe disadvantage. Jack looked down at his long fingernails with an expression that was hard to define. A blankness as if he didn¡¯t know what to think. ¡°That would have come in handy at the resort,¡± he said, but his voice was distracted, and his gaze remained fixed on his nails and the thin scars on his arms. Jack and Tasha still hadn¡¯t explained how they¡¯d ended up as zombies. ¡°Talking about the resort, I¡¯m assuming that¡¯s what happened to you? The green bean plant is infected by fungi. I stepped on a few pods close to the shore and it released a plume similar to what we saw there.¡± Tasha frowned. ¡°I remember Matt was acting odd. He was ducking out of the cabin at weird times and doing things on his own. Either that or he was glued to that Integration Wiki until we lost internet. He¡¯d disappeared for an entire day until Sammy told us that something was wrong with the greenhouse. The little jerk had sabotaged the plant. It was so bad that we were scared that it would overtake the cabin. Jack and I were trying to find him when something happened. I don¡¯t know what¡­ it¡¯s a blank after I approached the shore.¡± Jack looked up and tucked his hands underneath his armpits as if he wanted to hide them. Or never see them again. ¡°It wasn¡¯t spores.¡± Tasha gave him a puzzled look. ¡°It wasn¡¯t?¡± ¡°I think the beans were already infected. Remember that last meal we had in the cabin? Madge had made that gross tasting sauce and found breadcrumbs in the cupboard. Remember her green bean casserole? Right before we left to look for Matt?¡± ¡°But¡­ we all ate it. Everyone.¡± ¡°Everyone except for Matt.¡± Tasha shot to her feet, clutching her baseball cap, her face frantic. ¡°Where are the others, Logan? Sam and Sammy; Madge and Henry?¡± Logan ran a hand through his hair and hunched his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that Matt killed them. And he wasn¡¯t just doing that, he was luring in other people and feeding them these green beans, and then setting up elaborate kill traps.¡± Logan got to his feet and blew out a breath. At least he knew that people didn¡¯t transform into zombies in seconds like he¡¯d seen in the movies. Matt had set up a trap at the front entrance for a reason. If the people who arrived ate infected green beans and that triggered an immediate transformation, there would be no need for traps. ¡°That little¡­¡± Tasha gnashed her teeth. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything after we went looking for Matt. It¡¯s a void. Nothing but¡­¡± She hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s only flashes. Flashes of dirt, of flowers, of this need¡­ a craving.¡± Tasha ran a hand over her bottom lip, her milky blue eyes flaring. ¡°Hunger. Hunger like you could never imagine.¡± Logan¡¯s mouth was dry. He felt a chill, as if the 100-degree heat around him had turned into a cold wind. Give him a problem or a threat, and he¡¯d go at it full throttle. But he¡¯d never encountered a problem like this. He was tapped out. He¡¯d already used [Life Fabricator] to help Tasha and Jack, but that didn¡¯t mean that it would fix trauma or the mental aftereffects of a frigging zombie infection. ¡°This¡­ hunger,¡± he said, swallowing. ¡°Do you still feel it now?¡± A wariness came over Tasha, her eyes narrowing. ¡°I know what we turned into, Logan. Frankly, if I had been in your place, I would have put us down. The fact that you didn¡¯t¡­ I can only speak for myself, but whatever you did to bring us back means that I¡¯ll be in your debt for the rest of my life. That means you¡¯re owed the truth.¡± ¡°Tasha,¡± Jack interjected. ¡°What? We¡¯re going to lie?¡± she said, frowning. ¡°He deserves to know.¡± Fuck, if she felt normal, she wouldn¡¯t be phrasing it this way. As if emphasizing the FUBAR situation, Tasha¡¯s eyes flickered like a reptile, going from clear blue back to a milky film. ¡°I¡¯m still hungry, Logan. I¡¯m ravenous.¡± Aww, fuck. Jack snorted. ¡°Before, I felt hunger with no rationality. I wanted to tear, rend, and eat everything in my path. Either that or infect it. But now, I¡¯m still hungry, but that uncontrollable feeling is gone. I¡¯m not going to tear into a person because of a few stomach pangs.¡± Shit. ¡°I¡¯m bringing my family here. Lara and the kids, others. Dozens. I promised them safety. I can¡¯t¡­¡± Jack crossed his arms, his expression mulish. ¡°I can control it. To think that you can¡¯t trust me or trust Tasha around Lara and your children¡­ Logan, your nieces played with my kids. I would rather chew off my own arm than hurt them.¡± ¡°Jack,¡± whispered Tasha, taking a step back. ¡°Look at his level.¡± Jack shot her a puzzled frown and then stared at Logan, getting that faraway look everyone did as they studied a System message. His mouth slackened. ¡°How is that possible, man? Just how long were we buried in the pit? Oh no, oh crap, are we close to the purge? Did almost a year pass?