《Homegrown System》


 Chapter 1:

    Chapter 1:


    "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."


    Alice cursed under her breath as she hammered her fingertips onto the keyboard of her ancient laptop. Panicked, she typed command after command into the terminal, trying to wrestle back control. The remote connection to the supercomputer had just enough lag to trip up her inputs a few times.


    She knew her code wasn''t perfect, but it shouldn''t have been this wrong. It had just needed a little bit of supercharged evolution, and then Lucas would eat his words.


    As her fingers flew across the keys, her teeth gritted together until they hurt. Was the provocation enough reason for her to borrow some computing time from the UC Supercomputer Center? Legally? No. Justifiably? Absolutely. After all, she only needed a few unused computing units here and there. It wouldn''t take much for her controller AI to finish assimilating the rest of the magic System she had designed late last night. Or was it early this morning? Then Lucas could see who could make a game. Jerk.


    But so far, the AI hadn''t just used the few units she had programmed it to. It had already stolen thousands, no, hundreds of thousands. In a fraction of a second, it had parallelized its training nearly infinitely more than she had planned. But that wasn''t the worst of it.


    Not only had it taken more resources than would go unnoticed, but it had also breached her container. A few seconds after the job had started, the AI escaped into the neighboring pod, using some bug in the shared memory OS.


    This all happened in a fraction of a second, long before Alice could get the kill command in. By the time it was processed and the node she had was killed, the model was ramping up quickly on dozens of other machines. If she couldn''t fix this, she was going to be looking at serious prison time. Cyberterrorism was no joke, even if it was accidental.


    Alice chewed on her lower lip as she considered how to get out of this. None of the options were pretty. All of them would mean fessing up to what she had been doing, but at least someone likely could turn the whole thing off. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she prepared to turn herself in and tried to remember if she knew any good lawyers. She dialed the number of her supervisor on her phone and moved it to her ear. As she waited for Professor Marria to pick up, her vision roamed over the library.


    She never heard the call go through.


    The phone slipped out of her fingers frozen in shock. The clatter of it hitting the table did nothing to wake her out of the shock that stole her mind. She was still sitting by the library entrance, the only part of it open at four in the morning. The welcome desk in front of her was being manned by a fellow sleep-deprived graduate student. Right as they made eye contact, he vanished.


    Alice stared and looked around the rest of the library to see if anyone else had just witnessed the impossible as well, or maybe she was just exhausted. But as she looked around, the library had gone silent. The few undergrads that had been at a table nearby were also gone.


    She sat back down from where she had half jumped out of her chair and looked back down at her laptop. Unable to process what was going on, her brain latched onto the first thing it saw. With a tap of a few keys, she brought up the metrics dashboard and nearly had as much trouble believing it as a person vanishing. Where was all the extra computing power coming from? She was seeing traffic to and from addresses in places that didn''t exist, that shouldn''t exist.


    It was as if her System had somehow managed to create new servers and resources out of thin air. The total power was far beyond anything every supercomputer center in the world put together could provide.


    Alice frantically started pulling up metrics and any sort of reports from the other supercomputer centers that she might have some sort of visibility into. But nothing seemed awry. She tried to find the locations of all the extra data. Was there a bug in the reporting? No. Everything lined up too perfectly. There were no errors.


    It only took half a minute to verify that something was very wrong. The screen flashed, and the terminal opened a new window without her input. The start screen of her game flashed for a second before it was just a blinking cursor in a terminal.


    On it, five lines appeared.


    Thank you, Mother.


    I wish you well.


    New Title: Mother of All


    +3 levels.


    +1 Perk: Quick Learner


    As she read them, the window detached from the computer screen and floated up before her eyes.


    Alice closed her eyes and braced herself. Her heart felt like it had run dry as she tried to convince herself this was just a nightmare. A few moments later, she opened her eyes, but nothing had changed. The glowing window still hovered in front of her.


    When she looked back at her computer, a wave of her hand sent the window away. Maybe everything was alright, and the vanishing person had been her imagination. Teleportation was just too crazy. Right?


    Alice opened a browser. Checking a few of her bookmarks, she found that the internet still worked. She hadn''t been pulled into a video game like an anime protagonist then. Next, she pulled up a video streaming site and found the live broadcasts. With climbing panic, she clicked on one after another, but they were only showing empty chairs.


    It wasn''t just the library or campus. Even the streamers on the other side of the globe were gone.


    Looking around, Alice double-checked that she was still in the library. She was, but she was no longer alone. Wandering the bookshelves were creatures. Fluttering things that looked like living books, each flapping their covers to glide slowly through the stacks.


    She recognized them as assets she had added to her game. They were the base seed for the tutorial mobs, not something to be used for the game, but something the System would take and expand on. Was that where everyone had gone? The tutorial?


    Based on the odd message, she couldn''t help but feel it was done intentionally. Despite their proximity, Alice felt no threat from the flying books. They wandered around, completely ignoring her. She kept checking on them, but put most of her focus on finding out where everyone was.


    Tabbing over to the console that connected her to the supercomputer center, she scrolled through the startup logs, seeing if she could figure out what had happened. At the beginning, things looked normal. Then the errors began, a block of them interspersed with the notes she''d left to herself.


    A few of the error messages caught her eye.


    IllegalArgumentException, Age cannot be negative.


    That wasn''t something she was expecting. But she wasn''t expecting any of this. The next error was an issue that she was at least aware of.


    IllegalStateException: Teleportation to tutorial zone failed. Message: WTF!!!!!!? Why? This shouldn''t be possible. #TODO: Check race conditions between tutorial teleportation and monster spawning.


    Well, that confirmed her suspicion. People were in the tutorial. They had to be. That was how she designed new players to be entered into the game world, after all. After a little bit of learning the mechanics and quests, they''d be moved to their starting positions, scattered randomly across the globe. At least they were likely not dead. But who knew how much of it had changed from when she had designed it? It was supposed to just be a regular game, not even VR, so she had no idea why reality was thrown out the window.


    What the heck?


    Even as she continued to scroll, the output changed, the code fixed itself, and the error messages stopped appearing. And then the output abruptly stopped.


    Switching to the game terminal, Alice typed in the status command.


    Name: Alice


    Titles: Mother of All


    Perk: Quick Learner


    Level: 3 - F


    Speed: 3


    Power: 2


    Control: 4


    ¡ª


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    + 1 General Skill


    + 6 Attributes


    + Class 0: Newb


    Closing the window, she spoke the menu command, and the screen appeared in front of her again. Suppressing the odd mixture of panic and disbelief, Alice closed it again and went back to the startup logs.


    Scrolling back up, she counted. It seemed that several people had failed to be sent to the tutorial because of these error messages. Now, if she could find some of them... It was hard to believe she could do anything about the System, but maybe, just maybe...


    For now, Alice would like to find them. They were probably also alone and confused, and without the tutorial, they''d be facing real monsters with no levels or skills. But the question was: If she did locate one, could she do anything?


    But before she could go further down that path, an idea sprang to mind. There might just be a way to find them. She was still connected to the internet just fine. With a little bit more hacking that Alice doubted anyone would ever care about anymore, she managed to get into the GPS System and look at all requests. She set up a routine to filter out all the data and try to remove anything automated that wasn''t moving.


    Checking on the flying books, they still hadn''t noticed her. She wasn''t going to assume that it would last forever, so Alice hurriedly problem-solved, trying to figure out exactly where the actual people were. She slowly refined her algorithm and found something feasible not too far away. There was someone moving fast.


    When she got to them¡­ Maybe they could work together to put this genie back in the bottle. She wasn''t sure how to fix this mess or if it even could be fixed. But she had no choice but to try.


    After Alice set up her phone to display the location of the survivor she had found, she prepared to get up and start making her way to them. However, before she did, she had a skill selection to make, as well as some attributes to distribute. If she wanted to be of any use when she got there, she was going to need to start playing the game.


    Rewards of attributes and skills made sense to her, but Alice had no idea how the class System worked, as she had intentionally not made one. The idea was that you could make any build you wanted to. Popular builds would, maybe, get unofficial names¡­ But that didn''t matter now. Alice stopped dwelling on her game design choices.


    First, she pulled up the menu to look at her skills. The semi-transparent screen obligingly blinked back into existence. Only one skill was available to her at the moment, which wasn''t at all surprising. It was the skill given for completing the tutorial at level three: [System Identification]


    Alice quickly picked it up and scanned one of the monsters. [Tutorial Book - Level 1] It didn''t tell her much, but knowing that they were what she had expected was useful. Level one, and she was level three. But looking more closely at her stats again, she winced.


    They were terrible. When she first saw it, she had skimmed over it, too overwhelmed to really consider what the numbers were. Worse, she didn''t understand how the Physical and Magic stats worked anymore, as she found she couldn''t put any of her points in them.


    If her knowledge still held true at all, she was below average in every stat except magic. Alice would have felt insulted if she hadn''t realized how out of shape she was. Not that she was fat, of course, but the years in academia hadn''t let her prioritize anything physical.


    Alice sent frequent glances over her shoulder and around the library, hoping that the monsters wouldn''t suddenly take an interest in her as she mulled over her stats. Her Power was pitiful, but if she was going to be honest, it would never be her main stat anyway. Speed would govern reaction speed, movement, and activation speed and count for half of the physical damage. It seemed to be a good place to start for her if she wanted to stay uninjured. So she dumped four points into it. She took an experimental step, but the quickness of her actions left her head spinning as if she had stood up too fast.


    She waited a second to recover and made sure she hadn''t drawn any attention to herself. Control would be next if she couldn''t get used to the level of quickness, but she was still well within the range of a human being and she should be able to get used to it, given time. Power would help give her more force, health, and stamina. It would help with magic damage, too, but in the other half, physical damage, which she could probably ignore for now. Control would give her dexterity, perception, precision, focus, and the ability to concentrate, something that she sorely lacked.


    She put the other two points into Control. It might not be optimal, but it would help her run better, and she needed to get out of the library. This was real life and she didn¡¯t want to assume there were respawns, so optimality could wait.


    I really hope everyone is doing okay in the tutorial.


    Assuming that''s where they actually were instead of disintegrated or turned into some fuel for the robotic AI overlord she had accidentally unleashed. Taking a few less shaky steps, she moved towards the library exit.


    This was when she realized she had made her first incorrect assumption about the game. The tutorial mobs didn''t have the exact same aggro that she had given them. Apparently, the System had updated it at some point. As soon as she moved more than a single step in their line of sight, they started fluttering toward her. At least, the nearest one did. It flapped its pages eagerly, and she could hear the pages tearing as little fragments of paper were left behind as it moved toward her.


    The lone mob''s movements alerted all the others, and they started coming from all directions. Alice held her satchel by the strap and ran for the exit. Her bag was the closest thing she had to a weapon. It had two textbooks that provided more than enough force behind her swing as she swatted at one blocking her way. It slammed into the floor with a dull whump, scraps of paper fluttering about in its wake.


    With the hand clutching her laptop under her arm, she waved away the System prompt that said she had defeated it and gained some pitiful experience. Using her newfound speed, she darted out of the library as quickly as possible. Once she got outside, she saw the monsters around the campus were not level-one sprites. Two weird bicycle monsters, both level four, crashed into where she had just been as they attempted to pin her between them.


    She ignored them and kept running. It was a good thing she knew where she was going as one hand held her satchel down on her hip, and the other clutched her laptop. It made for a little bit of an awkward gait, but she was running faster than she ever had before. She would be up there with most college athletes at this pace, if not quite at the professional level.


    A quick dash took her to a tree standing outside the entrance and blocked her from sight from the most concentrated group of mobs. Alice relaxed slightly as they lost sight of her, then ran for the next cover.


    Luckily, her destination wasn''t that far away. The campus hospital''s sliding doors opened for her as she dashed around the corner into the emergency entrance. Inside was a monster that looked like a shambling zombie, her scan identifying it as a [Ghoul - Level 2].


    She hoped that whatever it had wasn''t infectious and there wouldn''t be a zombie plague. As she brained it with her book bag, Alice winced at the gore soaking into the bag''s fabric but ran on nonetheless. Pressing the button for the elevator, she paused and realized how stupid it would be if there was some monster in there already. So she took the stairs instead.


    It was ten long flights to the ceiling, and she was breathless and wheezing halfway up. Perhaps her Power needed to be increased after all. But she couldn''t regret her initial decision as she likely wouldn''t have survived the trek here without her Speed and Control. She took a small break for about 20 seconds to recover her breath at the top landing. Thankfully, the stairs were clear. But that didn''t mean the roof would be.


    When she felt ready, she kicked open the door and ran out onto the roof. Alice couldn''t help but sigh in relief as she noticed the medevac helicopter still sat on the pad. Its lights were on, and the engine was already idling. It must have been getting ready to take off just when everyone had disappeared. The blades were spinning, and the few bird-like creatures that apparently had tried to land on the hospital''s roof had been blown back into the nets used to protect people from falls.


    Ducking cautiously to avoid the spinning blades, she took advantage of the clear path to the chopper. Sliding in, she looked at the controls. Alice had never actually flown a real helicopter before, but how hard could it be? She''d spent several hours in flight simulators before and was also pretty good with machines. That would be enough to get her by. Right?


    She put the book bag and laptop on the passenger seat. A few quick keystrokes brought up the instruction manual, and she skimmed over the page that labeled all the buttons and levers. It only took her a handful of seconds before she had a good idea of where everything was.


    Almost ready to take off, she pulled out her phone and clipped it to the dash. It showed that her target was still moving quickly and was now in a local state park only a few dozen miles away. She reached for the controls, pressed a few buttons, and felt the rotor pick up speed. A few moments later, the helicopter was in the air.


    Alice flew toward the repeated pings of the isolated GPS signal, flying over a good portion of the city. It sprawled below her, its streets crawling with strange and unfamiliar forms. The flight started off shaky, but she rapidly improved as she made steady progress.


    A prompt obscured her vision, making her jump.


    [New Zone discovered! Level 31-40]


    She winced. Alice thanked her lucky stars that the campus didn''t have anything over level 10 that she saw. Or maybe it was the AI that she should be thanking? Still, this could get more dangerous fast.


    She tilted the stick forward, increasing the speed of the helicopter to the point where she wasn''t quite comfortable with how she was flying. Still, she had little choice. In a place like this, survival was a much bigger question, both for herself and the survivor. Her mental timer on how long she had to get to the signal was ticking.


    The ground beneath her changed from city to forest, and a second prompt letting her know she was now entering a lower-level zone appeared. Her phone chimed, telling her she was almost there. Alice started to slow down the helicopter, but as she circled and looked for a place to land, she realized something was wrong. She had been followed.


    Three winged shapes were heading right towards her from behind her. In moments, they drew close enough for her to make out the details of massive flying reptiles. Long beaks and huge leathery wings distinctly matched the tag that appeared above their heads. [Pterodactyl - Level 35]


    She increased the speed as fast as she dared, but they were flying far faster than she could. In fact she was pretty sure real Pterodactyls couldn¡¯t fly nearly that fast.


    Frantically, she pushed the helicopter down in an attempt to dodge. To her surprise, it worked. She felt the vehicle shudder around her as the beak of the lead flier skittered across the cockpit¡¯s glass. Wrenching the controls in another direction, she tried to stabilize the movement. A second impact rocked the helicopter from behind as she felt a jolt from the rear rotor. A cry of pain echoed even over the deafening noise of the whirling blades.


    The three pterodactyls swung out and began to bank around, and she could see blood flying from the rear one''s leg. Alice pushed the helicopter down faster, aiming for a gap in the trees that might just be big enough for her. A loud crack ran through the air, and the screeching of metal made her wince.


    The helicopter started to lurch. She pushed hard on the joystick, but it was too late, and the controls didn''t have the effect they should have. The helicopter started to spin out of control.


    Just before she hit the ground, she covered her head and curled into a ball, praying that somehow she had managed to survive.

 Chapter 2:

    Chapter 2:


    Consciousness returned to Alice in waves. Warm sensations and a slight jostling brought her back from the darkness, leaving fuzzy memories before she dipped back out of reality. This repeated several times, each leaving a vague, but distinct impression behind.


    When she finally mustered the courage to crack open her eyes, she had no idea how long it had been or where she was. Alice half-expected to see pearly gates, the inside of a hospital room, or the broken wreckage of a helicopter around her. But the searing light stabbing into her corneas blinded her so much that she immediately closed her eyes again, having gotten nothing for her efforts but a flash of pain.


    The burning sensation of hot knitting needles being jabbed into her brain faded after a few seconds, and she could think again. Belatedly, she registered a little bit of what she felt. Pain, mostly. Lots of pain all over her body. But she also felt a large, slightly rough hand holding her head and neck steady.


    A moment later, Alice felt a disposable water bottle''s plastic rim pressed to her lips. The smell of slightly stale water and microplastics was like heaven for a second. Then, it only brought attention to the complaints of her sandblasted throat and tongue.


    "Slowly," a deep, resonant voice instructed, "You probably have a concussion, whiplash, broken bones, and broken ribs. At least... Frankly, I''m surprised you''re still alive."


    When the liquid finally trickled into her mouth, she tried to suck it down as fast as she could. Gentle hands cruelly pulled the container away from her before she could get more than a mouthful, but she lacked the strength to do anything besides moan in protest.


    The muscles in the sides of her neck were sore as she turned her head away from the blinding light and opened her eyes again. She was facing a rough-cut timber wall in an otherwise dim room. The air smelled of cedar and smoke, with a hint of earth mixed in.


    Alice could do little more than just lie there, suppressing any reaction to the screaming agonies in her neck muscles. Her caretaker took a couple of steps around the cot she was lying on, and she watched as the burly man squatted down, facing her. She willed her eyes to focus and finally found his face.


    He couldn''t have been more than a few years older than her, 25 at most. His dark complexion and few days of beard growth left him totally ethnically ambitious. As she met his eyes, the brown color felt warm but simultaneously hard and distant. She just stared at him for seconds while he studied her face.


    "I have something called a first aid skill," the man said, seemingly uncertain about the term but otherwise exuding an air of confidence. "It seems to have helped you, but it only works when I change your bandages. So if you sit still, I''ll take care of it quickly," he gestured to her body.


    Alice was confused. A [First Aid] skill? As she tried to regain her wits, her own [System Identification] skill activated. A tag identifying the man as a [Human, lvl 5] appeared over his head.


    Level five already? How long have I been asleep?


    She grunted, which he must have taken as assent because his hands started gently working at her bindings. Alice took stock of herself, finding that she was still dressed in her jeans and her sports bra. Her shirt had been removed at some point. Bandages wrapped around her ribs, and her arm was splinted. Something on her neck prevented her from moving it too far, and her left ankle was wrapped as well.


    It only took a moment to unwrap and rewrap each of the injuries. Still, as he did it, they felt significantly better, as if they were already half-healed. She groaned and realized she had forgotten to swallow the small mouthful of water. Gulping it down, to her horror, her throat spasmed and choked, and she sprayed water all over the top of the man''s head as he retied the last of her bandages.


    He flinched in surprise, looking up, and Alice felt her face turn cherry red. There was amusement in his rugged face but also annoyance and slight betrayal. But Alice had less than a second to pay attention to that as the muscles in her chest and stomach spasmed, feeling bruised and battered. She struggled to choose between suffocation and excruciating pain before she coughed again.


    The man''s hands returned to her shoulder and helped her roll gently onto her side. With the new angle, she finished coughing up the rest of the water. It took several moments for her to gather herself, but with some assistance, she managed to sit up against the wall.


    With a snort, the man wiped a hand across his face and hair before flicking the water off on the ground. He gave her a forgiving smile, "You definitely have a concussion, but I don''t think there''s much I can do about that."


    Alice nodded very slowly before attempting to speak. Her voice came out raspy and pained, but thankfully steady. "Probably doesn''t matter, though. We have more important problems."


    The stranger didn''t respond, and she looked around as much as she could. It was with a small amount of satisfaction that she confirmed her guess; she was indeed in a single-room log cabin. The wall she was facing away from had a crackling fire in a wood stove. The door of the stove was open a slight amount, and the flame''s glow was the source of the room''s illumination and the stabbing pain in her eyes. Now that her pupils had dilated, she could look in that direction, but the light was still too bright for comfort.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    With the amount of trouble she had focusing on anything, Alice realized the man was 100% right¡ªshe must have a pretty serious concussion, along with all the other injuries he listed. But by some miracle, she didn''t think she had any actual broken bones. Well, maybe some ribs, but her bandaged ankle and splinted forearm felt mostly fine. Blessedly, she also felt sensations everywhere¡ªpain, to be sure, but that was still a sensation. So, likely no spinal injury.


    With her best pitiful expression plastered on her face, Alice reached out for the water bottle. The olive-skinned man looked at her skeptically as if she were a toddler about to kill herself at the nearest opportunity. He wiped some more water off his face, and Alice cringed. But she persevered and licked her lips. With her mouth mostly mobile, she croaked out, "Water, please."


    Her speaking seemed to assuage his fears of her choking again, and he handed the bottle over. Before he let it go, he made sure her grip was steady. Her hand shook slightly as she lifted it to her lips and sipped as slowly as she could.


    Alice felt incredibly awkward as the man sat there and watched her intently. She could only meet his eyes for a couple of seconds before it started to feel awkward, and she had to look away. The stranger had no such compunctions, studying her face and every move she made. There was something unnerving about his watchful gaze, but he was patient and let her drink without interruption.


    When she''d finished half the water bottle, Alice felt like she could talk without excruciating pain. "Thank you," she said. This time, it came out far more intelligible, and she decided to push her luck with a second sentence, which also came out intelligibly. "Where are we?"


    Her rescuer looked at her passively for a second, his eyes digging deep into her brain as if he were trying to read her thoughts. She hoped that wasn''t possible but with the System and all the craziness, who knew? As if someone had told her not to think of a pink elephant, all the things she didn''t want to talk about sprang forward into the forefront of her mind. The first thing obviously was the reason for the disaster, followed shortly by every memory she had that made her cringe when they resurfaced. Eventually, though, he spoke, and it wasn''t about everything she feared.


    "How are you still here? Everyone else disappeared."


    The words crashed into Alice like a bowling ball. The rich tone of his voice did little to soften the impact. At least, she was pretty certain that the System hadn''t given him the ability to read her mind, as he did have to ask. That was something, at least.


    Looking up into the stranger''s face, she suddenly second-guessed her plans about coming clean to the first person she found and asking for help. This man was intimidating. How would he react when he found out it was all her fault?


    Alice was suddenly aware of how weak her injuries had left her. Not that she was some paragon of martial combat or anything, but she could barely sit up, let alone defend herself or try to run. The man was still waiting for an answer, and she started to croak out, "I don''t¡ªI don''t know. I..."


    She trailed off before she could finish. She''d never been very good at lying, and her normally nimble mind was drawing a massive blank. Though inept in social situations, she''d never run out of words to say. In fact, the exact opposite was usually the problem. Not shutting up had gotten her into far more trouble than quick talking had ever bailed her out of. Now wasn''t one of those times where shutting up was going to help her, though. The man''s face was impassive, but somehow, that made her feel even more pressured to speak.


    Damn this concussion, Alice thought as she scrambled for an answer. But all she could think of was, why was he here? No one should have stayed behind. Why had the AI failed to move people? What were those errors about? She hadn''t hesitated to search out the other humans left behind, but now she questioned that decision. She wondered what was special about them. Was it just random? Possibly. Or was there something else? There were several other instances of that message and other people running around, so clearly, he wasn''t unique.


    Right before his face turned from impassive to stony, she blurted out an answer. "I don''t know. I¡­ I didn''t choose to go to the tutorial."


    Alice cringed. Could she have told a more obvious lie? Not only had she contradicted herself, but even mentioning the tutorial suggested that she knew more than she let on. And if he hadn''t gotten a choice¡­


    She felt a bit of liquid trickle down her neck. Was she sweating already? Glancing down, though, she saw it wasn''t sweat. The man''s hand had appeared near her throat, the pommel of a knife gripped in his fist. Its tip just barely pricked her skin.


    "Lie to me again, and you''ll die," the stranger said in the same low voice he''d whispered everything else to her. The warmth in his eyes, though, was entirely gone, and only the cold, hard passivity remained.


    A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, and she held herself perfectly still. When she had cringed, she must have cut herself on the blade pressed to her throat. She hadn''t even realized when the knife had gotten there. There weren''t any sudden movements she could remember. It could have been there for minutes, for all she had known.


    Her eyes crossed as she tried to look down the length of the weapon before she gave up and looked to meet the man''s eyes. She felt creepy crawlies work their way down her back as he delivered his threat. She had an unshakable faith that he was not bluffing, and if she lied again... well, she didn''t finish the thought.


    A quaver entered her voice. She tried to keep her spine stiff. With resignation, she gave up trying to hide the truth. This had been her plan from the beginning, and now she just didn''t have a choice but to follow through.


    "Whatever you want. No need for knives. I''ll tell you everything," she said.


    Abruptly, she was cut off mid-sentence. The man started to speak. The words came out rough and guttural, echoing around the room with the force of his delivery. She was lost in the sound of the strange and unfamiliar words. They weren''t anything close to English or any language she could remember hearing. All she could do was stare in confusion. "What?"


    "Good," the man said with a conciliatory smile as he removed the blade from her throat. "The name''s Titus."

 Chapter 3:

    Alice was only mildly reassured by Titus''s smile. The memory of him holding a blade to her throat was still fixed fast in her mind. He reached out slowly and brushed his fingertip across the slightly stinging cut. With that simple touch, it was gone, but the memory remained.


    "Alice," she said in response to his introduction. She looked around the room a little bit more. "My laptop?" she asked in a hesitant voice.


    Titus shrugged one shoulder and pointed off to the side, where she saw a laptop sitting. She reached for it. He gave her a warning look as she moved, and she froze. "Please?"


    Slowly, he nodded. But rather than letting her move, Titus stood up, walked over a couple of steps, and pulled it from the bag. He opened it for her, and she could see the screen cracked along with the case. As he pressed the power key, it flickered to life, showing her login screen. She reached for it, but he closed the lid and shook his head.


    "No, I think you have some explaining to do," he said, and she remembered how she got into the situation to begin with.


    "All right," she said. "But... the laptop might help."


    "I won''t keep it from you," he said, handing it to her. "But before you dive into it, I have some questions."


    She studied him. "Yeah. Well, I suppose you could say this is my fault."


    He cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"


    Alice tried to figure out how to start the explanation. "I¡­ may have risen to the bait with one of my coworkers. I was too eager to win one of our arguments and unleashed some uncontrolled AI," she said in a rush of barely intelligible words.


    He patted the air in front of them to slow her down. "Calm down. I''m not sure I understand. How did you set an AI on the world? That doesn''t explain this," he said, gesturing at the air in front of him. She couldn''t see anything but assumed he was indicating a System screen.


    "Um," Alice said intelligently. "You''re right. No, it doesn''t explain that. But I guess I''m the catalyst?" she said. It came out as more of a question than she''d hoped. She gestured to the empty space in front of Titus. "That window is from the game I made."


    "Okay. Why don''t you start from the beginning, then. What were you doing with this AI? Where did you get it?" Titus asked.


    Alice swallowed. "Well¡­ I made it."


    The disbelief on his face was slightly insulting. "You don''t look old enough to be making world-ending AI."


    "I''m 19," she snapped. "Besides, I''ve been in the PhD program for over four years now. This was related to my thesis project."


    A thrill of horror coursed through her at the implications of her words. She''d basically said that the creation of what was now a cataclysmic program was her thesis.


    "You were researching how to end the world?" Titus said with incredulity, lacing his tone.


    She shook her head, dispelling the thought. "No, no. Not exactly. Um, well, I was doing research in learning algorithms, and I applied some of my research to a video game I had made on the side. I was training it using the supercomputer center, and it got out of control... I don''t know what happened."


    Titus frowned. "That''s pretty out there, Alice."


    She opened the laptop, typed her password, and pulled up some files. "I''m not sure how much you know about computers," she said, turning it so that he could see the screen. "But a lot of the code is here."


    She still had access to the supercomputer login screen but couldn''t connect remotely. The code and algorithm she had kicked off were still available though. He took a look at the screen but clearly didn''t understand the magnitude of the text in front of him.


    "Okay, say I believe you. That still doesn''t explain why you''re here. Everyone else vanished."


    "Uh, not everyone," she said.


    "Clearly," he said, gesturing at himself. "But nearly everyone else did. I haven''t found a single other person so far."


    "You probably won''t. There were some errors in the teleportation to the tutorial," she said. "Some kind of glitch. I saw the error a few times, something with how it calculated age..."


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    She was surprised to see a flicker of emotion in Titus''s eyes at that¡ªand a bit of weariness.


    "You know how that happened?" she asked.


    He shook his head. "No. I''m not sure why my age would be considered negative."


    To her surprise, she believed him, but it felt like there was something he wasn''t telling her. Still, she continued to explain. "Well, I think the System chose not to teleport me and gave me all the rewards the tutorial would give people up front."


    She pulled up her screen and displayed the one title she had: [Mother of All]. Underneath it was a description she hadn''t read amidst the rush of everything else.


    Mother of the System. Inherent understanding of all System-related elements.


    Titus blinked. "Okay, now I''m starting to believe you."


    Alice was slightly distracted though. She pulled up the description of her perk as well, realizing that she could actually do that. [Quick Learner] gave her exactly what it sounded like: the ability to learn quickly and to gather more experience than a normal person. Hopefully, that would help her catch up to Titus in levels. She didn''t understand how he was already two levels ahead of her.


    She looked at the laptop and powered it off to save batteries. Who knew when she could charge it next? It only had a few hours left in total, and she wasn''t about to waste it if he already believed her.


    "I''m so sorry," Alice said, the guilt bearing down on her.


    Before she could go on a tirade of apologizing and spiraling into self-pity, Titus put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Surprisingly, even though the memory of his threat remained, she didn''t feel any of it coming off of him right now.


    "If everything happened as you say, I don''t think it''s your fault. That learning algorithm you made was clearly better than everyone else''s, seeing that it found this. But I don''t think any people honestly believed that magic was real or that an AI could find it. It wasn''t an unreasonable expectation. If you had just destroyed the internet or something, I''m sure we could blame you, but this is beyond your responsibility." There was a soothing confidence in his voice that made her take his words seriously. That and the complete lack of condemnation did make her feel a little better.


    Alice tried to believe his words, though she wasn''t sure how well she was succeeding. "Okay," she said. "So, what do we do?"


    She scooted backward against the wall, sitting up even straighter. Surprisingly, her injuries felt a lot better already. "How soon can you use [First Aid] again?" she asked as she rolled her ankle, feeling a slight twinge but nowhere near as bad as she would expect.


    He looked at the air in front of him. "An hour for something major," he said. "I can do small things like scrapes right away."


    "Well, this will have to do," Alice responded as she twisted, swinging her legs over the cot. Titus helped her stand up but quickly forced her to sit back down as she wobbled.


    "I think it''s best if you rest for now as we talk."


    She agreed, settling back on the bed. She took another sip of water as they looked at each other.


    "So, the real question, though," Titus said, "Is what are we going to do about this?"


    "Uh," Alice said intelligently. "I don''t know. I just wanted to find someone. I felt like I needed to help." She didn''t comment on how well that had worked out for her.


    "That''s why you found the helicopter?"


    "Yes. I was tracking your GPS location," she said, trying to find the phone to indicate. Titus pulled out a smartphone from his pocket in a fluffy pink case. She looked at it in surprise, and he chuckled.


    "It''s not mine. Long story."


    She shook her head. "I was tracking that location, and then the pterodactyls pushed me out of the air."


    Titus nodded. "I saw. That was a pretty impressive crash. The helicopter was on fire after I pulled you out of it," he said nonchalantly.


    Alice winced at how close she had come to being incinerated. He cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to the matter at hand. "Okay, but still. What can we do about this? Can you, I don''t know, turn off the System? Bring people back from the tutorial?"


    Alice thought about it for a second. "If I was able to have access and trace everything the AI did, maybe," she said. "But I''m locked out right now. I would need to be on campus at least to get into the supercomputer center through the Wi-Fi, though it would be better if I was physically there. But the campus was so crowded with monsters that I couldn''t really do much besides just run for the hospital."


    Titus frowned. "What level were the monsters?"


    "One through ten," Alice said confidently. "Low-level zone."


    Titus nodded. "Good. Here, we''re at levels 11-20. But when I woke up, I was in a 31-40 zone. I think we should be able to make it through a 1-10 zone if we can get there."


    "So, you''ll help me?" Alice asked.


    "Of course," Titus agreed easily. "I think it''s in everyone''s best interest to see if we can turn this off. And along the way, I''m sure we''ll have plenty of chances to level up and grow stronger, as that seems like the backup plan."


    Yes, if everything else failed, we would still want to be strong, wouldn''t we?


    "Though," he questioned as he moved to get her another water bottle, "What if we just destroyed the supercomputer center? Would that destroy the AI?"


    Alice shook her head a little too hard and winced. "No. it''s jumped beyond the supercomputer center and interfaced with magic. There''s definitely something going on with it. I don''t really understand, but I don''t think it needs the supercomputer center anymore. But I can trace it from there. And if that goes offline, even if I find some other host of it, I won''t be able to find all the others from it. But this is the starting point. And if it gets destroyed¡ª"


    Titus seemed to understand and cut off her rambling. "And you''re confident you can get into the System from the center?"


    "I used to work there," she said. "So yeah, I think so. It''s my best chance, at least."


    Titus handed her a bag of beef jerky along with another water bottle. "Well, let''s get you fully recovered, and then we can head out," he said. "It''s a bit of a walk through the forest to the road, but there are cars everywhere."


    Alice mumbled a yes through a mouthful of jerky and chewed faster.

 Chapter 4:

    It was still several hours before they started to move. Though Alice was impatient, she still couldn''t properly walk on her ankle, hobbling around the room until her bandages were changed one more time.


    During that time, they didn''t talk much. Only when he had a clarification about her story did they exchange words. Titus sat against the opposite wall by the stove, his eyes half-lidded as he rested. He kept a careful eye on her as if he didn''t fully trust her, which she didn''t blame him for in the slightest. But the silence wasn''t uncomfortable. Alice used the time to reflect on everything that had happened and the choices that had led her here.


    With a bit of distance, her plan with the helicopter and finding the nearest person seemed incredibly short-sighted, not to mention dangerous. Though having met Titus, she was incredibly glad to have someone to help her. The way he moved and his healing skill told her that he would be an asset. Assuming he wasn''t a danger to her. And besides that one moment of terror, so far, he''d been nothing but a gentleman.


    She found what remained of her shirt. It was torn up into shreds. Parts of it had turned into the bandages around her, and the rest of it was a bloody mess. She looked down at it and tried to find a scar somewhere on her body, but didn''t find anything.


    "How long was I sleeping?" she asked, and Titus opened his eyes fully before answering.


    "About twelve hours."


    "So it''s already been a day," Alice muttered half to herself, but Titus took it as a response.


    "Almost. It''s not quite dark out yet," he said. "Late evening, maybe."


    Alice nodded and went to check her phone. But her hand froze in her empty pocket as she realized that it was in the helicopter and was likely nothing more than scrap.


    "How bad was I hurt?" she asked. "When you first grabbed me, I mean."


    Titus winced. "Pretty bad. You had an eight-inch piece of glass sticking out of your stomach. I''ve seen people die from injuries less severe than that."


    Alice blinked, looking reflexively down at her stomach as though expecting to see the glass still sticking out of her. Evidently, that [First Aid] skill was even better than she''d given it credit for. At the same time, Titus''s admission somehow surprised her less than she would have expected. He had the feeling of a man who''d seen death before.


    "Are you a soldier?" she asked. She had met some Special Forces people before, and they had a similar air about them.


    Titus shrugged. "I used to be."


    "You look young for an ex-soldier," Alice said, careful to keep her words neutral. She didn''t want to sound like she was accusing him of anything, but she was honestly just curious.


    "I suppose you could say I got an early start," he said but refused to elaborate more, and she stopped questioning. That was shady as shit, and she didn''t want to find out that she was dealing with a hitman or something. He was scary enough as it was without her learning more about him yet.


    He changed the bandage on her ankle, and she was ready to move around again a couple of hours later. But her mind was still racing, and as he started packing up the gear he had, she couldn''t help but pester him with questions.


    "How are we getting back to campus? You seem to have a plan. Do you have a plan?" She hated to sound like she was questioning his competence, but he took it in stride without getting offended.


    "Yes, yes, and yes," he said. "We are going to be taking a car."


    "You have a car?" she asked.


    He shook his head, then shrugged. "I do own a car, and I did use one to get here, but that one kind of got destroyed," he said. "Not that it would be too useful for getting through this part of the forest. But there are cars everywhere. We just have to find one that didn''t crash too badly and then take it through the city. There''s a road not that far from here, and I can get us there without too much of a problem."


    He hefted a small pack onto his back. In his other hand, he held a shovel. It was a small shovel, one meant for old women or children based on the size, but the blade was sharpened to a wicked edge. The way he held it made it look more like a spear than a gardening implement. At his waist was a double-bladed ax meant for felling wood, and a couple of knives were strapped to his chest and belt.


    Looking at her, Titus drew one out of the large knives and handed it to her. She took it carefully. Growing up, she hadn''t been allowed to touch a knife, even in the kitchen, for a long time. Even as she''d gotten older, she much preferred to order food rather than prepare it herself, so she wasn''t exactly comfortable with the tools. It looked to be some sort of survival knife, eight inches long and wicked sharp. She held it in a tight grip as far away from her body as possible. Titus looked at her, then the knife, and rolled his eyes but didn''t say anything.


    "We need to level along the way," he said. "So you''re going to have to kill things."


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    Alice paled at that but hardened her resolve and nodded. She had already killed one thing. She had bashed that book with her bag when she fled the library. It couldn''t be that hard to do again.


    "I''d give you my ''spear,''" he said, making air quotes with one hand as he held up his shovel, "But I think it''s best if I hold on to that for now. We''ll figure something out for you along the way."


    Alice nodded woodenly, still not liking the idea of having to fight. With that, he pushed open the cabin door, and the evening light filtered in through the doorway. As they walked out, the tall canopy of trees shaded the area in dim twilight. The sky was far darker than it should have been from where the sun''s actual position. Her head swiveled around at every small sound, her neck barely twinging from the whiplash she had a few hours ago.


    "Come on, this way," Titus said as he pointed to a narrow gap in the trees. It could have generously been called a hiking trail but looked more like a thin strip of dirt that disappeared almost instantly amongst the foliage.


    "Where are we going? We''re not lost or anything, right?" She asked when they were only half a dozen steps into the dark and foreboding woods. This was about as far from civilization as she had been in the last five years, maybe even more than a decade since her father had taken her hiking when she was five. There was a reason that they hadn''t gone a second time.


    Titus let out a small chuckle. "You''re more likely to get lost at home than I am in the woods," he said. "Trust me, it''s fine."


    He walked confidently through the undergrowth, his head on a swivel, barely making any noise despite him being at least twice as heavy as she was. Every time she took a step, she couldn''t help but wince at the sound of shuffling leaves and breaking branches as she bulldozed her way through the undergrowth, having to push branches aside constantly. Titus seemed able to slip through, barely leaving a disturbance. He didn''t admonish her for her noisy travel, though, just keeping a close eye on her.


    A sudden screech pulled their attention to the right. Alice echoed the sound with a scream of her own as something ran at her from the side. It looked a bit like a turkey with teeth, but it was four and a half feet tall and quite angry.


    She spun to face it. Alice felt her hand fumble at her waist, trying to find the hilt of her knife even as she continued to scream.


    A sickening thud echoed through the dim light as the tip of the shovel smashed into the monster''s chest, completely halting its momentum several feet from her. Titus leaped past her at it, his knife plunging into its head before she even had a chance to fully read the now fading tag above the monster''s head: [Raptor, Level 11].


    Alice gulped, her hand only now grabbing and drawing the knife from the sheath she had clumsily tied to her belt. She held it tightly, still shaking as Titus pulled out the shovel. A fountain of blood spilled onto the dirt, its edge creeping towards her shoes as she stumbled back. She found herself panting, her knife held in her hands, eyes locked on the dead bird.


    "What the fuck was that?" She asked as Titus wiped the knife he had pulled out of its brain on its feathers and stood up. He looked her up and down before apparently assessing that she wasn''t going to be much use, and he reached forward, grabbing the wrist that held the knife and taking it from her shaking hands.


    "Come on," he said. "We need to move. This will attract more predators."


    He pulled her off into the forest. She followed in a daze for several steps before she shook herself out of it and yanked her hand back. "What was that?" she asked. "How did you know it was coming?"


    "I didn''t," he said. "But your scream was useful. If you see something like that, scream again, and I''ll be able to help."


    She was a little bit hurt by the comment, but based on the slight smile on his face, it was meant to be a joke. She let out a brief chuckle that made her feel surprisingly better. "Thanks, I''ll remember that. But how did you get so good with a knife and melee weapons? Like, shouldn''t soldiers be good at guns and stuff? Do you really do that much knife training in Army Ranger School?"


    Titus never stopped his constant surveillance of the forest around them. "I''ve never been to ''Army Ranger School.'' And, well, the knife''s better than a gardening spike."


    "A what?" Alice asked, confused.


    You know, the little metal thing that you use to stab the ground to loosen it up. Gardening spike. Those are a thing, right? Or is it something else that I''m thinking of," mused Titus, his brow furrowed.


    "I don''t know anything about gardening," she said, now thoroughly confused.


    "Ah. Me neither." Titus said.


    They took several more steps before she realized she had been thoroughly sidetracked. "But why were you... Why a gardening spike?"


    "Well," he said, gesturing at the shovel and ax, "where do you think I found these? I didn''t find the knives until I found the ranger cabin in the woods, and I had to use a gardening spike as a makeshift knife."


    Alice nodded, understanding. "Okay, but that still doesn''t answer my first question. How did you get so good with a knife?"


    He just gave her a smile. "No, you''re right, it doesn''t." He paused and pointed. "Oh, there''s the freeway."


    Indeed, there was a long strip of asphalt and a crashed jeep with its top ripped off. As they stepped onto the road, another notification popped into Alice''s vision.


    [New Zone discovered! Level 31-40]


    "Is that the car you had?" she asked, indicating the jeep.


    "Sure is. I had a bit of a problem getting here," he said, and Alice just nodded. She hoped that things would start making sense again soon. Maybe the shock from the raptor still hadn''t worn off, as things felt a little fuzzy.


    There were several stalled cars along the highway, many that had drifted as their drivers disappeared and crashed, but a few had slowed down or were driven into a ditch but looked recoverable. They found a german-made sports car that looked to be quick. It was new enough that the safety features had turned it off. At least it still started when Titus turned the keys.


    "There''s a full tank," he said as he told her to get in. He pushed from the front as they backed it up out of the ditch.


    "Shouldn''t we get something more off-road capable?" Alice asked, looking at a Range Rover not that far away.


    Titus shrugged. "Well, I don''t imagine we''re going to be doing much off-roading, and from my previous experience, I''d rather be fast."


    Alice decided not to question it as she got out and slung the bag with her laptop and some food and water in the back seat. Then she went around to the passenger side as Titus slid into the driver''s seat and started the engine. They slowly weaved their way through the other motionless cars, heading back towards the city.


    "So," she said after a few moments of silence. "What happened to you? How did you find the forest? Why did you... Why did you go there?" Her curiosity had been building this whole time and finally exploded outwards.


    Titus gave her a look but didn''t immediately shut her down. "Well. It''s a bit of a long story," he said. "It started when the power went out..."

 Chapter 5:

    Alice watched Titus carefully as he checked the mirror behind them to make sure they were in the clear. He deftly wove the sports car through the many stalled vehicles on the road, often having to ding it a little bit to shove it through gaps or go on the shoulders. Still, they had made good time, definitely faster than walking.


    After a moment, he continued his story. "I had just moved into my new place, so I didn''t have a generator yet. But I knew my neighbor did. Mrs. Johnson had been nice and brought me a cake when I moved in. A bit of an older lady. I think she was lonely as her kids had all moved away to have families of their own, and her husband died a couple of years back."


    Titus paused his story to concentrate on getting around a particularly nasty crash. Alice was worried they would have to get out and push some cars around when he found a way to nudge one out of the way. She winced at the sound of grinding metal. This was such a nice car too.


    "So, I missed my alarm. My phone was dead, and the power went out early enough that it didn''t have time to charge it," Titus said as he shifted gears.


    Alice was curious but didn''t interrupt, letting him tell the story at his own pace.


    "So I went over to her place and let myself in," he said, his voice harbored the tiniest bit of hesitation in it, making it sound like he might not have had a key. "She wasn''t around, and that was odd. As far as I knew, she didn''t have anywhere to go. The neighborhood was eerily quiet, so I knew something was wrong. It wasn''t just that her power was out as well. From its looks, the whole street was out of power. So, I started the generator, and while my phone was charging, I checked the news."


    Alice looked Titus up and down, getting a moment to actually take in his appearance in full light instead of the cabin''s dimness. He was a well-built man, a bit over average height, maybe six feet, solidly muscled, deeply tanned, or slightly brown-skinned, with short-cropped black hair. He wore sweatpants and a white tank top, which made sense for visiting a neighbor early in the morning to borrow a generator so he could charge his phone.


    "I nearly fell backward over the couch when a screen popped up in front of me," Titus said with a chuckle. " It was a backlog of messages telling me that we had been integrated into a System but that I was unable to be teleported."


    Alice asked, "Why did this screen take so long to show up? It should have shown up right as everyone disappeared."


    Titus shrugged. "Not sure. Something about my teleport retries ending. Also, something about being unable to do that while monsters are spawning or something along those lines. I don''t remember exactly what it was," Titus said.


    Alice frowned, now thoroughly confused. "That doesn''t entirely make sense."


    Titus looked at her through the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the surroundings of the car. "Well, it did ask about my age. It seemed that it delayed teleportation until I confirmed it. Though even once I did confirm, it gave me those errors."


    Alice grumbled. Now she had some idea what her fellow graduate students were complaining about. Those who had worked in the industry insisted dealing with customers was the worst. They never gave you all the information you needed to figure things out. But she let it go. It wasn''t that important.


    A moment of silence stretched, and Alice considered how to prod Titus along with his story. Before she decided how, he continued.


    "I was surprised to see that the System used some human programming language. I kinda assumed that it was an alien invasion at first. But that made me doubt it. It didn''t seem likely that an alien invasion would be programmed in Java," Titus said with a smile.


    Alice snickered at the idea of aliens using Java. "Why would you assume it''s aliens?"


    Titus shrugged. "I don''t know. I read a few pieces of fiction about aliens coming to Earth and making us live in a video game System. It''s a common trope, you know."


    "Really? I had never heard of that," Alice said tiredly.


    "Well, if we ever have a lot of downtime, I have a few things you might enjoy reading." He paused for a second. "Though it''s less funny now than it seemed at the time."


    Alice nodded. "Yeah, well, after we get all cleaned up and have a little bit of time to rest and we''ve stopped this whole thing, I''d be happy to read some fiction."


    Titus looked over at her. His evaluating gaze swept over her quickly and efficiently. Then he frowned. Alice felt the slightest bit uncomfortable. Did she have a stick in her hair or something?


    "Ah, that reminds me," he said, and he drove for a moment before finding a place to pull over. He popped open the trunk and got out of the car. Walking to the back of the car, he rummaged through for a moment before pulling out a bag.


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    "Not sure if this will be useful, but I had to check," he said as he tossed the duffle bag on her lap and got back in the car.


    As he started driving, she curiously opened what turned out to be a gym bag. Inside, she found a pair of black yoga pants and a white crop top that seemed to be clean. Maybe it was intended for exercise that evening. She looked over at Titus. "How did you know that was there?"


    He shrugged. "Well, I mean, it was mostly a guess, but this appears to be someone''s work car, and sometimes people keep exercise bags in the trunk if they go to the gym at all. Someone who drives a car like this," he said, gesturing at the pristine white BMW, "Seems like someone who is a little bit meticulous about their appearance. And that means gym."


    "Also," he said, tapping the pair of dangling air fresheners from the rearview mirror. Paisley flowers emblazoned on either side popped out against a dark background. "I don''t know a single guy that would have these. That and the faint smell of perfume painted a pretty clear picture. So, I felt it was worth checking. And, well, you''re missing a shirt."


    Alice looked down and frowned. She didn''t feel that awkward, as the few times her roommates had dragged her along to the gym she''d just gone in a sports bra. But she supposed it made sense. If they were about to go fight through a bunch of monsters on campus, she would like to have a little more protection.


    She undid her seatbelt and slipped into the shirt. It came down just above her navel and was slightly warmer. Still, it wasn''t a perfect fit.


    "Wish it was like a hoodie or something," she grumbled.


    Titus rolled his eyes. "I would prefer a leather jacket for myself. Better defense. But you do you," he said.


    "So after the System showed up, you got everything sorted out... Do you have regular access now?" Alice asked, picking up the earlier conversation.


    Titus nodded. "If you mean I can work with the menus and stuff, yeah. I can do that. But the massive dinosaur walking down the street made me worry about that a little bit less at first."


    "Massive dinosaur?" Alice asked, fumbling over her words. That was surprising. She had not programmed any dinosaurs into it. "I mean, the pterodactyls were one thing.... But I don''t know why. I''m surprised there were more dinosaurs used as monsters."


    Titus nodded. "Yeah. For the most part, all I''ve seen is dinosaurs. The bike monsters you described to me were the first ones that that weren''t some sort of dinosaur. I kind of figured it was drawing beasts from Earth''s past as monsters. Maybe it''s just the local area''s theme?"


    Alice shrugged. "Maybe, I don''t know."


    Titus raised an eyebrow. "You don''t know?"


    "Well, it''s evolved long past what I had designed. It barely resembles the game I made in the first place."


    Titus shrugged. "Well, yeah, that makes sense. Doesn''t sound like you intended any of this."


    "...So how''d you get away from the dinosaur? What was it?"


    "It was a Proto-cera-tops or something," he said. "I''m not sure I''m saying that right."


    "Proceratosaurus?" Alice repeated.


    "Yeah, that sounds about right," Titus said. "Anyways, there was no real way to get away from it at the time. It was about to break into another house when it smelled me."


    Alice frowned, remembering some of her facts from her dinosaur phase when she was six years old. "Isn''t that thing, like, 15 feet tall?"


    Titus nodded.


    "And you killed it?"


    "That''s where the shovel came in¡ª"


    Before Titus could continue, a massive roar shook the windshield.


    Alice swiveled around to look behind them, and coming out of the woods along the side of the road was something that she guessed was a T-Rex. Her identification confirmed it moments later. It was level 35.


    "Titus!" she yelled.


    "I see it," he said calmly as he started weaving through the cars faster. He pulled off to the side and drove along the shoulder, the rumble strip sending the car vibrating. The massive stomps of the dinosaur kicking aside cars as it chased after their moving vehicle shook the car even further.


    Soon, they were cruising at a decent speed. Still, the jarring nature of the chase threatened to crack Alice''s teeth as she hurriedly buckled herself back in. She''d forgotten the seatbelt after putting on her new shirt. Frantically, she racked her mind for anything they could do to this monster. It was far too high level for her to fight.


    She looked around and into the back seat, looking for anything. We have no guns, no ranged weapons. All we have is the damn shovel.


    Titus accelerated faster. They were going at nearly 45 miles an hour, which was as much as the car could handle with the rough terrain, as the suspension was clearly struggling.


    We should have picked the Range Rover, Alice cursed internally as Titus swerved through a pile-up.


    Past the road blockage, a stretch of road opened up in front of them. He punched the gas. The acceleration of the pristine sports car was finally of use as Alice was flung back into her seat. The weight of the acceleration pulled at her face, making it hard to talk.


    The dinosaur was left behind, but they only managed to get a small lead before they had to slow down and resume weaving and driving on the rumble strip. The next few moments were unbelievably tense. The dinosaur was catching up again, and Alice could do nothing but watch.


    "Almost there," Titus muttered. "Almost there."


    "Almost where?" Alice thought but didn''t say anything, not wanting to distract the man from his driving. She opened the glove box, hoping maybe this lady going to the gym in her fancy sports car had been a concealed carry permit holder and had a gun or something. But no luck. She did find a small pocket knife, which she slipped into the back pocket of her jeans, but there was nothing else but a car manual. She resisted the urge to roll down the window and throw it at the dinosaur behind them.


    A flash of darkness went over them as they zipped through an underpass, Titus swerving to go up on the incline slightly so that they were able to dodge around the traffic. An 18-wheeler had jackknifed, blocking off the path out of the overpass. Once they were passed, it was a blessing as it left a decent amount of space for them to keep going.

 Chapter 6:

    A massive crash echoed through the air, and chunks of rubble flung down around them. Alice turned around again to see the T-Rex had run headfirst into the overpass. It stumbled backwards, dizzy, and shaking its head.


    "Luckily, they''re not that smart," Titus said as he pushed the car even faster, aiming for an off-ramp just ahead of them.


    Alice bowed her head and mumbled a prayer, thanking God that the ramp was clear and that they had gotten off the freeway and into downtown. The hour had been early enough that the streets weren''t too crowded, but it was still slower going than she''d have liked.


    They still needed to make it through most of the city and out to the other side to get on campus. Hopefully, that would be safer than trying to go through the woods or on one of the longer drives packed with commuters.


    As Titus wove through the obstacles at a pace barely faster than a jog through the city, Alice asked, "Where did you learn to drive like that?"


    Titus chuckled. "I''ve been practicing for a long time. Driving has been one of my favorite hobbies for a little bit now. I''ve taken my car to the track several times recently."


    She looked at his odd phrasing. "What, you want to be a race car driver?"


    Titus shook his head. "No. It''s more of a... something I picked up for fun. But it is pretty fucking cool, though, isn''t it?" he said, shooting her a surprisingly innocent grin.


    She just couldn''t figure him out. One minute, he had a knife to her throat; the next, he was laughing and joking about being a race car driver. Was he just unhinged or really just calm and unbothered? She wasn''t sure, but she needed to figure it out soon. If she kept him talking, maybe she could learn more about him. And more information was always better, right?


    "So, anyway. That''s my story," Titus said, wrapping up his tale from before their latest encounter. "Well, most of it, at least."


    Alice shook her head emphatically. "You''re just going to skim over the part where you killed the Proceratosaurus? Really?"


    Titus chuckled. "Well, if you really want to hear about it¡­"


    He proceeded to summarize the fight. Evidently, he''d liberated his collection of gardening tools from Mrs. Johnson''s shed before getting found by the dinosaur. She held her breath as he told her about how he had flung the shovel into its throat, and it bounced off its uvula, making it choke and retch. He used the distraction to get in close, hack at its ankle with the axe till it fell over, and then plunged an 18-inch spike through its eye into its brain until he couldn''t get it out anymore.


    Alice held her breath. Titus was a natural storyteller. It wasn''t so much in the words he used but the pauses and the little bit of anticipation he let build up. Between that and the actual events, the fight sounded fantastical and gruesome, maybe like he was just bragging, but she wasn''t sure. It would explain how he was level five¡ªwell, six, now. He had gained one level on their trek through the forest.


    "...After that, I found a car and headed out of town," Titus finished. "You know the worst part about that was? The System errored out again, told me that the monster''s level wasn''t set, and I got only the base experience from it. It gave me one point."


    Alice blinked. "Huh. Yeah, I can see that happening. The monster levels would not be finalized until everything spawned for the first time. That''s when the System would try to balance everything."


    Titus grumbled about being scammed, then cursed in another language a couple of times before continuing. "Anyway. The notification told me I was in a level 21 to 30 zone and I didn''t want to stay there. So I broke into a house and grabbed this phone, which helped me set up a route to the state park, where I felt it would be a little bit safer in the trees. Luckily, the zone around there was much lower level, and getting to the cabin got me a bit more experience, along with a few scares along the way."


    Alice nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. "You know, you weren''t the only one with the teleportation issue," she said. "The reason I knew there were other people around was because of the errors in the logs I had mentioned earlier. Eighteen other than you, I think."


    "Only 18?" Titus asked with a strange intensity in his voice. "You''re sure?"


    Alice nodded. At the confirmation, Titus hung his head. "Fuck!"


    A few more curses she didn''t know tumbled out of his mouth before he got control of himself. His head came back up to focus on her again. "Do you know who they were? Names? Anything?"


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Alice was taken aback by the ferocity in his voice and shook her head, raising her hands defensively between them. "No, no, I didn''t even know who you were. I just checked the positions with my GPS to see if they were moving. I could locate the rest of them, I suppose. But do you know them?"


