LoRG 1

Chapter 491

Congratulations You have been connected to New Earth

Congratulations Your Zone 1 is the first Zone to connect to New Earth As such a random effect will be added to both of the Danger Zones that spawn near your Zone In addition all individuals who originated in Zone 1 will benefit from 2x experience and item find until the next Zone connects to New Earth

Now that New Earth is slowly forming you have come to realize that to truly continue growing sources of energy are needed to give your people access to better Classes as well as increase the speed at which you train Addition energy will be given to your Zone by controlling Fate Stones Your first Fate Stone is within your Raid Dungeon and automatically controlled by you However beware allowing neighboring Zones access to the Raid Dungeon or they will steal that energy for themselves

For your safety you will be given a notification when you are moving into a named Danger Zone

The Danger Zone the Black Caverns has received a Rare random effect Demonic energy has been added to the Black Caverns Warning monsters in the Black Caverns have increased in power However controlling the Fate Stone of the Black Caverns generates double the amount of ambient energy as a normal Danger Zone

The Danger Zone the Crystal Arena has received a Runic random effect The body of an old god is buried beneath the Crystal Arena causing unpredictable effects It is impossible to determine how controlling the Fate Stone will benefit your Zone

Hank along with the rest of the squad looked carefully at the messages they received the next morning signaling that their Zone had proceeded to the next stage of this System In his heart Hank felt a hot rush of pride that theirs had been the first to reach here He wasn’t sure of the details but he believed at least 5 other nations on Earth had received word of the System’s arrival just as they had

Yet here they were number one both in numbering and in the finish

But very quickly Hank tempered those feelings down settling down to wait After all this just meant that they had a small headstart They couldn’t slack off now in the least or other’s would catch up with them

The rest of the group seemed to have more muted interactions Ezekiel Laurel and Katie just began hypothesizing what was contained in the different named Danger Zones Affina simply sipped her tea content to wait calmly until they were called

Hank shook his head then went out on his own For whatever reason he felt set on fire by the announcement Although he had been initially very lukewarm to the idea of leaving his town there was a fire in his belly now and it wasn’t the liquor

That afternoon he trained like he hadn’t in months gaining 20 Skill Levels in 8 hours Chest heaving he returned home just in time to receive a call from Alan

Looks like the Danger Zones are just Dungeons that are on Earth rather than in their own place with sped up time Alan said simply Ghost’s scanners indicate that the New Earth area we connected to extends at least 100 miles in every direction No sign of humans so far but there are the remains of cities That’s gonna be a lot of ground to cover but maybe we can recover some supplies

Hank said nothing waiting for the other shoe to fall He recognized this tone in his brother’s voice the leader of the UHF had bad news

still we have suffered a few small setbacks Alan continued as if this were the most normal thing in the world Which it was but if it was just normal setbacks Alan wouldn’t have managed it The monsters are a bit stronger than we anticipated Most of the monsters outside of our Zone are between 51 58 One of the 58 took 100 men including three Tier 5 Citizens to put it down Two people died

Both men were silent at that and the unspoken implicated they hadn’t even reached a true Danger Zone yet as far as they understood it

What does Ghost havta say Hank asked already knowing the answer

Everyone involved agrees that this was something of a shock after so many months of peace Alan responded But this is good We needed to be reminded that this is a struggle for dominance and humanity needs to focus to stay on top We’ve had it easy lately but we cannot relax Not when another Zone could connect to New Earth any day

Hank rolled his eyes How could another Zone compare with the preparations they had made But he said nothing It was a pointless conversation

After returning to the group and letting them know the news Hank suggested they head to a nearby Dungeon to get a sense of each other’s style in the field Everyone agreed Inwardly Hank was ecstatic that the punk kid had snuck off during the day at some time and wasn’t there for this talk So as a group they went to the Dungeon their first true training together

The Dungeon itself was Level 39 which was pretty impressive as far as Dungeons went but it wasn’t enough to challenge Hank Very quickly it became clear that the only one who was at a place where this was work was Laurel but she wasn’t a direct fighter to begin with Most of the benefits she brought were assistance for non combat matters

It did however give Hank a clearer picture of their party He was very clear on his own strengths and weaknesses He didn’t use explosives or plasma to attack large amounts of enemies nor did he have a railgun that could pierce any armor However he was confident that his Bullet Infusions could deal out a similar amount of damage even if his ammo was limited Besides that he was precise and focused very rarely did his attacks miss the mark

Meanwhile Ezekiel Ghosthound was much more like a long range high damage type His strange Pierce Skill was relatively inaccurate by Hank’s standards but it could rip a hole in most monsters and would knock back those it didn’t puncture He also could produce Mana Grenades that destroyed quite a bit when they went off

Katie was their tank as she had an exosuit similar to Mordecai’s But where Mordecai’s had been a powersuit with some energysuit features Katie’s was pure powersuit Her legs especially were greatly enhanced giving her the ability to leap across the battlefield to come to ally’s aid when it was necessary

Affina Yu moved unpredictably like a ghost It was hard to believe that the woman was blind with the way she shuffled rapidly from one foe to the other She only used that wooden cane to fight but as Hank watched he could see how the entire thing was slowly surrounded by impossibly hard jade mid fight letting her brutalize the weaker monsters

Laurel rounded them out possessing a whole kit of mass buffs and debuffs that she demonstrated for them When she received her Spirit Walker Class Ghost had speculated that it had been a holdover of being 1/16th Cherokee but Laurel had just shrugged She didn’t put much stock in blood but she wasn’t she about polishing her strange package of Skills into something highly desired in the entire Zone

Although she hadn’t been promoted from Tier 3 to Tier 4 yet many suspected it was only a matter of time

After they finished they came back and trained some more before each going their separate ways to focus on their own pursuits During that time Hank retreated to his shack out behind his house and began working on Infusing more bullets before they had to leave He had almost 50 but if the difficulty that Alan indicated was to be believed

Of course he could do this in the field But there an ambush would mean a ruined bullet and an hour wasted It was much safer to perform the operation here the peace and quiet

No sooner had he sat down than there was a knock on the door

You ready to talk about things yet Laurel asked

Hank wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted to talk about but about 5 possibilities sprang to mind and he wasn’t too keen on any of them No

Alright There was the sound of departing footsteps Then she turned and called over her shoulder and Hank could easily imagine the teasing smile on her face as she spoke But I’m not above bribing you with sex if that makes it easier Think about it

Hank shook his head That woman was just always surprisingly direct So much so that Hank found himself taken aback more often than not

But that was why he fell for her

Humming to himself Hank turned his attention to the Infusions He did it all through the evening and into the next day It was only around lunchtime that he pulled himself out of the shack pleased to have produced another 30 bullets These were powerful ones too some with variant effects based on the materials used in the bullet