¡± Logan rubbed the back of his neck, his ears flushing red. ¡°It¡¯s been a little over a week and a half. We¡¯re nowhere close to the purge.¡± Tasha and Jack stared at him with blank faces. ¡°A week?¡± Tasha spluttered. ¡°But you must be E grade! How did you¡­¡± Suddenly, her expression took on a hint of wariness. ¡°On the news, they were trying to keep track of the high-level users. Mostly so that everyone else could avoid them. Logan, the only ones even close to your level had murdered others. They called them XP harvesters.¡± Her voice became hard. ¡°Did you kill people?¡± For fuck¡¯s sake, how did this turn from a discussion about how they¡¯d become ravenous zombies into a question about his morality? The short answer was that, yes, Logan could technically be termed an XP harvester. In the strictest sense, the System had forced him to kill over 50 people in Pied¡¯s Kingdom! But had he set out to become a murderer just to advance his level? Hell no. Logan had done what he had because circumstances had been against him. It was a kill-or-kill be world, and he¡¯d put down the threat. But staring into their wary eyes, Logan felt an uncomfortable sensation slosh through his stomach. If he told them that he¡¯d killed over 50 people, was there any possibility of them understanding? ¡°I¡¯ve had to kill people,¡± said Logan, firm. ¡°But not because I wanted to, or because of some sick XP harvester reason. It was either them or me.¡± Hunching his shoulders, Logan gave them a smile that he was sure came across as a grimace. ¡°Everything that happened to me since I left¡­ those murderers that we discovered next door were the least of our problems. This world, Tasha, it¡¯s not for the faint of heart. The System is dead set on making everyone into killers, and it¡¯ll put whatever it can in front of you to make your life difficult. I did what I had to so that I could survive, so I could advance and save Lara and my nieces. Save you and Jack. Obtaining the skills I needed to do that wasn¡¯t just handed to me. So technically, yes, I¡¯m a killer. But I¡¯d never be a threat to you and Jack or anyone innocent.¡± Jack snorted. ¡°Unless you were replaced by a man with a different personality in the last week, whatever you did to survive was needed. Frankly, whether you¡¯re level 50 or level 1000, I¡¯m just glad that you¡¯re on our side.¡± Tasha peered from Jack to Logan, her eyes thoughtful. ¡°But holy crap, man!¡± exclaimed Jack, touching his bare scalp with a wince. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have fixed my hair while you were at it?¡± *** Now that Logan had reverted Tasha and Jack to the land of the living, he had just one more problem to take care of before he brought Lara and the others to the cabin. The green beans. Whether the zombie infection had come from fungi spores or from eating infected beans, the problem was still the same. There was a threat here that he needed to eliminate before he deemed the place safe and kid proof. Logan made sure that Tasha and Jack had retreated to the end of Jack¡¯s dock before he made his way back to the edge of the property, returning to where he¡¯d first seen the edge of the plant. Powering his way through, it took less than a minute to arrive at the neighbour¡¯s gate. But unlike last time, the plant didn¡¯t stop there. Whenever Matt or Logan had triggered the replicating effect, the plant had exploded. This time, the mass of the spreading thing had knocked over the gate and spread into the neighbour¡¯s property, trailing up to the porch steps and even going beyond that until it burst onto the beach. Fuck, this thing could cause serious problems if it kept multiplying. Unchecked, it could keep spreading until it reached the forest. Hell, even spread to Hope¡¯s End and beyond! After he¡¯d deployed [Liche Devourer] he was convinced that he¡¯d stopped the replicating effect in its tracks by leaching Karma from the knotted ends. But regardless of whether he¡¯d fixed that problem, the plant was still a threat. That dark, fungi sickness had spread. And not just in one spot. Deploying [Life Fabricator], he could sense the sickness concentrating around one end of the plant. If he hadn¡¯t been wary, he might have been fooled, thinking that the infection was isolated. But no, there was another spot fifty feet away, festering. There was only one way to fix this problem. And that was by roasting it to death. If the System hadn¡¯t given him [Lodestone Creationist], he might not have discovered this. But now, he knew that he could use [Life Fabricator] to craft fire and keep it flaring bright. If he could use fire to craft a lodestone, couldn¡¯t he also use it to fry the hell out of some green beans? B2 - Chapter 55: Showing Off To burn a plant was the easy part. The hard part was ensuring that he kept the fire under control. Although smog