ã€ŠPathbreakers: Multiclassing For Fun And Profitã€‹


 Chapter 1: Lunch Break

    Multiclassing For Fun And Profit

    By Travis Gardin

    This is a work of science-fantasy fiction. The opinions on any products herein are opinions of the fictional characters, and not intended as fact or even legitimate journalistic review. There, now Frito-Lay can''t sue me.

    Part 1 Red Shirts

    Chapter 1 Lunch Break

    Error! Your initial location is inside a dungeon! You have not selected a class! Please select one now.

    The words fill my brain as if they''re my own thoughts. They come to me as if they were my own internal monologue. But they definitely aren''t mine. Also, am I blind right now? Everything is totally black.

    Your initial attributes are as follows. The average for your species for all attributes is ten. The maximum for your species is 40. This scale is used to make this transition easier for you.

    Okay, I can''t feel anything either. I can''t even feel the temperature or... Nope, can''t seem to move any part of my body. Damn, am I in a coma?

    Jun Kyung Han

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 12

    Dexterity 34

    Agility 17

    Toughness 14

    Constitution 12

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 31

    Memory 18

    Wisdom 5

    Charisma 3

    Reflexes 38

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 0

    Spirit 0

    Faith 0

    Arcana 0

    Luck 1

    There''s magic? Wait. This is my own brain so yeah, I''m probably hallucinating magic. I am, or was, just playing a tabletop role-playing game with my coworkers in the break room. My nerd-geek brain is giving me stats in my coma. Wonderful.

    Recommended starting classes are as follows: Fighter, Mage, Rogue, Engineer. Please select your class.

    I wonder if I can get the details about each class.

    Notice! The group known as Clan Surtido has been acknowledged by the system. Group chat has been enabled.

    Huh?

    ¡°Heyyyyyy,¡± Jose''s voice comes into my brain. ¡°Cool beans. I got it working.¡±

    ¡°Jose?¡± I say.

    ¡°Jose!¡± Theo shouts.

    ¡°Oh god no,¡± Brian moans.

    ¡°Damn. You nerds won''t leave me alone even when I''m dead,¡± Nat mutters.

    We all begin talking over each other. 5 geeks make various pop-culture analogies for several minutes, but we figure out some things.

    We are not dead or in a coma. Comas. Brian says this is probably a ¡°system¡± like those in video games or some sub-genre called ¡°Lit RPG.¡± We all call him king nerd for listening to audiobooks about leveling up.

    He explains that, if the system thing is real, we¡¯ve had our world gamified. We now have stats, can probably fight things and level up, and there are probably monsters in the world now. I don''t like the monster part.

    I ask, ¡°But what do we do now?¡±

    ¡°Choose a class,¡± Brian says confidently.

    ¡°Mine are...¡± Nat starts. ¡°A lot. Too many. I think there''s 22 of them?¡±

    Jose says, ¡°my recommended classes are Rogue, Engineer, Fighter, Archer and Sharpshooter.¡±

    Theo excitedly goes, ¡°hey think about the word and how it''s spelled and you get more info about the class!¡±

    We all try it. I go for the one that seems most interesting to me.

    Mage

    A first step class on the path of magical might.

    No subclasses. Six class evolutions.

    Gain 1 Arcana and 1 Intelligence upon choosing this class. Three basic Arcana spells will be granted to you at random.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Uses Intelligence, Memory, Arcana.

    Upon level up an additional random basic spell will be granted, until all basic spells are known. Each level you gain 1 Arcana and 1 free point.

    Interesting. So this class gives you actual magic! Noice!

    Jose jumps in with his laconic Texas drawl. ¡°I chose Sharpshooter. I''m back in the real world now but it''s messed up.¡±

    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Nat asks, a tone of desperation in her voice. ¡°Are we there too?¡±

    ¡°Y''all are frozen. Not moving or even breathing.¡± Jose''s answer only serves to confirm our suspicions that indeed, something weird is going on. ¡°It''s kinda odd,¡± he says with the nonchalance that one might associate with ¡°it''s raining¡± or ¡°I already ate.¡±

    ¡°We need to choose quickly,¡± Theo insists.

    ¡°Always the supervisor,¡± comes Nat''s droll reply.

    ¡°Actually, we should take our time,¡± I say. ¡°Choosing this could make a huge difference in how we develop later. We should also-¡±

    ¡°I hear screaming,¡± Jose informs us.

    ¡°CHOOSE QUICKLY,¡± Theo demands.

    I have to ignore the continuing banter and figure out what I want to be. Rogue, Mage, Engineer or Fighter. All so different. All so... One note.

    What I''d really like to do, what I always do, is multiclass. Pick multiple classes. Find unconventional ways to combine abilities.

    Multiclassing is not advised.

    Okay, thanks system. Hrm. It said recommended classes, but not all classes. I wonder what the other classes are.

    There are over one hundred classes in the first through fifth steps, would you like to filter the results?

    Yes, please! What''s a good class to start as for multiclassing?

    Searching. Two results. Bard and Synergist.

    Hey, this system is pretty responsive.

    This system''s help functions are limited to enabling you to understand system features not native to your previous timeline.

    Timeline? Eh, whatever. Bard.

    Bard

    Utilize weak powers of Arcana and Faith alongside mediocre physical combat. Trademark performance skills may boost allies.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 3 Charisma and 2 Memory upon choosing this class. One basic Arcana spell and one basic Faith invocation will be granted to you at random.

    Uses all attributes to varying degrees except Spirit.

    Upon level up an additional random basic spell or invocation will be granted, until all basic spells and invocations are known. Each level you gain 1 Charisma, 1 Memory, 1 Faith and 2 free points.

    You do not meet the minimum requirements for this class.

    What''s the difference between spells and invocations? Spells use Arcana and invocations are for Faith? Like the differences between divine and arcane spells in tabletop RPGs, I guess. So what''s a Synergist?

    Synergist

    Pick apart other classes that you qualify for and take what you will.

    A fifth step class. No subclasses. 5th Step classes do not evolve.

    You gain the Dabbler class feature upon choosing this class.

    Uses all attributes.

    What the hell is Dabbler? Is it really good enough to balance out not getting any attributes or spells?

    Dabbler

    Each time you gain a level, choose another class you qualify for. You gain the benefits of gaining a level in that class. If it''s the first time you''ve chosen that class you instead gain the benefits for starting as that class.

    Well, well, well. Yeah, that''s pretty sweet. I''m definitely going to choose Synergist. I''ll just have to go through all the classes I can qualify for to come up with a-

    Theo''s yell breaks through my concentration. ¡°Jun! Hurry the fuck up!¡±

    I pick Synergist.

    Synergist level up! Please select a class to gain the benefits from.

    Aw, screw it, Mage!

    You have gained 2 Arcana and 1 free point. You have gained the spells Dark Mote, Hydrate and Yellow Ray.

    My eyes open and my hearing returns. Screams come from outside the break room. The break room has transformed. My coworkers are at the open door using a plastic chair to keep back a large, hairless dog. I look down at my Pathfinder character sheet and realize that I forgot to mark off that I used my Disintegrate spell. I pick up my pencil and correct the error.

    ¡°Jun, you ass, get over here and help!¡± Nat''s chastisement pulls me out of my rule-following routine.

    I stand up, rush over to my friends, raise my hand towards the dog and shout ¡°Yellow Ray!¡± to cast my new spell.

    It''s a flashlight. My hand has turned into a flashlight. When they say ¡°basic¡± spells they sure mean it.

    The monstrous dog creature is even more horrifying in bright light. Its eyes glow red. Its skin is saggy and ashen. The head is snapping its jaws at Jose, who is in front with the chair, and its feet are propped up on... The air?

    I look closer and see that it''s not actually coming into the room. There''s a light blue glow around the door frame.

    ¡°Guys, I think you can stop,¡± I say. ¡°We''re in a safe room.¡±

    The others yell and throw things at the dog, who is unfazed by anything they do to it. This carries on for about a minute until they slowly, one by one, come to the same realization I had.

    ¡°Whelp,¡± says Jose as he puts down the now mangled chair. ¡°That''s a bit odd.¡± The dog is still snapping and snarling and trying to press into the room. It just can''t get past the glowing blue line. Jose closes the door in the dog''s face.

    It''s suddenly quiet and we take in our surroundings for the first time. Before this uh, event, the break room was a 20 ft by 30 ft room with four tables and 16 chairs. Three different vending machines lined the long wall; one for drinks, one for unhealthy snacks, and one for healthy snacks. Nobody uses the one for healthy snacks.

    Now however, the room is A) curved to an almost 90 degree angle, B) way too long and C) filled with dozens of vending machines that seemed to be partially embedded into the floor, walls and ceiling.

    Jose walks over to a vending machine that''s half buried in the floor and tries his credit card in the reader. It works. He chooses the Flamin¡¯ Hot cheetos and they drop down into the slot which is embedded in the ground and unreachable. He hangs his head in disappointment.

    Theo claps his hands together. ¡°Okay, everyone, let''s take a minute here and think about what our next step is.¡± He says it like it''s just another team huddle.

    I consider what I know. I think aloud, ¡°the first thing it said was that we''re in a dungeon.¡± Everyone looks at me. ¡°Like in the game?¡±

    I point at where we''d shoved two tables together so we could roll out a map and have room for our books, dice and other RPG accessories. The map shows where we were in the ¡°temple of the fifth sword,¡± which our characters were raiding like typical greedy murder hobos.

    The game map shows a large entry room, several side hallways, a room with a big fire pit, the room with all the explosive barrels in it and the boss room, which we''d just uncovered. Right next to the boss room is a safe room. The safe room is sanctified against the undead and demons, so they can''t get in.

    I think everyone gets the idea. The break room has warped and twisted but is now ¡°safe¡± from monsters.

    I look around at my coworkers. We''re all wearing the uniform, a red polo shirt and khaki pants. The corporate mandated color scheme for the Get! store employees. Aside from that we look nothing alike.

    Theo. Around 30, I think. He''s short, black and very fit. He''s one of those guys who tries to make up for being 5'' 2¡± by being muscular and using beauty products to be actually pretty hot. He shaves his head. Theo is technically a supervisor but none of us are in his department so he can''t actually tell us to do shit.

    Jose. He''s 38. He''s tall, dark caramel skinned, Hispanic and has a lean-muscle body. He has short black hair. He works the inventory in the backroom, runs the big fork lift, and generally moves heavy stuff like TVs and furniture. We''ve been friends for years, starting when we were in the Army together.

    Brian. 40s. Average height and a bit overweight. A typical white guy nerd. Prefers Marvel and claims DC is for fascists. He has shaggy red hair and a red beard. If you called him a Dwarf or highlander he''d take it as a compliment. Works in the bakery, and is great at cake decoration. He''s our game master.

    Nat. Natalie Okobo. 23. Tall, slender, looks like a supermodel. Shoulder length black hair that curls toward the end. Her skin is dark brown and flawless. Her large eyes are dark brown, nearly black. She walks with a lightness on her feet that''s only possible for those who have both confidence and grace. She usually keeps her eyes down to avoid making eye contact with men because then they flirt with her because she''s friggin gorgeous. She wears black glasses and pairs them often with eye rolls and other cool, jaded looks. She works in the back with dairy and frozen food so she doesn''t have to be where dudes can hit on her too much. Obviously we all have the hots for her. Also obviously she''s out of our leagues.

    Me, I guess, while I''m at it. I''m Jun Kyung Han. 28. Thin, lanky and 5¡¯ 11¡±. Korean, but third generation so don''t ask me for directions in Seoul. I don''t sleep enough so I always have bags under my eyes. So I''m like one of the BTS boys, except creepy and girls don''t like me at all. I work in the toys and sporting goods department. I like helping parents and grandparents pick the cool toys and avoid the shitty ones. Makes me feel like my interest in superheroes and action figures is job related and not just being a geek.

    ¡°Okay then,¡± Theo says, ¡°How do we escape this dungeon?¡±

    I hold up my phone. ¡°Cells aren''t getting any signals.¡±

    Nat is staring at the fire escape plan on the wall. She seems worried. ¡°Crap on a cracker,¡± she says, and points at the store map.

    We all go and look at it. ¡°Crap,¡± I say, ¡°on a cracker, indeed.¡±

    The map is a twisted ant hill of distorted store departments stacked into a tower. We are on the 5th floor of a building that used to be a single story.

    ¡°That''s not a big box store any more,¡± Jose says calmly.

    Outside the break room is a hallway that leads to either the boss room (which looks like it used to be the manager''s office) and oh, just the entire rest of a 5 floor dungeon. Filled with monsters. And probably traps.

    ¡°We''re so dead,¡± Nat mumbles.

 Chapter 2: Classes

    Chapter 2 Classes

    ¡°Let''s talk about what we''ve got going for us.¡± Theo was again trying to lead us. We let him, for now. ¡°My class is Advisor. I got a point of Spirit and two chants, which are spells using the Spirit stat. My chants are Forward!!! and Duck!!!. I... don''t know what they do.¡±

    Brian speaks up next. ¡°Hello, my name is Brian, and I''m a bog-standard human fighter. I got a Ki point and have no idea what it does.¡±

    Jose says, ¡°I took Sharpshooter. I know what it does. I got a little bit of Ki and Luck.¡±

    Theo begs for more information.

    ¡°Sharpshooter gave me a zoom function with my eyes.¡± Jose points at his eyes and we all watch as his irises actually spin in his head. We all agree that it is very cool.

    ¡°I took Synergist,¡± I say. ¡°It''s essentially a class about-¡±

    ¡°You fucking multiclassed at level 1, didn''t you?¡± Brian asks, exasperated.

    ¡°Yeah, kinda,¡± I reply.

    Brian grumbles. We''ve been playing tabletop RPGs during our breaks for about a year now and I always multiclass, or find a way to bootleg multiclassing into the game. Regardless of the system, regardless of the setting, regardless of how effective it turns out to be. Often it results in me being initially weak and then getting very, very strong. I''d kind of, let''s say, broken entire systems and occasionally made combat irrelevant. And, as he''s the guy running the games, I''d pissed off Brian on multiple occasions.

    ¡°You little shit.¡± Brian stands in front of me, staring me in the eyes. ¡°What. Did. You. Do?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± I say, backpedaling. ¡°It''s just basic Mage stuff right now. Yellow Ray, Dark Mote and Hydrate are my spells.¡± Speaking of, my hand is still glowing. I say ¡°Yellow Ray¡± and it turns off.

    Brian closes his eyes and holds a hand over his face. ¡°Jun you- oh sweet Jesus I found the menu! Guys, I think you just have to close your eyes!¡±

    We all do it and find, after a few seconds of eye closure, black and white menus on the insides of our eyelids. It looks like a video game menu circa 1990. The options are:

    Inventory

    Techniques

    Chants

    Spells

    Invocations

    Status

    Classes

    Party

    Options

    Sleep

    I think about the Spells menu. It closes and another list opens.

    Dark Spells

    Dark Mote... Basic... 1 AP

    Water Spells

    Hydrate... Basic... 1 AP

    Light Spells

    Yellow Ray... Basic... 1 AP/10 minutes

    I think about Yellow Ray.

    Yellow Ray

    Emit a yellow light from your hand. Not bright enough to blind people.

    Range: Cone, 30 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per 10 minutes.

    Proficiency: 1%

    Nobody''s talking so I guess we''re all just going through menus. I continue.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Dark Mote

    Release a speck of darkness that circles you for 1 minute until you come within 15 ft of a foe, at which point it buries itself in the foe.

    Duration: 1 minute or impact

    Range: Personal / 15ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per mote

    Proficiency: 0%

    Per mote, eh? So theoretically I could have multiple motes at once.

    Hydration

    Touch a creature and fill its stomach with water.

    Range: Touch

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    A weird one. So it doesn''t help if your mouth is dry? Lame. Useful, but lame.

    I go back and check my status. My attributes are pretty much the same, but now I have Arcana and Arcana Points, or AP. 2 of them to be exact. Apparently those are linked to my Intelligence so I recover 31 AP per hour. Or 1 every two minutes. Not bad at all!

    ¡°Guys,¡± Theo says, ¡°My chants are amazing. Forward lets our entire party move at 1.25x speed as long as we''re moving in the same direction. And Duck lets me actually force you to dodge an attack if I see it coming and you don''t.¡±

    ¡°Damn, that is good,¡± I say. ¡°I got a tiny homing dart attack, a flashlight and the power to make people less thirsty.¡±

    ¡°You already made women less thirsty,¡± Brian says, to which I give a sarcastic haw-haw. I can feel Nat''s eyes rolling from here.

    She finally says, ¡°so my class is Ninja,¡± to which we all go oooh. ¡°Right, anyways, I got a shadow teleport, and don''t get excited because I don''t have the Chakra to cast it yet, extra sneak attack damage and wall running. Also a ninja pet but it says it can''t reach me inside the dungeon.¡±

    Brian voices all our opinions precisely. ¡°THE FUCK? All I got was a Ki powered heavy strike! And what the hell is Chakra?¡±

    ¡°Obviously it''s for ninjas. Does the international hit anime Naruto sound familiar?¡± Nat seems like she couldn''t possibly understand his incredulity. ¡°Chakra''s a combination of Ki and Spirit. Which unfortunately means I have to increase both to get more Chakra.¡±

    Nat was the otaku of our little group. Despite her insistence that she wasn''t a geek or nerd, she''s seen several thousand episodes of anime, has a robust manga collection and is a connoisseur of all things Japanese. So her being a Ninja was actually spot on.

    ¡°Hey, it''s quiet.¡± Jose brings us out of the nerd war and back to the unreality of our situation. It is indeed quiet. The dog stopped barking. But so did the screams. We don''t hear human voices anymore, aside from our own.

    ¡°You think that means everyone escaped without us?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Naw, man.¡± Jose shakes his head. "I think anyone out there is dead.¡±

    -----

    We discover, in order: 1) We have no weapons. 2) The metal legs of a break room chair aren''t strong enough to actually be used as a weapon. 3) A chair can be used to break the glass on a drink vending machine. 4) It is really, really easy to cut yourself when trying to make a shiv out of the broken glass from a vending machine. 5) We do not have band aids.

    We are now armed up with the best equipment a Get! store break room can offer. Natalie has two shivs made from broken glass and leftover holiday tablecloth. Jose has bits of glass that he swears he can throw but I doubt the efficacy of. Brian has a whole ass chair that he''s supposed to use as a shield I guess? Theo has his stainless steel water bottle. I have magic.

    I''ve been in worse situations but not worse equipped.

    We gather around the door, Brian in front, Nat right behind. I''m in back. I say ¡°Dark Mote¡± twice and two dime sized specks of darkness float from my open palm and begin to lazily circle me. Theo nods and Brian opens the door.

    The dog is gone. ¡°Hey dog!¡± I shout down the hall. Everyone curses at me. ¡°What?¡± I say. ¡°Better to take it out at a bottleneck.¡±

    The others consider this for just a second before the barking of our four legged friend starts up. We can hear it charging down the hall. Brian steps into the hall and raises his chair. Theo and Nat stand right behind him.

    From inside the room I see the dog crash into them from the right. It''s barely held at bay and gnashing its teeth at Brian. Jose flips glass at the beast which makes small cuts in its hide. Very small cuts. My Dark Motes fly forward like slingshot bullets. When they impact they disappear, leaving dime sized holes in the beast''s flank. Those holes start bleeding, but not terribly quickly.

    Brian pushes forward against the weight of the dog but he''s not terribly strong. The dog pushes and paws at the chair until it knocks it aside, then Brian gets bit on the hand and drops the chair. This dog is pretty smart. The dog''s front legs get tangled in the chair legs. I may have overstated the dog''s Intelligence. The dog is tangled just long enough for Nat to lunge forward and swing down with her shivs held underhand. The blades sink into the dog''s shoulders and blood flows from the wounds. She pulls the blades towards the dog''s head and long gashes are torn into its back. The dog turns its head to snap at her. Dog blood sprays. She leaves the shivs in the dog and jumps back, reeling her hands away from the snapping jaws.

    The bloody dog charges forward and tries to bite Theo''s leg. The jaws sink in but Theo takes advantage of the situation and starts beating the dog''s head and neck with his water bottle.

    Theo''s muscular arms are used to doing reps at the gym. His arms while holding the water bottle act like pistons driving the steel tube water bottle into the dog over and over and over again. Each blow stuns the beast just long enough for him to rear back and land the next blow.

    The dog''s teeth are knocked out. Its jaw is dislocated. Its right eye explodes in a spurt of black goo. And still Theo doesn''t relent. He''s a gym machine that can only bring death. Eventually the dog falls down but Theo just takes a step closer and keeps swinging. By the time the dog stops moving its back and side are covered in blood and its head finally caves in, sending more black goo onto the floor.

    Theo stops slamming his water bottle into the dog. Then he stumbles backwards and leans against the wall, panting. His pants are torn and bloody.

    Brian is trying not to scream in pain, but holding his bleeding hand. Nat pulls her shivs from the dog''s corpse. Her face is cold, and she says, ¡°but I''m a dog person.¡± Then she loses it and starts crying right there. Brian tears the right sleeve off his shirt with his teeth and wraps his hand. The red shirt won''t show the blood. That''s smart. Theo eventually stops hyperventilating, then looks at the dog''s crushed head, and vomits off to the side.

    Jose and I are still standing in the break room. We''re totally fine and not even really upset.

    ¡°What,¡± Brian asks, turning to us. ¡°Is wrong with you two? We just went through hell and you''re just- Jose are you eating cheetos?¡±

    ¡°Flamin¡¯ Hot, ¡± comes Jose''s flat response.

    I shrug. ¡°We met in the army. In Afghanistan. We''ve seen worse.¡± I''m not lying either. This doesn''t even rise to the level of concerning.

    I hadn''t talked it over with Jose, but I think we both decided to take a back seat for the dog fight. The others just looked so eager. Wait, maybe that was terror on their faces. I dunno, my Wisdom isn''t great.

    Theo wipes the vomit from his mouth and then comes back into the break room. He goes to the sink to clean up. After he washes, he seems calm again and tells us legitimately great news. ¡°While I was puking I had my eyes closed and I saw that I had leveled up. You guys should check too.¡±

    Once we''re all back in the safety of the break room we check our menus and sure enough, at the top of the main menu is a new option.

    LEVEL UP

 Chapter 3: Discoveries

    Chapter 3 Discoveries

    I sit down for this one. Everyone else gets through their leveling pretty quickly. ¡°I''m going to take my time this time,¡± I inform them.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Theo takes his shirt off revealing his 6 pack abs. He really is a good looking dude. ¡°We''ll take 15 after that fight, but then we need to get back out there.¡±

    I close my eyes and dive head first into menus. The classes I qualify for are Mage, Fighter, Scout, Rogue, Plotter, Engineer, Tinkerer, Grenadier, Gunner, Caster and Magician.

    I see that classes are essentially ranked by their ¡°step.¡± Mage, Fighter, Rogue and Engineer are 1st step classes. Their levels grant 2 attribute points. The other classes, Scout, Plotter, Tinkerer, Grenadier, Gunner, Caster and Magician are 2nd step classes. They grant 5 attribute points per level, and better spells and abilities.

    I look them all over but I''m really only considering either Scout or Magician right now.

    Scout

    Learn mapping and perception based abilities while keeping a distance from foes. Utilize ranged attacks of all types.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 1 Ki, 2 Agility and 2 Dexterity upon choosing this class. Two basic map related utility techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Dexterity, Agility and Ki.

    Upon level up an additional random basic or advanced mapping related technique will be granted, until all basic and advanced mapping techniques are known. Each level you gain 1 Ki, 1 Agility, 1 Dexterity and 2 free points.

    Magician

    Learn to cast illusions and deceive both foes and small children.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Charisma and 1 Arcana upon choosing this class. Two basic illusion based Arcana spells will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Dexterity, Reflexes, Charisma and Arcana.

    Upon level up an additional random basic or advanced illusion spell will be granted, until all basic and advanced illusion spells are known. Each level you gain 1 Dexterity, 1 Charisma, 1 Arcana and 2 free points.

    I decide to put it to the group. ¡°Hey guys, should I go for a Scout class to get mapping stuff or Magician which gives me illusions?¡±

    ¡°Can you just get something to heal me, you prick?¡± comes Brian''s unhelpful reply. His hand is still dripping a little blood. I sure hope that demon dog didn''t have some wacky fantasy game disease. Or rabies.

    ¡°Nah. Actually I don''t have anything that gets me... Well, maybe Mage?¡± I hope he doesn''t force me to take Mage again so I undersell it. ¡°I get one extra spell but it''s random and I have no idea if there''s even a healing spell option.¡±

    He grumbles back to me. Jose holds out his bag of Flamin¡¯ Hot Cheetos to Brian and Brian grabs a few with his non-bloody hand. ¡°Shit, these are hot but addictive.¡± He chomps down and his face turns red but he looks at his bandaged hand. He grabs the remainder of his energy drink, downs it, then takes off his bandage.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Nat asks, a tone of actual concern hidden behind annoyance at another dumb masculine action.

    Brian ignores her, washes off his wound in the sink, and shows us his hand. It''s healed.

    ¡°It''s healed,¡± Jose states.

    ¡°It was the Cheetos, I think.¡± Brian talks as he goes to examine the odd extra vending machines that popped up when the world warped. ¡°Guys, I think the stuff in these is magical. Like magical healing items.¡±

    Jose looks at his bag of Flamin¡¯ Hots. ¡°It looks normal,¡± he says. ¡°Except for the nutrition facts. After protein, but before the vitamins, it says HP recovery 10 over 10 s.¡±

    We all check out the other items in the room. Anything from the original vending machines or our lunches is totally normal. All the stuff from the new machines has some similar effect.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Food recovers HP. Candy also seems to recover status effects. Twizzlers help if you''re confused and a Snickers does the trick if you''re blinded. M&Ms only help if you''re petrified but I''m not sure how you eat them if you''ve turned to stone.

    Drinks recover Etheric (magic) points. Ki recovers from bottled water. Sodas recover your Arcana points. Energy drinks boost up your Spirit and milk recovers Faith energy.

    We load up on supplies at this point. We all had bags of some sort in the break room, each of us having to bring at least a character sheet and dice to our lunchtime RPG session. Those containers are emptied and dice spill onto the table. In goes chips and drinks. Which will save our lives, but also give us diabetes and heart disease.

    I go back to my class choice and see something I overlooked. Caster. It sure sounds boring but what did it do again?

    Caster

    Learn offensive and defensive spells that you cast intuitively. Magic books are for nerds.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 1 Intelligence, 2 Charisma and 2 Arcana upon choosing this class. Two basic or advanced combat Arcana spells will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Intelligence, Charisma and Arcana.

    Upon level up two additional random basic or advanced combat spells will be granted, until all basic and advanced combat spells are known. Each level you gain 1 Intelligence, 1 Charisma, 1 Arcana and 2 free points.

    Okay, so yeah, it''s not exciting out of the box but it focuses on combat spells. And right now we need more combat options. Using a chair as a shield obviously ain''t working well. ¡°Okay, actually I''m going Caster.¡±

    ¡°Nobody cares,¡± everyone else says at once.

    Your Intelligence is now 33.

    Your Charisma is now 4.

    Your Arcana is now 4.

    You gain the spells Static Snap and Fire Bat.

    ¡°Ooh,¡± I say to myself.

    Static Snap

    Snap your fingers to charge a digit with static electricity. Touch someone to deliver a jolt. Okay in combat, but great at parties.

    Range: Touch

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Fire Bat

    Summon a fire bat.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 3 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    I immediately say ¡°Static Snap¡± and snap with my right hand. A small coil of light blue electrical energy spins around my extended pointer finger. I move out to the hall to tap the dead dog to see what-

    ¡°Oh dog shit!¡± I cry as the second I step outside three dogs leap onto me. They are immediately biting and scratching my face, arms and legs.

    I don''t know if you''ve ever been mauled by three dogs but let me tell you, if fucking sucks. I immediately go to the ground. I think my Static Snapped finger hit one of the beasties because one yelps and jumps back.

    I can''t see much since I''m holding my hands over my face trying desperately to not have my nose eaten. I hear my friends yell and scramble. Jose is first in and tackles into both dogs still on me, sending them crashing into the wall. The instant I''m not being bitten I raise my hand and cast Fire Bat.

    I''m expecting a flying, flaming rodent but instead a damn torch appears in my hand. To be precise, it''s a metal baseball bat, but the end is aflame.

    ¡°Yoink!¡± says Brian as he both grabs the bat and steps over me to swing at the dog who jumped back. He shouts, ¡°Power Attack!¡± Golden flames shoot up his arms and swirl around the bat. He delivers an overhead swing to the animal and with a loud crack the dog drops to the ground, but isn''t dead.

    I roll to the side and, from the floor, kick the downed dog in the gut. It yelps but that''s not going to kill it either.

    Jose has thrown all of his weight onto the other dogs to keep them down. They bite and scratch and tear at his arms and chest.

    Nat moves in with shivs and cuts into the neck of one of Jose''s dogs. Blood shoots out in an arterial spray. It whimpers and I feel bad for it. Then the dog Brian is fighting gets up and bites him in the leg. I don''t feel bad for the dogs anymore.

    I scramble up and kick the dog off Brian. He takes his bat and swings down twice, taking out his anger on the animal. I hear the sound of bone cracking as the dog struggles to stay up under the blows.

    Jose has had to pull himself off the gnashing dogs. The dog with the spurting artery wobbles on its feet, then drops. The other dog advances but Theo drop kicks the beast in the throat. Its head snaps up and Jose punches it in the face. Natalie goes to its side and whips her second shiv into the third dog''s back leg. The dog looks pissed, spins around and runs a dozen feet away, then turns to face us again.

    Natalie pulls her first shiv from the bleeding to death dog, which shudders and then stops moving. She stands shoulder to shoulder with Jose and Theo, all of them ready to kill this fucking dog. They look pretty badass.

    Brian finishes beating off his dog, then goes to crack the skull and spine of our bleeder.

    Dog number three charges at the trio facing it, leaping up at the last second, aiming to bite out Natalie''s throat. She reflexively jumps back and both Jose and Theo grab the hound. Theo''s muscled arms are cinched around the dog''s waist and Jose''s got the pup by the neck. It scrambles, legs flailing in the air. Natalie coldly steps forward and drives her shiv into the dog''s chin, up under its brain. The monster struggles in the two men''s arms. It tries to bite at Natalie and the shiv drops to the floor. A hand pulls Natalie back as Brian steps up and swings the flaming bat like a golf club. The upwards strike cracks the dog''s head open.

    ¡°Dude, this rocks!¡± His golden Ki flames (I''m assuming) have left him but the orange flames at the end of the bat remain. Brian takes another swing at the dog and the sounds of breaking bones fills the otherwise quiet hall. He swings again at the dog and we hear the crunch of bone and gore again, but then the dog fades from existence as if he was a ghost or teleporting Star Trek captain. Jose and Theo suddenly find themselves holding nothing.

    In place of the dog''s corpse three gold colored coins drop to the ground with a tinkle. ¡°Sacagaweas!¡± Brian says, picking up the US dollar coins. ¡°Man, I haven''t seen these things in ages. Hey Jun have you- Ohhhhh fuck.¡± He''s looking at me and seems to be turning green.

    Jose looks over at me and confirms. ¡°Dude you got messed up.¡±

    ¡°How bad is it?¡± I ask, not sure if I want to know.

    ¡°Jesus!¡± Nat cries when she sees me.

    Ah, so it''s bad then.

    Jose lets me down gently. ¡°You''re gonna need some Cheetos my dude.¡±

 Chapter 4: Confidence

    I recover using the magic of corn-based snack chips. The others are cut and scratched, but nobody was as bad off as I was. Turns out you can share a bag of healing chips, you just get a percentage of the healing based on your consumption.

    Also, these snacks mention HP, also known as Hit Points, but we don''t have HP stats in our menus. We have Toughness and Constitution stats, but neither handles total health points. Toughness makes you harder to damage and Constitution helps fight diseases, infections, poisons and controls your natural recovery. So I''m not sure how the HP recovery system works. I just know that I can heal near-fatal wounds with nacho cheese OR cool ranch.

    I have now gotten the gist of my new spells, having used each several times. So I''m doing some math.

    ¡°Fire Bat costs 3 AP, and lasts 10 minutes. I have 4 AP. My Intelligence is 33 so I recover 33 AP per hour, or one AP every 2 minutes. If I cast, wait 4 minutes, then cast again, we have 2 fire bats for 6 minutes. Then as soon as the 1st one expires I can renew it. But the 2nd expires at minute 14 and doesn''t come back for another 2 minutes.¡±

    ¡°Jun,¡± Theo says, ¡°while you were doing math it became pointless.¡± He holds up a short sword that''s shaped like a large dog tooth.

    ¡°We beat the other dogs like pi?atas and we got a short sword, mace and 3 more dollar coins.¡± Brian holds up a black iron mace. The head of the mace is shaped like a dog skull. It''s metal as hell.

    Nat glances down at her broken glass shivs. They look like crap by comparison.

    Jose puts a hand on her shoulder in consolation. ¡°I''m still unarmed too.¡± He won''t be unarmed for long. I have Fire Bats and MATH.

    We look decidedly more ragged than we did half an hour ago. We''re healed but our clothes are ripped and torn. And not in the "sexy romance novel cover" way. They''re ripped and torn in the "I got attacked by wild dogs" kind of way.

    "We can do this," Theo assures us.

    I''m increasingly unsure about that, but eh, might as well continue. I''m not particularly attached to my glorious life of retail drudgery.

    The hall outside our break room connects to the manager''s office and the pet supplies area. The manager''s office is behind a large black door. The door frame glows red and is emitting fog. We decide to not enter the certain death room for now. I''d bet it''s a boss. We''re not ready for a boss encounter. We''re more in the "barely surviving against basic wildlife" stage of our adventure.

    The pet supplies were nowhere near the break room back in what we''re calling ¡°the old store.¡± In the new store it''s the only area between us and stairs down to the 4th floor. It''s our only hope of getting out of here.

    ¡°Ah. Dogs from the dog department.¡± I say, sharing my revelation.

    Theo looks at me with his supervisor ¡°are you just catching up to the rest of us¡± look. It''s a mix of incredulity and pity. I avert my gaze, trying not to confirm his assumption.

    The tan hall opens up into a maze of giant dog cages, cat trees and a ziggurat made of square cardboard boxes filled with kitty litter. We hear scratching, whining, meowing, hissing and one single parrot saying ¡°Lucky you, you get it!¡± which is our company''s advertising slogan. This is going to suck.

    ¡°We move slow,¡± Theo says in a whisper. ¡°Take them on one at a time. Remember, this isn''t an RPG or tabletop game. This is some Dark Souls murder ya instantly shit.¡± He shifts his grip on the dog tooth short sword and takes a small step forward. Brian has the mace. I''ve given myself and Jose both Fire Bats.

    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    The second he inches a toe into the room all of the animal noises stop. There''s an eerie quiet. All of us refrain from saying ¡°quiet, too quiet¡± but all of us are thinking it. Theo takes another step in and nothing happens. He steps again and everything looks to be fine. The rest of us move in as well.

    I creep up behind Jose and whisper, ¡°I don''t actually see any animals. Do you think that was just background noise?¡±

    The parrot''s creaky voice shoots out of the cages, ¡°Just background noise! Just background noise!¡±

    We all jump, but the trap is already sprung. I hear growling behind me and turn to see two dogs have circled us. How the shit did they get behind us?

    Four bobcats appear at the top of the cat trees, their large bodies causing the trees to wobble. The parrot, black with a red crest and a goddamn eye patch flies overhead.

    Normally, this is where we roll for initiative.

    ¡°Stick together!¡± I yell. ¡°Back to back!¡±

    As the bird screams overhead, ¡°Die humans die!¡± a shockwave bursts forth from it and I have to clutch my ears, which are bleeding. The others look like they''re in pain too. Theo even drops his sword to clutch his head. I sling my bat at the bird and he drops to the ground. Then I stomp his shitty little pirate bird head.

    The dogs rush in, attacking Jose and Nat who are in back. Jose shoves the business end of a fire bat into a dog''s mouth and it recoils. The other dog gets the drop on Nat and knocks her to the ground. It gets on top of her and starts biting, but she responds by stabbing it blindly in the back and sides. I step towards her, grabbing Theo''s short sword from the floor, and begin to stab the dog.

    The four cats leap onto the ground and swarm poor Theo. They tear into him all at once. His legs give out and he falls. Brian whacks at a cat with his dog skull mace but he''s only one man against 4 bobcats. The mauling is fast and brutal. I think I can see Theo''s throat and it''s not in his neck anymore.

    Two of the bobcats turn on Brian. He bashes one but the other bites into his thigh and he drops to a knee. At that point the other goes for his face. It''s... Oh god.

    I turn back to Jose and Nat. The dog on Nat looks dead, but she''s not moving either. There''s a lot of blood coming from her chest.

    Jose has his mutt under control but two bobcats jump him from behind and rake his back. Blood sprays. He falls forward. I sweep with the short sword, trying to get the cats away from him. As I swing a bobcat jumps and bites my hand. I drop the sword and the cat turns away from me to maul my best friend.

    I''m standing there alone as animals eat my friends. Jose''s twitching but I don''t think he''s going to make it. I scream. Not Jose. Not after everything we went through together! Rage and sadness flow from me. Blood spills across the floor from different directions.

    ¡°Squak!¡± I hear the parrot again. It wasn''t dead. ¡°Die human die!¡± It opens its beak at me and rings of sonic force shoot out into my face. My ears ring, then I feel my eardrums rupture. I can feel blood gushing from my head. Ah. So at least I don''t have to go on alone.

    I fall to the floor, dead.

    -----

    ¡°The world is changing!¡± The newscaster''s deep, urgent voice goes out over images of beauty and destruction across the world. ¡°Locations across the globe are being altered, seemingly at random, by some unknown force.¡±

    Images of the Louvre, the Sydney Opera House and the Roman Colosseum are shown, each twisted, altered. The Louvre''s glass pyramid has grown over the rest of the complex. The Sydney opera house seems to have been turned into a giant sea shell and is covered in starfish and seaweed, as if it just got dredged up. The colosseum looks reborn into a brand new spiraling stone tower some 50 or more stories tall.

    ¡°Our first reports say that some locations are being called dungeons, and are filled with horrible monsters. Many who were in these locations have been killed.¡± A video clip of a lizard man stabbing someone with a trident runs on screen. ¡°Law enforcement and armed forces are rushing to these scenes.¡±

    ¡°Other locations, such as the White House, are being turned into castles.¡± Four towers surround the White House, each a replica of the Washington monument. ¡°These castles have defenders and they seem to be under the control of the ruler of the castle.¡± A video of spectral minute men in blue and white coats plays. They march in a line of a dozen or so outside the White House.

    ¡°Still other sites are apparently called ruins. These seem to be historic places, and are filled with violent defenders. Certain stadiums have been transformed into arenas, which offer the opportunity to voluntarily fight these awful creatures.¡±

    ¡°This upheaval is causing power outages, pipes to burst and is disrupting all parts of life in the affected areas. Thousands and thousands of people are missing! Please stay tuned for more on this breaking story!¡±

 Chapter 5: Respawn

    Error! Corpse cannot be removed from dungeon as initial location was inside of dungeon.

    Solution: Corpse returns to initial location inside of dungeon.

    Error! Corpse cannot be returned to initial location as initial location is safe room and corpses cannot be placed inside of safe rooms!

    Solution: Corpses will be revived inside of safe room.

    I woke up last. The others are here too. We''re back in the break room. Nat is curled up on the floor, holding her knees and crying. Brian is cursing up a storm. Theo is praying to Jesus. Jose is at a vending machine getting more snacks.

    We''re all alive? Weren''t we all killed? Our clothes sure look like we got killed. Nat''s shirt front is torn open and her red shirt and khaki pants are soaked with blood. Jose''s shirt back is torn to ribbons. Theo''s shirt is on the floor. I think he ripped it off. Brian''s left pant leg is coated in dark red blood. I look down and see that my shirt sleeves are covered in blood and some yellow goo. Ear wax? I''m going to tell myself it''s ear wax.

    We thought we were all heroes. We thought we were warriors in a game who would emerge triumphant. We were wrong. I was wrong.

    Three of us are regular people on the top floor of a dungeon. Those three probably couldn''t even take on the 1st floor of the dungeon. Letting them get involved at all pulled Jose and I down. This was my mistake. Again. Again I got people killed.

    We take some time. We don''t do anything for a while. I spend some time in my menus, then try an experiment.

    ¡°Jesus, Jun, would you stop that?¡± Nat snaps at me.

    ¡°No,¡± I say flatly. ¡°I''m raising my proficiency.¡± I cast Dark Mote yet again. I can cast it once every two minutes, based on my Arcana Point regeneration rate. I''m up to 38% proficiency. I haven''t noticed a difference yet but it goes up by 1 every time I cast it. Maybe something happens when it hits 100%.

    Preparation and training are what keep you alive. I forgot that. If I prepare and train these new powers, I can get back. Back to being an unstoppable Ranger.

    ¡°Well, go around the corner and do it.¡± Nat motions towards the long, curving east side of the break room.

    I shrug and head that way. We never went all the way around the corner so I might as well explore. I walk the room. It''s about 300 feet long. Towards the end things change. There''s copies of the employee fridge and shelves with twisted microwaves that are probably unsafe to use. I check the fridge copies and find each one has a replica of my can of Rockstar lemonade. I pop one open and feel the citrus and caffeine take hold of me.

    I died. I died to a fucking parrot. After everything I went through in Afghanistan, a goddamn parrot got me? Fuck that shit.

    At the end of the long room is the glow of the break room TV. It''s still on?

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I say to myself. Then I yell, ¡°Guys the TV works!¡± They come running and we stand there watching the news.

    The dungeons are everywhere. Some people have made it out of their dungeons. Seems like people who started in the dungeon stay there when they die. But people who enter the dungeon, when they die (the first responders who went in) their bodies get rejected. Their corpses get unceremoniously slid out the front door of the dungeon.

    ¡°They''ll have to deploy a SWAT team to get us out.¡± Theo says.

    Brian finishes off his Gatorade. ¡°Yeah but at least we won''t starve until they get their shit together.¡±

    Nat, miss pessimist, says ¡°They don''t know we''re up here. They might not come at all.¡±

    ¡°Or if they do,¡± Theo says, ¡°it might not be for a while. I doubt that a Get! store in the suburbs north of Dallas is very high on their list right now.¡±

    They''re all quiet again. The news continues. Jose looks at me, and I nod to him. We head back.

    The others don''t notice we''re gone, or if they do they don''t think anything is up. That''s fine.

    "We should go," I say to him.

    "You finally going to take this seriously?" he asks me.

    "Yeah. Yeah, I need to get a bit more serious."

    Jose and I head to the door. We''ve been leaving it open since the monsters can''t enter anyway. I cast Fire Bat and hand the weapon over to Jose. I grab one of Nat''s shivs, arming myself. A knife, or the closest thing to it. Though improvised, it feels better in my hand then the bat does.

    Jose swings the bat a few times. He''s plenty strong and has amazing Reflexes, but he was never one for up close combat. He swings a few more times, looking less like a batter and more like a swordsman. "Just like Skyward Sword," he says. I''ll trust that means something to him.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    We head out. We''ve tried being just Get! employees, tried being just nerds. But that''s not going to be enough. We need our true strength. We need to go back to our time in the Army, where split second timing killed your enemies and saved your life.

    It''s time to be Rangers again.

    -----

    We''re now at the entry into the large pet supplies area. We can see the remains of the fight. Blood. A lot of dried blood. Where Nat killed that dog is a small pile of Sacagaweas. The bird is still on the ground, its wing broken. Ha, suck it, shit head.

    ¡°I think the bodies must disappear after a while¡± I whisper to Jose. He nods in agreement.

    We''re crouched by the wall and he pops up once, then comes back. ¡°Should have gone without them the first time, ¡± he says.

    The hallway here is about 10 feet wide. Perfectly defensible with two. ¡°I''m faster, I''ll be bait,¡± I say.

    I cast Dark Mote three times and then dash out into the room. On cue the animals attack. The four bobcats leap up onto their cat tree perches again, then leap down. I turn back and see the remaining dog has dashed in behind me and is growling. I take off in its direction, shiv in hand, held in front of me.

    The dog goes low and aims a snap at my shin. I respond with a drop kick to its face. The head snaps back. I continue forward but rake my shiv along its side as I go. I''m close enough now so the Dark Motes swirl and shoot into the dog. Two in its back, one into its ear. The one in the ear hurts it bad. It winces and howls and rubs a paw at the left side of its head. I keep running.

    I pass Jose and skid to a stop, then turn, shiv first and step next to him. The four bobcats swarm in. Jose takes wide, low swings to mostly keep them back but he clobbers one in the process and the fire part of the fire bat ignites the cat. It screeches a horrible cry as it catches fire and runs away. When he connects solidly with one of the cats I jump in with the shiv, bury it deep into the cat''s neck, then fall back. Now there''s two cats and we each take one.

    I crouch and hold my shiv underhand. Jose takes the opportunity to wind back for a full baseball swing. Both cats leap at once. I push the glass shard into my bobcat''s eye. Jose''s swing sends his cat flying back and to the left. With my other hand I press the shiv further and further into the bobcat''s head until a grey goo spurts out of the wound. It twitches, then stops moving.

    The flaming cat is running around in circles. The light from the feline torch casts odd shadows through the cages in the room. It looks like grids of shadow are dancing across the walls and ceiling. The dog I cut open whines as it falls down and bleeds to death.

    Jose starts to step into the room but I hold him back. I then take a breath and dash over to the flopping parrot. ¡°Die human die!¡± it says as I punt it, flinging it into the wall with a sickening crack.

    ¡°It killed me with a sonic attack,¡± I say, and Jose nods in acceptance. The flaming cat has slowed and Jose walks over and brings down the bat to finish off the last of the bobcats.

    The room is quiet except for the sound of burning cat. The smell in here is horrendous. Burnt hair, blood, gore, animal shit, greasy dog food and lavender kitty litter all swirl into a potent smell that I wouldn''t wish on anyone.

    We poke and prod the dead until they fade away and drop their loot. We get another dog tooth short sword, clawed brass knuckles that look like cat claws, 12 dollars in coins and a human sized eye patch from the parrot.

    The eye patch is made of black silk with a soft leather strap. I try it on, placing it over my right eye. It doesn''t seem to do anything for a second, then my menu appears in the darkened right side of my vision. At the top of the menu, above Level Up (oh I leveled up!) is a new option,

    Open Patch

    I use the new option and my vision clears, as if I wasn''t wearing the patch. In the bottom right of my vision is a menu option, Close Patch.

    I select it and my vision darkens again but my menu pops up immediately. ¡°Hey this is pretty neat, lets you see through it or not, and when you''re not looking through it you can access your menu.¡±

    Jose just shrugs. ¡°Let me know if it helps you hit with your dumb black dots.¡±

    ¡°Hey my Dark Motes actually helped in that fight!¡±

    He shakes his head. He''s pretty much right. Their unpredictable accuracy makes them unreliable.

    We look around the room, inspecting the dog cages (mostly full of piss and shit), the cat litter boxes (also full of piss and shit) and finally the kitty litter ziggurat. I climb it and at the top is a cat bed with a collar in it. I toss it to Jose.

    ¡°It''s... Pink.¡± He turns the collar over in his hands. It has a tag attached that says Princess Donut. He tries it on as a choker (too small), then a bracelet. ¡°Doesn''t seem to do anything.¡±

    I shrug. ¡°Wanna take apart a kitty litter ziggurat and see if there''s treasure inside?¡±

    He shrugs back and we start moving the heavy boxes of clay dust. About 5 minutes later we''ve successfully built a rampart in front of the hallway from which we could throw crap at any monsters that might approach the break room again.

    Alright so mostly we built it for fun, but can you blame us? We never get to build forts at work. And there''s so many things we could build forts out of!

    In the center of the ziggurat is indeed a treasure. It''s a mundane spiked dog collar. Jose takes the 2 inch spikes out (there''s over 100 of them) and is practicing throwing them like darts.

    Suddenly we hear the others shout at us from behind the litter wall. ¡°Hey, you guys dead?¡± Theo calls out.

    Jose calls back, ¡°Naw.¡±

    ¡°We came back for round 2 and wiped everything out,¡± I say.

    Nat says ¡°Bullshit,¡± and peeks her head over the wall. ¡°Where''d they go?¡±

    ¡°Killed ¡®em.¡± comes Jose''s reply. He hops up the wall. ¡°Oh. This makes jumping really easy,¡± he says, pointing at his new pink bracelet. He then leaps about 10 feet forward off the rampart. It''s impressive.

    ¡°You guys should stay there and let us go forward,¡± I say. ¡°We have military training. We''re ready for this.¡± I slide the cat claw knuckles over my right hand fingers and grip the dog tooth short sword with my left. I should be fine now. I take a few swings and swipes to get a feel for the weight of each.

    ¡°So what, we''re just in your way?¡± Brian asks from behind the litter.

    I don''t want to say it. But it''s true. I tried to give them a chance. Tried to hang back and let our tabletop role playing game nerd group find success in real fights against real monsters. But that was the wrong move. It got us all killed.

    Jose and I met in the army. We met during the end days of the US''s Afghanistan misadventure. Spent 9 months in near constant fighting in close quarters as we tried to eradicate ¡°bad guys¡± in tunnels. It was a bad time. It basically made me emotionless. But I can fight like a mother fucker now, so... That''s something.

    ¡°Yeah, you guys suck.¡± I say it without sugar coating it in the least. ¡°I have combat experience out the ass. We both do. So you guys hold up there, and we''ll go clear a path.¡±

    ¡°I guess we''re pathfinders,¡± Jose says, referencing our RPG system of choice.

    The others start yelling at us. We head to the far side of the room where I saw a door earlier. Nat climbs on top of the rampart and yells for us to stop. We don''t. Theo asks us to stay. We don''t. Brian yells ¡°your funeral¡± at us. I don''t even look back.

    We don''t stop because Jose and I played Rangers in real life, not in the game. We''re US Army Rangers. And we don''t stop for anything.

 Chapter 6: Fashion Forward

    The door at the end of the pet supplies room opens up into a concrete emergency stairwell that would be at home in a high rise apartment or office building. Our old Get! store didn''t even have a second story, so these are new. There doesn''t seem to be any resistance here so we move the only way we can: down.

    I get to the gray, steel door one story down and crack it open. I see clothes piled up like sand dunes. Each clothes dune is at least 15 feet tall. The entire room ahead is layered with clothes. Kids t-shirts, men''s jeans, women''s underwear, the whole thing.

    ¡°It looks like the whole floor is this one room,¡± I say.

    Jose says, ¡°half the store was clothes. A whole dungeon floor of it fits.¡±

    We look around and don''t see any immediate threats, which is somehow foreboding. ¡°Yeah, just that there''s no telling what''s under that stuff.¡±

    Jose nods and lightly pushes me back so he can peer through the doorway. He''s probably using his zooming vision to scope the place. He tells me, ¡°level up first. See if you can grab something for scouting.¡±

    I head into my menus.

    Level Up

    Current class: Synergist, level 2

    Synergist classes:

    Mage, level 1

    Caster, level 1

    Select from the following classes:

    Mage, Fighter, Scout, Rogue, Plotter, Engineer, Tinkerer, Grenadier, Gunner, Caster Magician.

    I take Jose''s advice and go for Scout.

    Scout

    Learn mapping and perception based abilities while keeping a distance from foes. Utilize ranged attacks of all types.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 1 Ki, 2 Agility and 2 Dexterity upon choosing this class. Two basic map related utility techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Dexterity, Agility and Ki.

    Upon level up an additional random basic or advanced mapping related technique will be granted, until all basic and advanced mapping techniques are known. Each level you gain 1 Ki, 1 Agility, 1 Dexterity and 2 free points.

    Let''s see what I got under the Techniques menu.

    Ping

    Send out a sonic wave that rings when it comes into contact with a creature. Doesn''t distinguish between friend, foe or ambivalent squirrels.

    Range: 100 feet

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Minimap

    Create a tiny map in the palm of your hand. It reflects what you yourself have seen. You can use your other hand to pinch to zoom, slide or rotate the map, and even put down markers that are saved between uses.

    Duration: 5 minutes

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    ¡°Yeah, I got a couple of good abilities,¡± I say, closing my eyepatch menu. ¡°Can''t use them often though. They use Ki, which you already have, right? I only have 1 Ki and my Charisma is only 4 so I get my point back once every 15 minutes.¡±

    ¡°What''re the techs?¡±

    ¡°Ping and Minimap. Ping does what you expect. Minimap makes a little map we can see in my hand.¡±

    Jose motions to the door. ¡°Ping away then.¡±

    I swing the door open and use Ping by feeling the tingling of Ki in my hand and snapping my fingers. A golden ring spreads like a shimmering distortion in the air. Immediately it hits Jose and the sound of a small bell dings out from the ring. We watch the ring spread and as it hits a big clothes dune we hear a multitude of dings. After that my Ping ring dissipates and we''re back in the silence of the stairway.

    The nice thing about being in a Get! store dungeon is that everything is well lit. Fluorescent lights shine down overhead so even though we can''t see the creatures hiding in the clothes pile, we can see it clearly. The walls are pure white too, and aside from the disgusting pet supplies area, it''s been very clean in this dungeon.

    ¡°Any ideas?¡± Jose asks me.

    ¡°I mean, it''s a bad idea...¡± I say as I summon a Fire Bat and prepare to chuck it into the extremely flammable 70% spandex clothes pile.

    Jose holds a hand up to stay my impending chuck. ¡°Maybe something that won''t start the entire room on fire and probably suffocate us and everyone else in here.¡±

    That was a lot of words at once so I know Jose is serious. I hand him the weapon. ¡°Alright, bad idea number two,¡± I say.

    I snap my finger again and a blue coil of electricity circles my index finger. I wait a few minutes for my Arcana to recharge, then cast Static Snap two more times. Now the middle and ring fingers on my left hand are sparking with low levels of electricity.

    ¡°There''s no duration on this spell, Static Snap,¡± I say, explaining. ¡°It just says it charges a finger with electricity and discharges when I touch something.¡± We wait a few more minutes and now I''ve got ten fingers full of lightning.

    I approach the clothes hill, fingers outstretched. Jose is backing me up, spike darts in hand, ready to flick dog collar death into the eye of anything that might surprise me. When I get about 20 feet from the pile I suddenly dash forward to the hill.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    As I approach I see what''s in the clothes pile. Snakes. A dozen or more snakes. They''re each about 6 inches thick and they pop their heads out of the pile and hiss at me. Each has a head made of a different pair of shoes, the soles fanged and flapping together as one mouth.

    I reach for the pile of clothes and pray this works. The static electricity leaps from my fingers with a loud crack and shoots into the pile. The dozen or so snakes twitch and shake, then collapse. I start to move away but immediately see one start to stir. They''re not dead, just stunned. A polished steel spike flies into it like a dart and a brown sludge oozes from the wound on the shoe.

    I pull my dog tooth short sword and slip on my cat claw knuckles. Jose''s spike strike came from my left so I move right to avoid friendly fire. I lay into the closest shoe snake. Its head is a pair of sandals. The hard leather and rubber repel my short sword thrust so I send a claw strike into its neck, just past the head. Three jagged lines cut into the snake''s red and white striped skin. My left hand whirls back around with the short sword and I stab into it right next to my claw slashes. Brown goo oozes. It smells awful, like a rotting animal. I move on to the next snake.

    I don''t see what Jose is doing, I just hear a thwip-snickt as the spikes fly and find purchase in their targets. I don''t need to see what he''s doing. I know he''s got my back. That''s what desperate Army fighting gets you: teamwork. Also PTSD.

    I target snakes in the order that they start waking up in. I just slash, stab or claw each one once. If that''s not enough to kill it, it''s probably enough to hobble it for a second or two. I''ve moved all the way around the right side of the hill and am now on the back of the clothes heap when I first get bit. It''s a sharp, stinging pain. I look down and see work boots with teeth wrapped around my right leg. I look forward and keep striking at another shoe snake, leaving the work boots where they are for now.

    It hurts. It hurts bad. But I''ve been shot before. I''ve been blown up before. Shoes with teeth? That''s nothing compared to a cultist with an AK-47. I push through the pain and take advantage of the last stunned snake. My short sword rips through a groggy pair of high heels. I finally turn to the work boots and claw at them, punching into them twice. They don''t let go. They bite deeper and I feel like my calf muscle is being ripped out of my body.

    ¡°Hold,¡± comes Jose''s voice from behind me, and I freeze. Three spikes shoot into the snake''s flank. That horrible rotting stench fills my nostrils as the work boots stop moving, but are still attached to me. I fall to my right onto the clothes hill so I can kick the snake away.

    As I finish removing the twisted monster, I feel more sharp pain in my right shoulder. I look over and see a pair of toddler shoes biting me. The shoes feature smiling animal characters, and the heels have flashing lights in them.

    I look at the messed up thing and I laugh. I can''t help it. I''m being eaten by Pup Police shoes. The shoes bite down deeper and I feel my right arm go limp. I don''t care. I swiftly stab over my shoulder and shove my sword down the thing''s neck. I keep laughing.

    Jose is walking the perimeter of the clothes dune and peppering anything still moving with spikes. I''m still laughing. Now I''m not sure at what. I survived Afghanistan only to be killed in the dog food aisle? Now I''m attacked by America''s favorite show for kids under 5? This is stupid. It''s ridiculous.

    Haha. Look at me, bit by shoe snakes and bleeding out. I should probably lie down here on this pile of clothes. It''s soft. Only 30% cotton, but still soft.

    -----

    I suddenly awake and find Jose sitting next to me. He notices as I go ¡°wha? The huh? Snakes?¡±

    Jose calmly says, ¡°It''s fine. Had to force feed ya some chocolate raisins, but yer alright.¡±

    I sit up and look around. Still in the Get! dungeon. The room we''re in must be a quarter mile across. Same size as the entire original store. Ahead I see dozens of clothes piles. Some bigger than the one we just conquered. Some clustered together too tightly to be tackled one at a time.

    I sigh and lay back down. ¡°We get anything good?¡± I ask.

    ¡°More coins and a whip.¡± Jose hands me a whip that looks like it''s made of braided fluorescent colored shoe laces. Interesting but useless. ¡°Oh, and the snake bodies disappear but the shoes remain.¡± He points down at his feet. He''s wearing the work boots that bit my leg.

    I use my eyepatch to check my status. No level up. ¡°Well, back to it then.¡± I say, and begin to charge up my ten finger electro shock treatment.

    Each hill takes us about 30 minutes to tackle, since I want to be fully charged with Static Snap before we strike, then afterwards Jose has to fish his spikes out of the snakes. We tackle the next three piles of snakes before we get a level up.

    Jose tells me that he got a Subclass option at level 3 of Sharpshooter. And apparently the Subclass choice was a big deal. He picked Eagle Eyed, which gives him even better vision and dark vision. Totally useless in a brightly lit room covered in soft shirts and puffy jackets, but should be a real boon later on.

    I look at my options, and then look at the dozens of piles of shoe snakes that we still have to get through, and I go for more Arcana to speed up the process.

    Caster Level 2

    My Intelligence increases to 34, my Charisma goes to a mighty 5 and my Arcana to 5. I drop the free points into Arcana to bring my total AP up to 7. The spells I get are Stalagmite Caltrops and Fluid Fist.

    Stalagmite Caltrops

    Summon a spot of small stone spikes to stymie suspicious suitors. Also make people''s feet bleed.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Range: 30 ft

    Area: 5 ft diameter circle

    Cost: 2 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Fluid Fist

    Make a big fist of water and smack people with it. You can just pummel away or shoot the fist at a jerk, ending the spell.

    Duration: 10 minutes or shot attack

    Range: Personal / 25 ft

    Cost: 3 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Those spells aren''t amazing, or at least not right now. An instant spike trap could be useful if we weren''t stuck in the desert of comfortable yet affordable apparel. I can''t make spikes on the floor if I can''t even see the floor. (I tried.)

    At this point though, we''ve gotten the shoe snake exterminator routine pretty much on lock. We tackle 5 more piles of snakes and I only get bit once. We''re almost at the other side of the room when I look around.

    I motion to Jose. ¡°There''s probably a few dozen piles of clothes we haven''t gone to yet. Like that big pile over there, and that cluster of small piles.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so?¡± he asks, getting straight to the point as usual.

    ¡°So uh, shouldn''t we, ya know, tackle all of them?¡± I ask this with as much false sincerity as I can muster. ¡°For the safety of others who might go through here?¡±

    Jose shakes his head. ¡°You just want to level up.¡±

    ¡°Well obviously!¡± I say, exasperated. ¡°This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity! When else are you going to get a chance to do magic, fight monsters, actually gain levels and be able to change who you are with points in a menu?¡±

    Jose puts a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye. ¡°Jun, you don''t need to change who you are.¡±

    That stops me. I turn away from my friend. My best friend, really. ¡°I don''t want to get into that right now.¡± I take a minute and he removes his hand.

    ¡°Alright, ¡± he relents. ¡°Let''s grind on some shoe snakes.¡±

    We take on the remaining piles. Along the way I find out what happens when you hit 100% proficiency with a spell. Turns out that after 100% you start increasing the potency of the spell. Right now I''m at 131% proficiency with Static Snap and the snakes are getting zapped and staying down for about 30% longer. Once I hit 200% proficiency I can stun a hill with just 5 fingers, so the last few clothes dunes go really quickly. We leave the big hill and the clutch of small hills alone for now.

    By this time it''s gotten to be pretty late and we''re beat. We both got another level though, and I pop mine into Caster to see what kind of subclasses I can get.

    Caster is now level 3!

    Choose a Subclass:

    Barrage Caster - You focus on small spells that can be used in quick succession. Basic attack spells cost 1 AP less, to a minimum of 1 AP.

    Charge Caster - You can hold spells before completing the cast to empower them.

    Blaster Caster - The area of all your Basic attack spells is increased by 50%.

    Damn, these are all good and all would change how I fought. I only have Stalagmite Caltrops as an area attack spell so I nix Blaster Caster first.

    ¡°Jose,¡± I ask my friend, ¡°more shots or better, slower shots?¡±

    He tilts his head in contemplation. ¡°For you? More shots.¡±

    I head back into the menu to confirm Barrage Caster and am immediately rewarded with a new spell that now costs just 1 AP.

    Shadow Stab

    Your foe steps into shadow, thinking to hide. You pull that shadow into a spike that impales your foe. You laugh maniacally.

    Range: 25 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point (2 before Barrage Caster)

    Proficiency: 0%

    I try it out. I raise my open hand towards some nearby shade and suddenly clench my fist. A 2 foot spike of darkness thrusts from the ground where I indicate. It''s fast and seems accurate. Could be good in a real fight.

    ¡°We should rest before we tackle the big pile and cluster piles,¡± I say.

    Jose nods and opens his shoulder bag to hand me water and some snacks. We sit and I check my watch. It was around 11:40 AM when this all started. Now it was past 2 AM.

    Jose quietly says, ¡°they''ve got to be worried.¡±

    He means his family. His wife Amy and his kids, Ernesto, Sara and Mike. I nod and put my hand on his shoulder.

    ¡°They''ve been through worse,¡± I say. ¡°We''ve been through worse.¡± We both know I''m talking about the cave.

 Chapter 7: R-32, 1

    Four years ago

    Northeastern Afghanistan

    The CIA guys who tagged it as a possible arms cache called it cave R-32.

    9 Rangers approached from the south in Humvees and hoofed it the last half mile. They wanted to make as little noise as possible. Intel said that the cave was guarded, but no vehicles ever approached. That meant that whoever was in there was in residency long term.

    The only sound they made was their boots crunching against the rock and sand of the mountainous desert. As they got within 100 yards of the cave entrance they came to a stop. Specialist Mattock, Pete and Sergeant Giovanni, Pete slowly, silently approached the entrance. Mattock climbed over the top of the cave and came down the north side so they could sweep in from both sides.

    Giovanni held up his hand and gave a countdown with his fingers. Five, four, three, at that point Mattock knew the timing so Giovanni put his hand back on his MK 16 SCAR-L with shortened CQC barrel. On zero Pete and Pete rolled into the cave entrance and fired into the three men standing guard there. Mattock stepped further in and shone the flashlight attachment on his SCAR down the tunnel and confirmed no more hostiles in the immediate vicinity. Giovanni quickly checked the three downed hostiles but their blasted apart bodies left little doubt as to their alive/dead status.

    This squad, nicknamed the Coyotes, had been on cave clearing duty for the last year. This was expected to be a run of the mill redneck retreat. That''s what they called these little hideouts in the middle of nowhere. Mattock came out of the cave just enough to signal everyone else was good to enter.

    Staff Sergeant Davis, Jetta was their squad leader. She motioned for Specialist Han, Jun Kyung to come forward and do his tech nerd shit. In Han''s left hip holster was a Glock 19 handgun. In his right hip holster was a directional microphone. Han drew the mic, spun out the dish and slipped in the wired earpiece.

    ¡°Quiet for a while,¡± Han said. ¡°Nobody coming but there''s noise far off.¡±

    Davis told Han to use the drone and Han took a knee and slipped his backpack around in front of him. He pulled out a remote control car and put it down. He flipped open a laptop, turned both machines on, and booted the drone control program.

    Han and the drone were a big part of why this squad had so much success. Han had fitted the drone with truly silent parts, a better night vision camera and an extra antenna so it could go further before losing signal. Han pushed W on the keyboard and off the little drone went down the dark tunnel.

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    ¡°No side tunnels yet,¡± reported Han after a few minutes. ¡°Goes down gradually.¡± A few minutes later he said ¡°What''s on the other side of this mountain?¡±

    Staff Sergeant Davis raised an eyebrow at that. She pulled her PDA and checked her map. ¡°A salt mining town, why?¡±

    Han had the drone coming back now. ¡°They''re not mining salt.¡±

    ¡°Show me,¡± said Davis.

    Han pulled up a second window to show the just recorded video. The drone had made it to a larger cavern where there were lights set up, fork lifts, a large drill and miners. The miners were wearing hazmat suits. The kind you wear when working with radioactive materials.

    ¡°Okay, we''re getting out of here,¡± Davis called to the group. That was when they heard the sound of vehicles outside.

    Corporal Amarillo, Jose was one of two snipers. He was at the entrance to the cave, hidden in its shadow, keeping watch. His MK11 Mod 0 sniper rifle was loosely held in both hands, but at the vehicle sounds he pulled the scoped rifle up to see what kind of trouble they were in. ¡°Bogeys, 4 open top jeeps. 12 men total,¡± he stated calmly.

    ¡°Any chance they''re here to welcome us?¡± asked Private First Class Ekko, the other sniper, who was peering through his own scope.

    ¡°Nope,¡± said Amarillo. ¡°At least 6 AKs and... That''s an RPG.¡±

    ¡°Open with warning shots, then the engines,¡± commanded Davis.

    Their rifles blazed. Four rounds hit the dirt in front of the jeeps but they didn''t stop. At this point the whole team could see them now. The men in the jeeps were arming themselves with their weapons.

    Ekko and Amarillo opened fire on the vehicles themselves. Only one came to a stop.

    ¡°Take them,¡± said Davis, and more shots shuddered through the cave. The men were too far away to hear verbally. Most screamed or yelled as they died to the impossibly precise shots of the Rangers. Two vehicles rolled to stops as their drivers perished.

    The last jeep kept going. ¡°Stop that thing!¡± shouted Davis. The last jeep was headed right for the tunnel entrance. She ushered six of her squad out immediately. Han was still packing. Amarillo held his ground and fired rounds into the engine block of the car, then the wheels. The car started to drift to the left, but not quickly enough. Amarillo rolled backwards into the cave. Davis rushed in and pushed Han out of the Jeep''s path.

    With a calamitous crash the jeep impacted the left side of the cave entrance, tipping up on its front end. Two dead men crashed out of the car and collided with the cave wall, splattering it with blood. The jeep threw its shadow over the three Rangers still in the cave.

    Han got up and saw to his horror that the bloodied driver wasn''t dead. Han slipped his Glock into his hand and raised it but he was too late. The driver had one hand on the wheel and one hand on the RPG. In this cramped tunnel it didn''t matter where the rocket propelled grenade launcher was aimed. It could kill them all. The driver took two bullets from Han''s Glock in the shoulder but as he died he pulled the trigger.

    The jeep wasn''t just carrying three men, three AK-47s and an RPG. It was also carrying 30 pounds of mining dynamite.

    The explosion collapsed the side of the mountain, sealing Davis, Han and Amarillo inside. Mattock, Giovanni and Abanaka all died immediately. Ekko, Walters and Grant were all wounded and called for immediate evac. Walters didn''t make it, dying on the flight back to camp.

    After 12 hours without contact, HQ labeled Davis, Han and Amarillo as missing in action.

 Chapter 8: Timer

    ¡°I don''t know if this place is like a tabletop RPG dungeon or a video game RPG dungeon,¡± I say as we finish our break.

    ¡°The difference?¡± Jose asks without taking his eyes off the big clothes dune.

    ¡°In tabletop, what we play, a dungeon is full of finite monsters. Like real life. Kill everything in a room and that room is cleared, forever. But in a video game monsters can respawn after a while. They come back to life or new ones are made.¡±

    ¡°You think it''s the video game version?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, based on the menus, the fact that we respawned, how enemies are full of coins, etc. Hey, by the way, where are you putting all your Sacagaweas? My messenger bag is heavy with the dang things.¡±

    Jose raises an eyebrow at me. ¡°The inventory?¡±

    ¡°The... Inventory?¡±

    ¡°Menu option,¡± he says, like he''s some friggin game to life master and I''m some noob.

    I close my eyepatch, opening my menu and see, yes, an inventory option.

    Inventory

    Current Slots: 1

    Items held: none

    Sacagaweas: 47 on hand, 0 in storage.

    Okay. I think about storing my coins. My bag lightens and my menu updates.

    Sacagaweas: 0 on hand, 47 in storage.

    ¡°Well I''ll be,¡± I say, opening the eyepatch to restore my vision. ¡°You played with the storage yet?¡±

    Jose nods, holds out his empty hand and the shoelace whip appears in it. Then a couple of pairs of shoes appear and 6 pop culture t-shirts from the clothes hills. Also, a dead snake. ¡°I forgot about the snake,¡± he says. ¡°That was a test. It worked.¡±

    ¡°What the crap? I only have one inventory slot!¡±

    ¡°It''s based on Luck,¡± Jose says, picking up everything except for the snake, and I watch as the items disappear from his hands one by one. ¡°My luck is 47 right now.¡±

    My jaw drops. ¡°My Luck is 1! What the frick, man!¡±

    Jose shrugs and keeps collecting his dropped items. ¡°Started with 27, put 20 of my free points into it.¡±

    I do the math. ¡°Wait, how many points do you get from your class?¡±

    ¡°Ten total. 2 Dexterity, 2 Reflexes, 1 Ki, 5 free points. First the free points went into Ki but at third level I got an ability.¡±

    Jose stops talking as if that explained everything. ¡°And the ability was?¡±

    ¡°A passive ability. A technique. Gives me back bullets to my clip based on Luck.¡±

    ¡°The full text, please?¡±

    Jose closes his eyes and reads. ¡°Bullet Refund Policy. Advanced. Passive. When you fire a ranged weapon there is a chance that a replacement round will immediately be loaded into your weapon. This chance is based on your Luck.¡±

    ¡°You don''t have a gun.¡±

    ¡°But I will,¡± he says seriously. ¡°I''m betting I can get one in the toy department.¡±

    I think about that. The guns that fire foam darts are pretty popular items at the Get! and I could see them, or even real versions of them, being either enemy equipment or item drops.

    ¡°Jose Amarillo, you are one smart dude.¡±

    ¡°Nah. Just wise, charismatic and lucky.¡±

    ¡°HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!¡± Someone is yelling from behind us. ¡°JOSE! JUN! YOU GUYS STILL ALIVE?¡± Oh great, it''s Theo.

    I get up and wave across the room at him. I yell, ¡°yeah but stay back, there''s snakes!¡±

    ¡°WHAAAT?¡±

    I point at the hill in front of him. ¡°SNAAAKES!¡±

    We make our way over. Theo and Nat are here. Nat is already putting on a shirt to replace her torn up one.

    ¡°Where''s Brian?¡± I ask as I walk up.

    ¡°Still scared shitless,¡± Nat says. ¡°But there are some things you need to know.¡±

    I shrug and wait for the probably bad news.

    Theo starts. ¡°Okay so on the news, right? People are tracking the outbreak, that''s what they''re calling it for now. The outbreak affected the whole world to various degrees. And stuff changed at different times over the course of 24 hours. But the important thing is the dungeons. The ones that have been around for 24 hours, well, they reset.¡±

    Jose and I glance at each other. ¡°The monsters come back?¡± Jose clarifies.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± says Nat. ¡°But here''s the really bad part. Any monsters who died came back different, stronger, apparently.¡±

    That stops me. If we don''t get out of here soon we might face stronger monsters? If we don''t get out soon we could get trapped in a cycle of making progress, having that be undone, then making less progress the next day because everything is tougher. ¡°That''s... Quite bad,¡± I say.

    ¡°Also,¡± Nat chides us, ¡°You guys know it''s like 3:00 AM, right?¡± We both shrug as if it hadn''t occurred to us to check the time. ¡°Our dungeon appeared at about 11:42 AM.¡±

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Theo cut in, always wanting to say the important part. ¡°That means we have just under 9 hours before this place is overrun with monsters again. Bigger, badder monsters.¡±

    Jose and I look at each other. He asks, ¡°do we still do the big hill and hill cluster?¡±

    ¡°Maybe just the big hill,¡± I say. ¡°Maybe there''s a boss monster that''ll drop some good loot.¡±

    -----

    Time left until monsters respawn: 8 hours, 44 minutes.

    Jose and I are about 50 feet from the big hill. The hill itself is made of thousands and thousands of socks. It''s about 30 feet tall and twice as wide at the bottom. ¡°You guys should stay back for this,¡± I call back to Theo and Natalie.

    I start pulling Static Snaps. With my new maximum of 10 Arcana I can cast them all at once instead of waiting for the recharge, but we still wait another 10 minutes to give me a few Arcana back. Just in case. Plus after a while Static Snap makes my fingers itch so I don''t like the delay for a full recharge.

    I give Jose a nod that I''m ready. I take one step forward and am immediately met with a loud rattling. A four foot long array of baby rattles emerges from around back of the hill. They''re the kind with a loop at the bottom of the handle. A nest of regular-looking snakes are tied through the rattles, keeping them in place.

    I take two more steps forward towards the pile, electrified fingers outstretched. A head slithers forward out of the hill, socks sliding down around it as a massive beast readies for a fight. Its head is made of dozens of soccer cleats giving it a black and white and spiked look. It''s hooded like a cobra, the hood made out of a hundred blue and grey shoe insoles. And unfortunately an anaconda wishes it was this big. Its head is three feet across, as is the long snake body behind it. The regular snake parts are colored brown and tan like a python.

    It opens its mouth, two foot long fangs greeting me and it suddenly spits at me.

    I alter my charge, leaping off my left foot to dodge the spit. It flies inches from my face but I don''t stop. When the glob of spit lands I hear the sizzle of acid. This thing is absolutely worse than anything else we''ve faced and if I don''t stun it with a ten finger, 240% proficiency Static Snap, we''re all dead.

    The boss snake lunges forward and I try to dodge again but I''m nowhere near as fast as this thing. It gets just one of its horrifically long fangs into me and clamps down around my waist. That''s when my hands make contact with it, searing the inside of its mouth with thousands of volts of electricity. It reels back but doesn''t let go. I feel myself being lifted up and then slammed down. I hear bones break but don''t feel the pain yet.

    I use Shadow Stab inside the snake''s mouth. The spike shoots up into the snake''s head, which is still made of shoes. The spike retracts with just one of the dozens of soccer shoes attached to it. Well, that did jack all.

    The snake''s rattle intensifies. Theo and Nat scream my name. I hear a constant barrage of spikes making contact with the snake''s flank. And I hear my voice in my head, saying, this isn''t going to work. I''m dead. I look past the shoes into the gross throat beyond. I''m going to be swallowed by this thing and end up in its-

    I reach out and touch the roof of the snake''s mouth and cast something I thought I''d never use: Hydrate. I''m treated to the sounds of gallons of sloshing liquid as the snake is filled with water. I don''t know if it''s the water or my attempts at murder, but the snake spits me out.

    Theo and Nat rush over to me and drag me from the snake, who is now writhing in pain. The snake is engorged with water, having swelled to almost 18 feet across on its mid section. And it seems to keep swelling.

    Jose simply says, ¡°time to pop the balloon,¡± as he charges golden light into a spike and then hurls it at the snake. It hits with enough force to punch all the way through the snake. Water shoots out, then the hole tears wide open as hundreds of gallons of water pour out the snake''s side. Blood gushes from the foot wide hole and the massive shoe snake screeches, grinding its cleat mouth together to cause a terrifically terrible sound.

    The whole thing collapses after that, the cleated shoes fall apart, the insoles flop to the floor. The water now flows gently out its side.

    A body slides out of the snake. Then another. Then more, in various states of being dissolved by stomach acid. There are some I recognize, employees. Others I don''t who had to have been customers. I guess this is why we didn''t find any humans up until now.

    I lay there and finally look down at myself. That snake fang left a large hole in my gut. It''s bleeding a lot. I feel really tired all of a sudden. And cold. Is it cold in here? Nah. I''m probably just bleeding to death. That''s okay. There''s worse ways to die, really.

    -----

    Error! Corpse cannot be removed from dungeon as initial location was inside of dungeon.

    Solution: Corpse returns to initial location inside of dungeon.

    Error! Corpse cannot be returned to initial location as initial location is safe room and corpses cannot be placed inside of safe rooms!

    Solution: Corpse will be revived inside of safe room.

    I''m semi conscious and see the tail end of the messages this time. Huh. So we''re being revived due to a bug in the system. That''s... Pretty great, actually.

    I open my eyes. I''m back in the break room. My eyepatch is missing. So are my weapons. I get up, go to a vending machine and smash it open with a Shadow Stab. I kick glass clear and grab the $4 fancy iceberg water. It''s actually pretty good.

    I hear footsteps coming from the TV side of the room and Brian turns the corner. ¡°Oh, Jun, you scared the shit out of me.¡± He looks past me. ¡°Where are the others? Especially Natalie. Is she okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so. I died and respawned here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, shit, sorry man.¡± He wipes his brow like the short jog from one end of the room to the other made him sweaty. Jose and I really shouldn''t have let these guys come with us. ¡°They tell you about the time limit?¡±

    I swallow some glacier water. ¡°Yeah, the monsters come back after 24 hours.¡±

    ¡°Well yeah. Hey uh, Jun, can I show you something?¡± I shrug unexcitedly. ¡°Over here.¡± He brings me over to the table where we''d been playing a tabletop RPG. The good kind of RPG, not like those exploding ones. ¡°I need you to keep this a secret.¡± I take a swig of water and nod. I''m expecting him to tell me he''s in love with Nat which, yeah, of course he is.

    ¡°So you know how this place turned into a dungeon? Well, I had drawn this a few weeks ago.¡±

    He shows me his tablet computer. There''s a dungeon drawn in an illustration program. It''s a dungeon version of the Get! store. It''s the dungeon we''re standing in right now.

    I grab the tablet from him and double check it against the fire escape map on the wall. ¡°Holy shit,¡± I mutter.

    ¡°Yeahhhh so around the world, only important places got turned into castles or dungeons.¡± Brian is wringing his hands now. ¡°Except our store isn''t on the caliber of the Smithsonian or the Eiffel Tower. I think that...whatever did this to the world, it took my idea and made it happen.¡±

    I am stunned. This has massive implications. This means that whatever affected the world has the ability to search through computers. This means that maybe what counts as ¡°important¡± to the system was chosen by data it scraped from computers and the internet. That means... Ah I''m not sure what it means, actually. But something. It definitely means something.

    ¡°So anyone who died, it''s basically on me, isn''t it?¡± He starts tearing up. ¡°Those screams before. Those people who died. It''s ¡®cause of me.¡± He starts bawling.

    I know what he''s feeling. I got people killed too. There''s no fixing it. There''s no way back. You''re just scarred from then on. You''re marked. You have to remember all the people who died and live with knowing that your life probably isn''t worth all of theirs.

    I hear stomping from down the hall. I click off the tablet and shove it back into Brian''s hands. Jose bursts through the door then runs over and tackles me into a bear hug.

    ¡°Damn, dude, what gives? You think I died or something?¡± I laugh, but I''m the only one.

    ¡°Specialist Han.¡± Jose said my name military style so I know I''m in deep shit. ¡°You can NOT count on reviving.¡±

    ¡°I know I just-¡±

    ¡°No!¡± He takes me by the shoulders and looks me dead in the eyes. ¡°You''ve died twice in here. You tell me why. Now.¡±

    I look away. I don''t want to say. I don''t want to say that I''ve been looking for an excuse to be offed for a while now. That dying in here wouldn''t be bad for me. It would be a release.

    People don''t want to know you''re suicidal. It kinda ruins their day. Changes how they look at you. So you end up not telling them.

    It takes me a minute to come up with a plausible lie. A partial truth. ¡°You''re right. We can''t count on being revived. And I''m not taking this seriously.¡± He releases me and lets me talk. ¡°Part of my brain doesn''t recognize this as real so I''m not fully in desperation mode yet.¡±

    ¡°Get there. We need to get these people out.¡± He says this and over his shoulder I see the guilt on Brian''s face. Theo seems shamed. Nat seems annoyed.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I say. I take a deep breath and breathe it out slowly, trying to get into combat mode. ¡°Wait, did you guys change clothes? And is that a gun?¡±

 Chapter 9: Style

    Time left until monsters respawn: 8 hours, 15 minutes.

    We''ve all changed into clothes from the clothes dunes now. We took the opportunity to grab the higher end Get! outfits and we all look pretty stylish as we stand at the stairs down into the 3rd floor.

    I''m wearing skinny black jeans and a blue and white t-shirt that says ¡°Giant Robot¡± in a recognizable font. And yes, I can pull off skinny jeans. Jose has a red plaid button down over a white undershirt and baggy blue jeans. Brian got some of the more expensive exercise clothes in electric yellow, which he hopes will make him be faster. They will not. Nat looks rad as hell in a black leather jacket over a shirt that replicates the label of a whiskey bottle. She''s got black leggings under a loose skirt. We think she''s getting ready to be photographed when we get out of here. Theo has just picked up a new red polo shirt and khakis. Still the company man, despite the company currently being occupied by monsters.

    Also I got my eyepatch back. Apparently you drop dungeon related items when you die. That''s our working theory since we don''t lose our clothes when we respawn.

    The gun came from the snake. It''s a large silver revolver. I don''t know why the snake dropped it until Jose tells me the gun type. It''s a Colt Python. I groan. This dungeon likes puns? We''re fucked.

    Haha, actually though giving Corporal Amarillo a gun means the dungeon basically wants us to waltz through the rest.

    The big boss snek also dropped its fangs as short swords, about 300 dollars in Sacagaweas, and all the rattles that made up its tail. Jose has saved the best for last though.

    He hands me a knife. An M3 Fighting Knife, to be exact. A 6.75 inch blade used by our predecessors, the Rangers of WW2. It has a mongoose engraved into the side of the blade. ¡°Dug through the big hill of socks and found a cardboard box with that inside,¡± Jose tells me.

    Holding the knife I feel several things at once. I firstly feel complete, whole. A knife helped get us through the cave. I''m more familiar with knife fighting than shooting a gun at this point, so this is perfect. But I also feel Jose''s concern for me. He dug through a big pile of socks, found an old knife, and knew I''d want it. What a friend. Lastly I felt something more from the knife itself. I took a few practice stabs with it and found my movements fast. Faster than I ever was before.

    ¡°Is this thing enchanted?¡± I ask, and to confirm I open my menu and check my status.

    Specialist Jun Kyung Han

    Synergist Level 8

    Mage level 1

    Caster level 3

    Scout level 1

    Unassigned levels: 3

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 12

    Dexterity 42 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 22 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 14

    Constitution 12

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 36

    Memory 18

    Wisdom 5

    Charisma 6

    Reflexes 43 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 1

    Spirit 0

    Faith 0

    Arcana 10

    Luck 1

    ¡°Wow this thing gives me extra Dexterity, Agility and Reflexes. Oh and I have THREE LEVEL UPS.¡± I''m increasingly excited about these developments. ¡°Sorry I''m gonna need a bit to sort the levels out.¡± Everyone groans but I don''t care. I take a seat on some hot pants and dig through menus.

    The classes I qualify for:

    1st Step classes: Mage, Fighter, Rogue, Engineer.

    2nd Step classes: Scout, Plotter, Tinkerer, inventor, Grenadier, Gunner, Caster. Wizard. Archer, Killer, Thief, Swashbuckler, Tactician, Imbuer

    3rd Step classes: Bomb Maker, Sharpshooter, Rake, Strategist

    What''s a Rake?

    Rake

    Take Swashbuckling, make it more aggressive and be more of a dick about it. Use melee and ranged weapons.

    A third step class. Three subclasses. Five class evolutions.

    Gain 3 Dexterity, 3 Agility, 3 Reflexes and 1 Ki upon choosing this class. One basic, one advanced and one expert dueling techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Ki, Dexterity, Agility and Reflexes.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced or expert dueling technique will be granted until all expert and lower dueling techniques are granted. Each level you gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Agility, 1 Ki and 5 free points.

    Woah, that sounds great. I wonder what the subclasses are.

    Rake Subclasses

    Dastardly - Gain additional damage on sneak attacks, based on your Charisma.

    Hedge - Utilize attack spells instead of melee or ranged weapons when using melee or ranged techniques, respectively.

    Windy - Gain mobility based wind magic each level.

    Oh, yeah, Hedge Rake sounds awesome, but I peruse the other options as well. Now that I know from Nat and Jose that higher step classes give better bonuses and more stats, I''m shooting for those. I think Bomb Maker requires materials to actually make bombs, so I skip that. I''ll look at Sharpshooter and Strategist.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Sharpshooter

    Use any ranged weapon to perfect not just killing shots, but impossible shots.

    A third step class. Three subclasses. Seven class evolutions.

    Gain 3 Dexterity, 3 Reflexes and 4 Ki upon choosing this class. One basic, one advanced and one expert shooting technique will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Ki, Dexterity and Reflexes.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced or expert shooting technique will be granted until all expert and lower shooting techniques are granted. Each level you gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Reflexes, 1 Ki and 5 free points.

    Subclasses

    Trick Shooting - Your shots have a chance to ricochet based on your Luck. If your Luck is high enough you''ll never miss.

    Eagle Eyed - Your vision greatly enhances. Night vision is a given.

    Show Off - Bullets can''t do that! Now they can. Use bullets to push, pull, and do other physics defying tasks.

    Neat. But that''s Jose''s class and I''m not the type of guy who''d steal someone else''s thunder by taking the same class as them.

    Strategist

    Put even more troops under your auspice and keep them safe while also keeping them drenched in their enemy''s blood.

    A third step class. Three subclasses. 9 class evolutions.

    Gain 3 Intelligence, 2 Reflexes and 5 Spirit upon choosing this class. Three expert command techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Intelligence, Reflexes and Spirit.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced or expert command technique will be granted until all expert and lower command techniques are granted. Each level you gain 2 Intelligence, 1 Reflexes, 2 Ki and 5 free points.

    Subclasses

    Combat - Your ability to lead troops develops further. Gain +25% effectiveness of your combat related command techniques.

    Logistics - Your effectiveness is determined by supply lines. Your command technique Ki point costs are reduced by 25%.

    Developmental - Troops under your command gain proficiency at 125% speed.

    Okay, so the extra Ki seems to indicate that command techniques consume a lot of Ki points. I''m not currently interested in going into Ki too heavily so let''s skip this one as well.

    I take Hedge Rake. My Dexterity rises from 42 to 49. My Agility rises from 22 to 29. My Reflexes rise from 40 to 43. My Ki rises from 1 to 4. I have 10 free attribute points to distribute however I want. I think to myself that having a better Ki would be good since I''m going to be using Ki techniques now. Charisma dictates your Ki regeneration, so I probably want that too. Also, I want to see if having a ¡°human average of 10¡± Charisma does anything for my looks.

    I use my free points to raise my Ki from 4 to 10 and my Charisma from 6 to 10. My face feels tingly. Not like it''s being rearranged or anything. ¡°Do I look any different?¡± I turn and ask Brian.

    ¡°No, I mean not really.¡± Brian tilts his head and crosses his arms to inspect me. ¡°Did you get some sleep when you were dead though? The bags under your eyes are gone.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± I pump my arm. ¡°Putting points into Charisma will possibly, just maybe, if I''m lucky, get me a date.¡±

    ¡°But I thought you were married,¡± Brian says, confused.

    Theo turns and slaps Brian on the back. ¡°Dude! Quit joking! Haha, this guy.¡± He''s doing that turn-the-mistake-into-a-joke thing. ¡°What a kidder.¡±

    I squint at them as Theo pulls Brian to the side and whispers in his ear. Then Brian turns back to me. ¡°My mistake,¡± he says, and Theo nods as if this statement is acceptable.

    ¡°Uh, okay,¡± I say, and move on with my life.

    Combat Techniques

    Lunge

    Reach forward with your weapon and slide further than your foe expects. 1 foot further to start, but keep at it and that''ll increase.

    Range: 1 foot

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Parry

    Shields? Nah! You''ve got a weapon. Block with that. Then kill with it too. Every sword is a multitool. Your grip is 25% stronger and firmer than normal, and your weapons hold up against damage 25% better.

    Proficiency: 0%

    Rallying Disarm

    You lash out at a foe''s weapon, disarming them, and powering up your next blow at the same time. If you don''t disarm them your energy fades away.

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency 0%

    Lancing Stride

    When on foot, running and even walking attacks have more force behind them. 20% more force, to be exact.

    Proficiency: 0%

    Dirtbag''s Enhancement

    Coat your blade with Ki for a time. Attacks with it deal extra sneak attack damage and have a chance to cause temporary blindness.

    Range: 1 held weapon

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Alright, so the stuff I learned from the Hedge Rake isn''t super exciting, but getting passive effects is always good. And something to make a weapon stronger is actually pretty interesting.

    Rallying Disarm can''t be tried right now since I don''t have anyone here I''m willing to stab or shoot. So I try out Lunge. When I use it I lean forward and take a large step, but then golden light appears from the bottoms of my feet and I magically slide forward 1 foot.

    ¡°Wow you mastered having slippery shoes,¡± mocks Nat. I ignore her.

    I try out Lunge with a Fire Bat and it works fine. I try it with a Shadow Stab and I don''t slide the extra bit. Maybe Shadow Stab is a ranged attack? I finally give Fluid Fist a shot. A boxing glove of blue water surrounds my hand. It''s surprisingly heavy and feels made for bashing and not actual boxing. It works with Lunge. So does Static Snap.

    I let my Ki recharge and use Dirtbag''s Enhancement on my M3 Mongoose. I feel energy flow through my fingers and into the knife. A dingy golden glow surrounds the blade.

    Brian asks ¡°Okay then are you done jerking off with your giant wet hand?¡±

    I nod and ask him, ¡°yeah, also, did you draw the dungeon like I asked you to?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Brian replies.

    ¡°You should have a drawing of the dungeon on your tablet,¡± I say. ¡°Copied from the fire escape route. I asked you to do it. Did you do it?¡±

    I was giving him an out. I made up a reason for him to have the map other than the truth. Because I don''t think he needs to be marked by everyone for causing this mess. But also I want his expertise and knowledge of the dungeon.

    He fumbles with the tablet as he takes it out of his backpack. ¡°Y-yeah I got it, uh, done.¡± He pulls up the drawing he did. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because,¡± I reply, ¡°I don''t need you to fight. What I need is a dungeon master.¡±

    -----

    Time left until monsters respawn: 7 hours, 58 minutes.

    He holds the tablet to his chest as he shows it to the rest of us. ¡°So the second and third floors are really all interconnected. See there''s just one stair from the fourth to the third. And only one between the first and second floors. But between the second and third floors there are six staircases.¡± Brian points out each staircase. ¡°It''s really just one path that has a couple of dead end side paths.¡±

    ¡°So we can skip the dead ends?¡± Nat asks.

    ¡°Probably.¡± Brian continues. ¡°The third floor is kind of a replica of the back room area of the old store. And the second floor is toys, housewares, electronics, pharmacy, beauty and bedding. But all of that doesn''t matter. The real problem is here.¡± He points at the end of the third floor, which is just below us and the only way forward. ¡°This is a boss. Or probably a boss.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡± asks Theo.

    ¡°Oh, um...¡± Brian fumbles around in his brain for a response that doesn''t out him as the architect of our doom. I can''t help him on this one. ¡°It''s what I''d do? And the size of the room. A room that big is going to be a major encounter.¡±

    He points out the room again. According to his version of the map the room simulates the docking area of the back room. There are big shutter doors in the walls.

    ¡°Are those shutters going to open and unveil some horrible monster?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± Brian replies. ¡°But right after that is another safe room. It''s the employee training area from the old store.¡± The monsters haven''t been exactly to Brian''s design. He just put regular snakes and a hydra in the clothes piles. And the sonic death parrot was supposed to be a sonic death pterodactyl. That... Would have been cooler, honestly.

    ¡°Okay. Jose, you ready?¡± I ask, turning to my squad mate. I flip my knife in my hand.

    Natalie is visibly miffed. ¡°I thought we were coming.¡±

    ¡°No, you''re trailing behind us as we clear areas,¡± I say with a firm demeanor. "We don''t have time to both train you and get through here. So we''re going ahead, just as we have been."

    She doesn''t like that. She argues with me for a bit but I don''t care. I don''t need her along. Jose has a damn gun and I''ve got a knife. We''re capable of taking this whole place out now.

    It''s hard to make someone understand how truly scary you can be when you''re a soldier who''s in a full combat mindset. Which I''m almost entirely in now. I don''t have time for her bullshit.

    ¡°Look, you can follow my orders or you can ignore me but ignoring me will get people killed.¡±

    ¡°Says the guy who died twice,¡± She mocks me. She shouldn''t do that.

    In a flash I''ve kicked out her legs. She''s on her back and I''m kneeling over her with a fist in front of her face. I could have used the knife, but I''m trying to hold back. ¡°I don''t have time for your bullshit.¡± I pull my fist away but don''t get off her yet. ¡°I wasn''t taking this seriously yet. Now I am. Things are different now. I am different now.¡± I get up and turn to open the door to the stairs. ¡°Stay the fuck here until we say otherwise.¡±

    I don''t look back at her. I don''t care what she''s thinking or feeling right now. All that matters is getting everyone out alive.

    Jose and I take the stairs down. It''s another office building industrial staircase. Once we''re at the third floor door Jose puts a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You went too hard, man.¡±

    ¡°Had to. We''ve got eight hours before monster city becomes populated again with stronger foes."

    Jose sternly says, ¡°we''re not in the cave, Jun.¡±

    ¡°I don''t know what that means.¡±

    ¡°You''re not who you were in there. Not who you had to be. We got out. We left the cave behind.¡±

    I shake my head and open the third floor door. He doesn''t get it. He didn''t see everything that happened in there. Everything I had to do. He was at range. I had to get up in people''s faces as I killed them. I had to hear the gurgling of blood in their lungs, the last gasps of air, the mumbles about their wives or mothers or kids.

    Maybe I don''t have enough Wisdom. Maybe I don''t have enough empathy. Or maybe I''ve got too much trauma and I''ve never gone to therapy for it.

    Actually, it''s probably that last one.

    I don''t think Natalie will forgive me. She''s probably right not to. I crossed the line, Jose is right. And... And I can''t go back and apologize. No, not right now, not when I''m busy being a soldier. You don''t apologize for the awful things you do when you''re a soldier. You just bottle it up, ignore it, and move on.

    Maybe we''re not in Afghanistan anymore. But honestly, I''m not sure if I ever left that cave.

 Chapter 10: R-32, 2

    Four years ago

    Davis was unconscious. Amarillo was wounded, his leg looked like it''d been ripped apart. Han was bruised and beaten but not too bad.

    Han treated Amarillo and Davis best he could. Davis seemed to be physically fine but couldn''t be roused. Amarillo was bad. Han pulled and cinched a belt around Amarillo''s left thigh to slow/stop blood flow to the wounded area. He cleaned and dressed the leg as best he could, but knew it was probably going to be removed if they ever got out of there.

    After 2 hours, Han started to worry. Amarillo said to wait, but Han was bad at trusting the higher ups. He didn''t think they were getting an evac.

    After 4 hours Han used his directional mic to see if anyone was digging them out. That wasn''t in the cards. He and Amarillo talked it through. They had their end of the cave lit by a single flashlight to conserve battery.

    ¡°I can limp but that''s about it,¡± Amarillo said. ¡°I ain''t running to safety.¡±

    Han nodded towards their squad leader. ¡°Yeah and we''re not leaving Davis behind.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Amarillo asked.

    ¡°So I gotta clear the cave.¡± Han said it matter of fact.

    ¡°And how are you gonna do that?¡±

    Han checked his rifle and made sure his knife was sheathed, strapped to the chest piece of his body armor. ¡°Look, I may be the tech guy but I''m just as much a Ranger as you are.¡±

    ¡°Uhh-huh.¡± Amarillo said. ¡°How many?¡±

    ¡°Kills?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, kills,¡± said Amarillo. He was sitting down and held his sniper rifle in his lap like it was his favorite child.

    Han shook his head. ¡°I don''t play that game. Doesn''t matter. There''s no XP in real life.¡±

    ¡°XP?¡± Amarillo asked.

    ¡°Yeah, experience points. Points for kills. Like in video games?¡±

    ¡°Yeah I know, just didn''t know you played RPGs... The good kind.¡±

    Han shrugged, trying to keep a smile off his face. After months of being on this squad, someone was finally talking to him, and it was about nerd shit. He should get trapped in caves more often.

    They heard a scuffling and low murmuring. Amarillo immediately switched the flashlight off and they both pulled down the night vision scopes on their helmets.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Four men were stumbling around in the dark while only one had a flashlight. They were dressed in typical Afghani garb, loose robes, linens. They all had handguns.

    Amarillo understood a little bit of the local tongue, enough to tell when someone was feeling murderous or not. These guys were talking about ¡°the Americans.¡± Not good.

    Amarillo raised his rifle and aimed down sights at the man in front, but Han held up a hand. Amarillo saw Han indicate the flashlight, not the man. Interesting.

    The tunnel was basically a straight line, but it curved downwards from the cave entrance where the Rangers were holed up. They could take out all four with a burst of gunfire, no problem. So what was Han''s plan?

    Amarillo saw Han slide his knife into his left hand and grip his Glock-19 handgun with the other. Both hands were together in front of Han in a mixed weapon stance. His knife hand supported his gun hand, but was forward enough to easily and quickly stab.

    Han mouthed ¡°one, two, three¡± at Amarillo and the expert sniper fired a perfect shot right into the flashlight. As soon as the flashlight hit the ground Han was already on the group, cutting or stabbing each man once, pushing his way to the last man, who got a knife buried in his neck. A spray of blood shot across the third man''s back but there was little time to worry about clothes. The third man in line felt the knife across his throat as he died. The second man in line had already collapsed from the first stab which punctured his kidney. Han skipped him and swiftly thrust his blade into the heart of the first man in line.

    The whole fight took less than 15 seconds. And aside from the sound of the gunshot and shattering flashlight, it had been very quiet. Han knew to cut vocal chords and throats to keep targets from alerting others. He had injured all four in seconds, then only after he''d stunned them did he take his time in ensuring their deaths.

    Methodical, decisive, deadly. This guy, thought Amarillo, this guy is scary.

    Han collected handguns, ammo, a shitty cell phone and some other odds and ends the four men were carrying. Nothing of much use.

    Amarillo asked what their next step was.

    ¡°You''re asking me?¡± Han replied.

    ¡°You''ve got the two working legs.¡± Amarillo said, waving his hand at his own mangled appendage. They had to apply a tourniquet above the knee and everything below was useless.

    Han thought it over. There had been a party sent to check this end of the cave. He knew that further in was a mining operation. And this far north, considering the hazmat suits he''d seen in the drone''s vid, they were possibly mining Uranium.

    ¡°I''ll push ahead, then come back when I get the room cleared out. If I don''t come back...¡±

    Amarillo said confidently, ¡°you''ll come back.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, don''t let them have Davis alive. She... She wouldn''t want their treatment.¡±

    Amarillo nodded and watched Han disappear into the tunnel below. He switched off his NV and let the darkness consume his senses. All he had to do was stay awake and wait.

    Han crept down the tunnel, knife and gun still held ahead of him. As he approached the end of the tunnel he flicked off his NV. The first chamber in his path was well lit. Han stayed in the darkness to observe.

    The mining operation seemed to be going well, judging by the dozen men at work down here. Eight men had pickaxes and seemed to be just randomly prodding the walls to see if nuclear weapons would spontaneously show up. The other four men were crowded around a folding card table and a couple of laptops.

    The expendable miners wore normal clothes. Only the chiefs around the table had hazmat suits. As always, the important people get the good equipment.

    Han waited for an hour. He checked his watch. It was close to lunch time. He waited to see if the men would clear out. Half of them did, but three men with AK-47s showed up. They were shouting and gesturing towards the tunnel Han was currently perched in. This was probably bad.

    Han hoofed it back to Amarillo and Davis. He explained the situation to Amarillo, who had just one piece of advice.

    ¡°You probably gotta kill our way out of here.¡±

    Han nodded. In the tunnel the bodies of the men he''d killed were starting to stink anyway.

 Chapter 11: Boss

    Time left until monsters respawn: 7 hours, 38 minutes.

    The door opens into a short corridor that ends in a large shutter door. There''s a red button to the right of the door.

    I give Jose my analysis. ¡°I''m assuming that if you went through here normally you''d kill the boss and open this door. It''s also safe to assume we''ll encounter the boss as soon as I hit this button.¡±

    He nods and takes a crouched shooting position by the door. This will give him the best chance to ice whatever is there the second the big shutter opens even a bit.

    Jose already explained to me his power set. Each time he shoots he''s got a 50% chance to immediately, magically put a bullet backwards in the chamber. With 6 shots in the revolver, that means an average of 11 shots before he''s out. He also has a technique that makes bullets, but it''s expensive so he can only do it twice before he''s out of Ki points. The bullets only last a minute anyway so he can''t stock up ahead of time. That leaves him with about 14 shots per battle.

    For my part I''ve got my M3 Mongoose knife in one hand, and five fingers worth of Static Snap in the other. I hit the button and we take a last breath before battle.

    The room has a gray concrete floor and dull brown walls. To my left and right I see shutter doors opening. The center of the room is empty, but on the other side of the room I see a door and some shelves with cleaning supplies on them.

    When a trailer truck gets to a Get! store it unloads several pallets of products. A traditional Get! store pallet is a 4¡¯ x 4¡¯ square standardized wooden pallet. It is usually stacked about 5¡¯ tall, with plastic wrapping around it to keep everything in place until it''s time to unload it. We use forklifts to move the things as they''re both large and often hundreds of pounds. This is the way things were in the old store.

    In the new store there are three forklifts but unfortunately they''re organic. They''re creatures shaped like forklifts. Where the forks should be are two long white teeth (or horns?). The body is pink and fleshy like a hairless cat. The top part has seven orange eyes of various sizes where the forklift''s dials and warning lights should be. The handle/controls have been replaced by a goddamn spiked tail. Oh look, I found the mouth. It''s the bottom of the monster and it''s leaving a sticky slime trail as it moves towards us. I think they''re moving themselves by pushing against the floor with their tongues.

    Fuuuuuck no. I am not okay with this lovecraftian horror bullshit.

    Jose unloads two rounds into each creature and then pops his revolver''s cylinder to check his remaining rounds. This all takes less than 5 seconds. The creatures squeal like dying pigs and bleed oil. Or black blood. I''m no doctor/chemical engineer. They also don''t stop moving. One heads straight for us. I''ll call him Uno. Another I''ll call Dos trails Uno. Tres goes off to the side into one of the other open shutter doors.

    The creatures make slurping sounds as they move, which is just awful. Jose clicks his gun back together and I say ¡°Concentrated fire!¡± He dumps three rounds into one and then I dash forward in a low crouch under the shutter door which still isn''t fully open. I dash past Uno, tagging it with my Static Snap as I do. Between the bullets and the electro shock I think it''s dead or at least very wounded.

    I turn to Dos and pull a Shadow Stab up from right underneath it, using its own shadow against it. The thing reels back and blood oil shoots from the wound but it still moves. It spins backwards around at me and I dodge its spiked tail. I pull another Shadow Stab into Dos and it stops moving but the tail keeps wagging. I take half a dozen half-inch spikes in my right arm but I''ll live. The real problem is what Tres has been doing.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    Tres wheels (tongue lashes?) out just about the worst thing possible. It''s a goddamn wasp nest the size of a pallet. The wasps are about a foot long each. Aaaaand there are at least a dozen of them.

    Fuuuuuck no. I am not okay with this big-insect 1950s-sci-fi-movie bullshit.

    I pull out a Shadow Stab near a wasp and the thing just flies out of the way. I hear Jose''s gun retort one more time as he shoots into Uno, popping an eye off top. It explodes into orange goo and Uno kicks the bucket at last. Jose holds his right hand over his gun and I see golden shining dust flow from his hand into the gun. That''s his technique that makes bullets. He''s going to have two, maybe three shots left.

    ¡°Wasps if you can,¡± I call out. Tres is starting to pull away from the wasp pallet and I dash around and slash twice at Tres before I keep moving, away from the wasps. Two of them leave the nest and fly towards me only to explode mid air as Jose pops them. I''ve got 7 Arcana points left. I figure small homing shots might be just what I need and call out two Dark Motes as three more wasps come towards me. The two motes slam into the first wasp''s body and wing, forcing it to the ground. Dark Motes are good against flying creatures. Need to remember that. The second and third wasps charge me and one gets a knife to the thorax which cuts it in two. The other gets the better of me and stabs its all too long stinger into my chest. I''m alive but it probably missed my heart by an inch.

    I feel like I''m choking. The damn wasp must have punctured my lung. While he''s caught in me I flip my wrist up and cut some legs and wings off him. He falls and wiggles a little bit so I stomp him dead.

    Jose flings spikes at the remaining wasps. These aren''t as fast as bullets so the wasps can dodge if they''re already in flight. They''re all in motion now and the remaining 8 wasps all charge Jose. I reach into my pocket and throw some Peanut M&Ms into my mouth and hope the healing power of break room snacks is enough to fix my lung.

    That''s when forklift terror number Tres wheels in front of me, its fork teeth horns bared and... Wiggling up and down in a grotesque manner. I don''t have the oxygen in me to fight so I pop three Shadow Stabs into Tres and the third one pierces all the way out its head(?) which shoots black gold into the sky and kills it.

    By the time I''ve shadow stabbed the last forklift Jose is covered in bugs. He doesn''t scream or yell, but he''s trying to fight back. I feel luscious oxygen sweep back into my left lung as life recovering candy fixes me enough to fight.

    I rush over and shout, ¡°hold!¡± like he had hours ago. He immediately stills his flailing arms. He''s being stung. Badly. I stab and slash and stab and slash. I have two AP left so with my right hand I call two more Dark Motes. I don''t care what they hit and don''t see what they do. I''m just stabbing and slashing.

    After about a minute I''ve cleared Jose of bugs but he''s in a bad way. I rip open a bag of Fritos and he opens his mouth. I oblige him and he crunches down on garlicy, salty healing. After the first bite he can move his arms again so I hand off the bag to him and start downing some peanut butter crackers to heal my right arm.

    I try not to dwell on how badly Jose looks. It''s... Gnarly, and not in the rad surfer brah way.

    That''s when the hive starts buzzing. One of the wasp eggs hatches and a brand new baby death bug is born into the world. Jose whips two spikes into it before it can free itself but the other eggs, the DOZENS of other eggs, are wiggling and making crunching noises as things try to hatch.

    We need an area of effect attack, bad. ¡°We need fire!¡± I say. I don''t have the AP for Fire Bat left. That''s when I spot the back wall and its collection of cleaning supplies. I start my way over and Jose stays and puts spikes in wasps as they emerge. I grab two cans of WD40.

    I''m back over to the nest seconds later and lubricate the shit out of the hive. I have to wait now, just a minute. Just a minute... I slam my knife down into a wasp trying to be born. Come on, come on... I slit the head off a wasp as it breathes for the first time. Come on already! There! My Arcana regenerates the last point I need and I pull a Fire Bat out from thin air. I take one swing and the WD40 soaked wasp nest goes up in a flash of flame, heat and acrid smoke.

    The smell is awful. Jose says ¡°Let''s retreat and let this air out.¡±

    I look around for more threats but Jose doesn''t seem to be worried about that. Which means he already scoped the area. He''s standing in front of the shutter door on the right, so I assume he cleared it.

    We turn to go when the door on the far wall opens. I spin around. Jose prepares spikes. And we both come to a shocked halt when we see a human face.

 Chapter 12: The Others

    Time left until monsters respawn: 7 hours, 21 minutes.

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± I call out.

    ¡°Mortimer Lewis, Certified Public Accountant. Uh, who are you? And did you kill those things?¡± He''s a middle aged man in a button down shirt that has specks of blood on it.

    ¡°Jun Kyung Han, this is Jose Amarillo, and yeah. We killed them.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god, are you guys here to rescue us?¡± the man blubbers, tears rapidly forming in his eyes.

    Jose shrugs. ¡°Sure, why not?¡±

    I ask, ¡°us? How many is us?¡±

    Mortimer swings open the door and beckons us through. I look at Jose, he nods, and we follow.

    ¡°Ah, just through here,¡± Mortimer guides us out of the boss room and into a hall filled with empty cardboard boxes. We come to another door, this one lined with the light blue glow that means safe room.

    He opens the door and to our surprise there are almost two dozen people crammed into the old store''s employee training room. A room that was intended for up to eight new recruits to sit at tables and watch new hire videos is now overstuffed with people who look scared, haggard, tired, hungry and wounded.

    Murmurs ripple through the crowd.

    ¡°Are they the police?¡±

    ¡°They''re dressed like slackers.¡±

    ¡°Is that guy okay? He''s covered in goo.¡±

    ¡°Are we safe?¡±

    ¡°This can''t be worse, right?¡±

    I decide to not repeat myself over and over again and instead just shout to all of them at once. ¡°HEY! So we''re not the cops. We are, however, former Army Rangers and we''ve fought down from the fifth floor.¡±

    Someone worriedly says, ¡°there''s a fifth floor? Oh god!¡±

    ¡°SHUT IT!¡± Jose says, not in a military voice but a Dad voice. It gets the room quiet.

    ¡°Okay, so we''re moving through and going to clear a path to the exit,¡± I say, trying to get the room to understand the situation. ¡°We cleared the upstairs so I want you guys to go meet up with our friends there. They can get you new clothes, food and water at least. Also you can probably take a nap safely in the upstairs safe room. There''s plenty of space for all of you.¡±

    People are sobbing. People thank us. They start to leave in small groups. We show them the way, show them it''s safe. Their faces do something to me. Their happiness, their relief. It does something inside me that I don''t understand.

    Some of them are employees, most are just former customers. Our coworker Bilbo (yeah, his real name) was shirking work in the back training room when the disaster hit and he figured out the safe room first. He then valiantly ran around as far as he could and got as many people in there as possible. That short, fat, balding man saved 22 people because he wasn''t doing his job. We tell him Nat is safe and he sets off to tell the gorgeous woman about his heroism. Good luck, little guy.

    -----

    After we''ve escorted civies and apropo of nothing, I ask Jose, ¡°hey, do you know why Brian said I was married? Theo acted weird about it.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Jose says, ¡°because of Mercy.¡±

    He means the payroll/IT clerk for the store, Mercy Mahar. The Pakistani girl. ¡°Uh, what?¡±

    ¡°Because you flirt all the time,¡± he says, like it''s obvious.

    ¡°No, I don''t,¡± I say, defensively.

    ¡°You do.¡±

    ¡°No, I just think she''s interesting. She''s really good at coding and makes anime costumes. She''d probably join our tabletop group if our lunch breaks aligned. But looking at her makes my stomach hurt. I don''t think of her like that.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh.¡±

    I''m getting annoyed now. ¡°What, a guy can''t talk to a female coworker without it being a thing? I talk to Nat and that''s not a thing.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh.¡±

    We''re back in the boss room, kicking monster corpses until they fade away and turn into loot. ¡°And why would that make her my wife anyway?¡±

    Jose casually says, ¡°it''s called a work wife.¡±

    ¡°Wait, is that a meme? You know I don''t know memes.¡±

    Jose picks up Sacagaweas by the handful and then says ¡°Woah,¡± as he holds up a bright orange vest.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask. It''s just one of the high visibility vests you have to wear when you work outside so cars don''t hit you. He throws it to me and I also say, ¡°Woah.¡±

    The thing feels like it''s radiating power. It feels like my enchanted knife. It feels like a car ready to rocket off the start line. Like it''s vibrating, thrumming with power. I slide it on. The thin fabric of the vest extends until it''s covering my waist, legs and arms. I''m a bright orange safety mascot. And I have no idea what this means. I pull at the vest and the extra material slides back into the vest, disappearing from existence. I throw it back to Jose.

    He slips it on and the high visibility body armor reforms around him. ¡°Wanna see what it protects against?¡± he asks.

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Like hit you?¡±

    ¡°You''ve got a stock of weird shit. Try some.¡±

    I shrug and we do testing (play around) for a few minutes. We discover the suit resists slashing damage almost entirely but does nothing against bashing or stabbing attacks. It makes you totally immune to my dark element attacks, which with the bright orange color I guess makes sense. Neither of us actually wants to wear the dumb looking thing though, so I convince Jose to put it in his inventory for now.

    We get back to looting. The wasps, including the ones in the nest, each drop 5 bucks in coinage. Some of them drop stinger daggers which aren''t better than what we have already. The forklift monsters each drop a whopping 100 in coins, and one had dropped the vest. Another dropped a tusk spear, which Jose takes and straps to his back.

    We also find out that the nest itself counted as a monster when I cut into it and it fades away. It drops 300 coins and a scroll made of wasp nest paper. I carefully unfurl it and read.

    Reading the last line of this scroll triggers its effect!

    Scroll of Permanent Piercing Poison. Whomever should so readeth this scroll thine piercing attacks should forevermore be-

    I tell Jose to read it. He''s got the spikes and bullets. He reads it to himself and the scroll turns to ash, falling apart in his hands.

    ¡°Now my attacks have a chance to inflict severe allergic reactions.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I ask, incredulous.

    ¡°Severe swelling over 60 seconds. Like a bug bite.¡±

    That makes sense, as much as anything in here makes sense. We move on. I peer into the third shutter door. The first was the one we came from. The second had the pallet hive. What''s in the third? There''s a single small brown cardboard box in a small alcove. I open it up and find the greatest treasure of all.

    ¡°Holy ambrosia!¡± I exclaim.

    Jose rushes over and sees what I have in my hands. Three cans of MAXX XP Leveling Lemonade flavor energy drink. Lemonade is my favorite energy drink flavor, and with the mighty power of caffeine and B vitamins I''m truly unstoppable.

    I instantly quaff one and feel a tingling in my body. That feeling usually takes 15 minutes to kick in. I check my status. I''ve gained another Level. I''d already gained 1 Level from the fight, now I have two to play with. I hand Jose a can and tell him the good news. He drinks the can even though he hates energy drinks, making a face of disgust the whole time. Philistine.

    I take a look at my level up options and see that with two level ups I can grab a subclass for Scout. What''s waiting for me there?

    Scout Subclasses

    World Mapping - You gain a world map option in your menu.

    System - You can get basic information about system created items and creatures.

    Relationship - You can see the lines of affection, respect and dislike between people.

    System Scout! Holy beejus, System Scout! System Scout!

    My new abilities are Compass (sarcastic enthusiasm), Basic Radar (reserved enthusiasm) and System Scan (genuine enthusiasm).

    Compass

    You gain a compass in the upper left corner of your vision. This can be configured. This stacks with similar vision mapping techniques.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 1%

    Basic Radar

    You gain a basic radar function that appears in the upper left corner of your vision. It only detects moving creatures. This can be configured. This stacks with similar vision mapping techniques.

    Passive

    Range: 30 feet

    Proficiency: 1%

    System Scan

    A small white dot will appear next to System generated items and creatures. Looking at the dot reveals the name of the item or creature. This feature reveals more the higher your proficiency is.

    Passive

    Range: 30 feet

    Proficiency: 0%

    I immediately try to scan the empty MAXX XP and get nothing. No dot. I look at the unopened can and words appear right above the can, floating in the air. The words are white with black outlines, making them easy to read in any situation. Nice.

    MAXX XP Energy Drink, Leveling Lemonade flavor.

    I look at my knife and other objects nearby.

    M3 Combat Knife With Mongoose enchantment.

    Full Body Hi-Vis Slash Resistant Armor.

    Colt Python revolver.

    Bifork Tusk Spear.

    The forklift critters were called Biforks, I guess? I scan a lot of mundane objects in rapid succession. Only objects that are ¡°usable¡± can be scanned. Clothes, trash, doors, shelves, etc can''t be scanned. I''m interested in the extra features so I just start scanning on reflex from now on to build my proficiency with the technique.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Jose looks at me with an uncertainty that I''ve never seen in him before. ¡°Can I... Have the last level up drink? If it''s not too much trouble.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure?¡± I say. ¡°I just got some good shit so why not?¡± I toss him the can. He catches it with supernaturally fast reflexes and precision. When the hell did he get so fast? Oh, right, level ups.

    He drinks the can and tells me what happened. ¡°I got to level 10 in Sharpshooter. That let me know what the requirements for the next Class evolution was. I already met them. Now I''m a level 10 Trick Shot Sharpshooter and a level 1 Crack Shot.¡±

    ¡°Whaaaaaaaaa!¡± I exclaim. Jose wants help with the immediate subclass choice so he reads me the entire entry. It is literally the longest I''ve ever heard him talk at once.

    Crack Shot

    Use thunder or lightning in your ranged weapons to hit foes with a flash of deadly speed.

    A fourth step class. Two subclasses. Unknown class evolutions.

    Gain 5 Dexterity, 5 Reflexes and 5 Ki upon choosing this class.

    You must choose a Subclass upon choosing this class.

    Two subclass specific techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class. You gain master training with ranged weapons.

    Uses Ki, Dexterity and Reflexes.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced, expert or master shooting technique will be granted until all expert and lower shooting techniques are granted. A subclass specific technique will be granted every even numbered level. Each level you gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Reflexes, 3 Ki and 8 free points.

    Subclasses

    Lightning Crack Shot - Your ranged weapons crackle with electricity and fire voltage.

    Thunder Crack Shot - Your ranged weapons use the speed of sound as a starting line. Utilize sonic and air attacks with your ranged weapons.

    ¡°So basically thunder or lightning?¡± I sum up. He just nods. He must be tired of talking. ¡°I don''t know how the sonic and thunder stuff would work. Maybe you could do silent shots? Or tornado bullets? But lightning seems straightforward. Electrocute people and things. Fewer possibilities but guaranteed results.¡±

    Jose nods, thinks for a minute, closes his eyes and says ¡°I got a thing to shoot lightning, doesn''t take ammo. And a lightning dodge. Hrm. I have to be aiming to do it?¡± He whips his revolver from his waistband and takes aim at a nearby bottle of bleach. He then, without moving a muscle, instantly slides backwards 3 feet while golden coils of electricity circle his feet. Then he slides again, to his right. He slides two more times until he''s back where he started. Then gold lightning crackles through his gun, the barrel glows and a damn blue bolt of lightning fires out his gun, toasting the plastic jug of bleach, causing it to explode in a shower of caustic chemical spray.

    I take a deep breath. It was beyond impressive. It was rad as fuck. I''m trying to control my nerd-age and be a serious soldier right now but ¡°Fuuuuck that was cool!¡± comes out of my mouth.

    Jose nods. ¡°Volt Shot takes 3 seconds to charge though.¡±

    ¡°Still, that looks like a grade-A killer move. How''s your Ki expenditure look on it?¡±

    ¡°Pretty high. Electric Slide is 3 Ki, Volt Shot is 15. I have 35 total.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and you''re not flush with ammo right now so that''s not great.¡±

    He tells me to wait. I do and after ten minutes his Ki has regenerated enough to show me the ability he got at Sharpshooter level 10, Ammo Shift. He holds a handful of spikes and they start to glow. 30 seconds later they all melt and reform into bullets for the Python. He loads 6 in the chambers and pockets the remaining 4.

    ¡°Great. But we gotta start moving. Clearing the boss room and the civilians took like 2 hours. We''ve got... A little over 5 hours left before the monsters respawn. And honestly I''d be all for grinding this place until I''m ridiculously powerful, but the civilians gotta go.¡±

    Jose nods. ¡°Which way?¡±

 Chapter 13: Swarm

    Time left until monsters respawn: 5 hours, 34 minutes.

    We exit the boss room into the hall with the third floor safe room. We keep going past the safe room and find an escalator. It''s motivating upwards. I slap the emergency stop button on its side and we head down.

    On the second floor now, we find ourselves in housewares. Bedding, table cloths, towels, shower curtains etc. In the old store this section is long, with short aisles. In the new store it''s a long white tunnel. The aisles are perpendicular to the tunnel walls, so to get through it looks like we''re going to have to serpentine between narrow passages.

    We step off the escalator. The wall of shelves before us is lined with bright white towels. Dozens of identical towels. In the old store there was a variety of shapes, sizes and colors of towels. Not here. Just plain white bath towels. Forever and ever.

    I look over at Jose who is eyeing another escalator right next to the one we just came down. It seems to go up and west into a different section of the third floor. ¡°Joseeeee,¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°We don''t have time for detours anymore. If we miss the toy department I''m sorry but we gotta go.¡±

    ¡°Not worried about that. Checking to see if hostiles will come down.¡±

    I nod. He''s right to check it. I had slipped back into thinking about the store as a video game dungeon, where the monsters stay in their rooms until you open the door. But we have no guarantee of that. In fact, the dogs on the fifth floor chased down the hall after us.

    After a few minutes of waiting for enemies he calls out, ¡°clear,¡± and we move forward.

    We silently take to leapfrogging around the corners of the aisles. I move in first, say if the path is clear and post up there at the end of the aisle. Then Jose does the same around the next aisle.

    We clear four aisles like this. The whole thing is set up to make us weave through a simple-yet-annoying non-maze. We clear four more aisles and still no hostiles.

    I tilt my head at Jose in a ¡°any ideas¡± pose. He shakes his head no, so we carry on. We clear another five aisles when we see the escalator up. That''s also when we see our first bodies. Seven of them, in horrible states. They look like they''ve been gnawed on.

    I walk over to one. It was an employee. I see from the name tag it was Venecia. She was Italian, grumpy, and barely spoke English. But she didn''t deserve... This. I look at the others. Reginald, he worked bedding. Nice guy. Believer of just about any conspiracy theory you could name, but a nice guy. The others are customers. One is, or was, a kid.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    That part, that part is fucked. The others I can deal with. I''ve seen death. Too much death. But a kid? No, no way.

    ¡°We gotta kill whatever did this,¡± I say to Jose. He nods in agreement. He can''t even look at the kid. He has kids around that age.

    We still haven''t made contact with the enemy. I look up in the corner of my vision to my new radar. It''s a light grey, translucent circle. In it all I see is a blue dot next to me, indicating Jose. I step towards the escalator and that''s when a couple of things happen.

    One, I see on my radar dozens and dozens of moving dots just on the periphery of my radar. Two, hundreds of rats swarm out from underneath the escalator, and three, we turn and run like hell.

    We run and turn the corner down the first aisle. I remember I have pretty much exactly what we need for this so I turn, hold my hand palm up, fingers spread, and jerk my hand up, casting Stalagmite Caltrops. A 5 foot diameter circle of 2 inch stone spikes pops up from the white tile floor. The brown stones look like they aren''t even attached to the tile but as the rat swarm crawls on and over the spikes, they don''t budge. They don''t do jack shit, but they don''t budge.

    I curse and cast Stalagmite Caltrops again, this time directly underneath the swarm. Blood is spilled as dozens of rats get impaled. Not enough to discourage them though, so I have to keep running. I bolt around the corner and don''t see Jose. Is he that far ahead of me? I keep running, turning another corner, then another.

    When I''ve got enough distance to stop and turn, I wait for the swarm, then cast Stalagmite Caltrops twice, spearing the swarm''s front and back half. More rats die. I think I have half of them dead now. But I have to move.

    I keep running, turning the corner twice, then repeat my caltrop attack. It''s working. I have to repeat the process just one last time and then the swarm is just a handful of disease carrying little bastards. At that point I''m out of Arcana anyway so I move in and start cutting with my knife. The jerks climb me, biting my exposed arms and neck as I jab with my knife. I finish the last one right as it''s climbing my face and I see its little incisors going for my eyeball.

    The image of the inside of a rat''s mouth centimeters from biting down is probably something I''ll remember for the rest of my life.

    I call for Jose as I kick the rats until they fade and drop treasure. When the Stalagmite timer expires each tiny spike crumbles into tan dirt. Every rat drops a Sacagawea, but I diligently pick them all up. I just made 405 dollars off of ten minutes of work. Suck it, over paid lawyers.

    Jose catches up to me by the escalator that dispensed all the rats. ¡°Rats,¡± he says. ¡°Don''t like ¡®em.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, this time I had a spell that was actually exactly what we needed.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± he says, purposefully not looking at the bodies around us. ¡°Maybe they can rest.¡± He makes the sign of the cross.

    I''m not religious but I also don''t disrespect others, so I just turn to our path forward. Again the escalator is going in the wrong direction. I punch the emergency stop button so we can be on our way. Honestly it''s pretty fun to slam your fist into a big red button.

    ¡°Let me go first,¡± Jose says. I peer up the escalator and see why he''s volunteering. It''s dark up there. He said he has a vision technique that lets him see in the dark. I''m going to have to rely on him for this section. It''s okay. I''ve done it before.

 Chapter 14: R-32, 3

    Four years ago

    Amarillo and Han had to shoulder Davis until they got out of the tunnel and into the first mining chamber. Han had procured three hazmat suits for them. The one Davis was wearing was covered in blood. Amarillo hadn''t asked why. They had trouble getting Davis into hers, but they got it done. Now if anyone saw them from a distance they''d think they were just workers.

    It was the first time Amarillo had seen the mining chamber. It was littered with corpses. Amarillo hadn''t heard gunfire while Han was gone. He''d taken out... Twenty? Amarillo didn''t see weapons on most of them. Han had taken out civilians. He''d taken out witnesses. People who would have called for reinforcements. If this place had been on high alert, Amarillo and Davis would have been long dead. They were in no condition for a real fight.

    They dragged Davis past a trio of men in their underwear. Amarillo assumed this was where Han had gotten the suits. There was one man still in his suit next to them. He''d been stabbed and the front window panel of his suit was bathed in blood. Amarillo guessed that the man had refused to give up his suit.

    They had to climb a steep incline to reach the next chamber. As they got to the ridge of the small ramp they heard men speaking hurriedly in Pashto. Han took a glance over and came back immediately.

    ¡°Shit,¡± Han said, his voice muffled from inside the suit. ¡°Fourteen. AKs and handguns. Prepping for assault.¡±

    Amarillo said, ¡°still got my rifle. Should be fine. Hole up with Davis.¡± Then he hobbled off into the dark.

    Han had to trust Amarillo. He knew Amarillo was one of the top snipers in the Rangers, hell, he might be tops in the whole damn military. He pulled Davis down into a makeshift tent the locals had been using as a shitter. It smelled awful but then the whole place stank like the dead at that point.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Amarillo had picked a spot where he had almost no cover but a perfect view of the entire room. He was up on a big boulder. The only thing protecting him was shadow. He had to knock down a construction lamp to get his position in total darkness. Otherwise he was a sitting duck. He lay prone and in a sniping position. He waited.

    The first two men over the ridge came down into the chamber and shouted for their friends. They saw bodies immediately. They looked around for obvious threats. They found none. They called for their friends to come down. Five more men crawled over the ridge and into the mining area. Then the remaining seven. 14 total armed enemies.

    They were spread out. They were searching. They shouted to each other about their dead friends. And then, after the last one had cleared the ridge, they began to die.

    The first man''s head exploded. Then another. A third man took a bullet through the shoulder, which simply exploded due to the force of the sniper rifle''s raw velocity. The MK11 Mod 0 sounded like thunder, each shot echoing through the cave. Two more men went down in quick succession. Numbers six and seven fell to the same bullet. The eighth man to die took two shots. The first cut his neck open and would have been quickly fatal, but the man raised his gun towards Amarillo. That forced the sniper''s hand and a round through the eye dropped him entirely.

    At this point 12 seconds had passed.

    The remaining seven men shouted from behind cover, though half of them didn''t know where the shots were coming from. This led to kill number nine. He thought he was safe behind a large rock, except his position was totally open to Amarillo. Ten had hidden behind a wooden crate. The crate exploded into splinters as Amarillo drove three bullets into it, piercing the wood easily, and killing the man behind it.