Hank hadn’t realized it at first but the process of flooding the bullet with Mana that he used reawakened part of the monster’s spirit if a monster part was used in the bullet After he had discovered this he had been constantly experimenting but the lack of true threat made the efforts somewhat muted

But now with a mysterious army of monsters on the horizon Then Hank sighed Well not for a bit yet He had time No need to rush

This was a bad habit of Hank’s He needed to give himself some time allowing him to settle into things Generally he leaped first and asked questions later and that wouldn’t work here Not with the monsters being so high Level

A beeping noise caught Hank’s attention and he looked down His wrist communicator was receiving a call He frowned Only Alan ever called him and that was mostly on his cell If it was on the wrist communicator

What I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential Alan began his voice speaking of storms But it’s worse than we feared Expedition 1 ran into a group of three monsters all Level 65 Most of the plasma weapons couldn’t even hit them We lost 30 soldiers The worst of which the only reason we killed the bastards was Eric Todd the Demolitions Maniac blew himself up wounding two of them A Tier 5 Citizen died today

Alan fell silent Hank felt bile rising in the back of his throat and hung up Did he really need to make it about the Tiers right then What about the 30 other soldiers who had been torn apart by these monsters

Level 65

Hank’s eyes flashed half nerves have cocky adrenaline He wondered what that looked like

To his surprise Hank received another call around 14 hours later again to his wrist communicator Annoyed he answered it

Up and at em big bro Alan said his voice grim You are on deck We had reports starting about an hour ago that experience gains abruptly dropped off a cliff It took a while to confirm but Ghost’s long range scanner is up and running and sensed something is amiss But the real confirmation came from the Jade Prince he said he sensed another Champion out there

Hank blinked It’s it’s only been three days His team wasn’t ready They barely knew each other And he knew each of them especially Ezekiel was hiding something

This time Alan hung up on him

Chapter 492

The group was grim as they readied themselves to depart for the borderlands As it happened the new area that Ghost sensed and the place from which the other energy was emerging was to the Northeast They couldn’t get quite as close as Alan wanted them to be but Hank couldn’t do anything about that He could take his new bike and likely make it there in record time but he supposed that Ezekiel and Affina were made of more sensitive stuff

As they were departing however they were stopped by a vaguely familiar young woman with a shock of orange hair

Have you seen my brother She asked I know he’s been coming here a lot since you saved him Sheriff but he hasn’t come home in a day and I’m a bit

Hank’s eyes widened Holy shit that little punk had a right pretty sister

When the punk had disappeared Hank hadn’t noticed And if he was being honest he was quite pleased to have one less fly buzzing around his shit As he cast his mind back he tried to remember anything particular that the kid had said that would have tipped a listener off that the punk had something planned but he had largely been ignored by the entire squad

Hank felt a flash of guilt There wasn’t much trouble the kid could get up to around here and that was the problem no trouble meant no profit With the kid’s type he was out to make a mark on the world to impress upon other people that he was important No doubt the fool dreamed of the day that he could raise himself from Tier 1 Citizenry

His face grim Hank informed the girl that he hadn’t seen him but the group would be heading North along the outer rail circle They would ask and if the kid had gone there they would find out Because the real threat and Hank’s real worry was that the kid would hear that his group was going into the newly opened borderlands and get the dumb idea into his head that the Mana Discharge Skill and a plasma pistol meant he could be a hero

Thirty people dead

Alan hadn’t bothered to mention the wounded

The kid wouldn’t last a second

After bidding the girl goodbye the group headed for the train Hank halfheartedly asked at the station but they hadn’t seen him Discretely he sent messages to some acquaintances farther afield closer to the borders asking them to keep an eye out But there was very little to be done in terms of the grand scales helping address this huge outside threat was more important than a willful child

On the train some of the soberness passed and Ezekiel left his reflection to return to reality and make some quips Most of them were forced and sarcastic to the point of being acidic but it eased the mood somewhat Everyone had felt the weight of the abrupt casualties Although it hadn’t been peaceful in their Zone 1 they had forgotten how dreadful their true adversary was

It was only an hour on the train and then a half hour of jogging to a military waystation where a harried corporal waved them inside There they obtained several weeks rations as well as tents and fire starters To Hank’s surprise everyone seemed to have good instincts in regards to what to bring and he was silent for most of the packing concerned with storing his own gear in his interspatial watch

Don’t underestimate them Laurel said quietly to Hank as the duo headed over to grab bed padding They each feel dangerous They are bright knives in the dark Even you are only their peer I doubt you could overpower any of them easily You would need to shoot to kill

That surprised Hank somewhat and his eyebrows rose Even the blind girl

Laurel flashed him a smile Especially that one The Jade Prince might look like a youthful man but he is old and wily This girl will be something special to catch his eye

Then she turned and walked away heading towards Affina who was standing at the canned proteins Hank scratched his head

You didn’t grab a bedroll Laurel Hank called

She didn’t disappoint simply turning and giving him a slow wink To the side Ezekiel mimed gagging while Katie chuckled

From there two more hours of jogging to the Northeast corner of the Zone before the edges opened up 6 months ago Once they were on the edges it became a bit slower as they had to hike across overgrow countryside Again his team impressed Hank they hardly moved slower than he although they crunched through the underbrush with all of the subtlety of a rhinoceros All of them aside from Laurel of course

Once again their attitudes took a nose dive as they passed what was clearly a triage station filled with wounded soldiers and broken exosuits They passed without stopping by It wasn’t clear to what military command these soldiers were attached but they were not elites just the average units And the borderlands had chewed them up and spit them out

It was immediately apparent when they passed an invisible line that let them into the borderlands Not from the front but as soon as Hank took that step a certain white background noise ceased The air smelled of blood and stale sweat His eyes narrowed

Behind him was Ezekiel and he immediately stiffened Then he swore quietly I guess it was too much to hope for that the Expedition fools just improperly stored energy cells for exosuits and the deaths were their own fault

No such luck Hank rumbled squatting to the ground He picked up a pinch of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers It stuck together easily like clay After rounding the bit into a ball he took it and threw it as hard as he could at a tree The small clay ball bounced harmlessly off Grunting Hank stood

Things were stronger here Not just monsters but everything It had been enriched by the ambient energy in the air Aether Ghost called it although he couldn’t explain where that term came from It was the base energy of the System however Ghost was very sure It affected their world in strange ways one of them giving AI a chance to exist but another was to alter matter on a subsonic level Cellular bonds grew stronger the energy they stored more volatile and explosive

Something’s watching us Affina said quietly moving next to Hank and Ezekiel Katie and Laurel’s faces were grim Hank’s hands tightened into fists before he forced them to relax They had only just now crossed into this place but even he could sense the dripping saliva of a predator