suffused the area, the heat hadn¡¯t let up. It was that dry, desert heat that withered plants and turned green grass into yellow weeds. In fact, for the plant to be as green and lush as it was, it must be evidence that something hinky was at work. In a normal world, without water, the plant wouldn¡¯t survive. That was one thing in Logan¡¯s favor. The plant was unnatural¡ªlush, which should help him keep this manageable. The problem was that everything else wasn¡¯t the same. The wooden docks in front of Jack and Logan¡¯s cabins had to be hot to the touch, like walking on burning coals. Anything made of wood¡ªJack¡¯s cabin, the shed¡ªall of it was a hair trigger away from going up in flames. Not to mention the pine trees surrounding them. There was a reason interface fires existed. So, he needed to make the fire hot enough that he killed the plant, but not so uncontrollable that it spread to other structures. That would take delicate work. Taking out his lighter from his spatial collar and holding it in his hand, Logan opened his senses and deployed [Life Fabricator]. Back in the perception trial, he¡¯d figured out how to grow a star. In comparison, this should be child¡¯s play. This was the part where [Mimicry Armour] would come in play. Flicking on the lighter, Logan latched onto the flame, using [Mimicry Armour] to force it from the lighter to a ball of flame the size of a tennis ball. Furrowing his brow, he then used [Life Fabricator] and envisioned that ball expanding, oxygen feeding it, until it bloomed into the size of a basketball. And yet, it was controllable as if a hidden cushion of air surrounded it, a barrier that wouldn¡¯t let it spread. Then clenching his fist, Logan used [Mimicry Armour] to force the fire to hover, then pushed it towards the ground until it was directly over the plant. All of this was so taxing that a dull headache radiated behind his eyes. But compared to the other things he¡¯d tried with the skill, it was nothing. And yet, as the flames brushed over top of the plant, it was like he was roasting a wet branch. The plant was too lush and healthy to catch on fire. Logan took a step back, narrowing his eyes while he considered the problem. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about keeping it under control if the plant wouldn¡¯t catch on fire in the first place. It needed more oxygen. Cracking his neck and shifting his shoulders, Logan frowned as he concentrated. This time, instead of using that cushion of air to keep the fire under control, he funneled the air into the hovering flame until it turned from red, to yellow, to blue. As he kept funneling oxygen, he imagined a circle of air around the ball of light that kept it contained. He¡¯d just created a ball of flame that was so hot it was like a supernova, under his control, at his mercy. After that, eliminating the plant would only be a matter of his willpower. *** Logan rubbed soot from his face, and when his hand came back covered in black charcoal, he gave up and inched his way towards the beach and the edge of the water. Crouching down, he splashed his face and scrubbed his hair. As he got up and shook his head like a dog, letting water fly, he surveyed the scene around him. The green bean plant was gone, shrivelled into dust like it had never been there in the first place. From the greenhouse to the neighbour¡¯s property, all the way past Logan¡¯s cabin. He¡¯d cleared out baseball fields worth of the stuff. Baseball fields! There was a sharp tang to the air, something that made him swallow and his eyes grow damp. A slight breeze helped to clear it, but together with the smog, this wasn¡¯t a healthy environment. Once Logan finished the Build an Empire Quest, he¡¯d return here and deploy the rest of his plan for making this place liveable, but for now, it was the best he could do. In addition to Jack¡¯s cabin, Chase and Brooke¡¯s group could occupy Logan¡¯s old property, and the neighbour¡¯s massive house that was more like a resort. As he willed out a bottle of water and took huge gulps, he admitted to feeling relief. He was still on a time limit, the clock was ticking, but clearing out the zombie infected plant lessened that festering worry he¡¯d felt since he¡¯d arrived. At least now, he knew that Lara and the kids would be safe. And although it had taken time to achieve, he couldn¡¯t forget his massive accomplishment of bringing back Tasha and Jack. A little green bean plant aggravation, his annoyance at Matt¡­ he¡¯d live it all over a thousand times if he achieved the same result. That meant that in addition to growing plants and massive trees, aging people, and building stars¡­ he could save people. Save people from infection. Yes, it hadn¡¯t been perfect, and Tasha and Jack still looked like they¡¯d walked off the set of a horror movie, but inside, it was them. That meant that if the Queen Serpent did the same to others, Logan could save them as well. He couldn¡¯t hold back a wide grin, his pleasure surging, as he gave Jack¡¯s cabin one more glance and then deployed [Threshold Shift]. *** ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever get used to that,¡± said Lara, swaying on her feet as she swallowed, her face pale. ¡°Give me a plane, give me a car. Heck, give me a bicycle, I just want the world to go back to normal. A world in which my little brother doesn¡¯t beam me up like I¡¯m in Star Trek.