    Three of the remaining four quickly came up with a plan. They''d all pop out at once from behind the low rock formation they were behind. One man counted down from five. At three a grenade sailed over the rock formation and landed among them. At two they all scrambled, at one the grenade sent a shockwave of force and shrapnel out killing two men immediately and sending the 13th man to die a slower, more painful death.

    Man number 14 held his hands up in surrender.

 Chapter 15: Dark

    Time left until monsters respawn: 5 hours, 7 minutes.

    I hear the sharp, loud rapport of the Colt Python four times before Jose calls for me to come up. I climb the frozen escalator stairs and find myself in almost total darkness. I use Yellow Ray but the spell is much dimmer than normal, barely putting out any light at all. ¡°Shit this is going to be tough,¡± I say. "Some kind of magical interference with my flashlight spell."

    ¡°Straight shot hallway,¡± Jose says. ¡°You can see the emergency lights on the ceiling, right? Follow them when I say.¡±

    He refers to the dim red lights dotting the ceiling in this area. I can barely make it out but I think this was the shipping and packing station they used in the old store to get people stuff they ordered online. I think the hall is lined with those packing stations but I can''t be sure what''s on each.

    Jose just says ¡°Hold,¡± and I stay put, crouching in case that''s helpful. I hear him quietly glide forward. I see the muzzle flash of his gun briefly light up the room. It''s enough to see what he''s killing. They''re some kind of yeti morlock Bigfoot critters, except about 4 feet tall. Ugly ape-ish things with matted green-brown hair and red skin. They shriek at Jose when they charge him. And as they do he drops them cold.

    He takes out what must be a dozen or more of them. He takes his time in here, creeping forward, taking the shots he needs to, and then progressing again. I hear a door open nearby. I think that''s Jose because he says ¡°Nope!¡± and I hear the door close.

    There''s a banging of heavy blows against a wooden door and Jose tells me ¡°Head back!¡± That''s something Jose has literally never told me to do so I sure as shit listen.

    I can see the light from the rat hallway and head for it. Behind me I hear the crashing and shattering of wood. It sounds just like the shattering of a wooden box four years ago.

    I turn and see the glow of blue electricity shine in Jose''s gun. It lights him up, but not much else. After two seconds of the charge I see a horrendous creature come into the light. It''s massive like a gorilla but has four arms. The third second passes as the monster bites into Jose''s shoulder and the gun fires hot lightning into the creature. The bolt enters it and shoots out the back, arcing and frying the wall beyond.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The quad gorilla screams and reels back, but it isn''t dead. It''s painful wail is so loud it hurts my eardrums but Jose doesn''t seem bothered. He aims and fires two shots into the thing''s open mouth, exploding the back of its throat and skull.

    I can hear Jose''s heavy breathing and he says ¡°Clear¡± before I hear him slump to the floor.

    Now that the threats are dead, I try Yellow Ray again and this time it works, making my hand glow. I find Jose quickly. He''s bleeding a lot but I grab him some health recovery snack cakes and he heals up over the course of a minute.

    I look around as he heals. ¡°These creatures, what are they even supposed to be?¡± I scan one and it just says Dumb Ape. The big one is a Big Dumb Ape. Wow, helpful. Thanks, scanning ability.

    I poke some of the dead until they give up the profits. Each dumb ape drops 10 dollar coins. The big one drops 50. One dumb ape drops a banana. Hilarious. I scan it anyway and find something actually useful. It''s got a little sticker on it explaining what it does.

    Second Banana. Eating this places another Second Banana in your inventory, so long as you have an empty inventory slot.

    I hold it up to Jose. ¡°Well sir, you now have infinite bananas.¡±

    He shrugs in an ¡°alright, sounds pretty cool¡± way and takes it.

    The area has a ladder leading down in the small side room that held the big dumb ape, and another opposite-way-we-want-to-go escalator down at the end of the hall.

    Jose leers over the ladder and goes ¡°Toys.¡±

    I join him and shine my light down the ladder. The room below is well lit. There''s a familiar clacking sound. The sound of building bricks snapping together and apart again.

    ¡°Look, I support your love of guns, you know this.¡± I look at him as I try to let him down gently. ¡°But if I have to fight a swarm of plastic blocks I''d rather off myself right now.¡±

    ¡°But guns...¡±

    ¡°No, Jose,¡± I say chidingly and pull him by the shoulder in the direction of the escalator.

    We get to the next escalator and the area below is thankfully well lit. A little too well lit. As we approach I hear an all too familiar refrain.

    ¡°Get it? Got it? Good!¡± The friendly white lady voice over plays along with scenes of people shopping and being waaay too excited to find deals. It''s part of an ad reel that plays on a loop in the electronics department TVs.

    For anyone who has to work in that department, we all know that 7 minute advertisement reel by heart. It is a chant which breeds madness. It is a repetitive loop of unerring corporate jingoism.

    I slowly turn to my best friend, my buddy, my honorary brother and ask ¡°Jose, how much space do you have in your inventory?¡±

    He closes his eyes to check the menu. ¡°About 34 slots. Why?¡±

    ¡°Wanna fill all those slots with giant ass TVs?¡±

 Chapter 16: Electric

    Time left until monsters respawn: 4 hours, 52 minutes.

    Again we have to emergency stop the escalator and climb down the stairs. As we descend I note that the whole electronics department is set up like a maze, with walls of TVs, records, DVDs, books, video games and other electronics.

    This is the first time we actually got an advantage taking on this dungeon ass-backwards. We''re going from the end of 5th floor down to the beginning at the 1st floor. Usually in video games there are shortcuts back from later areas to early areas. In this case it wasn''t a shortcut, but the massive advantage of being able to see the layout of the maze. I''m sure if you''d gone through here normally you''d look back and say ¡°ohhhhh, that''s where we went the wrong way!¡± We can just skip the wrong way entirely.

    When we get to the floor, we look around, on guard. Jose sweeps left and right with his gun, I have one hand full of knife, another hand ready to magic the shit out of anything hostile.

    The maze''s white walls are 15 feet tall, almost to the 20 foot or so ceiling. The familiar fluorescent lighting illuminates the area. The TVs that dot the walls are of all sizes. The area is surprisingly well maintained. The shelves are neat and orderly. The glass case with the laptops in it is... Being broken into by Jose.

    I call ¡°Dammit Jose,¡± after the crash of glass.

    ¡°What?¡± he turns back to me. ¡°My kids need these for school.¡± He turns back and starts to grab a laptop when I stop him.

    ¡°At least get the good ones, these here. Don''t get fucking net books.¡±

    He nods and grabs the MSI gaming laptop. It disappears into his inventory as if it were never there. He grabs the next two I point out, thanks me, and we start on our way in earnest.

    We get to the first turn and take cover there. I peek around the corner. There''s a beach ball sized electrical spark jumping between TVs. It looks like a cartoon version of electricity. Bright yellow, large black eyebrows, two white circles with black dot pupils, and a mouth that''s just a triangle, permanently open in a mocking pose. I scan and get its name.

    ¡°Jose,¡± I say, ¡°Watt Elementals.¡±

    ¡°I don''t know, what elementals?¡±

    ¡°Watt Elementals.¡±

    ¡°I dunno, what?¡±

    ¡°Just look.¡±

    He looks. ¡°Oh. Looks like the mascot in the corporate safety videos.¡±

    ¡°Wanna try hot lead and if that doesn''t work, we start getting improvisational?¡±

    Jose shrugs and pops out from behind cover just enough to fire a round into our current enemy. It does nothing. The Watt Elemental turns to us, its unmoving, yet angry face somehow even more angry. It lets out a high pitched buzzing sound and charges at us.

    I have a backup plan which may or may not backfire. I clench my fist and say ¡°Fluid Fist.¡± Water seems to pop like a bubble around my right hand and then flow over my forearm until it''s covered in a 1 inch layer of azure blue water. I wave my hand back and forth and the water wobbles, tracking a split second after I move. Neat.

    Mr zappy closes on us, flying in an erratic pattern reminiscent of a lightning bolt''s jagged line. He gets to the corner and I reach out and touch him with my watery glove. This, I realize, is effective but also moronic. A sharp, burning sensation courses through my veins. I can feel every muscle in my hand twitching at once. The pain is excruciating, and then over. I think my brain hurt too.

    Yes brain hurt. Bad guy explode, poof. He gone. Drop... Nothing? ¡°Ow.¡± I say. Jose hold me up. Was I just falling over? Yeah, a bit. My legs feel like rubber. ¡°Oh, okay, yeah that sucked balls.¡±

    I regain control of my body but the stinging sensation in my hand lingers. It''s throbbing red. I don''t have any ice, so I eat a health recovery beef jerky stick. Nothing happens. I scan the jerky.

    Boy''s Jerky

    ¡°This is just regular damn jerky!¡± and I spitefully throw the remainder of the meat stick to the ground. I rummage in my messenger bag until I find another jerky.

    Healing Boy''s Jerky. Recovers HP, especially effective against muscle damage.

    Huh. That''s more info than I usually get. I close my eyepatch, check my menus and sure enough, the last jerky sent System Scan to 100% proficiency. I try scanning some other stuff.

    M3 Combat Knife With Mongoose enchantment. Deals double damage to snakes.

    Colt Python revolver. This handgun was created by the Get! Dungeon and is ineligible for a refund.

    Donut''s Collar. A pink collar fit for a princess. It enhances your jumping prowess threefold.

    ¡°Hey my System Scan got upgraded. Was there anything we couldn''t figure out?¡± Jose pulls out a few things.

    Full Body Hi-Vis Slash Resistant Armor. Expands to cover the entire body. Low resistance to slashing, light and dark damage.

    Bifork Tusk Spear. While piercing a target, the target''s body weight is reduced by half, allowing you to lift and throw them with ease, assuming you''re not a weak ass punk.

    Shoelace Bullwhip. Shoe snakes struck by this whip will be tied up in their own laces for 10 seconds.

    I shake my head with regret. ¡°Damn the whip would have made fighting the shoe snakes really easy.¡±

    Jose shakes his head in disagreement. ¡°Nah, neither of us could use it.¡±

    I shrug, tell him about the other items, and say ¡°Let''s continue.¡±

    We come to a T intersection and thanks to the escalator view I know we go right. Jose goes left. ¡°Dude,¡± I whisper ¡°this way.¡±

    ¡°Nah, we gotta go this way.¡± Jose must be onto something. He''s not usually so pushy. And yeah, for him this counts as pushy.

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    I follow and we come to a dead end but I see exactly why we''re here. ¡°Woah,¡± I utter, as we stare into the largest TV I''ve ever seen. It''s a goddamn 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV. Thing runs for tens of thousands of dollars. ¡°We didn''t carry this in the old store.¡± I scan it even though I know exactly what it is because Jose and I have debated splitting the cost of one for the last 6 months.

    Screen Siren. This creature lures in unsuspecting prey with its HDR color pallet and then kills with its summoned Watt Elementals.

    ¡°Oh fuck! Jose this is a trap!¡± I try to pull my friend away but he''s rooted in place. ¡°It''s a mimic or some shit!¡±

    I hear a crackling of static to my left and right and glance to see a Watt Elemental forming to each side. The big screen is now showing a hypnotic black and white spiral pattern. ¡°Fluid Fist!¡± I summon the water glove again and this time I raise my hand towards the elemental and close my fist. Nothing happens. The spell says it can fire the fist off as a ranged attack. ¡°Rocket Punch!¡± Nothing. ¡°Fluid Fist?¡±

    The elemental closes in. If I slap it again I''ll be disabled and this mimic siren bastard will kill us both. I duck as the creature tries to dive bomb me. It grazes Jose and he gets shocked and drops to the floor. The second elemental takes a run at me and I desperately try to just shoo it away. I flip my hand back and the Fluid Fist flies in that direction. It makes contact with the elemental and with a sizzle and popping sound the fist loses shape and dumps water to the ground while the monster disappears.

    I cast Fluid Fist again and leap out of the way of another charge by the first elemental. After he whizzes past me I fling my watery attack at it and it splats and dissipates him. I turn to the big screen.

    Wow, that is a big ass screen. And it''s soooo pretty. And man, that spiral sure is animated at a super high frame rate. What''s the refresh on this thing, 144 hz? Wow. What a TV. It''s like a work of art on its own. If I could just-

    Blam! A round from the revolver cracks the screen dead center. A pus oozes out of the cracks, shifting in color between red, blue and green. Ew.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Jose thanked me? Wow this is a special occasion.

    ¡°It''s our job to keep each other alive,¡± I say, and take his outstretched hand to help pull him off the floor. His prosthetic foot works great when Jose is upright but he has trouble getting up.

    We look around and Jose sends two 47 inchers to his inventory. Not a damn 97 inch TV, but they''ll be good for the kids.

    We continue. We encounter two groups of Watt Elementals down the path. These I ambush so I can take out one right away and then we dodge until I can take out the others with Fluid Fist. I do try a couple other spells, but Fluid Fist is a one hit KO on these things so I stick to it. Might as well scan one while I''m at it.

    Watt Elemental. The lowest form of electric elemental. A summoned creature, does not drop items. Weak to earth and water damage. Absorbs electric damage. Immune to physical attacks.

    We proceed until we hear a very loud ¡°Get It, Got It, Good!¡± down a side path we''re definitely not taking. Jose starts taking that path.

    ¡°Dude, again, no!¡± I say.

    Jose moves slowly forward to the loud voice. ¡°This is different,¡± he says. He has his gun at the ready. He has a feeling, or he knows something. Something his gun might work against. I go and back him up.

    We turn the corner and come face to face with a floating corpse made of electronics. The finger and foot bones are a myriad of USB sticks. Its leg and arm bones are power strips with power cords acting like muscles. Its spine seems to be made of a boom arm for a podcast recording microphone. The pelvis is two Xbox series S(es) and it''s ribcage is a splayed apart PS5. For a skull it uses a replica Master Chief helmet. And draped around its body like plates of armor are various DVDs and Blu-Rays. Vin Diesel scowls at me from the creature''s right shoulder.

    I quickly scan it.

    Electro-Lich. A hybrid robot/undead, created from the soul of a sorcerer and the body of consumer entertainment. Immune to electricity.

    Surrounding the Lich are half a dozen Watt Elementals. Surrounding all of them are three big screens. The Electro-Lich turns to us and raises a hand in our direction. The visor of the helmet lights up and we hear ¡°Master Chief, Earth needs you!¡± in the voice of Cortana, the blue AI lady from the Halo series. Then purple electricity crackles down its body from the helmet, into its arm and it fires a lightning bolt at Jose.

    Jose takes the lightning straight on and shudders, then crumples to the floor. I immediately toss my M3 knife at the Lich, which gets buried in Vin Diesel''s head. I have no idea if that did anything but I don''t care. I just needed both hands free to drag Jose out of there.

    I grab my friend and pull him back around the corner. He''s alive. I leave him for a second, call forth a Fluid Fist, and pop out to fire it at the nearest Watt. It got uncomfortably close but still gets extinguished. I get back around the corner. Jose is coming to. I call another fist and ready my attack. Two Watts turn the corner, with three more close behind. Jose rolls out of the way as one goes for him, then he gets in a crouch and, with the power of the cat bracelet, leaps up to the top of the wall. He''s still kept a grip on his gun. That''s a real Ranger for you.

    I pop the next elemental but then have to backpedal. They''re swarming me and Fluid Fist is too slow. Unless I can... Yeah, I cast Fluid Fist on each arm and then fire off two wet slaps to neutralize two Watts at once. Jose is moving along the top of the wall back towards the Lich. He has to move in a low crouch due to the top of the wall being so close to the ceiling.

    I make two more fists and finish two more elementals. Then I hear the firing of Jose''s revolver and know he''s engaging the Lich. I sprint around the corner and see a forked bolt of purple electrical energy light up the entire wall Jose is standing on. He''s already leaping down, firing two rounds as he falls, looking, to be totally honest, like a fucking badass.

    I throw a Fluid Fist at the Lich but he/it twirls a whip of electricity with his left hand, batting the water away. Fine then. Jose empties two more shots into the helmet which cracks in half. Inside is a goddamn human brain. I pull a Shadow Stab into the thing''s floating foot, then, holding the Stab there, use my other hand to cast Shadow Stab again, this time using the darkness of the first Stab as the point of origin for the attack. This second Stab punches through the Lich''s spine above the waist and its legs and Xbox pelvis fall to the floor.

    Jose spins backwards 5 feet behind me and I hear him reloading. The Lich flies up above us and charges purple lightning in both hands. I feel Jose grab my collar and leap backwards. His enhanced jumping power pulls us 10 feet back. We narrowly evade a cage of electric death that leaves dozens of scorch marks on the floor.

    My head suddenly feels like it''s about to split apart. How did I use that many spells? Never mind. Jose''s bullets have spilled onto the floor. I look at the human brain inside the helmet and know what I need to do. I pull a Fire Bat and then run my hand along its length to coat it with the tarnished gold Ki of Dirtbag''s Enhancement.

    I dash forward with the weapon in my left hand. Using Lunge with each step I reach the Lich in seconds and thrust the flaming, gold tinged tip of the bat at the head of our foe. Lancing Stride triggers, lending me more force. I leap into the air to land the hit on the flying Electro-Lich. The bat slams into the exposed brain and it explodes into flames, quickly becoming a torch inside the helmet. The bat gets lodged in the crack so I let it go as I fall to the ground.

    The bat looks like the horn of a demon, the helmet now engulfed in fire. The Lich wheels around, trying to claw its USB fingers at me. It flies erratically, and we hear a badly distorted ¡°It''s it''s it''s time to f-f-f-inish the fiiiiiiiiiightttt.¡± Finally the monster collapses, leaving a burning pile of electronics behind.

    Jose walks over and empties three rounds into the helmet, which causes the body to fade out and loot to fade in. My knife clatters to the floor and I snag it. Then I hold my head as it throbs in pain. I feel dampness in my right ear. I reach over and to my horror it''s blood. What the crap is going on? I close my eyes and check my menus. To my surprise, at the top of the main menu is a new option: Conditions.

    Current Condition(s):

    Fatigue, lesser. All your reactions are slowed somewhat.

    Arcana Burn. Your Arcana Points have slipped into the negative. You will suffer mental damage until you rise to at least 0 AP.

    ¡°Well Jose,¡± I say between clenched teeth. ¡°Good news is you can go negative if you use too much AP. Probably works with Ki too. Bad news is that it sucks.¡±

    He pops open a can of Dr. Pepper and hands it to me. ¡°Oh yeah, those recover AP. Thanks.¡± I chug it and immediately feel relief. We each down a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and we''re all good.

    The Electro-Lich''s loot is a pile of Sacagaweas and a small yellow gemstone.

    Electric Alignment Gem, Small. Shifts your elemental alignment one step towards electricity and away from water and earth.

    Interesting. What''s elemental alignment all about?

    Elemental alignment dictates your defenses against and power when using each of the elements. Your current alignments are all neutral.

    Alright, thanks computer. I hand the gem to Jose. ¡°No idea how you use it, but you probably should.¡±

    He looks at it. ¡°What, like eat it?¡±

    ¡°Probably not?¡± I say hesitantly. He just pockets the gem.

    I look around at the alcove to see if there''s any other treasure and ¡°HOLY SHIT MAN!¡± I rush over to the side of the dead end, which is covered in cardboard. I realize that''s not just any cardboard, it''s the side of a box a TV comes in. ¡°It''s the damn 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV! And... There''s two boxes...¡± I begin to tear up.

    Jose comes over and double checks that yes, these are boxes for 97 inch LG OLED 4K TVs and yes, they seem to be in there. And he tears up too. We hug. We both cry tears of joy. We dance for a minute. We laugh, and then we each pick up one corner of a TV so it counts as ¡®in hand¡¯ for the inventory system, and then each of us have a damn 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV in our inventories.

    As I wipe away the tears of joy I say what we''re both thinking. ¡°All the pain, all the deaths, all the violence. It was all worth it.¡±

 Chapter 17: Unseen Assailants

    Time left until monsters respawn: 4 hours, 11 minutes.

    We get through the rest of the electronics maze without much trouble. At the end of it, well, technically the beginning, we see an escalator going up. We check it quickly and think it leads to the backstock areas. No use going there unless you need extra deodorant and office supplies.

    There are two paths leading forward, one through seasonal (summer patio furniture) and one through the drugs and medicine section. The patio area looks wide open while the drugs section looks like a series narrow, easy to get ambushed in zigzagging isles. We take the patio section.

    The seasonal area is dotted with tables with umbrellas, comfortable plastic chairs and gardening tools. We don''t see hostiles, which is worrying. Jose takes a minute to convert more spikes to bullets and we fan out, as if making our way through forest or jungle terrain.

    I start scanning randomly to see if anything is amiss. The tables and umbrellas are normal. The plastic chairs are reasonably priced but not especially durable. The gardening tools are- ¡°the tools!¡± I shout it too late as a weed puller flies through the air and stabs into Jose''s right shoulder. He grunts, holds the wound with his left and fires the gun with his right. The bullet punches into the plastic handle and the tool becomes inert. I scan it.

    Weed Puller. This object is the bastard son of a fork and a knife, featuring a long metal stick that ends in a two pronged fork. Retails at $9.99.

    ¡°It''s... Not a creature?¡± I ask/tell him. I look and see pruning shears lifting themselves from the wall and heading towards me. I scan again. They''re just regular shears. There''s nothing on my radar either. Whatever it is can disguise itself even to my radar?

    Jose asks, ¡°Ghosts?¡±

    ¡°What? There''s no such thing as ghosts!¡± I say as I cast a magic spell. Dark Mote homes in on foes, so I cast it twice and see what happens. The shears close in and the motes fly out. They impact with the air right behind the shears and green blood dribbles from nothingness.

    ¡°Ghosts!¡± Jose insists.

    ¡°No, they''re just invisible!¡± I argue back. ¡°Ghosts don''t bleed.¡± I pull two Shadow Stabs up from the floor towards the bleeding thin air and am rewarded with an AYUU-UP sound and more green blood. The air shimmers and it''s a friggin chameleon lizard man holding the shears. Jose pops it in the head and it collapses. ¡°See? Lizard man. Not a ghost.¡± I scan the guy/girl/thing.

    Chameleonian. A stupid lizard that got big and wants to eat bigger things in turn. You''re bigger! Hey, it might want to eat you! By the way it has all of a chameleon''s abilities.

    I''m starting to wonder if the system would give the same snark and attitude to someone else with System Scan.

    This System reflects the personality of the user to minimize information rejection and maximize information retention.

    So, I am the asshole. Noted. Whatever, there''s critters to kill! I pop out another Dark Mote. ¡°These motes track foes but I gotta watch my AP this time.¡± I don''t really have to justify my lack of mote spam to Jose. He nods.

    A manual polesaw lifts off the wall and Jose blindly fires at it. The shot is incredible, and snaps the pole in half and causes the critter to bleed down what I''m going to assume is its chest. Jose fires another round and it goes down.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Just as we''re feeling confident the entire wall of tools starts to move. There must be DOZENS of invisible Chameleonians. ¡°Craaaaap Jose we need to go!¡± I turn to book it back to the electronics maze but Jose stands his ground. He fires carefully, hitting the handle of each tool he sees move. He fires 6 shots and misses a creature only once.

    ¡°Just fight the ones that bleed,¡± Jose says as he begins to reload. They start to converge on him and I dash over, knife extended in my left, and summon a Fire Bat for my right hand. I stab into the bleeding air and hit a Chameleonian. Knowing where it is I swing the bat and feel it connect. Then with a WHOMP I hear it fall. I move to the next floating blood spatter and thrust with the bat to connect, and then slash with the knife once I know where my target is.

    This works really well for like 15 seconds and then the whole squad is on us. We''re back to back, surrounded by flying shears, rakes, towels and hole diggers. Jose has finished his reload and opens up into the crowd (hopefully) and I make wide, sweeping strikes with the bat. I connect with one, then Lunge and stab, but I get beaten in the back by a shovel. Jose''s bullets hit their marks, but these creatures take more than one shot to the body to kill. If he could land head shots this might not end in our deaths.

    Hrm... I swing my bat, hit a dude and get stabbed by one of those lawn claw things. The uhhh invisibility is usually light refraction... Jose''s gunfire blows away every spot that''s already bleeding and 5 fall instantly. Light... I have light... I slash wildly with my knife. I feel it cut into flesh.

    ¡°Yellow Ray!¡± My hand, still clutching the bat, glows and a yellow beam shoots out, barely visible in the bright lights of the Get! store. And yet, there it is, a miracle. Where my light hits a Chameleonian it is refracted and leaves a sort of reverse shadow behind it. The outline of a lizard man is clearly visible. I can even make out the- BLAM!

    The creature drops as Jose''s bullet finds its head. I immediately turn and shine my light on the next lizard and BLAM! so I turn and BLAM! Just keep turning BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! All around us are lizard man corpses. I still swing the bat as wide as I can without hitting Jose, who has to reload again. I get a metal rake biting into my thigh. I swing and hit a monster. I feel a trowel dig into my gut. I stab back.

    Jose spins the revolver chamber closed and I light up three Chameleonians, one after the other. His shots are quick and accurate. He''s not even waiting for me to pick out a target anymore. He''s shoulder to shoulder with me, his left arm holding the gun, he holds his hand right next to mine, tracking my movements so there''s no lag between me finding a foe and him blasting it. We turn and get stabbed but we keep turning, firing, spinning, shooting, shining. We are a single unit of light and fire and blood and death and we will not be taken down here.

    Jose''s gun runs empty after a string of lucky free bullets from his Bullet Refund Program ability. But that''s okay. There''s just a single object floating next to me, someone trying to yank the rake out of my thigh. I feel the muscle and flesh tear but I''m beyond the pain right now. I am an adrenaline fueled avenger and I pounce on the creature, not even knowing where exactly its arms and legs end and its body begins. I''m on top of something invisible. I stab and stab and stab until the thing is covered in green blood and the thing stops being invisible and the thing is fucking dead.

    I roar, yelling to whoever can hear me. ¡°WE ARE GODDAMN RANGERS AND WE ARE DEATH INCARNATE!!!¡±

    I breathe heavily, deeply. I open a bag of healing pretzels and begin to absorb too much salt. I get up off my knees and join Jose, who''s sitting at a patio table in the corner of the room, away from the carnage.

    He drinks water. I crack open another Dr Pepper. He looks at the water as if it''s the first time he''s tried it. ¡°That''s good water,¡± he says.

    ¡°The glacier stuff?¡± I say, wiping blood from my face with a sleeve. ¡°Yeah, it''s good.¡± I offer some pretzels. He reaches out with his right but it''s covered in blood so he switches to his left. We sit there a while and recover.

    We''re both exhausted. We''ve been fighting for hours today. And we both got to work at 7 AM so ¡°We''ve been up for... 27 hours?¡± I feel the exhaustion fall over me like a wave.

    I look at Jose who''s staring into a bag of Fritos. ¡°I like chips but I want bacon and eggs,¡± he tiredly says.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I mumble and chomp down on a second bag of pretzels. I look over at the lizards. ¡°Let''s just wait a bit and see how long it takes for the bodies to turn to loot on their own.¡± Jose nods. ¡°For science.¡±

    We sit in the patio chairs for 20 minutes. Then another 10. That''s when the bodies disappear and we hear the clatter of coins hitting the ground. I turn and look. ¡°Just coins,¡± I say, getting up.

    ¡°Fuck ¡®em,¡± Jose says, getting up and turning to the hall which leads out of here.

    We leave money on the floor for the first time. We have got to get the fuck out of this place.

 Chapter 18: R-32, 4

    Four years ago

    ¡°We have got to get the fuck out of this place.¡± Han said it between his shots.

    He, Amarillo and Davis had been camped out by the ridge to the 3rd chamber for 8 hours. They were out of good old fashioned American bullets by now and were using the AK-47s dropped by the enemy dead. They were vastly less accurate than the SCARs, but they were also plentiful.

    Davis had woken up from her coma when a bullet hit her chest. The body armor kept her from dying, but the force of it must have pushed enough adrenaline through her body to turn her brain and body back to the on position. Now she was back in command.

    ¡°I know, Han. I know.¡± She said it as she swapped her rifle''s clip for another, then popped back to the ridge. This let Amarillo duck down.

    Amarillo had been on point for the last 3 hours straight. The night vision scope attached to his helmet was almost out of battery. ¡°NV''s almost dead.¡± He said it like it was his own death knell, which it might as well be. The NV was keeping them alive. The twisting shape of the mine meant that any enemy had to turn a blind corner to even aim at them. In the dark that meant they had to come out of cover, shine a light at the Americans, then aim and then fire. The NV eliminated most of that for the Rangers. They just aimed and fired. But that was about to end.

    ¡°I know, Amarillo. I know.¡± Davis loosed a three-round burst and killed another man. At this point none of them had any idea how many had died by their hands. Behind them were dozens of corpses. In the chamber they were currently fighting over there were at least 50 men dead on the floor. ¡°Amarillo, how much time do you need?¡±

    They''d been in the cave for almost 28 hours. The last three had been the worst. It was daylight up above. The hostiles had woken up to find that nobody in the mine had come back out alive. Then they''d sent in the troops.

    Amarillo stretched his fingers and turned his shoulders. He closed his eyes. He''d been in firing position for 3 hours straight. He''d been straining his eyes to pick up the tiniest movement for 3 hours straight. ¡°I only need ten minutes,¡± he said.

    Davis said ¡°take it. Han, I want you fresh and ready in ten as well. Then we push in.¡± Davis aimed down sights and pulled the trigger to kill another man. ¡°I don''t want to get your hopes up, but during my last break I got my comm working.¡± She aimed at another man but he backed behind cover once he saw how many were dead in the chamber. ¡°Right now I''m picking up just local chatter, but if we get a little closer we might-¡± She aimed and fired. The cowardly man had come back only to meet the same fate as his comrades. ¡°We might get our people on the line.¡±

    That perked up Amarillo and Han. The only thing that had kept them going so far was the desperate need to keep each other alive. But this was hope. This could mean escape.

    ¡°Fuck the ten minutes, let''s go!¡± Amarillo said.

    ¡°No, take the ten,¡± Davis firmly commanded. ¡°I need both of you fresh. Han will run ahead, I''ll follow. You''re on cover. If we clear the next tunnel, we''ll get you.¡±

    Amarillo''s lower right leg was basically ruined at this point. It was totally dead, hanging on by stips of flesh and fabric. They had to drag him through the last chamber. The only reason it was still attached was because it had stopped bleeding and they didn''t want it to start again.

    ¡°Anything interesting on enemy channels?¡± Han asked because he knew Davis spoke Arabic, Pashto and Kurdish.

    ¡°Yeah, they''re talking about waiting us out,¡± she replied. She took aim but it wasn''t an enemy. Someone had tossed a grenade around the corner at them. She ducked down about 1 second before it went off. The blast shook the mine, which was shoddy at best. As soon as the blast ended she was up again, aimed and fired. That time she missed. She wiped sweat away from her eyes, then aimed and killed the man who threw the grenade.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Can''t let us live now,¡± Han said. He was looking back into the previous chamber. It was littered with corpses. He''d killed about half of them with his knife before the silence was broken and he and Amarillo had opened up with their SCARs. That seemed like so long ago now.

    The cost in blood had been astronomical for the hostiles. If they just let the Americans waltz out now it wouldn''t be shameful, It''d mean death sentences for whoever failed.

    The Rangers gathered themselves and as much AK-47 ammo as they could carry from the previous chamber. Then Han vaulted the ridge. The sounds of his footsteps coming closer triggered shouts from around the corner in Pashto. Three men came out to greet Han but he was already aiming as they came. Han, Amarillo and Davis each got one.

    By now the entryway to this chamber was slick and sticky with blood and Han had to watch his footing. He listened carefully for the sounds of more men. They were far off. He heard Davis come up behind him.

    ¡°More?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± he replied. ¡°Should I peek?¡±

    She nodded and Han took a very low crouch to reduce his profile, then crept around the corner. He was looking down a long, straight tunnel that curved up. There was no cover for a hundred yards. And it was lit with dozens of hanging lights. They''d be dead if anyone got a look at them.

    He relayed the situation to his commander. ¡°No contact on the comm yet. I''ll grab Amarillo. Hold this position.¡± That was her command but that was literally all Han could do at the moment.

    Davis shouldered Amarillo in a fireman''s carry to save time. Both Han and Amarillo were impressed by her strength. Amarillo had to be at least 280 pounds with equipment.

    She dropped Amarillo next to Han and they quickly switched positions to allow Amarillo, the better shot, to take point.

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Davis seemed like she was psyching herself up for something. ¡°I''m charging the tunnel. You guys provide cover. I''ll blast my comm the whole way and we hope I get signal before they shoot me.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± both Amarillo and Han said at the same time.

    Davis shook her head, reloaded her weapon and said, ¡°not a democracy. Nothing else to do.¡±

    Han had been staring at an empty gas barrel since Amarillo took over his position. ¡°I have a bad idea, but it should work.¡±

    A few minutes later Han was behind rolling cover. On its side the steel barrel gave him cover so long as he was A) lying down or crawling and B) very, very careful not to spread his arms or legs out. It also wouldn''t do a damn thing if the hostiles had another grenade.

    Han got about 10 yards up the tunnel before the first gunfight. He had to just stay down as bullets pinged off the barrel, pushing it back into him. He quickly realized that he had to hold it in place or his cover would be knocked back down the tunnel. A bullet whizzed past his ear. Another pinged off his helmet and let him see stars for 30 seconds.

    Those were the longest 30 seconds of Han''s life. The sounds of gunfire mixed with the blurred vision and black spots in his eyes almost made him vomit. But just as he regained control over himself, the gunfire died out and he immediately pushed the barrel forward.

    The next gunfight happened when he was halfway up the tunnel. This time he was close enough that they blind fired from around the corner at him. Two men held rifles around the corner to shoot and sprayed the tunnel with lead but none of it hit Han. They stopped, he moved forward.

    He was relentless. This was it. This was the push. The man who had surrendered earlier had drawn them a map. If they got to the end of this tunnel, there was just one more chamber between them and daylight.

    Han pushed that barrel and crawled at a speed that would make a drill instructor proud. He pushed even as the hostiles opened fire on him again, this time Amarillo tagged one and he heard the scream as an arm had been shot off.

    The next time an arm came around the corner to blindly fire, it was met by a hand that pulled the man out from cover. Han stood there, facing the shocked man, and drove his knife up into the hostile''s head from beneath the chin. Another man tried to save his friend but Han pulled his pistol and shot the man in the gut three times. He didn''t hear anyone else nearby so he waved for Davis and Amarillo.

    As they closed in Davis started talking. ¡°This is Davis, do you copy, this is Davis, do you copy?¡± Then as she finally got Amarillo to the end of the tunnel she stopped talking.

    Amarillo crouched and took overwatch again. Han realized he''d been shot in the foot probably 50 yards back, judging by the blood trail. Then Davis said ¡°Yes, you have our coordinates. Expect hostiles, they''ve been throwing men at us for hours.¡±

    Then she pulled her cross necklace out and kissed the crucifix. ¡°Boys, we''ve got evac in 20.¡±

 Chapter 19: Cool Beauty

    Time left until monsters respawn: 3 hours, 41 minutes.

    We entered the beauty department and immediately I realized where we went wrong. ¡°Oh,¡± I said, holding up a compact from the makeup display. ¡°If we came through here first we''d have powder to throw at the invisible creatures.

    ¡°Oh,¡± says Jose. ¡°Pocket some in case they come back.¡±

    ¡°Good idea,¡± I say, and pick up the powder box I''d already spitefully smashed on the floor.

    The beauty department itself has two exits. The one we came from, to the seasonal section, and the other goes back to the drugs and pharmacy area. The beauty section itself is pretty straightforward. There are dozens of low shelves we can easily see over. There are mirrors standing upright at the end of each shelf. The whole area is maybe 30 feet by 30 feet.

    There''s just one enemy in the beauty department. But it''s not good. The ¡°enemy¡± is our coworker, Rebecca, who seems dead, judging from the blood dripping down her neck. The blood originates from a harlequin mask she''s wearing. She moves like a puppet on strings. The mask, in a creepy imitation of Rebecca, says ¡°How about a new face?¡±

    It''s the kind of thing that Doctor Who would have to run from for 40 minutes straight. Jose puts two bullets into its mask and we keep moving.

    At the far side of beauty we see the way down. It''s a long, serpentine ramp fit for those wheelchair (or maybe walker) bound. Or for kids with skateboards who want to do sick tricks.

    We look down into the next area which gives us pause. The next area is the 1st floor. The way home. The way out. But the first thing we see down there is a whole-ass glacier.

    ¡°It''s 8:05,¡± I say. ¡°Let''s get everyone else to this point, then proceed. I don''t want to get caught in a situation where we clear the path but nobody can get out in time.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense,¡± Jose says.

    ¡°Also, Mercy and I aren''t even dating.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Jose raises an eyebrow at me.

    ¡°Like I said, I get this weird feeling in my gut when I make eye contact with her. It''s not natural.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± he says, clearly not knowing what I''m on about.

    We walk back through the seasonal department.

    ¡°Like, I have to keep telling waiters at restaurants that we''re not together.¡±

    Jose asks, ¡°why would you be in front of waiters?¡± He seems genuinely confused.

    ¡°Oh, because we get dinner once or twice a week.¡± We move into the darkened backroom on the third floor.

    ¡°Hold on,¡± he stops, so I turn on Yellow Ray to see him. ¡°You''re dating her.¡±

    ¡°No, we just get dinner as friends. You know I hate to eat out alone.¡± I shake my head at his disbelief. This is totally obvious to me.

    ¡°How long have you not dated her?¡±

    ¡°Like six months?¡±

    He goes very, unnervingly quiet and keeps moving. We get down into the rat swarm hallway. Jose asks, ¡°Hey Jun, quick question.¡±

    ¡°Shoot.¡±

    ¡°You ever been in love before?¡±

    I think about it. ¡°No. I dated but never had that feeling, you know? I think it''s just something that I don''t do.¡±

    He asks ¡°What''s your Wisdom stat?¡±

    I have to check so I close the eyepatch. Oh I''ve gained 3 levels. Neat. ¡°My Wisdom is 5. A little low.¡±

    ¡°Average is 10.¡± Jose says. ¡°You are half as wise as the average human.¡±

    ¡°Well when you say it like that it sounds bad.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so I need you to raise that number.¡±

    I sigh. ¡°Okay, but I need a minute to plan out my path. I have 3 levels to play with.¡±

    ¡°Damn, I only got 1. But okay.¡±

    With that I take a breather and figure out how exactly I''m going to turn my mess of a build into something actually useful.

    My main strength right now is flexibility. I can do a bit of everything but nothing particularly well. My good stats are Dexterity (49), Agility (29), Intelligence (36) and Reflexes (43). I''ve got 10 Ki and Arcana points so I can carry on with either of those paths without much difficulty.

    I poke around at the classes I don''t have access to and learn something interesting. 1st Step classes have a specific stat requirement of 10, 2nd requires two stats at 15, 3rd needs two specific stats at 30. To get a 4th step class you need two stats at 45.

    So, if I boost my Agility and Reflexes a bit I should unlock more classes. Okay let''s do it. I level up Rake once. My stats rise and I have 3 free points left over so I improve my Wisdom to 8.

    ¡°Hey wait, Jose, do you think that maybe Mercy likes me?¡±

    Jose holds his head as if he''s got a splitting headache.

    ¡°Wait,¡± I say, coming to another realization. ¡°I think that feeling in my stomach is that butterflies thing! People talk about love like that, don''t they?¡±

    Jose holds his hands over his mouth and screams. It sounds like a frustrated, annoyed scream. ¡°A-am I wrong?¡± I ask.

    -----

    Time left until monsters respawn: 3 hours, 17 minutes.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    We arrive back at the 4th floor and are greeted by the whole crowd of survivors. Some of them look pissed.

    ¡°Uh, what happened?¡± I ask Theo.

    Theo rubs the back of his head. ¡°Some of the people here have encountered some creatures over there that are not part of the Get! store experience, and therefore that incident is not the responsibility of the Get! corporation.¡±

    Natalie translates. ¡°They found shoe snakes in those small hills over there. People got hurt but nobody died.¡±

    A large white man with more entitlement than education shouts ¡°And this idjit keeps talkin¡¯ company man talk like he''s some kinda big shot!¡±

    Shouts of ¡°Yeah!¡± and ¡°tell ¡®I''m!¡± and ¡°I''m not racist, he''s the racist¡± follow the outburst. Jose casually fires a round into the air to shut everyone up.

    I hold my hands up as if to make peace with the people. ¡°Alright sooo I super don''t care. We''re going to get clothes that aren''t covered in blood and goo and then lead you all down through the third and second floors. We want you close by if we get a route through the first floor.¡±

    ¡°But what about the monsters?¡± someone asks.

    ¡°I have a gun.¡± Jose states. ¡°They are dead.¡± People nod in acceptance. If there is one thing Texans understand it''s that firearms are the answer to most problems.

    Jose and I swap clothes again for... Yeah we''re just getting new versions of our existing outfits. No reason to debate wardrobes now. ¡°Oh!¡± I shout to the group. ¡°And everyone get a jacket!¡±

    We make our way back down to the beauty department. The survivors greedily sweep up the coins left by the Chameleonians and we park them in the patio furniture.

    ¡°Okay, we''re going ahead now.¡± I say cheerfully. Then sternly I say ¡°Do NOT go anywhere else. I mean it. You WILL DIE.¡± And then I try to brighten the horrified faces with a ¡°Bazinga!¡± followed by ¡°but no really you''ll get murdered.¡±

    Theo walks over to me. ¡°Great pep talk. You''re team lead material, Jun.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± says Brian, ¡°with speaking skills like that you could make a... a... Put the fun in funeral!¡±

    Natalie just smirks and shakes her head. It''s really great to see them again after all this time. I check my watch. It was only like a couple of hours. Seems longer somehow, like maybe 6 chapters or so.

    ¡°Yeah, so, keep them safe, etc.¡± I say, and pat Brian on the shoulder.

    ¡°Oh we will,¡± he says, gripping a Dog Skull mace. I had forgotten about that thing. It is still metal as fuck.

    We get to the stairs and don the jackets we picked up before heading into the arctic section below. I''m assuming it''s frozen foods.

    ¡°Final stretch,¡± Jose says as we both look forward.

    ¡°Final stretch,¡± I say.

    -----

    Time left until monsters respawn: 1 hour, 33 minutes.

    It''s less of a final stretch and more of a final slog. The ice we reach is solid. We look for a tunnel, a passage, a switch, a weak point, a hidden path, a false wall.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I say, my teeth chattering. We''ve been looking for a way past this wall of ice for 20 minutes now. We even pulled Nat and Brian down to help us.

    As we''re searching, I approach Natalie, who''s checking out the west side of the ice wall. ¡°Hey, uh, Nat,¡± I say sheepishly. She just glares at me. ¡°Look, I just wanted to apologize for earlier.¡± She doesn''t even look at me.

    ¡°I, well Jose and I, that is... We went through something horrible in Afghanistan together.¡± She finally looks at me. She looks... Annoyed, still. ¡°And I didn''t come out unscathed. Jose lost his leg and I came out with...¡± I scratch my head and look away. ¡°Pretty severe PTSD and depression. Like real-ass, really bad thoughts and depression. And being in here, it''s kinda just like that cave, you know? Just an endless sea of death.¡±

    I have her attention now and I don''t even want it. ¡°So when I died, twice, at the fucking Get!, after making it through goddamn hell in that cave, after making it through goddamn hell in my own head ever since, I just... ¡°

    ¡°Cool, you''re more fucked in the head than I thought. Still, I don''t forgive you,¡± she says flatly. ¡°And stop crying. It''s pathetic.¡±

    Was I crying? Fuck, I am. I wipe those indicators of weakness away. Can''t be weak. Can''t be pathetic. I''m a Ranger.

    She walks away from my embarrassing display over to the others. Nat says, ¡°think Brian, how would this work in one of your dungeons?¡±

    Brian rubs his freezing fingers together and says ¡°well, there is a possibility that it doesn''t open from this side at all. Like if there was an exploding barrel or something exciting to get through, if you were going the right way. Which we''re not.¡±

    ¡°So we''re fucked?¡± asks Jose.

    ¡°I mean, unless you can melt a wall of ice?¡± is Brian''s reply.

    I start conjuring Fire Bats.

    We work together and take turns. I keep us supplied with flaming bats. Jose, Nat, Brian and Theo keep bats against the ice to melt it as quickly as possible. We don''t need a big hole so we''re just trying to carve a narrow tunnel into the ice wall. After 30 minutes we''ve made it... 5 feet.

    ¡°We have half an hour left,¡± Nat informs us. We have to do something else.

    ¡°Okay, I can take a chance here. But it''s kind of a long shot.¡± I say this as I hand off another Fire Bat to Theo.

    ¡°Whatever it is, do it,¡± Theo says, then takes the bat to work on the wall.

    I sigh. My Intelligence now being over 30 qualifies me for the Sorcerer class. There''s a chance. A CHANCE. I''ll get a fire spell from it. But it''s pretty much our only chance at this point.

    Sorcerer

    Your blood is steeped in magic. You discover an arcane aspect of your heritage hitherto unknown. And it. Is. Powerful.

    A third step class. 10 subclasses. Nine class evolutions.

    Gain 2 Intelligence, 1 Reflexes, 1 Charisma and 6 Arcana upon choosing this class. Two basic, advanced or expert combat Arcana spells will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Intelligence, Charisma and Arcana.

    Upon level up three additional random basic, advanced or expert combat spells will be granted, until all basic, advanced and expert combat spells are known. Each level you gain 1 Intelligence, 1 Reflexes, 1 Charisma, 2 Arcana and 5 free points.

    I take the first level of Sorcerer and pray for fireballs.

    Please select your Sorcerer subclass!

    Sorcerer Subclasses

    Dragonblood - While in negative AP your elemental attacks deal 25% more damage.

    Mageblood - While in negative AP your elemental defensive spells absorb 25% more damage.

    Ghostblood - While in negative AP you take 25% less damage from physical attacks.

    Chimerablood - While in negative AP your body takes on aspects of the magic you use.

    Huh. Didn''t it say that it had 10 subclasses? Whatever, getting a subclass at 1st level is nice. Being the master of being multiple things at once, I choose Chimerablood.

    I look at my spells list to see what I got.

    Ice Spells

    Snowflake Shuriken... Basic... 1 AP

    Freezing Beam... Advanced... 1 AP/Second

    Icicle Trap... Expert... 15 AP/1 Hour

    SERIOUSLY!?! Not only are there no fire spells but I got THREE ice spells. Fuck me I guess. Fine. Let''s hit level 2 on Sorcerer and pray.

    Please select your Sorcerer subclass! Spells of your chosen element will be favored in what spells you learn at level up.

    Burning Sorcerer - Your fire spell damage increases by 25%

    Freezing Sorcerer - Your ice spell damage increases by 25%

    Shocking Sorcerer - Your electric spell damage increases by 25%

    Windy Sorcerer - Your wind spell damage increases by 25%

    Stone Sorcerer - Your earth spell damage increases by 25%

    Wave Sorcerer - Your water spell damage increases by 25%

    Oh, okay so this class gets TWO subclass choices, awesome. Now that I have these ice spells I should really go into ice- Naw just kidding.

    Blazing Chimerablood Sorcerer, Level 2

    New spells: Flame Shot, Flame Thrower, Burning Blade.

    Flame Shot

    Shoot a small ball of fire like a sling bullet. The longer you hold it the more powerful it gets, but don''t expect too much.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Flame Thrower

    A stream of flames shoots from your hand. Quite dangerous, actually.

    Range: 25 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second

    Proficiency: 0%

    Burning Blade

    Summon a sword of fire, or add a flame enchantment to an existing weapon.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points for 10 minutes

    Proficiency: 0%

    I shove everyone aside and hold an open palm to the tunnel in progress. ¡°Flame Thrower!¡± A stream of orange flames 6 inches wide leaps from my hand. I stop after 10 seconds and see that I''ve carved a whole foot into the tunnel.

    I wipe my brow and say ¡°I''m going to need all the Dr Pepper we''ve got.¡±

    I chug the Arcana-Point-recovering DP between gouts of flame and we make rapid progress. Over the course of 5 minutes we make a hole 30 feet long and wide enough for even the fattest customer to get through.

    When we break through there''s a cheer from the crowd gathered behind me.

    We peer through and see what will be the hardest part of the whole adventure: Getting everyone out alive.

 Chapter 20: R-32, 5

    Four years ago

    ¡°We''re getting out of here alive, all of us!¡± Davis had to shout over the cacophony of rifle fire. The enemy had gotten word of the evac and were swarming the cave entrance. Bad guys sprayed the cave with near constant gunfire, making it impossible to move forward. There had to be dozens of hostiles.

    Han had to sprint back into the cave and collect ammo for Davis and Amarillo. He kept running back and forth, having to go further in with each trip. Davis was on crowd control while Amarillo was on kill shots. This was by necessity. Davis sprayed down enemies who got too brave, often missing but forcing them back into cover. At these ranges, 100 to 300 yards, the unscoped AKs weren''t accurate enough for Davis to make kill shots predictably. That was fine, because Amarillo had tested 10 different AKs and found a good one. He fired single shots and made kills.

    The fighting was beyond desperate at this point. The only possible evac site was right in front of the mine entrance and there was zero chance that command would allow choppers to try and land under that heavy of fire. Davis, Amarillo and Han had to fight. They had to run the enemy out or kill them all. They had to kill to protect the ones coming to protect them. That was what Rangers did. They fought impossible situations.

    The hostiles had an RPG or two. This led to an almost comical situation where someone would bring in a RPG, aim it, and get shot by either Davis or Amarillo. The next closest guy would go for the RPG only to die the same way. Then yet another would go for the rocket launcher and get killed.

    One of Davis''s shots actually pinged an RPG tube and caused the whole thing to explode, killing 5 men. The bright orange cloud of flames was almost entirely washed out by the impossibly bright sun beating down overhead.

    Everyone was drenched in sweat. The Americans were exhausted, wounded, thirsty, hungry and battle shocked. They''d run through their stores of adrenaline several times over by this point.

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Han made it back to Davis just as she emptied her last clip. This time Han had brought back plenty of bullets. He''d torn the clothes off a dead man to make a bag. A bloody, sand covered bag. He dumped the ammo behind the large rock Amarillo and Davis were crouched behind. Davis grabbed a clip, reloaded, and immediately popped out and opened fire.

    The barrage of bullets that came back at her punched small holes in the rock and cave behind them. One bullet pinged off her helmet but she retained her control and kept firing.

    Men screamed as they were wounded and lay bleeding out. Shouts could be heard as the hostiles tried to coordinate. The smells of gunpowder and death swirled around the wind swept mine entrance. Five minutes of straight gunfighting turned into ten. Ten minutes of the rattle of AK-47s turned into fifteen. The Rangers killed. The hostiles died. The Rangers were pinned behind cover. The Rangers fired back and regained control of the battle. Bullet casings flew by the hundreds, by the thousands. The white-tan dry desert was painted with blood that dried quickly in the arid heat. Flies swarmed the newly dead, looking for anything to eat and lay eggs in. The buzzing of wings became the undertone that accompanied the staccato of gunfire.

    More men with RPGs came in. Amarillo killed two but one got a rocket off. The rocket sailed low but still made contact with the rock the Rangers were taking cover behind. The rock exploded, stone fragments went flying, and the Rangers were blown backwards.

    Davis and Han took minor cuts and scrapes. Amarillo took a large cut across his brow that gushed blood into his eyes. He cursed. It was the first time he''d given any sense of his injuries getting to him. He desperately wiped his eyes.

    The Americans heard the charge of dozens of men but there was nothing they could do at that point. The three Americans heard only a ringing in their ears as they tried to recover from the shockwave.

    Within seconds they were surrounded. A man shouted Pashto at them. To their surprise Davis shouted Pashto back at them. Two men moved forward to grab her. They dragged her back into the cave. She was screaming and yelling and struggling until another man put a bullet in her shoulder. A hostile put the barrel of his gun to Han''s head. Amarillo was on his back, with four men''s guns trained on him.

    Amarillo and Han lost sight of Davis as she was dragged into the dark of the cave.

 Chapter 21: Almost Five Thousand

    Time left until monsters respawn: 0 hours, 17 minutes.

    The sound is what I notice first. The sound of buzzing. An all too familiar sound of flies. The disgusting insects are flying about the former grocery area, which seems to be a cornfield. At the far end, some 200 yards away, I see daylight. The regular glass sliding doors of the front of the Get! shine like a beacon in the night. Though just like the other areas this place is well lit. And clean. Aside from the dirt.

    The ground is the familiar white tile of the Get! but rows of corn seem to sprout from between the tiles, cracking and tilting them. Dirt is coming up through the floor as well. The corn rows extend all the way across the area, making visibility utter crap.

    I check my radar and use Ping for good measure. I learn three very important things at once. 1) Ping''s range exceeds my Radar''s but it gives my radar tracking on enemies that it detects. 2) There are hundreds, if not thousands of flies in here, and they''re each about the size of a standard American football. 3) These flies seem to notice when they''re Pinged, and don''t like it.

    About 3 dozen flies leave a trio of corpses they''re eating and fly towards me. My back is already to the ice wall behind me so I''ve got nowhere to run. I scan one.

    Syrup Fly. An overgrown insect that can spit sticky globs of corn syrup after eating raw corn. Not tough or strong, but dangerous in swarms. The current size of this swarm is 4,897. That means you''re boned.

    Jose is there and I hear his gun charge with electricity. As I pull my knife and prepare a Flame Thrower I say to him ¡°There are almost 5000 of them, single shots won''t-¡±

    A small yellow and blue orb of electricity flies out of the gun, much slower than a bullet, but still fast enough to hit the target. The hit fly immediately explodes into goo but then bolts of electricity jump between the falling parts before jumping off in many directions, killing about a dozen of the other flies. These flies get hit by the electricity and just fall to the ground. Some twitch as they die. It''s fucking rad as hell.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Shit that''s awesome!¡± I yell, then cast Flame Thrower to torch the rest of the fly posse. I have to wave my hand around like a hose to get the rest.

    We''re no longer being attacked so, just to check, I scan a bug.

    The current size of this swarm is 4,861. This means you are still boned.

    The number decreased. But that means it''s accurate. ¡°Yeah, we''re not going to kill them all.¡± I say.

    Nat is climbing out of the ice tunnel behind me and asks ¡°What do we do then?¡±

    ¡°Well, I have a bad idea,¡± I say. Jose nods for me to continue. ¡°My Ping spell lured a bunch of them to me. I can lure them away, probably die, but you guys could get everyone else out while the bugs are distracted.¡±

    Jose checks his gun and, without looking up, says ¡°Arcing Shot, my area attack, it doesn''t have a target limit, just an area limit.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Brian says, pulling himself out of the ice tunnel.

    Jose points back at the ice tunnel. ¡°What if we pack them in tight?¡±

    A few minutes later (14 minutes until monsters respawn) everything is in place. I stretch and do a few lunges before starting my run.

    ¡°Ready?¡± Nat asks from the other side of the ice wall. She and literally everyone but me are back there. Jose is at the front of the pack. Brian, Theo, Nat and a couple of civilians armed with Fire Bats are right behind them.

    ¡°Okay, on three!¡± I shout. There''s no reason for the countdown other than to psych myself up. ¡°One, two, three!¡±

    I run. I run as fast as I can to the front door of the Get!. I''m about halfway there when bugs start chasing me. I''m three quarters of the way to the doors when I pivot and cast Ping. Hundreds of flies are notified of my presence. The buzzing of wings is deafening. I can''t even hear my own voice as I cast Flame Thrower to toast some bugs that are already on my tail. I only cast for 2 seconds, just long enough to kill myself a path back through the bugs.

    I run again. This time I push myself as hard as possible. My thighs are burning. I feel muscles in my feet strain. I''m halfway back and cast Ping again to anger more insects. I run but a fly lands on my back. I have no idea what it''s doing, and don''t have time to care. I glance at my radar and it is almost entirely red, the dots of a thousand or more bugs covering it entirely.

    I run. I''m almost there. My lungs are on fire. My blood is boiling. I cast Ping one more time and dive into the ice tunnel.

 Chapter 22: R-32, 6

    Chapter 34: R-32, 6

    Four years ago

    Han and Amarillo heard two pops of handgun fire and their hearts sank. Men grabbed Han. They began to drag him into the cave as well. They were two steps from the near black shadow of the cave entrance when machine gun fire ripped through the camp outside the mine. Rockets rained down as three AH-64 Apache attack helicopters rained widespread death down upon the hostiles.

    The men dragging Han stopped just long enough for their heads to be shot open by gunfire from further in the cave. Davis emerged holding the rifle of one of the men who had dragged her off. She tossed a handgun to Han and then swept her rifle right to left to take down the distracted crowd surrounding the downed Amarillo. Amarillo immediately grabbed the gun he''d dropped and he and Han finished off anyone left alive.

    Han rushed over to Amarillo and helped him up. The Apaches from the 101st took a defensive position over the cave entrance and continued to fire thousands of rounds at anything that moved. The gatling guns in their noses whirled to life as they delivered death.

    Finally, a minute after they''d arrived, the Apaches made room for a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Two soldiers descended on ropes, grabbed Davis, Han and Amarillo, belted them into carabiners and then reeled them up into the large helicopter.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    There was a medic on board, along with Ekko, the only one from the Coyotes squad who escaped the initial assault unscathed so many hours ago.

    The others were excited to see the three survivors. The medic chided them for tending to their wounds as poorly as they had. He confirmed that Amarillo would probably lose his lower right leg. The commander was on the radio and told them about their outstanding job. That they''d uncovered an active uranium mine under the control of the...

    The chopping of the helicopter blades seemed quiet after the incessant gunfire they''d just left behind.

    Amarillo just breathed the dry desert air. He listened to the constant, almost reassuring noise of the chopper blades and engines. He leaned his head back and stared out into the bright desert. Amarillo liked the desert. It was calm, peaceful. It held nothing back. It wasn''t hiding around the corner or waiting to ambush anyone. He ignored his wounds. He ignored the horror.

    Davis was in full officer mode. She was already starting her debrief. She ignored everything except the commander''s voice on her helmet radio. She confirmed the uranium. She told the brass of the fighting. She ignored everything except the impending promotion, the probable medal, the accolades. She ignored her wounds. She ignored the horror.

    Han just looked down at the AK-47 he still had a death grip on. Now, all of a sudden, he felt every wound. He felt every place he''d been cut open by the rocket blast. He felt the pain of the bullet still lodged in his foot. He saw flashes of the men he''d killed. He saw the non-combatant miners whose throats he''d slit. He saw their fear, their pleading, their regret. They were human. They were just as worthy of living as he was and he''d killed scores. He stared down at his feet, his bleeding foot. He couldn''t ignore the pain. He couldn''t ignore the horror.

 Chapter 23: Freedom

    Time left until monsters respawn: 0 hours, 13 minutes.

    My body slides through the slick ice tunnel and I roll out of the way as the swarm of thousands of flies follow me. I hear Jose charge and fire his electric burst shot. The bugs don''t make a noise as they die.

    They''re pouring through the tunnel by the dozens per second. I get up and shoot my Flame Thrower for 3 seconds while Jose charges another shot. I release my fire stream, someone hands me a Dr Pepper and I chug. More flies enter the tunnel. Jose''s Arcing Shot hits the swarm and dozens more drop. The tunnel is now clogged with dead bugs. The guys with melee weapons poke and push the corpses out of the way. They make room for more victims to our death trap.

    We continue that way for two minutes. I alternate between flames and soda. Jose charges electric shots and I can see him become more exhausted by the second. Someone empties a bottle of Ki point restoring water into his mouth. I hit zero AP but keep using Flame Thrower and Chimerablood''s ability kicks in.

    I''m briefly stunned as bright red horns burst from my forehead and my fingertips start on fire. The melee crew have to fight desperately while I''m temporarily out of the fight. Jose fires another charged shot, killing dozens of bugs. I recover and unleash Flame Thrower again. This time the flames are dark red and completely incinerate the insects instead of just making them crispy. I hold the flames and clear out the tunnel, even expanding it with the blistering heat I''m now putting out. I laugh maniacally.

    We continue the cycle for 3 more minutes. Flames, electricity, melee, flames, electricity, melee, until eventually the buzzing around the tunnel stops. I see on my radar that the flies have thinned out and are retreating.

    Someone behind me shouts ¡°Go, go, go!¡± and a crowd of people rush past me as my arms drop. My ears are bleeding. I quaff another soda and feel better. I see Jose walk through the enlarged tunnel. I feel someone grab my shoulder and push me.

    ¡°Come on, man, we''re not leaving our hero behind.¡± It''s Brian. Who''s this hero? I don''t know. I let him push me and we go through the tunnel. It''s full of bug corpses and smells about as bad as you can possibly imagine. We hold ourselves back from vomiting. I see some of the others aren''t so strong willed. A few of the civilians have to stop and throw up after they clear the tunnel. But then they run. We all run.

    Also, I notice that my flames at some point made popcorn out of some nearby corn. Haaaa that''s fun. But I have to run.

    Someone up ahead is the first to the door and it slides open like a regular goddamn Get! store entryway. People fly out the door. They''ve never run so fast in their lives. I see flies land on one of the customers and take him down but then Nat runs over to him with two sharp looking santoku knives. Where''d she get those? Nevermind. In seconds she''s got the older customer back on his feet and they''re on the move. She''s smiling. She must be stronger than I am.

    We run and finally, after 23 hours and 56 minutes, everyone leaves the dungeon. Everyone except for me.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    I stop right at the exit and the thought that had been in the back of my mind comes roaring in. I don''t have to leave. I don''t have to go back out there, where people don''t understand what I went through. I can stay. I revive when I''m killed. I can stay in here and fight and get super strong. I can gain levels and find new ways to break the system. As long as I don''t leave here, I am immortal. I don''t have to deal with that world out there. It''s not like there''s anything out there for me.

    I take a deep breath and turn back to the corn fields. This is where I belong. The fighting. Endless fighting and blood and death and killing and being killed. I am a Ranger, a dealer of death and destruction. Here is where I rise, here is where I become the world''s strongest-

    ¡°JUUUUN!¡± It''s Mercy''s voice. I turn back to the entryway. She''s being held back by a police officer.

    ¡°Hey dude, watch your hands!¡± I find myself shouting at the cop. Then I''m there pulling his hand off her. And then she''s wrapped around me in a full body hug.

    I look down at the girl who''s holding me, tears in her eyes. Wow, she''s pretty. She''s a bit under 5 feet tall with a non-skinny curvy body and milk chocolate brown skin. She has dyed white hair that''s just a bit wavy and falls all the way to her lower back. Her eyes are like half moons tilted upwards, her pupils a very dark gray flecked with gold. And I like her, a lot.

    There are others there, but I can''t seem to notice them. I think there''s a news van. There''s this girl hugging me.

    People are cheering. People are crying. People are laughing and saying that Jose and I are heroes. But also there''s this girl, named Mercy Mahar, and I think that I might be in love with her, actually.

    Someone comes up to me, I think they''re from the government. Something about debriefing. Something about other jobs. For the good of the country. Something... I cup Mercy''s cheek and tilt her tear filled face up towards mine.

    ¡°Did I make you wait for too long?¡± I ask.

    She nods her head. ¡°Yep, and I''ll hate you forever.¡± She pushes up with her toes to reach my lips and we kiss and God, what a kiss. I feel it in every bone of my body, every cell in my veins.

    It''s then that I realize what I was lacking that others had. They had something to go back to. I never did. My dad thinks I''m a failure. I never had a real relationship. I didn''t even have a home most of the time I was in the Army. I just fought and trained and thought of nothing else.

    Jose always had a family to return to. He always fought for their sake. Even now, I can see him calling his wife to let her know he''s okay.

    Davis always fought to aim higher. She always wanted to be better, go further than any woman before. To break not just the glass ceiling but every damn ceiling in her path.

    But not me. I just wanted revenge. I wanted to kill terrorists. And in the cave I got that revenge and it tasted like blood and gunpowder and shit. And then I was left with nothing. Nothing but the pain, the memory, the fear.

    I turn around and finally see what''s happening. The civilians we saved are so happy. They''re ecstatic. They''re free. They all have things to go to. Things to see. People to love.

    And I see some talking to the camera crew. They''re pointing at me, pointing at Jose. Some of them, then multiple of them, then most of them, come up and thank me personally. They have tears in their eyes. They have smiles on their faces. They''re thanking me. Me?

    I feel something break inside. No, maybe that''s the feeling of something being fixed. Mercy says to one of the people, ¡°I know, my boyfriend is so awesome!¡± Boyfriend? Actually that sounds wonderful.

    Something is definitely fixing inside me. It''s building inside me. Some new version of myself. Someone who has something to live for. Someone who has someone to live for.

    I pull her face to mine again to feel her soft brown lips against mine. She surprises me and teases my tongue with hers. Then I feel her hands slide down my back and grab my butt. Okay, so this might be something definitely worth living for.

    After we kiss I turn back and see the sliding doors close. I smile. I''ve finally left the cave.

 Chapter 24: Poolside Negotiations

    Part 2: The Team

    I hear a knocking at the door but I ignore it for obvious reasons. The knocking repeats a few seconds later.

    Mercy Mahar takes a deep breath and then calls out, ¡°come back in ten...¡± I increase the pace of what I''m doing to her. ¡°Five minutes,¡± she says. I''m... Giving Mercy a back massage. Yeah, that''s all.

    ¡°I''ll wait outside.¡± I know that authoritative yet annoyed voice. But I''m not stopping, so she can wait.

    Five minutes and a hasty shower later I open the door of my garage apartment and step onto the back yard lawn. I''m wearing an American flag swimsuit.

    It''s a beautiful, sunny day in Carrollton, Texas. The lawn is green, the pool is clean and my girlfriend is in the shower. It''s been three days since the system incident. We''ve barely left my room and I haven''t kept up with the news. So I''m a bit surprised that Staff Sergeant Davis is here to see me.

    ¡°Corporal Han.¡± She stands up straight, like the officer she is. She''s got two men in business suits with her. Not military. Definitely government.

    ¡°That''s me,¡± I say, not saluting. I''m not enlisted anymore. I respect Davis but I want to make clear that I''m not interested in coming back. ¡°And I''m not interested in whatever it is that you want me to do.¡±

    ¡°Your country needs you.¡± Davis says this in the way that the recruitment officers do. In a way that indicates that they have to say that before telling you the real reasons you should join.

    ¡°Well, gosh, I''m flattered, but could you find another Korean with a drawer full of medals? I''m sure there''s at least a few of us.¡± And with that I dive into the pool.

    I come up for air a few seconds later and one of the suits says ¡°Get! is offering 3 million dollars.¡±

    I spit out water and immediately get out of the pool.

    The Amarillo homestead is a 5 bedroom, two story affair. Light tan brick walls are complemented by navy and white woodwork. While the house is big, the lot isn''t, so there''s not much lawn out front and barely any out back. The pool in the backyard is shaped like a lima bean and has blue and white tiling. The patio is a wooden deck that Jose and I put together last summer. We''re both pretty proud of it.

    The apartment where I live is above the two car garage. Nobody parks in there right now. It''s mostly used for Ernesto''s drum kit and Jose''s 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV because Amy doesn''t want it in the house. We''re already turning the garage into a man cave. My abode above is basically a studio apartment. I''ve got a kitchenette, bathroom and a decent closet. All for the low, low price of $500 a month.

    We are now all seated at the umbrella table next to the pool. Mercy is sitting next to me. One of the suits has to pull up a lounge chair and is sitting about a foot lower than the rest of us. I''ll call him shorty.

    ¡°So three million, and all I gotta do is clear the dungeon?¡± I ask, going over the contract.

    ¡°That''s the short version,¡± Davis, now Colonel Davis says. ¡°We, the government, have a few other stipulations. For starters we need you to shut down your blog.¡±

    ¡°No way,¡± I say quickly. ¡°I''ve been writing Multiclassing For Fun And Profit for years now. It''s a valuable resource for gamers.¡±

    Davis raises an eyebrow at me. ¡°Well, at least remove the Dracosys information.¡±

    ¡°Dracosys?¡± Mercy asks.

    Tall suit says, ¡°we have acquired the name of the system. It''s called the Dracosys. D.R.A.C.O.SYS. An acronym. Dungeon Ruin Arena Castle Ordination System.¡±

    Shorty adds, ¡°right now you seem to be the only one with the Synergist class, or at least the only one dumb enough to post what you''re learning.¡±

    I''ve very recently switched my blog from focusing on tabletop and video games to the real world class system. I am proud to say that my readership is up 14,000% in the last few days. The original 150 or so readers still follow me except for xxxGoku420baby, who says I''m a sell out.

    I''ve been posting what I''ve learned about the class system. My Synergist class apparently gives me access to a TON of information that others don''t have. Most people apparently get one of the six starting 1st Step classes, each of which evolves into six related 2nd Step classes. Most people only ever choose what class they want twice, and apparently they don''t get subclass information like I can. So I''ve been contributing to the global knowledge base by posting run downs of one or two classes a day. You know, between spending time with my girlfriend.

    ¡°Why is it such a big deal?¡± Mercy asks. ¡°It''s just for a bunch of geeks who want to become heroes.¡± I make a face like I''m horribly hurt by her words.

    ¡°No, actually most of your recent views are state actors from other countries and individuals looking to capitalize on and monopolize this new power structure.¡± Shorty says this with his nasally voice and produces a document listing the various groups and countries interested in my blog. ¡°Bad actors are already abusing the Dracosys, forcing people to go in and fight so they either die or become stronger.¡±

    ¡°So, wait,¡± I say, gesturing that I''m kind of incredulous. ¡°Terrorists are using dungeons as their new training camps?¡±

    ¡°Precisely. Corrupt officials, warlords and terrorists are going to use these places to gain magic and power.¡± Davis says it with authority and weight. She knows about how my Mom died in 9/11. She knows that''s why I joined up. To fight fucking terrorists.

    Mercy Mahar, my girlfriend, reaches out and takes my hand. She knows too. I told her while we were not dating a few months ago. Her dyed white hair sparkles in the sun and distracts me for a moment and I definitely wasn''t staring at her DD cup size boobs. Or her thick, smooth thighs... She''s wearing a purple two piece swimsuit so this is not my fault.

    I snap back to the people wearing clothes. ¡°Okay, so I can delete those posts and stop that end of my blog. Huh, maybe xxxGoku420baby will come back then.¡±

    The suits look across the table at each other trying to decipher that. Davis just shakes her head, knowing to dismiss anything I say that sounds remotely geek related.

    ¡°That''s a start,¡± Davis continues. ¡°But the main reason we''re here is your future role in the government.¡±

    The suit in the regular chair talks business with his Kennedy-esque voice. ¡°We''d like to hire you as an outside contractor to conduct both training and investigations for us. All Dracosys related, of course.¡± He slides over a paper with an expected compensation package listed. ¡°This first task is being funded by the Get! corporation, so this amount is just to start.¡± He points to the aforementioned three million dollars. ¡°This is what you''d be paid monthly.¡±

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The three million is very, very nice. But the monthly salary is close to 300k. ¡°Bajebus, what the hell do you want me to do for this much money?¡±

    Mercy glances at the numbers and says, ¡°although he''s going to do it, whatever it is.¡± She knows that I''m not exactly happy with my Get! pay.

    We hear car doors close and footsteps approach. Jose rounds the corner. He''s wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt and tan shorts. His kids Ernesto, Sara and Mike rush ahead and tackle me shouting ¡°Uncle Jun!¡± They''re all in their school uniforms, Jose having just picked them up from school.

    Sara says, ¡°we thought she ate you.¡± Sara glowers at Mercy, my girlfriend, in the way that only a suspicious 7 year old can.

    ¡°I bet she did eat him,¡± says Ernesto. His thirteen year old innuendo gets him a light flick on the back of his head from Jose.

    Mike, the 5 year old, is grabbing my arm and looking at Colonel Davis. He says, ¡°I know you, you the gun lady in the photo.¡± Jose has a framed photo of Coyote squad on the wall in the living room. It was taken before R-32. We were all holding our weapons like action movie stars.

    Finally Amy steps out of the SUV and I hear the two men in suits inhale sharply. Amy Amarillo is one of those tall, stunningly beautiful, slender blondes who tend to appear in lawyer TV shows. She''s even wearing a gray blazer and pencil skirt. The two men are understandably shocked by seeing a celebrity quality beauty in person.

    She''s not my type, so I''m immune. Too skinny.

    ¡°Well, it seems like my lawyer is here to hash out all these details,¡± I say, waving towards Amy. One of the suits raises an eyebrow at me.

    I respond with, ¡°no, really, she''s a lawyer.¡±

    -----

    Jose''s wife Amy is one of the hottest hot shot lawyers in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. She handles the contract and makes sure I don''t either get hosed, indentured or killed.

    A few hours later we''ve come to an understanding. They want me to go into dungeons, ruins and arenas to explore, find out stuff and generally be a typical tabletop RPG adventurer. Along the way I''m tasked with leading a group of at most 6 people. One researcher, two soldiers the feds want to gain levels and classes, plus up to 2 people of my choice for whatever reason I want.

    In exchange I get a lot of money, get to keep whatever I can carry out and get to basically keep adventuring and leveling up. That''s important because in America the Dracosys locations are all on lockdown by the Army. Which of course explains why Colonel Davis, who''s in charge of the 101st Rangers, is here.

    She''s the first woman to lead the Rangers, turns out. And she fucking deserves it. She''d been passed over more than a few times before R-32, and that incident kneecapped her detractors. Who were all old, white males. I''m sure that was just a coincidence.

    ¡°We''re doing the Get! as a trial run,¡± Davis explains. ¡°We want to eventually have you do dungeon runs three out of four weeks a month.¡±

    Mercy squeezes my arm, pulling it between her large breasts. She says, ¡°you can have him half of the month and not a day longer.¡±

    Davis looks at my dumb face and annoyedly says, ¡°fine. We''ll agree to that.¡±

    The two suits glance at each other in a way that indicates they disapprove of that stipulation, but they''re clearly outranked here.

    Amy takes the suits inside the house to finalize the documents.

    ¡°Nice place you''ve got here, Han.¡± Davis says it looking around the big backyard and eyeing the upper-middle class home.

    ¡°It''s obviously Amy''s,¡± I say. ¡°She''s the top dog lawyer. Jose just lets me rent the garage apartment because we''re friends.¡±

    Speaking of, Jose comes back into the backyard with the kids after changing them all into swimsuits. They all cannonball into their pool, followed by their dad, who similarly does a cannonball. The splash soaks me and Mercy and her gorgeous light brown skin. Crap, I really am in love with her, aren''t I?

    Mercy Mahar, my girlfriend, asks ¡°So can you tell me why the Get! is first on the list?¡±

    Now that I''ve basically agreed, Davis explains in detail. ¡°Of the dungeons across the US, that''s the only one we have a complete map of. It''s also among the smallest dungeons. A five floor dungeon is pretty rare. Most are 10 to 30 floors.

    ¡°We also want to use it to test a few things. Apparently, if you clear a dungeon and defeat its boss you gain the ability to turn that location back into a regular place. Make it not a dungeon any longer. We want Han, sorry, Jun Kyung, to test this. That''s why Get! is paying so much up front.

    ¡°The researcher we recruited is from some game company, and they''re going to be testing certain features and functions of the dungeon and Dracosys. Apparently this bungee jump company are experts at game numbers and-¡±

    ¡°Did you say BUNGIE?¡± I ask, incredulous.

    ¡°Marathon, Destiny, Halo, that Bungie?¡± Mercy asks, also incredulous.

    ¡°Do you know them? Well this woman used to work there, so don''t get too excited. And she worked on the economy and behind the scenes math. Just numbers stuff.¡± Davis says this like she''s trying to talk two dogs into not eating a steak.

    ¡°Still, it''s cool,¡± Mercy says, trying to not totally fangirl out. She flips her white hair that she''d dyed so she could cosplay as Mara Sov, a key character in the Destiny franchise.

    ¡°So...¡± Davis says, trying to continue the conversation in a direction she might actually understand. ¡°How long have you been together?¡±

    At the same time we say two completely different numbers, three days (me) and six months (Mercy).

    ¡°Uh, okay,¡± Davis says, confused. ¡°Whatever.¡± She looks right at Mercy. ¡°Just take care of him, alright? He''s a good one.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Mercy says almost in a whisper. ¡°I''m not letting him get away.¡±

    That last part is either incredibly concerning or incredibly sweet. Judging by how she''s both one of my closest friends AND we like kissing each other all over, I''m leaning towards the sweet side.

    ¡°Do you know who you want with you?¡± Mercy turns to me and asks.

    ¡°You, all the time,¡± is my immediate reply as I stare into her big beautiful eyes.

    She pokes me in the arm. ¡°I meant on dungeon runs.¡±

    I look over at Jose. He''s playing and laughing and splashing in the pool with his kids. And I don''t want to take him away from that. ¡°I don''t know. I''ll have to give it some thought.¡±

    ¡°I could get you Ekko and Grant,¡± Davis says, referring to our old squad mates from the Coyotes. ¡°They''re both still enlisted.¡±

    That means they''re both still willing to risk it all for their country. If they died... It would be sad, but not tragic. When you choose the life of a soldier, especially when you choose the life of a Ranger, you have to expect a violent death is a likely outcome. I look again at Jose, being a really good dad, and I can''t imagine that he''d want to risk this life again.

    I ask ¡°Can I get back to you in a couple of days?¡±

    Davis holds up two fingers. ¡°Maximum two. If you don''t pick anyone else I''ll throw Grant on your squad anyway.¡±

    Jose yells from the pool, ¡°you know I''m coming, right?¡±

    ¡°Jose, you have kids!¡± Mercy yells back.

    ¡°I''m aware,¡± Jose says amid being splashed in the face by said children.

    I lean forward in my chair to talk to him. ¡°She''s right, Jose, you shouldn''t risk your life for money.¡±

    He gets splashed in the face and then a pool noodle whacks him in the back. He splashes back. He says, ¡°I wouldn''t risk my life for money but I''d risk it for my best friend.¡±

    Mike spits a spout of water at me. In his little kid voice he squeaks out, ¡°daddy will protect you uncle Jun.¡±

    I take a deep breath. It''s a big decision. I really won''t let these kids lose their father. I swear it to myself.

    ¡°Besides,¡± Jose says, pulling himself out of the pool. ¡°I still want to hit the toy department.¡±

 Chapter 25: Forming A Party

    The team is set. It''s me and Jose. The army is sending Ranger Corporal Odysseus Grant. The Navy is giving us Private First Class Henry Gallup, who''s a SEAL. Agent Madeline Diaz is some FBI hotshot. Lastly we have Gwen L''Ronge, the ex-Bungo math wiz.

    The six of us will be Dragoons. That''s what they''re calling the Dracosys dungeon delvers in the English speaking world, anyways. In Asia they''re called ¡°Hunters¡± but apparently that''s copyrighted or something in the west.

    Over the next two days I talk to each, to make sure they know what they''re getting into.

    I talk to Henry Gallup first. He''s just over at the Fort Worth Naval Air Station, about an hour from me. We meet at a Waffle House for breakfast. He''s tall, muscular, dark skinned and handsome. Also, he''s the first person I''ve met that talks like a news anchor.

    ¡°So, Henry, what made you volunteer for this assignment?¡± I ask after we order.

    His voice booms over the restaurant and literally everyone can hear his deep voice. ¡°Corporal Han, that''s a great question. I think that everyone should serve their country the best way they can, and right now it''s plunging into the new frontier of the dungeons.¡± He smiles and his teeth are pearly white and perfectly straight.

    ¡°Uh, alright.¡± I say. ¡°You''re planning on going into politics after this, aren''t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, I can''t say that I''ve ruled out a run for the 12th congressional district in Texas. I can say that this country needs strong leaders and nothing builds strong leaders like the American military.¡±

    I keep myself from groaning. This guy is a lot. I close my eyes, look at my Dracosys menu and check some classes. ¡°Hey did you know there''s a political class series?¡±

    ¡°Is there?¡± He''s suddenly very interested.

    ¡°Yeah, you go Advisor, Politician, Representative, Senator.¡± I write down the series on a napkin for him, then continue. ¡°Obviously if the system gives you the option to take a later class you do it. I had a friend take Advisor. He wasn''t combat trained so we ended up not using him much but he got stuff that aids the group as a whole.¡±

    ¡°That sounds exactly like something I''d be interested in,¡± Henry says, bringing his hands together in a thoughtful manner. ¡°I''m always looking to be a team player, even when I am forced to lead a team.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± I cannot believe this guy was chosen for my team. Actually, maybe he was kicked out of another team and this was his punishment. Our food comes and we demolish it for a few minutes.

    ¡°Weapons of choice?¡± I ask.

    ¡°M4 Super 90 tactical shotgun and smoke grenades,¡± Henry says after finishing his smothered and chopped hash browns.

    ¡°Smoke grenades? Interesting, haven''t seen them used much in the field.¡±

    ¡°When you need to change the flow of a fight they''re indispensable. So long as you know how to use them right.¡±

    I think on that for a minute as I finish my waffle. ¡°You''re experienced with them, then?¡±

    He sips his coffee then answers, ¡°yes, in both the offensive and defensive uses.¡±

    ¡°Well, they''re not something I think about much so let me know if you have a plan for them.¡±

    ¡°Will do. And if I can just say what an honor and privilege it is to be serving alongside someone who received the-¡±

    I cut him off, ¡°I don''t like to talk about the medals. I didn''t like why I got them.¡±

    Private First Class Henry Gallup nods. It''s the nod of someone who''s seen combat and knows all the horror and violence that accompanies it. I think that I can trust this guy.

    Next I meet with Gwen L''Ronge. She says she''s busy working out some math and I should meet her at her hotel. It''s in Dallas so I drive my blue Subaru WRX over to the Hilton.

    I knock on the door to room 1307. Nothing happens. I wait another minute, then knock again. Still nothing. ¡°Hey, Gwen, it''s Jun Kyung Han,¡± I call through the door.

    I get a call on my phone. It''s Gwen''s number. She nervously says, ¡°zere is someone knocking on my door, are you on your way?¡± Her voice carries a French-Canadian soft lilt to it.

    ¡°That would be me knocking on your door.¡±

    ¡°Prove it,¡± she says.

    I knock on the door and shout for her to open up.

    ¡°Ze man outside my door sounds like you,¡± she says, still suspicious.

    I sigh and switch my phone to a video call. ¡°Hi, Gwen, this is me. Jun Kyung Han. This is your room number. Now I am knocking on the door.¡±

    The door across the hall opens just a crack. I turn and see Gwen''s face inside room 1310. She told me the wrong room number just as a precaution? Always wonderful to meet yet another paranoid mathematician.

    After some negotiation, she lets me into what I immediately identify as one of those rooms that''s been converted into a giant conspiracy board. There are piles of papers strewn about, the wall has red yarn thumbtacked to pictures of politicians and magnates, and there are crumpled up coffee cups everywhere.

    ¡°Soooo,¡± I say, not quite sure where to start. ¡°You been in town long?¡±

    She''s tall, thin and has graying hair. Probably in her early 40s, I''d guess. ¡°Immediately after ze initiation of ze Dracosys I ran an analysis on who would be ze most likely to be chosen as a lead agent for a counter-Dracosys team. I flew into town immediately after confirming you and Jose Amarillo escaped dungeon USA-TX-11.¡±

    She sits down on the floor in between three laptops and alternates typing on each one. ¡°You really expect me to believe that you anticipated both that I''d be chosen, I''d say yes, and you''d be picked to be on my team?¡±

    ¡°No, actually I suspected zat Jose Amarillo would be chosen as team leader. You just happen to live in the same area.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I mutter. Well, that''s a kick in the ol¡¯ pride, but I struggle on. ¡°So do you have combat experience?¡±

    Her speech is rapid fire and leaves no room for interruption. ¡°I was an Olympic hopeful in ze winter biathlon, so I know how to move and shoot. I also have several marksmanship awards. I keep in good physical condition using aerobic exercises, though I am not capable of feats of strength. My best attributes are Intelligence, Agility, Constitution, Memory, Reflexes and possibly Luck, though zat is debatable.¡±

    I''ve got a brother who''s on the Aspergers spectrum so all of a sudden her behavior seems really familiar to me. ¡°Okay, great. Do you have any questions for me?¡±

    Without looking at me she asks, ¡°yes, do you have any unallocated level ups right now?¡±

    ¡°Actually, yes, I have two.¡±

    She hasn''t looked at me in at least a minute. If she''s like my brother she probably won''t ever make eye contact with me, so I don''t take it personally. ¡°Good. Please allocate them into first step classes that you have not selected yet.¡±

    ¡°No. Those suck balls.¡±

    ¡°I suspect that you may actually gain levels by doing so. Based on ze information gathered from other Dragoons, ze leveling system is based on your overall average level. My math says ze level of each class is multiplied by ze step of that class, then ze average of those numbers is your overall estimated level. Thus gaining multiple 1st Step classes at level 1 decreases your overall average level and, possibly may push your experience to grant you additional levels.¡±

    ¡°Eh, I''m going to trust you on this only because you worked at Bungie.¡± I close my eyes and open my menu. I select Fighter and Rogue and take the 1st level of each. Sure enough, after spending those two levels, I gain one more. ¡°Holy crap I gained a level,¡± I say, then open my eyes. She''s still not looking at me. I shrug. ¡°Well Gwen, I''m happy to have you as part of the team.¡±

    Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± she says, still engrossed in three laptops. ¡°Please leave now.¡±

    She seems... Unique, and I''m unsure about her combat capabilities, but I''ll take someone who can crack open the secrets of leveling. At least I know that I can trust her math.

    My next stop is at the much shitter hotel across the highway. I text FBI agent Madeline Diaz that I''ve arrived and she texts me back to meet her in the gym next door. I enter and see her pumping iron.

    Agent Diaz is in her early 30s, has very short cut black hair, light brown skin and muscles just about everywhere. She''s also about as tall as I am, but her shoulders are several inches wider than mine.

    ¡°Agent Diaz, I presume?¡± I address the woman.

    ¡°Yup,¡± she says between reps of weightlifting.

    ¡°I''m Jun Kyung Han.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± She continues to lift... Holy crap is she dead lifting 300 pounds? Sheesh.

    I maneuver around the massive weights as she switches to bench presses. ¡°So I wanted to meet with you and get a feel for your style and approach to situations.¡±

    She talks as she racks another 50 pounds onto her bar. ¡°I carry a ballistic shield, Sig Sauer P226 and a fire axe.¡± Her voice is thick with Kentucky twang.

    ¡°Fire axe?¡± I ask.

    She pumps out 10 reps of 350 pounds before answering. ¡°Axe used by firefighters. Great fer clearing obstacles.¡±

    ¡°Alright I''m just gonna put you down as a frontline fighter then, okay?

    ¡°Yup,¡± she says, and carries on with her exercises.

    ¡°I''ll just text you later and give you some classes I''d recommend you try and take.¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± she says, switching to a leg machine. I leave her to it.

    Grant won''t get in until tomorrow so I go over the gear we''re taking in. We don''t have an official space yet so for now I''m just storing equipment in the garage.

    Jose and I still have some health recovery snacks, but not a ton. I request a couple of med kits. We all get helmets fixed with wide spectrum scopes, just in case we need to see the heat signatures of invisible lizards again. Each person seems to have their own preference for body armor, but I ensure that it''s all in order and ready to be donned.

    Jose requests a MK11 Mod 0 sniper rifle, just like the one he used to carry. Grant and I will both take the MK 16 SCAR L with standard length barrel. Henry Gallup is bringing in an M4 Super 90 tactical shotgun. Special agent Diaz is carrying in a ballistic shield and Sig Sauer P226 handgun. I go ahead and make everyone carry one of the Sig Sauers as backup, so ammo can be shared. Lastly Gwen L''Ronge (who I discover is indeed French Canadian) is going to be equipped with a heavily modified Ansch¨¹tz model 1827F Fortner, the small caliber rifle used in the biathlon.

    There are some other odds and ends I order but the last thing I request is collapsable duffle bags. If we get back up to the break room I want to carry out as many health recovery snacks as possible. Not just for the team, but also for science, and probably some sick kids? I dunno exactly how we''re going to use them, but we can definitely use them.

    The next day it''s time to finally talk to Odysseus Grant. I''m not looking forward to it, honestly. I drive my WRX to the Love Field airport to pick him up. I can tell which one he is because he''s the only giant, bald, white guy in army fatigues in the pick up line.

    It''s the first time I''ve seen him in years. The scarring on his face hasn''t gotten better. He loads his bags in the back seat then gets in the passenger side. He''s almost 6¡¯ 4¡± so the car noticeably tilts down on the right when he sits.

    ¡°Hey Odysseus,¡± I say in as neutral a tone as possible. I honestly don''t know what to expect from him.

    He flips out his phone, types a bit and then a simulated voice comes out. ¡°Hi, Jun. I hope you don''t mind if I use this to communicate.¡±

    ¡°N-no, not at all,¡± I say as I pull away. I had wondered how he was faring after the explosion at R-32 basically ripped half his face off. Seems like he''s adjusted, at least in some ways.

    ¡°I''m looking forward to this mistake,¡± the voice says. ¡°Mission, I meant mission not mistake. Sorry. Autocorrect is a problem with this thing.¡±

    It''s funny but even through this cell phone AI voice synth app, this might be the longest he''s ever talked to me. When we were in the Coyotes he seemed to resent me. ¡°No worries, man. Soooo... How''ve you been?¡±

    He taps and the voice says, ¡°damn. You were always so awkward. That hasn''t changed, I see. I''ve been getting along. I am studying to be an EMT. That''s part of why I requested to be on your team when I heard about it. You''ll need a medic.¡±

    I slap the steering wheel with annoyance. ¡°What the crap, was I the last person informed that I was running a team?¡±

    ¡°Knowing Davis, probably,¡± Odysseus taps out. ¡°She probably just wanted to give you some time off before going back at it. She always liked you.¡±

    ¡°Pfft. Davis, like me? I was barely a body with a gun to her.¡±

    ¡°No, she definitely favored you. I think that''s why she went into R-32 with you instead of out with us.¡± The cyber voice said something very surprising but with no more intonation than anything else. ¡°She used to stare at your ass a lot.¡±

    I was so surprised I almost drove off the road. ¡°What the snap! Why didn''t anyone tell me!¡±

    ¡°We all knew it was never going to happen. Against regulations. Also we all knew you liked big boobs.¡±

    I have to restrain my outrage and indignation. ¡°How did- no, you know what, I don''t want to know.¡±

    He lets out a raspy, barking laugh. Turns out losing most of your tongue alters your laugh, too. Then he slaps me on the shoulder. I think we''re going to be fine. I can definitely trust this guy.

    With all our preparations complete and the Get! raid happening tomorrow, Jose and I decide it''s time to throw a barbecue. We call in both the new team and the old team (Theo, Nat and Brian). We do not invite Bilbo.

    The sky is clear and blue. The afternoon is cool (for May in Texas, 80 degrees is cool) and both the smoker and the grill are cooking. There''s a Spotify playlist featuring hits from the 90s. Pretty much everyone has a beer or glass of wine. It''s like the end of a Fast and the Furious movie but with less Corona and more Shiner Bock.

    Mercy is just wearing an anime t-shirt and jeans but that''s more than enough to turn heads. Turns out she usually wears a sports bra to keep her girls from jiggling and make them look smaller. Tonight she''s got a black bra under the anime shirt and it is putting in some work.

    We''re all in t-shirts and jeans, actually. That''s the Texas state uniform. Except for Nat and Amy. They seem to have both gotten a completely different invitation. Nat looks like a punk rocker with a red plaid skirt and black leggings. Amy is wearing her little black dress she uses for office parties. I am wearing the ¡°Giant Robot¡± shirt I took from the Get! dungeon 4th floor. What? I just really like this shirt.

    Theo shows up with a gorgeous date who looks like she''s a foot taller than he is. Nat shows up alone but seems to be flirting with both Odysseus Grant and Henry Gallup, who are both tall and well muscled. So that''s her type: hot guys. Brian shows up with a friend. They''re... Holding hands?

    ¡°Hey Brian,¡± I call out and go greet him.

    ¡°Oh, hey Jun, great party,¡± he says. ¡°I don''t think you''ve met before. This is my boyfriend Reggie.¡±

    The mildly overweight black guy in a bowling shirt extends his hand. ¡°I''ve heard great things about you, Jun. Though it''s fiance now, not boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°Ahhhhh what?¡± I ask, confused.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± says Brian, ¡°we''ve been together for eight years but it took almost dying for me to pop the question.¡±

    ¡°No, that''s not what I''m confused about.¡± I say this as I look between the two men. ¡°You''re not gay,¡± I say to Brian.

    Reggie chortles, ¡°oh, he''s gay, I can promise you that.¡±

    ¡°But I thought you were in love with Natalie.¡±

    ¡°Oh, she''s my niece,¡± says Reggie, waving the very idea away with his hand. ¡°Brian is just a dear and looks out for her. You know he got her that job in the back so she wouldn''t be hit on so much.¡±

    I am floored. Our entire planet got turned into a video game and THIS is the most surprised I''ve been all week.

    ¡°This guy has low wisdom,¡± I hear Brian whisper to his FIANCE. They laugh and go to talk to other guests. Dammit Jose, I can''t believe he told people about my wisdom.

    We all have a good time. Drinks are drunk, meat is grilled, hot dogs are stacked with condiments. Even Colonel Davis shows up, this time without the government lackeys.

    Things are winding down around 10pm when Davis gets a call. She looks worried. ¡°I need a TV!¡± she calls out.

    I bring her into the garage. I flip on the TV and lights and sound erupt into the room. The news is on. I didn''t leave it on a news channel. That means this is on every channel. Oh. Shit. The headline down at the bottom of the screen reads ¡°MONSTERS ESCAPING DUNGEONS.¡±

    The male newscaster looks very serious. ¡°We have Janet Varley at the scene, Janet, can you hear us?¡±

    They cut to a reporter outside of the Pentagon. The 5 sided US military headquarters had been, as far as anyone knew, the first place to transform. The center had become a bottomless pit, filled with fire and the screams of the damned. Apparently it had at least 40 floors. A lot of people were lost, missing or dead inside.

    The rattle of M16 assault rifles blares out as Janet ducks behind her station''s news van. ¡°Hank, the situation here at the pentagon has changed drastically in the last 5 minutes. Monsters are now appearing outside of the Pentagon and are attacking anyone they see. The military police force that was on watch here is doing their best to subdue these beasts.¡±

    The cameraman braves the danger and the shot shifts to around the van. We can see some sort of large, red, white and blue spiders. They''re the size of pickup trucks and there are 6 of them. Another materializes, so now there''s seven of them. I recognize the fade in as the counterpart to the fade out of a dead monster when it turns into loot. The local law enforcement and military popo are opening up with assault rifles. The big targets are easy to hit but their exoskeletons seem to deflect most of the bullets.

    ¡°They need to hit the eyes and joints,¡± I hear Jose''s voice from behind me. I turn to look and see that everyone has gathered to watch. It''s a good thing this TV is so big.

    Mercy clings to my arm. I feel her warmth, her weight. It''s reassuring. She''s quickly becoming one of the only things I can rely on in this increasingly unpredictable world.

    ¡°The Koreans predicted this,¡± Mercy says. We all turn to Mercy. ¡°In some of their dungeon-in-the-real-world fiction, if a dungeon isn''t cleared, eventually there''s a dungeon break. That''s when the monsters escape and rampage.¡±

    We continue to watch the drama unfold at the capital. The newscaster breaks in with a report that another location is confirmed as having monsters escape, the Kremlin. It transformed at the same time as the Pentagon.

    We watch over the course of the next hour. It seems like, yes, dungeons that weren''t cleared have monsters escaping from them. A lot of places aren''t prepared for monsters so the death toll rises quickly. That''s when I remember the Get! and I make my first real decision as the leader of fireteam Lupus Rex. (Yeah, I got to name the team.)

    I turn to the people behind me. ¡°Alright, how fast can everyone be ready to go? I want to hit the Get! now before it has a dungeon break.¡± I see my team (my team, wow!) nod. ¡°One hour,¡± I say. ¡°Meet at the Get!. See you there.¡±

 Chapter 26: Breaking And Reentering

    We all arrive at the Get!. We are armed and armored. The two police officers on duty stand outside the chain link fencing that now surrounds the entrance to the building. We approach, introduce ourselves, explain, and get past them without too much trouble.

    We get inside the gates and I stare up at the building that held us prisoner for almost 24 hours. The tan concrete, big box, strip center exterior looks like it was pulled like taffy or soft clay. The walls seem thin in multiple places. There''s exposed wiring and duct work. The Get! logo is distorted and now looks like a malicious command instead of an excited instruction.

    I turn and look over my team. Both Jose and I are wearing the operational camouflage pattern (gray, brown and green) IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest), sans the shoulder and groin guards, plus matching helmet and black combat boots. I''m wearing my eyepatch again. Jose has his fingerless sniping gloves as well as the pink cat collar bracelet. Odysseus has the same outfit and armor but he''s wearing the shoulder and groin guards. We all have light backpacks full of various supplies.

    Henry Gallup has the same IOTV with groin and shoulder guards, but his outfit is all Navy tactical dark blue camo. Agent Madeline Diaz is wearing the same, but in solid FBI dark blue. Her armor also says FBI on the front and back. Just like she said, she also has a black rectangular ballistic shield, plus a yellow and red fire axe on her back.

    Gwen L''Ronge is wearing just a lightweight, blue Canadian police vest, but she''s also got a black backpack full of tech with her. Under the armor she seems to be wearing just a regular cream colored button down shirt and black slacks. The rest of us have camo shirts and pants to match our armors but she looks like she''s going to the office later.

    I stand in front of the team and get down to business. ¡°Okay, so you four don''t have classes yet, right?¡± They nod or give yes sirs. ¡°Once you''re inside the Dracosys will stun you until you pick a class.¡±

    ¡°Grant, go for Acolyte or Cleric if you can. Something that says it uses Memory or Wisdom and grants chants or invocations. That might give you healing.¡±

    He nods and taps on the cell he has strapped to his forearm. It says, ¡°Got it.¡±

    I turn to the next person in line. ¡°Agent Diaz, take anything that says it uses Strength. I don''t care what, but you should leverage your talents.¡± She nods and gives me one of her trademark yups.

    ¡°Henry-¡±

    ¡°Advisor, Politician, Representative, Senator,¡± he recites. ¡°Or something that uses Charisma. I read the dossier.¡± This time I nod in acknowledgement.

    ¡°Gwen...¡± I stop myself and then say the truth. ¡°I have no idea what would be best for you but I think you probably don''t need my advice anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, I do not.¡± She says it matter of factly, without any insult.

    I continue. ¡°Jose and I will stand guard until you guys are clear. Once that happens, I''ll take this first room down. Gwen''s data suggests that you just need to participate in the fight to get credit for it, not necessarily kill anything. So when I pull the bugs, shoot a bit but don''t worry too much about kills.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Jose raises an eyebrow at me and asks ¡°you''ve got it? All five thousand of them?¡±

    I draw one of my three knives, the M3 Mongoose. It begins to float in the air and spin. ¡°Yeah, I''ve got it.¡±

    Jose and I walk through the sliding doors first. The corn field is still taking up most of the first floor. I can''t even see the ice wall from here. The buzzing of flies is mixed in with another sound this time. A chittering. That''s foreboding.

    The others enter and immediately four of my team go stiff while in motion. The effect is bizarre. They''re frozen mid-step as they cross the threshold of the Get!. Henry comes out first.

    ¡°Politician,¡± he says, then closes his eyes to check his new menu.

    Odysseus comes to and taps out, ¡°Just Acolyte,¡± then similarly returns to the menus.

    I look around. There''s a blue line around the rubber mat that covers the floor around the entrance. ¡°Jose,¡± I say, and point at it.

    ¡°Safe room lines.¡± Jose agrees. ¡°That would keep monsters in.¡±

    ¡°So we''re actually safe right here and can let people get a class safely,¡± I note that for future use. I could bring Mercy here, even. She''d love a spell casting class.

    Diaz comes out of the class selection stupor. ¡°I''m a friggin Knight,¡± she says. She''s got a big ass grin on her face. She closes her eyes for a second, then opens them up and her shield begins to slightly glow with golden light. This ripped badass looks like a kid with a new toy all of a sudden.

    Gwen almost falls over as she recovers, then talks as she goes into her menus. ¡°I am now an Oracle. I use Geist points. I had not heard about these yet. My abilities are called harrows. Fascinating.¡± She suddenly looks at me, holds a hand up and an indigo colored tarot card appears between her fingers. She taps it against her armor and it fades away but leaves behind a sparkling blue crystal dust coating on her armor. ¡°This should grant me some additional protection.¡±

    I nod and turn to the corn field. I draw all three knives I brought and throw them into the air only for them to come to a halt about 15 feet up. Then each one begins to fly in a different direction, tip first. When they''re all in different corners of the floor I snap my fingers and we see Ping circles emit from each knife. The buzzing of insects becomes deafening. I call the knives to the center of the store and thousands of insects, enraged by the Ping, follow them.

    When the knives gather together they float in formation, points forward. Then I snap again for another Ping wave and the flies are absolutely outraged. They attempt to collide into my blades, which I call back over to me. As they fly the tip of each begins to glow with a red sheen that gets brighter over the course of the five seconds it takes for them to return.

    I scan a fly quickly.

    Stinging Syrup Fly. These guys have stingers now! This makes them mildly dangerous alone, but absolutely terrifying in swarms. The current size of this swarm is 4999, which is thoroughly deadly.

    Possible Loot: None

    The knives get to me and I turn their points at the massive swarm that now is heading right for us. My team opens fire on the swarm and I delay just long enough for everyone to get a shot or two off before triggering my attack: a charged triple Flame Thrower.

    Three long, thin cones of flame erupt from my knives and incinerate the approaching swarm. I push flames out of the three blade tips and the overwhelming, sickly sweet smell of fried insect fills the floor. Three seconds of flame, five seconds of flames, ten seconds of flames and then the bugs are dead.

    There''s a circular hole in the corn field in front of us, the edge of which is outlined with burning corn stalks. Thousands of crispy bug bodies lay before us, but the path is clear.

    I flip my hand and my knives return to their sheathes on my chest armor. I turn back to my team and see absolutely shocked faces.

    Except for Jose. He''s shaking his head in annoyance. He says, ¡°this is why Brian hates when you multiclass.¡±

 Appendix A: Level 22

    During the 5 days between the escape and the re-entry, I gained the Magus''s Armed subclass ability to cast spells through a weapon, and the Psychic''s Telekinetic ability to wield weapons remotely. I also trained with various spells and techniques, mostly the Telekinesis which I trained by using it to float a Sacagawea next to me while I performed various tasks, including back massages.

    The increased proficiency with Telekinesis currently lets me use it on up to three items at once, though they are hard to manipulate independently. Flying them in formation or at least doing the same thing in different directions is about as tricky as I can get with Telekinesis.

    Telekinesis itself is a unique spell in that its capabilities are based on my physical stats. The flight speed is based on my Agility. The accuracy is based on my considerable Dexterity. If I wanted to stab with them that would be based on my Strength. In general, Telekinesis just lets me do what I could normally do, but at a distance. I can''t lift a car with it because I can''t lift a car. And my knives can''t fly at 60 miles per hour because I can''t run that fast. Yet.

    The other important thing I picked up was the Level 15 Synergist ability, Double Dip. This let me choose an additional subclass ability from a class I already had. I took Charge Caster, letting me boost the power of attack spells by letting them charge up. The exact amount of this boost is double effect for quintuple cast time. So Flame Thrower, with a 1 second cast time, takes 5 seconds to charge fully. More powerful spells tend to have longer cast times, so this ability leaves you vulnerable if used on more powerful, later tier spells.

    -----

    Note: The rest of this chapter is a run-down of Jun Kyung Han''s stats and abilities, and can be skipped.

    Corporal Jun Kyung Han

    Total Level 22

    Avg lvl 6.33

    1st Step Classes

    Mage, level 1

    Fighter, level 1

    Rogue, level 1

    2nd Step Classes

    Charge Barrage Caster, level 3

    System Scout, level 3

    3rd Step Classes

    Hedge Rake, level 3

    Burning Chimerablood Sorcerer, level 4

    Telekinetic Psychic, level 3

    4th Step Class

    Armed Magus, level 3

    5th Step Class

    Synergist (Level 22)

    Free levels: 10

    Class and Subclass abilities:

    Synergist Level 1 - Dabbler. Each time you gain a level, choose another class you qualify for. You gain the benefits of gaining a level in that class. If it''s the first time you''ve chosen that class you instead gain the benefits for starting as that class.

    Synergist Level 15 - Double Dipper. Choose a class you already have a subclass for. You gain an additional subclass of your choice for that class. (Charge Caster was chosen)

    Barrage Caster - You focus on small spells that can be used in quick succession. Basic attack spells cost 1 AP less, to a minimum of 1 AP.

    Charge Caster - You can hold spells before completing the cast to empower them. Charging a spell for 5 times longer than normal results in 2x effect.

    System Scout - You can get basic information about system created items.

    Hedge Rake - Utilize attack spells instead of melee or ranged weapons when using melee or ranged techniques, respectively.

    Burning Chimerablood Sorcerer - Your fire spell damage increases by 25%. While in negative AP your body takes on aspects of the elemental magic you use.

    Armed Magus - You can cast spells on or through your weapons. Spells that are usually touch can become combo spell/techniques.

    Telekinetic Psychic - Gain Telekinesis as a 0 AP spell.

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 15

    Dexterity 52 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 35 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 20

    Constitution 15

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 63

    Memory 18

    Wisdom 8

    Charisma 34

    Reflexes 58 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 13

    Spirit 0

    Faith 0

    Arcana 46

    Luck 1

    ---Combat techniques---

    Widened Strike

    Coat a weapon in Ki, effectively making it 25% bigger and easier to hit with. Ends after one minute or when you hit a target.

    Range: held weapon

    Cost: 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 3%

    Lunge

    Reach forward with your weapon and slide further than your foe expects. 1 foot further to start, but keep at it and that''ll increase.

    Range: 1 foot

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 7%

    Parry

    Shields? Nah! You''ve got a weapon. Block with that. Then kill with it too. Every sword is a multitool. Your grip is 25% stronger and firmer than normal, and your weapons hold up against damage 25% better.

    Proficiency: 0%

    Rallying Disarm

    You lash out at a foe''s weapon, disarming them, and powering up your next blow at the same time. If you don''t disarm them your energy fades away.

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency 0%

    Lancing Stride

    When on foot, running and even walking attacks have more force behind them. 20% more force, to be exact.

    Proficiency: 1%

    Dirtbag''s Enhancement

    Coat your blade with Ki for a time. Attacks with it deal extra sneak attack damage and have a chance to cause temporary blindness.

    Range: 1 held weapon

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 3%

    ---Mapping techniques---

    Ping

    Send out a sonic wave that rings when it comes into contact with a creature. Doesn''t distinguish between friend, foe or ambivalent squirrels.

    Range: 100 feet

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 20%

    Minimap

    Create a tiny map in the palm of your hand. It reflects what you yourself have seen. You can use your other hand to pinch to zoom, slide or rotate the map, and even put down markers that are saved between uses.

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Duration: 5 minutes

    Proficiency: 1%

    Sacagawea Sense

    You gain a basic radar function that appears in the upper left corner of your vision. It only detects Sacagaweas. This can be configured. This stacks with similar vision mapping techniques.

    Proficiency: 3%

    Compass

    You gain a compass in the upper left corner of your vision. This can be configured. This stacks with similar vision mapping techniques.

    Proficiency: 27%

    Basic Radar

    You gain a basic radar function that appears in the upper left corner of your vision. It only detects moving creatures. This can be configured. This stacks with similar vision mapping techniques.

    Range: 30 feet

    Proficiency: 27%

    ---System Techniques---

    System Scan

    A small white dot will appear next to System generated items and creatures. Looking at the dot reveals the name of the item or creature. This feature reveals more the higher your proficiency is.

    Range: 30 feet

    Proficiency: 147% (increased information)

    ---Fire Spells---

    Flame Shot

    Shoot a small ball of fire like a sling bullet. The longer you hold it the more powerful it gets, but don''t expect too much.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 35%

    Fire Bat

    Summon a fire bat.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 2(3) Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 40%

    Flame Thrower

    A stream of flames shoots from your hand. Quite dangerous, actually.

    Range: 25 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second

    Proficiency: 304% (increased damage)

    Rising Ignition

    Touch a foe and they are immediately engulfed in fire.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 5 AP

    Proficiency: 0%

    Burning Blade

    Summon a sword of fire, or add a flame enchantment to an existing weapon.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points for 10 minutes

    Proficiency: 6%

    Molotov

    Create a bottle of flames in your hand which explodes when you throw it. Great for rioting. Explodes after 1 minute if not thrown, so watch out for that.

    Range: however far you can chuck a bottle

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Flame Shield

    Summon a shield of fire, or add a flame enchantment to an existing shield.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points for 10 minutes

    Proficiency: 3%

    Explosive Mote

    Summon a small ball of fire that turns into a big ball of fire when you throw it.

    Duration: 1 minute or impact

    Range: however far you can throw a ball, 10 foot radius explosion

    Cost: 20 Arcana Point per mote

    Proficiency: 1%

    ---Electric Spells---

    Static Snap

    Snap your fingers to charge a digit with static electricity. Touch someone to deliver a jolt. Okay in combat, but great at parties.

    Range: Touch

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 274% (increased damage and possible stun)

    ---Earth Spells---

    Stalagmite Caltrops

    Summon a spot of small stone spikes to stymie suspicious suitors. Also make people''s feet bleed.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Range: 30 ft

    Area: 5 ft diameter circle

    Cost: 1(2) Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 59%

    ---Water Spells---

    Hydration

    Touch a creature and fill its stomach with water.

    Range: Touch

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 2%

    Fluid Fist

    Make a big fist of water and smack people with it. You can just pummel away or shoot the fist at a jerk, ending the spell.

    Duration: 10 minutes or shot attack

    Range: Personal / 25 ft

    Cost: 2(3) Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 40%

    Bubble Breath

    You or a friend you touch can breathe underwater. If they are aquatic to begin with, they can breathe air instead.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Range: touch

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency 5%

    ---Ice Spells---

    Snowflake Shuriken

    Create a regular sized shuriken made of ice. Throwing it is still up to your physical abilities.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 1 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 2%

    Freezing Beam

    You shoot a laser of cold. It''s pretty cool.

    Range: 25 feet

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second.

    Proficiency: 30%

    Icicle Trap

    Create a six inch wide patch of frost on any flat surface. If someone (even allies) comes in contact with it, an icicle will erupt from the patch, piercing the victim.

    Range: 25 feet

    Duration: 1 Hour

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    ---Light Spells---

    Yellow Ray

    Emit a yellow light from your hand. Not bright enough to blind people.

    Sustained

    Range: Cone, 30 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per 10 minutes.

    Proficiency: 7%

    Holo Shield

    A weapon or shield you''re holding gains a protective barrier of light around it that absorbs damage.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point for 1 minute

    Proficiency: 30%

    ---Dark Spells---

    Dark Mote

    Release a speck of darkness that circles you for 1 minute until you come within 15 ft of a foe, at which point it buries itself in the foe.

    Duration: 1 minute or impact

    Range: Personal / 15ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per mote

    Proficiency: 110% (increased size of mote)

    Shadow Stab

    Your foe steps into shadow, thinking to hide. You pull that shadow into a spike that impales your foe. You laugh maniacally.

    Range: 25 ft

    Cost: 1(2) Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 72%

    ---Mental Spells---

    Psi Spike

    Deal unavoidable, but minute psychic damage to a foe. This is more of a distraction than an actual attack. Alright it''s just a headache, but Psi Spike sounds cooler, doesn''t it? Increase the AP you spend to increase the pain but not the damage.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 1+ Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Psi Shock

    Very briefly stun a foe. Like, really briefly. 0.1 seconds briefly. Increase the AP you spend to increase the range.

    Range: 10 ft

    Cost: 1+ Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Telekinesis

    Move up to 1 object at a time, up to 100 ft away from you. You have to touch an object to initiate Telekinesis on it. You use your physical stats to determine its speed, accuracy, strength and the like.

    Range: Touch

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points per minute (reduced to 0 via subclass effect)

    Proficiency: 325% (Increases # of items)

    Psi Barrier

    Shield yourself from mental attacks for a time. Increase the AP you spend to help defend against stronger attacks.

    Range: Self

    Cost: 5+ Arcana Points per minute

    Proficiency: 18%

    Psi Push

    Shove back a target 5ft. Increase the AP you spend to increase the force, increasing the weight or distance of the push.

    Range: 10 ft

    Cost: 10+ Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 6%

    Empathic Wave

    Just checking in, how are you feeling? Okay, well that''s how everyone else in a 10 foot radius is about to feel. This is a constant aura effect. Increase the AP you spend to increase the radius.

    Range: 10 ft radius aura

    Cost: 10+ Arcana Points per 1 minute

    Proficiency: 3%

 Chapter 27: Farming

    I gained 9 levels. Jose gained 2. Odysseus got all the way up to 10 in Acolyte, then has 3 free levels. Henry Gallup and Madeline Diaz both hit level 10 in their classes. Gwen rose to level 8 Oracle.

    Using my Scan confirms we killed 4501 of the insects. Gwen whips out a laptop and does a lot of math very quickly. Number''s fly by on a spreadsheet.

    ¡°As I suspected, ze leveling system is indeed based upon your current average level. In zis case, killing 50 insects was enough to rise from level 1 to level 2.

    ¡°Levels are automatically assigned unless you have a choice as to which class you will choose next. For most of us that only happens when you reach level 10 in your current class. So, as each of us rose in level during the massacre, our leveling slowed.¡±

    I hover over her shoulder and peer at a cell that''s red on her sheet. The top of the column has my name on it. ¡°Why am I red?¡± I ask.

    She waves me away. ¡°You have a limit to ze number of levels you can stock up at once. Ze limit is ten. You should have gained more, but alas, ze Dracosys is not utterly broken by your class. Just mostly broken.¡±

    So I''ll have to actually spend my level ups and can''t just wait until I have 99 and buy everything. Drat. Ah well, might as well take on the next step to unlimited power, that being the Ranger class.

    Ranger

    Melee combat, ranged combat, exploration. You''re not exactly a jack of all trades. You''re more like an expert in some, master of none.

    A third step class. 5 subclasses. Nine class evolutions.

    Gain 2 Strength, 2 Agility, 2 Dexterity and 4 Ki upon choosing this class. Two basic, advanced or expert mapping or dueling techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Strength, Agility, Dexterity.

    Upon level up three additional random basic, advanced or expert mapping or dueling techniques will be granted, until all basic, advanced and expert mapping and dueling techniques are known. Each level you gain 1 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 2 Agility and 5 free points.

    Subclasses

    Long- The maximum ranges of your ranged weapon attacks increases by 25%

    Mid - You can use techniques limited to either melee or ranged weapons with the opposite type, assuming it isn''t an impossibility to do so.

    Short - Your attack speed while wielding two melee weapons increases by 10%.

    Lone - While fighting alone you gain +10% to all stats.

    Power - You gain a transformation that provides +5% to all stats for each ally who also transforms using this ability.

    Mid Ranger is why I''m here. If I combine that ability with the Hedge Rake ability to swap magic for weapon attacks, I think that I''ll be able to use a ranged magic spell as a melee weapon attack. Which is the kind of dumb, game breaking thing I''m into.

    I get the subclass ability and then try something. I take three steps forward, then activate Lunge and Shadow Stab at the same time. I slide forward a foot and the shadow spear shoots out from under my foot in a diagonal forward direction. It works. It friggin works!

    I shake myself out of the gamer fugue state and address my team. ¡°Okay, anyone get anything that needs to be talked about?¡±

    ¡°I indeed got squad support skills. They''re actually active right now.¡± Henry says this and I look around and see a thin translucent circle hovering around Henry. It''s about 10 feet across.

    ¡°An aura?¡± I ask.

    Henry nods and says, ¡°increases the defense of those inside the ring. It says 10% but I don''t know how that works exactly.¡±

    ¡°Your cells become denser and harder to break,¡± Gwen says. She''s taking copious notes. ¡°Zey studied it at ¡®arvard.¡± Her Canadian French drops the H in Harvard. ¡°Zat is what Toughness does. You become denser, heavier. You seem very dense in particular.¡± She points at Madeline Diaz without actually looking in her direction.

    Diaz answers ¡°yup,¡± her familiar all-meaning, all encompassing affirmation. Diaz then speaks up after that. ¡°Got stuff to make me tougher, too.¡± She holsters her pistol and draws the axe from her back. She takes a few swings with it, the third time the thing is coated with golden fire. She again has that child-like grin except now she''s thinking about axe murder so it''s creepy.

    Grant types away on his wrist cell. ¡°Got to level 10 Acolyte. Can go in different directions but Clerk is the healing path, right? Cleric. Sorry, autocorrect.¡±

    Gwen cuts in. ¡°Yes, Cleric leads to more healing and light based abilities than other paths. It should make your EMT training completely obsolete.¡±

    Grant types back, ¡°Wow. Thanks.¡± Due to the neutral tone of the text to speech software, I have no idea if that was sarcasm or not.

    Gwen starts packing up her laptop and says, ¡°Ze Oracle spells are quite complex and I do wish to experiment with zem, but not now.¡± She holsters the laptop in her bag and stands. ¡°Shall we continue? I have ¡®eard of zis ice wall and wish to see it for myself.¡±

    I point at the far wall which is clearly visible due to the cone of fire burning down half the corn field. It''s been visible for minutes, she just wasn''t paying attention. I... Better keep an eye on her from now on.

    We approach the ice wall which I still have no idea how to properly get past. Henry Gallup is off to the side and says ¡°Hey, look at that!¡± He points off to the far west side of the corn. There''s a bright red tractor cab peeking up over the corn.

    Henry slides his gun down and goes into handsome charming mode. ¡°That''s a Rexluxe 150 combine harvester. Haven''t seen one of those since I worked on my grandfather''s farm in Iowa. That''s an older model, but I think I get what they want us to do to get through the ice wall.¡±

    Of course he worked on his grandpa''s farm and knows tractors. This jerk is going to be President within 10 years. Well, better get on his good side I guess. ¡°Lead the way,¡± I say.

    We stride through the corn field, taking out a handful of the remaining flies as we go. When we get to the tractor it''s one of those with a wide spinning blade wheel out front.

    ¡°Ah, the Rex-luxe. The company went defunct in the 70s but a lot of their machines still work today.¡± Henry says this as he mounts and starts up the tractor. ¡°Can''t beat American manufacturing!¡± he yells over the roar of the machine.

    We get out of the way and he drives the tractor back to the ice wall. He starts the front blades spinning then aims for the glowing exit sign above the stairs up. He just rams the blades into the ice. Instantly snow cone quality ice chunks fly backwards as the big blade wheel, which is almost 5 feet tall itself, makes rapid progress through the wall.

    ¡°Huh,¡± says Jose. He turns to me. ¡°You should check the ice for treasure.¡± Jose motions to the long wall that runs the length of the store. It''ll take Henry a few minutes to carve out a path to the door so I might as well.

    I take Jose and Diaz and walk west, torching the wall with flames as we go. To speed up the process I let my AP dip below 0, then do a charged Flame Thrower. The red horns grow again and my fingertips ignite. The boost from Burning Chimerablood and the double damage from charging the spell let me quickly melt ice. I send a knife out and hose down the wall with bright red fire. Sure enough there''s an alcove about halfway down and it contains a small table. On the table are three small bags of sunflower seeds. I scan one.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Lucky You, You Get! It! Promotional Sunflower Seeds. These already shelled sunflower, super salty seeds grant the consumer +2 Strength and +2 Luck, the perfect thing for an aspiring baseballer. This benefit is permanent, but can only be applied once.

    I immediately hand a bag to Diaz and tell her to eat it. I crack open one for myself (I can really use the Luck) and offer the last to Jose, explaining the benefits.

    ¡°Is it okay if I give it to my son?¡± He asks this but he''s already popping the bag into his inventory.

    I shrug. ¡°I guess. Ernesto or Mike?¡±

    He shrugs back, ¡°Ernesto. That kid keeps injuring himself so I''m hoping Luck will help him out.¡± I nod that the reasoning makes sense.

    I clear out the rest of the ice wall on the west and have a knife start on the same on the east side. The ice in front of the stairs up is about 20 feet thick, while around the walls it''s only about 6 inches. I glance over at the combine harvester and it looks like it''s buried in 3 feet of snow, but is still plugging away. Gwen and Grant have joined Henry on top of the harvester and are hanging off the sides. It honestly looks like they''re having a great time. I mentally write this all off as being an appropriate team building exercise.

    I clear the east side of the ice at about the same time as Henry breaks through the wall and reveals the stairs. The east side wall didn''t hold any secrets. We all meet up at the stairs.

    ¡°Hey, Jose, how''d you know there''d be treasure over there?¡± I ask.

    He simply says, ¡°Zelda.¡±

    Grant nods and types out, ¡°in Zelda they often have secrets off to the side of the main path.¡±

    Diaz gives a ¡°yup,¡± in agreement. Both Henry and Gwen also nod as if they know this information precisely.

    I say ¡°I never played those-¡± but am then cut off by a barrage of complaints.

    ¡°Those are the best-¡±

    ¡°And you call yourself a gamer!¡±

    ¡°I''m ashamed to be your best friend now.¡±

    ¡°Those are a staple of culture-¡±

    Grant''s digital voice comes in last, ¡°we''ll fix that when we''re done here.¡±

    They then banter for 10 minutes and come to an agreement that Jose''s best game ever Link To The Past is the best in the series. Henry liked Wind Waker because of the freedom, Diaz liked Skyward Sword because of the motion controls, Grant''s favorite is Ocarina of Time, Gwen swears Spirit Tracks is good. They also agree that I am a truly bad person for never having played any of them.

    ¡°Damn, y''all, not my fault.¡± I hold my hands up defensively. ¡°We didn''t have Nintendo consoles but I had a computer. I know Baldur''s Gate and Counter-Strike and the rest, just not the Nintendo exclusives.¡±

    I find myself smiling as I continue to explain that I am a real nerd. This is pretty good, actually. It''s starting to feel like a combination of the Coyotes but also Jose and I''s lunch group. This is good. This can work. This can be exactly what we need to both clear rooms like a squad and clear a dungeon like adventurers.

    I halt the chatter as I point to the stairs up. ¡°Alright, alright team. Let''s get back into soldier mode and Jose and I will prep you on what to expect going forward.¡±

    -----

    The team now knows what to expect. The escalator going up is back in service, and we have to go single file. To allow room to back up or dodge, I have Diaz go up front, shield raised, followed by Henry Gallup 5 feet back. We climb the stairs and the escalation makes our trip take just seconds.

    Diaz hits the small beauty department first and I hear the pop of handgun fire as I assume she''s downing the masked zombie. Then a few seconds later I hear the loud blast from Gallup''s shotgun and then I get up to the second floor and see what''s happening.

    There are now three- Diaz pops one and it falls- correction, two masked employees in the beauty department. Problem is that where one falls, two more identical ones materialize. I fire my rifle into the remaining two masked creatures and they fall, but four more have just popped up. Grant and Jose join us and my team puts down the four masquerade escapees only just in time for four more to pop into existence.

    Splitting Masques. You thought you were really clever, last time, just popping it in the head and skipping the brutal melee fight awaiting you? Well, look who''s back and bringing friends!

    Possible Loot: Splitting Masque, cheap lipstick.

    ¡°This might be endless,¡± I say over sporadic gunfire. ¡°Push into the seasonal section.¡± I point at the next area and see something that''s probably a bad sign. The seasonal section has transitioned from summer patio furniture to fall halloween decor and costumes. There is a giant skeleton overlooking the area. ¡°Actually maybe pharmacy is a better idea.¡±

    Gwen gets to the top of the escalator and immediately says ¡°Madeline, use your axe, the rest of you stop shooting.¡±

    Agent Diaz holsters her handgun and draws her fire axe in a flash then commences chopping into the masked monsters. Each of them looks like a different coworker who died in the Get! so this is all quite unsettling for me and Jose.

    She cleaves into the first with an overhead chop and buries the axe deep into the monster''s head. White slime oozes out of the monster''s wound, looking like paint that might have been used for the mask itself. She swings at the next as that one falls, slashing horizontally and shearing the head clean off. The white paint spurts out of Jason from the deli''s neck. We used to give him a hard time about his name and department. Now he''s dead and a simulacra of his corpse is on the floor. Fuck this place.

    As these corpses fall they aren''t replaced by more doppelgangers. Gwen talks over the chopping of former employees. ¡°These creatures were killed by gunfire. The adaptation the dungeon made to zem was to have them multiply when killed by guns again.¡±

    Diaz finishes re-killing my coworkers and Gwen continues. ¡°We must be careful to think about how the monsters were fought last time, and what changes may have been made to avert ze same outcome.¡±

    She goes into detail. The dungeons reset every 24 hours, respawning monsters. The monsters come back ready to negate or at least avert their previous method of defeat. Monsters seem to be able to have up to six of these ¡°adaptations,¡± though they gain only one per 24 hours. Since we were the only ones who killed monsters since this dungeon started, we can sort of estimate and project how things have changed.

    ¡°Problem is that we didn''t go through pharmacy, and seasonal got real spooky,¡± I say.

    Grant types out, ¡°pharmacy might have medical items.¡±

    ¡°And Halloween town might have a whole grim reaper,¡± Henry says.

    ¡°Right, so we''ll take- Jose where are you going?¡± I swear at his receding back.

    ¡°Dude, halloween,¡± he mutters and points at the big smiling pumpkin. Jose loves halloween and scary movies. Of course he wants to go there.

    I say ¡°maybe on the way out. I don''t want to chance running into a vampire this early.¡±

    ¡°Or a sexy nurse,¡± comes Henry''s voice, with a note of wistful hope. We all turn and stare at the unexpectedly horny response from our future president. He tries to recover and fake coughs. ¡°Or a Freddy Kruger. You know, typical Halloween stuff.¡±

    We all decide to let his slip up slip by.

    I lead the way this time, heading into the pharmacy section. The area is even whiter than normal for the Get! and the aisles are barely wide enough to let one person through at a time. The aisles, each stocked with store brand ¡°over the counter¡± drugs, are also tightly woven together in a zig zag pattern. Just three aisles run the length of the long, narrow area. We effectively have three paths in front of us, but due to the zig zags, we won''t be able to see much further than 10 feet in either direction.

    I give the command. ¡°We''ll split up into teams of two. We won''t be able to shoot past each other anyway.¡±

    ¡°Splitting the party?¡± Jose asks, mentioning the ultimate tabletop RPG taboo.

    ¡°We have guns,¡± I say. ¡°We''ll handle it. Diaz, take Gwen. Gallop, you''re in front with Amarillo on your six. Grant, I''ll take point and you''re behind me.¡±

    The teams assemble and everyone realizes that I put a smaller person in front of a taller person so the one in front can duck and let their partner shoot. I get nods of approval. This is my first command but Davis gave me a hell of an example to follow.

    We all take one last look at each other and step into the unknown.

    We take our time weaving into the aisles. It''s not until we get past the first zig zag and I truly can''t see out the front or back that I notice something is wrong. The shelves are repeating. I progress further in and yeah, the shelves are repeating. I purposefully knock over a bottle of... R Vitamins(?) to make sure I''m not mistaken.

    R Vitamins. These are not meant for humans or dogs. Sooooo... You gonna try one anyway? What''s the worst that could happen?

    We carry on and sure enough, I find the tipped over bottle of R Vitamins. ¡°The aisle is repeating!¡± I call out. I turn and point out the bottle to Grant. ¡°It''s some kinda loop! Anyone got an idea of how we break it?¡±

    There''s no reply from anyone else. Grant types out, ¡°I haven''t heard any of their footsteps since we entered.¡±

    I check my radar and it''s completely empty. Not even Grant and I are on it.

    ¡°Okay so this is some kind of extradimensional bullshit. How do people escape these in stories?¡±

    Odysseus thinks for a minute, then does something very obvious. He sweeps his arm across several shelves to clear them, then climbs. He gets to the top and lets out a harsh coughing sound. He drops back down and gives me really, really bad news.

    ¡°There are now infinite aisles.¡± I hold my head in my hands as he explains. ¡°The floor looks infinite and it looks like there is no end to it. All pharmacy aisles, all the way forever.¡±

    I take a deep breath and then look around. ¡°If this is a trap or puzzle, there should be clues.¡± Grant and I both start to analyze the shelves more closely.

    There''s various unknown vitamins, bandages in abstract shapes, protein bars that seem like they''re literally just iron bars and toothpaste in awful flavors like rancid bacon and burnt squash.

    Grant is looking at the various vitamin bottles and scrutinizing the labels. He puts one back on the shelf and then does a double take. Suddenly he shuffles bottles around and I see what he''s doing. He''s arranged the seven types of pills into a word.