There is a field over yonder Hank said nodding to their East He did his best to make all his movements smooth and relaxed If we make it there we at least have some sight lines on what is coming at us

And we give its friends more space to surround us Ezekiel grumbled but the group moved together towards the field When he saw the actual field in its entirety Hank winced somewhat Its slow was gradual at the top but it quickly increased in angle as it went downwards before arriving at a bank above a small river

It was not good fighting land But this was the wilderness and they hadn’t much choice

When they entered the field the monster was waiting for them almost as if it had guided them to this spot It was a large purple ram its curling horns heavy and golden Above its head floated a truly oppressive message

Golden Horned Ram Lvl 59

Hank pressed his lips together It was widely agreed that difficulty in leveling increased by a fair amount every 5 Levels and a huge amount every 10 Levels Therefore their Level 59 threat was a fair bit weaker than the Level 65 that the first expedition had run into However they had over 100 combat ready veterans which included three Tier 5 citizens

Inwardly Hank immediately cursed himself If he was going to give others a hard time for it he needed to stop defaulting to sorting people based on their Tier His eyes flashed as he flexed his fingers and considered their opponent It stood waiting a mild expression on its almost regal face Hank knew himself to be strong in comparison to the people of his Zone His companions were strong too

But seeing this bold creature he wondered if that strength that he believed in had ever been truly tested In the beginning sure he had grown strong fast but at some point had his strength grow flabby and impure The monster in front of them was a pure expression of the System’s malice and Hank would receive it as such But it was also a tribulation one that would strength and refine him forcing out his potential

Even as he considered these options Hank’s heart began to pound

Do we run Ezekiel asked slowly

Hank smiled Let’s at least wait long enough to see if its friends surround us We need to be polite to the locals

Chapter 493

When it leaped the ground beneath it shuddered By some strange technological advancement Katie’s powersuit instantly expanded from her wrist to cover all of her and she moved rapidly to intercept using her powerful legs to launch herself with a similar level of force

Hank rolled to the side out of the line of fire drawing his left pistol the repeater In a second he fired all 12 Mana Reinforced bullets aiming to just test the defenses of the thing Simultaneously he could hear Ezekiel shooting out his Pierce spell

The projectiles hit the ram with small impacts thin spurts of blood shooting out each time But the wounds were shallow and as Hank watched they rapidly healed Laurel backed off from the group beginning to chat

The ram smashed into Katie and the powersuit was sent sprawling off to the side It landed and turned with angry eyes towards Hank who had hit its face with a bullet But before it could move Affina was there here thin bamboo pole crystallized into a slim jade sword Her strike streaked forward aiming to slide into the back of the ram’s neck

Its eyes flashed as it swung its head to the side with deceptive speed knocking the sword aside Then it leaped forward aiming to run her over Unfortunately for it it had drastically underestimated Affina as had Hank The girl stepped to the side and drew a long gash along its side as it sailed past the largest wound they had inflicted on it so far

It bellowed powerfully just in time for Hank to raise his repeater and shoot bullets into its open mouth When the bullets arrived it immediately began to gag stumbling backward and shaking its head Calmly Hank took a stepped forward reloading his repeater Then he took another step and replaced it at his side

Normal bullets wouldn’t do against this foe

Katie had recovered and spear tackled into the ram’s side sending it staggering even more Noticing it was off balance Katie began to rain blows down on its side Hank couldn’t tell if she was doing serious damage but it was definitely weakening it enough to give the rest of them a chance

Ezekiel continued to use pierce inflicting small wounds Affina had somehow disappeared from Hank’s awareness but he knew she would strike when she had an opening

Hank breathed in then breathed out Then he drew his pistol in a smooth motion aiming at the ram’s head But at the last second he hesitated because through the sole’s of his feet he could feel the ground rumbling beneath him Something was coming

Just as Hank opened his mouth to warn his companions it arrived a ram double the size of the one they had found its purple fur darkened to the deepest midnight It landed between Hank and the younger ram its burning red eyes regarding him hatefully Hank had half a mind to shrug They wouldn’t have fought with this critter if they could help it

It snorted and Hank’s eyes narrowed He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a blast of something There was a strange distortion in the air but no heat or wind

Sound waves Affina said materializing next to him If that hits at the very least it will rupture your eardrums for a few hours But I bet it also includes a debilitating headache

Hank raised his pistol and fired

Trick Shot

The bullet zipped forward moving much faster than it had a right to Even so the ram reacted blurring to the side and out of the way of the oncoming bullet

Hank smiled Not fast enough

The bullet struck one of its metallic golden horns and ricocheted off Hank’s smile faltered somewhat It had blocked that

A boom of a sounding bell echoed throughout the field much louder than Hank had expected causing him to wince It seemed that the horns were part of the fuel for its strange sonic attacks A thin crack appeared in the horn about 10 centimeters long

Instantly the whole demeanor of the ram changed When it had arrived it had been furious that these lesser beings had dared threaten its young Although it was also just Level 59 those two 59’s were separated by years of experience that gave it the tools to fight against them

Skill Levels ’ Hank thought to himself considering the opponent before him I should have spent so much more time training up my Skill Levels ’

Hadn’t he done that

It wasn’t enough the thought returned

The midnight ram snorted A wave of sonic energy spread out resonating with the golden horns It hit Hank and sent him sprawling backward with a grunt The attack was weaker than the directed snort and Hank could also sense that there was a flaw in the attack it seemed his strike on the golden horns had done more than he had expected

Hank quickly righted himself but just as quickly fell back over feeling warm blood flowing out of his ears There was a dull ringing there but nothing more In addition his balance was off in a very dangerous way But Hank gritted his teeth straightening through sheer force of will

If I don’t recover I’m going to die ’

His body straightened to find the midnight arrive careening towards him dashing up the field At the last second Hank rolled to the side leveling the revolver at the ram’s side But as it passed him it twisted performing a barrel roll Hank held his shot and took more careful aim in a different direction

Across the field Katie was in an armor that glowed with the strength of an external battery But in exchange it seemed she was quickly overpowering the younger ram with Ezekiel’s assistance It seemed that both of them were slightly disheveled but none the worse for ware

Hank breathed in breathed out and then fire

The younger ram’s head exploded in a spray of gore

Again Hank felt more than saw the older ram’s ire He twisted around just in time to get smashed with another wave of force Luckily this was the weakened universal direction force but this time he was much closer to the epicenter and the blow was so jarring that he blacked out briefly

When he came to he was still midair and his whole body was oddly numb floating on the force of the ram’s attack Very slowly his eyes opened and closed His head was pounding He couldn’t tell how long he had been in the air

Hank gritted his teeth forcing his eyes to focus The midnight ram was right in front of him rushing towards him with an open mouth Its teeth were yellow and wide the remains of some fleshy creature ground between them