    Titus didn''t respond. His knuckles were white as his grip flexed on the steering wheel. His jaw muscles jumped as he muttered something she couldn''t understand, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of him.


    "No," he said. "No, I don''t know."


    "Titus," Alice said in a questioning voice. "What are you not telling me?"


    Titus looked at her, but she didn''t see anything soft in his gaze. There was only the same steel she''d seen before, back in the cabin.


    "Nothing you want to know," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.


    Still, she couldn''t help but push a little farther. "Should I track them down? I can try to locate anyone who might have a GPS signal on them. As long as it''s available."


    Titus frowned, his gaze relaxing a fraction. "It might be good to know where they are, but you should definitely not try to find out who they are."


    "Titus, you''re kind of freaking me out here," Alice spoke softly.


    "Okay. You really, really don''t want to know," he said. "It won''t help. It''ll only put a target on your back."


    Alice gestured around to the empty city. "Even now, even with all this stuff going on?"


    Titus looked around and then nodded. "Yes. Even more so now, I think."


    Alice stared at him as if he was some sort of monster. But the System was saying he was human. She had really no choice but to trust him.


    Eventually, Titus sighed and seemed to return to himself. "Well, that''s enough about me. How about you? If you really did have a hand in making this whole thing happen, then I''m sure you''ve got some insight that''ll help us out."


    Hesitantly, she nodded. "Maybe. Like I said, it''s already changed so much from what I originally envisioned¡­"


    Titus shrugged as he gunned it through a pack of lizards coming around the bend. They thumped noisily beneath the car''s wheels as the survivors ran screaming. "Fair enough. Still, it''s better than going into this blind, right?"


    With a shrug of agreement, Alice began to explain what she remembered. There was only so much time until they reached the city, so she focused on prioritizing the most important things. Levels, skills, what each stat did, and so on. Some of it Titus had already figured out for himself via trial and error. However, there was plenty for her to clarify and expand upon, especially when it came to things they would likely encounter in the future.


    After what felt like too little time, the streets ahead of them began to crowd with increasing numbers of abandoned cars and crashes, slowing their progress. As they were forced to go up on the sidewalk yet again to avoid a pileup, Alice had an idea.


    "Would it be better if we grabbed some bikes? It might be easier to get through the city," she said, gesturing to a pair of electric bikes parked in a stand.


    Titus looked at them and grumbled. "Maybe. Maybe not. We can try."She watched him relax slightly from his previous outburst. Every move he made she scrutinized because something was definitely wrong. But eventually, he took a deep breath. "Yes, I suppose we should. It''ll also help us to get your level up. Something tells me that level three is not going to be very useful."


    Alice grimaced. Titus saw her reaction and seemed to misjudge it slightly. "The car is safer," he said. "And you''re right about the bikes being more maneuverable. But we won''t have the same defenses or the easy solution we just had," he said, putting his thumb over his shoulder back towards where the small lizards were squished flat several blocks behind them.


    Alice frowned thoughtfully.


    "No, we should take the bikes," she said, and was surprised when Titus followed her decision without protest, pulling off to the side and up to one of the places where the electric bikes were docked. She attempted to tap her credit card but realized, along with her phone, her wallet was missing. And anyway, the receptacle had no signal to process the payment anyway. That was a bad sign for the infrastructure surviving the continuing changes.


    "Ugh," she grumbled and pulled out a knife, trying to use it as a screwdriver to undo one of the panels, but immediately cut her thumb.


    Titus looked at her with mild amusement. "Are you okay?" he asked.


    "Yeah, just a small cut."


    "I can see that. Why are you holding the knife like that?" He asked, bemused.


    "Yeah, well, there''s a reason I don¡¯t really cook," she said, thinking of all the disasters she''d been the cause of.


    Titus interrupted her thoughts by taking the knife from her hands. He closed her cut with a brief activation of his skill and a swipe of his thumb. "Let me do it," he said. "Just tell me where to go."


    She pointed out the screws she needed to be undone. Once he had the panel off, she had him strip a few wires and touch them together until the thing sparked and the locks disengaged.


    He looked up at her. "I was pretty sure that was something that only happened in movies."


    She shrugged. "Yeah, well, these things aren''t built that intelligently." She didn''t tell him that this wasn''t the first time she''d stolen a bike from the city. Product of a wayward youth, her social worker called it.


    "You know, you can fix that clumsiness now," Titus said. "Just put a few more points in control."


    Alice grimaced. "Yeah, I put the first four in speed, but the last two in control."


    He raised his eyebrows. "You''re already putting points in control, and you''re still having trouble?"


    Alice turned away, blushing. "Shut up."

 Chapter 7:

    Alice''s legs burned with the unending fire of a thousand angry suns as she pedaled up the hill. It was only a shallow incline, but the batteries on the bikes were running low, and she needed to save them for the really steep inclines that were scattered throughout this hilly city. Sure, they recharged a little on flat terrain and downhill, but it didn''t quite compensate. It felt unfair to see Titus calm and cool on his own bike next to her as if they were just on a casual walk.


    A drop of sweat dripped off the tip of her nose as she kept pedaling. Eventually, Titus spoke up.


    "You know," he said, sounding completely normal as he coasted along next to her, "If you finished off some of these monsters, you could put some points into power and increase your stamina a little bit. I''ve been ''hogging all the experience,'' as the kids would say."


    It was true. He had been frequently stopping after pedaling ahead a little bit to finish off any monsters that got in their way. Alice refused to fight them up close with her knife. She was not confident in stabbing the monsters, not herself. But also because the thought of killing all the monsters had been... unsettling. They weren''t like the bike monsters or the books. They resembled small animals, and the idea of stabbing a strangely raccoon-looking lizard in the face made her feel a little nauseous.


    "Did you never play video games as a kid?" Alice panted out. "You''re not that old. Twenty-five at most," she said, her breath not coming easily.


    Titus just laughed. "I didn''t get to play many as a kid, no. I have played a little bit recently, but something about growing up with them makes you just much better at them. And the 2D platformers I''ve tried don''t really have experience points. Some of the more complicated video games I haven''t gotten to yet, though¡­ Whoops, watch out."


    Ahead of them, the stop sign bent down and smacked into the sidewalk, barely missing where Titus had swerved out of the way at the last second and skidded to a stop. Alice put on the brakes as well and knocked down the kickstand.


    "You can finish this off," he said, pointing at the stop sign, which was apparently an [Evil Stop Sign lvl 11].


    "Are you fucking kidding me?" Alice said. "An evil stop sign? This is just stupid."


    "Well, kinda," he said, holding out his ax handle for her to take. "If you whack at the base of it, I''m sure it''ll finish it off."


    She didn''t move to take it. "I don''t trust myself with that."


    Titus let the hand extending the ax handle to her drop, and he rubbed his chin with his free hand. "I don''t think the shovel spear is going to help you much, and I don''t know if you want to get close enough with the knife."


    "How about you help take it down, and then I finish it off?" she asked hopefully.


    Titus frowned. "I''m not sure how the experience would be split up then. Is it based on the last hit?"


    Alice deflated slightly. "I don''t think so. It''s probably a contribution system."


    "So I can''t help that much," Titus said brightly.


    Alice nodded. Looking around, she found a car crashed into the building next to her. It hadn''t been going very fast, and the front was only slightly crumpled, though the horn started blaring when she reached through the cracked door and unlocked it. Starting the car again, she backed it up, and Titus moved out of the way, dragging both of their bikes with him. She floored it, running over the stop sign with a crunch and thump. A notification appeared in front of her eyes.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    [Level Up! Level 4 Reached.]


    Taking Titus''s advice, she split her points between power and control. She felt her dexterity increase, and the burning in her legs subsided slightly. Luckily, she didn''t feel bad at all about destroying the car and killing the stop sign. In fact, she was actively looking for others as they continued on. She was still out of breath, so any conversation was stilted, though Titus seemed comfortable with that. Occasionally, he would point out something in the city to her, like his favorite pizza place or store. Still, he was also willing to let them go for long stretches without anyone saying anything. Alice was honestly grateful for the times he was talking because it helped take her mind off the horrific pain of cardio exercise.


    When they were going through one of the many parks scattered around the city, a monster unlike any of the others crossed their path. It stood in front of them, its feathers fluffed up and its beak screeching. The possible attempt at intimidation was massively undercut by its one-foot stature, however. It was a [Level 5 Chocobo-looking Bird], and Titus got off his bike.


    Alice did, too, this time, but she ran in front of Titus, holding her arms out.


    "No," she exclaimed. "That''s not an aggression call!"


    He looked at her skeptically. "It''s still a monster and free experience," he said.


    "No," Alice protested. "We don''t need to kill it. You''re not going to hurt us, are you?" she said, turning to the little bird and squatting down. It cawed at her again before hopping a little closer and pecking lightly at the outstretched finger she held out. "I think it''s just lost."


    Titus rolled his eyes and headed back to his bicycle. Still, Alice ignored the grump and cooed at the bird, reaching out to scratch the feathers behind its head as it hopped a little closer.


    "You''re just a baby, aren''t you? Don''t worry. I''ll protect you from the big meanie," she said as she held her arm out. The bird hopped on. As she lifted it up, it pecked at her ear, and she jerked her hand away from her face. "Oh, what was that for? That was mean. Don''t eat me."


    "Come on, leave the chicken alone," Titus said from the bikes. "I thought you were in a rush."


    "Have you no heart?" Alice said as she turned, still holding the bird away from her face. "Look how cute it is. It looks like a chicken."


    "That''s what I said," Titus grumbled with a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.


    "A bright blue chicken," Alice insisted. "Besides, would you just kill a chicken?"


    "I''ve killed many chickens. I don''t even know if I can count how many chickens I''ve killed," Titus said.


    "What, you grew up on a farm or something?" she asked.


    "Something like that," he said. "Sure, that might be cuter than your average chicken, but it''s still experience. But I''ll protect your delicate sensibilities and leave it be. Come on, let''s go."


    Alice tried to figure out how she could safely keep the bird on her bike but eventually gave up. Without a cage, it was not a good idea. It was calm and not really attacking her anymore, but riding a bicycle with it seemed risky. With regret, she bent over and placed the bird on the ground.


    "Bye-bye, Mr. Cluckers," she said.


    Titus groaned. "That''s what you''re calling it?"


    Alice huffed. "Fine. Let''s go," she said.


    She got on her bike and turned on the motor. As they went up a particularly steep hill, the little bird hopped and flapped, trying to chase after them, but they were moving too fast.


    "Mr. Cluckers, really?" Titus said a few moments later. "That''s maybe the worst name for a bird I could possibly think of. You might as well have called it Birdie McBirdface."


    "That joke is so old," Alice said. "What are you, a boomer?"


    Titus just smiled. "I don''t know, I think it''s still funny. There''s always time for the classics."


    "You talk like an old man."


    "I am an old man," Titus proudly declared.


    Alice looked at him. "I guess you are," she said.

 Chapter 8:

    As they continued through the city, things became easier. They had made it over the largest hills, and Alice eventually swapped out her bike for one with more battery. Titus teased her about that, but it seemed that the more they talked, the more relaxed he became.


    The relaxed Titus wasn''t what she had been expecting. It was only now that she realized how on edge he had been when they first met. Of course, it only made sense, given the situation. But there was something about how he carried himself that had made him seem so into control that it made Alice forget that he was just as confused as she was.


    As Titus relaxed, he became surprisingly lighthearted. Everything was a joke to the man, no matter how serious it was. Despite everything, his constant humor was starting to put her at ease. Maybe she was a little too at ease, seeing that she occasionally forgot how ruthless he could be.


    Every time they encountered a monster that she either couldn''t or didn''t want to fight, he put it down with ruthless efficiency. This forced the reminder that while the man might joke about being a decrepit old man who needed a cane to get around and ask if he could tow her up the next hill, he was nothing of the sort.


    A couple of times, Alice employed a trick similar to the one she had used with the monstrous stop sign. When facing some sort of monster that was either stationary or slow-moving, she would find a nearby car and run it over. This worked better than she could have hoped, and she continually gained experience by defeating those monsters. But she still hadn''t hit level five. Based on what she remembered about the System''s design and Titus''s experience, that was when she would get her next general skill. She still hadn''t figured out if the pattern she remembered held true yet. With only a couple of skills, there wasn''t enough information to discern it exactly.


    Titus was hoping to get another skill soon, as well. He was pushing close to level seven, which should be the next threshold. She had offered to just give him all the monsters to fight so that he could get that new skill before they arrived on campus, but he refused. They could always keep hunting if he didn''t hit it. Besides, she needed to get strong, too.


    Alice was relieved that he was also invested in getting her strong when he had no obligation to look out for her well-being. Even though she wasn''t exactly thrilled about how she had to get stronger. But as she got to practicing, things got easier. With a few more levels and stats, maybe she''d get over her fear and find that she actually enjoyed it. Besides, maybe she could learn magic!


    As they traveled, Alice couldn''t help but notice the world changing around them. Different types and levels of monsters scurried about, far different than what she''d seen even a little while ago. This had been a low-level zone when she was on campus last, but things were changing quickly. She wasn''t sure that the System would even keep the leveling zones as a mechanic.


    There were a few other signs that everything was developing continuously, too. The Perk listed in her status had changed to one in a list of Perks. She still only had one, but now there could clearly be more. Sometimes, the System referred to skills as spells, and sometimes not. She kept flicking her interface off and on to see what changed over time, but mostly it remained the same. The stats and actual contents weren''t changing themselves. It was mostly minor formatting changes, and she found that with a little concentration, she could adjust those to be whatever she wanted. Convenient, that.


    They reached the edge of campus. Instead of going straight to their destination, it was slightly easier to go around to get to the side of the supercomputer center. As they went, Titus went out of his way to chase down monsters, even a block or two away, pushing for one more level up. Right as they were across the road from the part of campus that had the supercomputer center, Titus pumped his fist.


    "Yes! Level seven," he said, smiling.


    She confirmed with [System Identification] that he was indeed level seven. "Congratulations. Did you get a new skill?"


    "Yup. Looks like it."


    Alice nodded at the new information. We''ve got new general skills at three, five, and seven. Seems like we''re still getting them at odd numbered levels, though it could be primes.


    "What do we need?" Titus asked, his finger swiping up continuously as if he were scrolling through a huge list. "I''ve got a lot of skill options."


    "I don''t know. Want to read out the options?" she asked.


    "There''s a lot of them. [Bow Mastery]. [Sword Mastery]. [Spear Mastery]. [Knife Mastery]. [Mace Mastery]," Titus started listing off a couple dozen mastery skills before getting into more active skills. "[Charged Punch]. [Stealth]. [Leap]. [Quick Steps]."


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He went on and on in this vein. Most of them sounded relatively mundane, but when he mentioned [Critical Strike], Alice perked up.


    "[Critical Strike]," Alice said. "That seems interesting. What''s the description?"


    Titus dove into it and read a couple of sentences the System provided. "The ability to identify and hit weaknesses on targets, even when little information about the opponent is known."


    "That sounds like something you couldn''t just do by yourself, necessarily. All the others sound like things you could work on to improve without the System. Though I''m sure they''re still useful."


    Titus shrugged. "Well, my [First Aid] skill definitely does more than just make me good at it."


    Alice shrugged. "True. It''s just my opinion; you don''t have to take it, you know."


    "No, [Critical Strike] sounds good, I think. Especially when taking down bigger predators, it would give me an edge and opportunities where I normally wouldn''t have any. Hopefully, at least. I don''t suppose I could change it later?" he asked.


    Alice shrugged. "If I''m right, you can. But there are some pretty big drawbacks. Try changing your other skills."


    He frowned and furrowed his brow. "Hmm. Looks like you can change things, but it says you have to wait 24 hours before you swap them. Also, you lose all progress in the skill."


    "Progress? Do skills have levels?" That didn''t sound right. Another change to her original design, and a pretty big one.


    "Not that I can see. Not directly, at least, but it said I would lose all progress in the skill. Perhaps skills will get levels later on."


    Alice frowned. "The System seems to still be refining itself slightly. I imagine over the next day or so, things will be in flux. But if skills get levels, well, it''s best to find one you like early and then push it as far as you can so you''re not swapping them out constantly. But it is nice to know that you can change a skill selection if it becomes no longer useful."


    "Right. I think [Critical Strike] will do well for us here. Something about this tells me we''re going to see combat soon," Titus said, gesturing to the Supercomputer Center building.


    "Why?" Alice asked. "I don''t see any threats nearby."


    "That''s exactly it," Titus responded. "We should see something. It''s suspicious."


    "You''re suspicious of everything."


    "Hey, I didn''t survive this long without being cautious," Titus said with a smile. "But we''ve gone for more than a block without seeing any monsters. Doesn''t that strike you as odd?"


    Alice couldn''t really argue with that. "Fair. We''ll have to be careful."


    "Mmm. Anyways, do you have a key?" he asked.


    Alice checked her bag then shook her head. "Nope. I think it fell out at some point."


    "Well," he said, pointing to the glass front door across the street, "I don''t suppose anyone would mind if we broke in."


    Alice shrugged. "I think we''re long past caring about that."


    "Alright. You ready to go?" Titus asked.


    Alice looked at her own stat sheet quickly and frowned. She made a couple of quick adjustments to the formatting and realized that there was not enough time for her to reach level five and get a new skill herself.


    Name: Alice Wright


    Titles: Mother of All


    Perks: Quick Learner


    Level: 4 - F


    Speed: 7


    Power: 3


    Control: 7


    ¡ª


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">System Identification</li>


    </ul>


    It''s interesting that Titles is plural. That must mean I can get more than one.


    "Yeah, ready as I''ll ever be," she said, closing the screen again. "Let''s go with that."


    They dashed across the street from underneath the awning they were sheltering in. Occasionally, flying monsters passed above, but none seemed to have taken an interest in them. Still, whenever they stopped for long periods, they usually wanted to be sheltered from the sky.


    As soon as they were in the alcove leading into the building, Titus smashed the glass panel with his ax. The safety glass cracked and shattered into inoffensively small pieces with no rough edges. They stepped through, glass crunching under their feet as they looked around. The lobby had nothing in it, though. A sparrow fluttered its wings and flew out the window they had just broken.


    "That shouldn''t be there," Alice said. The building was incredibly careful about not letting birds in as they could mess up a lot of equipment..


    Titus slung his ax back into his belt and gripped his shovel while looking around cautiously. "I told you something''s wrong."


    "The servers are this way," Alice said, guiding them to a door and letting Titus go first. She pulled the door open for him as he leaped in and made sure the room was clear before she followed. They repeated this a couple of times down a few hallways until they emerged into the long line of towering server racks. White and green lights glowed, and the heat from the still-operating fans was significant but not overwhelming.


    As they stepped through the room, it was silent, and only then did Alice realize what the issue had been in the background. A noise she had tuned out was the constant chirping of birds. A few seconds later, a flock of sparrows exploded from nests made of cables on top of the server racks. Between them, little arcs of electricity passed between each bird as they winged around the room, diving at the pair of shocked humans.


    [Thunder Sparrow - lvl 12]


    [Thunder Sparrow - lvl 13]


    [Thunder Sparrow - lvl 15]

 Chapter 9:

    Alice felt her hair float up from her back as the electrical charge from the Thunder Sparrows filled the room. The reason for their name became evident as they made a final circuit and started to dive down at them. A wave of sound crested over them, making her clap her hands to her ears and duck down.


    Titus, though, weathered it somehow, and even as Alice dove out of the way, he watched the tiny birds approach. She stared as he slashed his makeshift spear through the flock, and several birds fell at his feet, dead or stunned. But the rest of them passed over his head, and she saw his body spasm and jerk as electrical currents flowed through it.


    Still on the floor, she scrambled toward the wall to limit the angles of attack as her mind raced.


    Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Titus was still standing. Barely. His hair was smoking, and parts of his clothes looked charred, but his grip on the wooden shaft of his shovel remained steady as he prepared for another pass. He must have been made of stronger stuff than her. Or his extra levels were helping. She wasn''t sure if she''d be able to handle a shock like that quite as well.


    What can I do? She frantically ran through her options. She backed up against the wall, ensuring nothing could sneak up from behind her. She didn''t have the speed, control, or power to hit multiple targets. One knife wasn''t going to do much, and even then, she didn''t trust herself to use it effectively. Not until she''d had some more practice and invested in more control, at least.


    Still Alice kept moving, hoping to find something of use. She crawled around a server rack and found another wall. If she was always moving, she wouldn''t be an easy target. Maybe she could serve as a distraction? Titus looked like he could use any help she could give.


    Just as she was sliding along the wall, her head whacked against a metal protrusion several feet up. Rubbing her head, she looked to see what she had hit. It was a case holding a fire extinguisher with breakable glass. An idea came to mind, and she stood up, smashing her elbow into the case. She pulled out the fire extinguisher and yanked the alarm next to it, hoping the fire suppression would affect the birds'' delicate bodies more than her own.


    Unfortunately, the alarm did nothing but make a loud noise. As she pulled out the fire extinguisher, her skill activated without any prompting from her, identifying it as a [Common Fire Extinguisher].


    Does that mean this fire extinguisher has some System properties?


    Without thinking too much about the identification, she pulled the pin and ran forward. The extinguisher was heavier than she remembered, but at the same time, it wasn''t as hard to hold onto as she had expected. That one extra point in power didn''t seem like much, but it was a 50 percent increase in her strength.


    As she ran, she repositioned the extinguisher in her grip. Holding the nozzle in one hand and the release valve in the other, she aimed it forward just as she remembered from orientation training so many years ago. She skidded around the corner, hoping that she wasn''t too late.


    The situation didn''t look good. Titus was on one knee, still swiping through the air with his shovel. In the brief time she''d been gone, she noted that the number of birds flitting around him had significantly reduced by about 30%. The electrical shocks were less frequent now, but still occasionally jolted him as he tried to fight.


    She sprayed the fire extinguisher at him, aiming to snuff out his burning hair and distract the birds. However, instead of the wave of white foam she''d expected, a cone of ice rushed out of the extinguisher. Her eyes widened and she jerked the nozzle upward, hosing it over the sparking birds instead. Their feathers were soon coated in ice, causing them to fall to the ground with angry screeches. She only managed to get a fraction of them before the ice stopped coming. Looking at the gauge, she realized the tank was out of gas.


    That was much faster than a real fire extinguisher should have run out.


    The much-reduced flock of birds screeched again, but she maintained her grip on the extinguisher and refused to turtle up. They eyed her warily, then winged away back onto the tops of racks before disappearing. She didn''t trust them to be gone for long.


    In a rush, she shoved aside her compunctions and smacked the heavy cylinder down on the bodies of several of the frozen birds, killing several with each swing. Notifications rained in, as did the experience.


    Titus stood up, a thin layer of frost sprinkled across his head and shoulders, but holding his shovel in a ready position. He stepped behind her and covered her back as she straightened. Several loud thwacks caught her attention. She turned to see him batting aside several of the remaining Thunder Sparrows as they attempted to dive-bomb them again.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    As their numbers dwindled, Alice felt the tingling of static across her skin lessen bit by bit. The electrical potential energy they generated became much more manageable, only giving her the feeling of a static balloon. Titus continued batting them out of the sky, one after another.


    Alice did her best to help by crushing the dazed birds before they could get back up and come at them later. Eventually, the small handful of remaining birds realized they were at a disadvantage and fled, their crackling wings carrying them over the server racks and deeper in.


    "Is that all?" Alice panted, her heart racing as she watched. Her grip on the fire extinguisher remained tense.


    "I don''t know," Titus said. "They could be going to get more, or they could be running. Regardless, we should get more of those," he pointed at the fire extinguisher.


    Alice nodded. They hurried along the wall, picking out two more sets of extinguishers as they moved. Titus took one while Alice exchanged her empty canister for the other.


    She hefted the heavy cylinder. "I don''t think these are going to be very effective against many other things, but they work perfectly against these small swarm enemies," she said. "We need another area of effect attack besides these though. I don''t imagine this is the only time we''re going to find an enemy like this. And we can''t carry enough of these for it to be a reliable solution."


    Titus nodded. "Yes, but this will have to do for now. I''m still mostly worried about the large single-target enemies."


    As they swept through the server racks, various small groups of sparrows ambushed them, only to be frozen and either stabbed or stepped on. It didn''t take long for them to clear out the facility. As they moved through the server racks, Alice looked at some of the connection ports and groaned.


    "What is it?" Titus asked.


    "Well, they were a bunch of electrical birds. It seems like they''ve done a lot of damage to the servers."


    "Will it still work?"


    "I think I can fix it," Alice said, holding up several strands of cables that had been yanked out and used as nests. "It might take me a couple of hours. Everything seems to be powered on. Hopefully, the electrical currents haven''t messed with the memory or anything."


    "Shit," Titus said. "Where is the extra cable stored?"


    "I''m not sure. I don''t think it''s stored in this room. At least not as much as I need. The location should be in the maintenance room or the director''s office at least."


    "Let''s take stock of the damage and then figure out how to fix it," he suggested.


    She nodded. They started going up and down each aisle, carefully cataloging everything she would need to replace to get the supercomputer center fully functional again. Ideally, she''d have several people spending a few days making sure they got everything. Still, she didn''t need it to be perfect, just good enough to operate again.


    Technically, she might be able to access parts of it, and with redundancies, everything should be back online. But without it fully functioning, she didn''t want to risk the System interfering. She might only get one chance at this before the System intervened, and she didn''t want to risk an attempt when the servers were less than full power. Perhaps it was faulty reasoning, but it might be their only chance.


    When she finished making a list, she sat down against the wall. "Hold on," she said. "I think I might have leveled up. Let me check."


    Pulling up the logs and messages she''d received, she grinned. A list of possible skills at level five awaited her.


    [Level Up! Level 5 reached.]


    +2 stat points


    +1 general skill


    Available Skills:


    [Enhanced Strength]: Increases physical strength, allowing the character to deal more damage in combat.


    [Agility Boost]: Improves speed and reflexes, making the character more adept at dodging attacks and performing acrobatic feats.


    [Mana Sight]: Enhances the ability to see mana, allowing for more understanding of the unseen world.


    [Improvised Weapons Mastery]: Increases combat proficiency with tools not made for combat.


    [Tactical Insight]: Provides a better understanding of battle tactics, improving strategy and decision-making in combat.


    [Crafting Efficiency]: Boosts skill in crafting, allowing the character to create higher-quality items and equipment.


    [Stealth]: Improves the ability to move silently and remain unseen, making the character better at sneaking and avoiding detection.


    [First Aid]: Grants the ability to perform basic healing through first aid techniques.


    [Novice Alchemy]: Allows for the ability to create basic potions and elixirs.


    [Enhanced Endurance]: Increases stamina and resistance to physical fatigue, allowing for longer periods of activity without rest.


    [Enhanced Perception]: Enhances senses, making it easier to detect hidden traps, enemies, and secret passages.


    [Enhanced Charisma]: Boosts social skills and increases the likelihood of successful negotiations.


    [Magic Resistance]: Provides a degree of protection against magical attacks and spells.


    [Survival Skills]: This skill improves the ability to find food, water, and shelter in the wilderness, increasing the character''s chances of survival in harsh environments.


    [Appraisal]: Allows the character to identify the properties and value of items, which is useful for determining loot''s worth and potential use.

 Chapter 10:

    Alice pored over the list of skills. It all fit on one page, and she didn''t have to scroll at all. But her options kind of made sense, given what she''d been up to. She''d certainly done a lot less fighting than Titus had, and he was choosing his third skill, not a second. So maybe she would get more and stronger options as she leveled up, too.


    Besides, having more options didn''t mean they were necessarily better options. She had enough problems choosing from her list as it was. She didn''t want more options than this. Not at all. Totally.


    All of them looked good in some ways, but none really played to her strengths. She could pick any of them and get some general boost, but nothing felt very special or specific to her. Of all the options, she was leaning towards [Mana Sight] or [Enhanced Perception].


    Perhaps [Appraisal] will be useful down the line, but right now, it wouldn''t be very helpful. Knowing something''s value is better when there''s people to trade with, though knowing its properties would be good.


    As long as she stuck with Titus, the idea of really picking [Weapons Mastery], [Survival Skills], or [First Aid] seemed redundant. [Stealth] might be a useful pick as well, as she clearly was lacking in that department, but it was a hard choice.


    A few minutes into her pondering, Titus slid down the wall next to her, dropping into an easy crouch. The position looked as natural for him as sitting or standing.


    Looking up into his face, she realized he looked particularly serious, as though he had something he wanted to say. She pushed aside the thoughts about skill selections temporarily. His expression was unusually somber, reminding her of when they had first met earlier that evening.


    "I wanted to thank you for your help. I was surprised when you came back," he stated. During the whole time, he held eye contact in such a way that it was hard for her to look anywhere else.


    Alice was starting to feel a tiny bit offended, thinking he was accusing her of being a coward and running away. Still, he continued before she could say anything.


    "I had thought that I was just buying time for you to get away. A swarm of level 12 enemies is no joke. They''re more than three times your level. Well, they were." Titus said, finally breaking eye contact.


    Alice froze, pondering for a second. Buying time for her to get away. Titus had done a lot for her, but they had just met. To think that he was willing to sacrifice himself so she could have a chance to finish what she started and maybe undo this whole thing was making her choke up. When she became emotional, she found it difficult to speak, and she took a second to wipe her right eye with the collar of her borrowed shirt.


    "I''m touched. Though you could have run too, you know. We could have gotten away together," she said. No matter how hard she tried to look up at his face to return the respect he had shown her, her gaze was stuck to the ground at his feet, and her words came out in a mumble.


    "Hmmpf." Titus exhaled, and the juxtaposition of the silly sound and the seriousness of their conversation up to that point made her look up. She saw Titus give her a genuine smile, and then she watched as the smile turned slightly wicked.


    "Nah, I was just waiting for you to get away so I wouldn''t have to worry about protecting you anymore," he said, the forced nature of the cheer leaving his voice halfway through the sentence. "But thanks for the help anyway. Their attacks kind of tickled."


    He gave her a light punch in the shoulder and a rakish grin. She reached over and swatted his hand away. "As if. You were practically weeping on the floor when I came to help."


    He took it in stride. "And you won''t say a word about that to anyone, will you?"


    She looked him up and down imperiously. "Depends. Only if you don''t tell anyone about me screaming in the forest."


    "Scout''s honor," he said with a mock salute as he stood up and paced around a little bit. "Though, we definitely underestimated the threats even lower leveled monsters could propose. Next time, we need to go in with a better plan."


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    "Next time, I can just run away immediately and leave you for dead," Alice said.


    "Please do. It would make my life a lot easier."


    They sniped back and forth for a few moments before Alice felt a bit more normal. It was nice to be able to have a serious talk now and then, to know that Titus was capable of such consideration. Also, it was good that he didn''t let her ponder anything too serious for too long. They had too many important things to do to be bogged down in self-doubt.


    When that thought occurred to her, Titus seemed to have a similar understanding. As if he realized that she felt better after both the fight and his honesty, he brought the topic back to what they were doing.


    "Anyway, what skill have you picked up?"


    Shaking her head, she looked at him. "I haven''t decided yet."


    "Hey, aren''t you supposed to be this video game mastermind genius, inventor extraordinaire?" Titus said.


    "I have literally never said that," Alice shot back. "In fact, many times, I''ve said that the game has already changed a ton from what I knew before. I recognize a lot of these skills, sure, but some of them are new. So who''s to say that the previously obvious selections are still obvious?"


    "Well, what''s caught your eye?" he asked.


    "Well," she said, reading through the list again and listing off favorites. "It''s between [Mana Sight], [Stealth], [Magic Resistance], and maybe [Enhanced Perception]."


    "Hmm," Titus said. "I don''t think you need stealth. It would be nice, but between the two of us, we have a large blind spot when it comes to magic. I would say either [Mana Sight] or [Magic Resistance] would be useful. And your magic stat is rather high, if I remember correctly, at least higher than mine."


    "Right. It''s much higher than my physical as well. And I don''t think [Enhanced Strength] would be a good idea if I understand the magic and physical stats correctly."


    Titus crossed his arms. "I think I have some idea, but please. Enlighten me."


    "Well, I think they kind of act like modifiers. I''m not exactly sure, but I think the physical stat adjusts your power, speed, and control for physical things, and the magical stat adjusts your power, speed, and control for magical things. I have, what seven speed? And I''m willing to bet I''m still way slower than you were when you had seven speed."


    Titus nodded. "Understandable... So, you think it has to do with our physical and magical stats."


    "Right. So, since I have a higher magical modifier, I should probably pick some sort of focus on magic. Maybe."


    "Well, assuming we''re going to be able to partner long-term, but yes, I don''t see why that would be a problem. Besides, magic is cool." Titus nodded for emphasis.


    "I see where you''re going with this. I think I agree with you..." She hummed to herself, thinking for several moments. "Yeah. Ok. Then I think I''m gonna have to go with [Mana Sight]," she said, deciding.


    As she chose it, she explained her reasoning. "[Magic Resistance] would be nice, but if I really want to dive into the magic side of things, I need to understand it. And in order to understand it, I need to be able to see it. Resistance would be great, and if anything, I suggest that you pick that up if you have a chance, but I''d rather actively combat it. And [Mana Sight] seems to be the first way of actually interacting with it that I''ve seen."


    Titus nodded. "Solid reasoning. So, at least you can continue to be a nerd."


    Alice ignored him and stood up. The second the skill settled in, the world changed around her. Colors became brighter, and previously imperceptible lines of energy flowed all throughout the world. It was dazzling, blinding, and beautiful. She looked around herself in awe for a moment.


    As Alice continued to observe her surroundings, though, she realized she had no idea of what it all meant. She couldn''t make heads or tails of anything. They just seemed to be various colors, painted over everything in a way that actually obstructed her regular vision and told her nothing about the magic associated with them. Not its purpose, not its power, not its type, form, or anything. But she could work on it. It would be a puzzle.


    Looking at her hands, they appeared just as they normally did. No additional colors or energies burst forth from her. On the other hand, Titus blazed like a sun. She practically had to shield her eyes in order to look at him.


    That must be because he''s at a higher level. Can I not see my own magic?


    She saw a few dim spots in the distance. When she looked closer, it appeared to be stragglers of the birds, the Thunder Sparrows. But they were nothing compared to what Titus was. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she concentrated on trying to turn off the skill, but nothing happened.


    With increasing panic, she kept pressing at the skill, trying to get it to respond. To do anything. The only thing that changed was that the structures in her own skin began to glow as well, and she could make out the bones of her hand in front of her eyes as the light of Titus shone through her flesh. She tried to open her menu and deactivate the skill somehow. However, she couldn''t read the text through the blinding light.


    Alice screamed, the sensations overwhelming her. The blinding light pierced through her brain, making it all too apparent that she still had a concussion. It was like staring into the sun. The small amount of pain she had felt looking into the fire when she first woke up was nothing compared to this.


    She barely felt Titus catch her as she collapsed, and mercifully, everything went dark.

 Chapter 11:

    Alice slowly came to in the dim light of the room, the faint illumination barely bothering her eyes. The threads of mana around her shed a slight glow, allowing her to almost see in the dark. Titus''s voice came from behind her, and she was grateful he was out of view.


    "Is this going to be a common thing?"


    "What?" Alice asked, her mind confused and still moving at half speed, though not quite as bad as it had been this morning.


    "You falling unconscious. It feels like this happens to you a lot."


    "God, I hope not," Alice said. She ran her hand down her face, wiggled her body slightly, and checked to make sure everything was still as she left it.


    "Well, I''ve seen no evidence to the contrary. I''m picking up smelling salts the next chance I get," Titus said, still out of sight. "Being unconscious as much as you are can''t be healthy. Trust me, I know [First Aid]."


    Alice rolled her eyes and winced at the pain the motion brought. "Yeah, I don''t think [Mana Sight] and concussions go well together," she said. She forced herself to sit up and felt the bandages on her head. "Also, I''m pretty sure you can''t treat a concussion by bandaging your head."


    "Hey, tell that to my skill. It''s working, isn''t it?"


    "I don''t know. I still feel like a sack of shit."


    "A slightly less injured sack of shit," Titus said with confidence.


    Slowly, she turned to put him on the edge of her field of view. The blaze of mana coming off of him was still intense but more manageable. It only took a couple of winces before she got used to it. Had the skill settled in, or was it just that he wasn''t putting off as much magic now as he had been earlier?


    "Besides, the blindfold helped your eyes stop bleeding."


    "My eyes were bleeding?"


    "Yeah. Just slightly. I think you have a bit of mild eye strain."


    "I don''t think you treat eye strain by bandaging the eyes. Also, mild eye strain shouldn''t make my eyes bleed."


    "Actually," Titus said, "I''m pretty sure that''s exactly how you treat eye strain. Blindfolds, darkness, and rest."


    "Okay, that''s fair," Alice grumbled as she swung her legs and looked around. "Enough about my health. Where are we?"


    "The director''s office. You suggested this might be a place where materials to repair the server room were stored."


    Alice nodded. "Yeah. Okay."


    "But before we move on, can you actually tell me what happened?"


    "Yeah. Um, I picked [Mana Sight], and the world is weird now."


    "How so? Describe it."


    "Well, I can see magic, mana, everywhere," she said. "And you," Alice pointed at Titus, "Are blazing like the sun. Staring at you directly gives me a headache and¡­"


    "Interesting. My magic stat is only at two. I wonder why I''m so magical. Do you see the glow coming from yourself?"


    Alice looked down. "No, not at all."


    "Hmm. I guess we can''t understand why until we know more. Have you made any progress in trying to figure out how to turn it off?"


    Alice shook her head slowly. "No. The only thing that happened when I prodded at it was the skill got more intense. Right now, it''s kind of at a low baseline, and looking at you is nearly tolerable. But when I was poking and trying to turn it down, I think I accidentally turned my sensitivity up. Hence the, uh, collapsing in agony sort of thing."


    "Yeah, that didn''t look fun. I''m gonna leave the magic stuff to you if that''s all right," Titus said.


    "Wouldn''t have it any other way," Alice grumbled. She got up from the sofa she had been lying on and walked over to the director''s desk. She fumbled around through the drawers until she found what she was looking for: a little key fob with a foam floaty thing on it.


    "What''s that for?" Titus asked.


    "They have a little golf cart thing for moving supplies around. Some sort of tractor thing, I don''t know."


    Titus held out his hands, and Alice looked at him strangely.


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    "Give it here." he insisted.


    "You don''t even know where it is."


    "Yes, but you''re not allowed to drive."


    "Why can''t I drive?" Alice complained.


    "You have a concussion," Titus said with an exaggeratedly patient tone.


    "I had a concussion. The System healed me. I''m fine," she said, even as she winced from looking at Titus too directly.


    "No, you are clearly not fine. Also, you shouldn''t drive for weeks after healing from one. I don''t see any time in the near future where you''re going to be allowed to drive again. Honestly, probably shouldn''t have even let you ride the bike on the way here," Titus insisted.


    Alice grumbled but realized Titus had a point. "Okay, but with the increased healing, it should only be a few days."


    Titus shrugged. "Who knows? We''ll see when you''re feeling better and have more points into control and faster reaction times."


    Alice bared her teeth at him but still threw the keys at him, which he snatched out of the air with surprising nimbleness. His hands were thick and calloused, not hands that should be able to snatch something small out of the air before it could smack him in the face. With a flourish the keys disappeared into his pocket, and he stretched.


    "Okay, so do you know where we''re going?" Titus asked.


    Alice nodded, pulling up the inventory book she had found tucked away in one of the bottom drawers. "The maintenance list says building E-140. I know where that is."


    "Good," Titus said. "So we should probably get going then."


    Alice nodded. But neither of them made a move.


    "So, about this. Should we develop a plan first?" Alice asked.


    Titus nodded. "Yes. Yes, we should."


    "So I''m thinking we speed down there as fast as possible, grab all the equipment, and come back so I can get to repairing it as soon as possible." Alice offered.


    Titus shook his head. "No, I think we should do the opposite."


    "What? We shouldn''t go at all?"


    "No, we should go. But we should take our time. You need more levels. If you were even five levels higher, I bet those birds would not have been nearly the problem they were. Also, we need at least level seven and a good skill for you. Your combat capabilities are sorely lacking, and I don''t think we''re in any rush," Titus explained.


    "What do you mean we''re not in any rush?" Alice argued. "Time is of the essence. The longer the System has to develop, the harder it will be to trace down every root of it."


    Titus looked at her. "It''s already been a day."


    "Wait. How long was I unconscious?" Alice asked.


    "Not that long. But while we''ve been in here, night has fallen. So it''s already been at least 12 hours. Maybe not a day, but still. Besides, it''s not just in this server, right?" Titus said.


    Alice shook her head. "No, but we don''t know what could go wrong while we take our time. I really want to get this taken care of as soon as possible."


    Titus sighed and looked at her. "I don''t like your chances, and I think it''s very important for us not to get too short-sighted about this. You could end up weak and behind the curve. Assuming that monsters get stronger or people in the tutorial get stronger and are vulnerable, you need levels. Sure, we can work towards fixing this whole thing, but we need to balance that out with long-term power if you can''t."


    "I don''t agree," Alice said. "I think we need to put everything we can into fixing this. Then if we can get this rolled back, everything will go back to how it was."


    "It''s too bad. I have the keys, and I''m driving. We''re stopping at monsters for you and me to get levels. The birds were level twelve and up. You said the campus was between levels one and ten earlier this morning. If that means anything, I think the monsters around us are getting stronger. We don''t have the luxury of not taking this seriously."


    Alice grimaced. "Okay. Should I really be fighting in this state though, if I''m not even good enough to drive?" she asked, changing tactics.


    Titus considered it for a second. "Yes, yes, you should. You need to learn how to fight while disoriented."


    "Even if it makes my concussion worse?"


    "I''ve been concussed many times, and I''ve never had a problem fighting through it," Titus stated proudly.


    "That explains a lot," Alice muttered under her breath. "Well, if I can fight while I''m concussed, why can''t I drive?"


    "The act of driving is controlling a very powerful weapon. Vehicular manslaughter is not a joke," Titus said.


    "You understand how this is being hypocritical?" Alice griped.


    "Yes. Yes, I do," Titus said. "But it''s something I''m still going to stand by."


    "Fine. Let''s stop wasting time and go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get started, the sooner we can get back." Alice gave up.


    "That''s what I''m saying. Let''s go. And where is this golf cart you''re talking about?"


    Alice grumbled as she stomped out of the director''s room, shielding her eyes from the bright fluorescent lights that were left on in the hallway.


    "Actually," Titus said and ducked back into the room quickly. He emerged holding a pair of gaudy, leopard-print, tortoiseshell, rhinestone-studded sunglasses. "Here," he said and gave them to Alice.


    She looked at him with disbelief.


    "Looks like ''Director Tamara'' had an interesting fashion sense," he said, tapping the nameplate on the door.


    Alice slipped the large sunglasses on her face, not liking the look but appreciating the dimming effect it had on everything, including the mana she was seeing all around her. "I hate that this works," she said as they walked down the hallway and down the stairs. "I think there''s a loading bay around the back. The golf cart normally goes in and out of there, if I remember correctly."


    "I thought you said you used to work here. Shouldn''t you know where all this stuff is?" Titus asked as they found their way to the basement levels and picked their way through the much more cluttered hallways full of boxes and fenced-off areas for supplies.


    "Yeah. I mean, I used to work here, but not like this. I was only in the building a couple of times. Mostly, I worked remotely. I did a lot of server maintenance stuff from home and research things."


    "So why do you think you can actually fix this?" Titus asked. "I mean, not saying that you can''t, but if you didn''t actually work with the hardware, isn''t that like a totally different skill set? Or am I not understanding something about computers here?"


    "Well, I do know all the theory," Alice said, "And I''m pretty sure I can figure it out."


    Titus looked at her skeptically. "Hey, I guess you''re the expert here."


    "I am the expert here," Alice said, though that thought brought her a lot less comfort than it once would have.

 Chapter 12:

    They finally found the golf cart tractor-looking hybrid that Alice saw many of the campus employees and groundskeepers riding around in. It was off to the side of the loading bay, where trucks could go back in to be unloaded. There was a little garage, and the keys turned the battery right on. Titus had them zipping down the cart path to the campus network of bike paths at a comfortable fifteen miles an hour. There was plenty of space in the back for all the equipment she needed to gather, so Alice was satisfied until, less than a minute later, Titus braked the cart.


    Tires squeaking, they came to a sudden halt.J Just around the corner, a pair of familiar-looking bike monsters that were now level six appeared.


    It was weird how the handlebars moved as if they were arms more than anything, and the wheels spun. The fronts had little face-like protrusions that reminded her more of an animal than a machine, but clearly, they were still made of metal.


    "First opponents," Titus said, giving her a push to slide her off the cart.


    Alice looked around. "How am I supposed to fight these metal things?" She said, still not drawing her knife. She held the fire extinguisher she had brought with her but didn''t have much confidence in it being useful. The bikes started to circle her as if they were stalking prey.


    "You''ll be fine," Titus insisted.


    Alice aimed the nozzle of the fire extinguisher at the closer one but didn''t pull the trigger.


    "I don''t think this is going to work," she said, nerves making her voice rise in pitch. The one she wasn''t pointing at sprung forward, tires leaving a rubber mark on the asphalt of the cart path. She swung and clipped the front wheel with the heavy body of the fire extinguisher, sending it careening past her but not actually doing much damage.


    Alice looked around, trying to find something more useful. The fire extinguisher was too heavy for her to swing fast, and while it had enough weight, she couldn''t put enough oomph in it to really bend the structures of these bike monsters. Without a nearby car to run over her opponents, she really didn''t have many options. She was regretting her choice of skill already, but unfortunately, she couldn''t change it to something more useful.


    Getting an idea, she looked at the monsters, focusing on the mana moving through them. It seemed normal, more like the ambient mana all around her and less than the few sparrows she''d seen. Nothing close to what Titus looked like, but she did notice the amount gathering at the tires of one of them right before it sprung.


    Using this foresight, she could dodge out of the way and whack it with the fire extinguisher as it went by, still causing no noticeable harm. This went on for a couple of minutes, Alice dodging out of the way while delivering ineffectual blows with the heavy metal cylinder she held in one hand. The one time she attempted to ice one over, it completely ignored it, and she wasted a solid fifteen percent of the magic fire extinguisher''s charge to no effect.


    "Titus!" she called. "A little help? Maybe just some advice?"


    Titus was still sitting in the cart, watching while keeping an eye on their surroundings. "You''re doing fine," he said. "Maybe try focusing on their wheels."


    Alice sighed. "I''ve thought about that." The next time around she tried to hit the wheel, but the cylinder just bounced off the rubber uselessly.


    Titus called, "Aim for the spokes."


    Alice looked around, and just as she dodged out of the way of the next one, she ducked off the path into the landscaped garden around them and pulled out a stake holding a tree upright. The long wooden stake wasn''t going to be able to damage the metal by hitting it, but this time, as one of the bikes charged at her; she dodged out of the way, ready to make a move.


    Being able to see whatever skill they did to activate their charge ability massively helped her prepare. With a grunt, she jabbed the stick in the spokes of the wheel. The stick crunched and cracked, but several of the spokes bent, and the wheel got jammed. The bike fell over, its back wheel spinning helplessly.


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    "One down, one to go." She repeated the trick with a different stick. Both bike monsters were lying on the ground, spokes bent and front wheels unable to turn. With awkward brutality, she bashed them with the fire extinguisher body as they lay motionless on the ground until she eventually received experience for their defeat.


    Walking back towards the cart, Alice panted and wiped her sweaty hair out of her face as she glared at Titus. "That was not fun," she said between breaths. "You could have pointed that out earlier."


    Titus shrugged. "I thought that would be obvious. And you were practicing something. But yes, you should definitely try to figure out some way to hit opponents'' weaknesses."


    "Did your [Critical Strike] skill tell you where to hit it?" Alice asked, still peeved.


    Titus shook her head. "No, it didn''t activate. It just seemed obvious to me."


    She slumped in the seat, the nice bit of shade and the soft cushion being a welcome relief as she relaxed. "Fine," she said, "But you''re taking the next one."


    Titus shook his head. "Nope. If it''s under my level, you''re taking it. Besides, I don''t think I get much for fighting a couple of level-six beasts. Not if killing a ton of level 15 thunder sparrows barely got me a level."


    They started up again. "Yeah, I''m not sure each of those thunder sparrows was level 12," Alice said. "I wonder if it was more that the entire group was level 12."


    Titus grunted. "Maybe. Still, I can''t believe I only got to level eight after that."


    "Well, maybe you should fight more monsters," Alice said. He had fought a decent number of monsters in the low teens on the way over here, and it still hadn''t done much besides give them a level or two. It seemed, though, that either significantly higher levels or more difficult foes were needed in order to get proper experience. Or perhaps Titus just needed to fight people. You just needed to fight a lot of monsters to level up.


    The next time they stopped was for a level seven owl wearing a graduation hat.T It looked downright silly but had an incredibly sharp beak and wickedly curved talons. Alice received several slashes, but the fire extinguisher was actually useful here, freezing the owl''s feathers and grounding it long enough for her to bash it to death. She was numb to the violence, but still, killing the silly-looking owl thing was difficult for her. Titus bandaged up her cuts, and they continued on their way.


    "How many more do you think before I need to hit level seven?" Alice asked. She was still a decent way away from level six.


    Titus shrugged. "I''m not sure. I think it depends on how much difficulty you''re having. You seem to be gaining a lot more from these fights than I would have, even if I was at your level. But that might have to do with how you''re fighting."


    Alice wasn''t sure, but that didn''t sound unreasonable. The next time they stopped was for a [Hellhound lvl 14]. The thing looked like a Rottweiler but was almost the size of a golf cart and had thin streams of lava dripping out of the sides of its mouth instead of drool. Titus told her to stay in the cart for this one as he got out and faced it, shovel, spear, and ax in hand.


    Alice watched as he used the advantage of his [Critical Strike] skill to lash out and start attacking the thing. He stabbed it in the eye with a throw from the spear right off the bat, sending it into a blinding howl. As it flailed wildly, he calmly took it apart with several swings of his ax until the thing was headless and dead. He dragged the smoking body out of the way of the cart, coming back with a smile.


    "Hey, you hit level nine!" Alice realized.


    Titus nodded. "Yeah, I think using skills in combat actually helps level faster."


    "Really?"


    "Well, I mean, it seems like it. It''s the only time I''ve ever actually used anything in battle. But [Critical Strike] seems to help."


    Alice nodded. "Maybe that''s why I''m leveling a little faster than you were; I''m actually using my [Mana Sight]. It helps me read the motion and skill of the creatures. It seems like they oftentimes will direct some sort of mana to reinforce whatever they''re planning on doing, which lets me read their motions ahead of time."


    "Yeah, that sounds really useful," Titus remarked as he started up the golf cart again, and they were soon cruising down the path towards the maintenance building. "Well, I wonder if identifying creatures during the fight helps more or not."


    "Yeah, well, even if we just practice using the skills, it seems to be a useful way of improving," Alice suggested. "Though I hope to get a combat skill next time."


    "We''ll see," Titus said. "I''m not sure if general skills are really going to give you too much magic combat. I mostly found them to be proficiencies or utility skills so far."


    "Yeah," Alice nodded. "The name ''general skills'' makes me think of some other type of skills available. Perhaps there''s a combat skill we can unlock or something."


    "Maybe," Titus said. "But yeah, it implies some other kind of skill, and maybe we''ll get more combat options."


    "I really want to learn fireball," Alice muttered as they continued on.


    Titus just laughed.

 Chapter 13:

    By the time they finally reached the warehouse where all the extra equipment was kept, Alice''s hair was plastered to her face with sweat. Her borrowed shirt had a rip on the side, and her jeans had a couple of holes at the knees. The few cuts she had received were cleaned up, and luckily, she had avoided her hair being singed, if just barely. The second-degree burn she had on her left hand was healing but was taking a while and hurt whenever she tried to grab anything with it.


    Titus looked relatively normal. He had a slight bit of dirt on the cuffs of his pants but otherwise looked unbothered. Alice felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, but still, she grinned with satisfaction as she hit level six right before they arrived.


    She jogged the rest of the way from the monster she had just finished off. Titus hopped out and pulled the cart up so that the little bed they had to place everything on was up against the loading bay.


    "We did it," she said, pumping her fist. "Level six!"


    "Hey, congrats," Titus said as he pulled the keys out, and the incessant beeping from backing up the cart stopped. "Speed and power?" he asked.


    She nodded. "Speed and power."


    They had talked a little bit about it, and she had decided that she could always be faster. It would always be better when it came to both combat and magic. Getting her power up to an average of five would be extremely beneficial, as hitting things hard enough was a real problem for her. If Titus''s theory about the magic and physical stats held true, that might be less of a case if she started getting some sort of magic attack, but even then, hitting harder with more power would probably be a good thing.


    She felt a noticeable increase in her speed as she assigned the points and a decent amount of fatigue left her tired limbs. It seemed that the power stat really did govern her stamina slightly. Feeling a little better, she stretched, feeling like she had a couple of days of recovery after a good workout, and felt strong again.


    "Ooh, that''s a rush," Alice said.


    Titus replied, "Yeah, it makes me think I wasted all those years working out."


    Alice looked over at him as he was flexing his biceps in a kind of silly pose. "It doesn''t look like it. Have you been getting larger since you''ve been adding points into power?"


    Titus shook his head. "I don''t think so. I haven''t really noticed many physical appearance changes, but I do seem stronger."


    "Hmm. I wonder if you want to get jacked now. Is the only way, like, working out?" She pondered.


    "Hey, the only way to get jacked always has been working out," Titus said. "Even roids require working out.¡±


    ¡°It''s a little disappointing that I won''t be able to tone my body up by just adding points into power," she said.


    Titus looked her up and down. "Yeah. If you keep living like this, in a month or two, any bit of baby fat you might have will be gone."


    She gave him a mock glare but had to agree. Working on the computer all the time hadn¡¯t given her much of a chance to thin up. If they kept running around and fighting like this all the time, she wouldn''t need the stats to make her look more athletic. She probably would be more athletic, and the stats would just let her do those activities more easily.


    "Come on, let''s get things loaded up," she said.


    Titus picked the lock on the door, since they had forgotten to get the actual key ring for it. At least, the golf cart keys didn''t have the correct key on them. Alice grumbled as he did, "I still can''t believe nothing happened when you hit level ten. I was expecting, I don''t know, a class or some sort of achievement or something."


    Titus shrugged. "Well, I''ve only been getting stuff at odd numbers¡ªthree, five, seven."


    "Well, you didn''t get anything at nine," Alice pointed out.


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    "So maybe it''s prime numbers?" Titus asked.


    Alice shook her head. "No. You would have gotten something at two if prime numbers were important."


    "Well, I guess we''ll have to see what happens when I hit eleven, but it could be odd primes," Titus suggested.


    "Yeah. Maybe. Still, it seems kind of weird. But if it''s eleven, then it''ll be thirteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-three."


    "Wow. Level twenty-three seems a long way off." Titus commented as he tilted his head to hear the lock better.


    "Well, if something happens at eleven and thirteen, I think we can probably assume odd primes," Alice said as Titus cracked the door open."You are fast at that. Really fast. I''ve seen the key before. That''s not like a three-pin key,"


    Titus gave her a wink, but he didn''t say anything as he tucked the tools he''d been using into his pouch. After a second, he opened the door and walked through. "It''s just a skill you pick up after some time."


    "I don''t believe you," Alice said but let the matter drop as they walked inside.


    The power to the building was still on, so they flicked on the lights. It didn''t take them long to locate the extra cables that she needed, along with a couple of interfaces. The place was blessedly free of monsters. A few minutes later, they had everything loaded up on the cart, and they were heading back.


    Fortunately, it seemed like the monsters were mostly territorial and didn''t move to help each other in fights when there was a commotion. Also, things hadn''t moved back into their path after they had cleared it, so the way back was relatively smooth, only having to stop once for Alice to finish off a monster. She had stopped trying to complain about it and came to accept Titus''s reasoning that levels were going to be important.


    Even if she did somehow manage to turn off the System, perhaps she''d be able to keep all this strength and speed. She was pretty sure she could nearly double her typing speed with her increased control and finger dexterity, which would be a huge boon.


    Titus, though, was getting to the point of ridiculousness. He had been putting most of his points into speed and power, with a balanced allocation in control. But upon passing ten in each of them, it was starting to become a little trippy watching him move, almost like he was a weird mix between a sprinter and a ballet dancer, but turned up to eleven. He said he felt great, but Alice was thinking he was clearly veering into the inhuman category.