    ¡°FORWARD¡± he types excitedly, though the robo voice remains calm. ¡°I can also spell BACK if you want.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit man, this is awesome! So... Are we supposed to eat the pills?¡±

    He shakes his head and holds up a bottle to show me the child proof cap. It reads ¡°Press and turn to remove cap. Pull and turn to use letter.¡±

    He pulls and spins each letter in forward and then we hear a grinding sound. I pull a knife into my hand and we take our first steps truly forward. In just a few seconds I see the entrance to the electronics department and the rest of the team waiting for us. Grant and I are the last to arrive.

    ¡°Over half an hour, pay up,¡± Diaz says, checking her watch. The other three hand her small bills from their pockets. These jerks bet on how long it would take us?

    ¡°Wait, how long did it take you guys?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Less than 30 seconds,¡± comes Gwen''s reply.

    Henry and Jose turn to each other. ¡°About 5 minutes?¡± Henry guesses, and Jose nods.

    Grant pats me on the shoulder and then taps out, ¡°Sorry man, I have low Wisdom too.¡±

    ¡°Dammit Jose, stop telling people about my Wisdom!¡± Everyone laughs.

    And then the Halloween monsters spill out of the seasonal section and things get really nasty, really quickly.

 Chapter 28: Halloween

    The thirty skeletons that march out are the first problem. Bullets, as it turns out, kinda suck against things that lack everything except bones. We open fire and it''s not until we thoroughly blast apart a skeleton''s spine that it stops moving. Blow its legs off and it scrapes forward with arms. Shoot off the skull and it swings blindly forward. Shoot off the arms and it just tries to ram you.

    I''m about to do some magic when Diaz swings her axe and completely demolishes one skeleton, then another. She just swings and smashes like the damn Knight she is and it''s kinda amazing. Within a minute she''s crushed our foes and she stands slightly scraped up but not really injured. Grant goes over to her and casts some spell by typing it out and having the computer voice say the spell name for him. Interesting that it works.

    ¡°Mend thy flesh, that you may still fight¡± is the first invocation that I''ve seen. As it is cast Grant hovers his hand over her scrapes and they seal up. It''s not especially fast and seems short range.

    Invocations use Faith Points and Memory dictates their recovery. The invocation seems to last as long as the recitation of its name, which means Grant immediately has a cheat mode. He slides down the voice module''s speed and tries it again. This time the voice speaks at a distorted half speed but the spell still works. Now Grant has plenty of time to heal Diaz up completely.

    ¡°Incredible!¡± says Gwen L''Ronge. ¡°I did not expect zat to work, much less your manipulation to be effective. Well done, monsieur Grant.¡± The big man blushes, which is a sight.

    ¡°Alright, so let''s-¡± I say only to be interrupted by Henry''s shotgun tearing into a wolfman. Three more wolf boys jump out of the festive fall decorated section and Jose snipes two while Gwen shoots the third in the eye, killing it.

    There''s nowhere to take cover in the section of dungeon that stands between three departments. There''s just tile on the floor and skeletons scattered about. I make a decision. We can''t move into electronics while monsters come from behind. ¡°We''re clearing out seasonal. Gallup, Diaz, on point. Gwen, Grant, with Diaz. You guys take the left side. Amarillo, Gallup with me. Watch your fire lines in there. We don''t know the layout and the aisles aren''t bullet proof.¡±

    Each member of fireteam Lupus Rex gives me a ¡°Roger!¡± and we move in.

    The Halloween section includes hanging black sheets, fake spiderwebs and aisles of costumes. I fling a knife into a spider with a leg span the size of a beach ball. Okay, so the spiderwebs aren''t fake. Good to know.

    A group of sexy, shirtless but also faceless male firefighters and cops round the corner and I hear a voice come from each. ¡°Where is my mask?¡± They''re already wearing the appropriate hats for their costumes.

    Fuuuuck this shit. I switch off the safety on my MK 16 SCAR L and fire rounds into the non-humans. Their bodies just absorb the bullets like... Plastic mannequins. I hear Jose charge up a lightning shot and it hits the firefighter and arcs to the two cops. They don''t seem particularly injured. Time to scan and see if I get a hint.

    Unmasked Mannequin. It''s missing something. If only you had that something. That would be helpful, no?

    Possible Loot: Various costume parts

    Fuck me. Again we were supposed to get an item from the beauty department to solve the problem in the seasonal department? Shit. Well, it''s plastic, right? Plastic melts.

    I don''t want to set the whole room on fire so I just cast Fire Bat a few times and hand off the weapons to Jose and Henry. For myself I pull out a Burning Blade. To do that I make like I''m drawing a sword from my hip and a translucent orange longsword appears in my hand. Inside the edge seems to be orange flames that are constantly in motion, ready to singe and scorch.

    Jose, Henry and I slam our weapons into the lineup of Village People rejects and we see plastic melt and the dress up dolls drop. We clash with another two mannequins. I chop off the weird faceless heads while Jose and Henry bash in their chests.

    ¡°It''s super effective,¡± Jose says, holding up his flame tipped bat.

    From across the all hallows eve extravaganza I hear excited grunting and a ¡°Hah-Hiyah!¡± from Diaz. She''s probably fine.

    ¡°The big skeleton is gone,¡± Henry ominously says. I prepare myself for a giant skeleton boss battle by hovering one of my knives in front of me as I advance and turn an aisle.

    I see what''s down the aisle, turn back and point at Henry Gallup accusingly. ¡°You just HAD to say it, didn''t you? Now there''s a dozen of them.¡±

    ¡°Oh sweet Lincoln, no,¡± Henry says. ¡°Not Freddy Kruegers!¡±

    ¡°No, it''s worse,¡± I say seriously. ¡°Sexy nurses.¡±

    Henry immediately pushes past me to see the slutty medical assistants only for a syringe the size of a fire extinguisher to be stabbed into him, right above his collar bone. Blood, so much blood, begins to fill the syringe and I pull him back and thrust around the corner with my sword. The syringe rips out of his clavicle with a loud slurping sound. Jose goes wide left, gets a firing line and takes rifle shots into mannequin nurses. The bullets only slow down the nurses but that''s alright. I pull Henry back around the corner and down the aisle as he collapses, holding his neck wound.

    I pull out a bag of Ruffles and rip it open. ¡°Eat these,¡± I say, and turn back to the dozens of sexy nurses. They''re all mannequins, but with very low cut tops revealing plastic cleavage. The white outfits also have miniskirts, cut high enough to be scandalous on an actual human. Each one has a different, yet always giant, medical implement. The one with the rib spreader is most worrying, I think. Maybe the bone saw. Whatever, time to magic these inhuman bitches up.

    I cast Flame Shield on my floating knife and it becomes surrounded by a flat aura of orange flames. The shield is only about two feet across but that''s plenty. I tilt the shield on its side and try to go Captain America and fling the fiery knife shield at the first nurse. It sets her slightly on fire and bounces back.

    Alright, second idea. I pose my empty hand as if I''m holding something and cast Molotov. A flame shaped like a bottle appears in my hand. It turns out that I''m not immune to my own flames and it''s fucking hot. I immediately chuck the not-really-improvised explosive and it impacts. Flames spread out over the front four sexy nurses, causing them to stumble and fall. The dozen behind start to climb over their dying, burning comrades. I need a bigger boom.

    I pose as if I''m about to pitch a baseball and shout ¡°Explosive Mote!¡± A ball sized orb of flame appears in my hand, which is also hot, ow. I give my best knuckleball into the center of the group of dolls and when it makes contact it detonates with a 10 foot radius of scorching heat and orange fire. The dolls close to the explosion are blown apart and the rest catch very on fire and collapse after seconds of manic flailing.

    ¡°You good?¡± I hear Diaz call to our side.

    ¡°Yup! ¡± I give her back.

    I turn back to check on Henry Gallup. He''s halfway through the Ruffles and the bleeding has stopped but he looks pale. Which, for a black guy, is really saying something. He looks like he''s about to fall asleep. ¡°Hey Henry, Henry, stay with us, man.¡±

    He startles back to fully awake. ¡°Yes, Corporal Han. I''m here.¡± His arms are limp so I start to feed him the rest of the Ruffles. Jose is watching our backs.

    ¡°Grant!¡± I yell. ¡°Got anything for blood loss?¡±

    A minute later Grant finds us and he has his cell say ¡°Blood, return to whence you came. River of life, become life again.¡± As the invocation reads out the blood on Gallup''s armor and shirt actually recedes back into his body. The blood in the syringe is still missing but this looks like it''s helping.

    I pat Grant on the back. ¡°Thanks, I''ll switch with you. Jose, you and Grant watch over Gallup. Diaz, L''Ronge and I are taking the rest down.¡± They nod and I head to the west side of the Halloween section. Using my radar function it''s pretty easy to find my team. I really need to remember to use it more often.

    I spot just three unknown dots on the radar left. I make it over to Gwen and Diaz. ¡°I''ve got three bogeys on the north side and HOLY CRAP!¡± Diaz is surrounded by dozens of hacked apart mannequins. Her armor, shield and weapon are coated with golden flames. As I talk the flames extinguish. She had to have taken down almost 50 of the plastic men, all dressed like various copyrighted characters from television, film and video games. I scan one and see that regardless of their costume, they all register as Unmasked Mannequins.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Some of them seem to have dropped costume parts. We''ll definitely want to loot everything here later, but we need to clear the zone first. ¡°Right, so anyways, three more hostiles, north, you guys ready?¡±

    The two women nod. Gwen reloads her rifle and Diaz eyes my flame sword. I shrug and hand it to her. She holsters the axe and grips it in front of her like it''s a legendary weapon. Which, I mean it is a magic flaming sword, so I guess kinda? ¡°It''ll disappear in about 8 minutes so don''t get too attached.¡± She nods and takes a few practice swings with it.

    We move to the north side and the thing I''m worried about is that two of the dots are twice as big as the third. We hit a corner of an aisle and I take a peek. Fuck, I know these monsters. They''re store brand knock offs of famous video game baddies. We had these costumes in the store last year at Halloween, around the time when I started at the Get!.

    The first big one is a yellow and green spikey turtle monster that, yes, seems to be breathing fire. The regular sized one is a big green rectangle with an unhappy face on it. I know those things usually get angry and explode. That''s bad. The worst, however, is definitely the last one. It''s big, about three times as wide as a person. The costume is called ¡°diving drill man¡± but we all know what it''s supposed to be. The creature has a rivet gun in its left hand and a massive spiral drill on its right. I scan each in their hopes of clues.

    King Fire Turtle. Breathes fire, weak to plumbers.

    Possible Loot: Star, Mushroom, Flower, Costume Contest Prize (variable)

    Creepy Rectangle. Not strong, very explosive personality.

    Possible Loot: Cube, Pickaxe, Costume Contest Prize (variable)

    Big Papa. A monstrous diving accident caused this man to be trapped in ancient equipment. It can take more punishment than you''d think. Also, HAS A GIANT DRILL.

    Possible Loot: Plasmid, Costume Contest Prize (variable)

    I pull back around the aisle just as King Fire Turtle looks in my direction. I say to Gwen and Diaz, ¡°three video game bad guys. Real versions, not mannequins. King Fire Lizard, Creepy Rectangle and Big Papa. I think we take out Creepy and he''ll explode and kill the other two.¡±

    They nod and Diaz pulls me back as Fire Lizard claws slash straight through the aisle next to me. ¡°New plan, just fight,¡± I say, and Gwen backs up while firing her target rifle at the lizard. The small caliber bullets don''t seem to be making a dent in it. The King Lizard roars and its big head rounds the corner and stares at us. I can see flames ignite in its mouth. I flip a knife in front of us and cast Flame Shield on it and Diaz''s ballistic shield.

    Flame Shield

    Summon a shield of fire, or add a flame enchantment to an existing shield.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points for 10 minutes

    Proficiency: 6%

    The knife ignites with the flat shield of flame again and Diaz''s shield glows orange. We huddle behind both as a gout of red flames comes from the King Lizard. It''s not as concentrated as my Flame Thrower but easily three times as wide. Flames crash into our shields like waves.

    The flames stop and in that second I turn to see Gwen. She''s 30 feet back, having sprinted away. Good. I turn back to the lizard and Diaz has dropped my fire sword in favor of her fire axe. One was designed for firefighters, one for fire users. She''s making the right call. With the same motion as drawing the axe from her back she uses an overhead chop to bury the blade into King Lizard''s right arm. Green blood comes forth.

    I raise my SCAR and open fire on ol¡¯ fire breath. The high velocity bullets of my assault rifle punch into the creature''s left shoulder as I carefully avoid hitting Diaz. I go to strafe around it but it spins 180 degrees, swinging its spiked shell around at us. Bullets bounce off the shell and its spikes rake across Diaz''s arms. That''s when Mr Creepy comes in.

    The big green rectangle looks unhappy, as always, but upon seeing our melee, gets enraged. It starts to flash red. ¡°Pull back!¡± I yell but I know that if the explosion from the game is anywhere close to this thing''s destructive power, we''re all fucked.

    From behind me I hear Gwen say ¡°I play Temperance from ze field!¡± The small crystals that were surrounding her for the last hour and a half leave her, combine into a tarot card in front of the Creepy, and the card sinks into the rectangle. The red flashing gets faster as we try to run, then we hear a loud explosion. The boom isn''t quite as harsh as I''m expecting, but the shockwave still drives me and Diaz to the ground and blows King Lizard in half. The lizard''s shell is standing there attached to the legs with the chest, head and arms missing. There''s so, so much green blood. Wait, is that blood made of flat 2D pixels? It is. What a neat touch.

    We''re in the clear, but of course Big Papa has yet to show up for the party and wouldn''t you know it, he likes to arrive late. The big, old fashioned diving suit, topped with brass helmet, rounds the corner. Its two foot wide drill is already whirring at frightening speed. It stomps closer to where Diaz and I are sprawled on the floor when I hear the charge and then electric snap of one of Jose''s lightning bolt shots. The bolt stuns the creature and Jose, Gwen and I dump bullets into it. Diaz grabs the previously dropped Burning Blade and chucks it straight into the creature''s belly which opens up and murky, black water begins to drain out.

    We keep shooting but the Big Papa gets up and aims its rivet gun over mine and Diaz''s heads towards Jose and Gwen. He fires large metal rounds at them and I hear a grunt and a scream. I turn and see them both dropped to the ground, both wounded. They''ll live as long as we kill this thing now. Time to get desperate.

    The wound in its belly is full of dark, shadowy water, right? I Shadow Stab from inside its own guts, trying to poke holes from the inside out. I release my SCAR, make sure all three knives are out, then using each one, plus both hands, I perform Shadow Stab five times at once. The Papa looks like a giant porcupine is inside the monster and wants to get out, but the Stabs don''t puncture the thick suit material.

    The big boy drives its drill towards Diaz who blocks with her shield. The golden glow around it brightens and I hear a cracking sound as whatever protection she has on it is about to shatter. I go for another five times stab and this time I get three holes. Black water shoots from the holes like a leaking water balloon. Still not enough to stop the guy.

    Jose lets fly another lightning shot and this one strikes right into one of the open water wounds. The whole inside of the monster lights up with electricity and it''s stunned again. That''s when Diaz pushes back against the drill, knocking it away. Then, from her back, she delivers a mighty kick to the Burning Blade that''s somehow still in the monster''s gut. The blade spins and cuts a wide gash in the diving suit. Gallons of icky water falls out, finally followed by a large black and gold squid. It tries to squirm away but I fling all three knives into it to pin it, then Diaz reaches over and chops it in half with an axe swing.

    Finally on my radar I see that we''re the only ones left in the area and I call it out. ¡°Okay, we''re clear.¡± I collapse onto my back for a minute. That was a damn fight. That was a goddamn good fight. That was a team, a squad working together. ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± I say, finally getting up. The others look at me like I''m mad, but I don''t care.

    That was real. That was an intense fight, but also... I think that was closer to me being at my best. I think that these new powers, they''re probably more me than a rifle is. Especially what I can do with the Telekinetic Psychic and Armed Magus powers. Combining those to do remote spells feels fucking incredible. I don''t think that I''ve ever come this close before to using 100% of what I''m capable of.

    This feels like everything I''ve done so far, everything I am, has all been leading here. All my nerd shit gives me skills and knowledge and instincts on how to use magic and fight monsters. All my military training gives me reaction times, how to move, how to fight, how to be in the combat soldier mindset. This is beginning to be who I really am. Who I was always supposed to be. And that feels... Amazing.

    -----

    Dossier AT-1043, Arman Tolombre

    Arman Tolombre grew up in the bad part of Paris, France. Yes, there is a bad part of Paris. He grew up with gutter trash and alcoholics, prostitutes and drug dealers. He grew up to be a thief, a crook and a thug.

    All of that changed on his 16th birthday when he got picked up for petty crimes and put in with the adult crooks for the night. The police thought he''d learn a tough lesson about knowing your place. Instead, the next day they found a jail cell full of dead adults and one blood covered teen.

    Nobody could actually tell how he killed the men, other than ¡°with some kind of weapon,¡± though none was within reach. How had that kid killed 8 grown men with a weapon that must have been long and bladed? Nobody knew. And since nobody knew how it happened, they had to let him go. And that proved to be a mistake the world would regret.

    Arman Tolombre left his name behind and took the name ¡°Haunted,¡± or Hante, in his native tongue.

    Hante began work as a bouncer, then a hired thug, then as a hit man. By 27 he was linked to 44 deaths, most mysterious and unexplained. By 40 he had become one of France''s most powerful underworld actors. Now at 43, he is something much more terrifying: a Dragoon.

    Hante entered the Paris Catacombs Dungeon three days after the world changed. No one had yet escaped the dungeon, which has entrances across the city. When he left the dungeon two days later he was accompanied by a swarm of blue and black ghosts. He used these specters to tear through an entire city block in minutes, killing at least 400 people. Afterwards he disappeared in the chaos and is now one of the most wanted men in the world.

    Arman Tolombre

    Alias: Hante or Haunted

    Age: 43

    Height: 5 foot 3 inches

    Build: slender

    Skin: pale white

    Hair: none

    Tatoos: bones and skeletons are tattooed up and down his arms.

    Wears two small gold hoop earrings in his right ear.

    Usually in business suits, but never wears a tie.

    Class: Occultist

 Chapter 29: Toy Surprise

    We scour the Halloween section for loot and usable items. The various costumed mannequins drop clothes that have small stat bonuses but aren''t better than ballistic body armor so we take what we can without using much. We all hoover up a good deal of Sacagaweas and promise to have a hell of a lunch after we''re done here.

    Henry Gallup finds a Sheriff''s Badge that''s not too bad.

    Gen-u-wine Sheriff Badge. This brass star indicates to crooks that you''re the law in this here town. +3 Strength, Dexterity and Luck.

    Diaz grabs a firefighter helmet and jacket. She throws the jacket on over her body armor, helmet going into her inventory. It fits because it''s men''s XL.

    Firefighter Helmet. You can see through fire and smoke when the visor is down.

    Firefighter Jacket, Black and Yellow. Increases your fire resistance to 75%. When using fire equipment to attack you deal 20% more damage. Your attacks can now strike and destroy fire.

    We try out the ¡°destroying fire¡± part and sure enough, she can friggin cleave her axe into my Flame Thrower to destroy part of the stream.

    The best prizes come from the three big baddies though, and I keep them for myself.

    Costume Contest, Third Prize. Grants one power of the attached costume to the person wearing said costume. You can''t wear more than one of these.

    Costume Contest, Second Prize. Grants two powers of the attached costume to the person wearing said costume. You can''t wear more than one of these.

    Costume Contest, First Prize. Grants three powers of the attached costume to the person wearing said costume. You can''t wear more than one of these.

    So, if I''m reading that right, you couldn''t wear two Third Prizes, but could wear a First, Second and Third prize all at once. Is that right, system computer voice?

    This system cannot confirm nor deny ability stacking theories.

    Ha, whatever. I think about my girlfriend. Mercy does cosplay, usually Destiny 2 but some other anime ones as well. In fact, I learned about that from the internet. A Kotaku article called ¡°Two Big Reasons Destiny Cosplay Is Awesome¡± featured Mercy with a large amount of cleavage, portraying the character Mara Sov. I saw the woman in it was going by the handle ¡°lady white hat warlock¡± and asked my coworker Mercy if it was actually her.

    Now that I think about it, it was after seeing her in that outfit that I started getting that feeling in my stomach and then started going to dinner on not dates with her and holy crap how long have I been in love with her?

    Anyways, I''ll give the prizes to Mercy and see if she can get super space magic powers or whatever from her costumes.

    I get Grant to heal us up to conserve health recovery snacks. It takes about half an hour for him to heal, recharge his Faith points enough to heal the next person, and then heal again.

    After a bit, we''ve all recovered and we look to the next hurdle, the Electronics department. I ask, ¡°okay, who''s got any magical damage attacks?¡±

    Diaz, Gwen, Grant and Jose raise their hands.

    I go down the line. ¡°Jose, you have anything besides electricity?¡± He looks away guiltily and I move on. ¡°Grant, what do you have?¡±

    He types while holding the cell phone equipped arm up, palm forward. The voice says ¡°Oh light, sear the unclean and vanquish the forbidden!¡± As the invocation casts a beam of yellow light that''s more laser than flashlight shoots from his hand, out about 30 feet before dissipating.

    ¡°Okay, that''s a maybe on that working versus electricity elementals. Next. Gwen? You got more cool magic card tricks?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ze Magician card can perform minor earth, fire, water or wind attacks, but ze timing of these cards is unreliable as of yet.¡±

    I nod. ¡°Agent Diaz?¡±

    She looks at my empty hand. ¡°Make another fire sword. Give it to me. Done.¡± I shrug and make another Burning Blade and fork it over. I go ahead and make one for Henry as well and Diaz gives him the helpful pointer ¡°You attack with the pointy end.¡±

    I gather the troops and, for the first time, I actually use my Minimap technique. A small replica of the floor we''re on appears in my hand. I show the team the route through the electronics department maze and where the monsters were.

    Henry asks, ¡°how do you think the monsters have adapted since your last fights?¡±

    Both Jose and I say ¡°ranged attacks¡± at the same time. He nods to let me explain.

    ¡°I beat most of the Watt Elementals by essentially throwing water at them from a distance.¡±

    Odysseus''s digital voice comes out, ¡°I don''t know, what elementals?¡±

    I shake my head. I''m not doing that bit again. ¡°If they had even a short range zap attack, we''d never have escaped here alive. Attack as far back as possible. As for the electro-lich, maybe he''s got better armor than Fast and Furious dvds? Like printers or metal cased laptops?¡±

    Jose nods at that conjecture. ¡°That thing had plenty of firepower, it just couldn''t take much damage.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± I say. ¡°His attacks take time to charge, so hit him hard and fast. And if you see any TVs with spiraling patterns, shoot them.¡±

    ¡°Even if it''s a 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV?¡± asks Diaz, with a look of sadness in her eyes.

    ¡°The real ones are in boxes,¡± Jose reassures her. ¡°We''ll be on the lookout for one for ya.¡±

    -----

    After all the prep we actually clear the electronics department pretty quickly and easily. Turns out my ice spell Freezing Beam works just as well as Fluid Fist at popping elementals, but it''s way faster so they weren''t really a threat. Gwen mercilessly plugged a few TV mimics and when we found the electro-lich Henry just blasted it with 6 rounds of shotgun slugs and the thing came apart in seconds.

    We get some interesting, yet not useful items.

    Director''s Cut DVD. This DVD''s edge is razor sharp. If you throw it, it''ll probably cut someone real good.

    Electro Flail. Basically just a surge protector power strip, but it does electricity damage to things you hit with it. Just don''t touch the prongs yourself.

    This time Jose sends Nintendo Switches to his inventory ¡°for his kids¡± and Henry grabs laptops ¡°for needy kids.¡± Both Odysseus and Madeline pick up the big TVs and Jose and I share in their joy.

    We get to the end of the electronics department, where the path goes up into the dark area on the 3rd floor. We all pull down our night vision scopes that are attached to our helmets and we go up. Now with clear vision we basically walk through the two dozen hairy ape creatures. This time there''s no light at all and the dumb creatures are armed with staple guns, but those are no match for actual guns and body armor. Then of course, we get to that ladder back down to the 2nd floor. The ladder that leads to toys.

    ¡°I gotta go, man,¡± Jose says, looking forward at the ladder.

    ¡°Okay, but hold up.¡± I turn to the others. ¡°This next thing is optional. Anyone who wants to sit it out and possibly go through menus is welcome to, no shame or anything.¡±

    Henry peers over the ledge into the well lit room below. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Toys,¡± Jose says, greed in his voice.

    ¡°Jose thinks we''ll find real versions of toy guns down there,¡± I explain.

    All of a sudden I have Diaz and Grant''s attention. ¡°Like the Quad Shot Hawk Eye?¡± Diaz asks.

    ¡°Or the Triple Threat Stinger?¡± Grant types out furiously.

    ¡°Maybe even the Multibuster 7,¡± Jose says looking at them.

    I look at the three adults who obviously played with foam dart guns too much and sigh. ¡°If all three of you are going I''ll probably sit it out. I''ve got levels to do.¡±

    They shrug and climb the ladder down as I take a seat on a stack of flattened cardboard. I go into my menus and plan out the next direction for my build.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    The only problem with my multiclassing is that of time. During a fight I simply don''t have enough time to do everything I can do, or want to do. What I need to get now are passive abilities, stuff that''ll be working in the background. I mean, unless there''s a helpful assistant ability somewhere in these classes and subclasses.

    I hear gunfire. I call out, ¡°you guys okay?¡±

    Diaz gives me a loud, ¡°YUP!¡± so I go back to level ups.

    Is there an assistant class, computer voice in my head?

    The classes Caller, Summoner and Shaman focus on ¡®pets¡¯ that are summoned creatures that can aid you in both battle and everyday life.

    Okay, great. I only qualify for the Caller right now. Let''s take a look.

    Caller

    Gain a familiar.

    A second step class. Seven subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 3 Charisma and 2 Constitution upon choosing this class. Two basic or advanced techniques will be learned by your familiar upon taking this class.

    Uses Charisma and Constitution.

    Upon level up an additional random basic or advanced technique will be granted to your familiar, until all basic and advanced familiar techniques are known. Each level you gain 1 Charisma, 1 Constitution and 3 free points.

    Subclasses

    Defender - Your familiar takes on a defensive role, learning primarily defense boosting techniques.

    Striker - Your familiar takes on an offensive role, learning primarily damaging techniques.

    Leader - Your familiar takes on a support role, learning primarily healing techniques.

    Controller - Your familiar takes on a foe inhibiting role, learning primarily debuff and status effect techniques.

    Hey, a little healing buddy? That sounds ideal. Let''s do it!

    Please select your Caller subclass!

    I choose Leader.

    You have gained a familiar. This familiar takes a form that you recognize. What is its form?

    I think about a white and blue wolf with wings. Majestic, strong, fast, magical. Its howl signals the last breaths of my foes. Its big furry body becomes my bed at night. It becomes my partner, my equal and trusted ally.

    A ¡°White Wind Fenrir¡± is too high a rank for you to Call. You will be given the closest approximation.

    Swirling, spiraling orange beams of light come from all directions and coalesce into a large sphere in front of me. It''s almost as tall as I am. Then the sphere continues to condense and becomes half my height. Still good. Something the size of a large dog! Then the sphere shrinks again, to the size of a beach ball. Alright, a regular dog. It shrinks again. It''s the size of... A small dog. An okay start, I can probably grow it later and- It shrinks again to about the size of my fist.

    The orange sphere fades and turns into a ball of feathers which unfurl and reveal an orange and black striped kitten about the size of my hand. It stretches out and looks up at me with big eyes. The orange feathered wings collapse onto its back. I look up at the ceiling and shout ¡°Dracosys, you are a dick!¡±

    I look back down at the kitten, who tilts its head at me and meows. I squint annoyedly at the exact opposite of what I imagined. ¡°Alright, but I''m still calling you Barbatos.¡±

    We hear an explosion from the toy department and a cloud of dust puffs up the ladder. I lean over and shout down, ¡°You guys need help?¡±

    ¡°We''re good!¡± comes Jose''s reply.

    Gunfire continues and I hear robotic voices saying ¡°I love you so much!¡±

    Anyways, back to Barbatos. I have a new menu option: Familiar.

    Feathery Kitten

    Rank: Basic

    Level: 1

    Techniques:

    Healing Paw - Recover a target''s health by touching them.

    Sad Meow - Reduce the familiar''s likelihood of being attacked.

    I sigh and look down at the kitten who is currently chewing on my shoelace. ¡°Well Barbatos, we can get you some kitten chow on the 5th floor.¡± I reach down to pet the little ball of fluff. He is pretty cute. I bet Mercy would like- Ah! The little fucker bit me! Jesus, I''m bleeding.

    I notice Gwen hovering over my shoulder. ¡°Did our fearless leader gain a precious baby cat?¡±

    ¡°One, I''m not fearless, I''m fear agnostic. Two,¡± I look sheepishly at the kitten. ¡°Yeah, I got a fluff ball. Caller class gives you a Familiar but NOT necessarily the one you want.¡±

    She pats me on the shoulder. ¡°Then allow me to be ze first to congratulate ze new papa.¡±

    ¡°Oh is that a cat?¡± Henry asks, sensing that someone other than him has gained the attention of others. ¡°I''m more of a dog person myself.¡±

    ¡°So am I!¡± I throw my hands up in frustration.

    We hear the screaming of small children from down the ladder. ¡°What was that?¡± Henry yells back.

    A few seconds pass and we hear Grant''s digital voice. ¡°Baby dolls. Not real humans. We are fine and require no assistance.¡±

    The glow of flames lights up the area down there and we hear Diaz laugh maniacally.

    ¡°So anyways, this kitten can apparently heal wounds,¡± I say. The kitten is now on its back playing with the shoelace. Ah, Barbatos is a girl.

    Henry Gallup crouches down and extends his arm. ¡°Great, have him, sorry, have her heal these scratches I still have.¡±

    The kitten ignores Henry. I try commands. ¡°Okay Barbatos, heal Henry!¡± Ignored. ¡°Healing Paw!¡± Ignored. ¡°Could you stop playing with my shoelace?¡± The cat briefly stops, does a head tilt and meow, then continues to eat my shoelace.

    I check my menus. No options for commands. I check my spells and techniques. I have no new ones to control her. I pick up Barbatos and she immediately bites and claws into my hand.

    ¡°Soooo, I think this is just a cat, actually,¡± I say with dismay.

    ¡°A dog would have obeyed you,¡± Henry says chidingly. ¡°Why didn''t you get a dog?¡±

    I grit my teeth and prepare to argue about fairness when I remember that the Caller class had seven subclasses but I''d only seen 4. Maybe the others show up at level 3? I drop two more of my levels into Caller.

    Please select your Caller subclass!

    Wild - Your familiar uses their instincts more and acts more like one of its own kind. You lose control of it but it doesn''t require your input either.

    Far - Your familiar doesn''t have to be anywhere near you anymore. There''s no distance limit to it.

    Star - Your familiar is more powerful at night.

    None of these are remotely helpful in bringing little Barbatos to heel. Fuck it, if I take Far Caller at least I can leave her at home.

    Maybe if I take more levels of Caller I''ll get an ability to control this lil fuzz ball. I drop all of my remaining free levels into Caller, bringing me up to 8 in that class. Aaaaand... Nothing. Did the little scamp get much?

    Techniques:

    Scratch - Annoy foes while dealing small amounts of damage.

    Hairball - Distract everyone nearby by throwing up a hairball.

    Food Meow - This technique lets the creature''s master know it wants food.

    Pets Meow - This technique lets the creature''s master know it wants pets.

    Litter Box Meow - This technique lets the creature''s master know it wants its litter box cleaned.

    Go Outside Meow - This technique lets the creature''s master know it wants to go outside.

    Pure Burble - Let loose a cute burble that clears the heads of allies, disrupting mental attacks against them.

    So. I spent EIGHT levels to get a cat that might be useful when it wants to be useful, which is probably never. What a damn waste. Sigh. At least I got some stat points out of it.

    Barbatos leaps up onto my shoulder and rubs her face against my face. It is the best thing ever.

    ¡°Hey!¡± I hear Jose shout from below. ¡°Come down here! We cleared it!¡±

    I leave my suddenly blissful state and climb the ladder down, Barbatos riding my shoulder the whole time.

    The toy department is littered with broken toys, many with bullet holes in them. Some of the dolls are on fire. There are building blocks, both wooden and plastic, scattered about. Wrestling action figures are chopped in half. There''s one really big stuffed rabbit that has Agent Diaz''s axe buried in its head, with cotton oozing out like gore. It''s a scene from a child''s nightmare. Since I used to work the toy department, it''s also my nightmare. I am NOT cleaning this up.

    ¡°Did you get a cat?¡± asks Grant''s digi-voice.

    ¡°Yes, I did. Now what did you guys find?¡±

    Diaz coughs and points at a new shield in her right hand. It looks like it''s made of 1 inch cubes arranged like a knight''s kite shield, complete with blue and yellow crest. Then she waves her arm and the cubes rearrange into a war axe in the same hand. The axe doesn''t look sharp at all but a second later a sharp edge made of glowing white light pops out of the blunt cubes. ¡°Block Arms,¡± she says. ¡°Has three forms.¡± She waves her arm again and the cubes rearrange into a large gauntlet over her right hand.

    Grant points at a headset he''s wearing. He''s had to take his helmet off to put on the toy. It''s one of those headsets that has voice clips from Pup Police. He presses a button and the Pup Police dog''s voice comes out. ¡°This headset lets me think and this dumb dog voice says whatever shit I want it to.¡± The kids show voice coming from him AND cursing is incredibly jarring.

    ¡°Please never do that again,¡± I say, and he nods and replaces his helmet.

    Jose calls from down towards the end of the plastic strewn area. We all approach the holy land with reverence.

    The toy gun aisle in the Get! dungeon isn''t like a normal aisle with white shelves. Instead it''s black wire mesh grating on the walls with steel hooks to hold weapons. It looks like a modern armory. We stare in awe at the arsenal before us.

    Dropshot 3 Variable Speed Rifle. This blue and orange rifle shoots cryo rounds like a regular rifle, or at slower speeds so shots can arc around cover. The five-shot revolver chamber has a spin reload feature when it is completely empty.

    Six-pack, Hydro Blaster. This dark blue and orange gun has two sets of three vertically aligned shotgun barrels. Barrels can be fired all at once, three at a time or one at a time. The top reloading ammo tank can reload all six barrels with one smooth slide of the tank. The hydro spike ammo tank can be refilled with regular water.

    Nemesis Pro Negator. A yellow and bright blue machine pistol that fires small void balls rather than bullets. The 30 round clip automatically refills with ammo over the course of 10 minutes.

    Snap Ping Pistols. A pair of small white and orange handguns that only carry one shot at a time, but pulling back the ring lever on the back of the gun reloads it with a new air elemental bullet. If you lock both guns together, pulling them apart reloads both.

    Nemesis Pro Cave Maker. This yellow and orange shoulder-fire rocket launcher fires Stalagmite rounds rather than rockets. Reloading the Cave Maker takes five pumps of the grip.

    I ask, ¡°So wait, most of these don''t require ammo, or at least don''t need regular ammo?¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± says Jose. ¡°These shoot elemental rounds and the bullets respawn if you do something to reload them. This one takes water.¡± He motions to the Six-Pack. ¡°The rest just seem to load with magic or whatever.¡±

    He picks up and fires each one, aiming down the aisle at a target range that''s set up there. The Dropshot 3 just fires little icicles. The Six-Pack fires globs of water that seem to basically punch the target rather than piercing it. The Negator''s rapid fire void orbs erase what they come in contact with, but they come out kinda slow and you could probably dodge if you were more than 20 feet out. The Snap Ping air bullets look like green darts and are almost as fast as real bullets, the fastest weapons so far. The Cave Maker just shoots 6-inch-long stone spikes at low, yet still perfectly lethal, speeds.

    We all try each weapon and we spend about half an hour having fun shooting toy guns at the walls. In the end Henry takes a Six-Pack, Jose takes one of each, Grant takes a Cave Maker, Gwen takes some Snap Pings and I take a Negator. Diaz says she''s good with her shield/axe/gauntlet and I believe her. That woman is a winged helmet away from being a valkyrie.

    While we were shooting guns Barbatos had curled up in some doll clothes and I have to rouse her so we can go. I start to climb the ladder with her as shoulder jockey when she unfurls her wings and awkwardly flies the rest of the way up.

    When I get to the top of the ladder she''s there and greets me by licking my nose. I sigh. This was the best trip to the toy department ever.

    -----

    Dossier AR-2002, Albie Rutherford

    Albie was a small-time crook in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky for most of his life. He robbed liquor stores, broke into cars and defaced police property. He was generally just considered a slow witted nuisance.

    All that changed when Dracosys turned the defunct Dorral Co. Coal Mine into a dungeon, which Albie entered without a second thought. He was apparently one of the first to enter the dungeon, thinking it was a good place to drink moonshine in peace. What he found inside was a world in which his violent tendencies were rewarded. He emerged three days later, changed. Before he was morbidly overweight, but after he was absurdly buff, to the point of hyper masculinity. He is now 12 feet tall and says that he''s no longer a human, but a ¡°hill giant.¡± His strength backs up this claim as the first thing he did after getting back into town was rip the doors off a police car. Officers Toomes and Jenkins shot him several times and while the bullets injured him, his wounds seemed to close immediately after. He then proceeded to rip Toomes in half and beat Jenkins to death using Toomes''s body.

    He is currently hiding out in the Appalachian mountains, supposedly being sheltered by government hating hillbillies, of which there are many in that part of the country.

    Albie Rutherford

    Alias: Lil¡¯ Al

    Age: 29

    Height: 12 foot 1 inches

    Build: very overweight (formerly), obscenely muscular (current)

    Skin: white, freckled

    Hair: ginger mullet

    Tattoo: ¡°Mom¡± across his lower back.

    Wears no jewelry because ¡°that''s women''s stuff.¡±

    Usually in a dirty white undershirt and unbuttoned overalls.

    Class: Highlander

 Chapter 30: Heads

    We get through the rat maze and the Bifork boss fight with overwhelming gunfire. At this point we''re all much stronger than we were even when we started the dungeon.

    While attempting to make Barbatos useful, I hit level 30 of Synergist and I got a new ability.

    Double Down - Choose one of your subclass abilities and enhance its effects.

    Most of my subclass abilities can''t be upgraded at all. So I''m left with two real options.

    Barrage Caster - You focus on small spells that can be used in quick succession. Basic attack spells cost 1 AP less, to a minimum of 1 AP.

    Upgraded: Onslaught Caster - The AP reduction is instead 50%, with no minimum AP cost. Costs may now include decimal places.

    Burning Chimerablood Sorcerer - Your fire spell damage increases by 25%. While in negative AP your body takes on aspects of the elemental magic you use.

    Upgraded: Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer - Ice spell damage also increases by 25%.

    Fascinating. Maybe the system doesn''t want to stack bonuses too high on a single element, or maybe the Sorcerer is supposed to be more multifaceted? I do have three ice spells, so sure, why not? I''m now a level 3 Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer. Woo.

    We make our way through to the 4th floor and it feels... Different.

    ¡°Those used to be smaller,¡± Jose points at the clothes piles of the 4th floor. They used to be 15 to 30 feet tall. Now they''re 30 to maybe 50 feet tall. The 50 footers hit the ceiling making them more pillars than hills.

    I check my radar and I detect something in the closest clothes dune. But there''s only one thing in there. ¡°I think this place probably changed the most because we spent the most time here,¡± I say. ¡°Those dunes used to have a dozen or more shoe snakes in them each, but now I''m only picking up-¡± I cast Ping quickly to check other dunes. ¡°Yeah there''s only one monster per dune in there. And I think it''s big.¡±

    My team exchanges looks, take deep breaths, then lock and load weapons. They''re ready for this. They''re ready for anything.

    Except for Barbatos. She''s not ready for anything. I put her down and she curls up on a pile of socks and immediately goes to sleep.

    Static Snap worked before so I''ll give it another shot. It doesn''t, however, work with my knives so I get five fingers sparking and run towards the nearest clothes dune. I''m about 10 feet from the dune when I hear multiple roars and the dune explodes from within, sending clothes in every direction.

    A five headed snake is inside the clothes dune. It is about 20 feet tall, each head made of a dozen shoes. Each individual head is about as big as the boss shoe snake from our last visit. This particular shoe snake''s heads are all made of one type of red high heels, so it looks especially pointy. I swipe at the clothes pile and the Static Snaps discharge but clearly do nothing.

    Shoe Hydra. You remember how Hercules killed this thing, right?

    Uh, no, I don''t.

    ¡°Cut off ze heads and then treat ze necks with fire!¡± comes Gwen''s analysis from behind me. This is all moot because in a flash I become a snack for the high heel Hydra. It bites into my midsection and I feel high heels punch into my guts. I''ve been working on my Toughness stat so this won''t kill me. I swing my SCAR around and fire into the fleshy neck. It bleeds and the monster releases me.

    ¡°Ignore the shoe parts!¡± I yell. ¡°Hit the snake flesh!¡± I get on my feet and dash a short distance away.

    Once I''m clear my team opens up on the beast. A hundred rounds instantly burst open the mythical snake''s exposed belly and the thing collapses.

    Grant comes over and does an invocation that seals up my wounds. Afterwards, he says ¡°You know my medical training isn''t wasted. These spells let me mend flesh but don''t tell me the best way to do it. I think having at least some medical knowledge is essential for healing magic.¡± He stops typing, thinks a minute, then continues. ¡°Otherwise you could end up sealing the surface wound but ignore bleeding inside.¡±

    I grimace. ¡°Then I''m glad you''re on the team, buddy.¡± He smiles and I notice the scars on his face are much smaller than they used to be. They were ragged and gross. Now they look like clean straight lines. It''s actually pretty badass now. ¡°Hey, uh quick question,¡± and I whisper the next part, ¡°you been putting points into Charisma?¡±

    He nods and types. ¡°Charisma just treats your skin conditions, basically. I was hoping they''d help. My wife divorced me a couple years ago, so I''m single again.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit man, I''m so sorry.¡±

    ¡°Not your fault.¡± I look away guiltily and he types again. ¡°I mean it, not your fault. None of it.¡± He taps my shoulder with the back of his fist and I look up at him. He doesn''t blame me for R-32. Maybe... Maybe I shouldn''t blame myself anymore either.

    I take a deep breath inside my brightly lit former workplace. The air is a cool 78 degrees. The nearby clothes are splattered with Hydra blood. And I''m here with comrades.

    Dozens of roars break the quiet moment, shocking us. We all look around and raise weapons. Every damn clothes dune is collapsing all at once, each one disgorging its hydra. All of the hydras are making their ways to us. We open fire.

    The first five hydras fall to gunfire, but then they''re on us. The sudden influx of melee oriented monsters on our gun toting squad is immediately disastrous. I pull my knives and start torching everything nearby. It''s not enough. I dodge out of the way as a Hydra tries to snap me in half with a bite. I see Jose leap high, but not high enough. He shoots an electric bolt down a hydra mouth and the thing drops but another hydra snaps onto his fake leg and tears the prosthetic off.

    I hear a scream and turn to see Gwen with her legs in the mouth of a work boots hydra and another of its heads about to clamp around her upper body. I spin my knives around and torch that head, then spray the body with fire for good measure.

    Henry and Odysseus are back to back, firing relentlessly at hydra heads that are closing in on them. They take down one hydra only for another to take its place. Gallup pulls the pins on two of his smoke grenades and chucks them away. They cover the path the hydras are taking to get to us. None come through the smoke for a blessed few seconds as they''re disoriented.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± I yell over the din. Jose is on his back, hip firing the rifle while charging electro shots in his pistol. I run over to him and throw him over my shoulder. He''s facing behind me and keeps firing. ¡°Diaz, get Gwen!¡±

    I''m running for the stairs. A hydra pulls up in front of me and rears back its heads to attack. My knives bury themselves in three of the reptile''s necks and my Flame Thrower fires inside of it, coming from the tips of my knives. I see the hydra glow from the inside out and smoke comes from all of its heads as it collapses. I make it to the door to the stairwell and throw Jose inside. He spins himself around so he can still shoot from the open doorway.

    I head back out and immediately see a hydra coming towards our only escape route. I hear a human roar and a glowing axe blade chops off the central head of the hydra. The head falls and Diaz jumps through the empty space, briefly lands on the neck stump, then leaps off to the doorway. She''s got a screaming Gwen attached to her, wrapping her arms around the badass woman''s waist.

    I torch the stump and am rewarded as the other heads writhe in agony and that hydra retreats. From the right side I see Grant and Gallup running over, their guns empty and hanging behind them on shoulder straps. A hydra comes in from their right and snaps at them. I think they''re okay, the bite missed. Then I notice Henry''s right arm is just gone. They keep running. I use Flame Thrower to ward off the other hydras, my AP hits zero and I gain flame devil horns. That''s when I really go at the damn creatures. Two hydras closing in get fully immolated. The one that ate Henry''s arm gets two heads burned off, but it slithers away.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.Henry falls to a knee as the spurting blood leaves him drained. I send a knife over to him and shout, ¡°hold on to it!¡± He grabs the knife handle with his left and I pull. The force of my pull drags him up and forward until he gets back on his feet and runs. Gwen gets shoved inside by Diaz, who forms her block shield and stands next to me. I try to torch as much of the clothes around us as possible, the heat hopefully keeping the hydras back. Henry and Odysseus finally make it to safety and we all scramble down the stairs, away from the door to the 4th floor.

    We tumble out of the stairs, into the 3rd floor loading zone. We drag each other to the 3rd floor safe room. The former new employee training room is quickly stained with blood as we pull the bleeding Henry onto a folding table. Gwen''s legs are messed up. Jose is missing a prosthetic but is mostly fine. I''m bleeding but can ignore it.

    Grant gets to work immediately and uses a bandage to stop Henry''s bleeding. Then he uses an incantation to seal the veins and muscles off, and the bleeding stops. It''s still a gory stump. He turns to Gwen, whose legs are mangled. He uses a different incantation as he grabs a clearly broken leg and snaps it back into place. Gwen screams. He didn''t even give her a warning. He goes to grab her other leg and she pulls her Sig Sauer on him.

    We all freeze. The sound of six soldiers breathing heavily is the only noise in the room. Gwen''s pistol hand shakes and she lowers the gun. She wipes away tears and cries. ¡°Just do it quickly,¡± she says.

    Odysseus nods and I hear the bone snap into place over the digital incantation. Then Odysseus switches to a different incantation which he plays at half speed. ¡°We seek the respite of divine mercy.¡± I feel tension slip away and my cuts and stab wounds heal a bit.

    Mercy. I wonder what she''s doing now. I look up as I hear laughter. It''s Henry, improbably. Barbatos is on top of his chest and licking his chin. He laughs and I smile. We''re all alive. We''re all alive. We are going to make it out of this damn dungeon alive. We are all-

    ¡°Oh shit!¡± says our future president as flesh begins to pull and stretch around his stump. The muscle extends and veins reach out to grab newly growing flesh. My cat''s paws are glowing and it looks at the body horror with flat curiosity. The flesh stitches itself into an upper arm, then continues to swirl and stretch and twist until a limp, boneless arm flops by Henry''s side. Then he screams and we hear the clicking of bones moving into place and his arm gains its proper shape.

    He looks down at the new arm. It''s a different color than the rest of his dark skin. It''s... A little bit orange tinted. The orange fuzzball herself jumps down off Henry, goes to a nearby trashcan, jumps inside and I hear the cat peeing on some old paperwork.

    Henry speaks for all of us, and for many issues when he asks ¡°WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?¡±

    -----

    Jose and Gwen can''t run. They''re out. Henry''s new arm isn''t responding to his thoughts just yet. Odysseus says something something neurons and nerves, and it''ll take time but be okay in a few days or weeks. So Henry is also out.

    Madeline and Odysseus are okay and in fighting shape. Most of us ran through our rifle ammo in that fight so Odysseus has two and a half clips of SCAR bullets after I give him all of mine. We also have very untested toy guns, and unfortunately ¡°horde of hydras¡± is not where you test new weapons.

    It''s been 30 minutes since our defeat. I''m mostly recovered. And I''m starting to think that''s all that matters. ¡°Diaz, Grant, get the others to safety.¡± The protests start but I hold my hands up. ¡°Not a democracy. I want you guys out before the monster reset.¡±

    Jose starts, ¡°Jun. You have someone to go back to.¡±

    I smile. ¡°I know, and I''m eager to see her again. I''m not sacrificing myself. I have a plan. If it doesn''t work I''ll head back down here to the safe room and come back down after the reset.¡±

    The others protest until I tell them my plan. They think it''s crazy, but also I should be able to escape if I have to. Slowly they give in to my determination and I watch them head down the stairs to the 3rd floor. I take a breath and turn back to the 4th floor stairs.

    I head up and creak the door ajar. It''s not what I was expecting. There''s no fire, but plenty of scorched clothes. Also, the dead hydra bodies are gone due to the 30 minute corpse timer ticking over. There are piles of loot scattered about, proving that we did indeed kill... 12 of them? Not bad! That means there should be... 24 left? Yeah, I can take that many.

    I pull all my determination together and cast Burning Blade three times. Three flaming swords appear in front of me and I use telekinesis to control them all. This is the entirety of my plan. To stop bringing knives to a flaming sword fight.

    I step out into the 4th floor and fire a handgun at the nearest hydra, sandals hydra. The bullet makes a very tiny hole, but gets the attention I want. It heads towards me and I immediately run back into the stairs.

    The thing tries to chase me and I fling my swords horizontally, as a trio of stacked blades, across its necks. Two sandals heads fall to the ground and I make another pass, chopping off two more heads. The last head turns to run but I perform a swarming chop and cut it off from three directions. 23 left.

    Two more hydras are headed my way. The one in front (basketball shoes hydra) loses a head to my flying blades and actually catches fire. Fire spreads from the stump in the middle to the next two closest basketball shoe heads and the creature rears back in pain. The second closest one (flip flops hydra) gets a face full of triple Flame Thrower and I immediately realize that using flame swords as a conduit for flame throwing makes better flames. The beams of fire are bright orange, almost white hot and flip flops hydra falls. 22 left. I spin blades into basketball shoes hydra and cut off enough heads to make it bleed out. 21 left.

    Three more approach and I use Flame Thrower until my AP hits zero and I get my +25% damage flame demon horns and burning fingers. Just as I suspected, the flame swords burn brighter. Red flames are now licking off the blades. I fling one sword at skate shoes hydra and cleave into its torso. I push the other two swords against the first and get all three to punch straight through leaving a bleeding hole in the monster. 20 left.

    The other two (knee high boots and ankle boots) are on me and I dash straight for skate shoes hydra, using its death as a hole in their line. The two snap at my heels as my swords come back to me and I spin them like buzz saws. Five more hydras are coming at me. I buzz saw heads off knee high boots and ankle boots but they''re still alive. I pull my swords to my right hand and rush ankle boots. I rake my hand across its belly using the swords like claws. 19 left.

    I spin around just in time to block knee high boots hydra but blocking throws me back into the collapsing body of its friend. Seeing me pinned, knee high boots tries to snap my head off but I block at the last second with two Fluid Fists. I see the boots through wobbly blue liquid as I bring my fists up to block and the surreal moment burns into my brain.

    I grab a boot and cast Hydrate. Knee high boots retreats as it fills with water. I send my fluid fists after it, which does nothing but does free my hands. There are five surrounding me now. I throw my swords left as I dash behind their trajectory. The swords punch tip first into the leftmost neck of sensible flats hydra and the swords stick there. I jump and swing off a sword, pulling it through the neck as I go. I hit the ground and keep running. That''s when I realize just how fast I am. At 45 Agility I am faster than any human alive pre-Dracosys. Hydras snap behind me but I quickly discover that I can actually outrun them. I turn to face the fastest one, kids penny loafers hydra, and throw an Explosive Mote at it. The small fire orb hits the hydra dead on and it explodes apart. 18 left.

    I can feel my ears bleeding. Blood is trickling down my nose. That was too much all at once. That was over the -30 AP line I figured was my limit. I pull one of my two Dr Pepper cans from my inventory and chug as I run along the south wall. My AP recovers and my horns dissolve into ash. Can''t have that, so I turn and burn, using Flame Thrower on men''s athletic sandals hydra until my AP dips below zero and my firepower enhancing horns return. Men''s athletic sandals hydra falls to the flames. 17 left.

    I pull my swords back to me as I run and then throw them at red pumps hydra. Two swords miss as the hydra goes low and one sticks in it. I use Flame Thrower from that sword and fire cuts the head off and sears another. I pull my swords back as I reach the south west corner of the room and realize I''m about to be trapped as seven hydras close in. I finish off the Dr Pepper and my horns disappear but just as quickly I pull two Explosive Motes and chuck them to the north. One blows apart toddler slip-ons hydra. 16 left. The other blows a hole in a hill of clothes and I dash through it to empty space. Hydras chase me and my horns form once again. I hold a sword in each hand and push them both forward mentally. The added momentum lets me leap 30 feet forward at a tremendous rate.

    I have a few seconds of breathing room and take in the situation. I''m now in the north west corner. There are 16 hydras and... Not a damn one between me and the 5th floor stairs. I book it and run as fast as I can. High tops hydra gets close to my escape path but I send swords to cut him and a couple of his heads fly off. I see knee high boots hydra nearby, with Hydrate water still pouring out of it. I decide to be a dick. I make a hand full of Static Snaps, get close and dip my electrified hand into his pool of water. The electricity dances through the liquid, hits the hydra and knee high boots goes down. 15 left and I turn, hit the door running and am halfway up the stairs before another hydra even comes close to catching up with me.

    I stop there on the steps and fall over, exhausted. I''m panting. My head feels awful. My legs are strained. My nose is bleeding. But I''m fucking alive. I made it through.

    Just then Barbatos appears with a pop from a little swirl of fire. She can apparently teleport to my location. I had left her with Henry Gallup but I guess she missed me. She meows and I''m betting it''s the ¡°feed me¡± meow. I scratch her head as I lay on my back. ¡°Okay girl, no problem. Next stop is the pet department.¡±

    -----

    Dossier VR-3378, Viktor Roshenko

    Roshenko has been a Kremlin agent for a long time. He is known to be responsible for 14 assassinations of journalists, rights workers and aspiring politicians. His methods are classic cold war. He uses gadgets, guns disguised as ordinary items and poisons delivered in ingenious manners. He is also known as a crack shot with a silenced handgun and an expert martial artist. He was, in some circles, called the Russian James Bond.

    When the Kremlin turned into a dungeon Roshenko went in not for personal gain, but to rescue his President. It took him four days but he eventually emerged with President Solkova and came out with apparently a plethora of unique weapons and items. He has since been seen across the world in various places, sometimes even being seen in more than one place at the same time. He is known to be extremely dangerous and if left unchecked may prove a threat to global stability.

    Viktor Roshenko

    Alias: Specter

    Age: 38

    Height: 5 foot 11 inches

    Build: average

    Skin: pale white

    Hair: short, dyed black, usually wears a bowler hat.

    Tattoo: Lenin on his right shoulder.

    Wears large gold rings on his index and middle fingers, on both hands.

    Wears black or dark grey business suits.

    Class: Operative

 Chapter 31: Quitting

    I wait to recover my Arcana Points and Barbatos actually does a good job of licking my fingers which heals me a bit. Then it''s time for the 5th floor.

    I crack open the door and see just about the worst thing I could possibly imagine. It''s the parrot.

    Pete the Pirate Parrot. This parrot has grown to be 5 feet tall. It is too big to fly in here, but that''s okay because its psychic powers are also 5 times bigger than what they used to be. Also, it wants its eye patch back.

    The black parrot squawks and turns one creepy bird eye at me and says, ¡°Nevermore, nevermore!¡±

    I pull my Nemesis Pro Negator from inventory and open fire with it, sending dime-sized void balls at the winged bastard before it can attack. ¡°That''s a raven thing to say!¡± I yell as dozens of black orbs eat holes into the big bird. All I''ve done is destroy one of its wings. I start to see psionic energy charge around its head like waves of heat and I just go back inside the stairs and close the door behind me.

    I take a sigh of relief which is followed by the door blasting in on me, toppling me down the concrete stairs. I think my nose is broken. The door is on top of me and I''m on my stomach, pinned to the stairs. The parrot taunts me, ¡°nevermore mother fucker, nevermore!¡± I feel waves of psionic energy shoving the steel door against me, threatening to crush me to death.

    That''s when I hear the meow of Barbatos, then a mean hiss and the sound of scratching. The pressure lifts from me and I get up to see Barbatos clinging to the side of the big bird''s head, clawing at its eye. I take it that at close of range it can''t use its powers? Sure, let''s try it. I rush the parrot and get in close, then stab with a knife. I have to push in against thick feathers but I find flesh and I rip and tear away. It takes about a minute but together me and my kitten take down a really big parrot.

    I take a breath. I''m almost out of healing snacks and I drank my last Dr Pepper just a minute ago. But we''re close to the break room. Really close. Should just be dogs and cats in our way. Should be fine. Should be.

    I turn to Barbatos and look her in the eye. She''s a real cutie, but she''s smeared with blood right now. She gives me a curious head tilt and I know I gotta risk it for the pet biscuit. I stand and stride into the pet department, knives at the ready.

    Bobcats leap on cat trees to growl and I throw knives at three and shoot the fourth with my Sig Sauer P226 handgun. Six devil dogs round the corner and I just pump pistol rounds into them. One gets close but three knives punch into it from above and drive it to the ground.

    I look around. There''s nothing left alive. I sweep the room and double check. Nothing. Everything is dead except me and my kitten which has already chewed a hole in some kitty chow and is eating dry food off the floor. I frown. This shouldn''t be this easy. Actually, maybe it''s me. I realize that after the hydra den I''m just amped up and in a battle mindset.

    I need to cool off. I need to let my brain and body reset. I''ve got about 45 minutes until the dungeon resets and monsters spill out into the town. So yeah, let''s take 15.

    I rummage through things in the pet supplies and find nothing of import. I go and check the break room. Still full of vending machines. I pop open some folded up duffel bags and fill them with healing snacks and drinks. Once they''re as full as possible, I place each bag into my inventory. Jose taught me this trick. Your inventory is limited by your Luck, but any container counts as one item. He figured it out because of the 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV boxes. Those counted as one item, despite containing Styrofoam padding, a remote, instructions and the like. He really is a clever dude. Most people don''t get that.

    I sit in the break room and drink a Dr Pepper not for the Arcana Points but just for fun. Barbatos jumps into my lap and purrs. I turn and realize that I''m sitting at our table. The dungeon map for Brian''s game is still here. My dice are scattered across the floor. My character sheet is here. Good old Trent the stoner tree man. What a dumb character I made.

    I laugh looking at some of my notes. ¡°Can''t see both moons at night.¡± ¡°Bardo has bombs in his pants.¡± ¡°Do slugs have souls and can I trade them to devils?¡± ¡°Printing press is evil, I bet.¡± I have no idea what most of these notes even mean anymore.

    I sit there and smile, petting my winged cat, fully decked out like a Ranger, sitting in my retail job break room with a gun on my hip and magic in my soul. I feel like this is probably symbolic or something literary but I can''t think of what it could mean.

    My watch alarm goes off to tell me my 15 minute break is over and I get up, Barbatos jumping off my lap. I stretch and yawn. It''s time to finish this. It''s time to go to the manager''s office.

    -----

    The steel double doors are painted black. They are also lined with red glowing light, and emitting a light fog. So you know it''s the boss room. Wouldn''t want anyone getting it confused with the bathroom.

    I''ve got 30 minutes before monsters leave the dungeon to invade my town. 30 minutes before monsters respawn in here and I probably can''t escape. So hey, fuck subtlety. I kick the doors open and immediately regret my decision.

    Inside is a giant 25 foot sunflower with human hands instead of petals, and a gross human mouth instead of the center full of seeds. It doesn''t seem to have legs or a body. The room is long and narrow and it seems to just pull itself along the walls towards me. The hands seem to be able to reach out with much too long arms when they need to grab or push along the floor and walls. I am about to unleash hell when I hear screams from behind the thing.

    ¡°Run! It''s a monster!¡± the helpful voice tells me.

    I start with the handgun and unload bullets into the mouth. ¡°No shit, really?¡± I yell back.

    The monsters isn''t fazed in the slightest. What is this thing?

    Hand To Mouth Lifeform. This embodiment of the modern retail worker just wants a raise. And to eat you. Good job collecting all those Sacagaweas. They''ll make you extra tasty.

    Possible Loot: Enchanted Rings (various)

    Fuuuuck no. I am not taking bullshit social commentary from a dungeon. I throw knives up and into formation and prepare Flame Thrower.

    ¡°You have to go!¡± I know that voice. Dammit, it''s the store manager Jeremy. I can''t just torch this whole room and him with it. Fine, I''m doing this the hard way.

    The monster is almost on me when I leap back firing Freezing Beams from my knives instead of Flame Thrower. The thin, teal beams of cold look almost like lasers, coming out in clean, constant streams of frost. I direct the teal colored beams to cut across the monster''s bottom hands and they freeze solid and break off, spurting blood below it.

    The monster crashes through the door frame and cartwheels out into the pet supplies area. I''m barely ahead of it and scramble up the cat litter ziggurat. The Lifeform just crashes right into it and the boxes go flying backwards, me with them. I crash into a big dog cage and look up in time to see the Lifeform still charging forward at me. I pull my knives back to me and their path takes them directly into the creature''s back. I hear the impact and quickly cast Rising Ignition with all three blades.

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Rising Ignition sets things on fire, but only works with a touch. So far I hadn''t used it but this thing is big and I need a distraction. The monster is so big that it''s blotting out most of my vision. I can''t see the flames on its back but I hear the whoosh of fire and the massive, unearthly scream. The shockwave from the scream is so powerful that I''m pinned against the dog cage for several seconds. When I finally get control of myself again I see that hands, too many hands, are gripping around my legs and right arm. The hands have reached out on long, thin arms and have me in a firm grip. I cast static snap and try shocking a hand but it does nothing. Hydrate? The giant mouth just burps up gallons of water right in my face. The arms lift me off my feet and I''m dangling 4 feet in the air, being brought to the big mouth.

    My knives ignite with flames and I try to sear this son of a bitch but he''s just too big and too tough. I am pulled to the mouth, then tossed inside. The inside of the creature is just more hands. The hands inside the mouth are dirty and rotten and corpse-like. I shudder as the smell of rotting humans hits my nostrils.

    I should note that the hands are of various skin types. So nice of the horrible monster to also be inclusive.

    My knives are outside and I don''t know where. I drop my telekinetic hold on them and summon three Fire Bats. The metal bats tipped with flame float in the air and I push them in opposite directions as the mouth closes in around me. I''m trying to keep this thing open, trying to keep the hands from tearing at my flesh. The mouth closes around me and my bats.

    Hands grab me everywhere. Broken and torn nails dig into my skin anywhere armor doesn''t protect. Fingers pull at my mouth. I feel a hand trying to rip off my ear. My arms and legs are bleeding. This is horrible. This is not how I want to die. I close my eyes to avoid the madness.

    And that''s when my menu pops up. I have four level ups. I need to be stronger to break free. I drop all four levels into Magus because it gives me 8 free stat points per level. I pump them all into Strength as I feel my ear rip off. A finger presses against my eyelid. I open my other eye and throw my fire bats in different directions away from me. All three bats, now using my super human Strength of 52, simply punch out through the hands. I myself flex and feel hands desperately try to keep me down to no avail. I free my right arm and use it to grab and crush a rotting arm that''s wrapped around my head. The feeling of my hand just crushing through this monster is exhilarating.

    I kick out and free my legs enough to right myself. Between the parted teeth I see the inside of the lips and punch. The lips of the monster pop open as if it were trying to do a Homer Simpson lip quivering belch. I climb out of the mouth and pull all three bats to me. I rear back as hands reach for my flesh and I swing all three bats like they were meant to be swung. The triple, home-run style strike blasts the monster backwards. Its flaming back cracks into the boss door frame.

    I take two seconds to refocus, breathing in deeply, then out sharply. Then I''m the one rushing forward. My bats fly ahead of me and crash into hands, crushing them into splotches of blood and bone. My own fist hits the bottom of the mouth and it busts open, bleeding red blood. I have this thing now.

    I put my 52 Strength, 58 Dexterity and 45 Agility together and begin to punch. All three stats are now beyond the normal human maximum of 40. And all three let me unload dozens of powerful punches in a row, crushing hands and bone and bursting flesh open.

    I feel my gritted teeth as I''m splashed with blood. I should stop and wipe off the gore. I don''t. I feel my fists throb with pain as my attacks begin to overcome my own body''s ability to dish out this punishment. I should stop, but I don''t. My newly strengthened muscles burn with the effort, begging me to stop. I don''t.

    I don''t stop because I played Ranger in real life, not in the game. I''m US Army Rangers. And we don''t stop for anything.

    The thing finally dissolves and drops a ton of coins and some items. I must have killed it... A whole minute ago? More? Less? Who knows? I let my fists drop at last.

    I''m not sure what just came over me. It was like there was no other option. No clever escape. This was a boss monster and I was alone. I just needed to deal damage. I just wanted to deal damage. Maybe to prove myself after the hydras. Maybe to prove I could crush this dungeon. Maybe to prove to myself that I am, in fact, still a damn Ranger.

    I don''t know. Maybe I''ll figure it out later. Maybe not. My Wisdom is still only 8.

    I turn and look down at the loot. There''s a key and Sacagaweas and about a dozen rings. I just pocket the rings. Fuck the coins.

    Boss Key. This key can do one of three things: 1) It can open the boss chest. 2) It can be given to the dungeon core to increase its power and give it another floor. 3) It can be used to disable the dungeon and turn it back into its original form.

    Alright. I walk back into the boss room. It''s mostly crushed desks and chairs. The Lifeform didn''t have much room to maneuver in here. It''s just a long narrow room with my old boss crouched down in it. My old boss from... Last week. Yeah, he was my boss just a week ago. Seems like so long ago.

    ¡°Hey, I killed that thing,¡± I say. ¡°But how are you alive?¡±

    He''s cowering before me. ¡°This, this line here, he, it couldn''t cross it.¡± I look at what he''s talking about. Inside of this room, at the far end where Jeremy is, there''s a semi circle around the back wall. Inside the semi circle, aside from Jeremy, there are four things. 1) An empty water cooler. I''m assuming this is why Jeremy hasn''t died of thirst. 2) A treasure chest the size of a microwave. It''s your classic wood, brass edges and keyhole in front. 3) A floating sphere that glows with red and white energy. I''m assuming this is the ¡°dungeon core.¡± 4) A podium with a keyhole. Must be the off switch.

    I turn to the podium and try pushing the key in. Jeremy interrupts. ¡°Hey, wait. Are you... Jun?¡±

    ¡°Jeremy,¡± I say as I turn the key. ¡°You''re a huge dick and everyone hates how you suck up to corporate while you shit on us. You''re a terrible leader and I wouldn''t follow you into a Whataburger and I fucking love Whataburger.¡±

    The whole building begins to vibrate and tremendous sounds come from above and below us. A voice comes from all around us. ¡°Warning! Warning! Dungeon will return to previous form in 150 seconds!¡±

    I pull Jeremy to his feet. I say to him, ¡°I quit. Now let''s get the fuck out of here.¡±

    It''s a pretty mad dash through the Get!, I''ll be honest. I have to use my new awesome Strength to carry him through the hydra infested 4th floor. I also have to smash the giant skeleton from seasonal who had apparently hidden from us earlier. But we make it out with about 12 seconds to spare. We hit the front door and Jeremy just keeps running. I move over to where my team is waiting with two EMT vans. I tell them to back up more.

    The stretched, broken, exposed building shudders and we hear tremendous grinding. The tearing and rending of steel is deafening. The building starts to shrink and untwist. The letters on the front of the building re-align. The concrete front of the store is still cracked and broken but then the cracks start to seal up. The broken glass from the front door flies back into position and uncracks, leaving pristine, just cleaned front doors. The whole process takes about a minute, and then it''s like it never happened.

    I take just a minute to check on Gwen and Jose. I toss Gwen some healing Ruffles. It looks like her legs have been healed but are scarred. She herself looks exhausted both mentally and physically. She''ll be fine. I need to make sure this is finished.

    I approach the Get! cautiously. I look through the big front doors. I see orderly shelves, clean floors, a produce department just stocked. I walk forward and the doors open wide to me. I find my team alongside me, minus Gwen. We enter, 5 fully armored soldiers looking utterly out of place as we peruse the front aisles of the Get! experience.

    We say some dumb, obvious things like ¡°it''s back¡± and ¡°Woah¡± and ¡°these are only $4.99 in Texas?¡± I calmly walk down the grocery section, hand on my knives, just in case. There''s nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is back where it should be.

    ¡°Jun,¡± Jose calls to me. I turn and see my friend hobbling slowly. The EMTs gave him a crutch but he''s not fast with it.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± I ask back.

    ¡°Can you grab two sleeves of Bagels? One plain, one cinnamon raisin? For the kids.¡± I nod and go collect the breakfast breads. You know what? I''m getting him the fancy organic ones. I walk over to the registers. There''s a surreal moment as I walk through the busiest part of the store all alone. No sounds of beeping registers. No employees asking ¡°how''s your day going?¡± No customers complaining about the online coupons. Just utter quiet. It''s not bad. It''s kind of nice like this.

    I go through self checkout, which seems to be in perfectly working order. I drain a stack of Sacagaweas into the register to pay for the Bagels. I bag them up and we head out.

    Mercy Mahar, my girlfriend, is there to meet me again. Apparently she waited in her car the whole time again. I''m starting to think that she might be into me. She comes over, kisses me, and then perkily asks, ¡°soooo, how was work?¡±

    -----

    Dossier RM-4499, Raoul Mendoza

    Raoul Mendoza''s early life is a mystery. We know he grew up during the drug revolution in Columbia, and made his name as a kingpin during the height of the Reagan era drug wars. He survived many upheavals from both internal and external threats.

    Mendoza''s main strength is his ruthlessness. He executed 14 aid workers in 2002 because they got just one of his employees off of heroin. In 2007 his troops invaded the small town of Miraflores and took control of it for 187 days, killing and torturing citizens while looking for CIA agents who didn''t exist. In 2011 he had the president of Columbia assassinated, and in 2019 he was rumored to have a hand in biological weapons manufacturing.

    Since the Dracosys initiation he has forced his men into the nearby Ruins of Cerro Azul to both clear threats and gain levels. He himself leads teams in daily, and our drone photography shows him looking 20 years younger than he did a week ago. When he takes his men into battle now, they seem to actually transform into demons or devils. He seems to be growing his army by the day, using the lure of power and wealth to draw in the poor and despondent. His gang now numbers around 14,000, almost 3,000 of which joined after the ruins opened and people learned of classes and levels.

    Raoul Mendoza

    Alias: El Verdugo

    Age: 71

    Height: 5 foot 7 inches

    Build: overweight (formerly), lean (current)

    Skin: Red-brown

    Hair: short, grey, slicked back

    Tattoo: a scorpion on the back of his neck.

    Wears a silver cross necklace.

    Usually in white linen clothes but wears body armor often.

    Class: Warlord

 Chapter 32: Profit

    After a shower, back massage, nap and another back massage, I go to the bank and swap my Sacagaweas out for actual, usable bills. Mercy and I, looking pretty sharp in our business formal best, head over to the Texas De Brazil steakhouse and meat eatery.

    The place is fancy, but I have more than enough from the Sacagaweas to cover the meal for the group. ¡°Oh, pay for your own booze though,¡± I say to them as the waiter comes. ¡°Except for you, of course,¡± as I turn to Mercy who is wearing a plunging neckline with enough cleavage to make the Grand Canyon jealous. Good gravy, this girl is thick. No wonder I''ve been in love with her for 6 months. Also, she''s pretty funny and I like her soft voice.

    ¡°Okay, mister three million,¡± she says with a wink.

    ¡°Actually, it''s only two million,¡± I say. ¡°Before tax. 1.2 after.¡± She glares at me like I''m an idiot. ¡°What? We renegotiated! Instead of just me getting three million-¡± the other members of my team are all looking at me because I''m assuming they didn''t get the same offer I did. ¡°Everyone on the team gets two million.¡±

    Smiles break out across the table, I get a couple of back slaps. ¡°I knew you enlisted guys would get hosed otherwise.¡± I wasn''t kidding either. I figured Odysseus, Henry and Madeline would probably just get their standard government pay for the excursion. I hadn''t felt it was fair to take 3 mil while they made a few hundred for doing the same thing.

    Diaz comes over and gives me a hug. ¡°You just paid for my kids'' tuition,¡± she says. Huh. I didn''t know she had kids. I thought she was gay, actually. Maybe I should put points into wisdom after all... Nah.

    I turn to my best friend and say, ¡°oh yeah, Jose I''m gonna buy that house down the street from you. The brown one.¡±

    He nods and says, ¡°nice. That place has a good backyard. You can finally get a dog.¡±

    ¡°He just got a cat though,¡± Mercy says. ¡°Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr.! She''s just the cutest.¡±

    ¡°Barbatos,¡± I say.

    ¡°Bisciuts,¡± Mercy says. ¡°Barbatos isn''t even a red Gundam. At least Sazabi would make sense.¡±

    No one else understands the secret language of Japanese hard sci-fi mecha so I move on. ¡°Anyways, so that house is reasonably big. I could definitely have someone else live with me.¡± I catch Mercy''s eyes and they go wide.

    That''s when Henry says, ¡°great, I''d love to move off base.¡±

    Odysseus types out, ¡°I would require a room big enough for my work desk, or the ability to use the garage.¡±

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    I see my romantic lovey dovey living arrangement slipping away before I''ve even bought the place. ¡°Guys, I... Uhhh... Sure.¡±

    Henry laughs. ¡°Jun, we''re messing with you.¡±

    ¡°We are?¡± comes Odysseus''s digi-voice. Everyone laughs.

    We have a nice dinner. The meats at Texas De Brazil are indeed several tiers above anything at a grocery store. We eat until we''re all stuffed and we drink a little too much. They get me to tell them about what happened after I went on alone. I ask them if anything happened on the way out.

    Jose says, ¡°nothing much but I made sure Mercy stepped in to get a class.¡±

    ¡°Wait really?¡± I say, excited. ¡°What did you get?¡±

    ¡°I''m just a Witch,¡± she says, looking self conscious. She does a cute ¡®it''s nothing¡¯ hand gesture along with it. ¡°Nothing incredible like Synthesist or whatever you guys are.¡±

    Grant types out, ¡°I started as an Acolyte. That''s a first step class. Witch is at least a second step class.¡±

    We continue to talk about classes and stats. Everyone is pretty happy with the level ups they got in the dungeon. Some of us ended up improving Charisma, so we''re all really good looking now. Odysseus''s scars look sharp and well healed, but didn''t disappear. Jose, Madeline, Henry and I all bumped up Charisma for Ki recovery. Our faces look clean and unblemished. When I pushed my Strength to beyond human, my muscles got really toned. My Asian frame is made for lean muscle not big bulky muscles, so I still fit in my shirts.

    When a waitress starts to drop a glass of beer Jose reaches out and saves it with blinding speed. Like me, he had near max Dexterity and Reflexes to start with, and we both got over the superhuman line with those. Even as we drink I notice it''s not hitting me as hard as normal. My Constitution got raised when I did those Caller levels and I can basically deal with poisons three times better than the average person.

    I look around at us and start realizing that this is the beginning. Some of us, some humans, are going to use the system to become gods. Some will use it to become demons. And me? I don''t know what I''ll do yet.

    I raise one more glass to the team and Mercy pulls something out of her purse. ¡°It''s something I sewed while waiting in my car. It''s... Just an idea I had. You don''t have to use it.¡± She hands me a hand sewn patch.

    It''s a military style unit patch, with a shield border. The inside of the patch is a Dragon with a slash across it, like the Ghostbusters symbol. Across the top it says ¡°101st Pathbreakers¡±

    ¡°Pathbreakers,¡± I mumble. The word echoes in my head somehow.

    Mercy nervously says, ¡°yeah because you were playing Pathfinder but you''re not finding paths, you''re destroying dungeons, breaking them so I just thought-¡±

    Pathbreakers rings like a truth. Like an immutable force. Like something that must be.

    I clasp her hands and look her in the eyes. ¡°God, I love you so much.¡±

    She gives out a small yeep. ¡°You... Love me?¡± I nod seriously. ¡°Okay then,¡± she says, and kisses me long and slow. I feel her hand on my knee. I feel my own hand slip onto her thigh. I feel-

    ¡°Hey, can I see the patch?¡± Odysseus interrupts us before we get rated R right here in the restaurant. We get flustered, recover, then get embarrassed over the course of about five seconds. I fork over the hand sewn item.

    ¡°I like it,¡± Henry says thoughtfully. ¡°Like there''s a right way to go but we make our own way.¡±

    ¡°I wanna fight a dragon,¡± Madeline says between chewing beef tips.

    Gwen says, ¡°this threading is exemplary, miss Mahar.¡±

    Jose looks at it and just nods.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± I raise my nearly empty glass one last time. ¡°To the Pathbreakers!¡± Everyone gives a hearty Pathbreakers and we start heading home for the night.

 Chapter 33: Immigration Agency

    Most big cities have at least one dungeon, ruin or arena and nobody but the Koreans really expected the dungeon breaks. My people, being true nerds and the originators of dungeon-based modern fantasy fiction, had this shit on lock down. They''re already turning dungeons into money making opportunities.

    The military and police are doing a pretty good job, for the most part, of putting down the dungeon breaks. We all, across the world, learned that a dungeon breaks for a number of hours equal to its floors. This also let humanity figure out how big each dungeon is, by timing the dungeon breaks.

    As many expected, the Pentagon and the Kremlin are both the biggest dungeons at 100 floors each. And thus, we basically confirmed that dungeons were made from places that people had resentment towards. How big and powerful a dungeon became was proportional to that resentment.

    A lot of places are getting really, really fucked up by monsters. Basically any place that doesn''t have a strong on-hand military or militarized police force. Iceland was almost annihilated.

    And of course the dungeons themselves are impossible to destroy from the outside. People tried. They used super powerful bombs. Nothing. It''s as if the dungeons themselves are slightly out of tune with our dimension. At least that''s what the current theory is.

    Ruins and Arenas haven''t had anything weird happen to them yet, but those are weird to begin with.

    Ruins are typically culturally important areas that people felt deserved to be protected. The Eiffel Tower, the Lincoln Memorial, the Grand Canyon. All now ruins. The problems with ruins are two fold.

    The first problem is that when a place became a ruin it distorted the land around it, often taking on aspects of the ruin core. The area around the Eiffel Tower is now dotted with metal spikes. A lot of more popular, well known ruins also grew, taking up to 1000% more space. The Grand Canyon now stretches across the north half of Arizona. Of course, these changes brought calamity to millions of people around the world.

    The second and even more deadly feature of a ruin is that each is guarded by monsters. These monsters are usually all of one type at least, like the Lincoln Monument being guarded by marble golems. Although, since most ruins are open air, a good old rifle and scope can take out these foes at safe distances. The monsters come back every 24 hours and, oh, they''re not trapped in the ruins like dungeon monsters are. Now roving bands of lizardmen wander Arizona, and the Grand Canyon keeps spewing them out no matter how many are killed.

    There are only a handful of arenas around the world. They''re like dungeons in that they''re warped structures, but instead of being converted by human contempt or reverence, they''re seemingly converted by... Sports? Most of the arenas are sports stadiums. The Roman Colosseum is the big one, now a staggering 1500 feet tall. When people enter an arena they get to wager their levels and fight monsters appropriate to how many levels they wager. You don''t gain any levels from these fights, but the loot seems to be really good. Though about half the people who enter arenas die, soooo I don''t know if it''s worth it.

    I''m finalizing documents to buy my new house when I get the call for the next mission.

    Over the phone Davis says, ¡°the Ellis Island historical society would like you to see if you can clear its ruins.¡±

    ¡°Ellis Island?¡± I ask, casually sliding the check for several hundred thousand dollars across the table to the realtor.

    ¡°The former immigration point in New York City. It was turned into a ruin. Nobody''s actually been able to clear a ruin and turn it back yet so this is an experiment. We have a few ideas but need you to test them.¡±

    ¡°So we''d get to go to New York City?¡± I ask, more excited about a potential vacation than the mission. I sit back in the overly plush chairs of the realtor¡¯s conference room.

    Davis sighs. ¡°We''ll fly you out and if you stay after the mission that''s your call.¡±

    ¡°Hell yeah, I''m bringing my girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°She''s not going to be a part of the mission is she?¡±

    I sign paperwork. It''s a lot of paperwork. ¡°Sure is. We''ve been practicing the last few days.¡±

    ¡°I don''t want to know what you''re practicing with that girl.¡±

    ¡°Not that. Well, yes, that. But she got a class and has some items and stuff. She''ll be like Gwen. Not really a fighter yet but could be if she gets levels and combat experience.¡± I have a lot more papers to sign.

    ¡°Whatever. If she dies it''s your fault.¡±

    I finally finish signing and they slide me keys. ¡°Nope, not gonna die. She''s got a magic costume.¡±

    It''s two days later and my team is aboard a ferry to Ellis Island. The big boat usually carries hundreds of tourists. This time it''s just six. The team this time is me, Jose Amarillo, Odysseus Grant, Madeline Diaz, Gwen L''Ronge and Mercy Mahar. Most of us are back in our military clothes and armor. All of us except Mercy.

    Mercy''s costume is white and lime green. She has a cloak that''s white on the outside and lime green on the inside. When she moves in it the colors in motion are incredible. She also has an open white coat over a lime green shirt. A big, witch-type hat droops slightly around back, and is similarly white with green interior/underside. She also wears dark grey mid thigh shorts. The character in the web novel wears pants but Mercy says the outfit is too hot with pants, thus shorts. I, being a lover of thick thighs and tight shorts gripping said thighs, am not complaining.

    To go with the outfit is a staff that is usually just a thin, dark grey stick. With the costume contest medals applied it becomes a spear, the spear tip made of glowing, lime green magic. Altogether, she looks way more dressed for magical fighting than I do in my camo armor.

    Mercy gains six powers when she''s wearing her ¡°White Hat Warlock¡± costume and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place costume contest medals I got from the Halloween department. The character is from a web novel of the same name. The title character comes into contact with a sexy Internet Elemental and forms a saucy bond with her and he (the warlock) gains data and interwebs based magic spells. So that''s what Mercy has access to. The important power is System Shell, which protects her from harm like a sci-fi or video game shield. It takes damage for her until it is destroyed, then recharges later.

    Each of us is now wearing at least one enchanted ring, from the pile of them that dropped from the Get! dungeon boss. Each gives just a couple points to one stat or another, but if you can put on a ring and suddenly be faster, you put on the damn ring.

    The choppy seas and dark grey waters of the Upper Bay are less than welcoming. The overcast skies promise a full on deluge. We look out at the formerly U-shaped island which is now more of an UHH. Ellis''s main building is an old, brick, three-story rectangle. The old docks were long gone and only the newer concrete pier was on the shore. The new, post Dracosys facility has rows of dilapidated wooden piers mixed with crumbling brick walls and piles of refuse. The main facility is still intact, or at least it looks that way from the outside.

    ¡°Gwen,¡± I say, gathering the team. ¡°Pretend I have memory loss and give us the briefing again.¡±

    She rolls her eyes but complies. ¡°Ze museum facility comprised but half of the full island. We must explore both ze newly renovated museum and ze older, unsafe, original Ellis Island property.¡±

    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± I ask the group.

    Mercy cheerfully chimes in. ¡°Anything weird!¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± I say. ¡°More specifically we''re hoping to find a ruin core. It might be a glowing orb like a dungeon core, or it might be a historically important object, like Gwen has theorized.¡±

    Gwen continues. ¡°Ze other possibilities are some sort of key location or control system. We honestly have no idea. We know ze dungeons have cores behind their boss rooms. We know each castle has a special stone dais with stone controls. So ze ruins may have either one of those, or something entirely different.¡±

    I nod. ¡°Hostiles, Diaz?¡±

    ¡°Zombies, sir.¡± Diaz says flatly. She''s prepping her morphing cube weapon.

    ¡°Right, but, details?¡± I ask, more insistently this time.

    Diaz elaborates. ¡°Zombies. Classic slow ones. Non-viral unless you get killed by one. So you can get bit and it''s fine, probably. They''re not any tougher than regular people.¡± She pulls the ballistic shield off her back and puts the morphing weapon into axe mode. ¡°Shouldn''t be a problem as long as we clear each area and don''t get surrounded.¡±

    ¡°Right. Anyone else have anything?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Yes,¡± comes Grant''s cyber voice. ¡°Where''s Henry?¡±

    ¡°Our future president is at his brother''s wedding,¡± I say. ¡°Nothing medical, sinister or sad. Just a scheduling conflict.¡± Grant nods.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°Where''s Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr?¡± asks Mercy. She knows that I don''t want the cat on missions so I left her at home. I just glare at her.

    We close in on the facility and drop a navy Zodiac inflatable boat in the water for the last quarter mile. We each climb down into it and Jose starts the outboard engine. It putters to life and off we go to the east side of a zombie infested island.

    -----

    Before we land the boat Jose tries to snipe some deadites from a distance but the rocking of the boat proves to be the only thing that can defeat his aim. He still kills 3, though.

    We pull up to the easternmost pier and use guns to kill the eight or so zombies here. We climb up and I get a good look at them. Each one is dressed differently, like they''re from different eras. I scan a few.

    Zombie, 1890s edition. Tier 1. When this guy was alive it was illegal for women to wear pants. Can you believe that shit?

    Possible loot: Pants.

    Zombie, 1920s edition. Tier 1. When this lady was around, prohibition was all the rage. Literally. Bible thumpers raged and destroyed bars back in the day. Can you believe that shit?

    Possible Loot: Bathtub gin.

    Zombie, 1950s edition. Tier 1. The 50s were great for everyone. Except for all the people who weren''t white. Can you believe that shit?

    Possible loot: A copy of To Kill A Mockingbird.

    So at some point I upgraded my system scan to over 200% proficiency and now I get to see the ¡°tiers¡± of my enemies. I''m pretty sure those correspond to our class ¡°steps,¡± but I''m not 100% on that yet. I know tier 1 is about as weak as a human.

    The wooden pier creaks beneath our feet. I see a small party of zombos hear it and start shambling in our direction. ¡°Diaz, up front. Gwen, Mercy, you''re up. Kill as many as you can and get those level ups.¡± Mercy is still level 1 and Gwen was way behind the others in terms of levels after the Get!. I want them both to grow stronger.

    I watch Mercy carefully. She''s got three offensive abilities in the White Hat outfit. She first uses a power that looks like a ribbon of green data that flies out from her hand and cuts along its edge. The long stream of 1s and 0s curves and bends as Mercy directs it, cutting into the neck of an undead. This ability, Data Stream, can be sustained and continued as long as she wants, so she whips the strand back around to slice the zombie neck the other way, and the head just pops right off in a spout of dark red, sludgy blood.

    The front edge of the Stream comes back into Mercy''s hand and disappears. That trick gets her back use of the ability right away. If it gets broken or she just ends it, she has to wait a whole minute before using it again. All of the outfit abilities work on a cool down system rather than using Arcana, Ki, Faith or Spirit points, which is going to be really useful once Mercy has better spells too.

    Gwen scoffs at the ability and fires four rounds from her Ansch¨¹tz model 1827F Fortner. Each bullet finds a home in a zombie brain and the four drop dead. Dead-er. Mercy whips her arm back and then forward like she''s casting a fishing line. The Data Stream slashes down from above into a line of zombies, cutting them apart. Gwen ups the ante by using some tarot card spell to make lightning strike from the sky and kill three zombies at once. Mercy flicks the Data Stream in a circle around a group of four zombies and then pulls the Stream, cinching it tight and cutting the zombies into chuncks.

    Jose and I and Grant all look at each other with slightly concerned expressions. My look says ¡°should we stop this?¡± Jose''s glance says ¡°nah, bro this isn''t something we should get between.¡± Grant''s glance says, ¡°what if we just let them do all the work?¡± Diaz buts in with an eye roll that states, ¡°you guys suck,¡± and she charges forward with her axe held high.

    The three women slash, chop and shoot their way forward, mowing down hundreds of zombies as they go. By the time we get to the front door of the Ellis Island museum the score is Gwen: 107, Mercy: 99 and Diaz: 123. Diaz played a great game and had a huge surge at the end. We three guys cheered for the victory as we cleaned up the loot behind the girls.

    The coinage loot in this area is old New York subway tokens. I have time to check pricing with my cell, and these apparently go for anywhere from 4 to 15 bucks, depending on style and condition. With each zombie dropping 1 to 5 of them, we''re doing pretty well today. This''ll definitely pay for the condo I rented for the group.

    After comparing scores and coins, we turn to the foreboding front doors of the museum. The grey sky overhead crackles with thunder and a light rain begins to fall. I look at the door and find something amiss.

    ¡°I know it''s supposed to be a big front entrance, but does it look too big?¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± confirms Diaz.

    Jose walks up to the door and we see the problem. The door handle is just above his head, and is about twice as large as it should be. ¡°I feel like a little kid,¡± he says, trying to reach up and turn the handle.

    ¡°Zat is precisely right,¡± says Gwen with a snap of her fingers. ¡°Millions of children came through Ellis Island, and now ze ruins version is treating us to ze same experience.¡±

    Grant types furiously, ¡°does that mean giant enemies?¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± confirms Diaz.

    Jose turns the handle and, as soon as he does, the door bursts open from inside and a twelve foot tall zombie stumbles out. We open fire on it but its size lets it take a tremendous amount of damage. After about thirty seconds of gunfire it falls.

    ¡°Shit,¡± says Jose, picking up the fragmented skull. He shows it to us as the rain picks up. The bone is two inches thick. No wonder it held up to our weapons.

    The rain starts in earnest now and we have no choice. ¡°Alright,¡± I say, falling back into combat mode. ¡°We keep together, focus your fire and take them down one at a time!¡±

    We stride into the building and see about 30 massive zombies, which all turn to face us at once. Well shit.

    We erupt into action. Gwen, Jose and Odysseus open fire on the closest one, which looks like a dead chef. Mercy begins to charge her big spell attack and green data swirls between her hands. Diaz braces in front of us to intercept the first one to attack us. Four knives (my new Telekinesis limit) fly up and I begin to charge spells through them.

    The gunners drop chef zombie as a welder zombie closes in on our group. Diaz intercepts and delivers a mighty horizontal chop to its right leg, cleaving it off. The zombie falls forward, arms extended to claw at us but Diaz uses her ballistic shield to shoulder charge the falling corpse. It swings backwards on its one leg and topples.

    The inside of the Ellis Island Museum is rather lovely. It''s almost entirely dark, polished hardwood. There are bronze statues mixed with plexiglass displays and placards with lots of information about the history of the island and immigration in general.

    The zombie topples back onto a bronze statue of a worker holding up a wrench. The wrench punches through the zombie''s chest, trapping it there. My spells have finished charging and my knives glow with yellow electric energy. One by one I direct each knife to fly into a different zombie and on contact the spell releases.

    Forked Bolt

    Touch a foe to shock them, and up to two additional nearby targets will suffer the same fate.

    Range: Touch, 30 feet

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 5%

    When a knife hits a zombie two yellow bolts swirl through it then each bolt jumps to a nearby zombie. Since I took the time to charge each spell, these bolts deal extra damage. Every point where the bolt passes through the undead leaves behind charred flesh and bone. My four Forked Bolts end up killing 9 of their 12 targets, which is more than I expected. The three that survive are stunned for a few seconds.

    I feel the pain of Chimerablood¡¯s effect kick in as my electric spells pull me just below zero AP. Yellow claws snap around my fingertips and jagged yellow blades rip out of the back of my forearms. I feel electricity course through my body delivering both pain and kinetic energy. I feel amped.

    I pull my knives back to me. I grasp each one and it becomes charged with electricity, a yellow bolt surging up and down each blade. Then I send them out in formation to slash at a stunned zombie''s neck. They hack and zap the creature and after a few seconds, the head comes apart and the monster falls with a massive WHOMP.

    Mercy''s big attack, System Crash, has finished charging and she unleashes it on the group of ten giant zombies on the far side of the room. She holds her hand in front of her, arm aimed slightly up and a basketball-sized green orb arcs across the room. When it makes contact with the floor dozens of Data Streams burst out and wrap around the nearby zombies. They''re first restrained by the cords of green data. Then the cords retract and pull all of the zombies together, crushing them mercilessly. Their bodies are smashed together until we hear the snapping of bones and old blood gushes from that side of the room. The whole thing takes about five seconds.

    After that the gunners clean up three zombies who try to close in on us and I take out some at mid range. Diaz hangs back with us, even though she''s mostly on standby at this point. After another two minutes we''ve cleared the room.

    We all make sure the room is clear by spreading out, but the only thing we hear is the deluge of rain coming down. A nearby crack of lightning illuminates the room through the windows. I call the team together.

    ¡°Injuries?¡± I glance around. Diaz shakes her head. Everyone is fine. ¡°Ammo checks.¡± We all check ammo. The three primary gun users, Jose, Odysseus and Gwen, all have bags full of ammo in their inventories. They take the time to refresh their current clips and what''s on their persons, then stow the rest back in inventory. Seriously, the inventory system is incredible.

    ¡°Levels?¡± I ask, hopeful. Everyone gives their numbers. Odysseus gained 1 Level in Cleric. Mercy gained 4 in Witch. Diaz got three levels, ending Knight at 10 and getting her the upgraded class Cavalier at level 2. Jose and I both gained just one level and Gwen got nothing.

    Gwen enters the numbers into her laptop. ¡°Interesting but not entirely unexpected. These gains are roughly half of what people got for similar fights last week. Ze Dracosys may be tapering off level gains as humanity adjusts to ze new world.¡±

    ¡°So, what,¡± I ask. ¡°We''ll just gain less and less as the weeks go by, until we can''t get stronger at all?¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± clarifies Gwen. ¡°I said roughly half, not entirely half. About 55% of last week''s gains. This implies a curve zat should level off around 1/3rd of ze original leveling speed.¡±

    ¡°Uh, great,¡± I say. I''m actually smart enough now to follow her math. I think she''s making some logical leaps that I don''t understand and frankly, don''t have time to get into.

    Mercy asks, ¡°where should we start looking around for the thingy?¡±

    I wipe the blood off the nearby museum diagram. There are three floors in this building, plus access to the old facility that hasn''t been restored yet. I point at the map. ¡°Apparently it''s dangerous to go into these unrestored areas. So almost certainly there.¡±

    I turn to the roped off area. Beyond the velvet ropes are broken brick stairs leading down one floor into a pitch black hallway.

    ¡°Yup, that''s probably it,¡± Diaz says, and raises her shield to march forward, into the dark.

    -----

    Dossier WY-5050, Waldorf Hillington

    When the Dracosys initiated, Hillington estate in Northern England had the unfortunate fate of becoming a ruin. The manor grew 4 times its original size and the hedge maze outside grew five fold. The whole estate began to be inhabited by guerilla ducks. These were humans sized ducks that used pistols and knives and even dynamite to attack anyone around the estate. Of course Waldorf was no exception.

    Waldorf Hillington has quite a reputation as a big game hunter. Even though he is in his 60s, he relished the chance to hunt large, dangerous game in his own backyard. He struck back at the estate''s would-be defenders and killed ducks by the dozens.

    While not originally considered a threat to anyone, Waldorf has, since the Dracosys, become increasingly erratic and prone to outbursts of violence towards his remaining servants. His powers as a Dead Eye allow him to fire tremendously powerful shots with extreme accuracy. For someone with no military training he seems to have top class sniping capabilities.

    Waldorf Hillington

    Alias: Wally

    Age: 61

    Height: 6 foot 0 inches

    Build: slim

    Skin: white

    Hair: short, white. Handlebar mustache.

    Tatoo: none

    Wears a gold wedding band.

    Wears double breasted business suits with an ascot.

    Class: Dead Eye

 Chapter 34: Hospital Wing

    We sweep the two floors upstairs before entering the decrepit collapsing hallway. The upstairs contains more giant zombies and nothing of importance other than a really good museum. We kill around 50 giant zombies total and for the effort only some of us gain levels, though we rack up more NYC subway tokens.

    After a breather and some healing from Odysseus, we reload and recharge before heading into the dark. Everyone slides their night vision eyepiece down from their helmets. Except for Mercy.

    ¡°Well, we did not think about NV for you, did we?¡± I ask.

    ¡°It''s okay,¡± she says. She squints and her eyes turn completely black.

    I yell, ¡°What the crap!¡±

    ¡°It''s fine,¡± she assures me. ¡°It''s a Witch class Hex called Dark Eye. It''s like night vision but everything is black and white.¡±

    ¡°That''s just night vision,¡± says Jose drolly. He doesn''t use an eye piece either. He''s got magical sniper powers.

    We enter the spooky tunnel and don''t hear anything at first. That''s almost worse than hearing something. By now the deluge outside is starting to flood the hall and we''re up to our ankles in cold, dark water.

    I hear Mercy shiver and turn back to her. ¡°I''m fine!¡± she says, while also clutching her cloak around herself. I see Gwen also starting to show signs of chill.

    ¡°You two don''t have military boots on. You want to sit this out?¡± They both shake their heads no and try to look tough. I sigh and we move forward.

    We get to the end of the hall and the only way forward is left. I know from the building diagram that this way leads to the old hospital, where immigrants would be treated, sometimes for months, while waiting to get into America. I''m sure nothing bad ever happened here.

    We get to the former hospital and it''s now a massive warehouse, filled with rotting old wooden bunks, ankle deep water and ghosts. Lots of ghosts.

    The ghosts look like dead patients in dressing gowns, with various causes of death ranging from horrible pox to partial decapitation. They float a few inches off the ground, are transparent, and glow bright blue. There''s about 30 or so of them in this room, which is three times the size it should be. Seems like yet another case of ¡°bigger on the inside.¡±

    In the center of the room is a large ghost with a stamp in his hand. He seems to be inspecting spectral papers on a rotten desk, each paper appearing just as he grabs it, then fading away when he puts it down.

    Jose shouts and points in vindication. ¡°I knew ghosts were real!¡± All the ghosts turn and look at us. It''s at this point I notice that some of the ghosts are doctors and nurses and those ghosts have syringes in hand. Seems like a bad sign.

    ¡°Dammit Jose!¡± I shout, and we open fire for a few seconds before realizing that bullets don''t hurt ghosts. Mercy swings her Data Stream like a whip and it manages to cut a ghost in half- only for it to reform a second later. Jose finishes charging an electro shot and I shout ¡°Wait!¡± all too late.

    The electric bolt fires into a patient ghost that''s closing in on us. The bolt hits the ghost and the ghost fades away. The bolt also travels down into the water and arcs to the next closest target, which is Diaz. Madeline gets zapped by Jose''s lightning shot and drops to her knees.

    ¡°Shit! Odysseus!¡± I say.

    ¡°On it!¡± comes Odysseus''s reply. He''s at Madeline''s side and using some chant which I can only hope works. ¡°She''s alive, but out of it.¡± He shoulders her and runs back down the hall.

    I glance at Jose. He''s got a look of determination on. I know he''ll apologize later. Right now, we''re in combat. Feelings and regret can wait.

    Electricity works but is bad. Data doesn''t work. A patient ghost closes in and I vainly try a knife stab, which goes right through it. The ghost reaches for me but I quickly step back behind Gwen, who is creating a card and holding it in the air. She holds aloft the card. ¡°I play ze Sun card, as a field effect spell!¡± The card transforms into a white hot ball of fire which hovers over the center of the room. Immediately the room fills with steam as the water on the floor begins to evaporate. The ghost I dodged gets to Gwen and grabs her by the throat. I see it waver and lose physicality for a second. I should probably scan this thing.

    Geo Ghost. Tier 2. This type of ghost takes on whatever element is most prevalent in the surrounding area. So don''t fight one in a volcano.

    Possible Loot: Ghostly clothing.

    It''s affected by both evaporation and electrical attacks. So it''s made of water? Let''s see if I can freeze it in its tracks.

    Freezing Beam

    You shoot a laser of cold. It''s pretty cool.

    Range: 25 feet

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second.

    Proficiency: 30%

    I fly a knife around Gwen so I have a clear shot at the ghost and fire Freezing Beam at it. The blue beam hits the ghost and it starts freezing from that point outwards. Sensing something wrong, it loses grip on Gwen and flails around before being frozen solid. As if on cue, Jose fires a round into the ice, blasting the fro-go away.

    ¡°Alright, so now we have a plan,¡± I say, patting Gwen on the back as she coughs to get her breathing back on track. Jose nods and I hover knives in different directions and start Freeze Beaming anything that comes close. The others smash frozen ghosts with bullets and Data Streams.

    We clear out the front half of the room pretty easily by sticking close to the entryway. That''s when the big paperwork ghost notices us.

    ¡°Who''s there?¡± he suddenly asks with wobbling jowls. ¡°Orderlies! Remove these troublemaking patients!¡± At his command all the other ghosts spin and become hulking old fashioned male orderlies in plain uniforms. And they all charge at us.

    I don''t have time to freeze each one so I align my four knives in a horizontal line, fire Freezing Beam with each one and swing them together right to left. Various parts of each orderly get frozen. One has a frozen eye, another a hand, another part of his chest. Gwen snipes a few icy chunks and the parts that get blown away don''t regrow. I sweep another four beams across the room as more close in on us. Arms and legs and heads get frozen. Jose shoots and blasts apart frozen hands. Mercy stabs into one with her energy spear and a frozen leg snaps in two. Gwen takes on the smallest ice chunks and her accuracy is outstanding today. Frozen ghost chunks fly.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    I try to swing another icy assault but my AP hits zero. Chimerablood¡¯s effect causes me pain in my feet and knees. I look down and sharp ice horns have grown from my knees. I lift a foot and find that icy claws have burst from my feet, and upon wiggling my toes I discover that yes, they are in fact functioning toes. Weird.

    I continue my freeze rays, this time each mere graze against a ghost freezes a whole foot sized chunk of it. These bigger chunks are more than big enough for my comrades to smash, stab and shoot. Each ghost comes apart chunk by chunk. The ghosts come close to getting us but we manage to keep them back.

    Suddenly the paperwork ghost looks up at us in alarm. ¡°Those must be mental patients! I must subdue them at once!¡± All the orderly ghosts get sucked up into the big paperwork ghost and he grows. His increasingly fat body grows to meet the ceiling, his sides sticking out like an obese cartoon character. His hands transform into straight jackets.

    Director Ghost. Tier 4. Directs and controls other ghosts. He takes all the credit for any successes, and puts failures on his lackeys. Also, it can eat your soul.

    Possible loot: Stamp, Stethoscope

    Balls. My head is already splitting from using too much Arcana. I have to force my eyes open against the migraine. Jose and Mercy attack without any effect. Gwen is doing another card thing. I go into my inventory and pull out a small, red and white camping cooler. I flip it open, grab an orange soda and begin to chug overly sugary soda to restore my AP.

    The ghost''s straight jacket hands reach for us. While everyone else gets back into the hall behind us, Gwen''s standing still trying to cast her spell. ¡°I play ze reversed Lovers as-¡± She doesn''t get to finish as a straight jacket wraps around her and begins to squeeze. She screams in pain and I hear the snapping of bones.

    I immediately jump back into the fight and fire, not at its left hand, but the arm it''s connected to. Four knives fly out to my right and Freezing Beams start to condense the ghostly arm. As it starts to freeze the ghost whips its other hand at me. I take two steps back to dodge the first swing, then I run forward and to the monster''s right. I can''t see the left arm, the one holding Gwen, now so I pull my knives back to me. My knives fly straight through the ghost and that gives me a great idea. I fly my knives back into the ghost and then fire Freezing Beam from the inside. This is drastically more effective and the monster''s side freezes almost instantly. I hear the shots from Jose''s rifle and the ghost''s right torso falls apart into boulder-sized ice chunks.

    I hear Gwen scream again. The right arm flips back around as if it had no bones, which I suppose it doesn''t. This catches me off guard and I get caught up in the ghost''s straight jacket hand. I immediately feel it constrict around me. I feel my shoulder pop out of its socket.

    I grit my teeth and pull my knives back to me and try to ice down the jacket. I didn''t want to do this to Gwen because I knew the ice would come with frozen shards that would cut into her. Now that I''m caught, I have no choice. I freeze the jacket and as it ices up I feel dozens of small icicles reach into my flesh and stab. Some of them stab several inches into my body. I know that I won''t last long if this keeps up, but I have to keep freezing the hand until Jose or-

    With a loud crash the ice around me shatters, fragments cutting into me and slashing my face and hands. I drop to my knees in the water below and it feels freezing. I spit out blood. That''s probably bad. I turn to see Gwen and she''s being strangled by jacket ties. Her face is turning blue.

    I throw my knives at the wrist holding her and freeze ray as quickly as I can. Part of the wrist freezes and Jose pops it with his rifle. Gwen gasps for air as I guess she''s got a little breathing room. I freeze the rest of the arm and Jose shatters it. The entire straight jacket hand puffs away like mist, dropping Gwen. The ghost reels, yelling about its missing hands, and if we know who we''re dealing with.

    ¡°Get... Her... Out...¡± I struggle to say. Mercy rushes to my side and helps me up onto my feet. Jose goes to Gwen and princess carries her away.

    The monster recovers and grows 4 more arms, each with a straight jacket hand. ¡°Now you whipper snappers, you listen here!¡± It yells. ¡°I''m in charge of this facility!¡±

    My head is splitting and my ears are ringing. I feel blood trickle from my nose. I don''t know what''ll happen if I keep using Arcana Points. I don''t know if these head pains can get bad enough to kill me. But I don''t know what else to do except fight. I pull my knives into a circle in front of me and prepare to cast Freezing Beam again when I hear Odysseus''s cyber voice behind me.

    As the voice begins the fake sun that Gwen made moments ago lights up. ¡°Sun above, smite with unerring light! Solar beam, destroy the darkness!¡± Halfway through the incantation a beam of yellow-white light erupts from the fake sun and lances straight through the ghost''s chest. Odysseus steps up beside me and takes my other shoulder. I see his hand conduct the beam, sweeping it through the boss ghost''s head and face. Everything the beam touches evaporates instantly and when the magic ends the sun winks out of existence.

    All that''s left of the big ghost is his arms, sides and legs, like someone took a big bite out of a gingerbread man. These parts collapse and then evaporate away. The last part to evaporate explodes into tokens and a rubber stamp. Odysseus runs over to where the stamp fell and fishes it out of the water. Then he comes back to treat me and Gwen. I shoo him away and he checks Gwen first.

    I look over and know it''s bad. Odysseus has to use four different chants before Gwen even looks like a human. Most of the bones in her body must have been broken. I look at Mercy who''s got my shoulder. If it had been her... If she had been hurt like that I don''t know what I''d do.

    It takes Odysseus several minutes to treat Gwen, then he apologizes that he has to take a breather before he helps me out. I say that''s fine and Mercy feeds me a bag of recovery peanuts from the break room. I really need some healing spells of my own.

    It takes us about half an hour to recover enough to continue. Odysseus hands the stamp over to Gwen. She examines it. ¡°Ze stamp, it is for approval. It approves someone to enter ze United States.¡± I scan it from there.

    Medical Approval Stamp. Key Item. This stamp proves that you are medically able to go be a poor immigrant in America. Congratulations!

    ¡°It says it''s a key item. Maybe it''s what we need to revert this place?¡±

    Gwen struggles to her feet and, with Jose''s help, gets over to the dais where the paperwork ghost was originally filing his spectral pages. She goes to a desk, sees something on it, smiles, and then slams down with the stamp on the desk. There''s a sound like breaking glass as reality breaks, or perhaps unbreaks. The walls close in on us, the ceiling comes down. The empty room is replaced with multiple small rooms. I look out the window and see the museum shrink back down to its normal size.

    I turn back and see something glowing. It''s the stamp.

    Medical Approval Stamp. Once per day this stamp can be applied to any one person, healing them of all illness, wounds and harmful effects, except for curses.

    Gwen is still pretty beat up. ¡°Gwen, stamp yourself!¡± I yell at her, who is now down a narrow hall from me.

    She nods, stamps her own hand. The black ink marking left on her hand grows until it envelops her. The mark glows golden, then fades away and Gwen stands upright and lightly pushes away Jose. She''s perfectly fine. I think we all breathe a sigh of relief. She starts to come over to me with the stamp and I wave her off. ¡°Only once a day, according to the scan.¡±

    ¡°I see. It is invaluable none ze less.¡± It disappears into her inventory.

    We sweep the area but all traces of enemy activity have ceased. We gather loot, mostly tokens but also some ghost clothes, which are pretty cool.

    Ghost Pants. While wearing these your legs are transparent and partially incorporeal. That means you take less damage from physical attacks but more from elemental attacks.

    There''s a few ghostly shirts, 4 pairs of pants and a newsie cap as well. Interesting items that would be incredible when fighting regular old humans. Mercy stuffs them in her inventory and says she needs at least one.

    Some of the orderlies dropped the arm sashes off their medical staff uniforms.

    Ghostly Hospital Staff Arm Sash. Proves you work with the sick. You will not be attacked by mindless undead. Your healing incantations restore HP 25% faster.

    Those are pretty cool and Mercy, Odysseus and I each take one.

    With that, our mission is complete. We double check and clear out the museum. We look outside to see that the rotting zombie docks are just gone. There''s definitely a huge mess to clean up in the museum, but nothing looks too damaged. A few plexiglass displays are cracked but, all in all, we did a really good job of keeping it clean.

    By the time we finish the weather has finally cleared up. Under a sky where sun is breaking through clouds, we take the zodiac boat back to the ferry docks and deliver the good news.

 Chapter 35: Motivational Speaking

    We debrief and then clean up at the rented condo. It''s a 42nd floor home and the view of the city is incredible. We drink in a view that costs 3,000 bucks a night, and think that it might be worth it. Considering we just made over 10,000 dollars in tokens, I''d say so.

    We head down to get dinner together and decide on to skip the fancy five star joints and just eat at a regular bodega. We go into the cramped deli/convenience store and order what turn out to be the best sandwiches of our lives.

    We''re pretty quiet through most of the dinner, but towards the end I ask something that has been bothering me. ¡°Gwen got really hurt back there.¡± I have everyone''s attention. ¡°Diaz went down.¡± Jose already apologized and got shoulder punched in return, so they''re past that. ¡°And I almost got crushed and then stabbed to death by my own ice.¡± Mercy grabs my hand and squeezes it. I squeeze back.

    ¡°What I want to know is... Why? Why are each of you here? Why do you want to do this, this deadly job?¡±

    Everyone glances down or away, thinking. Jose answers first. ¡°My best friend needs me.¡± Those words mean a lot to me. Those words speak of years of comradery. I nod in acknowledgement.

    ¡°I''m not...¡± Diaz starts, then looks down as she continues. ¡°I''m not the smartest FBI agent. I don''t know the computer shit. But, I still want to be the best. The best damn agent anyone has ever seen.¡± She slams her fist down on the table and looks me in the eye. ¡°And I can fight. I will fight. I''ll crush every monster on the planet and then at the end of it say, yeah I''m FBI.¡±

    Personal pride. Knowing your weaknesses and playing to your strengths. She has a goal. She has a dream. I nod with acknowledgement.

    Next, Gwen says, ¡°actually I do not know. I think that perhaps I was curious and overly confident. But now...¡± She looks down at her just broken and then mended hands. ¡°Now I do not feel the need to continue. I think this shall be my last mission.¡±

    ¡°We can continue to send you data,¡± I say. ¡°Actually it would be good if I had someone to help me with organizing my class notes and things I''ve noticed.¡±

    She nods slowly. ¡°Zen we shall continue to work together, just, not so side-by-side.¡±

    I turn to Odysseus but he''s typing and then it looks like he''s deleting what he''s typing. ¡°Mercy?¡± I ask my girlfriend who I almost certainly shouldn''t have brought along.

    ¡°I wanna be strong!¡± She says it with the enthusiasm of a Shonen anime protagonist. ¡°I''m like Madeline, except I''m smart but not physically strong. But I want to be powerful. Powerful enough to take on anyone, any time. Strong enough to...¡± She looks down at the table as she continues. ¡°Strong enough to not be taken advantage of ever again.¡±

    I''m not sure what she means but I can feel a weight to those words. Madeline, who is on her other side, grabs her hand and says, ¡°girl, you ready to get stronger?¡±

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Mercy looks up at Madeline. ¡°Yes? Maybe?¡±

    ¡°Pfft! By the time I''m done with you you''ll never say maybe again!¡± Madeline says this while flexing an arm muscle which makes Mercy giggle. It feels like something just happened, something important, but I don''t know what.

    ¡°For my part,¡± I say. ¡°I... Like this. I know it sounds nuts but fighting monsters and leveling up and also making the world safer... It''s everything that I ever wanted. I know I just had most of my arm bones broken, but also...¡± I have to look away from the others. I don''t want to see their faces as I admit something probably fucked up. ¡°I''m having fun. I know any of us could die, but, like, we fought a big ass ghost today! We killed zombies! Giant zombies! That was rad as fuck! I want to keep going. I want to keep delving. I want to see what the next place has up its insidious sleeve. And I know that''s probably deranged, but that''s why I want to keep at this.¡±

    ¡°Dumbass,¡± is Jose''s reply.

    ¡°Yeah, you''re deranged,¡± says Madeline.

    ¡°A madman at the helm,¡± says Gwen. ¡°Typical military operation.¡±

    We all laugh. It''s funny because it''s true.

    Finally, Odysseus types his answer. ¡°I could have healed my tongue and been able to speak after the last dungeon.¡± I am taken aback. I didn''t know that. ¡°But I didn''t because this is nothing. There''s a lot of people who have it worse than I do.¡±

    He takes a minute and then continues. ¡°After the attack, I met a lot of guys and women, soldiers in the hospital. People missing legs and arms and eyes. They were impressed that I was a Ranger. They asked if I was still going to be a Ranger. And I said they couldn''t stop me. So then at the Army hospital I got a reputation as the disabled Ranger. And I know it''s a bit selfish but I liked it. I liked being thought of as doing it when others couldn''t. So I''m doing it for them. And for me.¡±

    Jose slaps Odysseus on the back in a manly way. The rest of us give him acknowledging nods, except for Mercy who gets up and gives him a hug. She''s so nice.

    We head back and rest for the night, watching Shaun Of The Dead on the condo''s big ass (though not 97 inches) TV. We laugh and go ¡°oh shit¡± at all the right spots. It''s a genuinely good time.

    After the movie we turn on the news. It''s all about the chaos and fear that the average person is feeling. While first world countries are mostly fine, a lot of places are really messed up. And of course the greedy and selfish among humanity are trying to take advantage of the situation.

    ¡°People probably want to know that there are teams like us, trying to shut down the Dracosys sites. So, should we hold a press thingy?¡± I ask, clearly not knowing what I''m talking about.

    ¡°Press conference?¡± asks Madeline.

    I say, ¡°yeah the one with the questions you see on TV.¡±

    Gwen shakes her head. ¡°I have no interest in publicizing my work.¡±

    ¡°I really don''t want people to know I''m doing this,¡± Mercy says. ¡°My parents would kill me.¡±

    ¡°You don''t need an entire team to do a press conference,¡± Madeline says. ¡°Just a couple representatives. I can do it for us.¡±

    We all look at her with disbelief. This reticent woman is going to talk for all of us?

    ¡°I''ve done three press conferences. I did the FBI training for it. I''ll be good. Give them exactly what they need to know, not what they want to know. I''ll have to get clearance from the higher ups but it should be fine. Highlighting successful inter-force cooperation is always a big hit.¡±

    I shout, ¡°who are you and what have you done with Madeline?¡±

    She just rolls her eyes. ¡°People have more than one side to them. If you bother to ask. Doing press conferences is just another thing you have to train for.¡±

    I am dumbfounded. Jose steps in. ¡°Yeah, okay, set it up. Henry should be free tomorrow, I''ll get him up here.¡±

 Chapter 36: The Press And The Pressed

    The crowd is much bigger than I anticipated. There''s almost 100 press people on the ferry as we head back towards Ellis Island. The trip was the brainchild of a representative from the Ellis Island historical society. Put press on a boat, answer questions on the way over, let them see the not-too-badly wrecked Museum. Good for people to see a place can be okay after it goes back to normal. Good for Ellis Island museum and ferry tickets. Good for New Yorkers.

    For the second day in a row I''m on a ferry. Henry Gallup, Madeline Diaz and I are the representatives of the Pathbreakers. We''re all in nice business clothes. I had to buy a suit this morning because I was the only one who apparently doesn''t travel with a full business suit. The skies are clear today, and it''s mid afternoon. The seas are calm and the ride is smooth.

    Madeline starts. ¡°Okay, everyone, we''re beginning now. My name is Madeline Diaz, special agent with the FBI''s New Jersey branch and I''m on loan to the 101st Pathbreakers. Our team is dedicated to clearing out and sometimes closing Dracosys locations across the country and, if required, around the world. Yesterday we cleared and closed the Ellis Island Ruins, where we are headed now. As has been widely publicized, the museum was formerly infested with zombies. Those are now gone. We had to clear ghosts out of the old hospital wing, which we will not be seeing today due to construction safety concerns.¡±

    Diaz takes a drink of water before continuing. ¡°Our team is comprised of Army Rangers, a Navy Seal and myself as a representative of the FBI. This team was organized to be not only effective but also as a collaboration between federal agencies. We want to show Americans, and the world abroad, that steps are being taken to address your concerns. These monsters and unknown forces are being met with force and we, the 101st Pathbreakers, are the tip of the spear. I will now take questions.¡±

    Dozens of hands shoot up alongside voices shouting for attention. Diaz points to a reporter up front. ¡°Ari Dunkirk, ABC news. What kind of ruin was Ellis Island?¡±

    Diaz taps the mic to get everyone else to settle down. ¡°Ellis Island was apparently a small ruin. Clearing the entire facility took us only about an hour and a half. The inside was large to simulate what it would have been like to be a child in the facility. You know there were zombies outside but inside were giant zombies. We killed them with guns and magic. I don''t know how it compares to other ruins. Next?¡±

    ¡°Daisy Catalina, CBS. How exactly was the Ellis Island ruin closed?¡±

    ¡°Inside we discovered a relic with a metaphorical and metaphysical tie to the location. We used it to symbolically cleanse the facility and the facility was literally cleansed as well. I can''t go into details, but I can say that this is entirely different from how dungeons are cleared.¡±

    ¡°Orion Peoples, FOX News. Reports say you also cleared a dungeon, can you go into that?¡±

    This carries on for about half an hour and Madeline is honestly amazing. She gives enough information so that each reporter feels like they got something new, but not enough to give anyone specific information about our team or tactics.

    We get to the museum and everyone disembarks. Inside workers are busy cleaning up gunk and blood from the zomboids. It makes a good photo op. The caption will probably read, ¡°Workers already restoring facility to regular business.¡± I think this might make a difference. Let people see that the Dracosys event doesn''t have to be the end.

    At the museum a reporter corners me. She''s pretty, but in that flavorless, news reporter way. ¡°Ginny West, NPR news. Are you Jun Kyung Han?¡± She''s got a small digital recorder that she holds between us.

    ¡°No, that''s the other Korean on the team.¡±

    She scoffs. ¡°So are you the team leader?¡±

    I wiggle my hand in a maybe gesture.

    She does not seem amused. ¡°Private Han-¡±

    I cut her off. ¡°Corporal Han. Wait! Shit, you got me.¡±

    She smiles at me falling into her verbal trap. Ohhh she''s tricky, this one. ¡°Corporal Han, the team you helm is the 101st Pathbreakers but that isn''t a designated branch of any military. Are you part of the CIA?¡±

    ¡°Pfft, no! Fuck those guys- wait, don''t print that.¡±

    ¡°We''re NPR. We don''t print anything.¡±

    ¡°Okay fine, but no, the 101st Pathbreakers are technically an LLC so the government doesn''t have to take responsibility if we bite it.¡±

    ¡°You seem awfully flippant about your own death.¡±

    ¡°Eh, if you know my name you probably did a Google and know why I''m used to life and death situations.¡±

    ¡°Care to elaborate?¡±

    I shake my head, then remember she''s a radio person so I say aloud, ¡°nope.¡±

    She cracks her neck as if she''s a boxer getting ready for round two. ¡°Corporal Han, as you are now a private citizen what do you think your goal is with the Pathbreakers? What''s the endgame for you?¡±

    I have to think a minute. She waits. ¡°I... Have no idea.¡±

    She raises an eyebrow at me. ¡°Haven''t you given it any thought? About what your group looks like and is doing a year from now? Five years from now?¡±

    ¡°Pfft. I barely think a day in advance.¡± She looks alarmed at that. ¡°Eh, I mean, I live in the moment?¡± She''s not buying that. ¡°Alright, so I''m not a great long term thinker.¡± She looks even more concerned. ¡°Hey, I''m really good at short term thinking! I just...¡± I''m not telling this stranger that up until two weeks ago my main concern was thinking about why I wasn''t dead in cave R-32.

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    She tilts her head and turns off the recorder. ¡°Let''s say I''m not using that last part, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay, thanks Ms West.¡±

    ¡°Ginny is fine. But really, haven''t you thought about the future at all? This world is in a moment of upheaval and you''re at the forefront. You''re in a position to change how things end up. You might be in a position to change the world right now, and change it forever.¡±

    That takes me aback. ¡°I didn''t think of it like that. I was just, you know, first surviving and then soldiering.¡±

    ¡°You should think about it. For your sake and everyone else''s. Thank you for your time, Mr. Han.¡± She hands me a card. It has her name and contact info. ¡°Let me know if you need to get anything off your chest.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I say. ¡°Really, thanks.¡± As she''s turning away, I ask. ¡°Oh, have you talked to Henry yet?¡±

    ¡°No, should I?¡±

    ¡°Well, he is going to be president one day.¡± She looks at me apprehensively. ¡°No, seriously, talk to him, you''ll see.¡±

    She walks away and a few minutes later I see her talking to Henry and oh, they''re talking, aaand now they''re very close to each other and oh, they''re going upstairs. But there''s nobody else upstairs. Weird.

    The rest of the press thingy goes well, I suppose. We got the Pathbreakers out there as humanity''s saviors or whatever. People will know shit is being done.

    After a while I get antsy and go outside to try something. I pull out two knives and make them hover, one about five feet above the other. I step onto the lower one and hold onto the higher one. Then I attempt to fly. It goes badly. Why isn''t this working? It makes sense, just lift my weight and hold on tight. I just can''t seem to get the rhythm down.

    I try for about half an hour before they call for everyone to get back on the ferry. I''m thinking about what Ginny West said. About where this is all going. About where I''m going. I can''t fly. Maybe that means something. Maybe it means that wherever I''m headed, I have to do it the hard way.

    -----

    ¡°Hello, I''m Jun Kyung Han.¡± I extend my hand to the very annoyed mustachioed Pakistani man.

    ¡°Dad, like I said, this is Jun, my boyfriend.¡± Mercy tries to smooth things over. Her dad just scowls.

    We''re at the Twisted Root Burger Company in downtown Carrollton. Her parents live close by. And I feel like I should crawl out a window to escape.

    ¡°Tarik, be nice. It''s so nice to meet you dear.¡± Mercy''s mother extends a hand and I shake it. ¡°I''m Sania and this is Tarik.¡±

    I think about what a normal person would do and say. ¡°Lovely to meet you, Sania. Should we order and then sit?¡± I don''t say ¡°now I know where Mercy gets her damn sexy figure from¡± because that is not something a normal person says.

    We order various delicious burgers, an order of fries and an order of onion rings, then sit in one of the big wooden booths and wait for the order.

    Sania says, ¡°my daughter says you have been dating for over six months now. Yes?¡± Her Pakistani accent isn''t as thick as Tarik''s.

    I nod. ¡°Yeah, that''s mostly right.¡±

    ¡°Mostly?¡± Tarik asks sharply. ¡°What is mostly?¡±

    ¡°Dad, calm down,¡± Mercy emplores. ¡°Jun just likes to hedge almost every statement.¡±

    ¡°I do? Maybe I do.¡±

    Tarik asks, ¡°and why have you waited so long to meet us? Why do you not care about meeting the family of my precious daughter?¡±

    I raise a finger as if to make a point, realize that I have no point to make, and then lower my finger. ¡°I was busy?¡±

    Tarik slams his hand down on the glossy, light brown wooden table. ¡°For six months! SIX MONTHS?!?¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± I shout back. ¡°I didn''t even know we were dating until three weeks ago!¡± That sure shuts him up.

    Sania raises her eyebrows at Mercy. ¡°So you suddenly move in with this boy after just starting to date? Mercy, Mercy, I am so scandalized. I must tell your poor grandmother about my wayward daughter.¡± She then picks up her phone and begins to dial. Tarik is seething.

    I think that maybe this is not going well. I should say something that a parent would like to hear. Something old people like. I''ve got it! ¡°Hey, did you see that new NCIS spin off?¡±

    Mercy collapses her head into her hands. Tarik looks at me like I''m a complete idiot. Sania''s phone call goes through and she starts speaking in Pakistani or some other language I don''t know.

    Without looking up, Mercy asks, ¡°Jun, you''ve never met a girl''s parents before, have you?¡±

    ¡°I have but it''s been 15 years. And that was just me sitting there and nodding. I wasn''t truly, deeply in love with her like I am with you.¡±

    Mercy suddenly looks up. ¡°You think it''s true love?¡±

    ¡°Didn''t I say that before? Yeah, of course, I''m crazy about you. Bought a damn house for you.¡± There''s suddenly silence at the table. ¡°What?... Was that not something everyone knew?¡±

    They suddenly talk over each other.

    ¡°No I didn''t-¡±

    ¡°You bought a house for-¡±

    ¡°Tarik he owns a house-¡±

    They talk over each other more and I have to field rapid fire questions like location (north Carrollton), price (around 375k), mortgage (none, paid in full), backyard (small but enough for a dog) and security system (none it''s a good neighborhood).

    ¡°You must excuse us,¡± Sania says after everyone calms down. ¡°We''ve been in small apartments ever since we came here 26 years ago. So a home is quite impressive.¡±

    ¡°Show me this house!¡± Tarik Mahar commands.

    ¡°Can we eat first?¡± I ask.

    Around 45 minutes later, we pull up to the house and I show them around. Mr and Mrs Mahar seem positively mollified. We then relax on the patio furniture, which is currently the only furniture. I offer beer, which is declined, but I pop open a Shiner for myself.

    Sania abruptly asks, ¡°so, when will you be married?¡±

    I turn and do a spit take. ¡°Ma-ma-married?¡± I stammer.

    ¡°Mom!¡± Mercy cries. ¡°It''s not like that. We''ve still got a long way to go before we talk about that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Tarik asks me. ¡°You love my Mercy, yes? What makes you wait to make her honest?¡±

    ¡°She''s already very honest,¡± I reply.

    Mr Mahar slams his hand down on the table. ¡°Fool!¡± He turns to Mercy. ¡°Is this one as stupid as he seems?¡±

    ¡°He has low wisdom but high intelligence,¡± she apologetically answers. Dammit Jose, who didn''t you tell about that?

    Tarik seems a little miffed. ¡°I worked placing bathroom tile for TWENTY FIVE YEARS to keep my family happy and fed. Tell me boy, what will you do for work to keep my daughter?¡±

    ¡°Like I said earlier, I''m working as a Dragoon, in the-¡±

    Tarik waves that off. ¡°Magical nonsense! What will you do after they tear those hell mouths down?¡±

    Again, I''m stumped. I still don''t know what I''m fighting for. What I''m moving towards.

    ¡°No idea?¡± He scoffs at me. ¡°Never, ever did I imagine my daughter with someone like this, this kamina, kodan, pagal!¡± Then, after calling me names in a language I don''t understand, he storms off.

    I turn to Mrs Mahar, trying to summon a polite smile. ¡°Well, it''s been lovely to meet you, I hope we can get together again soon.¡±

    She just shakes her head and says something in a language I later learn is Urdu. She pulls Mercy to the kitchen, talks to her rapidly for several minutes, and then leaves with her husband.

    Afterwards, in the silence, Mercy slumps over in a patio chair. Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr. curls up in Mercy''s lap. I crack open one of her wine spritzer cans and slide it in front of her.

    She pets the cat, calmly sips wine and then says, ¡°that couldn''t have gone worse.¡±

    As I stand behind her I begin to rub her shoulders. ¡°Oh, yes it could have,¡± I say. ¡°I didn''t say half of the stuff I was thinking about.¡±

    Despite this, or because of it, after that we have a relaxing evening. Several times she asks me to tell her that I truly love her, and several times I do just that. I tell her I truly love her as I carry her off to bed. I tell her I truly love her as I kiss the inside of her thighs. I tell her I truly love her as she falls asleep in my arms.

 Chapter 37: Base Building

    Days seem to fly by after that. I spend as much time with Mercy as I can. We go buy furniture, curtains, other household essentials. She fully moves in with me, and honestly, it''s fantastic.