I’m like a dentist buddy Hank found himself saying It’s gonna hurt but if we don’t do this now yur gonna get cavities

His hands moved more slowly than he remembered but Hank managed to get his revolver up and fire a bullet smashing through the ram’s lower jaw It screamed blood spraying onto the ground and Hank had time to notice that the small crack in its right horn had grown and was now almost spanning half of the horn Then he body hit the unforgiving ground and the wind was knocked out of him

Blinking he just managed to glimpse Katie ripping past him Laurel’s powerful spirit wings on her back Again she slammed against a ram and again she seemed to trip it up somewhat even if it didn’t inflict any lasting damage

Breathing out a long held breath Hank propped himself up He could feel a queer burning in his ears and raised his hands to rub them

Ezekiel was next to him and raised his hands and pointed towards the midnight ram his mouth open He was likely yelling but Hank couldn’t’ figure out what he was saying Ne never truly took the time to learn to read lips

From his finger a cloud of darkness formed then shout forward to obscure the ram’s eyes it screamed again its horns vibration but as the resonance built the right horn shattered shards shooting off sinking deep into Katie’s powersuit Other bits sunk into the ram’s face causing it to scream further shaking its head to dispel the darkness Unfortunately for it it stuck to its eyes keeping it blinded

Ezekiel switched to using Pierce hitting the ram again and again spraying more and more blood Affina appeared and slashed quickly her slim sword now looking like an arm’s length needle The blow ripped through a tendon in the ram’s back leg and it toppled over flailing wildly seeking the source of the attack Affina spun away then pounced again driving her needle in and out of its body lightning fast

Hank spat out some blood and raised his revolver When he fired he was disappointed that he could only feel the noise rather than experiencing the clean reverberations of the pistol Strangely as soon as he fired the ram leaped to the side throwing itself wildly out of the way It landed quite close to Laurel who scrambled backward away from it The strange burning in Hank’s ears grew stronger

The ram seemed to hear her struggles and leaped towards Laurel Gritting his teeth Hank fired again Again the ram reacted instinctively throwing itself to the side The burning in his ears had become almost painful until he heard a weird popping noise

There was a hand on his shoulder and Hank turned to regard Ezekiel

You have that thing scared shitless Ezekiel said The gunshots spook it every time Just let it die now

Affina was next to them too and she nodded My needle nicked its heart It was a small wound but Jade will grow there until its heart turns to stone and it dies How long can you keep it blind

Ezekiel winced Might need some Mana Potions but I’ll keep it blinded for long enough

The ram howled its pain and fear clear in its voice

Chapter 494

9 Skill Levels from less than 60 seconds of fighting Hank whispered looking at his hands It had taken a while but the headache from the sound waves had passed and now that the group had moved some distance away from the moaning ram they had some time to reflect on what exactly they had gotten themselves into

They were lucky in that no one was seriously injured The first ram was young and the second was arrogant enough that it was stuck on the fact that such creatures as their team would challenge its child By the time it realized the enormity of the threat that these humans could pose it’s greatest weapon its horns had been cracked

Even now the thing continued to live thrashing around in the valley below them Laurel had access to some warding Skills so they penned it in and left ways to monitor it The ward wouldn’t be able to block it at its strongest point at all but with its health deteriorating it was likely bound by them Even if it wasn’t with enough warning the team could arrive and finish it off quickly

But if it would die on its own there was no reason to expose themselves to more risk

First with his fingers then with Mana Hank thoroughly worked over the golden horns fragments he had collected from the area of their battle They were a metal but felt far far heavier denser even than lead It was something otherworldly something that seemed to sing with power even though it was something that had been broken by his infused bullets

‘This is what I was missing ‘ Hank thought but his eyes weren’t on the golden fragments they were locked on the unfocused middle ground of possibilities

Because he had learned something today about the System Sure he had heard similar things from Ghost but it hadn’t meant as much as the true experience he just experienced When it came to leveling Skills repetition and practice weren’t enough What you truly required was struggle and strife Compared to someone who threw themselves on the front line Hank who spent most of his time patrolling a small border town was only one third as Leveled

Sure he had been diligent in raising his Level but almost immediately upon arriving in the borderlands they had come face to face with a threat that vastly outclassed them Levels were one part of it but it was a part that they would naturally close the distance to in time But the destructive power of those sonic horns even while damaged demonstrated that it wasn’t just stats but Skill Levels that lay between their two relative capabilities

“I’ve grown soft ” It was a hard thing to admit But after saying it Hank’s face split into a wide smile His father had impressed upon Hank the importance of a hard day’s work and that’s all this was Perhaps he had wandered away from that creed in recent years where his antagonism towards the Tier System had left him bitter and reliant on alcohol but a legitimate threat instantly wiped that away The new perspective showed Hank what could be accomplished and how he might do it but it also warned that it would be dangerous and difficult

If you don’t do it who will

By the firepit Laurel leaped to her feet “The ram is moving “

Everyone quickly got up their faces serious As one their gazes converged on Affina who was frowning

“I cannot sense much but the jade should still be growing ” She said with a slight hesitation Ezekiel snorted but said nothing As one the group dashed out of the treeline and to the area that Laurel had warded

When the crested the hill and had vision on the ram their faces froze

It was a mass of gore

That was perhaps the first and most striking of the occurrences That ram which had resisted both Hank’s bullets Ezekiel’s spells Katie’s plasma and Affina’s strikes had been reduced to a smashed lump of flesh and blood It wasn’t just the ram that what crushed the ground underneath it had been thoroughly recked as well there was a crater about a meter across underneath the body and several thin cracks running outward from the zone of impact

Next to the ram there were two men who were gazing up towards them They had been talking as Hank had been able to pick up the sound of their conversation earlier But as soon as the group moved to approach after Laurel announced something had happened to the ram they had ceased to speak They had heard Hank’s group coming

The two diverse groups regarded each other scrutinizing the other

The first and more imposing of the two men was a young black man He currently still showed some youthful exuberance in his face and body but it was clear that when the young man truly matured he would be more muscle than man Already his arms and legs were thick and powerful the veins clear on his limbs The black man kept his dark hair cropped short Then Hank looked at the most impressive part of the man he was holding what appeared to be a giant iron ball probably a meter across

The implications weren’t lost on Hank This man had used brutal physical force in order to crush the ram in a single strike likely taking advantage of its blindness and wounds to finish it in a single blow Some part of Hank was quite annoyed that someone else had swooped in on his kill but the fact that the man could casually crush the ram’s entire body it seemed that these two were powerful enough to be confident walking around the border zone alone What was more impressive was that they had crossed the entire distance between their Zone and Hank’s Zone so quickly They had a day’s headstart but It also meant that the two were confident that they could travel quickly as well as safely And likely these two men filled the same role that Hank and his group did