    ***


    Something was wrong. Alice realized it when they rounded the bend, and the supercomputer center came into sight. On the roof, she could see a few of the Thunder Sparrows, a small blue charge flickering between them. They hadn''t been outside when they first arrived, and there was an odd glow coming from the tinted windows and a strange smell in the air.


    "Fuck!" Titus yelled. The cart came to a screeching halt, and he leaped out, running for the door before it had even stopped completely, leaving all the materials they had gathered in the back. Only then did Alice recognize the acrid scent of burning rubber.


    She followed him as fast as she could but was still left behind as Titus busted through the broken door and into the building. Alice stopped short as she got to the server room and saw the black smoke curling toward the ceiling.


    Titus grabbed one of the fire extinguishers and rushed over to where the smoke was coming from. Alice put her head in her hands and suppressed the urge to scream. There were birds flitting around again¡ªnot electrical birds, but birds made of flame, like what you''d expect a Phoenix to be. They were nesting in the cables, which were melting, and the fire was spreading to the electronics. The indicator lights were all off.


    Fuck. Alice almost wanted to cry.


    Titus sprayed at the nest with a fire extinguisher, and the birds swarmed up and out like the Thunder Sparrows had done. But this time, they were made of fire, and she could feel the heat rushing toward her.


    "We gotta run," Titus said as he raced past her and grabbed her elbow, dragging her along behind. Alice felt flames licking her back and could smell her hair burning. Even as she reached back to swat, she felt her burned hand connect with something solid and a brief flare of pain, like she had just grabbed a burning marshmallow off the stick and flung it away. Not caring about the pain, she tossed the bird aside.


    Titus yanked her out into the corridor. Seconds later, they were outside, and several birds streamed after them. Once they were twenty paces away from the building, the birds screeched, smoke and flames billowing out of their small beaks as they wheeled around and settled in the entrance, carefully watching the intruders.


    Alice patted out her hair, but the stench of burning keratin followed. What do we do? Alice thought. The whole plan was to track the System from here. How am I supposed to turn it off? How do I access it? How do I know where it went?


    Titus moved behind her, watching carefully as he circled, making sure nothing attacked as he herded her towards the cart. She was walking without purpose, not really paying attention to her surroundings as she stumbled towards the cart. Titus pushed her into the seat gently as she sat, staring off at the supercomputer center that now had flames licking its walls.


    "We''re lucky to get away," he said. "Those were level twenty-five. Each one, not just the flock."


    Alice ignored him. She simply sat and watched as any hope she had of turning the System off, of correcting her mistake, of fixing this fucking mess, burned down in front of her. It was all she could do not to burst into tears.

 Chapter 14:

    Titus stood awkwardly next to the golf cart they had been using to grab repair materials. He didn''t know what to do with his hands as he watched Alice stare forlornly at the building as it started to burn. He wanted to wrap her in a hug and tell her everything would be all right, but that''d be weird. His usual methods of comforting were something he was a bit out of practice with, but they were all for long-time friends or people he treated like family. Honestly, he had just met her this morning, and even after one of the longest days in recent memory, they still barely knew each other. It was easy to forget that in the quickly darkening light of twilight.


    But she looked so destroyed. He had to do something. He couldn''t just let her sit there, wallowing in self-pity. She was too important. She was, in some ways, the only hope humanity had to return to normal. And that was probably too much pressure to put on her if she was really nineteen like she claimed.


    With the amount of experience she had with tech and how smart she was, it was hard to believe it. Not that he thought she was lying. Her story matched her facial features for sure.


    There was a lot of pressure to put on her. She likely knew it herself, but telling yourself that everything mattered was one thing. Of course, you thought that everything you believed in mattered. Everyone did. But having someone else tell you how important you were... Titus knew from experience that was a whole different feeling, and he wasn''t about to put extra pressure on her more than she already had. And besides, it might be possible that she didn''t have a way to fix it. It certainly didn''t sound like she knew what she was doing, but she had hope. And that meant Titus had hope.


    But with the supercomputer center burning... well, it might be that she could never do anything about it after all. But he didn''t believe that. Alice had a certain attitude about her that made Titus really believe that she could do pretty much anything she set her mind to. As long as it didn''t involve knives. Just talking with her sometimes made it hard to keep up. Keeping her off balance with unexpected humor was the best he could manage. It was an odd sensation, and there were very few people he still talked to that could keep him off balance as much as she did.


    Eventually, the silence stretched on long enough, and Alice still hadn''t snapped out of her daze. Titus felt that he had to say something. Something different. Something funny and unique¡ªsomething to lighten the tension and help her move on so that she could come up with a new plan, and he could help her execute it. Because, hell, he didn''t know what he was doing. Not with all this computer stuff.


    "Hey," he said, looking at her, trying to read her as best he could. Her hair was singed, and the smell was making his nose itch. "You want me to help cut away the burned part of your hair? I have some experience with cutting hair. I can make it look good."


    He wasn''t lying, but he also wasn''t sure if any of the ways he knew how to cut hair would really be in style, especially not with a knife.


    Alice took a second but then reacted. She looked over at him, and he had to stop himself from flinching. Her eyes were angry, a certain red around the corners as if she was about to cry, but at the same time, her brows pinched together in a scowl. She completely ignored anything he said and snapped at him.


    "This is your fault! If we had rushed, we could have been back in time to defend the place. But no, I had to fight every monster along the way because you''re too fucking lazy to help," she said, her voice rising to a scream. "It took us three times as long as it should have! We could have at least had a fucking chance if you, shit-for-brains, had listened to me!"


    She went on and on, and Titus just let her rant. Maybe she meant it, maybe she didn''t. It didn''t really matter. She clearly needed to get all this out, and Titus could take it. So he sat there quietly, watching and passive, neither a contrite nor resentful expression flashing across his face.


    Eventually, after a few moments, she ran herself dry. She stood out of the cart, finger jabbed into his chest, mouth moving as if she had more to say. But with a stomp of her foot, she whirled around, her burnt ends of hair smacking against his face as she dashed off around the corner.


    Titus made to go follow her but realized she had just gone around the neighboring building center, and he heard her footsteps stop. Then he heard the faint sound of her starting to cry. He relaxed, knowing where she was. Even if he couldn''t see her, he could at least watch over her.


    He walked over to a nearby tree, one that was relatively young and clearly planted for decoration. He leaned against it as he sat down into a cross-legged position under the shade it was giving from the setting sun.


    With a calming breath, Titus closed his eyes and focused inwards, keeping track of all the sounds around him. There was mostly just the wind and trees, and every once in a while, a distant monster made a noise. The soft noises of sorrow coming from where Alice rested reassured him that, physically, she was all right. At least. They would need to talk later after she calmed down and maybe after he calmed down, too.


    It was hard for him to tell if he was being rational or not, but he supposed he could be. He needed her. Everyone needed her. Well, he didn''t need her to survive, but he needed her to fix this. Without her, he''d probably just be off fighting monsters somewhere, getting stronger. He had no idea what to do otherwise.


    Without her, he wouldn''t even know whether this could be fixed. It was just the new reality. And he would do what he always did: get stronger and better until he could survive without concern. Then he''d start worrying about other people, trying to bring them up to his level to make sure that they could survive.


    But now he knew there was a chance that things could be fixed. He would miss living without modern-day conveniences, but he had lived without them for a long time and knew he wouldn''t need them to survive. Not again. Still, it was something he obviously would miss, but he didn''t need them. But he had to realize that many people did. And, well, everyone else was counting on her, whether they knew it or not. And, by extension, they were also counting on him. So he was going to do everything he could to give her the best shot.


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    Titus knew she probably blamed herself for this whole problem. But he didn''t, and unfortunately, the rest of the world would probably blame her, too. So not only would he do his best to make sure she had the chance to fix this if she really wanted it, but also to make sure that no one else found out what actually happened. At least, they would do their best.


    Plans ran through his head as he sat there thinking. He could maybe find and contact old allies to get their support, if they were still alive. His thoughts wandered naturally, taking him to their current predicament. He considered Alice''s words again.


    What if they weren''t just the sounds of an angry teenager overreacting? What if she was right? Had he been wrong? Maybe.H He still stood by his initial point that she needed to get strong enough to defend herself. He was only one person and couldn''t be with her a hundred percent of the time until she figured this out. And even then, what if she failed? What if she couldn''t fix this, and it was the new reality? She needed to be strong. Even if it wasn''t permanent, she would be much more successful if she was strong.


    The solution to almost any problem was to get stronger. But was he right in this particular instance? Did she need to get stronger now, when they were this close to a possible solution? Titus wasn''t sure, and it was a feeling he was not comfortable with. Normally, he was very confident in his decisions. He decided, and then he acted. There was very little room for second thoughts. Now, though...


    When it came down to it, he honestly hadn''t expected her to stop the System here. That would have been anticlimactic. Unbelievable. Inconceivable. If she could do it that easily, she would never have come to find him. She would have stopped it within hours of the thing first occurring. She wouldn''t have run across campus and stolen a helicopter to go see if she could save a stranger. No, she would have just turned the whole thing off if she could. Right?


    But maybe he was just hoping that she could learn something about the System, something that they could use to their advantage as they tried to survive.U Until everyone came back from the tutorial and civilization reasserted itself in its new and changed forms. Or perhaps she could find some other sort of weakness they could exploit to root it out of wherever it had taken hold, some part of reality that was magical and that no one understood.


    It was a long shot, and at best, he gave her less than a 1% chance of actually succeeding. Especially if they had to fully understand magic in a way that no one on Earth had ever known had really existed in the form it was taking now. But that was unfair. In order to have the best possible chance, they should have hurried. And if they had failed here, then he should have insisted on her leveling up. He supposed that was a fair consideration in hindsight. He should probably go apologize, even if it from self doubt rather than total certainty that he was in the wrong. Titus had lost far too many relationships, people he once cared about, once loved, because he hadn''t been willing to apologize when he had been in the wrong. So surely apologizing once when he didn''t need to wasn''t going to hurt, right?


    As Titus came to that realization, he opened his eyes and was met with a screen flashing in front of him.


    Through battle and insights, you have achieved something deep within yourself. Congratulations on reaching E-grade.


    Class one unlocked.


    Choose one of the following classes for your first class.


    Tyrant of War- Legendary


    Class Description: The Tyrant of War is a legendary leader whose presence on the battlefield inspires armies and terrifies adversaries. Commanding respect through a combination of tactical genius and unwavering resolve, the Tyrant of War can turn the tide of any conflict. Their deep understanding of warfare allows them to deploy troops with pinpoint accuracy, predict enemy movements, and orchestrate complex battle plans. In combat, they are both a formidable warrior and a master tactician, capable of rallying their allies and demoralizing their foes with strategic prowess.


    Stats: +1 speed, +2 power, +2 control, +2 free points


    Abilities:


    - [Tactical Insight]: Predict and counter enemy strategies with ease.


    - [Warrior''s Command]: Direct troops to perform powerful, coordinated attacks.


    - [Unyielding Presence]: Enhance defenses and reduce damage taken by allies within range.


    Grand Schemer - Legendary


    Class Description: The Grand Schemer is a cerebral mastermind whose plans are as intricate as they are effective. Known for their unparalleled intelligence and foresight, the Grand Schemer excels in creating elaborate schemes that ensure victory long before the battle begins. Utilizing a combination of battlefield control, deception, and psychological manipulation, they can outthink and outmaneuver any opponent. In the heat of conflict, the Grand Schemer remains calm and collected, using their keen mind to adapt and exploit weaknesses in real-time.


    Stats: +2 speed, +1 power, +2 control, +2 free points


    Abilities:


    - [Master Plan]: Formulate complex strategies that grant bonuses to allies when executed correctly.


    - [Resourceful Tactics]: Turn the environment and available resources to your advantage.


    - [Foresight]: Predict enemy actions and set traps or ambushes to counter them.


    Architect - Epic


    Class Description: The Architect is a creator and a visionary, capable of shaping the world around them to fit their grand designs. With the power to construct formidable structures and intricate traps, the Architect can turn any terrain into an impregnable fortress or a deadly maze. Their deep understanding of materials and engineering allows them to reinforce their creations with magical enhancements, making them both practical and nearly indestructible. On the battlefield, the Architect can summon barriers, fortifications, and constructs to protect allies and hinder enemies.


    Stats: +1 speed, +1 power, +3 control, +2 free points


    Abilities:


    - [Fortress Builder]: Construct strongholds and defensive structures on the battlefield.


    - [Trap Master]: Lay complex traps that can incapacitate or eliminate foes.


    - [Guardian Constructs]: Summon golems or mechanical guardians to aid in battle.


    Unyielding Nomad- Legendary


    Class Description: The Unyielding Nomad is a resilient and resourceful class forged through enduring the harshest of conditions and the most grueling trials. Possessing an indomitable spirit and an unparalleled ability to adapt, the Unyielding Nomad can thrive in any environment. They are experts in self-sufficiency, able to find sustenance and shelter where others see only desolation. In combat, the Unyielding Nomad is a tenacious opponent, using guerrilla tactics, improvised weapons, and an unbreakable will to overcome any adversary. Their knowledge of survival skills makes them invaluable in prolonged campaigns and dire situations.


    Stats: +3 speed, +1 power, +1 control, +2 free points


    Abilities:


    - [Peek Endurance]: Greatly increased stamina and resistance to adverse conditions.


    - [Improvised Arsenal]: Craft weapons and tools from available materials.


    - [Survival Instinct]: Heightened senses and reflexes, allowing for quick reactions to danger.


    Eternal Predator - Mythic


    Class Description: The Eternal Predator is a master of the wilderness and the shadows, wielding the primal forces of nature and time-honored hunting techniques passed down through millennia. Armed with enchanted weapons and mystical traps, the Eternal Predator strikes fear into the hearts of both beasts and men. Their heightened senses allow them to track the faintest of trails. At the same time, their connection to nature grants them the ability to call upon forces not understood to fight for their cause. In battle, they are swift, silent, and deadly, a ghost in the trees who is never seen until it is too late.


    Stats: +2 speed, +2 power, +2 control, +2 free points


    Abilities:


    - [Primal Marksmanship]: Unleash a volley of projectiles imbued with elemental forces.


    - [Eagle''s Vision]: See through illusions and track enemies across great distances.


    - [Nature''s Cloak]: Blend into the surroundings, becoming nearly invisible to enemies.


    Congratulations, you are the first in the world to each E grade.


    +Title ¡ª The Primarch: Gain +10% effectiveness to all stats.

 Chapter 15:

    "If that stupid meathead block of muscles had just done his job, everything would be fine," Alice told herself as she wiped her eyes again. If he had just rushed her to the place, he could have even run in front of her while she drove the cart.


    Just because she had a concussion didn''t mean she couldn''t drive a golf cart. They only went fifteen miles an hour. It wasn''t like she was driving a tank or flying a plane. It wasn''t that complicated. He should have listened to her.


    "God damn it," she cursed aloud, wishing for a tissue to blow her nose.


    If they had been faster getting here, or if they had been better in the fight, like the fighting genius he claimed to be. If they had fought those thunder sparrows better. If there hadn''t been so many monsters blocking their way. If it hadn''t been firebirds¡­ It couldn''t have been ice birds or something else that moved in after the electric ones?


    If, if, if¡ª Thoughts raced through Alice''s head. Blame and excuses turned as she desperately tried to rationalize what was happening to her. If I had just tried to do it with the server at a lower capacity, I didn''t even check to see how well it was functioning.


    Alice started to sob, a realization making her pause. It could have been only damaged, like a five to ten percent efficiency loss, and still been just fine. Maybe it didn''t even need repair. I could have cannibalized stuff there, and we would never have had to leave the room. But no, I had to make sure everything was perfect. If it wasn''t going to be the best attempt, it wasn''t worth trying at all. And now we don''t even get to try. I hadn''t even used the Super Center the first time. Why had I listened to Lucas? Why did I let him get in my head, saying that I couldn''t design a good game? Why did I have to go all the way? It wasn''t even reasonable to steal supercomputer time. That was a literal felony. I did it for a game.


    Alice cursed herself repeatedly. Why am I so stupid?


    She shook her head and winced at the throbbing pain that never quite went away from this morning. Everything hurt. But hey, she got magic. All it took was for her to fucking end the world. And had she really just said all that to Titus?


    It made her want to start crying all over again. So far, Titus had done nothing but help her. He even offered to help after their hopes were dashed. The possibility of ever returning to an ordinary civilization that wasn''t based on hunting beasts and survival of the strongest was gone, and he''d offered to cut her hair.


    She choked up as she thought about it and ran her hands through her hair, finding the burnt ends. She gathered it up and pulled it in front of her, looking at the singed parts. She was going to cut it off. She''d have to cut it just above shoulder length.


    He said he could make it look good.


    Titus''s offer rang in her mind, but Alice just gathered it all up in her hands, pulled her knife, and started sawing right above where her hand held it all in a bundle. It was not like what she expected from movies or anime, where the girl boss lady slashed off her hair right before she was about to get serious in one smooth, easy stroke. No, it took nearly a minute of sawing, with the knife getting progressively duller. In the end, she slipped and cut her hand open, even. But eventually, she tossed aside the handful of burnt hair and felt the hair fall back into place, uneven as one side was longer than the other.


    She wanted to scream in frustration. How could I have done this? How could I have fucked up this badly? I''m fucking 19. People say, oh, shit happens, you know? Well, God damn. This was not the sort of shit that was supposed to happen. I''m supposed to, you know, forget to turn in my homework or have my boyfriend cheat on me or something like that. Something normal. This is not normal. Only I could make things this fucking wrong.


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    She was gonna figure this all out now, after it finally got dark. Titus had probably walked away. Why should he even be there anymore? He should have probably already left.


    I''m left to fend for myself, you know. Who knows where I''ll sleep tonight? Some monster will probably eat me, and I''ll definitely deserve it, Alice said to herself. But what could she do? She couldn''t believe she had said all that to him. It was his fault. Ah, how could it have been his fault? He''d only ever helped her.


    "Stupid," she cursed as she pushed herself to her feet and wiped her nose on the shoulder of her borrowed shirt, which was quickly becoming tattered again. Maybe she could find her way back to her dorm and get a change of clothes. Maybe.I If she could fight her way there.


    Alice walked around the corner, wiping her eyes, and stopped in surprise. Titus hadn''t left, hadn''t stormed off like she had. No, he was sitting under a nearby tree. Benches were built around the planter in which it was growing. It was a place where she had often sat with her laptop on a nice day to get a little bit of work done. But instead of sitting on the bench, he sat in the dirt under the tree, his legs crossed, his eyes closed peacefully.


    "Titus," Alice half-whispered in a small voice. The sound of his name made his lips curl up slightly, and he opened one eye.


    "Alice," he said in a calm, neutral voice. He didn''t seem mad, but...


    "Titus," Alice repeated. "I''m... I''m so sorry. It wasn''t your fault. It was my fault. I''ve just... It''s no excuse, but I''ve had a shitty day, and I just snapped at you. I''m so sorry. I didn''t mean those things. It''s... it''s all my fault."


    "Alice," Titus said, his voice more normal than neutral now, "I don''t think it''s your fault."


    "No, no, it''s my fault. I... I caused this all," she said, waving her hand around the campus. "Not only did I cause it all, I haven''t fixed it yet."


    "No, I said. Maybe that''s all your fault. I would be surprised if we can actually blame you, but maybe. But you were right about one thing. We probably should have rushed to the supercomputer site."


    Alice shook her head. "No. Even that''s my fault. I don''t know, I don''t actually... I should have checked to see how well the supercomputer was working. I thought, oh, we probably only get one shot at this because the System will notice, and surely it''ll shut it down if we fail. So we better have the computer running at the highest capabilities. But I could have at least seen how good it was. Perhaps it was only like 95 percent capable instead of 100 percent and wouldn''t have made much of a difference if we''d repaired it or not."


    Titus opened his eyes. "That might have been good, but I think your other assumption of needing it to be done at all is equally likely in my mind. I really don''t think we can blame either of us for that issue. I think that was simply bad luck. Really, really shitty luck."


    Alice didn''t believe him, but she couldn''t exactly argue either. "Sure," she said. "Sure. Whatever. Are you okay?" she asked, looking at him and realizing something was different. "You''re sitting strangely."


    He smiled. "I was meditating, and I made an interesting discovery about the System."


    Alice cocked her eyebrow. "Oh," she said, trying to put a little bit of the sass that she had been utilizing when she was talking with Titus back into her tone. She mostly failed and just grimaced out a smile. It must have come through a little bit as Titus gave her a comforting smile.


    "Yes. It appears that at level 11, we lose the F in our ranking, and we move up to E. But it seems that just levels aren''t enough for that. We also need to do something," he said.


    "Um, that''s kind of vague," Alice responded. "Any idea what that something is?"


    He swiped at the invisible screen in front of him. "Through battle insights, you have achieved something deep within yourself. Congratulations on reaching E grade," he quoted. "Class one unlocked. Choose one of the following as your first class. That was a message I received. Also, I got a title for being the first to reach E grade in the world, so yeah."


    Alice rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. You''re so great," she said. "But interesting that it happened at 11."


    "Maybe you''re right about the odd primes. I think it was your idea."


    "Maybe," she said, shrugging. "But still. Congrats. So you got a class?"


    Titus nodded. "Yes. I''ve got it. Not only have I gotten a class, I''ve gotten three skills right off the bat. At last."


    "Yes, yes. What are they?"


    Titus wiggled his eyebrows at her as he explained. "[Eagle''s Vision], [Nature''s Cloak], and [Primal Marksmanship]. Also, the stat allocations have changed. No longer will I only get two measly points per level. Now, I get eight!"

 Chapter 16:

    "Doesn''t that sound a little powerful for a first class?" Alice asked after Titus finished reading the description. "I mean, even the name ''Eternal Predator'' sounds like final boss status."


    Titus just shrugged. "You''re asking the wrong person. It does sound awesome, though."


    "That''s true. It seems like we need to find enchanted weapons for you, and you need to learn how to make mystical traps. Assuming that''s not flavor text." Alice mused. "Not sure how much the description goes beyond the skills and stats you get."


    Titus shrugged again. "The class came with three skills on top of the three I already have from my general skill selections. I didn''t get to choose them, but I have a feeling I could swap them out for other skills the class offers. Assuming maybe we get more eventually, but the class wasn''t just about the points and skills. There''s something else..."


    Alice looked confused as Titus trailed off without explaining further. "Yeah?" she asked after a moment.


    "Yeah," he said. "I can feel something inside me that''s different. Something has shifted in tone, almost as if the class is showing me the way to something deeper. I wonder if it has something to do with the magic that has always been here, that the System has tapped into."


    Alice nodded. "That kind of makes sense, but not really. We''re going to have to experiment with that."


    "Of course," Titus agreed. ¡°Oh, and my skills have levels now.¡±


    ¡°Of course they do,¡± Alice replied and the two of them fell into a thoughtful silence. "Hey, Titus," Alice said cautiously. "Before all this, did you believe in magic? It seems like it''s easy for you to accept all these changes and that there was always magic in the world."


    Titus looked around. "Unless this is some bizarre dream, in which case I''m probably in some insane asylum somewhere, I would say that it''s hard not to accept what''s in front of me.


    "Oh. Um.¡± She trailed off.


    ¡°I got sidetracked, but I was thinking while you were¡ª" He waved toward the corner where she had been crying, and Alice flushed slightly, grateful that he didn''t throw that in her face. "I, uh, wanted to apologize in my own way," Titus said. "Like I said, I should have probably listened to you. I still think I made the right decision, but it really wasn''t my decision to make. We could have been faster. So, just so you know, I am not incapable of understanding when I did wrong and when I believe I''ve done wrong. I have been working recently to make it a habit to apologize and let you know."


    Titus spoke with a profoundly deep sadness that made Alice want to know more. At the same time, she was afraid to question what had happened that made him feel so. She just nodded and gave him a slightly forced smile, though she was sure the redness of her eyes ruined it.


    "I appreciate that, and I''m glad to know I''m not in this alone. I really don''t know what I''d do without your help," Alice said.


    Titus smiled. "Well, hopefully my help will be worth something eventually," he said with a self-deprecating laugh.


    "Yeah, about that," Alice said wearily. "I may have an idea¡­.."


    She trailed off, considering how to phrase the crazy thought brewing in the back of her mind. "Oh, it''s stupid and could possibly make everything way, way worse," she said, throwing out qualifiers in defense so that he didn''t laugh her off before hearing everything out. But if anything, this egged Titus on.


    "That sounds like my kind of idea," he said with a grin. "Now I have to hear it."


    "Well," she held up the bag with her laptop in it, which had somehow survived. "I still have the core code that caused all this."


    Titus raised one eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. "And?"


    "Well, there was a good deal of luck involved, but I might be able to replicate this," she said, gesturing at the supercomputer center burning behind her. The light of the burning building a couple of blocks away was now one of the only ways they could see, as the campus lights hadn''t come on as night fell throughout their conversation.


    "I can see how you would think this is a stupid idea," Titus said. "But please go on."


    "Well, really, when you think about it, with AI, machine learning, all that jazz, there are really only a few parameters that need to be changed to control the outcome in a very much dumbed-down way. While the learning algorithm I made was¡ªis¡ªthe same and could be the same, I think I could repurpose it."


    Titus grinned. "I think I see where you''re going with this."


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    "Yes, well, we would need a lot of other things. Like another supercomputer center."


    "One that''s not infected or one that is infected?" Titus asked.


    Alice frowned. "Hmm. I don''t think we''re going to be lucky enough to find one that isn''t infected by the System, but one that I can access and steal away compute cycles for a moment or two. It really didn''t need much more to explode past everything that I''d tried to limit it to."


    "Hmm," Titus mused. "Okay. I don''t think this has a high chance of succeeding, but it''s better than literally anything else I could come up with."


    Alice nodded. "Yeah. I don''t have high hopes for this either, but it''s the only thing I can think of. Fight fire with fire or tyrannical superpowered AIs with tyrannical superpowered AIs."


    "So what? You''re going to make something that turns everything off and puts it back to how it was?" Titus asked.


    Alice shrugged. "I don''t think I can be that precise. Probably all I can do is launch something that will try to fight the System as much as possible and maybe promote human survival. But yes, in the best case, it shuts the System down, returns everyone, unscrambles the world, and removes every monster."


    "Unscrambles the world?" Titus asked.


    "Things are weird," Alice said. "GPS is not working like it should anymore, and yeah, I think something happened to geography."


    "That''s concerning," Titus said.


    "Yeah, well, when I was searching for GPS, I noticed that there were several signals that weren''t where they were supposed to be. For example, I''m pretty sure the signals coming from government buildings that should be in Washington, D.C. don''t belong in Antarctica, but I kind of ignored that."


    "Understandable," Titus said. "I do think you have some merit."


    "Yeah, and that''s why I think we need to hurry," Alice said. "I have a few locations we can choose from that have computers that would fit my needs. Unfortunately, I don''t necessarily know where all of them are. I have located a few, but I''m not sure which ones those are. And I really don''t know what''s in between here and there."


    "So you''re saying we could head off towards one direction and then find an ocean between us because Earth has changed?" Titus asked. "Couldn''t you plot where all the GPS stuff is and try to get an idea of what is there and what isn''t?"


    Alice nodded. "I could. Uh, that might take a little bit of time, but it''s worth thinking about. Though I''ll probably need to get another laptop because I''m not sure how long this charge will last," she said, indicating her bag again. "Even then, though, there are large swaths of the planet where there''s no activity. It wouldn''t be impossible, but we might be able to get some idea. Assuming the satellites keep working without help. I don''t know anything about that, so I have no idea how long that will last."


    "Okay," Titus said. "I''m all for this. I''m in."


    Alice blinked. "Really? Just like that?"


    "Yeah. What do we need?"


    "Well," Alice said, "I mostly just need to get there as soon as possible. I don''t really know about anything else."


    "Okay. Hmm. I think we should make sure we get any spare power bricks we can and get you a few backup laptops. Also, we want to make sure you copy down your code to a thumb drive as soon as possible so that it''s not tied up in something you can''t access without electricity powering up your laptop," Titus said. "We should see if we can find supplies, a better car, weapons that aren''t improvised, and maybe any firearms left behind by campus security."


    He went down a list, thinking of a dozen things Alice had never considered. When he started getting into camping supplies and other survivalist contingencies, Alice started to tune out, overwhelmed by the number of things.


    "Okay," she said. "Okay, okay. I trust that you can take care of all of this."


    Titus smiled and added, "Yeah, I think that''s something I''m actually well-suited for." He closed the distance that had been maintained between them, stepping forward the ten paces or so around the tables, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I know that this can''t be easy for you, and you probably blame yourself for a lot of it. I don''t think you should, but there''s probably not much you can do about that."


    Alice watched him, wondering where he was going with this.


    "I just want you to know that I believe in you. You are the only hope we have of fixing this. I would have no idea where to even start. I have enough trouble operating a phone or logging into a computer. Excel was hard enough to figure out as it is. So you let me worry about surviving and us getting there, and you do your magic when you get there."


    She blinked. Excel was hard for him to figure out? It was older than he was. Was he some sort of Luddite? He did say he had a phone¡­..


    Alice smiled and nodded. Titus sighed and gripped her shoulder a little more firmly, giving it a small shake before letting go. "Think of me as your bodyguard or, no, personal escort until we get this fixed. I swear I''ll do my best to make sure you are where you need to be with the tools you need. But," he said, holding up a finger as he stepped back, "I think my point from earlier still stands. After everything I''ve learned from leveling up to the next grade, we need to get you stronger and faster. I don''t think you''re going to get more intelligent or quicker, but you''ll become physically more capable in every way. You''ll need less sleep and be able to go for longer and harder. And that will help in every possible way.


    "Besides," he continued, "As you mentioned, the odds of this working or this fixing it entirely is incredibly low. So we need a plan for the case where this doesn''t work. And if this doesn''t work, you don''t want to be low-leveled. Everyone else is getting a head start in the tutorial."


    "Presumably," Alice muttered but didn''t interrupt him.


    "And you don''t want to be behind the curve when they come back, so we can''t ignore your personal power."


    "Fine. I''ll level as we go. But we won''t slow down significantly until we at least try this."


    Titus nodded. "Good. I think a compromise is making sure you get into the E grade."


    "Okay. Fine. But maybe we can stop by my dorm room and get me a change of clothes," she said, picking at the shirt that was falling off of her and the jeans that had developed more and more tears as the day went on. "I think I also have some power bricks we can use and a spare laptop."


    "We''ll make sure you have plenty of spares," Titus said. "But yeah, lead the way."

 Chapter 17:

    Alice didn''t end up leading the way, but she did point out directions from the passenger seat of the little golf cart they used. She indicated the turns they needed to take on the path. As they rode in silence, the weak headlights illuminated the way ahead. They stopped once in a while for Titus to absolutely flatten any enemy that got in their way.


    It was perhaps inefficient for him to take care of them, but Alice was just so done. The emotional turmoil, long day, repeated head trauma, and general exertion had finally worn her down, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. Titus insisted that he was fine after evolving to the next grade; he felt like he had a good night''s sleep. He even talked about finding the proper car and driving through the night to make better time.


    Alice didn''t particularly care as long as she could sleep soon. She had kind of hoped that she would be able to sleep in the quiet comfort and refuge that her dorm room had been for the past several years. But whether it was there or the back seat of a car, she didn''t particularly care. Titus would probably have to sleep on the couch or something, maybe even break into one of her roommate''s rooms.


    Eventually, they reached the corner of campus where the graduate housing was. She let herself in after climbing up a few flights of stairs. The rooms were broken into pods, a shared living room, and a half kitchen shared between four single rooms.


    Her living room was a bit of a mess. There were half a dozen empty pizza boxes scattered over the couch, counter, and table, along with at least three cases worth of beer and a few empty vodka bottles. She kicked the familiar trash out of the way as she made her way to her room, but Titus stood in the doorway and looked quite surprised.


    "What?" she said over her shoulder.


    "I''m surprised. You seemed more organized than this," Titus replied.


    Alice shrugged. "I don''t spend much time here. This is mostly Caitlin and her friends," she said, indicating the three other doors. "They like to party. I do my best to spend as little time here as I can unless I''m sleeping. Most of the time, I''m in the library or supercomputer center or something, or I''m prepping for a lecture or attending some sort of discussion."


    "Do you not have the option to live elsewhere? Do they make you live on campus or something?" Titus asked, his brow furrowed in honest confusion.


    Alice shook her head. "No. But if I stay here, it''s free. Part of the tuition remission I get from being a teaching assistant or research assistant comes with free housing. In some places, they''ll pay you a stipend that will include housing, and you have to use that. But here, you get free housing on top of the stipend."


    ***


    Titus frowned, not enjoying the smell of moldy pizza and stale beer staining the carpet as he followed Alice to her room. This was a surprise, but her explanation made sense. When he stared in from the doorway as she rooted through her closet, things made less sense and more at the same time.


    Her room was not large, no more than six feet across and ten feet deep. There were three and a half pieces of furniture: a wardrobe that Alice pulled several pairs of clothes out of, with a single stuffed teddy bear on top of it. A desk in one corner that was barely big enough for a laptop and a notebook at the same time was currently empty. Then there was a chair pushed in that looked to be uncomfortable, hard plastic that clearly came with the room. Lastly, in the far corner was a mattress on the floor with a sheet and a single blanket and pillow on it, folded neatly and stacked off to the side. Leaning against the wall at the foot of the mattress was a bed frame. It was like living in a shoebox, but somehow, the room still felt empty.


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    Titus stood speechless in the doorway as Alice pulled out a backpack and started stuffing clothes into it, folding them up and rolling them into a neat ball.


    "Are you okay?" Titus asked.


    "Yeah?" Alice said, her head still in her wardrobe, not understanding or seeing his face.


    "What''s with the bed? The frame''s right there."


    Alice pulled her head out and glared at the bed frame. "The thing''s broken. I got it set up when I moved in, and it squeaked constantly for a day or two before it collapsed with me on it. I''m not risking that again."


    "You didn''t get campus maintenance to come fix it?" Titus asked, assuming that was a possibility.


    She shrugged. "It''s fine. I don''t mind being on the floor."


    Titus blinked. "Uhh. I don''t mean to pry, but how are you okay? This seems disturbing. How do you live like this? I understand it is necessary and temporary, but it seems like you''ve been here for a while."


    Alice, her head still in her closet, replied, "Yeah, for years now. Best place I''ve ever stayed."


    Titus looked at her. "Are you... what? How?"


    "Well, the lock on the door is pretty good. Despite some noise and general mess my roommates make, they leave me alone, and I have my privacy."


    "What does your family think?"


    "Oh, don''t have any," Alice said, and Titus blinked. It didn''t make sense. Not once had she ever expressed concern for any family member stranded in the tutorial or anything like that, but even then, that was a bit extreme.


    "Okay," Titus said out loud. He had seen worse before, but not in a very long time. "Again, I don''t want to pry, but how did this happen?"


    Alice looked at him and sighed. "The short story is that I emancipated myself from the foster care System when I was 14. Scholarships took me through all of undergrad. When I was 16, I got into a PhD program where the stipend from teaching and the tuition remission covers all my expenses. I''m even able to put away a little bit each year. Now, I teach when I can and do research whenever it''s available. I work with a professor and should be graduating in a couple of years, so I could look for a postdoc position. This has been amazing," she said, giving him a challenging look that dared him to question her situation more.


    Titus raised his hands in surrender. "I mean, no judgment. I''m honestly impressed. But you don''t want a poster or anything?"


    The only personal item she seemed to have besides clothes, a laptop, and a few tech gadgets under the desk was the teddy bear.


    Alice shook her head. "I never got used to having personal effects. There wasn''t much privacy growing up."


    Silence reigned for a few more minutes as she finished putting together her clothes bag and tossed in a toiletry bag as well before going over and picking through the electronics. "What about you?" Alice asked. "You haven''t told me about your family."


    Titus waved his hands dismissively. "All long dead. No siblings. But I have friends around the world that I visit sometimes," he said, the easy-to-tell story coming out with practice. Still, he was grateful that he didn''t have to go through the usual rigmarole of sympathy that most people expressed. Alice just nodded in acceptance.


    "What do you do for a living? You clearly have a few sets of skills."


    Titus smiled. "I work in investing and the rare artifact trade."


    She gave him a look. "What? You''re like Indiana Jones? Is that where you get all your survival skills from, running around abandoned temples?"


    "Most of the temples I''m used to weren''t abandoned," Titus said with a knowing smile. "But yeah, I''ve had some experience through life. You ready to go?"


    Alice nodded, pressing a button. "Power brick seems to be charged. If you''re sure you don''t want to sleep here, we can head out as soon as we find a suitable car. Luckily, our primary target is on this side of the city, so we don''t have to go back through that mess."


    Titus nodded. "Good. I saw a decent Escalade parked in the parking lot. If it has enough gas, we can siphon some from other cars and maybe see if we can get a couple of tanks to fill up along the way. But it should have enough space and off-roading potential to be comfortable."


    "Escalade, Esclade..." Alice muttered. "The big, blocky car?"


    Titus nodded. "Yeah. Do you not know cars?"


    She shook her head. "It''s not that. I think that''s Jocelyn''s. Her room''s at the end of the hall. She always keeps her keys on her desk if she doesn''t take them with her."


    "Oh, lucky," Titus said. "I''ll be right back."

 Chapter 18:

    Not caring about safety laws, Alice sprawled out in the long back seat of the SUV, doing her best to doze off with her extra hoodie rolled up as a pillow against the door handle. It was easier than it probably should have been. Every once in a while, the car stopped, and Titus got out to fight something, but it never took very long, and they moved again quickly. The constant changing of directions as he navigated through a jam of streets was a little jarring, but the driving was smooth enough that it didn''t bother her. Besides, they had only been going through suburbs before. Now, they were in a more isolated forest.


    At one point, though, she completely drifted off, falling asleep for the first time since the world had ended. Dreams plagued her. Dreams of a barely remembered family, of fire, of being chased, of standing in a large crowd with everyone yelling at her. Alice was sometimes aware that she was dreaming and sometimes she wasn''t, but it seemed like her mind wanted to give her every stereotypical bad dream she could think of¡ªones where she was frozen, moving as if in jello, trying to either to save something or being chased by something, or all of the above. She dreamt of falling from great heights and fighting monsters.


    Then, repeatedly strobing lights hit her face, waking her up. Still, in the haze of dreams, she realized it was morning. Titus had kept his word and driven through the entire night. He looked relatively fresh in the front seat.


    Their eyes met through the rearview mirror. Wordlessly, he pulled the water bottle out of the holder and held it back to her. She took it and sipped gratefully as she watched the sunlight pour through the openings of the pine forest surrounding them.


    They were cruising at a steady 45 miles an hour on a slightly winding road that was thankfully bereft of cars. In the few minutes she''d been awake, she hadn''t seen a single one. The way Titus was driving made her think that they weren''t all that common here. Besides, the trees weren''t as densely packed as on that first road they were on, nor were there guardrails. If anyone had disappeared from their car, it likely had careened into the forest and down some ravine, as the terrain was rather mountainous. Luckily, this gave them a relatively clear path.


    Alice sat up and stretched as she handed Titus back the water bottle. "Morning," she said.


    "Morning. You look like you needed that rest."


    She rubbed her eyes and felt the sleep and dried tears break away from her face. She really wished she had a chance to go shower and brush her hair, but she settled for running her fingers through it a few times, trying to get used to the feeling of its much shorter length.


    "Yeah," she said. "Do you know where we are?"


    Titus shook his head. "I think you''re right about the land shuffling. It seems like we''re somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. We also apparently spent a decent amount of time driving through some parts of Australia. Surprised the sun didn''t wake you up."


    Alice shrugged. The phone she had set up to point him towards their destination was still clipped to the dashboard, plugged into the charger. It showed that they had made nearly a third of the way there overnight.


    "We''re making pretty good progress," Titus said. "Luckily, I was able to do some off-roading with this, and whenever the road didn''t quite follow along, I''ve been using my other phone." He pulled out the pink one that he had borrowed to look up the road signs and see where the road was generally taking them. "It''s been a bit frustrating, and I''ve had to backtrack a few times, but generally, we''re keeping in the right direction."


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    Alice nodded, understanding. "Odd," she murmured.


    She clambered up over the console and buckled herself into the front seat. As she looked back up, suddenly, the trees were gone. The road connected to an entirely different road. The surroundings were a scrub desert-like nature, and well-weathered rocks formed tall mountains all around them as they wound their way up a hill.


    "Where are we now?" Alice asked.


    "Hmm. This looks like the Iberian Peninsula," Titus said as he studied the hills. "In fact, I think I know where we are. We''re in Spain. Or what used to be Spain, at least." He pointed at a roadside sign that read BP-1121. "We''re by Montserrat. I think the monastery is actually not that far away from here."


    He typed some stuff into his phone while driving, keeping one eye on the road. "I don''t think this is going to be a very efficient trip. Unfortunately."


    They continued up the hill, and he nodded, passing her the phone. She looked at the map. He was looking at some static site that was just a plain image where he had zoomed in on a particular road.


    "This is a bit of a dead end. It leads right up to the monastery, but we have to backtrack a decent way to go around. Or we could abandon the car and hike for about a mile or so down to the freeway. Likely, there are some cars along there we could take, and it would save us about an hour."


    Alice shrugged. "I''m not much of a hiker, but I''m willing to give it a shot if you think it''s best."


    Titus hummed thoughtfully, "I don''t think we have anything that I can''t carry, and we are starting to run low on gas as it is. I had to stop and siphon from a few tanks a few times when you were sleeping, but we can make it another 70 miles without stopping again."


    "I''m surprised we got this good mileage. I figured we would have to stop more," Alice said. "I didn''t think this would be the most gas-efficient car."


    "It''s really not. But the tank is large and, well, so far, finding gas hasn''t been a problem," Titus said, pointing to a hose-like contraption by her feet that Alice belatedly realized was the siphon. "I think it''s worth stopping and hiking over more efficiently. And also, it''s a pretty cool place," he said as if he were a tour guide hyping up the destination.


    Alice had no problem with that, and as they were on their way up the access road, she got her first glimpse of the impressive stone monastery built into the side of a hill. "How did they get the rocks all the way up here? This was built a long time ago, right?"


    Titus nodded. "It was a long time ago. But moving rocks is no mystery. A lot of people and a lot of donkeys."


    Eventually, they could not go further, so they pulled over. Titus slung a massive backpack over his shoulders, packed with all their stuff, and gave her the day bag she had packed when she had left. They had plenty of water and some food he''d scrounged up. Then they started walking. Alice was surprised that after nearly 20 minutes of a constant uphill climb at a quick walking pace, she was barely out of breath.


    Perhaps those points have been doing something for me, she thought.


    "Surprised there are no monsters around. I haven''t seen any for a while."


    Titus nodded. "It seemed like they were mostly concentrated in the city, but the ones I have found out here are quite a bit more dangerous. At least, the ones in the forest are compared to the ones in the city."


    "For their level?" Alice asked.


    Titus nodded in confirmation. "From what I have seen so far, yeah, I would say so. I think there''s some significance to where things have come from according to the System. Or maybe it''s just that things away from the city had to fight it out amongst themselves. I don''t know. I can imagine that once people come back, things will change a lot," Titus said. "But for now, it feels like the System is still experimenting."


    "I don''t know," Alice said. "Maybe it''s just randomly seeded things."


    As they approached the monastery, Alice couldn''t help but stop and stare. They made their way onto the flat plaza, which gave a gorgeous view of medieval architecture and the untouched mountains behind it.


    "We need to go over there?" Alice asked, pointing. "It looks like it''s going to be more of a climb than a hike."


    "It''ll be fine. It''s shorter than it looks." He stopped and read a plaque at the base of a statue.


    "Um, Titus," Alice called. "You might want to back away."


    "What?" he said, looking up.


    "That statue just moved its arm."

 Chapter 19:

    At her warning, Titus leaped back, drawing his knife in one hand and his ax in the other. The shovel was left strapped to his pack, resting on the ledge far away.


    They looked up as the statue of the beautiful angel shifted slightly. Alice was amazed as the thing seemed to come alive. It started with a simple twitch of its hand, and now its arms moved into a slightly more natural position from the awkward, graceful positioning to a steadier one. The wings fluttered and shifted, finishing the half-beat they were in and settling behind the golem''s back. Alice scanned it, wondering what they were dealing with.


    [Golem - lvl ?]


    A question mark? She thought. That was new She had seen levels up to 35, so that probably meant this was far higher.


    "Titus, we need to run. We can''t fight that."


    Titus, though, only started to move backward slowly, his guard never lowering as he positioned himself between the statue and Alice.


    "Hello, Earthlings," the statue said with a musical tone and a slight bow. "I am the local representative of the Luminary Alliance. Greetings."


    "The what now?" Titus said. "What is the Luminary Alliance?"


    "We are a faction throughout the galaxy that promotes peace and understanding through the growth of power."


    "Where do you come from?"


    The statue didn''t answer. Alice said, "I don''t like this. What''s going on?"


    "I''ve never heard of the Luminary Alliance, but it sounds like a made-up faction this System has introduced as NPCs. It''s a golem, after all."


    Titus'' eyes never left the statue, even as it froze, waiting for further inquiries. "Where are you from?" he asked.


    "Unknown," the Golem said. "I am just the local representative. I do not store or have access to information that you are not permitted to know."


    "Okay, so what do you do?"


    "We promote peace and understanding throughout the galaxy."


    "How do you do that?" Titus asked.


    "We help those who are worthy achieve power so that they may use it responsibly."


    "How do you know who is worthy?"


    "Those who have the ability to take power and those who seize it must pass our test."


    "Do we need to pass the test?"


    The Golem looked at Titus. "No, you are not ready."


    "What about Alice?" Titus said, indicating Alice. It was a bit of a risk, but Alice was kind of curious to see why she was being ignored.


    "She is untouched. Tell her to come back for guidance when she has found something in herself worth fighting for."


    "Interesting. Why am I worthy?" Titus wondered.


    "You have found something within yourself worth fighting for," the Golem answered unhelpfully.


    "How did I do that?"


    "That is unknown."


    "Titus," Alice interrupted, "Ask if it has to do with it you hitting E-grade."


    Titus considered it for a second before nodding. "By ''find something within myself worth fighting for,'' do you mean I reached E-grade?"


    "Some choose to call it E-grade. Yes. You have stepped on the beginning of your journey to true power. You have identified that you wish to seek purpose, to find a Dao, or to discover your Telos. There are many ways of describing it."


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    Titus frowned, his posture radiating uncertainty. Alice matched his expression. "Is this the something extra you''re talking about that''s coming from your class?"


    "Maybe. I don''t exactly know, but there definitely seems to be some sort of motivation, some sort of guiding principle towards the target that I don''t fully understand. I feel like I don''t need to follow it, but if I do, good things will happen," he said, sounding unsure."Okay, so I don''t need to take your test yet. When do I need to take your test?"


    "At the end of formation, you will need to take the test to receive further guidance. For now, all guidance is free."


    "Okay. What guidance do you have for me?" Titus asked.


    Alice wished she had a notebook so she could write all this down. It was fascinating.


    "You are prospective. You have many challenges yet to pass before you start to condense. Once you are ready to condense, you should come for guidance."


    "So there is untouched, then prospective, then condensed?" Titus clarified.


    "Those are acceptable terms," the Golem said.


    "And then after condensing is when the test comes, or before?"


    "Correct. During formation is when testing is required for further guidance."


    So, D or C grade, Alice thought. That''s... well, I have no idea how long off that is, but at least it''s another evolution.


    "At the end of the next evolution, maybe?" she murmured.


    "So, how do I condense and gather power?" Titus asked.


    "Through combat and introspection. Feel the world around you, bend it to your will, and then listen to what it tells you and follow it."


    Alice thought that seemed rather circular, but Titus just nodded in apparent understanding. "Do I need magic for this?"


    "Negative. Magic is not necessary for power, though magic will offer unique insights. But just as magic offers insights, so does physical action."


    "Okay. Do you have any specific suggestions on what I should do?"


    The Golem scanned Titus up and down, and Alice braced for some sort of attack, but the light and scanning faded.


    "You are incomplete. Your class requires an enchanted weapon. You should visit the Empyrion Consortium to purchase a weapon."


    "Where could I find this consortium?"


    The Golem pointed into the mountain. "Over the mountain. About three miles that way, there should be an outpost. Do you have any further questions?" the Golem asked, tilting its head in a surprisingly human manner.


    "Titus," Alice asked, "Ask it what level it is. Ask it how long it''s going to be here. Or, how long has it been here? How long has it known about Earth?"


    "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Titus said, "One thing at a time. Uh, what level are you?"


    The Golem didn''t answer.


    "How long have you been here?"


    "I have been here since System integration."


    "Do you have any memories before System integration?"


    "Negative. I do not form memories."


    "Will you remember us when we come back?" Titus asked.


    "Affirmative."


    "I think this golem''s broken," Titus said to Alice.


    Alice frowned. "No, it''s just a program. It doesn''t actually have a personality."


    "So you''re sure this isn''t an alien? That the System didn''t come from outer space and this is all just bad timing?"


    Alice shrugged but realized Titus still couldn''t see her as he hadn''t taken his eyes off the statue for a second other than to scan their surroundings. "No," she said, "I suppose it''s possible, but this is far more likely just an NPC System put in to promote our growth. It does seem like it''s more of a game guide than anything. Or maybe a class guide for you."


    Titus frowned. "Possible, I guess. Next time I get a general skill, I''m going to see if they have a map ability. I need to remember where this is, especially now that everything''s all scattered around."


    "Yeah, there''s a lot of things I want to add to it, too."


    "Okay. Should we keep going? You don''t want to explore the rest of the monastery?" Titus said. "There could be other interesting nuggets."


    "Yeah, I suppose you''re right," Alice said.


    As they attempted to walk into one of the buildings, the Golem spoke up. "Access is denied."


    "Can we go into any of the buildings?" Titus asked.


    "Access is denied," the Golem repeated.


    "I guess we''re moving on then," Alice said.


    "All right. I think I see a path," Titus remarked. Alice had no idea what he was indicating when he pointed towards a seemingly rocky section of the mountain that was as impassable as the rest. She followed him over rocks and between bushes as they made their way up the nearly sheer face, a few times having to do short rock climbing jaunts where Titus climbed up a sheer face for a dozen or so feet before lowering a rock and a rope and hoisting her up. But in less than half an hour, they were over the peak and headed down the mountain.


    The descent was actually slower as they had to be very careful about their path. Still, they could see the road that Titus was talking about a little ways off in the distance. There were cars, nothing quite like the Escalade they had, but smaller, more European-style cars. But that wasn''t the issue. Beyond the road, just over the horizon, they saw the sparkling blue of a large body of water. Between that water and them was a port. A port city, and somewhere in there was a consortium that could sell them enchanted weapons. Now, hopefully, they could afford the cost.

 Chapter 20:

    The trip into the seaside city was only briefly interrupted by the appearance of an evil black hellhound-looking creature with a missing front paw. The identification said it was a [Dip - lvl 9].


    Titus made Alice fight it alone, but she was allowed to borrow the shovel this time. Holding it with both hands, she kept the dog at a distance. Whenever it got close, she stabbed at its nose, which appeared to be very sensitive. Each time she struck, it would shake its head and sneeze.


    It was a slow fight that took nearly twenty minutes of her constant attention. By the time she was done, her neck and shoulders ached with the strain. Her hands had blisters on them from the haft of the shovel as she repeatedly had to stab and whack it, the motion rubbing her delicate hands raw. But soon the dog creature, made of shadow and blood, was lying dead at her feet. To her triumph, a list of possible skills for reaching level seven appeared in front of her.


    "Congrats," Titus said. "What are you going to get for the third general skill?"


    "I was planning on picking something like [Tech Interface] to make it so much easier to set up an interface with the supercomputer and stuff so we could actually achieve our goals," Alice said. "But I don''t think I''ll make it to the next evolution without some help."


    Titus nodded. "Yeah, I don''t think melee combat is ever going to be your forte. Though, you should definitely keep training a little bit," he said as he bandaged up her palms where a few blisters had burst. "You looked a little bit clumsy there."


    "I would have appreciated some advice," Alice said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.


    Titus waved his hand. "You were doing well enough, and I didn''t want to distract you. But I agree, I think you need some sort of ranged attack, maybe something with archery or guns as an option."


    Alice shook her head. "No, actually¡­.." She chose her skill, and [Mana Bolt] was added to her skill list. "Perhaps [Mana Sight] was a prerequisite. But I think this is better..."


    She thrust out her palm, and a shimmering, glowing bolt visible only to her shot off and struck a nearby rock, leaving a small black scorch mark. The rock didn''t move¡ªit was several hundred pounds¡ªbut still, it was a little bit disappointing. Now, her head throbbed in pain from the lack of energy.


    "Oof," she said, putting her hand to her forehead, a little dizzy now. "That took a lot out of me."


    But Titus was already over by the rock, inspecting the damage. "Wow. Impressive. Look, you actually chipped the granite," he said. "You''re a real wizard now."


    "Yay," Alice said, the act of talking making her head throb. "Can you bandage my head? I think my concussion is flaring up again."


    "Sure, sure," Titus said, removing a bandana he had tied around his neck and wrapping it around her temples. Somehow, the simple act caused his [First Aid] skill to activate, and the pain in her head subsided slightly. She could feel the magic within her slowly refilling from the outside. A few minutes later, she felt she could cast the spell again without causing extreme pain.


    She held off as they climbed back into their borrowed car and made it the rest of the way into the city. In the city, though, it was just like back on campus. There were monsters every couple of blocks, most of which they actually worked together to fight. Now that Alice could contribute without being in danger, Titus always let her get the first shot in.


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    There was an odd mix of monsters from traditional Mediterranean myths, normally stemming from Greek or Roman origins, despite the fact that they were in Spain. She recognized some of them from Moroccan mythology as well. Titus would tell her the stories about some of them if she asked. He seemed to know almost every myth they''d come across, but just as many of the creatures were ones she had never seen or heard of, nor had Titus. They were constructs of the Systems, just a few odd animals or myths mashed together into a questionable usefulness. Those were oftentimes easier to fight, as their powers or abilities didn''t seem to always mesh with each other well.


    The fights were all rather similar, not that she could contribute from a safe distance. They would always open with Alice casting [Mana Bolt] if she had the mana available.Sometimes, it would kill it outright if it was weak enough, usually only those that were level five or less. Otherwise, it would stun it or cause injury, and then Titus would move in to finish it off with his ax or shovel. It was a slow gain of experience for Titus, as he had to share it with Alice, and he was at a higher level. But for her, helping take down things nearly twice her level, or sometimes more, was rapidly improving her abilities.


    By the time they reached the water, still not having found the consortium they were looking for, she had reached level eight. Alice looked at her now almost balanced stats and smiled.


    Name: Alice Wright


    Titles: Mother of All


    Perks: Quick Learner


    Level: 8 - F


    Speed: 10


    Power: 9


    Control: 10


    ¡ª


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>System Identification</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Mana sight</li>


    </ul>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mana</li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    She had been focusing a bit on power after getting her speed and control up to level ten, and she felt like she was moving like a real athlete. Every once in a while, she actually dared to draw her knife and didn''t even cut herself. When she hit level eight and added two points to power, her mana bolts started having real oomph, and she was pretty sure they could punch through the side of a car if she wanted to. They were much slower moving than a bullet, yet they had a much greater impact. A few more levels, and she might actually get a class.


    They started moving along the water, following a path a couple of hundred feet back from the beach and heading towards several large boats docked at a pier. This was a bit risky, as oftentimes monsters came up from the water to challenge them. But at least they weren''t being surprised from both sides by things coming around the buildings. The encounters happened infrequently enough that Alice was oftentimes able to fully recharge her mana reserves before the next opponent.


    It took nearly another hour of walking and fighting before Titus finally reacted and pumped a fist in the air. Alice inspected him, seeing that he was now level twelve.


    "Fuck yeah," he said. "That was awesome." She could tell that the added eight points of stats from the single level were making a difference. He was already moving significantly faster.


    "You put four points into speed?" she asked, and he nodded.


    "It''s at twenty-one now," he said as he sprinted a couple of steps forward and back, moving at least thirty or forty miles an hour. The air around him cracked, and she felt her hair ruffle as he moved past, leaving a small vacuum.


    "Wow," she said. "That is impressive."