    I get intel from what the government is now calling the ¡°Dracosys Inter Agency Monitoring and Organizing Database,¡± or DIAMOND. Gwen L''Ronge organizes that Intel into something we can actually use. We make plans to clear several smaller dungeons that are causing problems for local law enforcement.

    We start taking down these smaller locations. We shut down the St. Louis arch dungeon, which is full of fatty food themed monsters. After that we tackle the Golden Gate bridge ruin, which sprawled into a web of narrow bridges going in every direction. Our next destination is some city in Alabama called Tuscaloosa where the shopping mall turned dungeon. That one we end up not turning back, just mapping and clearing. Apparently the gun toting locals want to be able to shoot horrible monstrous insects for target practice. Godspeed, you redneck idiots.

    After Tuscaloosa, I get handed three new government-assigned wanna be Dragoons. I accept them only on the condition that Madeline Diaz gets to head a secondary 101st Pathbreakers team. It''s a bit sad to see Henry, Madeline and Grant be taken off my team, but we''ll survive. And I''m glad to see Madeline in command, where she clearly belongs.

    At this point, with 12 combatants, a Gwen plus sometimes Amy Amarillo, it becomes glaringly obvious that we need a real office space and headquarters.

    Jose, Amy, Mercy and I look around and find an office/warehouse in Arlington, the unnoteworthy, middle-child area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Arlington is also just south of the DFW international airport, which is convenient for transportation. It also has a Six Flags theme park, which is pretty fun.

    The facility, Pathbreakers HQ, has a warehouse work floor with an office area in an upper area overlooking the rest of the interior.

    We set up, in order: a pool table, a MAME arcade games cabinet, a gun range, a magic/ability training area, ten desks with computers, a storage lockup for our growing arsenal, cat stuff for Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr, a security desk and guard, a break room, an opaque wall around the building for additional security, a gunsmithing station, a place for the tank I bought but will probably never use, all those posters, a wall for photos, nicer bathrooms, a gym, a shower, employees to actually work at those desks, a daycare room which is really just a room for Jose''s kids to occasionally hang out in, and finally my own private office. I somehow forgot I could have my own office because I''m the boss.

    As this unfolds in our lives, across the world people start to come to grips with the Dracosys and order starts to be restored.

    First world countries actually have the most Dracosys sites, which intel suggests is because they''re both densely populated and mentioned more in online chatter. Those countries have all formed forces to combat monsters during dungeon breaks and some have their own Pathbreakers equivalent. In first world countries around 3% of all Dracosys sites have been closed, with 53% being considered ¡°under control.¡± America, what with having more military spending than god, has almost all Dracosys sites under control.

    Developing countries (nobody uses the term second world countries, but that''s what we mean) have it far rougher. Almost none of their sites are under control. Sites that get closed are usually closed by your classic ¡°fortune seeking adventurer¡± types. People with little to live for, but a lot to gain. A lot of places in South America and Africa are actually expecting to benefit in the long term from their Dracosys sites. There aren''t hard numbers on their sites yet.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Third world countries (really just the lawless or tyrannical places) have it bad or make things worse for their own people. There are true horror stories of dungeon breaks causing entire villages and towns to be wiped out. Worst are places run by evil, selfish governments. There, not only are plenty of people just left to fend for themselves, but others are taking advantage of the Dracosys sites for pure profit at the cost of human lives. Apparently blood diamonds aren''t nearly as dirty as blood dungeon items.

    We''re busy. Madeline Diaz has the new recruits running scenarios. Jose Amarillo is training the new guys in monster body part targeting. I lead a class on classes, and what to go for. Mercy Mahar is handling our books. Amy Amarillo is our sometimes lawyer. I put Henry Gallup on media relations after Madeline put him through an FBI course. Odysseus Grant got recalled back to the Rangers but is apparently doing great as a field medic for counter dungeon break teams. Gwen L''Ronge took over one of our spare rooms and acts as the DIAMOND intel guru.

    Our new people include Mitchell, Erin, Tobias, Roger and Clinton, our security team. They''re all former military. Wally, Flo and McGregor are the new desk jockeys, handling accounts, marketing, and something else boring that I don''t care about. Mercy is in charge of them and assures me that they do good work.

    Under the new contract we got with the government, the Pathbreakers rakes in close to a million bucks a week, so long as each week we handle at least one Dracosys site. Almost all of that goes to payroll and supplies. Turns out that when the government doesn''t just hand you bullets, they''re expensive. Jose alone can burn through a thousand bucks of lead each mission. Plus we have to pay for airfare, hotels and food during our away games. And they''re all away games.

    I''m starting to regret my decisions. I''m in charge of a rapidly growing company, when two months ago I was in charge of putting Transformers out on the shelves. It''s... A lot to do and think about.

    And, despite clearly doing something with my life, I still don''t know what I want to do with my life.

    -----

    Dossier ES-6221, Eleanor Sofon

    Eleanor Sofon has been a political radical for-

    ¡°How many of these are there so far?¡± Davis slapped the Sofon file down on top of the others. Her office was starting to pile up with those dossiers. The small room on an Army base in Florida was cramped to begin with, and the two suits who''d come to see her didn''t make it less so.

    ¡°About 30 or so more,¡± the CIA agent said. Her assistant held up a briefcase and opened it to reveal the rest.

    ¡°And what the hell do you want the Rangers to do about these people?¡± Davis tapped a pen on her desk in frustration. ¡°We''re not assassins. That''s your job.¡±

    The CIA agent was very calm and patient. ¡°My colleagues and I are merely briefing you and other key people about potential threats in this new world. We don''t want anyone to come into contact with a hostile and be surprised when they start summoning ghosts.¡± She motioned to the rest of the documents. ¡°Or what these people do.¡±

    ¡°So, what, you just want us to expect magical bad guys from now on?¡± Davis was apprehensive.

    ¡°And they should expect magical US forces.¡± The CIA agent slid a photo of Jun Kyung Han and his crew across to Davis. ¡°I know your pet project is giving us some very special forces.¡±

    Davis glared at the blonde woman across her desk. She never trusted smart blonde women. ¡°That''s not exactly what the Pathbreakers are doing. Anymore.¡±

    ¡°We spoke to the President about it just yesterday. He spoke highly of this Corporal Han. He was one of yours, right?¡±

    Colonel Davis was through dealing with the double talking agent. ¡°You actually want anything from me or you just here to rub my nose in your wet work?¡±

    ¡°Now, now, let''s not be adversarial. I''m just interested in the Pathbreakers as a loyal citizen of these United States.¡± The agent flashed her very pearly whites. ¡°Just. Like. You.¡±

    Davis lost her patience completely at that point. ¡°You''re nothing like me. You hide behind spy cameras and drones. The Rangers don''t.¡±

    The agent smiled and started to collect her files. ¡°I guess it''s time for me to be going then. Of course I''ll inform you personally when I take control of your little group, to let you down easy.¡±

    Davis had to control her rage. The Pathbreakers were her idea, dammit. Even if they weren''t exactly hers anymore. ¡°Well, good luck with that,¡± she said through gritted teeth. Then she remembered who was in charge of the team and she relaxed. ¡°Though you must not have talked to Han yet.¡±

    The CIA agent feigned a confident smile. ¡°What makes you so sure?¡±

    ¡°Because he''s going to tell you to go fuck yourself.¡±

 Chapter 38: Call To Action

    ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡± I slam my front door in the agent''s face.

    ¡°Who was that?¡± Mercy says, wrapping her robe around her curvy frame. It wasn''t even 9am yet.

    ¡°Eh, just the CIA. But, fuck ¡®em.¡±

    ¡°I''m assuming they have a job for you?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yeah, but last time I did a mission based on CIA Intel I spent a day and a half in a cave.¡±

    Mercy offers, ¡°waffles?¡± and I nod.

    We have a nice brunch and then go back to the details of Pathbreakers LLC. Mercy''s doing all the accounts and pay and taxes and stuff but is making me learn it too. She says it''s in case I do something dumb like break up with her. I assure her I''m not that stupid.

    Jose, Amy, their kids and Madeline come over around lunch time to look at the contracts as well. There''s a bunch of technicalities with Henry and Madeline being involved and getting paid. We have to list them as ¡°part time consultants,¡± and they can''t get benefits. Henry has a year and a half left in his tour. Madeline can technically quit the FBI whenever she wants, but she doesn''t want to leave the bureau. So she''s on ¡°Leave Of Absence.¡±

    The adults are around the blue Ikea kitchen table with just delivered Jimmy John''s sandwiches. The kids are enjoying Mario Kart 8 on the 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV. Split screen on a TV that big is a treat, let me tell you. That''s when I get another knock at my door.

    I see who it is and open it. ¡°Why, yes, I''d love to buy some girl scout cookies!¡±

    The blonde bob hairdo CIA agent lady is not amused. ¡°Corporal Han, we really need to talk.¡±

    ¡°It''s just Jun now, or if you can pronounce it, Jun Kyung. Also, go fuck yourself.¡±

    She slides a foot in the door frame as I attempt to close it in her face for the second time that day. ¡°It''s about R-32.¡±

    I sigh and show her inside.

    After trips to both Ikea and Nebraska Furniture Mart my house looks like it''s inhabited by an actual adult. This is mostly because of Mercy''s tastes but I''m down with it. The place looks modern and ¡°young professional¡± but not unwelcoming and definitely livable. The living room bookshelves are dotted with Mercy''s anime figures. I''ve got some cool video game posters around. I''m especially proud of my Nuka-Cola poster and my Fallout New Vegas map.

    I lead her into the kitchen. I say, ¡°guys, this is a CIA lady-¡± which is met with immediate boos from Jose, Mercy and Amy. ¡°Who is probably going to give us a fake name and try to lure us into doing something stupid.¡±

    She does not look happy about her introduction. ¡°Ahem. My name is Alicia Bennet. I''m an agent with the CIA''s DIAMOND branch. I''d like to talk to you,¡± she looks around the room and sees that yep, it''s the team. ¡°I would like to tell all of you about a mission we''d like you to take on. It''s concerning cave R-32 in Afghanistan.¡±

    Nobody says anything so she opens her briefcase and hands me photos. ¡°These were taken one week after the Dracosys initialization.¡± The photos are from far overhead. They show humans running from monsters three times their size.

    ¡°Are those tentacles?¡± I ask, and pass around the photos.

    ¡°We believe so. And these were taken a week later.¡± She hands me more photos. The humans are gone now. The monsters seem to be... Moving stones?

    ¡°And a week later.¡± These photos show an incomplete building. Walls are half built. None of the sides connect at right angles.

    ¡°Why are these stones dark green?¡± Jose asks.

    Alicia Bennet answers, ¡°the monsters are turning the local rocks into some other kind of stone. They have some sort of spell to convert them once they''re in place.¡± She hands me a final set of photos. ¡°And these are from last week. Note the people there, in supplication before the big monster. And in this photo, right here, you can see the human being given to the big monster as a sacrifice. I''ve seen the video, and you do not want to see what happens next. Then, this last part is the worst.¡± She holds up two photos. One is the big monster dragging some large mechanical device out of the dungeon, another is the device being driven away in a truck.

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    I ask, ¡°wait, so what''s happening, here? They''re trading humans for spare parts?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Jose says solemnly. ¡°Remember what they mined in R-32?¡±

    I do. ¡°Uranium.¡±

    Alicia puts it together for those left behind. ¡°They''re sacrificing humans to some eldritch monsters in exchange for nuclear weapons.¡±

    That takes the wind out of our sails. We sit in stunned silence for a while. I don''t have to ask if these guys are terrorists. Of course they are. No legit organization would do monster sacrifices.

    ¡°This is awful,¡± Mercy says.

    ¡°Yup,¡± says Madeline who''s suddenly back to reticence.

    Amy has to leave the table and check on her kids. I think that''s more out of nerves than an actual necessity.

    Jose crosses his fingers in front of him and looks to me. ¡°You gonna be good?¡± he asks.

    I slowly nod. ¡°Yeah, I''ll be fine. It''ll be different this time.¡± I clench my fist in front of me. ¡°I''m different this time.¡±

    Alicia takes that as an acceptance of the mission. ¡°You''ll have to go in at night and as a black op. I''ll cover transport. We need to leave tonight to get there before the next dungeon break. I also have the condition that I''ll be joining you.¡± I start to object but she stops me. ¡°I''m already a level 8 Operative. I have enough techniques to keep myself alive and distract some monsters.¡±

    ¡°Is it a dungeon or ruin?¡± Jose asks.

    ¡°Dungeon,¡± Alicia answers. ¡°Fifteen floors, judging by the dungeon break time. The monsters seem to be sea life related, which is odd for the middle of the desert.¡±

    I glance at Jose and he nods. ¡°You must have gotten the redacted report on R-32,¡± I tell her. ¡°The full report contains the info on the group who was working the mines. The locals were doing the job... But they were controlled by Westerners.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Alicia seems genuinely surprised.

    ¡°Some of the people in charge there were American and British. I talked to them before executing them and taking their hazmat suits. They belonged to a cult. A cult that thinks that Lovecraft and his cosmic horror buddies weren''t writing fiction, but non-fiction.¡±

    I know Jose, Davis and I told just the Rangers commander at the time that info. I didn''t even tell Mercy, and I know Amy was in the dark. So I go through it.

    ¡°Cthulhu. The Dunwich Horror, the King in Yellow. Nyarlathotep. Madness inducing monsters. World eating dark gods. Awful creatures from the deep. All that stuff. And this group, who''s real buddy-buddy with 5 out of 6 of our last Presidents, believes in it. They have the power and money to both work towards their goals and also bury any evidence under the rug. They''re called the Ambrose Society.¡±

    ¡°I know that name,¡± Alicia says, rummaging through her briefcase until she finds a certain document. ¡°Desmond Pierce of the Ambrose Society, spotted talking to some of the people who are working with the monsters. We thought he was just gathering information on behalf of his group, since they do aid work.¡±

    ¡°Got a photo?¡± asks Jose. Alicia hands Jose a picture of a generic white guy. Short brown hair, well groomed beard, 40s. Jose hands the photo back. He''s a sniper. It''s his job to identify targets through a scope and take them out.

    I continue. ¡°The fact that you were kept in the dark about the Ambrose Society means that the people up top want this stopped, but not exposed.¡±

    Alicia rolls her eyes. ¡°I wish keeping your own agents in the dark was a rare thing in the CIA, but no.¡±

    ¡°And what are you still keeping from us?¡± asks Mercy.

    Alicia tries to stare down Mercy, but her naturally bubbly personality can''t be stared down and she just smiles awkwardly in response.

    Madeline says, ¡°Jun, Phoenix team has the Chicago raid tomorrow.¡± That means she and Henry are out.

    ¡°That''s fine,¡± I say. ¡°We need to keep plugging away at making the country normal again. Mercy, you want to fight horrors?¡±

    She nods. ¡°I''ve been waiting to try out the fully mastered White Falcon suit.¡±

    Her subclass, Costumed Witch, lets her gain the powers of a costume she wears, and she can swap between costumes with a magical girl transformation sequence. It''s an extension of the Costume Contest medals that work the same way, except when she gains levels she can get the powers of a costume permanently. We think she even got access to the subclass because of those medals, which of course implies that there are other secret subclasses and maybe even secret classes depending on certain factors like items.

    After she gains all the powers of a costume it becomes ¡°mastered¡± and it becomes ¡°real.¡± This is not usually important for clothes, but it makes cardboard armor pieces into real armor. She''s mastered the White Hat Warlock and ¡°Angle Frame - White Falcon,¡± which is a Japanese mecha-style body armor (from a subgenre called mecha musume).That suit basically makes her invulnerable to regular attacks. I can barely scratch it with my newly powered up knives. She''s also working on mastering a more offensive costume, one for the anime character Oni Princess Kaguya, who''s a demon with a wavy spear thing and bamboo powers. Yes, I said bamboo powers. Trust me that it looks cool in the anime.

    The bottom line is that Mercy had become a real powerhouse.

    I turn to my buddy next. ¡°Jose, you in? I''m not gonna force anyone into probably our most dangerous mission yet.¡±

    He nods. ¡°I''m in. Fish monsters are probably weak to lightning anyways.¡± His Lightning Crack Shot class had basically given him infinite lightning bullets at this point. His Ki pool has ballooned as well, so he can use the special shots he has pretty often. He''d practiced with his best techniques at our facility so his proficiency with those special shots was climbing.

    ¡°I''ll ask the new guys,¡± I said, pulling out my phone. I turn to Alicia, ¡°but they''re very new.¡±

 Chapter 39: Loadout

    After I drive to the Pathbreakers HQ, I approach Quinton ¡°Quins¡± Sheffield. He''s at the firing range using a complex looking bow. While looking at me, he draws then fires an arrow into the heart of a paper target about 100 feet away. ¡°Wot''s up guv?¡± he asks in his cockney accent.

    ¡°Ah, so I know you just joined and I was planning on taking you to a smaller dungeon to get you some experience and levels, but shit is hitting the fan right now.¡±

    ¡°Right, right,¡± he says quickly. ¡°Cut to the chase, eh?¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I find myself apologizing to the short, thin man with graying hair. ¡°Next mission is going to be super dangerous, so it''s optional.¡±

    Quins is a naturalized ex-brit who was formerly SAS. Now at 41 he''s the oldest member of the team. Around the HQ he wears punk band t-shirts. Today it''s The Clash. ¡°Don''t worry, mate, I''m in. ¡®Ow do you yanks say it? Not my first rodeo.¡±

    ¡°Cool. Ah, seriously though, update your will.¡±

    ¡°Can do, can do,¡± he says while firing another arrow at a different target. His bow has four pulleys and several wires going up and down its length. I''m no physicist, but I''m certain it multiplies his draw strength many times. ¡°Oh one fing guv, if you don''t mind.¡±

    ¡°Depends on the ask.¡±

    ¡°Right, so, if I get offed, I want you to tell my lady, right?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°But in person, right? And see if that bloody tosser Randy is there, and if he is, that means he''s been havin¡¯ a go at my Gilda, and you bop him a good one, yeah?¡±

    I understand some of those words and nod my head.

    Next is Capricorn Williams. She is currently doing wall running on the side of the building. I promised to build her some parkour stuff later. ¡°Cappy!¡± I call, using her preferred nickname.

    She''s a former gymnast, so she''s short, but also quite muscular. At 23 she''s the youngest of my team. She keeps her black curly hair in tight braids. Right now she''s just in a black tank top and hot pink gym shorts.

    She does a backflip off some spare tires and comes over to me. ¡°What''s the news, chief?¡±

    ¡°Big mission coming up, super dangerous, 15 floor dungeon. You don''t have to go if you don''t want to.¡±

    She does shoulder stretches as she responds. ¡°The fact that you''re even offering an out means it''s really, really bad, doesn''t it?¡±

    ¡°Ahhhh, there might be nuclear weapons involved.¡±

    ¡°Oh, hell no,¡± she says, doing lunges.

    ¡°Well, hell maybe, at least.¡± I feel bad because this girl is training her heart out and through level ups I''m probably twice as agile as her. ¡°But you''re right. It''s going to be really bad. And Madeline already tried to poach you for Phoenix squad, so it''s alright if you skip this one.¡±

    The Air Force brat smiles at that. ¡°Maddy is so cool.¡±

    Maddy? She lets people call her Maddy? Damn, apparently I''m not close enough to use her nickname. ¡°Anyways, keep at it, and if we all die make sure Madeline puts you in her next mission.¡±

    ¡°Damn, dude, that''s dark.¡±

    I just shrug in a ¡°it is what it is¡± way as I walk back inside.

    Dominic Franco is a huge fucking guy. He''s currently pumping iron on the gym mats we threw down in the corner as an ¡°office gym.¡±

    ¡°Franco!¡± I call as he racks his 400 pounds of bench press weights. He grabs a towel, then wipes his extremely sweaty face and hands.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Yeah boss.¡± His voice is deep and gruff from smoking. He stands up, towering over me at 6¡¯ 6¡±.

    ¡°So there''s a big dangerous mission that will probably kill at least some of us. You don''t have to go if you don''t want to.¡±

    He steps closer to me. ¡°You saying that I''m scared?¡±

    ¡°No I just don''t want to-¡±

    ¡°Cuz I ain''t scared! Nothing scares ol¡¯ Franco!¡±

    ¡°Okay, that''s good, but the lethality rating-¡±

    He steps into my personal space. I notice that his beard stubble is actually red. He shaves his head so I didn''t know until now that he''s a soulless ginger. ¡°I will personally fuck up anything you put me against. And I ain''t no chicken shit.¡±

    I am starting to understand why this idiot didn''t make it into the Rangers, and was just regular Army. There''s a chance that he''s too stupid to be manipulated by the madness inducing monsters we''re about to face.

    ¡°That sounds perfectly reasonable and I can take that as your acceptance of the danger?¡±

    He aggressively says, ¡°you better fucking believe it.¡± Then he attempts to poke me in the chest, which, with my over 40 Strength and 30 Toughness, does nothing. He takes a step back and almost apologetically says, ¡°uh, you''re more sturdy than you look, boss man.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And don''t forget it.¡± I walk over to his weights and lift them without too much trouble. I pump the entire bar once, like it''s a large dumbbell. My Strength, 63, is over 50% higher than the strongest normal human. I put the bar back with a loud clang and turn to see a shocked Franco. ¡°Just wait until you get levels, dude.¡±

    He swallows nervously as I walk past him.

    Our team is set. Me, Jose Amarillo, Mercy Mahar, Alicia Bennet, Quinton Sheffield and Dominic Franco. I and Mercy are the front line, with everyone else behind, for now.

    I expect Dominic to pick some dumb jock melee class. He''s a heavy machine gun guy. I tell him to bring a lot of ammo and that he''ll be able to put it in his inventory once he gets a class. I ask if he has a melee weapon he uses and he pulls out a run-of-the-mill claw hammer. I tell him to bring a sledge hammer as well. He smiles at that.

    Quinns is 1000% an Archer. The only question is what classes he''ll get to pick from. The system has been much less generous since I got a 5th step class on day one. Nowadays most people can only choose a 1st or 2nd step class, regardless of their stats and skills. I advise Archer, even though it leads to Sharpshooter and then Crack Shot, two classes Jose has.

    CIA agent Alicia is the real question mark. She said she had a class and it was Spy, but I don''t even know her loadout yet. I call her up since she''s gathering her gear back at her... Hotel? Apartment?

    ¡°Hey Alicia, it''s Jun.¡±

    Her sharp voice comes over the cell phone''s crap speaker as even harsher than normal. ¡°What? You have thirty seconds.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, so your combat style and loadout?¡±

    ¡°Handguns, I already have a class from the Rogue tree. I''ll take care of my own equipment.¡± And then she friggin hangs up on me.

    Well, that''s just great. I''ll start with her as a non factor in tactics until she coughs up some of her skill set beyond ¡°typical CIA bullshit.¡±

    By massive coincidence, the uniforms and armor Mercy designed for us have come in. We try them on and we look fucking good.

    First, the default outfit that Franco, Quins, Cappy and Phoenix Team are going to wear: Black combat boots. Adjustable, black ballistic-grade Kevlar greaves rise to just below the knee. The knee is protected by a six-sided diamond shaped piece of silicon carbide that''s strapped into the greave. Dark gray pants are tucked into the greaves and knee protectors. A dark red belt with an extra strap hanging from each side provides places for a hip holster and small pockets to be attached. A thin, sweat wicking black shirt is under a nano fiber, dark blue-grey coat that is short in front and about knee length in back. The coat is designed to be kept closed and hugs the body. It has armor plating built into the chest, back and shoulders. The dark red high collar is also armored, protecting our necks and mouths. The coat''s sleeves are designed to be rolled up and include snaps to make this easy.

    Black ballistic-grade bracers are worn along with black gloves. The blue-grey helmet is a modern military helmet including a rail system around the rim of the helmet to allow attachments like flashlights and scopes. The entire outfit is treated with chemical sprays that make it resistant to most biological and even radioactive threats. The high collar even hides goggles and a cloth head wrap that can be quickly slipped on to negate harmful pollutants. A light (for military) black backpack is worn as well. Since we have the inventory system this contains things you might need in the heat of battle, items like bandages and grenades.

    Jose, Madeline and my outfits are mostly the same, but colored differently. Jose''s outfit trades the blue-greys for desert tan, and the dark red for orange. He''s also repainted his rifle orange. He''s got the Colt Python on his hip.

    My outfit is white, instead of the dark blue-grey. I also traded the dark reds for bright red. I got some bonuses to being unarmored, so I don''t have the armor plating in my jacket. I don''t wear a sidearm on my hip, and my belt hangs with five knives on each side. Each of these is a carbon steel, tactical wakizashi with an 18 inch blade. 18 inches is the limit on what the Dracosys considers ¡°a knife¡± that works with my abilities. I still have the M3 Mongoose, it''s tucked into a black sheath in the small of my back.

    Madeline, as a team leader, also got to customize her outfit. She went with a steel grey accented with blue and yellow. She''s also got heavier, visible armor plating on her chest, back and shoulders. Her bracers and greaves are even solid steel rather than carbon fiber.

    The clean, sleek, sharp lines of these outfits make us feel and look like what we are: a new breed of soldier. Warriors of the future. Dragoons. Pathbreakers.

 Chapter 40: Into A Tunnel

    Part 3: True Monsters

    Brian is the litRPG expert. I call him on the flight to Afghanistan.

    ¡°Brian, hey, what''s up, it''s Jun.¡± I talk in a very casual way despite being on a CIA aerial transport that will get us to our destination in 10 hours.

    ¡°Jun, hey man. I haven''t seen you in forever. I know you guys got new jobs but we should still game. I''m itching to get back to the table.¡± Brian seems a bit sleepy but not annoyed at the early call. It''s around 7 AM his time.

    ¡°Yeah, totally! I actually set up a gaming room in my new house but we haven''t used it yet.¡±

    ¡°You got a house? Damn, dude, you''ve been busy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, so anyway, I wanted to ask you about the litRPG stuff.¡±

    ¡°You mean reality, or the fictional variety?¡±

    ¡°Fictional. I wanted to ask about the uh, motivations of those characters. Like, what do they do once they''re in system land?¡±

    He pauses a few seconds before answering. ¡°They mostly just get stronger. There''s variations, of course. You''ve got stories that are about being in charge of people or organizations, stories about getting money and magic items, stories about getting a harem of boys and or girls, but really, all of them come down to power.¡±

    The next part he says almost uncomfortably. ¡°The protagonists usually have some existential threat that the system, or a multiverse, provides. But that''s just an excuse. Those stories are power fantasies, straight up. The characters don''t need more motivation than just I wanna be strong. And if I''m honest, a lot of the protagonists don''t have goals or dreams beyond that.¡±

    I think about that for what seems like several minutes. I was really hoping he''d have some magic answer to what I''m doing with my life.

    I reluctantly say, ¡°hey, sorry to bother you so early, I''ll let you go.¡±

    Before I hang up I hear, ¡°Jun, you okay man?¡± and it stops me.

    I breathe deeply before I respond. ¡°Not really, even though everything is going well? I kinda walked into running a mercenary group and we have an office and we''re making a crap load of money-¡±

    ¡°Dude, can you please hire me to do anything that isn''t cake decoration?¡±

    ¡°Uh, maybe? I think we have an opening or two. Just look up the Pathbreakers website.¡±

    He''s silent for a minute and then says ¡°your site looks like shit. I''ll do your website stuff from now on. Us gays are great at websites.¡±

    ¡°What does being gay have to do with web-¡±

    ¡°But, anyways, to what you were saying, I feel you man. I know you''ve had mental health issues for a long time now, at least as long as I''ve known you.¡±

    ¡°You... Know about that?¡±

    ¡°Dude, us depressed people can pick each other out of a line up. Why do you think I asked you to game with me? Tabletop games are the best non-medical mental health treatment available. A steady, reliable reason to pretend to be someone else and also goof off with friends? It''s like the perfect salve for anxiety and depression.¡±

    I let that sink in. Brian was a much better friend than I''d ever given him credit for. He... Cares about me. He cared about me even before we became friends at the gaming table. What a guy.

    Alicia gave me a ¡°wrap it up¡± motion, so I say, ¡°thanks, man, I really mean it. I''m heading into a tunnel but I''ll probably call you tomorrow or the next day, if that''s alright.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Jun. Stay safe in your tunnel.¡± And with that he clicked off.

    The inside of the transport was astonishingly quiet. I''d had to go off in a corner, behind a big black storage container, to get some privacy for the call. I come back to the seating area where the team is.

    ¡°We''re almost there,¡± Alicia says. She''s changed into a skintight, grey, neoprene-ish sneaking suit. Her narrow shoulders and small frame take to it well. She''s got black harness/rigging looping around her back, waist, thighs and armpits. In that rigging are four handguns and about a dozen pouches of various sizes. Her blonde bob haircut is swept into a light helmet. Her blue eyes dart over to me as she attaches a face mask around her neck, ready to be slid on.

    ¡°That armor or something?¡± I ask her, trying not to look at her provocative ¡°combat gear.¡±

    ¡°It''s probably tougher than what you''ve got,¡± she says, looking at my outfit in particular.

    ¡°And a hundred times more expensive,¡± Jose adds.

    ¡°How much this costs is a matter of national security,¡± she says confidently. She taps a button on her wrist and most of her outfit turns tan like the Afghan cave we''re headed into. ¡°But it''s a lot.¡±

    The rest of the team are already in our Pathbreakers gear. We grab guns and make last second checks. Bennet then gathers the six of us around a waist high container that has some documents and tablets on it.

    ¡°Ya finally givin¡¯ us yer intel?¡± Quinns asks Alicia Bennet. ¡°Or ya gonna hold out until af''er the dust is settled?¡±

    She nods, then clicks a few times on a tablet. She shows it to us. ¡°We used ground penetrating radar to get an idea of the dungeon layout, and... It''s big.¡± The diagram shows a massive interconnected complex underground. ¡°The first three levels down look like caves. After that the radar just shows a series of large boxes. Our experts tell me that they''re probably metal.¡±

    ¡°So Cthulhu wanted to deflect radar?¡± Mercy asks, with a tone of sarcasm. ¡°I guess he''s been keeping up with technology.¡±

    Alicia just scowls at Mercy. ¡°The Dracosys is the problem. It often lets us have glimpses of the lower, or in this case upper, floors of a dungeon, only for the later areas to be completely impregnable.¡±

    ¡°All lending more credence to the theory that it''s of human make,¡± I say.

    Dominic Franco says, ¡°I don''t care who made it. We just gotta crush that son of a bitch dungeon and take a shit on its remains.¡±

    We all turn and look at him after that disgusting statement. ¡°Too much?¡± he asks.

    We all nod and agree that he needs to tone it down.

    Alicia goes through the rest of her data and documents. It''s not a lot. There''s a temple being built outside of the dungeon. Humans have been seen going into the dungeon but rarely coming out. The dungeon is 15 floors. The floors are grouped in sets of three.

    The monsters that come out during a dungeon break don''t mindlessly attack like most do. Instead, they seem to talk to the locals and are open to deals. And in at least one case, that trade was for a goddamn nuclear bomb.

    Also, everyone who''s gone inside is probably still alive. Dungeons spit out corpses (as long as the people came in through the front door). So we know there''s around a hundred humans inside doing... Something.

    ¡°We expect radioactive material inside, based on the Uranium mined there previously.¡± Alicia hands out a small tin to each of us. She opens her own and shows us six white pills. ¡°Each one of these will protect you from radiation for six hours. It''s okay to overlap a bit on the timing.¡± She motions to us to each take a pill and we do. I have to grab my bottle of water to take mine. ¡°I''ll time them and remind everyone when it''s time for another.¡±

    ¡°So how much does the Rad-X cost?¡± Jose asks. I smile at his use of the term for an equivalent item in the Fallout series.

    ¡°Each rad sponge pill is around 30,000 dollars,¡± Alicia says with nonchalance.

    Franco and I both do spit takes with our water. Mercy speaks for all of us when she asks, ¡°So we just swallowed 180,000 dollars?¡±

    ¡°I''ll tell you a secret,¡± Alicia fake whispers. ¡°The CIA doesn''t have a budget.¡±

    Jose asks, ¡°what''s the timing on the dungeon reset?¡±

    Alicia checks her watch. ¡°I timed our trip so it just happened now. We''ll have about 24 hours because we should arrive in-¡±

    The pilot comes over the PA system. ¡°Hitting target zone in 5, landing in 7.¡± We all suddenly get serious.

    I head over to a window and take in the dark desert. The desert at night is wonderful. No city lights to outshine the stars. Moonlight slides over rock formations, painting them soft and cool. I take in the sky because it might be a while before I see it again. Up to about 36 hours. So, just as long as last time.

    But things are different now. I''m different now. I''m not fighting to scrape out a narrow escape. This time I''m fighting to shut down a terrorist organization''s nuke factory. And that immediate goal is all I need to think about right now.

    Then, 2 minutes from landing, the aircraft begins to take fire.

    A three-foot, yellow bone spike punches through the floor just inches away from Franco''s foot. The air seal is broken and wind whips around the hole in the floor. We hear the whoosh of air rushing past us and the roar of the engines. The sound feels almost deafening compared to the previous near silence.

    Jose and I are first to act and have the same general idea. We both go to the side sliding door of the transport. I pull a lever to unlock it and slide it ajar. Jose has already used a big carabiner to hook himself to a winch arm. He slides himself partially out of the craft, rifle first. I see him aiming down and he fires three times. He waits two seconds, fires again, waits another second, then pulls himself back in. I shut the door and he unhooks himself.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Hostile, uh, monster, cleared,¡± he says, as if nothing alarming just happened at all.

    ¡°Body type?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Black sea anemone but teeth instead of wiggly tendrils. There were three of them.¡± Jose holds his hand over the rifle, golden light glows around the clip, and it''s reloaded. The entire process, from taking fire to reloading, probably took 15 seconds.

    The others look at us like we did something out of the ordinary. I ignore them and hit the button on the wall for the PA system. ¡°LZ should be clear now.¡±

    ¡°Roger,¡± comes the pilot''s quick reply. ¡°Landing in 30 seconds.¡±

    We gather around the side door again. A few short seconds later we feel a surprisingly soft touchdown and I slide the door open. The team exits and I slide it shut behind us, then slap the side of the craft to let the pilot know we''re good. She takes off immediately.

    The swirling dust and sand. The sound of propellers. This damn cave. I see it as it was back then. Daytime, blindingly bright. Blood. Death. So much killing. I snap myself out of the trance and move forward as the dust settles around us. My team is already sweeping the temple for any remaining hostiles. We find none.

    The massive black stones making up the star shaped temple seem impossible. Each is a perfect, and I mean perfect, rectangle. Each block is about as tall as Mercy (so five feet) and twice as long. And they are positively flawless. Moonlight reflects off the glossy stone. Marble? No, there''s no pattern, just black.

    The temple is very incomplete. We stride up partial stairs and enter through the frame of a doorway comprised of more rectangular stones. These are smaller, but otherwise identical. I touch one with a gloved hand and feel an unearthly cold from it. A deep, inner cold, like the center of the thing is frozen, and the outside just radiates that chill. It''s... Unsettling.

    The corpses of the creatures Jose killed are close to the cave entrance. Each is, or was, about 10 feet tall and five feet wide.

    Elder Thing, Sentry. Tier 2. This creature is really, really old. You could''ve learned a lot from it if you had bothered to ask. But no, you''re the ¡°shoot first, ask questions never¡± type. Pft. Philistine.

    Possible Loot: Ancient Texts

    I prod the Thing until it fades and drops its loot, an old book. I hand it to Mercy without looking it over, and she makes it disappear into her inventory.

    Mercy helpfully says, ¡°as a reminder, we are dealing with Mythos stuff so don''t read anything you find, regardless of the language. I did bring a bag in my inventory for books, so if you see any forbidden tomes, please grab them and hand them to me, okay?¡± She''s the Lovecraft expert of our group, so we''re taking any of her advice to heart.

    We come to the cave opening and I stop. It''s well lit inside. The tunnel entrance looks the same as it did four years ago. The long string of lights hanging from the ceiling. The exploded boulder we huddled behind. The bullet holes in the wall. All the same.

    I stride forward, and slide my left hand over my left set of wakizashis. Each of the long knives slides out of its sheath and into the air, then the five blades point forward and form a circle in front of me. I step into the cave and am immediately frozen.

    Notice! You have been given the quest ¡°Thank You, Come Again!¡±

    Notice! You have been given the quest ¡°24 Hour Lock Down.¡±

    I come out of the freeze as soon as I read the messages. I turn to see my team wary and with weapons raised. ¡°I got quests,¡± I say with utter bewilderment.

    Jose steps forward next to me and freezes too, then unfreezes a second later. The rest of the team follows suit. Franco and Quins are last to unfreeze, having to pick classes.

    While they do, Jose, Mercy and Alicia are on watch so I look at my menus. There''s a new main menu option, predictably named, ¡°Quests.¡±

    Current Quests:

    Thank You, Come Again!

    You have entered a Dracosys site which you previously fought in, but failed to collect your experience from, for some unknown reason. The experience points earned are now in the form of a piece of naan located in the 15th floor boss room. Eat that naan and you will recover the lost experience.

    24 Hour Lock Down

    This dungeon has a curse on it, preventing anyone from leaving within 24 hours of their entry into the dungeon. Survive for the entire time OR clear the dungeon within that time frame for various rewards.

    I announce to the group, ¡°the 24 Hour quest is straightforward. Clear the dungeon or wait it out. We just can''t get evac until then. Did anyone else get Thank You, Come Again?¡±

    Jose nods. ¡°Yeah and I can bet you know why.¡±

    ¡°What''s that quest?¡± Mercy asks.

    I fill her in. ¡°We might get credit for our previous misadventures in cave R-32 at the bottom of the dungeon. Doesn''t matter much right now. Franco, Quins, what classes did you get?¡±

    Quins answers first. ¡°Grenadier, sir. Figure I might do a little bit of explodin¡¯ things.¡±

    ¡°Huh,¡± I reply. ¡°What are the techniques like?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, shall we?¡± Quinton holds a palm up and iridescent, ghostly clockwork gears appear in his hand. He closes his eyes and the gears begin to turn. Over the course of a minute they spin faster and faster until a ding! sounds and a dark green, spherical grenade fades in as the gears fade away. I scan it right away.

    Quins''s Basic Explosive Grenade. A basic grenade that explodes with a 1m heavy damage radius and a 3 meter light damage radius. Expires in 1 hour.

    I''ve read the reports, but up until now I hadn''t seen Creation magic in action. For the Engineer class tree, the classes grant ¡°Creations¡± instead of chants, invocations, techniques or spells. These use ¡°Creativity Points¡± which are equal to your Luck. CP seem to regenerate over time based on some unknown factor. Gwen L''Ronge seems to think it both varies from person to person and depends on your mood.

    ¡°How often?¡± I ask, unnecessarily cutting out words for brevity.

    ¡°Ah, my Luck''s about 30, so I can do one more ¡®fore I''m spent.¡± He then pulls the pin, flips off the handle and safety lever before chucking it out the dungeon''s front door. A few seconds later it explodes, with a loud bompf!

    I look at him, annoyed. ¡°Wot?¡± He shrugs. ¡°Gotta make sure it works before we actually need it.¡± He then starts making another and I turn to Franco.

    ¡°Barbarian. Got that rage technique straight away. Doesn''t work on my SAW though.¡± He was referring to his heavy machine gun, called in some circles a ¡°Squad Automatic Weapon,¡± because really only one person in a group ever needs one.

    I knew about the Barbarian class and the Rage technique too. Rage boosts Strength, Toughness and Constitution while docking your mental stats severely. And since it doesn''t help your Dexterity, it doesn''t help you shoot straight.

    ¡°It''s not a bad thing,¡± I say. ¡°Two of the three subclasses will work for you. Just make it to level three and you''ll be stoked.¡±

    Franco, the big dummy, nods and seriously says, ¡°good, I love being stoked.¡±

    I advance down the tunnel with Quinton Sheffield and Dominic Franco on my left and right, as planned. Just like we''d done for the Get! run, I''m having the new guys engage 1st floor enemies while I clear them out quickly.

    We get into the first cavern and I''m stopped by the sight of it. It''s R-32. The long ridge we hid behind. The cluster of barrels. The middle plateau, the bottom area hidden by the low ceiling. It''s all here, except it''s covered in gravestones.

    Dozens and dozens of classic, tooth shaped, grey stone slabs are all over the cave. Each one where someone died. Each marks a dead man. And each has an engraving.

    Farman, killed by Jun Kyung Han.

    Siamak, killed by Jose Amarillo.

    Mazdak, killed by Jose Amarillo.

    Roshaan, killed by Jun Kyung Han.

    It goes on. Each one has a different name. Each one was 100% accurate on who killed that man. This is... This is...

    ¡°Are they for real?¡± asks Mercy from behind me.

    ¡°Seems dungeon made, but they''re spot on,¡± Jose says. ¡°I thought I got this guy by the table. Davis got credit. Huh.¡±

    Graves in a cave. Personal to me, but this is still a dungeon. I pull myself together. ¡°Heads on swivels, expect undead,¡± I tell the team. I pull on a ghostly armband which will supposedly keep undead from attacking me. We''ll see if it works.

    I move forward and put my mind to clearing out the floor before ruminating on anything. I sweep through the first area and we don''t find anything killable. I look down into the middle area. There''s a steep ramp down but I just hop the 15 foot cliff like it was a stairstep. Before anyone can follow, I hear them. They''re chanting.

    ¡°Come, killers, come killers, come killers, come!¡± The low voices come out like shouted whispers in the cavern. Even though there''s intermittent lighting from string lights, I don''t see the enemies. There must be dozens of voices. They seem to be coming from all directions. They''re coming from...

    A man in a dark red robe leaps up from a tombstone''s shadow. He has a curved, almost sickle-shaped knife. As he, no it, nears, I see its twisted, grey demonic face and know this isn''t a human. It leans towards me but is suddenly stopped by my telekinetic wakizashi stabbing it and pushing it back. It squirms for a second while I scan.

    Kafir Jinn. Tier 1. This is a minor local spirit, not to be confused with the local demons. To be honest, you probably won''t have a problem with these.

    Possible Loot: Leaping Knife

    My blade spins in the creature''s gut and yellow blood sprays onto the ground as it dies. I move over to inspect it. While humanoid, it looks like it has no musculature, just skin and bones. Its teeth are yellow, like its blood. The dark red, hooded robe seems entirely ordinary. Even the knife seems unremarkable.

    I turn to Quins and Franco, who are back up on the ridge, looking down at me. I hear the spirit voices get louder. I give the order. ¡°You guys are up. You don''t need help on this,¡± and with that I leap back up 15 feet and walk towards the entrance. I hear them clamber and stride down the small cliff, then the twang of a bow and the chug of machine gun fire.

    The others don''t even ask. They''re all dungeon veterans, even Alicia. I see Mercy transfixed by a cluster of five graves that carry my name.

    ¡°That was a grenade,¡± I say. ¡°They hid behind that table.¡±

    She turns to me and I see tears in her eyes. ¡°I knew,¡± she says. ¡°I knew, but this is a lot.¡± She motions to the dozens of other graves. And this first area is only about a third of R-32.

    I don''t know what to say. They were combat kills, so they don''t count as murder? Oh yeah, sweetie, I''m a bloodthirsty monster! No, no, I wouldn''t call it mass murder, more like some murder.

    She stands by my side and just holds my hand, still looking at the graves. ¡°You are so much more than that moment,¡± she says.

    I turn to her and she turns to me. I wipe her few tears away. ¡°I don''t understand,¡±

    ¡°You were Jun Kyung Han before this place. You are Jun Kyung Han now. This right here,¡± she points at the graves. ¡°This is not all you are. You are more than fighting and death.¡±

    ¡°I am?¡± This sincerely puzzles me.

    She holds my hands in hers. ¡°You keep thinking about R-32 like it defined you. But what I know, who I know, is a man who is totally loyal. One who is kind and funny. A guy who is really, really shy. And a guy who is bumbling but super sweet.¡±

    The gunfire stops and we both suddenly realize that we''re having a moment in a combat zone. She lets my hands go and turns towards where the fighting seems to be wrapping up. ¡°Sorry, that''s just been building up for a while,¡± Mercy says.

    Her words have hit me so hard that I feel dizzy.

    Jose has been talking to Alicia, apparently, and he shouts back at us, ¡°I''ll take the boys and Bennet to clear the second floor. Take your time.¡±

    ¡°You have a really good best friend, you know that?¡± Mercy says.

    ¡°Yeah, I do know that.¡± I turn to her again. ¡°It seems like the people around me are better at looking after me than I ever realized.¡±

    She squeezes my hand. ¡°We try.¡±

    -----

    Conversation Log 0001

    Fortuna: So this is everyone, then?

    Hyperion: Yes.

    Spear Saint: Present!

    Skull Master Flash: Yeah, yeah.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Hello.

    Hyperion: Is anyone having second thoughts? This is still all hypothetical until money changes hands.

    Spear Saint: Not at all.

    Skull Master Flash: Let''s do this!

    Fortuna: My philosophy backs up our actions.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Which philosophy is that?

    Fortuna: Pragmatism. We need to reduce the population.

    Hyperion: These chat logs will be deleted, yes?

    Skull Master Flash: Without a trace.

    Hyperion: Saturn, any last second objections?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: No. I want to be strong.

    Hyperion: Good, good. If we can all look at the documents I sent to you we can begin the process. There are ten steps to this plan. Estimated time to completion on your ends, everyone?

    Spear Saint: About a year until testing, then it either works or it doesn''t.

    Skull Master Flash: assuming Spear gets the RNA problem taken care of, only a month after that.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I already finished parts 3 and 6. Waiting on the others to advance before I finish part 9.

    Fortuna: What an over achiever!

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: It''s just math, mostly. I''m using widely available AI to make most of the DRAC sites because that''ll disguise both ourselves and our real goals. Procedural generation requires guidance, not step by step instruction.

    Hyperion: Haha, you sure you don''t want a raise, Saturn?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I don''t care about money.

    Skull Master Flash: Yeah, he''s a true litRPG, path to power nerd like me and Spear!

    Hyperion: Alright, settle down. Now, if we can get back to business, I''d like to talk about dungeon mining.

 Chapter 41: Clean Up

    Mercy and I talk for another 15 minutes before Jose comes back to get us. We have comms but I guess he wants to deliver the report in person. I turn to him with a smile on my face. ¡°Jose, what''s- Oh, shit.¡±

    Jose''s shoes are splattered with blood and yellow pus. ¡°Second floor had cancer cluster monsters. They were gross.¡±

    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± I say, trying to be cheerful. ¡°But hey, we cleaned up here and the currency is mohars.¡± I pull out a couple of golden coins with Arabic script on them. They''re actually quite beautiful. I already have 78 of the things in my inventory.

    ¡°More importantly,¡± Jose says, ¡°you good?¡±

    I nod. ¡°Yeah, I''m ready to go. Thanks man, for this and, well, for everything.¡± He just punches me in the shoulder and nods.

    We follow him down R-32 to the exit to the second floor which, of all things, is the way Jose and I came into the damn place all those years ago. We travel through the long, narrow tunnel until we enter an area with green glowing stones illuminating shallow pools of water.

    I immediately grab my goggles and prep my full protective headgear when Alicia comes over and waves me down. ¡°There''s no radiation,¡± she says. ¡°None at all.¡±

    I ask the obvious question, ¡°so what''s with the green glowing rocks?¡±

    She goes to the wall and raps one with the grip of a pistol. It immediately shatters. ¡°Just glowing glass, apparently.¡±

    ¡°Maybe real Uranium is too expensive for Cthulhu?¡± Mercy asks. She''s obviously relieved that she doesn''t have to switch to her hazmat suit costume. It''s hot in there.

    ¡°Possibly,¡± says Alicia. She pulls out a handheld device from her inventory and waves it around. ¡°I''m not getting any radiation from anything even remotely close by. For a Uranium mine it''s awfully clean of rads.¡±

    Dungeon. That''s right, it''s a dungeon. ¡°It has to be clearable,¡± I say. ¡°If entering a room killed you two hours later, it couldn''t be cleared. That wouldn''t follow the rules.¡±

    In the time since the Dracosys first altered the world, we''d learned a lot about it, and inferred even more. Pretty much everyone thought that it was some evil genius''s work, and not a god or devil or multiversal monster. And that was largely due to ¡°the rules.¡±

    Every dungeon, ruin, castle and arena follows rules, and for dungeons ¡°has to be clearable¡± is one of them. No impossible walls to get through. No permanently sealed doors. No one-way teleporters to nowhere. Things could be tough, things could be lethal, things could be unfair. But the dungeons couldn''t cheat. This was a system based on games. And games have to be winnable.

    ¡°Still, keep an eye on your rad badges.¡± Alicia was referring to the white badges each of us had pinned to our clothes. If it turned black, that was bad.

    I see Quins and Franco poking monster corpses and arguing over who has to pick up the loot from the leftover goo. Behind them is the way forward, a narrow, single-file tunnel. I look at Mercy. ¡°You want to clear floor three with me? Give these guys a minute to clean themselves up?¡±

    She nods and says, ¡°henshin!¡± Thin, iridescent, horizontal rings begin to appear around her. Dozens more rings appear, smaller around her feet and head, while they''re wider around her middle. They eventually form a complete sphere. As soon as it completes it swirls with blue and white, then fades away and Mercy is now in her ¡°White Falcon¡± suit.

    The first layer of the outfit is a spandex-like black bodysuit, and over it are pieces of white and cobalt blue armor. A bracer covers each arm. The left bracer has a long blue blade that runs back past the elbow. The right bracer has a mini-gatling gun. The mecha style armor has pointed pauldrons that look like jet wings. Her chest armor is a small, curved breastplate. Around her thick thighs are plates of armor that only cover the outsides of her legs, leaving the insides uncovered. The knee high, plate armor boots have one-inch heels and jet boosters on each ankle.

    This is all topped off with a white, angular helmet that covers her face but somehow lets her hair out back. Her most important equipment though, is the backpack and the spear. The backpack features two short, dark grey wings that glow with blue energy. The spear is a long grey rod ending in a rectangular, unbladed head.

    Mercy slams the butt of the spear into the ground and a blue laser-spearhead bursts into being atop her weapon. Then her wings glow and she jets off, hovering right above the ground. I run after her.

    We barrel down the descending tunnel to the third floor, her jet wings easily twice as fast as I can run. And I''m already running at superhuman speeds. We emerge into a small chamber filled with hundreds of glowing green crystals. The entire floor seems like it''s maybe the size of half a football field. And it''s crammed full of enemies.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Uranium Elementals. Tier 3. Not actually made of Uranium, but they do shoot lasers. And they''re made of dense crystal, not the cheap glass we used in the previous floor. Good luck!

    Possible Loot: depleted Uranium shells, glow sticks

    The four legged, crab-like monsters are hanging off the walls and ceiling. Each one is made of dozens of crystals with no organic looking parts at all. Each glowing green monster is about half my height, but there''s dozens of them that I can see, and this place looks like a damn maze of crystal walls.

    The five elementals near us glow brighter and I shout, ¡°lasers!¡± I pull four wakizashis in front of me and cast Holo Shield on each. Each curved short sword is suddenly encircled in white light, becoming a platter-like shield. I pull them in front of me as green lasers stream from the enemies. Three lasers hit my shields, their streaming beams not letting up. I''m not worried though.

    Mercy Mahar''s ¡°Angle Frame - White Falcon¡± suit is almost unfair. Two elementals fire their beams at her, but the beams just splinter into fading sparks as they connect with her future tech armor. She rushes forward and swings the spear wide, the energy blade cleaving two elementals in half. The others let up the lasers aimed at me, and turn to her. I take the opportunity to step forward, activating Lunge, Lancing Stride and Shadow Stab. The Lunge slides me 4 feet closer, Lancing Stride increases my damage while I''m advancing, and I use all four wakizashis and both hands to cast Shadow Stab six times. Shadow blades tear up into the crystal bodies of the elementals, as I''d hoped. The three shatter apart and stop moving.

    ¡°How many?¡± Mercy asks, knowing that my radar now encompasses 120 feet out.

    ¡°Eh, less than a hundred?¡± I answer. My increased Intelligence lets me count that there are exactly 94 left, but I don''t like to show off too much.

    Her voice sounds just a little electronic coming out of her helmet. ¡°It''s currently two to three then. But I''ll catch up.¡± She leaps thirty feet into the air and jets over to a cluster of elementals. I just hear the cracking of crystal. ¡°Now it''s seven to three,¡± I hear her yell. Goddamn that woman is sexy.

    I turn and run around a corner to find more targets. Either these things take too long to charge their lasers or I''ve gotten too fast. I slam Shadow Stabs up into three more crystal monsters. Shadow Stab, now at 212% proficiency, sends up a sharp spike of darkness that''s about 4 feet long and a foot wide at the base. I figured laser crystal monsters would be weak to darkness, and I was right. These blades aren''t sharp or strong enough to punch through even regular wood, but against these things the blades are deadly.

    I whip around another corner to find a dead end and two more monsters. I quickly dispatch them, and move on. I call out ¡°eight!¡±

    Mercy fires back with ¡°twelve!¡± I don''t see her up among the crystals hanging from the ceiling, but I can hear the high pitched whistling of her wings and the crash of her spear against monsters.

    I dash back and take another turn. This time I''m greeted with a whole hallway of rock monsters. The dozen of them begin to charge their lasers. I pull my hands together with the palms aimed forward and cast Obsidian Sphere. A ball of darkness four feet across bursts from my hands and begins to slowly fly forward. Against fast, or even normal speed foes, this attack is worthless. But against creatures that mostly stay put and act like turrets? It''s deadly.

    The black orb flies forward and hits the first elemental, slowing just briefly before pushing forward through it. The crystal body left behind is pitch black like stone, and falls off the wall, dead. I hear the lasers of the elementals fire but the beams of light just hit the black void ball between them and me. The bright lasers just disappear into the unnaturally black void magic. The ball hurtles forward and eats five more monsters before it fades from existence. That leaves me with six more to kill.

    I rush up and perform a series of Shadow Stabs, piercing each monster once as I move past it. I turn after I''ve run all the way down the hall and look back. They''re all dead except one, which then is shattered apart by a barrage of gunfire from above. I look up and see Mercy flying overhead, her arm mounted chain gun whirling to a stop. ¡°nineteen!¡± I call up.

    I can almost her her grind her teeth as she says, ¡°eighteen.¡±

    We both go in opposite directions and the sound of two superhumans ripping and smashing apart crystal creatures fills the room.

    ¡°Twenty four!¡± I yell over the din.

    A few seconds and a burst of machine gun fire later I hear ¡°twenty seven!¡±

    I find another dead end alcove but it''s fortunately chock full of monsters. I pull half a dozen shadow stabs up from the ground, some of the blades piercing more than one monster. ¡°thirty three!¡± I shout.

    I hear the crash of crystal and an elemental corpse flies over my head and into a passage to my right. I turn the corner to see Mercy using the suit''s power to beat one monster to death with the corpse of another. The two bodies smash apart with tremendous sound. ¡°Thirty one,¡± she says, and flies up and over a wall I''ll have to run around.

    I hear more gunfire and I find another cluster of monsters. That''s when I realize that I''m smiling. This. Is. Awesome. We''re just crashing through these monsters that, by all rights, should be impossible to kill for normal humans. But we''re not normal humans anymore. I crush another cluster, then another after that before getting to a round room where I find Mercy waiting. She''s looking down a big hole in the floor.

    I come up alongside her and look down as well. There''s a really, really big elemental in the big hole. It must be 20 feet across and filling the entire hole with its body.

    ¡°Forty four,¡± I say looking down at the creature.

    ¡°Fifty five,¡± Mercy says, and throws her spear down into the monster. The spear sticks in the top of the crystal. Mercy flies up to the top of the room and flips upside down. She braces her legs against the ceiling and pushes off, flying straight down at high speed. Her palm is outstretched and impacts with the butt of the spear. There''s an explosive whirl of wind and crystal shards as the impact creates a shock wave. Then, after a split second, the entire creature shatters apart like glass and the shards drop down into a cavern below.

    She flies back up with her spear and stands before me, a powerful goddess of steel and I dumbly say, ¡°I will give you literally anything you want.¡±

    The face guard and visor of her helmet retract and I see her smirk. ¡°Then it''s a good thing that all I want is you,¡± she says, then pulls me forward by my belt and kisses me fiercely.

 Chapter 42: Village

    The hole the monster was in seems to be the only way forward. We have enough rope between us to get to the bottom of the 100 foot drop without much difficulty.

    We rappel down after harvesting the loot from the Uranium Elementals, which turned out to be mostly glow sticks. A handful of depleted Uranium shells were mixed in. The shells are made for tanks, but Jose swears he can use them so he ends up with eight of them in his inventory.

    The fourth floor is lit by a miniature moon that overlooks a small, old fishing village. We get a good look at the village as we head down the rope. The entire chamber seems like it''s several miles across, the ceiling 80 feet up and the water abruptly ending at the far wall.

    As Franco, the last to descend, finally hits the grassy floor, I go over the situation. I pull out my Minimap, making a transparent 3D model of the floor appear in my right hand.

    ¡°Okay so there''s no clear exit. That means it''s in one of the buildings, or there''s a trigger to open it.¡± I point out the buildings. ¡°There''s seven farms, a village with three rows of shacks and a...¡±

    ¡°Cannery,¡± says Mercy. ¡°If this is Lovecraft, then this is a Massachusetts fishing village circa 1910, and there''s a disgusting cannery involved.¡± I nod and am about to continue when she says, ¡°probably run by fish men.¡±

    ¡°Alright, we should expect fish men. They have anything to look out for?¡±

    Mercy gives us the fish man bestiary entry. ¡°They should be tough and very strong, but no special attacks. The women might appear human, but they are not human.¡± She squints at Franco. ¡°And don''t let them seduce you.¡±

    ¡°Hey, why am I the only one who has to worry about it?¡± he asks.

    Mercy points at Quins, then Jose, then me and says ¡°taken, married, I would kill him.¡±

    Franco cracks his thick, muscled neck and says ¡°fair enough.¡±

    ¡°Right, so anyway,¡± I say, trying to regain attention, ¡°teams of three. Breach and clear every building, every room.¡±

    Alicia points at the larger buildings on my map. ¡°Why don''t we just start with the mayor''s house, hospital and church?¡±

    I shake my head as if she''s a simpleton. ¡°Because, Alicia, we want to get level ups.¡± She rolls her eyes at me but I persist. ¡°No, really, we need to be as strong as possible when we get to the 15th floor. We tackled the St. Louis arch dungeon and that was 10 floors. The boss there took basically no damage from conventional weapons. We need as much power as we can get if we''re going to fight a boss that might be 50% stronger than a 10th floor boss.¡±

    She concedes. ¡°Alright. I think it''s a waste of time but you''re the boss.¡± I note the last part seemed condescending and I decide that if I have to give her healing snacks she''s getting the Xtra Flamin Hot Doritos. See how her white lady taste buds fare with that. Ha.

    ¡°Alright, team A is Quins, Franco and me. Jose, you take Mercy and Alicia.¡± One sniper, one heavy, one switch hitter per team. Plus I want to better know how these new guys fight.

    We head off in different directions and I tell everyone to keep in contact on the comms. Franco, Quins and I are taking the rows of shacks down by the waterside.

    We approach the moonlit village and it''s apparent that it looks like a place out of time. There''s no technology I recognize. I think the lamp posts are, yeah, they''re oil lamps. The windows to all the buildings are dark. Most of the wooden shacks are one story, with a few two stories mixed in. We get to the first row of shacks and a fog rolls in.

    ¡°Hello?¡± I call down the street. ¡°Any fishmen here?¡±

    I hear sounds from the third shack down and dash over to see a door swinging on what looks like a two-story saloon. I peer into the dark and can''t see a damn thing. I hover a wakizashi up and cast Yellow Ray through it, illuminating the saloon. Shadows are cast as my light shines through the window and I hear a crash of glass from the inside, followed by the click of an old gun being cocked. I step up and to the side of the front door, taking cover behind the wall.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I motion for Franco and Quins to go around back. This row of shacks is butted against a short hillside. I know it should only take a minute for them to break in that way. Over comms I whisper, ¡°give me five seconds when you''re in position.¡±

    ¡°Roger,¡± comes Franco''s deep gravelly voice. Then ten seconds later, ¡°in position.¡±

    I fly four more wakizashi up, hit Yellow Ray on all of them, and light up the inside of the saloon like it''s showtime. There''s screaming in a language I don''t know and then my guys rush in through the back. Franco is shouting and I hear his heavy machine gun belch a few rounds, hitting wood. I rush in and see them holding up an Afghani man who''s trying to drop a shotgun on the bar counter. He lays it down and Quins comes over slowly and snatches it.

    Franco speaks to the man in Pashto, and the man dissolves into tears. Then he''s babbling, he can''t stop talking to Franco. Franco lowers his gun and lets the man finish before opening his backpack and handing the man a protein bar with extra protein.

    I am quite taken by the whole scene. Franco turns to me. ¡°So this is Malik. He and some other guys are trapped here and couldn''t escape. They were told to come down and mine but when the reset happened their rope disappeared. He just wants out.¡±

    I go over comms. ¡°We just found a local Afghan and he''s scared but not hostile. Alicia, you speak Pashto?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I''ll negotiate if we find someone,¡± her voice comes into my earpiece.

    Malik talks to Franco more and Franco nods and listens patiently. ¡°Malik says there''s a bunch of guys in the Mayor''s house. There''s no enemies on this floor. But they''re afraid of going in deeper.¡±

    I ask Malik, knowing Franco will translate, ¡°how did you get past the monsters above?¡±

    Some translation happens back and forth and Franco says, ¡°they had a guide, a warrior. A white man they called Pierce.¡±

    ¡°Desmond Pierce? ¡± I ask, and without translation Malik nods yes.

    Over comms I say, ¡°well agent Bennet, you can go ahead and confirm Desmond Pierce on that terrorist list.¡±

    We regroup and gather the surviving men, 49 all told. It takes a few hours to get them back to the surface, which Alicia argues is a waste of time, and I argue is fucking humane.

    As the last of them leave R-32, Malik comes over and shakes my hands vigorously. He''s got tears in his eyes. He speaks to me and I don''t understand the words but I understand their meaning. He thanks me and I see him and the other 48 men go off into the desert towards the nearby town.

    Something inside me clicks into place. Something that had been looking for a place in my heart since we got everyone out of the Get!. It''s something so simple, so inherent to humanity, and yet something I lacked, or didn''t understand: It feels good to save people.

    I see gratitude come from a man as I stand in the place of my greatest trauma. I see a man whose countrymen I killed en masse. And I see him and his comrades filled with happiness to be escaping R-32. They''re escaping just like we did. And this time I''m the one making it happen.

    I didn''t expect this. I didn''t expect to find myself in the place where I lost myself all those years ago. And yet here I am, realizing, just now, that maybe killing terrorists in revenge for 9/11 was never what I should have wanted. What I should have wanted all along was to save people when tragedy struck them. I became a soldier when I should have been a firefighter. Damn.

    Mercy holds my hand as we watch them go. If I had been a firefighter, I wouldn''t have been here. I wouldn''t have been in the Get!. I wouldn''t have the combat skills to fight monsters. I wouldn''t be standing next to the love of my life, or have Jose as my best friend. That path wouldn''t have led here. And I''m just now starting to like it here.

    And that''s when we get thrown a curve ball.

    Attention! This is a global system update for the Dracosys! All those with at least one level will receive this message.

    The words seem to come from inside my head. Just like the first time, the first Notice from the system.

    Due to an underwhelming number of deaths, the following changes are being made:

    <ul>

    <li>Dungeons that are not cleared in a week will gain a floor at the end of their dungeon break period.</li>

    <li>Dungeon breaks will feature monsters from all floors of the dungeon, rather than just the first few floors.</li>

    <li>All those entering a dungeon will now receive the 24 Hour Lock Down quest.</li>

    <li>Ruins will now grow by 10% each week they are not cleared, and their monsters will gain strength by 10% each week.</li>

    <li>Ruins will gain a dome-like barrier to prevent the sniping and bombing of their monsters.</li>

    <li>Arenas will draw in the nearest person at the end of each hour if no one is inside challenging the arena.</li>

    <li>Arenas can now be cleared! Just fight the strongest monster in there and win!</li>

    <li>Castles will now issue quests to reward those who work towards their growth.</li>

    <li>Castles that do not grow each week will instead shrink, and will be destroyed upon hitting zero size. When a castle is destroyed all nearby dungeons, ruins and arenas will gain 5 floors!</li>

    <li>One month from now will be the three month anniversary of the Dracosys, and to celebrate, the first ever RAID BOSS will appear from the least challenged dungeon! This will be a difficult monster, so plan on coordinating with others to combat it.</li>

    </ul>

    We thank you for your participation in the Dracosys, and remember, slay or be slaughtered!

 Chapter 43: Crypt

    Jose asks, ¡°an underwhelming number of deaths? Who the fuck is this guy?¡±

    ¡°I purposefully haven''t been paying close attention to the news,¡± I say, not adding that it''s because I already have depression and don''t need extra trauma. I ask the group, ¡°how many have died due to the Dracosys?¡±

    ¡°Millions,¡± Alicia says quietly. ¡°Last count was 17.2 million across the planet. It jumps when dungeon breaks happen.¡± Her fists are balled up.

    I sigh deeply. This world got fucked by the Dracosys and I''m the asshole enjoying it. That sucks. But I''m also changing. I''m not the same person I was even yesterday. I can do better. I will do better.

    ¡°Let''s close this fucking dungeon,¡± I say confidently. ¡°And then keep moving. I want to do something to help people out there.¡±

    Mercy gives me a direction to head in. ¡°We should try to shut down as many of the small, out of the way Dracosys sites as possible. Those communities aren''t equipped to tackle monsters.¡±

    I nod. ¡°Great. Anyone else have any wise ideas?¡±

    ¡°I''d like to hit an arena, iffin¡¯ they can be closed now,¡± Quins says. ¡°There''s one in my ¡®ometown that''s putting out some right buggers every week.¡±

    ¡°There''s some places in Mexico that need help,¡± Jose says. ¡°Places where the drug cartels won''t lift a finger to help the people under their thumbs.¡±

    Franco says, ¡°I''m not saying wide eyed anymore.¡± I am dumbstruck. ¡°I mean, you''re opening your eyes taller, not wider.¡±

    I go tall-eyed and grimace because I have absolutely no fucking idea what to say after that. We just... We just all move on without saying another word.

    The entrance to the 5th floor is inside the 4th floor''s church. Of course it is. Alicia was right, we could have started there. The church itself seems non-denominational, with a simple white cross on its roof but no name on the doors. The entire building is wood, the exterior painted white, the inside painted a neutral tan. The entry to the fifth floor is underneath the altar. The prisoners, as we''re calling them, told us that they''d already opened it. The altar is pushed forward and a slate staircase is beneath. The stairs lead into darkness but there looks like some sort of light source down at the bottom, which is at least a hundred feet down.

    ¡°Well,¡± I ask, ¡°who wants to go into the creepy demon basement first?¡±

    Franco steps up. ¡°I''ll go. I ain''t scared of shit.¡± He holds his heavy machine gun at his waist and marches down. I shrug and follow.

    Around a hundred feet later we come to the bottom and find candles lining the walls of an ancient crypt. The ceiling is so low that Franco has to duck his head to enter. The passage is narrow and looks like it winds around corners and keeps splitting. Small alcoves are dug into the walls and dessicated corpses lie in rest under old, white, linen sheets.

    ¡°Great,¡± I say. ¡°An undead filled maze.¡±

    ¡°Whaddya mean undead filled?¡± Franco asks. ¡°Seems like just regular dead.¡± He steps forward and I hear a click. My hand snaps forward and I pull him back just in time to save his life. A guillotine flashes down from the ceiling, chopping away everything in its path. I hear Franco curse loudly.

    ¡°Fucking shit! My fingers!¡± He turns and I see that the end of his gun and the fingers that were holding it are chopped clean off. I quickly hold my left hand over his cleaved digits and golden light shines from my flattened palm. I use Healing Palm to stop the bleeding and then Restoration Palm to regrow his index finger.

    ¡°I can do the other fingers after my Ki recovers,¡± I say. He cradles his hand and continues to curse.

    The others arrive at the bottom of the stairs and I hear Alicia ask, ¡°traps?¡±

    ¡°Traps,¡± I answer.

    ¡°Then I''m up,¡± she says. I''m still not sure what her Operative class gives her as far as techniques, but I know the description.

    Operative

    As a Spy you were an expert of stealth and scouting. As an Agent you added combat skills. Now as an Operative you can add

    widespread destruction to that list.

    A fourth step class. Four subclasses. Unknown class evolutions.

    Gain 5 Charisma, 5 Agility and 5 Ki upon choosing this class. One master espionage technique will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Charisma, Agility, Ki.

    Upon level up three additional random basic, advanced, expert or master espionage techniques will be granted, until all master and lower espionage techniques are known. Each level you gain 2 Charisma, 2 Agility, 3 Ki and 8 free points.

    Subclasses

    Demolition - Weapon and stealth techniques you know can be applied to bombs you use to make them deadlier and harder to find.

    Biological - Weapon and stealth techniques you know can be applied to poisons you use to make them deadlier and harder to detect.

    Electronic - Weapon and stealth techniques you know can be applied to devices you use to make them deadlier and harder to detect.

    Digital - Weapon and stealth techniques you know can be applied when you are hacking to make things easier to crack and make you harder to detect.

    Fourth step classes weren''t given out for free anymore, so that meant she had to have been given the class the first week of the Dracosys or she''d earned it through fighting. Since she''s CIA I didn''t even bother to ask. She wouldn''t tell me anything about herself.

    I looked at the word ¡°espionage¡± to see what it actually means.

    Espionage. A tag applied to techniques that aid in surveillance, stealth, deception, quiet combat and traps. Techniques that can be used to directly aid allies are excluded, as espionage experts are known as lone agents.

    Huh. So no direct support means she can probably stealth herself but not others.

    I see her eyes glow green and Alicia steps over a tile, then taps it once she''s ahead of it. A small pillar rises from the floor and slams into the ceiling. If anyone had been in its path they''d have part of their body crushed.

    She looks back at me and I ask, ¡°you can''t give anyone else glowing trap sensing eyes, can you?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± comes her flat reply. ¡°Have everyone follow me and I''ll clear traps as we go.¡±

    I do as she says. While I''m taking a backseat I slip on my eyepatch and check my menus. I have four levels to distribute. My stats are pretty amazing now, so I qualify for a ton of fourth step and lower classes. That actually makes things harder though. With so many okay or good choices nothing really stands out as being a great choice.

    My last set of levels got me some healing techniques via the Monk class, letting me heal with my hands and Ki. I also picked up levels in Killer and Assassin, both of which boosted my knife damage. But now I need a goal. I need a path.

    The fifth step classes are all very strong, apparently, but I don''t qualify for any of them, yet. They require you to hit level 10 in two different 4th step classes. (Normal people can choose another class for the first time when they hit level 10 in a class.) If you pick two matching classes, get to level 10 in both, and have the required stats at ONE HUNDRED, only then do you qualify for a 5th step class.

    Really, I should thank my lucky star that I was given Synergist, a 5th step class, back in the beginning. I don''t even qualify for it now.

    I look at my stats. I should probably angle to hit 100 in stats I''m already up there in.

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 63

    Dexterity 69 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 80 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 30

    Constitution 30

    Mental Attributes

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Intelligence 71

    Memory 18

    Wisdom 8

    Charisma 50

    Reflexes 66 (+5 from M3 Mongoose)

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 50

    Spirit 0

    Faith 0

    Arcana 58

    Luck 10

    We slowly move forward down the candle lit tunnel and I hear agent Bennet yell, ¡°duck!¡± We all follow her order and a buzzsaw slides out from the wall ahead and spins horizontally past us. Franco, the tallest of us, manages to barely get under the blade as it spins past.

    I look at the 4th step classes I qualify for, and then the 5th step classes they lead to. It''s within my grasp to go for 10 of the 5th step classes. They are:

    Landsknecht, a ranging warrior who emphasizes mobility and melee weapon attacks.

    Stylist, a martial artist who can switch combat styles to match the battle.

    Anarchist, a thug who specializes in bombs and flammable items.

    Doppelganger, a throwing weapon specialist who excels in taking down powerful foes.

    Shadow, who uses darkness itself to hinder foes and attack.

    Candidate, a leader who commands their allies to greater physical heights.

    Curse Wielder, who uses cursed items and gains benefits from them.

    Biologist, who uses medicine and medical knowledge to poison and cripple foes.

    Duke, who commands their allies to become tougher and stronger but at a cost of their own health.

    Kagemusha, who commands shadows as minions to fight in their stead.

    To be honest, the leadership classes don''t sound like my thing, so I rule out Candidate, Duke and Kagemusha. I don''t have any cursed items so Curse Wielder is right out. Biologist sounds creepy and Anarchist sounds like it belongs with someone else, someone who lacks pants. That brings me to Landsknecht, Stylist, Doppelganger and Shadow.

    I see a gout of flame light up the passage ahead as a flamethrower-type trap attempts to incinerate Alicia. She jumps up to the ceiling and braces herself against the walls as the flames shoot out below her, scorching everything from floor to shoulder height. The flames die down and she drops to the floor in a crouch, letting three probably poisoned darts flit past her face.

    Every 5th step class seems to break rules somehow, not just my Synergist class. Landsknecht lets you basically skate across surfaces at high speed, then leverage that speed into melee stabs and slashes. Stylist lets you reorganize your Ki techniques. Shadow lets you control darkness as if it were an extension of your body, bypassing the need for specific spells. And Doppelganger... Doppelganger is interesting.

    Doppelganger

    The wraith that hunts the dark. The ghost who cannot be hit. The thief of the peerless blades. All roads you take, all paths you tread. You are a Doppelganger, an agent of the night who stalks monsters. And oh, will your blades taste their blood.

    A fifth stage class. Three subclasses. 5th Stage classes do not evolve.

    Gain 5 Dexterity, 5 Agility, 5 Reflexes and 5 Ki upon choosing this class. Two predetermined Doppelganger techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Reflexes, Dexterity, Agility.

    Each time you gain a level you choose one subclass and gain stats and abilities based on that subclass. After you have selected a subclass 10 times it will give you one random Legendary or lower technique instead of its predetermined techniques.

    Subclasses

    Dark Slayer - When you gain a level you gain 5 Ki, 5 Arcana and 10 free points. You also gain one predetermined technique or spell, based on the number of times you have selected this subclass. This subclass focuses on using techniques and spells to attack and debilitate your foes.

    Ghost Step - When you gain a level you gain 5 Agility, 5 Reflexes and 10 free points. You also gain one predetermined technique, based on the number of times you have selected this subclass. This subclass focuses on stealth and avoiding attacks.

    Phantom Blade - When you gain a level you gain 5 Dexterity, 5 Strength and 10 free points. You also gain one predetermined technique, based on the number of times you have selected this subclass. This subclass focuses on weapon attacks, specifically throwing weapons.

    This is right up my alley. It has options for mobility and evasion. It uses throwing weapons, and I already figured out that telekinetic weapons count as thrown weapons. It even has an option for using magic along side your weapon attacks, and that''s my whole thing! Plus, the subclass system for this class basically makes it multiclassing within a single class! Nice!

    Iron bars shoot up in front of me, separating us from Alicia. A bear, a friggin brown bear, drops from the ceiling into her side of the tunnel. She draws two handguns and unloads bullets into the thing. Ah, it''s an undead brown bear. I flip a wakizashi forward into its head and cast Rising Ignition from the blade, setting the creature on fire. It advances on Alicia, bleeding and burning but not stopping. I send four more short swords into the bear and push, driving the beast back. It gets pinned to the wall and Alicia reloads both of her guns, then unloads them again, this time right into the bear''s pinned down head. It stops moving and the fire dies out.

    So to get to Doppelganger I need to hit level 10 in Scoundrel and Phantom. I also need 100 Dexterity, Agility and Reflexes. That''s 20 levels, and I''ve got 4 free right now. Might as well start on... Phantom. I''ll go with Phantom first, mostly because it sounds cooler.

    Phantom

    Audacious thievery isn''t your area of expertise, it''s your reason for living! Pull off the greatest heists of the century, then doff your hat and take a bow.

    A fourth step class. Four subclasses. Unknown class evolutions.

    Gain 5 Reflexes, 5 Agility and 5 Arcana upon choosing this class. One master stealth technique and one master illusion spell will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Dexterity, Agility, Ki, Arcana.

    Upon level up, up to two additional random master or lower stealth techniques will be granted, until all master and lower stealth techniques are known. You will also gain one master or lower illusion spell each level. Each level you gain 2 Reflexes, 2 Agility, 2 Ki, 2 Arcana and 7 free points.

    Subclasses

    Masked - You can summon a mask that instantly transforms you into a second outfit, only to return to your previous clothes when you remove the mask.

    Shadow - You gain a shadow cloak, allowing you to hide in shadows more easily.

    Dark - You gain one master or lower Dark spell per level.

    I take two levels of Phantom and then get a grand surprise:

    Synergist Level 50 Ability: Duo Development

    Choose two classes you qualify for. When you gain a level in one, you gain a level in the other as well.

    Well hot damn! I could choose Scoundrel and Phantom and knock this whole thing out in... Wait. So I''ve had my eye on getting more spells, but didn''t want to commit levels to the classes I have access to because getting spells is soooo random. But there''s a solution, and that''s the Wizard/Sage/Archmage classes. They let you choose which spells you get. I don''t have enough Memory to qualify for Archmage, so I take another level in Phantom, drop enough free points in Memory to bring it up to 30, then hit the Duo Development button in my menu.

    Duo Development now links Archmage and Scoundrel.

    Alicia shines a flashlight over some candles on the wall, then blows three of them out in some specific order. This makes the wall in front of her slide away and reveals a small room with a chest on a short pedestal. She looks it over, then puts a bullet into the chest. The chest bleeds a sickly yellow blood and opens wide, revealing a mouth full of teeth. Alicia thrusts forward with an open palm and a short spark of electricity shocks the box, stunning it. She turns around, grabs a wakizashi from my belt and then stabs the chest mimic three times in quick succession. She offers the blade back to me and I insist that she cleans it first. She rolls her eyes and wipes it off on the death shroud of a nearby skeleton.

    Alicia waits for the bleeding to stop, then puts a few more bullets into the mimic corpse. A deluge of coins and golden baubles erupts from it as it fades away. She silently rummages through the treasure and pulls out all the non-coins. ¡°Scan these and tell me if anything is useful,¡± she tells me.

    I shrug and do it.

    Costume Jewelry. It''s fake, but a convincing fake.

    Ring Of Deflection +1. This increases your Toughness and Agility by 1. Is that a lot? No. Can you wear more than one of these and stack the effects? Also no. Did you get this for free in a dungeon? Yeah, so quit complaining.

    Necklace Of The Tomb Guardian. While within 50 feet of a corpse that was properly laid to rest, you gain +5 to all stats.

    Crown Of Rot. This is a cursed item, but its good effects are powerful, I promise. Would I lie to you? You know there''s no reward without risk, right?

    ¡°The crown, those rings and that necklace are all magic but don''t put on the crown, it''s cursed. The rest is literal junk. The necklace is really good but only while you''re near a tomb or grave, which is kinda cool. The coins seem normal.¡±

    She slips on the necklace and one ring, then gives me the other one. I think that having matching rings with a woman other than Mercy is probably a bad idea, so I pass it off to Quins, who eyes it as if he''s a jeweler all of a sudden, then puts it on after I explain its minor effect. Then we move on.

    Oh yeah, I also get a subclass from level 3 of Phantom! While the Dark and Shadow subclasses are entirely useful and practical, I''ve been a bit jealous of Mercy''s transformation gimmick, so I go for Masked. There''s a new menu option, one that Mercy told me about.

    Transformations

    I check it out.

    You have 1 unassigned equipment transformation. You may select your current equipment as your transformation, but doing so will revert you to your unequipped form before you can assume your transformation.

    Basically, if I register this outfit I would become naked as the clothes and weapons are absorbed into my transformation. Then I could transform right away, but still, I''d be naked for at least a few seconds in a dungeon. Surrounded by people I''m supposed to be in charge of. So I''ll have to wait until later to become a masked vigilante.

    I slide my last level up into Scoundrel and sure enough, I get a level in Archmage as well.

    ¡°I think this is the exit,¡± Alicia says, coming to a door lined with skulls.

    ¡°Ah, that''s probably a boss room, want me to go first?¡± I ask.

    She gives me a ¡°hmpf!¡± and presses one of the skulls to open the door.

    -----

    Conversation Log 0052

    Fortuna: Let''s start then. Today I want to discuss our personal dungeons.

    Spear Saint: Saturn I have a question.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: ?

    Spear Saint: Exactly *how* easy will it be to level up for us vs normies?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Our dungeons have custom monsters that are worth a lot of XP but are easy to kill. I based them off of dodos and Buffalo. I call them Buffados.

    Spear Saint: Okay but how do we kill them.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: So they almost never move. They have very very very high defense except for right between the eyes. You shoot them there. It will die. You''ll get 15,000 XP per kill. The 5th floor has 30 Buffados as a ¡°boss fight.¡±

    Skull Master Flash: Wait, the 5th floor? We have to fight there?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: No, the 1st - 4th floors contain easily avoided traps. Just follow the yellow squares and you won''t die. Putting the Buffados on the 5th floor let me increase their XP.

    Hyperion: I thought you said there was no XP?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: It isn''t visible to players but it''s there behind the scenes. I get annoyed at XP numbers so they can''t be seen.

    Fortuna: You get annoyed at them?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: For the same reason we agreed on no HP numbers. The effect matters not the number.

    Spear Saint: I get you. Plus it lets us hide certain things.

    Hyperion: So what''s the leveling look like per day?

    Skull Master Flash: Should be 450 k XP, right? So on day one we jump to level 13 if we''re all 5th step. That''s a ton of free points!

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Yes. And I advise hitting at least level 30 in each class you take so that you get the level 15 and 30 extra abilities. They can be quite powerful.

    Hyperion: How many floors do our dungeons have? I have others I want to level besides myself. I need more enemies to kill.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Beyond the 5th floor there''s identical copies of the 5th floor but I can''t be sure what changes the system will make to make the buffados stronger.

    Fortuna: Why can''t you be sure?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: The system AI has an amount of autonomy. At Hyperion''s suggestion. To give us plausible deniability.

    Skull Master Flash: The only thing better than getting away with murder is getting away with mass murder!

    Spear Saint: It''s not murder, it''s *forced survival conditions.* We''re not killing anyone.

    Skull Master Flash: lolololol.

 Chapter 44: Old One

    The door slides open and Alicia rolls forward then pops up, guns drawn. The chamber ahead is circular, and about 30 feet across. Aaaaand it''s full of thousands of skulls. The walls and floor are covered in skulls. And they all begin to clack and clatter.

    Alicia opens fire on some of the clattering skulls, shattering one with each bullet. Thousands of eye sockets begin to glow red. Then the skulls begin to float.

    I throw five blades forward and cast Holo Shield on each one. Shields of yellow light flicker into existence and I push the rapidly approaching skull horde back. Alicia pulls two grenades from her belt, pulls the pins, and tosses them towards my center shield and I tilt it to let them pass through. Then I pull my shields back and layer them over each other right in front of Alicia.

    The double explosions of the grenades rocks the room, sending bone shrapnel in every direction. I check my radar to see how many enemies are left and unfortunately I see only one red dot on it.

    ¡°There''s just one real enemy,¡± I say to Alicia.

    Quins is at my back and taps me on the shoulder. ¡°Mind if I cut in ¡®ere, captain?¡± he says, totally unfazed by the skeletal onslaught.

    I slide against the wall to let him past and he carefully draws an arrow in the tight quarters. Then, before he places it on his bow, he does something to it. It looks like the item creation glowing gears, but the arrowhead comes apart in fragments, swirls around and then comes back together again. Except now there''s a glowing blue core to the arrowhead, and it has four blades instead of two. Then, without looking at anything in particular, he draws back and fires the arrow into the room ahead.

    The arrow moves slowly through the air, maybe only a few feet per second. It''s clearly being held up by whatever Quins did to the arrow. And it''s path turns as if it were swimming through the air, rather than flying in any semblance of a ballistic trajectory. It dips below my shields, flies around several floating skulls, then rotates towards the floor. It comes to a complete stop and then jets off like I''d expect an arrow to, firing down into the pile of skulls. There''s a sound of snapping bone and the red dot disappears from my radar.

    ¡°Homing shot,¡± Quins replies, as if it were incredibly ordinary. ¡°Works as advertised, I suppose. A bit on the slow side, yeah?¡±

    ¡°How the crap does being a Grenadier give you homing arrows?¡± I ask, genuinely stumped.

    ¡°Well ya see,¡± Quins begins. ¡°It''s like this, yeah? I figured I''d be able to use whatever I got with my bow and turns out I was right. I got offered a subclass thing, one of those off-the-books ones. Bomb Arrow Grenadier, it''s called. So I got things to make arrows into bombs and missiles. Like that one, that''s an ¡®oming Missile, mixed with an arrow. Bleedin¡¯ arrow finds the target itself.¡±

    This guy is much smarter than I thought he was. He''s clearly just a British Jose, hiding genius behind odd mannerisms. Jose does it because he doesn''t want to stand out. I wonder if this guy is the same.

    ¡°Well, great job then. Alicia doesn''t seem to care about the coins so they''re all yours. If you can find the creature''s body to smash.¡±

    After 5 minutes of rummaging through broken bones for the right broken bones, he gives up and grenades the room again. This time the skulls are well and truly in tiny shards and loot drops from one of them. It''s a pair of rubies.

    Red Eyes Of The Skull. If you replace a lost eye with one of these it''ll function as a regular eye, plus give you heat vision. If you use both, you gain the ability to manipulate skulls.

    ¡°They''re only useful if you lose an eye first,¡± I tell Quins. He shrugs and pockets the rubies. Maybe they''ll go to his probably-cheating significant other.

    I trudge through broken bones to the black iron double doors on the far side of the room. I pull on the large metal ring that functions as a door handle. Nothing happens. I pull again, using strength that exceeds world class body builders. Nothing happens. I strain my muscles, pulling, almost wrenching the doors away from the wall. Right when I''m about to resort to magical means Quins comes up behind me, coughs politely, and then casually pushes the door open.

    ¡°It''s a push, captain,¡± Quins says with a wry smile.

    ¡°Of course,¡± I say. ¡°Just warming up my muscles a bit first.¡±

    ¡°Of course, sir,¡± Quins replies.

    I mutter things under my breath and shove him out of the way. I''m still muttering as I descend the stairs to the next floor.

    The stairs are made of the same dark green stone as the attempted temple outside. And as we descend, they get bigger. The steps start out at a normal, 5 to 10 inch height. Then they extend to 12 inches per step. Then 14. The tunnel is dimly lit but without any visible light sources. The passage widens from just 4 feet wide to 6, then 8. The passage gets wider with each step, each step getting taller and harder to climb down. I''m three quarters of the way to the bottom and the step is now three feet tall and 20 feet wide. And it doesn''t let up. By the time we get to the bottom we''re climbing down 6 foot steps and the passage is 50 feet wide.

    Mercy is the one who says it out loud, but I think we all realize it. ¡°I don''t think these steps were made for humans,¡± she says, and instead of echoing in the stone tunnel her words seem to be absorbed by the stone, coming out muffled.

    There''s no door at the bottom of the stairs. It just opens up into an absolutely massive complex of arches, altars, short-ish free standing walls with carved scenes and statues depicting alien gods.

    ¡°Well,¡± I say to the group as we gather together. ¡°Time to fight Cthulhu, I guess.¡± And unfortunately, I''m right.

    The far side of the room has to be at least a mile away, and there seems to be a trench or gap in the floor over there. The entire chamber is dimly lit like the tunnel was, and in the dark distance I see something massive rise from the gap. And it''s clearly just the head.

    A dark green, mottled, squid-like head rises from the gap. It must be at least 30 feet tall and twice as wide. Dozens of tentacles as big as fire hoses swirl and slash out from where a mouth should be. The creature rises more, revealing muscular shoulders, with each shoulder being extra thick to accommodate the two arms Cthulhu has on each side of his body. An arm the size of a firetruck reaches up from the gap and tries to pull the massive body up into the chamber. I don''t know if the 100 foot ceiling will even fit this thing in a crouch. The arm grabs a nearby column to brace itself but the stone column simply crumbles in the massive webbed hand.

    I scan it, knowing full well as to what this thing is.

    Star Spawn Of Cthulhu. Tier 6. A dark god. An old one. A devourer of worlds. A king of chaos. Also a bad houseguest. This isn''t even the big guy himself, it''s a fragment of a memory of a dream, which is real because of chaos magic. You know what? Just run this time. Seriously. No, I''m not being sarcastic or making fun of you. A Star Spawn Of Cthulhu can and will kill every living creature on your planet given the chance. You are nothing before his might.

    Possible Loot: Cursed Items, Necronomicon.

    Well that''s cheerful. ¡°Alright, anyone got a plan?¡± I ask the group.

    ¡°In the story they rammed a boat into him,¡± Mercy says. ¡°Anyone have a boat?¡±

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    I don''t think anyone does. I glance around the room and see if there are any clues or advantages we can take. Dotted around the room I see four pedestals with faintly glowing tomes on them. Green energy wafts up from each open book like glowing smoke.

    Jose and Quins are already opening fire at this range. Their attacks don''t seem to be doing anything. Jose charges and fires a lightning bolt into one of Cthulhu''s eight totally black eyes. After the bolt fades there''s no visible damage at all. Quins fires some kind of explosive arrow into another eye and similarly there''s no damage.

    ¡°No damage even to the eyes is a bad sign,¡± Jose says.

    Alicia asks, ¡°are we supposed to treat it like a trap and just avoid it?¡±

    Star Spawn Cthulhu''s eyes glow purple and the ground beneath us glows the same purple. ¡°Move!¡± I shout. Most of us get out of the glowing area but Franco, slow ass Franco, doesn''t. Purple flames erupt from the ground and he''s covered in searing purple heat. He''s already in motion though, and keeps moving, taking two slow steps until he''s clear of the flames. His armor and skin is ON FIRE but he seems... Okay?

    His eyes glimmer with hatred and he says, ¡°you were right, I do like the Barbarian class.¡±

    He must have taken the Indomitable Barbarian subclass. It reduces damage you take while in a rage, which he probably is in, judging from his clenched jaw and furious tone. He raises the MK 16 SCAR L I''d given him to replace his wrecked machine gun. He empties a whole clip in Cthulhu''s face which, again, does nothing. Rage gives you bonuses to attack and other stuff, but forces you to attack.

    Though he''s probably only taking a tiny amount of damage, being ON FIRE is still bad. I slap him on the back of the head and cast Pure Palm as I do. I feel my Ki drain as the ability reduces both the rage and the flames, but this costs me 55 Ki. The rage ends, Franco shakes the anger from his head, then he reloads.

    ¡°What''s the play, boss?¡± he asks.

    ¡°Books!¡± Mercy yells, her flight unit lights up and she jets off towards the nearest tome-toting podium.

    ¡°Split up,¡± I say. ¡°Avoid anything glowing purple. Find a book, close it. Stay on comms. Go!¡±

    We all head in different directions. I decide to go for the book closest to the big monster. Mini Cthulhu reaches out a massive hand towards me and I feel like I''m dodging a bus hurtling towards me at 60 MPH. I barely escape the massive hand as I leap to the right of it. The arm just keeps going and smashes through one of the five-foot-tall walls behind me. I see the arm begin to shift and I leap 20 feet into the air over the freight train of an arm as it sweeps towards me.

    Mercy is on the comm channel and updates us. ¡°I closed the book but that didn''t stop the green light so I cut it in half and that worked!¡±

    ¡°Blast those books!¡± I cry out and follow my own command. I fling a wakizashi forward and use Flame Thrower to torch the entire podium ahead of me. ¡°Second one down!¡±

    ¡°Got a third,¡± comes Jose''s voice.

    Quins chimes in, ¡°fourth is finished.¡±

    Alicia lets us know, ¡°I have a fifth book... Destroying now.¡±

    I try to attack big green and ugly. I shoot a few rounds from my Sig Sauer P226. I''m close enough to see the bullets actually bounce off the creature''s skin. It looks soft and glossy, like a dolphin. Cthulhu turns to me and his mouth tentacles waggle at me. The tips of the dozens of appendages light up with a piercingly bright purple light. That''s probably bad. I dash straight to the left and dozens of purple lasers cut across the room, chasing after me. The swarm of cutting death slices a pillar I pass. I run behind a wall but don''t stop. I hear it get lasered apart and then collapse into rubble behind me. I keep running.

    I am fast. At 89 Agility I''m over twice as fast as the previous fastest human. I have to be running at close to 50 MPH. I curve my trajectory to Cthulhu''s right, the left side of the room. I''m hoping to get out of his laser range. The lasers chase me. If I wasn''t super humanly fast I''d already be dead. I keep running.

    Unfortunately I''m running out of room. I approach the gap Cthulhu''s in and have to come to a stop at the edge. He''s turning his massive head towards me, the lasers getting closer by the second. I look down into the pit and can''t see the bottom. Cthulhu''s massive frame is wedged in there without room to maneuver. He starts to swing his arm again and from here I can see how hard it must have been for him to even get it up in the room. This dumb floor plan is literally the only reason we''re not dead already. Lasers close in on me. They''re almost here. I have nowhere to run.

    I start using Holo Shield on several wakizashis when I hear Franco''s voice. ¡°Found one, trashing it.¡±

    As soon as he cuts off the lasers also cut off and a horrible squelching roar echoes through the massive room. Cthulhu rears back his head, possibly in pain. And I see something really, really important- his neck. The skin there is saggy and thin and I don''t hesitate. I immediately open fire with my gun, send five blades over to the exposed flesh, and shout, ¡°shoot the neck now! Everything you''ve got!¡±

    My blades close in and I cast Freezing Beam through all five, hoping to freeze his upturned head in place. A massive blue lightning bolt surges through the room and I see an explosion of dark green blood as a hole the size of a small car opens up. I hear the echo of rifle fire and the whir of Mercy''s mecha chain gun. Bullets rain down the length of the room. I aim and fire an Obsidian Sphere from one of my blades and the void orb sinks into the hole already left by Jose''s lightning bolt. The orb tries to absorb whatever it touches and the already opened hole becomes a tunnel of gooey flesh.

    That''s when I finally see Quins. He''s got three arrows strung, each with a different, large arrowhead on it. I see him in profile as he fires all three. I see the arrows arc through the air. I see Cthulhu''s head starting to come down to protect his neck. And I see all three arrows narrowly make it into the tunnel we''ve dug into the monster.

    Three different explosions happen in rapid succession, each with a different effect. The first explosion inside Cthulhu pushes his head back up. The second explosion sends a stream of fire out the neck hole. And a third, clearly MUCH larger explosion blasts the neck right in half, sending his head flopping backwards into the wall. There''s a sickening sound of slapping of meat as the massive head backs into the dark stone wall.

    Blood gushes from dozens, maybe hundreds of veins, sending a rain of dark green liquid into the gap Cthulhu is standing in. His arm comes up and grabs at the exposed neck, then tries to pull his head back down. He''s STILL not dead? I send five wakizashis up into the head through the neck hole and set them to spin. The big monster lets out a massive keening cry that echoes in my mind, sending me to my knees. A psychic attack? Doesn''t matter. Can''t. Stop. Now.

    I keep my blades in the monster and keep them spinning like drills. I drag them left, then right. I have no idea where they are or how much damage I''m doing. The rain of green blood seems to be slowing down. I can''t slow down. I have enough Arcana Points to cast another devastating Obsidian Sphere and cast it from a wakizashi inside the monster''s head. The guns of my allies haven''t let up this entire time. Jose sends lightning bolt after lightning bolt into the Star Spawn''s face. Quins fires two more explosive arrows and they blow blubbery chunks of flesh off the monster.

    And then it happens. My Obsidian Sphere bursts up and out the top of Cthulhu''s head and the entire monster slumps down into the crevasse. Blood seeps from wounds instead of spraying as whatever functions as this thing''s heart stops beating.

    I try to pull my blades out of Cthulhu''s brain and it takes a minute as they work through flesh. When they finally get back to me they are utterly disgusting. I do my best to scrape off the gunk and gore by grinding them along the edge of the gap.

    Everyone comes to the edge of the gap and takes in the horrid sight, some staring for just a second, others (Franco) drinking in the carnage. Everyone except Alicia.

    ¡°Alicia?¡± I ask over comms. I check my radar and see her a hundred feet back in the room. I run over in that direction.

    ¡°Alive,¡± she says, and then I see her. She''s on the ground. Her right leg is cut off at the knee. It looks cauterized. Her face is a mask of pain and I can see that she''s desperately trying to keep it together.

    ¡°Shit, the lasers,¡± I say and approach. I grab the cut off leg and bring it over to her stump. ¡°I''m going to try something.¡±

    ¡°Better be fucking good,¡± she says through gritted teeth. I bring the two cauterized parts together and cast Restoration Palm. The healing Monk technique should patch up and restore flesh. But the golden light winks in and then immediately out.

    ¡°Shit, Jose, do you have a drink for Ki recovery?¡± I forgot that I''d spent all my Ki making Franco not be on fire.

    Jose pulls a large plastic tote out of his inventory and pops the lid open. He throws me a bottle of water and I quickly guzzle it. It''s barely recovered any of my Ki, maybe 5 points. Back when we first got powers, 5 points seemed like a lot. Now it wasn''t even enough to initialize my Restoration Palm technique, nevermind sustain it through a heal.

    I breathe deep and know I''m going to push myself hard. I hold my hands over the severed leg and use Restoration Palm again, this time dropping past zero Ki Points. I immediately feel exhausted. That''s the side effect of Ki depletion, tiredness. Every second of Restoration Palm uses 10 KP, and every second I''m using it seems to be healing a mere centimeter of flesh. It''s working, but it''s working slowly.

    I don''t look up at her face as Alicia screams in pain and grasps her leg. I just concentrate on the healing. I''m already on my knees and I start to feel my legs fall asleep. The tingling first feels nice, then the sharp pain of blood loss stabs into me like a thousand needles. My arms feel heavy. My eyelids can''t stay open. I can see her leg is just now halfway back together. Her screaming seems further away for some reason. My right arm drops as I can''t hold it up any longer. The healing slows even further. My left eye closes in utter exhaustion. Then Jose is there and lifts my right arm back up, putting it where it needs to be over the wound.

    I can barely remember what I''m doing here. Restoration Palm, I think. Man, I''m tired. This seems to be going on forever. I feel like a weight is on my chest even though I''m leaning forward. I feel hands on my shoulders keeping me upright. Was I just falling forward? I keep healing. I can''t feel my legs any more. My head tilts to the side and I barely have one eye on the wound. There''s less screaming now. That''s nice. I hear my name. That''s nice too. Gotta keep healing though. I gotta save her. Save as many as I can. Gotta keep...

 Chapter 45: 1,000 Stars

    My friends are laughing. Mercy rolls a sparkly purple d20 and curses when she sees the natural 1 come up.

    ¡°Bad news,¡± Brian says. ¡°The orc chieftain is incredibly interested in trading the slaves for turkey legs.¡±

    ¡°How is that bad news?¡± Mercy asks.

    ¡°He doesn''t want 4,¡± Brian replies. ¡°He wants 400.¡±

    ¡°Aw, fuck that shit!¡± says Franco.

    ¡°Oi! You gotta be pullin¡¯ our legs, eh?¡± says Quins.

    Brian says, ¡°no, I''m pulling turkey legs.¡±

    We all laugh as the roof of the Get! break room is ripped away and suctioned into the vastness of space.

    Quins rolls to deceive the orc and barely passes the check.

    Brian nods and says, ¡°great, you can ascend.¡± Then Quins begins to float upwards towards the spiral galaxy that spins slowly above us, both just out of reach and billions of light years away.

    ¡°Nah, me first!¡± says Franco, and pulls Quins down. Then he jumps up and flies into space.

    ¡°Get back here ya bugger!¡± Quins shouts as he follows, leaping into the abyss of stars.

    Mercy looks at me, with tears in her eyes. ¡°I have to go too,¡± she says.

    ¡°No, not you!¡± I find myself shouting. ¡°Don''t go, don''t go! We really only just found each other. I need you, I need more of you. Don''t go, don''t go!¡±

    She starts floating upwards, her flowing purple dress slowly fluttering. I leap up and grab her hand and pull. She''s light, she''s too light.

    ¡°No, don''t go!¡± I shout.

    The galaxy above shines with one thousand stars. I know it''s one thousand stars. I begin to push them away with telekinesis. Mercy stops flying upwards.

    ¡°I would conquer the thousand stars for you.¡± I say to her.

    She smiles. ¡°Then do it. Conquer the thousand stars and break the five heavens.¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± I say, and Cthulhu''s hand reaches out of the galaxy, and wraps around Mercy. He squeezes her and I hear a meaty, liquid pop.

    I awake with a start, sitting upright suddenly. I look around. Alicia Bennet is here, sitting next to me. I''m in... Some kind of tool shop. There''s tools hanging on sheet metal walls. Hammers, screwdrivers, etc. There''s a table saw slick with blood about 20 feet away.

    ¡°Where''s Mercy?¡± I ask, with too much desperation in my voice.

    Alicia rolls her eyes. ¡°She''s fine, she''s with the boys clearing floor number nine. We couldn''t wait for you forever, sleeping beauty.¡±

    I rub my head. It''s sore from sleeping on the... Apparently wooden floors. ¡°How long?¡±

    ¡°Five hours,¡± she tells me.

    ¡°Shit.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you fixed my leg though. Thanks for that.¡± Just to prove it she wiggles her foot.

    I look around. The room seems like a 30 foot per wall square. Using my radar I see that we''re the only ones around. There are two doors on the north wall, one on the south and two doors on the west wall. They look like wooden barn doors, painted bright red and white. ¡°What''s the theme on this floor, barnyard horror?¡±

    Alicia grimaces and stands up. ¡°A bit. But it''s mostly tools and shop equipment. The next floor is a chemical lab so we think this is actually a backyard bomb making thing. The monsters, which were farm animals, exploded when killed. Not super dangerous except for the smokey horse.¡±

    I decide to not ask about the probably super cool looking demon horse and let my imagination fill in the blanks. Yeeeah, I bet that looked cool. ¡°Everyone alive, then?¡±

    ¡°As far as I know. ¡± Then, talking into her comm she says, ¡°hey, Jun is up, you guys still okay?¡±

    I hear Mercy''s voice first. ¡°Juuuuuuuun!¡±

    Jose chimes in, ¡°you okay bud?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I''m fine guys.¡± God my throat is dry. ¡°We''ll move towards you while Alicia catches me up. See you soon.¡± I pull an Igloo chest from my inventory, fish a Dr. Pepper out, and crack it open. It''s not the AP recovery kind. Just the regular delicious kind.

    I put away the cooler and then I get up and check myself. Everything is where I left it, though someone must have put my wakizashis back in their sheathes for me.

    I start looking at my menu through my eyepatch as we head to the 8th floor. I got three level ups from the big green demi-God. They go into Scoundrel/Archmage, which unlocks subclasses for both.

    All the Scoundrel subclasses key into the technique you get at level 1 of the class, Injury To Insult.

    Injury To Insult

    You deal 33% more damage to foes under a status effect that you dealt to them. This effect doesn''t stack if you apply multiple effects to a foe, but honestly, being a dick to monsters is fine, so why not?

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Scoundrel Subclasses

    Dirty - Status effects and debuffs you apply to foes last 33% longer.

    Rotten - Injury To Insult deals 33% more damage.

    Scummy - Your status effects and debuffs are 33% harder to resist.

    Villainous - When a foe under one of your status effects or debuffs dies, they may spread that effect to a nearby foe.

    I don''t actually have that many ways to inflict effects so I''m not enthusiastic about any of these. I put off the subclass choice for now. What''s Archmage got for me?

    Archmage Subclasses

    Tower - You can spend additional time casting spells to empower them, spending up to 10x longer for 5x effect.

    Castle - While casting spells you gain resistance to elemental attacks based on the element of the spell you are casting.

    Library - You gain all advanced spells.

    Wandering - You can cast master and lower spells faster, casting them 33% faster.

    No to Tower, I don''t usually have time for that. Castle seems very, very situational. Wandering is good, but I''ve noticed that my casting speed is a bit faster because of my Dexterity being high, so I can probably skip it. Library seems promising, and I bet it would give me at least a few status effect spells, which I could use with Scoundrel''s Injury To Insult. Okay, let''s see what we get with- Oh holy crap!

    You have gained the spells Heat Sheathe, Spark Jump, Zap Shot, Stun Snap, Stone Shot, Stone Shield, Stone Ride, Whirlwind Slash, Gale Boots, Water Cutter, Bubble Helmet, Wet Floors, Sapping Cold, Ice Armor, Yellow Beam, Sunglasses, Shimmer Step, Void Lance, Shadow Shell, And Darker Still, Poison Blade, Splash Guard, Toxic Breathing and Psi Punch.

    All that and I still haven''t gone into the spell selections that Archmage gives me, which will net me another 6 to 15 spells. Good Google that''s a lot of spells. I start going through them but a lot are just ¡°shoot magic ball¡± type spells. Which, I guess is fine? Advanced spells are only the second rank of spells, so I guess I shouldn''t have expected grandeur from the additions.

    Still, there''s some nice pick ups. For status effects I''ve got Heat Sheathe, which makes weapons deal burns, Stun Snap which stuns, Sapping Cold which inflicts slow and Poison Blade, which, you guessed it, makes weapons poisoned.

    I decide to take the Scummy subclass for Scoundrel. If I''m trying to inflict status effects then I want them to actually work.

    I sigh as we pass through yet another small, square room. The 7th floor looks like it''s a maze of small, square rooms. The tools in each room are the only things that seem to vary. And then I realize that all my thinking and sorting through level ups and spells only took about a minute. My Intelligence is so high that I''m actually thinking faster? Neat.

    I allocate my level up attribute points and reach 100 in both Agility and Intelligence. And boy is that worth it.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Agility, and are offered the following choice: Sprint or Marathon.

    Sprint - Increase your running speed by 50%.

    Marathon - Running no longer drains your stamina.

    Holy shirt balls, that''s awesome. I''m not ever running long distance, so I''ll take 50% faster run speed, no question.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Intelligence, and are offered the following choice: Multitasking or Deep Dive.

    Multitasking - You may split your intellect up into sub-minds to perform multiple tasks and thought patterns at once.

    Deep Dive - Think about one thing rapidly, seeing every angle at once.

    I actually have a use for Multitasking, so I take that. Immediately I feel a murmuring in the bottom of my brain as separate thoughts appear. It''s like people having a conversation in the background of a restaurant. And if I want to, I can hear that conversation. I put my minds to work and cast Telekinesis on four wakizashis. I give each of my sub-minds two to control. I have two sub-minds? Yeah, seems like it. And each can probably wield up to three blades at once.

    Alicia looks at my floating blades. ¡°You gonna kill me?¡± she asks with a raised eyebrow.

    ¡°Just checking my new sub-mind capabilities.¡± The four blades carve into the wooden floor, each performing different types of slashes and thrusts in a whirlwind of cutting death.

    Unfortunately having multiple minds active lets me remember that dream. The void of space, the arm of Cthulhu, Quins and Franco gone. Mercy''s death and the one thousand stars. One thousand stars. Odd number. Well, an even number, actually. But weird. On a hunch I think at the system, ¡°hey what''s the total number of classes?¡±

    There are exactly 1,000 classes.

    One thousand classes. One thousand stars. And I... Need to wield them all? Yeah, right!

    Unless I can. Unless that''s what I need to do. To save Mercy. To defeat an impossible evil. What did Mercy say? ¡°Break the five heavens.¡± Five worlds? Five realms? I don''t know yet.

    And plus, this is all a dream. Not real, not a prophecy. The last dream I remember had me teleporting around my grandmother''s neighborhood using a Nintendo DS. Soooo, maybe I''m overthinking this.

    That''s when I hear it over the comms. ¡°Alicia, get Jun here now!¡± comes Jose''s urgent voice. ¡°It''s Franco, he needs healing, ASAP!¡±

    Alicia rushes through the remaining rooms and I''m right on her heels. I have to slow my pace so I don''t run past her. We get to a larger room with open barn doors that lead to a freight elevator shaft. The elevator is down at the bottom. Alicia reaches for the up button on the wall and I grab her hand.

    ¡°No time,¡± I say, and I come to the edge of the elevator shaft and look down. It''s probably a hundred feet down. Two wakizashis float in the middle of the shaft. ¡°Grab on,¡± I say, and point at my back.

    ¡°No way,¡± Alicia says, waving me off.

    I ignore her and leap 12 feet to the center of the shaft where my wakizashis are. I snatch them and start falling. It takes only seconds, but I pull up on the blades with telekinesis, slowing my descent just enough. I drop to the top of the elevator and roll to a stop. I flip open the ceiling hatch and drop down into the elevator car.

    There aren''t elevator doors here either so I dash forward. The 8th floor looks like a video game version of a chemical lab. There are giant glass tubes of flowing liquids of different colors running across the walls. The floor beneath my feet is a metal mesh and I can see even more ¡°chemical pipes¡± below.

    Fortunately this area seems mostly linear. It''s a long, twisting hall where clearly no actual chemicals get processed, but plenty of them get piped to other parts of the floor. I dash around a 75 degree corner and blast past several small offshoot rooms to my left and right. One was a safe room, I notice. Doesn''t matter much now. I hit another corner of the long hall and have to kick off against it to keep my momentum. How fast am I going right now? It must be well over 50 miles an hour. And I''m not going my top speed, I can tell. I push faster and I must be running 75 miles an hour. I rely on my superhuman Agility and push myself more. My Reflexes keep me from slamming into another corner as I dash forward at close to 100 miles per hour.

    I see the exit, a large pipe I can enter. I dive into it and the 10 foot diameter pipe spirals down. I run at an angle to compensate for the centrifugal force of the spiral, and quickly come to the bottom. I see my team on my radar.

    The 9th floor''s entry room looks like NASA mission control circa 1969. Refrigerator sized computers with blinking colored lights and data reels dot the hundred foot wide room. A big board with a world map covers most of the right wall, dozens of small green and red dots spread across the globe. And there, huddled under the giant map, is my team.

    Mercy''s blue and white mecha armor is covered in red blood. She''s kneeling over Franco. Jose is on top of one of the refrigerator computers, taking aim and shooting at some distant foe. Quins sees me and shouts for me. And Franco is down. Franco is covered in blood. Franco is missing half his face. His right arm and shoulder are both... Gone.

 Chapter 46: Moving Forward

    Franco is dead. I try Healing Palm, Restoration Palm and a couple others. But they don''t have any effect at all. My powers can''t heal the dead, apparently.

    Mercy and Quins watch as I try to heal him, but Quins turns Mercy away from the scene when it becomes apparent that it''s already over. She''s currently crying and curled into a ball.

    Jose is on overwatch atop the computer bank and Quins offers to swap with him. They do so and Jose puts a hand on my shoulder as I stare at Franco. I stare at a face that was burned beyond recognition. ¡°Jun,¡± is all he says.

    I should be sad. I should be angry. But instead, I''m calm. One of my sub-minds is just angry and the other is working through the stages of grief. But me, I''m calm. I''m rational. I grab Franco''s remains, lift them up a little, and then the body goes into my inventory.

    ¡°No man left behind,¡± I say solemnly.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Jose''s hand squeezes my shoulder.

    ¡°How?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Monsters made of radiation,¡± Jose tells me. ¡°Tall humanoid in a hazmat suit. Shoots rad beams. I think our radiation pills are working but the beam itself is pure heat.¡±

    I was asleep for 5 hours. I pop out a radiation pill and swallow it right away. ¡°How many?¡±

    Quins glances at the big world map to his right. ¡°Looks like at least 50 or so left, boss.¡±

    I glance up and figure that each light represents one radioactive man. And looking at the locations of the lights, I''d guess each one represents one nuclear power plant.

    Quins looses an arrow, a half second later there''s an explosion in the distance, and one of the green lights turns red.

    ¡°Fifty one left,¡± I say, standing. ¡°Anything I need to know tactics wise?¡±

    Jose looks me in the eye and says, ¡°don''t go alone.¡±

    ¡°I''ve just gotten upgrades. I''ll be fine. Give me enemy behaviors and floor layout.¡±

    Jose shakes his head. ¡°No, calm down first.¡±

    ¡°I am calm.¡±

    He grabs me by the collar. ¡°The fuck you are!¡±

    My hand grabs his and I barely squeeze it. Jose''s face wrenches in pain. I don''t have to apply much of my 70 Strength to cause pain. He lets go, then I let go. I immediately look away guiltily, and use Healing Palm on his own bruised palm. ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too,¡± he says, rubbing his hand.

    ¡°Jose, I''m moving forward,¡± I say seriously. ¡°I''m going to fight to protect people. Right now that means you guys.¡±

    Jose looks me in the eye and holds my gaze. ¡°Okay,¡± he finally says. I guess he believes me.

    Quins drops down off the computer as a green ray blasts over our heads. ¡°Right-O, good for you chaps, but do you mind gettin¡¯ back in the fight, yeah?¡±

    Jose snaps back into soldier mode and I''m with him. He says, ¡°hazmat suits with living radiation inside. They take reduced physical damage, ignore heat. Move slowly. They fire beams when they open their visors but it takes three seconds to charge and they don''t move while charging. The bad part, the thing that got Franco, is that they don''t bleed, they fire lasers from any holes in their suits we make.¡±

    Five wakizashi fly in a circle at my back. ¡°Got it. Quins, watch Mercy for me.¡± Then I run out into the open to face the oncoming swarm of...

    Radioactive Guy. Tier 3. You already know everything there is to know from your friend Jose. Except that they love ice cream, but can''t eat it because it melts if they get within 5 feet of it. These guys lead tragic lives, really.

    Possible Loot: Glow Sticks, Night Light, Hazmat Suit, Donut with pink icing and sprinkles.

    My blades fly forward to a hallway that''s filled with a dozen radioactive guys. From the blades I fire an Obsidian Sphere at the first one. The massive black orb rips apart the yellow suit and green lasers shoot in all directions from the gap. This lasts just a split second before the monster is ripped apart and devoured by void.

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    I don''t know what''s most effective against these things yet. Now seems like a great time to try some of my new spells.

    Zap Shot, Stone Shot, Whirlwind Slash, Water Cutter and Yellow Beam all fire off at once from my wakizashis. A beach ball of electricity slams into a monster, seeming to be repelled by the suit''s black rubber gloves. A rock the size and shape of a football files forward and clocks a radio man and knocks it over. Stone Shot carries mass behind it, good to know. A slash of wind encircles one of the blades, but is too far away from the suits to deal damage. Okay, Whirlwind Slash is a short range area attack. Water Cutter is a sharp, very narrow beam of water that cuts right through a suit and causes the light inside to dim, rather than shoot out like a laser. Wow, nice. Yellow Beam is a legit laser beam, but doesn''t seem effective on these guys. Doesn''t even breach their suit.

    I look down at my belt to my other five wakizashis. Before they were just backup. Now with sub-minds? ¡°Let''s go,¡± I say as ten wakizashis circle the entry to the monster hall, and I dash through their center.

    Water Cutter

    Have you ever seen one of those machines that cut steel with a high pressure water jet? This isn''t that strong, but you get the general idea.

    Range: 25 feet

    Cost:1 Arcana Point per second

    Proficiency: 1%

    I start firing off Water Cutter from blade tips. Jets pierce suits and cool the internals of these monsters. Jets of water crisscross the hall with the high pitched fsst of high pressure water. Each Cutter jet doesn''t do much damage on its own so I should probably focus fire.

    5 seconds into my assault the monsters focus fire on me and six visors get raised in my direction. The green glow from inside brightens to almost white and I make sure to dodge to the left, drawing their fire away from Jose and the others.

    My speed lets me easily dash behind the wall to my left but something spurs me to keep running. Maybe it was Franco being so utterly ripped apart. Maybe it''s my ever growing combat sense. My fear or instincts prove right as the wood paneled wall bursts and green lasers streak through. Shards of wood, drywall, dust and copper wiring crash onto the white tile floor. If I''d stopped to take cover, I might be just as demolished.

    A cascade of beams fires after me, chasing me to the far left of the large room. Each beam that shoots at me widens as it travels from its origin point. At 40 feet out where I am, each beam is about 4 feet wide. A wall is eaten away behind me, revealing a conference room behind it. Leather chairs and stacks of papers are blown apart by green beams of heat and force. I reach the corner of the room and realize that it''s do or die time.

    My sub-minds can''t see the targets but I know where the beams are coming from. My blades fire constant water streams which sweep across the hall, hopefully dealing enough damage to halt the attack. I pour 1 AP per second into 10 separate blades and my AP dwindles to nothing after just a few seconds. I hit zero AP and keep firing. Pauldrons made of water surround my shoulders, round and almost bubble-like. Chimerablood is such a cool subclass.

    The beams from the monsters let up and I shout, ¡°Jose, water conducts-¡± I don''t have to finish the sentence. Jose unleashes his largest bolt yet, this one at least three feet wide and when it impacts the entire hall is lit yellow with electric energy. The remaining five suits fall to the ground and all of them begin to lose their glow.

    I can tell where Franco died. Everything in his inventory dropped at the hall entrance when he died. Several bags of bullets, some coins, one of those non-radioactive glowing rocks, the rifle I''d lent him. This is better, somehow. His stuff being right next to the fight means he died quickly. Hopefully he didn''t feel much.

    I wait a few seconds to confirm the enemy deaths before I go back to Mercy. She''s still crying. I crouch down next to her, and put my arms around her shoulders. She hugs me back, wrapping steel plated mecha armored arms around me. I let her stay like that for several minutes as Jose and Quins keep watch.

    After a while Alicia finally shows up. ¡°Where''s Franco?¡± she asks. Jose just shakes his head and she gets it.

    I hear Quins whisper, ¡°boss took the body inta inventery.¡±

    We all stay quiet for a while longer. There''s the sound of data tapes reeling back and forth. It sounds like air-conditioning is being piped through the room. The blasted apart wall crumbles to the ground. And every minute or so there''s a beep from one of the computers.

    Finally, after around half an hour Mercy lets me go.

    -----

    Conversation Log 0023

    Hyperion: Exactly how does this AI take our orders?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: It doesn''t, directly. The priorities we and I gave it drive its actions.

    Spear Saint: Oh that survey you had us fill out was legit? I thought you were just probing to find out who we are.

    Skull Master Flash: I think that if anyone here *doesn''t* know everyone else''s identity already, then they''re not smart enough to be here.

    Fortuna: A convoluted way of saying we all know who each other are already.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Anyways, yes, those surveys were for priorities for the AI to have.

    Hyperion: I want to know the top ones.

    Spear Saint: Me too!

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: 1. Kill as many people as possible, but give each person a somewhat fair chance. 2. Generate loot and items long lost or previously impossible. 3. Guide the players with as little help as possible. 4. Allow excellence to be rewarded. 5. Create a power system capable of leading a few humans to Godhood. 6. Extend sites to every part of the world so that the balance of power doesn''t shift too much too fast.

    Hyperion: A good list.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: After those top priorities comes more mundane expectations for dungeons, ruins, castles and arenas, to make everything run smoothly.

    Fortuna: I wish rule 6 was higher.

    Skull Master Flash: It doesn''t interfere with the higher ones so it''ll work regardless of its order. That''s just how programming works.

    Fortuna: I see. And we''re good with number 1 being 1st?

    Spear Saint: The twisted version of Asimov''s three laws of robotics? Ha, yeah, it''s important. The more who die the easier everything else gets for us.

    Hyperion: A sad reality, but one we must acknowledge.

    Skull Master Flash: Spoken like a true CEO.

    Fortuna: DO NOT REVEAL ANY INFORMATION HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: These logs auto delete, it''s fine.

 Chapter 47: Weight

    2 Weeks Ago

    Mercy struggled to get the bar up. She breathed deeply and pushed up as hard as she could. Including the weight of the bar, she was trying to bench press 100 pounds.

    Madeline was spotting her. ¡°Come on girl, you got this.¡±

    The bar wobbled a bit before Mercy was able to fully extend her arms. ¡°There!¡± she said with a triumphant smile. And then immediately let the bar drop.

    Madeline caught the bar before it came down on Mercy''s windpipe. ¡°Right, but safety first. Don''t celebrate until you rack the weights.¡±

    Mercy''s arms flopped to her sides. ¡°That was intense.¡±

    ¡°That was one rep.¡±

    ¡°It was a lot for me! Besides, why is this important for me anyways? I just use magic and costume powers.¡±

    Madeline rolled her eyes. ¡°Strength training in the modern era is less so you can swing an axe, and more so your mind and muscles are used to strain.¡±

    ¡°My mind? What''s that got to do with pumping iron?¡±

    Madeline began to rack the weights, knowing that this session was already over. ¡°You have to be able to push through the pain. When you''re training you''re pushing through physical pain, but when emotional pain comes at you, you''ll be able to push through that as well.¡±

    ¡°Like in a dungeon?¡± Mercy wiped sweat from her hands with a towel. ¡°Not sure I''m going to be having emotional trauma unless Jun breaks up with me.¡±

    Madeline is quiet for a moment before breaking it to Mercy harshly. ¡°Someone you know will die. When it happens you have to be able to push through the pain. All the physically stressful training that law enforcement and the military does, it''s not so you are super fit while you''re flying a drone or sniping from 1000 feet away. It''s so you know what pain is, and you can fight through it.¡±

    The smile slid from Mercy''s face. ¡°Have you lost someone in the... Uh... Field?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my first partner.¡± Madeline sat down on the bench. ¡°I wasn''t ready for it. So afterwards I took training seriously.¡± Madeline stared down at her rough hands and thick forearms. ¡°So I could be tougher next time. So I could push through.¡±

    Mercy sat down next to Madeline and put her soft hand around the other woman''s rough hand.

    -----

    ¡°I''ll be okay,¡± Mercy says. She looks up at me with her big, dark eyes. Eyes usually sparkling with light and joy. Now eyes filled with sadness. Sadness and... Determination.

    I look at the group. They''re sitting, snacking and taking drinks from various bottles and cans. They had needed a break anyway.

    There hasn''t been much talk since Franco died. That was normal, I think. Each of us dealing with it on our own. I... Don''t know how to feel. On the one hand, he died in a way that I wasn''t responsible for. I wasn''t there. On the other hand, I wasn''t there. I could have been if I''d managed my Ki better in the fight before. If I had been stronger, had more Charisma or more Ki points. I could have been down here. I might have stopped his death. Or at least helped him pass in less pain.

    Aside from that, I didn''t really know the guy. I wouldn''t call him a friend. An employee? A squad mate? I don''t know. I''m not particularly good at dealing with loss. Or any emotion, really. Maybe I should upgrade my Wisdom. Does that govern emotional intelligence? I think I read that somewhere.

    I stand up. Others start to stand as well, but I wave them back down. ¡°I can take care of the rest of this floor. You guys rest up. Next floor is the 10th, so there''s probably another horrible boss fight awaiting us.¡±

    I begin to walk away when I feel a tug on my sleeve. ¡°Come back soon,¡± I hear Mercy say in a soft voice. I nod and walk to the thoroughly wrecked hall where we fought the radioactive guys.

    I look at the half-exploded area. Quins swept it for coins and items already. He also said the next group of foes was pretty far away, down the hall and around where the path takes a right turn. I walk slowly forward and send a wakizashi ahead, casting Ping every few seconds. I find my targets.

    I can see them on my radar, about 250 feet away. I dash over to the end of the hall and take a peek. There''s a dozen more radioactive men sitting down at desks, doing... Paperwork? It''s a large open air office area with dozens of desks, only some of which are occupied by these creatures. I take in the odd scene, humanoids in thick, tan hazmat suits sitting quietly and scribbling on paper. I quietly get closer and try to see what they''re doing.

    One gets up to fill a coffee cup. He goes to the coffee pot and pours piping hot joe into his ¡°World''s Best Dad¡± mug. He flips his visor open and green radioactive glow shines out. He pours some of the coffee into the visor. It makes a sizzling sound, and the green glow brightens a bit.

    Dungeons are fucking weird.

    I have 90 Arcana Points. That''s 7.5 AP per bad guy until I''m empty. I can do that. I hover 7 wakizashis in front of me and begin my assault. The coffee drinker is standing up and closest to me so he gets it first. Seven cutting streams of water lance his face. He drops to the ground and all the others turn to face me. I take that second to pull my blades into position above the head of another foe and literally rain death down on him. The others stand and all of them open their visors to begin charging their radiation beams. My blades each take a different target, firing short bursts of water to stagger or distract the monsters. It doesn''t work, and I run back around the corner. Green rays crisscross the spot I was just standing in. The carpet and walls are set ablaze with the raw heat and energy.

    If I stay behind cover, it doesn''t do much and I can''t see to shoot. So fuck it, as soon as the beams stop I head back to the office space. I run at top speed and pass the desks in an instant to find myself at the far wall of the room. My blades fly and split into two groups, two groups of three wakizashis each. Each group encircles a hazmat hoodlum and then water cuts it to death. With fewer focused on each monster it takes two shots per blade. 62 AP and 8 monsters left.

    Two guys try to rush me but I''m way too quick for them. I run to the back left corner of the room while my Water Cutter slices up two more foes. Three hazmat visors open and the monsters charge their beams at me. I run into the center of the room, leaping on top of one desk and leaping to another, then another desk. As I fly through the room my magic works it''s magic and the two goons who tried to chase me fall to the ground, heads punctured by very hard water.

    The monsters track my movements and I timed it right. Their beams fire off as I''m in their midst. I leap high as the three second charge time lapses and their beams fire into each other. Blazing heat engulfs the room. Desks and papers catch fire or are incinerated. The radioactive guys who are in another''s blast are knocked a dozen feet back, toppling over. As I land from my jump there''s just one still standing. He gets seven hydro beams to the face. The rest scramble to get up, but their clumsy bodies have difficulty doing so. I shoot another full of holes. 34 AP and four monsters left. I got this. I turn around in place and watch as Water Cutter rips apart each of the remaining baddies, jets dropping on their heads from my wakizashis above them. I''ve got 6 AP and no one left but me.

    My Intelligence is 100, which means I get back 100 AP per hour, or 1.66 per minute. If I need to kill about 25 more monsters, and each one takes 7 seconds of water cutter to finish off. No, I have 116% proficiency with Water Cutter now, granting me 16% extra pressure. So let''s say 6 streams per kill, 6 AP per kill. I''ll need... 150 AP to use Water cutter to finish things off. Except I''ll be getting more and more proficiency as I go. I do some math and with proficiency and pressure scaling up with each 1 AP use of the spell, I''ll need 99 AP to clear out the entire floor. A little over an hour.

    That''s not fast enough. I need another type of attack, one that won''t use AP and won''t cut or pierce the hazmat suits. Punching? Punching could work. I look around at the wrecked office and spy a few blunt objects I could use with telekinesis.

    I swing open the double doors out of the office and walk down a short hall to find a cafeteria to my right. I peer through the window in the door. There are six radioactive guys at a table. They have food in front of them but it looks like it''s made of plastic. They make the motions of eating but the sandwiches just push against their visors and then get put back down on their paper plates.

    I''m going to try something... Stupid. Yeah, I''ll admit that this is probably stupid. One of my inventory slots has a red cooler in it. I bring it out and open it up. Inside is a pile of Jimmy John''s sandwiches. I grab six, and enact telekinesis on them. I crack open the door to the cafeteria. I float the sandwiches over to the radioactive guys. I put the sandwiches on their plates, on top of the plastic food.

    The first guy to notice lifts the sandwich and tries to shove it through his visor. It''s at this point I realize that I should have unwrapped the sandwiches. The wrapped sub gets mushed into the guy''s visor. Another guy unwraps the sandwich first, then mashes it into his visor. Well done, sir, well done. A third guy unwraps his sandwich, then opens the visor and then puts it inside the suit. I hear a sizzle and smell toasted sandwich. The bulge of the sandwich slides down the inside of the guy''s suit. Then smoke comes out of his visor and I can see the orange glow of flames mixed with his green radiation glow. Then his suit starts on fire from the inside out, shooting green lasers across the room as it opens up. The lasers hit his buddies who are knocked out of their blue plastic chairs. That guy continues to burn but is still sitting calmly at the table, and eventually he slumps over dead... I think.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    So, what I think happened, is that the sandwich started on fire, and whatever these things are actually made of is highly flammable. Or, perhaps the suits can contain the heat of the radioactive men, but not the additional heat of a burning sandwich. I''m not really sure. I''ll call a Mythbuster and find out later.

    That''s when the others get up, find their sandwiches, unwrap them and eat them the same way. Over the next few minutes I see the remaining five monsters start on fire and explode because of eating sandwiches.

    I repeat, dungeons are fucking weird.

    And Franco is dead. Shit.