After a few seconds of examination the black man turned to the second man his eyes flicking to the side his mouth curled into a frown Hank’s eyes narrowed in response so this second man was in charge

The second man seemed to be of Indian descent with dark hair and strong cheekbones But where the black man was physically domineering the Indian man slender and almost gangling He obviously was in shape but it was the shape of someone who jogged casually on the weekends not of an athlete Unlike his companion the Indian man had no obvious weapon but

Hank’s eyes widened in shock He had been so focused on figuring these two figures out that he had missed the largest and most obvious detail about them they were dressed up as if they were heading to a renaissance fair Both wore leather armor with glints of light off of chainmail that they wore under it Hank’s first reaction to think it ludicrous but then he realized that the leather likely wasn’t taken from cows but from monsters Depending on the monster the leather would likely be impossibly strong there were some Level 40 monsters that could resist several direct blasts of plasma before they were wounded

Such a thing was considered by Ghost but ultimately the difficulty of processing the bodies of monsters combined with the reliability of the exosuits had invalidated that possibility

Not in this Zone

The silence between them had now stretched for 10 seconds or so Hank was very away that the black man had held his giant ball aloft and still for the entire period without even a hint of strain That was Strength of 250 at least but it would be easier to estimate if they had one of Ghost’s cameras

Now that was somewhat odd Ghost hadn’t insisted that they bring a camera with them

Before he could follow that train of thought further the Indian man cleared his throat “You are the group that cleared the Raid Dungeon first yes Congratulations you are a credit to humanity I am Dinesh and this is Tykes We hail from Zone 32 “

Coming from Dinesh’s mouth with the two of them standing over the corpse of the ram they had so struggled against the compliment sounded incredibly hollow Still it was an opening and they had to start somewhere Hank responded “We are from Zone 1 We were surprised how quickly another Zone beat the Raid Dungeon But I suppose we can both benefit greatly from helping each other out Do you “

“That was our kill ” Ezekiel interrupted his eyes bright and dangerous

Tykes responded by showing his teeth “If it was your kill you would have killed it “

In the hand that wasn’t holding onto the large metal ball Tykes spun an object in his hand with obvious satisfaction it was the intact golden horn from the ram Ezekiel’s eyes turned red There was also something extremely strange in the air a feeling of foreignness that was coming from Ezekiel that was disconcerting

Both Hank and Dinesh started to speak at the same time

“Now listen y’all “

“Perhaps we can “

Ignoring them both Ezekiel drew a plasma pistol and fired aiming for Tykes

“Shit ” Hank drew his repeater but didn’t fire feeling somewhat helpless His bullets could pierce through the plasma if he used his Trick Shot but that would only stop a small portion of the plasma He simply didn’t have enough time or the angle to destroy the projectile

Dinesh frowned and Hank saw a Mana Shield spring to life in the middle of the two groups The plasma hit the shield and almost instantly ripped through the shield but it lost a lot of its momentum its arc pulling it directly to the ground where it sizzled and ate itself a sizable hole into the dirt

Chapter 495

Hoping that this was the end of the incident and they could brush it off Hank turned to Ezekiel but he stopped short The man’s entire eyes had turned a crimson color and there was a strange sulfurous smell in the air

“Mine mine mine MINE ” What started as mutters transformed into a bellow and Ezekiel waved his hands wildly “Acid Maelstrom “

Globs of green liquid appeared around Ezekiel and in the air above him First a dozen then a hundred but soon a thousand without the genesis of the strange globs slowing in the least

“I’ll take it ALL ” Ezekiel shouted his eyes red foam forming at the edges of his mouth Those thousand globs of acid began to spin together in a strange formation then the whole thing shot forward followed by the hundreds of follow up globs Again Hank was frozen shocked by the sudden change in Ezekiel Sure the man was always an asshole but this was just insane These were PEOPLE If they could ally with this Zone 32

After throwing the attack however Ezekiel shivered and then collapsed But the dice had already been thrown Around Hank the rest of his party seemed similarly shocked even Affina looking slightly aghast her blind eyes searching in the sky for what was occurring Only Katie seemed to know where this was coming from a bitter expression on her face Apparently Ezekiel was kept in the Holding Area for good reason

Contrary to expectations Dinesh and Tykes didn’t seem upset Their eyes glowed with interest and they shared a glance After a second even as the huge attack covered over half of the distance between them Tykes rolled his eyes and snorted His giant iron ball disappeared and he folded his arms

Meanwhile Dinesh smiled

“Domain Labyrinth of Mirrors “

Instantly dozens of transparent squares 1 meter by 1 meter flew up from Dinesh The air around him crackled and he folded his palms in his hands After another second the air began to bend and twist and Affina spoke

“This this man’s Mana is so strong and thick that it destroys the air I can see him see his silhouette as clear as day “

The two forces met The hissing and bubbling acid globs smashed into the transparent squares From what Hank could observe these squares were a variation on the Mana Shield But they were so so much more than that Hank wasn’t sure whether the acid was stronger or weaker than the plasma but he hoped it was weaker

It took about 3 globs to destroy a square and often that just let the square with a large hole in the center Instantly when their blocking capabilities were compromised the squares would pivot backward flying towards Dinesh Another square was already there to take the first’s place and the wounded one would slowly heal next to Dinesh

A thousand collisions happened in the first second and hundreds in the following 10 seconds Very quickly Dinesh’s strange domain was devoured the acid ripping its way through but there was always more barriers there folding outward collapsing inwards guiding the poison so it was useless so two globs would ricochet off of each other depleting their effectiveness And after the first wave pierced through Dinesh’s Skill expanded outward boxing in the poison separating each branch of the Maelstrom making it so that they couldn’t concentrate the attack in any one direction piercing through with force The Poison Maelstrom was helpless as Ezekiel collapsed leaving it without direction

By the 12th second the attack was defeated and Dinesh’s strange Skill folded back into himself disappearing into nothing

Hank coughed “Mighty obliged for that I dun know how I would have explained to my boss that we killed the first diplomatic delegation we ran into “

Tykes snorted and Dinesh smiled politely

“The pleasure was all mine ” Dinesh said “It is very rare that I get the chance to test my Domain as thoroughly as that perhaps you would be willing to accompany us back to our current base There we can confer and of course compensate you for stealing your kill “

Tykes rolled his eyes

An hour later Hank and his group arrived at the base of the Zone 32 delegation which turned out to be extremely peaceful Almost disturbingly so

Ezekiel hadn’t yet awakened so Hank and Katie had created a stretcher to carry him When they arrived they carefully set Ezekiel down Hank had a lot of questions but couldn’t think which to ask first