¡± Lara looked around the clearing, staring from the shoreline to Jack¡¯s cabin. ¡°Although I can¡¯t deny that it¡¯s super convenient. You found them, then? Jack¡¯s alive?¡± Sawyer and Hunter had already recovered from the transport. Sawyer twirled around in excitement, and then went right back to playing with Shoot. Logan had been gone for longer than he¡¯d wanted. It was well into early afternoon, but even with that time, the vine cat had made surprising inroads with his nieces, gaining their trust and acting like a playful puppy. [Chameleon Vine: Level 25.] Shoot leveled up by gaining acceptance, and her new level increase had allowed her to finetune her shifting ability. She was still the size of a lion cub, her tail flicking from side-to-side, but now, the green vines that covered her body had retreated into a solid looking form, as if she were no longer a hedge of interconnected vines, but rather a solid, cohesive animal. Although she could in no way pass for a cat upon closer inspection, from a distance, she looked like a green cat without fur. But the one thing she¡¯d kept up was the flowers. Blooming from her ears, from white carnations to violets sprouting from the edge of her tail. If he knew his nieces, that would have delighted them to no end, so why give up a winning strategy? Brooke and Chase and the others were behind Lara and the kids, staring around with worried eyes, their bodies full of tension. Huddled behind them was a group of about fifty adults and kids. One of the toddlers started wailing, while another child who looked five years old sniffled, snot dribbling down his chin. ¡°There, there, little human brethren!¡± crooned Ernie, sliming around at their feet, the horns on top of his head jumping up and down. He¡¯d purposely deployed his [Mimicry] effect to make himself colorful, his skin fluctuating from pink to orange, to purple to green, as if he were trying to mirror the colors of a rainbow. ¡°Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry!¡± The five-year-old child stopped sniffling and instead tried to grab one of Ernie¡¯s tentacles, his little grubby hands flapping, his eyes alight with excitement. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ernie had turned into a babysitter. Logan snorted. Since he¡¯d left, his vine cat had turned into a pet, and his octopus had turned into a child minder. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you didn¡¯t have any trouble, then?¡± he sent to Ernie in his mental voice. Ernie tilted his head at Logan. ¡°Hah! As if anything would attack while my minions guarded them. No¡­ the trouble came from something else. The little ones have many emotions!¡± Logan rubbed the back of his head. At least he no longer had to worry about everyone being afraid of Ernie. Who was he kidding? Ernie could ingratiate himself into any group and win them over, his personality so vibrant that no one would resist him for long. They were no longer in a world where talking animals was strange. No, it had become routine just like all the other shit. Sarah burst past the group and pushed in front of Brooke and Chase with her hands on her hips. Her hair was messy, and dark circles were underneath her eyes. ¡°This is where you took us?¡± she said, huffing. ¡°Here?¡± She tapped the tip of her foot against the charred ground, sneering. ¡°How is this better than the city? It looks like it was just on fire!¡± Lara shot Sarah a frown, sidling closer to Logan as if she wanted to defend him. Even though Logan was over a hundred levels above her, she still had that big sister protection built into her, that don¡¯t fuck with my family, or I¡¯ll fuck with you fire. ¡°How is this better than a prison?¡± Lara spat. ¡°Without Logan, you¡¯d still be stuck inside of Pied¡¯s Kingdom. Show a little gratefulness.¡± Logan smothered a smile and then nodded his head at Jack¡¯s property. ¡°It¡¯s powered by solar panels, and the lake gives you a direct escape route in case the forest fire approaches. Better yet, it¡¯s remote, which means that XP harvesters won¡¯t surprise you.¡± Brooke looked from Sarah to the property, her brow furrowed. ¡°Solar panels are one thing, but you have to admit that it doesn¡¯t inspire confidence. And there are way too many people for that cabin. Half of us will have to camp outside, defenceless on this barren ground. It¡¯s covered in soot. Eventually, our food will run out, and we¡¯ll need to grow our food. How are we supposed to do that in this soil?