    I find my next cluster of goons through the cafeteria. They''re spread out down a long, winding hall. There are doors on both sides of the hall, and when I open them I find each one has a single-person bathroom behind it. And they''re all identical. I ignore that oddity and approach the first of 10 radioactive guys. He turns to me and a stapler beans him in the head, followed by a rotary telephone to the gut. This first knocks him back, then doubles him over. My telekinesis slams down a coffee cup over his head, which just shatters. Then I bring out the biggest blunt objects I found, two large steel typewriters, each painted teal. I bring them around to his sides and then clap them together, crushing the thing''s head. It collapses.

    Having figured out that yes, a large, 30 pound typewriter is a better weapon than a plastic stapler, I begin to walk calmly down the hall, clapping each hazmat suit wearing creature as I go. It only takes a single typewriter clap to take one down, and things go smoothly.

    I reach the end of the hall and find another set of double doors. These look fancier than previous doors. They look like they''re solid wood. There''s a secretary desk outside the doors, suggesting that it''s some kind of big wig''s office. I check the papers on the desk and there are various notes for visitors in May of 1969. The notes are mostly in French, so that''s as much as I can gather. I grab the papers and stow them for someone else, probably Gwen L''Ronge, to translate. I also take a minute to rummage through the desk and find lipstick, some chewing gum, 15 francs, empty folders and what looks like a Faberge egg.

    Mistress''s Valuable Egg. Like that of most mistresses, if this gets fertilized, it''s a huge problem for everyone. Do NOT let this hatch or open unless you want to be cursed for oh, around 18 years or so. And your significant other will leave you.

    What the crappity crap is this crap? Whatever, I shove it back in the desk. I don''t want any part of that nonsense.

    I check my stats before I open the door. I''ve gained one level, which goes into Scoundrel/Archmage. With the free points I bump my Strength up to 79 and my Arcana goes to 100. I get another ability choice.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Arcana and are offered the following choice: Expanded Pool or Refined Use.

    Expanded Pool - Each point of Arcana now increases your maximum AP by 1.5.

    Refined Use - Your Arcana Point spell costs are halved.

    To the untrained eye, a plus 50% bonus and a -50% bonus might look identical. But halving the costs of spells doubles the number of spells I can use. So obviously I take Refined Use.

    I also finally take a look at the spells I can choose from for the Archmage class. It''s extensive, and I get to keep half of them.

    Torch Flame... Basic... 1 AP/10 minutes

    Burning Palm... Master... 30 AP

    Electro Charge... Basic... 1 AP/second

    Grounding... Basic... 1 AP/5 seconds

    Electric Cage... Expert... 15 AP/10 seconds

    Lightning Lance... Master... 50 AP

    Sand Slash... Basic... 2 AP

    Sand Cloak... Basic... 3 AP/minute

    Rock Hide... Expert... 15 AP/minute

    Sand Storm... Master... 30 AP/10 seconds

    Air Bullet... Basic... 1 AP

    Blow Out... Basic... 1 AP

    Air Rifle... Expert... 15 AP

    Bubble Spray... Basic... 3 AP

    Needle Rain... Master... 30 AP

    Frost Skin... Basic... 1 AP/minute

    Chill Guard... Basic... 1 AP/hour

    Snow Blind... Expert... 20 AP

    Light Mote... Basic... 1 AP

    Solar Slam... Master... 35 AP

    Night Shield... Basic... 3 AP/minute

    Shadow Slash... Expert... 12 AP

    Rot Touch... Basic... 1 AP

    Rancid Breath... Basic... 1 AP

    Iron Stomach... Basic... 1 AP/hour

    Noxious Dart... Master... 40 AP

    Telepathy... Basic 1 AP/minute

    Mental Wall... Expert... 15 AP/10 minutes

    I get 14 of these. Okay, I''m taking all six Master rank spells, plus Telepathy. Those are easy picks. Then... Electric Cage and Snow Blind for some status effect spells. Sand Cloak, Frost Skin and Night Shield for defense, then a couple cheap offensive spells with Air Bullet and Sand Slash.

    Overall my spell list has really grown since the days of trying to cast Dark Mote. It''s also shocking to think that was only 2 months ago.

    I ponder the changes the system has brought to Earth as I enter the final room and utterly demolish the last set of radioactive guys with half price spells. I get one last level for my trouble and snag another Scoundrel/Archmage combo. With Archmage, I take the four most interesting spells out of a list of all Basic spells.

    Electro Charge... Basic... 1 AP/second

    Blow Out... Basic... 1 AP

    Bubble Spray... Basic... 3 AP

    Rot Touch... Basic... 1 AP

    Though with Scoundrel I get something really, really good.

    Iron Cloak

    While wearing a cloak or coat and no armor, the damage resistance from Toughness is increased by 50% of your current Agility.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    This stacks with the other two no-armor techniques I already have from my Monk levels.

    Unarmored Armor

    Your Toughness is increased by 10% when not wearing armor. You can still wear clothes, we''re not promoting nudists. FYI, abilities like this only increase their proficiency for each minute you''re in battle.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 87%

    Ki Body Armor

    While not wearing armor the damage resistance from Toughness is increased by 50% of your current Ki Points. Thus incentivizing you to never use KP on all the fancy abilities you have.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 87%

    So with a base Toughness of 30, 105 Agility and 70 Ki, I''m looking at 120 effective Toughness? Damn, I''m a friggin tank now! Nice!

    Franco is dead.

    I sigh deeply, double check to see that this last room contains an elevator down to the 10th floor, and then I head back to my team.

    The room smells like tacos. ¡°Jose did you bring tacos?¡± I ask with hope in my voice. I find him with two coolers open, one with drinks and the other contains homemade tacos and tamales. I recognize the way the paper towels are folded around each. ¡°Ohh, those are Abuela Amarillo tacos!¡± Jose''s mom makes THE BEST Mexican food.

    Jose smiles and hands me a taco and a Dr. Pepper. ¡°Thought we needed something good in our stomachs. Floor clear?¡±

    I just nod as I bite into pastor, onions and cilantro on a corn tortilla. It''s absolutely delicious. I still have no idea what she does to pork to make it so flipping good.

    I look around at my team. I can tell they needed the break, and probably the tacos. They don''t look cheerful, but they don''t look like they''re about to quit and go home either.

    We talk and rest a bit more as my AP and KP recover and our food digests. The nuclear power plant control room we''re in has some desks and office chairs so we''re all comfortable for the first time in hours.

    After a while, checking her watch, Alicia says, ¡°we need to go. Still five more floors. And they''re going to be increasingly tough.¡±

    ¡°She''s right.¡± I turn to Mercy and Quins. ¡°There''s still time to back out.¡±

    Mercy shakes her head. ¡°I''ve actually been putting every free point into Toughness and Constitution, because my costumes handle mobility and attacks so well. I''m ready. I can handle more than you think I can.¡±

    Quins smiles at that. ¡°Right, and until I prove that I''m better than your other sniper, I''m in.¡± Jose gives a scoff at that.

    We head to the elevator, scavenging a few coins along the way. Alicia takes photos of the probably meaningless paperwork. I find a random donut with pink icing.

    Springfield Original Donut. It''s a donut. There''s no other meaning to it. This is just a pop culture reference inside a dungeon trying to kill you. Hopefully reading this description distracted you enough to mean your death. Hey. Sooooo you''re not dead I guess. Fine. Up yours, Flanders.

    I eat it. It''s just okay.

    Notice! You ate a mysterious food item from the dungeon. It could have been poisoned, but it wasn''t. You gain +1 Luck and -1 Wisdom.

    ¡°Goddammit!¡± I shout as my Wisdom falls back to 7.

    Everyone turns with weapons drawn, expecting trouble. ¡°It''s fine, calm down. Just the Dracosys being a dick to me, personally.¡±

    Mercy pats me on the shoulder and we move to the elevator down. We slide inside. Innocuous elevator synth is piped in through a speaker in the ceiling. There are only two buttons. Quins hits the down button and we begin our descent.

    Seconds pass by. Then a whole minute. Then another, and then 5 minutes have passed. We quickly decide to check and make sure we''re actually moving. Jose pops open the roof hatch and yes, we seem to be moving at a normal elevator speed. We''re just going... deep.

    Finally after almost 10 minutes the elevator stops and opens up to... Holy shit, I recognize this. We all do. Inside a massive cave is a full size replica of the Statue Of Liberty.

    Over a loud speaker comes a nasaly voice. ¡°Greetings, fools! I, the mad genius known only as THE PROFESSIONAL have planted five nuclear bombs inside of your precious symbol of freedom! You have just five minutes to find and disarm them all or poof! Your beloved copper lady will be blown sky high! Hahaha hahaha hah! Well? Time''s ticking, get to it!¡±

    -----

    Conversation Log 0034

    Skull Master Flash: So I made something. Something good.

    Fortuna: Get on with it I don''t have much time.

    Skull Master Flash: I made an enchanted belt.

    Spear Saint: Ooooooh!

    Hyperion: Effects?

    Skull Master Flash: Improved strength. It''s super weird watching someone instantly grow muscles when they put it on, and then watching them deflate when they take it off.

    Fortuna: Side effects?

    Spear Saint: I need your data.

    Skull Master Flash: Putting it on and off once seems fine, taking it off and putting it back on multiple times results in the effects being slower, but they get to 100% effectiveness eventually.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Permanently slower?

    Skull Master Flash: Seems to reset every 24 hours. Was this your design, Saturn?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: There''s nothing in the code about item cooldown.

    Spear Saint: The RNA restructure roll out hasn''t finished yet. Did you get infected, Skull?

    Skull Master Flash: Hasn''t hit my country bad yet. Damn government taking things seriously for once.

    Hyperion: Everyone wants to prevent a second COVID, even if our virus doesn''t kill.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Spear Saint, what happens to those who don''t get infected?

    Spear Saint: Over time their RNA will degrade due to the Etheric radiation. They''ll look like they have a novel autoimmune disease and die over the next few years.

    Fortuna: Estimated death rates?

    Spear Saint: Of those uninfected by my virus? 100% over 5 years. Of those infected? 0%.

    Hyperion: *Our* virus. All of us bear the responsibility for Ether and SIVID-1.

 Chapter 48: Five Nuclear Weapons

    ¡°I can find any bomb or trap within 100 feet of me,¡± Alicia says.

    ¡°Mercy, can you fly and carry Alicia?¡± I ask.

    Mercy cracks her neck and stretches her arms. ¡°Are you under 100 pounds?¡±

    Alicia takes off her gun belt, backpack and other equipment, leaving her in her skin tight sneaking suit. ¡°Now I am.¡±

    Mercy, in her mecha armor, cradles Alicia like a princess and takes off in a whoosh of green particles shooting out of the flight pack on her back. Mercy spirals around the green lady for about a minute, then comes back down.

    ¡°Four minutes left, HEROES!!!¡± comes the mocking voice over a PA system. I check my watch and make note of the time.

    Alicia pops out of Mercy''s arms and opens up the same holographic Minimap skill that I have. We all look at the translucent diagram of Lady Liberty. Then Alicia uses two more techniques in rapid succession and the hologram grows, overlapping with the actual statue. It''s like we can see the inside of the statue from the outside. There are five glowing red dots where the bombs are.

    ¡°Don''t worry about disarming them,¡± Alicia says. ¡°Just put them in inventory, which should put them in stasis until I can disarm them one by one.¡± We all nod.

    I call out, ¡°Mercy, fly to the head, I''ll get to the armpits, Quins, Alicia, can you get the waist and knee? Jose, you''re slowest so just take the pedestal bomb.¡± After I issue the orders I don''t even wait for confirmation, I bolt for the entrance and begin my ascent.

    The inside is a rickety, ¡°definitely not safe for tourists¡± staircase. I dash up, taking stairs five or six at a time. I''m leaping rather than stepping up the winding path. I get to my self-assigned nuke. It looks like a large suitcase, with metal tubing, wires and an LCD timer ticking down.

    I lift it, it disappears into my inventory, and before I can call out my own victory, I hear Quins. ¡°Got mine sorted out.¡±

    This is followed by each other person calling out their nuclear weapon acquisition. The whole operation took less than 2 minutes.

    We reconvene at the foot of the pedestal and I go over the next step. ¡°Alicia, did you take a good look at yours? Can you disarm it in time?¡±

    ¡°The short answer is no,¡± she almost looks embarrassed to say it. ¡°I want a whole ordinance team for this. It looks like these are from the 70s and I''m not an expert in old nukes.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± I say, underwhelmed. ¡°So we''re all just walking around with nukes in our pockets. Great.¡±

    ¡°We drop everything in inventory if we die,¡± Jose reminds us. ¡°So if any of us die, we''d drop our nuke and two or three minutes later-¡±

    ¡°So we''re not dying anymore today,¡± I say firmly. ¡°We still have about 12 hours and only five floors to go. We take it slow and carefully. From this point on we are ninjas, not SWAT.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, what mate?¡± Quins gives a head tilt.

    Mercy chimes in, still lacking her usual brightness. ¡°Tabletop role playing game terms. You enter areas like SWAT, fast and loud, or like ninjas, slow and quiet.¡±

    Quins nods at that. ¡°Oh, I quite like that. Ninjas it is.¡±

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    We spend the next hour scouring the statue for any enemies, items and secrets. I think we all try to ignore the whole ¡°one person dying means probably everyone dying scenario.¡± Alicia''s Operative class gives her bonuses to find hidden stuff and she finds a replica of the US Constitution, a set of Die Hard VHS tapes, a torch and a crown. Only the last two are important.

    Fire Of Hope. Are you hoping for a better life? Back in the day, people thought America was that better life. Lol! Little did they know how badly immigrants were/are treated. Oh well, at least your country has the most diverse food choices in the world. Anyways, if you light this torch it burns up quickly but gives you +5 to a stat you''re hoping to improve.

    Crown Of The Political Icon. This crown grants you a +1 to all stats if you have at least one level in Politician, Representative or Senator. If you have a level in all three, you instead gain +3 to all stats. Also, thank you for voting.

    ¡°Any of us could use that torch, honestly.¡± I say after relaying the System Scan''s info, minus the snark.

    ¡°Roll off?¡± asks Jose.

    ¡°Roll off,¡± I nod. Before Quins can ask for translation I offer, ¡°in RPGs when there''s loot and more than one person wants it, you just roll a die to see who gets it, highest number wins. No argument, no drama.¡±

    I pull out my cell and open the digital dice roller I have for when I forget my dice at home. ¡°Since Luck is a stat now I think just one person should roll for everyone. Mercy, do the honors?¡± I''m trying to get her involved because she''s still moping. Nothing wrong with a good mope, but we need to move forward as well.

    She takes the phone, rolls five times, and flatly announces that I won it. I take the torch, think about my Dexterity and light it with a fire spell.

    Notice! Due to the effect of Fire Of Hope, your Wisdom has risen by 5!

    Wait, really? Well, damn, okay then. My Wisdom has risen to 12. And my improved wisdom immediately tells me that this thing said it would burn up quickly, but wasn''t single use. I hand it to Mercy. ¡°Quick, think of a stat then pass it around!¡±

    She takes it, thinks for a second, then hands it to Alicia. The torch gets passed twice more until it comes back to me for some reason.

    Notice! Due to the effect of Fire Of Hope, your Dexterity has risen by 4!

    ¡°Shit, it still works, keep passing!¡± We quickly pass it around again. It comes back to me and the wick is low.

    Notice! Due to the effect of Fire Of Hope, your Strength has risen by 2!

    We pass it around until it winks out before Jose gets his third boost, but by then we''re all laughing at the absurdity. Five grown ass adults are playing hot potato in front of the statue of Liberty. Five adults with nuclear weapons in their pockets.

    We take a minute to enjoy the free stats before moving on. The way forward is down. A long metal ladder in the basement of Lady Liberty is the only way out of this bizarre place. We head down, carefully and cautiously.

    It''s a long ladder. It must be almost a hundred feet tall. It takes about 3 minutes to climb down.

    The ladder leads down into what seems to be a utility closet. There''s just one bare light bulb in the room, shining dimly over mops, buckets and bottles of bleach. The contents of the mop pails are worrying though.

    ¡°Is ¡®at blood?¡± Quins asks after he slides down the ladder.

    I''m busy at the door, cracking it open to see what awaits us. ¡°Looks like a hospital,¡± I say. A nurse takes a patient on a stretcher down the hall, away from us. The patient was moaning and talking in Pashto. The nurse had a fish head. ¡°Ah, good, we found a Lovecraftian hospital. Not going to be horrible at all.¡±

    -----

    Conversation Log 0055

    Fortuna: What''s human-monster interaction going to look like?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: What''s human-animal interaction look like?

    Fortuna: I don''t appreciate sarcasm. You said some monsters would be of human intelligence.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Of human intelligence *or greater.*

    Fortuna: Right. So what happens with that?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I dunno?

    Fortuna: Are they sentient? Will people start demanding rights for them?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: The dead monsters reset, becoming their original selves. So it''s not like they have childhoods or anything. They''re video game monsters. Even if they talk, they''re only able to do and say a few things. Things the system expects that creature to do and say.

    Fortuna: So no monster nation rising up?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Would that be so bad?

    Fortuna: Depends on the location, I suppose.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I''m only worried about the smarter monsters trying to break their cycles. If some of the smart monsters decide to fight the system itself we might be in trouble.

 Chapter 49: The Eldritch

    12 Hours Until Reset

    I''m in a crouch, rifle up. I swing open the door slowly and creep into the hospital floor. I quickly scan left and right. We''re at a T intersection, halls left, right and center, the broom closet at my back. Jose already took one step out to get a better look at the floor.

    The sides of the halls look like hospital rooms, doors currently closed. The floors are white tile, the ceiling looks like tan plasterboard and the lighting is low, using mostly track lights. Kinda like an airplane at night. Dim lighting, to use the RPG term. Enough light to shoot someone in the face at 50 feet, but not enough light to make out their emotions as you do.

    ¡°Good adventurers always go left,¡± I say into my comm. I head to the left. Even in a crouch my speed is double that of anyone else, and I reach the first hospital room door. I reach for the handle. Jose comes up behind me and has the hall covered. I push the lever-style handle in and the door silently cracks open.

    Even through this small sliver I can see blood. The floor is covered in red blood. I hear a mechanical beeping and a machine whirring, just like you''d expect to find in a hospital room. I open the door more and see a bed. The bed sheets are soaked red. I look at the occupant and have to hold myself back from retching.

    The human occupant, Afghani based on his complexion, has had an arm removed and replaced with an octopus-like tentacle. I resist the urge to just close the door and run away. I push into the room and he hears me.

    We make eye contact. He is so, so scared. He''s hooked up to a breathing apparatus with a tube in his mouth. He can''t talk, but once he realizes I''m some sort of soldier he starts crying and shaking his head. The sobbing forces me to rush to his side and I hold my finger up in the universal shush motion. God, his right arm was replaced with a giant claw. No arm, no elbow, just a long hooked bone.

    Fuck this place.

    He''s still shaking his head, frightened out of his mind. I know very little Pashto, but I say, ¡°friend, help.¡± That seems to pull him away from the edge of madness just long enough for him to motion with his eyes to his right.

    The room''s barely lit far corner moves, and what I thought was a chair slithers towards me. ¡°Fuck you,¡± I say coldly, and cast Yellow Beam at the dweller in the dark. The bright yellow burst lights up the room for just a second, long enough to see that the monster is four legged, has five scrawny human arms on top of a dog-like body, and has way too many fucking eyes. The beam hits one of the arms- no, it actually blocked with that arm. Then it leaps at me, arms first.

    I punch it as it flies towards me, sending the creature into the ceiling. Jose bursts in. It falls, taking plasterboard and electrical wiring with it. The lights go out and I cast Yellow Ray and aim my flashlight hand at where it... Used to be. Shit.

    I hear muffled screams and turn to see the monster on top of the hostage. From this angle I can see that its mouth is on the bottom of its body, and circular like a lamprey. It bites down on the man and blood sprays, but unfortunately for it, Jose Amarillo is in the room. He fires two shots which knock the thing on its side, then he fires three more shots into the open mouth. It''s arms flail around for just a second before the monster slumps to the side and falls off the hostage.

    I look at the man and prepare to use one of my healing techniques but he''s clearly already gone. That''s... That''s two human rib cages I''ve seen today. Fuuuuuck.

    ¡°Fucking weird monster,¡± Jose says. Going over to kick it. I take a look as he kicks it again to make it drop loot.

    Nine Limb Creeper. Tier 4. Takes reduced damage from pretty much everything except Psychic attacks. Did you know that this thing can''t actually survive? A Nine Limb Creeper''s organs won''t support its own body for long. It dies every 20 or so hours only to have another terminal lifeform replace it. Fun!

    Possible Loot: existential dread, misery, fake nails, tooth bracelet.

    Jebus H. Christopher that''s fucked. The monster fades from Jose''s third kick and drops a bucket full of coins and a packet of fake nails.

    Press-On Pressure-Point Pointed Nails. Increases the damage you do to pressure points when using certain unarmed techniques. Particularly the ones where you poke people.

    Mercy bursts into the room as Jose and I are scooping up handfuls of coins as a bloody mess of a man is still on the bed beside us. I see her look of shock and quickly say, ¡°not our blood! We''re fine!¡±

    She takes another look at the mangled human corpse and then turns to leave the room. Quins comes in. ¡°What''s eating her, eh? Oh, and what ate him?¡±

    A few minutes later we open another hospital room and find another monstrous human experiment. This one has his ribcage on the outside. Or maybe it''s an extra ribcage. I''m not currently interested in finding out which. We sweep the room this time and I find another Creeper keeping watch. The only truly offensive Psychic power I have is Psi Punch. A glowing purple fist slams into the Creeper and caves in its... Face? Body? Whatever, point is I Psi Punch it twice to kill it.

    I try to heal the victim and that seems to alleviate enough pain to let the poor man talk. Alicia does our translation again.

    ¡°The short ones are like dogs. They keep watch. The fish men only move us around. The tall ones are smart. They talk to us in our brains.¡±

    ¡°I think he means telepathy,¡± I say.

    Alicia rolls her eyes, ¡°sure but there''s no word for that directly in Pashto so I''m giving you what he says.¡±

    ¡°They took us and brought us down here. The tallest one is their leader. It is a monster. Not human, but smart. Please, find my brother, he was brought here too.¡±

    ¡°How many are there?¡± I ask.

    ¡°The tall ones, not many, I think. The short ones, they come back, they always come back. I killed one. It came back, stopped me from escaping. The fish men, maybe lots, maybe one. I don''t know.¡±

    I look again at his... Condition. ¡°I don''t know if it''s okay for you to try to escape or not. I don''t know if you''ll survive.¡±

    ¡°I don''t care. I don''t want to die on this bed.¡±

    We help him up. His movements are stiff, like his joints can barely bend. I don''t know if he''ll even be able to get up the ladder to the previous floor. We show him the way and he begins a slow, awkward climb up the ladder.

    I turn to my team as we stand back at the T intersection. ¡°We need to clear these rooms, and find anyone else who can be saved.¡± I can hear Alicia''s argument already, so I preempt it. ¡°We have five floors to go, including this one. And 12 hours. We can do 2 hours here. Besides,¡± I look Mercy in the eyes. ¡°We''re supposed to be the good guys.¡±

    Something in the air changes, and it''s not my courage surging through the hall. No, something cold wafts through the hospital hall. Something distinctly evil.

    Guns are raised. Down the center hall a tall, skinny figure in a long black outfit raises a skinny hand towards us and- BANG! Gets popped in the head by a goddamn US Army Ranger. Jose''s shot is the first, but not the last as Alicia opens fire with a handgun and I follow up with rifle fire. Out of the corner of my eye I see Quins draw his bow and face to our right. He uses some technique on his arrow then fires, the arrow exploding on impact with... Something.

    ¡°Creepers comin!¡± he says and I hear doors up and down all three halls open up. I look left and see two more tall monsters down that hall. Their hands are already raised and creating some sort of purple translucent barrier as they advance. I glance back at the central tall boy and see he''s got a barrier now too.

    Elder Thing Version 83. Tier 4. Did you read Mountains Of Madness? This is one of those aliens. Except evolved. After 82 previous attempts, this is the most human. It only has 3 arms instead of 5. Progress! Also it has psionic powers that will WRECK you.

    Possible Loot: Ancient texts, surgery tools.

    Creepers burst out of the open doors, 23 of them all at once. We''re opening fire but the tough little bastards are hard to kill. I need more. I can deliver more.

    Nine wakizashis fan out around us and then fly, three in each direction. I press my body against the wall to give myself as much peripheral vision as possible. I focus center and let my sub-minds take over the left and right halls. Blades slam into creeper bodies with 81 Strength. At 81 it''s twice the strength of the world''s strongest a few months back. The blades don''t slice through the monsters so much as push into them, driving them back as the solid little creepers can''t be killed so easily. On the right my sub-mind has decided to chop off their scrawny arms and that seems to work, so I and my other sub-mind follow suit. Soon the halls are slick with gross, acrid-smelling yellow blood.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    The Elder Things must be just in range for their psionic attacks because Alicia, Jose and Mercy all drop to their knees and clutch their heads. I can see blood flowing from Mercy''s ears. Shit, shit, shit! I get desperate and take a chance. I cast Rot Touch through my wakizashis and they drip with a black sludge.

    The list of magic spells in my brain is organized like so:

    Fire, Electric, Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Light, Dark, Toxic, Psychic.

    Since after light and dark, toxic and psychic are listed together, as a sort of pair, I have to guess that they''re linked, or opposites, or... Something. I ram the rot tipped blades into the psychic shields of the Elder Things and they crack. The barriers don''t shatter, but the black-green rot spreads out along the cracks, eating away at the barriers. I don''t know if this effect will let me through in time so I just push with my blades and punch holes big enough for them to slip into.

    My blades, on the other sides of the barriers, go to work and slice away at the Things. I crouch down and place a hand on both Alicia and Mercy, casting Healing Palm to try and keep them alive. Jose, buddy, just hold on!

    The barriers go down as the Things try to parry and block my blades. Quins takes about five seconds to make some sort of big ass arrow and lets it fly into the pair of Elders on the left. THOOOM! The following explosion is massive and blasts the Things and several creepers apart, sending the others in that hall sprawling. The heat and shockwave from the blast hits us and I shout, ¡°too close, Quins!¡±

    ¡°Yeah I did shoot those twins!¡± he deafly says back while firing an arrow into a nearby creeper.

    With two psychics gone, Jose and Alicia return to the fray. I send all my blades to pound the last Elder Thing version whatever and cut it to ribbons. The rest of the team pumps hundreds of rounds of ammo into the nine-limb creepers, but before too long the fight comes to a close and we emerge both alive and victorious.

    I go over to inspect the Elder Thing I killed. It''s not wearing clothes, the black outfit is actually some sort of flesh. So it''s not wearing a dress, instead it''s a cone of flesh that ends at the bottom with about a thousand 1-inch orange tentacles that must glide it along the floor. It''s ¡°head¡± is white but I''m not sure it actually contains any important organs because the whole thing looks like a damn cut up vegetable. No blood, no organs. ¡°I think these are psychic eggplants,¡± I say to no one in particular.

    ¡°Their dogs are flesh and blood though,¡± Quins says, slicing one of the creepers open. ¡°Fecking skin about an inch thick and tough as shoe leather. Inside is... Jelly? I think it''s yellow stinking jelly.¡±

    I hear Alicia ask Quins why he''s cutting open the corpse. ¡°Because, my dear, knowledge is power. If I can find a wee little weak spot, I can just shoot that instead of, oh, 12 arrows to random bits.¡±

    As he continues to cut, I hear coins drop to the floor and Quins say, ¡°bollocks.¡± His current sample gone, he moves to his next victim.

    I''ve recovered some more Ki, and go to heal Jose. I know him, and I know he''s hurt worse than he''s letting on. I give him some Healing Palm for a minute to get him back up.

    Mercy is standing by the ladder back in the broom closet. She''s contemplating just leaving. Hey, wait, is this what having above average Wisdom is like? Knowing how people feel? Shit, that''s not bad!

    Anyways Mercy isn''t scared, I can tell she''s just... ¡°Done with all this?¡± I ask while healing Jose. She just nods. ¡°I get it. But you''re awesome now, so can I still rely on you, at least until we leave the dungeon?¡±

    ¡°I''m not awesome.¡± She says it looking down and away.

    ¡°You are,¡± says Jose, wincing in pain.

    I follow up with, ¡°yeah, that psychic attack was the first thing to actually threaten you in this whole dungeon.¡±

    ¡°You need to learn how to aim with that gatling gun though.¡± Jose is referring to Mercy''s AF-04 Spiral Vulcan mini-minigun. She can throw a lot of bullets at once but her aim is really shit.

    ¡°I know this has been a tough one for you,¡± I say, finished with Jose''s heal. ¡°But we also did a lot of good with the previous prisoners. And... You helped me get past the first part. So I think...¡±

    ¡°What, that I''m some crybaby non-soldier, who can''t keep her shit together?¡±

    I take both her hands in mine. ¡°No, I think that you''re really amazing, and I''m so glad you''re with me.¡± She finally looks me in the eyes and I get lost there. I had more to say. Just can''t think of it while staring at the most beautiful face in the world.

    I have to turn away, force myself not to pull her close and kiss her deeply, right here surrounded by monster goo. Not the right time.

    ¡°But this part is going to be particularly rough,¡± I say. ¡°Checking these rooms...¡± I turn to the group as a whole. ¡°Is not for the squeamish. Anyone who wants to stand guard is welcome to.¡±

    Quins gives a quick, but lengthy reply. ¡°Oh right, I''m straight out, on guard duty, sir, if it pleases ya.¡±

    Mercy just nods and I take Jose and Alicia down the hall to check each room, one by one.

    The fucked up shit I see in those rooms will haunt me until I die. There were horrible, horrible things done to these men. Amputations, implantations and, in one case, disgusting attempts at dentistry. All in all we only find seven more men alive and... Fit for travel. We guide them to the ladder, and we support the weakest man as he climbs with just one arm and no legs.

    Jose is halfway up the ladder with Bashir when another chill wind blows through the hospital, this time coming from the double doors at the end of the hall. All three paths, left, right and center, converge at that point, which is clearly a boss battle door. So we left it the fuck alone.

    The door shakes. ¡°Prepare for battle!¡± I shout, and wakizashis fly in front of me as we take cover in hospital rooms and around corners.

    The doors burst open and another Elder Thing glides through, though this one is clearly floating off the ground. Instead of black, its exterior is solid white. Swirling around it are dozens of various medical implements; scalpels, saws, pincers. I thrust forward with my own telekinetic weapons and they clash with the boss''s. Metal scrapes against metal. My weapons are far better than his, but this isn''t a battle of blades, it''s a fight about telekinetic skill. And he''s winning.

    Jose, Alicia, Mercy and Quins all open fire but their attacks are blocked with perfect deflections by the flying implements. He''s blocking Mercy''s gatling gun fire with a large bed pan, and the bullets are collecting in the dish. Quins said he''s out of explosive arrows for now, so all he''s got is regular ones. Somehow he manages to bounce an arrow off a bone saw and it barely sticks in the monster''s head. The monster seems unperturbed. Jose''s electro bolt shot arcs down the room only to make contact with an energy shield that shimmers into life just in time. Shit, this thing is tough.

    Elder Thing, version 84, Doctor edition. Tier 5. A mastermind who conducts experiments on humans in an attempt to further its own species''s development. Has immense psychic powers.

    Possible Loot: Surgery equipment.

    Huh. These loot descriptions seem to be getting more and more vague.

    I see a couple of bone saws fly past me and hear Quins curse, followed by Jose grunting. I turn to see them bloodied but still in the fight. Mercy flies forward and grabs the two saws and simply crushes them in her mecha-armored hands.

    My nine wakizashis clash with scalpels. I can feel this thing''s overwhelming strength with each blow. The tiny scalpels manage to push back each of my blades when they make contact. I switch three wakizashis to magic and try to get through the energy shield. Flamethrowers start up but I immediately find scalpels pushing my wakizashis down, making the flames hit the ground.

    One of my sub-minds digests that move. Deflection means he doesn''t want to just have his barrier eat the flames. Or maybe it''s simpler than that. Maybe he just wouldn''t be able to see through them. He''d be fighting blind. That''s something I can work with. But he doesn''t have eyes. Does he operate in sound? No, he''d hear through the fire. Heat. He sees through heat!

    Sapping Cold

    Call forth a cloud of chilling air around you that slowly erodes enemy strength and life. Also known as ¡°Brr, It''s Cold Out Here.¡±

    Area: 5 foot radius

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second

    Proficiency: 0%

    The air around each of my blades chills. The overlapping zones of cold begin to fog up, and seeing that I can stack the effect, I bring all nine blades together to create a 10 foot cube of arctic air. The telekinetic medical implements in the cube actually drop to the ground and the others pull back. To thermal vision everything in the cube and past it must be a nearly solid blue (or black? Whatever color cold is.) All of a sudden my team''s bullets start making it through and we land our first real hits against the monster. It lets out a shriek like scraping metal and a purple energy shield rises in front of it.

    I''ve seen that trick before, and try a new counter to it.

    Noxious Dart

    A small, pen sized projectile flies unerringly into a target to deliver a harmful and crippling poison.

    Range: 50 feet

    Cost: 40 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    A thin, three-inch long green cone fires from my index finger and flies at a speed not much faster than a regular run. It flies up and along the ceiling, then slips into an air vent and I lose track of it. Jose lets loose a massive bolt into the shield. The shield flickers once, but then recovers. Then I see the dart, a thin line of green energy trailing behind it. The little projectile has snuck around, popped out of another air duct on the other side of the energy shield and, without fanfare, sticks into the doctor. The dart fades and nothing happens. My team keeps firing as I maintain the freezing cold area. Then green energy arcs across the doctor''s skin like lightning. Its arms flail wildly and the shield drops.

    My team lets loose with everything they''ve got and lead and lightning fly down the corridor into the creature. I dash forward too, and pull my blades, still emitting cold, into a circle around my right arm. I slam into the monster with the circle of swords like a clothesline punch, dashing past it and taking a whole square foot of its side along with me. The white vegetable flesh slides off my blade tips, and I see the doctor bend over at the waist where I cut it apart. Its three arms still flail so I fire my blades like bullets, sending them tip first into the creature. My blades bury themselves up to the hilt and frost spreads across the doctor. I clench my fist and my wakizashis all fly back to me, rending frozen vegetable as they go, turning the boss monster into half a smoothie.

    -----

    Conversation Log 0106

    Hyperion: I wanted to ask about cultivation.

    Spear Saint: regular or Xianxia?

    Hyperion: Xianxia.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Absolutely not. It''s meaningless nonsense. Shonen Jump battle manga make more sense!

    Skull Master Flash: But my core spins faster now, and I can thread my qi down into it better than anyone else can!

    Hyperion: Is that sarcasm or are you really cultivating right now?

    Skull Master Flash: Sarcasm, sir!

    Spear Saint: The fact that we have to ask shows how far we''ve come.

    Hyperion: You''re sure there''s no way to implement cultivation?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Oh, there is, it would just deeply destabilize the entire system. People wouldn''t fight anymore, they''d just meditate and then be strong enough to blow up buildings after a few years. The XP system at least makes it so people risk something before gaining something.

    Spear Saint: I wouldn''t mind magic treasure pills to make you stronger though.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Some should drop in our personal dungeons. I made sure useful items would drop for us in abundance.

    Skull Master Flash: My spiral tempest core thanks you!

 Chapter 50: Elevated

    9 Hours, 45 Minutes Until Reset

    The rest of the 11th floor and the 12th floor are incomprehensibly awful. The second half of the 11th floor is more of the same but the 12th floor is worse. Much, much worse. What those Elder Things (and three fish men) did to people... Was truly monstrous.

    We only find three more people able to be saved, but I don''t know how they''ll live from now on. The ¡°experiments¡± done to them are seemingly impossible. Humans just can''t be implanted with... You know what? Fuck this place.

    It made me angry. It made us all angry. I want revenge. On whoever, or whatever is responsible for this debacle. We talk it over and agree that the Ambrose Society, the group that had initiated the sacrifices and hostages, needs to be shut down. As in taken out. As in ¡°we mop the floor with them and anyone still alive faces war crimes charges.¡±

    The Ambrose Society was responsible for the uranium mine four years ago. Their crazy cult ideas associated R-32 with Lovecraft. And that association is why this place has a Cthulhu mythos theme. There''s no other reason why the system would put American cosmic horror into an Afghanistan dungeon. So the Ambrose Society has a lot to answer for.

    Over the course of two floors I gain three levels which go into Scoundrel/Archmage. With the combined 51 free attribute points, I''m able to hit 100 in Strength, Dexterity, Reflexes and Ki.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Strength and are offered the following choice: Weight or Impact.

    Weight - The mass you can lift and carry is increased by 50%.

    Impact - Your attacks and instant uses of strength are increased by 50%.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Dexterity, and are offered the following choice: Aim or Fire.

    Aim - Your precision increases by 50%.

    Fire - Your attack speed increases by 50%.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Reflexes, and are offered the following choice: Focus or Peripheral.

    Focus - Your focus on things you actively track becomes 50% more effective.

    Peripheral - Your focus using all your senses becomes 50% more effective.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Ki and are offered the following choice: Accelerated Recovery or Reduced Combos.

    Accelerated Recovery - Your Ki Point recovery rate is increased by 50%.

    Reduced Combos - Using combined techniques costs only the KP cost of the most expensive technique.

    For Strength, the choice is easy. More punchy power, please. For the rest I consult with my good buddy and probably over 100 in those stats sniper, Jose Amarillo.

    ¡°Jose, you over 100 in Dexterity, Reflexes and Ki?¡±

    ¡°Mostly. I''m over 100 in Dex, Cha and Reflex.¡±

    ¡°Cool! What did you think about the options? What did you pick?¡±

    ¡°Hrm. For Dex it was Aim. I need to aim faster, not pull the trigger faster. Cha I chose the regen option because I didn''t want an aura. Reflex I went focus because I''m a sniper.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what were the options for Charisma?¡±

    He thinks for a minute, trying to remember. ¡°Aura or Regen. Can''t remember the actual names. One was an aura that made allies less scared. The other was just 50% faster Ki regen.¡±

    ¡°Great. 100 Ki gives the option for Regen or some combo thing. If I hit 100 Charisma I can get both regens and really speed up my Ki recovery.¡±

    ¡°Combo thing?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you know how you can use multiple techniques at once? This lets you do that but only pay the KP for the most expensive tech.¡±

    ¡°HOLY SHIT that would help me out.¡± I haven''t seen Jose this excited since we got the 97 inch LG OLED 4K TVs. ¡°I stack a bunch of stuff to get my big bolts out.¡±

    ¡°Cool. I''m taking the flat regen though. I don''t need more things to think about, even with two sub-minds.¡±

    ¡°What the crap are you two talking about?¡± Alicia asks. We''ve been in an extremely slow moving elevator, going down, for what seems like five minutes. And the team has been silent for most of it, because none of us know when the elevator will stop.

    ¡°Ah, so, I don''t know if you know this, but when a stat gets to 100, you get a choice of two different abilities, and both are quite powerful.¡±

    ¡°Real powerful,¡± Jose confirms.

    ¡°So at 100 Intelligence you can choose to either think really deeply about one thing at a time, or basically get true multitasking with sub-minds.¡± Alicia looks mildly interested, so I go on. ¡°My two sub-minds are like, uhhhhhhh little AI assistants? They don''t have a will of their own but can handle thinking about things that I want to think about.¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Alicia rolls her eyes. ¡°You found a way to make thinking more complicated. Good for you.¡±

    I can''t really argue with that point. Having sub-minds is great -lefty tells me we''ve gone down about 46 floors now- but slightly distracting. Like having way too much coffee. All the time. Did I mention that I named them lefty and righty? They sort of feel like they''re down and to the left and right of my brain.

    I go back to my 100 point choices and select Fire for Dexterity, Peripheral for Reflexes and Accelerated Recovery for Ki. Basically the opposite of what Jose took.

    The Peripheral bonus takes hold and it''s like I can hear and feel things more clearly. Have you listened to music on real shitty headphones, and the music is there, but you can''t really tell the instruments apart? Then on good headphones you can clearly follow each instrument. This is like that. The combined senses that are telling me ¡°you are in an elevator¡± are now separated out, into ¡°you are traveling down, the room is slightly warm because 5 people are in a small elevator, the elevator is quiet but occasionally grinds against the walls.¡±

    The real reason I took Peripheral is that I was hoping my vision would improve, and I''d be able to focus on my literal peripherals better. That would improve my telekinetic control over a wider area. This comes through in spades and I can clearly see details to my left and right without shifting my gaze. It really is quite an improvement.

    The levels and 3 humans saved weren''t the only things we got from floors 11 and 12. We also found a few items.

    Alien Scalpel. Cuts through non-terrestrial life forms 33% more easily.

    Surgical Goo. This is basically just glue, but if used to attach, or reattach body parts, the body is almost guaranteed to accept the implant.

    Medical Gloves, Elder Thing edition. These only have 3 fingers, so you can''t wear them. But if you want to cut off a finger, you can wear it and gain +25% range with all your psychic spells! *chants enthusiastically* Cut it off! Cut it off! Cut it off!

    Potion, Ruby Red. A very potent health potion, usable by humans. Not made by humans, mind you.

    Potion, Sapphire Blue. A very potent Arcana Point recovery potion. Does NOT taste like blueberries. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

    Potion, Golden Yellow. A very potent Ki recovery potion. Nothing else interesting about it.

    Potion, dull grey. Recovers Luck, if you spend Luck. Most people don''t. So it''s probably useless. Maybe just smash this and walk away.

    Elder Thing Skin, black. The skin of an Elder Thing, torn off and able to be worn by a human like it''s a coat. Gross, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Improves your resistance to all elements except for Toxic.

    Nobody wanted to wear the skin coats, but they went into inventories all the same.

    Once we found out that each hospital room carried a set of the potions, we walked away with dozens of each kind. We each got 5 of the health ones, and whoever needed the others got them. We unfortunately found out that after drinking a potion you get ¡°potion fatigue¡± which means if you drink two potions within a minute of each other, the second one makes you barf. I''ll leave it up to your imagination as to who barfed for us to find this out.

    We also got more coins than we can count. Though our inventories count them for us. So all in all we''ve got close to 100k coins in our ¡°bigger on the inside¡± inventories. Which, hey, that''s something.

    ¡°Also, I can''t stay this serious for this long anymore,¡± I say out of nowhere. ¡°I need someone to really elevate this conversation.¡±

    Mercy looks up at my terrible pun. She likes terrible puns. ¡°You''re really bringing us down,¡± she says.

    Jose points at the control panel. ¡°You guys are starting to push my buttons.¡±

    ¡°Jesus, kill me now,¡± Alicia says to Quins.

    ¡°Oh no,¡± he says seriously. ¡°Are you feeling a bit shafted?¡±

    ¡°I hate you all,¡± Alicia says, and that finally breaks us. We all (except Alicia) have a good chuckle.

    That''s when we see light through the cracks in the elevator door. We get back into ready mode, which is everyone pressed against the walls for cover. I''m pressed against Mercy, but she''s still in mecha armor so it''s not that sexy.

    Did I mention that the armor doesn''t cover the bit of her thighs that extends from her waist to about 2 inches above the knee? So there''s this delicious strip of brown skin exposed amidst the metal plating. God I just want to squeeze-

    The doors slide open and we see maybe the last thing we expected. No monsters, no nuclear weapons, no horrid laboratory.

    ¡°Books?¡± asks Alicia.

    ¡°It''s a whole bleedin¡¯ library!¡± exclaims Quins. ¡°Reckon they have Hitchhikers?¡±

    Before us is a massive room, maybe a hundred feet tall, and I don''t know how wide or long. I can''t see around the shelves. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of bookshelves, each one four or five stories (get it?) tall. And each one is crammed full of books.

    I don''t see anything on my radar. I step in and look around with my newly heightened senses. The room is lit by glowing yellow orbs on the sides of each bookshelf. The shelves themselves are all at odd angles to each other, forming a sort of rat''s nest of a library. I approach one of the shelves and find it full of books in French. The shelf itself seems to be made of thick grey hardwood. I carefully pull a book off the shelf. Nothing happens so I flip it over. It''s an Arsene Lupin. Nice.

    ¡°I think this really is just a library,¡± I say. ¡°But let''s ninja sweep the area before we get cozy and make some tea.¡±

    We sweep the room as best we can and find nothing but millions of books. As far as we can tell, there''s no repeats, but there do seem to be some various language versions of books. Jose finds a shelf with Brandon Sanderson translated into Portuguese. Alicia finds a shelf that''s all King James bibles, but in different languages. The number of bibles is dwarfed by the number of smutty romance novels.

    There also seem to be books from various eras and time periods, though few are older than 1800. I''m pretty sure Quins found a copy of the Gutenberg Bible and slipped it into his inventory. Sneaky brit. I find some Jane Austins that are from the olden days and pocket a Pride And Prejudice.

    Jose finds a far wall and we follow it. The room turns out to be a very, very big circle with red brick walls. And just opposite where we came in is the exit, a 15 foot tall wooden door. I listen at the door.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I report. Then I notice the blue light along the bottom of the door. ¡°Wait, safe room.¡± With my now massive strength I push open the door a crack and look down into a narrow spiral staircase ripped right out of a castle. ¡°No, actually I think this is the safe room,¡± I say, motioning towards the library.

    ¡°So, lunch then?¡± asks Jose, who is always ready for lunch.

    ¡°Lunch,¡± I say, and bring my green cooler out of my inventory. This one is filled with a variety of Jimmy John''s sandwiches. I ordered about 50 of them one day, and stored them in inventory. The fact that stuff in there doesn''t age is absolutely wonderful. I''ve got fresh tuna and avocado, some turkey clubs, and more. All fresh as the hour they got made. Plus chips. Can''t forget the chips.

    Jose brings out his drink cooler and we have a library picnic. We all wander a bit, looking at what we think is literally every book ever printed. I spy a shelf with all of Jojo''s Bizarre Adventure in Spanish and smile. I open to a random page and find a man holding an ice cube while firing a revolver. Hirohiko Araki truly is a mad genius.

    We needed this. We needed a break from the violence, the loss of Franco, the horrors of the last two hospital and laboratory floors. We walk around and show each other oddities, funny titles and interesting rarities. I think we all end up pocketing a few volumes of something or other. Maybe to sell later. Maybe just to have. Maybe as a reminder of a perfectly decent moment in an awful place.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I say to the group after we gather before the stairs down. ¡°These should go to floor 14. Penultimate floor. Expect the worst. 15 is probably a big boss fight, so I bet the dungeon will throw numbers at us. Maybe a horde or something awful.¡±

    Everyone makes sure they''re locked and loaded. And me? I go over my status one more time...

 Appendix B: Level 69

    Note: This appendix omits all abilities that are in Appendix A

    Jun Kyung Han

    Pathbreakers Founder

    Lupus Rex squad leader

    Synergist Level 69

    Avg lvl 13~

    1st Step Classes

    Mage, level 1

    Fighter, level 1

    Rogue, level 1

    2nd Step Classes

    Charge Barrage Caster, level 3

    System Scout, level 3

    Far Caller, level 8

    Up Close With A Knife Killer, level 3

    3rd Step Classes

    Hedge Rake, level 3

    Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer, level 4

    Telekinetic Psychic, level 3

    Mid Ranger, level 3

    Hidden Blade Assassin, level 3

    4th Step Classes

    Armed Magus, level 7

    Supportive Ki Monk, level 4

    Masked Phantom, level 3

    Library Archmage, level 9

    Scummy Scoundrel, level 9

    Special Abilities

    Synergist Level 30 - Double Down. Choose one of your subclass abilities and enhance its effects.

    Synergist Level 50 - Duo Development. Choose two classes you qualify for. When you gain a level in one, you gain a level in the other as well.

    Strength 100 - Impact - Your attacks and instant uses of strength are increased by 50%.

    Dexterity 100 - Fire - Your attack speed increases by 50%.

    Agility 100 - Sprint - Increase your running speed by 50%.

    Intelligence 100 - Multitasking - You may split your intellect up into sub-minds to perform multiple tasks and thought patterns at once.

    Reflexes 100 - Peripheral - Your focus using all your senses becomes 50% more effective.

    Ki 100 - Accelerated Recovery - Your Ki Point recovery rate is increased by 50%.

    Arcana 100 - Refined Use - Your Arcana Point spell costs are halved.

    Subclasses

    Charge Barrage Caster - You can hold spells before completing the cast to empower them. You focus on small spells that can be used in quick succession. Basic attack spells cost 1 AP less, to a minimum of 1 AP

    Far Caller - Your familiar doesn''t have to be anywhere near you anymore. There''s no distance limit to it.

    Up Close With A Knife Killer - Melee weapons you wield deal 10% more damage. Knives you wield deal 15% more damage.

    Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer - Your fire and ice spell damage increases by 25%. While in negative AP your body takes on aspects of the elemental magic you use.

    Mid Ranger - You can use techniques limited to either melee or ranged weapons with the opposite type, assuming it isn''t an impossibility to do so.

    Hidden Blade Assassin - Light blades you wield deal 25% more damage.

    Supportive Monk - Your Ki is most often used to heal and purify. Your master and lower support and healing techniques use 33% less Ki. Techniques you learn are more likely to be support and healing techniques.

    Masked Phantom - You can summon a mask that instantly transforms you into a second outfit, only to return to your previous clothes when you remove the mask.

    Library Archmage - You gain all advanced spells.

    Scummy Scoundrel - Your status effects and debuffs are 33% harder to resist.

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 100

    Dexterity 105 (+4 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 105 (+4 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 30

    Constitution 30

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 110

    Memory 51

    Wisdom 15

    Charisma 50

    Reflexes 111 (+4 from M3 Mongoose)

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 100

    Spirit 0

    Faith 0

    Arcana 112

    Luck 10

    Techniques

    ---Striking Techniques---

    Trip

    Sweep the leg. Your foe takes a little extra damage if they fall for this move.

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Cross Slash

    Strike with two melee weapons in rapid succession, your Ki adding to the speed and damage of the strikes.

    Cost: 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 12%

    Rapid Strike

    Strike, but a little faster. 10% faster to start. You should practice this one to make it matter.

    Cost: 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Fade Strike

    Strike, then immediately slide back a few feet. Keep your enemies guessing.

    Cost: 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Blind Strike

    Strike to your side or back, letting your Ki guide your blow to a target you can''t see. Your Luck increases the chance this works out.

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Pressing Strike

    Strike with additional force that doesn''t deal more damage but does knock the enemy back 2 feet.

    Cost: 8 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Ricochet Shot

    Fire at any surface and rely on your Luck to make the shot bounce and hit your target.

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Spiral Thrust

    Stab forward while twisting your weapon, adding drill-like spiral energy to your attack.

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Eye Gouge

    Strike, if you land a hit anywhere near your target''s eyes your Ki pulls your weapon into their eye. Gross, but effective.

    Cost: 20 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Iai Strike

    Draw and strike. The draw is 30% faster and the strike deals 30% more damage.

    Cost: 30 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Empowerment Techniques

    Backstab

    You deal more damage to foes when you hit them from behind. 25% more damage, to be exact.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 17%

    Sneak Attack

    You deal more damage to unaware foes. 25% more.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 19%

    Bloody Blades

    You deal 14.5% more damage to enemies in the 5 seconds after you deal damage. This effect doesn''t stack but gets refreshed if you keep attacking.

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Passive

    Proficiency 145% (increased damage)

    Headshot

    This ability increases the damage if you hit their head. If the target doesn''t have a head you''re out of luck.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 77%

    Peerless Knives

    Your knives deal 46.1% more damage. Get straight to the point.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 461% (increased damage)

    Injury To Insult

    You deal 33% more damage to foes under a status effect that you dealt to them. This effect doesn''t stack if you apply multiple effects to a foe, but honestly being a dick to monsters is fine, so why not?

    Passive

    Proficiency: 35%

    Scummy Insult

    Enemies under one of your status effects are 35% more likely to be inflicted with another of your effects.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Defensive Techniques---

    Unarmored Armor

    Your Toughness is increased by 10% when not wearing armor. You can still wear clothes, we''re not promoting nudists. FYI, abilities like this only increase their proficiency for each minute you''re in battle.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 87%

    Glancing Chance

    You have a 5% chance to turn any strike against you into a glancing blow, which deals 50% less damage.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Pain Killer

    Your pain threshold is increased by 20%. You''ll still feel pain even if you master this, it just won''t bother you as much.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 78%

    Ki Body Armor

    While not wearing armor the damage resistance from Toughness is increased by 50% of your current Ki Points. Thus incentivizing you to never use KP on all the fancy abilities you have.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 87%

    Iron Cloak

    While wearing a cloak or coat and no armor, the damage resistance from Toughness is increased by 50% of your current Agility.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Purity Of Body

    Your body recovers from toxins and poisons 33% faster than normal. This is on top of whatever your Constitution does for you.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Recovery Techniques---

    Pure Palm

    Hold your hand over a target and reduce the duration of a status effect on them.

    Range: 2 inches

    Cost: 1 Ki Point per second

    Proficiency: 99%

    Healing Palm

    Hold your hand over a wound to slowly heal it. Doesn''t regrow anything chopped off.

    Range: 2 inches

    Cost: 1 Ki Point per second

    Proficiency: 241% (increased speed)

    Pain To Gain

    You recover health equal to 25% of the damage you dealt with your last attack.

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Restoration Palm

    Hold your hand over a wound to gradually heal it. Can''t regrow things lost but can stitch together things severed.

    Range: 2 inches

    Cost: 10 Ki Points per second

    Proficiency: 312% (increased speed)

    Exorcising Palm

    Hold your hand over an ally who is under a mental effect or curse and they''ll have a better chance of recovering from that effect. Your Luck increases this effect.

    Range: 2 inches

    Cost: 10 Ki Points per second

    Proficiency: 1%

    Restoring Clap

    Clap and release healing energy into the air around you, healing those within range by a small amount.

    Range: 10 feet

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Restorative Meditation

    While out of battle your Ki recovers 25% faster. This ability doesn''t gain Proficiency if you''re already at full KP.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 54%

    ---Utility Techniques---

    Ki Cloth Weaving

    Use your Ki to repair mundane cloth and clothing. Also cleans clothes. Doesn''t repair armor, but can clean it.

    Range: 5 feet

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 8%

    Shadow Sheathe

    You sheathe a weapon in a shadow on your body, and can withdraw it from your shadow at any time later.

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Smoke Cloak

    While inside of smoke you are 25% harder to detect.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Chakra Scan

    You gain the ability to see the chakras of those around you.

    Range: 30 feet

    Cost: 20 Ki Points per minute

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Mobility Techniques---

    Half Step

    Slide half your stride in any direction.

    Cost: 1 Ki Point

    Proficiency: 12%

    Back Dash

    Suddenly slide back 3 feet.

    Cost: 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 5%

    Soft Step

    Your steps are quieted

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 3 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Flicker Step

    As you move you become invisible for 0.1 seconds, which may throw off your foes.

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 7%

    Spiral Dodge

    A spinning dodge that lends centrifugal force to any strike you make immediately afterwards.

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 2%

    Meteor Charge

    Fly 50 feet at high speed, towards a foe. You have to target a foe to use this.

    Cost: 20 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Mapping techniques---

    Plant Flag

    You create a small flag on a metal stick that can be put in the ground or stuck to an object. The color of the flag is your choice. At the end of the duration you may choose to pay the KP cost and refresh the duration.

    Duration: 24 hours

    Cost: 5 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Counter Radar

    You don''t appear on enemy radar if their technique is Advanced or lower.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Map Share

    Touch an ally and grant them all of your radar related passive abilities for 10 minutes. At the end of the duration you may choose to pay the KP cost and refresh the duration.

    Range: Touch

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 23%

    Hunt Prey

    Lock on to a foe. You always know which direction they''re in for the duration.

    Range: sight

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Fire Spells---

    Heat Sheathe

    Coat a weapon in flames.

    Range: 1 held weapon

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Smoke Ball

    Throw a ball which explodes into a cloud of smoke.

    Range: however far you can throw a ball

    Area: 10 foot radius

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Burning Palm

    This hand of mine burns with justice, telling me to beat you!

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Electric Spells---

    Electro Charge

    Flow electrical energy into a battery or other electrical storage device.

    Range: 15 feet

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points per second

    Proficiency: 0%

    Spark Jump

    Using a coating of electrical speed, you leap 10 feet.

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Zap Shot

    Fire a ball of electric energy at a foe.

    Range: 30 feet

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency 1%

    Stun Snap

    Static Snap with a greater stun effect. Before it was a side effect. Now it''s the main draw.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 4 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Forked Bolt

    Touch a foe to shock them, and up to two additional nearby targets will suffer the same fate.

    Range: Touch, 30 feet

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 37%

    Electric Cage

    Drop a cage of lightning on a foe.

    Range: 10 feet

    Area: up to 10 feet diameter

    Duration: 10 seconds

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Lightning Lance

    Launch a massive spike of lightning at a foe.

    Range: 500 feet

    Cost: 25 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Earth Spells---

    Sand Slash

    A reaping claw of sand attempts to eviscerate your target.

    Range: 10 feet

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Sand Cloak

    A thin cloak of sand swirls about you, reducing the force of incoming attacks. May also reduce certain elemental attacks as well.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 1.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Stone Shot

    Fire a rugby ball of stone at a foe

    Range: 20 feet

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Stone Shield

    Turn a held shield or worn piece of armor into stone. It''s up to you whether this ends up as a benefit or not.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Stone Ride

    You slide rapidly across stone, dirt, sand and any other earthen surface.

    Duration: 1 second

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Rock Hide

    Coat your skin in stone, increasing your Toughness my 25%.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Sand Storm

    Conjure a swirling vortex of sand that slices into anyone inside of it- even you.

    Range: 50 feet

    Area: 20 foot diameter

    Duration: 10 seconds

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Wind Spells---

    Gust

    Shoot a burst of wind. May be enough to distract or disorient a foe.

    Range: 30 feet

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Air Bullet

    Fire a small shot of air. Probably not strong enough to break the skin but enough to bruise.

    Range: 50 feet

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Blow Out

    Create an eddy of swirling wind to distract people, disrupt projectile flights and mess up stacks of paper.

    Range: 50 feet

    Area: 5 feet

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Illusive Sound

    Throw off the origin point of sounds you make.

    Range: 30 feet

    Duration: 5 minutes

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 0%

    Whirlwind Slash

    Release a circular slash of air all around you.

    Area: 5 foot radius

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Gale Boots

    Increase your movement speed by 10%. If your Reflexes aren''t good enough to handle the speed that''s your problem.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Aero Shell

    Pull air into a round barrier around you to absorb a bit of incoming damage.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Air Rifle

    Fire a bullet of air with extreme range and precision.

    Range: 200 feet

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Flight

    You can fly. Your max flight speed is 100% of your maximum running speed.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Water Spells---

    Bubble Spray

    Fire a stream of 5 to 20 vaguely threatening bubbles at foes. Popular with toddlers.

    Range: 10 feet

    Cost: 1.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Water Cutter

    Have you ever seen one of those machines that cut steel with a high pressure water jet? This isn''t that strong, but you get the general idea.

    Range: 25 feet

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points per second

    Proficiency: 116% (increased pressure)

    Bubble Helmet

    Create a spherical helmet around you or an ally''s head. The helmet absorbs a tiny amount of damage but also contains clean air.

    Range: 10 feet

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Wet Floors

    Create a puddle of particularly slippery water.

    Range: 30 feet

    Area: 5 foot diameter

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Needle Rain

    A very, very hard rain falls, ripping apart any under it.

    Range: 50 feet

    Area: 20 foot diameter

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Flood

    Create a porthole in space that discharges 100 gallons of water for every second you cast the spell. You can choose if it''s freshwater or saltwater.

    Range: 50 feet

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points per second

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Ice Spells---

    Chill Guard

    Add a thin coating of cracked ice to any exposed part of your skin, protecting you from both extreme cold and extreme heat.

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Frost Skin

    Add an ice attuned layer of Arcana to your skin, giving you the strengths and weaknesses of ice.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Sapping Cold

    Call forth a cloud of chilling air around you that slowly erodes enemy strength and life. Also known as ¡°Brr It''s Cold Out Here.¡±

    Area: 5 foot radius

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points per second

    Proficiency: 180%

    Ice Armor

    Create part of a suit of ice armor with each cast, choosing which limb, your head or torso you''re protecting. You can cast up to 6 times to cover everything, and can recast to restore broken parts.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Snow Blind

    Create a circle of snow around a foe, effectively blinding them for a moment. You can''t see them either during this time, so use this carefully.

    Range: 25 feet

    Area: up to 10 foot diameter

    Duration: 5 seconds

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    White Dragon Breath

    Breathe ice, snow and cold like a white dragon. This is absolutely devastating to any normal human or animal.

    Area: A cone 50 feet long and 30 feet at its widest.

    Cost: 22.5 AP

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Light Spells---

    Light Mote

    Release a speck of light that circles you for 1 minute until you come within 15 ft of a foe, at which point it buries itself in the foe.

    Duration: 1 minute or impact

    Range: Personal / 15ft

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points per mote

    Proficiency: 0%

    Yellow Beam

    A sci-fi style blaster bolt.

    Range: 40 feet

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Sunglasses

    This creates sunglasses and equips them to your face. It does nothing else.

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Shimmer Step

    You slide, and are blurry as you move, making it harder to hit you.

    Range: 5 feet

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Gaslight

    An enemy sees you in the corner of their vision, distracting them.

    Range: 50 feet

    Duration: 30 seconds

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Book Cover

    Put a protective barrier around a book.

    Range: 5 feet

    Duration: 24 hours

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Solar Slam

    Create a basketball of light. You can throw it and it''ll explode or dunk on someone with it to punch them real good.

    Range: however far you can throw a basketball

    Area: 15 feet (if thrown)

    Cost: 17.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Scroll Scribing

    Create a scroll of one of your spells. This costs 10+ the spell''s regular AP cost. You can choose the duration of a sustainable spell, paying that amount of AP. Scrolls can be used by anyone, at the cost of 10 AP, regardless of its contents.

    Range: self

    Cost: 5+ Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Dark Spells---

    Night Shield

    Create a platter of shadow that is good at absorbing elemental damage but won''t stop physical attacks. The plate attaches to any part of you.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 1.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Shadow Stab Strike

    Stab with a weapon. A Shadow Stab extends your blade.

    Cost: 1.5 Arcana Points or 3 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Dark Mote Shot

    Attack with a ranged weapon. Where your projectile lands a Dark Mote will emerge to strike at a foe.

    Duration: 1 minute or impact

    Range: projectile''s range / 15ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Points or 2 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Night Shield Parry

    Instantly create a Night Shield and use it to block an attack. If you time the block to happen at the same time as the Shield finishes forming, the shield will absorb twice as much damage as normal.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 1.5 Arcana Points or 3 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Void Lance

    Launch a slender spear of purple void energy.

    Range: 50 feet

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Shadow Shell

    Coat yourself in dark energy. This can help hide you in dim light, but also absorbs some of light and dark elemental attacks.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    And Darker Still

    Wrap rings of shadow around your wrists, boosting your next dark elemental attack by 25%

    Duration: 1 minute or next dark elemental attack.

    Cost: 4 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Shadow Slash

    A blade of shadow appears from your hand and runs along the ground to find a foe.

    Range: 25 feet

    Cost: 6 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Obsidian Sphere

    Conjure a large ball of void energy to swallow anything in its path.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 7%

    Create Shade

    Create a shadow animal that fights alongside you. You can only have one summon at a time.

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Tome Absorb

    Instantly absorb all information in a book, destroying that book in the process. If the book is a spellbook, you learn any spells contained within.

    Range: touch

    Cost: 25 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Toxic Spells---

    Rot Touch

    Reach out, touch someone and make their flesh rot. Doesn''t work on things without flesh.

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Poison Blade

    A weapon you''re holding becomes tinged with a slowing and damaging poison.

    Duration: 10 minutes or until your weapon hits a foe

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Splash Guard

    Your poison resistance is increased by 10%.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Toxic Breathing

    You can breathe in toxins and poisons without harm.

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Noxious Dart

    A small, pen sized projectile flies unerringly into a target to deliver a harmful and crippling poison.

    Range: 50 feet

    Cost: 20 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    ---Psychic Spells---

    Telepathy

    Open a channel with another, then send them your thoughts. It comes to them like a whisper, always in your voice. They can refuse the connection.

    Range: 100 feet

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 0.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Psi Punch

    Deliver a short range, powerful telekinetic blow.

    Range: 15 feet

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Mental Wall

    Your defense against psychic attacks is increased by 150%.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 0%

 Chapter 51: Something Stupid

    8 Hours, 40 Minutes Until Reset

    Welp, that was a long-ass status update. Holy crap do I have a lot of spells and techniques now. Ah well. Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

    The stone spiral staircase down leads to... Another library floor. There''s no door so I just try to sneak in. This time I immediately hear the sounds of scratching coming from various places around the massive room.

    Jose comes up behind me and whispers, ¡°the same floor but with monsters?¡±

    I nod without turning back. I crouch-walk over to the closest bookcase. The scratching continues. I can''t see enemies yet. There''s nothing on my radar either. The sounds are coming from far away, a little over that way, up in the ceiling and low to the ground. Probably dozens of different enemies around the room.

    I head back to the stairs and motion for everyone to back up a bit. Inside the staircase and out of sight, I say, ¡°so I want to try something stupid.¡±

    ¡°Here we go,¡± says Alicia, with audible disdain. I''m starting to suspect that she doesn''t respect me.

    ¡°There''s monsters in various locations, so I want to just set the whole thing on fire and let the shelves collapse. Crush and burn everything without a fight.¡± There''s a moment of silence. ¡°But I shouldn''t do that because...¡± I leave room for the rebuttal. It doesn''t come.

    ¡°Yeah, okay,¡± says Jose.

    Mercy nods. ¡°We should avoid a fight if we can.¡±

    From around the corner I hear Quins say, ¡°Ooh, I just got incendiary grenade arrows, can I help?¡±

    Only Alicia seems troubled. ¡°Fine. Do something stupid.¡±

    People squeeze past each other on the stairs until Quins is up front with me. We do a countdown. He''s got two arrows with glowing red tips and I''ve got nine wakizashis with various fire spells charged up. On ¡°zero¡± we both let loose and a dozen bookshelves start on fire. Smoke quickly rises, though with the tall ceiling, I''m not sure if the room will actually fill with smoke.

    ¡°Time for a smoke break, eh?¡± Quins jokes, and we all head back to the safe room while in the distance we hear high pitched screeches.

    Or at least we try to head back. Halfway up the stairs I notice that the screeching is getting louder and louder. ¡°Alright, double time!¡± I shout to the people on the stairs ahead of me.

    Quins is last one up and he shouts ¡°go you bloody slugs! They''re coming!¡±

    He says it and I hear it. The scratching is close. I turn and see a massive wrinkled hand pulling its way up the stairs, long yellow nails scraping the stone and digging in like it''s butter. The hand must be three feet across from thumb to pinky and is attached to an equally long arm. I don''t see the main body but I hear something thudding along the ground.

    ¡°Gooooo!¡± I shout and the others ahead finally take things seriously and begin to run. I''m checking my radar but there''s still nothing there. These things must have an ability to thwart certain detection types.

    A low, gravely voice comes from down the stairs. ¡°Giiiive baaaack theeeee booooOOOKSSSS!¡± A grotesque hand whips around the stairs and fingernails sink into Quins''s leg. He winces in pain but doesn''t shout. He just immediately pulls at his leg, trying to free himself.

    I cast Molotov and start to chuck the flaming bottle when lefty the sub-mind realizes that it''s a viable target for Telekinesis. The orb flies out of my hand, I feel it round the corner and a flash of orange light shines along with the whoosh of flame. The creature screeches louder but doesn''t let Quins go. No, instead it reaches out with two more long, thin arms, the paper-thin skin sagging off it. More nails bite into Quins, grasping his other leg and right thigh.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Just go, captain,¡± he says, drawing a mundane arrow. He uses a technique and turns the arrowhead into a pineapple sized grenade. ¡°I''ll take this thing-¡±

    I snatch the arrow from his hand, use telekinesis on it, and hold it above us. I quickly pull out two wakizashis, and on each one I cast Holo Shield. This puts a wide, flat aura of yellow around each one. Now that my blades are technically shields, I can cast Fire Shield and Stone Shield on them. This turns the yellow light into half-molten lava. Then I add Aero Shell to each one to further increase the protection. Then the two shields come down in front of where Quins has been pulled to the ground and I crouch down with him.

    I fling Quins''s bomb around the corner once I''m ready. The grenade arrow goes off sending a shockwave through the staircase. The entire tunnel shakes and stones come loose from the walls. Also, the arms stop digging into Quins. They slacken. We wait for three seconds, our ears ringing. I move my shields out of the way and we see that beyond them a spherical chunk of stairs is just gone. A few rocks crumble from above us as if to punctuate the damage.

    I slap Quins on the arm. ¡°No blowing yourself half up! Not in the Pathbreakers! If there''s no good way out, just smash stuff until you find a way out!¡±

    ¡°Eh? I was gonna trick shot it around the corner. Should ¡®ave been alright.¡±

    ¡°Quins, you clearly don''t know the limits of your bombs yet. Not your fault, but cool it with the close up explosions, okay?¡±

    ¡°Sure, captain. I may be just a wee bit excited about the explodey arrow routine. It''s every archer''s dream, ya know?¡±

    I''m still crouched down next to him, and just plop down on the stairs. ¡°Look, I''m starting to think you''re pretty alright. Clearly not as much of a damage dealer as Jose-¡±

    ¡°Hey now-¡±

    ¡°But much more versatile. You need some more levels and practice, but I already think you''re a real asset to dungeon dives.¡±

    He looks very slightly touched. ¡°Aw, thanks mate. But er, do you mind making with the heal-y hands?¡±

    ¡°Right, right!¡± I start doing just that.

    Jose comes down and looms over us. ¡°Y''all good?¡±

    Quins quips back, ¡°yeah, mate, y''all''s well that ends well.¡± The fires rage downstairs and we go back up to the safe room.

    -----

    Conversation Log 0097

    Fortuna: Can I request a special dungeon?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: You can ask, I can''t guarantee anything.

    Fortuna: I need a dungeon in a certain location that serves two different purposes.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Details.

    Fortuna: A certain group would like a location to become a place that might, let''s say, have Cthulhian monsters in it.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Salem is already going to have an Arkham themed dungeon, I checked.

    Fortuna: This is going to be more out of the way. A location where a fierce battle took place three years ago, and there''s a nuclear weapons angle too.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Listening.

    Fortuna: I have a dungeon plan already outlined. Let me send it to you.

    Conversation Log 0098

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Something to note. Sentient dungeon masters can alter floors of their dungeon, one floor per week, instead of doing a dungeon break.

    Fortuna: Oh? Wait, what are the benefits of doing a dungeon break then?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: The dungeon gains experience points per kill, in or out of the dungeon.

    Fortuna: And you said they can exchange points for certain upgrades, correct?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Correct. Your proposed dungeon has a rather interesting possibility, actually. The nuclear weapons it creates. If they''re taken out of the dungeon and used, the dungeon itself may get credit for the kills.

    Fortuna: Would that be good or bad for us?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Not good or bad. Just interesting. The dungeon could suddenly grow much bigger, its dungeon master could grow much stronger. The sort of thing that should usually take a decade, done in a single button press.

    Fortuna: So are we doing this?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Only because I think it''ll be fun.

    Conversation Log 0099

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Do you know who I am? Is this a joke?

    Fortuna: I know who you are, yes. I rarely joke. Why?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: The location.

    Fortuna: Is it a problem? We''re planning on killing millions, possibly billions over the next decade. I didn''t think you''d be sentimental.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Why is everything coming together like this? Did you plan the whole thing?

    Fortuna: You were chosen for your skills and specific personality type. Not who your brother is. That part is merely a coincidence, I assure you.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I don''t believe you.

    Fortuna: We have all learned to not believe each other beyond what can be proved. We are all intent on keeping secrets.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I don''t know if I can continue working with you.

    Conversation Log 0100

    Fortuna: You understand now? The kind of power you''re dealing with?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Yes.

    Fortuna: And you''re going to keep playing ball, aren''t you?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Yes.

    Fortuna: Good. I want us to profit, to grow strong. We don''t need to turn against each other.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I see.

    Fortuna: Listen, I may have more power now, but soon you''ll be strong in your own right. Think about your *path to power.* This is the only way forward for you, for humanity.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I know.

    Fortuna: Good.

    <Fortuna has logged off>

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: I''m keeping these fucking logs, you bitch.

 Chapter 52: Segue

    6 Hours, 35 Minutes Until Reset

    It takes a while for the fires to burn down the whole 14th floor library. We just wait it out and a few of us get naps in. Jose brings out his crate full of coffee and we get caffeinated.

    I''m not sure how many monsters died in the fire, but I''m alright with an easy victory once in a while. The roughly two hours end up being extremely profitable for Quins, who gains 6 levels and I, who gains 3 levels. I slot one level into Scoundrel/Archmage to reach level 10 in Scoundrel, and the other two levels go into Phantom. I still think trying for the Doppelganger 5th step class is my best bet.

    For my levels I get stat points aplenty and two interesting abilities.

    Vision Cones

    You see enemy vision cones as part of your radar. Requires Basic Radar.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Masked Dash

    While in a costume or other alternate persona, your Agility is increased by 10%

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    While Masked Dash won''t help me now, an extra 10% Agility when you''re at 100 Agility is a pretty nice bump. The other two are immediately useful. I''m not a particularly sneaky person, but having vision cones on my radar can help me know who''s being targeted by who, and help defend and control the battle.

    I''ve come to realize that while I can function as a damage dealer, in most situations my allies can handle that. What I can do with defense, setting up shields and parrying attacks, is utterly unique and can keep my comrades alive. I can still attack thanks to my sub-minds and telekinesis, but I don''t need to focus on it so much.

    We finally enter the smoldering ruins of the floor 14 library and A) it stinks and B) there''s a LOT of coins and items around. There must have been dozens and dozens of the big handed monsters in here. We check corners and use night vision to make sure there''s none left but I''m pretty sure the fire took care of-

    A hand made of hands bursts out of the burned rubble and lunges at Mercy.

    All Hands. Tier 4. It''s a giant hand. Instead of fingers it has long arms that end in giant hands. I''m not sure what more of a description you really need. Oh, it''s weak to ice if that helps.

    Possible Loot: Rings

    Another foe I can use ice magic on- aaaaand it''s dead. Mercy just stabbed it with a laser spear and chucked it away.

    A dozen more All Hands burst from the rubble, and I can hear more emerging in the distance.

    ¡°Looks like we didn''t have all the fun, eh?¡± Quins asks me.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Horde protocol, V spread,¡± I say and I hear my team get into position behind me. I pull nine wakizashis up into the air, and turn the three under righty sub-mind''s control into holo shields, then try and succeed at using Ice Armor to turn them into large shields of ice. I post them in front of us for now and prepare for the attack.

    Five of the All Hands rush ahead. They move by dragging themselves forward, the palm of the hand being pulled along. They''re much faster than I expect, booking it towards us in no time flat. They''re on us as Jose and Quins each take one out with heavy attacks, and Mercy stabs into one. I fire Freezing Beams at two hands, the thin beams of cold freezing joints which crack under fire from Alicia''s twin handguns.

    A second wave of 10 All Hands hits us just as we finish off the first five. Quins and Jose take out targets but we''re about to get overrun. The charging hands push past their shocked and exploded allies and are within 15 feet when I send a blade to the right and cast White Dragon Breath through it. A spiraling cone of white snow and sparkling ice shoots from my blade, instantly freezing the closest two hands. The others come to a halt but I just sweep the cone across their ranks and freeze four more hands. My allies are quick to capitalize and shatter them with a few well placed bullets.

    The remaining four hands resume their charge as my ice breath attack fades buuuut I just cast White Dragon Breath from a different blade and we wipe out the remaining hands.

    ¡°Well, that was easy,¡± Mercy says while flipping her spear around.

    ¡°Nah,¡± Jose says, ¡°Jun is just too strong.¡±

    ¡°It was a team effort,¡± I say.

    As he plucks a few arrows from a hand Quins says, ¡°nah, sir, he''s right as rain. You just froze the shite out of the monstas and even had shields up fer backup. You''re bleeding strong.¡±

    I just shrug. I''m a Ranger. Or I was. We were supposed to be strong. I flash back to putting Nat on the ground and threatening her. A moment where I used my strength the wrong way. ¡°Being strong isn''t everything,¡± I say. What I don''t say is that even if you''re strong you still have to not be a dick.

    We comb through wreckage and enemy corpses to find a lot of coins and various rings.

    All Hands Index Finger Ring. When you put it on you get to choose which stat it gives a +5 to.

    All Hands Middle Finger Ring. Gives +5 to whatever stat would help you the least.

    All Hands Ring Finger Ring. Gives +1 to all stats.

    All Hands Pinky Finger Ring. Gives +10 to your lowest stat. If multiple stats are your lowest, the bonus is split between them.

    Most of us walk away with three or four rings, though I don''t take any of them, letting my allies take the stat ups. I feel like I''m already ahead of them too much.

    I don''t know why it makes me uneasy to be strong. Maybe because I don''t feel like I''ve done anything with this strength yet. Sure, I''ve fought monsters, but the people we''ve saved have been a group effort. Anyone could have done that¡­ Right?

    We get to the final exit of the dungeon, the stairs down to the 15th floor. The stairs are a bannistered wooden staircase in the exact middle of the floor, though the top parts of it are a tad scorched. The walls are lit with gas lamps, giving the passage a dim, yellow tint. I go down first.

    These stairs aren''t nearly as long as some previous floor connections. Just a couple of stories¡¯ worth of stairs and I come to two wide wooden doors. There are iron knockers on the doors, like there would be on the outside of a manor.

    ¡°What knockers,¡± Quins says right in my ear.

    I wave him away and try the door handle. Locked. ¡°Wait, locked?¡± I ask the door. The door doesn''t explain itself.

    Alicia brushes me aside and crouches at the door, peering through the keyhole. ¡°Just a two pin lock. I''m guessing there''s a key in the room above, hidden in the books. But screw that.¡± She uses a technique and the lock glows gold for a second and we hear a click.

    ¡°Jill is the master of unlocking,¡± Jose says right in my ear.

    I lightly slap both him and Quins away as the door creaks open. And then we hear just about the last thing I expected. Arabic. I speak just a smidge and can make out a little.

    ¡°Come¡­ friend¡­ Enter.¡±

    -----

    Conversation Log 0061

    Spear Saint: Are our custom classes done? Will we get them right away?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: The five 5th step classes we selected should be given to us by the system via the secret qualifications. You can use a 5th class to quickly unlock your custom 6th step classes.

    Hyperion: And we''re the only ones who can get 5th steps on day one?

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Well, to make it happen at all I had to open it up to anyone. But each 5th step class will only be given once, and only ours will be given out. You have to ask the system specifically to even access these classes.

    Fortuna: What did everyone decide on for their 5th step classes? I chose Shadow.

    Spear Saint: Highlander.

    Skull Master Flash: Technomancer.

    Hyperion: Commander.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring: Synergist.

 Chapter 53: The Author

    5 Hours, 50 Minutes Until Reset.

    Alicia translates. ¡°His name is Abdul Alhazred, he thinks he''s been trapped here for thousands of years and wants our help to escape.¡±

    ¡°Fuck no,¡± Mercy says firmly. ¡°He''s the fictional character who wrote the Necronomicon.¡±

    He seems to recognize the word Necronomicon and speaks excitedly. ¡°He says he wrote that to help people, it''s not an evil book. He says it''s a book for explorers to prepare against the dark.¡±

    The 15th floor is absolutely bizarre. It''s a typical English mansion, but the only resident is this seemingly ordinary guy, who is apparently fictional. We came through the front doors and were immediately greeted by Abdul. Out the windows seems to be fog and rain. The fog is yellow. So that seems bad.

    ¡°I don''t even know how a non-monster would exist outside of the dungeon,¡± I say. ¡°We usually just kill anything that escapes.¡± I think about Jurassic Park and have to ask, ¡°unless someone is trapping and keeping monsters for science and profit.¡± I get a look from Jose. ¡°Aw shit someone''s doing just that aren''t they? Fucking humans.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, he''s the dungeon master so we have to kill him,¡± Alicia says, matter of factly.

    Abdul Alhazred. Tier 1. An author. He''s a regular human, so he''s weak to a lot of stuff.

    Possible loot: notes.

    Abdul Alhazred looks like any thin middle easterner in his 50s. Bronze skin, wrinkles from too much sun, loose white linen robes. ¡°I can''t imagine just killing this guy,¡± I say, trying to smile at him so he doesn''t know what we''re talking about.

    Mercy clenches her fist. ¡°Evil. Book. Author.¡±

    Quins puts in his two pence. ¡°He says it''s like a guide book. Would you call a man who writes about Tigers evil? Nah.¡±

    ¡°I''m a Ranger, not an assassin,¡± states Jose.

    ¡°I can take the shot,¡± Alicia says, also smiling at Abdul. ¡°If you guys can''t.¡±

    ¡°Let''s just slow down and talk to the first reasonable resident of a dungeon I''ve ever met.¡± I gesture towards a living room.

    Half an hour later we''ve learned several things.

    <ol>

    <li>Abdul has fake memories. A whole lifetime''s worth. He claims he was trapped here by cultists from Nyarlothotep.</li>

    <li>The food in the pantry resets every day so he hasn''t starved.</li>

    <li>There''s a computer upstairs, which Mercy is currently checking and hacking into.</li>

    <li>He has the key to the dungeon and can give it to us. We do not have to kill him. Yay. I was probably going to have to fight Alicia on that.</li>

    <li>Abdul makes a heck of a cup of tea.</li>

    </ol>

    Abdul also shows Jose and I to where our special Thank You, Come Again! quest items are. A naan for me and a chocolate chip cookie for Jose.

    Jun Kyung Han''s Naan Of Leveling. A special flatbread that gives Jun Kyung Han 14 levels because he killed 56 men. That was the number, by the way. Fifty six deaths by your hands. And now you get to profit off of all the orphans you made that day.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Jose Amarillo''s Chocolate Chip Cookie Of Leveling. A special cookie that gives Jose Amarillo 18 level ups all at once. He killed 73 people that day. Did you know he sleeps totally fine at night because he reasons that each death was because every enemy soldier was someone who wanted his kids to lose their father? He is supported by his family, and knowing that his family is supported by him. You still have a lot to learn from your friend.

    Jose just stows his cookie in his inventory and I figure I should do the same. 14 levels could be 4 subclass abilities which could change my game, or I could head straight for Doppelganger and-

    ¡°Holy SHIT!¡± comes Mercy''s yell from upstairs. ¡°I GOT IN AND IT''S IMPORTANT!¡±

    We all rush to her in the upper office. ¡°It''s conversation logs,¡± she says, a quiver in her voice. ¡°They''re¡­ They''re talking about the Dracosys¡­ As they make it.¡±

    ¡°Who''s they? How do you know?¡± Alicia asks.

    ¡°Time stamps. They have screen names. Hyperion, Fortuna, Spear Saint, Skull Master Flash and Saturn''s 2nd Ring.¡±

    I slump down in a chair in front of the desk and my head spins. No. Not that. Don''t say that name to me.

    Saturn''s 2nd Ring was my little brother''s gamer tag on the Xbox 360. He had copied my screen name, Saturn''s 1st Ring. Fuck.

    ¡°And there''s nothing else on the computer,¡± Mercy says. ¡°I checked the-¡±

    Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. No. That''s impossible. My brother? No way. Impossible. He still lives with dad. He only has a part time job as night security for an office building.

    ¡°Already downloaded,¡± Mercy says.

    ¡°I''ll set this to upload as soon as we get a connection,¡± Alicia says. ¡°Actually, this is too important, you guys have this, I need to go.¡± Alicia bolts out of the room.

    No no no no no! NO!

    ¡°Jun, you okay?¡± Jose asks me.

    Mercy looks up from the computer. She''s lifting the tower and it goes into her inventory. ¡°Jun?¡±

    This isn''t real. None of this is real. I''m in a damn dungeon for God''s sake! This is all made up. Some hallucination. That''s right.

    I feel Quins shake my shoulder. ¡°He''s my brother,¡± I hear myself whisper.

    ¡°Who is?¡± asks Mercy.

    This isn''t right. This is some game or trick he''s pulled. I''ll talk to him when we get home. It''ll be fine. It''ll be fine.

    ¡°It''ll be fine,¡± I say, lying to everyone including myself. ¡°Let''s get everyone out and then I''ll trigger the dungeon collapse.¡±

    ¡°We taking ol¡¯ Abdul?¡± Quins motions towards the confused man with a thumb.

    ¡°Nah,¡± I say, not really giving a crap either way at this point. ¡°No. Wait.¡± I slap my forehead with the back of my hand. It stings enough to center me. ¡°Yeah, we''ll try to save him if we can. That''s what the Pathbreakers should do.¡±

    We make a plan and I try not to have a panic attack. When a dungeon is set to collapse you get just minutes to escape before it goes crunch. Because of the 24 Hour Lockdown quest, we can''t actually leave until someone hits the button to finish the dungeon. But we can certainly park ourselves at the entrance and wait right there. To make sure everyone is out, we all make the ascent together, including Abdul.

    As we take the slow elevator from the 13th floor to the 12th, Abdul begins to mutter to himself.

    ¡°No¡­ Door¡­ Fancy, ¡± I hear.

    Quins responds to him in Arabic, and they begin to have what seems like a friendly conversation as we wait.

    When we get to the horrid 12th floor operating room Quins turns to me and simply says, ¡°had an Arabic mate when I was little, and I wanted to impress his pretty sister.¡± He gives me a smile that''s missing a tooth. ¡°Know some poetry too. Very romantic, the Arabs.¡±

    We keep going. I know I''m probably going to have to time myself on a run before I pull the trigger on the collapse. We get to the ladder that goes from the 11th floor to the 10th, and Mercy stops me before I climb, letting the others go first.

    ¡°It has to be me and you know it,¡± she says.

    ¡°Sorry, no. I have the highest Agility so I have to press the dungeon-collapse button.¡±

    ¡°I can fly, Jun. I can fly almost as fast as your run speed, but I can fly straight up. I can skip all the ladders and all the elevators. I can make it out and you can''t.¡±

    ¡°Mercy, it might take me a practice run but I think-¡±

    ¡°Let me do this, Jun. Let me crush this place.¡±

    I look into her eyes. There''s a strength there that''s new, or at least new to me. I wasn''t the only one who changed in this dungeon, was I?

    I hold her mecha armored hand and smile. ¡°What did I do before I had you?¡±

    She tilts her head coyly. ¡°You were sad and lonely and a bit dumb.¡± I act hurt. ¡°But at least you were cute.¡± She kisses me.

    I try to ignore the fact that so many people died in this dungeon. So many people were brought here to be butchered. Franco was killed here.

    She grabs my butt and kisses me harder. There''s always death but there''s always something to live for, isn''t there?

 Chapter 54: Exfiltration

    4 Hours, 28 Minutes Until Reset

    We meet up with Alicia at the cave entrance. She''s gotten a signal and has already sent the Conversation Logs to whoever needs them. I can see the desert night sky outside. Thousands of stars in the twilight.

    It''s time for Mercy to make the trip back down and end this place. I want to say something clever and squad leader-y. Instead I say, ¡°don''t trip.¡±

    She tilts her head in sincere confusion. ¡°On something specific? Or just in general?¡± Alright, so maybe it wasn''t sincere confusion but mocking mimicry.

    ¡°Just be safe,¡± I tell her, and squeeze her hand.

    ¡°Everything between here and there is dead. I got this.¡± And with that she flies off at high speed.

    ¡°That armor is really unfair,¡± Jose says, watching her fly. ¡°I hope I can fly someday.¡±

    I''ve just watched my girlfriend fly away in robot armor and my best friend, with all seriousness, is hoping to also gain flight. The Dracosys really has done a number on the world.

    I time her trip down, waiting for the dungeon collapse notice. It comes seven minutes, 11 seconds after Mercy leaves.

    ¡°Warning! Warning! Dungeon will return to previous form in 600 seconds!¡± The voice comes from all around us, and is in English. I wonder if that''s because we speak English or because that''s just what the system uses.

    Mercy has a whole ten minutes to escape, and I''m not that worried about her. Just, you know, I have a very mild panic attack. In ten minutes my girlfriend could die. No. Big. Deal.

    Mercy actually makes it out with four minutes to spare. She really is something, that girl.

    We''re all (including Abdul Alhazred) waiting outside the cave for the CIA stealth heli-jet (not it''s official name) to arrive when I hear a voice. He''s smooth and confident. And American.

    ¡°Pathbreakers, good to see you.¡±

    I turn to look. How the fuck did a guy in a business suit get out here? I can make him out clearly in the pale light of the moon. He''s tall, thin and good looking. His suit is dark blue, his tie is red, his hair is short, black and slicked back. He looks like he belongs on Wall Street, not the desert.

    ¡°Uh, hey?¡± I say, and address the man who''s just 50 feet away. Both Jose and Alicia draw guns. Jose fires.

    A swirl of green wind energy spirals around Jose''s bullet and brings it to a stop just inches from the man''s face. That''s when I remember that face.

    ¡°Desmond Pierce,¡± I call out. ¡°Obviously with high levels and wind magic. What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Oh, mister Han, great to finally meet you. I''m sorry it''s under these circumstances, I''ve heard great things.¡± His voice exudes smarmy, upper class glad handing. ¡°I''ve got a message to send and you''re the perfect ones to deliver it.¡±

    I reply with as much smart assery as I can manage. ¡°Great, I love delivering mail. The postal service keeps telling me to stop, but I have to follow my passions, you know?¡±

    ¡°Yes, quite. So I do need to ask if miss Bennet is recording and live streaming this interaction. I''m hoping for the yes.¡±

    I turn to her. The six of us are roughly standing in a circle, with Alicia and I up front and Quins, Mercy and Jose behind us. We''re all standing on the partially complete dark stone temple to Cthulhu. Desmond is standing in front of the sacrificial altar and that''s not troubling at all. Abdul is currently running to take cover behind a large pillar. Smart man.

    ¡°Alicia?¡± I ask, one eye on Desmond.

    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± she answers. ¡°Anything you do here is immediately known by the CIA.¡±

    ¡°Thanks so much!¡± Desmond says. ¡°Because the thing is, the US hasn''t really taken our operation seriously yet, so I need to make things clearer.¡± An item appears from his inventory and unfortunately I recognize it immediately. It''s one of the nuclear bomb suitcases from the 10th floor.

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

    ¡°So your handlers know, this is a nuclear bomb. It''s one of several we obtained from the R-32 dungeon. We, the Ambrose Society, need to make our position clear.¡±

    I''m holding my breath. I try to see if his bomb is counting down. It''s too far away to tell.

    ¡°How did you get here?¡± I ask, suspecting the answer.

    ¡°I flew,¡± comes his short reply. Wind powers strong enough to stop a bullet from Jose''s MK11 Mod 0 sniper rifle have to be top-tier. I''m betting he can fly using wind magic. I can fly too, but he doesn''t need to know that.

    ¡°Anyways, I came to deliver the message that nowhere is safe now. We can stow these in our inventories to get through any security checks. We can deliver them anywhere, any time.¡±

    ¡°But what exactly do you want?¡± I ask. ¡°You did think that far ahead, right? Or are you just trying to get your influencer rep up?¡± I was always a smart ass to bullies in school and in the Army.

    ¡°Mr. Han, you aren''t actually required for this, so if you would settle down and let the grown ups talk-¡±

    A bolt of lightning fires from Jose''s rifle and gets deflected by a green energy barrier. The barrier takes bullets from Alicia and arrows from Quins. Mercy and I rush forward in tandem. Mercy''s laser spear flickers on and my wakizashis fly out, just a few feet ahead of me.

    A wide gust of air hits us like a gigantic slap, knocking Mercy and I off balance and sending us careening to the side. A five-foot-wide hand made of lime green wind grabs my wakizashis and crushes them, breaking them into pieces. Half a dozen three-foot-long wind javelins appear around Desmond. They dart out towards Jose, Alicia and Quins. I hear the tearing of flesh but just get on my feet and cast Create Shade with each hand.

    My open hands shoot forward and two circles of shadow rise from the desert floor, leaving behind 3D replicas of my own shadow. The shades dash towards Desmond. He pulls wind into long green spears and throws them, missing one shade and lancing the other straight through. It pops like a balloon. I move forward as my remaining shade leaps onto Desmond with a dagger-like hand of shadow. Desmond brushes aside the shade like he did Mercy and I, and the shade pops as it impacts a sharp boulder.

    He throws more wind javelins at my team and I turn to look at the scene of horror. Quins is missing an arm. Jose''s right foot, his last remaining foot, is gone and he''s fallen forward. Alicia is clutching her neck.

    Mercy flies and rushes in with her spear as I run to heal my comrades. Mercy''s spear clashes with a large lance made of wind. I reach Quins first and heal him just enough to stop the bleeding.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Grab your arm!¡± I say to him. He looks utterly dazed, and just drops to his knees in the now bloodied sand. His bow is beside him, snapped in half. I get to Alicia and have to pull her hand away from the neck wound so I can heal it. There''s so, so much blood. I heal the gash quickly and move to Jose.

    Jose has his foot in one hand and says, ¡°just call Biscuits and go!¡± I take his recommendation and summon my familiar, the winged kitten Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr., from a sphere of glowing orange energy. The kitten hops over to Jose and meows. Biscuits likes Jose. I can trust her to heal him up.

    I turn back to the fight and Mercy''s energy-bladed spear grinds against a whirling green lance of wind. Mercy is clearly putting everything she has into the attack but Desmond doesn''t even seem to be sweating. I can make him sweat.

    I rush forward and create two Burning Blades, then two more. My swords fly ahead of me, utilizing the 50% faster attack speed bonus from having over 100 Dexterity. Desmond''s Reflexes and concentration must be extraordinary because he continues to fight Mercy with the lance in his left hand while creating another giant wind hand with his right. He intercepts the blades with the wind hand. The hand is engulfed in flames but remains active. He clamps down on my Burning Blades and they shatter, then Desmond fires the damn flaming hand right at me. I cast Sand Cloak and the desert sands whip around me, and I try to rush right through the hand. It explodes around me and my Sand Cloak is blasted away, but I keep moving forward.

    I get in close to Desmond and create two more Burning Blades, followed by another spell. The blades fling forward but Desmond uses a horizontal swipe of his lance to slash away both the swords and Mercy. Unfortunately for him I used the blades to hide my real attack, and a Molotov drops down from above him, exploding over his head.

    He''s only stopped for a moment, then a mini-tornado spirals around him, snuffing out the flames. The tornado dissipates and Desmond Pierce seems totally undaunted, though his suit is scorched in spots and his jacket falls off in tatters. He uses a hand to put his hair back in position and just smirks.

    ¡°Sorry kids, but that 6th step is a big one.¡± A chain of air fist strikes plow into me and even though my Toughness is keeping me alive, it can''t keep me on my feet. A giant uppercut knocks me up, then a series of giant jabs slam into me before a spinning haymaker sends me flying.

    My sub-minds keep working even though I''m seeing stars. 6th step? He''s got a 6th step class? How? The 6th step classes are that strong? My head hurts. My left arm is limp, I think it''s broken. His powers definitely seem to have specific ranges, just like regular spells. That tornado seemed strong but maybe it has too high a cost to use repeatedly. Or maybe it''s purely defensive. The molotov dealt damage, I''m sure, so maybe the tornado healed him as well. Yeah, that would keep him from wanting to spam it if it was higher cost due to-

    I skid to a stop next to Jose. He''s got Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr in one hand and a friggin chocolate chip cookie in the other. ¡°Eat this and your naan.¡± Jose''s rifle is bent. He must have blocked with it. Alicia is currently starting to pass out. Desmond and Mercy are both flying about 20 feet off the ground and slashing wildly at each other.

    Desmond is too fast. He''s moving at near Mach speed and Mercy is taking hits. I can see bits of her armor break off. I eat the damn cookie. I pull my naan out and fold it in half so I can eat it in two bites. And a swarm of lights begins to circle me.

    Notice! Jose Amarillo''s Chocolate Chip Cookie Of Leveling has been consumed. 18 levels have been gained. Spend at least 8 of your 18 levels in the next 60 seconds or they will be lost!

    Notice! Jun Kyung Han''s Naan Of Leveling has been consumed. 14 levels have been gained. Spend at least 22 of your 32 levels in the next 60 seconds or they will be lost!

    5 levels immediately go into Phantom to bring it to 10, unlocking the Doppelganger 5th step class. And unlocking something very, very good.

    Synergist, Level 75 - Level Zero

    You are considered level zero in any class you''re qualified for but have no levels in. This alters your effective level and how difficult it is to gain levels.

    My average level shoots down from around 13 to 2.82 as I become level zero in 71 different classes. And I gain 12 more levels due to the difference. 39. I now have 39 levels to spend. I cram twenty levels into Doppelganger, and I feel something change.

    Time slows, then seems to stop. I see Mercy, bleeding, and about to lose a fight and probably die. I see Jose, gritting his teeth through pain as Biscuits''s magic mends his leg. I see Alicia, holding her neck and collapsing into the desert sand. I see Quins, on his knees, gripping his arm stump.

    My eyes turn up. Up to the stars. They call to me. They call to me here, in this place, this temple to cosmic gods. I feel their pull. I could let them take me, let them take all of us. We could drift up into the stars.

    That would have been nice. That would have been my choice a few months ago, to let myself go, to let everything go. But not anymore. I look again at the stars, and instead of letting them pull me, I pull them. I reach out and grasp stars by the hand full. I pull them down and they circle me as my telekinesis takes hold of them. I form shapes, constellations. And I know that this is my path to power.

    Astral Pathbreaker

    Wield the stars and create new constellations to enhance yourself and allies.

    A 6th Step class. No known subclasses, no known class evolutions.

    Time resumes but the stars haven''t left me. There are almost 100 of them. One star floats over to Jose, another to Alicia and one to Quins. Each star is just a pinpoint of light, but I know each one carries within it any and all of my powers. I cast Healing Palm on all three at once.

    Stars swirl and spiral at my back as I cast Flight and rise off the ground. The stars spin rapidly and I suddenly jet forward to where Mercy and Desmond are fighting. I float between them and they pause their battle. My eyes are on Desmond but I can feel through the stars. A star goes to Mercy and begins to heal her lacerated side.

    Desmond smirks. ¡°Flight and healing won''t keep me from killing-¡±

    Stars swirl around my right arm and I jet forward. I impact before he even gets the next word out, slamming 40 spiraling points of light into his gut. He goes flying back dozens of feet, skips off the desert floor and keeps going dozens of feet more before grinding to a halt in sand.

    I fly after him and he recovers just in time to intercept my next punch. His air lance whirls into existence and parries my star punch. He flies back and prepares to thrust forward with the lance and I spin up my own lance of stars. We both charge and our lances collide, both exploding into their components. That''s when my stars swarm him, delivering dozens of tiny blows. I cast a one-second Flame Thrower from 20 stars that are circling him and he summons his mini-tornado to dispel the flames and probably heal himself.

    I pull back my stars and put five stars on my own arm to use Healing Palm with 5x speed. No, that wasn''t Flame Thrower. Prominence Burn? Some of my abilities have changed. Some drastically. I don''t have time for that now, though.

    Desmond fires six air javelins at me. I step and dodge four, then smash into the last two with stars. My stars are marble-sized, each one reminding me of the Dark Motes I started all this with, except these shine with blue-white light.

    He rushes forward with two wind hands and I shoot stars into each palm like bullets, then cast Solar Mote from inside each hand, blowing them up from the inside. I feel my Arcana Points drop low.

    This power, my power, is incredible. And I can tell it''s already running out. Desmond spits out blood. ¡°Finally serious, then?¡± His once smooth voice is now scratchy. He flys forward, creating a set of six giant wind hands, each clenched into a fist. I fly forward to meet him and pull 10 stars into a circle in front of me. They turn neon purple and I cast a new version of my first spell, Dark Mote Grenade, 10 times. Then I pull my stars around me in a loose sphere to take the attacks.

    The wind fists collide first, slamming into my still glowing purple stars. Each fist presses and pushes against my shield. My stars flicker and one by one they disappear. Then Desmond himself comes into range. The 10 baseballs of black and purple energy suddenly shoot forward in a barrage of deathly energy. Desmond tries to block with his wind hands and he manages to block most, but not all of them. That doesnt help though. Each Dark Mote Grenade explodes into dozens of Dark Motes, which home in on him from all directions.

    Desmond''s right ear is gone. His left eye is bleeding. His formerly handsome face is ripped apart. His shirt is riddled with holes. His left arm hangs limp and useless. His right leg is covered in blood. He does not scream. His voice still works. ¡°Next... time...¡±

    A rifle shot rings out and takes him in the collar bone. Jose always had more than one gun in his inventory, so I''m only surprised that this man''s head is still intact.

    Desmond flies straight up at high speed, blood trailing behind him. I should follow. If I were a soldier I would have to follow. But I''m not a soldier anymore. I''m going to help my comrades.

    I turn to my teammates and check each one. Mercy''s armor is demolished but she''s fine. I rush back to Quins to reconnect his arm and check that Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr did a good job on Jose. (She did.) Mercy takes the extra nuclear bomb into her inventory. It had 12 seconds left on the timer.

    The heli-jet arrives, we carry Alicia onto the transport, and five of the six who went into R-32 get to go home.

    Plus a cat and a fictional man from the dungeon. I''m sure they''re going to have a LOT of questions for Abdul.

 Chapter 55: Ongoing

    Three nuclear bombs go off shortly after we escape Afghanistan. Each in a densely populated but strategically unimportant location. Kazan, Russia. Chicago, United States. Abha, Saudi Arabia. The death toll is in the millions and the Ambrose Society goes from a rumor to a global threat overnight.

    Nobody knows how many agents they have, or how many bombs they have left. It could be one, it could be thirty. A new, globe-unifying threat, except one that instills fear between neighbors and friends. True terrorism.

    The Pathbreakers return home, wounded and mostly alive. I have to deliver the news to Franco''s mom, who lives in a trailer park in Oklahoma. She seems to be an alcoholic chain smoker. I have to phone his brothers to tell them because they''re both in jail and I immediately understand that Franco escaped this hole. He bettered himself and wasn''t like his family. He wasn''t the sharpest, but he was hard working and honorable, unlike the people who raised him. So I end up missing the guy more after that. It feels like it would have taken a while, but we would have gotten along alright.

    The bombs shake the world order and suddenly Interpol and the UN are deemed important again. Nobody else can legitimately track the Ambrose Society, and people are demanding as much information as possible be out in the open. Turns out some people (the US, China, England and Russia) in the world knew about the bombs and that information got out and now the general population is maaaaad.

    We have to take the next day to give the government our nuclear bombs, which is genuinely nerve wracking. We do it inside of Cheyenne Mountain though, and we get a brief tour of the old command center. I ask to see the stargate and get shown to a broom closet with a crayon drawing of the sci-fi prop taped to the wall.

    I find myself wanting to get out there and close dungeons more and more. We start knocking out small dungeons that are real problems for the locals. We tackle a dungeon in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the JFK ruin in downtown Dallas and another ruin in North Dakota. All within a week of us returning from Afghanistan.

    At the end of the week I make sure we get time off and I organize a company outing to the Free Play Arcade in Arlington. We all enjoy some local craft beers, share nachos and sliders and play way too much Street Fighter II. The whole Pathbreakers crew is there, except for the security team. (I give them gift cards instead.) Phoenix Team regails us with the epic tale of the four days it took to shut down the Grand Canyon ruin. I give a rousing speech that is only good when you''ve had a few beers. Brian, our newest hire, shows us the new website design and it is indeed better than the old one. I''m still not sure why being Gay makes him good at websites, but I can''t argue the point.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    We laugh. We slap each other on the back. We find a karaoke place and make fools of ourselves. We laugh some more.

    This. This is what I want to keep. I realize that for all the guns and ammo and operations, the Pathbreakers are not military. We''re something else. We''re part nerd club, part wizardry school, part ninjas, part SWAT, and partly just friends and colleagues. And fuck if that doesn''t feel like home to me.

    But there''s still danger out there. Still dungeons to break, still ruins to sweep. And we haven''t even tried out an arena. Still need to check out one of those. Maybe the former Fenway Park arena.

    It''s getting late and everyone but Mercy, Jose, Madeline and Quins have gone home. The karaoke shop is trying to close up and the attendant is politely asking if we''re through.

    ¡°We''re not through, not by a long shot,¡± I tell her. ¡°The Pathbreakers are just getting started. There''s a raid boss in three weeks, Ambrose jerks to root out, and those conversation logs to decipher and look through. Also my brother, I still gotta confront him, probably. So, no, we''re not done.¡±

    ¡°I meant with the room, sir?¡±

    I drunkenly narrow my eyes at her suspiciously. ¡°Why? You got a secret Ambrose meeting here later?¡±

    ¡°No, sir, it''s 1 AM and I want to go home.¡±

    ¡°I''m sorry about my friend,¡± Jose says, handing her a generous tip. ¡°I''ll take these idiots home.¡± He''s my designated driver. And he''s really good at not drinking.

    ¡°Well, I for one am shocked that I can get New Castle ale in America,¡± Quins says, holding up his empty bottle. ¡°Who knew flippin¡¯ Dallas was so invested in good ales?¡±

    ¡°Oh, don''t get Jun started on IPAs though,¡± Mercy warns him. ¡°He really, really hates them.¡±

    ¡°THEY TASTE LIKE LAWN CLIPPINGS!¡± I correctly inform everyone.

    Jose drags us all to his SUV and slides us into seats. He flicks on the radio and the overnight BBC news is on.

    An overly posh man reads the news. ¡°A man named Hubert Sink, American, is the first to be indicted for causing the Dracosys disaster. His company, Rero Pharmaceuticals was revealed to have created the SIVID-1 virus with the intent of vaccinating the public against harmful effects of the Dracosys. No word on the exact details yet, but Mr Sink is said to be extremely dangerous and is currently on the run from American authorities.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± I say. ¡°That must be Spear Saint, right?¡±

    Jose drives forward. ¡°Yeah, and anyone hiding him is going to be arrested as well.¡± Sigh. He''s talking about my brother.

    I''m drunk but can still tell when I''m being poked at. ¡°Yeah, only if they knew for sure.¡±

    ¡°Just talk to him, Jun.¡±

    I know he''s right. I know that I could spend another week fighting and closing dungeons before facing him. But I also know that could cost lives. And I''m now sworn to save lives. That''s what the Pathbreakers are about. That''s what I''m about.

    ¡°Okay, but it''ll be in person, and I want a team with me in case things go south.¡±

    Mercy Mahar is next to me in the back seat, and squeezes my hand. She''ll be with me.

    ¡°Right, but I''ll take a real sniper''s nest this time, mate,¡± Quins pokes my shoulder from his 3rd row seat.

    ¡°I can take a day off Phoenix team and let Henry get command experience,¡± Madeline says from the front seat.

    Jose doesn''t have to say anything. I know he''s in. ¡°Alright, then,¡± I say to my friends. ¡°Tomorrow... Tomorrow we go fight my brother.¡±

    [ Cut to credits sequence with paint splatter motif and a heavy metal soundtrack. ]

 Book 2 - Prologue: Alicias Report

    6/18/24

    Washington D.C.

    The White House

    11:15 AM

    ¡°Two former Army Rangers, Jun Kyung Han and Jose Amarillo were working in the Carrollton, Texas Get! store.¡± Alicia Bennet, who was giving the presentation, was in a standard issue grey CIA business suit.

    An aide whispered to the president, ¡°Carrollton is a suburb of Dallas.¡±

    Alicia continued. ¡°They got classes in the first wave, as soon as the Get! became a dungeon. This was back when you could still start with 3rd Step and higher classes. Amarillo took Sharpshooter and Han took Synergist, which is why he''s so strong.¡±

    Alicia changed the slide to a diagram of the Get! dungeon. ¡°The two Rangers fought their way out of the dungeon, saving others in the process. As you can see from this diagram, the dungeon was only five floors, but it was much denser and more complex than most dungeons. More on that later.¡±

    President Egerton sternly said, ¡°I''m familiar with the Dracosys interpolation theory, miss Bennet, you may skip that aspect.¡± Pretty much everything President Egerton said was stern, so this wasn''t a reprimand.

    ¡°Ah, yes sir.¡± Alicia Bennet quietly slipped three index cards from her stack and continued. ¡°These two were then asked to form a special, extra-governmental team, to try and close dungeons. This plan was led by Lieutenant Colonel Davis.¡±

    Jetta Davis, who was in the White House conference room with them, just nodded.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked the president.

    ¡°Why what?¡± replied Alicia Bennet.

    President David Egerton turned to Lieutenant Colonel Davis. ¡°Why them? Why not one of your Ranger teams?¡±

    Davis took a moment, then she said something unexpected. ¡°I expected them to succeed. I knew those two could do it. And I wanted it to look like a total government success, rather than just the Army''s success. The Army didn''t need a win. We, the U.S., needed the win.¡±

    Later, in his memoir, David Egerton would point at that moment and say that''s when he knew Jetta Davis would be president one day.

    Egerton nodded for them to continue.

    ¡°This cross-governmental team, assembled by Lieutenant Colonel Davis, was composed of those two, one more Ranger, a Navy SEAL, an FBI agent and a civilian mathematician. They destroyed the Get! dungeon the night of the first dungeon breaks.¡±

    Alicia changed the presentation to a slide listing all six members of that first team.

    Jun Kyung Han, former Ranger

    Jose Amarillo, former Ranger

    Odysseus Grant, Ranger

    Henry Gallup, Navy SEALs

    Madeline Diaz, FBI

    Gwen L''Ronge, civilian mathematician

    ¡°Didn''t they get to it before it actually had a dungeon break?¡± asked Will Monds, Chief of Staff.

    ¡°Correct,¡± said Bennet. ¡°They went in as soon as they saw other dungeons breaking. After the Get! was cleared, that''s when this group formally became a private military contractor called the Pathbreakers.¡±

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Alicia then pulled up a list of the Pathbreakers¡¯ accomplishments.

    4/10/2024 - Dungeon: Carrollton, TX. Escaped.

    4/16 - Dungeon: Carrollton, TX. Destroyed.

    4/27 - Ruin: Ellis Island, NY. Destroyed.

    5/1 - Dungeon: St Louis, Missouri. Destroyed.

    5/6 - Ruin: San Francisco, CA. Destroyed.

    5/11 - Dungeon: Tuscaloosa, AL. Mapped and Cleared.

    5/16 - Ruin: Chicago, IL. Destroyed.

    5/21 - Ruin: San Antonio, TX. Destroyed.

    5/26 - Dungeon: New Orleans, LA. Destroyed

    5/31 - Dungeon: Oklahoma City, OK. Destroyed.

    6/5 - Dungeon: Macon, GA. Destroyed.

    6/10 - Dungeon: Afghanistan, cave R-32. Destroyed.

    6/12 - Dungeon: Harrisburg, PA. Destroyed.

    6/14 - Ruin: Dallas, TX. Destroyed.

    6/15 Ruin: Grand Canyon. Destroyed.

    6/16 Ruin: Devil''s Lake, ND. Destroyed.

    ¡°We have detailed records of some of these, correct?¡± asked the President.

    Alicia answered quickly. ¡°The Carrollton dungeon, the Ellis Island ruin and cave R-32. Mr Han has been kind enough to keep records of his experiences since the Dracosys started, and shared the documents with us. He writes on his phone so his editing isn''t always the best.¡±

    The President folded his fingers in front of him. ¡°I see. Continue.¡±

    ¡°The Pathbreakers are absolutely the most effective anti-Dracosys unit anywhere. They work quickly and effectively. They''ve only lost one person in all their operations.¡± Alicia was coming to the point of her presentation. ¡°This is all why I''ve asked for assistance in bringing them under our direct control.¡±

    President Egerton leaned forward in his chair. ¡°You want me to take control of a private company, unilaterally?¡±

    Alicia braced herself to correct the President of the United States. ¡°When you meet with them, I think that you can ask Jun Kyung Han and Jose Amarillo to return to the Army. Then they''d be under our control.¡±

    The President leaned back. ¡°They''re loyal?¡±

    ¡°To the cause, yes. They''re amping up their activities to help reduce deaths. They want to help. We can use that as leverage to get them back on our side.¡±

    ¡°Under your direct control, I''d guess?¡± asked Will Monds, skeptical of the whole thing.

    ¡°I have experience with them personally,¡± Alicia defended herself. ¡°I can be the point of contact between your office and their team.¡±

    ¡°This needs to be a nudge, not a push,¡± Deborah Smart, Press Secretary, said to the President. ¡°This goes bad and we''ll look like shit to the people, private enterprise and veterans.¡±

    ¡°I''m not sure what we''re getting out of this,¡± said Mounds. ¡°They''re doing the job, why not let them keep doing the job?¡±

    Alicia had a response for that ready. ¡°Jun Kyung Han is currently the most powerful person on our side, and we need to be able to deploy him when we need to. Not when he wants to.¡±

    ¡°This is about those dossiers you''ve been sending me, then?¡± Egerton asked.

    Alicia nodded. ¡°Those enemy agents who are Leveled represent the greatest threat to America since Hitler. Hante killed hundreds of people in half an hour. If Russia or China gets serious-¡±

    Mounds interrupted, ¡°Russia''s not a threat anymore.¡±

    In the wake of the Ambrose Society''s nuclear attacks on Kazan in Russia, Chicago, Illinois and Abha in Saudi Arabia, things had gotten tense across the globe. Russia was currently starting up a civil war and rumors were that more nukes might be deployed, this time against their own people.

    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± continued Alicia Bennet, ¡°I still think that having our most potent weapon be actually our weapon is the right move.¡±

    ¡°We''re meeting them in five days, right?¡± Egerton asked his chief of staff.

    ¡°3:30 PM, Saturday,¡± Mounds answered. ¡°Assuming they actually clear the Capitol Building.¡±

    Egerton nodded. ¡°I''ll see what their callings are before I make a decision. I want to know what''s in their hearts. I need to know if these are the men and women who will defend America.¡± What he didn''t say was that they might not defend America. They might have to defend the world.

 Book 2 - Chapter 1: Layover

    6/18/24

    Las Vegas, Nevada

    1:31 PM

    The Las Vegas international airport is the only airport I''ve been to that has slot machines. It''s unnecessarily noisy, so I have headphones in and am listening to one of Brian''s litRPG recommendations, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. The audiobook read by Jeff Hays, might be the greatest thing ever recorded. So I''m startled when Jose taps me on the shoulder and I turn in my waiting room chair to see what he''s pointing at.

    There''s a group of six guys with guns. Scratch that, only four of them have guns, the other two are slinging spells. That explains how they got guns in here. Anyone with levels (those are called ¡°Leveled¡± now) has an inventory system. The system lets you store a few items in an extra-planar, invisible space. Things in there are simply gone from reality until you pull them back out of your inventory. So you could, for example, walk into an airport unarmed and then pull weapons out of your inventory to hand to your crook friends. Personally I keep sandwiches in my inventory...And swords.

    The guys with guns fire them into the air. One guy with magic shoots a flamethrower blast over the heads of the crowd. The other guy makes his fists coated in water. I take my ear buds out.

    The lead guy is shouting. ¡°Don''t move! You TSA pigs put down your guns and we''ll all make it home tonight! I want all of you folks here to gamble to cough up the money-¡±

    I turn to Jose. ¡°So should I just end it or you want something fancy?¡±

    ¡°Just end it,¡± he says, and turns back to his book. I think it''s a Tom Clancy.

    I stand up and snap my fingers. With a small flash of black smoke, a white domino mask appears in my right hand. I slide it over my eyes and with another flash of smoke I''m in my white Pathbreakers uniform. I see one of the gun guys spot me, but they''re going to be too slow to stop me.

    I call forth a Solar weapon, and a baseball bat bursts into existence in front of me. Orange solar flame spirals around the yellow-tinted, metal shaft like a snake before settling into a jewel in the pommel of the bat. I think this is all I need for this particular fight.

    When it comes to stats, 10 is the average for adult humans. At 124, my Agility is 12 times faster than an average human. So I''m in the middle of the group of six before the one who saw me can even aim. My 162 Dexterity lets me quickly slap all four automatic rifles, and my Telekinesis lets me rip them out of their owner''s hands and float them just out of reach overhead. The guy with the Flame Thrower spell turns to me and I see his hand glow red. My Reflexes are at 254 so this seems like it happens in slow motion. I punch him in the gut with my 150 Strength and he goes flying back ten feet. I hope he''s not dead. He groans. Okay, he''s not dead.

    The other caster tries to hit me with his Fluid Fists but my 100 Toughness makes that hilarious and I ignore the punches. They make me damp though. I hope my earbuds are okay. I pull the sun bat towards me with telekinesis and block a couple of his punches by bunting. His big watery boxing gloves begin to boil from the heat of my bat and then they drop to the floor, like two buckets of scalding water.

    ¡°Give up?¡± I ask the group.

    The lot of them begin to pummel me, but my Toughness combined with several abilities makes my skin effectively 30 times more durable than the average Joe''s. So I turn my bat and swing it around, whacking into the side of each guy, sending them all sprawling and clutching at partially seared flesh.

    ¡°Give up?¡± I ask the group. There¡¯s a smattering of groans. ¡°I will take that as a yes.¡± I turn to the TSA agents who have their guns drawn. ¡°Okay, you guys have it from-¡±

    ¡°Freeze! On the ground, now!¡± a TSA agent yells at me.

    ¡°Ma''am, I was just preventing-¡±

    ¡°ON THE GROUND NOW!¡± She''s aiming her handgun at my face. I like my face and would prefer it not to be shot. I sigh and sit down on the ground next to the actual criminals.

    The woman comes over and cuffs me. ¡°If I''m delayed you''re paying for my ticket, though.¡±

    ---

    THREE HOURS later, I''m released and can''t get a ticket to San Francisco, our intended destination, where my Dad and brother live. I sigh. I can run really, really fast, but I''m not great at distance running. So my only other option is renting a car. I check on cars. They only have small cars that can''t leave the city. My team is already landing in San Francisco. Tomorrow is dungeon break day, so there''s no flights tomorrow. I am officially screwed.

    We (Mercy, Jose, Madeline, Quins and I) were supposed to be confronting my brother by now. Aaand accusing him of being in league with the people who caused the Dracosys and its horrendously high death count. Then I was going to either fight my brother or bring him into the CIA for interrogation, depending on how much he''s leveled up from his super secret personal dungeon that he made for himself.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    We discovered that certain people were behind the Dracosys, the god-like system now governing the world and making it all game-like. And based on the info we got, I think my brother is one of the top five ringleaders of the whole thing. So I have to confront him. Stop him. Ask him why. And, most importantly, I have to try and keep him from getting himself killed.

    My team carried on to San Fran without me, so I get a hotel room by myself and contemplate the meaning of life. Then, after about 2.5 minutes where I discover zero secrets of the universe, I pull out my Nintendo Switch and play Smash Bros.

    My hotel is on the Las Vegas strip. This room is available and cheap because tomorrow is dungeon break day and monsters will be coming out of the Luxor pyramid dungeon, which is just across the street. No big deal, just a horde of angry monsters coming to eat me in about 12 hours.

    I feel like I should be scared. I should be worried. But I''m not, not even a little. I''m a Pathbreaker, and fighting monsters is what we do best.

    I head down to the lobby because my room has no towels. ¡°Hey, uh, desk guy? Can I get some towels? I''ve got none in my room.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± he says nervously, and opens a cabinet behind him to grab me a fluffy white bath towel. ¡°Sorry, we''ve been understaffed since, you know...¡±

    ¡°Oh sure,¡± I say with sympathy. ¡°We were understaffed all the time at my previous job at a Get! store. Management cutting hours recently?¡±

    ¡°No. No, it''s the dungeon. Nobody wants to work dungeon break days.¡± He glances around. There''s hardly anyone in the casino. Just a few compulsive gamblers and an old lady who seems to be on vacation. ¡°Nobody wants to be here on dungeon break days.¡±

    On Wednesdays, the day of the week the Dracosys first arrived, dungeons across the world belch out monsters.

    I take the towel. ¡°Well, tomorrow will be different. How deep is the strip dungeon?¡± Each dungeon spits out monsters for a number of hours equal to the number of floors it has.

    ¡°Twenty five,¡± the desk guy says, swallowing with fear and trepidation. The front doors to the Excalibur hotel and casino were boarded up. They look like they''d been blown out by something in the recent past.

    This was all the Dracosys''s fault. This man''s fear. The people abandoning places that were once flocked to. Over 18 million people dead, millions more displaced. People put out of jobs, out of their homes. Monsters stalking the streets until law enforcement or the military or impromptu militias can put them down. Fear. So much fear and desperation across the planet.

    But I can do something about it. I have power now. And I''m going to use it to make things better for people.

    ¡°Thanks for the towel. You work tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but they let me stay upstairs so I don''t have to leave during the dungeon break.¡±

    ¡°Well, tomorrow will be different than normal, I promise you that.¡± With that, I head back upstairs.

    -----

    Jun''s Solar (fire/light) Spells

    Ray Of Light

    Exotic

    It''s regular light, in any color you choose. Even infrared or ultraviolet! You can make motes of lantern-like lights or flashlight beams.

    Range: 30 ft (lantern) 75 ft (beam)

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point/10 minutes

    May be set to passive.

    Proficiency: 19%

    Solar Mote

    Exotic

    Create a mote of solar light, which hovers around you. You may direct the mote via Telekinesis. It burns whatever it touches.

    Range: 20 ft

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 2 Arcana Points or 10 Points for an explosive mote

    May be set to passive

    Proficiency: 177%

    Sol Arms

    Exotic

    Create a Solar element weapon of your choice. Your Telekinesis is automatically applied to it.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 3 Arcana Points

    May be set to passive

    Proficiency: 721%

    Prominence Burn

    Exotic

    Shoot a stream of solar flames at foes. This can be a narrow beam or a wide cone.

    Range: 30 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point per second

    Proficiency: 432%

    Solar Barrier

    Exotic

    Create a large shield of solar light and fire. Your Telekinesis is already applied to it.

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    May be set to passive

    Proficiency: 250%

    Star Fall Crash

    Exotic

    Coat yourself in solar energy to fly and slam into a foe.

    Duration: 10 seconds or impact

    Speed: 250% of running speed

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 9%

 Book 2 - Chapter 2: Dungeon Break, Las Vegas

    6/19/24

    Las Vegas, Nevada

    10:06 AM

    I already introduced myself to the national guard team in place to handle the dungeon break. They have a hundred soldiers here, with another two hundred stationed nearby to switch out every eight hours. There''s another two hundred support staff, making the 25-hour dungeon break cost the taxpayers close to a million bucks a week. And so far each week the national guard here in Las Vegas has lost between 3 and 14 troops each week, with dozens more getting injured every Wednesday.

    But not this Wednesday. I''m out front. And I''m prepared. The Luxor dungeon produces three kinds of monsters. There''s mummies and Egyptian stuff, there''s ogre gangsters, and there''s some dinosaurs made of wax. They come out in waves, and each wave has a random number (between 2 and 50) and type of monster. I have no doubt that I can trounce everything this place throws at me.

    The Luxor Pyramid looks perfectly normal, except for the red light glowing from the thousands of windows. It''s a dungeon now, so it exists slightly out of spacetime, or whatever scientists call it. That means the pyramid itself is invulnerable and it''s bigger on the inside. Local law enforcement has charted through floor nine, but nobody has returned from floor ten. Which is bad. I''m putting this place on my short list of dungeons to tackle next.

    An alarm blares, sounding like an air raid or tornado siren, depending on what decade you''re from. It''s time. I''m standing out front in my crisp, white uniform. To my left are two tanks and an armored personnel carrier fitted for urban warfare. To my right is a watchtower made of scaffolding, filled with snipers. Further right are concrete road dividers, behind which are a couple squads of soldiers.

    ¡°You really think you''re some hotshot, don''t cha?¡± comes a gruff voice from behind my back. My system-enhanced senses mean that I don''t have to turn to see the Colonel there.

    ¡°Nah,¡± I say over my shoulder. ¡°I just think I can help.¡± It''s true. Faced with this arsenal, almost anything coming out of the dungeon is going to be shredded instantly. But I can heal. I can use shields to protect. I can make a difference.

    ¡°One wave per hour, hotshot,¡± he says to me. ¡°That''s 25 hours straight of fighting. You gonna make it, mister dungeon breaker?¡±

    I don''t respond. I don''t need to think about R-32. Either visit. I already know I''m capable of doing this.

    My spells got restructured into four ¡°Astral¡± elements, Solar, Lunar, Atmos and Void. I''ve found that I can use up to two of those at once, and I think that''s mostly due to my two sub-minds. Each can concentrate on one element or they can combine to focus on a single element, which makes those spells stronger.

    Brian, our litRPG expert, says this has something to do with my mana channels being changed when I got my 6th step class, Astral Pathbreaker. He talked on and on about ¡°meridians¡± and ¡°mana threads¡± and ¡°when my core spins.¡± I kinda glazed over when he was talking so I''m not sure why everything inside me got restructured. I just know that it did. The net result is fewer spells but they''re each more powerful, and often more versatile.

    I shout, ¡°Solar Mind!¡± and orange flames spiral around my arms. I don''t technically have to say that out loud, it just sort of feels right.

    I got a new ability for hitting 250 Arcana, and I put it to use.

    The New Passives - Spells with an AP cost that is less than your regeneration rate can be set as passive effects.

    What this ability actually does is let me activate a certain amount of low cost spells at once. Since my AP regen is currently 500 per hour, I can set 8.33 worth of spells as passive. The ¡®passive cost¡¯ is what one minute of the spell would cost. So Solar Barrier, which costs 5 AP over 10 minutes, has a passive cost of 0.5. Which means I can have sixteen shields up at once. And that''s my plan.

    Using Solar Barrier multiple times, sixteen circular shields of light appear all around me, each one three feet across and emblazoned with the Pathbreakers emblem. I''m ready.

    The 1st Wave

    Dozens of giant, blue skinned humanoids in business suits materialize. They''re each at least ten feet tall and are wielding a combination of baseball bats, brass knuckles and ogre-sized Tommy guns.

    Made Men/Ogres. Tier 4. These ogres fought against prohibition, and now they''re fighting against you!

    Possible Loot: Illegal goods, weapons too big for you.

    Everyone opens fire at once. Each ogre takes dozens of body shots or several head shots to take down. The ones with melee weapons get mowed down before they can get into range with the troops. The problem is the Tommy Gun guys. Their guns are twice the normal size, making the .45 caliber machine guns .90 caliber. That''s a big bullet. The large guns open fire but I send shields directly towards the four gun toting ogres, blocking most of their fire. Once the shields are within ten feet of the ogres, they''re blocking all of their shots. The ogres roar with anger, only to be met with National Guard rifle fire to the face.

    The battle takes just moments, but the remains are a bloody mess. Luckily system monster bodies and their gore all dissappear after 30 minutes. One of the ogres already faded into loot, the corpse taking enough damage to pop into treasure. They seem to drop casino tokens as money.

    I look around for the injured and spot a soldier missing an ear and side of her face. I rush over and use Restoration Palm on her as another soldier keeps her calm. Her wounds close and the ear starts to grow back. Seeing flesh move like that is disgusting, but I know it''s for the best. I hear another man moan in the distance and dash towards the voice as soon as I''m done with her. I find a man with concrete shrapnel buried in his leg. The ogre Tommy Guns are so powerful that they can chew through the concrete barricades? Damn. A Medic is there already, pulling out debris. I assure them both I can help, and begin healing the cleaned out wounds. They both thank me and I head back to my position in the center.

    ¡°I was expecting big flashy attacks,¡± says the Colonel. ¡°Yer a lousy hotshot without those.¡±

    ¡°You guys have the firepower covered,¡± I say to him. ¡°I''ll run support and keep your guys alive.¡±

    ¡°Hrmpf!¡±

    The 2nd Wave

    The mummies are immune to regular attacks, so incendiary grenades are typically used. Bullets won''t hurt them, but do slow them down. Incendiary grenades decimate 22 of the 30 mummies, and I use a Solar longsword to sweep the rest with Prominence Burn.

    Solar Arms, which creates flaming weapons, seems to only conjure medieval European weapons and sports equipment. So no solar wakizashis, but yes rapiers and hockey sticks.

    Of course my Magus class lets me cast spells through weapons, letting me slide that stream of fire horizontally across the pyramid and toast everything.

    The 3rd Wave

    More ogres. This time I react faster and push all my barriers forward to block the gunners, rather than just one per ogre. With that we manage to escape the wave with no casualties.

    Afterwards I leap up the side of the sniper tower and talk to a private who''d made a few really good shots. ¡°Hey, lady, come here a minute.¡± I can just barely tell she''s a she. The heavy, desert camo body armor everyone is wearing makes people largely ungendered.

    ¡°It''s Deacon,¡± she says flatly. Her eyes are grey and flat. She doesn''t seem surprised at all that a dude just jumped 30 feet and is hanging on the side of the tower.

    ¡°Right, Deacon. So I''m gonna do a thing that''s going to boost your shots. You okay with that?¡±

    She just shrugs. ¡°Got nothing better to do until the next wave.¡± I think she was probably a cool jaded goth in high school.