A 10 year old child who had been peacefully cutting wood stopped and looked at them Then he skipped over to them as if there weren’t monsters in the surrounding area that would rip his stomach out as soon as look at him Behind him there was a strange sort of house constructed of what looked like tightly wound together thorny roots

“Oh wow You found people so quickly ” The boy said “It’s only been two days “

Tykes shrugged as if this was completely natural considering his level of Skill and ruffled the boy’s hair as he walked past the kid to head towards the house

Inwardly Hank was shocked ‘What do you mean finding us in two days was fast We had a head start How did YOU set up a vacation cabin here in the woods so quickly ‘

The surrounding land was rocky but idyllic It did not look like the type of area to be in one of the most dangerous areas known to man At the other end of the rocky slope there was a cleft in the rock that was the start of a ravine Then entrance was smoking and ominous and Hank’s instincts were telling him that that path led into a danger zone Yet this group was bold enough to just set up shop here

“We got lucky ” Dinesh said to the kid “We encountered them in the wild If we had to go all the way into the other Zone it would have taken much longer Where is Randidly “

“Ah him and Neveah went back in there ” The kid said pointing towards the ominous opening “You know how pissed he was that the uh ‘ogre bastard’ had the immunity Skill He swore to finish it this time “

“Thank god that crazy bitch is gone ” Tykes whispered a flash of fear in his eyes as he continued to walk towards the cabin

From the cabin two people emerged a short Hispanic man and a large well endowed woman

“Guests ” The Hispanic man said his voice almost hysterical from excitement He instantly turned around and went back inside

Dinesh rolled his eye and turned back to Hank’s group The kid came and stood next to him regarding them with interest “Don’t mind them It is obvious that all of you share some common military training We are more haphazard in our training But I assure you that we are all strong in our own way “

“No offense taken ” Laurel said turning on the charm for this strange “It’s welcoming Nothing is as important as genuine goodwill I’m very curious however you are all wearing leathers “

The kid made a face “Do you jeans in my size I really miss jeans “

As one the group chuckled Dinesh said “Yes Our Zone had its advantages but having stores of pre System goods was not one of them We were forced to make most everything form scratch so we were technologically set back quite a ways But of course this meant that we learned very quickly to produce System style equipment to provide modest boosts to our stats It balanced out in the end I suspect “

Affina blinked “System style equipment “

Dinesh tilted his head to the side confused “Yes like you can buy from Village stores you can purchase for points

“Oh ” Affina said simply nodding No one was fooled Dinesh was now giving their group a very strange look Hank rubbed the back of his neck

” as I understand it our leaders made the decision to save all points and put them towards upgrading the Village We very rarely used points to create the buildings offered “

“Oh ” Now it was Dinesh who didn’t know what to say

“That’s dumb ” The kid announced

Chapter 496

The kid was so direct that the whole group couldn’t help but smile Afterall what would a 10 year old know of the decisions that adults needed to make

Hank grinned and squatted down next to the kid Whereas the orange haired teen was constantly badgering him Hank was much more pleased by this relatively reserved boy who stood by and watched the adults talked It reminded him of Jane

“Heya partner ” Hank extended his hand “It might be dumb but sometimes you need to sacrifice things if you are focused on a specific goal My name’s Hank by the way What’s yours “

“Nathan ” Nathan said shaking Hank’s hand Then he regarded him critically “Hank are you a cowboy You look like one “

Hank chuckled “Well I like to think so “

“What’s your Class ” Nathan pressed looking at Hank with serious eyes

Blinking Hank considered being quiet to hide his strength but it wasn’t like they were enemies He knew it was a decision that would make Ghost frown but there seemed no harm in saying it “Gunslinger “

“Oh interesting ” Nathan’s eyes went wide and Hank straightened pleased with how the conversation went But then Nathan spoke again and Hank was struck dumb “What were your starting Skills Your Stat gains per Level What are your primary stats “

“Uh “

“Can I just see your Class That will be easier ” Nathan announced

Hank just looked down at the serious child “You want to see my status screen “

“No I want to see ” Nathan began but he was interrupted

“This can wait until later ” Dinesh said his hand clapping on Nathan’s shoulder instantly shutting him up The Indian man smiled at Hank’s group “Anybody hungry “

Ghost considered the new information that was flowing through him

Ever since his creation Dr Karman had warned him that although their Zone 1 was the most well prepared and the Zone that the System had judged to have the most potential that the greatest advantage of humanity was their adaptability and creativity It was the same advantage that Ghost himself possessed as an AI Humans would struggle against any obstacle overcoming it in strange and unpredictable ways

As if proving that very point Dr Karman had told him that contrary to expectations their Zone was not the first to found a village that honor went to another location Although there were a thousand ways that whichever Zone that had accomplished that could fail there was also a much greater chance that this rival Zone would be able to survive the trials and meet them in the final portion of the System’s reorganization of the world

From the very first instance of viewing Dinesh and Tykes Ghost was sure that this very situation had come to pass

What Ghost couldn’t understand was what exactly was the advantage that this Zone possessed that it allowed them to come so far It was clear from Dinesh’s comments that it wasn’t a materials advantage Their rather primitive if intriguing armor demonstrated that they really started with very few advantages Ghost wasn’t exactly sure how many Zones were created on Earth but suspected that it couldn’t be much more than one hundred This was due to the size of the Zones as well as the size of the areas of land that had been frozen in time and added to their Zone The System rearranged land but it was at least limited by the area of Earth

Perhaps the true weight hanging over Ghost was the decision over what to DO about this new Zone The initial contact with these strangers seemed to indicate that the Zone they came from was strong but Ghost’s calculations indicated that they likely had a much smaller populous to draw from It wasn’t an ideal solution but should it come to war Ghost wasn’t above using a superior number of Tier 1 citizens to overwhelm the opposition with plasma pistols In addition to that perhaps it was time to move forward with some of Ghost’s other plans Ghost made a memo to jump start the drone initiative so that the Zone wouldn’t be too suspicious when he revealed his own secrets forces

Unfortunately for him those forces could only be considered upper class Tier 5 citizens based on his scale From that small conflict alone it was clear that the two individuals from Zone 32 were Tier 6 at the very least Ghost was glad that he had spent the time and effort to train those long distance sniper squads These close range specialists were dangerous but there were still methods of dealing with them

But Ghost still had a bad feeling which was extremely strange for him He was not an entity that typically relied on emotional or spiritual cues he was a machine and everything that was him was calculations But this was a calculation without any real basis Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the basis was there but as of yet Ghost had been unable to make any sense of it

What was the advantage that Zone 32 possessed so that they were able to become the second Zone that was part of New Earth Only three days after the arrival of their Zone 1

Dinesh held the plasma pistol in his hand considering it as a weapon Even without the requisite Skill that these others from Zone 1 talked about he could still feel the channel through the simple machine into which he could thrust his Mana He looked in askance at the leader the Gunslinger Hank Howard