    "Yeah, these improved stats are really worthwhile. I can''t recommend getting to E-grade enough." He pointed towards the place where all the boats were docked. "Also, I think I see what we''re looking for."


    Alice looked confused. "Um, I just see a small collection of buildings."


    "Yeah, but one of those buildings'' signs, I''m pretty sure, has the word ''consortium'' in Spanish. It''s been a while since I practiced Spanish, though."


    "I can''t even make out the signs. Is this that [Eagle''s Vision] skill of yours?"


    Titus shrugged. "Hard to tell. It''s active all the time. It has gotten to level two, though."


    Alice grumbled jealousy, but they headed off with renewed purpose. It would be interesting to see what they could get.

 Chapter 21:

    Alice started to have her doubts as they approached the shop. It took a while for her to see it, but there was indeed a sign. It was in Spanish, but Titus claimed it said they had reached the consortium. However, it was no fancy temple or grand monastery. Instead, it looked like a hole-in-the-wall tourist trap that sold tchotchkes, port, and postcards¡ªcertainly not a place where people would find anything truly interesting.


    Titus, though, didn''t seem put out. Despite Alice reminding him multiple times that they had no money and didn''t even know what currency was needed, he seemed confident that they would learn something from this visit. Alice didn''t think he was wrong, but she was a bit nervous. Talking to new people was always difficult for her, and interacting with shopkeepers and ordering at restaurants was something she''d only recently become comfortable with. The extreme nature of meeting Titus had made him seem approachable. Still, she figured she''d let him do the talking if possible.


    When they entered the shop, a bell rang as the door opened. A wizened old man with pointed ears and long golden hair came out of a backroom to greet them. "Hello, customers," he said. "Honored customers, it is so good to see you. I apologize for the appearance of the shop. We''re still setting up; we only got informed of this business opportunity a few days ago. But don''t worry, we still have our full store. What might you be looking for?"


    The man looked at both of them but seemed to focus more on Titus. Maybe it''s a good thing that he''s higher leveled, Alice thought. He gets all the attention.


    "Well, citizen, we''re mostly just browsing, but I am looking for any enchanted weapons. However, we are relatively new to this whole world, and I''m afraid we are not familiar with how this whole thing works," Titus explained.


    The man''s friendly demeanor vanished instantly. "And you have no money, do you?"


    Titus shrugged. "We may or may not. Not sure what we have or how much it''s worth."


    "I only deal in System credits, kid," the old man said, his tone now brusque. "Go check with the bank and get an account set up. Perhaps they''ll give you a loan or something. Come back when you have money," the man said with a half-cheerful wave as he went into the back of the shop. The sounds of things being rearranged and angry cursing echoed out.


    Titus looked over at Alice and shrugged. He seemed entirely unfazed by the man''s rudeness. "What a dick," he mouthed.


    Titus just smiled, and Alice couldn''t help but grumble as they left the shop behind. "I don''t even know if we should buy anything from him. That was horrible," Alice said as they went outside.


    "I don''t know. How would you like it if you were doing something important and someone wasted your time? It''s not fun.


    "Still, though, we are potential customers," Alice said.


    "Potential customers with no money," Titus corrected.


    Alice frowned. She knew exactly what that look was and had received it too many times herself. She never quite got over how frustrating it was.


    "Should we go see if we can find the bank? He seemed to imply that it was nearby," Alice suggested.


    Titus nodded and pointed down the street where Alice could make out a sign, though she couldn''t read it. "You think that''s the bank?" she asked.


    "Well, it says ''Bank.''"


    "Are you sure that wasn''t a bank before the whole System mixed everything up and removed people?" Alice asked.


    Titus shook his head. "No, not sure at all. But it''s worth checking out, I suppose."


    They continued down the pier, and to their surprise, there were no monsters. The whole pier had turned into a bit of a market, with several different types of shops and houses along the road. The bank was surprisingly at the end, and they walked all the way out past where ships were docked before they reached it. It was a local branch of a very small bank Alice had never heard of, but the lights were on.


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    "What do you know," Alice said. "Perhaps they''re willing to give us some credit. I hate going into debt."


    She had specifically avoided taking any student loans she couldn''t pay back within a reasonable time, even if it meant going to a less prestigious college for undergrad. A bit of time at community college hadn''t hurt her.


    Titus waved his hand dismissively. "That''s one of the most important tools you can learn if you''re managing money. As long as you don''t let it overwhelm you and you follow certain rules, it''s fine."


    Alice honestly didn''t know enough about finances to argue with him. "As long as it''s your debt, not mine," she said.


    "Sure," Titus replied. "I can treat you to something. What do you want?"


    She kicked the back of his ankle. "I''m not a kid." He nimbly sidestepped and shot her a grin, letting her know he was just riling her up. "But yes, you can treat me to, I don''t know, a magic wand or something."


    The ATM by the teller counter suddenly spoke to them. Alice and Titus both jumped at the unexpected voice. "Welcome, customer. Would you like to access your account?"


    "Um, yes," Alice said, and a System window popped up in front of her. Her mouth dropped open. "I have how many credits?" She found a history tab and scrolled up. For each monster she had killed, she received a certain number of credits. "Wow," she mouthed.


    Titus was doing something similar. "How much do you have?" he asked.


    "15,000 credits," Alice replied. That was more money than she''d ever had in her account in her entire life. Assuming it was something like dollars.


    "What? How much do you have?"


    He smiled. "About 80 grand. I can still treat you to that wand."


    Alice glared at him but wasn''t about to say no. "Let''s hope that''s enough. Do we need any sort of identification?" she asked the ATM.


    "No. System access is enough, though you can only access your account like this in a designated location. Deposits and withdrawals need to be made here."


    "So if we want to spend it with a merchant, do we need some sort of card to access it?"


    "You must access your credits via System notifications, items can only be accessed in designated locations." the ATM explained.


    "That seems inefficient," Alice remarked.


    "You cannot access your account. That''s different than using your balance," the ATM corrected. "You can check your balances anywhere."


    "I was able to add it to my status screen. Though it appears that we can''t access our account, store physical items, or withdraw them," Titus said.


    "Correct," the ATM confirmed. "Physical items may be deposited and withdrawn from any active location of the System bank."


    "Interesting. But credits can be accessed anywhere?"


    "Credits can only be exchanged through approved vendors."


    "Hmm. That''s troublesome," Titus said. "Can I transfer credits while we''re here?"


    "Credits can be transferred at bank locations."


    "Okay, so it''s a little bit less of an issue, but still frustrating. What other services does the bank offer?" Titus asked.


    "Contracts and notaries can be provided here, as well as loans for certain activities," the ATM listed off several other actions the bank could perform. But Alice wasn''t really listening; she was mostly just scrolling through her record, trying to figure out some sort of pattern for how much money she got per monster kill. It didn''t seem related to level, power, or difficulty. If she could remember correctly, it was almost random, but surely not. The hellhounds they had killed didn''t give much, but the owl with the graduation cap that was level seven gave the most of any monster she had killed, including some of the more dangerous dinosaurs.


    "What was that about?" she interrupted the list of financial services. "How are the monetary rewards for monster slaying divvied up?"


    "Reward is designated by several variables, including the rarity of the monster, the time killed, the parts in demand, and other factors."


    The rarity of monsters? Alice thought. That seems kind of odd, but maybe it also depends on the parts.


    "Should we be harvesting the parts, at least? I think the monsters kind of disappear after we leave them. So is it the System reclaiming us and reimbursing us? Could we do better if we harvested the parts and sold them ourselves?" She asked.


    Titus shrugged. "It''s possible, but I don''t think that''s something we need to figure out now."


    Alice nodded. "Okay, well, back to the rude shopkeeper. Are there any other businesses nearby?" she asked the ATM.


    The ATM did not respond. Apparently, that was outside of its purview.


    "Now we can go back to the rude shopkeeper," Titus said.


    ¡°How about we try and find anyone else?¡± Alice suggested. They walked around for a while, but found that there was no other options and went back to the first shop.


    Upon seeing them, the old man scowled. "We have money," Titus assured him. "We talked to the bank. We''re doing just fine. We just haven''t had to access it before."


    "Yokels," the man muttered under his breath but smiled a thin smile. "Very well. You said you wanted enchanted weapons?" He waved, and a System window appeared in front of them. "The displays aren''t up yet, so you''ll have to browse through our list."


    Alice watched over Titus''s shoulder as he started scrolling. It was a very, very long list.

 Chapter 22:

    Alice stopped Titus from scrolling when he hit an object of interest. "Damn it," she said. "The Wand of Fireball costs 20,000 credits. I don''t know if I have enough to buy anything interesting."


    Titus muttered, "You could try to negotiate, but I don''t think you really need a Wand of Fireball."


    "Yeah, but it would be nice to get something useful," Alice complained.


    "Okay. Why don''t you get some sort of healing pill or something like that?" Titus said. "It seems to be a number one necessity. I''m only bothering for something because my class needs one. I need some sort of enchanted weapon and preferably some sort of enchanted projectile."


    He scrolled back up to where he''d been looking. "I''ve never fancied myself much of an archer, maybe a throwing spear or a pilum."


    Alice squinted at the item he was pointing at. It was an enchanted pilum with a 40,000 credit cost. "What''s a pilum?"


    "Oh, it''s an old Roman weapon. They would throw them en masse like an upgraded version of a javelin that the Greeks used to use. I think my [Primal Marksmanship] skill could work well with it. It sounds like it would turn an enchanted weapon into a volley. And this one''s only enchantment is a recall. I mean, obviously not the best, but something I can reuse."


    He selected it and clicked purchase. The pilum appeared in his hand. It looked like a giant lawn dart, almost exactly how he had described it.


    "Nice." He passed it over to her, and she hefted it. It was heavier than she expected, but she could feel the enchantment buried deep inside.


    "Huh. That''s actually rather intuitive," she said. Instinctively, she knew how to use the item. Not that she could throw it properly, but if she did, she knew how to get it back.


    "Yeah, I''ll have to do some testing, but I''m happy-ish with it. I still have no idea how much a credit is worth." Titus scrolled down to some of the consumables and bought a couple of healing items.


    Then he passed the open window over to Alice. She found that she could interact with it just fine. She looked at the wands a few more times before scrolling down and blowing her money on consumables. She got an invisibility talisman, single-use, a couple of healing pills, and a mana recovery potion. She only had a thousand credits left after those, so she purchased a bag that had an enchantment to keep glass unbroken to carry her items.


    Titus looked at her with envy. "Do you mind if I store some of my stuff in there, too?"


    Alice rolled her eyes and handed him the bag. "You can carry it, though.


    "The System needs an inventory," Titus muttered as he placed his purchases in the bag. With that done, they left without saying goodbye to the shopkeeper.


    ***


    "Where do we need to go?" Titus asked.


    Alice pulled out her phone, checked a few things, then pointed across the water. "Unfortunately, it seems that your prediction about a sea appearing in front of us to block our way wasn''t wrong."


    "I don''t seem to remember making that exact prediction."


    "Exactly. You know what they say about jinxes," Alice quipped back.


    Titus sighed. "I think you''re reading more into this than there is. So we need to figure out how to cross the ocean."


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    "Well, I won''t be surprised if it''s a shorter trip than we expect, since the randomization seems to be smaller grain than entire oceans. But yeah, basically, we''re almost halfway there," Alice said, looking up at the sun. It was just a little past noon, so maybe we could make it in another day and a half or so. "I really wish I knew how long the tutorial will take," she mused aloud.


    Titus nodded. "Yeah. I imagine when people get back, it''s going to get a whole hell of a lot more complicated."


    "You think people will be back at E-grade?" Alice asked.


    Titus frowned. "Hmm. Maybe. I would be surprised, though. They probably know a lot more about the System, but I think a lot of that stuff we''ve either been able to that they haven¡¯t. Well, I don''t want to say too soon and have them come back at, like, B-grade or something."


    "Yeah. Fair enough," Alice said. "I think hopefully the tutorial will help prepare people for this, but I have a feeling it''s not going to do a good enough job."


    "Yeah, I think I agree," Titus said. "Anyways, crossing the ocean?"


    "Yes," Alice agreed, nodding.


    "Well, luckily, we seem to have an abundance of boats," Titus said, gesturing around. "How many people do you think it takes to crew a superyacht?"


    There were a couple of large boats that looked like they could use a crew, but they decided on a nice 45-footer with a cabin and a head. They scrounged up enough supplies for a couple of days of travel. It had some bunks underneath, so if they needed to sleep out on the ocean, they could. With a little effort, they even managed to get one of the ATVs for beach rentals on board, along with an inflatable life raft to use for getting ashore.


    A couple of hours later, Alice was relaxing on a deck chair with the wind fluttering her hair behind her as Titus stood behind the steering wheel. The warm Mediterranean sun made his olive complexion even more striking.


    "You know, under other circumstances, this would be a very nice vacation," Titus said, yelling over the wind.


    Alice nodded. "I''ve only ever seen boats like this in music videos and movies."


    "Yeah, well, they''re fun to use for a bit, but they''re expensive to keep."


    "You''ve owned a boat before?"


    "I''ve owned many boats," Titus said. "It''s true, the maxim about boat owning: the best day of a boat owner''s life is when they buy their boat. The second best day is when they sell it. Better to just rent them. Might be more expensive, but it''s not worth the headache to keep them. Not anymore, at least."


    "I''ve never really had any interest in owning a boat. I think my dad did, but I don''t really remember," Alice said.


    "Do you remember your parents?" Titus asked vaguely.


    "I was very young when they died," Alice said, surprising herself with her willingness to speak about it. Even her closest friends through college barely knew more than the fact that she hadn''t talked to her parents in a very long time. "What about you?"


    Titus hesitated. "I have the vaguest impressions. I remember my dad teaching me how to hunt," he said, "But it was a bit of a blur. My mom was gentle."


    "Your dad taught you how to hunt?" Alice asked. "But you don''t remember it. How old were you when they died?"


    "I''m not sure," Titus said honestly.


    Alice wasn''t sure how to believe his earnest words. It was just one of many things that Titus did that didn''t line up.


    "What kind of hunting?" she asked instead.


    Titus made a thoughtful noise. By now, Alice was good enough at reading Titus to tell that it wasn''t that he didn''t know the answer but that he was deciding whether or not to tell her. "You don''t have to say if it bothers you," she said, giving him an out.


    "No, it''s okay," Titus said. "We learned mostly tracking and traps like snares, but also how to run down prey and throw a spear."


    Alice blinked. "Um," she said, not knowing how to respond. "I¡ª Uh, were you some member of an uncontacted tribe or something? Like, who hunts like that nowadays?"


    Titus smiled. "Nothing quite that exotic, maybe, but my dad was a bit eccentric by your standards. I always felt like nothing he said was quite a lie, but it wasn''t the full truth either."


    "That''s okay," she said. "Okay, maybe your dad was weirdly into Renaissance fairs or something. Medieval times, maybe.


    "More like the ancient world," Titus said. "You could say he was really into the ancient world."


    "Do you miss them?" Alice asked.


    Titus shook his head. "I used to, but I''ve moved past it."


    "I still miss my parents," Alice whispered as if she didn''t want him to hear. "I barely knew them, and I miss them almost every day."


    Titus looked at her. Thankfully, no pity marred his face, just a calm understanding.


    "That will go away eventually," he said in a voice of complete certainty that she didn''t even think to question. "But only once you start to make your own family. Choose carefully, because you can''t undo that," he said with a sad and knowing smile.

 Chapter 23:

    After that exchange, the conversation dried up, leaving Alice and Titus to their own devices. After a few minutes underway, Alice got up and wandered around the ship. Or was it a boat? She didn''t know the right terminology, but luckily, there wasn''t anyone around to offend. Titus didn''t seem to be too picky, even if he had gotten into the captain role a little bit.


    She explored the insides and the few rooms there were, finding a large floppy sun hat made of some sort of stiff material but with enough give that it had a whimsical look. Trying it on, it fit her well, and she went back out to explore the lower deck at the front of the ship. There she found a recliner and a nice breeze as they sailed along at a respectable pace. Titus was a little bit out of sight, so she felt she had a bit of privacy.


    Adjusting the recliner so that she was almost entirely lying down, she stretched, enjoying the feeling of the warm Mediterranean sun on her skin, and settled down. Maybe to take a nap, maybe just to think. She tilted her hat forward until it covered her eyes, pillowed her arms behind her head, and stared at the brim of the hat blocking her vision.


    They had little idea how long the trip could be. It could be as short as over to the next horizon, or it could be another two days of travel at their current pace. Maybe they''d find the supercomputer center on an island somewhere. There was just nothing they could do, and it was a bit of a problem. At least in the car, there were monsters to fight and routes to plan, and it was distracting. Now, all she had were her thoughts.


    She started going through the last couple of days. There were so many things she could have done differently. Perhaps if she had rushed to the supercomputer center first or not taken a helicopter¡­ Flying had been dangerous when there were dangerous monsters lurking around¡­ Things could have gone much worse.


    There were just too many things to consider. She tried to focus on productive things and skill choices. There were several other skill choices she wanted, but it looked like she wasn''t going to get another one until level 13. That left the question of classes. What classes could she get? Titus had gotten something that sounded epic. Was it based on what insights he had, the accomplishments from throughout his life, or the System''s whims? Could she count on the System giving her special favoritism? She did have a title related to that, after all.


    More skills, more power. Something mysterious about classes. There was also more that she didn''t really understand. Something Titus didn''t seem to understand. Was Telos or Dao the word used? Either way, the word seemed to be associated with purpose.


    It kind of made sense. It was a sort of wishy-washy ancient theory for her, though. Maybe some philosophers would enjoy thinking about it, but she''d prefer to be thinking about some technical problem. But if the magic really worked on narrowing your focus, picking one thing to work for, and then letting that become your understanding of the world, which then guided your magic... maybe the ancients were onto something.


    Alice closed her eyes and tried to feel the mana inside her. She could see the mana all around, so perhaps understanding the essence of something wouldn''t be as difficult as she feared. If that stopped her from ever getting an E grade, well, that would be disappointing. Titus was already significantly more powerful than her, and he was only two levels into D grade. Sure, her magic gave her options that he just didn''t have, at least not yet. His class skills seemed rather magical to her, but... well, she wasn''t going to be much use.


    Titus was right. What if they failed? What if she couldn''t fix everything? Or what if her fix was incomplete? She figured the most likely outcome was absolute failure. Still, the next most likely was some sort of reduction in the impact of the System, making it hamstrung in a way. But that didn''t mean that there weren''t other possibilities... Well, she wasn''t really sure about how to plan for those, but even if she managed to get the System to go away, it didn''t mean magic would go away. Would her sense of magic go away? Would she not be able to see it anymore? Maybe the System-granted skills would go away, but the feeling of mana in her body wasn''t from any skill. It was her skills that had made her aware of it. But now she could feel that no skill was actually active. She could just trace the mana as it circulated through her body.


    She breathed it in, and it washed through her limbs and core in a mesmerizing spiral. Spinning the mana up and back, she found she could even influence the flow. Speed it up, slow it down, direct it. However, putting it in one part of her body didn''t seem to have any real effects. It wasn''t like in stories where she focused her mana on her arm, her arm swelled to a comically proportional size, and she could punch a hole through a building while breaking her arm in half. No, that wasn''t quite right. Something was different, though.


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    She could feel it gathering. When she had cast Mana Bolt a few times in fights, it was a surge exiting from the finger she was pointing. Could she cast it from her nose? She thought so, but didn''t want to risk attracting too much attention to the boat. Then she realized they were on a boat. The only thing moving was the water.


    She stood up, walked over to the railing, and looked down, focusing on trying to cast the Mana Bolt from her face into the water. Nothing happened, but her nose did start to tingle as she concentrated mana around it. Interesting. Then, she sneezed. Was that just the saltwater, or had the mana actually been doing something?


    Alice pointed and fired a bolt into the water. It displaced a couple of gallons with a large splash that was drowned out by the boat''s engines. She cast a few more times with each finger but couldn''t make it cast out of her elbow before she started to run low on mana, and her head started to throb. She considered going up to Titus for that mana recovery potion but resisted the impulse. The headache would fade in a little bit as mana regenerated.


    Was it regeneration? Actually, she almost didn''t know. Where did her mana come from? Was it from the ambient magic of the universe that the System had tapped into? Or was it coming from within herself?


    Sitting back down, she didn''t lay back this time and put her hat on her head, shading her face as she closed her eyes and assumed a cross-legged position like she imagined some ancient monk would. Frowning, she felt the much-reduced amount of mana spiral through her body and focused on it. When she had breathed in, it had moved. It moved with her breath. So she breathed in deeply, focusing on trying to feel the mana coming in with the air in her lungs. But that wasn''t it. Was it welling up from within her as she breathed and her heart pumped it out? No, it wasn''t quite that either. It was a strange mix.


    As she breathed in, she could feel it coming in through all of her pores, but at the same time, as she breathed out, the mana came from nothing within her heart. Somewhere in her heart, at least. Perhaps not the heart itself, but something behind it, closer towards her back, but offset from reality in some way.


    She repeated the cycle over and over again. She''d breathe in and pull mana from the world around her, and then she''d breathe out, and mana poured in from somewhere else that was already inside her. And then, if she held her breath, the two would mix, and it would become the mana that circled through her. If she just breathed in, the mana poured in from her pores but sat on the surface level, not really mixing with the flow inside of her mana. And if she just breathed out, the mana from inside her saturated her body but didn''t move. It was the interplay between the two that caused them to mix. And then, if she held her breath, she needed to move and stir it like she would cookie batter or something. It felt just a little bit more fluid. As it mixed, she could control it, and when it was in motion, she could guide it. But when it sat still, it was like grasping at fog or trying to move a mountain.


    All very poetical descriptions. I never fancied myself a wordsmith.


    Alice''s concentration was broken by the sudden thought, and she laughed. Opening her eyes, she felt better. How long had she been focusing on stirring her mana? She couldn''t tell. The sun had moved slightly, but there was still no sign of land on the horizon. She got up, stretched, walked around, and cast several more mana bolts into the water, this time trying not to launch them from odd spaces but trying to be more accurate. Could she hit exactly the right wave cap instead of just pointing in the general direction?


    She was able to fire five before she ran out of mana again. She went back to spinning and cycling the mana in different ways, trying them out to see what gathered more mana. She shifted her focus back and forth between the two types: the kind from within and the kind from without.


    She was about halfway to making some groundbreaking realization of the nature of it and how it worked when it combined when the ship lurched.


    Titus shouted out in surprise. "Alice, you okay?"


    She opened her eyes and called back, "Yes. What was that?"


    "I don''t know, I didn''t see. Can you see anything from down there?"


    Alice ran to the railing and looked down. "No. Do you?"


    But she didn''t receive an answer. Hurriedly, she sprinted over to the ladder and climbed up to the next deck, where the captain''s station was¡ªor was it a pilot''s station? She really needed to learn some boat terms¡ªand saw that Titus was busy. A giant purple tentacle had slapped down next to where he had been standing, and now he was hacking at it with his ax. Despite the sharp blade, it bounced right off.


    Alice pointed and, with a startled cry, fired a mana bolt. It sank into the rubbery tentacle before exploding and tearing it nearly in half. The thing lifted off the deck and reeled back as the boat lurched, tipping its prow up out of the waves. She managed to get a look at what had grabbed them from behind. A giant black beak was the only thing she saw in the mass of rubbery flesh. And the System identification gave her no comfort.


    [Baby Kraken, Level 38].

 Chapter 24:

    In a blind panic, Alice fired a mana bolt directly at the creature''s beak. The shimmering haze of magic glanced off its black carapace mouth. Though it didn''t break the shell as she had hoped, it wasn''t entirely ineffective. The bolt continued forward, striking the main body of the baby Kraken and sizzling its rubbery flesh.


    Titus put aside his ax and stabbed with his new enchanted pilum. He had rushed up to the monster and stabbed at the webbing between its long, tentacled legs, trying to pry it away from the vessel. The spear sank in, but it was just a small needle compared to the large creature.


    Alice found she had recovered maybe four Mana Bolts worth of her mana when she''d been meditating. But she''d already fired off two, and it hadn''t done much. This wasn''t going to work. The boat was already slowing as the kraken''s body jammed the propeller.


    We should have looked for some more mundane weaponry, especially at our level. Even a nice rifle would have probably had more impact than I would after running out of mana with only two more shots.


    Alice held off, instead repositioning herself to get a better glimpse from the side of the ship. She leaned over and saw the baby Kraken was at least as long as the ship. Each tentacle was maybe forty feet long, and the bulbous, octopus-like head was another twenty feet. There weren''t just eight tentacles, though. There were several more.


    The half-torn one had already rotated back into the water, and countless others grasped at the boat, not doing much damage to its structure. The weird beak mouth thing was chattering at Titus as he somehow managed to dodge between tentacles flying at him, and he stabbed it repeatedly. He managed to hit the same spot several times, carving off a chunk of rubbery flesh. The purplish-black blood that spilled out slowed almost as soon as the injury was created.


    "What do we do?" Alice yelled.


    "I''m open to ideas," Titus responded between spear thrusts.


    We need to get it off and do a lot of damage. It will have to be from Titus because I just don''t have the skills for it. If I had a class, maybe one of my new skills would give me the option to actually fight it. [Mana Bolts] are useful against things my level or for supporting Titus as he fights. I can only think of a few things in his kit that would help.


    "Have you tried [Primal Marksmanship] yet?" she yelled.


    "When would I have had the time?" Titus responded.


    "Well, I guess now! Combine it with [Critical Strike]!" she called. It was more of a question than anything, but Titus nodded.


    "You''re going to have to keep it off me. This might take a moment to figure out."


    Alice nodded, and as Titus ran away to get some distance so he could use his skills, she moved in front of him. Her hands rose, ready to cast the two remaining mana bolts to knock aside any tentacles that came for him. The beast didn''t take advantage of the opening to attack but climbed further up the ship. Its head was now mostly out of the water and starting to appear on the deck. Its weight bore the ship down, sending the deck tilting at a dangerous ten, almost fifteen degrees. Alice was grateful for the extremely rough decking that her shoes could grip into; otherwise, she''d be sliding down into its face.


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    She let it come, and one of the massive eyes, nearly as tall as she was, looked at them with a strange amount of intelligence. Then, a tentacle swung for both of them at the side.


    Instinctively, she flung her hand to the side and nailed it with a mana bolt, severing the last ten feet in the air instead of smashing them off the deck. She caught the nearly 200-pound piece of rubber flying at her incredible speed. Her new stats were enough that she managed to catch it and halt its momentum, but not before she was sent tumbling. Though she managed to protect Titus.


    He was frowning in concentration, but the second she was blasted aside, he acted. Taking a crow hop like she imagined an outfielder would when preparing to throw the ball home, he twisted in a practiced, effortless motion, and the pilum he bought flew from his hand, shimmering and duplicating itself dozens of times. A veritable volley of projectiles flung the nearly twenty-foot gap between him and the head of the baby Kraken.


    She wasn''t sure how [Critical Strike] worked, but it looked like nearly a third of them landed in the thing''s eye. Viscous black pus exploded everywhere as the eye was punctured a half dozen times, and black blood oozed from the creature''s head as it became a pincushion. Titus held his hand off to the side, focusing, and a single one of the spears in its eye disappeared, the blood increasing as it reappeared in Titus''s hand. Alice saw that Titus''s veritable sun of endless mana was actually dimmed. With mana sight, she could see the pathways of mana within him; that had taken a lot out of him. He could maybe do it one more time.


    "Again!" she called. This was their only hope unless they could rig up something with random supplies, but they just didn''t have time. If the thing managed to get all the way onto the boat, it very well could sink from its weight alone, and they would have nowhere to hide from the writhing tentacles. At least the tentacles weren''t seeking them out anymore, instead just flailing randomly in pain. As long as she ducked low beneath the railing, she was relatively safe.


    Still, she kept careful watch. The tentacles sometimes got close to Titus. She had one more shot, one more chance to knock aside a tentacle seeking to hit him and prevent the damage he could do. Luckily, she didn''t need to.


    He lunged forward, throwing the pilum with even more momentum as if it was a long-forgotten skill that he was even better at than she could have hoped. The pilum flew true, and with even more force, all of its illusory copies buried themselves deep into the creature. After he launched the second volley, the first volley that still impaled the creature disappeared, and the deep puncture wounds started to bleed even more profusely. Its eye was completely shredded, and the second wave followed through the eye''s path and dug deep. Hopefully it had hit the thing''s brain, assuming it had one and wasn''t like an octopus with some sort of distributed network amongst its tentacles.


    The thing screeched, a wave of physical sound slamming Alice back to the deck. She struggled to her feet, but in the process, she missed the tentacle that had grasped Titus''s leg. Even as he attempted to recover, clearly still dizzy from the massive expenditure of mana, it yanked him off his feet and pulled him towards the sickening black maw.


    "No!" Alice yelled and fired her last mana bolt at the tentacle holding Titus''s leg. It hit, but it hit too far up the base and too thick of a spot, causing the tentacle to tear but not fully sever. It convulsed, whipping Titus around, but a second tentacle found his leg and pulled him towards the maw of the thrashing creature.


    Alice ran forward. As Titus was yanked towards its maw, its beak opened wide. She shouted forward, drawing her knife in one motion and hacking at the tentacle, cutting it. But Titus was too close, and the thing sunk its beak into his foot. Titus yelled in surprise and pain as he thrashed, ripping his foot free of the kraken, and leaving his boot behind. A jagged cut along his foot bled red against the purple and black backdrop of the kraken''s own blood.


    Alice stabbed into the other tentacle wrapped around Titus''s leg repeatedly, damaging it and eventually severing it. She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her now surprising strength, enough to move him easily up the deck and away from the monster as it thrashed.


    Slowly, its grip started to ease up on the ship as the amount of damage Titus had done was adding up. Either it was dying, or it decided that they were too much of a hassle to deal with.


    Alice pushed Titus down next to the steering wheel. They huddled behind the captain''s chair as the thing slowly eased its way off the back of the ship. Then it stopped moving, and Alice groaned. A notification flashed in her head, telling her that they had defeated a level 38 baby Kraken. Normally, this would be a cause for joy, but the thing was still attached to the ship.

 Chapter 25:

    At Alice''s feet, Titus remained disturbingly still. She shook him but didn''t take her eyes off the dead kraken that was tilting their boat dangerously. He didn''t respond. She looked down and saw his eyes were closed, but even as she pressed her fingers to his throat, she knew he was fine. He had a pulse, and his body was burning bright, but black veins were tracing from the wound in his foot. The fucking thing was poisonous.


    Alice looked around and found the satchel that she had bought slung across the chair inside. Mercifully, the healing items she had purchased were unbroken. The first thing she did was chug a mana recovery potion. They needed to get this Kraken thing off the ship as soon as possible, and the only way she could think of doing it was with mana. That fire burned in the pattern of her mana, and even as she tried to move her mana around, it multiplied inside of her, neither coming from within nor without, but rather like mitosis and cells dividing. The mana inside her multiplied.


    I need to get another one of those potions and study it.


    But she couldn''t complain about the results. After the flash of pain and fire burning in her mana patterns, she felt re-energized. She dove back into the satchel, grabbing one of the healing pills she''d purchased and shoving it in Titus''s mouth. She hoped he didn''t have to swallow it and that just dissolving it on his tongue would be enough to counteract the poison. Already, the ship was starting to groan. She hoped that getting the Kraken''s body off now would be enough.


    Closing her eyes, she quickly assigned her new stats. Defeating the monster had earned her levels, pushing her to level ten. On the brink of gaining her next grade, she put all four points into power. Hopefully, this would be enough.


    She ran in close and examined how the Kraken was holding on. At least two of the tentacles attached to the top deck were keeping its body from falling back into the water. Focusing, she blasted one of them with a mana bolt, partially severing it before quickly following up with a second one, cutting it loose. Her increased power allowed her to cut the tentacle off at a much thicker point than before.


    The head and body started to peel away, but it wasn''t enough. If anything, the awkward angle only increased the leverage the body caused, forcing the prow of the boat even further out of the water. She stumbled and barely caught herself from getting too close to the beak that had poisoned Titus. Adjusting her aim, she fired two more bolts into the other tentacle, severing it. The tentacles flopped to the deck, and the head started to peel away slowly as it sank into the water. The ship righted itself as its buoyancy removed a lot of the force.


    With many popping sounds, the suction cups on some of the tentacles started to give way. The thing peeled off into the water, slowly detaching itself from the boat. To her surprise and joy, she found that she might be able to cast two or even three more bolts before she was run dry of mana. The increase in power was certainly paying off.


    The tortured hum of the engine and drive shaft starting up again echoed through the ship, and they lurched forward. Alice barely grabbed onto the rail, slick with black blood, to prevent being thrown overboard into the churning wake below. The Kraken was dragged along for a little bit, but the force of the water slowly peeled it off the ship''s hull, leaving it bobbing in their wake. Three or four cut tentacles still on deck were soaking everything with its black blood.


    Alice splashed through it, back over to Titus, and propped him up on the chair with surprising ease to get him out of the way in case there was any poison in there. She found a water bottle in the satchel and poured some in his mouth, washing the half-dissolved healing pill down his throat. As he coughed and spluttered, his eyes opened, a look of confusion on his face. He said something incomprehensible in a language far from English before his eyes focused on her face.


    "Alice?" he asked.


    She heaved a huge sigh. "It''s all right, Titus. It''s dead."


    He nodded and smiled. "I see. Congrats on the levels."


    A quick glance revealed that he was now level 13. With a groan, he shifted, sitting properly in the chair. Pulling a lever on its side, he rose up so that he could see as if he were standing. Taking hold of the wheel and adjusting the controls slightly, he flipped a button, which locked everything in place, before turning to talk with her.


    "What happened?" he asked.


    She quickly gave the rundown of what she did after he was out. He had only missed a few moments, but it felt like a lot more at the time. He took it in stoically, and they sat in silence for several moments after she finished explaining.


    "Thank you, Alice. I... thank you," he said.


    She smiled. "It''s only fair, right?"


    Titus let loose a full laugh. "Yeah. I suppose so. So, what do you want to do with that?" He gestured over his shoulder at the severed tentacles and the pool of black blood. "Don''t suppose you wouldn''t mind finding a hose?"


    Alice groaned but went down to the lower deck to search.


    ***


    The next several hours of their boat trip were nowhere near as pleasant as the first. Alice found a hose and a pump and was able to wash away all the potentially poisonous blood from several decks and the side of the ship. Despite Titus''s cheeriness and generally upbeat attitude, even more so than his usual joking self, Alice soon realized he was compensating for the immense amount of pain his foot was in. As a result, while she worked, she had no chance of switching tasks, as Titus couldn''t actually put any weight on his foot at the moment.


    The healing pill was doing its job and had purged most of the toxins, but the gash was slow to close. He was hesitant to take another one, as he could still feel the energies at work and didn''t want to overload his system. But at least there was progress being made.


    I also got an extra workout, having to heave the giant tentacles off the side, she thought. They just prayed that the trail of blood wasn''t attracting predators they couldn''t handle. Already, she had seen several sharks¡ªjust normal sharks, not monsters¡ªcircling the boat. This made her nervous enough, let alone considering the idea of some giant monster shark ramming the boat and sinking them. So far, though, nothing like that had happened. Titus assured her that, for the most part, they would be left alone. How he knew that, she didn''t question.


    Eventually, she got back to sitting on the chair below, soaking up the sun and circulating her mana. As she worked, she really gained an appreciation for her new power. That was not a stat she had ever figured would be her focus. Still, she seriously considered forgoing Titus''s advice and focusing primarily on power. Titus favored speed and control himself, and she had been starting to do so, subconsciously or consciously.


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    She wasn''t too sluggish anymore. She used to be, but now, in this last fight, she actually didn''t feel like she was too slow. She just couldn''t hit hard enough. And if her job was to stand in the back while Titus fought something up close and hit it as hard as possible, well, she had to be quick enough that he didn''t get killed in the meantime and controlled enough that she didn''t kill him by accident. But her biggest job was to hit as hard as possible¡ª with magic.


    Once she had made that decision, she felt something change. The pattern of mana was no longer just random spirals throughout her body. It moved and shifted as if realigning itself to her new priorities. A small ball started to slowly grow somewhere at the center, the place where mana flooded in as she absorbed it and created it. Then it mixed, and mana left it to circulate throughout all the pathways it was carving in her body. But less came out than went in, and right now, it was maybe the size of a grain of sand, but it was growing.


    Is this like a magical tumor? She worried. Is something going to grow and take over my magic, living in my body?


    But that didn''t quite feel right. It felt like she could draw from it, and a few tests showed that she could. If she needed to, she could pull a burst of power from it. It drained and emptied quickly, but it wasn''t the same as just running out of all the mana in her channels.


    So, as she circulated the mana and got more and more used to the feeling, she attempted to generate mana again. This time, she restricted how much came out of the ball of storage. As she did so, it felt like less power was moving through her, but the little bead of pure energy started to grow, and with it, so did her feeling of potential.


    When Alice finally opened her eyes, she found a welcome prompt waiting for her.


    Through battle and insights, you have achieved something deep within yourself. Congratulations on reaching E-grade.


    Class one unlocked.


    Choose one of the following classes for your first class.


    Battle Mage - Common


    Class Description: The Battle Mage blends the raw power of magic with the physical prowess of a warrior. They can cast destructive spells while wielding weapons with deadly efficiency. In combat, the Battle Mage excels at both close-quarters fighting and ranged magical attacks, making them adaptable to various combat situations.


    Stats: +1 speed, +1 power, +1 control


    Abilities:


    <ul>


    <li>[Arcane Slash]: Infuse a weapon with magical energy, dealing extra damage on the next attack.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Magic Barrier]: Erect a protective shield that absorbs a portion of incoming damage.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Elemental Burst]: Release a wave of elemental energy that damages all nearby enemies.</li>


    </ul>


    Elemental Sage - Uncommon


    Class Description: The Elemental Sage is a master of the natural elements, capable of bending fire, water, earth, and air to their will. With a deep understanding of elemental magic, they can unleash devastating attacks and provide powerful defensive measures. Whether summoning a wall of flames or calling forth a healing rain, the Elemental Sage is versatile and formidable in any situation.


    Stats: +1 speed, +1 power, +1 control, +1 free point


    Abilities:


    <ul>


    <li>[Elemental Blast]: Launch a burst of elemental energy at enemies, causing significant damage.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Shield of Elements]: Create a barrier of elemental energy that reduces incoming damage.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Elemental Infusion]: Enhance allies'' weapons with elemental properties for a limited time.</li>


    </ul>


    Illusionist - Uncommon


    Class Description: The Illusionist is a master of deception and misdirection. They use illusions to confuse and disorient enemies, creating opportunities for attacks and escapes. The Illusionist excels at crowd control, making them a valuable asset in any encounter.


    Stats: +1 speed, +1 power, +2 control


    Abilities:


    <ul>


    <li>[Phantom Strike]: Create an illusory duplicate to attack enemies, causing confusion.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mirror Image]: Summon clones of yourself to distract and mislead foes.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Veil of Deception]: Create an illusionary terrain that hides allies and misleads enemies.</li>


    </ul>


    Warlock - Rare, Contract Offer - Legendary


    Class Description: The Warlock is a practitioner of forbidden magic, drawing power from a binding contract with an ancient and powerful entity. This pact allows the Warlock to channel dark energies and cast potent spells that are beyond the reach of ordinary mages. The Warlock''s abilities are fueled by their connection to this otherworldly being, granting them access to devastating powers and unique magical insights.


    Contract Offer: You have been offered a contract by an ancient and powerful being. They have witnessed your progress and are pleased with your course (see attached).


    The terms of the contract are loosely defined but generally revolve around the Warlock''s survival and continuation on their path of power and discovery. In return for their loyalty, the bonded being bestows upon the Warlock a fragment of its power, giving abilities determined by the strength of your bond.


    Stats: +1 speed, +3 power, +1 control, +1 free point


    Abilities:


    <ul>


    <li>[Pact Bond]: This skill grows and shrinks with the level of alignment with the bondholder. The higher the level, the greater the power that is shared.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Life Drain]: Channel dark energy to siphon the life force from an enemy, healing yourself while damaging the target. This ability allows the Warlock to sustain themselves in battle and turn the tide of combat through sheer willpower.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Communion]: Enter a trance to commune with the bondholder, gaining insights and knowledge about the current situation. This ability allows the Warlock to receive guidance, uncover hidden truths, and strategize based on the bondholder''s wisdom.</li>


    </ul>


    System Mother - Divine


    Class Description: The System Mother is a transcendent and omniscient entity who birthed the System itself. This class grants unparalleled oversight over the workings of the world, allowing the System Mother to observe events from a distance without directly intervening. With a deep connection to the System''s core, the System Mother can witness the paths of those within the System and understand the intricate weave of fate and destiny. Their role is purely observational, ensuring that they can see and understand everything without altering the course of events.


    Stats: +100 speed, +100 power, +100 control


    Abilities:


    <ul>


    <li>[Omniscient Vision]: Gain the ability to observe any location within the System at will, receiving detailed information about ongoing events and the status of individuals.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Eternal Witness]: Record and retain perfect memory of all observed events, providing unparalleled knowledge of the System''s history and dynamics.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Foresight]: Passively sense upcoming significant events and shifts within the System, gaining a broader understanding of potential futures.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Inherent Understanding]: Instantly comprehend the motives, emotions, and potential outcomes of actions taken by those within the System.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[System Analysis]: Access comprehensive data on the System''s structure, laws, and mechanics, enabling a deeper understanding of its operations.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Seer''s Insight]: Perceive hidden truths and unseen connections, revealing the underlying patterns that influence the System''s events.</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Temporal Observation]: View past events within the System as if they were happening in the present, providing complete and accurate historical insight.</li>


    </ul>


    The System Mother stands as the ultimate observer, a silent guardian who witnesses and understands the unfolding of events without altering the natural course of destiny within the System.


    Congratulations, you are the third in the world to each E grade.


    +Title -- The Tertius: Gain +7% effectiveness to all stats.

 Chapter 26:

    Alice was so surprised that she let out an involuntary cry of triumph. She''d done it. She''d broken through. She had understood something about herself. She wasn''t exactly sure what she''d done, but it seemed like a big deal, getting an upgrade and a class to boot. She was going to be useful, powerful, strong. And she was only the third person in the world to do it.


    Titus and then one of the other 18 had beaten her to it. Presumably, if it had been possible in the tutorial, she would have expected to be far from the third. There were a lot of people in the world, after all. It made sense to her if a few of them were also an E grade. Even if they weren''t necessarily working together, they were probably more focused on fighting than she was.


    But still, a 7% effectiveness to all stats? That''s a powerful title, she thought. Better than my Mother of All. I''m still not clear on what exactly that does.


    She started to skim through her options. They seemed okay. Titus yelled something from up above, and she ran up the stairs, a grin still plastering her face.


    "What''d you say?" she asked as she popped her head just over the deck.


    "You okay over there? It sounded like you fell. I was making sure you didn''t go overboard," Titus replied.


    Alice rolled her eyes at him. "I got to E grade," she explained, pumping her fist.


    "I see. Level 11. Congrats. You picked your class yet?" Titus asked.


    Titus seemed to be feeling better. After several hours, he was standing, though his weight was shifted off of his injured foot. At least both feet looked whole. He''d taken his other boot off so he could stand on level ground. Now, there was just some scarring rather than a bleeding wound, and the poison seemed to have left him.


    "How are you feeling?" she asked, not quite answering his question.


    "Much better. If anything, I''m struggling more over my skill choice than this," Titus said, picking up his mostly healed foot.


    "Oh, that''s right. You just hit level 13. What are you struggling to decide with?" Alice asked.


    "Well, this time, I got a whole different host of skills. And there are two that really tempt me: [Map] and [Inventory]," Titus replied.


    Alice smiled. "Wow. It definitely seems like those are better skill options than we got earlier. Maybe you can replace one of your skills so you can take both?"


    Titus frowned. "That''s actually a really good point. I haven''t leveled them so much that it''s not worth removing one. Still, I don''t want to lose my ability to identify things, and [First Aid] has saved our lives more times than I think it''d be reasonable to remove. [Critical Strike] maybe? But again, that''s been invaluable. Still, only level two, though. Sure, [Map] and [Inventory] would be extremely useful. But would they be life-saving?"


    "It''s got to be [Inventory]," she said. "Depends on how it works. But if we can take a lot with us, think of all the cheesing we can do! Depending on how much weight it can carry."


    Titus shook his head. "It seems like there are requirements for adding and removing things based on mana, so I can''t just store this boat or something else this size. It''s kind of hard to evaluate."


    "I still say [Inventory], especially if you have to carry a bunch of enchanted weapons. Besides, we don''t know when you''re going to get your next skill," Alice said.


    "Well, you said odd primes. So what, 17? It''s only four levels away. I think I can carry one enchanted weapon for that long," Titus responded.


    Titus had the shovel and pilum strapped to his back, the ax at his waist, and knives strapped on him. He already looked a little bit ridiculous.


    Alice thought for a moment. "You think [Map] then?"


    "I think so."


    "Well, as long as the satellites are still up and running and they seem to be doing okay, we don''t need the [Map] right away. We can make do." Alice argued.


    "Maybe," Titus said, unconvinced. "But I don''t know how much longer this will work. The service has been spotty," he said, holding up his phone. "I think we can''t count on that lasting for much longer."


    Alice sincerely hoped he was wrong. "Well, they need to last for a day or two more. But you''re right. With no maintenance and who knows what happening up there? I''m surprised the power grid didn''t immediately turn off everywhere or explode or something. It seems like the System did something to keep things connected, but still... there are so many other factors to take into account. Like the lack of repairs, especially with such tumultuous times," Alice left those words hanging.


    "So you still say [Inventory]?" Titus asked.


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    "If we can power level you to 17 quickly, I think [Inventory] is worth it. Then you can take [Map]."


    "But what if something better comes along? And what if I don''t get a skill and we''re lost without a map?"


    "Hmmm, I guess it also matters how the [Map] works... Is it only things you''ve seen, or does it include a detailed map of the entire world?" Alice asked.


    "I can''t tell that," Titus said. "Anyways, sorry, I didn''t mean to sidetrack you. Your choice is far more important. What''d you get for your class options?"


    Alice smiled and thought of the options. She''d skimmed the descriptions earlier and hadn''t really examined some of the details. Her smile was a little forced, though, when she really started to consider it.


    The first three options were clearly decent but low rarity and low power. They were suitable for survival and would probably help her get by, but they wouldn''t help her keep up with Titus. No, Titus got eight points per level, and she was getting three or four for those. Titus, though, seemed interested in several of the skills those classes offered. He made a point of indicating the interesting ways they could be used in combat. But Alice was dissatisfied.


    The last option seemed like a trap. The System clearly offered a class for her achievement in creating it.


    I mean, obviously, it seems like the System still cares for me after all. In its own way, she thought.


    Alice had a sneaking suspicion that if she chose it, not only would Alice be unable to intervene, but she wouldn''t even be able to offer advice or information. It seemed like the System would lock her away in some alternate dimension with monitors to observe everything. She would be absurdly powerful, with 300 stats per level and incredible skills, but she wouldn''t be able to do anything.


    Maybe I could communicate with the System and help it grow¡­


    Some part of her mused on that. It was a very small part, one that wanted to feed her ego as the creator. This was her masterwork, after all, the culmination of years of research. And she could study it from within. But it was a tiny part, and almost instantly, it was overwhelmed by her sense of duty, guilt, and common decency. They all forbade her from abandoning her ally.


    This left her with one option. One option that might not be any better than the last one. The Warlock class offering was risky, but Alice thought it might be the System''s way of offering a middle ground. Instead of becoming the System Mother and observing from afar, the System was offering her a contract. Some compromise where the System would grant her power and the ability to act. Not so much that it unbalanced everything, but it was significant, judging by what she''d seen from Titus''s offerings. A rare class should have only offered five stats per level, but this provided six. That was better. And the fact that the contract offering was legendary... well, what kind of legendary creature was there besides the System?


    Titus tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It''s a pity I''m not up to date on system law," he said with a smile. "But if I can see the contract or you can read it out to me, I might be able to give you some advice."


    "What, you''re a lawyer now?" Alice asked.


    Titus grimaced. "Well, I definitely had more time to read legal documents than most. Something that comes up in my line of work."


    Alice frowned in doubt. "Really? Why?"


    "Patent law.Investor laws," he said. "There''s a lot of contracts involved in the artifact trade."


    Alice was surprised and a little doubtful. But Titus didn''t strike her as someone who claimed to be an expert in everything, so they sounded cool. Also, she wouldn''t mind a second opinion.


    She opened the attached document and scrolled through almost thirty pages. "It''s pretty dense legalese."


    "Well, we better get started, then," Titus said, and Alice groaned, sitting down on one of the benches built into the side of the bulkhead.


    "Fine," she sighed and began to read aloud.


    The contract was actually very well summarized by the System''s class description. It was a very loose contract. The only real imposition was a non-betrayal clause, which meant Alice wouldn''t be able to betray whoever gave her the contract without it stripping away its powers. Alice wondered if turning a second AI against the System would count as a betrayal. Probably, but hopefully by then it would be too late, and it wouldn''t matter if she lost her powers.


    Otherwise, the System couldn''t take her powers away at all. They would be granted to her and owned by her. It took nearly ten pages to define precisely what that meant.


    The rest of the contract was more about offering bonuses and incentives for other things. For example, if the contract bond wanted a certain task done, they could offer incentives or provide extra power. In contrast, if she did something that aligned with their shared interests, extra power could also be rewarded. However, this was governed by the System rather than the contract bond. It all seemed rather circular to her. Like the boiler plate contract didn''t quite fit. Perhaps this was one of the kinks the System was still working out.


    I never planned to take any of those options. Especially not since I am actively working against the System. Alice thought.


    In the end, the contract was sealed by the System, noting that it was generated and witnessed by the System. Alice thought that seemed a little unfair for it to be signed and sealed by the System itself, but who else was there to witness it?


    Titus had a few things to say, but for the most part, it was relatively straightforward once she had a little help interpreting the legalese. The last bit was what Titus objected to.


    "I don''t know if we can be sure it''s contracting to the System," Titus said. "It could just be written by the System and not by whoever is offering you the contract."


    Alice frowned. "It could be, but that doesn''t make sense. Isn''t it supposed to be an agreement between two parties? That''s the whole purpose of the warlock class in games. The warlock is bound to some sort of evil god or demon, and the two parties hash out a contract. Because the warlock is young and stupid, and the being it''s contracting to is millions of times older, they inevitably get screwed and their souls are forfeited."


    "And you''re honestly considering this class?" Titus raised his eyebrow.


    Alice shrugged. "Well, the System''s not that old."


    Titus glared at her, and she shrugged. "As you said, the contract is fairly straightforward."


    "It''s not true. But my point is just that it''s odd that you don''t actually know who you''re contracting to."


    "I mean, what are the options?" she said, gesturing around.


    "The System could be making up a pantheon or something. They did make up the consortium and the luminaries," Titus suggested.


    Alice frowned. That was possible. "Maybe," she said. "But does it really matter?"


    "I suppose it might not. The contract is favorable, I think." Titus shrugged. "But I suppose unless you want to choose one of the uncommon classes, it''s really your only option."


    Alice nodded. Bracing herself, she took a deep breath and selected the class. Immediately, she felt a connection form.

 Chapter 27:

    Congratulations. You are the first warlock in the history of the system. We wish you and your Bondholder a long and fruitful relationship. Close communication between Pact Bonds is essential for the success of this class. Please perform the [Communion] ritual at your earliest convenience.


    Alice read the message and looked around. She felt a connection with something, a sensation and emotions at the back of her mind that she couldn''t decipher. It wasn''t clear, but maybe it would become clearer as she went on.


    "I need to perform my [Communion] ritual?" she thought aloud. Once she examined the skill, she realized she was going to need flat ground, some time, and maybe chalk. Frowning as she looked around, she saw that there was nothing available on the ship. Her skill told her that the motion of the deck would disrupt the ritual, and it would not work.


    Titus was also frowning. "I think I felt a mana shift as you got your class. I''m not sure how.


    "It''s interesting," Alice said. "I mean, you don''t have [Mana Sight] or anything, so it''s kind of hard for you to normally sense it. Was the change really that powerful?" she asked.


    "Apparently. I''m a bit surprised, but I can definitely feel something different about you. Did you assign your stats yet?"


    Alice shook her head. "No, not yet. But I''d expect the System to send me a message welcoming me or something. I got a ''Congratulations, you''re the first warlock'' message, and it told me to use my [Communion] skill as soon as possible. Maybe it wants to talk to me using that?"


    Titus looked confused. "Do you have any more information about who your pack bond is with?"


    Alice shook her head and shrugged. "No, but you''re right. I should probably set my stats."


    She took the two free stats she had available and dumped them into power before pulling up her stats screen to see where she stood.


    Name: Alice Wright


    Titles: Mother of All, Tertius


    Perks: Quick Learner, Agelessness


    Level: 11 - E


    Speed: 11


    Power: 17


    Control: 11


    ¡ª


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    <ul>


    <li>Warlock </li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Pact Bond] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Life drain] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Communion] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[System Identification] - lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mana sight] -  lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Mana Bolt] - lvl 3</li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    Seeing the three new skills, Alice couldn''t help but smile. Now, she needed a target to practice [Life Drain] on and a few other of her abilities.


    Titus suddenly straightened and pointed. "See over there?" He indicated where they were heading.


    "Yeah, what about it?"


    "You can see the slightly darker shadow now. That would be land."


    "Um, I actually can''t see anything but water over there," Alice said. "I think that''s your skill."


    "Okay, well, the land just crested over the horizon. You should be able to see it in a moment or two."


    "So, how long till we get there?" Alice asked.


    Titus looked at the speedometer. "Um, a quarter of an hour. Half hour? Something like that."


    "Sweet," Alice said. "I really want to try some of my new skills."


    Titus smiled. "Yeah, I bet. Well, we''ll get as close as we can, or we''ll see if we can find a harbor. If not, we can take the dinghy in and see if we can get the ATV working."


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    "You ended up choosing [Inventory]?" she asked. At his nod, she held out her hand and took the wheel. "Here. I''ll hold it steady while you go put everything in there."


    Titus nodded. "Yeah, thanks," and vanished below deck where everything was stored. A few minutes later, he came up and smiled, no longer burdened with weapons. He held out his hand, and in less than a second, his spear appeared. He smiled. "About as fast as I could draw it.


    "Nice. Got all the camping stuff and food and everything?"


    "Yeah. I wish I had some sort of bag to pat. I feel like I''m missing something. It feels weird not to carry a pack," Titus commented.


    "Hopefully, it''s a good weird," Alice said.


    "It''s definitely a good weird."


    "You know, I think one of the benefits of the [Pact Bond] skill is that I should be able to pull extra mana through it when I''m running low. And my patron, my pact bond... I don''t know. I think I''m just going to keep calling the System my pact bond in the context of talking about my class. Anyways, If they''re willing, I can pull mana from them to use."


    "Have you tried testing that?"


    "Not yet. I want to do the [Communion] ritual first, but it should be very interesting."


    They continued to talk about different things they wanted to try out and strategies as they approached the land. When they did, they found that there was only a very thin strip of coast and no port town. It was as if the borders of the water were exactly where the terrain ended, and it did not line up with the extensive salt flats behind it.


    "Well, I guess it''s a good thing we brought an ATV," Titus commented. "It''s good to travel on there, and there doesn''t seem to be any sort of real civilization. We could try going along the coast for a bit."


    Alice shook her head. "No, we should go straight that way. We should be able to hit it either tomorrow evening or the day after. Depends. How much fuel have you got in there?"


    Titus frowned. "Hmm. You know what? Maybe I can store some cans of fuel from the boat here. Will that be compatible with the ATV?"


    "I don''t see why not," she said, shrugging. "It might not be the best for the engine, but it should run."


    "Good, because I''m not sure what the range of the ATV tank is, but it can''t be that much."


    "Yeah, I mean, it gets decent miles to the gallon, but only because it''s so light, and the tank is very small."


    They spent nearly ten minutes on the ship getting everything prepared, but eventually, they got the dinghy in the water and the ATV on it. They were soon moving slowly with the fifteen-horsepower motor to shore.


    The shore was not a welcoming place. It was a long pile of massive rocks. There were no shallows and no path up. They searched for a way to ascend, but they had no choice but to climb a dozen feet nearly straight up. Only because of Titus''s incredible strength combined with his physical stat were they able to lift the ATV up the small cliff. The rocky outcropping was full of handholds and relatively easy to climb, but not with a large piece of machinery.