¡± ¡°There¡¯re two more cabins, one on each side. The one to the right is massive, enough to fit thirty people, easy. As for the ground¡­¡± Logan fidgeted. What he was about to do felt like showing off, but really, it would be the only way to put their complaints to rest. He hadn¡¯t thought it was that bad when he¡¯d left, but he could see how upon first glance, a charred property wouldn¡¯t look that attractive. Logan could fix that with a snap of his fingers, only he¡¯d be giving away one of his skills, and he was worried that they would start to think of him differently. Still, Chase and the others had agreed to follow him; he deserved to give them hope that ¡®following¡¯ wouldn¡¯t mean they¡¯d be living in squalor. Wiping his expression clean, Logan backed up and retreated until he was twenty feet away. ¡°Logan¡­?¡± asked Lara. By now, doing this hardly took any concentration at all. Compared to growing one of his massive carbon trees, it was nothing. However, he took a second to consider where he¡¯d source the life from, since there were way too many people here and he didn¡¯t want to inadvertently end up sucking life from a person rather than a plant. That wouldn¡¯t go over well. Decision made, Logan targeted the treeline where Matt had fixed his traps. Once he killed them, the pine trees were far enough away from the cabin that they wouldn¡¯t cause an eyesore. Deploying [Life Fabricator], Logan latched onto the pine trees, pulling on their auras while at the same time he envisioned what he wanted. Grass. Lush, green grass as far as the eye could see. Covering the charred ground, roots burrowing deep, churning up the soil, refreshing it, turning the burnt organic material into blooming life. Down below where the earthworms had retreated, he urged them up, making the soil rich and ripe for growing. Centimeter by centimeter, green shoots burst through the ground, growing until the grass was five inches long. With a push, Logan extended the grass past the area around Jack¡¯s cabin and beyond, covering the ground as far as he could sense. When he opened his eyes, the pine trees he¡¯d targeted were husks, as if a vacuum had sucked out each ounce of moisture and life. But beyond that, lush green grass that was wet to the touch covered the ground. The scent of moist earth and a sweet tang had replaced the acidic smell in the air. When Logan looked at the others, they were gaping at him, their eyes wide and shocked. Sarah looked pale, and she¡¯d tucked her hands underneath her arms as if for comfort. Brooke and Chase, on the other hand, looked blown away with pleasure, as if he¡¯d just validated their decision to follow him. The kids who had been so upset were stepping onto the grass as if snow had appeared in front of them, their feet tentative before they collapsed in lumps, sitting and sprawling, while Ernie retreated with a relieved huff. Whereas Lara was looking at him with a puzzled quirk to her brow, as if someone had replaced her brother with someone she didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°Uncle Logan, you¡¯ve turned into a wizard,¡± said Sawyer, her eyes wide, Shoot prancing around behind her. ¡°Er, well, something like that,¡± he said, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting on his feet. He moved closer to Brooke and Chase. ¡°Is that better? More tolerable?¡± With a smile, Chase gave him a nod, while Brooke swallowed and ducked her head. ¡°Sure, that works,¡± she said in a strangled voice. For once, Sarah was quiet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about growing food,¡± said Logan. ¡°I can grow anything you want. But for now¡ª¡± Tasha and Jack had exited the patio door and were making their way over to them. Tasha with her pink baseball hat, but Jack with a bare scalp full of scraggly patches of hair. Although they didn¡¯t look as bad as when he¡¯d first transformed them and they¡¯d cleaned up most of the black tar, Jack was covered in hundreds of thin scars and his eyes were milky white. Tasha had put on makeup, and she¡¯d changed her clothes so they were no longer covered in dirt, but there was no way to cover those eyes. ¡°Is that¡­¡± Lara whispered. Shuffling forward, she beamed in excitement. ¡°Jack, you¡¯re alive!¡± As they moved closer, Lara came to a sudden stop. Blinking, she gasped and took a reflexive step back. Grasping for Hunter and Sawyer, she clutched their shoulders in a white-knuckled grip and dragged them away. ¡°Girls, don¡¯t go any closer! Something¡¯s wrong!