The man nodded shortly curiosity clear in his bright eyes I’d love to see you use it You’re a mage ain’tcha That’s pretty rare in our Zone

Dinesh made note of the twitch in Hank’s companions when he said that so easily Although Hank didn’t appear to regard it as such their two Zones were clearly in a competition of sorts A friendly one if the Ghosthound had his way but a competition nonetheless It wasn’t yet clear what benefits the Fate Stones beyond the first would have but with how much time the Ghosthound had spent in the past two days inside of the Danger Zone it seemed significant

In a way the others reactions to him made Dinesh pity Hank The man didn’t understand how deeply he was in the schemes of others But at the same time Dinesh had a feeling that things weren’t that simple When he looked at Hank he was reminded of Dozer of all people There was an implacable brutality to him although Hank’s was of a more sophisticated variety

In their eyes was the sure confidence of a man reliant on violence and experienced in its execution

Focusing his thoughts to the task at hand Dinesh carefully channeled Mana into the plasma pistol After Karlito fed the group they had met and agreed to carefully exchange technology For the Zone 32 group that meant providing equipment to Hank and his peers as an example The one who unleashed that strange poison spell was still unconscious but the others received various leather armors with Engravings done by the Ghosthound himself

The Engravings were of a very high quality but the equipment they were on was just average Still the effect was staggering

Fucking hell Hank swore Then he glanced apologetically at Nathan before continuing You mean all of your clothes provide stats Like 10 each

That was another redeeming quality in the man’s favor Dinesh thought He had a kindness towards children that was rare in the post System world

Well more or less Dinesh said The examples provided are geared primarily towards stats most equipment simply provides flat health increases Still in an extended fight they often are extremely useful

The short Asian woman with the milky eyes ran her fingers over the boots in her hands a wistful expression are her face May we may we keep these

Dinesh nodded solemn Of course consider them a gesture of goodwill Repayment for stealing your kill

The group seemed to accept this all of them cheery at the newly acquired equipment The singular items seemed strange compared with the rest of their dress but they all put them on in one way or another But although this was a touching scene it didn’t make sense at all to Dinesh

Surely their Village Spirit or the Champion would have provided equipment to them Why do they not have it ’ Dinesh wondered but there was no real way to ask without revealing how much he was confused by this occurrence But perhaps that just displayed Dinesh’s own prejudices It was something worth reflecting on

To pay him back they provided him with a basic plasma pistol which he held now He raised it aiming at a large stone sticking out of the ground 50 meters away They assured him that the weapons had little recoil and therefore more accurate than most handguns

Not that this information meant anything to Dinesh he had never fired a gun before

It was strange at first his Mana almost cramping from the strange use but then some barrier broke and he learned the Mana Infusion Skill A bright azure bolt sailed across the distance striking the rock squarely Very quickly the projectile burnpumpkin sizedsized hole in the stone

Dinesh whistled All that for only 20 Mana No wonder they mass produced these It would make the beginning stages of the System a joke

Chapter 497

However the more Dinesh thought about it the more he wondered how having access to such an easy tool would affect the growth of people He didn’t want to leap to any conclusions from only a simple spar but from the fact that they hadn’t been able to completely kill the ram only fatally wound it made Dinesh wonder about their capabilities

It seemed that they were at a comparable Level to him and Tykes yet

Dinesh’s eyes glowed knowingly It must be Skill Level so much so that the difference bleeds over into stats Interesting

In addition it wasn’t as though the two of them were invincible either Tykes was extremely powerful sure but his power was often something that he couldn’t exercise effectively Most monsters simply dodged his attack The only sort of monsters that didn’t was half dead rams that were bound and blinded

Dinesh turned when he heard Hank’s voice

Ah I’m not too sure about the details but for people with higher Intelligence I’ve heard ya can compress the Mana somehow The man shrugged and scratched the stumble on his chin

Dinesh nodded a smile on his face He had felt it the inefficiencies in the first shot He also was aware that the pistol was capable of handling more Mana How much he wasn’t sure but it was surely more than he had just channeled through it

For his first experiment he focused the Mana turning it into a highly dense slug The projectile streaked out and ripped a hole in the stone making a hole almost all the way through the likely 2 meter thick rock before it ran out of momentum Dinesh’s eyebrows rose That level of punch was definitely something that was worth knowing about His appreciation for Hank grew with every passing minute

Next he left his Mana in a raw and unfocused state but pushed more into the gun This made the projectile bigger but that basically just increased the area of effect

Then he pumped more Mana into it and concentrated it This time the projectile was a dark blue and it ripped completely through the stone Dinesh chose another target and did it again upping the dosage one more time

However before the Mana discharged something snapped inside the pistol There was a fizz a spark and then the thing lay dead in his hand inert His Mana had very quickly overloaded what it was capable of

Inwardly Dinesh was disappointed Was the pistol only capable of this much But it made sense in a way This weapon was effective at low levels but it was designed as a beginner piece There were likely stronger pistols available to those who had high Intelligence but with the exception of the unconscious man none of these seemed to have chosen to go the path of Intelligence

my apologies Perhaps the application of my Mana was insufficient Dinesh said offering the pistol back to Hank after a slight hesitation Would they require another gift for this

But Hank snorted waving a hand and producing a dozen other pistols before making them disappear with another flourish Don’t worry about I’ve got plenty And my Mana might be low but my Focus isn’t I blow out the baseline pistols all the time Higher grade pistols require too many hoops to jump through and seemed less sure than bullets so I’ve never bothered with the plasma pistols too much

Dinesh’s eyes traced Hank’s easy smile then slid past him to the sharp faced woman with auburn hair behind him THere was something off about this one although Ptolemy wasn’t sure what it was Nathan had given him a look when the group arrived his gaze going meaningfully to this woman That was more than enough confirmation

When it came to Classes almost no one was as skilled as Nathan now was

Well how about we share a drink now Dinesh offered And exchange some information about our Zones

That would be great Hank said motioning for his companions to set up camp After a small hesitation they did erecting tents near the thorny cabin Then Hank continued Would you be able to send a message to the people in power back in your Zone Our mission is primarily a diplomatic one if we could communicate

Unfortunately our leader is a bit determined to not give many of the power players back home even the time of day Therefore we can point you in the right direction but the communication is up to you Dinesh said slowly Even he was unsure exactly where the Ghosthound’s surliness in regards to Lyra came from How could he explain it in a succinct way to a stranger

But at the very least he knew that the Ghosthound would prefer not to be overly involved in the peace talks Although the Ghosthound was focused on the new Zone Dinesh had figured out that it wasn’t exactly for diplomatic purposes the Ghosthound was looking for something