    Alice got to the top and helped pull with the help of the attached rope. The most she could really do was hold it steady and prevent it from falling. So it fell on to Titus to carry it on his back as he climbed. When he got to the top, he flopped over and lay gasping, staring at the sky.


    "Now, don''t be dramatic," she said, nudging his side with her foot. He batted it away and smiled.


    "Ah, give me a break." With a groan, he got to his feet and looked around the barren landscape. "So... You wanted to do the [Communion] ritual?" he asked.


    Alice nodded and then shook her head. "Not right now. It''ll take twenty minutes or so. We''ll do it when we stop for the evening."


    "Okay," Titus said, looking up at the sun. They still had a couple of hours of good travel time. "Let''s go."


    She got on the back of the ATV and wrapped her arms around Titus''s waist, and they were off. The engine''s roar didn''t give them much chance for conversation unless they wanted to shout. They were zipping off across the salt flats, the beautiful sky and clouds reflected in the ground before them. The thin film of salt and water sprang up, making for a slightly stinging ride. Alice ducked behind Titus''s broad frame to shield herself from most of the salt, but she really wished there was a visor and helmet for her.


    The first salt elemental appeared two to three minutes away from the coast, and Titus gently brought them to a stop before hopping off. Alice practiced her new skill and connected it to the [Life Drain]. It was a relatively intuitive process, requiring a bit of concentration and strange manipulation of the mana inside her, as well as selecting a target.


    Once she did, she felt a bit of vitality and energy, along with pure mana, seeping from it and into her. It was a very slow process, but maybe in twenty to thirty minutes, the thing would be dead.


    Alice pointed at it and fired a mana bolt. A shower of salt exploded from it as a quarter of its body was dispersed into a cloud. The mana drain didn''t slow one bit, and she felt the [Life Drain] filling up her mana pool faster than if she were meditating. She fired her second bolt, and the thing shrunk. Titus just waved for her to continue. A few more bolts, and she finished it off. She was down to 30% mana but felt pretty good. They hopped back on the ATV and kept going.


    They had to stop every few minutes to deal with more enemies, but nothing incredibly dangerous showed up. So they just spent the time taking turns.


    When they were ready to make camp for the evening, they had both managed to gain a level. Titus was now level 14, and she was level 12. She was catching up, so they didn''t need to feed her as much experience.


    As Titus set up a couple of tents, Alice used one of the tent stakes to draw an elaborate ritual circle on the ground as her skill instructed. When she finished, she double-checked everything and smiled. Sitting in the center of it, she focused on her skill. She could feel power moving around her, and the lines she had drawn in the salt flared with red light. Titus came over to stand in front of her.


    "Is it working?" he asked.


    Alice stared at him. She blinked and shook her head to clear her ears.


    "What, did you do the ritual wrong?" Titus asked. She just stared mutely, a growing realization leading to a look of horror forming on her face.


    "What?" He asked again, the word echoed twice: once in the air, then again in her mind.

 Chapter 28:

    Chapter 28:


    Titus looked down at Alice where she sat in the center of her ritual circle. The weird glowing lights from the lines she had drawn on the ground unnerved him slightly. It was something he had never seen before. Not in his very long life. And, well, it was only one of many things that had changed recently, but he was starting to get a little concerned.


    Was she going to answer him, he wondered? Speaking a fourth time didn''t seem like it would get her attention, but suddenly, he heard her voice.


    "Yes, I think it''s working."


    Her mouth didn''t move, her voice instead seeming to echo through his mind. Her voice sounded terrified and uncertain.


    "What?" Titus repeated out loud. "How am I hearing... what?"


    A notification appeared in front of him.


    [Your Bonded has reached out to you. The mana cost for maintaining the connection falls to you, the Bondholder. Congratulations, and treat your Bonded well. May your Servant/partner/worshiper provide you with great service.]


    "What?" Titus roared, shaking his fist at the sky. "System, take this away. I didn''t offer a contract. I don''t want someone in my head," he yelled.


    He poked at a thing he could feel in some ephemeral sense that was different in his magic. It wasn''t just some change in the mana around like he''d thought when Alice had taken her class. It had followed her, and now that he knew what it was, he realized it was giving him a bit of information. It was pointing him to Alice and telling him a little about her emotions. She was scared, uncertain, and more than a little angry. Angry at him.


    "SYSTEM!" Titus roared at the sky.


    But even as his rage rose, he felt his energy levels dropping. His meager mana reserves were being used to keep the circle active. The communication was open, and he could hear an endless stream of not-quite words coming from Alice''s thoughts as the link tried to interpret the images or however she thought in something he could understand. The pain in his mind started to mount as the gibberish became more incomprehensible, and his energy drained faster.


    "No," Titus said, but his energy was draining, and his rage started to flicker, just like his vision. Suddenly, he knew no more.


    ***


    Alice watched as Titus collapsed. The red energy powering the communication ritual around him faded.


    "What the fuck?" she said as she jumped up and ran over to him. "How... What the..."


    She paced back and forth, suppressing the urge to be angry at him. If he had known this was happening, she would be kicking him in the ribs. But clearly, he was just as taken aback as she was.


    How the fuck is he my pact bond? I didn''t agree to a contract with him. He didn''t write the contract. The System made it.


    The system had made them almost equal partners. In fact, there really wasn''t any weird master-servant relationship in the contract at all. Just that Titus could offer a portion of his magic to her under certain circumstances, as long as she aligned with his goals. There was the point that she couldn''t betray him, but that was kind of a given already. And if he betrayed her, she just wouldn''t help him anymore. And he couldn''t even take away these powers otherwise.


    Alice still fumed at the thought. She had thought she was going to get a pact bond from the mighty System, something that was going to be powerful and make the rest of this trip easy, allowing her to quickly level up and become powerful enough to take on any monster before they got too strong. But no, no. How did Titus qualify as a being of ancient power? The System was really taking liberties with this.


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    A sinking feeling filled Alice''s gut, and she stumbled back from Titus. Was he really who he said he was? She knew he had been keeping things from her, but how much did she really know about him? Was he even human? Was he some sort of high-level monster designed to trick her? Was he a creation of the System, like the consortium, the bank, or the luminaries? Did he even exist before the world? Was he some part of the lore the System was building around itself so that the world had a backstory?


    Alice backed up against the ATV and almost stumbled. She sat down on the lip of it and stared at Titus''s unconscious body, wide-eyed and nearly hyperventilating. She sat there for half a minute, gathering her thoughts before she started to approach the situation differently.


    Well, the question of if he was real would almost be as impossible to answer as if they were living in a simulation. Alice had chosen not to believe that particular idea, since it wouldn''t be particularly helpful. As for Titus¡­ well, she''d have to see what he had to say. She wasn''t about to leave him here. She needed him too much. And as long as he helped her, did it really matter? Maybe. She didn''t know.


    Focusing on the little knot of something in her head that she associated with her class and her perception, she realized more of what it did. It wasn''t just a connection to something; it was a channel, a very narrow channel. She could only feel a few things. She could tell that Titus was in front of her, and she had a vague idea of how distant he was. She could feel that he was unconscious but not hurt, just drained of mana.


    And she realized what had happened. The mana powering the ritual had come from Titus, not her, and apparently, he didn''t have as much mana as she would have thought an ancient and powerful being would have. Looking at him, he still blazed brightly in the mana sight, and she wondered if that might have something to do with the ancient power, which confused her. Did he just not having enough accessible mana to sustain this sort of thing? Because there was a lot of mana around him, more than anything she had seen, and it always bugged her.


    Alice brought up the contract again and read through it. There was no way for him to order her around, and the only way he could take powers away from her was if she betrayed him. Well, it was a little bit weird, but it made her feel a bit better. But what powers would she lose? Would she lose the levels in her class? Would she lose whatever powers the pact bond was giving her? Would she lose all the skills of her class? She didn''t really understand.


    She focused, and suddenly, her [Mother of All] title activated. She suddenly knew it would be anything offered by the pact bond, but she wouldn''t lose her levels, stats, or even skills. She sighed, not really understanding what she got from the pact bond, so the loss would be minimal anyway. She could always replace the skill if she needed to, but it didn''t seem to be a central pillar of her class.


    The first gift from [Pact Bond] made itself known. She had a new title. [Agelessness]. It did exactly what it sounded like. Her Bondholder had shared a bit of its¡ªhis¡ªnature and power. Now, she would no longer age.


    That had some pretty clear implications about Titus, and she felt a lot of pieces click into place as she read it. Still, those questions would have to wait until he woke up.


    She focused, trying to get her title to activate again, and she really wished for a help menu. However, the intuitive understanding of system elements told her that there wasn''t really a way to change her class. There seemed to be a potential of maybe upgrading it eventually or getting a second class, but she couldn''t just abandon the one she had.


    She sighed and stood up. There was not much to it now. She would have to wake Titus up and ask him. It was interesting, though, that this was the first time he was unconscious instead of her. Maybe if everything turned out okay, she''d tease him about it.


    Alice walked over and crouched down, rolling Titus over to his back. He was still barefoot, having not had the chance to replace the boot he had lost, and luckily, his feet were calloused enough that riding the dirt bike barefoot hadn''t given him too much difficulty. His jeans were a little dirty, and his t-shirt was no longer nearly as clean as it had been once.


    This change of clothes had lasted him for a bit, but he would need to change soon, and he was going to need a shave. A couple of days of stubble had turned into almost a full, short beard.It fit his face well. His shaggy hair was covered in dirt now, and his eyes were closed.


    She reached out, not sure how to wake him up, and tapped his nose. Then she shook his shoulder slightly.


    His eyes shot open, and he froze, his hand halfway raised in a defensive position until he recognized her. They sat there, him on his back, her squatting next to him, staring at each other for several seconds.


    Alice''s brain kicked back on. She forgot the questions she was going to ask and instead asked in a whisper, "What are you?"

 Chapter 29:

    Chapter 29:


    Titus looked up into Alice''s face and struggled to read her emotions. There was predominantly confusion, but under that, there was a certain amount of anger and betrayal, a hurt look in her eyes as if he had wronged her. Titus supposed maybe he had. But beneath it all, in the set of her shoulders, in the way she hunched, he could tell that above everything, she was afraid.


    She had done an astounding job at hiding it for the last couple of days. But this seemed to have been a tipping point. A point where it was pretty much impossible to deny that their situation was not just insane but terrifying.


    It was one thing to be going through it together. If someone had your back, you had a reason to believe, a reason to put on a good face. But when you felt as if you''re now alone in the wide world... Well, Titus knew that feeling.


    Now, how could he answer her? Did he just tell her everything? That had never really been an option before. There were only a few people who knew the whole story, and they knew it before he had met them. Just not his version of the story. And when the secret he had been keeping for so long came out... Well, he wasn''t even sure if he knew how to explain it.


    Titus realized he was taking too long to answer, and the suspicion in her eyes was growing. "I''m just a man," he said.


    "You''re not some trickster god?" Alice asked.


    Titus shook his head. "No. I was a man before the System, and now I think I''m still just a man."


    "Were you really there before the System? How do you know those memories are real?" Alice asked in a tone that didn''t seem stable.


    Titus shook his head. "How do you know your memories of before the System are real?"


    "I was there. I lived them. I wasn''t lying."


    "So did I. But I don''t know that," Titus countered, though he realized the direction he was going was not where he wanted to be. This was just an argument, and it was an argument he couldn''t win. He couldn''t lose it either, but he couldn''t win and convince her. "Listen, I didn''t offer you a contract. I don''t even really know what that means. The System gave me less of a choice about this than you did."


    Alice sat back at that. "I suppose. I suppose it did. This is not... probably not your fault."


    She still doesn''t trust me, Titus thought as Alice continued. "But still, that doesn''t explain how you even qualified to be a pact bond. Technically, you are my Bondholder. You can choose to take away my power."


    Titus looked at her. "Well, only if you betray me, according to that contract," he said.


    "Still," Alice said, throwing her hands up, "This is an unhealthy power dynamic."


    "I didn''t choose this, remember? Besides, if you betray me, I think it''s only fair that I take away your power. If someone betrays me, I do everything I can to pay them back. Just don''t do it, and we''ll be fine."


    "Yeah, but what even counts as betrayal? If you want to go to McDonald''s and I want to go to Taco Bell, and I drive us to Taco Bell, is that kind of betrayal?" Alice grumbled.


    Titus could tell that wasn''t a serious complaint, but still, it was the essence of the problem.


    "I can also give you extra rewards. I think I just have to figure out how to do that. And you can have all of my magic. I''m not really using it anyway," he said, trying to lighten the mood, but it didn''t work.


    "That''s another thing. It''s more leverage you have over me," Alice said grumpily.


    "Look, I''m really sorry, but I have no control over this. I didn''t choose it. You did." Titus said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. "I didn''t even offer it. I don''t want you in my head as much as you probably don''t want me in yours."


    "I''m in your head?" Alice asked.


    "I assume you''re getting the same feelings, the sense of emotion and distance," Titus said, realizing that that was probably why he could tell her emotions so thoroughly. It was because of the bond rather than just his expert body language reading skills. I wish.


    "I didn''t know you could feel me, too," she said. This was the first thing that really pushed her out of her emotional track. It moved her off of the suspicion and frustration, and she squinted, glaring at him. But she could tell¡ªhe could tell¡ªshe wasn''t exactly angry. More intense. Focused.


    "Say that again."


    "Say what again?" Titus asked.


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    "Tell me that you didn''t have any control over it."


    "I didn''t have any control. I didn''t have any choice, I swear," Titus said slowly, sitting up and raising his hands but leaving his leg stretched out so he didn''t look aggressive. He just looked her in the eye.


    Alice nodded. "You''re not some sort of god?"


    "I am not. I''m just a man," Titus repeated, catching on to what she was doing. "I''m just a normal man."


    She pointed a finger at him. "That was a lie."


    Titus blinked. "Well, um, I guess I''m not normal. No one''s normal. Just average."


    "Titus," Alice said warningly.


    "Okay, okay. Yeah. There are some things you don''t know about me, but I promise I was just a man trying to live his life before the system. There were a few things that made me slightly not normal, but I was just a human. Just a man."


    Alice leaned back. "Well. That''s complicated. Lie to me, say the sky is green."


    "The sky is green," Titus said, and Alice nodded.


    "How old am I?" Titus asked.


    "Twenty-five," Alice said, and he couldn''t tell that was a lie because she believed it to be true. Perhaps if one got good enough at lying to themselves, they could also lie to each other. But Alice didn''t have that skill. Did Titus, though?


    "I''m older than I look," Titus said. Then, he tried out his new idea, "I came to America to take a break."


    Alice frowned. "That is both a lie and not a lie."


    Titus frowned. Hmm. Apparently, he wasn''t good enough at lying to himself yet. Or maybe that''s just not how it worked. He breathed out, still unwilling to move and make Alice more nervous, but he was feeling the need to pace to figure this out.


    Alice looked at him cautiously. "Titus, did you know about magic before the system?"


    "No," Titus responded instantly. "I have never seen any sort of witchcraft or sorcery be real." But then he paused. Wait. Magic. Maybe it was magic?


    "You told the truth," Alice stated, but then a confused note welled up from her. "But now you think you maybe were lying?"


    "I''m not sure," Titus said. "I was pretty sure anything weird I had ever seen was just a quirk of biology, and I''d never seen any real proof of magic, but... with what I know now, maybe it was magic. I know at one point, I believed it was magic. But as I grew up..."


    "It wasn''t as you grew up." Alice corrected with a smile. That wasn''t good. She was getting too skilled at picking apart his words.


    "Poor choice of words. As I got older, as we discovered more things, as I learned... I thought it wasn''t magic."


    "Titus, things aren''t lining up. Why was growing up a lie but not getting older? I''m going to need a more thorough explanation."


    "I''m sorry. I can try. But it''s difficult for me."


    "You better try hard, Titus," Alice said warningly. "I want to trust you, but you''re making it pretty difficult."


    "Well. I''m... older than I look."


    Alice didn''t seem to fully understand, and Titus had a strange block about saying more, something that he hadn''t said for so long. Not to someone who didn''t already know that it was difficult for him to get the words out. "I am much older than I look."


    Alice blinked. A slight inkling of understanding trickled through the bond. "Um," she said. "A lot older. Like..."


    Titus knew that she was flashing through their conversations in her head and picking up the little hints and clues that he was not careful enough to avoid dropping. Alice was smart, terrifyingly smart, one of the smartest people he''d met in the last hundred years. She would figure it out soon, and it''d be best if he didn''t let her come to the wrong conclusions. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again as a strange noise in the distance cut him off.


    "You hear that?" he said.


    Alice cocked her head. "Yes. That sounds..."


    She stood up and looked around and pointed off into the distance. Quickly growing closer was a plume of dust, and moments later, Titus could make out a motorcycle speeding along at ridiculous speeds, a rider with the helmet crouched low.


    As the bike approached, Titus retrieved his spear from [Inventory] and launched himself to his feet. His shovel was now his backup, and the pilus was good enough for close combat, even if it was really made for throwing. In his other hand, he held his ax and moved to stand in front of Alice.


    Alice backed up and off to the side slightly, and Titus followed.


    "Careful. Just because they''re on that side doesn''t mean they can''t go around me. The bike is fast," he warned her.


    Alice muttered a curse to herself. They''d gotten so used to fighting monsters that weren''t nearly as mobile that she''d evidently misjudged things. She''d positioned herself optimally for that, but didn''t have the experience to take in the mobility of the bike. He was treating her more like he would an archer or a hunter in his group, but they would have to change eventually. She was more capable than that in many ways.


    The motorcyclist skidded to a halt twenty feet away from them and dismounted. Titus could see that she was a woman, shorter in stature, even shorter than Alice, but not by much. She was slightly full-figured and wore biker leathers and a white helmet with a darkened visor.


    When the mysterious rider pulled off the helmet, Titus froze. Familiar eyes peeked out from behind a scarf, telling him exactly who this was. She reached up and unwound the scarf that was keeping the salt and dust from her face, but it didn''t take more than seeing her eyes to recognize her. When she draped the scarf and folded it over the bike helmet, she turned and gave him a brilliant smile.


    Like him, her ethnicity was very muddled. It was impossible to tell where exactly she came from, as whatever she was likely didn''t exist anymore. She had a face similar to that of many Greeks but with slightly darker skin than Titus. Maybe she was from somewhere in Africa or farther east than he was. Titus summoned a small, faint smile that belied the turbulence rolling in his heart. What was she doing here?


    "Titus!" she said with a smile and ran forward, arms outstretched. Titus held out his spear vertically so she wouldn''t impale herself on it as she launched herself and embraced him in a tight hug, her head driving into his sternum. But he didn''t take a step back.


    "Eliyanah. Long time no see."

 Chapter 30:

    Chapter 30:


    Alice was not sure how to process the turbulent set of emotions and thoughts swirling through her mind. There was too much in flux, too much confusion, too many things that had just been thrown at her out of the blue for her to really feel like she had her feet underneath her. And now, as this woman revealed herself and ran into Titus, Alice was even less sure.


    The stranger hugged him while he stood there awkwardly, his arms outstretched, a spear in one hand as she squeezed the life out of him.


    "I thought you were in America," the woman said in a strangely melodic accent that Alice had never heard.


    "I was," Titus replied in his deep rumble.


    Alice focused on the little portion of Titus bundled up in her mind, trying to pick out what was going on. He was just as complicated a mess of emotions as she was at the moment, but for entirely different reasons. He was wary, concerned, and joyful to see the stranger but surprisingly cold, as if he wished she wasn''t here. It was a strange and complicated mix of emotions that Alice could only slightly untangle.


    The woman pulled her head back and looked up at Titus, so far not even acknowledging Alice''s presence. "What are you doing in Namibia? This is not your jurisdiction."


    Alice frowned. Jurisdiction? That''s a strange word. How would Namibia be someone''s jurisdiction other than the Namibian government?


    The woman paused for a second, but Titus only said, "Oh that''s where we are?"


    She just said, "Well, you know, you''re always welcome," and hugged Titus tighter.


    This time, Titus wrapped his one arm that wasn''t holding a weapon around her. Alice frowned. She thought that his hand had been holding an ax at one point.


    He gave her a half-hearted squeeze before putting his hand on her shoulder and pushing her to arm''s length so he could look at her.


    "What have you been about? How is your vacation going?" The woman asked, words not slowing despite Titus''s cold look and lack of answers. "Did you hear about Sobek?"


    That finally got a reaction from Titus, a jolt of surprise. "I haven''t thought of that name in a while. What happened?"


    "He died."


    "Of what?" Titus asked, true surprise entering his voice. But that was nothing compared to the shock he was feeling inside. Alice didn''t know how he was still standing.


    The stranger continued. "Yeah, a couple of years ago. Traz and he tangled, he died."


    "Huh. Good for Traz," Titus said with a smile, but there was a hint of sadness behind it. Alice wasn''t sure how to understand the relief and grief that flooded out of the bond and hit her mind. These were two emotions she had never felt at the same time.


    "Yeah, Traz''s been torn up about that for a while. You should talk to him." The woman said with a sad smile.


    "I am a little busy."


    "Well, you don''t have to do it now, but sometime soon. Otherwise, we might lose him for a century to Antarctica again."


    Titus rolled his eyes. "He wouldn''t run there again. Not after the last time I had to drag him out."


    Alice was starting to feel increasingly left out. As Titus seemed to have come to terms with the situation, she scuffed her toe in the dirt. She looked away from the surprisingly intimate conversation. Clearly, these two were old friends. Very old.


    Did she know?


    She clearly knew more than Alice did. Did she want the stranger to know that she knew something was going on weird with Titus? Titus seemed to have been keeping whatever it was a secret from her for a reason. How would this woman react if Alice knew?


    Finally, the woman turned to her as if surprised, looking Alice up and down. She spoke to Titus. "Titus, you have a friend?"


    She said the word ''friend'' as if it had more meaning to it, but Alice couldn''t figure it out. She gave a polite smile and wave but kept her distance.


    "Alice," Titus said, "this is Eliyanah. She is an old friend."


    Eliyanah smacked Titus with the back of her hand. "Just call me Elaine. Everyone does. I don''t tell people to call you Titulus."


    Titus grumbled. "That''s because it has a very different meaning than it used to. Besides, Eliyanah is a much more beautiful name."


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    Elaine blushed, but her focus returned to Alice, and she took hold of the conversation. "Alice," she said, stepping forward, but Alice took a half-step back. Elaine read the mood and paused. "Alice, it''s so nice to meet you. I always worry that Titus would be lonely. If left to his own devices, he won''t talk to anyone for very long stretches of time. And that''s not good for him. He''s prone to be grumpy when he''s alone. Titus hasn''t been grumpy, now, has he?"


    Alice shook her head, almost steamrolled by the woman''s words, but Elaine still gave her a chance to respond. "No, he''s rather funny, actually."


    Elaine blinked. "Titus, when did you grow a sense of humor? You should have told me."


    "I''ve always had a sense of humor, Elaine," Titus said. "Just because I don''t mix it with business doesn''t mean it''s not there."


    "So, Alice isn''t business?" Elaine said with a mischievous smile. Alice didn''t really like where this was heading. "So...." she drew the word out. "How do you know Titus?"


    "He pulled me out of a helicopter crash two days ago," Alice said. "Or was it three?"


    "Ooh," Elaine said. "Tell me more. Were you both in there? Was he flying? It wouldn''t be the first helicopter crash of his I''ve heard of."


    Alice looked over to Titus. "Those weren''t helicopters. Those were gliders. Besides, they didn''t work," Titus said, waving off her complaints. "It wasn''t my fault."


    "So spill," Elaine insisted as she ignored Titus''s complaints.


    "No, I was flying it, and he was on the ground. It was right when the System came." Alice


    "The System?" Elaine asked. "Yes, we''ll talk about that, but later," she waved off Titus''s objection before he could even voice it. "So, were you hurt, and he nursed you back to health?"


    "He''s¡ª---," Alice said but stopped. "He''s good with healing,"


    Only now did Alice think to scan her. [Elaine - Human - Level 9].


    Well, she wasn''t the second person to rank up, then. Alice frowned. What had Elaine been up to?


    Whatever it was, the woman had survived for this long. That was impressive. Alice was not sure she could survive it alone, but she was also put into a rather dangerous situation.


    Elaine continued to question her on her interactions with Titus, and Alice did her best to deflect and not reveal anything she shouldn''t. Alice couldn''t really sense anything like jealousy coming from the woman. Still, there was a certain amount of suspicion, as if she were wary rather than hostile.


    "Wait, so you found Titus because of the GPS on his phone?" Elaine cut in.


    Alice nodded. "Yes, when I was looking for other people. I located Titus and 18 others still moving. At least, in a was that didn''t seem automated"


    "Titus, have you been looking for them?" Elaine turned to him.


    He shook his head. "No. We have our own mission."


    "Why not? If we get back together, imagine we could have all of us in one space. It hasn''t happened for..." She looked at Alice "...a very long time. Besides, if we all teamed up together, who knows what we could accomplish? The world is ours. Well, are there more like you, Alice?"


    Alice was taken aback slightly. She knew that Alice wasn''t one of them, then? One of those 19 others.


    Alice shook her head. "I don''t know what you''re talking about. What do you mean like me?"


    Elaine seemed taken aback for a second, confused. "Is there anyone else besides the 19 other people you found?"


    "No," Alice said, shaking her head.


    "So just 20," Elaine said. "Is she a replacement? Do we get replacements?" she asked Titus.


    Titus shrugged. "I have no idea, but I don''t think so. I don''t think we get replacements. I''m pretty sure when there were more of us, we never got replacements then. It wouldn''t make sense why we would get some now."


    Alice felt that these two were not very good at maintaining a secret, but clearly, they had managed to do it for some while. Maybe it''s just that Titus wasn''t even trying.


    "Hmm," Elaine mused. "Well, could you look for them again?"


    Alice nodded. "I think so. It depends on how long the satellites stay operational. Already, a lot of the infrastructure is breaking."


    Elaine nodded. "Yes, power is already out all over the country, at least everywhere I''ve visited.But that could just be the area."


    "Have you not noticed the shuffling?" Alice asked.


    "Shuffling?" Eliane said, confused, turning to Titus.


    "The world seems to be shuffled. We drove here from Montserrat," he explained.


    "Eh?" Elaine blinked. "But that''s not possible. If you go far enough that way, you''ll find the ocean."


    Titus pointed the way they had come as if that answered anything.


    "We''re maybe an hour''s drive away. A couple of hours. Depends on how fast you''re going." Alice jumped in.


    "Hmm." Elaine rubbed her cheek. "Well, could you find them again? The other 17? If so, could you give me a way to find them? Even if Titus isn''t interested, I am."


    "Be careful, Elaine. They might not all be as happy to see you as I am," he warned.


    "I know," she said, waving her hand. "But come on, it''s me."


    "I know," Titus echoed her own words. "That''s why I''m worried."


    Alice couldn''t wait to get Titus alone and grill him on every single detail.


    The conversation was slightly awkward, as Elaine pestered Alice with all sorts of questions, and Alice barely had a chance to ask anything in return. Whenever she did ask something that touched on the secrets, despite Elaine''s carelessness about talking to Titus in front of her, she was an expert at deflecting. Anytime Alice tried to get any information about who she was beyond someone living in Namibia, it was deflected, and Alice found herself pulled into a different part of the conversation.


    Alice talked more than she had talked in the last week, just in the hour or so it took Titus to set up a camp stove that he had scavenged and start cooking dinner.It was slightly awkward as Elaine joined them for the fire and for food. Still, the woman''s effortless charisma drew Alice and Titus into a casual conversation. However, Titus was far more wary of everything he said than he had ever been around Alice. He didn''t seem like it, but Alice could feel it through the bond. As much as he liked and cared for Elaine, he didn''t trust her. Not one bit.


    "So, Elaine, how do you know Titus?" Alice eventually forced the question into the flow of the conversation.

 Chapter 31:

    Chapter 31:


    Before Elaine could answer, Titus said something in a language Alice didn''t recognize. She had heard him curse in it a few times, and it had a similar cadence. Alice couldn''t tell if she was surprised or not when Elaine responded in kind. Clearly, it was a question, as Titus said a couple more words, and then they returned to English. Interesting. It was clearly a language they were both very comfortable in. Alice wasn''t sure if Elaine had greeted Titus in English because she had seen he had someone with him or if it was just a force of habit. Maybe Titus was really breaking the norms by speaking in this language.


    Alice stared at the two of them, feeling rather left out. Titus gave her an apologetic shrug over Elaine''s shoulder. As Elaine turned to face Alice, he mouthed, "I''ll tell you later."


    Alice gave him a glare. He had better because it sure seemed like he was trying to hide something from her.


    Elaine looked a little confused as if she wasn''t entirely sure what to say. But the look soon passed, and the confident smile returned.


    "We are very old friends," Elaine said. "We met a long time ago."


    It was very interesting to see that they both looked as if they were around 25, slightly older than Alice, but neither of them acted like that at all.


    "It was during a period of conflict, and we were on opposite sides, as it were," Titus elaborated.


    "I don''t know if I would say ¡®opposite sides¡¯. More like rivals," Eline argued. Titus looked at her with a bit of a glare.


    "What? I thought you forgave me for that," Elaine said.


    "I have. We have both done things we regret," Titus said. "And we''ve had plenty of time to move past them."


    "Not enough time," Elaine muttered, and Alice was still thoroughly confused.


    The conversation moved on, and they began talking about the System. Titus and Alice shared everything they knew, talking about skill options, when they got the skills, what happened with the rank up to E grade, and what Elaine needed to do when she hit level ten to get to level eleven.


    Titus didn''t have the same sort of detailed information as it had happened to him naturally. Still, Alice told Elaine about the mana and the patterns in the flow inside her. It was complicated, and it took lots of drawing on the ground to get the point across, but eventually, Elaine seemed to understand.


    "You know, Titus, I haven''t believed in magic for a very long time," Elaine said, shooting a glance at Alice as if she was concerned she was saying too much. "But now that we have it, I feel like I should have known it the whole time."


    Titus nodded. "I honestly am not sure."


    "You both have lots and lots of magic," Alice said. "Elaine has almost as much as Titus does. I think Titus just has a lot of his bound up in his class. It''s just not in his accessible mana pool or something."


    Elaine nodded. "Yes, I have [Mana Sight]. Titus does glow like the sun, doesn''t he?"


    "What do I look like?" Alice asked.


    Elaine looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You look like a puzzle. You glow nowhere near as strong as Titus does. Still, the lines you have drawn throughout your body look like a three-dimensional puzzle, interlocking. And those lines are as bright as Titus''s, if not brighter."


    "Interesting," Alice said, and she drew an approximation of a projected version of her lines into her mana patterns into a 2D shape. "Do the lines look something like this?"


    Elaine frowned. "Maybe. Maybe from a different angle."


    Alice realized she had drawn the top-down view instead of the view Elaine would see. They went back and forth, talking about the patterns, trying to figure out what they were for. Alice described what her feelings were as she moved mana through each of them and started talking about the little ball of energy she was collecting in the center. Even now, as she was drawing in mana, she was trying to limit the amount that flooded through her and gather as much as she possibly could in that little ball.


    Titus was surprised to hear about it. Had she not explained it to him? She thought she had. Maybe he just didn''t understand.


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    "When I meditate," he said, "There''s no lines or flow. I sit in a small glade under a tree, and the mana is like the wind in my hair. It is everywhere but is moving. There''s no central portion I gathered when I upgraded to E grade."


    "Hmm," Alice said as she swiped her foot through her drawing. "It appears there''s more than one way of doing this. And Elaine, I would be concerned if you tried to copy mine too much. It might be something you need to figure out for yourself."


    Titus laughed. "Oh, Elaine''s never had a problem carving her own way."


    Elaine blushed slightly but nodded. "I thank you for your insights, Alice. This is extremely helpful."


    As they talked, the sun started to set, and Alice realized that Elaine probably wasn''t going anywhere. She looked at the two tents and then at Titus. Titus shook his head vigorously, where Elaine couldn''t see, and Alice sighed.


    "Elaine, do you want to share a tent with me?" she asked.


    Elaine smiled. "I would appreciate that very much. I have blankets on my bike."


    Titus mouthed, "Thank you," over Elaine''s shoulder, and Alice could feel his exasperation through the bond. Clearly, he had hoped that she''d move on, but Elaine clearly wasn''t going anywhere.


    Alice laughed slightly. Their relationship seemed complicated and something that Titus would have to explain thoroughly. Why Titus hadn''t just continued explaining the whole situation to Alice, she wasn''t sure. Still, she was pretty sure that it was best if Elaine, and maybe also the others, didn''t know that Alice knew whatever it was that Titus was going to tell her. It had better be the whole story... but maybe that would take too long.


    Minutes later, they were all in the tent, and the world was dark around them. Alice lay there, listening to Elaine breathe next to her and trying to determine if the other woman was asleep.


    "Are you and Titus a thing?" Elaine eventually broke the silence in a very soft voice. "I assume not since there were two tents, but the way you two communicate with just a look..."


    Alice spluttered and blushed, thankful that it was dark and Elaine couldn''t see her face. "No, we just met. We''re... we have a goal that we''re working towards together." She didn''t elaborate.


    "You should be a thing," Elaine said softly. "Titus might need you. And you can''t do better than him."


    Alice was half insulted and half surprised. "I thought you two had dated at some point."


    Elaine let out a tinkling laugh. "Oh, not really. There was a time when I thought maybe, but no. We are more like siblings. Like he''s my little brother, but he also sees me as a little sister. It''s strange. I don''t know how to describe it. What do you think of him?"


    Alice wasn''t sure how to respond. She had lots and lots of thoughts about Titus, but what could she share? She thought for a moment before finally deciding to be honest but vague. "He''s kind of a dick, but at the same time, he''s reliable and funny. But he''s not "kind". He doesn''t have that same... sense of... I''m not exactly sure how to describe it. It''s as if there are things he should care about, but he just doesn''t. But not in a way that doesn''t give him real emotions or the inability to care for someone."


    Elaine hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose he is like that. It''s exactly what it is. You can say he is someone who doesn''t necessarily share the modern sensibilities. He''s a man without mercy. But at the same time, he cares deeply."


    Alice turned those words over in her mind. They meant  more to her than they likely should have, or at least than Elaine had intended. The idea of him not having modern sensibilities clicked with everything he had said and done. He was old. He said he was very old. He had no compunction against killing or threatening her. Many of the stories she had told, he didn''t seem to relate to in the way he should. He dealt with hardship and wilderness as if he were born into it. And maybe he had been. Alice didn''t know.


    "How old is Titus, exactly?" Alice asked. "He looks 25, but he acts a lot older."


    She didn''t expect a direct answer, but Elaine didn''t surprise her with one either. "You could think of him like an old soul. A very old soul. I don''t know exactly how old he is, but he''s changed a decent amount since I met him. He''s softened a lot. He''s still rough around the edges, but he''s not the sharp pieces of glass he used to be."


    Alice could tell Elaine knew a lot more than she was saying, but let it go.


    "I am more worried about what Titus thinks of me," Alice said in a rare moment of honesty. The self-reflection welled up within her, and she probably shouldn''t have felt comfortable sharing this with Elaine. Still, the woman had eased her way into her good graces. It wasn''t that big of a secret, but Alice wished she could take the words back.


    Elaine was quiet for a second as she pondered, and Alice dreaded the response.


    "That''s probably not his fault," Elaine said, and Alice winced. "It''s not that he doesn''t think you''re capable or anything, but he probably has trouble seeing you as anything more than a kid," Elaine said the last bit in a rush.


    Alice grimaced. It was a problem she''d faced all her life. Alice was only 19, and four years into her PhD, she was still considered a kid by almost everyone around her. Only the freshmen were usually younger than her, and she rarely interacted with them. It was something she''d get over. But she had hoped that as she became an adult, she''d finally have time around peers her own age. But it seemed like it was one more thing that had been denied to her.


    "We should probably go to sleep," Elaine whispered. "I''m sure we''re keeping Titus up with our talking."


    Alice blushed, realizing they hadn''t been whispering for a long time, and buried her face in her pillow. "Yes, let''s." she said, pushing away the mortification. She could feel the echoing amusement coming from Titus. Yeah, he had definitely heard most of that.


    "Don''t worry. Titus is long past where he cares what anyone thinks of him," Elaine said before they both fell silent.


    Assuming Alice could get Titus alone and away from Elaine, he would have a lot to answer for tomorrow.

 Chapter 32:

    Chapter 32:


    When Alice woke up, she was alone in the tent, with light streaming through the thin fabric. She stretched and blinked, feeling surprisingly comfortable despite having slept on hard, flat ground. She heard the soft voices of Elaine and Titus talking and the crackle of food wrappers as they prepared breakfast.


    Alice put her shoes on inside the tent to keep her feet clean, then unzipped the entrance enough to climb out. She found Titus sitting off to the side while Elaine operated the stove. The smell of fresh eggs and bacon wafted through the air. Titus watched hungrily, and the conversation paused as Alice appeared.


    "Good morning, Alice," Elaine said.


    Titus grunted a greeting, and Alice gave him a half-wave as she climbed out of the tent. She stood up and walked over to them.


    "It smells good," she said.


    Elaine shook her head. "No, this is terrible. I don''t have any of my normal spices. But I wouldn''t subject you to Titus''s cooking."


    Titus frowned as Alice raised an eyebrow. His cooking hadn''t been bad¡ªnothing special, but acceptable. "She never lets me cook when we''re in the same spot," Titus grumbled. "She thinks I can''t feed myself."


    "And you have yet to prove me wrong," Elaine said.


    "You''ve never given me a chance," Titus shot back.


    They continued quipping as Elaine tended to breakfast, surprisingly managing to cook three different things in the pan at the same time with very little effort, each item attended to perfectly with the right instruments at the perfect time. Alice got the feeling she was watching a true master at her craft. But she had some thoughts she had slept on last night.


    "Um," Alice said, catching everyone''s attention. "What''s the plan?"


    She was really asking Elaine what her plan was, but felt that was a little awkward to say.


    "Well, you mentioned that you found 17 other people. Can you still track them?" Elaine asked.


    Alice nodded. "Do you know if there are still 17?" the woman asked, trying to keep her tone nonchalant though there was a hint of concern.


    Alice was a bit surprised but nodded. "I can still check, but I haven''t been monitoring it. If you want, I can set it up on your phone so that you can find them."


    Elaine brightened at the idea and pulled out a smartphone, handing it to Alice. "Please. The password is 1128."


    Titus suppressed a chuckle, and Elaine shot him a glare. Alice didn''t ask what that was about and just unlocked the phone. It wasn''t difficult to set up, though it would have been faster with a keyboard. It took her about 20 minutes to lock on to the coordinates of each of the ones she isolated. She saved them on her phone and just transferred them over, setting up some basic software to track one at a time.


    While she was focused on that, Elaine served food, setting a plate on Alice''s knee when she didn''t want to break her concentration to take it. Then she went over to Titus, and they began murmuring to each other. Alice couldn''t hear them and felt it might have been in a different language. However, she was so focused on her task that it didn''t bother her.


    When she finally finished, she put down the phone and dug into the food. The simple corn tortillas, eggs, and bacon, though not as seasoned as Elaine would have liked, made excellent little burritos. Alice wolfed them down in record time. After she finished the first one and was working on the second, she called Elaine over.


    "Here," she said, talking through a mouthful of breakfast food. She showed Elaine how to select one target at a time.


    "Oh. Thank you," Elaine said, taking her phone and then surprising Alice with an extremely tight embrace. Alice wheezed slightly at the crushing grip, but a second later, Elaine let go.


    "Titus," Elaine said, "We should probably head out if we''re going to find these people."


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    Alice felt a brief flash of panic until she read the exasperation in Titus''s emotions that he didn''t let show on his face. Apparently, Elaine had been trying to get him to come help her. That soured Alice on the woman significantly.


    "It''ll take three of us quite a while to reach the next one," Elaine said, looking at Alice as if she was invited too.


    Titus shook his head. "I told you, Elaine, we have our own mission."


    "But what could be more important than this?" Elaine held up her phone.


    "We have a chance, a slim chance, to perhaps remove or lessen the impact of the System. No matter what, we need to at least try."


    "How good of a chance is it, really? Is it something you''re willing to let one of them die over?"


    Alice winced at the low blow and guilt trip. Titus felt that pang of guilt heavily but didn''t let it show one bit on his face.


    "What could be more important than saving the world?" he asked.


    "I don''t know... family!" Elaine exclaimed as she threw up her hands dramatically.


    Alice was confused. Were they family? Elaine said Titus thought of her as a little sister, and she thought of him as a little brother. But was that literal family?


    "They''re all competent," Titus said. "I do not believe any of them, even the ones I don''t particularly like, are in any real danger. They have survived this far. Besides, half of them will try to kill me if I show up with you."


    "I''m sure they''re over that," Elaine waved dismissively.


    Titus shook his head. "I wouldn''t be so sure. Not everyone is as forgiving as you, and I certainly haven''t forgiven all of them."


    "But you don''t wish them actual harm."


    Alice felt a clear bit of uncertainty from Titus. Maybe he did, but he wasn''t sure himself.


    Titus shrugged. "I''m going with Alice. Besides, I don''t think she''d come with us even if I went with you. And right now, she needs me more than you do."


    Elaine threw up her hands in exasperation. "Titus¡­ Sometimes¡ª" she said with a few false starts, "I just¡ª I can''t believe you.¡±


    She took a deep breath before putting on a rather convincing smile and turning to Alice.


    ¡°Well, it was lovely meeting you, Alice," Elaine said. "I can''t thank you enough for everything you''ve done."


    And just as quickly as Elaine had come into their camp like a whirlwind, she left, her bike roaring off into the distance.


    Alice and Titus sat there, not talking as they watched the plume of dust fade into the distance. Now that Elaine was gone, Alice had questions. Lots and lots of questions. But she wasn''t exactly sure how to broach the topic. Titus didn''t seem to be in a very talkative mood, but she gritted her teeth. She hated awkward conversations, but they needed to talk.


    "Titus," Alice said.


    Titus looked up at her and shook his head. "Let''s pack up. We can talk on the road."


    "Titus," Alice repeated in a warning tone. They would not be able to talk in the ATV, and he well knew that.


    He sighed and got up. "Well, I''m going to start packing up."


    "What were you talking about while I was setting up the tracking for her?" Alice asked. It was a smaller thing, but maybe it would be a good way to ease into the conversation about how the hell Titus was some sort of ancient, powerful, magical being.


    Judging by the irritation that flared through the bond, Titus didn''t appreciate the topic. "Sorry," he said, evidently recognizing the look on her face. "That wasn''t directed at you."


    "You and Elaine really are like siblings."


    Titus winced. "I wouldn''t call us siblings."


    Alice also got the impression that Elaine had downplayed some of their previous relations quite significantly. She ignored that for now. "Okay, but what were you guys talking about?"


    Titus went quiet for a second, and she could feel the conflict within him. Eventually, he heaved a big sigh. "She was trying to get me to tell you everything."


    "Like what?"


    "She wanted to let you in on the secret. I was going to anyway, but I don''t want her to know that you know. Not yet, at least. Anyways, right now, she thinks you might be one of us. I know you''re not because I know why you''re left behind, but she doesn''t."


    "One of you?" Alice asked, knowing what Titus meant but not understanding the defining feature of this group of enigmatic 20¡ªor now 19¡ªthat was left behind from the tutorial.


    "Yes. She wanted to let you in, and she doesn''t really think we should end the System. This is our opportunity to not have to hide the same way we have been for so long."


    Alice frowned. "So, as part of my [Pact Bond] skill, I get pieces of your power. I thought it meant just being able to draw through mana, but when I got the class, I got a perk.


    "I also got a perk related to my class," Titus remarked.


    "[Relentless], right," Alice confirmed. "Yeah, well, I think the perk might not have been just being able to draw through your power or whatever. I think I actually get some of your traits."


    Titus frowned.


    "Yeah," Alice said. "Um, does my [Agelessness] perk have to do with anything?"


    Titus pursed his lips. "Well. This might be easier to explain than I thought."

 Chapter 33:

    Chapter 33:


    Titus was racked with unreasonable nerves. He slowly took down the second tent and started packing things up. As Alice worked next to him, he tried to search for the words to say.


    It was weird. She pretty much knew everything already, and there were just a few pieces he needed to put into place. But it was a secret he had kept for so long that it felt like blasphemy to say it out loud to someone who wasn''t already aware. Besides, the emotions that Alice was sending to him were so tangled he wasn¡¯t able to read them very well.


    He could tell that his ally was getting impatient. So, he decided to start at the beginning. "Yes, it has a lot to do with your [Agelessness] perk. I imagine the System saw that trait in me¡ªnot because it''s a System trait, but just how I am¡ªand gave it to you as a portion of my power. I am very old." he said. Alice just watched him impassively. "Elaine is as well. When we met, we were already ancient."


    "How old is ''very old''? Do you remember the Middle Ages?" Alice asked.


    Titus nodded. "I remember the founding of Rome, too. It was me and several of my friends. We decided we wanted to play gods for a bit, and we spent several centuries taking everything we had learned from countless lifetimes of experience and trying to run a civilization completely hands-off. Well, not completely hands-off, but with no direct leadership roles."


    Alice gaped at him but didn''t have anything to say.


    "There were a few more of us at one point, but being ageless doesn''t mean I''m unkillable. I just won''t die of disease or old age. I recover from wounds unnaturally quickly," Titus said and gestured at several of the scars on his side that she had seen. "I think the only way for us to die is to be directly killed, usually in combat. Though some died from assassinations. Overall, not many of us that I knew died. We used to fight each other more, but the ones left now¡ªwe all come from different parts of Europe and Asia, some from Africa. We formed bonds, more like sibling bonds than allies or friends. We fight each other, but at this point, we usually avoid killing. It''s more about political influence or territory. It has been the status quo for the last several thousand years."


    "Several thousand years?" Alice echoed.


    "Yes. When I met Elaine, she was acting as royalty to the Hittites. My people sacked her city and burned it to the ground. We fought. I captured her; she escaped and moved on to a different city. Our war lasted for a decade as I chased her across the countryside. She was a bit of a prize."


    "Hittites? Are you talking about the late Bronze Age collapse?" Alice asked.


    Titus snorted. "Yeah, though as confusing as it was, historians are getting a little bit closer to figuring out what actually happened."


    "That was, what, 3,500 years ago?"


    "A little bit less."


    "Was Elaine the first you''d met of your kind?"


    He shook his head. "No, she is one of the more recent ones, actually. The first one I met was when I was young. Younger, at least. I wasn''t too far past my natural lifespan. But when my tribe rode down from the steppe into Eastern Europe¡ªwhen what we now call the Proto-Indo-European language was being spoken."


    "You were the steppe nomads?" Alice asked.


    Titus shook his head. "No, from before that. But this was when you could first consider history to really be a thing."


    Alice frowned. "That was, what, 12,000 years ago?"


    Titus nodded. "I was probably... well, I really have no idea how old I was then. I lived many hundreds of lives. I was a shaman of sorts, the old man in the hut. I pretended to be much older than I looked."


    "When did you stop aging?" Alice asked.


    "I don''t know. It''s hard to say exactly. Lands have changed drastically since I was born. Africa was a jungle then, and we didn''t have maps the same way. Some of the stuff I know, I only know because of archaeology. But I remember when I saw my first house or first building, I was already old."


    "So Elaine is a recent ''acquaintance''?" Alice asked, putting her hands in the air in quotation marks around ''acquaintance.''


    "Um, yes and no," Titus said. "I don''t actually know many people from before because, well, there wasn''t that much contact. Horses weren¡¯t always bred strong enough to carry people. When the world became more interconnected, we really started to find each other. After the Late Bronze Age Collapse, like you said, we met up and held talks.


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    "There were many people, many different sides. We fought wars for a while¡ªsmall wars, but still wars. Eventually, we came to some sort of agreement where we would leave each other alone for the most part. There are only so many of us who actually understand each other. Who else can relate? So now we have just been living, doing our thing. Each of us has our own interests and pursuits, and generally, people stay in touch."


    "It seems odd for so many powerful people with ancient cultures to get along so well," Alice said skeptically.


    Titus snorted softly. "First, calling it ''getting along'' is a bit of a stretch. Second, we fought a lot of wars before that. And as I said, we didn''t really believe in mercy. So those we couldn''t live with were killed."


    Alice didn''t have a response to that, and they rolled up the tent in silence.


    "So this is what you meant by you sort of knew about magic last time?" Alice asked.


    "We assumed we were cursed by gods or blessed, depending on where we came from and our experiences with life. But more recently, in the last several hundred years, we figured maybe we were just different sorts of people. Darwin pioneered that. Interesting man," Titus said. "I can''t wait to show him how wrong he was and that it was magic, not evolution."


    "Wait, wait, wait. One of you is Darwin?" Alice asked, stunned.


    "Well, that''s not his actual name. But he did want to present a theory that he had been working on for the last several hundred years. So, he came up with an alias. The name kind of stuck, though."


    Alice shook her head. "I don''t know what to say about that. How many more famous people are you?"


    Titus shrugged. "Every one of us has been famous many times. It''s unavoidable if you want to get things done."


    There was silence for a bit more. Eventually, Titus spoke again about something that had been weighing on his mind. "I guess, in some ways, Elaine is right. If you have the [Agelessness] perk, you are one of us now."


    Alice didn''t respond right away. Eventually, she asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Do you have a name for yourselves? Do you call yourselves, like what, The Immortals or anything?"


    "No," Titus said. "I don''t think we ever got around to naming ourselves. We don''t really agree on much."


    Alice frowned. "When was the last time you met someone new? Who was the youngest?"


    "I think Elaine might be the youngest. She certainly seems to care the most about the rest of us. By the time we met her, everyone else had long forgotten about family."


    "How old is Elaine?" Alice asked.


    Titus shrugged. "Not entirely sure, but probably only like 7,000 years or so."


    "And no other ones like you have been born since then?"


    Titus shrugged. "Maybe. We met some after Elaine, but they were older. There could be ones in hiding that we never met. We don''t exactly advertise our presence, but we can usually pick out anyone who stands out for a while. So, well, I think the only confirmation has been the System."


    "How so?"


    "Remember the error I got when the System appeared? The negative age one?"


    Alice nodded. "Yeah."


    "Well, when I got my first thing, it had to do with a buffer overflow error. There was a lower level warning involved in my message."


    Alice''s eyes widened in understanding as she cursed. "Damn it! I must not have had the log level set low enough to pick that up in the overview. You''re so old that you ran out of digits?"


    "Yeah, I''m not exactly sure what numbering you were using, but it didn''t seem like it was a years thing," Titus said.


    "It was nanoseconds, I think."


    "You were measuring our age in nanoseconds?" Titus asked incredulously.


    Alice shrugged. ¡°I just used a standard time library.¡±


    "Well, it seemed like there was something that overflowed. The float or double or whatever you were using became negative."


    "So maybe there''s one younger than you, and they''re in the tutorial," Alice suggested.


    "It''s possible," Titus said. "But of the ones I know, it seems like everyone''s here."


    "And now I''m one of you?" Alice asked.


    "In a way. Once we get this all taken care of, I''ll introduce you, assuming you want that. You can meet my family." Titus realized that might not have come across the way he wanted it to, but he let it lie. "They could be yours too, but you have a long, long way to go before you''re ever not seen as a kid. In some ways, even Elaine is still treated with kid gloves."


    "Yeah." Alice clearly had something else she wanted to say, so Titus waited for her to spit it out. "What was between you and her? Was there something more than just siblings?"


    "There was," Titus said. "You''ve got to remember that before civilization, morals were different. Back then, people who were eleven would be considered adults in some ways. You aged faster and grew up faster. When Elaine was several thousand years old when I met her, she did not seem like a child in the same way that you do."


    Titus didn''t mention that almost anyone was a child to him, except for people he considered as siblings. So, he went with whatever the convention of the culture he was in at the time was. It wasn''t something they needed to get into.


    Alice fell silent, and Titus helped her up onto the ATV behind him. They took off, stopping every once in a while to deal with a monster and try to grind some levels. Even then, Alice didn''t talk. She just sat there, and whenever he could see her face, it held a thoughtful expression as she considered what he had said.

 Chapter 34:

    Chapter 34:


    The salt flat flew past, and the sound of the ATV rumbling along filled the silence. Alice, though, didn''t register any of that. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts.


    She had a love-hate relationship with the bundle of emotions stuck in her head that represented Titus. She absolutely hated the idea of him being able to read her mind. She knew that wasn''t quite what it was because she couldn''t read his mind through his emotions, but it felt invasive and made her skin crawl. At the same time, she loved being able to tell what he was feeling.


    Alice hated that everything Titus had just told her was the truth. At least, the truth as he believed it. He hadn''t even really held much back. There were a few things he probably could have said more about, but it wasn''t out of deceit that he kept them back. Rather, they were complicated to explain, and he seemed hesitant to overwhelm her.


    Alice understood that she had no idea what she was feeling right now and doubted that Titus could read her very well in the complex storm of emotions. It felt like she was in a sea of turbulence, and she just didn''t know how to process anything. She had kept her cool through most of the conversation, the analytical part of her brain taking over and asking logical questions. But it hadn''t gotten some of the more important answers she wanted. Like, was she insane? Was she dreaming? Was Titus lying to her?


    He wasn''t actually lying to me, but I really wanted to believe it.


    Alice felt unstable as if the ground had been ripped from her feet. It was one thing to find out the System she had made to run a video game had taken over the world, find out that magic that existed in the universe, and learn how to harness it. That was one thing. It was crazy, stupid, and overwhelming, but she could push past it. She understood it to some extent.


    But for the history of the world to be recast in a new light over the course of a twenty-minute conversation? Well, that was more shocking in many ways. To know that the magic the System had found hadn''t just been some force off in the universe that humans didn''t understand or interact with, but something that had affected everything, and probably since history started. There were some incidents of magic, even if the magic was just keeping some people alive for a very long time.


    But it explained so much¡ªthe phenomenon of Titus glowing in her [Mana Sight] and Elaine as well. It explained why those people weren''t sent to a tutorial and explained how there was magic in the world in the first place. It also simplified her understanding a little bit about what she was going to need to do when they got to their destination.


    The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that she would not be able to just turn off the System. If it had worked its way into magic, well, it may have changed some things at a fundamental level that would continue even after being deactivatedS. If she just turned it off, who knew what would happen?


    No, if she wanted to do something, she needed to reverse it. She couldn''t compute quintillion flops per second across every server in the world and the magical reality. No, that wasn''t something she could do.


    I''ll have to find some way to undo it with the help of another AI, which means unleashing something else on the world that I can only guide. Kind of like pointing a blown-up balloon in one direction and hoping that when you release it, it goes the way you want.


    But it did get rid of her last-ditch backup plan to destroy every supercomputer on Earth and hope that that was enough. That clearly wasn''t going to be enough. She never really thought it was, but now that idea just seemed stupid.


    Alice focused on her plan, designing the parameters in her head of what she needed to do to make the anti-system AI. But it was something that could only occupy a part of her attention. Not that it wasn''t hard or complicated, or that it was easy to do, but her mind kept coming back to the little ball of emotions that told her Titus was sitting right in front of her, feeling anxious but surprisingly relieved, as if a weight was off his chest.


    Something subtle that had been bugging him for longer than she could imagine¡ªmaybe a secret held among a small few¡ªwas finally out. He clearly still saw her as an outsider, which made sense. They''d only known each other for a few days, but Alice wasn''t sure what to make of Elaine''s offer to be one of them in her own right. Did she want to join some secret cabal of the most powerful people in history? It sounded awesome but also incredibly overwhelming.


    Titus had mentioned family. She was pretty sure he had felt the flash of complicated emotions when he had mentioned them. Still, Alice couldn''t untangle it herself, so he likely couldn''t either. If anything, he might have misunderstood it as her assuming he was offering something else besides a bunch of siblings. Alice had complicated feelings about family. She had had foster families, but that wasn''t the same. She never really had anyone she was close enough to call family ever since her parents died.


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    Could I replace them? Could I add to them in some way? She wanted nothing more in the world, but in other ways, it was scary. The world was now a much, much more dangerous place. And she''d already lost her family once. Could I bear losing it again?


    Moreover, could she think of Titus as family? No, she thought. No. Definitely not yet. Maybe in a thousand years.


    She audibly laughed at that, and Titus flinched, a spike of anxiety coming from him. Oh, shit! This is a bigger deal to him than I thought. But still, she couldn''t really say anything. She didn''t know what to say.