¡± Logan awkwardly shifted. ¡°Yeah, about that¡­¡± *** Logan let Lara and the kids get settled into Jack¡¯s cabin, and then removed some of the items that he¡¯d cleared from their bedrooms back at Hope¡¯s End to make them feel more comfortable. Lastly, he let Brooke and Chase coordinate where everyone else went, dividing them up equally between the three properties. They assigned those with children to Jack¡¯s cabin so they could have power, while the others had their pick of the two cabins on either side, with most picking the sprawling neighbour¡¯s property rather than Logan¡¯s family cabin since¡­ well, there was a reason he¡¯d been at the cabin when the Integration hit. It was full of mold and rot from the drug dealers. As for Tasha and Jack¡­. ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Logan asked again. ¡°The others will come around to you eventually. You just need to give them time.¡± Tasha gazed at the back of Jack¡¯s cabin, her face blank. ¡°In addition to the hunger, I don¡¯t feel things like I used to, Logan. It was roasting outside before; I¡¯d be covered in sweat, but now it¡¯s like I¡¯m standing inside of a freezer. There¡¯s something wrong with us. Until we figure out if we¡¯re a threat to everyone, we¡¯ll stay outside and guard the perimeter.¡± Jack was staring out at the water with a vacant expression before he focused back on Logan. ¡°I would never forgive myself if I hurt those kids. It¡¯s better this way.¡± Logan hesitated. He knew it was the right decision, but after everything they¡¯d been through, he felt awful banishing them into the woods all night. ¡°At least take my cabin, stay there tonight instead of outside. What if something attacks?¡± Tasha¡¯s milky white eyes flashed like a reptile. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± she said in a robotic voice before she cleared her throat and attempted a smile. ¡°We¡¯d feel better outside.¡± Frowning again, Logan left them to it and then approached Ernie, who had retreated to the shore, doing loops and twirls. The sun was dipping on the horizon, filling the sky with oranges and reds. ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Logan. ¡°I¡¯m summoning my army!¡± said Ernie. ¡°You moved me here with the others, but you left poor Larry and my minions behind. My mighty steed is missing a passenger! Such despair, such pain. He¡¯s a ball of defeat without me around.¡± Logan shot him a puzzled look. ¡°They¡¯d have to be at least a few miles away, wouldn¡¯t they? You can communicate with them over that distance?¡± Ernie bobbed his head and puffed his cheeks. ¡°I can communicate halfway around the world! For my power is immense, and I rival all.¡± Logan glanced back at Tasha and Jack, who were still in the same place he¡¯d left them, just standing there and staring. ¡°Ernie, can you sense anything off about my two friends? Tasha and Jack? Any connections to the Queen serpent?¡± Ernie didn¡¯t even glance at them, still doing his strange tentacle dance. ¡°They are odd ducks, like an octopus that leaves the nest with only two tentacles rather than eight. But I sense no thread connecting them to the queen. I sense no thread to anything.¡± That was an odd way to phrase it, but Logan had to believe that they wouldn¡¯t be a threat. After all his work to bring them back, it would kill him to find out it had all been in vain. Scrubbing his hand through his hair, he paced on the beach, kicking his feet in the water in aggravation. Finally, he decided that was all he could do. There was no sense worrying about Tasha and Jack when they might be fine. Acting oddly, yes, but who wouldn¡¯t act oddly if they¡¯d just been a zombie. Besides, he didn¡¯t have time to worry about it when he had too many other priorities. Logan pulled up his quest status: [Quest: Build an Empire! Craft ten lodestone access points and sell 100 items within 48 hours.] [Reward for completing the Quest: Lord status. Lord status will allow you to declare yourself the lord of your community, receive pledges of loyalty, and Karma tax.] [Penalty for not completing the Quest: All future KarmaCoin earnings will be reduced by fifty percent. In perpetuity.] [Quest Progress: 7% complete. 26 hours remaining.] Fuck. He had only a day to finish the quest, and night was rapidly approaching. It was one thing to go to a city and set up a lodestone, but if he did it in the dark, he would have no customers. The Build an Empire Quest wasn¡¯t just to craft 10 lodestones, but to sell 100 items. Without advertising and luring people over to his lodestones, with people hiding and staying off the streets at night, there was no way he¡¯d make the quest in time. And yet, if he waited until morning, would that be enough time to find a place for nine additional lodestones and to lure in that many people? It was one thing to find people, but another thing to find enough people who had KarmaCoin who could buy items. Wait a minute. Just because it was getting dark here didn¡¯t mean it was dark everywhere. Logan had [Threshold Shift] which could take him anywhere he wanted, and the cost was only 500 Karma. On the other side of the world, it was morning.