    I hold my hand out towards her and say, ¡°Constellation Orion.¡± A small glowing representation of the constellation appears in my palm, then flies over to Deacon and lands on her forehead, glowing once before fading away. ¡°Just say Orion when the next wave starts and you''ll get boosted shots for 60 seconds. At the end your last shot will be super strong, so make it count.¡±

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    She shrugs. ¡°Cool.¡± Seriously I might make it my mission to try and get any kind of reaction from this woman.

    The 4th Wave

    This wave is mummies. I don''t hear Deacon say ¡°Orion,¡± I just see the effects. Each shot she fires from her sniper rifle is trailed by a sparkling blue-white line. Each line takes about three seconds to fade, and successive shots that cross a line are empowered, landing with much more force than normal. Normal bullets don''t hurt the mummies, but these magically empowered shots rip through the undead. At the end of the minute four small stars circle around and center on her gun barrel. She shoots and the four stars fire off like bullets, making that one shot hit with 5x normal force, and simply exploding a mummy into very dead chunks.

    ¡°Nice shot, Deacon!¡± I yell up over the din of grenades and other weapons fire.

    The 6th Wave

    This is the first time I''m seeing the wax dinosaurs. They absorb bullets (literally, the bullets sink into the wax) but are weak to heat, so more incendiary grenades are called for. The dinos themselves thankfully aren''t life size, but instead a smaller ¡°wax museum display¡± size. The T-Rex is only about 10 feet tall.

    The 9th Wave

    Another goddamn ogre wave. By now I''ve got these things down and we''re able to clear this wave without a problem.

    ¡°Hey, where''s Deacon?¡± I ask the sniper tower at large.

    One of the grunts answers. ¡°She''s off duty. She''ll be back for the last seven waves.¡±

    They tell me that''s how they do it, 1st team does eight waves, second team does ten waves, then first team comes back for the last seven waves. They switch who''s on first and second team every week.

    These guys are treating this like a job. Like it''s no big deal. Just another day on the frontlines, fighting monsters. It''s the kind of blue-collar attitude that''s emblematic of military forces across the world, and probably throughout history. Now, having one foot out of that mindset, I''m not sure if it''s a good thing or a bad thing. It''s probably just the kind of thing that happens when you''re a soldier: you do whatever it takes to survive, both physically and mentally.

    Maybe I never had that last part down.

    The 15th Wave

    Ogres. That''s fine- oh fuck! They all have Tommy Guns! Shit! Thirty ogres open fire and I can only stop the bullets of 16 of them. I hear screams and cries of anguish from my right. The tanks finally take action and blast massive shells into the side of the building, blowing apart half of the ogres. The remaining half split their fire between the troops and the tanks. The tank immediately to my left takes dozens of rounds before firing another shell into the line of ogres. There''s few enough ogres now that I can deflect all their bullets, but it''s tough to hold my shields steady. As each shield takes damage I can repair it by spending Arcana Points equal to the cost of the spell. In this wave I''m spending dozens of AP per second to keep the shields up.

    The last ogre goes down and I rush to the wounded. By now everyone knows what I''m capable of so they slide one wounded soldier next to another and I spread my arms to heal both at once. I don''t think I''d be able to handle this without my sub-minds to give me true multitasking.

    We lost three people. Shit.

    The 19th Wave

    ¡°Deacon! Good to see you!¡± I greet the beyond-jaded young woman while hanging off the side of the sniper tower again. ¡°So, how ya been?¡±

    She just shrugs. Ha. She''s as droll as ever.

    ¡°Well, we''ve missed you soooo much. The monsters said they didn''t like dying at anyone else''s hands.¡±

    She doesn''t even smirk.

    ¡°I mean, they still died, but they were very unhappy about it.¡±

    Still nothing.

    ¡°Have I mentioned that I have ghost pants?¡±

    ¡°Liar.¡± She finally said something! ¡°There''s no such thing as ghost pants.¡±

    I pull out a crate from my inventory, search through it and hand her the translucent pants I got from the Ellis Island adventure. ¡°Ghost pants. We don''t actually use them because they''re translucent so if you wear them everyone sees your undies. If you''re Leveled and have an inventory you can have them.¡±

    She cocks her head, considering the ghost pants, then takes them. They disappear into her inventory. ¡°Nice,¡± she says, then raises her rifle. It''s time for the next wave.

    The 21st Wave

    It''s just one guy. Except he''s 30 feet tall, has a white beard and is wearing a blue toga, and oh, he''s got lightning coming out of his hands and eyes.

    Jupiter. Tier 6. A roman god of storms and lightning. King of the gods. Known man-whore. Also kinda immortal. Good luck!

    Possible Loot: Electric Stones, ambrosia, illegitimate children

    The tanks open fire on the colossus and deafening explosions ring out. With a loud slam Jupiter falls back onto the incline of the Luxor pyramid, but as the smoke clears he looks undamaged. Lightning crackles within the smoke and bolts shoot out in every direction, striking the tanks, the sniper tower and slamming against the concrete barriers. I block a bolt aimed at me with all of my solar shields and the shields explode from the force. This can''t continue.

    Gunfire blazes towards the god with no effect. I concentrate on the galaxy within my soul. The only operating tank opens fire again and Jupiter sends lightning to intercept the shell, detonating it just feet from the tank barrel, blowing the barrel apart. I close my eyes and see the option inside my menu. My 6th Step, Astral Pathbreaker, Exotic rank Power:

    Star Swarm

    Exotic

    Create one star for every class you have levels in.

    Duration: 10 seconds

    Cost: 50 Will Points

    Proficiency: 4%

    A cloud of over a hundred stars bursts from my back and I form them into a long bladed scythe, dashing towards Jupiter. The god sees me and sends a lightning bolt down to the ground where it snakes towards me. My superhuman Reflexes let me track its course and my Intelligence lets me predict its path. As it approaches me I slide right underneath it as the bolt briefly arcs over a bit of rubble. I roll back to my feet and leap up, my Agility giving me the airtime to bring the star scythe down around Jupiter''s neck and dig it in. Once inside the god, the four-pointed stars making up the blade spin and, like a chainsaw, begin to cleave through the Roman god''s clavicle. There''s a fountain of golden blood. Jupiter punches me with a fist the size of my torso and I go flying, my stars trailing behind me.

    I flip in the air and land in a crouch, skidding to a stop against the concrete barrier. I launch myself back at the big guy as he takes another tank shell. He''s charging up electricity in his hand so I aim there, turning my Star Swarm into a bat. My upward swing knocks his left hand into the air and a bolt fires from it, lighting up the early morning sky.

    He swings a fist at me again, this time charged with lightning, but I''m already preparing my counter. My stars combine into a circular shield, block the blow, and then spiral around my right fist as I crouch to charge a heavy uppercut. Bullets fly in clouds of lead, but neither Jupiter nor I are fazed by them. My Toughness is effectively around 300, thanks to certain abilities. I leap up and deliver a massive punch, all 104 stars landing into Roman Zeus''s jaw. Time seems to stop for a split second as the punch lands and then my Star Swarm Punch continues through Jupiter''s jaw and stars shoot straight up through his head, which explodes upwards in golden blood.

    The god falls and I turn away and immediately let my stars fade so I can switch to healing people. I hear someone say that everyone in the tank is dead so I leap up to the sniper tower again. I hope Deacon''s alright.

    There''s two bodies lying still, and the three other snipers are around them. Everyone looks the same in their body armor so I can''t tell who-

    I see the ghost pants lying on the ground. People drop everything in their inventory when they die.

    The 25th Wave

    Mummies. I burn them like I had to burn the last mummy wave because the troops ran out of incendiary grenades. It''s anticlimactic, but everyone is okay with that. An easy wave is a good wave.

    ¡°You are a hotshot after all,¡± the Colonel says to me with a grimace.

    ¡°Don''t feel like one,¡± I say, sitting down on a blood stained concrete barrier. I have a technique, Ki Cloth Weaving, which cleans my clothes, so I look tired but not disgusting.

    ¡°I talked it over with my advisors. That big guy, you said Jupiter, right? Yeah, I''m pretty sure you did good there.¡±

    I shake my head. ¡°We lost seven in that fight.¡±

    ¡°Can''t think like that if you''re a leader. You count your losses and your wins. The big badass, well...¡± The Colonel pauses before he says quietly, ¡°probably would have killed everyone here and half the city.¡±

    I look up at that. He''s squinting. No, is he crying? He''s trying not to, at any rate.

    ¡°Every one of my men and women would be gone if you weren''t here today. So thank you, Mr. Han.¡± He extends a hand and I see one single tear roll down his face.

    What the crap am I supposed to say to that? I shake his hand and just nod, then walk away. Then, once I''m clear of the military outpost, I run. I run flat out, over a hundred miles an hour. I run until I''m in the middle of the desert.

    I can see the city in the distance. The desert, tan and sandy, surrounds me. There''s a couple of cacti nearby. A hot breeze blows through, swirling dust around me. Tears stream down my cheeks as I finally let myself cry, let myself grieve.

    Deacon is dead. Franco is dead.

    It takes a few minutes for me to calm down. I''m supposed to count the losses and the wins? I can''t accept being thanked. I can''t have someone say to me that I saved half a city. That''s not who I am. That''s not me, right?

    Ten soldiers died. Deacon died. And humans are to blame. Humans are responsible for this happening every fucking week. Human masterminds responsible for the deaths of ten soldiers here today. God knows how many more died in dungeon breaks across the country. How many across the world? How many places needed someone like me to handle a monster, and didn''t have someone like me around?

    Fuck this. Whatever they did, I''m going to undo. This system, the Dracosys, means the death of good people every day, every week. So I''ll smash it.

    I''m going to break the system.

 Book 2 - Chapter 3: Carded

    6/20

    San Francisco, California

    6:39 PM

    [ Speaking in Korean ]

    Dad: Did you pay for that girl?

    Me: What? Like a prostitute?

    Dad: She''s sexy. You like that kind of thing, eh?

    Me: Yes. But Dad, this isn''t about me or her. Where''s Hak-Kun?

    Dad: I haven''t seen him in weeks. He says he has some project. He looks like you now. Big muscles.

    Me: We think he''s involved in some bad stuff.

    Dad: Drugs?

    Me: No, like the Dracosys stuff.

    Dad: He''s not stupid like you are.

    Me: Ahhhh right, right. I''m stupid because I went into the military.

    Dad: No, the military makes people stupid. That''s their job. They make people into stupid obedient dogs. That''s what you are now.

    Mercy: Jun isn''t stupid.

    Dad: She speaks Korean!

    Mercy: A little.

    Dad: Jun, are you going to marry her or is she your side piece?

    Jun: Dad!

    My Dad''s town house is in the Sunset District of San Fran. He bought the place during the 2008 financial crisis when prices were low, so it''s not my childhood home. More like my teenage-hood home. It''s one of those tall narrow homes wedged between other tall, narrow homes. Like in the opening of Full House.

    So we''re in my dad''s living room. He lives here with my brother, Hak-Kun. Aaand my brother is missing. Great.

    ¡°He only emails, never uses phones,¡± I say to Mercy and Jose, who are here with me. ¡°He doesn''t like the GPS knowing where he is.¡±

    ¡°So he was prepared for the Dracosys?¡± Jose asks.

    ¡°No he is just a paranoid,¡± my dad says. He came over in the 90s when he was 18. He''s still got a little bit of accent, but not much. He talks fast and uses too many articles. He says it''s a Seoul thing. I''m not sure it is. ¡°Always that way. He uses a VPN to hide his internet tracks.¡±

    I squint at him. He''s a pharmacist, not an IT guy. ¡°You know what a VPN is?¡± I ask, suspiciously.

    ¡°They advertise on my podcast,¡± he replies defensively. That checks out. He does like podcasts.

    ¡°I want to see his room,¡± Mercy says, and stands up, glancing at the stairs.

    ¡°Maybe he left a note,¡± Jose says.

    ¡°No note,¡± my dad chides us. ¡°Besides, the FBI took almost everything three days ago.¡±

    I yell, ¡°Dad! You have to tell me important things like that!¡±

    ¡°No, and fuck the police!¡± he says, then turns to Mercy. ¡°Sorry for the language, young lady.¡± Also, my dad thinks he''s woke now. The guy listens to one NPR podcast about police corruption and now I hear about the police state when I talk to him.

    Mercy starts upstairs, ¡°sure, but maybe they missed something.¡±

    ¡°The FBI?¡± Jose asks incredulously. ¡°Missed something?¡±

    ¡°Sure, maybe something personal, Jun, come on, let''s go!¡± She then proceeds to march upstairs and we hear her open and close doors as she looks for my brother''s room.

    ¡°What''s her deal? She thinks she''s a detective?¡± asks my dad. ¡°She is into the copaganda?¡±

    ---

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    My brother''s room is a mess. It looks like it''s been ransacked, which it mostly has been. There are unplugged wires coming out from under the desk where a computer tower used to sit. The bookshelf where he had his server set up is literally in pieces. Basically everything looks like it was pulled apart and not put back together again.

    ¡°Damn, they even opened up the 360,¡± says Jose from over my shoulder.

    I trudge through the debris. Some of it is the FBI''s fault. A lot of it is my brother''s fault, including comics, fast food wrappers and Magic The Gathering cards. I look at the Xbox 360 that''s had its case taken apart.

    ¡°This is it,¡± I say. I grab the nearby screws and try to piece the mid-2000s Microsoft console together. ¡°No way he''d have this out for no reason.¡±

    Mercy slides some manga off the office chair and sits down. ¡°Was that special to you guys? The Xbox?¡±

    ¡°Oh, hell yeah,¡± I say, finishing the repair job. As an aside, you should always carry a multitool. You never know when you''ll need a screwdriver. ¡°We spent thousands of hours with this thing. And we hadn''t played it in years. I think you''re right, Mercy. He might have left me a message.¡±

    I gather the cables and a controller and we head downstairs to the TV. I quickly hook up the x360 and turn it on. It asks who''s playing. There are three profiles listed. Mine from back then, ¡°Saturn''s First Ring,¡± Hak-Kun''s profile, ¡°Saturn''s 2nd Ring,¡± and our older brother Ji-Ho''s profile, ¡°bravetiger.¡± He didn''t play much with us. He was too cool for video games. To be honest, he still is.

    I log in as Saturn''s 2nd Ring. The menu boots up and I fiddle around with it until I find what I''m looking for. It''s a draft message. ¡°Jun Kyung, you suck, you took my class. Fuck you, dude. But it''s fine, I guess. If I''m missing, I put something in the last thing you''d take apart.¡±

    I dash back upstairs to my old room. It''s been converted into an office, so I check the closet. Sure enough, there''s a box of my old gundam model kits.

    Gundam model kits, or gunpla to fans, aren''t something you take apart. They aren''t legos. They''re high precision, no-glue-needed, fully posable models. And they''re fantastic. I rummage through the dozen bubble-wrapped kits until I find him. Gundam Exia, my favorite gundam. The last thing I''d take apart. Soooo now I have to take it apart.

    If I''m my brother, and I''m hiding something like a micro SD card, there''s one place I''d put it. The Exia features a large grey sword which, even on the 1/144 scale High Grade version, is almost 6 inches long. I pop apart the GN Sword aaand there it is. I hold it up so that Mercy can see it.

    ¡°An SD card,¡± she whispers over my shoulder.

    ¡°A friggin micro SD card,¡± I whisper back.

    ---

    Back downstairs we use Mercy''s laptop and check it out. There are copies of the conversation logs that we already got from dungeon R-32. That''s when it really hits me.

    ¡°It was him,¡± I say. We''re back in the living room, Mercy and I on the couch, Mercy hunched over the computer, me leaning back in a state of shock.

    ¡°What was him?¡± my dad asks.

    I don''t want to say it. I don''t want it to be real. To be out in the world. I don''t want-

    Jose flatly says, ¡°your son was part of the group that made the Dracosys. He has the blood of millions on his hands.¡±

    Nobody moves. Nobody says anything. My dad''s face turns shocked, ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Hak-Kun,¡± I say, ¡°he helped design the system. He helped the people who fucked the world with monsters and dungeons.¡±

    ¡°No, that''s crazy,¡± my father said. He''s wringing his hands. He knows the FBI was here for a reason, he just didn''t know what. ¡°He''s just a gamer nerd. He writes a long story online. He doesn''t have a real job. He can''t destroy the world.¡± My father looks at me, almost pleadingly. It breaks my heart. ¡°He can''t even clean his room, how could he change the world?¡±

    ¡°We... That is, people with certain information...¡± Her voice is even and soft. ¡°Think that he was recruited because of his story. Because he knew how to describe the monsters and dungeons and-¡±

    ¡°Get out,¡± he says looking down at his hands.

    Mercy tries, ¡°we don''t know if he was deceived or something, he might-¡±

    Then he looks directly at me. ¡°She is, you are, talking like this is real. He can not have done this. Not my baby boy.¡± Hak-Kun was born only a year before 9/11. He was still a baby when my mom died. He''s still a baby in my father''s eyes, the last gift his wife gave him.

    Mercy closes the laptop and begins to stand up but I hold her back. ¡°You can''t deny this too, dad.¡±

    ¡°Get out of the house.¡±

    ¡°He''s responsible but I''m taking responsibility.¡± I''m shouting. It always comes down to shouting between him and me. ¡°He fucked up and I''m trying to fix it. Fix it for everyone.¡±

    ¡°Get out of the house!¡±

    I suddenly stand up. I don''t say what I''m thinking. I don''t say, ¡°for once, for once, I''m not the fuck up, and you just can''t deal with it?¡± I steady myself. I just turn away from him, towards the door. Towards being out of his damn house. The house he bought with settlement money from my mother''s death in 9/11. ¡°Fine, I''ll go.¡±

    I step towards the door and grab my shoes, taking off the house slippers.

    ¡°Just go. Get out.¡± He''s not shouting anymore. I think he''s on the verge of tears. Or, knowing him, another eruption of anger.

    I open the door, but turn back to him. I calm my voice and take a breath before saying, ¡°you can still call me whenever.¡± I have to leave the door open for him. I have to be better than I used to be. ¡°I''ll listen to whatever you have to say to me.¡± With that, I leave and shut the door behind me.

    I sit down on the stoop and feel tears falling from my eyes. This is too much. This is more than I can handle. My brother, a mass murderer. My father, still taking his side. I sit there and shudder, waiting for an eruption of emotions.

    That''s when the door opens again and Jose and Mercy step out. I''m not alone anymore. I have people on my side. With tears in my eyes, I stand up, still holding my shoes in my hand. ¡°Well, should we go meet Quins and Madeline at that burrito place I told you about?¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 4: Burrito Place

    6/20

    San Francisco, California

    7:45 PM

    ¡°You were right, chief,¡± says Quins, with his lower class British accent, between bites. ¡°Nuffing like a Mission burrito.¡± The skinny brit looks like a scarecrow. When he uses a bow it looks like a bundle of twigs firing another bundle of twigs.

    ¡°It¡¯s more cali than mex,¡± Jose Amarillo notes. ¡°Not bad, but hardly authentic.¡± Jose is tall and muscular. Neither attribute is needed for being a sniper, but his wife doesn''t complain. Recently he''s had a short beard and mustache. The pitch black hair goes well with his light brown Hispanic skin tone.

    ¡°What, they don''t put feta cheese and aioli on your burritos back home?¡± Madeline Diaz asks Jose. She''s wide and muscular. A body builder''s physique and an FBI agent''s mind. Mercy convinced her to dye her hair flaming red.

    ¡°You mean Dallas?¡± Mercy Mahar responds, ¡°they make all kinds of burritos there, some authentic, some not.¡± She and I live in Carrollton, one of the 800 suburbs of Dallas, TX. Jose lives down the street from us. She''s curvy, deliciously thick and has short, white hair and dark brown Pakistani skin which I like to-

    ¡°Lick, I mean like, I mean I like these burritos but I like the authentic ones too.¡± I''m tall for a Korean, and now that my stats are ridiculous, I''m pretty lean and martial-artist muscular. My high Charisma even cleared up some skin conditions so I look younger than my 28 years. My hair is still short and black but I''ve been actually combing it since uhhh Mercy made me.

    ¡°So how was the Las Vegas thing?¡± Madeline asks.

    ¡°Exhausting, frustrating, dangerous.¡± I tilt my head back remembering the dungeon break. Was that just earlier today? Right afterwards I flew to San Fran and we went to see my father, so it seems like at least two days have passed since then.

    I tell them about the waves, the losses, the Roman god showing up. They seem impressed, but not that impressed.

    ¡°Just making it through without rest is pretty impressive,¡± Madeline tells me. ¡°The soldiers take shifts, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think I met like 100 soldiers, but never more than 60 at a time were fighting.¡± It seems like everyone but me is keeping track of all the news. I''ve been ignoring it until recently.

    In the US, National Guard and Army troops are deployed around dungeons, ruins and now arenas as well, though there''s fewer of those. The casualty rates are pretty horrible, but decreasing each week. This is both due to combat experience fighting the same monsters over and over, and system experience. The military has been making sure as many as possible go into dungeons, ruins or arenas to get classes and become leveled. The military has told its personnel to prioritize healing and defensive classes, but gaining levels is slow and dangerous.

    ¡°Gain more levels?¡± asks Jose with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I shrug. ¡°I''m back up to 10 free levels to assign.¡±

    Quins exaggeratedly complains, ¡°the rich get richer, das what me ol¡¯ gran used to say.¡±

    I hate to admit it, but I have been leveling faster than most people do. Far faster. We Leveled get experience points for killing things (and humans are things, which certain crooks have discovered). So with 78 levels of Synergist (split between 17 classes), 20 levels of Doppelganger and 10 levels of Astral Pathbreaker, I should be gaining levels very slowly. Should be. But the system bases your leveling speed on your average class level which for me, with 19 classes, is rather low. And that was before I got an ability that made me ¡°level 0¡± in any class I qualify for. That dropped my average level to around four.

    I am almost certainly one of the strongest people in the world. And I still haven''t really come to grips with that. Honestly, how does Goku deal with being Goku? He''s an idiot, that''s how. Okay, how does Superman deal with being Superman?... Probably depends on who''s writing him this week. Friggin incohesive American comics.

    ¡°We have the Capitol Building tomorrow, but I want to go back and hit the Las Vegas dungeon before too long.¡± I pull out my calendar app. It''s packed.

    Mercy also has her phone out and says, in a pacifying voice, ¡°we''re booked until a week and a half from now. July 2nd. Dungeon break is the 3rd.¡±

    ¡°We haven''t cleared a 25 floor dungeon yet,¡± Madeline reminds us. ¡°My Phoenix team certainly isn''t up for that task yet.¡± Madeline usually works with her own team. We formed it around her after it was clear that we needed to get more done and a second Pathbreakers team was needed. They cleared out the Grand Canyon ruin, which was no easy feat, so they''re not green. Just not as leveled as my squad, team Lupus Rex.

    ¡°I can do the heavy lifting,¡± I say, and I mean it. I can probably solo a 10 or 15 floor dungeon by now. ¡°I did just kill a god, after all.¡±

    ¡°Don''t let it go to your head,¡± Jose says and flicks my ear like he would one of his kids.

    ¡°I won''t,¡± I say, rubbing my ear even though it''s literally impossible for him to have damaged me that way. ¡°Besides, we could die in a nuclear blast at any moment.¡±

    That shuts everyone up. Whoops. People outside of the media really don''t like talking about the Ambrose Society''s nuclear bombs. They''d gotten them from R-32, a dungeon and cave I had history with. Not a good history, either.

    The Ambrose Society has, so far, only demanded that their agents remain unmolested by governments across the world. I''m not privy to how the whole ¡°secondary global crisis¡± is going. I was a Ranger, not a spook.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Yeah, well, at least Russia''s finally out of the picture, eh?¡± Quins is an optimist. ¡°First their Kremlin becomes a ¡®undred floor dungeon, then spits out all kinds a monsters, then they get nuked by Ambrose hisself.¡±

    Madeline, a pessimist, asks ¡°You know there''s not actually a guy named Ambrose doing this stuff, right?¡±

    Quins just shrugged. ¡°Yeah, but it''s easier to say ¡®ol Ambrose did it than a whole mess of people which might be 3 guys or thousands.¡±

    I shrug and lean back on my chair. The small corner restaurant only seats about 20 people total, and is decorated in classic Americana style, with old road signs. Mercy has been at her laptop the whole time, and intermittently scrunches up her face with annoyance or aggravation. Wow, now that my Wisdom is above average I can notice people''s facial expressions!

    ¡°What''s up, Mercy?¡± I ask, not really wanting the answer. I know she''s looking at my brother''s files.

    ¡°There''s four types of files,¡± she starts, and over her shoulder I can see she has multiple documents open and is typing furiously into one of them. ¡°There''s the conversation logs, which we already got. Then there''s a Dracosys system structure log. Looks like an outline of the Dracosys features and settings. Third is personal notes and fourth is... I think it''s a novel.¡±

    ¡°Ah, my brother''s infamous infinite web novel. He said he''d written over a thousand chapters of it, but I''d never even looked at it. What''s it about?¡±

    She looks worried, as if whatever she says might upset me. ¡°I''ve seen the worst of the world already,¡± I say to assuage her. ¡°Nothing at this point could throw me off even more.¡°

    She nods and says, ¡°I think it''s one of those litRPGs.¡±

    ¡°THAT ASSHOLE.¡± I facetiously exclaim. ¡°He said he was writing fantasy, not science fiction!¡± I shake my fist at the sky to show my utter outrage.

    ¡°Oh this one is definitely a fantasy,¡± Mercy says with an eye roll. ¡°Each time he beats a monster it turns into a sexy girl he then sleeps with. Oh, and the main character is named Hakkun, so the self insert is more than apparent.¡±

    She begins to read:

    Chapter 402, Titania Rising

    I used my spacial magic to teleport me and my entire harem of 24 beautiful monster girls to Al-Kandria, home of the Shar-Al-Kand, whose powers over the Ilikiri are renowned across all of Tabraxia. In response to my growing force''s appearance in their town square, the mayor came out and surrendered the entire city to me, and declared me the greatest-

    ¡°Please, for the love of God, stop,¡± Madeline says.

    Quins gives us his analysis. ¡°I''ve read some shite but that really is the bloody worst. I''d rather queue up for the one working pisser at the Wrexham stadium than listen to any more of that god''s awful tripe.¡±

    Jose just offers a review. ¡°Two out of five stars.¡±

    ¡°You''ve read worse?¡± Madeline asks.

    I quickly try to keep Jose from going off. ¡°Oh do not get him started on The Reincarnationist Papers.¡±

    Jose clenches his fists and a dark look comes over his face. ¡°I told you not to speak its name. A book so bad that I felt cheated even though I listened to it for free on Audible. A book so worthless-¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, we all agree with you Jose,¡± I say, not at all in a placating manner. ¡°A very poor book written by a small minded man of very limited imagination.¡±

    Jose slams his hand down on the table. ¡°Putting a framing device in a story only matters if it actually reframes the story!¡±

    ¡°Aaaaaany ways, what''s the deal with the personal files?¡± I ask, and can only hope that Jose''s completely justified outrage over a shitty book fades away.

    Mercy mercifully continues, ¡°the files are mostly notes on how and why the Dracosys rules are the way they are. I don''t think your brother actually understands how the Dracosys works or why it works. He was just told that it would accept a program.¡±

    ¡°Anything on the Etheric radiation?¡± I ask. That was mentioned in the conversation logs and has been bugging the heck out of me.

    ¡°He, your brother, seems to think the Etheric radiation is a byproduct, rather than cause of the Dracosys.¡± Mercy is a hell of a speed reader. I''ve known this for a while, since she tears through novels like most women her age go through cheap wine bottles.

    ¡°Any evidence of where he is now?¡± Jose asks.

    Mercy skims more. It takes her a minute before she asks me, ¡°what''s the place with the best vistas? He says he put his dungeon entrance there.¡±

    -----

    Ochoa''s Computer Resale shop is just down the street from my dad''s house. ¡°The best Windows Vistas,¡± I say, as I wave my arm in front of the store in a ta-da fashion.

    ¡°I''ll go around back,¡± Jose says, and takes Madeline with him.

    I peer through the plate glass window out front. Inside are old PCs, lovingly restored to as good as they can be. Dan Ochoa''s is popular among gamers who want to play old PC games that aren''t compatible with today''s operating systems. He carries newer stuff too, but that''s not nearly as fun.

    The store itself is unfortunately closed for the night, and we have the white house thing tomorrow so we can''t wait around for Dan to open up in the morning. As I contemplate breaking in, Madeline rounds the corner and yells at us. ¡°Hey, dummies, we found it!¡±

    Less than a minute later we''re in the alley behind the shop where a chalk outline of a door has been drawn on the wall. In front of the chalk door is a dumpster, which, upon close inspection, doesn''t usually sit there. Jose tosses a pebble into the chalk outline and the ¡°doorway¡± ripples like water.

    I stroke my chin in a detective-like manner. ¡°So, if my 250 Intelligence is right, the dumpster used to be over here, but Hak-Kun puts it over here in front of the door when he''s not inside. To move that he must have tremendous strength. And that means he planned this all out before the Dracosys started up. He knew he''d have the strength to move this thing when he was deciding where to put the entrance.¡±

    ¡°Sure, Sherlock,¡± says Madeline. ¡°But why not at home? Surely this is inconvenient?¡±

    I point up the alley. ¡°This goes right behind my dad''s house. Easy access. Plus, remember that they talked about plausible deniability in their conversation logs? A dungeon in your breakfast nook is a bit less than deniable.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he was worried about a dungeon break?¡± Jose asks.

    Mercy chimes in. ¡°He programmed this and the other custom dungeons as tutorial areas, so they don''t have dungeon breaks.¡±

    ¡°Convenient,¡± Jose says, and starts sliding the dumpster out of the way. ¡°We going in?¡±

    I flip my wrist, my white mask appears in my hand, then with a swirl of smoke I''m in uniform and armed with plenty of wakizashis. ¡°I am, but I want you guys to head to the airport, we''ve got flights tonight.¡±

    ¡°You want to confront him by yourself?¡± Mercy asks me, concern in her voice.

    I think about lying, or making a joke, or saying a one liner. I reject those options, because I''m an adult now, goddammit. ¡°Yeah, I want to talk to him before anything violent happens. He''s still my brother.¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 5: O, Brother

    I enter the dungeon and find a large, empty, cube chamber with a concrete floor cut into two foot by two foot tiles. At this point the airplane-hanger size of the room doesn''t faze me. Dungeons are bigger on the inside. I am no longer impressed.

    If I remember correctly I have to follow a path of yellow colored floor tiles. I look down and see a line of yellow tiles that snakes a few times before reaching the far end of the room. I book it across the room to find steel doors that open up into a concrete fire-escape style staircase up.

    I yell up the stairs, ¡°Hak-Kun, you there bud? It''s me, Jun Kyung!¡±

    There''s no response, so I climb the stairs to the 2nd floor. It''s another big empty room with a yellow floor path. This continues through the 4th floor, with me yelling for my brother at each step. When I get to the 5th floor I find the strangest shit.

    It''s literally strange shit, pooped by strange bird cows. Cowbirds? They''re big and shaped like cows but have two legs and little wings. Their feathers are blue and green. Their beaks are yellow and hooked.

    Buffado. Tier 4. The combination of a dodo and a Buffalo. A nearly extinct animal and a totally extinct animal, together, for the price of one! And yes, this hybrid does open the door for a Tyrano-mammoth Rex, thanks for noticing!

    Possible Loot: eggs.

    The 5th floor is essentially a large, industrial farming sized barn. There must be dozens of the buffados roaming around, minding their own business. They''re technically monsters and technically not real lifeforms. But they''re... Kind of majestic.

    Wait. Loot taken outside the dungeon persists while monsters inside dungeons get reset every 24 hours. So the egg loot of the Buffados might imply that these could be raised and live outside the dungeon? The fabled fifth meat is Buffado meat!

    ¡°Hak-Kun!¡± I yell out. ¡°Dude, this place is weird!¡± I look around. There''s farming implements, including a bolt gun for putting down animals. How... Convenient. This was what Hak-Kun made for him and his friends, custom dungeons full of easily killed monsters. Creatures who are perfectly peaceful and damn majestic, just being used to fuel level gains.

    ¡°It''s disgusting, what he''s done to you guys,¡± I say to one of the buffados.

    ¡°Not any worse than regular farms, really.¡±

    I wheel around to see Hak-Kun about 50 feet away. He''s not on my internal radar that detects nearby creatures. I didn''t hear him close in, either. My hands go to my wakizashis as I study my brother.

    He''s buff, much more muscular than I am, though he''s a bit shorter at 5¡¯ 7¡±. He''s wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans, but also has a dumb red cloak around his head and neck, with a flowing cape around back.

    ¡°You look like post-steroids goth Gandalf,¡± I say.

    ¡°And you still look like a dog of the military,¡± he says.

    My uniform is indeed military cut, but it''s also pure white and has a near-future aesthetic to it. ¡°Fuck off, fashion disaster.¡± I am very articulate around my brothers.

    ¡°Here to kill your own brother, brother?¡± His snide, nasally voice hasn''t changed with his level ups. He also still has some remnants of his acne scarring, which means he hasn''t hit 40 in Charisma. So he''s buff and strong but doesn''t focus on techniques?

    ¡°Just gotta bring you in. Cooperate and I''ll get you a deal. Talk and get immunity, that sort of thing.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit!¡± He clenches his fists and red lightning crackles around them. That''s probably bad. ¡°You never had my back! You just want to take what I''ve got now that I''m stronger than you!¡±

    I really don''t want to fight him. ¡°Hak-Kun, hold up, it''s not like that, I just want-¡±

    ¡°You took my fucking class, you shit! Synergist! It was keyed to the conditions of ¡®must have last name Han, must have experience with writing about multiclassing.¡¯ You''re the only one who could have taken it!¡±

    ¡°Sorry? I didn''t know what was going on when I chose it. I didn''t know you''d set that class aside for yourself.¡±

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°So you just happened upon it? That''s some shit, man!¡±

    He was always like this. Always able to play the victim. ¡°I''m... No, actually, I''m not sorry, you killed my coworkers! I used this power to save people! Fuck you and your always selfish ass! You and your friends are killing the world! I thought I was here to save you but fuck it, imma beat your ass like our father should have twenty years ago!¡±

    He flies forward, hovering just inches off the ground and charges red lightning in his hands. Against electricity I''ll go with cold, stone and crystal. ¡°Lunar Mind!¡± My sub-minds are both filled with cool, clear thought and I use the spell Lunar Arms.

    Layers of dark blue, crystal samurai armor swirl around me before snapping together all at once. I pull two wakizashis out of their sheathes and they become coated in bright teal energy, doubling their blade lengths to around 4 feet.

    Hak-Kun holds his hand forward and red lightning bolts arc forward towards me but I intercept with the lunar edge of my sword. The red lightning spirals around the blade and simply disintegrates the metal.

    A split second later he''s up in my face and swinging a disintegration-charged punch at me... But he''s too slow. My reaction speed lets me easily slap his hand away with the flat of my right hand sword, but the blade snaps in half where it makes contact with his energized fist.

    Then I knee him in the gut. His momentum and my extra force send him flipping up and over my head and he lands on his back, his cape covering his face.

    ¡°Give up?¡± I ask.

    ¡°I''m a 6th step, Jun! You can''t stop a 6th step with Synergist!¡± He pulls the cape out of his face and tries to get up but I''m too fast. I kick him in the ass as he stands.

    ¡°Yeah, I''m 6th step too, but unfortunately-¡± I wheel around to his front and whack him twice across the face with the flats of two new blades. ¡°I''ve got actual combat experience.¡±

    I kick him in the knee and he drops. ¡°You didn''t improve your Toughness enough. And your speeds are awful. Did you min-max?¡±

    He begins muttering and I suspect the fight is already over. ¡°Fucking shit brother always...My Arcana Points are over 300!¡±

    I bash his head with the pommel of my left sword. ¡°Doesn''t mean a fucking thing if you can''t fight.¡± I use telekinesis to float my right sword up, then just slap Hak-Kun across the face. ¡°Give up?¡±

    A massive sphere of red lightning surges around Hak-Kun and I have to dash back to evade the disintegration wave. ¡°My class is Ruinous Hero! And I won''t be beaten by the likes of you!¡± He pulls dozens of crimson bolts into his hands and even his eyes shine with the red electric energy.

    If he''s going for a big attack, so will I. I use Moon Crash, and a dark blue crystal ball appears before me. It''s a little taller than I am, and I can''t actually see through it. That''s fine though, because Moon Crash is a counter attack.

    Moon Crash

    Exotic

    Summon a crystal moon that breaks upon taking damage. The pieces home in on the origin of the attack, pelting them with chunks of solid crystal.

    Range: Infinite

    Duration: 30 seconds

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 3%

    ¡°Take this!¡± Hak-Kun yells dramatically. ¡°Red Tempest!¡± Dozens of red bolts lash out at my side of the room, ripping through barn doors, buffados and even ripping apart the floor. Whatever it touches is immediately vaporized, leaving behind only ash.

    Okay, that red lightning is actually destruction incarnate. I probably shouldn''t have been so flippant earlier. Ah well.

    The bolts strike my makeshift moon and it cracks in half, two massive chunks flying towards Hak-Kun. As they close in more bolts rip into the crystal, shaving it into smaller, but more numerous pieces. A fist sized shard batters Hak-Kun in the shoulder, followed by a barrage of crystal. The red bolts stop and I hear cracking sounds from my brother. He''s fallen to the floor.

    I rush over and brush rubble off of him. He''s alive. His arms are mangled and his jaw looks broken. His nose is bleeding. He looks like shit.

    With more sadness than condemnation I say, ¡°what you did, to gain power, it killed a lot of people, Hak-Kun.¡±

    He looks at me with anger in his eyes. Anger, and red lightning. This time I''m caught off guard. This time I can''t block. This time he gets me good. The red bolts streak up as I stand over him. All my Toughness and this lightning ignores it completely. He shoots me in the right shoulder and the beam punches through my armor. The beam cuts into my shoulder, which evaporates into ash, my right arm falling to the floor.

    It hurts so much. It hurts so, so much. I drop to my knees and try to heal myself with Restoration Palm. Hak-Kun rises from the crystal shards, cuts all over his body, the dumb cloak cut away and left behind.

    ¡°Hak-Kun,¡± I say through gritted teeth. ¡°We don''t have to-¡±

    He slams me in the face with a charged fist and I feel parts of my face burn away. ¡°Jun Kyung, the soldier,¡± he says in a mocking tone. ¡°Never could beat me in Street Fighter 4.¡± He raises a bloody arm up and I see his wounds mending and the bones in his hand pop into place. Constitution. He put everything into regeneration with Constitution. His left hand glows red and he holds the open palm to my face.

    The wakizashi I''d lifted up earlier finally drops straight down and plunges into his wrist, severing his hand. A spurt of my brother''s blood shoots onto my chest, staining my white uniform. He clutches his stump with his other hand and flies backwards away from me.

    I could probably stop him from escaping. I should probably stop him. But I can''t. He''s my brother.

 Book 2 - Chapter 6: To DC

    6/20

    San Francisco, California

    8:55 PM

    One of the perks of my Masked ability is being able to immediately switch to clothes that aren''t damaged and covered with my brother''s blood. My un-installed right arm goes into my inventory. I emerge from the dungeon and immediately get a phone call. It''s Jose.

    Jose: Looks like it didn''t go well.

    Me: What makes you think- ah, of course. You didn''t leave, you just got into a sniping position across the street or something. I''m fine. Tell Mercy I''m fine.

    (mumbling and yelling)

    Jose: Good luck with that. I have a trace on him.

    Me: What kind of trace?

    Jose: The kind of trace you get from the Seer class.

    Me: Oh you finally picked a path to a 5th step class, eh?

    Jose: Yeah, I''m going for Visionary. Seems like a better fit than Stylist.

    Me: Okay, if you- Mercy, wait, it''s fine!

    She''s in her mecha outfit and flies over to me at high speed. ¡°Hang up and explain! And where is your arm?¡± Mercy looks pissed.

    I try to be calm and reassuring. ¡°The arm is in inventory, and Biscuits can reattach it later. And if I hang up I''ll have to explain to Jose separately and I don''t like repeating myself.¡±

    She does not look reassured. ¡°Jose, I''ll call you back,¡± I say, and hang up.

    ¡°I already sent for a Lyft,¡± she says.

    ¡°Well, we really don''t have time, I was just going to run to the airport.¡±

    ¡°Run? With one arm missing?¡± She''s still pissed.

    ¡°It''s not bleeding anymore, I fixed it.¡±

    ¡°THIS DOES NOT LOOK FIXED, JUN.¡±

    This continues for the duration of the Lyft ride, so I tip generously and leave a five star review. Hakeem sure earned that one.

    Mercy remains pissed for half of the ten hour flight to Baltimore, Maryland, which is quite an accomplishment. I don''t know anyone else who can be that mad for that long.

    Also, turns out she''s mad because she knew she should have gone with me. And because she loves me and hates seeing me hurt. And because anything strong enough to rip my arm off is also strong enough to kill me. And she''s mad because... because... because.

    I vow not to lose any more arms, and she, sitting to my left, finally falls asleep on my shoulder. The guy sitting to my right looks thoroughly annoyed. ¡°Hey, at least you''ve got plenty of elbow room,¡± I say to him, pointing at where my arm should be. He harumpfs and turns away from me. It is not my fault he didn''t bring noise canceling headphones on a plane trip. That''s basic survival strategy, dude.

    6/21

    Over Washington D.C.

    10:15 AM

    Our flight comes towards DC and it''s the first time I''m seeing the destruction in person. Half of Washington was turned into ruins, while the White House was turned into a castle and the Pentagon was converted into a 100 floor dungeon.

    Wide swaths of the city are gone. Burned remains of office buildings dot the land. The north half of DC, where the poor people live, is battle scarred but not destroyed like the south side is. The Smithsonian buildings and monuments are all intact. Those had been converted into ruins, and therefore immune to damage. Those ruins got cleared over the course of the first month of the Dracosys, and now the national mall is back to normal, sort of.

    The capitol building stands, but surrounded by troops. It turned into a 20 floor dungeon that we''re here to break.

    Arlington on the south side of the Potomac, however has fared far, far worse. Three square miles around the Pentagon dungeon is a wasteland that''s been bombed into a brown and grey dust. Three square miles that used to be homes and businesses. Thousands of people died in the first dungeon break, as ghosts and demons poured out of the Pentagon for 100 hours straight. They''ve had to deploy tanks and jets to take out the stronger demons. The Pentagon itself became a demonic, satanic-esqe parody of what the wildest conspiracies thought of it. The dungeon goes down a hundred floors, and as we fly above it I can see the glowing orange flames from the hell pit that''s now the center of the complex.

    Even now, less than 100 hours from the weekly reset, troops are perched outside the Pentagon, waiting for anything or anyone to come into their lines of fire. Having been through a dungeon break now, I can only wish them good luck.

    Our plane flies on, towards Baltimore. Baltimore itself has only been mildly touched by the Dracosys, earning itself one arena in the transformed Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The baseball stadium''s sandy red brick and hunter green seating have been turned into a tree-shaped Dracosys ¡°arena.¡± People can enter and fight monsters of various difficulties, though they don''t accrue levels for the fights. They can get loot drops, and I''d heard the locals were already farming this place. The lowest difficulty monsters are apparently just regular birds, and shooting them for their gemstone item drops is making somebody rich, I''m sure.

    But we''re not here for that. We''re here because DC''s airport was vaporized in a demonic spell strike, so we have to fly into Baltimore and rent cars to get into DC. It''s a surprisingly mundane workaround in a world now full of monsters and magic.

    We grab a couple of rental cars and head south to DC. Mercy is my copilot for this trip, and she''s got her laptop out and is perusing the Hak-Kun files.

    ¡°You want me to go over what we now know about the Dracosys?¡± she asks.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Anything new, sure.¡±

    ¡°The Dracosys is a combination of Etheric Radiation and nanomachines from another dimension. They, well, whoever Spear Saint is, has some device that gives him access to a device that opens a hole to another dimension. Have you heard the analogy of the universal paper clips?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no?¡±

    ¡°It''s an example of AI gone wrong. An AI is told to make paper clips, and it does so, and it''s fine at first. Then it starts trying to be more efficient and expands its processes. It eventually takes over the planet, converting everything into paperclips. Then the AI starts converting the solar system, then the galaxy, then the entire universe into paperclips.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a lot of paperclips.¡±

    ¡°That''s not the point,¡± Mercy says. ¡°My theory, and this is backed up by some of the conversations we uncovered, is that this other dimension Spear Saint tapped into is like a paperclip universe. An entire universe of nanomachines. Otherwise it''s statistically impossible that opening a gate to another universe would get you a seemingly unending stream of nanomachines.¡±

    ¡°Ah, okay. So we contacted another dimension only to find an oops all nanomachines universe?¡±

    ¡°That''s the theory, ¡± Mercy says as she mouses over to another window of notes.

    I remember what I''d heard on NPR recently. ¡°And the Etheric radiation that powers them is from cellular phones?¡± Having peerless Intelligence only helps you remember things you actually pay attention to.

    ¡°Technically it''s the radiation byproduct of cell phones. Which of course means that particular wavelength of radiation is everywhere, especially in 1st world countries.¡±

    Now in DC proper, I get off Interstate 50 for highway 395, which goes right past the Capitol building. ¡°We still don''t know how they''re able to control the nanomachines and turn them into the Dracosys, right?¡±

    ¡°Mmm. Not really. The conversation logs mention a Controller, which is some sort of interface they have to add the game mechanics to all the nanomachines now floating around our planet.¡±

    I sarcastically say, ¡°ah, I just love being infected with nanomachines against my will.¡±

    Mercy flicks my very well toned arm. ¡°It''s got some good points.¡± Then as we pass by the scorched and ravaged National Mall lawn, patrolled by dozens and dozens of troops, Mercy says, ¡°though probably not enough good points.¡±

    I pull off the highway and make for the Capitol building underground parking lot, which we have access to today. As we get out of the Toyota hybrid car, I spot the rest of the Pathbreakers. Today we''re bringing our full force to bear. That includes:

    Team Lupus Rex

    Me, obviously. Class: Synergist, Astral Pathbreaker, and others.

    Jose Amarillo. An unmatched sniper and specialist with electric attacks.

    Classes: Crack Shot, Seer.

    Mercy Mahar. She has several powerful costume transformations, including a Data-element spellcaster, a mecha armor valkyrie and a strong spear wielding oni.

    Classes: Costume Witch, Hexer.

    Quinton ¡°Quins¡± Sheffield. An archer with exploding arrows. A brit. Also, I think he''s pretty funny.

    Class: Bomb Maker.

    Capricorn ¡°Cappy¡± Williams. Uses a SMG while being an aerial combat expert, ever since she got the double and triple jump abilities. Seriously, she can get 40 feet of air, no problem. She''s 4''10¡± and has the lean muscle of an Olympic gymnast.

    Class: Thief

    Phoenix Team

    Madeline Diaz. Close combat specialist with a flaming axe made of shifting cubes. She carries a medieval metal shield that''s enchanted to repel damage and basically never break. (She traded for it with a British special forces guy who got it from a castle dungeon.)

    Class: Cavalier.

    Henry Gallup. Shotgun and grenade specialist. His class gives him wide aura effects that help reduce damage and even slowly heal us. The heal isn''t enough to matter in a fight, but afterwards it can turn a slash into a small cut over an hour or so. He is annoyingly handsome.

    Class: Representative.

    Kailani Haku. A large Hawaiian woman who''s gotten some good instant healing magic. Uses a standard rifle. She''s a mom and gives off big mom vibes. She keeps her dark brown hair in long, thick braids.

    Class: Cleric

    Rutger Waltz. They''re not military, and got trapped in a dungeon like Jose and I did. They''re an offensive magician with some powerful but costly spells. Rutger is skinny/androgynous, has short black hair and wears the entire contents of a Hot Topic jewelry section. Not all of those earrings can be magic items, I''m sure.

    Class: Sorcerer.

    Scarlett Fletcher. She''s Airforce, so she''s tiny like all of them are. I''m pretty sure her red hair is dyed but I''m not 100% on it. Scarlett took the Caller class and got an actually useful pet, a falcon that shoots light-element lasers from its eyes. The falcon''s name is Jeff.

    Class: Caller.

    Parker McCall. A regular-ass, almost 40 year old National Guard soldier with a regular-ass rifle. She''s got some cool slide moves that let her glide across the ground. Her salt and pepper grey hair is in a military standard crew cut.

    Class: Swashbuckler.

    Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr, my familiar from the Caller class. I can now summon her from home and send her back when she''s done her work. When she feels like it, she can heal almost any wound. Seriously, she restored Jose''s leg and he lost that four years ago. Though she''s still a cat so sometimes she just doesn''t feel like helping. And she''s basically defenseless, because she''s still a kitten.

    Right now I''ve summoned the orange cat so she can reattach my arm. She tilts her head at my stump and meows sadly. I scratch her head and between her wings. Then following the cuteness is an absolutely horrific scene of body horror that plays out as my flesh reconnects. Her body slightly glows as her magic does its work, and then I''m good as new. I pet her again and unsummon Biscuits and she''s away in a puff of flame.

    Parker, the only one who actually watched the disgusting magical healing, just nods and says, ¡°that was pretty fuckin¡¯ weird, dude.¡±

    I nod in agreement. ¡°Where were you deployed, Parker? Oh, and Parker or McCall?¡± With that attitude to gore she must have seen some shit.

    ¡°Parker''s fine.¡± She''s got a thick Boston accent. ¡°And it was both, first Afghan, then Iraq. Whole fuckin¡¯ middle east shot at me at one point ¡®er other.¡±

    I smile. ¡°Damn. I only got shot at by a few of them.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard. Though sounds like not many of the SOBs are still around.¡± She knows the story, I guess. The story does get me respect from fellow soldiers. So there¡¯s that.

    We get out of our respective vehicles and head to the main stairs of the Capitol building, getting through several checkpoints as we do. Most of us are in the dark blue Pathbreakers uniform. Jose''s uniform is desert sand tan, mine is white, and Mercy is currently dressed like a fantasy anime wizard. I scowl at a Capitol guard who''s checking out my girlfriend''s thick thighs. Look man, I get it, but she''s taken.

    I greet the Capitol police chief, James Hyland, who''s come to greet us and give us the rundown of what to expect.

    ¡°Pathbreakers?¡± he asks. He''s got a red handlebar mustache but is otherwise clean shaven and bald. I have a hard time looking away from the bright red stache.

    I nod my head. ¡°Yeah, that''s us. Regular dungeon delvers here to restore the Capitol to its former glory.¡±

    ¡°You''re finally here. We''ve gotten to the 9th floor but nobody wants to hit floor 10. So our efforts have been mostly to stop the breaks and knock out foes in the first five floors.¡± He says floors with air quotes.

    ¡°We read the reports, but I want to hear your version,¡± I say. ¡°Give us the lowdown.¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 7: Capitol Lowdown

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    12:05 PM

    ¡°The first five floors are one giant, tiered swamp,¡± Chief Hyland pulls us into a tent where there''s a map laid out on two large tables. The map looks to have been expertly hand drawn. Overhead a projector shines down real-time troop locations onto the map. This dungeon is definitely bigger on the inside. Just this swamp area seems to cover about 20 square miles. ¡°This is our map, though the digital ones have notes on various locations. You can see here, here, here and here are the edges of each floor. The drop from one floor to another is just about ten feet. Not a problem getting down, but you don''t want to climb moss-slick rocks when getting chased by Toxigators.¡±

    Toxigators are one of the enemy types from the 3rd floor. Poison spitting alligators. As nasty as you''d expect. The first five floors have regular swamp animals and plants, but Dracosys-amped up. So Snow-mosquitos, Stone Lizards, Whirlpool Snakes and Venus Fly Traps (giant sized).

    Hyland continues. ¡°We clear these floors out every day and have planks connecting the bits of land. At this point you can probably walk through to the 6th floor without even getting your boots wet.¡±

    Madeline asks, ¡°do you spread out the kills so all your troops get levels?¡± She''s been more of a stickler for everyone getting stronger than I have. I usually just kill stuff without thinking about who''s gaining what levels.

    I think James Hyland is smiling but it''s hard to tell what''s going on behind his walrus whiskers. ¡°Yeah, we have a system. We make sure each squad has at least one newbie and at least one veteran. We''ve started cycling in DC police and National Guard too, just to give us as many Leveled as possible.¡±

    People like Hyland are why the world''s not entirely in flames right now. It seems like a lot of the litRPGs that alter the Earth just send everything into the shitter and have humanity collapse instantly. But that''s not the only story humanity has to offer. Sure, some places are worse than others, but there are also plenty of humans who are willing to work together for the greater good.

    Doctor Who is right. Humanity is worth saving.

    ¡°Beyond the 5th floor?¡± I ask, hoping there''s equally detailed maps.

    Hyland scowls. ¡°The 6th through 9th floors shift. They''re cave tunnels run by a variety of reptile people.¡±

    ¡°Any luck with negotiating?¡± Mercy asks, hopeful that she won''t have to kill sentient monsters again. Some dungeons have sentient monsters that are much more interested in survival than killing. In Germany they have some werewolves that seem to be getting along quite well with the surrounding small towns. Word is that translation on both sides is almost done.

    ... I wanna be friends with a werewolf. Maybe get one on my team? That would be sooo cool!

    James Hyland keeps his scowl. ¡°We''ve tried being nice and negotiating. It doesn''t work with any of them.¡± He hands out some documents, a primer on the reptiles inside.

    6th Floor - Reptoids. These can shape change into humans, and even our clothes, but they can''t mimic our weapons. If you see someone without a belt full of ammo, they''re a Reptoid. Alone they''re not tough. They have sharp claws and are smart. Don''t let them get a hold of your weapon.

    7th Floor - Chameleonians. Invisible monsters. Use heat vision goggles and it''s not a problem. They like to rush in packs. Form tight fighting units that can pump a lot of bullets out at once.

    8th Floor - Lizard Men. Typical fantasy lizard humanoids, complete with fantasy equipment. They favor bows, spears and javelins. Do not underestimate these weapons as they''re just as deadly as they were 500 years ago.

    9th Floor - Dragonkin. Souped-up lizard men. They''re fire breathing, well muscled and well armored. There are thankfully few of them in the 9th floor, but each is inordinately tough and strong. They also have magical attacks. Our most effective strategies use their slow speed to hit and run, wearing them down or luring them into traps.

    10th Floor - The Green Dragon. Unknown weaknesses, if any. Spits acid and breathes out poison. Its chamber is foggy and it has some advanced techniques or magics that render it partly invisible to all senses. Do NOT fight it without authorization. This thing has killed more than the rest of the dungeon put together.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ---

    Other Threats

    During dungeon break times we''ve come across several other creatures, which must come from the deeper floors.

    Demons

    Imps. Small tan demons that spit balls of fire. They attack in swarms.

    Stone Stag. A centaur-like demon. Extremely fast and its horns are deadly.

    Orcs

    Raging Orc. The typical, axe-wielding Orc. 10 feet tall, incredibly strong, and doesn''t go down easily, despite not wearing armor.

    Orc Commander. These guys order other Orcs by shouting. Their shouts can cause status effects among us, so ear plugs are given out during dungeon breaks. If you can, kill them first.

    Orc Shaman. A spell caster. It is IMPERATIVE that all efforts are taken to kill these as quickly as possible. They have curse magic that can cripple and kill.

    ---

    We take a few minutes to absorb the information. We already have multi-band optics to see heat patterns. The little eyepieces attached to our helmets are really expensive, but can see basically anything you can think of, from heat to infrared to radiation waves. We also are equipped with gas masks, so we''re ready for the poison dragon. I direct everyone to take cheap foam ear plugs from a big box of them, so we''re Orc-proof too.

    James Hyland and his magnificent mustache walk us through the rest of their operation for another 15 minutes before we''re ready to roll out. I pull the Pathbreakers over to the first of the Capitol steps and address them, like a leader should.

    ¡°So, uh, anyone have anything else? Or are we ready to go kill lizards?¡± I''ve clearly come a long way in my leadership skills.

    Henry Gallup clears his throat. ¡°Yeah,¡± he says and steps over beside me. ¡°Today we''re clearing out the United States Capitol building. I want you to remember that. We''re fighting for the very heart of our country in a way that few have or will. This isn''t just another dungeon, this is a mission. We do this and we''re not just fixing this city.¡± He gazes out to the National Mall and the Washington monument in the distance.  ¡°We''re sending a message that America is back. That despite the Dracosys the United States of America will not break. Not now, not ever.¡±

    Goddammit he''s good.

    I can see Quins whisper to Mercy and she giggles. Dang it, I bet that joke was good.

    I try to get momentum back. ¡°Okay, uh, let''s break a dungeon then.¡±

    -----------

    Three days ago

    Carrollton, TX

    Jose''s house

    9:45 PM

    Jose and Amy put Sara and Mike to bed, respectively. Ernesto was ¡°too old for baby stuff¡± and didn''t need a story or a song.

    Jose finished reading the chapter of Harry Potter to Sara, and she asked, ¡°Daddy, does Harry and Hermie get married?¡±

    Jose smirked. ¡°We''ve got 5 more books to get through. Nobody is getting married to anyone until the end.¡± It was his first time reading the books too, although he always read ahead a little bit so he could practice his voices. If he did anything, including reading books to his daughter, he was going to do it well.

    He kissed her on the head goodnight and she giggled. ¡°Your beard feels funny!¡±

    Jose stood and turned the lamp off. ¡°And you''re funny too, little girl. Good night.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight daddy.¡± Sara yawned and turned over.

    He closed the door behind him and leaned against the door frame to Mike''s room. He was making Amy sing ¡°the ants go marching¡± again. It was his favorite. Amy couldn''t carry a tune, but the kids always thought she was the only singer who mattered. Jose smiled at that thought. Ernesto was growing out of it, but that phase when your kids just think you''re great at everything really was incredible. Jose just hoped he could live up to that.

    Amy was finishing her second rendition of the marching ants when she trailed off, meaning that Mike had fallen asleep. She left the room quietly and closed the door. She found her husband right next to her.

    Jose''s hand slipped around her thin waist, and his thumb slipped inside her jeans. She felt his rough skin press against her soft hip and her heart raced. She loved this part. The little hints. The subtle moves that lead one thing to another. Jose''s hand slid up under her shirt and-

    ¡°Gross!¡± came Ernesto''s voice as he walked past them to the bathroom. ¡°Not in the hallway.¡± He made sure to scratch his butt and belch on the way to really dampen the mood.

    After he closed and locked the bathroom door Amy pulled Jose close and giggled into his ear. They''d been married for 15 years and still, still he had this effect on her. The roguish eyebrow raise. The slight tilt of his head to imply his impending kiss. The smell of his shampoo. His toned, tall body and firm grip. She stepped down the hall to their bedroom, holding his hand to her waist as she went. He followed. He was hers.

 Book 2 - Chapter 8: Reptile House

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    2:50 PM

    We do indeed get through the first 5 floors without getting our boots wet. The locals here patrol inside the dungeon itself, and have set up trails and paths. Short, makeshift bridges dot the massive, dense swamp. Overhead is pure fog, though which pale shafts of fake moonlight occasionally pierce through. The locals have electric lanterns hung from trees along their trails, so you can get around without stumbling over the roots of the tupelo trees. There are even several camps set up to help people get rest, reload and recover. It''s all together astonishing what humans can do when they actually organize.

    Our escorts, Officer Smalls and Private Arch, lead us to the cave entrance that signifies the 6th floor.

    ¡°From here on we don''t patrol,¡± says Smalls. He''s actually of average height.

    ¡°Because the reptile house is a real shit show,¡± says Arch.

    The briefing told us that the next five floors are all variations on caves.

    Smalls says, ¡°6th floor is narrow tunnels with little room to maneuver.¡±

    Private Arch says, ¡°so probably skip the sniper rifles.¡±

    ¡°And,¡± says Officer Smalls, ¡°watch your explosions. The tunnels are tougher than steel, so they''ll funnel blasts further than you think they will.¡±

    I wonder how long these two have been down here if they''re finishing each other''s sentences... Probably too long.

    I take point, since I''ve got the defensive abilities to take hits. Right behind me is Cappy. With her compact FN P90 submachine gun and small stature, I trust her to be able to move alongside me without us bumping into each other.

    We enter the cave tunnel and I briefly get a flashback to entering R-32 the first time. This is different. Everything about this is different. You''re not going to get this team killed. I take a deep breath and I step inside.

    The cave is narrow and short. The taller of us are having to duck down. There''s bioluminescent moss on the ceiling and sometimes the walls, so the tunnels glow softly blue. The stone surrounding us is dark Grey and cool to the touch. I advise that we switch to night vision optics just to make sure we''re not ambushed. Apparently the reptoids are crafty.

    We proceed for about 15 minutes before we make contact. I hear some scrabbling up ahead and raise my fist up, signaling those behind me to hold up. I slowly creep around the corner and see Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy crouched down and ready to leap out at whoever enters their small chamber. The reptoids are being very presidential, I guess. I sigh (mentally) then stride out and as they rise to meet me I pop both with Storm Shots.

    Storm Shot

    Exotic

    Fire a bullet of electo-charged wind at a foe.

    Range: 200 feet

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 82%

    The Atmos powers I''ve got my minds currently attuned to use my hands, rather than weapons. I can fire Storm Shots from my fingertips and can punch with lightning. The two shots launch from my index finger and strike both former presidents in the head, splattering their brains across the cave wall. Something about killing two assassinated presidents feels so very, very wrong.

    After a quick sweep I take Madeline''s advice and have the lowest leveled people up front, followed by our higher tiers. Cappy, Rutger, Scarlett, Kailani and Parker all take turns being on point and we sweep through the 6th floor without me doing any more fighting. For our troubles we collect some good old Sacagaweas as loot. The reptoids carry replica props appropriate to whatever person they''re mimicking, so I now own reptoid Lincoln''s hat and Parker has a guitar pick from reptoid Kurt Cobain. The reps for whatever reason decided to all be dead celebrities for our party.

    Again, dungeons are weird. How the crap are reptoids living in caves supposed to know about Nirvana or the Gettysburg address? It''s just more poorly designed Dracosys bullshit. Bullshit I say!

    As the newer and lower leveled Pathbreakers clear the way, Quins comes over and asks me, ¡°sooo boss, want me to shoot your brotha for ya?¡±

    ¡°What. What? No!¡± I turn to look at the brit, who''s got one of his trolling faces on. Oh. Of course he''s trolling.

    ¡°Aw, come on, just like a little arrowing between friends, no big thing. Won''t even be an exploding arrow. Probably.¡± He''s decided to break the tension by talking about the thing I''m tense about. I do appreciate his directness.

    ¡°First, I''m the only one who is going to tackle my brother.¡± I hold up a finger so they know I mean business. ¡°Second, I think he''d regenerate an arrow wound in seconds, so it wouldn''t matter.¡± I hold up a second finger, then pop up my ring finger. ¡°And third...¡± I trail off because I really hadn''t thought this far. Quick! Sub-minds! Think of a third thing! ¡°And third, he''s probably going to be taken out by some government agency, quietly and without us even knowing about it.¡± Damn, sub-minds, that got dark.

    ¡°Nah,¡± says Jose. ¡°He''s still moving around too much.¡±

    Jose already told me how his tracker on my brother works. He can tell direction but not distance. He''s currently somewhere around or between Seattle or Vancouver. Unless he''s coming straight towards us, in which case his tracker would say the same direction, but not say whether he''s in Canada or Ohio. Mental shrug.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡°Your buddy Brian gave me one of the litRPGs to read,¡± says Madeline, who has one eye on the fight ahead. Sporadic gunfire lights up the tunnel with splashes of amber, followed by the sounds of reptoid bodies being blasted apart. ¡°Defiance Fall, something like that. In that one there''s basically just one big damn hero. But that''s not the case for us.¡±

    ¡°That''s right, heroes are popping up across this planet to fight back against this terrorist crisis.¡± Henry''s deep voice booms in the tunnel, and I give the hand sign to stifle it. ¡°Sorry,¡± he says in a whisper.

    It''s true though. Unlike those stories, we''re not the only ones who can save the world. At any moment, a team might take down Desmond Pierce of the Ambrose Society in an ambush. People across the world are taking on dungeons. Someone could kill or capture my brother without me. And to be honest, that stings a bit.

    When you''re at war, you know you''re part of the machine. You know your role is limited. But now, now that I have super powers, it''s odd to think that I might not be needed. Me and my powers can be replaced, or some other person might be ¡°the special¡± who saves the world or some such thing.

    I can''t think like this. I have a job to do. And I can do it well.

    ¡°7th floor!¡± I hear Cappy yell back at us.

    I tilt my head towards the front and say to my friends, ¡°time to pay attention, I guess.¡±

    The 7th floor is a forest of stalagmites and stalactites. Massive pillars that look like melted white candles dot a wide, deep room 50 feet tall. The area seems to be lit with flood lights set into the ceiling and floor to cast dramatic shadows from the stone monoliths. The stalagmites and stalactites themselves each seem to be 1 foot, 5 feet or 10 feet wide, as if the 7th floor design team only had the budget for 3 versions.

    Using my heat vision optical lens, I can tell there''s chameleonians out there in the dozens, maybe hundreds. All invisible to the naked eye.

    From a distance of about 150 feet I scan one. I can scan it while looking at it through the lens but not my regular vision. Which sort of makes sense?

    Chameleonian Warrior. Tier 4. These bipedal reptiles have optical camouflage. How are you even reading this? Anyways, so they''re faster and stronger and tougher than the ones you fought in the Get! store.

    Possible loot: scale armor, stealth skin, teeth and claws.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I start. ¡°We''re letting them come to us. Jose and Quins will open fire while Scarlett, you use Jeff the magic falcon to lure them to us. Mercy and Rutger, you charge up big spells for the first and second waves of them, respectively. The rest of us will be behind some void walls I''ll pop up.¡± Unfortunately I can''t use my flame shields if we''re using heat vision to fight. I can''t be blinding my own team, now can I?

    ¡°Void mind!¡± Vortexes of purple energy swirl around my fists before condensing into my hands. I immediately get to work and set up five Void Rifts in a semi circle around us. Each Void Rift is a 10-foot-long line on the ground that looks like someone painted that section black. When someone (anyone except for me) approaches, dozens of thin purple spikes of void pop up and attempt to stab the intruder. So it''s more of a trap than a wall, but it''ll work just fine against the melee-oriented chameleonians. Plus, they linger as long as I have the Arcana Points to preserve them, and I''ve got AP to burn.

    In my most commanderly voice I ask, ¡°everyone ready?¡± I get a flurry of yeses, one ready mate and one I guess so. Which is good enough, I suppose. I give the signal and Jose and Quins open fire, and if they''re not counting their kills to compare later I''d be shocked.

    The chameleonians let out cries that sound like strangled geese, which must mean ¡°get those mother fuckers.¡±

    I check my radar and it''s empty aside from our side. I look with my right eye and see nothing. I look with my left eye, through my heat vision optical lens and see hundreds of monsters. Hundreds. Shit.

    -----

    Jun¡¯s Atmos (wind/electric/water) Spells

    Storm Shot

    Exotic

    Fire a bullet of electro-charged wind at a foe.

    Range: 200 ft

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 82%

    Typhoon Blow

    Exotic

    The answer is punch. It doesn¡¯t matter what the question was. Has a 33% chance to stun foes.

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 333%

    Storm Stream

    Exotic

    Fire a beam of Atmos energy that branches off when it hits a foe. The longer you sustain the attack, the more targets can be hit.

    Range: 100 ft

    Cost: 2 Arcana Points/second

    Proficiency: 47%

    Tempest Buster Rifle

    Exotic

    Charge up and fire a powerful, large beam of Atmos energy, demolishing anything in its path.

    Range: 500 ft

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 2%

    Storm Cell

    Exotic

    Conjure a cage of Atmos energy around a foe, trapping and slamming them with repeated minor attacks.

    Range: 30 ft

    Duration: 5 seconds

    Cost: 15 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 1%

    Atmospheric Control

    Exotic

    Control wind, water and electricity to cause minor effects, similar to basic spell effects.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point/1 minute

    Proficiency: 44%

    Squall Steps

    Exotic

    Walk, run and fly in the air.

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points/1 minute

    Proficiency: 99%

 Book 2 - Chapter 9: Re:ptiles

    I tap the button on the side of the lens which causes half of it to slide over and turn the mono-eyepiece into binocs. My heat vision is flooded with red splotches signifying chameleonians. Because the binocs give me Predator vision, I can''t make out much more than general shapes. Despite this, Jose and Quins seem to have no trouble at all making head shot after head shot.

    Scarlett Fletcher''s magic falcon Jeff is circling above, shooting thin white lasers from his eyes. Jeff looks just like a normal falcon, except he''s pure white and has a blue gem in his chest. Jeff''s lasers are pretty spot on. I''m assuming Scarlett has some sort of shared vision with him since her eyes are glowing.

    A dozen chameleonians are shot apart and dozens more leap over the dead bodies of their comrades. Mercy targets a cluster of them and twenty lizards are ripped apart by thin green streams of data. Her White Hat Warlock costume has some incredible firepower.

    Thirty more reptiles come in from the right and Rutger Waltz fires off a massive chain lightning spell that leaves crispy, blackened lizards behind. The rest of us open fire and dozens more chameleon''s die to bullets. The lizards are tough. They take multiple head shots or a lot of body shots to take down. Parker McCall, Cappy Williams, Henry Gallup and Kailani Haku are all using regular guns. Parker seems to have some Ki techniques like Quins and Jose, letting her rifle shots hit harder.

    Madeline Diaz and I are on defense. Aside from my void traps, I''m standing in the back so I can see the whole fight. Madeline has her axe and shield, and is front and center.

    Five lizards punch through our collective fire and promptly get stabbed by purple void blades as they pass over my traps. This doesn''t faze the other reptiles in the slightest. More chameleonians charge our line and Madeline dashes over, cleaving one in half with a horizontal chop and then turns it into a spinning strike. She spins and adds centrifugal force to her next strike, cutting the top of another lizard away. Green blood sprays, covering her and Scarlett, who Madeline rushed to defend. In the moment after her second strike, a lizard leaps at Madeline only to be pierced through the head by a Void Blade. I quickly send three more blades into the two reptiles behind those.

    Void Blades

    Exotic

    Conjure blades of void energy in your hands, or stab from any surface at range. Targets who survive your strike are afflicted with Entropy.

    Range: 61 ft

    Duration: Instant or 10 minutes

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 245%

    The Void Blades spell counts as a knife, which means my plethora of knife buffs apply to them. The net result is blades that pierce through the tough hides of the chameleonians like butter, and they form in a split second. Giving these creatures no time to react. My proficiency was carried over from Shadow Stab, which this replaced, and grants me extra range on the spell. With 61 feet of range I can cover our entire group.

    Cappy leaps 20 feet straight up and her FN P90 glows gold with a Ki technique. She fires a literal wall of bullets down on a group of five lizards and they''re beaten down by the barrage. Rutger and Mercy are both charged again and Mercy fires on a group to the left and Rutger takes out a cluster of foes to the right. Jose and Quins have taken to firing only at the furthest away foes, letting others take out the closer threats.

    The cave smells like gunpowder and stinking dead lizards. The air is full of the sounds of battle, our side putting out the rattle of guns, the twang of a bow, the shimmering chimes of spells and the meaty chop of an axe. The chameleonians cry out in barking howls. They cry in pain as they die. They cry in rage as their brethren are killed by the score. Hundreds of bodies are piled up around us.

    There seems to be no end to them. Guns are reloaded. Ki and AP are starting to run dry. Our offense wanes and I step up my defense. Void Blades puncture lizards, I send two blades to cover each foe. I cut down a dozen reptiles before I realize there''s just too many. I cut down another group of ten chameleonians with Void Blades when I realize my mistake. I can be more proactive with these.

    I summon five blades and have my left sub-mind control them with telekinesis. They fly out and rip and stab away at mid range foes while I continue to use the instant stab version of the spell to counter foes who come close to my team.

    A lizard gets through and I can''t react fast enough because I''m attacking other foes. It leaps towards Rutger but Madeline throws herself into its path. The creature''s claws and fangs bite into her, but not deeply. She''s one tough woman. She shoves it off and then cleaves it down the middle, two bloody chunks sliding apart. Kailani starts an invocation and iridescent motes of healing fly out from Kailani''s hand into Madeline''s shoulder, healing the shallow wound and even repairing her uniform. Now that''s some magic!

    I notice Mercy hasn''t cast a spell in a few minutes and when I look at her she''s got this cloud of green 1''s and 0''s surrounding her, and she looks ready to go. She strides forward and taps Madeline on the shoulder. Madeline takes the hint and swaps places with Mercy, letting my girlfriend take her front-and-center spot.

    Mercy holds both hands in front of her and the cloud of data condenses into a ball in front of her splayed fingers. Then she shouts, ¡°Data Threads!¡± and hundreds of thin lines of green energy fire off ahead of her, each one turning in sharp angles, finding a home in a different chameleonian. For three seconds the entire cave is bathed in this green light as each lizard is immediately stunned by the beam hitting it. Then Mercy, still holding the ball of data, calmly says ¡°overload.¡± The ball copies itself into hundreds of replicas, each one following one of the data threads. Each ball shoots down a thread and hits the connected chameleonian like a shotgun blast, sending gore in every direction.

    The glowing threads fade and the room is once again coated in harsh floodlights. All that''s left is hundreds of bodies of the lizards. I cut my void wall traps off and tell everyone to fan out. Mercy falls onto her butt and looks exhausted. Madeline is with her and puts a hand on the Warlock''s shoulder. My ears are ringing from the gunfire, despite the now silence of the cave, so I can''t hear the words Madeline says to Mercy, but I can imagine them. Probably something good.

    The team sweeps the area and finds a handful of stragglers which are swiftly taken out. I call for a break and everyone seems very into the idea.

    I sit down next to my awesome girlfriend and offer her a diet Dr. Pepper. She thanks me and accepts it.

    I am deeply curious, but also want to flatter her. ¡°So, that was kinda, sort of, possibly the most powerful spell I''ve ever seen or heard of.¡± She takes off her floppy wizard hat so she can rest her head on my shoulder. ¡°Ah, so how and what was that?¡±

    ¡°Hrmmm,¡± she mumbles in an almost dreamlike state. Oh she is very tired after that. ¡°So you know how I got the Hexer class?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I confirm. Hexer is the 3rd step class that follows her Costumed Witch class, the one that empowers her cosplay.

    ¡°So my subclass for it, Self-Sealing, gives me curses I can put on myself. That lets me...¡± She trails off and I have to nudge her to keep her eyes open.

    I politely chide her. ¡°Keep talking, don''t fall asleep in the super dangerous dungeon, please.¡±

    ¡°Hrmmm. Okay then, meanie. Basically those curses let me lower some stats to boost others? I figured out I can stack the curses.¡± The sugar and caffeine seem to be working and she lifts her head up. ¡°So I stacked like 50 curses on myself to boost my power on that attack.¡±

    ¡°And the downside, aside from heavy fatigue?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she says casually. ¡°My Toughness was like negative 100 so even a paper cut could have killed me then.¡±

    Even though I''m sitting down, I feel like I''m about to collapse. ¡°Haaa what the fuck now?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I''m kidding,¡± she says, like someone who wasn''t kidding and now is pretending they were.

    Man, Wisdom is pretty good, actually! I can read people''s emotions better. Wait just a damn minute!

    In a concerned and trying not to panic voice I say, ¡°hey, Mercy, so don''t do that again please.¡±

    She rubs my knee affectionately. ¡°I knew you had my back.¡± There''s a level of trust in her voice that usually only shows up in the voices of soldiers you serve with. She''s become a warrior and I hadn''t even noticed.

    We look into each other''s eyes then. Her deep, dark brown eyes show me strength, resolve, trust, love. This girl just keeps amazing me, every day. And every day I feel lucky to be with her. This is it, isn''t it? That thing people search for and never find. True, passionate, deep love.

    Keeping her gaze I say, ¡°I need you to live for like another hundred years or so, just so I can spend all that time with you.¡±

    She smirks. ¡°Is that a proposal?¡± she asks without a hint of seriousness.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°Nope,¡± I say confidently. ¡°It''s a promise.¡±

    I focus on the other conversations happening around us as Mercy once again slumps over onto my shoulder. Jose and Quins are arguing over a chameleonian that they both shot and who should get the credit. Madeline is talking to Cappy and Parker about how to best spend their level ups. Henry and Scarlett are being regaled with stories of Kailani''s 4 kids. And Rutger...

    I look over at Rutger, who''s standing by a big stalactite, phone out, taking pictures of the stone formation. In the quiet of the cave my natural voice volume carries over to them. ¡°Hey, Rutger. You like geology or something?¡±

    They''re crouched and taking a shot angled up at the ceiling. They get the shot and then come over to me. ¡°Check it. The stone is different on the floor and on the stalactite.¡± They say this like it''s an important clue.

    My +250 Intelligence does not help me understand the relevance. Being really smart doesn''t help you know things you don''t know. ¡°Alright then,¡± I say with a verbal shrug. ¡°Dungeons are weird.¡±

    Rutger rolls their heavily shadowed eyes at me. ¡°It means it''s not connected. Like it could just be shoved off there.¡±

    It''s at this point I notice that actually all of their jewelry is Dracosys scannable. Woah.

    Small Gold Earring. Intelligence +3. A simple earring that looks good with most outfits.

    Dangling Gothic Cross Earring. Charisma +5. Okay so you''re super religious or super goth. Got it.

    Fake Emerald Earring. Arcana Points +5%. Despite being fake it shines better than the real thing. Value is subjective, after all.

    Charm Bracelet. Currently holding 5 charms, +2% Luck per charm. Looked cool when you were 10. You''re not 10 anymore.

    Simple Black Steel Bracelet. +5 Toughness. Depending on your outfit this makes you either classy, fashionable or emo.

    Skull Ring. Charisma -2, Arcana Point regeneration +10%. Is it tacky? Yes. Does it make you feel like a badass? Also yes.

    Silver Ring. +10% resistance to infection, poisons and diseases. Silver is naturally antibacterial, that''s why silverware was made of silver. This does the same thing, but with NANOMACHINES. Also, now that you know about the nanomachines, we can reference them in your mind.

    ¡°Do you have a keen sense for treasure, by any chance?¡± I ask, now that I know they''re loaded down with more magic items than anyone else in the Pathbreakers.

    Rutger looks at the drowsy Mercy on my shoulder. ¡°Just knock a few pillars over when you get a chance and we''ll see.¡± They''ve got confidence in their voice. Interesting.

    I don''t know much about Phoenix Team aside from their bios. Madeline handled the hiring for her team, while I handled it for team Lupus Rex. According to their bio, Rutger Waltz worked retail at the Mall Of America when the Dracosys hit. They lead dozens of people out while fighting off some apparently fierce foes.

    ¡°What''s your deal, Rutger?¡± I ask, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

    Rutger answers on the edge of annoyance. ¡°You mean my pronouns?¡±

    ¡°Oh I don''t care about that. I mean, why are you here? Why''d you want to do this? You weren''t military before, and don''t have a background of fighting, far as I know.¡±

    Rutger gets a faraway look. ¡°Let''s say that I hate bullies, and the Dracosys being made by humans really pisses me off.¡± There''s a certain weight behind those words.

    ¡°Who did you lose?¡± I ask, knowing that there has to be more than just that.

    Rutger is quiet for a moment and then turns away from me. ¡°My little sister. She was seventeen. Died right in front of me.¡± Their words are bitter. The Dracosys has taken too much from us.

    Franco is dead. Deacon is dead. Rutger''s sister is dead.

    They walk off and flatly say, ¡°I got some levels. I''m gonna go allocate.¡± That''s all any of us can do. Keep moving forward.

    For my part, I''ve once again hit the maximum of 10 stored level ups, so I head into my menus to see what I can grab. Something I''ve had my eye on for a while now is the Weapon Master class.

    Weapon Master

    Become a god with one weapon or a demigod with all weapons. The choice is yours.

    A fourth step class. Two subclasses. Unknown class evolutions.

    Gain 5 Strength, 5 Dexterity, and 5 Ki upon choosing this class.

    You must choose a Subclass upon choosing this class.

    Two subclass specific techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Ki, Dexterity and Strength.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced, expert or master weapon technique will be granted until all master and lower weapon techniques are granted. A subclass specific technique will be granted every 5 levels. Each level you gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Strength, 3 Ki and 8 free points.

    Subclasses

    One For All - Choose a weapon type. Any bonuses you have to that weapon type now apply to all weapon types.

    All For One - Choose a weapon type. Any bonuses you have for any other weapon type now apply to that weapon type.

    I decide that now''s the time, and take five levels of the class. I look at the starter techniques.

    Chosen Speed

    Master

    Choose 1 weapon type. Your Dexterity is increased by 25% when attacking with that weapon type.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    Chosen Might

    Master

    Choose 1 weapon type. Your Strength is increased by 25% when attacking with that weapon type.

    Passive

    Proficiency: 0%

    I set those up to affect knives, then select the One For All subclass so those bonuses affect every weapon I carry. The level ups get me a few more knife power ups which now apply to any swords, spears or baseball bats I use. Nice.

    So far I''ve been able to get through short battles without much trouble, but by the end of the chameleonian horde I was down to 21 AP. Telekinetic weapons are almost free to use, so I need to intersperse my attacks with those more next time. With all my buffs my melee weapon attacks and the equivalent of 503 Strength and 306 Dexterity. Uh, wow. I hadn''t done the math before now. That''s kind of insane how much the passive techniques can stack up. I should probably be wrecking face with melee weapons more often.

    The other thing I have from those levels is 32 free attribute points, and I think it''s finally time to put them where people have been bugging me to for a while: Wisdom. I''d been avoiding the stat since it governs Spirit regeneration and unlocks classes that give you invocations. And seriously, I don''t want to do invocations! They''re useful but so lame!

    Anyways, I raise my Wisdom up to 45. Yay. Now people can stop yelling at me about it. I have all my core stats above 40, making me thoroughly superhuman.

    We take an hour break after the 6th and 7th floors. I smash open the odd stalactites and stalagmites that Rutger points out and inside them we find some old, pre-civil war money, some Ki recovery potions and three Amendment Proposals.

    Amendment Proposal. This allows the user to propose adding a rule to the Dracosys''s functions. Voting will take place during the next system update, with all Dracosys users getting to vote.

    Holy. Crappenfest.

    -----

    Jun''s Void (Dark/Poison/Psychic) Spells

    Void Blades

    Exotic

    Conjure blades of void energy in your hands, or stab from any surface at range. Targets who survive your strike are afflicted with Entropy.

    Range: 61 ft

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 245% (Range)

    Dark Mote Grenade

    Exotic

    Throw a ball of void that explodes into smaller motes of void, that then home in on nearby targets.

    Range: As far as you can throw a grenade

    Area: 10 ft radius

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 110%

    Void Rift

    Exotic

    Create a line on a surface that emits void energy. You can refresh the duration for 1/2 the cost of the spell.

    Range: 30 feet

    Area: 10 feet long

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 15%

    Vortex Grenade

    Exotic

    Throw a ball of void that creates a void well on impact, sucking in nearby foes and damaging them with tendrils of void.

    Range: As far as you can throw a grenade

    Area: 10 ft radius

    Duration: 10 seconds

    Cost: 25 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 41%

    Entropy Dart

    Exotic

    Fire a homing dart that inflicts severe Entropy on its target.

    Range: 200 ft

    Cost: 12.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 37%

    Mind Scraper

    Exotic

    Damage an enemy''s psyche while also reading their thoughts.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 7%

 Book 2 - Chapter 10: Medieval Times

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    4:30 PM

    We''re gathered in a circle talking fervently about the new rules we could introduce. Monsters can''t kill people? People killed by the Dracosys are revived? Cancer is cured? Everyone forgets the fourth and fifth Indiana Jones movies exist? The possibilities are endless.

    Unfortunately our closest thing to an expert on the Dracosys rules and regulations is Mercy, and she''s only been scrubbing through the rules file for a couple of days.

    ¡°If it benefits just some people but screws over others, it''ll get denied,¡± Madeline says.

    Mercy is looking closely at the fine print at the bottom of the magical scroll. ¡°The system can veto the rule if it conflicts with a higher priority rule, and these new rules will be bottom priority.¡±

    ¡°This sounds like a job for our legislative body,¡± Henry, future political leader, says.

    Scarlett says, ¡°sounds like we need some lawyers.¡±

    I chide them both and say, ¡°no, no, what we need are rules lawyers. RPG nerds. People like me who love breaking systems in interesting ways.¡± I add conviction to my voice. ¡°And trust me, we are going to break the system.¡±

    The group looks at me then, some not believing, others with measured skepticism, and Jose with a smirk. He watched my tabletop RPG characters break several tabletop game systems that Brian ran for us during our Get! lunches.

    I take the scrolls and hand them to Madeline for safe keeping. I know her Toughness and Constitution are higher than mine, so she''s not likely to keel over. Plus, it looks good to the troops for the leader to entrust important items to others, instead of hoarding them. Wait, is that my 45 Wisdom kicking in? Sweet!

    We head over to the exit on the far side of the cavern. It''s a narrow stone staircase spiraling down, with torches set into the wall for lighting.

    ¡°Dude, we heading into the past?¡± Parker asks from behind me.

    I''m leading the way again. I just can''t tell others to go in ahead of me when I know that defensively I''m probably the team''s best. I respond back, ¡°eh, either that or a Medieval Times.¡±

    Quins pipes up, ¡°oh that was a laugh, the Medieval Times thing.¡± I''d taken the whole company to the restaurant/jousting show last week. We had a great time. ¡°You yanks got any other time travel show restaurants to visit? I''d be in for a viking show.¡±

    We''ve climbed down a few dozen steps and I hear something ahead. Squawking? Like birds. I tell everyone to shush and I creep down to the 8th floor.

    The stairs open up to a tall, narrow cavern, possibly a very deep ravine, depending on your perspective. The stairs land on a red stone walkway which curves around the left wall and heads down. There are dozens of walkways just like it built into the steep ravine walls. Pueblo style homes are carved into the walls all over, some with lit fires inside shedding orange light through small open windows and large round doorways.

    Here and there I can see the lizard men we''re inevitably going to fight. They''re as tall as Jose but twice as wide. Each carries weapons. Spears, javelins, a bow and arrow. Most carry more than one weapon. They also are wearing US revolutionary army uniform coats. You know, those blue coats with red stripes down the front and big gold buttons. Their heads and eyes are twitchy, never looking in the same place for more than a second.

    Lizard Minute Man. Tier 4. These guys are on guard for a red coat invasion. Or any invasion. Your invasion, to be specific. Don''t let the old fashioned weapons fool you. They''ve got Ki techniques just like you do to amp their attacks up.

    Possible loot: their equipment, lizard man heart, George Washington''s Hat.

    Some of them are squawking at each other in some harsh conversation. A bigger lizard man wearing a tri-corner hat pushes a smaller one down, then kicks the smaller one off the side of the walkway. He(?) falls. I lose sight of the poor sap and don''t hear the sound of him hitting the ground until 5 seconds later. I do the math quickly and come to the fall being around 500 feet. Yeah, so we''ll have to watch out for that.

    I reconvene with the team. ¡°So lots of lizardmen, some with ranged attacks, some melee, lots of close quarters fighting. Ideas?¡±

    Scarlett is first to speak up. ¡°Let me send Jeff to scout the area.¡± She looks at the white falcon perched on her narrow shoulder. The bird is taller than her head so it looks like the bird is in charge.

    ¡°He gonna be okay?¡± I ask. There¡¯s a reason I don''t have Biscuits here, because I¡¯m afraid of losing the little cat. Mercy would kill me if that happened.

    Scarlett looks at me like I¡¯m stupid. ¡°Yeah, of course, no big deal.¡± And with that we make room for her to come down the stairs and the bird takes off down the ravine. Scarlett¡¯s eyes glow white as she takes on Jeff¡¯s vision.

    Within about ten seconds we hear squawking and angry lizard shouts. There¡¯s a clatter of arrows and javelins being launched and hitting stone, followed by the high pitched PIIING of Jeff¡¯s laser eyes, followed by the sounds of more lizard yells. Then a few more seconds of probable fighting, then a bird screech, then Scarlett¡¯s eyes go back to normal. ¡°Okay, Jeff died,¡± she says without a care.

    ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m so sorry!¡± I put my hand on her shoulder to console her. As a fellow Caller, I know how attached you can get to your familiar.

    She raises an eyebrow at me. ¡°You know he¡¯ll be back in ten minutes, right?¡± My enhanced Wisdom tells me that she thinks I¡¯m an idiot.

    Ah. So familiars respawn. That makes sense. Ahhhhh. So I¡¯ve been worried about Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr. dying when really it¡¯s just an inconvenience for the Caller. Okay. ¡°Pft, yeah, of course I know that!¡± Apparently Wisdom does not make you better at lying.

    Scarlett uses the Minimap technique and makes a 3D hologram of the entire ravine. Everyone gathers around her and she points out alcoves, enemy locations and routes. The path splits off in a couple of places and we form into 4 teams to sweep the floor. Since we¡¯re doing breech and clears into lizardman homes and...Cafes? Yeah, that¡¯s what she said that room was. Right, so we¡¯re going SWAT not ninjas today.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Quins, Jose and Scarlett are hanging back up at our initial landing, which overlooks most of the ravine. They¡¯ll provide fire support. Madeline is taking Kailani and Rutger, I¡¯ve got Mercy and Henry Gallup has Cappy and Parker with him. We wait ten minutes so Jeff pops back in a cloud of white feathers, and Mercy has to change into her Oni Princess Kaguya costume since the White Hat Warlock outfit is pretty much ¡°burned out¡± for the day.

    Oni Princess Kaguya is an anime that takes the japanese fable of Kaguya, a beautiful woman who comes from the moon in a bamboo rocket, and turns it on its head. Instead of being a starcrossed romantic interest for the farmer who finds her, this Kaguya is an Oni, or japanese ogre. That means she¡¯s got two sharp horns and is hella strong. In the anime she gets into fights with other genre-bent fairy tale characters, and she uses a naginata and bamboo powers. The bamboo powers let her basically shoot bamboo spears and walls up out of any surface, which makes the character, and thus Mercy¡¯s costume, quite versatile. Also, it¡¯s a green and white kimono with a super short skirt so I¡¯m always happy to see her in it.

    ...High Wisdom does not make me less distracted by my girlfriend in a super short skirt. God I just want to-

    ¡°Jun Kyung Han? Hello?¡± Madeline waves a hand in front of my face to break me and both my sub-minds out of thinking very dirty thoughts.

    ¡°Right, right. Fighting and death. Atmos Mind!¡± I let the neon pink of Atmos storm energy whip around my arms and center in my fingertips, which then glow pink. I cast Squall Steps and then walk right off the ledge, where I then float. ¡°Let''s go,¡± I say, and fly alongside the pathway, leaving room for others on the eight foot wide ledge.

    Jose and Quins open fire and take out a couple of lizard men before the call goes out to the others and they take cover from our snipers. Quins fires a few more shots that glow red and emit a high pitched whirring sound. From the reptile screeches below, I''m guessing those were homing shots. Jose just rolls his eyes at that.

    Madeline is first up, running alongside me. I hear the twang of bows below and have enough Reflexes and Agility to swiftly slide out of the sky and onto the platform. Madeline just shakes her head at me.

    We barrel down the path until it splits into a path going forward and another going down. We don''t want to be flanked so we''re each taking a path. Madeline sprints forward as the wall curves to the right and I lose sight of her. Kailani and Rutger trail behind her. The big woman and the scrawny they/them both having trouble keeping up with their team leader.

    I hop down the stairs to another landing and am greeted by two lizard folk. One charges with a spear, the other winds back with a javelin. I snatch the spear right past the head, stopping the front guy''s charge. I know Mercy is behind me, so I can''t let that javelin past me either. I snap off the spear head and use the flat of the blade to swat the javelin out of the air as it sails by my head. Then Mercy''s naginata comes in from my left and cuts across the lizard man''s left arm and chest. Green blood trickles from the wound but he doesn''t look too fazed by the slash. I charge neon pink storm energy into my fist and punch him in the jaw with Typhoon Blow.

    Typhoon Blow

    Exotic

    The answer is punch. It doesn¡¯t matter what the question was. Has a 33% chance to stun foes.

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 333%

    The lizard reels back and drops to a knee but that just opens up room for the javelin guy to rapid fire two of his tiny spears at us, this time charged with golden Ki energy. Mercy slams her foot down and a wall of bamboo shoots up and I hear the loud THOCK THOCK of javelins into wood. A split second later the golden energy of those projectiles explodes, creating two foot holes in the wall. Shit!

    ¡°Do NOT get hit with the javelins!¡± I cry out so that everyone can hear me. ¡°They can explode!¡±

    My stunned lizard friend recovers and then reaches through the hole in the wall to grab at me. That''s when Mercy decides to retract the wall back into the floor. The wall falls and the lizard man goes with it, his arm first dragged down, then severed. He screeches in my face and I make a finger gun. I fire two Storm Shots right in his open mouth and the spiraling bullets blast out the back of his head. The javelin guy in the back has charged up another javelin but Mercy lunges past me and performs another stomp, this time sending sharpened bamboo spears diagonally forward at the liz man. The pointy tips don''t bite in deep, but they push the target up off his feet and fling him back, off the ledge and into the abyss below. Five seconds later I hear a splat, but by then we''ve already moved on to the next encounter.

    I turn down a short bridge across the gap, like we discussed, and now I''m on the left side of the ravine. I can see my team now, both above me and at my level on the right side of the ravine. The further in we go the wider the gap between the sides. Right now it''s about 15 feet, but as we move forward and down, the gap widens to 45 feet.

    A lizard man with a powdered wig to go with his revolutionary war uniform pops out of a cave wall dwelling and I slam him in the gut with a Typhoon Blow. He doesn''t get stunned and instead reaches around me to rake his claws across my back. I''ve got a hell of a lot of Toughness to resist damage, but the claws of this beast dig in and I can feel blood drip from the wound. Mercy grabs one of the clawed hands, pulling it out of my back and punches with Oni strength. I hear bones crack and I''m pretty sure it''s the lizard man because he lets me go and takes a step back. That''s all the space I need and send two Typhoon jabs to his face and then try something. I use an axe kick, my foot flying up into his jaw, and try combining it with Typhoon Blow and sure enough, my kick gets coated in Atmos energy and slams into the lizard with enough force to crack his jaw in half, his mouth falling open in a broken, nightmarish smile. I step back as Mercy moves forward and slashes the guy three times with her naginata. He drops.

    I hear shotgun fire, rifle shots, the twang of a bow, the PIII of a hawk''s laser eyes. The sounds of our battle echo through the ravine, coming back to us and overlaying more combat noise in a confusing cacophony of war.

    This isn''t the cave. I''m past that. I need to keep moving forward.

    Mercy takes the lead as the ravine curves. She pushes another lizard man off the ledge, then gets into a spear versus naginata pole arm battle with another reptile. I stand up straight so I can shoot over her head and fire five Storm Shots into the lizard. The small bullets aren''t as effective when they''re not hitting a weak spot, but they throw off the enemy long enough for Mercy to spin his spear away and land a heavy overhead chop to finish the job. We move on.

    We become a whirlwind of melee death. The platforms above and below mostly block us from our sniper support, but occasionally we come up to a lizard man only for him to be hit by a lightning bolt round or explosive arrow. We also can see the other teams across the ravine, and I sometimes stop and take pot shots at enemies they''re fighting, and vice versa.

    I especially watch the team of Henry Gallup, Cappy Williams and Parker McCall. Henry has some support abilities from his classes, and I can see a ring of blue surrounding him, indicating that every ally within 15 feet of him gets bonuses. But other than that, he''s just got his shotgun, and I can tell bullets aren''t great against these enemies. Cappy is extremely agile, and she jumps from one side of the ravine to the other with alarming ease, using the distance to flank and get clean shots with her FN P90. With them is Parker, and she''s got our standard issue MK 16 SCAR L rifle. She can usually move quickly with some sliding technique, but in these cramped quarters she''s playing it safe and moving slow with Henry. What she does though, is occasionally fire some Ki enhanced three-round bursts. Usually Ki techniques are limited to single attacks, so either she''s got a special technique that allows her to fire bursts or she''s very good at controlling her attacks. I''ll have to ask her later.

    We move forward and down. We take down lizard man after lizard man, each one not sticking their head out until we''re right up on their hiding spot. I take a spear to the gut and have to back off and heal. Mercy moves ahead and gets clipped by one of the bow and arrow lizards. That, of course, pisses me off and I fly around the side and lay into that one with six rapid blows that pulverize the creature''s offending arm. It bites down into my shoulder as I pummel it and Mercy''s naginata glows and then spears straight through the top of the monster''s head, displaying power I haven''t seen from her before.

    I turn to look at her. She flicks the naginata to the side to get the blood off it. She''s determined. She''s in the zone. She''s so fucking cool. I use Healing Palm and my shoulder recovers. We both take a deep breath and then continue down the stairs ahead, to more lizards and more fighting and more carnage.

 Book 2 - Chapter 11: Dragon-ish

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    5:45 PM

    It took almost two hours to clear the 8th floor. Almost two hours of constant fighting. We all (aside from our snipers) took damage, most of us multiple times. Big Mama Kailani used some chants to heal us, though. I didn''t need to fly and catch any one falling down the ravine. Ah well, there''s always next time, I guess.

    We finally get to the bottom of the ravine where we find... Piles of lizard man loot. I know we knocked a few dozen guys off the walls, but this is ridiculous. The lizard men must have been knocking each other off on the regular for this to be as big as it is. There''s piles of Sacagaweas and lizard man hearts (ew.) The latter are mostly dried out but nobody wants to collect them.

    Cappy shows off a Thief technique that lets her step on coins to collect them and she sweeps up several thousand bucks in about a minute. Henry, of course, finds the rare drop.

    George Washington''s Hat. Charisma +10, support aura range +100%. While stately at the time, it now makes you look like Captain Crunch.

    He puts the tall, almost 2-dimensional hat on over his helmet and looks about as stupid as you can imagine.

    ¡°How do I look?¡± he asks, seriously.

    Parker responds with the harsh truth. ¡°You look like black Captain Crunch.¡± I didn''t read out that part of the description to everyone, so she came to that joke all on her own.

    We need another break after the constant fighting, and the entry to the 9th floor looks like a massive stone temple, which nobody is eager to explore. Our next fight will involve dragon-men, if the intel is right. Magical dragon-men.

    We all break out our break supplies, drinks and some snacks, and we''re all just sitting around saying nothing, enjoying the silence after the harsh sounds of battle.

    Kailani asks the group, ¡°so, what movie should someone watch to understand you better?¡±

    ¡°Eh, wot''s that mean?¡± Quins asks.

    ¡°It''s an icebreaker question,¡± Parker replies.

    Henry nods and says, ¡°we do this in Phoenix team sometimes after a fight. Go around and ask some innocuous small talk question to help normalize our minds and remind us that we''re not just killing machines.¡± The man is covered in green blood spatter.

    People look at me, like they need my permission to talk to each other. ¡°Sure, I guess... Jarhead, maybe? The one about the bad time in the military? Most of my time was really boring, after all.¡±

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Kailani said in her deep voiced, motherly way.

    ¡°Enemy At The Gates,¡± comes Jose''s answer. The WW2 sniper movie.

    Mercy tilts her head and says, ¡°not something about dads?¡±

    ¡°Those are usually garbage family comedies.¡± Jose replies.

    Mercy says, ¡°Chick Fight, it''s this movie where a normal woman has to learn how to be a badass fighter.¡± She made me watch that with her. It was good.

    ¡°Malin Akerman is in that one, right?¡± Henry seems suddenly interested. He has the hint of a man who knows exactly what he''s talking about, but is pretending he doesn''t. So he''s a fan, I guess.

    ¡°Oh, I love her!¡± says Parker, suddenly girlish. She then quickly returns to being a stoic soldier, hoping nobody noticed. We all noticed.

    ¡°Robin Hood,¡± is Quins''s answer. ¡°But Robin Hood: Men In Tights, if we''re being ¡®onest with ourselves.¡±

    Rutger asks, ¡°not Rambo with the exploding arrow trick?¡±

    Quins motions to his torso. ¡°Don''t quite have the muscles for it, mate.¡±

    Cappy says, ¡°Casino Royale, the Daniel Craig version, but just the parkour part.¡±

    ¡°Donnie Darko,¡± is Rutger''s movie. I give a questioning look to them. ¡°It''s confusing if you think about it, better to just accept it and move on.¡± I feel like Rutger is one of those people who describes themselves as sooo complicated, when really, they''re just goth.

    Henry Gallup says, ¡°Wag The Dog. It''s a modern parable about the dangers of not questioning authority.¡± It''s an interesting pick from our future president. He''s got more going on then I give him credit for.

    Kailani Haku smiles and confidently says, ¡°Lilo and Stitch! One, it''s Hawaii, my home. Two, it''s about found family and I''ve got two foster kids. And three, I''ve probably seen it a hundred times because my first daughter loved that one.¡± She goes on for several more minutes about the movie.

    Well, that was a lot.

    Madeline Diaz shrugs and says, ¡°guess I''ll go. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.¡± I fail to see how it relates, and she just says, ¡°it''s fucking badass.¡± This is true. That movie is badass.

    Parker McCall offers, ¡°Miss Congeniality.¡± She doesn''t elaborate, but Sandra Bullock is a federal agent who goes undercover at a beauty pageant. The tough girl who has to learn it''s okay to be girlish sometimes. Got it.

    Scarlett Fletcher is the only one left. I don''t know much about her other than the fact that she has a magic falcon. ¡°Um,¡± she mumbles unconfidently. ¡°also Miss Congeniality? Except in reverse. I actually did pageants when I was younger, and now I carry a gun and fight bad guys.¡±

    We all talk a bit more and let the adrenaline seep out of our veins. Turns out Rutger is also a TTRPG nerd, and actually worked at a game store part time. We talk about the Pathfinder 2e remaster and Rutger complains about the battle Oracle nerf. Alright, Rutger, you''re gaining points with me. Even if I always thought battle Oracle was a crap subclass and nerfing something crap to begin with means it''s still crap.

    Having thoroughly braked, we reassemble in front of the stone temple entrance. I lay out the situation. ¡°Right, so, as a reminder, this floor contains magical, armed and armored dragon men. Fire breathing, magic slinging, great sword cleaving, dragon men. Each one fights alone unless we do something stupid to antagonize more than one at a time. We''re taking this one like ninjas. The layout of the floor is just giant rooms and long corridors. We''ll take advantage of corners. I want Quins, Jose and Jeff to alternate getting the enemy''s attention, then when it comes around the corner we ambush the shit out of it. Questions?¡±

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Parker, with military precision and emphasis, asks, ¡°ambush formation?¡±

    Solar Mind! Bright orange flames spiral around my arms and settle on the backs of my forearms, forming bright orange gauntlets. Then eight kite shields form, one in front of everyone except me and Madeline. ¡°I''m bringing cover points with us.¡± I nod with a serious gleam in my eyes.

    I also tell them, in a much nerdier explanation, about my fire equipment¡¯s resistance to fire damage, which should let them crouch down and hide from any sweeping fire breath attacks. I also summon three flaming great swords of my own, and telekinetically hover them on my back, as if they were sheathed there.

    The entrance to the 8th floor temple area is 65 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the bottom, arching at the top. The stone work looks vintage, like something from an oversized Renaissance era cathedral. The marble is swirled with grey, black and ripples of gold. Inscribed in the walls are bas-reliefs depicting... Dragon men crossing the Delaware? Dragon men at Gettysburg. Dragon men lifting the flag at Iwo Jima. A dragon man being sworn in as president. Alright, this is officially some dungeons are weird bullshit. Aaaaand several of the team are taking pictures of the walls. Really? Really?

    Anyways, there are glowing white crystals hanging from the arched ceiling, so we can see fine. And there''s nothing in the temple aside from us. It''s almost as if this was a video game level made for fighting, rather than a real temple.

    We creep through the first 40¡¯ by 40¡¯ room and immediately there''s a branching path. ¡°Left or right?¡± Madeline asks, right at my side up front.

    ¡°Good adventurers always go left,¡± I say, hoping that was what the line was. I''ve got one mind on my radar, knowing that it should pop with any enemy around a corner (barring stealth abilities.) The road to the left turns right so we can''t see far ahead. I creep forward and sure enough, my radar picks up our first dragon man.

    I motion to the team to form up. Jose, Quins and Jeff the magic falcon (currently on Jose''s shoulder) are up front. The rest of us are in a quarter-circle formation behind solar shields. Basically, as soon as this idiot turns the corner we''ll have him dead to rights. I give the signal for the snipers to snipe and they pop around the corner to take their shots. And everything immediately goes to shit.

    Quins takes two steps out, Jose one step, so they''re not in each other''s way. This doesn''t matter because the dragon man does a charging shoulder tackle into Quins and he goes flying. I rush forward as the dragon man cleaves down with his greatsword, aiming at Jose''s head. I create a solar halberd and jab it over Jose''s head, catching the greatsword and deflecting it. Jose slides back with electricity in his heels, and releases his charged lightning bolt shot right in the creature''s face. The dragon man is scorched but barely flinches. I grab Jose by the belt and leap back. This opens the lines of fire up to the team and dragon dude comes under fire from half a dozen guns. Rutger fires a beam of ice from each hand. I hear Kailani start a healing chant aimed at Quins''s crumpled form. My minds whirl into high gear.

    Dragon-kin Paladin. Tier 5. This is a badass, armored, deadly, magical, fire-breathing dragon man (or woman). How does this creature relate to the US Capitol building? Who cares? You''ve got your work cut out for you with these things.

    Possible loot: their equipment, ability scrolls.

    Ability scrolls? Oooh!

    The paladin opens its mouth and a jet of white hot flames shoots towards me and Jose. I fling him back and away while I create a solar shield in front of me. The shield blocks the fire but I''m already moving, dashing around to the right and creating my own greatsword as I do. The flame jet trails me but I''m too fast. I fling the six foot long solar greatsword straight at the source of the flames. The dragon man leans out of the way at the last second and my blade gives him a long cut across his draconic head.

    I take a good look at him for the first time. He''s almost seven feet tall, with copper colored scales. His chest and shoulders are protected by thick plate armor, his waist covered by a leather kilt. His lower legs are covered by greaves but his feet are straight-up dragon, ending in wicked claws that dig into the stone floor. His metal armor looks like polished silver, but must be something else, based on how it''s easily deflecting bullets. Where he''s been shot it looks like he''s getting bruises, but most attacks aren''t even breaking his skin. Oh, and he has dragon wings coming out of his back, which he''s now flapping and-

    He flies towards me at almost sonic speed, thrusting his greatsword at me. Even with all my super human speed and Reflexes, I barely have time to dodge, and he crashes into the wall behind me. His blow cracks and shatters the wall. Chunks of bas-relief scatter about and a small cloud of dust kicks up. He wheels about, cutting with his sword horizontally, and I parry at the last second with another solar greatsword. The clang of our blades is deafening.

    My team is taking shots when they can. Jeff the falcon is overhead, peppering the dragon man with lasers. Jose is charging up a powerful shot. Quins is still down. Rutger is also charging a spell. Parker is sending Ki-enhanced bullets down range, which actually seem to be punching through the man''s wings. And Mercy-

    Mercy slams down with her naginata, using Oni Princess strength to chop towards his head. He catches the blade with a bare hand, but Madeline is there too, slashing down with a glowing, golden axe. The dragon man blocks that with his sword, and Jose takes that split second to fire a bolt of blue lightning, striking the dragon''s metal chest plate straight on. The girls jump back as blue currents arc back and forth between the monster''s armor plating. He gets stunned, drops his sword, and Rutger fires an Obsidian Sphere which hits the guy and then disappears, taking the dragon''s right arm and wing with it. I pull my greatsword back to me, and strike the monster in the back of the neck. I''m expecting a straight cleave through, but the sword just bites in. I telekinetically pull harder and gold blood sprays out of a neck artery. Madeline chops into his now unarmed right side and Mercy jabs her naginata into the creature''s eye. The dragon man regains his senses and punches Mercy in the gut and she goes flying. I hear her ribs crack. Fuck this guy.

    I physically grab my greatsword and pull while kicking against the guy for leverage. The dragon man opens wide and breathes white flames right in my face. Fuck! I push off against him and finally I feel my blade slide forward and then chop through bone and flesh and scales and the head flies off. Fire shoots out of his neck stump as his body collapses. Madeline and I are sprayed with yellow-gold blood, which, of course, is acid and mildly burns us before we can back off.

    My uniform is burning. My face and hair are definitely scorched. ¡°Well fuck that guy!¡± I shout.

    -----

    Three days ago

    Stamford, CT

    Madeline Diaz''s house

    9:45 PM

    Gary had stepped up as a parental figure, and Madeline was happy to see it. She had her mom living with them, of course, but having Gary around had proven to be a link she didn''t know was missing.

    They were all in the living room, watching Anchorman for the 100th time. Desi and Junior were 12 and 14. Too old to cuddle up with their mom anymore. Gary took up the mantle though, she just had to make sure he kept his hands where she could see them.

    The 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV she''d lifted from the Get! dungeon lit the room, their faces shifting in color as the scene changed. This was good, she thought. This right here, her kids, a decent boyfriend (finally) and her mom upstairs, having gone to bed early for once.

    The movie ended, as always, with an unexpectedly violent confrontation between the news teams. A dizzying number of cameos flew by as comedic actors were maimed and killed. She''d forgotten about this scene. She hadn''t seen it since she became a Knight (now Cavalier) wielding an axe in battle herself. The scene was always funny but now, having witnessed so much real violence, it was downright hilarious. There was so little blood! She found herself doubled over with laughter. She was laughing so hard that Desi had to ask if she was okay, and yeah, of course sweetie.

    After the movie she ushered the kids to bed, knowing full well they''d both be on their phones until around 11 anyway. They had to at least try to get to bed on time, right?

    She thought about telling Gary about why the fight scene was so funny. She thought about telling him about the violence, the pain, the monster slaying. And she decided he didn''t need to know. He was a relentlessly sweet man, more interested in the Great British Bake Off than John Wick. She didn''t need to bring work home. She didn''t need to unload her stress on him, her kids or her mom.

    This place, her home, it was sacred, in a way. Stamford was miles away from any Dracosys sites. Her home was the one place she knew she didn''t have to carry an axe. The one place where she wasn''t Special Agent Madeline Diaz, FBI. Madeline Diaz, Pathbreaker, Phoenix Team leader. No, her kids didn''t care about that. They were entering their teen years and just knew she was mom. The one who told them off when they stayed up past 11. The one who told them to only curse when it mattered. The one who made a mean quesadilla.

    That was who she was here. Just Maddie. Just mom.

 Book 2 - Chapter 12: Spears

    ¡°So, what did we learn?¡± Henry asks the group as we recover, regenerate and reload. He''s taking on a coach role.

    Madeline was pulling the dragon man''s chest and shoulder armor over her head. Once it was on it resized to her. Well that was neat. She also took the greatsword and sheathed it on her back. The tip scraped the ground.

    Sky Dragon Steel Armor. The metal this armor is made of is incredibly strong, but also fairly light for its defensive power. It''s a miracle metal that''s like aluminum, but better, and shinier. As this is magical armor, it automatically resizes to the wearer, assuming you can get it on over your head.

    Sky Dragon Steel Greatsword. Is this sword great? Yeah, it is. It''s a bit lighter than it should be, but not enough to cut down on its cleaving power. The sword is enchanted with durability and sharpness runes. You know about magic gear, right? No? Maybe take the Enchanter class, then.

    I respond to Henry''s question. ¡°I learned that your hair can burn even when it''s under your helmet.¡± I am currently bereft of facial hair due to the up close scorching. Kailani used a chant to heal up my extra crispy facial skin.

    Quins tries next. ¡°I learned that bloke has got some pep in his step that we weren''t made privy to.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± says Henry. ¡°The briefing didn''t tell us these things were bulletproof. And they said they were slow, and didn''t mention wings.¡±

    Mercy, quickly becoming an expert in Dracosys stuff, confirmed. ¡°The dungeon evolved them to negate the troops'' previous tactics against the dragon men.¡±

    I use Ki Cloth Weaving to restore my uniform. It''s a technique that fixes clothes after a fight. When I got it I was pissed, since it didn''t help during battle. Now I appreciate it.

    ¡°Bullet proof takes half of us out of the fight,¡± Cappy said. Her FN P90 sub machine gun had ripped through the previous floor''s lizard men, and she looks dejected as she admits her new powerlessness.

    We talk it through. Jeff the magic falcon hadn''t done anything. Henry''s shotgun hadn''t made a dent. Scarlett and Kailani had rifles which were mere annoyances.

    On the upside, Henry had his aura up, which covered everyone in a Toughness-increasing effect. It might have saved Quins and Mercy''s lives. Jose could still level heavy shots at the dragon man and do damage and stun. Parker''s Ki enhanced shots did damage but she could only do them intermittently. Apparently her Stylish Swashbuckler subclass lets her not use KP if she switches up attacks. Rutger''s spells hit just fine, though we suspect these things are immune to fire and light. Quins could probably use exploding arrows to do damage, but not if we''re in close quarters with the foe. Mercy, Madeline and I were the only ones who really did damage in that fight. Sheer physical strength was going to be our strategy going forward.

    And yet... I can''t help but feel like I could probably kill everything on this floor by myself. I''ve been holding back. I''ve been trying to be a team player, a leader rather than a one man army. I let the others lead the way on the 6th floor. The 7th floor was a team effort because of the sheer numbers involved, but if I''d just flung around 15 telekinetic weapons it probably would have been fine. The 8th floor was all breech and clear, but with my radar telling me exactly where enemies were, I honestly didn''t need anyone watching my back.

    So now we''re here. Fighting things tougher than before and half of us are useless and I could stomp these dragon men alone and I just can''t. Not if I''m leading. Not if I want a team to be at my side. And deep down, that is what I want. What got me through cave R-32 was a team. What kept me in the army when I knew I didn''t belong was the comradery. What draws me to tabletop RPGs as opposed to video game RPGs is the teamwork, the people by your side.

    So this is what I want. Now how do I make it work? Swords? Swords and spears? Could work.

    I shift to Lunar Mind(!) and teal crystal samurai armor shapes around me, followed by five katana and five spears.

    Crescent Moon Gear

    Exotic

    Create samurai and ninja equipment from Lunar crystal.

    Range: 10 ft

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points/10 minutes

    Proficiency: 49%

    Huh. I figure I can give weapons to others but I wonder if... Samurai armor appears around Parker and then snaps into place on her.

    ¡°Woah,¡± is all she says, and seems to marvel at the gauntlets, shoulder plates, chest piece and armored skirt. She takes off her helmet. The Lunar crystal plates have attached to her Pathbreakers helmet, forming a hybrid of samurai and modern military design.

    I gear up the others, though Henry''s George Washington hat prevents him from also having a samurai hat. Apparently double hats are fine but triple hats are not. I give a spear to Kailani, Cappy, Parker, Henry and Scarlett. I try and succeed to make Lunar arrows, and hand a handful to Quins. He has a gleam in his eye as he takes them from me.

    The new formation is thus: I''m in front. Mercy is a 15 feet to my left, Madeline 15 to my right. Ten feet back from me is our spear line, there to step up or back as needed. Behind them our snipers. This is old school military shit. I lure the guy in, Madeline and Mercy come in to flank, the spears prevent his advance, I prevent his escape.

    With our new plan and formation, we march down the hall into another intersection where a dragon man is sitting down, seeming to meditate.

    I hear Quins''s bow string pull back and Jose shoulder his rifle, but I hold up a fist to stop them from firing.

    I step forward alone, entering within 30 feet of the dragon paladin. His sword is placed carefully in front of him on the floor. His head is down. He looks serene.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ¡°We don''t have to fight,¡± I say, confident but not threatening.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she says in a slightly feminine but raspy voice. ¡°We do.¡± She raises her head to look at me. Her wings extend back, her hand reaches for her greatsword. I pull my five katana to my side.

    Time seems to halt. The silence of the dragon temple seems oppressive. The vast empty space seeming to call out for great battles to be fought here. I can feel the tension as we both wait to strike. Both of us waiting for her to lift her sword. Both of us knowing that the other is offering dignity in this fight.

    She grasps her sword and her wings flap, hurtling her forward, low to the ground. Her greatsword flashes with gold Ki and I send three katana to meet it. She slashes out at my blades, batting them away, but that''s what I was hoping for. I use the split second after her swing to slash forward with two more katana, each cutting diagonally down at her wings. The blades make long cuts into the leathery flesh. She barrels into me and I take the shoulder charge in my stomach, digging my feet in and bringing all of my 163 Strength to bear as I grab her horns and push back, slowing her charge to a stop.

    Mercy''s naginata and Madeline''s new greatsword slash down from the right and left. The paladin whips her tail left to knock Mercy back and tries to parry Madeline. The greatsword vs greatsword clash rings out, and Madeline has the upper hand, cleaving down with her weight behind her swing. The dragon pushes up, grinding her feet into the ground, and I leap back without attacking, to her surprise. Quins and Jose loose attacks. Lightning and moonlight strike the dragoness in both legs and she falls. The spears come forward and stab mercilessly. The people using them aren''t strong enough to make pure thrusts into dragon scaled flesh, but their Lunar spears are sharp enough to leave long cuts as they scrape along the paladin''s body.

    The dragon woman breathes fire straight down and the flames shoot out in all directions, pushing us back. Pushing most of us back. Quins and Jose fire again as she stands up, covered in her own white flames. These shots are aimed at her elbows and her hands then drop to her sides. Mercy and Madeline step in again, chopping from both sides and their blows cut deep into her arms. Her head rolls back as her cumulative wounds begin to take her down. I step behind her, call all five of my katanas to me, and then come down with five slashes which all meet at her head, splitting her open like a watermelon.

    We take a minute to check that we''re all okay, and then move on. We move forward and kill the next two dragon men without much trouble. Maybe if they respawn they''ll have resistance to Lunar element weapons. But for now, my Crescent Moon Gear is working like a charm.

    ¡°We need diversity training,¡± I say after the 5th dragon paladin.

    Madeline says, ¡°I''m pretty sure that''s not what you mean.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I need more diversity.¡± Madeline looks at me like I''m missing the obvious thing, which makes me grasp the obvious thing. ¡°Sorry, I mean tactically. Each of you has basically one thing you''re really good at. But clearly that''s not enough for the higher difficulty areas. We need to be flexible and adaptable.¡±

    Both Jose and Quins shoot their hands up like they''re in class. I scowl at them and say, ¡°and shooting different bullets or arrows doesn''t count.¡± They both slowly lower their hands. ¡°From now on, when you hit level ten in a class and can choose a new one, you come to me and get a consult. We''ll think about not just making you stronger, but our teams stronger too.¡±

    I get nods of agreement from almost everyone. Henry is the holdout. ¡°Can we decline your advice?¡± he asks.

    He''s quite the individualist for someone in the military. I sigh. ¡°Yeah, so long as you accept the consequences of your choices, I''m fine with it.¡± He nods and gets back in the spear line.

    We cut down the remaining eight dragon paladins. (I can''t say dragon men because three were women.) This takes only about 45 minutes. Most of that time is spent walking the giant temple and finding the damn dragons. After we kill dragon person number 13, we hear the grinding of stone coming from the north side of the temple. We head over and, like we''d heard, the stairs to the 10th floor only appear when the 9th is cleared out.

    For our trouble now Henry, Parker and Kailani are all wearing Sky Dragon Steel Armor. Which is good because I can''t afford the AP cost of armoring everyone forever. Henry and Parker took greatswords that they swear they''ll use after they raise their Strength. The real prizes were the two ability scrolls we got.

    Ability Scroll Of Dragon Edge. Teaches the technique ¡°Dragon Edge.¡±

    Ability Scroll Of Dragon Tackle. Teaches the technique ¡°Dragon Tackle.¡±

    We''d seen both moves in action. Dragon Tackle was the high speed shoulder tackle, where the user''s shoulder was covered in Ki flames for extra impact. Dragon Edge gave extra unexpected speed to a slash, and was able to be used in a split second, making it doubly hard to predict and stop.

    After much debate, Dragon Tackle went to Parker and Dragon Edge went to Mercy. Parker would be able to leverage her high speed sliding technique with the shoulder tackle, giving her a solid melee option she didn''t have to drop her rifle for. Mercy reluctantly took Dragon Edge because she didn''t actually have any techniques. Her Costume Witch class kept giving her costumes upgrades, but those upgrades weren''t actual techniques. Now she could combine those costume attacks with Ki for better results.

    We all surround the stairs down. I''m keeping Lunar armor on those who need it, but we''re going back to guns for this next encounter. Since nobody''s killed the dragon on the 10th floor, it shouldn''t be adapted against bullets. Yeah, it''s just a regular monster that whole squads have died to. Nothing to be concerned about.

    From below we hear the beating of heavy wings and a mighty roar. Alright then. Here be dragon.

    -----

    Jun''s Lunar (ice/earth) Spells

    Lunar Trap

    Exotic

    Create crystal spikes or moonlight wires to cut and stab unaware foes.

    Range: 50 ft

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point

    Proficiency: 65%

    Crescent Moon Gear

    Exotic

    Create samurai and ninja equipment from Lunar crystal.

    Range: 10 ft

    Cost: 7.5 Arcana Points/10 minutes

    Proficiency: 49%

    Eclipse Beam

    Exotic

    Fire a Lunar energy beam.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 1 Arcana Point/second

    Proficiency: 118%

    Moon Crash

    Exotic

    Summon a crystal moon that breaks upon taking damage. The pieces home in on the origin of the attack, pelting them with chunks of solid crystal.

    Range: Infinite

    Duration: 30 seconds

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 4%

    Lunar Dragon Breath

    Exotic

    Breathe out pure Lunar energy in a wide cone or narrow beam.

    Range: 50 ft or 100 ft

    Area: 50 ft cone or 10 ft beam

    Cost: 25 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 7%

 Book 2 - Chapter 13: Dragon And Dungeon

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    7:15 PM

    ¡°Users recover Ki, Spirit, Faith and Arcana upon using a level up.¡± Mercy says this apropos of nothing as we climb the stone stairs down to the green dragon''s deadly, fog-filled lair.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask, thoroughly stumped.

    ¡°A new rule we could add with the amendment scrolls. Point recovery on using a level up. It wouldn''t contradict the humans should die angle of the Dracosys rules. It becomes a risk-reward feature. Decline being more powerful now for a possible mid-battle boost later. Even then, if you have to close an eye to level up, that leaves you vulnerable while you do it.¡±

    ¡°Like the delay in using an Estus flask in Dark Souls,¡± Rutger says. ¡°No reward without risk. Pretty smart, Mercy.¡± Rutger gives a rare grin. Mercy smiles back.

    I swear that Mercy gets along well with just about everyone. She does have a great smile.

    The chatter continues a few minutes as we descend stairs, then when we hit the stone doors at the bottom, the chatter stops abruptly. Having been briefed on possible poison, we all go into our inventories and pull out goggles and gas masks.

    The doors are big, looking like they belong to the massive temple above. They''re also inscribed with depictions of a dragon breathing acid down on unsuspecting villages. Lovely. I use my Strength to shove the heavy door and it moves with surprisingly little effort.

    The door opens and we see nothing but fog. There are green lights coming from in the fog, giving the large chamber a haunted feeling. There''s no sound from inside the fog. Not yet. I move forward, knowing that a partially or fully invisible green dragon is somewhere in here.

    I can''t see the walls or ceiling, there''s too much fog. My superhuman Intelligence does some rough density calculations and figures the walls and ceiling must be at least a hundred feet away. The wall the stairs are set into is a glossy, black stone. This all feels so wrong. Dozens of soldiers and Capitol police died here over the last few weeks, trying to fight the dragon. Dozens of highly trained people who couldn''t take this thing down.

    I take a deep, humid breath. I turn to the others. They also look concerned. I address the group. ¡°We''re the Pathbreakers. We''re here because we can do what nobody else can. So let''s do this.¡± I get nods and confidence returns to my people and-

    ROAAAAR! The dragon''s cry echoes through the cavern, fog wafting about just from the air being shaken. I can probably match that with Atmos spells. Atmos Mind! I charge and fire successive Storm Shots, and as each air bullet passes through fog it spirals the mist and condenses it. This lessens the fog density just enough for us to see the dragon as it comes in to attack.

    It''s big. Really, really big. It''s got to have a 80 foot wingspan and be 60 feet long from nose to tail. It''s your typical European dragon. Four legs, two wings, body the size of a school bus, head the size of a Volkswagen Golf. As it glides in from above, the fog around it turns yellow. As it lands in front of me it''s long neck rises and it sprays a line of acid down at me. The Pathbreakers behind me open fire. I dodge forward under the spray and scan it as I go.

    Green Party Dragon. Tier 6. Some say they spoil the race. Others say a two party system is inherently corrupt. The truth is that if the Green party used this guy as their candidate, they''d win in a landslide. A landslide of acid and poison. This system message can only confirm what you already know, so its mere presence turns normal fog poisonous and it spits acid and boy, is it strong and tough.

    Possible loot: Dragon core, dragon scales, ability scroll.

    I''m in Atmos mode, so my actual most potent power is punch. So I punch. I reach the dragon''s chest and give it a good Typhoon Uppercut. Neon pink Atmos energy forms a tornadic cloud around my fist, which impacts the dragon and does not a damn thing. Well, I guess the dragon''s chest wobbled a little. Still, totally underwhelming.

    Bullets and arrows fly. An exploding arrow hits the dragon''s neck and its head sways despite not much damage being done. Rutger fires a small ball of fire that explodes when it nears the dragon''s head, but this also doesn''t seem to do much aside from knock it around. Scratch that, the fire burned away some fog. We have a path forward.

    I dash back after the acid spray stops, but the dragon is beating its wings and taking off into the fog again. As it goes it sprays a line of bile-yellow acid aimed at Rutger, and Madeline dashes in to block it with her magic shield. The shield sizzles and the metal bubbles, but then after the acid ceases, the shield seems to repair itself and go back to top condition. Neat.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Solar Mind! I make ten Solar lances and fire Prominence Burn from each one. Bright orange flames shoot out in all directions as I burn away fog. The dragon doesn''t seem to be around but now he''s got less to hide in.

    As soon as I''m starting to look back at my crew Rutger''s chest and stomach explode in blood. The blood coats invisible claws and I can feel the wind from the beat of wings. I turn my lances to right above Rutger and Prominence Burn a wide area. The flames outline the fucking invisible dragon and my team opens fire. The dragon loosens its grip and Rutger drops. I keep flames on the dragon and hear Kailani start to heal Rutger but I don''t know if they''re already dead or not. No, wait, if they were dead, they''d have dropped their inventory items. So they''re alive, for now.

    The dragon flies back and my burning lances follow it. I don''t know how much damage I''m doing to this invisible son of a bitch but I''m not letting it get away easy. It eventually flies into a fog bank. I can''t send my lances in there without losing control of them so I break off the chase.

    Rutger is dying. Kailani''s incantation is keeping them alive, but they''re losing way too much blood. Having watermelon sized claws rip into you seems pretty fatal. But, not 100% fatal. I have to take two chances to save Rutger''s life.

    ¡°Libra!¡± Five stars appear in my right palm, lines connecting them in the pattern of the constellation Libra. The constellation flies over to Rutger''s open wounds and disappears. Then, suddenly their wounds begin to close... And mine open. Blood gushes out of brand new wounds in my chest and abdomen as Libra seeks to balance the wounds between the two of us. I summon Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr. and the floof of orange fur and wings appears in a puff of fire. I grab the kitten and ask politely, ¡°hey can you heal me?¡± I drop to my knees as I start passing out from blood loss. I use Ki healing techniques on myself to keep me conscious while Biscuits just tilts her head at me as I hold her in my arms. Goddammit Biscuits, heal me!

    I hear the roar of the dragon and fear runs through my veins for the first time in a long time. The little kitten looks at my increasingly blood-stained shirt and meows. I feel her healing powers rush through my body, feeling like three shots of espresso at once. And, just as I start to heal up, Libra kicks in, feeling like it could balance my wounds and Rutger''s wounds a little better. I see Rutger''s wounds close and I know they''re going to live.

    ¡°Nothing on heat, infrared or ultraviolet,¡± Parker says as she shuffles through the modes on her optical lens.

    Jose raises his rifle and says, ¡°I can see it. I used a thing. Everyone follow my shots.¡± A bolt of lightning strikes something a hundred feet away in the air and everyone else opens fire in that direction. Jose''s bolt keeps arcing between his rifle barrel and the dragon, and I can see blue electric sparks outline its body.

    ¡°Thanks, mate!¡± Quins says and he looses an arrow that''s closer in size to one of the lizard men''s javelins. The projectile flies slowly but flies true, hitting the dragon right in the head as it swoops in to claw more of us. I''m pretty sure that''s an eye he just hit because the dragon flickers into visibility and reels back and lands 20 feet away from us.