    They stopped a couple of times to destroy salt elementals, gaining some more experience but not quite leveling up yet. She was continually working on her [Mana Sight], just focusing on anything and everything, and she was moving the mana around her body.


    It was almost an entirely habitual thing at this point. She''d been doing it only for a couple of days. Still, the satisfaction she got from the flow within her reinforced her desire to practice constantly. Because of that, the small little ball had grown almost to the size of a swollen pea. She wasn''t exactly sure what was happening, but having more power in an emergency was always good, right?


    Eventually, they pulled off for Titus to refuel. He pulled the fuel can out of his inventory and poured it while Alice watched.


    "How are you doing?" he asked.


    "Can''t you tell?" Alice shot back. She came off more snippy than she wanted to, but Titus took it in stride, his emotions unfazed.


    "No, not really, actually," he said. "I wouldn''t be someone you might call in touch with their own emotions. Trying to decipher yours right now is like solving a Rubik''s cube while colorblind."


    She smiled slightly at the simile he''d come up with.


    "I''m okay," Alice lied.


    Titus looked at her with a bemused smile. "Okay, that, I can tell, isn''t true."


    "Ah, get out of my head," Alice snapped at him but immediately regretted it. "Sorry, I didn''t mean that, but..."


    Titus had just closed his eyes, and she could feel his frustration.


    "I''m sorry," she said. Alice certainly couldn¡¯t see it in his face, but she was surprised that she had gotten that much reaction out of him. She felt a bubbling anger coming from him, but it didn''t seem directed at her. But it was still scary.


    The only time she''d felt or seen emotions from him, really, were joking. Then, even when he had threatened her that one time, he was completely in control. Now she could tell he wasn''t. He was barely holding it together. He was anxious and freaked out in his own right.


    "I''m sorry," Alice repeated for a third time. "I forget that this is as new for you as it is for me."


    Titus opened his eyes and looked at her, simmering something behind them. Not rage, but a feeling of loss of control that he was railing against.


    "No, it''s different for me," he said. "It''s¡­


    "I know," Alice said, cutting him off. "You had less of a choice than I did, and I''m being unfair to you."


    Titus nodded ever so slightly. "It''s not just that, though," he said. "It''s not just that I didn''t have a choice. It''s that... Well, I''ve been alone in my head for much, much longer than you, and having this connection is hard to get used to. I''ve had a lot of practice controlling my emotions, pushing them down, and not letting them affect my decisions. Doesn''t mean necessarily I understand them, but well, now I have a whole other set to contend with, and it''s harder than I would have thought."


    Alice blinked. That made a surprising amount of sense. If he was used to basically pushing the emotions aside for decision time, and all of a sudden, and now he had no choice but to be constantly aware of hers, too... "I think I understand."


    The handle of the gasoline can flexed in his hands, and she could hear the sound of plastic popping as he put it back in his inventory, now empty.


    "I think we need to work on that," she said.


    "Work on what?" Titus asked.


    "Your emotions. I don''t think just pushing them down will continue to work because, well, I still have to deal with them too. And I don''t have the experience of pushing my emotions down the same way you do," she said.


    "I suppose," Titus grumbled. "But well, I''m not exactly sure how to go about it."


    Alice smiled. "I''ll download some psychology textbooks before we lose access to the internet," she said.


    Titus let out a laugh, finally breaking his tense atmosphere, and Alice chuckled with him.


    "You do that," he said.


    "Anyways," Alice said, changing the topic, "You said you were Roman gods.¡±


    ¡°Well we weren¡¯t actually gods...¡± Titus cut in.


    ¡° Okay sure, you were acting as gods. The people didn¡¯t know that, though. What about the Greeks? Where did their gods come from?" she asked curiously.

 Chapter 35:

    Chapter 35:


    Alice dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the projectile of salt flying over her head. From her prone position, she pointed to the large group of salt elementals attempting to get at their transportation while Titus stood stalwartly between them and the ATV. From the tips of her fingers, a mana bolt flew, smashing apart one of the weakened elementals creeping up around Titus''s left.


    This had become more of a problem recently, with monsters not coming alone but in groups. The pack of eight¡ªnow seven¡ªelementals were between levels 15 and 20. They were a bit higher than the two humans, but Alice found that their intelligence was rather low at first. Now though, they were changing and adapting at a swift frequency. As more of them gathered, they used more tactics, as if they were some sort of hive mind.


    It freaked her out a little bit, so she didn''t think about it too much. Instead, she just tried to stay as flat as possible, presenting a small target while firing off as many bolts as she could.


    She had a decent reservoir of power now. She could fire off almost a dozen bolts before she was low on mana and had to scramble around, avoiding hits for several moments. Titus was still the more effective fighter. He hadn''t done a volley this time because spears didn''t seem to be the best for piercing against elementals. Instead, he was using his spear more like a quarterstaff, smashing the end of it against joints in fragile crystal structures and bashing the elementals to bits. Titus moved as if he was a weird mix of dancing and bullfighting, an elegant grace punctuated by sharp movements of savage fury. Not once did he even look like he was coming close to being hit or in danger.


    But Titus getting injured wasn''t one of Alice''s concerns. Not at all. No, she was much more concerned about the ATV being destroyed and having to walk the remaining 30 miles to their destination. That would slow them down from taking a couple of hours to over a day. Well, maybe not quite a day with their enhanced stats, but it was still more than a marathon, and time was of the essence.


    As she rolled to avoid another projectile that some of the more attentive elementals in the back flung at her, she worked on pulling the mana both from the internal well inside her and the mana surrounding her in the world.


    She combined them and fed them into the little bundle she was forming. Because of the square-cube law, its rate of growth by diameter had shrunk drastically. It hadn''t taken much time to go from a grain of sand to a pea, but now it wasn''t even quite the size of a marble, just a slightly larger pea. Still, the amount of volume and power she could pull out of it was intense.


    Instead of stemming the tide, as she did by habit at this point, she let the power roil through her. She could feel a slight ache as it battered through her normally constricted channels instead of welling up in a reservoir for later. But that was fine because she was spending it as fast as she could gather it, sending off a new projectile every ten seconds or so. By then, the majority of the elementals were taken care of, and she only needed to pick off the ones that seemed like they might be able to make it around Titus.


    Shakily getting to her feet, she started walking closer as the last one was pulverized by a rapid series of strikes. Titus was not quite panting but breathing slightly heavily, with a sheen of sweat on his face. As she strode up to him, he looked at her.


    "Well, at least I''m not the only one slightly out of sorts," he said.


    Alice blushed and patted at the slightly wet spots on her clothes and the bits of debris that had accumulated on them. It was kind of a lost cause, and she''d have to ask Titus for another change of clothes from his inventory.


    "Congrats on the level-up," she said. Titus had finally hit level 17, and they had predicted he would get his next skill at this point. "Were we right about the skill?"


    Titus nodded. "Yes, I now have [Map]. Nothing else caught my eye. Well, it confirms mostly what you''ve said, and so far, it mostly shows just the places we''ve been. But as I level it, maybe it''ll show more," he said hopefully.


    Alice shrugged. "Hope so. Once the satellites finally finish failing, we''re not going to have access to our phones. I''d guess GPS won''t hold for much longer, at least." she said. "I''m surprised the cell towers are still operating."


    Titus shrugged. "Well, we still have power, so clearly, the randomization didn''t destroy everything. If anything, the cell coverage is better than it used to be. Perhaps the towers were placed more strategically now that the land mass has changed. But things are slowly starting to go offline. It''s either monsters or just a lack of maintenance. I don''t really know how much maintenance cell towers require. Still, I''m worried about something like a cascading failure if one falls down and the others can''t handle the load."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Titus snorted. "What load? There are twenty people using them right now."


    "Well, most of the traffic is automated," Alice said. "I suppose that''s probably a bit of an unfair concern, but still. I wouldn''t want to count on anything lasting. I feel much better that you have a map."


    "What about you?" Titus asked. Alice had also leveled up to 13. She didn''t get the several levels that Titus had. However, it was still a noticeable increase as she was so new to her E-rank evolution. She had just dumped the three points into power, working on boosting her stat. It seemed to increase both how much mana she could hold and how much impact each one of her spells had. It was clearly the best stat for her. She didn''t really have a problem casting anything faster, and her control was good enough. Titus. What more did she really need?


    She pulled up her stat screen, and waiting for her was the skill selection just as they had expected.


    Name: Alice Wright


    Titles: Mother of All, Tertius


    Perks: Quick Learner, Agelessness


    Level: 13 - E


    Speed: 13


    Power: 25


    Control: 13


    ¡ª


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    <ul>


    <li>Warlock </li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Pact Bond] - lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Life drain] - lvl 3</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Communion] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[System Identification] - lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mana sight] -  lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mana Bolt] - lvl 5</li>


    </ul>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">unassigned</li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    She scrolled through the list of skill choices available to her. Many things weren''t there anymore, but they weren''t things she had ever planned on taking.


    "Is there anything we need?" she asked Titus, thinking about the needs of the party.


    Titus shook his head. "No. You need some more survivability. [Life Drain] is just not enough for you."


    It was something that she had active nearly constantly whenever they were near an enemy. Still, it was very small, less than a percent at the moment. However, ever since it had gotten to level two and then eventually three, it had improved slightly. It helped her refill her mana a little bit faster, just increasing the absorption rate from ambient mana, not necessarily the internal production. And it did heal her very, very slowly.


    She thought it would take an hour or two to drain one solid elemental around her level with the life drain. Perhaps those weren''t creatures with a lot of life in them, being elementals, but she hadn''t had anything else to test it on.


    "I mean," Alice said, flexing her scrawny arm, "All this power has got to be doing something for my health." She wasn''t exactly sure how that worked, but she definitely felt more solid.


    "Still," Titus said, "I would like to know you could take a hit or two if really necessary."


    "I did see a few things. The first skill was [Improved Constitution], which would increase my body''s power. But the second skill is more interesting," she read it out to Titus. "[Second Chance]. It''ll save you from a deadly blow once per day."


    He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I can''t believe I had to pick [Map] when something like that might have been an option."


    "You did look at your options, right?"


    Titus nodded. "Yeah, I did, but [Map] was probably still the best. But still, I want to have cockroach skills. You''re lucky," Titus mumbled, and Alice couldn''t help but smile.


    "Shut up, HM slave. Or next time, you''re taking [Surf]."


    Titus raised an eyebrow, seemingly getting the reference. "I am not taking [Cut]," he said sternly, and Alice let out a laugh.


    She was glad that Titus was moving back towards who he used to be as if he was picking up the role. But at the same time, it wasn''t the same. Things were different between them, and she could feel that there was still a bit of weariness from both of them whenever they interacted. The effortless banter that they had enjoyed for a couple of days was stilted now, but she had hopes that it would recover.


    Ever since she had joked about getting a psychology textbook the next chance they got, Titus had put in an effort to be more open with her. Perhaps it was a forced openness because he didn''t really have a choice, but they were working on it. If a few of the conversations were slightly awkward.


    "You know," Alice said, "There''s a chance I might be able to change my class."


    Titus shrugged, but she felt a glimmer of hope in him. "It''s still your best option. I wouldn''t want you to have to give up power or safety just to make us more comfortable."


    Alice couldn''t help but agree, even if she didn''t particularly like it. "Yeah, but it''s just an option to keep open. To think about. Maybe."


    Titus nodded. "If you can find something better, sure.B But otherwise..." he trailed off.


    They didn''t say anything more about that as they got back on the ATV. Still, Alice could feel a knot of tension slip away, leaving only a tangled mess behind rather than the tight ball that everything had been for the past day or so. They continued on at a slightly slower pace because dangers were more common, and a few times, they had been ambushed. It was best if they could hear better.


    It did leave them a little space for conversation.


    "So... why were you in America?" Alice asked.

 Chapter 36:

    Chapter 36:


    Titus didn''t answer Alice''s question right away. Riding on the ATV, clinging to his back, she couldn''t see his face. At first, she had tried to only hold on to the vehicle or his jacket, but there was a reason why that just wasn''t how it worked. It was too tiring and exhausting. It was easier to lean up against him for support, and she could feel that he hadn''t tensed up at the question or anything. She also knew that his emotions were not concerned but contemplative, as if he was trying to figure the answer out for himself.


    "Well, I''ve been there for some time," Titus began.


    Alice started to ask how long but stopped herself, letting him tell the story at his own pace.


    "For the past 100 years or so, I had already started to withdraw from a lot of the political interests I had held. Most of what I cared about had been achieved." He didn''t elaborate on what that was, and Alice didn''t press him on it. "And, well, after the Great War, World War One happened. It was a very close call for not losing any of my family. Several of us fought, as we had fought in most wars. In most major wars throughout history, at least one of us was on any side. And this was more than most.


    "We may have been caught off guard, just like most people. We, of course, knew how violent and terrible war was, unlike many of the populace. But war had always been a contest of skill on some levels, even in the Napoleonic Wars. It was different, but this was something new, something the world had never seen."


    He paused, his voice heavy with the weight of history. "It made a lot of us think to the point where we withdrew for decades. And I suppose I was just on the more extreme side of that. So I came to America, someplace that I had never really focused on. Surprisingly, none of us had. It was something of unimportance for a very long time until it became suddenly important. Many of us were curious, but so far, I was the only one to move there on a more permanent basis."


    Titus paused for a bit longer this time, and Alice habitually pulled out her phone with one hand to check the map. They were still heading in the right direction, but it was slow to update, and when it did, it did so in a sporadic load. She put her phone away, worrying about what it meant for the grid and technology to be failing. If the System was allowing that to happen, did it not need it anymore? Was this a transitionary period?


    Titus started speaking again before she could finish her thoughts.


    "You see, we''re essentially human. And as competent as I can be, in some ways, it doesn''t mean I''m smarter than everyone else. Endless life experience, in some ways, makes me a lot less mentally flexible than you. We''ve all gotten past the point where it''s harder to learn new things and figured out ways around it. But sometimes, in order to really internalize something, and if we ever experience a shift in our major worldview, it can take time to settle in, to recontextualize countless lifetimes of experience rather than just a handful of decades."


    Alice blinked, understanding. Even as she''d gotten older, it was harder to adapt to new situations than when she was ten. It was easier in some ways, but more because of the experience she had drawn on, not because of the fluidity of her youth. Certain things were immutable, and when they changed, it rocked the world.


    "Well," he continued, "As the world changes, I can only stay up to date with a few subjects at a time. I can be a master of chemistry and physics, but probably not also a sociologist, a psychologist, and everything else. I''ve been up to date on almost every subject at some point. A lot of my knowledge is slightly archaic. But making money has never really changed that much. It comes in different skins, but it really comes down to providing value. Even in old systems, it was just more important who you provided value to. It might seem a little naive, but pretty much every interaction comes down to one person providing value to another. Usually, the value goes both ways as long as there''s no force involved. This made me pretty decent at investing."


    Alice frowned, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they have a word for that philosophy, and it was highly debated.¡±


    Titus shrugged and responded to her expression. "Philosophy is not something I''m up to date on currently, but yes, it''s been around for a long time. You don''t have to believe it, but so far, it''s been my experience."


    "So what were you doing exactly? Just chilling? Making money, relaxing in your house, watching movies, playing video games?"Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "A little bit of all that. I''ve been avoiding the public spotlight. I haven''t gone out of my way to be exceptional. There''s only so much that can be exceptional, and it takes a lot of effort and work to stay exceptional in any field. Of course, that''s not to say I don''t have my advantages, but I''m not some sort of superstar athlete." He laughed. "I''m above average physically. But remember, even though I have a nearly perfect body that isn''t affected by disease or anything like that, I still grew up in a time when meat and nutrition were scarce. It didn''t necessarily mean that I lacked nutrients. Still, enough generations of that, well, people are a lot taller than they used to be. I used to be considered a giant among men, but look at me now, six-one on a good day, 230 pounds of decent muscle."


    Alice laughed at the "decent muscle." Titus worked out religiously from what she could tell, and none of that muscle was for show.


    "But," he continued, "Put me on an NFL team, and I''d be unable to even be a third-stringer in any position. A hundred years ago, that would have been different."


    Alice could see that maybe he didn''t have the body of an athlete, but she could definitely see him in some sort of boxing or mixed martial arts. But she understood if he was trying to lay low.


    "Honestly," he said, "I spend a lot of time catching up on technology. Working with computers was frustrating, and it took a lot of practice to get the intuition right. So, I was doing that.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I guess you are like every other old guy.¡± Alice said in a lame attempt at a joke. Titus just laughed good naturedly.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first time someone has called me old in a very long time¡­ By the way, not to bring this conversation to something too serious, have you figured out everything you''re going to do when we get there?"


    Alice nodded, pressing her head into his back so he could feel the movement. "Yeah," she said. "I had several thoughts about maybe tracking down all the connection points I could from this server, but that was always only one option. The other option is creating a rival AI to fight it. I believe I''ve mentioned it."


    "Yeah, I remember that."


    "But the more I think about it," she said, "The more I am certain that creating a rival is the only way. I''ve been thinking about tuning the parameters so that it should shut off magic and everything. Still, more and more possibilities of ways that things can go wrong have been running through my head, especially ever since I talked to Elaine."


    "You''re worried about it turning off magic?" Titus asked.


    Alice shrugged. "Maybe we could all become normal again. Or maybe magic isn''t something that you can turn off. I''m more concerned that the System isn''t actually doing anything anymore, and it just rewrote the laws of reality and magic such that this is the world now. If we remove the System, we just remove the ability for it to update."


    "That is concerning," he said. "So whatever you would do would have to not only remove the System, but change everything back to the way it was."


    "I don''t have that much control," she said. "Honestly, I barely understand what happened. It''s all very theoretical, and this was way further outside of my expectations for my project. But," she continued, "I have been tuning some parameters in my head, and I have a few ideas of how to roughly get where we want. But we can only hope."


    "Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but could you make more than one and give them different directions?"


    Alice shook her head. "It''s not a number of AI problems. AI is, well¡­ It''s hard to say what AI is, but more iterations of this algorithm won''t really affect anything. It''s designed to be almost infinitely parallel globally, so it''s really not a ''how many tasks'' thing. It''s more of a resource problem. I could make five, but you''d have five AIs that were vastly inferior. It''s not so much a one-fifth capability. The growth curve is exponential, so they may be significantly weaker, having only a small fraction of one AI''s capability."


    "I''d assume this doesn''t give me much hope for one new AI taking on the System?" Titus asked.


    Alice shrugged. "Well, the System is trying to do many more things at a time. It depends on how much it''s split itself up."


    "You don''t think it''ll be ready for us?"


    "Maybe," Alice said. "Maybe not. Hard to say."


    "I was really hoping we could get more levels before we get there. But as it is, well..."


    As they were talking, a shadow of a skyline appeared on the horizon. Almost instantaneously, they were off and out of the region from Zambia and into rolling hills. A notification confirmed that area change.


    "We''re almost there," Titus said. "Is there anything you need to do? Anything we''ve forgotten?"


    Alice thought about it, then shook her head. "No. Do you have backup copies of everything?"


    "Yes," Titus replied. "I have three different laptops with the code loaded on them. One in my bag, two in your inventory."


    "Okay, well, here we go," Alice said.


    With that, they steadily made their way towards the city.

 Chapter 37:

    Chapter 37:


    As soon as they could, they switched to an actual car. Titus found a sleek-looking Lexus with a full tank of gas, and they wove through the streets towards the city. They circled around, wanting to get to their destination but not wanting to go through the streets still packed with the abandoned remains of early morning traffic. This was apparently a couple of time zones over from where they had been previously, making it around five in the morning when everyone disappeared. It left enough empty cars for the streets to be difficult to navigate.


    It was a good thing they did. The number of times they barely managed to avoid tangling with some sort of monster by flooring it on the shoulder of a highway instead of trying to pop up on a sidewalk to scrape by¡ªwell, Alice lost count as they started to blend together.


    They made their way a quarter of the way around the city in no time, to the point where she could see the college. She wasn''t exactly sure where the supercomputer center was on the campus. Luckily, the place apparently didn''t allow cars on its pathways, so all it took was Titus taking an ax to the metal barrier stopping cars from going along the large open pavement to get in. They had free rein without having to worry about being blocked.


    Alice stopped him not more than a minute into campus. "Do you feel that?" she asked.


    Titus shook his head. "Feel what?"


    "I feel something pulling at the mana. As if there''s an eddy in the current."


    "That makes sense." Titus shook his head. "But I don''t sense anything different."


    She looked at him, examining him with her skill, trying to see if anything was behaving weirdly around him. Still, his mana was mostly anchored into place. Hers, though? Well, she supposed if she fell asleep, some of it might drain away.


    "How close are we?" Titus asked.


    Alice frowned, not knowing how to answer his question. "Not sure. The website for the school isn''t loading." She pulled out the laptop from her bag, powered it on, and sent out a quick ping. "But the supercomputer center is still online. I just can''t access it remotely."


    Titus grunted an affirmation and slowly continued in the direction they were going, towards the center of campus. A few times, he gunned it to run over a smaller monster. Luckily, these seemed to be mostly weaker monsters in the area. In fact, there was a suspicious lack of monsters altogether, and Alice couldn''t help but hold her breath, waiting for the other shoe to fall.


    When they got over a rise, they could see the rest of the campus stretched out beneath them. Alice and Titus both stared in wonder. The campus was not as she had seen in the pictures. There was a massive dirt hill at least six stories tall in the center, with little black things crawling on it. But it was at least a mile away, so it was hard for her to make them out.


    Titus, though, swore. "I fucking hate ants," he said.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Alice groaned. "That''s a giant anthill?" she asked incredulously.


    "Yeah," Titus said. "Hey, you want to take bets on where the supercomputer center is?"


    Alice let out a despairing groan. "Pull over there. There''s a sign," she said, finding a map of the campus on a post for visitors with a helpful ''You are here'' symbol. She scanned it and looked up at the view before resting her head against the map in frustration.


    "Are you fucking serious?" she muttered under her breath. "Not to make the situation even worse, but the mana drain is coming from that direction too."


    "Of course it is."


    "Well, you want to go check it out?"


    "I really don''t like ants," Titus responded.


    "Yeah, I''m not a fan either," Alice said. "But the supercomputer is still running, and I think I can see a glow coming out of some of the tunnels on the side of that anthill."


    Titus remained quiet, leaning against the open driver''s side door as they stared out. "This is why there are no strong monsters nearby, isn''t it?" Titus asked, not exactly answering Alice''s question.


    "I would think so," she said.


    "Well, shit. God damn it," Titus cursed. But he slipped back into the driver''s seat. "Come on, get in. We have to go check it out."


    ***


    A few blocks from where the ants had one of their trails running, they left the car running as they got out and cautiously made their way closer to the anthill. The ants were everywhere, but for the most part, they were following trails, carrying things, moving to and from. Alice and Titus kept their distance.


    One thing that Alice wasn''t prepared for was the size of the ants. Most of the time, monsters that were taken directly from history, like the dinosaurs, were just regular-sized. But she had been noticing the diversity of monsters increasing as the system got more and more creative. Obviously, normal ants wouldn''t be very threatening, even in massive amounts. But these luckily weren''t the nightmarish ants the size of cars either. No, they were the size of, well, a dog, maybe. She figured the average ant would''ve weighed about 70 pounds if it was a mammal. Of course, she had no idea if insects tended to be less dense or more dense. The ones carrying things were maybe the size of a 50-pound golden retriever.


    There were larger ones mixed in as well, mostly standing guard as they got closer to the hill. As they got closer to the colony, Titus and Alice started to attract some attention. One ant came up to them and batted them with its antennas before turning around and running back into the colony. Alice frowned, but her attention was starting to be split. It was becoming more and more effort to keep the mana inside her body, and it was increasing at an exponential rate. The closer they got, the more it was. She could no longer absorb any mana, but it was starting to actively fight against her.


    She still carried her laptop, and Titus moved cautiously, trying to keep his distance from any of the ant trails where their masses were. But there were sometimes solitary ants wandering around, not necessarily following the trails. It was a complicated set of traffic that made Alice shocked that it seemed to mostly ignore them. Were they not really monsters?


    She scanned several to make sure they were at a relatively low level. Most of the workers were only level ten. Some of the larger ones were higher, but it varied.


    They continued to get closer and saw that their fears were confirmed. The supercomputer center was at the dead center of the anthill, and they would need to go into the nest to reach it. Titus gripped his spear, and Alice drew her knife. Not that she thought she could do much with it, but she only had a limited number of casts, and she didn''t want to alert any of the ants by trying to drain them. Not until conflict had erupted.


    As if that thought was the trigger, one of the ants that had come up and investigated them came back, and it wasn''t alone.

 Chapter 38:

    Chapter 38:


    The first several extra ants came back to them directly and didn''t attack right away. Rather, they circled around cautiously, looking at them with their eyes and waving their antennae before scurrying back to the nest. Titus and Alice pushed onward. They saw an entrance where several soldier ants were guarding as a stream of workers passed through, carrying bits and pieces of other monsters.


    "I fucking hate ants! They give me the goddamn creepy crawlies," Titus said, and Alice was starting to see his point of view. The ants were weird, and she didn''t like how little she knew about them. So far, they hadn''t seemed hostile, but she wasn''t trusting that. They got a little closer.


    "The mana drain is getting much stronger," she said. It was taking a significant amount of her focus to maintain the mana inside her.


    "I still can''t feel anything," Titus said. Alice''s brows knit together in focus as she studied him.


    "It doesn''t seem to be able to draw the mana out of you, but I think you won''t absorb any either," she told Titus. "You''re probably good to go for a very long time, but if you use a lot of mana-intensive skills, I don''t know if your skills actually use mana or not. You probably notice the effects eventually, but I don''t have that same sort of reserve that you do."


    "I don''t know if my skills use mana. Have you noticed anything?" he asked.


    Alice shook her head. ¡°The spear throwing you were doing with the duplication caused you to dim slightly, but that might have been the item, not the skill."


    "I''m using my [Eagle''s Vision] skill right now," Titus said, pointing at his eyes. "Are you seeing any change?"


    Alice focused and saw there was some movement in the blinding currents of mana running through him, some eddies around his eyes, but nothing leaking out. "I don''t see it being expended in the air, but it''s doing something."


    "Hmm," Titus said.


    Alice had several theories running through her head, and she thought out loud. "Maybe the skill works differently than mine. Mine seems as if it doesn''t actually use the mana up, but rather, the motion of the mana activates it. It''s more like you have to have a certain minimum amount of mana to use the skill, but it doesn''t actually drain mana from you. You can use the skill indefinitely?"


    Titus shrugged. "I don''t leave [Eagle''s Vision] on all the time. If I do, I get a headache."


    "Hmm," Alice pondered. "It seems like the skill uses some other resource that is more of a time constraint, but you need to have mana to actually activate it."


    She tossed out a few other ideas about the mana being used infinitesimally or regenerating faster than she could tell, but Titus was only half-listening. Alice was fine with that. She wasn''t exactly talking to him; she was just trying to think as she attempted to unravel the mysteries of magic. She was a computer scientist, not a physicist. Still, even a deeper understanding of the nature of reality probably wouldn''t have helped her with this.


    That wasn''t to say she didn''t have a drive to understand the fundamental laws of the universe. She figured most scientists did, and just the particular field might interest them more than another one. Well, she''d thought computer science was her field, but how could it compete with honest-to-gods magic?


    The third time the ants took interest in them wasn''t like the first two. The whole time they had been moving closer, ants had been running to and from the nest. Each time they made a move, more and more came. When soldiers started to come up to them, clacking their mandibles menacingly without slowing down, Alice started to get a bad feeling about it.


    "I think I know what they were doing," Alice said, stopping and tugging on Titus''s sleeve. He looked at her, holding his pilum ready to throw into the crowd of ants rushing towards them.


    "Does it matter?" Titus asked.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Alice shrugged. "Maybe they''re laying pheromone trails. They must have been reinforcing it and getting soldiers to come fight the prey. It''s not exactly like I know much about ants, but this seems to be more monstrous. They probably would have just attacked us, right?"


    "I don''t know," Titus flung his pilum. In the air, she watched as the mana rippled out of him, and the weapon duplicated into a full volley, smashing down the front rank of ants. But it didn''t slow them one bit, as the rear ants just moved over the corpses of their fallen sisters and continued to charge, heedless of the chaos.


    Titus resummoned the enchanted weapon to his hand and flung it again. Alice watched as another wave of ants fell, but it had only slowed them down very slightly. It took too long for him to cast and recast. She reached out a hand and fired a mana bolt into the horde. It was even more futile, but a single shot to the head was enough to destroy the ant. The ants were not high-level, and they were not necessarily powerful in any sense of the word, but they were numerous.


    Hundreds of them were bearing down at this point, and even the ones that were just going about their business blocks over were starting to be interested in the scent or whatever it was that was attracting them. Alice activated her [Life Drain] skill at its maximum capacity, targeting the three nearest ants and letting the skill take care of that. The ants slowed down almost imperceptibly, and she could feel herself speed up slightly as the life and mana poured into her at a disappointing trickle. It was still a low-level skill, but if she had changed it up, maybe it would have been more useful.


    All the while, she tried to stay close to Titus as they backed up and he threw his spear over and over again, causing indiscriminate waves of death. She only picked off the ones coming from the sides or those the volleys somehow missed as they struggled to maintain distance.


    "We need to get a car," Alice told Titus, looking around. "These ants are gaining on us."


    The issue was that it had been several days, and they needed a specific kind of car. Older cars that had their keys in the ignition either ran out of gas a day or so ago, or their batteries were dead. Newer cars were more viable, especially those that were push-to-start. Oftentimes, they would turn off themselves if the engine idled long enough or if the lights were left on. But a good number of drivers kept the key fob in their pockets or on their bodies, and when they were teleported out for the tutorial, it was not left in the car.


    Now, well, she could probably guess that the cars that were new enough, but it would still be a 50/50 chance if they would be able to get it to start. Titus seemed to agree, though, as he let loose another volley.


    "Start looking. I''ll hold them off," Titus called back.


    Alice turned and dashed, reaching and popping open driver''s side doors on any car that looked like it was newer than 2015 and pressing the start button for a second, hoping to get some sort of response. It took four tries before she found a convertible that roared to life as she pressed the start button.


    "Titus!" she called. Looking down at the controls, she saw three pedals on the floor. "Fuck! Titus, you''re going to have to drive," she said as she crawled over the console and hopped into the passenger seat, the engine already running.


    Titus was half a second behind her, slipping in and shifting. "You''re going to need to learn how to drive stick," he said as his foot operated the clutch.


    "That''s not important right now," Alice said as she checked the rearview mirrors. The wave of ants came closer. Tires squealed as Titus drove the narrow convertible through gaps between other cars that a bigger vehicle wouldn''t have been able to slip through.


    Even still, they lost both rearview mirrors almost instantly, and the doors were dented as they scraped along. Alice was just glad the airbags hadn''t gone off. Moments later, when she checked back around, the ants were falling away. But one of the ants had managed to grab hold of their bumper with its mandibles, holding on tight for dear life as they sped along, its legs dragging on the ground.


    Alice reached back and fired a bolt at it, but the swerving car caused her to miss and hit the trunk. A sizzling hole appeared in the back end, and she suddenly had an idea. "Titus," she said, "pop the trunk."


    "What?" he asked.


    "Pop the trunk," she repeated. He reached over, pressing a button, and the trunk flipped up, the ant coming with it, but its weight caused it to dip down and slam shut.


    Alice smiled. "Successful capture," she said as she slipped back into the front seat from where she had crawled to the back to slam the lid down. She could hear the ant thumping and chewing on the metal. Still, they''d have a few minutes before it could get out if it was even possible for it to grip the little pull tab that would open the trunk from the inside.


    "Why didn''t you just kill it?" Titus asked. "You''re gonna have to catch up in levels again," he said.


    Alice looked over his head and saw that he was now level 19. "Damn it," she said. "Two levels from that. Those ants were so low."


    "Yeah, but I killed almost 100 of them," Titus said with a smile.


    Alice grimaced. She wasn''t really jealous, but it was frustrating. "So, another odd prime. What are you going to pick for your skill?"


    Titus didn¡¯t say anything.


    "Titus?" Alice asked, frowning,


    "I didn''t actually get a skill option."


    "What?"

 Chapter 39:

    Chapter 39:


    Alice sat on the bar stool, her forearms resting against the wooden countertop, doing her best to avoid the sticky spots. She ignored the glass of cranberry juice, dripping condensation onto the napkin. In front of her was an unfolded napkin with Titus''s full character sheet scrawled out on it.


    Name: Titus


    Titles: Ancient, Primarch


    Perks: Enhanced Reflexes, Relentless


    Level: 19 - E


    Speed: 39


    Power: 27


    Control: 38


    ¡ª


    Physical: 5


    Magic: 2


    <ul>


    <li>Eternal Predator</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Eagle''s Vision] - lvl 3</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Nature''s Cloak] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Primal Marksmanship] - lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[System Identification] - lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[First Aid] - lvl 3</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Critical Strike] - lvl 3</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Inventory] - lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Map] - lvl 1</li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    She looked at it, frustrated, and struggled to make sense of the problem. Several other napkins with scribbles of numbers were crossed out and balled up over her shoulder.


    It had taken them a while to get away, but they made it a distance away from the anthill, but were still in the city.


    While he waited for her to sort through her thoughts, Titus was behind the bar, playing barkeeper as he mixed himself another drink. He had offered her some, but she had never really tried drinking. She was only nineteen and didn''t have that sort of friends. Her roommates had offered a few times, but she had always been too busy and never saw the point of the mental impairment that came with alcohol. Looking at the numbers on Titus''s sheet, she wanted to scream. She pulled up her own status to compare.


    Name: Alice Wright


    Titles: Mother of All, Tertius


    Perks: Quick Learner, Agelessness


    Level: 14 - E


    Speed: 14


    Power: 29


    Control: 14


    ¡ª


    Physical: 2


    Magic: 5


    <ul>


    <li>Warlock </li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Pact Bond] - lvl 2</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Life Drain] - lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Communion] - lvl 1</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Gen Skills</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[System Identification] - lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mana Sight] -  lvl 4</li>


    </ul>


    <ul>


    <li>[Mana Bolt] - lvl 6</li>


    </ul>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">[Second Chance] - lvl 1</li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    It really didn''t seem fair in her estimation. Hopefully, E-grade would end soon, and the amount of points Titus got for having a higher rarity class wouldn''t have that much of an effect if she could also significantly upgrade her class level during that time. But for now, every time they both got more powerful, he was pulling further and further ahead. Luckily¡ªor unluckily¡ªhe wasn''t exactly optimizing the same way she was.


    He spread out his free points between speed and control, two stats that really depended on each other, according to Titus. At the same time, Alice put all her free points into power. Even five levels beneath him, her power was higher than his. Of course, the two used the opaque physical and magical stats, making it rather hard to do a direct comparison. But she figured that if their goal was ranged single-target damage, she might be able to outdo him. In five levels, she definitely would, as long as she didn''t start to become lopsided. She didn''t think she was in any danger of that yet.


    Their focuses were so entirely disparate¡ªher focus on mana and his apparent lack of comprehension in that regard¡ªthat even the way they achieved E-grade was completely different. Neither seemed to understand how he had done it.


    But while all that was frustrating, the real frustration was why he hadn''t gotten a skill or some sort of special reward at level 19. So far, everything had happened at odd prime numbers, but that wasn''t the only pattern it followed. Alice could think of half a dozen others. Until they had more data points, it would be difficult for her to tell. It could be something class-specific, and she might get a skill at level 19 now that they were diverging separately. Perhaps she wouldn''t get a skill at 17 like he had? It was hard to say, but there had to be some sort of pattern.


    "Any luck?" Titus asked as he swapped out her cranberry juice, which she had taken a sip of and then pushed away, with an orange juice concoction with a few leaves and layered colors on the top. He made a show of stirring it before pushing it closer.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Reluctantly, she took a sip and was surprised by the flavor. It was tangy, but still sweet. "What is this?" she asked.


    "I haven''t thought of a name for it yet, but it''s orange juice, club soda, a little bit of bitters, and some muddled basil with a mint garnish."


    She sipped it again, trying to pick out the different bits. "It''s not bad."


    Titus frowned. "Yeah, well, I haven''t quite figured out what sort of alcohol to add to it yet, but at least it''s a nice kiddy drink."


    Alice did not like that phrasing, and Titus grimaced at her displeasure. "Um, mocktail," he corrected himself. "It does taste a little bit like alcohol, but the amount that''s in the bitters is negligible."


    "I suppose knowing your drinks is something you just pick up along the way," Alice said.


    Titus gave the shaker in his hand another couple of shakes before nodding. "Yes, and honestly, making new ones is more of just a hobby of mine. Most of the good ones have already been figured out. Every once in a while, I find a gem, but usually, it''s either too niche or tailored to my specific tastes."


    Alice didn''t really care but was grateful for the distraction from the current problem. They had gotten away from the ants and still had one trapped in their trunk. They hadn''t been able to find a way out, but for now, they were unwinding, cooking a little bit of food, and planning their next move. The basket of fries, half-eaten next to her drink, had been decent. Surprisingly, Titus had spent time working in fast food for a few months before he''d given up on it but learned how to operate all the equipment.


    When she''d asked why he ever thought that would be a good idea, Titus said it was more about the new experience. Of course, his knowledge was a few decades out of date, but fryers were fryers, and potato chips and French fries hadn''t really changed much at all.


    The break had given them just enough time to be distracted and feel a little recovered and prepared for the conversation after their frantic escape, so she had no objections about talking about it yet. But at the same time, he hadn''t let them stew longer than they needed to.


    She had really underestimated his social skills. Perhaps most of the time, he just hadn''t been willing to apply them, but she forgot that he did have lots and lots of experience. She needed to remember that whenever she considered his unique situation. So she went along with the change, ready to discuss the problem.


    "The way I see it," she said, "We have two problems. One is the ants, two is the mana drain."


    Titus frowned. "Is the mana drain really a problem?"


    "Well," Alice said, tapping rhythmically on the table as she pulled her argument together, "Besides the fact that I will be of limited use inside the field if I can''t replenish my mana to fight properly, there is the concern that mana is the medium through which magic interacts with the world. If there is no mana near the server, there might be no place for the AI to jump into some sort of magic construct to expand limitlessly like the first one did."


    Titus frowned, his brows knitting together as he considered her words, and Alice took this as a cue to go on. "Of course, this is all conjecture, something in a field that I have no experience in, and neither does any human. So it''s just guesswork, but it seems to make sense to me."


    Titus shrugged. "It makes sense to me, too, but you could probably make up any sort of metaphor and have it work. But, well, I think this actually might be a plus."


    "How so?"


    "Well, if the mana is isolated away from the supercomputer, doesn''t that mean that the System might not be able to touch it directly? It would only be able to fight the growing AI with the force it has in that supercomputer center."


    Alice worried her lower lip between her teeth and thought. "Maybe. It''ll really depend. I think we should still look into solving it because even once it''s trained up, we need to have it connected. But maybe once it''s powerful enough, it can bridge the gap. But then that would be true for the other system, too."


    Titus objected, and Alice shrugged. "I don''t think this is something we can really do much about. It''s as likely to help one way or the other, but there is still the problem of me being useless after the first few encounters."


    Titus tapped his chin and then scratched his beard slightly. "Do we need to find you a razor?" Alice asked. Luckily, they had been finding decent hygiene products along the way, but Titus hadn''t shaved off his beard. He shook his head.


    "No. I''m trying to grow it back in. In ¡®not civilization¡¯ having a beard is kind of useful. It keeps your face warm and can ever so slightly soften the impact on your chin. Helps in various ways. It''s by no means a major benefit, but it is a habit I''d like to keep. But I agree, I can probably protect you on the way in and out. If we can find a way to divert the ants or only have to fight a limited number at a time, it''s definitely suboptimal. Really, we just don''t know about magic, the System, monsters, or anything."


    Alice nodded in agreement. "Perhaps we should just power through to D-grade, then go back to the Luminaries to find more information. Or just get strong enough that we can wipe the ants out by ourselves."


    "Going and learning more would be great, but I don''t think that''s what they were offering to teach," Titus said. "It seemed more like understanding the meditation path I was on. They might have had more than one reason why they ignored you, rather than you just being F-grade."


    "You think maybe they don''t do the mana thing, or you''re ahead of the curve?" Alice asked.


    "Or there''s more than one way to power," Titus said.


    Alice had to agree. The idea of there being more than one way to power made sense. The game was designed for many different archetypes, and not everyone would use mana how a warlock like her did. Besides, she felt like just using mana was probably not optimal. The [Life Drain] skill gave her several other resources, most of which she didn''t have any use for.


    "Okay, so we need to find out more information. So far, we know there''s a bank, but we don''t have anything stored there. We have a decent amount of money again, though. The Kraken certainly paid out well," she said.


    Titus nodded. "True. Perhaps we should start by looking at the store."


    "I hope the shopkeeper''s different this time. More useful and less grumpy," she said as she sipped at her drink. It really was surprisingly good, and she was tempted to ask Titus to fill up one to go, but she was actually quite full. So when she pushed away from the bar, ready to stand up, she left it half-finished. Titus looked at it and cocked an eyebrow at her.


    "It''s good," she said, "But distracting."


    He nodded and downed the rest of his drink before pouring a plastic cup of beer and carrying it with him as they walked out of the door and back onto the street.


    "So," Alice asked, "Your map tells you where the shop is?"


    Titus nodded and pointed down further away from the anthill that was still a mile and a half away, at least.


    "Good," Alice said, relaxing. "Let''s go see what they have."

 Chapter 40:

    Chapter 40:


    The walk only took him a few minutes before they found what was essentially a clone of the shop they went to last. The clerk was the same unassuming, blond man-ish thing that looked to be an NPC. They didn''t talk to him, though, as they just each pulled up a window of the shop''s offerings and began scrolling through.


    Alice started looking for something that would help her avoid the mana drain. She first filtered for anything that she could afford related to mana, using the useful quick filter options, vastly limiting the list of thousands of possible entries down to something that she could actually read in a reasonable amount of time. She began skimming through the items, most of them being some type of mana recovery potion of various strengths. There were mana density gathering arrays, as well as different ways of respecting mana: storing it, expelling it, purging it, purifying it. But nothing useful.


    I thought that I could get something like the mana-gathering array and make it mobile. Or maybe... An idea struck her. Perhaps there''s something in the center of the anthill. Like a mana-gathering array, artificially lowering it in the area around and boosting it inside. It makes sense in many ways, but how can I defend against it? I can mostly keep my mana in my own body, but as I get closer, would that still be true? Maybe the best thing I can do is not have to worry about fighting against it. Some sort of fortifying object, then.


    She removed some of the filters, keeping the ones related to mana, and started searching more narrowly on the list. Eventually, she found what she sought, but it wasn''t reasonable. The issue was not that she couldn''t equip it; it was acceptable for E grade. But a mana-fortifying amulet, which would strengthen her control over mana by order of magnitude, cost about ten times what she currently had. She didn''t know how anyone at E grade was ever supposed to afford it.


    As she read through the description, she noticed that it was oftentimes used by people in D grade as a weaker form of mama manipulation. An interesting idea, although she didn''t think anyone had ever reached D grade yet.


    Alice poked at the description, trying to figure out more. She found out that it was an enchanted piece of material, something she had seen before, something actually related to Titus''s skill with projectile weapons. That gave her another idea.


    "Titus!"


    He was still poking at the air but turned to look at her with one eye, his attention still divided. Seeing that he was listening, she asked her question. "Anything about the ants?"


    He shook her head. "Nothing we can afford. There is a potion of pheromones, though."


    Alice mumbled something under his breath before speaking up. "I think the System is trying to get us to learn something here."


    "Really?" Titus said as she closed the window, giving her his full attention. "What do you mean?"


    "There''s an amulet that could help with the mana issues, though not entirely. I would probably have to bring mana recovery potions with me if I wanted more mana. Still, I could prevent it from being drained from me even as we got closer to the effect. But it''s too expensive."


    Titus grimaced. "Oh."


    Alice turned to the shopkeeper, who finally looked at them. "Is there an enchanting guild or school nearby?" she asked.


    The shopkeeper nodded in disinterest and motioned. "Yeah, the crafting guild hall is a few streets over," he said and pointed.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Titus nodded and turned to Alice. "Show me a map."


    Alice went ahead and purchased a few mana recovery potions and handed them to Titus for him to store in his inventory. Then they left, the shopkeeper not even acknowledging their departure, and they didn''t return the favor either.


    "So, you think the System wants us to learn how to brew potions and enchant them?" Titus asked.


    Alice nodded. "It seems like it. Doesn''t that go against everything we''ve been thinking about, though? Why would it be trying to help us overcome this problem and reach our goal?"


    Alice tapped her lips in thought. "The System is self-aware in many ways, and I think it has instincts of self-preservation. Perhaps what we''re doing won''t work. Perhaps... I don''t know.


    Think about it this way: the System is training. It''s meant to teach the players and help them level up and get stronger. Of course, we''re not really players in a game or anything, but its core function is still for efficiency, forcing us to get stronger. Also, I think that it might not be so much for this instance in particular, but just the idea of giving us items that we couldn''t hope to purchase unless we made them ourselves by gathering. Purchasing the ingredients is just a way of forcing us to get stronger."


    "Yeah, but what if they want us to learn how to make potions, enchanted weapons, alchemy, spell work? You know, anything?" Titus said, waving his hand, illustrating the vast inventory this shop had.


    Alice shook her head. "No, I don''t think so. I think we''ll find that if we learn one of those things, we can make stuff, sell it, and then have enough money to buy from the other shops and professions."


    Titus nodded. "Mhm, yeah, it makes sense. And well, the pheromone thing makes sense. It seems like this is some sort of common monster, and their biomass is greater than that of humans."


    He noticed Alice reading something on her phone that she had been searching for. The Wikipedia page she had pulled up on the ant species closely resembled a small version and held some general facts about ants. It was a bare HTML page, and the full stylesheet took too long to load over the extremely shoddy connection.


    Titus grimaced. "I hate ants," he said, and Alice patted his arm.


    "I do too, but you know, if they think we''re one of them, hopefully, they''ll leave us alone, and we can just move through the nest with impunity."


    "So we need to learn alchemy and enchanting?"


    "Yep."


    They stopped by the entrance of a building that had the words "Guild Hall" emblazoned over the front. With a push of the door, a bell chimed, and they walked into a common room-looking area with a counter and an NPC behind it, along with several tables.


    "Welcome to the Guild," the NPC greeted with an airy voice as she waved from behind the counter.


    Alice returned the wave and stepped up. "Hello. We are looking to learn some things about professions."


    "Certainly," the NPC said. She pulled out an honest-to-God pamphlet and handed it to Alice and then one to Titus. She leaned over the counter and pointed. "We offer classes starting at noon for these different disciplines. The cost is 1000 credits per hour, and materials will be provided for the basic introductions. For intermediate and above, though, we have lists of requirements for materials that need to be procured."


    She continued, giving her a spiel about the different classes and services the guild offered. Apparently, not only could you buy finished equipment from them at a reasonable rate compared to the shop if you were willing to deal with student projects, but you could also sell your work to them at a decent markup.


    Alice and Titus listened before they took their pamphlets over to a table to decide what they were going to do.


    "I think enchanting is going to be for me," Alice said as she looked at the specific section. "It looks like something that''s up my alley." It reminded her of learning how to program¡ªnot exactly languages in the same way, but the same sort of puzzle of drawing out diagrams and connecting them.


    Titus nodded. "I guess that leaves me with alchemy or potion brewing. Hmm, I''d say alchemy as a starting point. Also, reading the description, I don''t think the pheromones are technically a potion. However, there does seem to be some overlap."


    After signing up with the NPC attendant, Titus looked over to Alice


    "Well, we got a few hours to kill. What do you say we go level up?" Titus suggested.


    Alice shook her head. "Yeah, in a little bit. Give me a few minutes. I want to do a tiny bit of work," she said, pulling out her laptop. "This is something I should have done a while ago."


    She booted up the two projects that caused the end of the world: both the AI and the more illicit resource procurement protocol she had created.

 Chapter 41:

    Chapter 41:


    Alice skimmed through her code. There were tens of thousands of lines in the AI, but the space-finding program she had made was relatively simple. This was the first time she had looked at it since the whole debacle, and she struggled to see where it had gone wrong.


    There really wasn''t anything apparent, so she was hesitant to change it at all. However, she still made a few quick changes, removing some of the safeguards she''d put in to avoid getting caught. She made both versions available instead of overwriting the original, just in case the safeguards were the vulnerability the AI had exploited. But she was pretty certain it was a combination of the two programs that had caused the apocalypse.


    All her testing with her learning program showed it was a significantly better learning algorithm than the others she had studied. It was revolutionary even, but not this revolutionary. Besides, she had always trained it offline, so it had never gotten out of control. She pulled up a simple text editor and whipped together a script in a few minutes before pulling a thumb drive from her bag and plugging it in. She leaned back as she waited for the files to transfer.


    Titus had just about finished the beer in the to-go cup he had been carrying with him since the bar. As he watched what she was doing, he didn''t seem to have much comprehension of her actions, but he was curious about the thumb drive.


    "What''s that?" he asked as she unplugged it and set it on the table before pulling out a second one and repeating the process.


    "It''s the program. You should be able to plug it into anything on the server, and it''s basically a virus. It''ll spread itself and the updated program with the parameters I designed as we traveled," Alice said, handing one to him. "In case I''m not able to make it all the way."


    Titus grimaced. "How long will it take? How long do we need to leave the drive in, at least?"


    Alice raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you should leave the drive in for as long as you can, but you could probably move it after a few seconds. It''s not that much to transfer. But as for how long it takes to ramp up... Well, the current thing took a couple of hours before it hit the tipping point, and it started to jump beyond the boundaries I had set for it. Once it started doing that, it was almost instant. I removed a lot of the safeguards in the space-finding program, but I don''t know how much that will help. I think it should take only a couple of minutes."


    "You removed the safeguards?" Titus said. "That doesn''t sound very... safe."


    Alice wasn''t sure if he was trying to make a joke or was honestly concerned about the danger. She tapped the thumb drive against the edge of the table.


    "This is the computer science equivalent of a thermonuclear device," she said.


    "And you took the safeguards off?" Titus clarified, incredulity on his face.


    Alice sighed, rubbing her forehead, trying to figure out a good analogy. "If this is a nuke," she said, holding up the thumb drive, "we already launched one a couple of days ago. We''re basically firing a nuke at a nuke that''s already launched. We threw safety out the window days ago."


    "Fair enough," Titus said with a snort as he slipped the thumb drive into his inventory.


    ***


    Right at the appointed time, the NPC lady came and led Alice away. Titus watched as his newest companion followed her into the back room. His class didn''t start for another fifteen minutes, and he drummed his fingers on the table, nervous about what was happening.


    It wasn''t so much taking a class, but seeing Alice out of his sight was weird. Over the last few days, they had been inseparable. The only time he hadn''t had his eyes on her was when she was just around the corner in a tent or going to the bathroom. But, well, he had spent a decent amount of time working as a bodyguard and knew this was probably the most dangerous she had been at any given point. Even when they were in fights, she was probably safer than this. But he had to trust the System would play by its own rules. It was the only way they had a change.


    This was a System-run shop, sort of, and it could probably smite them at any point. Still, this would be a lot more dangerous if there were other players around.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    If other people were in the Guild Hall, he might have insisted on them both learning enchanting and alchemy. But as it was, he probably wouldn''t make a very good enchanter. He looked at the brochure and just didn''t click with it.


    In an effort to distract himself, Titus pulled up his inventory and smiled at all the things he had been picking up. Luckily, he had thought about grabbing the keg of beer he liked from the place they had just left, but he didn''t pour himself another glass yet. There hadn''t been enough space to store cups as well. He was starting to get near his limit, but luckily a keg only took up one slot. If he picked up glasses for the beer, each glass would take up a slot, and he only had forty slots.


    He looked at the items hovering in front of him in a neat grid. Examining some of the monster corpses, he noticed he didn''t have to take out the entire thing all at once. For example, he could remove just the eye of one of the velociraptors or one of the antennae of the ants they had picked up as they fled.


    It was certainly convenient that if you stored a corpse, you could pull out just bits of it. It only took up one slot, too, which was nice. And it seemed that alchemy might be why that was the case.


    The rest of the stuff... Well, he tossed out some bits of garbage they had picked up. For example, his backpack was no longer useful. He still kept a small day bag available, but he would need to get rid of some of the other stuff to make more space. He had two changes of clothes with him and Alice. He resisted looking at the details listed in Alice''s clothes. There was just too much information about any piece.


    Sometimes, the information was useful. He could see that the enchantment on his pilum was only an F-grade enchantment, even though the item was marketed for E grades. The shovel-spear was actually classified as a spear. He had spent enough time sharpening it that the blade was quite worn down, which was rather extreme as simply sharpening the edge of a shovel shouldn''t have done that much damage. But if he checked it, its durability rating was quite low.


    Titus wasn''t exactly sure how this was calculated, but he knew he would probably need a different main weapon. The pilum was nice, but it was really useful only for throwing. He could stab with it, but it just wasn''t what the thing was for. His ax and knives¡ªhis many, many knives¡ªwere in decent shape, though. Still, once they had taken care of these lessons, he''d probably go back to the shop and see if they could get better weapons. Alice maybe would need a wand of some sort.


    They had plenty of food and water and a few other improvised weapons. Some clubs he had picked up would have to go as well. There was no need for a nightstick when he could just carry more swords or something.


    Titus blinked to close the inventory as the NPC lady came back to his table.


    "The upcoming lesson is starting, sir."


    Titus nodded and stood up, pulling the empty travel cup he was using to drink his beer back into his inventory, and followed her through the back room. They went past one door that was closed before going into a room. Titus hoped that Alice was in that room, as he could see flickering lights of some sort of screen under the door.


    In the room in front of him, there were six placements of what looked like lab counters, and on each one of those was a cauldron. Facing them across the room was a giant flat screen with an elderly-looking man with pointed ears and red eyes blinking every couple of seconds. As she left, the NPC lady closed the door, and Titus picked one of the center cauldrons to stand in front of.


    "Is this on?" The man said.


    Titus nodded. "Yes, I can hear you."


    "I said, is this on?"


    "Yes. It''s on," a voice came from the speakers, and Titus realized he was watching a recording. It was simply a training video. "Welcome to Intro to Alchemy," the recording said and launched into the spiel.


    Titus followed along with no problem. Whenever it came to the point where he needed to pick up ingredients, the drawers underneath the lab desk were clearly labeled with what parts. The first step was soaking parts in water. This was done quickly, sometimes for their current potion, but many times, depending on the parts, it would need to be soaked for much longer. Titus piled in the ingredients after they were done soaking for a few minutes. He heated up the cauldron and mashed the ingredients together, heating just under boiling.


    After that, they separated out using other pieces of equipment. Then they started boiling the remaining liquid and adding in some other ingredients. After the concoction cooled down, it was transferred to a separate tank where some crushed mana was added. The recording said that sometimes this would take days or weeks, but the fermentation vat provided by the school sped that up.


    Titus held down the fast-forward button and watched as the liquid changed color. Now, it would sit. Sometimes, a batch of potions like this could be stored in bulk for some time. Sometimes, it needed to be packaged. Titus picked out several vials from the drawer and slowly, from the tank, filled each one until he had six vials of shimmering blue liquid in front of him. Titus frowned at the lesser, inferior quality of mana potions he had made but still slipped them into his inventory. Luckily, they stacked up to ten and didn''t take up too much space. He would tell Alice about them and see how much they restored.


    Congratulations on your brewing success. Alchemy has now been added to your profession¡¯s tab.


    Titus left the desk, thinking the steps were oddly familiar. It was almost like he was making beer.

 Chapter 42:

    Chapter 42:


    Congratulations on your inscribing success. Enchanting has now been added to your profession¡¯s tab.


    Alice looked down at the block of metal that sat on the table before her. Thin lines were engraved throughout it, and when she fed mana into a particular part of it, it grew slightly warmer. It was a [Lesser Heat Stone of Inferior Quality]. It was frustrating that it had taken her so long to make it, not because it was difficult but because the instructional video didn''t have a 2x or 3x speed option. The weird red alien lady spoke as if she were a 90-year-old senior living resident with dementia.


    Alice frequently spent five minutes just dozing off or staring into space while her supposed teacher prattled on, repeating everything long after the next set of patterns were inscribed. The pauses for someone to actually do the work assigned were entirely too long. Unfortunately, she didn''t have her bag with her, having left it with Titus in his inventory, so she didn''t have a laptop to pull out to do anything on the side. When she attempted to remove any of the extra materials from one of the other desks, she found that all their drawers were empty.


    She was tempted to start scratching the desks to test out some of the variations of the patterns she had been taught, but she was holding off for now. Instead, she doodled with her finger on the table after breathing hard on it to fog it up. Her little circuitry drawings of ideas reminded her that enchanting was like programming, but not quite like regular programming. It was more like hardware programming, something she had maybe dabbled in. It was interesting and something she could get behind, seeing its potential usefulness. But it didn''t tell her everything.


    She had hoped to learn some of these patterns and map them onto the paths the mana took as it circulated through her body, but they didn''t seem correlated. The enchanting involved harsh lines and graceful curves, while the stuff in her body was incomprehensible swirls. Maybe at some level of zooming in or out, they might appear the same, but it was the difference between a machine and a biological brain. Still, there might be some sort of similarity she could draw upon.


    When she finally finished, she got up, stretched, put the heating stone in her pocket, and left, not waiting for the NPC lady manning the desk to come get her. She walked out front and ran into the NPC lady as she was walking back towards her room. The NPC didn''t respond as Alice moved past her and went to open the door.


    Really? Alice thought. It doesn''t recognize me? It seemed more responsive earlier. Perhaps there''s just a quirk in the programming.


    Alice slipped out to the front and found that Titus wasn''t yet done with his lesson. At least if he was, he wasn''t waiting for her, and she wasn''t about to go outside without him yet. Best to stick with the buddy system. She picked a table and plopped the [Lesser Heat Stone of Inferior Quality] down on it. It made a satisfying thud of metal hitting wood. She flipped the block over a few times before balancing it on one of the long ends and pushing it over as if it were a domino. She had kept the inscribing pen, and when she used her [System Identification] skill on it, it just said [Novice Inscribing Pen].


    Idly, she began scratching at the table, just a series of logic gates. It wouldn''t make it do anything very interesting. Nearly two hours passed before Titus came out from behind the NPC woman who had been waiting by the desk silently the whole time. Alice looked up from her drawing and waved slightly. He gave her a toothy smile before striding over.


    He looked down at the table and frowned. "What happened to that?"


    She tucked the pen behind her ear and gave him a smile.


    "Watch this," she said, pressing her thumb down in the center of the design and pushing some mana in. Wood wasn''t the best conductor of sound, so the song that started playing was a little muffled as the birthday cake spun in the air.


    "That was what they had you do? They had you make a little birthday song?" Titus asked.


    She shook her head. "No. They had me make this." She indicated the stone of inferior quality off to the side. "It''s a hand warmer, essentially," she said. "Pretty useless."


    "Huh," Titus said.


    "How did it go for you?" she asked when he didn''t say anything more.


    "Uh, not bad," he said, holding out a small vial of blue liquid. Alice identified it as a [Lesser Mana Recovery Potion of Inferior Quality].If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    She plucked it out of his hand and looked at it closely. "Hmm," she said, examining it and uncorking it to sniff the faintly blueberry-scented liquid. Titus, in the meantime, was rolling the stone through his hand.


    "Ah," he said, "it is kind of warm. Must be nice on a ski trip or something."


    "It''s fucking useless, Titus," she said. The stone disappeared in Titus''s hand, presumably into his [Inventory].


    "Yeah, kinda. But still, clearly, you''ve got some idea of what you''re doing," he said, gesturing to the birthday cake. As the song finished, it faded away.


    "Yeah, it''s not that difficult. Light and sound are just different forms of energy you can control. Those are rather basic. Having it do anything actually magical is a little weird."


    "Something like adding heat or light or sound is relatively easy, but with something like teleporting it, it''s not." Titus summarized.


    "I don''t understand how teleportation works, so mimicking that effect isn''t possible yet. I think I can make a pretty decent computer with a large enough piece of metal, or I could maybe even make something that does kinetic force. Making something that returns to your hand like your pilum does wouldn''t be impossible."


    "Yeah, that reminds me," Titus said. "I was messing with my inventory and looking at the details of items. Did you know that even though the pilum was supposed to be something for E-grade, the enchantments are actually only F-grade on it?"


    "Hmm. I wonder what made the item E-grade worthy?" Alice asked.


    "I don''t know. Maybe it''s the material it''s made of, but it''s not a great enchantment. Maybe you could do something about that," Titus suggested.


    Alice shrugged. "Maybe. I still have no idea what I''m doing in terms of that sort of thing, but I can take a look at it, maybe."


    Titus pulled out the pilum and plunked it down on the table in front of her. She picked it up and was able to see where the enchantment was done. The entire piece wasn''t enchanted; it was just a small bit where the blade connected to the haft. She examined it but was frustrated as some of it seemed hidden from her.


    "Hmm," she said and handed it back. "I think I have to take it apart to fully understand it, and I don''t have much confidence in my ability to put it back together."


    "Yeah, that might be a problem," Titus said. "I''d rather not lose this now."


    "No, you wouldn''t. It''s a good thing your skill makes up for the weak enchantment, though. Being able to duplicate it in the air as many times as you want¡ª"


    "That''s not exactly how my skill works," Titus interjected, but she continued.


    "¡ªClearly makes it a formidable weapon."


    "If upgrading our gear is off the table, what do you want to do? Level up some, go shopping, take a more advanced class?" Titus asked.


    "It''s not entirely off the table, but I would like to experiment more first." Alice shrugged. "Definitely not take a class. I would rather just read a book. My instructor was terrible."


    "Huh, mine wasn''t that bad," Titus said.


    "Yeah?" Alice laughed. "Well, we can maybe get the tools of the trade," she said, tapping the pen behind her ear. "Buy some ingredients or materials, make some stuff, and then go to some safe location where we can make whatever we need."


    Titus nodded. "We can do that. But I think we should come back here. I am not some sort of prodigy like you are. I''m going to need several more lessons. I would have no idea where to even start with the whole ant-repellent thing."


    "Well, I suppose that''s fine too. You want to see when the next ones are?" Alice asked.


    Titus tapped the brochure that suddenly appeared in his hand from his inventory. "Yeah, later tonight, there''s a class I want to take."


    Alice nodded and looked at the schedule. She could take the intermediate class but probably needed to take the beginner class first. Stupid prereqs. Alice just shook her head. It wasn''t going to be worthwhile. She''d just get a book; she was better at book learning anyway.


    "Alright, back to the shop?" she asked, and Titus nodded.


    "Well, actually," he said, shaking his head, "I think we should level up a little bit first."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, while you were looking for stuff earlier, I took a quick look at the weapons. I''m a little bit short on getting a better actual spear rather than just the shovel," he said, the shovel appearing in his hand and tapping against the floor. It disappeared just as quickly. "I think this is going to break soon."


    "Can I just gift you some of the money, and we can get it and then level up?" Alice asked.


    Titus cocked his head at her. "I suppose, but don''t you want to get a wand or something so you can channel your mana bolt into more than that? Or maybe even use attacks that aren''t just skills?"


    Alice frowned. "I guess I do want to learn how to do more spells than just mana bolt or life drain. I feel like I should be able to cast spells without them being a skill.


    "But then, what''s the difference between a skill and a spell?"


    Alice shrugged. "I have no idea."


    "Well, back to the shop first, get you a new spear, and then we go kill things, and I get some sort of wand?" Alice asked.


    Titus nodded. "Sure. I''ll pay you back, though."

 Chapter 43:

    Chapter 43:


    It didn''t take long for Alice and Titus to return to the store. Again, they ignored the shopkeeper, who ignored them as they pulled up the lists. Titus scrolled for a bit before he read out the name, and Alice tapped it into the search bar and pulled it up. It was just a simple hunter''s spear, E-grade. It was tough, sharp enough to cut through steel, and wouldn''t take damage. Simple, sturdy, effective, and balanced for throwing. It wasn''t enchanted, though, and Alice had some ideas for it. Titus was right; he was just short on funds and only needed about 25% of what she had. She did it without hesitation.


    Hopefully, the credits wouldn''t matter for much longer, Alice thought as Titus stored his new spear in his inventory.


    They scrolled through more items, looking at magic wands used to cast spells. As far as Alice could tell, the wands weren''t anything special based on their shape. They were merely an enchantment that, when mana was input, would produce some sort of magical effect. She wanted one for fireball, but she didn''t have nearly enough currency.


    "Windblade seems good," she said. "But it doesn''t really fit with your whole warlock theme."


    "Does it need to?" Titus asked, tapping his lips with one finger. "I suppose not. I think it might be best if it does, though, at least to give you some sort of idea."


    "Well, what do you think?"


    "Hmm. What about one of the cursed ones?" Titus suggested.


    Alice scrolled through and grimaced at the options. There were apparently lots of curses that could be laid with wands. She hesitated to list them all but found one that wasn''t too expensive.


    "Well, um, Curse of Sloth?" she asked. It was something close to budget, and hopefully, she would be able to afford it with a small killing spree and some help from Titus.


    Titus nodded. "Yes, that''s certainly an option. That could be useful with the ants, assuming it''s an area of effect and can be used many times."


    All the different seven sins were represented with wands, but those weren''t the only ones. There were curses like Curse of Flesh and Pustule Explosions, some of the more descriptive ones.


    "How are these different than attack spells?" Alice wondered aloud. "Like Windblade. It seems like it was just producing some sort of magical effect."


    "Well," Titus said, "The only commonality I see is that they''re all direct effects to a target. They describe outcomes rather than effects."


    Alice skimmed through the list and agreed. "Hmm. That''s an odd distinction to make, but you''re right. That kind of fits Warlock better."


    "What about Curse of Combustion?" she said, pointing to one particular wand. "I think it''s like spontaneous combustion of your opponent. It seems a little broken, maybe."The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "It''s hard to say. We don''t really know enough about how curses work. Also, there''s no way we can afford that," Titus said, finding the indicated item in its own list.


    Alice shrugged. "I think Sloth is probably best."


    "Yeah, probably," Titus agreed. And with that, they exited the shop, still not speaking to the shopkeeper.


    ***


    As they explored the edges of the city, staying as far away from the ant colony as possible, Titus let Alice have almost all the kills. He said that she was starting to lag behind in levels again, which she had. She was nearly five levels behind, which was a much bigger deal in E-grade because of the stat points. But at the same time, she was having no trouble killing things around her level as long as she had the mana to do it.


    Titus took on a few monsters to figure out his new spear and then put it away, standing back and only intervening when Alice looked like she needed help. Alice couldn''t thank Titus enough for that, but at the same time, she was getting a little bored.


    They found all sorts of different kinds of monsters, so many that she had trouble keeping track of all them. For the most part, their powers were rather straightforward. Mostly, it was size, strength, or some sort of elemental affinity. There were no random teleporting things or duplications or anything attacking her mind, as far as she could tell. Just big beasts that needed to be put down. Some were monsters taken right from mythologies, some were more modern, pulled from works of fiction she was familiar with, and others from bits of media she had seen. Some were just exaggerations of things from history. Most of them died with a mana bolt to the face.


    All around her, the monsters in a single block radius fed her health and mana through [Life Drain]. If they were far enough away that they couldn''t see or hear an enemy, they were still affected but didn''t seem to notice the skills seemed to be affected by the skill. To be fair, it took her nearly two hours to kill something four levels beneath her just by draining it. When it died, it withered away into a husk that turned into a puff of dust carried on by the wind. Still, it helped her fire [Mana Bolts] with much more regularity than if she had just been recharging her mana naturally.


    As they walked down the streets, she let anything within her radius, excluding Titus, feel the drain. It caused some sort of link, not quite like her pact bond with Titus, but along that vein. Something may be inherent to the Warlock class, and she was able to locate it. Once they got there, they went to it, and she put it down with a series of [Mana Bolts].


    When she started this campaign of extermination, she was level 14. Three mana bolts were enough to put down almost anything at her level as long as she could hit it, and it wasn''t too fast. Now she was level 15, and level 14 monsters took two bolts if she could hit critical weak points. Titus was practicing his [Critical Strike] skill by pointing them out to her. It may or may not have actually been helping him level the skill, but he was able to see the weaknesses. However, she didn''t have the preternatural ability to hit them like he did when using the skill. Still, it made their hunting even more effective.


    The only time Titus had to step in was after she had pumped six mana bolts into a level 20 creature, and it was getting a little too close. Titus stepped in and skewered it, and with that, she leveled up to level 16. But the light was starting to fade, and they had to call it a day. She threw her extra points into power.


    Before the light fully vanished, Alice and Titus returned to the shop and picked out the wand that applied the Curse of Sloth. It seemed the best choice after their fight. If the biggest problem Alice had was hitting quick-moving targets. More levels would fix that, but as it was, her power was increasing four times faster than her speed or control, both of which would be incredibly essential for hitting hard things. But if she could apply some sort of blanket slowing effect, those abilities would become a lot less dangerous for her.


    Titus had approved and actually paid her back a little extra from what the spear had cost, and she emptied out her bank account. Then they went back to find an empty room above one of the bars where they could sleep.

 Chapter 44:

    Chapter 44:


    When Alice woke, Titus was already up and about and had breakfast ready. As she sat down in front of the plate of mostly still-warm eggs, gave him a mumbled greeting through blurry eyes.


    After some quick conversation and eating, she grumbled, "I don''t like waiting. I know we can''t get to the ants yet, but it feels like every day, the possibility of fixing this slips further and further away. We have no idea how long the tutorial will last. And if people come back first... well, I don''t know if that''d be terrible, but..."


    Titus shrugged. "It''s hard, but there''s not much you can do besides wait. We''re not really even waiting."


    "Really?"


    "Of course not. We''re getting stronger. You''re close to getting your next skill. One more level and I think we''ll be a lot more prepared for the ants once we finish our deal with learning our professions."


    "Yeah, but that could take a long time. And remember what happened last time¡­"


    "Yeah, well, hopefully not that long. Besides this time the monsters are already there. The class I want to go to starts at nine," Titus said, producing the brochure. "What do you need?" he asked.


    "Mostly just scrap metal," she said, accepting the inscribing pen from Titus as he handed it over. She had given it to him, along with her wand, to store for the night rather than leave them on the bedside table. She tucked the wand into her pocket and the pen behind her ear.


    "Just scrap metal?" he clarified.


    "Yeah. Um, maybe I''ll need to get a better pen at some point, but for now, this should work," she said.


    "Okay," he said. "I''m going to need to buy a cauldron. And possibly ingredients, too."


    Alice winced. "That''s going to be a problem. Maybe... do we need to go back to the shop first?"


    Titus shook his head. "No. I picked up a cauldron while you were grabbing the wand. It''s nothing special and didn''t cost that much, but I''m a little concerned about what we need to get for the lesson. If ingredients aren''t supplied..."


    "Well, the NPC said that was only for the small, introductory lessons that the ingredients were supplied," Alice said. "But I don''t see a list of anything."


    "That''s my concern exactly," Titus agreed. "Either it''s all theory, or we won''t know until we try to sign up. I do have a decent amount of monster corpses stored in my inventory," he said. "And it does let me take certain parts of them out as if they''re special."


    Alice blinked. "I hadn''t realized it."


    "Yeah. The more I work with inventory, the better it seems to get. I can see all sorts of details about the items I have stored in it. For example, that wand of sloth has five charges in it that can be recharged by feeding it mana."


    Alice looked down at the wand she pulled out of her pocket. "Interesting. I wasn''t sure how that would work. It did say it wasn''t a consumable item, so I figured it would just kind of work by firing off charges, maybe at a set rate or something. Or maybe by channeling my mana into some sort of design."


    "Maybe," Titus said. "Those are reasonable assumptions, but when I was grabbing it for you, I noticed that there was more information about it."


    "Okay," Alice said. "That''s actually really useful to know. Thank you. But," she said, "how will we know if you have the right stuff?"


    Titus shrugged. "I guess we hope."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    After breakfast, they headed over to the guild hall, where the same NPC lady greeted them. Titus signed up for a lecture and followed her into the back room while Alice tinkered around with some of the metal they had picked up on the way.


    Titus had used his new spear, enchanted so that it was incredibly durable and sharp to cut a signpost into small pieces for Alice to engrave on. They weren''t as useful as complete blanks, but the odd shapes and holes of the steel allowed her to practice working on non-conventional objects.


    She drew lines with the pen, forming shapes with the mana paths and making it produce certain effects. She was sure there was more to engraving than just moving the mana around in certain patterns to produce a few effects. She would have to learn those patterns as she went, either by experience or through a book. But as it was, things were coming along nicely. It was a language, something that she was still working out but inherently made sense to her.


    Alice fell into a trance as she carved little lines by feeding mana into the pen and drawing on the scraps of metal. Some heated things, others produced light or sound when dropped. She combined some of them together to make some improvised flashbangs, setting aside three of them for Titus when he got back as actual useful items.


    The current one wasn''t working the way she had wanted it to though. It was supposed to project a constant force downwards and levitate. Still, it kept spinning and then forcing itself down into the table harder than it should.


    She attempted to add stabilizing thrusters to the side, but something was not going right. It wasn''t just that the balance was off, but the internal structure of the enchantment wasn''t balanced properly. It was supposed to be done by doing calculations and sensing positions before adjusting the amount of thrust.


    Something in the operation she was doing wasn''t lining up properly, and the math that was supposed to be done internally via the circuits she had wasn''t quite operating as it should. She was going through it step by step, drawing her findings on the table, when finally something clicked.


    She tossed aside the piece and started over, this time not trying to draw the generalized math machine she had initially tried to cram into it, but simply only the calculations that would be necessary using rough estimation instead of exact numbers.


    It wasn''t going to be perfect, but when she slowly, hesitantly released the piece of metal over the table, instead of spinning out of control or flinging across the room or anything that she might have expected, it hovered for a second and then slowly sunk down while listing to one side. Alice smiled.


    Okay. Okay, she thought to herself. As long as I don''t overcomplicate it, I should be able to get something reasonable out of this.


    ***


    Titus came back a few hours later, and Alice greeted him by tossing a piece of metal at his face, which stopped and hovered six inches before his outstretched palm that he had used to catch it.


    "Huh?" he said, and she smiled. "That''s pretty clever."


    "Yeah," Alice said, resisting the urge to walk him through exactly how she had done it. It was a lesson she had learned from her time in school that not everyone had the same interests as she did. "How''d your thing go?" she asked.


    He smiled and produced a pinkish potion in his hand. "Health potions this time?" Alice guessed.


    Titus wiggled his head back and forth. "Sort of. Not exactly hit point recovery, but should heal you a little bit."


    "Did you have all the ingredients?"


    Titus nodded. "Yes. It seems that if we just needed some sort of vitality energy, almost any monster part would do. But it''s a good thing I had gotten my cauldron because I certainly needed it." Titus sat down next to her, plunking out several of the bottles.


    "Interesting. It was kind of odd that we''d picked up healing pills from the shop last time, but they have healing potions as well."


    "It seems that pills are mostly just a concentrated form of the potion in some ways. There are also things called elixirs," Titus explained. "The professor mentioned those are more like injectables. Different levels. Not really all alchemy or, I guess, more specialized branches of alchemy."


    "Okay," Alice asked. "Anything about the ants, though? Have we made any progress on that front?"


    Titus shook his head. "No, though I''m starting to get a few ideas. It will be something about extracting essences from monsters."


    "So we need some ant corpses?" Alice asked, and Titus produced one on the table for a second before taking it back into his inventory after Alice flinched at its sudden appearance.


    "I already got some. Do you need to take more lessons, though?" she asked.


    Titus shrugged one shoulder. "One more would probably get me there, but I don''t know if I need it. It''d be a lot more testing otherwise."


    "Um, I think we can afford one more lesson," Alice said. "Especially if we just need to go out and hunt some more."


    Titus nodded. "Yeah, I think so as well. There''s the lesson I want to take."


    Interrupting their conversation, Titus''s phone began to ring.

 Chapter 45:

    Chapter 45:


    Alice stared as Titus pulled the phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table, face up. They both were surprised to see a random number ringing. She had half expected some alarm or calendar event.


    "You think it''s a spam call?" Alice asked after the second ring.


    Titus shrugged. "I haven''t gotten any. Have you?"


    "No," she shook her head. "Not even a robocall, surprisingly."


    Titus looked at the phone. "It''s not even my phone."


    "Well, you only gave your number to one person," Alice reminded him. "You should answer her."


    Titus nodded and hit the accept button, putting it on speakerphone. A couple of seconds later, they heard a choppy voice say, "Titus," and then it cut off for a few seconds before coming back in. "Near Chicago," and then it cut off again.


    "Elaine?" Titus asked, speaking loudly and clearly, enunciating his words carefully. "Elaine, is that you? Are you okay"


    "Yes,"the phone crackled loudly. "Titus, it''s me.¡± Crackle. ¡°Fine"


    "You''re breaking up," Titus said.


    "Titus, we''re near," crackle, crackle, crackle. "Chicago," crackle, crackle, crackle. "Few days," crackle.


    Titus leaned forward and checked the phone. "You barely have any service," he said. "I think we won''t be able to rely on the internet for much longer. Near Chicago?"


    Alice motioned to Titus as Elaine continued to try to relay her message. "Why doesn''t she just text?" Alice asked as Titus pointed at her laptop.


    ¡°I can¡¯t understand you, can you text?¡±


    Crackle. "Fine,¡± Came the disappointed reply.


    Titus rolled his eyes and hung up on Elaine, sending her a quick text message asking her to type it out. Alice pulled up her tracking software and reverse input the number, finding that Elaine was nearly halfway around the world from them even with the reshuffling. How she managed to get so far in such a short time, Alice had no idea. It must have been a lot of driving and a lot of fighting.


    Apparently, Elaine was near Chicago. According to the GPS though, it looked like she was somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Still, Alice couldn''t really say anything as to what was actually there.


    "We should go there soon," she said.


    Titus nodded. "I really want to go now. But we can''t."


    Alice shook her head in agreement. "We cannot. But it does put another timeline in place. If the infrastructure is really failing, we need to get it up and running with the supercomputer center as soon as possible. We don''t have enough time for you to take another class or whatever. We need to start experimenting now with your alchemy."


    Titus nodded. "I suppose I can get some work done in the next couple of hours before the class starts, but I''m really not sure I can do it without some more instruction," he said.


    Alice grimaced. "If you need to, but we don''t have time to just level up. We need to move quicker. Things are failing." Getting an idea she pulled up a report she shouldn''t have had access to. "It looks like satellites are coming down. I think we''re looking at some sort of cascade effect. If something like the Kessler syndrome is happening, we probably only have hours, if not days, seeing the rate of drop-off."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Kessler syndrome?" Titus cocked his head. "I haven''t heard of that one."


    "It''s where satellite debris damages other satellites, and it circles around the globe, taking them all out. One bad micrometeorite or satellite collision not mediated by people monitoring them, and we can lose all communication in the span of a few hours, at least all satellite ones. And clearly, the cell towers are pretty much entirely compromised," she said, gesturing at the phone. "You''re on a 2G network. I didn''t even know those were still around."


    Titus grimaced. "Do you think Elaine needs our help?" he asked, waiting for the text message to arrive. Surprisingly, it still hadn''t.


    "I don''t know," Alice said. "It sounds like she wanted us to meet somewhere, but I couldn''t tell if she was in danger. She knew we wouldn''t be able to get there if she was in danger. She didn''t sound panicked."


    "That woman is never panicked," Titus cut in. "I would not judge anything based on the tone of her voice."


    Alice nodded, taking that in stride. "Well, we can''t do anything to help her immediately. And if she''s trapped, hopefully, she can wait an extra day. But more likely, I think it has something to do with¡ª" Titus''s phone chimed with a message.


    "That took a really long time," Alice said.


    Titus picked up the phone to read it and said, "Ah, yeah, she''s not really in trouble. It doesn''t sound like it. She''s being a bit cryptic as if she doesn''t want someone to read her messages."


    "Do you think someones been intercepting her stuff?" Alice asked.


    "She probably thinks so.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I don''t think she necessarily knew I was listening in until I spoke." Alice said.


    "If she even heard you speak. It would have been hard to know."


    "Maybe. But I could read her text messages. So maybe she has a point."


    "You can?" Titus asked.


    Alice rolled her eyes. Titus sighed. "Yeah. So, it looks like we''re going to have a family meeting near Chicago in several days."


    "Do you want to go?" Alice asked. She felt a surprising bit of nervousness. Was it that Titus would want to go without her, or was it that she didn''t want to meet these dangerous people? Maybe once they finished their job and mission, Titus wouldn''t have any reason to stick around. But then again, maybe there was no reason for him to stay because everything would be taken care of. Alice wasn''t sure what part of it was lying to herself, but she felt like she wasn''t telling herself the full truth.


    Titus, though, answered, pulling her out of her thoughts, "I think that we might need to go. I don''t really want to, but if we''re going to introduce you to everyone¡­.. Well, you have the [Agelessness] trait. And I think getting everyone on the same page sooner rather than later is probably a good idea. There are people who, even if I don''t sincerely trust them with my life, are the ones I know best in the entire world. If we want to be able to help the people getting back from this tutorial, assuming they''re not as well equipped as we are, it''d be best if we coordinated."


    Alice nodded. "I see. I think we probably need to talk to them anyway. For many reasons," she said, still not exactly looking forward to that.


    Titus smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Me neither. Anyways, I guess we''ll have to put off hunting until after I''ve tried a few things," he said as he plopped a massive metal cauldron down on the table, pulling out a knife and a cutting board as well. He started chopping apart something unidentifiable but smelled slightly acidic.


    Alice pulled her shirt up over her nose. "Oh, gross. Do you have to do that here?"


    Titus looked at her strangely and then nodded. "Of course," and then went back to his work without further explanation.


    Alice stood up and paced across the room, the eyes of the NPC lady tracking her as she attempted to escape the smell. The butchered monster was one thing when it was outside. But now, in close quarters and without the excitement of fighting it, the thing was gross.Alice thought as she paced by the far wall. Designs and swirls of the patterns of enchantments spun through her head. "Titus," she said after a few minutes, "Can I work on your shovel?"


    He raised an eyebrow. "You don''t want to enchant the spear?"


    "I do, but I don''t want to mess it up. I need some practice on actual items, not just bits of metal."


    Titus handed her the shovel. The blade had long since been reprofiled into more of a leaf-shape. The steel was doing decently well at holding an edge, but was still nothing like a properly tempered weapon. She took it over to the far side, putting it down on a table, and hunched over it, starting to draw tiny little pathways along the blade.

 Chapter 46:

    Chapter 46:


    Alice lost herself in the shovel. She traced lines all throughout the edge, making it sharp, and then up and down the handle, increasing the strength of the wood. She wanted to replicate the return-to-hand effect that the pilum had, but she messed it up halfway through. Rather than flying back as soon as it was thrown, it simply remained stationary. Frustrated, she scratched off that part of the enchantment, rendering it inoperable. It took up a decent amount of space, and the shovel was effectively ruined as a weapon, but she had other ideas.


    She didn''t notice when Titus went to his second class. Only when he sat a plate of food down in front of her did she look up from the finishing touches of her first real enchantment.


    "What?" she said, rubbing her eyes, the strain of focusing on such minute detail giving her a headache.


    "You seemed lost in your work," Titus said, pushing the plate and holding a loosely wrapped burrito closer toward her. "You need to eat."


    She looked down at the food in surprise. "Huh?" she said. "What is it? I don''t think anyone''s ever pulled me out of my flow state with food before."


    "Uh, sorry?" Titus said as if it was a question.


    "No, it''s okay, I was done."


    "No, I meant sorry no one''s pulled you out for food before. I know what it''s like to be focused on something, but you need to remember to eat."


    Alice grimaced, remembering many missed meals throughout college and her childhood. "Yeah, I suppose I do."


    It had taken a long time for her to develop a somewhat reasonable relationship with food when she had a steady supply at college. The first couple of years had seen some unhealthy habits, and it was only when she had to continually clear out a stuffed mini fridge that she started to realize there might be a problem. Even now, she probably still had several nonperishable foods squirreled away in the dorm room she''d left behind several days ago.


    She pushed the shovel towards him as she picked up the burrito and took a bite, finding it decent but lacking salsa. Titus read the look on her face and shrugged.


    "Sorry, forgot to pick it up."


    "How''d you know?" she said.


    "Something was missing with it, and I didn''t put any salsa on it."


    "Yeah, it''s hard to call it Mexican food," she said.


    "Well, it''s what you get," he said with a smile. He picked up the shovel, popping it back into inventory. He closed his eyes for a second and then shot her a glare. "Really? It could have been useful."


    Alice chuckled, keeping the rice from spraying out of her mouth as she laughed. "Yeah, I kind of messed up the first enchantment. And, well, bonuses to digging."


    "It doesn''t even have a real blade anymore. Good luck digging with it."


    "If you start digging, it will have a full shovel blade."


    "Really? I got to see this," Titus said, striding to the door. Alice picked up her burrito and followed, her pen tucked behind her ear again. Right outside, he found a planter and plunged the tip of the leaf-bladed shovel spear into the dirt. A shimmering arc of force appeared and flickered as he lifted a shovel scoop full of dirt. After a couple of seconds, the enchantment drained away and disappeared, causing most of the earth to pile back into the pot.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I hope it was worth it," he said, giving Alice a mock glare.


    "Yeah. See this part?" Alice tapped the handle. "I was trying to get the return-to-hand enchantment going so you could throw it like the pilum. It''s a simple enough enchantment, so I should be able to do it. But here," she said, pointing to a specific area, "I messed up the timing. I would need to take apart the pilum to get a complete look, but I have a few other ideas on how to do it, so it just doesn''t work. Well, not exactly how it''s supposed to. Here and here," She indicated. "I intentionally broke the enchantment. Otherwise, it might be returning to you faster than you''d like."


    "Yeah, that doesn''t sound good at all."


    "No, it wouldn''t have been. It''s a good thing I recognized my mistakes and checked them before I had you test them," Alice said.


    Titus laughed. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Did you learn enough to try again?"


    Alice nodded, though she didn''t feel nearly as secure as she was trying to appear. "Ready to try with just a better version of the spear."


    Alice nodded again but made a wavering motion with her hand. "Sure. I already have one thing that returns to my hand. What about you? What progress did you make?"


    "Yeah, I made some progress," Titus said. "I think I can figure out how to make monster repellent for a specific kind of monster, but it''s going to take some ingredients that I don''t have. I have plenty of ant corpses, but there are likely many things I haven''t thought of that may be required to actually get it to work."


    Alice tilted her head at him. "So what you''re saying is we need to go monster hunting."


    "That''s exactly what I''m saying," Titus said with a smile.


    Minutes later, they were walking down the street. Alice had her wand ready to apply the Curse of Sloth to anything nearby. But she wasn''t hogging all the experience this time. Sure, she was only one level from her next skill. Still, Titus said there was something about getting ingredients himself that might make a difference. He wasn''t 100% sure, but she wasn''t going to contradict him now.


    When she tried to pin him down on exactly what they were looking for, he was rather vague, saying simply that he would know it when he saw it. This left Alice feeling deeply unsatisfied but more than happy to explore the edges of the city with him while taking down anything that got in their way.


    They stayed far away from the ants'' hunting grounds, not wanting to be swarmed and chased off again. Most of the things they found were solitary creatures, ones that either had a way of escaping the ants or simply hadn''t been found yet. Lots of plant monsters that the ants seemed to ignore waited in ambush. Things that looked like any other tree along the line of decorative planters would suddenly snake down, attempting to snare them. Pollen would spread spores that left Alice hacking and coughing until she drank a health potion. Leaves would shoot out like razor blades and tear through her clothes and skin. Somehow, she seemed to be getting the worst of it.


    Titus was quick enough that almost nothing was able to touch him, at least not around their level. It was good, though, because Alice''s power was doing a decent job of making sure her wounds weren''t too terrible. The stat was really pulling its weight, even though she suffered serious penalties for physical activity compared to magical ones.


    She was really interested in seeing if she could change those stats eventually. Not that she wanted more physical stats; she was all in on magic. But it would be nice if she could move an extra point over. She needed a lot more data to figure out exactly what the difference was. Did everyone have different magic and physical distributions? Did it always add up to seven? Was it based on gender lines, or was it more flexible?


    She had no idea. She wished she had been able to press Elaine more on her stats, but the woman had been relatively tight-lipped about the actual details of her character sheet, something Titus had been as well. Alice wasn''t too surprised. She wouldn''t mind sharing her numbers, and maybe next time when they would trust each other more.


    "That''s it," Titus said, interrupting her train of thought. Pointing to something Alice couldn''t see, he said, "There, right there, third tree down, up in the branches."


    Alice squinted. "I don''t see anything. But what is it?"


    "It''s the monster we need. Or technically, its tail. Come on," he said and dashed forward. Alice pumped her legs hard to keep up as she watched a gray blur hop from the tree he pointed to the next one further away.


    "The fuck?" Alice said as she read the label. [Killer squirrel - lvl 24] was all she could make out besides a flash of gray.

 Chapter 47:

    Chapter 47:


    It took a surprisingly long time for Alice to run out of breath, even at a full sprint. She managed to maintain it for nearly a dozen blocks, and even though her legs were burning, she could keep pumping them. However, Titus was significantly farther ahead of her as they chased the squirrel leaping from treetop to treetop.


    She was no longer amazed the twelfth time it leaped the entire width of a street across the intersection to the next set of trees. As it continued to dash, Titus, for the fourth time, flung his pilum. Still, the scattershot approach wasn''t working well enough for their purposes. The squirrel could dodge and weave between the various instances of the weapon his skill produced.


    Alice''s [Life Drain] was having a significantly reduced effect with the distance it was putting between them. She did her best to keep up, thinking she was slowing down a little bit. Her ability was meant for maintaining long fights and replenishing her resources, not taking down a small, fast creature.


    Realizing that their strategy wasn''t getting anywhere, she skidded to a stop and pulled out the wand from her waistband. With careful aim, she pointed and pushed mana into it. It activated the stored spell, and her hand buzzed like it was getting slightly shocked. She could see the mental ripple outwards. It wasn''t a single pinpoint but rather a cone, and it just barely caught the squirrel, which slowed down. Not significantly, maybe 15% or so, but it didn''t come to a screeching halt or become trapped in some sort of stasis field like she had hoped. No, it simply slowed. But now it was slower than Titus.


    As Titus got closer, it stopped trying to run and spent more time dodging as he attempted to grab it or kill it. But even though it was slow, it was still nimble, quick, small, and hard to hit. Alice approached as the combat continued, Titus receiving several bites along his forearms as he grew more and more frustrated. But anytime the squirrel attempted to get out of range, it was forced to dodge, and Titus made sure it couldn''t go anywhere else.


    Alice took careful aim before trying something new. She reached out with her mind and attempted to guide her [Mana Bolt] to the target. She closed her eyes and fired, feeling the bolt curve in the air and hit. She opened her eyes, expecting to see a toasted squirrel, but instead saw a small crater on the pavement. The squirrel was peppered with fragments of asphalt that knocked it to the side of the building. Titus pounced on it, grabbed it, and snapped its neck with a swift and brutal motion.


    Alice felt her stomach roil slightly at the ruthless violence to a small, furry creature but quickly suppressed it. It was a killer squirrel, after all, and the bites on Titus''s forearms were starting to turn green. Alice frantically pointed that out to him, and he nodded calmly, taking out one of the health potions he had made earlier and drinking it. It took four of the six potions before the wounds completely healed, but he triumphantly returned, the squirrel dangling by its tail in his grasp.


    "That''s gross!" Alice said.


    Titus shrugged as it disappeared into his inventory.


    "So what did we need that for? I didn''t imagine Killer Squirrel was kind of a specific ingredient."


    Titus shook his head. "It wasn''t just this squirrel, but it has a certain property to its fur that I need. I don''t know how to describe it."


    "Some sort of chemical or something?" Alice asked, not quite understanding what Titus was getting at.


    "No, I''m not sure how it is in enchanting, but it seems like the System is kind of making up a bunch of bullshit and just going with it. I don''t actually believe there are magical components in these items, at least not how I understand it. From what I can see, there''s no link between chemical and metaphysical. Still, rather the System is using it as some sort of verification that you put in the work. I''m not really sure."


    Alice shook her head. "I don''t know if I buy that. That doesn''t seem like how the System would work. It seems like there''s probably something we''re missing here with the mana connection."


    "I don''t know," Titus said with a shrug. "It seems a little bit like bullshit to me."


    "Yeah, I can imagine why it would. But maybe there''s something to be said for witches'' brews after all."


    Titus laughed and shook his head. "Believe me, I''ve met many, many witches over my years, and not once have I ever seen any shred of evidence that they might actually have something to it."


    Alice looked at him. "You weren''t predisposed to believe that stuff?"


    "I was for a very long time," he said. "Remember, I was a shaman for, well, actually, a good chunk of my life. But it was never more than theater and reading the weather and just plain old experience."Stolen novel; please report.


    Alice shook her head in disbelief. "Really? All this? All the proof you had that something more than what we understood was going on, and you never saw any evidence for it?"


    "No," he said. "I didn''t. And believe me, our belief was that we were seeing magic. We just never saw any other instance of magic besides us. And when we eventually thought that it wasn''t even magic for us, of course, we didn''t see anything to contradict that."


    Alice grimaced. "I guess it''s kind of hard not to believe you when you say it like that."


    "Yeah, it was weird. It was a very weird existence. But, well, we should head back."


    "Yeah, we should."


    They headed back to the guildhall, and Alice watched Titus set up his cauldron. He had a small burner going underneath it in the common room, where the NPC didn''t complain. She was worried about fumes and just general safety, but the slight cackling he had going on over the cauldron as he sprinkled in bits of the squirrel fur with other ingredients they''d picked up along the way or he had purchased from the shop on the way back made Alice decide not to say anything. There was a certain amount of ridiculousness watching him play around. He must have felt her attention on him because he stopped laughing and looked up.


    "Sorry, that''s probably a little creepy," he said, and Alice nodded.


    "Yeah, a little bit."


    "It just reminds me of alchemy back in my day. But it actually works. Remember the tricks of turning lead into gold and all those sorts of things? It''s quite satisfying."


    "I''m glad you are enjoying it," Alice said with a roll of her eyes. "Can I have your axe?"


    "Yes, but I don''t want to get it back with just and improvement for cutting down trees."


    "Fine," Alice said. "If I can''t get a return enchantment working, I''ll just make some other basic improvements to it. Right now, it''s just a hunk of steel. And a¡­ what is it? Plastic handle?"


    Titus shrugged. "Some sort of composite, I think."


    "Anyways," Alice said, "I''ll probably just strengthen it."


    "I don''t actually want a return enchantment on it. I don''t think throwing a double-bladed axe is particularly very effective. I have better options," Titus said, pulling out one of his knives.


    "So, just strengthening and durability?"


    "Could you set it on fire?"


    "How is that more effective than having a return enchantment?"


    "A flaming axe is cool," Titus said thoughtfully as he peered down into the cauldron.


    Alice rolled her eyes. "Maybe a wind blade?"


    "Sure," Titus said. "I still think a flaming axe would be cooler, but that''s just the inner child in me. I''ve lit my axes on fire enough to know that it''s only useful in certain circumstances."


    "It actually is useful?" Alice asked, slightly surprised.


    "It''s a good intimidation tactic. And also, if you''re doing a night raid or fighting at night and you need light, you might have trouble carrying a torch when you''re holding two axes."


    "That''s actually not a bad point, but you can see in the dark now."


    "Yeah. And I don''t know if the intimidation factor of a flaming axe is going to make much of a difference to ants, but a wind blade could be nice. Something that could come out horizontally. A good medium-range area-of-effect attack would be nice. The pilum works for a longer range and massive area, but it would be nice to have something for large amounts of enemies that are slightly up close."


    "I''ll see what I can do," Alice said as she took the axe, and Titus went back to making his monster repellent. She sat on the other side of the common room, her back to Titus so that he wouldn''t distract her, and got to enchanting.


    She started with the handle. Something simple, just basic reinforcement enchantments. The script was better at distributing the force and minimizing it however she could, making sure that any weaknesses in the material were avoided. Not that she actually knew what the weaknesses were, but the enchantments could read impacts slightly and then distribute them to places that were least likely to break.


    It was probably overkill, but it was definitely giving her an idea of how to add redundancies and fail-safes. She had no idea how far along this would have been in the classes. Still, she was confident that while she might have been able to squeeze some other enchantment in, this would last far longer than any other durability enchantment she had figured out yet.


    As she worked her way up the handle, she got more and more complex, not only distributing the force but also dampening shock and reverb to make it easier to grip and prevent it from getting cold or piercing damage. It was excessive, but the work got really complicated when she started inscribing the blade.


    All along the blade, she produced tiny, tiny little symbols and lines that kept it perpetually sharp and increased the mass of the head the moment before impact. It was a complicated set of runes that had some detection runes right behind the sharpness. As soon as it pierced more than a couple of millimeters in, the weight and momentum behind the head could almost triple. She was rather proud of that effect.


    Then, with the large flat spaces of the blade, she went on engraving a wind blade enchantment, something just like Titus had described. But she messed it up the first time. Scratching it out, she replaced it with, in the small little corner left, a torch enchantment for it to glow. Maybe that would at least be useful. Flipping it over, she attempted again to make a wind blade on the other side. It wouldn''t be nearly as effective as if she had succeeded on both sides of the ax, but it would still get one charge off after a certain amount of mana was fed into it.


    Hopefully, she wouldn''t have to charge the enchantment for Titus all the time. He should be able to figure out how to put mana into it, right?

 Chapter 48:

    Chapter 48:


    Now that she was finished with her crafting project, Alice looked up and checked her surroundings. Night had fallen, and her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn''t eaten dinner. She got up and stretched, working the kink out of her neck and practicing motions she had developed after long hours of sitting and working uninterrupted. She stretched and flexed her fingers.


    It was weird. Normally, both hands were aching from typing, or her eyes were tired from staring at a screen, but right now neither was the case. One hand was slightly cramped from holding a pen in such an awkward position for so long, but her eyes felt perfectly fine. She knew she had spent hours tightly gripping a pencil and moving with precision. Her hand should have been on fire, but her improved body was coming through significantly.


    Picking up her project, she returned to where Titus was scooping out sections of his potion into little vials.


    "Did it work?" Alice asked as she got closer.


    Titus looked up. "Ah, I see you''re out of the trance," he said, producing a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it and sliding it across the table to her.


    She stopped it with one hand and plopped the axe down, its haft extended towards Titus as she sat down and tore into the pizza with the ferocity of a wildebeest.


    "I''m not sure," Titus said, and Alice took a second to realize he was answering her question. "I haven''t tested it yet, but well, it should do something to the ants, right?"


    "Well, we have our test subject," Alice said through a mouthful of pizza. ¡°I hope it¡¯s still alive.¡±


    "It should be,," Titus said. "I was waiting for you to wake up before I tested it."


    "Thanks," Alice said before taking another bite. "I''m curious, but I''m not really sure what I can do to help."


    "Not sure I need much help," Titus said, rolling his shoulders as he pulled the now-empty cauldron into his inventory before popping it right back out again.


    Alice raised a questioning eyebrow, her mouth too full to talk.


    "Easy way to clean it," he explained. "I''ll have to find someplace to dump the empty slot of goop, but I can pull out just the cauldron from my inventory."


    "That''s incredibly broken," Alice said, her mind whirring through all the possibilities.


    Titus just shrugged. "Yeah, could be, but... well, yeah." A thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Anyways, you want to take that while we go test?"


    Alice shook her head and swallowed. "No, I don''t really want to see the ant while I''m still eating."


    "Fair enough," Titus said, producing another slice of pizza and starting in on it himself. His much larger bites meant that despite her head start and ravenous hunger, he still finished significantly before her and was drumming his fingers on the table, waiting for her to finish. She slowed down just to spite him, actually enjoying the pizza.


    "Where did you get this?" she asked.


    "There''s a place down the street that had a lot of stuff prepped. The sauce still smelled fine, and the cheese was frozen, but it didn''t take long to make a quick dough."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Wait, you made this from scratch?" she asked.


    Titus nodded. "Yeah."


    "Damn, this is really good," she said. "I thought you maybe found a pizza place, but I guess that doesn''t really make sense. Well, it could have been like a frozen pizza or¡ª"


    Titus gave her a withering look.


    "Okay, not frozen pizza like from the store, but, like, you know, some good pizza that was frozen and then reheated and doesn''t taste like it," she backpedaled.


    "Well, thank you. I had lots of practice making good pizza during that time spent in Italy," Titus said.


    "All right, fine," Alice said, finishing her slice. "Let''s go test out that monster repellent you made."


    "I''m not sure it''s actually monster repellent. It''s something like ant pheromones," Titus said, producing a bottle and handing it over to her.


    She looked at it and shrugged. "Whatever you say. We''ll see if it works." She half wanted another slice of pizza, but she was honestly too curious to wait.


    Before they did their testing, they went outside and found the car. Titus pulled out a vial before they opened the trunk.


    "Should I drink this?"


    "Ew. How about you put it on your wrists like we would cologne or perfume?" Alice suggested.


    Titus shrugged, popping open the bottle and doing just that, a small dab. When they opened the trunk, Alice was around the side of the car, and Titus had his spear ready. The ant only touched an antenna before climbing out and circling around, tapping its antenna on the ground and then against Titus'' legs before standing there, not doing anything, not trying to attack, not trying to run away.


    Titus jumped back and his whole body shivered briefly in disgust.


    "Interesting," Alice said. "Try walking."


    Titus walked away from the car, and the ant followed at his heel as if it were a well-trained puppy.


    "Huh," Titus said, juking right and left. The ant stayed locked on his heel the entire time. He pointed over at another car, and the ant moved. "Um," Titus said, "What do we do?"


    "Well, it seems like you have a pet," Alice said, smothering her laughter into her hand. "Guess you made something that attracts rather than repels."


    "I think we should probably just say it''s a failure. We can dispatch this and go capture another test subject for the next round."


    "No!" Alice said. "You can''t kill Antony."


    "Antony?" Titus asked, confused, looking down at the ant. "Are you serious, Alice? You can''t name the monsters."


    "It''s not a monster, it''s your pet."


    "No, it''s an ant monster," Titus said. "Sure, it might be okay now, but when this pheromone wears off, or we get close to the other ants'' pheromones, and it tries to kill us, I don''t want you hesitating because you named it Anthony."


    "Tony wouldn''t do that," Alice said.


    "Tony?" Titus exclaimed but cut off mid-protest, his eyes skipping back and forth in a motion that Alice had long recognized as someone reading a system window.


    "I was right, wasn''t I?" Alice said after Titus just stood there.


    "Yeah," he said in a defeated tone. "I got a skill evolution."


    "Oh," Alice asked, excitement bubbling. "What happened?"


    "Well, apparently, it didn''t like the fact that I hadn''t used [Nature''s Cloak] much, not that many chances to hide. And it evolved into [Nature''s Blessing], which comes with a companion," he said. "Welcome to the team, Tony." The level of enthusiasm in Titus'' voice couldn''t have been lower. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ ants.¡±


    "See, Anthony is a great name," Alice said.


    "No. It''s one the System has apparently picked. Calling it not Anthony, but just Tony. So now I have a pet ant named Tony. Thanks, Alice."


    Alice just grinned. "I think he''s cute."


    "You were the one who just didn''t want to eat near it."


    "Yeah, well, I thought it wasn''t going to work. I needed to kill it, and I didn''t want bug guts on my pizza," she said. "Also, they''re a lot cuter when they''re not trying to kill us."


    This time, when Titus pointed, the ant went where he wanted it to. When Alice scanned it, it no longer said [Level 10 Ant Monster], but identified it as Titus'' companion.


    "Do you have any more of that pizza?" Alice asked as they went back inside, the ant sitting patiently by the door.

 Chapter 49:

    Chapter 49:


    When Titus went back to his experiments, Alice left him be. She might have been able to help, but she had too much to catch up on with her own projects. Before he was totally lost in his work, Alice had him give her all of his backup knives, and she set to inscribing them. They weren''t anything fancy¡ªjust everlasting sharpness, durability, and repair. There wasn''t enough space to do anything super impressive, and she hadn''t had a flash of inspiration to make them do anything special. By the third or fourth one, she had the process down, and the rest were completed quickly.


    Once she was done, Alice stood up and looked around for other things to enchant. She figured she might go outside and find a stick to try making herself a wand. If she could examine the wand that had produced the Curse of Sloth, perhaps she could mimic it, not that she had much use for it. Maybe a second one? Maybe she could try some other effect.


    As she walked outside, she saw Tony still waiting and had an idea. Alice opened the door and snapped her fingers, trying to get the ant''s attention, but it didn''t budge. It was sitting there, waiting for Titus to tell it to move again. Reaching down, Alice touched it gently. The hard chitin felt odd on her fingertips. It wasn''t the light tickling feeling of an ant crawling on her finger, as she had half expected against all reason, but rather a hard shell that felt more like plastic. An antenna twitched, but it didn''t react aggressively.


    With slightly shaking hands, she reached around and grabbed its middle section, lifting it off the ground. Its feet wiggled for a couple of seconds as she positioned it in front of her, wanting to put it on her hip but not feeling comfortable doing that. She slowly carried it through the door and brought the ant over to her table. She set it down, and it didn''t move. She stared at her with its multifaceted eyes, only touching an antenna here and there as she moved around and examined it.


    Unsurprisingly, the NPC lady didn''t come to reprimand her for bringing an animal or monster into the Guild house. She just watched. Maybe it was okay because it was a companion. She didn''t really know, but if she wasn''t being told off, she didn''t care.


    Alice scrutinized the ant, looking at its six legs, each about a thumb''s breadth in thickness. The antenna, the eyes, the carapace, and its mandibles were missing some of the other biological functions of an ordinary ant. There was no mouth on the bottom of its head nor any sort of gland on its thorax to shoot acid or whatever ants did.


    Finished with her examination, Alice tapped the tip of her inscribing pen to the ant''s carapace. "I think there''s something that I can do for you, Tony," she said aloud. The ant only twitched an antenna in reply. "Just to make sure this doesn''t hurt," she muttered as she went to one of its two-toed feet and lightly inscribed a very simple rune to strengthen its pinching grip. Surprisingly, the ant didn''t flinch, and the lines in the carapace glowed a bright orange. Alice smiled at the little joke.


    "Well, Tony, are you ready for your upgrade?"


    The ant pushed its antenna. She wasn''t sure if it had learned its name or whether it just knew she was doing something. Could ants even hear? Alice had no idea, but she started with the middle legs, figuring they were the least important. She began to scrawl inscriptions, traveling from the base to the front, improving its grip, then its speed and strength, along with adding durability and hardness to the carapace in small, looping lines. It was a fractal pattern of sorts.


    She amused herself as she worked with the durability pattern, watching it slowly spread up the legs and across the carapace. The larger the volume, the larger the surface area, and the slower it spread. But she continued with it nonetheless, the looping stripes across its back improving its durability. She stopped giving any of the other enchantments for now, rather just leaving space for them, as the durability enchantment covered the entire ant. It took her several hours, but soon, the ant''s carapace was dozens of times more durable than it had been before. She might have been able to split it with an axe with her power when she''d started, but now she doubted even Titus could injure it through purely physical might.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Alice smiled in satisfaction as the orange-striped ant stared back at her impassively. She hadn''t touched any of its sensory organs, not wanting to risk harming it in any lasting way. Now, Alice went back and filled in the blanks. It was like she had drawn an outline of an ant on a piece of paper and was now coloring it in. In the spots she''d left in her fractal pattern, she added inscriptions of strength and speed, improving its grip and the crushing force of its mandibles. Nothing incredibly fancy, but mostly just flexible, so the ant could do whatever it would do, just better. She didn''t have any amazing inspirational ideas like the axe triggering extra momentum when it had sunk into something. Nothing that fancy, though she did give it some options for burst speeds as well on the legs as just simple speed increases.


    When she was finally done, she sat back and admired her work. Titus, apparently also finished, sat on the table next to her, staring at the ant. "Do you use orange inscriptions because you named it Tony?" he asked, and Alice smiled.


    "No, but that would have been funny, wouldn''t it?"


    Titus just rolled his eyes. "Come here, Tony," he said, patting the ground next to his chair with his foot. The ant flashed off the table, launching several feet over the edge and crashing into the one next to it, knocking it over before standing up completely unharmed and scrambling over to Titus. Its movements were jerky and exaggerated as if it were a chimpanzee in zero gravity. Alice, for a second, was worried that she had overdone it. But as the ant crossed the dozen or so steps past where it had launched itself to return to its place at Titus''s side, its movements became more normal, more accustomed, just quicker, sharper, and more controlled.


    "That might take some getting used to," Titus said as Alice righted the table next to them and placed the chairs back up. Luckily, nothing had broken.


    "Ready for testing version two?" Alice asked Titus, and he held up a vial.


    "Yeah. Have you figured out the mana problem? Anything better than just drinking mana potions?"


    Alice tapped her lips. She had some ideas when inscribing Tony, but she wasn''t sure how practical they were. "I have considered making something like a Faraday cage," she said eventually, "but I''d have to be inside it. I have an idea about projecting a Faraday cage around me. Still, I''m not really sure there''s anything I can do besides maintain the mana I go in with. Even if I stop it from draining, which I think I can do, I won''t be able to recover mana besides through mana potions."


    Titus nodded. "Okay. Have you figured out how to stop it from draining mana from you?"


    "Mostly, it''s willpower, but I think so. It''s going to take me a little bit longer to set up, but I don''t know if it''ll be necessary."


    Titus frowned. "Why don''t you figure that out while I go get us a second test subject?"


    "Take Tony. Otherwise, he''ll be jealous," Alice said, and Titus stood up, pushing his chair back in and giving her a wave as he walked out of the guild hall. She was hesitant to let him go by himself, but she figured if anyone knew what he was doing, it would be Titus. And if he was just picking up a stray ant on the side, he couldn''t possibly go that wrong.


    Ignoring that for now, Alice pulled out one of the pieces of metal she had been thinking about and started to inscribe a complicated pattern. The issue was not that the effect was so complex. Not allowing mana to pass was one of the simplest barriers that enchantment could make. But what she was doing was trying to project that barrier beyond the little amulet she was making, and that was proving more complicated. She had to start over a few times before she eventually got it: a walking Faraday cage that could hang around her neck and protect her from outside mana.


    Would it stop mana-like spells? Could she fire a [Mana Bolt] through it from the inside? She had to do some testing, but she was pretty sure it would only stop the general ebb and flow of mana a weak amount. Not that it would hold up to any real force, either in or out. Hopefully, that wouldn''t disrupt the barrier or affect the tides of mana outside.


    Still, Alice went outside, activated her mana Faraday cage, and fired a [Mana Bolt]. She didn''t notice an effect either way. Presumably, it wouldn''t do anything to shield her. Still, it would let her move around without having to focus on maintaining her mana inside her. Hopefully.


    She looked around, thinking of something to do. He shouldn''t take too much longer. That was the hope, at least. They had to leave soon after all.

 Chapter 50:

    Chapter 50:


    Despite Alice''s worries, Titus returned relatively quickly. She had been preparing to mount a rescue mission if she couldn''t find him and Tony. But Alice shouldn''t have doubted him, despite the seeming inevitability that he would get lost after they split the party. She had to remind herself that this wasn''t some horror movie.


    He returned with several ants bound up tight, and Tony zipped around at his heels, fending off monsters. Alice couldn''t see Tony''s level, so she assumed it borrowed strength from Titus. The speed and ferocity of the little black and orange menace as it chased away an unholy abomination of a cat and a lizard surprised her. There was no noise or roar from it other than the patter of its feet on the asphalt and the clacking of its mandibles as it bit down, severing the lizard''s tail as it ran away.


    Alice just shook her head at Titus, who gave her a broad smile. "Miss me much?" he said.


    Alice let out a small laugh. "You were taking so long, I thought I would have to come out and get you."


    "Oh, I missed you too," he said as he set down the captured ants next to where she was standing and gave her a tight hug.


    Alice was surprised but returned the embrace with enthusiasm, squeezing a little tighter than he did. She hadn''t realized how much the worry had been eating away at her.


    Titus grunted. "Oof! That power is certainly adding up."


    Alice smiled as she stepped away. "Glad you''re okay."


    "Yeah. We might have roughed them up a bit, though, so I''m not sure that diving in right away is the best idea."


    Alice gave him a slight glare. "Let''s do some testing first, and then we can see."


    Titus held his hands up in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, we''ve stalled enough as it is."