    Without missing a beat, Madeline charges forward and leaps up to deliver a massive, Ki empowered chop to the dragon''s neck. Yellow caustic blood sprays out and Madeline raises her shield to shield herself from the acid. Mercy appears to the dragon''s side and slices up and through its right wing. Bullets fly at the dragon''s face and it opens its mouth to breathe acid, only for our team to rain lead down its throat. I pull back my lances to me and cast ten Solar Motes from ten lance tips. The small balls of orange light and fire fly to the dragon''s left side and then explode, tearing its left wing and front left leg off.

    Now with exposed guts and muscle to shoot, the team proceeds to shoot the damn dragon to death, firing hundreds of rounds into its side. Not to be out done, I fire all ten lances into the thing''s neck and each one punches in just far enough for me to then use Prominence Burn from the lance tips to burn the fucker''s throat from the inside out. The bastard collapses and dies, and I fall over as well, landing on my ass.

    Biscuits looks up at me and I pet her behind the ears. ¡°Are they taking good care of you, girl?¡± I ask. And, as I look at her, she grows three inches. Uh, what? I check her status.

    Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr.

    Called familiar of Jun Kyung Han

    Level 14

    Strength 1

    Dexterity 2

    Agility 39

    Toughness 1

    Constitution 4

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 1

    Memory 2

    Wisdom 1

    Charisma 44

    Reflexes 20

    Etheric Attributes

    Energy 44

    Luck 25

    Free points 26

    Woah! She got credit for participating in the dragon fight! I raise her up with both hands, Lion King style. ¡°Behold, our savior!¡± I shout.

    I use the menu to allocate the free points into Intelligence, Memory and Wisdom, hoping that I''ll get a more reliable pet.

    ¡°Papa, put me down.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°I want attention, but I want it how I want it, not how you want to give it to me.¡± It''s a tiny girlish voice coming from my cat.

    Well, shit.

 Book 2 - Chapter 14: Rutgers Millions

    Look, so I was the one who saved Rutger, really. And Jose saved the day with a Seer chant that let him track the dragon. But nobody cares. There''s a talking kitten so that takes priority.

    Jose and I, ignored by everyone else, go and prod the dragon until it turns into loot. It becomes several thousand Sacagaweas, a green glowing crystal and a scroll.

    Scroll of Draconic Flight. You gain the chant ¡°Draconic Flight.¡±

    Green Dragon Heart. Enhances wind or poison affinity.

    Since nobody else seems to care, we get the loot, I guess. ¡°That scroll gives flight. Probably temporary, but still rad. You want it?¡±

    Jose reaches for it and unfurls the scroll. He reads a bit and nods. ¡°It uses a bunch of Spirit Points, but I''m building that up for my Seer stuff.¡± The scroll crumbles to dust in his hands. He says,¡± Draconic Flight,¡± and friggin dragon wings made of wind shoot out of his back. He flaps them experimentally, then takes off, hovering a few feet above ground.

    Still, everyone else is petting my cat and offering her snacks.

    ¡°It says the speed increases with the chant repetitions,¡± Jose explains. Chants can be spoken over and over again when you cast them, increasing their power without increasing their Spirit Point cost. They''re something I haven''t really used yet because Spirit Points regenerate through Wisdom. And, you know, my Wisdom was crap until like an hour ago.

    We all take a minute to recover, and once everyone has had their fill of belly rubs, I send Biscuits home, teleporting her back.

    ¡°Alright, so does anyone have a particular use for Wind affinity?¡± I ask, holding up the baseball-sized green gem.

    Nobody raises a hand.

    I shrug. ¡°Okay, so need is out, what about wants? Who wants to use it?¡±

    Cappy and Rutger both raise their hands. They exchange glances and Cappy speaks first. ¡°I''m hoping to build an aerial assault ability set. I''ve got High Jump, Double Jump, Triple Jump and Air Dash already. I think some Wind spells or techniques might help in that direction.¡±

    I glance at Rutger and they say, ¡°I want it because I don''t have any Wind magic, and that could get me it. Also, I almost died.¡±

    I nod. ¡°Both compelling arguments. Roll off!¡± I pull a d20 from my pocket and crouch down. ¡°Cappy, your roll is first.¡± I''m rolling for both because otherwise Cappy''s higher Luck would just give her the win automatically. It''s a nine. ¡°Nine. Kinda low. Rutger''s roll is next.¡± I roll. ¡°Six! Cappy gets the gem!¡± I toss the dragon core over to Cappy.

    She holds it in her hand, then looks at it, concentrating. The gem glows green, then crumbles to dust. The dust swirls around her, then seems to be absorbed into her chest, right where her heart is. She keeps her eyes closed. ¡°Boss, I know you said to consult with you on classes, but I just unlocked the Aerialist class and I''m taking it.¡± She''s quiet for another few seconds, then goes, ¡°oh hell yeah,¡± and opens her eyes.

    Cappy jumps onto the air once, then double jumps, then triple jumps, and then fires straight down. The bullets impact the ground with enough force to shatter the stone. Meanwhile, Cappy seemed to float in the air when she was firing. She drops down and explains excitedly. ¡°So I now get extra damage based on my height vs the target''s height, and I can float while attacking.¡± She seems really amped up about it.

    Rutger nods. ¡°Then I guess the dice gave that gem to the right person.¡± It''s nice that they''re not a sore loser about it.

    We still have no idea how big this fog-filled room is, nor where the exit is, so we fan out looking for... Anything, really. A few minutes later Kailani has found the exit, a stone platform that looks like it descends like an elevator. Rutger, on the other hand, has found a veritable dragon''s hoard. They found a button in the wall that slid away to reveal a hillock of gold coins with Masonic symbols on them, and various magic items.

    Ring Of Resistance. +10 Toughness. It''s got a ruby set into it, so you know it''s valuable.

    Cloak Of Shadows. Enhances Dark elemental attacks and spells by 15%. Also, you become 33% more goth while wearing this.

    Belt Of Unusual Size. Increase your size (and your clothing size) by 50%. This doesn''t increase your stats, so you''re not hulking out, you''re just Shaquille O''Neil-ing out.

    Scroll Of 50% Off Sale. Choose any ability that has a point cost, and reduce that cost by half. Oh, yeah, everyone is going to want this baby.

    I give everyone the scan info and indeed, everyone wants the Scroll Of 50% Off Sale. Since Rutger found the cache, and they''re already goth, they get the long black cloak to help complete their wizard ensemble. After comparing stats, the person with the lowest Toughness (Quins) gets the ring.

    Rutger hands Madeline the belt, but cautions her, saying, ¡°don''t wear it too much or you''ll start absorbing the effect, and you probably don''t want that.¡±

    I''m incredulous. ¡°I''m sorry, the what now? Absorbing the effect?¡±

    Rutger nods. ¡°Not everyone knows it, but I figured it out. You slowly absorb the effects of magic items you have equipped, until they no longer grant you those bonuses. The nice thing is that you can then pass the item on to someone else.¡±

    I check my menus. Son of a bitch, they''re right!

    Dexterity 175 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 125 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Reflexes 254 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Those used to say ¡°+5 from M3 Mongoose.¡± I check the M3 Mongoose knife itself, and it says this now:

    M3 Combat Knife With Mongoose enchantment. +5 Dexterity, Agility and Reflexes. (41% absorbed) Known for their ability to fight snakes, the Mongoose is basically a very angry squirrel.

    I come out of my menus, look at Rutger, and say, ¡°well this changes... Ah, probably something?¡±

    Rutger looks like they''re trying to convey sympathy for someone who realized something potentially cool is not actually that cool. ¡°Yeah, the absorption rate is slow, though I''ve heard the Imbuer, Runist and Enchanter classes get bonuses to it.¡±

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Rutger and I are purposefully looking at each other and ignoring the FLURRY of arguments for who should get the 50% Off scroll. Everyone is giving it their all except for Mercy. Her costumes operate on cool downs, rather than point costs.

    After about 20 minutes of arguing, it''s down to Jose, Kailani and Parker. We roll off for it, and Parker comes out on top, using the scroll to cut the cost on her Triple Tap technique. More frequent Ki enhanced shots are in her future.

    Cappy sweeps up the coins again with her Thief class ¡°step on/near money to collect it¡± technique. They total 43,894 coins. If each is 1 ounce of gold, and gold is around 2500 dollars per ounce right now, that''s... ¡°Jebus H. Jon Benjamin, I think that''s worth 109 million dollars!¡±

    There''s utter silence for five whole seconds, before the conjecture begins.

    ¡°How do we split...¡±

    ¡°Is that taxed?¡±

    ¡°Can we even move that...¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but where did it come from?¡±

    ¡°It''s like a tip for a waiter, right?¡±

    ¡°It should go to this charity...¡±

    ¡°What if it''s cursed?¡±

    ¡°Mate, there''s no such thing as curses!¡±

    (There are curses, actually.)

    I assure everyone that they get an equal split. Oh, and the company gets one share. And I assume that half the team might retire after this job. Or at least Cappy and Kailani. I know the money was a big part of why they joined us, and they both have other things to do with their lives.

    Shaking with excitement, we head over to the platform which will take us down to the 11th floor. It''s just a stone circle in the floor with a lever in the middle. And it''s really only big enough for three or four people to stand on.

    ¡°I can fly down, but who is going first?¡± I''m looking for volunteers.

    Madeline and Henry both step forward, followed by Parker and Jose.

    With a flash of light Mercy changes into her Angle Frame mecha armor, which can fly. Nice.

    The four non-fliers step aboard the platform and Madeline throws the black stone lever with a scraping of rock against rock.

    The sound of heavy metal gears clanking was the accompaniment for the elevator''s slow descent. The platform descended a few feet, then a few feet more. I switched to Atmos mind to gain flight, and dropped into the hole to follow them. The painfully slow descent suddenly came to a stop, some 15 feet down.

    Then, several things happened in quick succession. One, the elevator platform cracked apart and collapsed. Two, Madeline, Henry, Parker and Jose began to fall. Three, I pushed with all the speed I could muster downwards, using the Squall Steps spell to its utmost to catch my team.

    ¡°Don''t resist!¡± I shout, and with a mental apology to them, I snap my fingers and Madeline is trapped in a Storm Cell spell. The spherical spell surrounds her, and the others, in a pink cloud. Sparks arc along its sides, and I know that my comrades are being pelted with wind slashes, needle rain and sparks of electricity. I keep acting quickly. I land on the cloud, and Mercy lands next to me. I get down on my hands and knees, ready to reach out for people. Mercy holds her spear up, ready to push it down for someone to grab.

    The five seconds Storm Cell lasts are up. The cloud fades. My friends start to fall again. My hands reach down. Mercy''s spear thrusts down. Madeline grabs my hand. Jose and Henry grab Mercy''s spear. Parker starts to fall. I reach out for her. It''s not far enough. If only.

    My sub-minds race. Each of the other three Astral elements, Solar, Lunar and Void, has a type of weapon I can create and telekinetically throw. Except Atmos. Atmos has... Punching. Punching? Have I been misunderstanding that power? I use Typhoon Punch, targeting Parker, who is now five feet outside of my reach. A neon pink arm of storm energy rushes out from my shoulder, past Madeline and grabs onto Parker''s shirt.

    I concentrate on the arm. It does what I want it to do, and what I want it to do is fly up and drop off Parker back on the 10th floor. I watch Mercy fly up with Jose and Henry, followed by Parker being lifted by a pink ghost hand.

    Madeline looks up at me. ¡°We going up or down, chief?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, sorry.¡± I apologize and realize that we might as well go down. We slowly descend into the pitch black shaft. Madeline shines a flashlight at the bottom, which is several hundred feet down. We gently float there, and as we get close we can see the rubble from the broken elevator and an archway that''s lit from the inside. We hit the bottom and walk a few yards down an arched brick tunnel.

    ¡°It''s a Masonic temple,¡± Madeline says, with a hint of awe in her voice. The entryway opens to a balcony that overlooks a friggin pyramid with an eye carved into the side of it.

    -----

    Three days ago

    Fort Wort, TX

    The Waffle House off Loop 820

    9:45 PM

    Henry Gallup and his dad, Dale Gallup, somehow always ended up at Waffle House. Being open 24 hours meant that if you stuck around talking, nobody minded. And the hash browns. Gotta get them smothered and chopped.

    The car ride from the DFW International Airport took out most of the small talk. They''d exchanged the standard greetings, the how''s Trixie the dog, the you didn''t have to come and the well I wanted to see my busy son.

    Iowa hadn''t been hit by the Dracosys much, so Dale had been safe there, living out his 60s managing the family farm. The ¡°family¡± farm which now had almost a hundred employees. Dale had turned it around in the 90s, when Henry was little. Henry had seen firsthand the power of industrialization and the digital revolution. He hadn''t known how impressive that was at the time. Now, knowing how difficult it had to be, and how his father and grandfather had to deal with prejudice, he was deeply proud of his dad.

    Sally the waitress looked like she''d had the job for three decades and had the experienced moves to go with those decades. She started pouring the coffee as she put the cups down. They ordered All Star Specials, Henry with hash browns and Dale with grits.

    ¡°What you''re doing is dangerous, Hen.¡± Henry''s father had concern but no condemnation in his voice.

    Henry''s usually booming voice was lowered in the subdued restaurant. Nobody came to Waffle House at 9:45 PM to make or hear a racket. ¡°It''s for the good of the country.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but I still gotta worry about my boy, you know?¡±

    Henry just nodded and took his father''s hand, which was on the table. ¡°I know, dad.¡±

    ¡°It was one thing, with you in the SEALs. I know you''d be in trouble sometimes, but not all the time. Now you''re fighting God knows what almost every day.¡±

    Henry squeezed his father''s hand before releasing it. ¡°I''m with good people. And we''re not taking on more than we can handle.¡±

    Dale Gallup looked out the window. The highway was dotted with the lights of cars flying to and fro. ¡°Everyone has someplace to be, Henry.¡± He looked back at his son. ¡°Is this your place?¡±

    Henry thought it over before answering. An older white man went to the jukebox and played ¡°The Rising¡± by Bruce Springsteen. The post 9/11 song had gained a new life in the post-Dracosys world.

    ¡°It is right now,¡± Henry answered. ¡°But not where I''ll end up.¡± He thought about his political aspirations. He thought about changing the country. He thought about Ginny West, the pretty NPR reporter he''d talked to, and who he was still talking to. There was a lot for him still to come.

    ¡°I''m going to make you proud, Dad.¡±

    Dale gave a raspy chuckle. ¡°Oh, I''ve always been proud of you Hen. Proud when you were the only black kid in your grade and you didn''t fight back. Proud when you joined ROTC and found some good friends. Proud when you joined the Navy, like your pops. Proud when you out did me and got into the SEALs.¡±

    Dale wiped away something that definitely wasn''t a tear. ¡°And I''m proud of you now.¡±

    Henry wiped away something that definitely wasn''t a tear. ¡°Thank you, dad.¡±

    ¡°I still want grandkids though.¡±

    Henry thought of Ginny West again. ¡°Sure dad, if I can.¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 15: Péˆ¥æ©­rcs

    The gymnasium-sized room had a pyramid built into the far wall, with that all-seeing-eye carved into it. Sure, why not? Fucking Freemason conspiracy bullshit now. What are we fighting this time? Guys in robes with funny hats?

    Ahhhhh, no. No, they''re not guys in hats. They''re giant pig-men. Dozens of them down below us, talking to each other in some kind of oinking language.

    P¡¯Orc, Initiate. Tier 3. The most common type of P¡¯Orc, these guys pack a wallop in melee, using their ceremonial maces. They can absorb a crap load of punishment.

    Possible loot: Magical mace. Bacon.

    P''Orc Officiate. Tier 4. Their incense burners invigorate their allies while clouding your vision and making you trip balls if you breathe too much of it.

    Possible loot: Incense burner, magic robes, pork rinds.

    P''Orc Justice. Tier 5. A champion of the P''Orcs, whom other P''Orcs defer to. Their brass staves can do magic or just beat you down.

    Possible loot: Magic staff, magic hat, pork jerky.

    So, the Orcs we''d heard about are the pig-man type of orc, rather than the green skins. And they''re wearing very fancy robes and fancy hats. Lots of gold and royal purple in there. These guys are all around 10 feet tall, except for the couple of Justices, who are both 12 feet tall. With the... 37 P''Orcs in this room, I''d say Madeline and I could probably survive a fight here, but I''d rather have everyone. I turn around to back out of the chamber when an iron gate slams down in the entrance tunnel. A magical shimmer glides across the bars.

    ¡°Shit,¡± Madeline and I both say at once, then in unison we turn around to face the gang of P''Orcs that are now shouting in our general direction.

    Madeline pulls out her new greatsword and shield. She''s so strong at this point that she can one-hand the massive blade.

    I quickly say, ¡°the incense is hallucinogenic, the staff guys are bosses with might and magic.¡± I switch on my comm and talk to the group. ¡°37 enemies, we''re behind a locked door, don''t know if you''ll be able to get to us before we finish the fight.¡±

    I need to pull out all the stops on this one. I need to stop playing it safe, playing on the same scale as my allies. Atmos mind! I jump up on the balcony railing and immediately start changing my big spell. ¡°Guard me for 10 seconds!¡± I yell at Madeline.

    Tempest Buster Rifle

    Exotic

    Charge up and fire a powerful, large beam of Atmos energy, demolishing anything in its path.

    Range: 500 ft

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 2%

    My hands twist in front of my body and come together as if holding an invisible basketball. A fucking mace flies at me and hits me in the head. It hurts but I''ll be fine. Madeline strides up next to me and blocks another two thrown maces with her shield. A Justice fires an arc of emerald lightning at me and I can''t dodge while I''m charging this spell. Madeline thrusts her sword straight into the lightning and it wraps around the sword and dances down her body, leaving a trail of blackened skin behind.

    That''s long enough. I shout for her to get back as my spell triggers. Motes of pink Atmos energy gather into the center of my hands, first dozens, then hundreds a second later. Another emerald bolt flies at me but it''s too late for that. My spell suddenly fires a 10 foot wide beam that obliterates the bolt and a cluster of five pig men. Then, as the beam continues, I sweep it across the room in a Z pattern. As the neon pink beam of concentrated storm magic collides with the pigs, they''re turned into paste as the force of beyond hurricane winds rips and shreds everything in its path. The beam shrinks as I reach the end of the room, and then peeters out. I fall back and need a second to recover. Madeline leaps off the balcony to finish off the remaining half-dozen pigs.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    A minute later she kills the last pig in the room and the gate behind me opens. Jose and Parker rush through, those being the first people Mercy had brought down the elevator shaft. They fan out past me and take in the gruesome carnage.

    Parker, with her Boston southie accent asks, ¡°what the fuck happened, bro? Smells like bacon.¡±

    I''m sufficiently mentally recharged so I tell them. ¡°Lots of pig men. I used a big laser spell. Madeline got the rest.¡±

    Madeline climbs the stairs to my left and says, ¡°we''ve got six stone doors, plus the pyramid which has definitely got some secret to it.¡±

    Mercy has flown down Quins and Henry. I think Cappy actually just jumped down. Soon we''re joined by the whole team.

    We scour the temple room and get some magical items from the pigs. Robes, maces, hats, a staff. Most of it goes into inventories, except for the staff.

    Staff Of Emerald Bolts. Changes all your electrical spells into Emerald electrical spells. Emerald electricity ignores armor and does extra damage to living things.

    Rutger gets the staff and now with the cloak they look like a proper wizard. A goth wizard wearing a military helmet, but a wizard all the same.

    The rest of the magic items the pigs dropped all had minor stat bonuses, but with the attached requirement of ¡°must not be wearing armor,¡± which most of us weren''t stupid enough to do. I wasn''t wearing armor because I had techniques to support that style, but everyone else at least had a Kevlar vest on.

    I check my radar and do a couple of Pings to see the enemies past the six doors around the room. Behind each door are clusters of tightly packed foes, as if waiting to be released upon unsuspecting adventurers. I relate the intel and we decide to form a line in front of door #1 and have Madeline open it. Cue our overwhelming force, then rinse and repeat for the other rooms. Nothing to worry about.

    Madeline steps into the small alcove the door was in as we wait in a firing line. She steps right in front of the stone door and we all hear a click! Shit. The sound of stone scraping against stone grinds out as all six doors start to slide open at once.

    ¡°Balls!¡± I helpfully shout. Then the doors are open just enough for the first P''Orcs to come at us. They''re not any different from the others, but each door has 47 P''Orcs behind it. Forty Seven.

    ¡°Up the stairs, use the choke point!¡± I shout, this time being actually helpful. There are two curving staircases up to the overhanging balcony, and we start heading up the one on the west side of the room. I cast Typhoon Punch ten times and I''ve suddenly got five storm energy arms on each side of me, like I''m some Hindu deity. The first P''Orcs come under fire as we retreat up the stairs. I fly straight up to the balcony and grab Cappy as I go. I drop her off on the balcony ledge and she gets it right away. From 40 feet up her new ability is going to amplify her shots at least three fold. She starts to rain down bullets from her FN P90 SMG, and pork shoulders and heads burst into red blood.

    The others come up the stairs while alternating between moving forward and turning back to shoot. They get up the stairs and we regroup up top.

    Henry does a chant, ¡°De-fense! De-fense! De-fense!¡± and his aura surrounds the whole platform. I can feel my Toughness tick up.

    ¡°21%? Not bad!¡± Quins says. ¡°That brings me from 20 to 24, thanks, mate!¡±

    ¡°Not done yet!¡± Henry says over the din of firearms. ¡°Focus, focus, focus!¡± I know when you repeat chants they get stronger, so I think he''s giving us his best stuff. This time I feel my senses sharpen even more. I can see every pig clearly, hear every round fired individually. I can tell the team is suddenly hitting with more precision.

    Mercy flies overhead and unloads a few hundred rounds from her minigun into the pigs. The squeals from the monsters are hideous and loud. ¡°Jun! Let''s go!¡± The tip of her staff ignites with a green laser spear head, and she dives into the fray below. Madeline leaps off the balcony, following her. Damn, these girls are crazy.

    I fly over the crowd of a few hundred pigs and get to their rear, landing just at the foot of the pyramid. Then I use my ten storm fists to start wailing on them. With the rapid fire speed of a machine gun, I start beating the pig men, their faces breaking, their maces useless against my storm energy limbs, their incense blasted away by Storm Shot bullets. Each pig is getting a dozen punches, each second I''m taking out another enemy, each enemy being bashed against the next one, giving it just long enough for it to see me coming.

    I thought Atmos was the weakest of my new elements, lacking the ability to make weapons. I was wrong. This is what I was missing about Atmos energy. The unrelenting, unstoppable storm.

    As I fire a barrage of punches I shout the only thing appropriate.

    ¡°Ora! Ora! Ora!¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 16: Dinner Guests

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    8:00 PM

    The big Atmos beam attack was useful, sure. But beating pig men to death with ten storm fists felt good. I wonder about that. What is it about me that thinks that the most efficient way to kill isn''t the most satisfying way? The most satisfying way involves repeated punches, cleaving swords, thrusting spears. Weapons and fists that suddenly fire off spells, rather than just me doing it. That way feels right. That way feels like who I really am. The flow of endless attacks. The combinations of strikes and spells. The synergy of weapons and magic.

    The P''Orcs are dead. The room is a mess of hundreds of pig corpses. It smells like far too much bacon. We''d really cut loose on these guys. Madeline, Mercy and I struck the core of the group. Quins and Jose took out the right and left flanks. The others took out scores of the front of the horde as they tried in vain to get up the stairs. By the end the pigs were having to climb over their own dead only to get close enough for Henry''s shotgun to blow their heads off.

    Quins shows off his corpse removal technique by firing an arrow into the center of the room and the corpses, and all their blood and gore, fade away, only to be replaced with coins and items.

    I''m breathing heavily. The feeling of unreality hits me again as the gore-splattered room turns into a treasure haul. I raise my hand and call across the now silent room. ¡°I think I need an icebreaker!¡±

    ---

    ¡°What living person would you like to have dinner with?¡± Kailani asks the question to the group. ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± A bunch of hands go up. ¡°You can''t pick an Obama.¡± All the hands go down.

    Quins answers the question with a question. ¡°Question, can we beat the shit out of the person? Because if yes, Elon Musk.¡±

    Kailani shakes her head. ¡°No, Mr. Sheffield, no assaulting your guest.¡±

    ¡°Drat.¡± Quins goes back to his bag of crisps.

    ¡°Can I get a translator?¡± asks Rutger.

    Kailani shrugs. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Then Hidetaka Miyazaki. The director of the Dark Souls games. I''ve got questions.¡± Rutger looks around at people mostly unfamiliar with the Souls games. ¡°They have a lot of mysteries and obscure secrets in them.¡±

    We''re all just sitting down on the stone stairs with Kailani in front of us, so it feels like she''s leading a class. ¡°Talking to someone to get to the bottom of a mystery or two is very telling, Rutger.¡± I feel like she''s going to say more, but she leaves it to each of us to decide what that means. With my 45 Wisdom I decide it means that Rutger doesn''t care about famous or successful people, and may not care about those for themselves.

    ¡°My wife,¡± Jose offers. ¡°We haven''t had a night out without the kids in like a year.¡±

    Kailani smiles at that. She knows all about having to put your kids first.

    ¡°Dude, you know I''d watch them for you,¡± I offer. Jose gives me a look like he doesn''t think I''d make it through a night with his little monsters, I mean lovely children.

    ¡°Simone Biles,¡± is Cappy''s answer. ¡°I''ve actually met her a few times at competitions but I''d like to sit down with her and talk about pressure.¡± It''s an interesting answer. Not just an idol, but someone who might give you good advice.

    Parker suddenly offers, ¡°Keanu Reeves. Because, I mean, dude, it''s Keanu Reeves.¡±

    Then Scarlett Fletcher comes in with, ¡°Mariska Hargitay.¡± When I and a couple others don''t get it, she says, ¡°from Law And Order: SVU.¡±

    ¡°Good answer, dude,¡± replies Parker, and slaps Scarlett on the back.

    I finally think of my answer and put forward, ¡°Tina Fey.¡± I get nods all around. Tina Fey is pretty incredible. And incredibly attractive. Oh god don''t tell Mercy I said that.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Quins starts, ¡°but can I take the piss out of him the entire dinner? Because if yes, Elon Musk.¡±

    Kailani just shakes her head. ¡°I''m going to say Oprah.¡± It''s a solid pick, and gives you a good chance to find a new car under your seat.

    ¡°I''ve never met my grandparents since they live in Pakistan. Can I just say all of them?¡± Mercy''s request is heartfelt and nobody has a word to say against her idea.

    I put my hand on her shoulder. I give her a ¡°we should go¡± look and she gives me back a ¡°we have important things to do¡± look. Being in a relationship with someone and knowing their looks is pretty damn great.

    ¡°In that vein,¡± says Henry, taking a deep breath, ¡°my mother. She left when I was a baby and doesn''t want anything to do with me.¡±

    We let out a collective sigh. Damn, dude. Mama Kailani goes over and gives him a hug. Henry may have auras but Kailani has vibes.

    Madeline rolls her head back. ¡°Well, shit, I was going to say Chris Hemsworth because he''s hot, but now I feel like an ass.¡±

    Henry looks her dead in the eyes and with all seriousness, says, ¡°it''s okay to go for your man candy, Madeline.¡± The rest of us lose our shit and laugh at that one.

    After the laughter subsides, Quins says, ¡°okay, last ask. Elon Musk, but I make him eat like a poor person. Ramen noodles and that''s it. And then I make him do the dishes or something.¡±

    ---

    Inside each of the six side rooms is a large lever. Once all the levers are pulled several of the pyramid stones slide away leading to a ramp down to the next floor. We''re reloaded, recharged and refreshed. Madeline and Henry take up the vanguard this time, and we switch to ninja mode until we know what we''re dealing with on the next floor.

    The 12th floor is a slaughterhouse, where pig men are cutting up pigs. It''s totally disgusting. We shoot, chop, laser and blast our way through.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    The 13th floor is a wide open farm where the P''Orcs are free-range (I guess?) so our long range team gets to mow down everything without much trouble.

    The 14th floor seems to be an inauguration ball, and all the pig people are dressed in fine clothes. Seriously, you do NOT want to see a P''Orc wearing a cocktail dress. By now we''ve got our crowd control routine down so the thousand or so P''Orcs here don''t cause too much trouble. Mercy, Madeline and Henry get pretty beat up in the process but Kailani''s healing is rapid and on point.

    We get to the 15th floor door. It looks more like a wooden gate from a log palisade than a dungeon door.

    I suggest we all check our levels and classes before we go in there.

    Most people have to hit level 10 in one class before they can choose another, and have to hit level 10 in that second class before they can choose a third, and so on. In addition, if you want a third or fourth step class, you have to take the preceding class first.

    Example:

    Fighter is a 1st step class. All it requires is 10 Strength.

    Knight is a 2nd step class. It requires 15 Toughness and 15 Constitution.

    Cavalier is a 3rd step class. It requires 30 Toughness, 30 Constitution and level 10 in Knight.

    Lancer is a 4th step class. It requires 45 Toughness, 45 Constitution and level 10 in Cavalier.

    5th step classes require 100 in the listed stats, plus level 10 in two different 4th Step classes.

    Because I¡¯m a cheating Synergist, I get to ignore level requirements for everything below 5th step classes. I also don¡¯t have to wait until I hit level 10 in a class to unlock a new one. I can do it whenever I want to.

    Jose Amarillo hit level 10 in Seer, unlocking the Prophet class. It''s supposed to sometimes grant random bonuses to your attacks and defenses, but Jose''s Luck stat is so damn high that the effects are basically in effect all the time. He¡¯s 14 levels away from a 5th step class.

    Mercy Mahar has hit level 10 in Hexer, which unlocks the 4th step class, Necromancer. However she thinks that''s gross, so she''s taken the Imbuer class instead. Imbuer and its evolved classes, Runist and Enchanter, let you apply magic effects to items. Items like costumes. So she''s been able to place Toughness effects on her White Hat Warlock costume, boosted the Dexterity of the mecha armor, and further increased the Strength of the Oni Princess Kaguya set.

    Quinton ¡°Quins¡± Sheffield was a Bomb Maker, but now he''s an Inventor too, which just further increases his trick arrow array. He''s about 25 levels away from a 5th step class.

    Capricorn ¡°Cappy¡± Williams hit level 15 in Aerialist, granting her the ability to walk on walls and ceilings. She''s friggin Spider-Man with an SMG!

    Madeline Diaz has conquered Cavalier, taken a bit of Lancer and has moved into being Barbarian. I think it''s partly to pay homage to Franco, our lost Barbarian, but also because it suits her. Plus if she finishes that set of classes and Lancer, she''ll be eligible for a 5th step class, the Highlander.

    Henry Gallup''s Representative class has served him well, but to up his offense, he''s taking the Gunner class.

    Kailani Haku is keeping the Cleric class for now. She''s hit level 30 in it, which gave her a huge bump in healing speed and power. To my knowledge nobody has hit 50 in Cleric yet, so she¡¯ll be the first to see what ability that gets her.

    Rutger Waltz hit level ten in Sorcerer and, after talking it through, has picked up the Tactician class. This lets them issue orders that enhance everyone who can hear them. Right now they have two orders, one adds fire damage to physical attacks, the other adds ice damage. Both are pretty rad.

    Scarlett Fletcher has advanced her Caller class to Summoner. She got to pick either getting a new partner creature or upgrading Jeff, and she chose to get a second companion. This one is a bat with a scorpion tail that can shoot poison needles. It can also screech out dark elemental rings. His name is Beau.

    Parker McCall got to level 15 in Swashbuckler before moving over to Scout, further improving her mobility. She''s also picked up the System Scout subclass, so she can scan things like I can. Apparently her scan descriptions are even more flippant than mine are.

    For my part I''ve hit level 10 in Magus, which unlocked the 5th step class Crimson Mage.

    Crimson Mage

    A master of multiple magics, and a prodigy in blending them together.

    A fifth step class. Three subclasses. 5th step classes do not evolve.

    Gain 5 Memory, 5 Intelligence, 5 Reflexes and 5 Arcana upon choosing this class. One Legendary spell will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Reflexes, Intelligence, Memory.

    Upon level up a Legendary spell will be granted, until all Legendary spells are known. Each level you gain 5 Intelligence, 5 Arcana and 10 free points.

    Subclasses

    Plotter - You take your time to create new spells. You can combine existing spells into new spells which become permanent new spells, which can gain proficiency like normal. You may have as many combined spells as you have Crimson Mage levels.

    Pantser - You can combine spells on the fly with no limits, though you don''t get to keep these new spells and they cannot gain proficiency.

    Starry Skies - Your Astral elements can be more freely used together, each sub-mind is now able to handle one element on its own.

    I took five levels of this one, and the Starry Skies subclass seemed to auto-select for me. Not that I really think anyone else would even be offered the subclass.

    I try it out. Atmos Mind! Lunar Mind! I feel swirling Atmos magic in my left sub-mind and cold, solid Lunar magic in my right sub-mind. A small storm churns around my left hand while a Lunar crystal bracer forms around my right arm. Before, when I''d tried this it had felt like trying to pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time. It was... Frustrating. But now it feels natural. It feels more like holding a game controller, with one hand handling some of the buttons and the other hand having the rest. Both hands working towards one purpose, one goal.

    The ¡°spells¡± I got turn out to be additions to my other spell features.

    My Solar weapons spell now also makes knightly armor. My Storm Step flying spell gives me a cloak of storms. My Void blades give me ¡°void garb¡± which is a purple and black jacket. I''ve detected the pattern. That means that when I activate both Atmos and Lunar Minds at the same time I get teal samurai armor and a hot pink cloak that flaps behind me, which looks fucking rad as hell.

    My last two new effects are for Solar and Lunar magic. For Lunar I get the ability to make ¡°trap grenades¡± which explode into caltrops or wires. Could be useful? For Solar I get the far more useful ¡°Allies behind a Solar Barrier recover health equivalent to your Restoration Palm technique.¡± Which is extremely good. Healing my friends at range? And it doesn''t say I can''t stack the effect, right? So I can surround someone with four shields and give them 4x Restoration? Oh hell yeah, that''s going to save a life, for sure.

    Anyways, that all aside, I check my radar and it shows one very large enemy moving back and forth in the area ahead. It''s vision cone is almost 360 degrees. So definitely not human, or even P''Orc, unless it''s some really fucked up version. I bet it''s some really fucked up version.

    I push open the giant wooden door just enough to peek inside. Inside is a 30 foot tall, 60 foot long wild boar with stone armor plating, tusks that glow with inner lightning and when it steps it makes rings of fire like ripples in a pond. A pond of fire.

    Erymanthian Boar. Tier 6. Hercules beat up one of these, but that dude had plot armor. You and your allies don''t have plot armor. It controls earth, electricity and fire, in case you hadn''t noticed. Oh, and it''s too smart for the old ¡°trick it into charging into a wall¡± routine.

    Possible loot: Chains of Hercules, bacon.

 Book 2 - Chapter 17: Bacon

    6/21

    Washington D.C.

    11:15 PM

    We all slide into the room and as soon as we do the door swings shut behind us, then has some magical seal appear on it. An identical seal is on the far wall. I''m assuming that''s the door forward.

    The room itself is a flat field covered in waist-high green grass. There seems to be sky overhead, complete with sun and big cumulus clouds. The room must be a mile wide circle, ringed with the tall wooden fencing that looks like it''s made from giant sequoias. Aside from the giant death boar, this place seems like a great place for a picnic.

    Jose casually fires a shot straight up, using a technique to make the shot silent. We hear a CHACK! a half second later as the bullet hits a ceiling, probably around 500 feet up. The cloud there fizzles into static then reforms. Ah, an illusive sky.

    The boar has noticed us, and has turned to face us, but isn''t attacking yet.

    ¡°I think it''s sizing us up,¡± Scarlett says. Indeed, it looks at each of us with appraising eyes. Is it that smart? I guess there''s nothing that says a big giant boar can''t have a big giant brain.

    ¡°Everyone fan out,¡± I say quietly and calmly. We begin to spread out and still the boar just watches. ¡°Play to your strengths. Don''t get cocky. I don''t think most of us can outrun it, so if you get in close I''ll come get you.¡±

    We''re each about 30 feet apart. Madeline and I are up front, Henry and Kailani in the middle of the pack, everyone else fanned out. Parker is on the far right flank while Cappy is on the far left side. Both are ready to move quickly when the fight starts.

    I create five teal Lunar katana and five hot pink storm arms. I pull three arms in front of me and begin to charge three Tempest Buster Rifles. The storm energy accumulating is enough for the boar to begin its attack. It stomps its feet and waves of flame shoot out, covering about 30 feet in each direction. He, of course, is immune to his own flames. My team opens fire. Jose''s lightning gets drawn to the boar''s tusks and seems to get absorbed. Guns blare but it doesn''t look like most attacks are doing damage. This thing is tough. It charges. I''m still not done with my spell. It''s coming straight for me but Madeline interposes herself. The boar gets about 50 feet from me before she dashes in and cuts into its front left leg. There''s a spray of blood but the beast keeps moving, a wave of flames pushing Madeline back. She''s in time to block with her shield, which smokes but will be fine.

    Triple Tempest Buster Rifle is complete. My storm arms spread out and each targets the boar''s face as it''s just 10 feet away from me. I feel the flames of its stomping fire waves wash over me but my Lunar armor is protecting me from the fire. The three massive spells fire off and the boar is pushed back, its hooves grinding trenches into the ground as I blast it back. Three seconds. Three seconds of concentrated storm energy from three directions. Enough magical destruction to wipe out hundreds of P''Orcs. And as the beams fade away all I see is stone armor plating that''s sprung up over the boar''s face. His eyes have translucent plates over them.

    And I astutely say, ¡°well, fuck.¡±

    Chaos ensues. The boar slams down with his two front hooves, sending a massive wave of flame in all directions. I leap over it, but the wave doesn''t seem to stop like the others. It''s a second from burning Kailani and Henry. I jump back to where they are and level my Lunar katanas directly at the four-foot tall flames licking up from the ground. I fire Eclipse Beam from all five blades and the thin teal energy beams cut right through the fire. I swing the katanas, and their beams, right to left, carving a wide gap in the flame wall just as it passes us. My left sub-mind clocks what the boar is doing now and it raises five Typhoon arms in front of us just in time to block a massive blue lightning bolt from the boar''s mouth.

    ¡°I''ve got this!¡± Rutger shouts and finishes charging a massive Lightning Lance spell. Before I can shout ¡°you idiot¡± the lance turns emerald green before firing off like a rocket. It punches straight into the boar''s left side and waves of green electricity ripple all through its body, wracking it with pain.

    Rutger is already downing an Arcana Point recovery potion that I gave them earlier. Lightning Lance is powerful but costs a whopping 50 AP. I can''t imagine they can do that more than a couple more times. Rutger snaps their fingers as they finish the potion and shouts, ¡°keep cool!¡± and for five seconds everyone''s physical attacks deal ice damage.

    All of a sudden bullets start smashing through the stone plates. I leave Henry and Kailani and fly up over top of the boar. I start throwing my katanas down at the thing''s back, and find that the Lunar blades, enhanced with more Ice energy, cut right through the armor. I send my blades over to the boar''s head and in the last second of the ice enchantment, I thrust all five blades towards the boar''s left eye.

    The blades just barely manage to shatter the translucent armor plate there, and I hear a loud, almost cannon-like gunshot in the split second after. Jose''s Ki enhanced shot leaves a trail of golden sparks in its wake and the boar''s left eye explodes in blood and gore.

    I pull my blades back as Rutger''s Tactician enchantment fades. The boar roars and lightning shoots out of its mouth in various directions. I see a bolt hit Kailani, another strikes Cappy, who''s in the air with me. She falls to the earth with a sickening THUMP. A bolt zig-zags towards me and I punch it with a storm energy fist. The electricity gets totally absorbed by my punch.

    The boar turns its massive head and charges at Jose. With a burst of speed I fly towards my best friend. He''s running to the side but the boar just turns as it steps, keeping him in sight. I fly alongside the boar, then get past him. I fly low along the grass, my hand outstretched to Jose, and then I feel heat behind me. The boar has used some technique that coats its body in flames. It looks like a wall of lava, charging at 120 miles per hour. He picks up speed and overtakes me in a flash of flames. I''m sent sprawling as his head bashes into me, and I can''t see what''s happened to Jose. I hit the wall and I''m stunned. I drop, losing control of my Atmos flight powers.

    My left sub-mind acts while I''m dizzy, pulling one of my Atmos hands to me and casting Restoration Palm on me. Why? Was I that hurt? I look down and see the bone of my left forearm punched through the skin there. Ah, okay, heal away then.

    ¡°Stay cool! Stay cool! Stay cool!¡± I hear Rutger''s chant as I get to my feet. Where''s Jose? I can see a form underneath the boar''s body as it stomps in place, turning to face Rutger. It scrapes a front hoof, preparing its charge.

    A massive column of bamboo punches up from the ground, lifting the pig up 10 feet. I dash for the downed, and now on fire, body. It''s Parker. Jose is flying with draconic magic wings, firing down at the pig, just barely our of its reach. Parker must have dashed in to push Jose out of the way. I pick up Parker with my one good arm, ignoring the fire, and immediately use Restoration Palm on her broken form. I pull a Typhoon hand to her and use the water essence of Atmos energy to put out the flames. I run to where Kailani is and drop Parker at her feet. Parker''s legs, which weren''t covered by the dragon armor, are absolutely crushed and a broken mess. Shit. Shit shit shit.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Mercy''s Oni Princess Kaguya form is strong. She''s running towards the boar, naginata held high. Madeline is charging over with her. Looking at Parker''s smushed legs, I can''t imagine their attack going well. The bamboo column starts on fire from boar kicks to it, then the whole thing explodes into splinters and the boar drops back to the ground. I fly forward, towards it. I have to reach it before the girls get there.

    I reach it and the boar moves to headbutt me again, but I''m prepared. It moves to bash through me as I complete a Moon Crash spell. It smashes into the mystic moon, only for the chunks of moon to fly back at high speed and pelt him in the face with impressive force. One of the stone plates on his face shatters and I point five katanas and five storm hands at the exposed point and fire Eclipse Beams and Storm Streams at it. To my great satisfaction, the beast''s upper lip is ripped apart and the skin is torn away down to the bone. Blood flows down, into its mouth and down through stone plates on the bottom of its face.

    Another emerald Lightning Lance slams into the pig''s side. Mercy and Madeline perform an X slash dual tech, cutting the beast''s front left leg from two sides at once. The legs are more lightly armored, and their attacks smash the plating there. They whirl about and go to town on the leg until the boar rears back on its back legs. The two women try to run away from whatever horrible attack is about to be unleashed, but neither is very fast. I push forward with all of my strength and punch and slash away in rapid succession, targeting the boar''s exposed neck. With Rutger''s ice enhancement, my blows smash through stone plates and push into neck flesh, spraying blood across the now burning field.

    The beast shakes its whole body to fling my attacks away, but in doing so it topples backwards, away from my two favorite females. It''s on its back, stomach exposed, and from high above I hear Cappy say, ¡°gotcha.¡±

    Golden, Ki enhanced bullets rain down on the pig''s belly, smashing through stone plates and drawing blood, albeit via small bullet holes. That''s fine though because the exposed flesh is all our snipers need. Exploding arrows and cannon-like rifle shots punch into the pig belly. Gallons of blood flow out, but I notice something much more horrifying. It''s face has regenerated.

    ¡°Its got regen!¡± I shout as I hit the ground and prepare for my final assault. ¡°Focus fire on the belly!¡± The beast rolls over but now it''s got enough exposed to give us all room to shoot. An emerald Lightning Lance hits the pig again, and the pig responds with a bolt from its mouth. The boar''s blue bolt rakes right to left across the arena, and I hear people dive, yell and scream. I need to end this thing, now.

    Madeline and Mercy brave the flaming stomp waves, both moving forward behind Madeline''s shield. They reach the pig''s side and start attacking. The boar opens its mouth again to fire its lightning at them, point blank.

    6th step, Astral Pathbreaker, Star Swarm.

    Over 100 points of light spin around me and I level my gaze at the pig. An explosive arrow takes the porker in its open mouth, knocking its head back. I see the exposed neck again. I dash forward, pulling my stars into my fist. I stop right under the boar as it begins to pull its head back down. It''s not fast enough. With a flash of light my punch explodes upwards, stars flying into and through the boar''s neck, cutting all the way to the bone. Cutting through throat and some glowing blue organ which must be its lighting gland? And as that organ splits apart electricity crackles through the exposed gore of the pig. I do not relent. I pull back the stars, then punch up again. This time I aim right for the pig''s spine. A wave of stars shoots into the exposed flesh. A fountain of blood rains down on me and the boar falls. I leap away from the collapse.

    The stone panels fade and gunfire rips into the pig, blasting apart its corpse until it fades away and drops loot. No time for that. My team. Parker.

    I wheel around and see mama Kailani over Parker''s body. I dash over and see that her legs are once again three dimensional, but still thoroughly fucked. Henry is here too, his face and uniform scorched. Red, bloody cracks show in his burned face. I use Healing Palm through storm hands to try and help both of them.

    ¡°Boss!¡± I hear Rutger yell. ¡°Here! Scarlett!¡± I spin and look at Rutger, who''s got an unconscious and singed Scarlett in their arms. I run over, leaving the two storm hands to work on Henry an Parker. Scarlett isn''t breathing. I try Restoration Palm but it doesn''t seem to help. ¡°She got hit by the lightning. CPR?¡± Rutger asks.

    I help place her down on the ground, then use my Amry CPR training that I''ve literally not used since the training class nine years ago. I have to be careful with compressions, since I could easily crack her ribs with my Strength. I pump, carefully on her chest. I know the whole breath in the mouth thing is pointless unless they swallowed water, so I skip that. I use compressions. I can''t lose another person to goddamn lightning. I combine compressions with Restoration Palm. This has to work. This has to work. I keep up compressions. ¡°She hasn''t dropped her loot yet, so she''s not dead!¡±

    I call out, ¡°Biscuits, I summon you!¡± and my little orange, winged cat appears in a puff of flames.

    ¡°Papa!¡± she says with delight, and then rubs her head against my foot.

    ¡°Biscuits, can you heal her?¡± I keep up compressions.

    She tilts her head and sniffs the air. ¡°She''s not broken, she''s just turned off. So nope!¡±

    ¡°Then can you go help the others?¡± I keep up compressions.

    She yawns, turns to the other wounded, and bounds off.

    Everyone is around us now except for Parker and Kailani. How long have I been doing compressions? Thirty seconds? A minute? Two minutes? It doesn''t matter. I keep at it. I feel a hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°In cases where the body isn''t destroyed, loot doesn''t drop immediately.¡± It''s Mercy. I don''t believe her. ¡°She''s gone, Jun.¡±

    ¡°I can fly.¡± I keep up compressions. ¡°I can shoot lasers.¡± I keep up compressions. ¡°So this... Is... Nothing!¡± I keep up compressions.

    I feel Jose''s hand on my other shoulder. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not-

    Scarlett lurches up, gasping for air, then coughing repeatedly. I fall back. I''m not exhausted, physically. No, just mentally.

    Count your losses and your victories.

    Franco is dead. Deacon is dead. Scarlett will live.

    -----

    Three days ago

    Lewisville, TX

    A low-rent furnished apartment

    9:45 PM

    Quins had the neighbors over for a party. The small furnished apartment wasn''t much more than a hotel room, and true, the neighbors had identical rooms, but it was the spirit of the thing, really.

    The neighbors in room 304 were a poor family with four kids and an alcoholic father, who was only sometimes around. Now wasn''t one of those times. The neighbors in 306 were a couple of strippers from the clubs on Harry Hines Blvd. Not fancy strippers. Really low rent strippers. The kids played with Quins''s Xbox Series X. He''d gotten extra controllers just for this occasion. The strippers lounged around the card table, talking to the single mom (Gretta) and relating to her man issues. They knew all too well about drunk guys.

    Quins moved between the two groups, coming over to play a round of Halo Infinite one minute, then popping open a bottle of New Castle with the ladies the next.

    ¡°Quinnie,¡± Wanda asked, ¡°how you got money for all these tamales?¡±

    Quins had ordered a stack of tamale bowls from Tommy Tamale over in Coppell. ¡°Oh, you know, one of them horribly dangerous jobs.¡± He grinned wickedly.

    ¡°It''s not drugs is it?¡± She didn''t even bother whispering the D word. Quins wouldn''t be the only dealer in their complex.

    Quins looked appalled. ¡°Now, do I look like the sort to deal in illicit goods and services?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± all three women said at once.

    ¡°I am horribly wounded, my kind ladies. Your words draw blood from this old stone.¡±

    ¡°Is it Dracosys?¡± Crystal asked. By now everyone knew the real name of the system, even strippers in the shitty part of DFW.

    Quins tilted his head. ¡°Could be, could be.¡± He winked at the aging stripper. ¡°Legal all the way, though. My rougish days are quite behind me.¡±

    Wanda took a swig of New Castle brown ale. ¡°Oh I doubt that.¡±

    Quins could only grin at that, then went over to the kids to show them how a real marksman threw a fusion grenade.

 Book 2 - Chapter 18: Quality Of Life

    ¡°Alright, so what''s your desert island book?¡± I ask.

    Madeline is clapping a recently burned, then healed, Henry on the back. She shoots me a ¡°not the time, Jun!¡±

    I look around. Why doesn''t this feel like normal? Or at least what''s normal for us. People look strained, stressed. There''s fear in some eyes.

    That''s when I get it. We have five more floors. Five more places trying their damnedest to kill us. Five increasingly dangerous floors, and probably some sort of Mecha-Washington at the top. The big pig almost killed four of us. We barely made it without a death. And things are going to be harder from now on.

    I look at the people here. I have to send some home. There''s a clear power difference between some of us. I can use the wounded as an excuse.

    ¡°Kailani, I want you and Cappy to escort Henry, Scarlett and Parker out.¡±

    There''s relief in their eyes. Except for Cappy. She looks pissed. ¡°They don''t need me to walk them out.¡±

    What do I say? I''m worried that one hit will snap you in half? I''m concerned that your stats and levels aren''t up to snuff? No.

    I motion to Parker''s broken legs. Biscuits healed them but we know from previous experience that when Biscuits repairs part of your body, it doesn''t work right for a while. ¡°If they run into trouble they''ll need your firepower and speed.¡± It''s not a lie. It''s not the whole truth, but it''s not a lie.

    Cappy gives me a burningly powerful eye roll and turns away from me.

    I offer as much of an olive branch as I can. ¡°But we''re going to rest for a while before we move on, so you guys can stay and hang out or head up now.¡±

    ¡°Thank fuck ¡®cuz my legs aren''t doing shit anytime soon.¡± Parker''s Boston accent seems most at home when cursing.

    We blast the pig apart so it''s corpse and related gore disappear. I use Ki Cloth Weaving on everyone to clean up and repair their clothes. I get several people cursing at me for not doing that earlier. Like last dungeon earlier.

    We take turns taking naps in the warm sunny field we''ve found ourselves in. The thick green grass and soft earth makes a surprisingly nice place to lie down. Pull a helmet over your eyes and you''re right asleep.

    ¡°What''s everyone going to do with their money?¡± asks Kailani. Apparently she''s the only one who can ask ice breakers.

    There''s an odd silence. I hadn''t thought about it. I guess not many of us had, if any.

    ¡°I''ve been ¡®olding off on buyin¡¯ this one bow, the PSE Mach 30 DS Special. It''s just the regular ol¡¯ PSE,¡± Quins points at his current bow, which we all suppose is the regular ol¡¯ PSE. ¡°But this ¡®un has got this hyper carbon whatsit that makes it shoot real good. Or something. Anyway, it''s about 2500 pounds, so I''d get that.¡±

    ¡°That''s it?¡± asks Kailani, incredulous. ¡°You''re going to have around five million after taxes.¡±

    Quins shrugs. ¡°I am not a fancy lad.¡±

    ¡°I''m already putting everything away for my kids,¡± Madeline says. ¡°No change there.¡±

    Kailani nods. A mom-respects-mom nod.

    ¡°Same.¡± Jose nods at them both and they both give him a nod. Sheesh, parents are so weird about their kids.

    ¡°So, um, the Cyberpunk 2077 anime on Netflix, right?¡± Rutger seems nervous. It''s a nervous I recognize as a I hope the normies don''t judge my nerd shit nervousness. ¡°So the game company paid the animators about a million bucks for the eight episodes. So I''d try to buy an anime. Or pay for it to be made. However it works.¡±

    ¡°Ooh!¡± Mercy does the slight wiggle back and forth she does when she''s excited. ¡°What''s the story? Or do you already have a manga in mind? Oh my gosh, Studio Trigger, right? They''re soooo good!¡± Mercy promptly grabs Rutger by the hand and leads them off to the side to talk anime.

    ¡°I''ll probably put it aside for...¡± Henry doesn''t finish, but we all know he means his future political campaigns. Those cost big bucks.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    Scarlett Fletcher timidly says, ¡°I just want to own my own house. Live out in the country, away from... All this.¡± She almost died. I can''t blame her.

    ¡°Better armor,¡± says Parker. ¡°No offense bro.¡± She motions to the expensive uniform she''s wearing. ¡°I figure that if I can get my strength around 60 or so, I should be able to wear like some real heavy plate armor. Buy some custom stuff that looks real sci-fi and shit.¡±

    Madeline looks up at that. ¡°I''ve been thinking the same thing. We could get this dragon steel armor reforged into some futuristic armor. We''d look like Master Chef.¡±

    Quins asks ¡°You mean Master Chief? From Halo? Oh I''d be quite interested in getting in on that.¡±

    Suddenly we''re talking about the cool new armor we can get with superhuman Strength and a lot of money. Suddenly we''re talking about the future. Talking about living, talking about continuing the fight. How we can be better, stronger, tougher.

    The Pathbreakers are going to be okay.

    ---

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    2:30 AM

    So the inventory system works like this: You have a number of inventory slots equal to your Luck. Things in your inventory are essentially in stasis until you take them out. You can put in anything you can lift. Something that ¡°contains other things¡± counts as one thing.

    Because of all that, and because Jose has a tremendous amount of Luck, our dungeon break lifestyles have improved tremendously. He''s got a plastic picnic table with attached benches. He''s got a hamper with pillows and blankets. He''s got plastic tubs full of tacos and coolers full of drinks.

    For my part, I''ve got less Luck (45) but more Strength, so I''ve got some heavy items. I have three different refrigerators full of food and condiments. I have a gas powered generator. I have a bureau of spare clothes. And most importantly, I have a whole Port-A-Potty. That last one has basically improved our lives tremendously. Being able to do your business in private helps maintain dignity in a way that only soldiers in the field can truly appreciate. This alone has made me a more trusted and respected leader. As we all learned during the pandemic, toilet paper is not a privilege, but a right.

    After naps, snacks and a game of King Of Tokyo (Jose''s favorite board game), we finally break up the party and start on our separate ways.

    ¡°The Martian,¡± Cappy calls out to me as they''re leaving. I must look confused because she yells, ¡°my desert island book. For inspiration!¡±

    It''s a perfect choice. That one is about an astronaut surviving alone on Mars. What more could you ask for when you''re alone on an island?

    We''re now a group of six. It''s me, Jose, Mercy, Madeline, Quins and Rutger.

    ¡°We ready?¡± I say before we head over to the door.

    Rutger looks nervous again. I keep forgetting that despite that we''re only a few years apart, they''ve gone through a lot less than I have. I ask, ¡°what''s up Rutger?¡±

    ¡°You told us you wanted to break the system, right?¡±

    I nod. ¡°Yeah, that''s my plan.¡±

    ¡°Have you thought about how? I mean, the nanomachines are apparently everywhere, right? How do we put the genie back in the bottle?¡±

    ¡°For now, it''s closing dungeons, ruins and arenas. Getting places that kill people off the map. Then... Honestly I''m hoping for interference. I''m hoping these pricks who made this mess try to stop us. And when they do-¡± I slam my fists together and there''s a spark of electricity between them.

    Rutger looks away. They don''t sound convinced. ¡°I dunno. I dunno if there''s a way to really stop it. I mean, we''re doing our part in America, right? But what about the rest of the world? There''s plenty of places that are abusing the system, letting it run wild or treating it like a windfall.¡±

    ¡°That''s part of why Pathbreakers is a company and not a government agency,¡± Mercy explains. ¡°We can travel the world if we want to. We can take on anything, anywhere.¡± She''s got strength in her voice. Conviction. She didn''t have that before all this. She''s really something else, this girl.

    Quins tries to help. ¡°I jus¡¯ leave the big ideas to the bigwigs, usually. They tell me where to aim, and I fire the arrow. You don''t need much more than that, mate.¡±

    ¡°We won''t do everything,¡± I say. ¡°We can''t solve all the problems ourselves. But we don''t have to. That''s still something I''m coming to grips with.¡±

    ¡°Having super powers doesn''t make you superman,¡± Jose says sagely. ¡°We''re only the main characters in our stories. Plenty of other capable folks out there.¡±

    ¡°And what if that''s not enough?¡± Rutger asks. ¡°What if I need to avenge my sister and just closing some Dracosys sites won''t be enough? What if...¡± and Rutger looks me in the eyes. ¡°What if I need to take on those responsible?¡±

    There''s a silence between us. It feels like something big is about to happen. Some decision is about to be made. And I have to decide.

    Do I really want to hunt my brother and the others behind the Dracosys? Or do I just want to keep closing dungeons? I''m good at closing dungeons. Closing dungeons makes a difference in people''s lives. It saves lives. But is that enough?

    I keep Rutger''s gaze, but not aggressively. I try to convey understanding, leadership and, most importantly, trust. ¡°We''ll take on the biggest threats we can. No matter who or what they are.¡±

    I hope those words reach them. I hope Rutger knows that I''m on their side, regardless of who my brother is, or what he''s done.

    Rutger turns away, but I see some recognition in their face. It''ll be okay. They''ll be okay.

    ¡°Right, but we go back to killing monstas now, yeah?¡± Quins obviously hasn''t increased his Wisdom. I heard his was only nine.

 Book 2 - Chapter 19: Punching Jefferson

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    2:40 AM

    ¡°The dungeon reset happens at 10:42 AM,¡± I say to the team. ¡°We have eight hours to clear five floors.¡±

    ¡°Jun,¡± Jose whispers to me. ¡°Your watch is on Central time, not Eastern.¡±

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    3:40 AM

    ¡°The dungeon reset happens at 10:42 AM,¡± I say to the team. ¡°We have seven hours to clear five floors.¡±

    Mercy yawns and stretches, reaching her arms up, and when she does there''s a slight jiggle-

    Madeline asks, ¡°the remaining monsters are supposed to be demons, right?¡±

    I go over the notes from the guy in charge of the Capitol''s defense. They''d encountered two monsters from lower floors that we haven''t seen yet.

    Demons

    Imps. Small tan demons that spit balls of fire. They attack in swarms.

    Stone Stag. A centaur-like demon. Extremely fast and its horns are deadly.

    Man, even though we got those notes earlier today, it feels like three weeks ago.

    I use all of my Wisdom and Intelligence to give the team advice. ¡°Okay, so demons. Expect spells and physical brutes. Don''t get hit.¡±

    ¡°That''s it?¡± asks Quins. ¡°Just don''t die? Grand strategy, boss.¡±

    I shrug. ¡°We all know the drill by now. We go ninja until we have to go SWAT. If you, Jose or Rutger get rushed Madeline, Mercy or I will come in and melee the monster. Watch each other''s backs and focus on imminent threats.¡±

    Biscuits''s little voice rings out from my shoulder, where she''s perched. ¡°If you get hurt I''ll heal you but only once.¡±

    ¡°Why just once?¡± asks Mercy, with the patience of a saint.

    ¡°To keep you from being reckless,¡± is Biscuits''s way too clever response. Maybe upping her mental stats was a mistake.

    We head to the big wooden door on the far side of the boar''s field and I push it open. It''s heavy enough that you''d ordinarily need multiple people to budge it. I am no longer ordinarily. Inside is a long, red brick hallway lit by gas lamps. Cozy.

    We walk for about 20 minutes. Most of us walk. Biscuits rides my shoulder. She refused to go back home so she''s with us for now. We get to the end of the hallway and find ourselves under a (fake) starry sky. In front of us is a round, temple-like building with pillars surrounding an open air upper area.

    ¡°The Jefferson memorial?¡± Mercy asks, currently in her Angle Frame mecha armor. Each of her three costumes shows off her thick thighs. I have 250 Intelligence unless I''m looking at those thighs, then I have an Intelligence of about 3.

    To the right is a path lit by gas street lights. It''s flanked by cherry blossom trees in full bloom. In the distance I can make out the Lincoln Memorial, and over the tops of trees I can see the Washington Monument.

    ¡°It''s the whole national mall,¡± Madeline says.

    From behind us Rutger asks ¡°think this is like that giant swamp? Multiple floors in one big zone?¡±

    ¡°If the monsters are diverse enough, I''d say so,¡± Mercy answers.

    I tear myself away from dreaming about Mercy''s soft, plump legs long enough to point at some winged brown humanoid monsters seeming to guard the temple to Jefferson. A man who pissed away money on art and furniture while complaining about the poor. A pro-slavery man who had a slave mistress. A guy who cared a lot about rights, unless you were a woman or anything except white.

    ¡°Can I fuck up the temple?¡± I find myself asking the group. I turn and look at the team. ¡°Because fuck Jefferson.¡± I get shrugs.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Quins gives me a nod and a wink. ¡°Okay mate, but only if I get to thrash any statues of Thatcher we find.¡±

    I switch over to Void Mind, charge up two Vortex Grenades and toss them at the memorial to an ass hat. The small balls of void hit the base and the roof, then each expands to a translucent, 20 foot sphere of purple energy. Black lines of pure void shoot out from the center, spiking and annihilating everything inside the sphere. Debris and a couple of nearby imps are sucked towards the spheres.

    There''s a chorus of screams as dozens of imps fly out of and off of the monument, and look in our direction.

    Tourist Imp. Tier 4. Flies around without thinking about the significance of what they''re seeing. Also, they want to eat you. These are only a little smaller than you are, making them pretty strong for imps.

    Possible loot: camera, souvenir keychain, chained soul.

    Our ranged fighters open up and a dozen of the imps die to explosive arrows, lightning bolt rifle shots and emerald chain lightning.

    In unison the remaining imps open their mouths and small balls of fire spit out, flying towards us. My Intelligence, Wisdom and Reflexes work in concert to tell me that those are too small and slow to be the attacks of Tier 4 demons. These are, in fact, probably explosive fireball spells. And that''s bad.

    I switch my left sub-mind to Solar Mind and create a dozen Solar shields, two in front of each of my team. ¡°Take cover!¡± I shout, and just in time as the first fireball hits the shield in front of me and explodes in a 10 foot radius blast. I had this spell! In my right hand I charge another Vortex Grenade, this time giving it the extra few seconds to be empowered when I toss it. I see my team duck behind the shields I set up for each of them, and watch as flames burst around them but get stopped by the Solar element shields.

    I pop out and throw my charged grenade like a fastball, beaning an imp in the center of the pack. The charged grenade explodes into a 30 foot radius sphere (that''s 60 feet across) and all the imps within twice that distance get pulled into the range of the black void stabbing lasers. Lasers? They just look like black lines. Whatever the void energy is, it spears each imp inside the sphere with dozens of thin beams, ripping each apart. The grenade lingers for 10 seconds, during which time only a few imps escape the pull of the Vortex. And those few imps just get shot to death.

    I check my radar and see one more enemy, this one at the center of the Memorial. I spring ahead, leaping up the stairs leading up to the dais. I get to the top area and find, to my utter delight, that the Jefferson statue has come to life and is now a bronze golem.

    ¡°I... Get to punch Thomas Jefferson?¡± I ask nobody in particular.

    I switch to Atmos Mind and create 15 storm fists. The statue turns to me and its eyes glow red.

    I beat the shit out of Thomas Jefferson. And it feels great.

    -----

    Jun''s Void (Dark/Poison/Psychic) spells

    Void Blades

    Exotic

    Conjure blades of void energy in your hands, or stab from any surface at range. Targets who survive your strike are afflicted with Entropy. You also may create Void garb.

    Range: 61 ft

    Duration: 10 minutes

    Cost: 2.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 309% (Range)

    Dark Mote Grenade

    Exotic

    Throw a ball of void that explodes into smaller motes of void, that then home in on nearby targets.

    Range: As far as you can throw a grenade

    Area: 10 ft radius

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 110%

    Void Rift

    Exotic

    Create a line on a surface that emits void energy. You can refresh the duration for 1/2 the cost of the spell.

    Range: 30 feet

    Area: 10 feet long

    Duration: 1 minute

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 41%

    Vortex Grenade

    Exotic

    Throw a ball of void that creates a void well on impact, sucking in nearby foes and damaging them with tendrils of void.

    Range: As far as you can throw a grenade

    Area: 10 ft radius

    Duration: 10 seconds

    Cost: 25 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 41%

    Entropy Dart

    Exotic

    Fire a homing dart that inflicts severe Entropy on its target.

    Range: 200 ft

    Cost: 12.5 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 37%

    Mind Scraper

    Exotic

    Damage an enemy''s psyche while also reading their thoughts.

    Range: 50 ft

    Cost: 10 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 7%

 Book 2 - Chapter 20: Foot Bath

    We sweep the loot. Some of the imps had digital cameras on them. The cameras contain pictures of imps posing in front of Washington DC landmarks. Dungeons are weird.

    Golem Jefferson dropped a model airplane.

    Jefferson Airplane. This model grows into an airplane when activated with the phrase ¡°one pill makes you larger.¡± It shrinks back down with the phrase ¡°one pill makes you small.¡± You''ll need a pilot and FAA clearance, but the tank refuels while it''s small. Just think though, if your Luck was higher you''d probably have gotten the Jefferson Starship.

    With a WHOLE DAMN AIRPLANE in my inventory now, I turn to the busted statue of Jefferson and say, ¡°alright, I''ll give you a break for being just a man of your time, but you''re still my least favorite founding father.¡± That''ll teach him.

    Still in Atmos mode, I try flying up and hit an invisible ceiling about 200 feet up. The sky above is filled with stars. I look across the fake DC and see it as it must have been in the 1800s. Small homes and businesses made of brick and wood. No skyscrapers, no office complexes, no museums. The only modern fixtures are the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument, the White House and the Capitol Building.

    I fly back down and find Quins shooting arrows in various directions. His arrows stick into invisible walls in most places, except for the walking path from the Jefferson to Lincoln Memorials.

    ¡°It''s more boxed in than it looks,¡± I observe.

    Quins holds out a hand and a bundle of arrows appears in it. ¡°Real shame we can''t go hit that pub over there.¡±

    I look east and see a pub with lights on inside. A man is in the window, but upon closer inspection, he''s very dead. The zombie drinks greedily from a large mug, then wanders away from the front window.

    ¡°Probably for the best,¡± I say, and turn to the walking path. I extend a crooked arm to Mercy. ¡°Shall we?¡±

    She slips her mecha-armored arm in mine and says, ¡°let''s!¡± We begin to stroll down the lane.

    Pink petals of the Sakura trees flutter about us, seeming to be capable of passing through the invisible walls without a care. My girlfriend leans her head on my shoulder as we walk.

    ¡°What anime has a scene like this?¡± I ask, knowing my Otaku GF pretty well at this point.

    She sighs contentedly. ¡°All of the good ones.¡±

    From behind us I hear Rutger''s voice, followed by Madeline.

    ¡°I friggin hate lovebirds.¡±

    ¡°That just shows that you haven''t been one yet. Give it a chance some time.¡±

    I can hear Rutger''s eyeroll. ¡°Not likely. I''m not really anyone''s type.¡±

    Mercy squeezes my arm as if to tell me not to say anything. So I don''t say that skinny goths are a LOT of people''s type. They''re going to figure it out eventually.

    We finally reach the edge of the Lincoln Memorial and I let go of Mercy''s arm. She tugs at my shoulder and I lean down just enough for her to kiss me on the cheek, then she smiles shyly and turns away.

    I think I love that girl.

    We get back to battle mode. I don''t see any monsters but there''s red dots on my radar. ¡°Some things are in the reflecting pool,¡± I inform the team. ¡°No telling what, stay focused.¡±

    We move around the corner of the massive Monument, skirting the stairs. I want to be sure we''re not ambushed. ¡°Nothing on radar inside. I''ll check to be sure.¡±

    I rapidly climb the stairs and enter the hall of Lincoln. He''s big. The statue sits solemnly in a massive chair, hands wrapped around the arms as if he''s got to hold on. As if he needs all the stability he can get to endure the greatest crisis any president has ever faced. As if he''s got to endure the losses of both sides. As if he has to hold on to something, anything to get through the war.

    It''s a powerful piece of art. I admire it for a moment, salute, then descend the stairs.

    ¡°Clear up there, but you should see it, after we clear this pool.¡± I get nods. ¡°Jose, you want to...¡±

    Jose aims his rifle at the water and begins to charge. Electricity ripples through the gun for three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds. Then, after 30 seconds of charging he unleashes a massive, 10 foot wide blue-white bolt into the pool. A massive column of water shoots up, along with a flood of tiny, dead fish men.

    Fish Man Lobbyist. Tier 1. Alone, this is a joke. Together with their pack, they''re technically Tier 6. Their current pack size is [0000]. They gain +10% strength and speed for each ally there is nearby, so watch out for all [0000] of them!

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Possible loot: campaign donations, bribes, laws written by corporations that they want you to propose.

    There''s hundreds, maybe thousands of corpses. Jose fires again to wipe the bodies and we have to wade into the reflecting pool to retrieve the loot.

    ¡°Feel like a kid again, takin¡¯ coins from the local fountain,¡± Quins says.

    Madeline laughs as she gathers coins. ¡°We did that too! Were your parents always broke like mine were?¡±

    ¡°Broke as the American healthcare system, luv!¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± I say, ¡°maybe leave the greedy corpos out of it when we''re literally gathering thousands of dollars.¡± We''d all taken our boots off and rolled our pants up to wade in. My foot steps on a coin and I try something on a hunch. It works. ¡°You just need to make skin contact to collect coins!¡± I shout to the group. That speeds up our gathering speed tremendously.

    We keep collecting and find some of the other loot, bribes and donations. Both are just briefcases full of gold coins, a couple bars of silver and a handful of gems. One of the gems catches my eye.

    Ruby Fire Core. When placed in a weapon, this gem turns it into a Fire-enhanced version of the weapon.

    I look around at who really needs it. I settle my gaze on Madeline''s new greatsword. ¡°Maddie, here!¡± I toss her the gem. ¡°Put it in your sword.¡±

    She deftly grabs the gem from the air and unsheathes her giant blade. She seems to study it for a moment, then holds the gem to the pommel. The gem slowly glows brighter before the sword itself shines crimson. The straight cross-guard glows and the arms curve upwards and become sharp at the end, like flame tips. The blade itself turns half red, half black, as if the tip end of the sword is pure smoke. The very edge of the blade glows orange, as if that outermost millimeter is the only thing hot about it.

    Madeline waves the sword around a few times and flames erupt along its path, trailing behind it''s slashes. Madeline holds her hand over the pommel, the sword stops glowing, the flames dissipate, and she sheathes the new weapon. I scan it.

    [Name Unknown]. A dragon steel sword imbued with its natural pairing, Fire Ruby. The blade will serve its master well. After naming it, it also can be called to the hand by saying its name.

    ¡°You get to name it!¡± I say with more nerd excitement than I usually muster. It''s the dream of every tabletop RPG gamer to have a named weapon. Not just ¡°+3 Frost Longsword,¡± but something cool, like Bloodseeker, Scorch Steel, Fire Heart, Meteo Breaker, or-

    ¡°I''ll name it Chlamydia,¡± Madeline says.

    ¡°Chlamydia?¡± I ask, incredulous.

    Madeline acts like I''m the idiot. ¡°Because it burns.¡±

    I don''t know what to say to that. So I just explain Chlamydia''s new summoning feature. Madeline tries it once and it works fine.

    We continue to loot the pool, enjoying being able to wash our feet and stretch our toes.

    Once finished Jose pulls a laundry basket full of towels from his inventory and hands us each one. I hand out fresh socks from a cabinet I''ve got in my inventory, and with refreshed feet we move on.

    We all stop for a quiet moment with Lincoln. Without the crowds and armed guards the effect is even more impressive. This guy, now he was a president. (Still disappointed in you, Jefferson.)

    The next stop on our tour is the Washington Monument. It''s surrounded by dozens of centaurs. Centaurs with stone antlers coming out of their heads, shoulders and forearms.

    ¡°Right,¡± I say to the team. ¡°Back to business.¡±

    -----

    Four Days Ago

    Minneapolis, MN

    The Saloon

    9:45 PM

    Rutger was nursing their fourth drink, though only slightly drunk. They''d boosted their Constitution a bit. 20 Constitution meant they got drunk at half the speed of the average person. Rutger being at a small table in the corner meant they were mostly alone. Mostly.

    ¡°Rutger!¡± It was Chaz. Chaz was too bright, in both personality and clothing, for Rutger''s tastes. ¡°Oh my gawd! You''re back! Those earrings are fab!¡±

    Rutger had to remain goth, cool and aloof, despite being in an upbeat and positive atmosphere LGBTQ+ bar, complete with rainbow flag. ¡°Yeah, I wear them for work now.¡±

    ¡°For work?¡± Chaz, the local gossip inquired. Chaz needed to know everything, just in case something came in handy. He was like a hoarder, but for personal information.

    Rutger debated on answering at all. But their Chill State Lemon Haze had 5mg of THC built into it, so Rutger was feeling relaxed, for once. Maybe for the first time since the Dracosys, honestly.

    ¡°You know how the Grand Canyon got cleared?¡± Rutger said, leaning over to Chaz.

    ¡°Oh that''s been SUCH a big deal. All those poor little... What are they... Birds or something, I don''t know. But they''re safe now.¡±

    Rutger was feeling too good to be their normal, secretive self. ¡°Yeah, that was me. My team. Not really my team, Madeline''s team. But I''m on it. We cleared it. I''m a Pathbreaker.¡±

    ¡°Honey! Oh my gosh!¡± Chaz got up on a chair. ¡°Listen everyone! Our little goth is a hero! They''re with the Pathbreakers and they cleared the Grand Canyon!¡±

    A round of cheers started up and Rutger got handed several drinks. People started to come over and talk to Rutger. People wanted to shake hands. People wanted to ask about the Mall Of America. People wanted to know if Rutger had magic, and then people wanted a demonstration.

    Rutger gave into the night, the people. These were their people. These were those who were different. Those outside the norm. This group accepted Rutger.

    Hours later, Rutger got pulled into a Lyft with Rita and Quanta. Rutger wasn''t making it home tonight. That was fine. Ever since their sister had died, home hadn''t felt like home anyway. They always had a home at The Saloon. With the people there.

    Despite their emo demeanor, that was all Rutger really wanted out of life. A home. Not a replacement for their sister. Nobody could replace Rebecca. Nobody shone as bright, not even Chaz. But Rutger still wanted a place to return to at the end of the day.

    Rita and Quanta could do for tonight. Rita had a habit of taking in strays.

 Book 2 - Chapter 21: Stag Night

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    4:20 AM

    Stone Stag. Tier 5. Fast, strong, tough. They can also break off bits of their antlers and throw them at you. Their antlers regrow in seconds. They''re centaurs. Why? Because something something horses, Revolutionary War, soldiers, yadda yadda. Look, sometimes there''s not a deeper meaning to these creatures. Sometimes they''re just here to kill you.

    Possible loot: antlers, peanuts, commemorative pint glasses.

    We get into the Washington monument circle and there''s this brief few seconds before the fight starts. The monsters know we''re here. We''re ready to fight them. But each side just stares at the other, waiting for a signal. Most of the stags are around 12 feet tall, but there''s a big one that''s a massive 20 feet tall. He steps forward, his troops lining up behind him. He snorts and tries to stare me down.

    Thormentus, Stone Stag Lord. Tier 6. No help on this one, you''re on your own.

    Possible loot: Helm of the Stone Stag Lord, peanuts, scrolls.

    I step forward with Atmos Mind and Void Mind still active. I already have a plan. The stag lord stomps a hoof. I create five storm fists and five void blades, long, wide daggers this time. My pink storm energy cloak is layered over a long jacket of purple void.

    ¡°Let''s go,¡± I say with confidence.

    The stags charge only to be met with void energy traps. Lines of void spread out in front of me like a spider''s web. Several stags get pierced by void and topple, but the one that escapes the trap is only wounded. They attempt to regroup and charge around to my side, but my team is already opening fire. Jose''s lightning streaks across the green, grassy field. Quins fires arrows that split into other arrows, which then explode over a dozen stag centaurs. Rutger flings a fireball to the left as three stags try to escape my Void Rifts. The fireball explodes and the three are engulfed in flames.

    The big guy barks out in a gravelly voice. ¡°COWARD.¡± He backs up, then charges forward, leaping over my Void Rifts.

    ¡°Dumbass,¡± is all I say.

    Madeline swings her Chlamydia in a wide sweep and the blade cuts along the stag''s side. The pale white, hairless flesh rips open and bright red blood slides out the tear. Then a split second later the cut bursts into flames. The stag lord reaches out for her as she starts another swing. He grabs her elbow and gets rapidly punched in the face five times by storm fists, followed by five void blades slashing away at the arm grabbing Madeline. I open three more Void Rifts right below the monster and void beams lance its underside. He jumps to his right, which gives Madeline an even better position to slash from.

    I hear the stomp of hooves to my right and turn to see six centaurs charging Jose and Quins. Mercy flies between the two snipers, mecha beam spear in hand. She thrusts into the first, nearly severing it at the torso. She turns her mini chaingun on the others, halting their advance enough to give Jose and Quins enough time to charge and fire more devastating attacks.

    To the left, Rutger is facing down three already scorched stags, wielding a whip of emerald lightning. I toss a couple void blades into the stag nearest to them, just to push them back. I notice that my Void Blades are leaving pulsing purple motes behind. This must be the Entropy effect finally kicking in. The purple motes float around the point of the wound. I strike there again and this time a small explosion of void energy cuts a hole in the monster''s side, enough to bring it to its knees. Entropy makes enemies explode when you hit them. Awesome when it actually comes into play.

    Madeline''s sword flashes, leaving a dazzling trail of flames in the air as she tries over and over again to get past the stag''s rapid parries. The big guy has antlers coming out of his forearms like rows of spikes, giving him every opportunity to catch and block her sword. Despite that, she''s holding her ground and even pushing him back. He''s being pushed back into my field of Void Rifts.

    And that''s when I come to two realizations.

    <ol>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">My team is fucking badass. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">None of these assholes are dead yet. In fact, their wounds are healing up faster than we can deal them out. </li>

    </ol>

    I call out to the team. ¡°Step up the pace! Focus fire till you kill one! They''re healing fast! Rutger, to me!¡±

    Rutger lashes at the three coming after them and then tries to run to me, but they''re just going to be run down by the much faster stags. I leap back towards them, past them, and into melee with the centaurs. One slashes out with forearm antlers and I catch the attack with a void blade. Stag number two comes in from my left and stabs low. I parry that attack too, but I leave myself open to the third monster. It''s arm spikes punch into my back, but my Toughness saves me from being speared through. It''s only in maybe half an inch so I roll forward, leaving a bloodied spike behind. I pop up on my feet and just punch.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    My fist slams into the left flank of horsey number one, followed by five more storm fists. I turn and backhand horse number two, delivering the same 1+5 punch to it. Both times I hear not the crunchy shattering of bone but the deeper snap of stone.

    ¡°Duck!¡± I hear Rutger call out, and I dive down just in time as a colossal hammer of ice slams into number one, smashing it away and into number two, and both tumble and fall over. Number three rears back and is about to stab Rutger when an arrow sticks in the back of his head, which then explodes. The monster drops.

    I cast Storm Cell on both downed stags and they become encased in pink clouds that crackle with lightning. I hear a pelting of piercing rain from inside. The rapid, low damage attacks probably won''t hurt the tough and fast regenerating monsters, but that''s besides the point. Rutger is taking the few seconds of free time to supercharge a couple of spells. Knowing that they''ve got it from here I turn away.

    Mercy''s laser spear hums as it spins through the air. She''s whipping it around while surrounded by four stags. The stags weave in and out, dodging her attacks but not being able to land their own. Jose''s in the air with Draconic Flight, taking him out of melee range. He looks injured but that dude doesn''t complain. I dash over in that direction and send a storm hand to do Restoration Palm on him. Quins fires two arrows that get deflected by antlers, which sounds bad, but then the arrows explode in a green gas and the targeted stag wobbles and slows. Slows long enough for Jose to get a bead on it and blow its damn head off.

    I search about the battlefield. There are a couple dozen stags missing. That''s probably bad. As I think that, two dozen Stone Stags burst up from under the ground, throwing dirt and sod. Well fuck.

    6th Step, Astral Pathbreaker, Star Swarm!

    Stars spin around me and I immediately lay into two nearby stags. My punches, surrounded by stars, just rip right through them. I punch the torso off one and the back legs off another. I spin and see four making for Rutger. I point my hand at them and the stars fire off like bullets, ripping baseball-sized holes right through the stags. I see Rutger charge up another deadly spell and I have to keep moving. Five stags are headed to back up the Stag Lord, who looks like he and Madeline have been fiercely trading blows. I pull my stars back to me and charge towards the group. Stars spin around my right hand and in front of it, like a lance. No, more like a drill. I catch up to the first horseman and my star drill punches right through its legs, dropping it to the ground. The second victim gets a large hole through their side and they drop. I leap to my left and drill down, into and through the stag''s head, neck and chest. It''s a bloody mess. The fourth horseman rips into me with antlers, but I ignore the wound and counter with a drill strike that separates the horse from the man. One to go. 15 seconds of Star Swarm used. 75 Arcana Points and Ki Points used. I can keep this up for another 30 seconds.

    I punch forward from where I am and throw the entire star drill at the remaining stag. It attempts to block the drill with its arm antlers, but they only delay the inevitable. The drill hits the antlers. The antlers crack, then crumble over one second. The stag dies to drilling and I pull the stars back. 27 seconds left.

    I rush back to Rutger''s side, forming stars into an eight foot long sword as I run. I slash left, then right, and take out two stags. I leap away while throwing storm punches and void daggers at the remaining stag there. I rush to Mercy''s side with a burst of speed. I bring the star sword down in an overhead chop, splitting a centaur in two. Before he even falls apart I''m on another one, thrusting the sword through its belly, twisting the blade, then pulling it out in an angle. The massive hole in the beast''s chest explodes with blood and the creature falls. 20 seconds left.

    My star sword flashes left, right, left, taking down two more stags. My massive blade is almost a foot thick and each slash is almost immediately fatal. I throw the sword at another stag, cutting its top half off, while I run back to where Madeline is struggling to fight off the boss and three more stags. I am at the back end of their small group and throw storm punches and void daggers forward as my stars return to me. The stars reach my back and begin to spin, their energy giving me a burst of speed. I reach the boss stag as he''s coming in to give Madeline a deadly hug. 15 seconds left.

    Flying up to meet him, my fist slams into the stag lord''s face and his jaw shatters, mouth going slack. I pull all my stars into a hand-sized ball, then shove the ball down the monster''s throat. I release the stars and they rip through his body to return to me. Madeline cuts into another stag''s arm and chops it off. I push my stars forward and impact one of the remaining three stags like a particularly powerful shotgun blast. The monster''s chest collapses and then explodes in blood, and I push the stars further and they rip through its back, leaving the stag looking like a chain link fence. I pull the stars back, then leap up and forward at the second to last stag. I spin the stars around my left leg to deliver a flying, Kamen Rider-esqe kick. The monster simply explodes from the force. 5 seconds left.

    I turn in time to see Madeline chop off the stag''s other arm, then slice off the top half of its head.

    I look around. All the stags are dead and accounted for. With 3 seconds of power left, I let my stars fade.

    I want more. I want to rip and tear more monsters. I want to keep fighting. Adrenaline is shooting through my veins and I need to fight. I look north towards the White House and see the shapes of monsters.

    ¡°Jun!¡± I hear Mercy''s voice. It''s like she knows she has to pull me back down. ¡°Time to heal people.¡± She''s standing over Quins and Jose who are both bleeding. Madeline is pretty beaten and has a few stab wounds and cuts. Biscuits, who''d been hiding back by the reflecting pool, runs over to Rutger, who looks like they actually got stabbed pretty badly. Then I remember that I got stabbed too.

    I turn to do the boring, but important, after care. Sigh.

    ¡°Biscuits, don''t eat that!¡± I hear Mercy yell.

 Book 2 - Chapter 22: Left Or White

    We have to wait a while for me to recharge after dropping to near-zero AP and KP. That suits everyone just fine.

    Madeline approaches me. ¡°The fuck was that?¡± She seems both annoyed and curious, an interesting combination of emotions.

    ¡°My 6th Step class, Astral Pathbreaker, gives me Star Swarm, a probably unique power. It burns through both Arcana Points and Ki Points really quickly so I don''t like to use it unless I have to.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got that part.¡± She shakes her head. ¡°No, I mean the way you fought. That wasn''t your normal style. You went... Aggro.¡±

    I look up at the obelisk that is dedicated to our first president. He probably would have hated it. ¡°It''s part of me. That...¡± I trust her, she''s a warrior. She might get it. ¡°Fire and lightning. Not the elements. The feeling you get, when you''re one with your purpose, the moment, your skill, your powers. When everything comes together, perfectly.¡±

    ¡°You''re talking about flow state.¡± She sits down next to me on the grass. ¡°Yeah, I''ve gotten that a few times.¡±

    ¡°Eh, this is something deeper. Not just being able to go into flow state. It''s...¡± What do I say? It feels like truly living? It feels like what I am truly, deeply meant to do? ¡°It''s like everything that I was, everything that I am, all points to this one fight. Like every hour spent in combat training, every hour spent playing video games, every hour spent with RPGs, they all combine into one singular... Power.¡±

    She nods. ¡°Like your purpose is clear. I''ve felt that, but when I''m with my kids. Like all my FBI training and shitty childhood and bad relationships were all leading to me being a better mom.¡±

    It''s totally different, but I understand completely.

    She sits with me for a while longer, not talking. We watch as Biscuits heals up the crew and Quins has to collect the loot because he got the fewest kills.

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    5:10 AM

    From the regular stags we (Quins) collect some stone antlers (neat but useless), some DC themed commemorative pint glasses (neat but useless) and bags of peanuts (actually just useless).

    From the boss, Theo-whatsit, we got lucky and got all of his possible loot. Peanuts (srsly why), several scrolls and an antlered helm.

    Scroll Of Stone Bones. Activating this scroll turns your bones into stone, massively increasing their durability and increasing your Toughness by 40.

    Helm Of The Stone Stag Lord. Wearing this helm makes you look like a badass warrior. So much so that your Strength is added to your Charisma for the purposes of determining your Ki Point regeneration speed and ability to intimidate.

    I read the description to the team and say, ¡°well Madeline gets that hat, no question.¡±

    She takes off her Pathbreakers helmet and puts on the stone helmet. She closes her eyes for a minute, clearly going into her menus. The antlers shrink from about 3 feet tall to about 3 inches tall. Then more antlers grow and wrap around her face, leaving only her eyes exposed. It honestly looks fucking badass. Or maybe that''s the intimidating effect kicking in. Either way she looks like a viking mixed with a football player. Except with a giant flame sword. It''s a good look.

    I move to the next items up for bid. ¡°Next up we have three, count them, three scrolls that improve Toughness by 40 and make your bones stone. Who wants one?¡±

    Everyone except me raises a hand. You either want Toughness because you''re focusing on it, like Madeline and Mercy, or you''ve neglected it, like Jose, Quins and Rutger. I''m probably good with my stats, so I bow out. ¡°It''s a roll off!¡±

    Mercy gets a 1. Jose gets a 3. Madeline gets 16, Quins gets 12 and Rutger 10.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Madeline, Quins and Rutger each read a scroll and the rest of us see them all just stand there for about 30 seconds before they each fall over, screaming. Apparently having bones turn to stone hurts like a mother fucker. The screaming goes on for several minutes. I try healing them, but it only lessens the pain a little bit.

    ¡°It was like my bones were on fire,¡± Rutger says, rubbing their knees.

    ¡°Like ant bites on the inside,¡± Madeline says with a haunted look in her eyes.

    Quins, who also screamed loudly, says, ¡°reminds me of the beatings I got from this bloke named Anthony. Kid used to give a really good THWACK. I was littler than him and he kept calling me tiny. Rather rude he was.¡±

    That handled, I address our next concern. ¡°White House or Capitol Building?¡± We can go in either direction. I suppose we''ll want to take both paths eventually.

    Madeline and Jose speak at the same time, saying opposite things.

    ¡°White House.¡±

    ¡°Capitol Building.¡± Jose, with more syllables to say, finishes second.

    I turn to Madeline. ¡°Why White House?¡±

    She looks towards the building in the distance, partially blocked by trees. ¡°I think it''s the 20th floor. Seat of power for the whole dang country. Plus, my boyfriend just made us watch the first two seasons of The West Wing.¡±

    Boyfriend? She has a boyfriend?

    Jose disagrees, saying, ¡°we''re literally in the Capitol Building. It''s going to be the Capitol Building.¡±

    This is the first time I''m hearing anything about a boyfriend. I wonder what type of guy he is. Hipster? No way. Fellow FBI agent? Maybe, but wouldn''t work get in the way?

    Quins puts in a vote. ¡°I quite liked Olympus Has Fallen. Bloody good time, that was. So let''s go recreate a scene or two, eh? I can blow up the front door.¡±

    Really, how does she even find the time? She''s got kids, too. Between them and the Pathbreakers I can''t imagine she''s had time to date in the last two months.

    ¡°Let''s avoid the obvious trap.¡± Rutger puts a wet blanket on the White House plan.

    I mean, if I wasn''t fighting side by side with Mercy, I wouldn''t have time to date. Traveling together and fighting together is honestly great. But if she wasn''t here? I dunno, if I felt like I do now, I''m not sure I''d want to keep doing this. I''d rather have a normal job that lets me see her frequently.

    ¡°Mercy?¡± Madeline asks, obviously pressuring her work out buddy.

    Maybe I should arrange for her to have some time off. Phoenix Team definitely deserves it. Madeline deserves it.

    Mercy looks thoughtful, then glares at me. ¡°I think... Jun, have you been paying attention?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I say. ¡°Madeline''s boyfriend loves Olympics Has Fallen and Rutger is a trap.¡±

    Wait. Shit. I grimace. ¡°That''s 100% wrong, isn''t it? Sorry I was...¡± Quick! Sub-minds! Think of something reasonable to have been thinking about! ¡°Allocating levels. I''m maxed out at 10 again.¡± Nice save, sub-minds.

    Oh. I am actually maxed out on levels. I really should allocate some.

    So I could take Weapon Master or Monk to level 10. Both are currently at level 5. Both would get me useful techniques. Buuuut, they don''t lead to the same 5th step class. Weapon Master, when combined with Warden, unlocks Landsknecht, a speedy striker. Monk, when combined with Crack Shot, opens up Stylist, which groups your techniques into stances to increase their power but reduces flexibility.

    Being able to jet around the battlefield even faster as a Landschneckt seems like a winner, but I still gotta go Monk. My subclass there, Supportive Ki, should get me some more healing, recovery and support techniques. And with no dedicated healer right now, I''ve got to be able to step into that role.

    I put five levels into Monk and get 10 Strength, 10 Agility, 15 Ki Points and 40 free points. Thinking that being faster on my feet sounds ideal, I drop my accumulated free points (104) into Agility, bringing it to a mighty 239.

    I get the techniques Lingering Healing Palm, Slow Regen, Zero Inch Punch, Regen, Accelerated Healing Palm, Durable Cloth, Thunderous Clap, Vitality Palm Strike, Unarmed Flurry and Air Punch

    The two Regen techniques are passive regeneration effects, which aren''t impressive yet, but they stack on each other. I''m sure they''ll get a lot of use between fights and they should gain proficiency quickly.

    Lingering Healing Palm, Accelerated Healing Palm and Vitality Palm Strike all add to my healing repertoire. Vitality Palm Strike looks like the big heal I''ve been hoping for, leveraging my Strength into a healing punch. It also hurts the undead, so that''s cool. But it costs 30 KP, which makes it not something I can use a lot.

    Zero Inch Punch, Thunderous Clap, Unarmed Flurry and Air Punch give me better or more versatile unarmed (or Atmos storm fist) attacks.

    Durable Cloth... Makes my clothes more difficult to damage. Uh, okay?

    ¡°White House first,¡± I say, having processed my levels. ¡°I think Jose is right, that the Capitol Building is floor 20, but I want to clear everything this place has to offer.¡±

    I get nods, eye rolls and shrugs.

    After I heal everyone and I recover my KP, we strike out for the White House. Compared to the Capitol Building and the various monuments, it''s not actually that large. I think my Get! store had a bigger footprint.

    Out front, outside the White House fence, are several demons holding up signs. The signs say things like ¡°don''t give peace a chance¡± and ¡°yes blood for oil¡± and ¡°legalize kitten consumption.¡± The demons themselves look humanoid, except that instead of a head they have one giant mouth where their neck should be. The grey, metallic teeth are about three inches long, and collapse together over the neck mouth. Their fingers end in six inch long metal talons. Their skin is a clay-like red/brown. Oh, and they''re all wearing overalls. The kind made of blue jeans. Cool, cool, cool.

    Protest Demon. Tier 3. Aggressive. Clawed and fanged. Has sonic scream attacks. Also, they are total hypocrites. They are totally the ¡°not in my backyard¡± type. They want other people to sacrifice, but not themselves. Total dicks, these guys. Also, they will try to eat your kitten, just a heads up.

    Possible loot: Overalls, kitten bones, pamphlets about conspiracy theories.

    The demons see us. They charge. We obliterate them. The loot is literally garbage.

    Quins fires two arrows. The first blows a hole in the gate for us to enter through. The second blows the front doors of the White House off their hinges.

    I look at him. He smirks and says, ¡°if you can, boss, drive a knife into someone''s eye for me, yeah?¡± He''s still on Olympus Has Fallen.

    I give him a smirk in return. That movie is pretty awesome.

 Book 2 - Chapter 23: Olympus Felled

    We storm into the building in full SWAT mode. In the entry hall are 12 demons dressed like secret service agents. They have handguns that shoot dark red flames. Their eyes seem to be missing, but they have no problem seeing us. I switch to Solar Mind to make shields to block bullets and protect my team as they quickly overpower the demon agents. From the halls to the left and right, dozens more guys pop out, each firing wildly at us.

    Double Secret Service. Tier 2. It''s a demon in a suit with a gun. Nothing fancy. It''s just that there''s a LOT of them. 1600 of them, to be precise. You''ve only killed 12 so far. Get cracking!

    Possible loot: Fire pistol, nice suit, national pride.

    Their skin, bright red, seems to shimmer with heat. ¡°Don''t let them close on you! There''s hundreds of these guys!¡± I shout to the team, but mostly to Madeline and Mercy.

    Mercy ducks back out of the building, shifts into her White Hat Warlock outfit, and begins to fire streams of green data at the demons from a distance.

    Madeline sticks by my side, blocking shots with her shield and only swinging her sword when the odd demon closes in on us.

    I focus on my shields, moving 15 of them around my allies, blocking demon fire bullets as the dozens of demons pour into the room firing at my team. Jose, Mercy, Rutger and Quins all fall back to the doorway and take cover outside as Madeline and I slowly back up. She and I both take a couple of hits ourselves, but we''re both tough as nails, so that''s not enough to do much to either of us.

    Our ranged squad fires into the entryway over and over again. They take turns attacking, letting the others recharge and reload. The stream of bullets, exploding arrows, green data whips and emerald lightning bolts is unending. This team is on fucking fire right now.

    Then gunfire erupts outside as demons come around the east and west sides of the White House. More demons open fire from above on the roof. I desperately use my shields to block as many shots as I can but there''s just too many of these fuckers.

    Mercy takes two bullets to her right leg. Jose gets grazed across his face. Madeline takes five bullets in her back. Quins gets tagged in the left arm. Rutger gets three fingers blown off.

    We''re all now huddled behind a circle of my shields. Their passive healing powers mean that our wounds should slowly get better, but we''re taking hits too quickly. I use Restoring Clap, slapping my hands together and releasing a wave of healing. That buys us some time.

    I need to kill. I need to keep my shields up around my allies. I need to distract the enemy.

    I leap out from behind my shield wall over to the west side of the building. ¡°I''m going to take out the President!¡± I shout. ¡°You guys stay here!¡± The guys on the roof take the bait and target me. The demons on the west side have no choice but to target me. I reach the cluster of goons in mere seconds, then begin to lay into them with punches and kicks. I jab a face into pulp. I turn and backhand another demon. I punch another demon in the head, then another, then another, then another, then another, then another.

    I look up at the demons on the roof.

    Star Fall Crash

    Exotic

    Coat yourself in solar energy to fly and slam into a foe.

    Duration: 10 seconds or impact

    Speed: 250% of running speed

    Cost: 50 Arcana Points

    Proficiency: 9%

    I use Star Fall Crash to briefly fly up and collide with the nearest demon, sending him flying 50 feet back, off the roof, and collapsing in a broken heap on the ground. I rush across the roof with speed almost six times faster than Usain Bolt. I''m running at NASCAR speeds. I slam into and through dozens of roof demons. They explode in blood and gore, they go flying off the roof, they crumple into heaps.

    I come to a stop on the east side of the building and look down. There''s almost a hundred demons lurking around the corner from my team, all waiting to take their turns at firing wildly at my friend''s. Fuck that. I extend my hands and cast Prominence Burn, sweeping flames across the group. Their clothes burn away, but they''re otherwise unharmed. Ah. They''re fire elemental demons. Right.

    I leap down into their midst and start punching like a mad man. Punch, dodge, punch, punch, punch, roll forward, punch, punch, uppercut. Their bullets hit me but with several techniques bolstering my Toughness I can afford to not give a shit. I''m moving at near blinding speed anyways, so their ability to target me is basically nil. Only the demons truly employing a spray-and-pray method manage to clip me. I take bullets to my shoulder. I take bullets to my chest. I get shot in the thigh. I get shot in the forehead. Each time I get hit I don''t even flinch. I kill. I kill with every punch. I kill, I kill, I kill.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The windows on the east side of the building explode outwards as demons inside the White House shoot out at me. Having mostly finished the monsters out here, I leap through the window right into the east wing lobby. There are seven demons in here that I flatten. I push through to the long hall between the east wing and the main building. There are dozens of demons in this one hall. All lined up for me. I use Star Fall Crash and fly forward, enveloped in flames. I know the flames won''t do jack shit, but that''s fine. I hit the first guy and grab him and hold him in front of me as I continue to fly straight ahead. We plow into more demons, some getting trampled, some getting caught up in what quickly becomes a plow as demons get tangled up in each other''s limbs. I push the group of them forward and the hall becomes a tangle of bodies both alive and dead. My fists fly as I charge, beating each demon once or twice. Left jab into jaw. Right cross to neck. Uppercut to stomach. Two jabs to left cheek. Knee to groin, double punch to sides of head. Roundhouse kick to chest. Jab, high punch, low kick, forward, forward, duck, rising knee, backhand, overhead chop, straight thrust, forward, uppercut, forward, jab, jab, jab, forward, cross, back slash chop, elbow, knee, front kick, side kick, cross, jab, uppercut, jab, jab, cross, jab, uppercut, roundhouse kick.

    The last guy goes flying through the door, shattering it into splinters. I follow him, entering the main building and see my team has taken control of things. I scan one of the demons to get the number left. ¡°Hey, there''s only 544 of these guys left!¡± I say cheerily.

    The others look at me aghast. ¡°What?¡± I ask, then answer my own question by looking at myself.

    I am COVERED in gore and black demon blood. There''s almost no part of my uniform that''s still white. I feel blood dripping down my face and my hair is wet and sticky. My hands look like I''ve been washing them in an oil derrick. I quickly wipe some demon brains off my left sleeve.

    ¡°None of this is my blood!¡± I quickly reassure them.

    Quins has a wicked grin, Mercy looks unbelieving, Jose looks disappointed, Madeline seems disgusted, and Rutger nods saying, ¡°fucking metal, dude.¡±

    I use Ki Cloth Weaving to clean my clothes, and find a bathroom to rinse off the rest of me. It... Takes a while.

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    5:55 AM

    Now that we''re not surrounded, we take our time and blast away at the remaining demon bodyguards. We sweep the main building, top to bottom, then sweep the west wing, purposefully leaving the Oval Office for last.

    Finally, we reload, recharge and ready ourselves for whatever nightmare is behind the Presidential desk. I kick open the door.

    It looks like a meatball with stumpy little arms and legs. It almost entirely fills the room with naked, peachy pale white flesh. Various patches of grey hair dot its body. It has way too many eyes and way too many mouths and they''re all over the place.

    All The President Men. Tier 6. This combination of your presidents is constantly in pain, hates all people equally and is ready to sign into law a bill that legalizes the ability for it to crush you to death.

    Possible loot: Signing Pen, red or blue tie.

    It crashes through the wall like a fleshy kool-aid man, its three foot thick arms end in hands that have way too many fingers. It''s fast. It reaches out for me and I step back, dodging 10 feet in less than a second. Madeline isn''t fast. She gets grabbed by the beachball shaped fist, her arms stuck to her sides. The monster immediately holds her in front of it, like a human shield. Asshole.

    Jose opens fire, shooting into the right leg. Blood and chunks of flesh fly off, only to be replaced a second later as the monster''s blobby body seems capable of shifting its meat around. Ahhhh that''s so gross. Quins fires an arrow into the elbow of the arm holding Madeline. The arrow explodes with just barely enough force to blow the arm off, and Madeline breaks free. Then the fingers on the arm begin to drag it back to the monster. And the chunk Jose blasted off is rolling back into place.

    I do NOT like this thing. Fuck it, let''s end this quick.

    Astral Pathbreaker, Star Swarm!

    I fire off my stars in a shotgun spread, blasting the whole front of the monster, splattering bits of 97.8% white flesh across the room. I call out, ¡°Rutger, blast the bits!¡± I''m hoping Rutger can burn cauterize the separated fleshy bits. I pull my stars back as Jose, Mercy and Quins lay in with their attacks. Madeline is up front and cuts into the monster''s other hand as it reaches for her.

    I fire off another Star Shotgun blast, followed by a charge straight into the front of the meatball with a Star Drill. Flesh and hairy bits fly as I try to get to the center of the monster. I''m hoping for some sort of core I can shatter and end this thing. I get punched from my right, three arms forming and hitting with way more strength than that of the average President. I get thrown to the side and have to roll further right as I narrowly evade one of Madeline''s mighty Chlamydia strikes.

    The ripped off blobs of flesh don''t bleed. Instead, they tend to grow fingers which they use as spider legs. Then they either run back to the big boy, or grow a mouth and try to bite someone. Mercy has resorted to using her data stream whip to knock blobs off of others.

    A blob climbs up Madeline''s back as she swings Chlamydia. Mercy whips the blob away. Madeline slashes and then gives Mercy a thumbs up.

    Let''s try something new. I switch to Void Mind while Star Swarm is still active, and as I''d hoped, the stars turn void bright purple. On each four-pointed star, one of the arms lengthens, making each more like a dagger. I aim the 100+ stars at the blob and throw them, pointy end first. The dagger stars stab in, and some of them trigger Entropy motes. I rapidly withdraw and stab those points, triggering the void explosions I''m coming to know and love. I start pulling and throwing in rapid succession, so that there seems to be a constant stream of blades circling the monster. With dozens of strikes per second I''m triggering Entropy several times per second, and the rapid explosions are rearing through the monster. I start focusing on its center mass and soon the massive meatball has a crater in its middle. It grows more arms, which suddenly try to get in front of the dagger stream, but Madeline chops one off and Jose and Quins take out the others.

    Mercy and Rutger attack fallen meat chunks and with enough damage those seem to actually die. But there''s now sooo many of the damn things. Each inch of progress I make sends another blob out that has to be dealt with. By now dozens of blobs are running around, with dozens more dead. The blobs run away, they try to bite legs, they try to get back to the father blob. Founding father blob? Anyways, they''re scuttling around like a swarm of flesh crabs and I just want this to be over.

    Faster, faster, faster. I strike with the star daggers over and over again, my team blasting every moving part of the monster as I drive my attacks towards the core it''s trying to guard. One of my Entropy explosions exposes something shining and golden. In the split second before my star daggers rip it apart, I recognize it. It''s a golden tree branch. The branch gets broken, snapped into tiny pieces, and the entire monster collapses, sagging into a large puddle of pinkish flesh like runny pancake batter.

    Mercy sums it up. ¡°Jun, you take me to the nicest places.¡± Followed immediately by, ¡°Biscuits, don''t eat that!¡±

 Book 2 - Chapter 24: Transform!

    Turns out that Biscuits clawing at a blob of detached flesh counted as her participation in the fight, so she got two level ups. Yay.

    Also, we got good loot from the boss.

    Signing Pen. Documents you sign with this pen become binding contracts. Those who break the contract (including you) become randomly cursed. When used to scribe runes the effects are increased by 25%.

    Red Tie. Power, authority, but also anger. While wearing this tie the positive and negative effects of Rage are increased by 50%.

    Blue Tie. Calm, peacemaking, but also subdued. While wearing this tie you recover Ki, Faith and Spirit 50% faster when out of combat.

    The red tie goes to Madeline. She''s got Rage from her new Barbarian class. She wraps it around her left forearm, which is her sword/axe hand.

    The blue tie goes to Jose. He''s not gotten a lot of loot and the dude burns through Ki like nobody''s business. He ties the tie around his head like a headband.

    The pen goes to Mercy. She''s got the Imbuer class and has ¡°Defense Up¡± runes. Runes are pretty interesting. Each time you learn a rune, you can apply it exactly once, but it lasts forever. If you apply it again the first one fades. But, unlike other abilities, you can learn a rune more than once. Mercy has three copies of the ¡°Basic Defense Up¡± rune. She''s placed one on each of her outfits, increasing the defensive value of each by 25%. Doesn''t help a ton with the cloth of the Warlock or Princess outfits, but that''s a huge boost for the mecha suit. Another 6.25% on top of the 25% won''t hurt. More importantly, as she learns more powerful runes, the pen will continue to be a boon.

    Since we have time, we scour the whole White House for treasure and secrets. We find all sorts of interesting memorabilia, replica relics and neat nods to Presidents past. We each find a couple of items that we put in our inventories. For myself I take the President''s desk. The whole thing. It includes an old recording device which has Nixon talking on it. The tape is only six and a half minutes, for some reason.

    Downstairs in the situation room, we find all sorts of probably secret documents, which may or may not be dungeon bullshit. Like, there''s a report on Area 51, which says there''s three alien corpses there. But also there''s a report claiming that there''s a secret nuclear missile hidden in the Seattle Space Needle. So we take those documents with a grain of salt.

    I gained four levels and allocate them, plus one stored level, to Weapon Master, bringing it to 10. I get some passive effects that improve my dagger attacks. Thanks to the Weapon Master''s One For All subclass, those effects now boost all my weapons. I wonder if there''s a way to get these passive boosts to affect my spells...

    Importantly, I use the free points I get to raise my Agility to 250, thereby unlocking a new ability choice.

    Notice! You have reached 250 Agility, and are offered the following choice: Leap or Skip.

    Leap - Your jumping distance increases by 100%. You no longer take fall damage.

    Skip - You can teleport a number of feet equal to 20% of your Agility.

    So I can already jump pretty well, and also I can fly. But teleporting, that sounds fun! Skip it is!

    I try it out. It''s just like one of those anime dash right behind you moves. So I just flicker out, then flicker in. There''s an accompanying fssh sound like a jet of compressed air. I think that if I didn''t have absurd Reflexes, the Skip would probably be disorienting, but I''m fine with it. I try Skipping up. It works. I try Skipping in the air. It works, but I can''t Skip more than once between being on the ground. So I can''t teleport-fly. This ability doesn''t seem to have a cost, but it does have a cool down, which increases as I use it, then decreases after I give it a rest for a while. Mercy says her costume abilities work the same.

    For example, I can use it once, then two seconds later, then four seconds later, then 8 seconds later, etc. It should be great for surprise attacks, but by the time someone figures out the trick, the cool down will be too long to be viable anyway.

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    7:05 AM

    We stand before the US Capitol Building, the last stop on our fucked up tour of dungeon DC.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I say. ¡°Everyone fully charged up?¡± I look around at my team. They look ready to fight, but also ready for this to be over with.

    Huh. That''s odd, I can scan the Capitol Building itself. And it shows up as a giant red dot on my radar.

    The Political Machine. Tier 6. You don''t know anything about this monster yet, other than it''s a monster, and probably made of stone.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Possible loot: Amendment Proposal, Capitol Keystone, Gavel Of Order, Transformation Transformer

    ¡°The entire building counts as a monster. We need to be careful.¡±

    I slowly advance with Lunar Mind and Atmos Mind active. We get to the bottom of the long steps up to the front of the building. There''s only the sound of our boots on stone. I begin to climb the stairs when there''s a deafening rumble of stone.

    The building lifts up and I leap off it. ¡°Ruuun!¡± I shout to the team, and use Atmos storm hands to pull along Rutger, who''s the slowest of the team.

    There''s a clattering of giant gears, the rumble of stone, the cracking of marble. As we get back to the invisible entry tunnel, we turn to watch the Capitol Building change like a goddamn Transformer. The stairs become feet, the left wing slides down and splits apart into legs. The right wing unfolds into arms. The center of the building becomes the chest, and the rotunda slides open to reveal a marble bust of Uncle Sam.

    ¡°Nope!¡± I hear Rutger, Mercy and Madeline say at the same time.

    ¡°We can just shoot it from ¡®ere,¡± Quins offers. We already know that the space in between ¡°floors¡± is enclosed, despite looking like open sky. The invisible tunnel we''re currently in runs between the Washington Monument and the former Capitol. It''s actually only about 10 feet wide, and running your hand along the wall feels like glass.

    Glass which, upon the Capitol mecha punching it, shatters. The entire tunnel flickers, cracks, and then turns into a shower of crystal shards, pelting us with tiny blades. I throw Lunar Armor on Rutger so they''re protected, but don''t have time to save anyone else. The shower fortunately ends after just a second, leaving us ankle deep in glass(?).

    The Capitol building advances, just one stomp of its foot shaking the ground like an earthquake. ¡°Stay mobile! I''m going to see if it has a weakness!¡± I fly up at the monster, aiming for the front doors. Below the team opens fire, shooting at random parts, hoping to get lucky and hit something vital.

    I punch my way through the heavy wooden front doors and find... The United States Capitol Building. I look around and see corpses. People who had to have died here back at the beginning of the Dracosys. They''re desiccated.

    I quickly move into the central hall to find statues and more dead people. From the inside, this place looks totally normal. I hear a colossal thud as the mecha takes another step, but I feel nothing. Inside the monster is a separate space. I punch open doors and check offices randomly. I dash into the House Of Representatives. Thud! I run the other way and check the Senate. Thud! There''s nothing here but the building as it was. Shit. I was really hoping for a glowing crystal core I could smash.

    I fly out and drop down to my team. They''ve already had to hoof it to the Washington Monument. The Political Machine has stomped halfway down the National Mall already, leaving giant footprints in its wake.

    ¡°Not good, chief!¡± Quins calls out, nocking three arrows and firing.

    ¡°It''s made of stone!¡± Mercy confirms. ¡°Nothing bleeds on it. Shooting into the windows doesn''t seem to do anything.¡±

    ¡°When in doubt,¡± Jose fires up at a steep angle, hitting the massive head. His bullet, though powerful against human sized targets, does almost nothing to a giant stone head.

    In response Uncle Sam''s eyes glow red and a laser sweeps across the field, tearing up the ground but not the Washington Monument. It seems invulnerable, which is good because we''d all hidden behind it.

    ¡°Gears! I heard gears turning,¡± Madeline reminds us. ¡°It has to have joints we can hit.¡±

    ¡°Mercy, with me,¡± I turn to her and she changes into her Angle Frame blue and white mecha outfit. An outfit which can fly. Jose sprouts ethereal green dragon wings. I keep forgetting he can fly too now. We fly up and look down at the monster from above. Sure enough, down in the inside of the rotunda, are hundreds of gears. The gears occupy the space that should be the inside of the building, a space I was just in. But physics can go fuck themselves, I guess.

    We drop down to the neck(?) and open fire on the gears. Jose unleashes lightning shots, Mercy uses her minigun and I charge three Tempest Buster Rifles and blast away with giant storm lasers. Uncle Sam''s eyes glow red and I start moving away from Mercy, knowing that when you''re being tracked, you start dodging before the enemy fires. (Thanks, video games!) The beams fire off behind me and sweep towards me, too fast to outrun. I launch myself up, using Skip to teleport over the five-foot-wide beam as it passes beneath me. I feel the heat from the boiling air around the red laser.

    Mercy, seeing a chance to go in for the kill, charges in with her beam spear, and slashes away at the mechanisms. The gears smash, shatter, jam and stop. The giant golem itself stops moving, right as it''s got a foot next to the Washington obelisk.

    ¡°Is it dead?¡± Madeline asks over our comms.

    I check my radar. It''s still covered in a large red dot. ¡°No, but that definitely did something. Let''s go back and regroup.¡±

    We fly back down to our allies, who are over by the reflecting pool now.

    ¡°So, it''s still counted as alive,¡± I say. ¡°But we smashed the shit out of its gears.¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t seem to be moving anymore,¡± Madeline says warily.

    We retreat back by the Lincoln Memorial and wait. A minute goes by, then five.

    ¡°I''ve thought of something stupid,¡± I say, breaking a long silence. I then explain my plan.

    ¡°That is something stupid,¡± Rutger agrees. ¡°But I kind of like it. The symbolism is nice too.¡±

    I say, ¡°I have world class Wisdom but still don''t get symbolism.¡±

    Rutger rolls their eyes. ¡°I''ll explain if this works.¡±

    The plan is simple, really. First, we all move forward, to the back of the Machine. The part where we travel underneath the giant robot is maybe the first time I''ve been scared in a long time. This goes bad, this thing falls wrong, and we''re all instantly dead.

    We get to about 150 feet behind the monster and I down some potions to recover my AP. Then we begin to charge. Quins loads five arrows, each glowing a different color. Jose''s gun overflows with electricity and small sparks jump off to the ground near him. Rutger holds a ball of white hot flame in one hand and a ball of emerald lightning in the other hand. Mercy is back in her White Hat Warlock outfit and rings of green data are spinning around her. And I switch to full Atmos Mind and charge ten Tempest Buster Rifles in ten storm hands.

    Madeline, without a powerful ranged attack, is calling out the timing. ¡°Three, two, one, fire!¡±

    We all launch our attacks at a single point high on the giant robot''s back. The explosion of our combined mightiest powers deafens and sends a cloud of white stone flying in all directions. Then the smoke clears and we''ve blasted a 30 ft hole in its back. The bottom of the rotunda is gone, and the top part begins to crack off and we see the back of Uncle Sam''s head. Then, it begins.

    The titan wobbles just a tiny bit, which for it is 30 feet or so. It wobbles forward, then backwards. As it wobbles backwards its shadow falls across us as if the shadow of death itself. If I have to, I think I can get everyone out of-

    Quins fires a single arrow. It flies up, then explodes in a massive, 50 foot wide sonic shockwave. Then Capitol-mus Prime suddenly rocks forward again, and just as we''d hoped, it falls. It falls right onto the invulnerable Washington Monument, the obelisk acting like a spear that drives itself through the golem''s chest and neck and then through the hideous face of Uncle Sam. The sound is calamitous. Bricks and stones go flying and crash into the ground. Giant gears pop out and roll away. Paper flies and flutters in the air. Wood splinters and shrapnel flies out, cutting into a few of us. An upholstered chair from the Senate floor drops down right in front of me.

    And the red dot disappears from my radar. I''ve gained six levels.

    ¡°Yeaaaaaaaaah!¡± we all yell and hug each other and slap each other on the back.

 Book 2 - Chapter 25: Amendment To Be

    We wait 30 minutes for the ¡°monster¡± to disappear, and then we have to scour the area around the Washington Monument for the real loot, because the place is now covered in Sacagaweas. Biscuits is swimming in them like Scrooge McDuck. There''s another Amendment Proposal (nice!) and three other items.

    Gavel Of Order. Becomes a regular hammer, war hammer or maul at the wielder''s whim. When striking a foe they will become Silenced for 10 seconds.

    Capitol Keystone. This keystone transforms the US Capitol Building into a Castle. The one who places the Keystone becomes the Castellian. The Capitol Castle will not have a traditional king, instead decisions must be agreed to by a joint committee of Senate and House members. The Castellian executes the orders, while the Vice President breaks ties in the committee.

    Transformation Transformer. This upgrades any transformation mechanic you have.

    I keep the Gavel and we agree to turn the Keystone over to the Capitol police chief.

    The Transformer looks like an iridescent bracelet, its shape and color ever changing. It goes from a thin ring to a thick bangle to a hexagonal bracer and so on. It goes to Mercy.

    She slips it on, goes into menus, and then comes back a couple of minutes later. She excitedly says, ¡°check this out! Transform!¡± She transforms like normal, but this time her transformation bubble has two layers, the outermost one being translucent. The bubble disappears and she stands before me in a new outfit.

    She''s got metal shoulder, chest and skirt armor from her mecha costume, but the wide hat and thigh high stockings of the Warlock outfit. She''s got a wide, white hat, but the top part is armored with blue plating. Green lines of energy run through the mecha armor. Her Warlock boots are replaced with mid-calf white mecha boots.

    ¡°Angle Frame, White Hat Warlock!¡± she shouts. Then she reconsiders. ¡°Angle Frame Warlock? White Hat Angle Frame. Angle Warlock? No... White Hat Frame...¡± I give her an I''m impressed but please explain look. ¡°Oh I can combine any two costumes now.¡± She goes back to considering names for her new mode.

    Also, everyone got a bunch of levels, not just me. In fact, if I hadn''t already had four levels in reserve, I might have gotten more than six more levels.

    Jose Amarillo has completed the first 10 levels of the Prophet class, unlocking the Oracle class. He says his tracking abilities got a boost, so he basically knows exactly where my brother is. He¡¯s 7 levels away from a 5th step class.

    Mercy Mahar has hit level 10 in the Imbuer class, and unlocked Runist. She''s got some more runes, and they''re more potent than before. She offers to put a rune on Madeline''s sword and Chlamydia now gleams with a faint orange-gold light.

    Quinton ¡°Quins¡± Sheffield was an Inventor, but he''s upgraded to Genius. Apparently he has healing arrows now, which sounds very odd but very useful. He''s about 15 levels away from a 5th step class.

    Madeline Diaz went back and leveled Lancer up to 10. She''s level 8 in Barbarian. She''s 22 levels away from a 5th step class.

    Rutger Waltz took a few more levels in the Tactician class. Then they moved into the Magus class, taking the Armored subclass. That lets them ignore the weight of armor, so they can load up on defense without putting points into physical stats. I still advise them to increase their Agility, though. Not getting hit is the best defense of all.

    I''m still aiming for the Stylist 5th step class. To unlock it, I put 10 levels into Crack Shot, which has been Jose''s source of power for a long time.

    Crack Shot

    Use any thunder or lightning in your ranged weapons to hit foes with a flash of deadly speed.

    A fourth step class. Three subclasses. Unknown class evolutions.

    Gain 5 Dexterity, 5 Reflexes and 5 Ki upon choosing this class.

    You must choose a Subclass upon choosing this class.

    Two subclass specific techniques will be granted to you upon choosing this class. You gain master training with ranged weapons.

    Uses Ki, Dexterity and Reflexes.

    Upon level up an additional basic, advanced, expert or master shooting technique will be granted until all master and lower shooting techniques are granted. A subclass specific technique will be granted every even numbered level. Each level you gain 2 Dexterity, 2 Reflexes, 3 Ki and 8 free points.

    Subclasses

    Lightning - Your ranged weapons crackle with electricity and fire voltage.

    Thunder - Your ranged weapons use the speed of sound as a starting line. Utilize sonic and air attacks with your ranged weapons.

    Mystic - Ranged attack spells now count as ranged weapon attacks, letting them take advantage of active and passive techniques.

    Jose definitely didn''t have the Mystic option, which I go for with gusto. When combined with my One For All Weapon Master, that means that:

    <ol>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">All weapons benefit from my dagger techniques, some of which increase damage, armor piercing and speed. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">All ranged spell attacks (which is almost all spells) count as weapon attacks. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">My spells now effectively count as daggers, meaning I can deal sneak attack damage with a fire ball. </li>

    </ol>

    This opens up A LOT of options for me. So many that I''ll need to rely on my sub-minds more for on-the-fly combat decisions.

    I also get some ranged weapon attacks and passives from the class, but three of the subclass-specific ones really stand out.

    Arcana Rounds

    Advanced

    Spend AP to create ammo.

    Cost: 1-50 AP depending on ammo type.

    Proficiency: 0%

    Arcana Reload

    Expert

    Reload your by destroying a clip of ammo. AP restored is the same as the clip would cost with Arcana Rounds.

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Spell Revolver

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Master

    You form an arcane gun, which can be loaded with up to 6 ranged attack spells. You pay the spell costs up front and the spells remain, ready to fire. This can be refreshed to reset the duration without losing the spells chambered.

    Duration: 1 hour

    Cost: 50 Ki Points

    Proficiency: 0%

    Arcana Rounds and Arcana Reload sound like things I''ll need to tinker with. I''ll have to find ammo that costs a lot to make, then store those clips for an emergency boost of AP. Sure, I''ve got potions, but those are limited.

    Now the gun... I cast the technique and golden Ki flames flash in my hand, then recede into a revolver loosely based on the Colt US Navy 1851. The black metal barrel is aligned with the bottom of the cylinder, with a long rectangle of golden metal running along its top, to provide the sights a place to rest. The cylinder is black but inlaid with gold filigree reminiscent of art nouveau. The grip is dark brown wood and the trigger guard is gold. I flip out the barrel and the inner workings are gold and slightly glowing. I close the cylinder. I''m going to be able to chamber six of my most powerful spells, and then shoot them off later in rapid succession? Holy handcannons, batman!

    After 10 level ups, I¡¯ve got a lot more Dexterity, Reflexes, Ki and 101 free points.

    Physical Attributes

    Strength 183

    Dexterity 208 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 250 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 100

    Constitution 100

    Mental Attributes

    Intelligence 281 (Arcana regen)

    Memory 58 (faith regen)

    Wisdom 45 (spirit regen)

    Charisma 100 (Ki regen)

    Reflexes 288 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Etheric Attributes

    Ki 350 (techniques)

    Spirit 0 (chants)

    Faith 0 (invocations)

    Arcana 314 (spells)

    Luck 45 (creations)

    So with the 101 free points, I could hit 250 in Strength, or boost any two of Dexterity, Memory, Wisdom and Luck to their next milestone (100 or 250, respectively.)

    I thiiiink Dexterity and Luck are going to be my picks for now. Dexterity because I want to shoot better with my new gun, and Luck just for the extra inventory slots. Let''s see what the options are!

    Notice! You have reached 250 Dexterity, and are offered the following choice: Flashing Strikes or Magnetic Grasp.

    Flashing Strikes - Your weapon attacks move so fast that they seem to disappear.

    Magnetic Grasp - You can push and pull things within 50 ft of you.

    I''m not sure about either. Magnetic Grasp sounds like an extension of Telekinesis, though I suppose it would work on things I haven''t touched yet, or even creatures. Flashing Strikes seems like anime bullshit, which I''m not opposed to, but I don''t actually- Oh shit, my magic is now weaponized! Flashing Strikes!

    Notice! You have reached 100 Luck and are offered the following choice: Blessed or Cursed.

    Blessed - You can loan Luck to others, for any amount of time that you specify.

    Cursed - You can reduce the Luck of someone you see within 100 ft, though your Luck decreases by the same amount. This lasts for an amount of time that you specify.

    Both of these have a lot of potential. Reducing an enemy''s Luck during a fight might have unforeseen advantages. At the same time boosting an ally''s Luck in a dire situation might save a life.

    In the end, I''ve got enough offense to go around, so dropping 50 Luck on someone seems like something I''d do. #Blessed!

    I consult with Jose, who''s also on the Dexterity and Luck paths.

    ¡°My options were different for Dexterity. I got offered Stillness or Suddenness. Zero hand shakes or faster acceleration. I''m a sniper, so...¡± He holds his hand level. It doesn''t move a millimeter.

    ¡°And for Luck... It''s been a while but I took something that gives me 50% more inventory space. The other one was about coin flips and dice rolls.¡± He shrugs.

    The Dracosys wasn''t giving people different choices before. The Dracosys has changed, and nobody got notified of it. I consult with Mercy.

    ¡°The Dracosys does have protocols to add and expand the growth system based on its needs. I thought that meant the top tier stuff could be endlessly increased. I didn''t realize that it could increase the variety of options, too.¡± She pulls out her phone where she''s got a copy of the Dracosys guidelines that my brother wrote. She immediately gets engrossed so I leave her to it.

    Oh! Ooooooooh! I got another thing! Apparently one of my levels in Crack Shot was my 100th level within Synergist! (Levels of classes 5th Step and higher don''t count towards that total.)

    Synergist Level 100 - Infinite Options

    Instead of gaining a level in a class, you can instead choose another of its subclasses or enhance the effect of a subclass you already have.

    Hot damn! Next time I gain levels I''m going to get up to some absolute NONSENSE with this shit. I can already picture picking the All For One subclass from Weapon Master. Because then:

    <ol>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">All weapon techniques count as dagger techniques. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">All dagger techniques are applied to all weapons. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">All spells count as weapons. </li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Profit. </li>

    </ol>

    Muahahahaha! Then I could gather random buffs for other weapons and they''d all apply to basically everything I do. Muaha-

    ¡°What about an adventurer''s guild?¡± Rutger asks me out of nowhere, stopping my internal maniacal laugh. ¡°For the amendment. Something to help us organize and maybe get some group-wide benefits.¡±

    It''s a good idea. Some games let you upgrade your guild hall to get bonuses to every member. And the Pathbreakers are basically an adventurer''s guild already.

    ¡°I like it!¡± I say enthusiastically. ¡°Rutger, I might poach you from Madeline''s team.¡±

    Rutger blushes, which is maybe the first time I''ve seen any color in their pale skin. I''m not going to lie, it''s pretty cute.

    Quins comes up to us. ¡°Oi! I got one too. You know that party chat thing we never use because you have to close your eyes to use it? Make it audio.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Maybe?¡± We have headsets in our helmets, but that could help people who were less equipped than us.

    Madeline joins us. ¡°I have a bunch of techniques I can''t use, and I''d like to be able to switch them out or get a refund on them.¡±

    ¡°Same,¡± I say. I''ve got too much shit in general. Even with my spells being segmented, I have a lot to keep track of.

    ¡°Maybe a shop?¡± Mercy asks. ¡°Something to buy and sell Dracosys exclusive items.¡± I''m not convinced. ¡°Really I just want a place where people can purchase potions.¡± I nod. Another thing that we''re personally good on, but would help people across the planet.

    She continues. ¡°I''ve been reading up on the Dracosys, and stuff that''s going to directly end up with fewer deaths is a non-starter. But indirectly causing fewer deaths might pass.¡±

    ¡°Enemy scaling during dungeon breaks.¡± Jose joins our huddle. ¡°Like the enemies get stronger or weaker depending on who''s fighting.¡± It''s an interesting proposal. It would probably help the areas hit hard by the bigger dungeons, but, at the same time, allow stronger fighters to fight stronger foes.

    I give my take. ¡°We have four Amendment Proposals. I''d like to hand at least one over to the government, and let them take a crack at it.¡± I get looks that tell me it''s a bad idea. ¡°I know, I know, but more people working on it increases the chances that someone suggests something that can really help us work towards ending the Dracosys altogether.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can keep the scrolls and just let them give us the advice,¡± Madeline chides me.

    ¡°No offense,¡± Quins says, indicating that he''s about to say something offensive. ¡°But your guvners couldn''t agree on the right way to escape from a burning building.¡±

    I think he means congress. Or the Supreme Court. Or state legislatures. Or... Yeah I see his point.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± I relent. ¡°We keep the scrolls and make the final call. But I still want more brains working on it. There''s got to be ways to change the game.¡±

    Mercy, who''s more into the ins and outs of the system than any of us, looks skeptical that we can change things for real. But I''m hopeful. I''m sure someone will come up with something great. Maybe even me.

    I close my eyes and think as the team continues to debate the pros and cons of their various suggestions. What do I want? To destroy the Dracosys. How do I do that? I don''t know. If this were a game...

    ¡°If I''m a guild leader, could I give people quests that the Dracosys gives hints on?¡±

    Rutger turns to me, getting it exactly. ¡°You could give someone something to do, and the Dracosys might tell you how and where!¡±

    ¡°Eh? But what are you...¡± Quins gets it. ¡°Oh, that would help with all sorts of things! Not just closing sites, all sorts of problems.¡±

    Suddenly everyone gets excited and suggests quests.

    ¡°Take out the Ambrose Society!¡±

    ¡°Find the loose nukes!¡±

    ¡°Stop the masterminds!¡±

    ¡°Close hidden sites!¡±

    ¡°Stop the Dracosys itself!¡±

    This is it. A path forward, forged of our own will. This is what we do. This is the Pathbreakers.

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    8:15 AM

    We collect piles of Sacagaweas, then head to where the Capitol was. There''s some underground passages, and one leads to a boiler room that can let us collect loot or shut down the site forever.

    Quins half heartedly tells us that we could probably take the loot, wait for the dungeon reset in a few hours, and then kill the boss again to shut the place down forever. I give him my harshest glare.

    We hoof it back out, get to the swamp, and inform the troops that their time is being cut short. We get zero complaints. That takes most of an hour, so Mercy and I fly back to the boiler room, hit the switch and fly out before the place collapses on us.

    Once outside in the real world, the Capitol building whirrs and makes grinding sounds not unlike its robot form. After a few minutes, the noises stop and we check the inside. There are statues, busts and portraits. There are heavy wooden doors and lots of offices. There''s the two chambers and the C-SPAN cameras. Everything is as it should be.

    I see the rest of the Pathbreakers waiting for us down on the lawn. We wave and in return get shouts and wooos. Henry has booked a hotel and we grab breakfast on the way to take well deserved naps. Not sleep, naps. We have to meet the President at 3:30 PM.

 Book 2 - Chapter 26: Presidential

    6/22

    Washington D.C.

    3:00 PM

    The Secret Service takes things very seriously and doesn''t like it when Jose tells them exactly how many guns he''s packing in his inventory. It is a lot. They make him unload them all into a big Rubbermaid tub, along with our various other weapons. Altogether we fill three big tubs. I try to reassure the agents that the guns don''t matter, since we have magic. This does not calm them down.

    ...I might be bad at calming people down.

    So we are currently in a waiting room in the White House basement. They told us to wait in the basement because they can lock it off if we start using Leveled stuff. Which is fair, I guess.

    All of the core Pathbreakers are here. We''re all in suits so we look quite nice.

    ¡°So Oracle?¡± I ask my best friend as we sit on plastic chairs that were probably comfortable in the Carter administration.

    Jose counts out classes on his fingers. ¡°Oracle plus Crack Shot equals Visionary. 5 levels to my 5th step class.¡±

    ¡°And you''re getting good stuff from Oracle?¡± Madeline asks. ¡°I have no idea how good the abilities are from those classes.¡±

    ¡°Got a subclass called Tracer Oracle, which focuses on combat and tracking techniques instead of spells. I got that radar Jun has, plus some other tricks.¡± Jose nods at me. ¡°And your brother is currently in south California.¡±

    Jose and Madeline are being talkative and he''s explaining much more than normal. I think we''re all very nervous about meeting the President.

    A knock on the door alerts the two agents in the small room with us. One goes to the door, mumbles to someone outside, then calls us over. ¡°A meeting got canceled so the President wants to see you early. You ready?¡±

    It''s funny, but high Constitution lets you hold your piss longer. ¡°I need to pee but it''ll wait,¡± I inform the woman. She nods and takes us through the winding tunnels under the White House, into a creaky, 1970s elevator, down three more halls and into a conference room.

    The table is large and rectangular, clearly made of some fancy wood. There are paintings of dead white guys on the walls. I recognize one of Hamilton, but not the others. Probably Civil War guys, judging from their uniforms. The long south side of the room is all floor to ceiling windows. I wonder what they''re made of, since they''re probably bullet and blast proof. The whole room is white, the carpet is dark blue and outside in the hall are people walking and talking.

    Unlike last time I was in this room, there''s no dismembered demons.

    ¡°Shit, I think we''re really in the real White House,¡± I say.

    The doors open and in come four more Secret Service agents, and then the friggin president himself, David Egerton.

    I smoothly say, ¡°Holy shit, I mean hello, I mean good morning!¡± It is the afternoon. Fuck my life.

    ¡°Yes, quite.¡± David Egerton takes the seat at the head of the table. ¡°I''ll be brief. There are three reasons I called you here today. One is that I''ve been asked to bring you back under the government''s control. I''m not doing that. I see the advantages but I also see that you''ll be able to do more for the country, and the world, if you''re not under my thumb.¡±

    ¡°Ooookay,¡± is all I can manage after that.

    ¡°The second reason is simple, you''ve all done great work for the country and I want to give you callings and titles.¡±

    I''m not 100% on the whole Dracosys castle stuff, since those in power aren''t super open about it. But callings and titles are something only a ¡°king¡± of a Dracosys castle can give out. The White House is currently one of the five most powerful castles in the world, so President Egerton has such authority.

    Callings are commands or motivations. The king bestows one on someone and when they adhere to it the king gains some sort of points and his castle gains some other points. I know that when you adhere to your calling you gain some extra perks.

    Titles... I have no friggin idea. Probably some bonus abilities? This is the first I''ve heard about them. I probably should have read those files my brother left us.

    The President speaks again. ¡°But before I give you my blessings, I want to ask you about my third reason for your visit.¡± He folds his hands together on the table and looks even more serious than normal. ¡°I want to ask if you''ll fight the raid boss.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    The Dracosys had announced that there would be a raid boss on 7/10. Some powerful monster who''s apparently coming out of ¡°the least challenged dungeon.¡±

    An aide addresses us. ¡°We know the location already. Antarctica. The mountain just north of McMurdo station. A ten floor dungeon that''s been untouched by humanity.¡±

    ¡°Sir, do we know why it''s there?¡± asks Madeline.

    The President nods. ¡°The monsters that come out are of two types. Fleshy blobs and little grey aliens. From that we''ve pieced together that the dungeon is based on pop culture- The movie The Thing, which takes place in McMurdo, and rumors of buried alien spaceships.¡±

    ¡°Well that''s dumb,¡± I say. ¡°How bad are the dungeon breaks?¡±

    An aide steps forward, handing out documents relating to McMurdo. ¡°So far only one casualty. There''s a small armed force there, and the monsters don''t move very quickly. The greys look like they''d die from exposure if given the chance.¡±

    Quins asks, ¡°you yanks wouldn''t be hiding real aliens, now would ya?¡±

    I elbow him in the stomach, but the President just laughs. ¡°I get that all the time. No aliens, much to my own disappointment.¡±

    Madeline seeks to bring the conversation back to the reality of monster fighting. ¡°Sir, we''re sure this is the location of the raid boss?¡±

    The aide addresses us again. She looks like CIA, maybe, judging from the black suit. Since working with Alicia Bennet, I''ve revised my CIA policy from ¡°fuck the CIA¡± to ¡°probably fuck the CIA.¡± She says, ¡°we''ve been working through the U.N. to ensure every dungeon has been challenged once, except that one. We''re the ones answering the question of which one it''ll be. McMurdo is isolated and already evacuated.¡±

    Henry Gallup asks the President, who was a two-star General before he got elected, ¡°can we expect hardware?¡± In military speak, hardware usually means tanks, sometimes jets.

    It''s been noted in the news that David Egerton is the right man at the right time. Military advisors can talk about a military operation with an elected official who knows what the fuck is going on. And knowing that he used to be a Ranger back in the day, just like me, does give me a sense of pride. I''m so glad he got elected in 2016 and neither of the other idiots did.

    President Egerton nods and lets us know the score. ¡°We''ve got a few arctic-proof tanks, 10 to be specific. We can fly air support if needed, we''ll have a carrier, the Eisenhower, out there as support and your base of operations. I''ll have more to tell you when we get close to the operation time frame.¡±

    ¡°Wait, sorry, mister President.¡± Mercy turns to me. ¡°Are we already agreeing to this? To fighting what might be some super powerful monster?¡±

    I see concern in her eyes. We just escaped a 20 floor dungeon, and are talking about taking on another unknown enemy. ¡°Yeah, Mercy, I think we can help. The monster will probably be big enough for the big guns to handle it without us, but if it''s some small, melee fighter or something else weird, I want to be there.¡± I already told them about the fight with Jupiter back in Vegas. ¡°There''s a chance it''s something immune to bombs and bullets.¡±

    The President gives us his most General-ish, grave voice. ¡°I assure you, miss Mahar, that we do not intend to send you off to die pointlessly. In fact, the plan is for your team to stay on the Eisenhower until we know what we''re dealing with, and if we need you.¡±

    That seems to settle Mercy down. Damn, I''ve got to get a gravely, serious voice.

    The President says to the group, ¡°we can settle the details later. For now I want to get to giving you callings and titles.¡±

    He stands, and addresses the person closest to him. ¡°Mister Gallup, please rise.¡± Henry rises and stands before the President. I notice now that there''s an official photographer in the room. I''m sure one day when Henry gets elected President himself, those pictures will be priceless.

    The President places his hand on Henry''s shoulder and closes his eyes. I know how this works. The President is given a choice of two possible callings and he chooses one of them for the recipient. ¡°Henry, what''s more important to you, your family or your country?¡± President Egerton asks it while his eyes are still closed.

    ¡°Our country,¡± Henry says, and from him I believe it.

    ¡°Very well then.¡± The President''s hand glows with a soft golden light and he opens his eyes. ¡°Your calling is to protect your country through your honest heart. It''s good calling.¡±

    ¡°Thank you sir,¡± Henry says, and steps aside for the next person.

    This continues with each person.

    Mercy is asked what is more important, love or power, and chooses love. She gains the calling ¡°Protect your loved ones on their journeys.¡±

    Madeline Diaz is asked about her children, whether their future or present is more important. Madeline answers the future. She gains the calling ¡°Protect the future by training others.¡±

    Quinton Sheffield is asked to choose between his pride as an archer or his pride as a soldier. He chooses archer, and gains the calling ¡°Pierce the hardest targets.¡±

    Jose Amarillo is asked to choose between family and friends and chooses family. He gains the calling, ¡°To always return to where you call home.¡±

    The others get callings as well. They''re mostly ¡°Do Good¡± except for Rutger. Theirs is ¡°Find home, ¡± which, damn, that''s heavy.

    Finally, it''s my turn. The President puts his hand on my shoulder, closes his eyes, and then frowns. ¡°What?¡± I ask.¡± Are my options stupid or nerdy?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he says slowly. ¡°There''s too many options. Must be dozens. I''ve never seen this before.¡± We stand there for almost a whole minute before he asks me, ¡°Mister Han, just tell me what you think your calling is.¡±

    I blink. I... Had been thinking about this a lot since we were told we''d be coming here. I used to think my calling was to get revenge for 9/11. Then after R-32 it was just to get through another day. When the Dracosys hit, I thought my calling was to use my military training to get my friends home safe. Then we started the Pathbreakers and now, I know what it is.

    ¡°I think my calling is to stop the Dracosys itself.¡±

    President David Egerton hesitates, just a second, before confirming my new calling. It was just a second. It could mean nothing. Or, as my new, world-class Wisdom is telling me, it means something important. Like maybe he doesn''t want the Dracosys disassembled.

    That won''t stop me. He won''t stop me.

    He addresses the room. ¡°I''ve also given you titles, that of Trailblazers.¡±

    I''ll check out the mechanics later. ¡°Mister President, there''s something else,¡± I begin. I get a glare from Mercy but continue anyway. ¡°We got some scrolls, they allow us to propose changes to the Dracosys, and then all leveled vote on the changes.¡±

    There''s silence in the room.

    ¡°Changes?¡± the aide asks.

    We (mostly Mercy) goes over the scrolls and how they work, and how they don''t work. They have questions. We have few answers, except for ¡°we''re keeping them.¡± The President leaves the room to let the aides take care of this new variable, and we (except Quins) salute him as he goes.

    There''s another hour and a half of Amendment talk. After a while I suggest that the aide just joins our Discord server and contacts us later. I''m exhausted. I got a few hours of sleep at the hotel and I just want more. I think we have a flight tonight? Ahhhh I just want to sleep!

    We collect our weapons and leave the White House through the side gate. There''s reporters there but I guess we don''t look important because nobody asks us anything. Since most of us are super fit now, we probably look like more Secret Service agents.

    We get dinner. It''s an Italian place. They serve chili on spaghetti and it''s amazing. Finally, after our longest dungeon yet, we head home.

    17 days until the raid boss.

 Book 2 - Chapter 27: Recruitment

    Kailani Haku and Cappy Williams do indeed leave the Pathbreakers. I can''t blame them. With their shares of Rutger''s Millions, they''re both set for life.

    Days begin to fly by again. Travel, fight, travel, rest. Travel, fight, travel, rest. It becomes a cycle, a loop.

    7/1

    9 days until the raid boss.

    We have to spend a few off days working, going through possible recruits. The military is still sending us potentials, but so are other forces, and people are applying on their own. That''s how we got Quins, Rutger and Cappy.

    We open the doors a bit wider this time. We''re planning on putting Henry in charge of a third team. I want a dedicated healer on each team from now on, and with Kailani gone that means we need three of them.

    I do a lot of Zoom interviews.

    Interview #4

    Me: So it says here you have experience as a hunter.

    Guy: Yeah, and tracker.

    Me: Cool, what exactly do you hunt and track?

    A Little Bit Off Guy: ...

    Me: Uh? Hello? Is the Zoom broken?

    Definitely Creepy Guy: Japanese pop idols.

    Result: Not hired.

    Interview #5

    Me: So you have a healing class? Druid? I haven''t seen one of those in play yet. How do your powers work exactly?

    Hippie Lady: I am but a conduit for nature. I have no powers of my own.

    Me: So, like ranged or touch? Fast or slow heals?

    Hippie Lady: I rely on the earth to dictate the speed of the restoration of life essence to my allies.

    Result: Hired to Henry''s team.

    Interview #7

    Me: I''m looking for a tank and a healer, so you can do both?

    Redneck: Can do, just as well as I can spit and piss at the same time!

    Me: I assume that means you can? What''re your levels at?

    Redneck: Now lookie here you [REDACTED] you ain''t gettin¡¯ my details cuz you in with the gov''ment!

    Result: Banned from Facebook, not hired

    Interview #8

    Me: Look, are you crazy, you have to tell me if you''re crazy!

    Seemingly Normal Woman: Well, I''m applying for the most dangerous job in the world so I''m not exactly normal.

    Me: Fair. You can heal though?

    Normal(?) Woman: I''ve got a familiar who heals and one who tanks.

    Me: No shit! I''ve got a healer too! What kind of creatures are they?

    Not Normal Woman: Both spiders. I just looove spiders.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Result: Passed to Madeline, Madeline declined.

    Interview #11

    Me: What do you bring to an adventuring party?

    Surf Bro: Gnarly waves and killer tunes.

    Me: That''s how you describe your magic attacks?

    Surf Bro: Yeah brah, like, I flood the bad guys and then use these shock waves of sound.

    Me: That''s actually pretty rad, brah!

    Result: Hired to Henry''s team.

    Interview #12

    Me: Be honest, how old are you?

    Old Lady: Eh? Is this thing working?

    Me: It says you have 31 levels in Cleric.

    Old Lady: Hold on young man, let me get my grandson to fix this TV.

    Result: Not hired.

    Interview #16

    Me: (Sigh) Just tell me what''s weird about you.

    Woman: I hate cops? And pudding. I hate pudding more, to be honest.

    Me: (yawns) Okay, so you can heal, right?

    Woman: Yeah, at range. Group heals only.

    Me: That''s part of your Bard class?

    Woman: Right. I play music and you dudes who hear get healed and buffed, based on the distance from me.

    Me: If you''re carrying a lute, swear to god I''ll snap it.

    Woman: Dude, chill! I just play MP3s with a Bluetooth speaker. Works regardless of how you make the music.

    Me: What do you play?

    Woman: Fucking metal, dude. You want to hear Celine Dion during a fight? Nah, you need metal to get you amped the fuck up.

    Result: Ivy Black (probably not her real name) hired to my team.

    Interview #17

    Guy: Hey Jun, been a while.

    Me: Odysseus! You can talk! Also you''re not on my list, but screw it! You want a job?

    Odysseus Grant: Yeah, though I''ve made some changes. Things got rough during the Salem dungeon breaks.

    Me: Tell me everything, man! Also, I don''t care, you''re hired.

    Odysseus: Same impatient Jun. I''m a Paladin slash Druid, focusing on over heals and wood barriers for cover.

    Me: Go on.

    Odysseus: Paladin specializes in a touch heal, Life Palm. But I took the Preventer subclass so I can hit people with it before they get hurt, and it activates when they take damage. The Druid stuff I''m just getting used to, but it''s helpful ranged support.

    Me: Get your ass to Dallas, dude!

    Result: Hell yeah, my Ranger buddy Odysseus is back!

    -----

    7/4

    Independence day!

    6 days until the raid boss.

    I take the new team, Mercy, Jose, Quins, Odysseus and Ivy, to a 10 floor dungeon. Odysseus is still using a MK 16 SCAR L. Ivy can''t shoot for shit, but she''s working on training with a chain whip. It lets her be in the center of the group for her music buffs while still being able to deal damage.

    We basically leave the entire dungeon in the hands of Odysseus and Ivy, letting them level up and get experience. Okay, so really it''s just Ivy getting experience, but Odysseus is playing along so she doesn''t feel like she''s the worst one of the group. Even though she is. On the upside, she hits level 10 in Bard pretty quickly and moves up to the 3rd Step class Troubadour. Her music now improves regeneration speeds of Ki, Spirit, Faith and Arcana Points.

    Bard/Troubadour stuff is a bit more complex than I first thought. As the music plays, she can add more and more effects to it over time. That means at the start of a fight, we get just +10% Agility, but by the end of a fight, we can have +20% Strength, +15% Agility and Toughness, +10% Dexterity and +33% Ki/Spirit/Faith/Arcana recovery. That''s nice! The other side of musical magic is that she can end a song with a ¡°crescendo¡± which is usually a powerful attack or big heal. The longer a song goes before the crescendo, the more powerful it gets. We had a boss fight go for 8 minutes (we weren''t really trying) and at the end she exploded the bat monster''s ears with a crescendo.

    We go see fireworks after the dungeon.

    7/5

    5 days until the raid boss.

    ¡°Jun, we need to talk,¡± Jose says to me as we get off the plane from Arizona.

    ¡°Sure, what''s up buddy?¡±

    ¡°We need to find your brother, settle it, and then after the raid boss I''m leaving.¡± He sounds serious.

    ¡°Uh, okay, sure, take a vacation.¡± I am not sure why he''s so serious.

    He looks at me seriously. ¡°No, I mean I''m leaving the Pathbreakers. This is going to be my last week.¡±

    We don''t have checked bags because we have inventories, so we walk towards the pick up lane in silence.

    ¡°But...¡± I start.

    ¡°You have Quins for ranged damage. And I have kids at home. A wife. A life. I''m not a soldier anymore.¡± He seems like he''s already made up his mind. He seems like he''s given this a lot of serious thought.

    ¡°You''ve felt this way for a while?¡± I ask. I''m not going to argue, not going to beg or plead. He''s right. He has a family.

    ¡°Since the President gave me my calling. To always return home. I knew, right then.¡±

    The callings were tasks that, when completed, gave energy based on the difficulty of the task. You can then spend that energy on temporary buffs to your stats. Like brief moments of super powers. Jose''s task was relatively easy, so he''d accomplished it multiple times already, netting him a small amount of calling energy each time he went home.

    But also... But also your calling isn''t just another stat. It''s part of who you are. Who Jose is, what''s at his core, is someone who just wants to be home with his family.

    Brian, former Get! employee and now current Pathbreakers web designer, pulls up in his minivan, and the side door opens for us. ¡°You guys have a good trip?¡±

    We both get in wordlessly.

    ¡°I''ll take that as a no,¡± he says.

 Book 2 - Chapter 28: Acceptance

    7/6

    Jun''s House

    3:05 AM

    4 days until the raid boss.

    ¡°He''s moving far south,¡± Jose tells me after I open the door.

    ¡°Uh, it''s 3 AM Jose.¡± I''m in my boxers, having just been woken up by banging on my front door.

    ¡°Your brother, I think he''s on a plane.¡± Jose closes his eyes. ¡°I think he''s heading for Australia.¡±

    I attempt to rub tiredness from my eyes. It does not work. ¡°That''s where we''re doing staging for the raid boss.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Jun, I think it''s time you talked to people about him. Like Davis. Or that one guy on the President''s staff. Will Mounds.¡±

    I hang my head. I know he''s right. I can''t afford to let my brother interfere with the raid boss fight, or let him do whatever else fuckery he''s planning on. I wanted to deal with him myself. But it''s looking like that''s not going to happen.

    ¡°Okay, but that''s an 18 hour flight. It''ll wait until morning. Go back to bed, Jose.¡±

    He nods and says, ¡°you make calls or I will.¡± He walks away into the quiet Carrollton night. It''s only then that I realize he''d come over with just a towel around his waist.

    ---

    7/6

    Jun''s House

    9:25 AM

    4 days until the raid boss.

    I make two extremely awkward calls in the morning.

    Jetta Davis, current head of the Army Rangers, sounds like she''d suspected something, but didn''t have confirmation. She says she''ll have to kick it up the chain of command. There aren''t Rangers in or on their way to Australia anytime soon, so there''s not much she can do on her own.

    Will Mounds sounds less than surprised. ¡°Ahem, yes, Mr. Han, we''ve been tracking your brother as well. We''re aware of his location and activities. And, what he''s alleged to have done.¡±

    ¡°You guys already knew?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, Mr. Han. The FBI doesn''t like to tell you about their research methods, but apparently they matched certain key functions of the Dracosys to your brother''s online story. The class system is the same, I believe.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± That... Makes sense. Somebody at the FBI had to do searches for all the keywords that pop up in Dracosys language, and could have put it together that way.

    ¡°Mr. Mounds, are they going to kill my brother?¡±

    ¡°That''s not the plan. He can tell us a lot about the others involved. He could be our first real witness to a global crime.¡±

    ¡°I don''t want to admit it, but he''s strong. He''s got some powerful magic that rips through anything. If he doesn''t want to cooperate-¡±

    ¡°Mr. Han, let me assure you that the President is aware of this situation and has told all parties involved to treat him as a high priority informant. We want him alive and in a mood to cooperate.¡±

    My Wisdom is telling me there''s a lot more going on, but I''m not sure if I want to know more. Maybe just hoping he''ll be brought in for questioning is how I should be thinking.

    ¡°Alright, I''m sure you''re busy, Mr. Mounds. Thanks for the reassurance.¡±

    ¡°Not a problem, Mr. Han. And if you think you have more information, please feel free to contact me again. Even if I can''t do anything about it, I''ll know who to send you to.¡±

    He hangs up. I slump down in a recliner. I feel anxious. I can fight monsters myself. That''s not a problem. It''s letting people act without me being there that drives me up the wall. At this point, I know I''m stronger than I was when we fought. I think that I can take him now. I think that I could subdue him.

    But I don''t know about others. I don''t know if they''ll talk to him, and if that fails, they''ll just blow his head off from a thousand yards away. Jose''s not the only expert sniper. I know others are capable of bringing him down. Probably.

    How does superman deal with being superman, knowing that no matter what, bad things will happen in other places? That, if only he''d been there, he could have made a difference? Again, probably depends on the writer.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    7/6

    The upstairs office of Pathbreakers HQ

    10:50 AM

    We''re spending the day figuring out what to do with the Amendment Proposals. So far we''ve got the Adventurer''s Guild idea, which we''re combining with the system shop idea. Both get us stuff, but would benefit everyone else as well. We''re also proposing Jose''s dungeon break scaling. We''ve got two more scrolls, but are split on what, if anything, we should do with them.

    Adventurer''s Guild.

    A location may be declared an Adventurer''s Guild by the agreement of at least 10 members of the proposed guild.

    Adventurer''s guilds give housing, training respite and other support features to members. The guild may be improved by spending Dracosys-generated currency. Functions such as shops, a bar, restaurant, beds, enchanters, smiths and armorers can be purchased for Dracosys-generated currency.

    Quests may be generated by the Dracosys itself or by the Guild Leader. A quest board will be placed in each Adventurer''s Guild, and quests will be posted there. Dracosys-generated quests may appear in certain Guilds or in all Guilds at once, as the Dracosys deems fit.

    Each Guild has one Guild Leader, and a number of officers equal to 10% of the number of guild members. The Guild Leader and Guild Officers have control over the Guild''s upgrades. They also control who retains membership, and under what circumstances.

    There''s a bunch of statistics below the general rules. The actual functions and numbers are laid out in a similar format to the Dracosys rules we got from my brother, to increase the chances of it being accepted by the Dracosys.

    Dungeon Break Scaling

    Dungeon Breaks will scale in difficulty based on the opposition ready to face the breaks.

    The highest tier of monster that will appear is equal to the highest step class within 1000 feet of the dungeon, calculated each hour right before monsters are released.

    The number of monsters released is equal to the number of Leveled within 1000 feet of the dungeon.

    Again, there''s a bunch of legalese following that which basically combines to mean ¡°monsters of equal number and equal strength to the Leveled opposition, with minimum numbers if there''s no Leveled around.¡±

    So for example, if there''s a 5th step and three 2nd steps, the dungeon can spit out a tier 5 and three tier 2s. Which is still pretty lethal, but it''s better than dropping 23 tier 5s on that same group.

    We had to add the 1000 feet thing because that seems to be a standard measurement length inside the Dracosys. I''m pretty sure my brother has no fucking idea how long 1000 feet is and he used it because it sounded cool.

    Jose is leaving. Shit. I look over at him from across the conference table. He doesn''t look any different. He doesn''t look either guilty or like he''s particularly happy about leaving.

    Basically everyone is here, including our support staff. Which includes people whose names I can''t remember, because I''ve improved my Memory stat, but that only helps when you pay attention. Janey? Hector? Yeah, that guy is Hector.

    ¡°I''ve been thinking about transparency,¡± Hector says. ¡°Like, making it possible to see or check the inner workings of the Dracosys. Or at least making it give notes when it updates the system.¡±

    ¡°That''s interesting, Luis,¡± Mercy says, and writes it on the whiteboard. Luis! His name is Luis. Okay, now I''ll remember it.

    There''s a bit more talk about getting more info from the Dracosys, when I think about the System Scan ability I have. ¡°I think giving people System Scan wouldn''t violate the rules, and would improve a lot. Most people don''t know what magic items do unless they have a System Scout classed person around.¡±

    Parker begrudgingly says, ¡°I took the Scout class just to get that one ability.¡± She''d really taken it so someone on Team Phoenix would have it during missions. She''s a real team player.

    ¡°Some kind of ability swap could solve that,¡± Madeline offered. ¡°Give people more ways to get the scan.¡±

    It would kill two birds with one stone. People talk about how an ability swap system would work without it being too beneficial for humanity.

    I think about what my goal is. To break the system. In the usual way, I''m breaking the system with Synergist, mixing and matching abilities in ways that they really shouldn''t be able to. But, on the actually fucking up the system route, I''m stuck. I can keep blasting apart Dracosys sites, sure. But... Honestly if I was an AI in control of the Dracosys, I''d probably figure out that I''d need to put up more powerful sites eventually. That''s my long term fear, that more difficult sites replace the easier ones we''re clearing out.

    I don''t think we can actually make a rule to give us a huge advantage. The system rules are pretty well laid out, and one of the primary ones, ¡°kill them humans¡± precludes a lot of amendments that would save humanity.

    Sigh. If only I could just punch the system itself real good. Wait. Is that a thing?

    I interrupt the ability swap talk. ¡°Hey, sorry but what do you think it would look like if we could literally fight the system? Like give it a punchable face.¡± I address my query to Mercy and Gwen L''Ronge, who is still with us. They''re leading the group, and are standing at the big whiteboard.

    There''s a second of silence, then a cascade of answers. I won''t bore you with the hour and a half convo, but we came up with this:

    Etheric Elementals

    Excess Etheric energy may be accumulated by the Dracosys and formed into Etheric Elementals. These creatures may be deployed in addition to or instead of dungeon monsters inside dungeons or during dungeon breaks.

    That should help reduce the Dracosys''s extra energy, which is apparently a thing. When I bring up my idea of new Dracosys sites cropping up, Gwen confirms that''s an option, but would cost the system''s Etheric energy supplies. Making punchable personas would also use up energy, hopefully delaying that outcome.

    With any luck, the Dracosys makes the elementals talk and spill secrets... Nah, that could never happen.

    Jose is leaving. I still feel gutted, but also... I understand. He''s got kids. Kids who need a dad. And he''s a good dad. It''s just...

    I know for a long time, since the cave, really, I''ve had him by my side. When I got out of the service, he called me and told me to come live with him in Carrollton. He didn''t ask, he told me to. I didn''t object. Since then, I got a job at the Get! store, and he got part time work there during school hours. We''ve spent hundreds of hours in Destiny 2, fighting aliens and robots together. We escaped the Get! dungeon together. We formed the Pathbreakers together. We''ve drunk together and I told him about all the shit in my family''s history.

    I have to stand on my own now. I''ve depended on him for so long. I''ve been using a one-legged guy as a crutch. Well, he got the leg back, anyways. But my point is, that I''ve always had him there to keep me going. To keep me from going down a dark path. I think, and this is my enhanced Wisdom talking, that I didn''t value my life for a long time after the cave. But he was always there. Always telling me that there was something we were going to do next week. Always there to tell me not to just sit alone, to get on Destiny with him. He helped me get through the darkest time in my life, just by being a friend. Just by making me enjoy my life, even if just a little.

    Jose is leaving. He''s just down the street. He''s with his kids. He''s with his wife. He''s just going to be there for them, like he has been for me.

    I don''t want to make a scene but I gotta tell him, so I send him a text.

    Me: Hey, I love you, man. You''ve been there for me when no one else was.

    Jose: You finally put points into Wisdom?

    Me: lol yes

    Jose: You just needed someone in your corner. Since nobody in your family could do it. Now you''ve got Mercy for that.

    Me: I hadn''t thought about it that way.

    Jose: You can''t marry me so it has to be her.

    Me: oh, I know! Y''all don''t even know how awesome she is!

    Jose: Jun, if you talk about her thighs one more time...

    Me: Look, I''m a gentleman, so I can''t go into detail... But DAMN she thirsty

    Jose: gross dude.

    ¡°Jun!¡± comes Mercy''s voice. She doesn''t seem thirsty right now. More annoyed.

    ¡°Yeah, I agree,¡± I wisely say.

    Gwen, in her French-Canadian accent asks, ¡°to what are you agreeing to, Mr. Han?¡±

    ¡°To whatever Mercy thinks.¡± I got this.

 Book 2 - Chapter 29: Final Prep

    For the Amendments we settle on the Adventurer''s Guild, Etheric Elementals and two different versions of Dungeon Break Scaling. We''re hoping the first makes it past the Dracosys''s scrutiny, because it actually would make dungeon breaks pretty easy to manage. The second is a more ¡°fair¡± version, which we''re pretty sure should pass muster.

    We''re not 100% on when the next ¡°system update¡± will be (when we get to use the Amendments), but good guesses are either before or after the raid boss. We have to use the scrolls ahead of time, and Mercy does the honors. They turn to dust and we''re committed to those ideas now.

    The dungeons we tackled after the Capitol were just 5 and 10 floor dungeons, so I only got 6 levels between both of them.

    The first four went into Stylist, getting me two new fighting styles and an upgrade to each.

    Stylist

    Forge up to three of your own personal fighting styles. These paths are limitless, and all lead to power.

    A fifth step class. Unknown number of subclasses. 5th step classes do not evolve.

    Gain 4 Strength, 4 Dexterity, 4 Agility, 4 Reflexes and 4 Ki upon choosing this class.

    Uses Strength, Reflexes, Dexterity, Agility.

    Each time you gain a level you choose an existing subclass or create a new subclass and gain stats and abilities based on that subclass. When choosing a subclass you already have, it will be upgraded.

    Subclasses

    Relentless Demon Style - Attack using rapid and constant blows. When you choose this subclass, gain 5 Strength, 5 Agility and 10 free points.

    Devastating Dragon Style - Attack using powerful blows made to cinch battles in one strike. When you choose this subclass, gain 5 Dexterity, 5 Intelligence and 10 free points.

    Overwatch Angel Style - Defend and support allies with varied abilities. Gain 5 Toughness, 5 Constitution and 10 free points.

    < Create New Style >

    Relentless Demon Style increases my attack speed by 25% and movement speed by 20%. Devastating Dragon Style increases my damage by 25% and areas of effect by 20%. I can only do one or the other at a time, but it doesn''t cost me anything to use that style. I just have to conform to its attack patterns.

    More than the stat bonuses, each style provides me with a certain mindset. It''s like when I shift into Relentless Demon Style fast, rapid strikes just come to me more easily and I feel like they flow into an endless combo. While in Devastating Dragon style my attacks feel slower, more deliberate. Like I''m playing Dark Souls and every action matters. Every blow feels heavier, more powerful.

    I also took the All For One subclass from Weapon Master, as planned. I''ve got one more level I''m holding in reserve.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    7/8

    2 Days until the raid boss.

    We board a plane headed for Australia, the staging ground for the raid boss mission. The flight is 18 hours. 18 hours just sitting is quite a lot of sitting when you''re used to fighting monsters and running around dungeons. We all catch up on sleep, play games, read books, watch movies, play video games, sleep, drink, watch anime, try to talk Rutger into dying their hair purple, and then read a bit more.

    7/9

    1 Day until the raid boss.

    We board the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier and flagship of Carrier Group 5. They''ve brought along half the damn 7th fleet with them. The aircraft carrier is surprisingly cramped for such a big ship. Most of the elbow room is reserved for planes and helicopters, so it''s kind of a repeat of the 18 hour flight. We''re at least able to wander around and visit the mess hall and activity room. I play ping-pong with Jose. Turns out that when two super humans play ping-pong, the ball can end up going its maximum velocity and be crushed by the opponent''s paddle instead of bouncing off it. Whoops. The local Navy guys and gals are miffed until Jose brings out his beer cooler.

    We travel south, down to the McMurdo area. We''re not actually going to be on the island. We''re backup. At least that''s what they say. There''s a baker''s dozen destroyers in the water around us, so I''m pretty sure we''re more like good luck charms than of any actual use. Those ships have some big ass guns.

    7/10

    Inside the George Washington war room.

    3:00 AM (local time)

    9:00 AM (central time)

    1 Hour until the raid boss.

    There''s a flurry of activity all across the ship, but we of the Pathbreakers don''t have anything to do. We''re in the war room, which is one of those ¡°giant maps on the big table¡± rooms.

    ¡°I''m getting nervous,¡± Mercy admits. We''re all wearing parkas and cold weather gear in expectation of having to go outside and ride in helicopters.

    ¡°It''ll be fine,¡± I say. ¡°I think this is one of those times where we have to face the fact that we''re not the only heroes in the world.¡±

    Jose nods. ¡°They''ve got enough firepower to level several cities.¡±

    Madeline tries to keep us focused. ¡°Think about what we''re able to do, not what we can''t do. That''s all we''re in charge of.¡±

    Quins doesn''t seem bothered. ¡°We gettin paid for this excursion either way, eh?¡±

    Ivy Black, the heavy metal Bard chick, eyes one of the sailors as he walks by. ¡°Well I''m getting mine one way or another.¡±

    Odysseus, who''s got his voice back, says, ¡°try not to get us kicked off before the ship docks, would ya?¡± His voice is calm and fatherly, despite him not having kids.

    We keep up the chatter. We''re just keeping each other from going crazy at this point, but that''s okay. We''re used to being able to just stomp through enemies on our time tables. Waiting is a lot more nerve-wracking.

    7/10

    Inside the George Washington war room.

    3:59 AM (local time)

    9:59 AM (central time)

    1 minute until the raid boss.

    We''re on the deck. Three troop carrier helicopters are spinning up in case we''re going in. The snow covered Ross Island lies before us. The wind whips across the deck of the George Washington. It''s cold, but those of us with good Constitution are fine. That keeps both cold and heat from killing you. I''m just wearing a parka and skipped the snow pants.

    Some of us have squeezed the parka over armor. Madeline is wearing a new hybrid dragon steel plate armor. The silver flat plates are now strapped together with dark blue nylon straps and mixed in with lighter weight kevlar at the joints. The result is that she, Henry, Rutger and Odysseus look like they''re ready for shit to go down, and for them to live through it, no sweat.

    We''re in the center of a fleet formation. Six destroyers are on our left, which is south. Seven smaller missile boats are on our right, which is north. The island is a couple miles south of us. And a few miles north of us, in the distance, is a fleet of Chinese ships. They''re here ¡°to provide assistance¡± which is politics for ¡°when you dumb Americans die.¡±

    There''s also a dozen arctic-proof tanks on Ross Island. In the dark I can only see their headlights rolling in the distance.

    In the air are three formations of fighter jets and half a dozen helicopters equipped with powerful searchlights. The ships have sensors to track their foes, but still, we want to see what horror is coming for us.

    The wind stops. The sliver of a moon hovers overhead, barely givi off any light at all. I hear my watch beep on the hour. Alarms blare across the fleet. Everyone is ready. Everyone is armed. We''ve got this.

 Book 2 - Chapter 30: Tier Seven

    The monster that shimmers into existence is as tall as a skyscraper. No, scratch that. Mt. Erebus is around 12k feet tall so that thing has to be... Fucking 1500 feet tall? Jesus. It''s made of orange, bioluminescent, gummy flesh that stretches as it moves. Lights run across its body like amber emergency lights in a movie theater. It has six legs and four arms. It has no nose or eyes on its wide, shark-like head. Its mouth could swallow my house whole.

    Esoterica 1. Tier 7. You know how in Kaiju movies, the monsters move really slow? That''s to make them seem bigger, more colossal. This creature doesn''t give a fuck about what looks good on screen. Also, it can regenerate almost instantly. Also, it can make babies! Also, its flesh is poisonous to humans. Also, it is TIER SEVEN. That''s the tier when you can level a city without too much difficulty. Did you know aircraft carriers are often called floating cities? Did you know aircraft carriers can''t evade monster attacks? Did you know that all your friends are about to die?

    Possible loot: Esoterica Core, various other items.

    The destroyers open fire first. Missiles launch and impact the monster. The projectiles explode, sending chunks of orange flesh the size of pick up trucks raining down. And yet despite the explosions being massive, they look small against the enormous monster, more like bullet holes than what damn cruise missiles should do. The tanks get into position and fire. More impacts. Its upper body is rocked with cannon fire, and is leaning back away from the dozens of blasts. Its legs buckle and it drops. That''s when the ¡°babies¡± come out.

    Hundreds of bear-like monsters swarm out of the Esoterica''s legs, chunks of the monster ripping off, transforming and then rushing towards the tanks. The missing flesh is then immediately replaced, regrown in a flash lasting just a second or two.

    Jets flying overhead scream by and heavy payload rockets slam into a single point on the monster''s gut, knocking the whole creature back. It rises up and then falls backwards. Its mouth opens up and more of its offspring come for us, flying straight out of the mouth. These are like pterodactyls. Pterodactyls with black flames instead of heads. There are hundreds of them. Some fly up, chasing the jets. Some fly forward, racing towards the destroyers.

    We''re 3 miles off the coast. Jose is the only one who can do anything from here. He levels his rifle and begins to fire. Slowly, one by one, he blows apart bird monsters. He can''t get them all. Machine gun fire erupts from the ships. Horrible fire-headed birds get ripped apart. Some of them, anyways.

    The bear monsters are swarming the tanks. Machine gunners try to sweep bullets across the pack but it looks like the bears are immune to bullets, or at least have some ability to stay on their feet. Can''t tell exactly from here, even with my new eye zoom technique. The tanks are getting overrun. One of the destroyers levels a gun and blows apart the back end of the pack, but it looks like it''s too late for that. Now that the bears are at the tanks, I can see that they must be each 10 feet tall and twice as long. They rip into the tanks, clawing and scratching through metal.

    The missile boats open fire on the Esoterica, but this time it has pterodactyls. The flock breaks apart and each one intercepts a missile, killing themselves to blow the missiles mid-flight. Only a couple of missiles get through. The ordinance opens up the underbelly of the monster. Chunks of orange flesh rain down. Unlike The President''s Men, these chunks don''t try to get back home. These chunks instead turn into more monsters, a mix of bears and pterodactyls.

    ¡°They need to find a core and break it,¡± I say to those around me. I rush back to the control tower, leap up two flights of stairs in one jump, and swing open a door.

    There''s men and women at the helm acting completely calm, totally in control. They don''t look stressed. Not yet.

    I find the Admiral in charge. ¡°It''s a regenerator! You need to find a core and blast it apart!¡±

    The steel-grey haired woman eyes me. ¡°We''re blasting it to hell and back. If it''s got a core, we''ll smash it.¡± She turns away from me, checks a readout on one of the two monitors she''s got in front of her and then waves me away with a white gloved hand.

    I look out the window and see the top half and bottom half of the monster separate after taking another wave of missile fire. The two halves writhe, then they shift in color from orange to grey. Another wave of missiles and this time the monster bits blown off are much smaller.

    ¡°It''s adapting!¡± I hear one of the officers shout, followed by two more.

    ¡°Heat readings decreasing!¡±

    ¡°Look at the snow!¡±

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The top half of the creature(s) grows wings and flaps them, instantly creating a snow storm. The missile launchers fire again, missiles disappearing into the massive cloud of white, then the orange and yellow light of explosions radiating out from within. The sound is muffled, rumbling at a much lower pitch.

    The snowstorm expands, encompassing half the island, even past the shore.

    ¡°Heat signatures still visible!¡±

    ¡°3rd wing, track heat sigs and fire!¡±

    Jets fly overhead and a barrage of rockets splits between two targets inside the cloud. These explosions blow the snow away, revealing two creatures in the process of being splattered across the mountain. Two ¡°smaller¡± creatures, these only the size of school gymnasiums, or perhaps a Home Depot.

    ¡°Contact above!¡±

    ¡°Chicago confirms contact in the water!¡±

    A massive wave slams into the ship and we all rock to the right a good 30 degrees. The USS Chicago is a submarine if I remember correctly.

    Explosions go off under water.

    ¡°The Chicago is under attack they can''t-¡±

    The winged top half of the daikaiju swoops down and lands on the deck of the southmost destroyer. The monster''s body is the length of the boat, and the top half of the USS Howard just crumples under the weight.

    A helicopter takes off from our boat. As it flies off I see a split second of its passengers. Jose, Henry and Ivy. What the fuck? They''re heading for one of the destroyers.

    The winged half of the Esoterica, perched on the USS Howard, opens its mouth and lets out a scream that sounds like a million tortured monkeys. The shockwave sends a wave of water in all directions from it, and the windows of the bridge crack, a couple of them on the monster side shatter and send glass into nearby crew. I jump out the door. I see the helicopter my best friend is in get blasted into an almost horizontal angle, but the pilot recovers and rights the chopper.

    I drop to where my team is. ¡°What are they doing?¡± I ask Madeline.

    She has to shout, since we''re all currently deafened by the monster roar. ¡°Jose thinks he can fire a destroyer cannon like a rifle, and took the others to buff him.¡±

    That''s... Not a bad idea. I nod, then yell at Mercy, ¡°let''s give them cover!¡± Atmos Mind! I take off flying, straight into the new flock of monster dinosaur birds heading our way. Mercy transforms into her Mecha Warlock form and takes off after me.

    There''s dozens of targets. I go fucking nuts, switching into Relentless Demon Style. I conjure ten storm hands and start firing beams of Atmos energy at birds.

    Storm Stream

    Exotic

    Fire a beam of Atmos energy that branches off when it hits a foe. The longer you sustain the attack, the more targets can be hit.

    Range: 193 ft

    Cost: 2 Arcana Points/second

    Proficiency: 193%

    Each beam splits off into two more beams, though the streams cut through the monsters after that. I kill dozens in seconds, but there''s plenty more. Mercy is sending thin, arcing lime green lasers out to kill a dozen at once. I fly close to the center of the group and fire Storm Stream in all directions, and cut down another cluster. Then I turn around and face the Esoterica. It''s currently biting into the USS Howard''s front hull, tearing off giant sheets of steel. The Howard is sinking fast.

    To the west, four arms burst from the water around the USS Shoup and drag the entire cruiser underwater. The other Esoterica half is still down there.

    How many people just died? I can''t process that right now.

    I draw my new revolver, already loaded with the most powerful spells I''ve got, and fly forward, into range, gun outstretched ahead of me.

    The monster on the Howard beats its wings, starting to take off. Fuck that, you asshole. I fly to its right side and open fire on its wing. Two spells, Tempest Buster Rifle and Lunar Dragon Breath, blare out in massive beams of pink and teal energy. I added a few techniques to each shot. Specifically Widened Strike, Rapid Strike, Spiral Thrust, Peerless Knives, Bleeding Blades, Chosen Speed and Chosen Might. Plus the subclass effects from Killer. The result is two heavily empowered spells that rip long tears in a wing that''s several hundred feet wide. The monster doesn''t get the air it''s expecting to, and flops down on the Howard, crushing it again and sending it to the bottom of the sea. The winged Esoterica flaps around in the water, hundreds of gallons of water rushing into its titanic maw.

    Now that the Howard is no more, the other boats unload missiles into the winged Esoterica. The explosions blast me backwards a hundred feet before I recover. I''m pretty sure I''d be dead if my Toughness wasn''t effectively over 300 right now. I see Mercy surrounded by the flame head dino birds, but then she transforms into her Mecha Oni form, whips out two laser naginata, and starts just chopping the shit out of them.

    Another ship gets pulled under the water by the bottom half of the Esoterica. Fuck, this is not going well.

    How many people are dying right now? What can I do? The missiles bombarding the winged Esoterica are keeping it down in the water. The other half is underwater somewhere. And I do not have a Gundam. Damn I wish I had a Gundam right now. A Gundam could beat a daikaiju... Probably? Depends on which Gundam, honestly.

    What do I have? I have high Constitution, which means I can probably hold my breath underwater for a while. I could go try and put a dent in the armed underwater Esoterica. I could stay here and look for a core in the constantly blowing apart and regenerating winged Esoterica. I could go fight the fleshy bears climbing onto the deck of the George Washington. Wait, what''s that last part?

    Esoterica Bear Spawn. Tier 4. Not part of the Esoterica anymore so killing these won''t kill the main body. Also, killing the main body won''t kill these. They''re basically just bears, but bears are pretty awful to begin with. Well, they''re made of gooey orange flesh, and have foot long claws, so they''re a little different I guess.

    Possible Loot: Not Bear Claws.

    They''re dog paddling in the rough seas, some using their claws to rip into the ship and climb inside. Some use their claws to climb all the way up the side to the deck. I fly over to the George Washington, blasting a few bears on my way. My team seems already aware of the deck bears.

    ¡°Some are inside!¡± I shout.

    ¡°On it!¡± shouts back Parker, who slides off at high speed into the bowels of the ship. Kiki Suzuki the ninja and Viktor Kovalchuk the pistol guy with good Agility, chase after.

    I hear a crack of thunder and turn to see the cannon on the deck of the USS John Finn wreathed in blue electrical energy.

    These monsters are fucked now. Jose has a gun.

 Book 2 - Chapter 31: Crumpled

    The cannon of the USS John Finn turns, aims at the winged monster, and fires a 50 foot wide bolt of lightning so bright that it lights up the dark night. The bolt slams into the winged half of the monster and electricity arcs across its now grey body. The creature lets out a wheezing gasp. More missiles blast into its now blast resistant body. Jose opens up again with a weaker, yet still massive bolt from his cannon. The monster''s flesh turns yellow, I''m assuming to resist the lightning bolts. That''s a mistake though, and more warheads fire down at the monster, blasting apart the top of its head.

    I see it. A core. It''s a large black gem the size of a minivan. We can win! And in that split second, the winged Esoterica gets pulled under the water.

    An explosion from one of the sinking ships lights up the sea, showing me the black shadow of the Esoterica. Its two halves have reattached, and now it looks like an eel with ten arms. Fuuuuuuuuck.

    I can see the sea bulge from the bulk of the massive creature, and it''s headed for the USS John Finn. Jose''s ship. I fly. I fly as fast as I can. I race past the bulge in the water and reach the cannon turret. I rip open the door and find Ivy, Jose, Henry and four navy personnel inside.

    ¡°Out, now!¡± I shout. I get only one objection. The others flee immediately but Jose stays put, his hands on a keyboard. ¡°To the chopper!¡± I yell, hoping they can make it to the helicopter before it leaves or the monster crushes this boat.

    Jose looks at me. I look at him. We lock eyes. In a moment, in a second, there''s a lot said. He''s saying that he''s got a chance. He''s not suicidal, but he has a chance to deal real damage to the Esoterica. And he has to take that chance.

    And I, I have to give him as much of a chance as possible. ¡°Its arms shoot straight up for about three seconds before it wraps them down around the ship. You''ll probably only get one shot.¡±

    He nods and goes back to the screens and controls. I see Ki flow through his arms, into his fingers and then light up the inside of the turret with a golden glow.

    The ship rocks backwards as the creature arrives under the boat. I go back outside and shout to him, ¡°I''ll take the left side!¡± I spin up.

    Astral Pathbreaker, Star Swarm, plus Lunar Mind, plus Devastating Dragon Style!

    My hundred plus stars shine around me. The arms of each one thicken, widen and become more like throwing stars. At the same time their white light turns teal, and I draw my revolver. Four shots left.

    Four arms shoot straight up. Two are grey, two are blue, one of each on each side. The turret rotates to the grey arm on the right. I fire my revolver twice, sending a White Dragon Breath Beam each blue arm. My stars form a star scythe once again and I fly to the remaining blue arm. I fly in a circle around the arm, using my scythe like an awl, scoring a circular cut into the arm. I know I can''t cut all the way through. That''s not an option when the enemy''s arm is- My scythe is cutting too easily! I flick my wrist and the stars realign into a 30 foot long star katana I I immediately slash. A huge slice of the arm is ripped away, and the arm starts to crack and fall like a tree in the forest. To make sure it falls the right way I shoot a Tempest Buster Rifle shot from my revolver into the hand at the top of the arm.

    I don''t even look at Jose''s shot, I know he''s going to hit. I hear the discharge, like an exploding power line transformer, and see electricity crackle through every part of the monster''s body. It''s so much that the sea around us flickers faintly with electric light.

    I turn and look at the other two arms I shot. Giant craters are in the arms, which seem to be writhing in pain as Jose''s electricity also shoots through them.

    A hand. A gigantic hand the size of the turret shoots across the deck from the prow of the boat. It always had more than four arms. The hand wraps around the cannon turret. I can see Jose inside. I can''t reach him. This is happening too fast. The monster doesn''t move like a kaiju, it moves like a predator, snapping in flashes of speed. I can''t reach him. I see one of seven monster fingers slide across the doorway, trapping Jose in. I can still see his face. I can still...

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    I teleport, using the Skip ability. The boat lurches and instead of being inside with Jose, I''m outside. My cooldown on that ability is one and a half seconds. I don''t know if- I do the only thing that I can. I give him my blessing. I give him 70 points of Luck.

    And then the turret crumples like an aluminum can. I check my radar. As an ally he appears as a blue dot on my radar. He''s there. And then... And then the dot turns grey. That''s what happens when someone-

    More arms wrap around the boat. I see the helicopter take off from the rear of the ship. I see the cannon explode inside the Esoterica''s grasp, blowing the hand off. I get blasted 30 feet back, and am pierced with shrapnel. I''ll worry about that later.

    I remember the holes in the arms. Lunar elemental damage deals wounds it can''t regenerate. I have to move. I have to fight.

    Franco is dead. Deacon is dead. Jose is... Jose is...

    My star swarm rips into the monster''s arm. I just launch the cluster of stars like a wall of blades into the arm that just... That just...

    Fuck you. Fuck you! FUCK YOU!

    I feel it inside me, wanting to rip and tear this mother fucker apart. My stars glow bright. They expand, each one going from about six inches across to six feet across. I. Will. Rage.

    I run along the length of the boat, whipping my stars left and right in massive slashes. I chop straight through the remaining arm on the right side of the boat. I leap to the left side and chop straight down with my stars in a single long line. The line of blades tears lengthwise down the arm as I nearly bisect it. Then with a flash I chop horizontally and the two halves slide away, falling into the sea.

    The boat rocks. The monster is just going to sink this destroyer with its bulk. Fuck that. I leap straight off the side of the boat, my stars trailing behind me. I hit the water and dive. I can swim quickly with all my Agility and Strength. I pull myself through the water, down past the bottom of the hill of the John Finn. I spread out my stars to give me enough light to see the beast. I feel the first pains of Ki and Arcana Point deficit. I don''t care. I pull my stars into the shape of a harpoon and thrust, a shaft of teal light tearing into the side of the monster. I telekinetically pull the harpoon out and thrust again, and again and again. Three arms come for me and I burn them away by casting White Dragon Breath, sweeping the teal beam across the oncoming hands. My head is splitting. I can''t keep this up. I will keep this up.

    The monster, now with only three limbs, tries to swim away. That''s when the torpedoes find it. The underwater explosions look like massive bubbles, aberrations in the water. I have to get out of here. I will not get out of here until this fucker is dead. The torpedoes are coming from the monster''s right. I go to it''s left. I spin up my stars into their star drill formation and rip into the side of the Esoterica''s head. Close to where I saw the core before. I have to kill this thing. There''s blood coming out of my ears and nose. The Ki drain is making me feel exhausted. I have to kill this thing.

    My drill spins faster and faster. I send it ahead of me, controlling it from a distance to keep myself from being blown up by the near constant barrage of torpedoes. The torps are much weaker than the cruise missiles were, but that''s fine. I just need the monster distracted. I see the slimmest gleam of the core and it is no longer distracted.

    It whips around at me, opening a football field sized mouth and coming to swallow me whole. Its mouth is filled with thousands of teeth. Like the seats at a stadium, I realize. Huh. Bears. Birds. Maybe supposed to be eagles? Is this whole fucking monster a football reference? Jesus fucking christ I''m going to kill my brother.

    The mouth closes around me. That''s fine. I''m fine. I''m inside the massive monster. The only light in here is one lonely star I kept with me. The mouth unnaturally collapses, sending the top and bottom teeth hurtling towards each other, towards me. That''s fine.

    I saw your core, fucker.

    My star drill spins against the crystal heart of the monster. I can''t see it, but I can feel it. Feel the resistance my drill is getting. I pull it hard towards me, through the core, through the head, through the teeth. It''s getting there. It''s making progress. I feel a bottom tooth punch into my back as I have nowhere else to go. I feel a top tooth slice my right leg right off. Blood streams out. That''s fine. Legs are replaceable, not best friends. I pull on the drill. The vision in my right eye turns red as my blood vessels pop from Arcana Point drain. I must be at negative 300 by now. The pain is keeping me from falling asleep due to Ki point loss. The second I kill this thing I''m probably going to collapse and drown. That''s fine. That''s-

    Mercy is waiting for you.

    I pull hard on my drill, urging it, forcing it back to me and I hear the crack of crystal followed by the red and teal light of a hundred stars ripping through the roof of the monster''s mouth. I wrap the stars around me, forming them into a shell, and it carries me up and out of the monster. I see it behind me, drifting and sinking. I check my radar and the massive red dot on it turns grey, and then fades away. It''s gone. Jose is...

    I surface. I keep flying up. I get to the deck of the John Finn and tumble onto my back. I summon Biscuits. I can see Mercy flying towards me. I pull a cabinet of potions out of my inventory. She knows what to do. She''ll save me.

    Not like me. I couldn''t save...

    I couldn''t save...

    I couldn''t save...

    ...

    ...

    Franco is dead. Deacon is dead. Jose is dead.

 Book 2 - Appendix A, Level 145

    Jun Kyung Han

    Pathbreakers Founder

    Lupus Rex squad leader

    Title: Trailblazer. +25% XP when killing a new type of enemy. +25% XP When fighting in a new location.

    Calling: To Stop The Dracosys

    Current Charge: 0%

    Total Level 145

    Avg level 4.56

    1st Step Classes

    Mage, level 1

    Fighter, level 1

    Rogue, level 1

    2nd Step Classes

    Charge Barrage Caster, level 3

    System Scout, level 3

    Far Caller, level 8

    Up Close With A Knife Killer, level 3

    3rd Step Classes

    Hedge Rake, level 3

    Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer, level 4

    Telekinetic Psychic, level 3

    Mid Ranger, level 3

    Hidden Blade Assassin, level 3

    4th Step Classes

    Armed Magus, level 10

    Supportive Ki Monk, level 10

    Masked Phantom, level 10

    Library Archmage, level 10

    Scummy Scoundrel, level 10

    One For All Weapon Master, level 10

    Mystic Crack Shot, level 10

    5th Step Classes

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Synergist, (level 106)

    Doppelganger, level 20

    Crimson Mage, level 5

    Stylist, level 4

    6th Step Class

    Astral Pathbreaker, level 10

    Level Zero in 95 additional classes

    Free levels: 10

    ---Class Abilities---

    Synergist Level 1 - Dabbler. Each time you gain a level, choose another class you qualify for. You gain the benefits of gaining a level in that class. If it''s the first time you''ve chosen that class you instead gain the benefits for starting as that class.

    Synergist Level 15 - Double Dipper. Choose a class you already have a subclass for. You gain an additional subclass of your choice for that class.

    Synergist Level 30 - Double Down. Choose one of your subclass abilities and enhance its effects.

    Synergist Level 50 - Duo Development. Choose two classes you qualify for. When you gain a level in one, you gain a level in the other as well.

    Synergist Level 75 - Level Zero. You are considered level zero in any class you''re qualified for but have no levels in. This alters your effective level and how difficult it is to gain levels.

    Synergist Level 100 - Infinite Options. Instead of gaining a level in a class, you can instead choose another of its subclasses or enhance the effect of a subclass you already have.

    ---Physical Attributes---

    Strength 197

    Dexterity 264 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Agility 264 (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    Toughness 100

    Constitution 100

    ---Mental Attributes---

    Intelligence 291     (Arcana)  +100% rate

    Memory 58            (faith regen)

    Wisdom 45            (spirit regen)

    Charisma 100        (Ki regen) +125% rate

    Reflexes 292  (+3 from M3 Mongoose)

    ---Etheric Attributes---

    Arcana 314

    Faith 0

    Spirit 0

    Ki 354

    Luck 30

    KP regen rate: 3.75 per minute

    AP regen rate: 9.7 per minute

    Free Stat Points: 44

    ---Stat Milestone Abilities---

    100 Strength - Impact - Your attacks and instant uses of strength are increased by 50%.

    100 Dexterity - Fire - Your attack speed increases by 50%.

    250 Dexterity - Flashing Strikes - Your weapon attacks move so fast that they seem to disappear.

    100 Agility - Sprint - Increase your running speed by 50%.

    250 Agility - Skip - You can teleport a number of feet equal to 20% of your Agility.

    100 Toughness - Tough Soul - You take 50% less damage from elemental attacks.

    100 Constitution - To Your Health - You recover from physical status effects 50% faster.

    100 Intelligence - Multitasking - You may split your intellect up into sub-minds to perform multiple tasks and thought patterns at once.

    250 Intelligence - Quick Witted - You recover AP 100% faster.

    100 Reflexes - Peripheral - Your focus using all your senses becomes 50% more effective.

    250 Reflexes - 360 Degrees - You gain supernatural vision, giving you all around sight.

    100 Charisma - Quick Smile - Your Ki Point recovery is increased by 50%.

    100 Arcana - Refined Use - Your Arcana Point spell costs are halved.

    250 Arcana - The New Passives - Spells with an AP cost that is less than your regeneration rate can be set as passive effects.

    100 Ki - Accelerated Recovery - Your Ki Point recovery rate is increased by 50%.

    250 Ki - Ki Cantrips - The KP costs of any technique costing 1% of your total Ki or less is reduced to zero KP.

    100 Luck - Blessed - You can loan Luck to others, for any amount of time that you specify.

 Book 2 - Chapter 32: Ruinous Hero

    I honestly wasn''t thinking about my brother when I was designing the Dracosys. That he got trapped in a dungeon was apparently fluke. That he took the ONE OPPORTUNITY for anyone to get Synergist on day one was sheer luck. Or maybe Luck. I don''t know his Luck stat. That was how my brother screwed me.

    Because of that, I struggled in the beginning. I had to use a damn gun, A GUN, to kill Buffadoes. So many, many Buffadoes. I had to wear noise canceling headphones to cover up their dumb screams and wails and pathetic moans of pain. That first day I probably killed a hundred of the dumb things. By the end I had magic. By the end of the first week I was 4th step. Archmage, if you must know.

    Then leveling became a massive chore. I had to grind out levels with an increasingly high Average Level. On day 7, at Average Level 284, I had to kill 100 Buffadoes to gain one fucking level. That was how the Dracosys screwed me. The Buffadoes were coded to not get stronger or better at fighting when the Dungeon did it''s Dailey reset. So what did it do instead? It kept making them worth less and less experience points. That took THREE HOURS to gain on level. Fuckign bitch dungeon. YOU''RE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME.

    I FINALLY got my 5th step class on day 16.  Topaz Mage. It''s was what I was going to get using Synergist anyways. It''s a variant of Crimson Mage, focused on lightning spells. And man, did it rock. My lightning spells got stronger and stronger.

    I talked to Fortuna, well she yelled at me, and I put in an update with the Admins to change up the Dracosys software. The changes went into effect on day 31 of the Dracosys. I framed it as a regular video game update. I thought that would be fun.

    Then, on day THIRTY TWO I finally hit step 6. My next step on my path to power!

    Ruinous Hero

    Save through destruction. Become the guardian of humanity by being the bane of monsters. Your Electric elemental abilities become Ruin spells.

    A 6th Step class. No known subclasses, no known class evolutions.

    Gain 25 Constitution and 25 Arcana upon choosing this class. Two predetermined spells will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Intelligence, Constitution and Arcana.

    When you gain a level you gain 10 Constitution, 10 Arcana and 30 free points. You also gain one spell every three levels.

    Constitution? I understood immediately. I''m not immune to my own Ruin magic. Ruin magic deletes anything it touches. I have to be careful not to delete myself. I pump more points into Constitution and puck the two regen speed ups. Now I''m like a fucking wolverine on troll blood.

    I like my new spells too. The first is Static Flight, which let''s me fly. Awesome! The second is Ruin Cannon, which takes a bit to charge up, but then unleashes a big Ruin blast.

    With my new Ruin powers I go back to killing Buffado. I have to blast Linkin Park to keep me going. I find myself leveling slower and slower. I get less and less XP per kill, and I need more XP per level, AND I just can''t do it more than a few hours a day anymore. I''ve gotten behind on writing my series.

    My series, GOD TIER AT 2ND LEVEL is doing great, by the way. I''ve got almost 300 followers reading every day. And I post seven days a week. So thats like 2100 hits and week. xxx420Gokubaby is still my only patron on Patreon. But he''s rocking it at the 15 bucks a month tier. So I''ve got that going for me.

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    Not that I need xxx420Gokubaby anymore. Killing each buffado gets me a hundred bucks, tax free. And I''ve killed so fucking many off them. I coded the buffados to drop hundred dollar bills because I knew i wouldn''t want to pick up coins or whatever other garbage other dungeons drop. There''s a problem with the bills though. They''re not all the same serial number, I''m not THAT STUPID. No but they are each a copy of an existing bill in circulation. So at some point I couldn''t get tagged for that. But im not worried about it. By that time I''ll be strong enough to just kill anyone who tries to stop me.

    I can''t wait for that. I want to just be able to wipe out the entire government if I want to. And I do want to, even if that means Fortuna becomes my enemy. Well, she already is, really, she just doesn''t know it yet. Bitch. And yeah, I don''t need any shrink to tell me that I only want to kill the government because they made 9/11 happen. Goddamn deepstate just couldn''t WAIT to invade the middle east again, and they killed my mom to justify it? Fucking bitches. Nobody ever paid for it. So I''m going to make them pay.

    The day that stupid Jun tripped my alarm on the dungeon entrance, I was already expecting him. The FBI had raided my house MY HOUSE because of him. I know he was behind that. So I knew when they couldn''t find me, Junee would come for me himself. Couldn''t stand me being better than him. Poor guy /sarcasm.

    Anyways he tripped my alarm and I saw the whole thing though the special room I had set up on the 30th floor of my dungeon. I always knew I''d need a place to hideout so I''d coded in a room for me. Nice place. It has armor row of arcade cabinets, a big pile of pillows to sleep on and the ¡°boss¡± of the floor is Caterina the cat girl. You know, the first and best girl from GOD TIER AT 2ND LEVEL. She''s VERY friendly. Although I had to kill her a few times at first to get her in lien. She''s a smart NPC so once I showed her I was the real boss of the floor, she started acting like the good kitty she''s supposed to be.

    Anyways after he tripped the alarm, I knew I had to go fight him. I immediately killed Catarina so he couldn''t get his filthy hands on her, just in case I had to leave without her. I flew down there, using my flight and some Rogue skills to be sneaky. Recently I got Rogue and Thief classes to bring down my Average Level. I got some realy good sneaky stuff from it too. So I snuck up on my dumbass brother and scared the shit out of himself. He''s so dumb he can''t even talk right.

    Anyways, I tired too NOT kill him, but almost fucked up. I took his whole shoulder off when I only meant to delete his arm. Whoopsie! Whatever, he deserves it. He never could beat me at Street Fighter 4.

    I flew out of there once I''d almost killed him. He bled soooo much it was funny. On the way out I think one of his military goons shot me but I regenerated right over the bullet. That''s right, I''m such a badass I can take a bullet to the neck and live!

    I had to get out of there though. I needed to pull them away from my dungeon. I''ve got cameras set up outside it, so I can tell when it''s clear again. In the meantime I''ve been staying in some shady motels, flying at night and heading north to Portland. I really want to just fuck up some hipster coffee shop. Some of those shady motels had friendly ladies at them too. Nice!

    Of course, I have my backdoor into the Admins, so I found out where the raid boss was going to be. I took a plane to Australia. That flight was sooo long and boring. I had told resit just deleting the kid next to me. Seriously should a fucking HERO have to sit next to a toddler? I don''t think so!

    Anyways, I got there and man, I think I really like it there. Maybe I''ll just move to Australia after I kill the US government. It feels like the air is cleaner, and the water is clearer. There''s people, but not TOO MANY people, if you know what I mean.

    I could have just flown all the way to Macmurdo but I didnt want to lose time writing. So I hired an boat with good old American hundos. They got me close, close enough to see the damn navy. The pussy boat driver wouldn''t go further. Because he''s a big baby. So I flew off and flew past some Chinese boats, then flew up over the American boats. With my stealth skills nobody saw me.

    I watched as those dumb army guys fired missiles into a fucking daikaiju and did NOTHING. So lame! And then the biggest monster had babies that ate some tank guys! Aw, isn''t that cute! The big boy split in two, which was where things got interesting. The bottom half went swimming while the top went flying. Things started to go to shit for the Army down there, and the swimming guy got two ships and the flying guy got one. Good going mister kaiju! I FINALLY saw my brother out there, wearing some dumbest white outfit. What? Like he''s a hero? He''s just a dog of the military. His friend left him behind and ran away, which was funny. Then he went after his friend. I watched him die. It was hilarious.

    Jun dived into the water to fight, and I knew he''d probably get himself killed, so I followed him. He was using some stars? Why? Whatever, he got eaten and then I knew I had to save him. After all, he doesn''t get to die. He gets to watch me rise. I shot Ruin at the big core thing and it''s broke apart, killing the monster. I got credit for it, a whole three levels! Sweet!

    After that I was pretty cold. I flew out to where my boat was supposed to be but it was gone. Fucking pussy. I did the next best thing. I hid on one of the Chinese boats.

    Well, I thought I hid. Some angry little guy started shouting at me. Once they found another translator we got to talking and I found out that we might have a lot in common...

    And that brings us to now. Me writing this report for you, mister Chinese special agent man. I need you to get this to a certain someone. Wei He Li, CEO of Exceleron Manufacturing. He''s going to want to see me. And trust me when I say you don''t want to get on his bad side.

 Chapter 33: Recovery

    7/10

    Inside the USS John Finn medical bay.

    11:30 AM (local time)

    5:30 PM (central time)

    I wake up with a start. Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr. is in my lap. My leg is back. Mercy is asleep in a chair next to me. I''m in a bed in the medical bay of one of the Navy vessels. Jose is wearing a Navy uniform. Huh.

    ¡°Fuck, I''m seeing you as a ghost. That''s not cool, man.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sorry, I''ll haunt you quietly though,¡± is Jose''s answer. He''s standing, leaning against the far wall over in the shadowed corner of the room.

    ¡°Mr. Han?¡± it''s the nasally voice of a doctor. ¡°You''re awake. Good. Your cat seems to have taken quite good care of you.¡±

    Biscuits yawns in my lap, then goes back to sleep. I eye Jose''s ghost. Asshole, haunting me right away. Can''t even wait for the funeral.

    The doc and a nurse come over and check vitals, do some tests. It takes a while.

    7/10

    Inside the USS John Finn medical bay.

    1:30 PM (local time)

    7:30 PM (central time)

    I nudge Mercy awake. ¡°Hey, I''m fine, go get a real bed.¡±

    She wakes up, fluttering her eyes in that cute way. ¡°Hrm. Meanie. Biscuits and I had to keep you from dying.¡±

    ¡°Jose...¡± I start to say, but can''t finish.

    ¡°Oh!¡± she says, almost surprised. Then, more subdued, she hangs her head. ¡°Yeah, I''m sorry.¡±

    I run my hand through her dyed white hair. She looks at me with... Wait, my Wisdom is super high now, so... ¡°What''s so funny?¡± I ask. ¡°Jose is dead. Hundreds of people died.¡±

    ¡°Nothing! You''re right. It''s not funny.¡± My superior Reflexes catch her doing a micro glance over at the shadowed corner. She can-

    ¡°You can fucking see him! He''s not a ghost, is he? Hey doc, can you see that guy?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Mr Han. Do you need me to check your vision again?¡±

    Jose cracks and smiles. Asshole. ¡°Asshole!¡± I yell in the medical room, and then realize that I''m not the only patient in here. ¡°Sorry!¡± I whisper to a guy in the bed next to mine. He looks like his arm is newly regrown. Aw, did Biscuits heal him? What a good kitty. I scratch her behind the ears.

    Jose comes over. ¡°You saved me, Jun.¡± I must be raising my eyebrows in disbelief because he actually explains. ¡°You gave me Luck, right? That pushed me over 500. In the last second I closed my eyes and saw it. I had an option. Second Chance. A one time revival 5 minutes after you die. Then my Luck dropped all the way down to 10. So that''s a bummer. But, you know.¡±

    ¡°You get to go home,¡± I say to my friend. His calling. His true reason for being. Tears fall from my eyes.

    ¡°Yeah, I get to go home.¡± Then Jose wipes something away from his eyes.

    Mercy starts sobbing. ¡°Your bromance is so beautiful!¡± she says between tears.

    -----

    7/10

    In our rooms on the USS George Washington

    3:45 PM (local time)

    9:45 PM (central time)

    I''m maxed out at ten stored level ups. That seems to be standard for everyone who participated in the battle. So that''s good. But also hundreds of Navy personnel died. That''s bad. Bad, but I''m counting my losses and my victories. Jose is alive. The raid boss is dead. Everything else is not my deal. That sounds callous. Everything else is... Not for me to mourn. There''s going to be plenty of that. Those people will be missed dearly. More victims of the Dracosys. More of my brother''s victims.

    The torpedoes at the end came from Chinese boats. The Americans were, for some reason, unwilling to detonate torpedoes underneath their own ship. The Chinese had no such qualms. So, thanks China! I hope we get along better now, as countries? Maybe? No? Fine.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    They''re going to have to bring in research subs, those ones with the grabber arms, to get the loot from the boss. Apparently its loot is a glowing gem that''s so bright it''s actually blinding fishing down there. Plus lots and lots of very damp 20 dollar bills. Nobody is really pushing for those to be rescued. I''m sure some adventurers will clamber for those later.

    The bears and birds killed plenty of people, especially on the George Washington. They lost 67 people, with dozens more injured. Our guys who went below decks to fight apparently saved a lot of lives.

    Henry Gallup and Ivy Black flew away on the helicopter and were fine. Everyone on my team was fine. We made it. We did it.

    I did it. I know that sounds selfish, or egotistical, but hell, I think they''d probably all be dead without me. I''ll try not to be too smug about it.

    That''s not who I am anyways. I don''t want to be the biggest badass around. I''m not walking a ¡°path to power¡± like in a lot of those litRPGs. I''m not looking to ascend to a higher level of humanity or defeat the multiverse. I don''t want to rule the world. I want to break the Dracosys so no one can rule the world.

    So I don''t need a medal, or a title saying I''m a god slayer or some such shit. I don''t need anything-

    Mercy whispers in my ear. ¡°I know you killed that thing. I''ll give you a nice reward when we get home.¡±

    My high Intelligence and Wisdom are immediately flushed down the toilet.

    ¡°Which costume? I mean, wait, ahhh¡±

    ¡°You''re so cute when you get flustered,¡± she says, and spins away from me, walking down the ship''s hall. I don''t mind watching her go. DAT A-

    ¡°Jun,¡± Madeline taps me on the shoulder. Then, to pull me away from admiring my girlfriend''s goods, she has to shove me in the shoulder.

    ¡°Right. I am an adult who can totally concentrate on things. What''s up Madeline?¡±

    ¡°Look, we need to decide on the teams.¡± She''s going back to this topic. We currently have five people per team. I''m personally comfortable with that. She wants one more person per team, like it used to be.

    ¡°You know, let''s assume that the Adventurer''s guild thing happens. What would an Adventurer''s guild do?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know,¡± she says. ¡°Because I''m not a nerd like you are.¡±

    ¡°You''d let people form their own teams. We''re already halfway there. We can go there even without amendments. You''re in charge of your team. Have as many people as you want.¡± I really want this to be the end of it. ¡°More autonomy, less military structure.¡±

    She just looks at me like I''m copping out somehow. ¡°Fine,¡± she says with an air of annoyance.

    I go find Jose. ¡°Jose, I''ve been thinking about it, and I want you to do my job.¡±

    He turns to me, putting down his graphic novel. ¡°You want me to avoid responsibility and make hasty decisions at the last minute?¡±

    I roll my eyes. ¡°Hilarious.¡±

    ¡°You want me to be lovesick and mostly forget that other people are around?¡±

    ¡°Dude, harsh.¡±

    ¡°You want me to-¡±

    ¡°No, I want you to run the Pathbreakers. Be the guild chief. Head, uhhh CEO? Whatever my position is.¡±

    He raises an eyebrow at me.

    ¡°You can still stay at home with the kids. No more missions. But...¡±

    He says what I can''t. ¡°You don''t want me to really leave yet.¡±

    I just nod. I feel guilty. ¡°I know I''m actually asking a lot.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± He just shrugs.

    ¡°So is that a yes?¡±

    ¡°To be honest you''re kind of shit at running any group outside of battle.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Okay.¡±

    He places a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You''re a depressed introvert suddenly forced into leading a mercenary company. It''s not your jam. That''s okay.¡±

    I am somewhat annoyed at that. ¡°Hey, I''m less depressed nowadays, thank you very much. I have a girlfriend.¡± The thought of her kept me going when I was being eaten by a kaiju.

    ¡°You still probably need meds and therapy, dude. You''re way too chill about all this.¡±

    ¡°Am I?¡± I ask, honestly not knowing the answer.

    ¡°Everyone else sees each dungeon as a place they might die. You look forward to them.¡± He shakes my shoulder to get the point across that it''s definitely not normal.

    I guess it''s not normal. I think that I burned out my fear ducts during cave R-32. Since then I haven''t been afraid, not really, of anything. I just look at the Dracosys monsters as something to fight, something to challenge me. But that''s probably insane. Maybe I can find a therapist who works with firefighters and cops. Someone who''s already used to talking to fearless adrenaline junkies.

    He also reminds me of just how lucky we got to both be here right now. ¡°You probably only get one teammate coming back from the dead routines, and it''s already spent. You need to think about your team and how they''re feeling more.¡±

    I nod. I always forget that others are... Mostly weak. Maybe not weak, but not as ready for anything as I am, or Mercy is. She''s pretty capable of tackling any situation by now.

    I finally nod to him. ¡°Thanks, man. For that. For taking care of the Pathbreakers. For everything, really.¡±

    He cocks his head with a smirk. ¡°What else is a best friend for?¡±

    ----

    7/10

    In our rooms on the USS George Washington

    4:45 PM (local time)

    10:45 PM (central time)

    I''m in my bunk, playing Link To The Past on my Switch when it happens. I hear the words in my head. Last time they sounded like a flat computer voice. This time they sound like a chipper female Vtuber.

    Attention! This is a global system update for the Dracosys! All those with at least one level will receive this message.

    Congratulations Leveled!

    Yeaaaaaaa! You''ve successfully cleared the first raid boss and now have finished the tutorial! Next will be the first season, SEASON OF THE SCOURGE. You''ll have to find out what that means on your own. I''m betting it won''t take long!

    But, before we begin the next season, there are a few things we need to take care of.

    Firstly is the Seasonal difficulty increase. Based on our numbers the total death rate of humanity is still too low! That''s why for the first season all monsters will become Level 10! Each level represents a 10% increase in stats for a monster, so from now on all monsters will have +100% their original stats! This level will increase with each three-month season, but the amount will depend on the number of total fatalities across the planet. So if you''d rather have smaller level increases, remember to kill your neighbors! I mean, what''re they good for anyway? I bet they''re the ones stealing your packages!

    Second is the experience point update! Woo! Now this was always planned so don''t get too upset, but the base required experience points per level up is going to be doubled. That''s going to halve your leveling speeds! I sure hope your builds were solid before this update, because you''ll have fewer and fewer chances to get stronger from now on!

    Lastly is the thing some of you have been waiting for, the Amendment Proposals! Since we have 10 total proposals, we''ll give each one 10 minutes to be voted on. You''ll be able to vote through your menus, so hopefully you''re somewhere you can close your eyes!

    Let''s see what our first Amendment Proposal is!

 Chapter 34: Proposals

    Amendment Proposal One:

    Meat For Dinner.

    Monster corpses will not disappear after 30 minutes, but disappear after 24 hours, or upon a dungeon reset. This will allow monster corpses to be dissected and even eaten. Monster corpses can still be disposed of manually by destroying the head, heart or equivalent.

    Voting begins now!

    I rush out into the hall and find the rest of the Pathbreakers equally confused and concerned.

    ¡°Let''s get to the rec room,¡± I say, which is the only place on an aircraft carrier where we can fit 15 people.

    We get in and stand around the ping pong table. The two guys playing ping pong seem miffed that we¡¯re interrupting.

    ¡°What exactly do we need to do?¡± Mercy asks.

    Madeline answers. ¡°The Amendment Proposals are already used, so I think that we just vote?¡±

    I close my eyes and vote. More adventurers guild, less military. ¡°Just vote however you feel like. It''s not like this is going to be decided if the 15 of us all vote one way or another.¡± I get some disgruntled looks from that statement.

    ¡°He''s right,¡± Jose says. ¡°Just vote.¡±

    We all sit in silence and vote for a few seconds, then everyone considers the ramifications of the amendment.

    ¡°Food problems could disappear!¡±

    ¡°Who''s going to eat lizardman though?¡±

    ¡°You think the author just wanted to do weird experiments on monsters?¡±

    ¡°Oh, dude, for sure.¡±

    Time''s Up! With a staggering 73% for, 22% against and 5% abstaining, the Amendment passes! Good for you, weird Canadian guy!

    Next up SHOULD be a pair of proposals about monster spawn rates, but those were deemed as violations of Dracosys priority commander lines! We can''t be protecting children! Children are your future and we want to kill your future! So next up is:

    Amendment Proposal Four:

    Adventurer''s Guilds

    The actual description of the bylaws of the guilds takes up about seven of the ten minutes we have to vote.

    Time''s up! With a solid 65% for, 10% against and 25% abstaining, the amendment passes! I know who''s going to be one of the first guilds!

    The fifth proposal was a little too on the edge for the Admins, so we nixed it. Instead we got a similar, but not as generous-towards-humanity proposal!

    Amendment Proposal Six:

    Scaling Dungeon Breaks

    We''re not surprised that our ¡°super awesome backdoor everyone lives¡± bill got canceled. But even one of these getting through is a win. It passes with overwhelming support. That there¡¯s going to be any limits on dungeon breaks is a win.

    Amendment Proposal Seven:

    Etheric Elementals

    We couldn''t put in the description exactly how this would benefit humanity, so after ten minutes we get this message:

    Time''s up! With 22% for, 51% against and 27% abstaining, the amendment fails!

    But I have good news. The Admins have voted and decided to do Etheric Elementals anyways! Yay! That means we''ll be able to get up close and personal with you guys. We''ve never had this opportunity before, so thank you so much!

    Amendment Proposal Eight:

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Crafting Classes

    Non-combat crafting classes will be added to the classes selectable by humanity, starting with a 1st step class ¡°Crafter¡± and proceeding to have up to 5th step classes as per usual.

    This one gets a resounding 93% for and 3% against. 3% opposed? Who opposes new classes?

    Oh, and here''s a secret: there''s a total of 12 1st Step classes. You''ve just unlocked the 7th! Collect them all!

    What? Well shit, throw me more classes and I''ll be a happy dude. That means... Between the 1st and 5th step classes there''s a total of 300 classes to play with! Fascinating.

    Amendment Proposal Nine:

    Inventory Display

    Leveled will be able to display a panel to others showing their inventory with the verbal command ¡°display inventory.¡±

    It''s an interesting idea. Clearly it''s meant to improve security, allowing people at checkpoints to see into inventories. And if you''re not leveled, you just say the magic words and nothing happens, thus proving you''re clean.

    This one passes with only 51% approval. I guess a lot of people didn''t want their stacks of porn out in the open. I''m just assuming that''s what my brother has in his inventory. Big piles of To Love Ru manga and old Strike Witches dvds. Maybe some Dance In The Vampire Bund as well.

    ... I know waaay too much about my brother''s soft-core anime porn tastes.

    Amendment Proposal Ten:

    Multiversal Access

    Other universes affected by what we call the Dracosys will be connected to this universe.

    What? Who wants more nonsense added to our current pot of crazy? The fuck?

    Time''s up! With 38% for, 25% against and 37% abstaining, the amendment fails! As a reminder, amendments must gain at least a 50.01% majority to pass.

    With that this update is finished! I''d like to thank you for your attention and participation! This is my first time running an update, so I''m super thrilled it''s gone so well! My name is Admin Endiffer and going forward I''m hoping to get along with all of you as humanity dies off.

    We thank you for your participation in the Dracosys, and remember, slay or be slaughtered!

    ¡°Well, we avoided anything truly awful from happening,¡± I say to the room. ¡°And in very good news, we can form a guild and get moving on that front.¡± I get some nods and a mild enthusiasm from the group. ¡°Also, Jose has agreed to be the guild leader.¡± There is suddenly much more enthusiasm in the room.

    ¡°Oh, hell yeah!¡±

    ¡°Nice on ya, mate!¡±

    ¡°Finally a competent leader.¡±

    ¡°Aw. Now I''m not sleeping with my boss anymore.¡±

    ¡°Good choice, Jun.¡±

    That last one was Madeline, and honestly I think her opinion on this was the one I most needed. Also, I think my girlfriend is a pervert. And she''s my pervert.

    We all get notifications in our menus inviting us to join the Pathbreakers guild. We accept. Then, still in our menus, there''s a one-sided vote for guild leader. Since there has to be at least two options, Madeline puts herself forward. She gets one vote. I''m pretty sure it was from Mercy.

    With that, the Pathbreakers guild is underway. I''ll talk to Jose about the guild stuff later. For now I want to get into the new classes and see what''s there.

    1st Step: Crafter

    2nd: Smith

    3rd: Metalworker

    4th: Forge Master

    2nd: Tailor

    3rd: Seamster

    4th: Clothier

    2nd: Cook

    3rd: Chef

    4th: Master Chef

    2nd: Woodworker

    3rd: Arboreal Artist

    4th: Lumber Master

    2nd: Mason

    3rd: Stone Sculptor

    4th: Rocker

    2nd: Electrician

    3rd: Wirer

    4th: Teslaneer

    Eh, let''s check out Cook and see what these are like.

    Cook

    Anyone can cook. You just do it imbuing your dishes with Etheric energy so that they grant system bonuses.

    A second step class. Three subclasses. One class evolution.

    Gain 2 Dexterity and 3 Spirit upon choosing this class. Two basic or advanced food recipes will be granted to you upon choosing this class.

    Uses Dexterity and Spirit.

    Upon level up two additional random basic or advanced food recipes will be granted, until all basic and advanced food recipes are known. Each level you gain 1 Dexterity, 1 Spirit and 3 free points.

    Subclasses

    Short Order - Your food cooks 25% faster.

    Line - You''re 25% better at making large quantities of food.

    Improvisor - You have an increased chance of coming up with a new recipe when cooking normal food.

    The Improvisor subclass carries a lot of meaning behind it. It indicates that you can get more Dracosys powered ¡°recipes¡± by doing things normally. That implies anyone with an appropriate class might be able to do the same for the other crafting types. And finally... It might mean that magic could work the same way.

    If I continually throw Solar lances, would I possibly get a new, specific spell that shoots off lances? Hrm. And if yes, what''s the advantage of that? Having a separate proficiency bonus. Right now the Sol Arms spell is at 1000% proficiency, and that bonus increases the durability of my creations. With a separate spell, I might be able to apply a different proficiency to speed or force.

    ¡°Jun,¡± says Jose.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°You ready for your first quest?¡± asks Jose.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    I check my menu.

    A guild-wide quest has been issued by your guild leader!

    Pool Party - You must go to a pool party at Jose Amarillo''s house this Saturday, 7/13.

 Chapter 35: Pool Party

    7/13

    Jose Amarillo''s house

    7:30 PM

    So now there''s two Pathbreakers groups. There''s the LLC and the guild. Though all the employees of Pathbreakers LLC are guild members, except for the desk jockey peeps. You only get to join a guild if you''re leveled. Which means that Brian is in, but Hector isn''t. Luis! Hector''s name is actually Luis.

    ¡°It''s Glory and Renown points.¡± Jose is explaining the guild system to Brian, Odysseus and Parker. He''s already told this a bunch of times and he''s shortened the explanation each time. ¡°Glory comes if we clear quests, Renown from clearing Dracosys sites. Renown is like a rank system. More is better. Unlocks more options. Glory is a currency. I can buy more facilities for the HQ.¡±

    He''s skipping quite as few things. Like how Renown unlocks new options for his quest-giving powers. And he has to spend Glory to issue quests, which hopefully give more Glory than the quest costs.

    We''re already at rank 4 in Renown. That unlocked the HQ options ¡°forge, workshops, cauldron, bar, system store, fence, rest area and restaurant.¡± It also unlocked the quest options ¡°go to X, kill X, destroy X, find X, kill X many Ys, discover X, recover X, steal X and fix X.¡± And the HQ can get up to rank 4 structure, space and defenses. The space upgrade makes it bigger on the inside! We got rank 3 in space upgrades and the building is 3 times bigger on the inside than the outside!

    Glory is what we pay for the upgrades with, but also what he pays for quests with. For example, he gave 19 people the Pool Party quest. That''s a simple ¡°go to X¡± quest, costing 10 Glory per issue. So that was 190 Glory. Quests are rated by the system as to their difficulty, and given Glory rewards based on difficulty. Going to the pool party was deemed ¡°very easy¡± so each person who completes the quest gives back just 12 Glory, a profit of 34 Glory. (Cappy and Kailani were invited but did not attend.)

    Interestingly Jose says that Glory rewards decrease the longer a quest goes unfulfilled, so he can''t just issue 100 quests and walk away for the year. He''s also got a max quest limit based on our Renown rank (rank squared, so 16 right now).

    Like we suspected, hints are given by the system to help you complete each quest. What we didn''t expect was for those hints to cost Renown. So yes, Jose can issue a ¡°kill Desmond Pierce¡± quest and have it give us his location. But also that hint would decrease our Renown by two ranks! Which, in turn, would decrease his quest-giving options. So we''re holding back for now. Plus the whole ¡°we don''t want to be nuked in retaliation¡± thing.

    It all sounds like a lot to calculate and juggle, but Jose''s a lot smarter than people think he is. I know he''s got it covered. I, for one, am glad I''m not in charge of it. Not because I couldn''t do it, oh, I could. It''s just that I don''t want to write about juggling those numbers. This journal is already full of multiclassing nerd shit. It doesn''t also need guild management nerd shit.

    Speaking of, I''ve been thinking about the new classes and-

    ¡°Hey boss man,¡± comes Parker''s Bostonian voice. ¡°Wicked pahty.¡± The middle aged woman doesn''t look her age. She''s wearing a Red Sox jersey and ball cap. She punches me in the shoulder as she walks off the deck and greets Madeline, who just showed up.

    We''re on the deck. I stand next to Jose and take in the scene.

    Henry is grilling, debating the ethics of meat consumption with Florence Dovesong, our new-ish hippie Druid lady. Kiki Suzuki, Phoenix Team''s ninja girl, is staring at the burgers. I think she''s already eaten three and she wants more? How much can one 4''10¡± woman fit in her belly?

    Odysseus is heading into the house to grab a seat at their dining room table to play a round of King Of Tokyo with Quins and Jose''s sons, Ernesto and Mike. Jose''s daughter, Sara, is currently in the garage whipping people in Mario Kart 8 on the 97 inch LG OLED 4K TV. Sara is a master of the slide boost, and is not to be underestimated.

    Amy, Jose''s wife, is talking legal stuff with Scarlett, whose two bird familiars are on the roof of the garage. Apparently Scarlett is going through a rough divorce. Mercy, Madeline and Rutger are talking to Ivy Black, our metalhead Bard. I''m pretty sure Ivy is being recruited to Madeline''s workout group.

    Eddie Sloan, Andrew Wilhelm and Viktor Kovalchuk are grouped together in the pool, standing in the shallow end, each holding a beer. They''re the new guys on Henry''s team and they still have a lot to get to know about each other.

    Parker is now making the rounds, punching people in the shoulder when she addresses them. Ah, that''s just how Boston people say hello.

    ¡°You figure out the new classes yet?¡± Jose asks me.

    ¡°Yeah, they''re just normal jobs, but you can imbue Ki or whatever into your work, making it system related. You imbue creations with enhancements. And if you make something perfectly there''s a chance of getting an extra effect.¡±

    For five of the six crafting class types, you make something and imbue it and the system makes it stronger, heavier, lighter, tougher, whatever would make it better in general. And if you make it perfectly there''s a chance for it to become enchanted, so now your extra strong sword is a flame sword. Yay.

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I took a level in Master Chef and found Food is a bit different. Most of it recovers your health, Ki, Arcana, etc. Some of the recipes buff your stats temporarily, giving you +5 Strength for two hours, stuff like that. The ¡°perfect craft¡± effects for food are really good though. They''re permanent stat bonuses that can be applied on each per food type. So the first time you eat a perfect Denver Omelette, you get +1 Toughness, forever.

    ...I''ve been making a lot of Denver Omelettes recently. Gotta help the team best I can, right? Out of about 12 omelets I''ve made zero perfect ones. Sooo I''ve got a ways to go on that front. Cooking uses your Dexterity (Yay, mine is 269!) and your Spirit (boo, mine is only just now 10). And of course Spirit recovers based on your Wisdom. So I''m probably not going to be a true Master Chef. I''m probably closer to being a Master Chief.

    Biscuits is flying around, begging people for parts of their cheeseburgers. I showed her the ¡°has cheezburger¡± meme and that was a mistake. She really likes cat memes now. She says they''re true culture. I deeply regret increasing her mental stats.

    ¡°So how are you breaking the game with the new classes?¡± Jose asks me.

    ¡°Great question. The Smith, Metal Worker and Forge Master classes give you bonuses when you make weapons. My magic weapons count as making weapons so...¡±

    ¡°Would that work for bullets I make?¡± Jose asks me.

    ¡°No, but you can take the Woodworker''s Fletcher subclass to make better ammo. The ability is supposed to be for arrows, but it just says +20% damage with ammunition you make yourself, so bullets should work.¡±

    We watch our friends and family talk, eat, game, swim and just relax in general. Jose''s got a mix of classic rock in Spanish playing over the stereo. Iron Maiden sounds different but the vibe is exactly the same.

    ¡°Are you really okay with being guild leader?¡± I ask him.

    He tilts his head, thinking about it. ¡°Not what I ever thought about, but I did have a goal of making sarge in the Rangers. I wanted to run a team. This is okay. Feels more like I''m brass than a troop leader though.¡±

    He''s sifted through a lot of menus in the last two days. Mercy has worked on Glory budgets with him. We''ve got plans for the quests he''s going to issue for the next two weeks, at least.

    We''ve had to put the Ambrose Society on the back burner until we have enough resources to tackle them all at once. We can''t risk them coming after us with nukes.

    My brother is apparently in China right now, which takes him effectively out of our reach. There''s zero chance we get let into China and doing a major operation to kidnap him isn''t something we can pull off. We shoved as much info as we had onto the CIA and our government guy, Will Mounds.

    That does give us a few other targets we could take down. The other four ¡°founders¡± as they''re being called. The ones with the screen names Fortuna, Hyperion, Spear Saint and Skull Master Flash.

    Spear Saint is apparently a guy named Hubert Sink, the CEO of Rero Pharmaceuticals. He and his Indian manufacturer made the SIVID-1 disease which swept the planet last year. An odd disease which only amounted to a light cold, but was aggressively contagious. And it seemingly inoculated the population against Dracosys side effects. But, hey, he''s still a dick who started all this shit, so fuck that guy. Anyways, the government(s) are on his ass, hunting him down. He must have gone full Bourne Identity and left civilization behind.

    Fortuna is supposed to be someone in the US government, based on the conversation logs we got from R-32. I''m convinced that she''s already got higher ups on her side. Hyperion is probably a Chinese CEO or other oligarch. Skull Master Flash is the real question mark. We know he had a hand in whatever physical work had to be done to make the Dracosys happen, but we''re not sure exactly what that was.

    ¡°Skull Master Flash,¡± I say. ¡°We should go after him.¡±

    Jose takes a sip from his frozen margarita. ¡°Already planning on it.¡±

    ¡°What about the missiles-¡±

    ¡°Got those purchased and am tracking the packages.¡±

    ¡°And the armor?¡±

    Jose smirks. ¡°You testing me? We got a lady in Austin who was already a smith, now she''s a capitol-S Smith.¡±

    I''m taken aback. ¡°Dude, you''re on this shit.¡±

    He takes another draw from the frozen marg. ¡°I don''t half ass anything.¡± He''d even remembered to grill some non-meat burgers for Florence and Ivy. ¡°What''s the matter?¡± he asks me.

    It takes me a second to answer. ¡°Ah, you know I thought I was the guy, you know? Like in one of those stories. The do-it-all, Renaissance man who fixes every problem in the world.¡±

    ¡°Like a Superman?¡± Jose asks.

    ¡°Or a Goku,¡± I answer with a head tilt.

    ¡°Nah, man. You''re like... Doctor Who. But super violent.¡±

    That''s a new one for me. ¡°Please do explain.¡±

    He says, ¡°you have a companion or two, right? But also others. And the others aren''t safe. Actually, nobody is safe. There''s times when you save everyone. And times you can''t.¡± He looks away from me. ¡°You''re really important, anyone who''s seen you fight can say that. But...¡±

    ¡°But I''m no Superman.¡±

    He shakes his head. ¡°Not even a Goku.¡±

    We stand there leaning against the deck railing. Black Sabbath en Espa?ol plays. People groan as they lose to Jose''s daughter in Mario Kart yet again. I hear Odysseus shout something like, ¡°I fly away!¡± while playing King Of Tokyo. Madeline is leading the other ladies plus Rutger in doing push ups on the lawn. The guys in the pool are wrestling now, for some reason. Henry hands the grill over to Parker as he takes a call from someone he seems very happy to hear from.

    Some people are going to die. Some are going to live. We''ve got three teams and I''m only on one of them. I can protect my people as best I can, but sometimes that won''t be enough.

    That darkness is there, inside me. The darkness that took root when my mom died. The darkness that triggered from R-32. I think that I know what it is now. Helplessness. The feeling that no matter what I do, things won''t go how I want them to.

    I have to ask my wisest friend. ¡°So how do I deal with it? A general-type guy I talked to in Las Vegas said I had to count the losses and the victories. But I think there''s something more than that. The helplessness, the powerlessness is what kills me.¡±

    Jose puts a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Dude. Like I said, you''re no Goku. It''s okay if you get fucked up by loss. That''s just who you are. You''re not cold hearted.¡±

    Mercy pops up on the other side of the railing. ¡°That''s why I can love you, you know?¡± She''s told me this before, back when we entered R-32 together. That I killed a lot of people, but the fact that I felt bad about it makes Mercy feel like she can accept it.

    People are laughing, smiling, eating plant-based burgers, playing video and tabletop games. And here are my best friend and my girlfriend trying to get me out of feeling bad about...  Feeling bad? ¡°Maybe I''m in my head too much,¡± I offer.

    Both Jose and Mercy simultaneously shout, ¡°You think???¡± and then we all burst into laughter.

    After that I go get wrecked in Mario Kart, lose a game of King Of Tokyo, try a veggie burger (not bad!) and jump in the pool. I laugh with my friends, I drink with comrades, I kiss my girlfriend.

    I''m not perfect. I never will be. Losses will happen. And I''ll grieve when they do. Life is going to go on. I''ll go on. We''ll go on.

 Chapter 36: Grocery List

    7/15

    Pathbreakers HQ

    11:30 AM

    The bigger-on-the-inside HQ building now has a third floor and a basement. Those are occupied by new Dracosys-moderated facilities. We''ve got a forge, workshops, bar, system store, and restaurant.

    The forge is just a regular blacksmith forge, but items made using Dracosys abilities are more likely to have better abilities and stats placed on them. We''re getting the Smith from Austin, Arushi. She was apparently pretty badass even before the Dracosys, and made some props for Game Of Thrones. That''s on the 3rd floor and now a little smoke stack is on the roof.

    The workshops (also on the 3rd floor) are just empty grey work tables with stools to sit on. Do some sort of work there using Dracosys stuff, get bonuses. Quins has been making some new elemental arrows over there and Mercy has been working on a new costume.

    The bar and restaurant are combined into one area in the basement. It''s a lovely, dark wood bar with those green banker''s lamps at the tables. I make omelets in the back, and have accomplished making two perfect omelets so far! The kitchen gives bonus chances to make perfect food. The bar and restaurant give duration bonuses for eating Dracosys stuff. We''re at a rank 1 bar right now, which doubles food bonus durations. The mighty Denver Omelet now gives +5 Toughness for eight hours instead of four (the default duration). Which still isn''t really enough time to eat, hop on a plane and then go fight things, but hey, I''m sure if we''re at restaurant rank 5 or so it''ll be a big boon.

    Jose broke the Skull Master Flash mission into parts for various logistics reasons. The first part, ¡°Find the true name of Skull Master Flash,¡± is being handled by Henry''s team. They''re way more well-rounded than the other two teams. Henry has the personal skills, Eddie Sloan has contacts among criminals, Andrew Wilhelm has tech support handled and Viktor Kovalchuk has espionage experience. Oh, and Florence the Druid can talk to animals and plants. Which feels like it''s pretty useful.

    I should look into Druid if that''s the kind of shenanigans you can get into. Man, I would be great to talk to- Oh right Biscuits can already talk. Never mind.

    DIAMOND, the government Dracosys intelligence network, spread the word that the new ¡°Season Of The Scourge¡± involves diseases. Basically any monster has a chance to be a Scourge carrier. And their physical attacks with claws, teeth, etc, have a chance to inflict Scourge.

    Scourge. You will die within 24 hours of contracting this disease. Over those 24 hours your body will be wracked with increasing pain and detrimental effects. Killing any monster of your tier or higher will reset the timer. Killing a human will remove this disease.

    It''s a brutal fate. Apparently even Dracosys spells and abilities that normally remove curses and diseases don''t work on it.

    We have a new option in our menus, too.

    Season Of The Scourge

    This season ends in 94 days. Bonuses will be awarded based on objectives cleared.

    Bonus Objectives:

    Get infected by Scourge: 1 pt

    Get cured of Scourge: 3 pts

    Kill someone infected by Scourge: 3 pts

    Become a Scourge Spreader: 5 pts

    Spread Scourge to 10 people: 10 pts (repeatable)

    Find and kill a Scourge Spreader: 3 pts

    Find and destroy a Scourge Source: 5 pts

    Gain the class ¡°Scourge¡±: 10 pts

    It''s a really dickish list, favoring things that will actively kill other humans. But also, ehhh what''s up with that Scourge class?

    Secret classes and subclasses are hidden until you meet their prerequisites.

    Thanks for nothing, system voice!

    Eagle Team is out doing Skull Master Flash tracking, and Phoenix Team is doing a ruin in Alabama. Something about ancient Native American burial grounds. They''re probably fine.

    -----

    I head to the 1st floor after making yet another run-of-the-mill Denver omelet. Odysseus Grant is showing Ivy Black how to shoot better at the rifle range. ¡°I''m sick of making omelets,¡± I shout over the rifle fire.

    ¡°Just make something else!¡± cries Ivy over the B-B-BLAP of a three round burst. ¡°Please, for the love of Judas Priest, make something else!¡± Ivy is wearing a black leather jacket that''s got spikes on the shoulders. Without a helmet she''s got a neon green faux hawk going on, which is pretty sick. She''s about average in both height and weight, but has a crap load of tattoos basically everywhere but her face.

    Odysseus Grant moves his hand off her shoulder, where it had been lingering, and looks away when he sees that I noticed. The man is 6¡¯ 4¡± and blushing like a school girl. So he''s got a thing for Ivy? Good for him. Since he upped his Charisma his facial scars now look like he fought a katana-wielding ninja and won, rather than before, where he looked like he fought a Ninja blender and lost. He coughs, then says, ¡°there''s some stuff going around about the new classes and how you can trick the system into giving you new recipes, have you tried it yet?¡±

    ¡°Naw, it requires you to actually be good at creating something first, then you can get lucky and get the Dracosys enhancement for it. I''m... really only good at making omelets.¡±

    The big man says, ¡°I can teach you some stuff. Easy stuff, too. Quesadillas, enchiladas, honey salmon, garlic bread, Mac and cheese, calzones, and chili. Can''t forget chili.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, O-D''s chili is badass,¡± Ivy says, prompting him for a fist bump, which he delivers on.

    ¡°That would be great, actually,¡± I say. ¡°I get weirded out from recipe websites when they spend 3 pages on how yummy the cook''s aunties made a dish.¡±

    ¡°Bro, I hear that,¡± Ivy agrees. ¡°Yummy is a word that no adult should say or even type.¡±

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Odysseus, sorry, apparently it''s O-D now, gives me a list and I prepare for a grocery run. I head upstairs to the third floor, looking for Mercy, but run into Brian on the 2nd floor.

    ¡°Jun, I need something else to do.¡± Brian looks unnecessarily exasperated.

    ¡°I thought you were on website duty.¡±

    Brian sighs. ¡°I am. I was. But I''ll tell you a secret. Most IT people bullshit on how much maintenance a website needs. Usually it''s set it and forget it, unless you''re adding new features. Your website doesn''t need more features.¡± He looks genuinely down.

    ¡°Can you teach me how to bake? I got a cooking class but I suck.¡±

    His eyebrows scrunch together as he tries to accept my question. ¡°I guess. Fucking weird request at a mercenary company, but okay.¡±

    ¡°Hey, we''re an adventurer''s guild now, thank you very much.¡± I am indignant. ¡±We''re not for hire by random warlords and don''t do secret government ops.¡±

    Brian raises one eyebrow at my contention. ¡°You literally did a secret government op last week.¡±

    I raise my hands in defiance. ¡°It was only kind of secret! The UN knew about it!¡± I lower my hands when he starts to laugh. ¡°Anyway, give me a grocery list, I''m going to buy stuff.¡±

    A few minutes later I''m on the 3rd floor and seriously only 30 feet from Mercy when Quins stops me.

    ¡°Mate. We need to talk.¡± He looks uncharacteristically serious.

    ¡°Uh, okay.¡±

    ¡°Looks like I''m in a bit of a pickle. You know how I said my lady was stepping out on me, yeah? Right, so she was and we ended things un-amicably. But then the place I''m staying at now, right? It''s full of single moms, yeah? So word gets round that ¡®ol Quins is on the market and I''ve got three kitties scratching at me door like they''re in heat! I''m bleeding out of my mind with wot to do about ¡®em!¡±

    I give him a second to take a breath. I flatly say, ¡°you''re too popular with the ladies.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, mate, too popular! I''m a one woman bloke! I can''t be dealing with bent feelings and fem-in-ine wiles!¡± He''s genuinely exasperated.

    I put my hand on his shoulder, look him in the eye, and confidently say, ¡°ask Jose because I have no fucking idea how to deal with women either.¡±

    He nod his head to acknowledge my idea. ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    I move past him to Mercy, who''s hard at work on a new costume. She got the Crafter class and is working towards the Tailor class. The new costume is Psi Dragon Ren, which is mostly sleek medieval armor. The wings and tail are taking some time to make.

    Also of note is that a lot more people have costume powers now. Turns out multiple classes give you that subclass option, not just Witch. And all you have to do is be wearing a costume when you unlock your subclass. We learned this because Japan friggin loves cosplay. Also the Philippines. They have a guy in a 12 foot Optimus Prime costume stomping monsters over there.

    ¡°Mer-cee,¡± I say like a ghost haunting her. ¡°I''m here to take you to the groOOocery store.¡± I say the last part in an especially spooky voice because she hates going to the grocery store.

    Her long hair is currently bright purple and in one big braid down her back. That''s part of the Psi Dragon Ren outfit. Also part of my reward because I have a thing for characters with purple hair. Purple hair says ¡°I''m feminine but also powerful¡± which is just so... Yeeeeaaaah.

    ¡°Nope!¡± she says without looking up at me. Biscuits is on her work table, curled up in a ball. Biscuits opens one eye, sees that it''s just me, then goes back to sleep. Traitor.

    ¡°Come on, I''ve got a huge list from everyone who wants to teach me to cook more stuff. I need your help picking out bell peppers.¡±

    ¡°I''m very busy, as you can see.¡± She''s currently knitting some black leather into the frame of a steel wing. A nice thing about being a super person is that you can wear armor and costumes that would normally be too heavy for long term wear. She''s getting Arushi our smith to make real metal armor plating for this costume.

    ¡°Alright, I was going to stop at Taco Cabana and get a frozen margarita on the way but if you don''t want-¡±

    She playfully scowls at me. ¡°Frozen margaritas are my weakness, and you know it.¡±

    We head out and get reasonably priced tacos and frozen margs. I''m in my typical skinny jeans and nerd shirt (it''s Destiny 2 today) and she''s in hot pink overalls, because what else would she wear while in a workshop?

    Next we''re walking around our former Get!, gathering food stuffs. Flour, Rotel, ground meats, powdered sugar, cake mixes, etc.

    While she''s chucking cans of beans into the cart, I tell Mercy, ¡°I like fighting alongside you but I also like doing mundane stuff with you too.¡±

    She smiles without looking at me. ¡°I know you do.¡± I can hear a near eye-roll in her voice.

    ¡°What?¡± I ask.

    ¡°You always do that,¡± she says.

    ¡°I do what?¡±

    ¡°You always tell me how much you like me when we''re shopping. That''s why I hate shopping with you.¡± I''m not detecting any actual dislike from her, so I have to get to the bottom of that statement.

    ¡°And it''s bad because...¡±

    ¡°Because,¡± she turns and looks me in the eye with those big brown eyes and I feel myself melt a little. ¡°When you say stuff like that it makes me feel like...¡± She steps in close to me and whispers the rest into my ear.

    ¡°We don''t work here anymore,¡± I say.

    ¡°So?¡± She tilts her head as she wraps her arms around my neck.

    I grab her by the waist and prop her up on the cart handles. The canned goods keep the cart on four wheels and I pull her mouth down to mine. I kiss her fervently. Her hands slide through my hair. My hands slide down her waist to cup her round, full-

    The voice of a very old man interrupts us. ¡°Excuse me but I need ma beans.¡±

    I nearly jump away, still heady from that kiss.

    The old coot slowly, and I mean slowly reaches for a three bean mix. ¡°They keep me regular. For pooping. Can''t be too lax with your toilet schedule.¡± He places the beans in his cart. It is full of high fiber cereal and vegetables. The man takes his business seriously. ¡°Sorry to interrupt. But you know I don''t have long left in this ol¡¯ world, so I can''t waste it watching some young ¡®uns make babies in the canned goods aisle.¡±

    ¡°We weren''t... ¡± I start to say, but really, I''m not sure exactly how far I was going to go just then so I let it drop.

    The old man laughs, then wheezes, then coughs. ¡°Oh. My Margie and I got up to some wild business back in our day. ¡®Specially when I was running dope across the border back in the 60s. We''d smoke up and get wild in the Sears changing room. Ahhh. Good times.¡±

    He totters away, pushing his cart at less than one mile per hour, and Mercy and I burst into laughter. We move on to the frozen department.

    I reach for the door to the frozen pie crusts, and Mercy backs into the door, preventing its opening. And getting deep into my personal space in the process. I''m just inches from her again.

    ¡°Pay the toll,¡± she says, and prompts me for another kiss. I oblige, this time pressing her against the cool freezer door.

    ¡°You know he''s an asshole, right?¡± It''s Natalie''s voice. She still works at the Get!. Seems she wasn''t inclined to become a soldier of fortune with the Ninja skills she got when the Dracosys initialized.

    Again I break away from a kiss. ¡°The what now?¡± I ask.

    ¡°You remember what you did? In here? Well, I remember.¡± She looks at Mercy. ¡°He pushed me down, basically threatened my life. He should be in jail for that.¡± She still holds a well-earned grudge for that. I tried to apologize but it didn''t go well.

    Mercy''s warmth suddenly turns as cold as the freezer she''s against. ¡°That happened to me, too. When I was younger. That guy didn''t get away with it though.¡± She''s looking straight at Natalie now. Mercy''s gaze has that determination that I''ve seen in her before. ¡°It''s awful, and I''m so sorry, but punishing Jun won''t fix the hurt.¡±

    There''s a moment of silence between the two women. Both hurt by men. Both still wounded by that hurt. I know Mercy''s hurt. She finally told me recently. I know her perspective now. She had to get stronger. She had to feel like she was strong enough to fight off anyone. And I know her perspective on my attack on Natalie. I told her about it and she decided that it was wrong, but understandable. Sometimes you can do something awful and have all the right intentions.

    ¡°If it helps you can kick Jun in the nuts,¡± Mercy offers.

    ¡°The what now?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Natalie accepts.

    ¡°Oh, Jun is really tough now, so don''t hold back,¡± Mercy helpfully explains.

    I look at my girlfriend. She has a face that says accept the situation. I look at Natalie. She has a face that says oh boy I can''t wait to kick him in the balls. I look at my reflection in the freezer door. I have a face that says aw shit I have to accept this, don''t I?

    I step away from the freezer door, spread my feet apart, and look away from my impending doom.

    So, here''s a fun fact. Toughness decreases damage, and pain that you take. Due to certain abilities, my effective Toughness is around 300. Which is 30 times tougher than a normal human. That means I''m taking 30 times less damage, and feeling 30 times less pain. However, a kick to the nuts by a justifiably angry woman who is specifically told to kick you as hard as possible, and who is, if you recall, a ninja, still FUCKING HURTS LIKE HELL.

    -----

    ¡°So, what did you learn today?¡± Mercy asks as she drives us back to HQ.

    I give my analysis while keeping the bag of frozen peas on my junk. ¡°In this fascinating scenario, we have thus proved that the pain response to injuries to reproductive organs far outweighs the actual damage, which is negligible. This information is to be stored away for use upon monsters with reproductive organs.¡±

    ¡°And?¡± asks Mercy.

    ¡°Don''t hit girls.¡±

    She pats me on the shoulder. ¡°There it is. Good boy.¡±

 Chapter 37 Shopping Spree

    7/17

    Pathbreakers HQ, conference room

    9:45 AM

    ¡°We ever gettin¡¯ back to it then?¡± asks Quins. He''s been itching to try out his new arrows on real targets.

    ¡°Yup,¡± Jose says, and uses a tablet to start playing video from an arena.

    The video shows a team of five leveled enter the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball stadium, which looks like there''s now five stadiums on top of each other. The video, apparently coming from a 6th member of the team, shows the inside of the arena. It looks like a baseball themed casino, with a prize desk and big entryway. There''s a cacophony of noise as robotic staff vie for the attention of the leveled. They travel through the straight ahead doorway and find another door, this one with a giant slot machine next to it. They go up to the big slot machine and the leader, a guy in a red track suit, pulls the big lever. The reels spin and come to a stop on 616. The one flashes and turns into a two, making it now 626. There''s yelling, anger, fear. The camera turns around but the first door they came through is now closed, barred with a glowing red iron gate. The leader tries to get his team back together. He whips them up into a frenzy with generic we can do this shouts. The slot machine door opens and the leveled rush out.

    Past the door is a flat, square battleground covered in blood red grass. It must be the size of a baseball field. The leveled draw their weapons. A gate across the arena from them opens. Nothing comes out. Then the camera shakes. No, judging from the reactions of the leveled, it''s the ground that''s shaking. The ground explodes upward and a massive worm bursts up, then opens a mouth filled with rings of teeth, and rushes down to the leveled below. The video cuts there.

    Jose explains. ¡°This was recovered from a body that got dumped out of the Dodgers stadium arena yesterday. Seems that on the slot machine the first reel is the monster''s tier. Next two numbers are monster level.¡±

    Mercy asks a good question. ¡°I thought Dracosys arenas were supposed to let you choose what level of foe you fought. What''s with the random chance?¡±

    Jose gives a good answer. ¡°It wasn''t like that before the latest update. The Dodgers stadium arena was actually being farmed. People found it easy to go in, risk a little, kill some monsters and make some cash. We think that the system is trying to work around humans using it for fun and profit.¡±

    ¡°So Los Angeles wants it cleared.¡± I clarify. ¡°A murder box isn''t any fun when it''s an unpredictable murder box.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Jose confirms. ¡°Most you should have to deal with is a tier 6, level 76 monster. You guys should be okay.¡±

    ¡°The fuck we are!¡± claims Ivy, who''s still behind us in levels. ¡°That''s like, 76 times more powerful than a regular tier 6 monster? You for real, dude?¡±

    Quins speaks. ¡°While I do hate to agree with miss Metallica, I do agree. Somethin¡¯ seventy times tougher than the Capitol building robot which we couldn''t actually damage at all? Come on mate, you''re joshing us.¡±

    I wait for Jose to give us a solid plan, a way for us to win. He just shrugs and says, ¡°Jun will kill it.¡±

    I narrow my eyes at him. Mercy says, ¡°Jun is not a plan, Jose.¡± I nod in agreement.

    ¡°You haven''t broken the system in some new way yet?¡± he asks.

    ¡°Well, of course I have,¡± I answer. ¡°But you could at least ask me, and not assume it.¡± He waves his hand, beckoning me to explain. ¡°It''s like this...¡±

    My new spell gun lets me store spells. Because I can now purchase extra subclasses, I got the Tower subclass from Archmage.

    Tower Archmage - You can spend additional time casting spells to empower them, spending up to 10x longer for 5x effect.

    That stacks with the Charge Caster subclass.

    Charge Caster - You can hold spells before completing the cast to empower them.

    The downside is that Charge caster increases charge time by x3, and that stacks with Tower Archmage for a total of x13 if I use both. Totally unusable during a fight, but when I''m stocking magic bullets? Sure, why not?

    I''ve also got the ability to use Ki techniques and subclass effects with spells.

    Mystic Crack Shot - Ranged attack spells now count as ranged weapon attacks, letting them take advantage of active and passive techniques.

    Before, my Hedge Rake subclass let me use active techniques with spells, but Mystic Crack Shot applies passive stuff too. Which includes:

    ---Subclasses---

    Up Close With A Knife Killer - Melee weapons (all weapons) you wield deal 10% more damage. Knives (all weapons) you wield deal 15% more damage.

    Frost Burn Chimerablood Sorcerer - Your fire and ice spell damage increases by 25%. While in negative AP your body takes on aspects of the elemental magic you use.

    Hidden Blade Assassin - Light blades (all weapons) you wield deal 25% more damage.

    Devastating Dragon Style. +25% damage. +20% area of effect.

    ---Abilities---

    Spiral Thrust

    Stab forward while twisting your weapon, adding drill-like spiral energy to your attack.

    Cost: 15 Ki Points

    Iai Strike

    Draw and strike. The draw is 30% faster and the strike deals 30% more damage.

    Cost: 30 Ki Points

    Lancing Stride

    When on foot, running and even walking attacks have more force behind them. 28% more force, to be exact.

    Passive

    Bloody Blades

    You deal 14.5% more damage to enemies in the 5 seconds after you deal damage. This effect doesn''t stack but gets refreshed if you keep attacking.

    Passive

    Headshot

    This ability increases the damage if you hit their head. If the target doesn''t have a head you''re out of luck.

    Passive

    Peerless Knives

    Your knives (all weapons) deal 46.1% more damage. Get straight to the point.

    Passive

    Injury To Insult

    You deal 33% more damage to foes under a status effect that you dealt to them. This effect doesn''t stack if you apply multiple effects to a foe, but honestly being a dick to monsters is fine, so why not?

    Passive

    Dagger Duelist

    +30% dmg when fighting a single foe.

    Passive

    Dagger Destruction

    +40% damage the first time you strike a foe with a dagger (any weapon).

    Passive

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Unstoppable Unarmed

    Your unarmed attacks (all attacks) deliver 20% more force.

    Passive

    Devastating Dagger

    Your light blades (all weapons) ignore 25% of a target''s Toughness.

    Passive

    Spell Sniper

    Double the range of a spell when you cast it.

    Cost: 10 Ki Points

    Piercing Shots

    Your ranged weapon attacks ignore 10% of the target''s Toughness.

    Passive

    Cannon Fire

    Charge up a powerful shot. The maximum increase is 5x power for a 30 second charge. Cost 20 Ki Points.

    Over Aim

    Track your target, increasing the damage of your next weapon strike by 5% for each second your aim is true.

    Passive.

    Magnum Fire

    Your next round deals 50% more damage. Cost: 30 Ki points

    Just stacking the passives boosts my spells to around 400% damage. The charge effects add to that for a total of...

    I finish by saying, ¡°uh, I think if I stack everything I get a 1,700% boost. Roughly.¡±

    ¡°Wot''s that even look like?¡± Quins wisely asks.

    I just shrug. ¡°We can go to the roof and find out.¡±

    A few minutes later we''re all on the roof, and I''m charging my bullet, then charging my gun, then firing a 1,700% Tempest Buster Rifle straight up.

    There are three key things that happen.

    One, the force pushes me back, which is straight down, through the fucking roof. Two, a ring of energy spreads out from the barrel, which knocks over everyone on the roof. Three, the neon pink beam, which is usually about 5 feet wide, is now about 50 feet wide, and travels for about a mile straight up.

    Mercy is looking down the 30 foot hole in the roof at me. ¡°Jun! You okay?¡±

    I look over at my left arm, which I fired with. It is thoroughly broken from fingers to shoulder, and looks like a crumpled up straw wrapper. It hurts a fuck ton. ¡°I don''t think I''m supposed to stack that many things!¡± I shout up at her from the 1st floor.

    -----

    Turns out a tarp big enough to cover a 30 foot hole is available at several nearby stores. Also, when creating a hole from the outside to the inside, the extra space is ignored, so the magical 3rd floor of our building is unscathed, while the ceiling of the 1st floor warehouse area needs to be fixed. I... Don''t understand the how of that scenario.

    The last thing I do to prep for the impending arena fights is visit the new system store. It just looks like an ATM, and you tap the screen to make choices. The screen is a CRT and only has four colors, red, yellow, green and black. The menus look straight out of early 80s computing.

    It has a very definite downside: it runs on equivalent exchange. Basically if you want a cool magic item, you need to give the machine a cool magic item. Or system-generated money. It''s got a scanning robot eye which scans whatever you''ve got, then offers you options for what you can trade it in for.

    I, unfortunately, have been passing most of my loot to my friends, who need it more than me. That said, I do have buckets of coins to trade in. For 450 NYC subway tokens from the Ellis Island ruins, I get offered:

    Carbide Nanoblade. A very, very sharp longsword.

    Wilson Rapier. A world class fencing rapier.

    Ring Of Solar Might. Enhances Light and Fire abilities.

    Abjuration Staff. Enhances defensive spells and chants.

    Healer''s Gloves. Enhances touch-based healing abilities.

    Ring Of Solar Might and Healer''s Gloves both sound good. This ATM doesn''t give more information so I can''t see exactly how potent each effect is. But, sigh, keeping my team alive is more important than doing damage. I pick the gloves and a drawer beneath the screen slides open, granting me my new hand wear. They''re black leather gloves with a red cross stitched across each palm.

    Healer''s Gloves. Enhances touch-based healing abilities by 25%.

    Okay, okay, that''s not too shabby! I pull out a pile of mohars from the R-32 dungeon and see what those can get me.

    Rifle Of Ill Repute. Attacks decrease the target''s Charisma.

    Dorchester Sandwich. Permanently increases your Toughness by 10.

    Wilting Whip. Attacks decrease the target''s Agility.

    Spell-Absorbing Boots. Enhancement spells cast on these boots last 24 hours.

    Pen. When used to parry any sword attack, the pen is indestructible and deals x10 damage to the offending sword.

    Without knowing what kind of rifle that is, I''m not taking the first option. And I''m not a whip guy. The pen is funny but that''s it. An extra ten Toughness isn''t horrible, but the boots give me pause. Specifically, I need to know if my Squall Steps spell counts as an enhancement spell.

    Squall Steps

    Walk, run and fly in the air. Create a cloak of storms.

    Cost: 5 Arcana Points/1 minute

    Proficiency: 414%

    I try concentrating on different key words and come up with this:

    Proficiency (Squall Steps) increases the enhancement¡¯s speed bonus. At 414% the bonus is +41 effective Agility.

    So Squall Steps is an enhancement! It doesn''t say the speed bonus is an enhancement, it calls the entire effect an enhancement! Noice! Also, I just now figured out how to find what Proficiency does for each spell and technique? Sigh. I pick the boots. This time the bottom of the machine slides open to reveal a compartment with my new foot wear.

    Spell-Absorbing Boots. Enhancement spells (yes, like Squall Steps) cast on these boots last 24 hours.

    The boots themselves are black leather, combat-style boots, but with diamond-shaped, clear gemstones right above the ankles. I slip them on and at first they''re too big, but then they magically resize to my feet. Their comfort level is acceptable, but not stellar. I''ll need some good insoles.

    To test them out, I switch to Atmos mind, cast Squall Steps on myself and look down to see the gems have become neon pink colored, just like Atmos energy. I then switch to Solar mind. Aaaaand, ¡°look Jose, I''m flying!¡±

    Jose looks unimpressed. ¡°You could already fly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but, like now I''m flying using the same powers while switched to a different power set!¡±

    He starts walking away, saying, ¡°your powers are weird.¡±

    I, however, am totally stoked that I can fly without being in Atmos mind. That opens up a LOT of combat options for me.

    Stoked. Franco liked being stoked. Franco is dead. Damn.

    Sigh. Promise to do better. Embrace the victories. Keep going.

    On to the next bucket of coins, this one a pile of Sacagaweas from the Capitol Building dungeon. It''s about 1500 bucks in gold-ish coins.

    Bracer Of Bracing. This bracer reduces knock back.

    Fine Dining Card. Use this one-time item to create a five-star restaurant''s level of food.

    Meh Scroll. A scroll that teaches you a ¡°just okay¡± ability.

    Vocal Axe. A talking axe.

    Quilt Of Coziness. Increases Etheric energy recovery while you sleep.

    So this is the kind of crap you get for 1500 bucks? I think maybe the scroll would be kind of possibly useful? Let''s hope it''s alright.

    Scroll Of The Dog Whisperer. Whoever reads this scroll gains the ability to understand what dogs are saying.

    The scroll turns to ash as I finish reading the gothic font on yellowed parchment. I am not disappointed at all. That''s awesome! Man, I totally want to get a doggo now! ...I''m gone half the week and that wouldn''t be fair to the dog. Maybe I''ll talk it over with Mercy and see if I can arrange dog sitting with Jose''s kids.

    I look around and make sure nobody is looking, then slide the pile of scroll ash to the side, where someone else can clean it up later. I hate sweeping.

    I''ve still got some gold coins from the dragon''s hoard, and offer some of those. About 1 million''s worth.

    Necklace Of Absolute Intelligence. Increases Intelligence.

    Wand Of Blazing Meteors. Casts Blazing Meteors once every hour.

    Pauldrons Of Gravity. Alters your personal gravity.

    Duck Soup, Ambrosiatic. Permanently increases your Constitution by +50.

    Chimera''s Bracelet. Has various effects based on your classes.

    Okay, okay, these all sound pretty cool. I can always use extra Intelligence. And Blazing Meteors sounds like a high level spell. Pauldrons Of Gravity I think are made to increase the weight of your blows. Plus 50 Constitution is very nice. But that bracelet... Yeah, one of the first subclasses I took was Chimerablood Sorcerer. Chimera. A multi-headed monster. A symbol of change, multiplicity, evolution. I need to know what this thing can offer me.

    I press the button and the side of the ATM pops out, then slides back. A robot arm with articulated fingers comes out, offering me to take the bracelet from the robot''s palm. The bracelet itself is half an inch thick, two inches wide and made of a black, shiny metal with an inner band of white. I grasp it and scan.

    Chimera''s Bracelet. Increases Stren-

    Then, as I''m reading the system scan info, it suddenly changes.

    Chimerablood Rise Bracelet. Chimerablood can be activated at will, but doing so drains Arcana Points. The effects of Chimerablood are greatly enhanced, depending on your stats. While Star Swarm is active, Chimerablood affects your stars.

    I slide it onto my right hand and it shrinks down to exactly the size of my wrist. I think about Chimerablood. No? Chimerablood Rise. I...

    Oh! It¡¯s working! Things are HAPPENING. Oh shit, that''s rad! Man, I gotta save this and reveal it later. This will definitely impress Mercy.

    I check my stats and they''re pretty buffed. I swap to Lunar Mind and the buffs change. Interesting. Solar is made for heavy melee weapon attacks. Lunar is made for rapid weapon strikes. Atmos is made for speed, evasion and fighting fast foes. Void seems set up for wide spread damage.

    I might as well try the last effect, right? I use Star Swarm and... Nothing happens. I think about the power and I feel something holding me back. Something that feels safe. Like I''m too safe. Not in actual danger. I can''t use Star Swarm unless I need it? I didn''t know that! Well poop on that, then.

    I come out of Chimerablood and think to ask a question from my favorite enchanted items expert, Rutger. I give them a call.

    Rutger: Yeah.

    Me: Hey Rutger! How''s it going?

    Rutger: Just about to head into the dungeon. What''s up?

    Me: Question about enchanted items. You said we slowly absorb their effects, right? But what about temporary effects? I just got a bracelet that gives me extra stats, but only sometimes.

    Rutger: Yeah, I got one like that. The absorption only happens while the effect is active, so keep the effect up as long as possible. Also, you know absorption is based on Memory, right? What''s yours at?

    Me: Fifty eight.

    Rutger: I got a double absorb speed ability at 100 Mem. You should go for that. The increased absorb rate makes it way easier to get that done.

    Me: Good tip. Also, when are you joining my team?

    Rutger: Eh, I''m still rocking it with Maddie. Maybe if she goes on vacay or something.

    We say our goodbyes and I feel like Rutger has changed. They''re not nearly as emo as they used to be. My high Wisdom tells me that I''m not the cause of that change, but also I haven''t been in the way of it either. Maybe I helped a little, maybe. Either way it makes me glad. Rutger deserves to not be emo. They have every right to be emo, but they don''t deserve it.

    At any rate, I''ve got enough free stat points to push my Memory to 102, and I do so.

    Notice! You have reached 100 Memory, and are offered the following choice: Eidetic or Magical.

    Eidetic - You gain an Eidetic memory, otherwise known as a photographic memory.

    Magical - Your enchanted item effect absorption rate is increased by 100%.

    I grab that Magical Memory power and try poking my menus to find any info on absorption rates. It only shows up when I scan the M3 Mongoose and I think about the word absorbed.

    M3 Combat Knife With Mongoose enchantment. +5 Dexterity, Agility and Reflexes. (62% absorbed) Known for their ability to fight snakes, the Mongoose is basically a very angry squirrel.

    Absorption rate: 0.1999 points per day.

    I do some math on the much more potent Chimerablood Rise Bracelet. I''d have to keep Chimerablood Rise active for years to absorb just the effects of one of these new forms. Absorbing 1 point per 5 days from other stuff is fine, I guess. Hey, free points, right?

    Absorbed points cannot exceed your base stats.

    You know, I''m beginning to think this system is a huge dick. You know what Dracosys? Imma fuck you up, then we''ll see who''s putting downer messages in my brain! It''ll just be me! ...Wait.