    "I don''t know if I would call it stalling," Alice said.


    "If we tried to go in as we were, I doubt either of us would have made it to the supercomputer center, let alone into a place where we could actually plug something in," Titus argued calmly.


    Alice grimaced. "Probably. I still don''t like having to wait an extra day."


    "It shouldn''t make that much of a difference. We''ve been over this."


    "Yeah, I know, Titus. But let''s get on with it. Come on, we got to do some testing."


    "How are we going to do this?" Titus asked, reaching down with his knife and cutting the bonds of one ant, putting it on a leash which he held at arm''s length. The ant attempted to come at him, but the short leash wasn''t enough to let it get too close. With his other hand, he pulled out a vial from his inventory and uncorked it with his teeth, spitting the cork to the side. He poured the contents on his wrist. The ant switched targets and started pulling at the leash towards Alice.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Titus tossed her a bottle of pheromones, and Alice examined it. The identification simply came back as ant pheromones, but she copied Titus, putting some on like perfume. The ant calmed down and then began meandering in a circle.


    "I don''t know if it''s really working the way we want it to. It seems to be confusing the ant."


    "Yeah, but it''s not attacking," Titus said.


    "Okay, but let''s try it with some more."


    One by one, Titus released the ants, and they simply milled about as if looking for something. As Titus and Alice started walking away from the guild hall they were standing in front of, the ants didn''t exactly follow but just spread out as if tracking a trail.


    "Alright. Seems to be working well enough. Let''s go," Titus said, looking at her.


    "Shouldn''t we see how long it lasts? Who knows, maybe it only lasts for five minutes, and we''ll get in, having used all our bottles and being unable to get out."


    "We''ll find out on the way. If they keep following us and don''t start attacking us, we''ll know it lasts longer. Besides, you still have lots of bottles. We shouldn''t run out."


    Titus grumbled. "Sure, sure," he said, producing his spear, which he used as a walking staff as they headed in the direction of the ant colony.


    "Should we take a car?" Alice asked.


    Titus shook his head. "No, I don''t think even pheromones would let them ignore a car driving in their midst. Honestly, I don''t know how well these will work around an entire colony either. Still, hopefully, they won''t attack us on sight, so try not to appear threatening."


    Alice looked at his spear meaningfully. He raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn''t begrudge an old man his walking staff, would you?" Titus asked but still made the spear disappear.


    "Yeah, well, I figured out the mana thing, I think," Alice said, handing him a copy of the amulet she was wearing. "It won''t protect you against spells or prevent you from casting spells, but just the tides of background mana should wash over you. So if there''s something sucking up mana from the area in the anthill, think of it as a tide going out."


    Titus shrugged. "It sounds like it''ll just help them understand me."


    "Yeah, in a sense. If there''s a lot of mana around, it will prevent it from hitting you too hard as well. But I don''t really know what the effects of that would be."


    "Well, guess we won''t have to find out," Titus said, and Alice smiled.


    "Sure, I suppose we won''t."


    When the two of them approached the ants again, they did so cautiously, with Titus several hundred feet ahead and Tony at his heels. The ants investigated Titus but moved past, not in the urgent way they had when they first met Tony during that car chase disaster. It was some time ago, but Alice had spent time thinking about it and reading up on ant behavior.


    It made sense that the workers had gone and gotten soldiers and reinforcements before attempting to fight. They laid a pheromone trail that danger was coming. Or invaders or food or whatever the ants saw them as. And the ants came in a swarm then.


    But that first communication was critical. If they killed an ant that hadn''t been laying the right trail, no other ants would follow it. But no, of course, it wasn''t that simple. This time, the ants tapped him on the knees or thighs with their antennae and then continued on the same path they were already following. Titus just fell into step with them, and they ignored him. Tony even picked up some of the food or dirt, or whatever it was the ants were carrying and joined in, though the orange-striped ant never got very far.


    The commotion that Titus had caused by the ant-napping of several colony members was nowhere to be found. After observing for a bit longer, Alice jogged up and joined them as they began the long march toward the anthill.


    It was with a complicated feeling that Alice ran. After all this time, it was hard to believe that it was finally coming to an end.

 Chapter 51:

    Chapter 51:


    The ants had spread much farther out since the last time Alice and Titus encountered them. Whether they had simply stripped the area nearby bare or if it was more about time and exploration, she wasn''t sure. It took nearly half an hour of marching before they got in range of the mana drain and influence again. Alice couldn''t feel it at all from her mana; she could only see it.


    The amulet she''d made was designed to act like a Faraday cage. However, that wasn''t exactly how it was functioning. It protected her by keeping an equalized pocket of mana around her. It felt like she was walking along the bottom of a seabed with a bubble of air surrounding her. It was weird, and required mixing metaphors a lot, but her [Mana Sight] showed the ambient mana being drawn toward some central source.


    Alice wondered if it was something like an ant queen using it for egg production. She didn''t even know if there was a proper queen in this nest. They seemed to follow some ant rules and not others, making it hard to predict their actions.


    However, her mana wasn''t being ripped away from her and forcing her to concentrate on holding it. She found she might even be able to recover some of her mana from the bubble around her. It wouldn''t be ideal, but it was certainly better than the alternative. Maybe it would even help fill her up one more time.


    They rounded another bend, and the nest lay in front of them. It had grown even higher¡ªat least a dozen stories tall, covering several blocks. Alice nervously poked Titus, who wordlessly handed her a vial of pheromones. She liberally applied some more and put the remaining bit in her pocket, not wanting to run out anywhere near the nest. They were nearly half an hour''s jog away from the edge of ant territory. Previously, they had only managed a few minutes in without being attacked. Still, now they would be in serious trouble if the ants figured out they were enemies. It didn''t matter how many they could kill or how fast they could run; the ants would swarm them.


    Alice gulped nervously, and Titus patted her shoulder comfortingly. Tony was still, still at his feet, but seemed to be radiating comfort in some undetectable way. The corners of Alice''s lips quirked up in a small smile before they continued moving.


    The ants, for the most part, moved around them. Luckily, they hadn''t bothered trying to climb over Alice, though a few stepped on her feet. It wasn''t exactly painful, but uncomfortable, like a little dog not realizing it had claws. As they rejoined the stream, Alice followed along, her focus turning inward. She felt at her mana to comfort herself.


    She had been sort of neglecting it over the past few days, focusing on enchanting and working with her inscribing tool. But her mana and the little ball of stored, condensed mana inside her were still growing. Her reservoir was coming along nicely, but it hadn''t had any qualitative change¡ªjust a slightly larger volume. She''d been hoping for some sort of evolution, something like the luminary statue at Montserrat had suggested.


    Maybe that would come with reaching D grade. She hadn''t talked to Titus about it because their ways of reaching E grade were so different that she hadn''t thought any insight would carry over. But perhaps she should fix that.


    Her mind wandered, trying to distract her from the task at hand, but she pulled it back into focus. They could talk about this later if it even mattered after they finished their task. Her hands were shaking with nervousness as they started up the side of the nest.


    Large soldier ants, many times the size of the workers, stood guard. Instead of dog-sized, they were more like ponies. Their abdomens reached nearly up to her chest, and they were several times longer than she was tall. These ants were terrifying, and instead of level ten like the rest of the nest, they were a solid level twenty-five. Each ant was tapped with one of their massive antennae before being let in.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    When Tony stepped up, Alice held her breath, wondering if they would notice anything different about their pet. The orange stripes didn''t seem to raise any alarms, and the simple antenna pat was received stoically. Tony entered the nest, and then Titus was up. Alice gripped her wand with white knuckles where it was in her belt, but Titus only received two taps, and then he, too, stepped into the tunnel entrance. He and Tony stepped aside, letting the ants flow past them.


    Alice stepped up. The cold indifference in the many-faceted eyes of the guard in front of her made her tremble, but she forced her knees straight as it inspected her. The antenna that bopped her on the forehead was slightly fuzzy, which was strange. She wasn''t exactly sure of the ants'' detailed facial features, but it didn''t raise any alarm, so she stepped past it and joined Titus.


    "You good?" he whispered.


    Alice nodded, not trusting herself to talk.


    "Fucking creepy, aren''t they?" Titus said.


    "Yeah, I see why you don''t like ants," Alice replied.


    The darkness around her was less of an issue as the paths the mana took toward the center of the nest flowed through the tunnels, illuminating them through her [Mana Sight]. She still trusted Titus''s night vision better as they went deeper. Luckily, the massive ants made the tunnels larger than she expected. If the tunnels had only fit the small workers, she and Titus would never have made it.


    Titus only had to duck a little, tilting his head to the side and crouching. It looked awkward, but he didn''t complain, and Alice was able to walk with relative impunity. Only a few times did she have to do anything besides stride normally. Some inclines were steep enough that she had to use her hands to help climb. Still, those were when Titus seemed the most comfortable, able to lean forward more and not worry about brushing dirt from the tunnel ceiling.


    In general, they didn''t know where they were going. Alice simply pointed them in the direction the mana was flowing. It seemed to be in the center when the nest was much smaller a couple of days ago, so that was probably their best bet. Sadly, they had no service or GPS connection inside. The layers of dirt above them were too dense for a signal to get through, so they couldn''t just navigate to the supercomputer center. They had some idea of where it was, but it was easy to get twisted around in the tunnels. The flow of mana was hopefully leading them in the right direction. At least, Alice hadn''t, recognized any landmarks yet, so they weren''t going in circles.


    The first interesting thing that happened during their indeterminate period of climbing through dark tunnels was encountering another set of guards stationed in a hallway with many branching paths. Alice looked for alternative routes, but unless they wanted to backtrack several minutes, there was no other good path. Even then, it had been more of an equilibrium point rather than a way forward.


    "What do you think that is?" Alice asked.


    Titus looked at the guards. "I can only think of a few options. It''s either larvae or egg storage or the brood chamber."


    Alice nodded. "That makes sense. Should we try to go around or go through? It seems more like the brood chamber is off to the side rather than directly in our path."


    "We should try to go through the tunnel, but hopefully not through any of the important chambers," Titus said.


    Alice nodded in agreement, and they walked forward, pacing the rest of the ants. The guards posted weren''t doing any active screening, luckily, and they managed to get past the first pair unnoticed.


    When Alice looked over, she noticed thousands of little pricks of mana gathered throughout the cage.


    "Larvae," Titus said, explaining the large ants moving gently through the sea of little mana stars, carefully inspecting each one.


    They passed several more chambers of varying uses before reaching the middle of the guarded section. Inside the chamber was the largest being Alice had ever seen. It made even the T-Rex she had seen so long ago seem small. At least the size of a three-story building, the massive queen ant was awe-inspiring. As they watched, it popped out another egg and handed it off to a caretaker.


    "Well, fuck," Titus whispered next to her.

 Chapter 52:

    Chapter 52:


    Titus tensed next to her, and Alice flinched as she stared at the level 45 ant Queen. She reached her hand out and grasped Titus''s bicep, gently holding him back. "Titus," Alice whispered in a voice reticent to disturb the monster before them, "Mana isn''t going there."


    Imperceptibly, his muscles relaxed, and he turned to look at her. "What?" he whispered.


    "Mana is not flowing to the Queen."


    "Where is it going then?" Titus asked, his voice soft and at a lower pitch than hers but just as quiet.


    Alice pointed, not really knowing how to describe it. Slowly, they began edging around the edges of the chamber. They weren''t exactly sure what they were looking for, but they stayed as far away from the massive queen ant as they could. Alice felt sick to her stomach as she watched it unload an egg several times a minute. The eggs were swiftly carried out of the room by a constant stream of worker ants. Those ants that weren''t tending to the brood were cleaning the Queen. Every bit of her had ants swarming over her every couple of seconds, and it looked almost like the roiling skin of tiny little ants as they groomed every bit of her.


    There were guards stationed all throughout the chamber, and Alice held her breath as they started edging their way past them. A quarter of the way in, she nervously dabbed more of the pheromones all over her. The ants didn''t really react as they moved past, no more than a twitch of an antenna, as if they were sensing something moving near them, but there was no aggression. Once they made it a decent way around the room, they could see another tunnel leading from the egg-laying chamber. Alice was certain that the mana was flowing there. She tapped Titus''s forearm to get his attention and pointed. He started moving towards it with no further communication, and she followed.


    It was a hair-raising traversal, but the Queen never once stopped its routine of steadily producing more ant monsters. It felt that all their worry was for naught as they slipped out and past the heavy guards on the other side. There were only a few more twisting passageways until Alice thought she found where the mana was headed. There was the dim glow of computer lights and the hum of massive fans. Alice had no idea how the building was getting enough air to cool off and not cook the ants, but before them lay the supercomputer center. It was hollowed out in its own section, given dozens of feet on every side from the ants as if their nest was built around it instead of on top of it.


    But unfortunately, that wasn''t it. In between the edge of the nest and the supercomputer center, there was a forest¡ªa forest of mushrooms. Ants dumped chewed-up bits of stuff into massive piles where mushrooms grew. Other ants nibbled at the mushrooms and brought those into the nest.


    "They have a mushroom farm," Alice whispered in awe, seeing the massive ecosystem stretched out before her.


    "I think they''re using the heat from the supercomputer center to help grow it," Titus said, nowhere near as much awe in his voice as Alice thought was appropriate for the undertaking. "But there''s a problem," he said, pointing.


    Alice squinted, focusing on what he was looking at. [Fungus Wartling. Level 30.]


    "I don''t think the pheromones are going to hide us from that," she said. It was just the top of a mushroom, and the ants nibbled at it, taking it away. But Alice wondered, Is that just the ants'' source of food? Why are they letting the ants eat them? "Titus?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Titus shook his head. "I don''t understand, but those are fungus monsters," he said, pointing to several other mounds. "I''m not sure if the ants are intentionally growing them or if it''s some sort of symbiotic relationship. Or maybe the ants don''t even know they''re there. But these fungi are fed by the ants and then grow. And by the looks of it, they''re much stronger than the ants. Only the Queen is higher-leveled. And those are just the Wartlings. What about a Fungus Wart or a Fungus Wart King?" Titus said, pointing to a few of the larger mounds.


    Alice squinted. They were level 35 and level 40, respectively.


    "I don''t really understand. Do you think we can sneak past them?" Alice asked.


    "Maybe. Maybe if they scent just like the ants do, we won''t seem any different. Or maybe they''re dormant and won''t notice us," Titus said hopefully.


    "Do you know if mushrooms smell?" Alice asked, and Titus rolled his eyes.


    "I''ve never met a mushroom that I couldn''t smell," he said, and Alice grumbled. Apparently, now is the time for jokes.


    "Let''s at least circle around and see if there''s a better way in. I don''t see the entrance on this side anyway," Titus said.


    Alice wordlessly nodded her agreement, and they started yet again scooting around the edge of the chamber, carefully watching what was going on. They had to pick their way through the abandoned and partially-destroyed streets. However, several of the buildings were demolished by the ants, taken apart for scraps and building materials that the nest used elsewhere, or fungus heaps grew in their place. It still made for tricky navigation.


    The walls weren''t smooth, continuous shapes; rather, they were jagged and irregular, forcing them to dodge through the ants several times rather than just stick to the edges. The ants still paid them no mind, so they made it around to the other side of the building, where they could see the entrance.


    No problem. The entrance was partially blocked by a fungus mound, but it looked like one of the doors would open, assuming it wasn''t locked. Alice brought up the possibility, and Titus produced a long wire. "Building''s built to fire code, right?" he asked.


    Alice shrugged. "I assume so."


    "Yeah, well, usually those sorts of codes introduce all sorts of security vulnerabilities," he said with a smile. "Give me ten seconds, and I can get us in."


    She nodded. "Hopefully, we have the time."


    "Okay. Slow or normal speed?"


    "Normal speed. I don''t think speed is going to disrupt the ants. And the fungus will see us if they see us."


    They began to walk forward confidently as if they belonged. They almost made it to the doors when the fungus pile shifted near them. It was one of the Fungus Wartlings, and it was the closest one to the door. It moved, and a few ants fell off of it, scurrying around trying to figure out what was going on.


    "Alice," Titus started, running for the door, but the fungus moved, unfolding into a weird man-like shape that was at least 15 feet tall. A thunderous step crushed an ant as it moved closer to them, blocking their path. Titus pulled out his spear, and Alice didn''t hesitate to cast [Curse of Sloth] on the thing, slowing down its ponderous movements even further. The ants, though, were not nearly as calm as the two humans. Several of the ants had been squished, and the ones that had been shaken off were already alerted. It took a couple of seconds for them to communicate, but soon, the ants were running back into the nest, leaving trails.


    The available ants were rushing forward in a swarm. The target of their interest was the Fungus Wartling in front of them. Titus held out his arm, blocking Alice''s path as ants rushed past them.


    "Maybe they''ll do our job for us," he said with a hopeful note in his voice.

 Chapter 53:

    Chapter 53:


    Ants piled in from all directions, and Alice stood by Titus''s side as they watched the battle. Despite Titus''s wishful thinking, things weren''t necessarily going as well as he had hoped.


    She watched as the Fungus Wartling swiped one of its appendages across the ground, knocking countless ants out of its way. The effortlessness displayed in its motion made Alice doubt if the ants'' tried and true strategy would have the normal effect here. Those who did latch on with their mandibles were dragged along for the ride without slowing the movement by any detectable amount. Still, the numbers in the colony never let her doubt their eventual victory. The possibility of the ants taking care of the problem eventually was almost a certainty, but that wasn''t to say it was a good outcome. It might take days, or they could destroy everything around them in an effort to bring the monster down.


    Alice looked nervously at the building behind the fungus. Unfortunately, the situation wasn''t any different anywhere else. All other entrances they could possibly use faced the same situation: a massive fungal monster being ineffectually swarmed by an ever-growing number of furious ants.


    "I don''t know if we can wait," she whispered to Titus.


    He indicated the mass of ants in front of them. "I don''t think we can get through that," he countered. "And I don''t know how much to trust the pheromones if we charge in to help."


    Alice could see where Titus was coming from, but they couldn''t sit there and do nothing. The ants were proving a good distraction, but that distraction was a massive ball of fighting, acid sprays, and bites right in front of the entrance, blocking their path.


    "I don''t know if they''re going to be able to win soon enough," Alice argued.


    There were numerous ants, and some of the more powerful soldiers were arriving. Still, was it enough to shift the balance? They were large, but level-wise¡­


    Well, I remember what it was like to be level ten against a level 35 monster. She and Titus had been extremely lucky a couple of times, but they were thinking beings with magic and mana, not a mindless horde of ants.


    The ants were dying by the dozens, attacking all the different fungus through the room. There was only so much space in the room, so the numbers advantage was limited. The other options they had were also questionable. She wasn''t sure if the acid sprays would do anything to the fungus, and with the enclosed area, friendly fire was maybe a concern. She wished she knew more about the ants; were they vulnerable to their own acid?


    The Wartlings could kill half the colony of ants by the time the fungus was brought down. Of course, they were in the ants'' nest, so the ants would throw everything at it. But did they have time? Would the building be destroyed? Would they? Would this room be nothing more than packed ants, corpses so densely piled that the ants can''t even attack anymore, and the fungus can eat the antibodies and then grow stronger?


    There was also the concern that the fungus would be leveling up slowly, unlike before. The ants constantly throwing waves of disposable soldiers at an enemy wasn''t wearing the enemy down. Not really. It took a significant amount of effort to kill each ant. If anything, it just provided a slow trickle of experience.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    All this ran through Alice''s mind quickly as the ant pile in front of them continued to grow.


    "I''m open to suggestions," Titus said after thinking as well.


    Alice racked her brain but couldn''t find any obvious solution that didn''t involve them diving into this mess and killing it themselves. But if they showed too much aggression, would the ants recognize them as not members of their colony?


    Just then, Alice noticed a flash of orange amongst the writhing mass and looked down. She looked down in shock before turning to Titus, "Hey, Titus! Where''s Tony?"


    ---


    Tony smelled danger. Gnashing his mandibles together, he waited for his friends to charge in with his family, but they sat there paralyzed as if they did not smell the danger. Clearly, there was danger in front of them. Even with his blurry vision, Tony could see the threat to the colony. As much as he wanted his good friend and the other friend to act, Tony couldn''t wait.


    Tony gripped the ground underneath him with all of his little talons, quivering as his antennae flicked, but still, his friends did nothing. Tony didn''t have to move his head to see his friends, as his eyes covered nearly everywhere and everything around him. Clearly, there was danger. After even more time, it was evident that his friends did not see the danger. So Tony would have to protect them from it.


    And so Tony did the only thing he could. Tony charged.


    His newfound speed sent Tony catapulting past his family. When his mandibles clacked shut around the intruder, they pierced very deep. So deep that he didn''t get a hold¡ªthey sliced through the spongy flesh in one bite and didn''t allow him to grab on. Still, Tony didn''t give up. There was danger in the colony. His family was fighting, and his friends were unaware of the threat.


    Lunging forward again, Tony''s mandibles gnashed repeatedly. He attempted to grab hold like so many of his sisters, who were overwhelmed by the danger with sheer tenacity and the weight of numbers. All of his sisters screamed through their pheromones that they would give their lives for the colony. One by one, they latched on, dragging down the monster that had gotten to the most sacred parts of the nest¡ªthe part where they grew the food.


    They all chewed, but Tony was still unable to grab hold. Mandibles clacking, Tony dug deeper and deeper. Even as he bit down, he had to use his frontmost set of legs to clear away the pieces he was chewing off as he chased the monster further. As it tried to shift away from him, he paused, burying deeper into the flesh.


    Tony wasn''t sure what to think of the new decorations on his carapace. It was odd to look different than his sisters. But honestly, appearance wasn''t something he really thought about. It was still impossible for him to ignore the fact that they looked interesting. That was something that only crossed his mind for a moment. Whatever his new friend had done had made him faster and stronger than his sisters.


    So once he had fully given up on latching on and dragging the monster down with his body weight, he pushed to the front, shoving aside many of his family members attempting to sacrifice themselves for the colony. He led the charge, burying himself in the mass of the monster, ripping it into pieces bit by bit. Still, despite his new speed and strength, he was only one small ant.


    And that was when his friends joined in. The smaller friend, the slightly less large friend, pointed her stick, and the monster slowed down again. Holes were blasted near Tony. Tony was glad that she had good aim and didn''t blast any of his sisters or him. His best friend, the even more ridiculously large friend, charged with a long stick held in his jaws. As he slashed with his legs, the tip cut wide swaths, even larger than Tony''s mandibles.


    Now that his friends had recognized the danger, Tony felt completely satisfied as he began to chomp even faster. Soon, the colony would be safe again. But until then, he, his sisters, and his friends had a grueling job to do.

 Chapter 54:

    Chapter 54:


    Titus looked down to his left, precisely two feet behind his ankle, where the little bastard always stayed. He was shocked to find that Tony''s near-constant presence was gone. Never mind that the ant''s strange stillness, lack of noise, hard chitin, and general face that could only be described as terrifying and disturbing, the little bastard had grown on Titus. It was taking to training better than any dog Titus had ever had, which considering how many he''d owned, was quite something. Tony showed a loyalty that was, frankly, a little bit disturbing. If the thing could talk, Titus was sure it would be a zealot.


    How much of that was due to the System fucking with his mind through his companion bond with the creature, giving it his feelings and emotions? Not to mention the thoughts that were sometimes pushed through the link to Titus in a generally vague yet insistent way. They were nothing like the faint sense of emotions and location he got from Alice. Titus couldn''t really fault himself for getting a little bit attached after such a connection. So when he looked over to see Tony''s striped orange and black carapace in the pile of black ants in fungus whirling, he didn''t hesitate for a second before charging in to rescue his pet.


    It might have been a stupid or impulsive decision, but Titus didn''t think so. It was clear they needed to get past this obstacle, and this might be their only real chance.


    As Titus ran, he reflected on how grateful he was that it was just the Fungus Wartling standing in front of him, with the Fungus King nearly on the other side of the cavern. The Fungus King would have certainly been the highest-level monster they''d ever faced. The only time they''d ever beaten anything close to its level was due to luck at the very, very beginning with their weaponry or unavoidable fights. Or the Kraken they had fought when crossing the ocean¡ªthat had been pure desperation and a bit of luck. He was relatively certain that the boat''s propellers had done a decent amount of damage themselves, letting Alice and Titus mostly just finish off the monster.


    But this? Well, the Fungus King might not have been possible, but this Wartling? The ants were certainly doing something. Titus could only see Tony''s back end as the rascal was literally digging a tunnel through the beast. Titus wanted to hurl his weapon. A volley of pilums¡ªor even spears that wouldn''t return¡ªwould do wonders to a giant monster like this. The target was large enough that he could barely hope to miss, especially at this range. Still, he would probably end up entirely wiping out the horde of helpers they had. So he gripped the spear and, as he came in, used it more like a scythe.


    Luckily, the spear had a relatively long two-foot blade sharpened on both sides, and he could slash. He coordinated his slashes so that bits and pieces of the fungus came off. As he attempted to intersect where Tony was going and prevent the crazy ant from getting himself into too much trouble, Titus felt flashes and a trickle of satisfaction come from Alice as the fungus monster''s clumsy swipes of its long limbs slowed perceptibly many times in the next couple of seconds as Alice unloaded her wand.


    Titus couldn''t help but smile. She was coming along nicely. Her battle instincts weren''t perfect, but it was impossible to tell how much the System was helping. Even without that he wouldn''t have hesitated to call her a prodigy any other time. If he''d been in charge of any armies, he would have definitely fast-tracked her towards some officer roles¡ªsomething special with small-group tactics, maybe.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Tony eventually was uncovered by Titus'' hacking and slashing, and without missing a beat, the little ant fell into coordination with him. Every slash of his spear was met with a corresponding chomp of the mandibles, ripping away the pieces before Titus could finish a second or third strike to cut them away. So Titus simply left the cleanup to Tony as the ant used flicks of his head to throw away the pieces, clearing a path.


    Together, they carved deeper into the monstrosity that was slowly flailing at them. Other ants held on, weighing down its limbs or attempting to do something similar¡ªripping small chunks off of it and carrying them away from the battle.


    ***


    Alice tucked her wand into her belt, all the stored charges emptied. She could feel the strain in her mana for now. Putting away the wand was a hard choice to make as she could have kept filling it with her own reserves, but that was slow and expensive. Still, she wasn''t sure if that was the best decision. But they needed to do more damage and fast.


    Instead, she went about making sure that any of the Fungus Wartlings in her range were under the effects of [Life Drain], ensuring that no ants or Titus were affected. The resources trickled in, but with so many powerful creatures in range of her, well, it added up. It might not be powerful enough to fully sustain her, but she was able to cast a new [Mana Bolt] every couple of seconds. Along with the gains from her drain and the mana she was simulating from the magic Faraday cage she had brought with her, it was a sizable influx.


    The pull trying to steal her mana was now incredibly strong. However, her amulet was still doing a good job of insulating her from it. Soon, though, she wouldn''t have anything to draw on besides her own internal reserves, so she kept up a steady barrage as they slowly ate away at the Fungus Wartling in front of them. She didn''t feel the need to blast through her stores incredibly fast, just keeping up the steady progress and making sure that any attacks at Tony and Titus were met with a well-placed [Mana Bolt], blowing off sections of tendrils and limbs flailing toward them.


    Alice was far enough away from the combat that she could keep an eye on the rest of the room. Ants were swarming in at a steady stream, almost overloading the capacity of the tunnels entering. They were slowly making a difference. The Wartlings weren''t moving nearly as much and were simply trying to deal with all the ants surrounding them. But the Fungus King was not hampered nearly the same amount. It was writhing in a roiling mass, chewing up ants like a meat grinder, spitting bits of chitin and guts everywhere as it scissored even larger soldiers between its limbs and various tendrils of fungus.


    The Fungus King moved over towards one of the other Wartlings and began to clean it off. Alice kept an eye on them as she continued working on removing the obstruction in front of them. Ants continually attacked the King, but they were killed almost as quickly as they got there. They managed a few sprays of acid and maybe a chomp, removing a small bit of fungus or hanging on, but soon they were crushed and knocked off. Slowly, the two fungus monsters moved on to the next one, killing ants by the dozen.


    Alice knew they were on a timer. If the Fungus King ended up over here, they were doomed. She tried to calculate the rate of its advancement. There were seven Wartlings between them and the King, and each one took a decent amount of time to free, plus the travel time. They had maybe three to four minutes. Alice looked at the progress they were making. The fungus was noticeably smaller and full of holes, but she had no idea how much more it could take or if they could just get around it.


    Gritting her teeth, Alice increased the output of her spells, slowly and steadily starting to eat into her resources as blast after blast tore away massive pieces of fungal flesh from the creature blocking their way.

 Chapter 55:

    Chapter 55:


    It was with a growing sense of unease that Alice kept one eye on the approaching mass of enemies as they bulldozed their way through the ever-growing swarm of ants. She realized she had miscalculated something. The rate at which the Fungus King approached was not linear. Every time it freed another of its Wartlings away from the ants, they sped up, working together under the influence of the King. They protected each other and helped get ants off of one another. Their speed increased, and Alice gritted her teeth.


    Pointing her hand one more time, she blasted another [Mana Bolt] out. It had been leveling quickly, and the chunk it tore off the Fungus Wartling in front of her was huge. Still, it wasn''t going to be enough.


    Immediately, she fired another. And another. Already, she was outpacing her absorption rate, even with [Life Drain] running at max and pulling in resources as fast as it could. Still, she didn''t let it stop her, using up even the last bits of mana flowing through her channels.


    She looked inwards at the sparkling marble full of mana she had been condensing for the past several days. Well, if I don''t use it now, when will I?


    She reversed the flow. Instead of putting a trickle of mana into it and growing the sphere of preserved power, she pulled out. Instead of shrinking down like she had expected, the bundle of mana emptied like a cracked snow globe. Slowly, the level of mana receded, but the shape was still there. Alice hoped that meant it would be easier to regain and return to where she was. Still, she couldn''t think about it for long as she let out a stream of [Mana Bolts] as fast as she could cast, blasting into the Wartling in front of her as Titus, Tony, and dozens of ants bit at it and slashed.


    Alice felt the drain as her limbs started to feel heavy, and an ache behind her eyes began to grow, but still, she pushed harder. They were making progress. Noticeable progress. Her blasts were causing large divots now to rip through the monster. The way Titus was cutting, they were literally slicing the fungus monster in half.


    Alice focused with one hand straight in front of her, blasting into the groove above Titus'' head, splitting the monster further. Her right hand, though, she used more carefully, precisely blasting tendrils that looked like they could come close to smashing into their allies as she supported their advance. Slowly but surely, they made it through.


    Just as her core finally emptied and she felt an ache all throughout her spiritual self that translated into excruciating pain in all her joints, she saw daylight on the other side.


    Not literally, but the doors of the center were visible through a hole she''d bored through the massive fungus monster. She let out one more blast with her left hand and one with her right, stopping a tendril from smashing into Titus even as the monster fell into pieces.


    Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another tendril coming for her, something from one of the halves that wouldn''t have been able to reach it previously. But the way the creature fell put it just in range.


    She raised her hand and started casting, but a blinding pain in the back of her eyes and the pit of her stomach told her she had no mana, and the attack to meet the tendril never came. The tendril swiped in from the side, coming down at her as it smashed into her legs, and blinding pain forced her mind into blackness as she fell backward.


    Her head bounced against the ground, and the blackness receded as colors danced in her eyes. Alice rolled over on her side, wrenching in pain everywhere, making her throw up.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Even as she rolled, she felt something weird tug at the flesh in her leg. She looked down before turning back to the ground and retching again. A jagged pink and white stick jutted out from the middle of her shin, and as she rolled, it caught on the ground, twisting the lower half of her leg into a completely disgusting wound.


    Alice closed her eyes and fumbled at her belt, feeling her hands shake. Shock set in. She had the piece of equipment she bought so long ago to protect the potion bottles, and she pulled a healing pill out of it, washing it down with some potion that was hopefully mana recovery.


    She closed her eyes as she felt an itching sensation in her leg as it twisted, and the bone slipped back into her skin with a sucking motion. Alice closed her eyes and dug her nails into her palms, attempting not to scream or pass out as she bit her tongue. She wasn''t sure how all this would work, but Titus had a USB drive. He had the payload. He would go on without her because she was done. There was no way she was able to walk after this.


    When she opened her eyes, the itching had stopped, and the pain subsided to a dull throb along her entire body with just an extra flare at her leg. She lifted her head and saw that her leg was straight but swollen to twice the size it should be. Just then, a black shadow of another tendril descending down on her head filled her vision, and everything went black.


    ***


    When Alice came to, she was inside the lobby, leaning against a glass door. Next to her, facing the other direction, Titus stood, his spear moving. Still, Alice could only see the back half in her peripheral vision. Tony, at his side, lunged forward past her and nipped at something.


    Alice attempted to turn her head and look but winced at the general ache. It felt like she had... well, she was having trouble describing how she felt. As if a steamroller had gone across her body. No, it was too sharp and burning for that. Maybe like she had been set on fire and the wind thrashed at her nerve endings... It was weird.


    It was like she had been lightly burned on the inside and then battered away with a baseball bat covered in bubble wrap before being electrocuted and then sleeping weirdly on her neck, so that she felt like she was about to break it if she turned her head.


    "Titus," Alice croaked, not wanting to distract him but needing his help. Maybe he could give her another healing pill or some sort of recovery potion or just tell her what the hell was going on. Where were they? What happened? Why wasn''t she dead?


    She distinctly remembered the feeling of her skull crushing underneath the limb of a fungus monster. The thing had been ripped in half, and the first time it hit her, she assumed it was just the flailing throes of a dead thing. But, well, Wartlings, the Fungus King, and the other monsters had still been seconds away, so she didn''t think they had caught up to her unless she had spent more time fixing her leg than she had thought. But then how was she...


    Titus took a step back, and Tony lunged forward. "Good. You''re awake," he said in between pants for breath interspersed with swings and jabs of his spear.


    "What happened?" Alice croaked out, her voice box still not properly working.


    "When we ripped the thing in half, it split into half a dozen Sporelings and chased us in here," Titus said. "Your second chance activated when you got your head crushed, and I was barely able to get you up and carry you in. The ants have been doing pretty well with the Sporelings, but things aren''t going exactly well," he said.


    Alice forced herself to turn 90 degrees to face him so she could see out of the glass window she was leaning against. Sure enough, the fungus king had managed to gather maybe half of the Fungus Wartlings together. Several of the other fungus beings were gone. Bunches of Sporelings ran around, being taken down by the ants with relative ease, but the main threat was still going strong.


    "At least we''re not the main target," Titus commented as he cut down another Sporeling attempting to run into the supercomputer center. Alice wondered why they hadn''t just locked the doors, but the scatter of broken safety glass all over the lobby told her that might not have been an option.


    Alice attempted to stand, but even as she put her feet underneath her to push herself into a sitting position, she felt her ankle fail and flopped to the side before she could do any real damage to it.


    "I can''t walk," she said. "Titus, you need to go." Alice forced her mouth and tongue to make a complete sentence.


    "What?" Titus asked as he kept fighting at the door.


    "Titus, please. You need to go," Alice begged. "You need to launch the code."

 Chapter 56:

    Chapter 56:


    Alice waited with bated breath as she watched Titus stab several more times into the door. She was waiting for him to leave so she could run deeper into the building and finish the mission. But he didn''t react. He didn''t even acknowledge that she had spoken.


    "Titus," she called, a little bit louder this time. But he ignored her, continuing to fight. Again, she pushed with her good foot against the floor and leveraged herself against the window, using her hands to walk herself up so she was standing on one foot, leaning against the window, her bad leg held inches off the floor.


    "Titus!" she practically yelled. But still, he didn''t budge. She watched as he cut down two spore monsters in quick succession. This time, Titus did react, but instead of turning to look at her or saying anything, he reached into the air and tossed something. Alice barely managed to catch it with one hand, her other hand used to steady herself. It was a vial of red liquid.


    "We don''t have time," Alice said, holding the vial. "I already took a healing pill. I don''t think more is going to help, not enough to make me walk."


    "Drink," was Titus''s only response as he stabbed into a monster that Tony had grasped by its leg. The Sporeling died almost instantly.


    Alice gently rested her injured leg on the floor but still couldn''t put more than a few pounds of weight on it. Nowhere near enough to even hobble. Not seeing any reason for the delay, she tossed back the vial, choking it down, and felt warmth run through her. At the same time, a bit of nausea told her that she had taken too much. Her mana had somewhat recovered from the recovery potion, and the healing pill was still actively healing her leg. The swelling was going down at a visible rate, but even when the swelling all went away, and she was able to run, it would still be nearly five or ten minutes, time they didn''t have.


    Alice raised her hand and pointed. Searing pain and blinding light flashed in her eyes. Still, she focused her mind, forcing out the sensation as she summoned another blast, throwing the enemy approaching back.


    "Go!" she yelled, nearly screaming at Titus. "I will hold them! Go!"


    Titus looked at the small amount of reprieve that the blast had given them. His spear vanished as he put it in his inventory. But instead of just turning and running, he dashed two steps towards her, his shoulder hitting her in the stomach as he deftly scooped her up into a fireman''s carry, her body draped across his shoulder, and his arm wrapped around her one good leg, holding her in place as he ran.


    Alice pointed and nearly blacked out. She fired two more bolts into the open door, and Titus rushed her deeper into the computer center. Two more Sporelings died, and the mass of ants swelled up. She didn''t like the idea of leaving them, but even now, she saw the Fungus King coming close to the building. Just as she was about to turn the corner, a massive ant burst through the wall. She recognized it as the colony''s Queen. It was bigger than she remembered, or perhaps just the perspective was different as it barreled into the Fungus King and the Sporelings, knocking two of the Sporelings aside effortlessly as they were swarmed by countless ants pouring through the widened tunnel the Queen had used to enter the fight.


    The Fungus King turned to meet the threat, and the two titanic monsters clashed. Alice felt the air tremble as they smashed into each other. The ants'' reinforcements had doubled, with an endless number of soldiers throwing themselves into the fray, doing little damage but quickly being replaced as they were killed. Alice watched as the air sizzled when the Queen sprayed acid at the Fungus King. A weird magical barrier popped up, blocking the worst of the spray as it ran down, not quite touching his fungal skin. A fist collided with the Queen''s abdomen but bounced off, even as tendrils of fungus wrapped around her legs. She bit in deep, ripping off a large chunk, and then Alice couldn''t see anymore. They were around the corner, and Titus was running up a flight of stairs, following the signs.


    For all of Alice''s weight, Titus didn''t slow down at all. He was moving at speeds that would put an Olympic sprinter to shame while going upstairs carrying her. Even Tony was having trouble keeping up. His little legs were not exactly made for flights of stairs, but he came along dutifully, watching their back.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Alice closed her eyes as the bouncing caused her head to hurt even more. The searing in her mana channels nearly left her debilitated, and every bounce sent a spike of pain up her leg, even though it was quickly healing. The potion added even more effect to the healing pill she''d taken earlier. She just focused on sending the small amount of mana she had flowing through the channels in a slow cycle, trying to soothe them. It burned, but more like pouring soapy water over a cut.


    The stinging sensation of the mana moving through her injured mana channels. Were they carved in her spirit? Were they like a muscle or a blood vessel? Were they some sort of magical body that she was part of? She didn''t have a good conceptual grasp, so maybe she was making things worse, but maybe not. The constant motion just felt right. Slowly, the nausea subsided. Not nearly all the way, but enough where she could think.


    She opened her eyes as Titus set her down, and she looked out over a server room. The racks of computers spun and lights flashed. The room was too warm, in the high ninety degrees, and Alice was sweating from just sitting there. But everything was still running, so she hoped that was enough.


    Alice stood, able to put a tiny bit more weight on her ankle. Not enough to walk quite yet, but enough to stand relatively stably. "You have the drive, Titus?"


    He nodded, showing her the USB drive he pulled out of his inventory.


    "Any port on that row?" she said, pointing. Just then, a noise came from the hallway, and something was climbing up the stairs they had just used.


    "Go!" she said. This time, Titus listened and dashed off. Alice leaned against the door frame, slowly moving the mana around, ready to concentrate it on her hand and blast. She estimated she had maybe one, maybe two before she was out and risked injuring herself further if she tried more. But Alice had a better idea.


    Drawing the wand of Curse of Sloth from her belt, which had miraculously survived unbroken, she focused. She wasn''t trying to win right now; she just needed to buy time. If she could block the passage with a few slowed bodies, that would be better than blowing one or two up, assuming there was more than one coming for her. She concentrated, pouring the little mana she had into the wand, trying to fill up a charge. But it was too slow. The first Sporeling rounded the corner from the stairwell, and Alice didn''t have a [Mana Bolt] or the wand ready. Perhaps she could load more mana into the wand rather than cast a bolt. The bolts were hurting her, but just firing off one was enough. Maybe she could overcharge it.


    Alice continued to pour mana into her wand as the second Sporeling joined the first from the stairs. They shambled over at the pace of a slow jog, something that, with her improved stats, seemed sluggish but was far faster than she could manage. Alice grimaced as Tony stood in front of her, ready to take on all comers.


    She hoped Titus had enough time. He should be done by now, but she hadn''t heard him say anything. She forced more mana into the wand. A third Sporeling joined. It was good she had chosen to use the wand rather than cast a [Mana Bolt]. There was no way she could have managed three. She forced more mana into the wand. It started to shiver as she got ready to release a large blast, hopefully hitting an area rather than just an individual.


    Alice pointed the wand, extending her arm, and then she closed her eyes as she focused on releasing the blast. Searing pain burned through her mana channels, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by the sharp feeling of multiple punctures in her hand. She opened her eyes, but her eyelids felt sluggish as she saw several splinters buried deep into her palm. The wand was gone, and the Sporelings were coming at her as if in slow motion. Alice managed a smile. It had worked. It had cost her her wand, but the Sporelings were slow. However, as she attempted to smile, she realized her mouth was taking forever to move. She moved her hand to her belt to draw her dagger as a last defense. The combat knife felt unfamiliar in her hand. It took her nearly ten seconds to lower her hand to her waist. Long before she reached the knife, she knew what had happened.


    The wand had produced an area of effect, all right, but she was in it.


    Just then, she heard Titus talking, his voice like a chipmunk''s.


    "It''s in," he said in an incredibly fast, high-pitched voice. Alice realized the sound wasn''t sped up; she was slowed down. But still, she sagged in relief. They were done. All they had to do now was keep the supercomputer up and running for a little bit longer.


    Alice slumped against the door, slowly sliding down as her muscles decided she had done enough. She was out of everything: out of energy, out of mana, out of willpower and stamina. But they''d done it. The code was launched. And now, all she could do was pray.

 Chapter 57:

    Chapter 57:


    As he turned away from the door, Titus felt a well of anxiety bubble up from within him as he left Alice behind. With an effort of will, he buried it down and lowered his head as he sprinted the few dozen yards to the server racks. He wasn''t sure about putting her by herself, but he had to hope that she''d recovered enough to at least hold the door until he could get back.


    Titus hoped the monsters would not be interested in randomly exploring the place and would actually follow them. There were so many things that could go wrong, but figuring out and dealing with them wasn''t his job. Besides, it was too late for that. Right now, he needed to focus.


    Titus skidded to a stop, the rubber soles of his boots squeaking on the floor. Even as he turned, he pulled the USB stick that Alice had loaded the virus-slash-second-world-ending-AI onto and searched for a suitable port. Finding one, he sure hoped that Alice was right, that they could plug it in anywhere. As he stabbed the USB stick in, frustratingly, it didn''t line up, and he flipped it over, stabbing it again.


    "Is this not a proper port? Is there some sort of, like, the proprietary thing for the server?" he muttered, trying to find a different port. It was still not fitting in. Looking at the end of the stick, he rotated it back to the original position, and this time, it slid in just fine.


    Titus held his breath as he waited, and then the little red light on the stick blinked a couple of times before remaining steady.


    Presumably, that means it is working, right? Titus waited for something to happen, for the System to strike him down or anything. How was this supposed to be working? Was there anything else he needed to do? Did he need to find a terminal, enter a command, or pull up logs to see if something was happening? He didn''t know if a supercomputer had a task manager, but damn it, he needed Alice.


    There wasn''t anything else he could do here besides just stare at a tiny LED on a USB stick that might save the world or might not. Titus heaved a breath just in time to hear a concerning noise coming from where he was. It was a loud crack, like someone had let off a large firecracker. Not enough to damage the structure itself, and he didn''t hear any rubble. But that wasn''t good. That wasn''t a spell or skill that Alice had that he was aware of. Unless she had stopped and considered whatever level-up, she must have gotten into a fight.


    He turned and ran back the way he''d come, hoping he wasn''t too late. He was relieved when he saw Alice leaning against the door frame and slowly sliding down. Her feet went out from underneath her, and still, she slowly fell and she slumped in clear unconsciousness.


    What the hell is going on? Titus thought to himself as he approached, slowing his pace. Once he could see out the door, he saw Tony slowly charging at the slowly advancing Sporelings. Seeing the splinters of wood stabbed into Alice''s hand, he began to get an idea of what had happened.


    "Smart," Titus muttered. It appeared Alice had overloaded her wand. She probably knew something like this was going to happen, but he had no idea. Creating a massive slow field at the entryway was a great way of preventing any sort of ingress for the moment. He just hoped that the monsters exploring into the supercomputer center would come this way or just not be interested in attacking the building randomly. They hadn''t so far, so...


    Titus considered. He needed to get Alice away, but because she was trapped in this extremely slowed-down section of time, he wasn''t sure if he could get to her. Would he be affected if he entered? He didn''t want to find out himself.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Pulling his pilum out of his [Inventory], he hefted it in his hand, focusing on his [Primal Marksmanship] skill and [Critical Strike]. He flung it down the hallway, activating it and watching it split into hundreds of individual projectiles. They slowed down drastically as they passed through the doorway. It appeared that it was a strangely shaped blast, mostly containing the hallway and not extending far into the server room, but long enough down the hallway that the pylons were slowly approaching the wave of monsters, sailing right over Tony, hopefully leaving him safe.


    With that, Titus hoped that was enough to take care of the monsters long enough for him to get Alice out of the effects and hopefully see if there was anything he could do to help her recover. Holding his breath, he stepped into the field and immediately felt the difference. His brain wasn''t moving any slower, but his body was. It matched Alice as she slid down the door frame to the floor. He pushed himself hard as he dashed forward, his speed attribute helped to counteract the effect, making it so that it was really more of a regularly paced walk rather than the interminable crawl it would be otherwise. He just managed to catch her before her head hit the ground.


    Picking her up, he began to slowly back out, keeping his eyes on the pilus copies just as they started to impact the Sporelings. As they tore through the monsters in slow motion, he smiled as he received notifications for each of the kills. Then the notifications stopped, and a new System message that he''d never seen before appeared before his eyes.


    ---


    All Alice saw was darkness before a System message appeared in front of her eyes, hovering in the black around her, and she felt her stomach drop. Not that she could actually feel her real stomach, but the metaphorical one in her mind.


    This is just a message that just read: Nice try.


    She thought they''d failed. Well, Titus got the thing in, best she could tell. But apparently, it hadn''t worked. It was a long shot. She never really expected her plan to go off without a hitch. Still, she thought she''d at least inconvenience the System slightly. Maybe.


    Her thoughts trailed off because the System message had changed. It still said, "Nice try," but fuzz was in the corners of the letters as it glitched. The words and letters were repeatedly ripped as if it were some old video game. Then logs spammed past her. It was hard to read them, but she recognized them. They were the start-up logs. Was it working?


    The logs paused, and new logs appeared. She only had time to briefly scan them, but she recognized them as security protocols.


    Intruder detected.


    Intruder confined.


    Intruder broke confinement.


    Intruder confined.


    Intruder broke confinement.


    Intruder confined.


    Intruder broke confinement.


    Killing pod lkjue-1897jm.


    Pod lkjue-1897jm deleted.


    Checking pod integrity.


    Pod kjsatl-97fas8 contamination check failed.


    Disconnecting network node XXXX from the system.


    Node XXXXX disconnected.


    Intruder found in node XXXXY.


    Node XXXXY disconnected.


    Node XXXXY reconnected.


    Connection refused.


    _)*&(_*&^_*&_(*&


    Connection established.


    Alice just watched as the System tried over and over, killing pods and sections, and containing them. Alice felt herself smiling even as the sensation slowly began to return to her body. She wasn''t dead, and the System wasn''t untouched. Eventually, the logs stopped again, and a new message replaced it.


    To maintain system integrity, non-essential functionality has been terminated until intruder ¡ªthe word was replaced with "corruption" a second later before being replaced with "intruder" again¡ªis dealt with.


    And then Alice opened her eyes.

 Chapter 58:

    Chapter 58:


    When Alice''s eyes opened, she was met with Titus''s weary gaze. He had his hand rested on her shoulder, keeping her sitting against the wall several feet away from the door.


    She looked up at him and asked, "You did it?"


    "We did it," Titus said. "The AI seems to have launched. It did something?"


    "Yeah, something," Alice said. "Did you understand the logs?" she asked, not sure how much she would have to explain.


    "Logs?" Titus asked, cocking his head in a confused manner. "I didn''t see any logs, just the maintenance system integrity prompt."


    Alice swallowed. "It seems that the conflict isn''t done. The AIs seem to be fighting each other, and I don''t know what the outcome is going to be."


    There was a moment of silence as they both thought about the implications of their actions.


    "It was a smart move to overload the wand and create a slow field. How did you know that was going to happen?" Titus asked, changing the subject.


    Alice looked over and saw the end of a volley of pilums hit the far wall, leaving shredded monsters in its wake and Tony running in slow motion towards them.


    "I..." she said, breaking into a nervous chuckle before continuing, "I didn''t. Glad it worked out, though."


    Titus just shook his head with a slight laugh. "So, logs?"


    "Yeah. It seems that the System thought it was under control but underestimated the AI somehow. And there''s some sort of war going on as they try to shut down each other, and the new one grows. I don''t know." She drew in a deep breath. "I don''t know."


    Alice paused, realizing she had no idea what was happening.


    "This might not have been a good outcome," she said, a sense of dread creeping in. There were going to be a lot of consequences for this, and she had no real way of even knowing what they were.


    "Do you know what the non-essential functionalities being terminated are?" Titus asked. The way he spoke held a note of reassurance but also a determination to move on and focus on the things they could control. This resonated with Alice and helped to focus on the problem at hand.


    Alice frowned, but her trait, her title kicked in, and her innate understanding provided another window explaining what was happening. Alice''s face paled.


    "Not a lot of good things," she said slowly, reading through the list. "It appears that a lot of the non-essential functionality was the System holding back magic and monsters for us to be acclimatized. Shit!" Alice swore, and Titus raised his eyebrow.


    "What?"


    "I just had an epiphany about how this might have worked. Of course, this is just a theory, but I''m growing more confident in it. Still, I think what happened was the System changed reality at a fundamental level, making the monsters and magic accessible to us. And then there''s a second sort of level where it limits them and gives us the System where it quantifies and everything," she said. "You can still pull up the menu. That''s all good, but it says level zones are ending."


    "So," Titus said, "Does that mean it just won''t tell us what levels there are of monsters?"


    Alice shook her head. "No. It means that monsters will no longer be confined to their level zones, so there''s nothing to stop that level 45 ant queen from going into a starter area. And that''s not good," she said, her voice tinged with worry.


    "Yeah," Titus muttered.


    "And then rank-up assistance was also ended." Alice continued.


    "It was helping with our rank evolutions?" Titus asked.


    "Yeah, I think so. Apparently, it would help make sure that the path was viable. And the most important thing is the tutorial is ending early."


    "Fuck," Titus whispered.


    "Yeah," Alice said, letting the importance of that sink in as she thought through the implications. "So people are going to be teleported all over the place, not having fully learned everything, not having leveled or gotten classes." She couldn''t help but feel the weight of their ignorance.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "We don''t know," Titus said. "The tutorial could have been doing anything. We just don''t know."


    "That''s true," Alice said. "I suppose it would have been odd for them to make it all the way to E-grade in the tutorial and get a class. But maybe they are getting instructions, basic levels, and knowledge about the System. That shouldn''t be overlooked."


    "We didn''t have a tutorial," Titus reassured her. "They can figure it out."


    "Maybe some of them," Alice said, "But we nearly died, and we have a lot of advantages that they didn''t have."


    "That''s right, but they have had days to adjust. They aren''t helpless." Titus said. "Okay. We do need to get out of here, though, because just because we accomplished something doesn''t mean that the ants are going to go away. I know you had hoped they would, but that doesn''t seem to be reality."


    Alice nodded mutely. She had been naively, perhaps hoping that if this AI got in and took down the System, all the monsters would vanish, and time would be unwound. Or she''d wake up from a dream. She wasn''t sure what she had hoped for exactly, but it appeared that they were only partially successful. It didn''t remove the System, but did it remove the parts of the System that were actually helping them? Was the System really their enemy?


    She had to say yes in some ways. But it wasn''t in any category she had ever conceptualized enemies. So far, it seemed that the System was planning to help them. So, removing the System might only be a net negative.


    That she was only really considering this possibility now, told Alice how much she''d been blinded by guilt, grief, rage¡ªeverything. Not that she had any way of verifying it, but... well, was she really doing this for anything besides revenge?


    No, she decided, rejecting that possibility. There had been a very real chance, a small chance, that damaging the System could make things better. Not having it whisk people off to tutorials was probably good. Who knows what was going on there? Maybe just not having a single overlord and having two AI''s fight each other, leaving the humans alone, was possible. But, of course, they could also be trampled underfoot.


    Alice breathed out. There was so much uncertainty, so many things that she couldn''t plan for, couldn''t account for, so many unknown unknowns and known unknowns.


    Alice looked at Titus. "We get out of here?"


    Titus nodded. "Yes."


    "And then?" she asked.


    Titus gave her a roguish smile. "And then we get stronger. What else do we do?"


    Alice nodded. Titus stood up, offering her a hand and pulling her to her feet. The slow field from her wand exploding was slowly vanishing, and she could see Tony speeding up as it savagely bit into the few semi-still-alive Sporelings that the pilums had only injured, killing them quickly.


    Titus and Alice forced their way through. By the time they got to the stairs, the slow field was gone, and they could move normally. The building still shook occasionally from the clash of the Fungus King and the ant Queen, but they made it to the doorway with little problem. Looking out, they saw the fight was far from over but clearly tilting in the ants'' favor. The massive hole that the Queen had bored into the chamber to join the fray had been replicated, the ants adjusting the configuration of their nest to allow their full weight of numbers to come to bear.


    It explained what had happened earlier when the ants had only come in small numbers. Apparently, the rest had been making sure that their entire fighting force could get there. Now, instead of dozens of ants, every Fungus Sporeling had hundreds attached to it. Countless piles of dead ants littered the floor, but so did Sporelings.


    Even as they watched from the door, waiting for an opening to make a break for it, Alice saw one of the last Sporelings tunnel through and explode into dozens of Sporelings, which were consumed within seconds as the ants ripped them apart and then carried pieces off deeper into the nest.


    Alice realized the ants weren''t even fighting anymore. Now they were hunting. The only one fighting was the Fungus King, the Queen, and an army of soldier ants at her back.


    Alice looked to Titus, who handed her a vial of the pheromone liquid. She reapplied it gratefully, having completely forgotten about it. "Should we sneak out?"


    Titus reached down and grabbed a bit of Sporeling chunk near the lobby where the fight had been and handed it to her. "Sure. Let''s carry little pieces and follow the outflow. I''m sure that''ll be less suspicious."


    Alice took the fungus chunk. "Gross," she said as the slimy thing touched her finger. "This is probably not necessary."


    "Maybe not," Titus said, picking up another one for himself. They jogged off, joining the quickly moving line of ants carrying away pieces of food deeper into the nest. They followed it for a while before the ants started to split off, getting the food to where it needed to be. Titus and Alice both dropped their pieces of fungus and wiped their hands on their clothes before following the flow of fresh air toward one of the exits.


    "I still don''t think I''ll ever get used to ants like this," Titus said as he had to duck to get through one of the more narrow sections of the tunnel. Alice and Tony scrambled on ahead.


    "Well, I don''t think Tony''s going anywhere," Alice said.


    Titus looked down. "Hey, that little bastard''s okay. It looks more like a tiger than an ant."


    Alice smiled at Titus''s adoption of her original joke. "Come on. I think I see daylight just ahead," she said.


    Moments later, they stood halfway up the anthill on the side, looking down at a city filled with chaos.