Hank seemed disappointed but accepted this After Karlito and his wife Bruya had brought out wood they had a campfire going and the talk started in earnest In a show of good faith Hank went first talking about Zone 1 the Tiers the regulations the rankings Ptolemy listened slowly reserving judgment

All systems have benefits just like all systems have detriments

So you are the old capital of America Dinesh asked curious His sister had been in Washington D C before the System arrived

Hank Howard seemed torn well more yes than no but a lot of bits were missing especially the suburbs Most of the food the government had stored in preparation for the coming of the System was lost but we got lucky with the technological bureaus They were the real core of the Zone

Intriguing Nathan said stroking his chin Most of Hank’s party hid a smile

Dinesh chuckled softly but not because of Nathan’s comment Rather it was because Nathan was playing a fool on purpose to get the opposing group to loosen up It was an excellent emotional manipulation and one that would cause no trouble if it were discovered Ptolemy wondered where he had learned that from It couldn’t have been the Ghosthound or Neveah they were both too blunt Tykes was similarly out Perhaps the sweet talking Hispanic chef Karlito

So what about y’all Hank asked looking at Ptolemy

Well Dinesh paused considering where to begin We are much more decentralized As stated we don’t have the rigid Tiers for groups although we have ranks in the various towns Our population is much smaller than yours too possibly only a third so everyone has generally heard of most people of note

There are two main political blocks the Northwest which consists of the Refuge Star Crossing and East End and the Southeast which is made up of Franksburg and Donnyton I myself received my Class at Donnyton

Of the two I would say that the Southeast is superior in both numbers and quality Donnyton was the first Village in our Zone and the most powerful Most warriors worth their salt will travel there to train at least for a while Franksburg is the second founded village and the largest city About half of the people in our Zone live in Franksburg

You even call them warriors The other woman Laurel said shaking her head with a smile That’s crazy but I guess that’s what being isolated from the outside world for two and a half years will get you

Tykes who was standing next to the first with his arms folded nodded and spoke And it feels even longer probably another year spent inside of Dungeons in one form or another

Hank blinked and it was ultimately the Asian girl Affina that spoke

You have been in a Dungeon She asked rank curiosity clear in her tone

Again it was Dinesh’s turn to be shocked You haven’t

Affina shook her head Entrance to the Dungeons we have access to are strictly regulated Only the top quality government talents are sent there to spend as much time as possible training The only reason that there is any space at all is due to the body’s eventual rejection of the dungeon

An interesting prospect and Dinesh could understand the reasons for doing so It seemed like every month there was a story of a group going into a Dungeon without proper preparation and coming back one member smaller It was a sad thing when all of humanity was struggling against the System but such things were inevitable

But the flip side of that was no one emerged stronger from Dungeons that cruel lesson carved into their hearts

The talk flowed going back and forth on various aspects until Hank finally spoke in a very different tone It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t angry and it wasn’t commanding but it was very clear from his tone and in retrospect his behavior the entire night that the had been building to this for quite a long time

So then I’m left wonderin’ why you guys could clear your Raid Dungeon so fast Hank said simply scratching his chin No offense but our Zone was forewarned and prepared It’s pretty shockin’ to me that we were only three days faster than a random grouping of people There must be something special there right

Chapter 498

The group fell silent everyone’s attention fixed on the two men sitting across the first from one another Hank and Dinesh Hank looked around with an easy smile on his face Dinesh smiled back surprised how easily the expression came Apparently it was not only Nathan that was playing the fool tonight Truly there was more to this Hank than meets the eye If he had the chance he would grow into a formidable man

But even the best seeds need the proper soil to grow

Well it is hard to say why our Zone was so lucky Dinesh said with a smile But several key individuals emerged I also think due to our lack of guns we were forced to revert to more primitive methods of combat in order to survive Although the initial risk is much higher I am confident in saying it pays dividends down the line

Huh Hank said looking thoughtful But he didn’t press the issue which left Dinesh feeling very relieved Trying to explain the Ghosthound was a certain sort of trouble for a number of reasons Not the least of which was the Ghosthound expressed the desire to keep his own influence in the Zone a secret for as long as possible so he could accomplish his own goals

You seem strong Affina said simply and Karlito chuckled as he tended to the fire

Of course we would be very interested in trading any supplies you might have on you I assure you that we likely have items unavailable elsewhere Dinesh continued thinking of the Ghosthound’s other side project Potions and elixirs that produce a variety of effects including a one time boost to stats They can only be used once they are still a valuable commodity in our Zone

Dinesh didn’t mention that they were experimental in nature but he figured that the Ghosthound had worked out most of the kinks in their creation Affina and the woman Katie looked up sharply but both Hank and Laurel seemed unconcerned In fact Hank was so unconcerned that Laurel had to elbow him in the side to break him from his revery

Hm Oh yeah we can trade for sure I’d like to check on my man though See if he recovered from overdrawing himself

After Dinesh gave his assent the rest of the group dispersed The Zone 32 ers stayed around the first slowly gathering closer together Even Tanya appeared from the house coming over to join them at the fire Her gaze was timid as she looked over towards the individuals from Zone 1 but she was no longer as skittish as she had been before The Ghosthound’s crazy crusade with the rest of them as entourage assured that

There were some things that either killed you or transformed you

They seem nice Bruya said in her placid way as her fingers spun a tiny illusionary figure of Hank The figure in her hand drew his pistol spun it and then fanned the hammer in a brash way spraying bullets everywhere

Soft too Tykes said but he kept his voice quiet This was a relief to Dinesh He suspected that all three of the women in the other group had the power to hear quite a distance away and he didn’t want to insult them Plus the look in Tykes eyes wasn’t as harsh as it had been 6 months ago It truly seemed that the Ghosthound had taught the other man something about channeling helplessness and frustration

What are we doing next Nathan asked turning to look at Dinesh

Dinesh shrugged We wait for the Ghosthound But what he likely does depends on the result of his time in the Danger Zone There is much to learn there but also much danger With the exception of Tykes we cannot follow the Ghosthound there Even with the accompaniment of Neveah to defeat the Boss is a tall order If he defeats it and the benefit is a good one he will likely push us to conquer the others that belong to Zone 32 If not

Shrugging helplessly Dinesh raised a hand to the sky The rest nodded even Tykes The Ghosthound was relentless and intense but he also was sometimes strangely whimsical and became fixated on strange notions The flip side of that that his work ethic and broad range of skills that allowed him to generally succeed at these strange whims

They had chosen their path when they followed him out of Donnyton The past 6 months had been a brutal series of conflicts moving to the largest groupings of monsters they could find and fighting them Because of that they had hit the ground running in the reconfigured Earth Sure only Dinesh and Tykes could fight against the monsters here alone and even then it was just to a standstill but they could hold their own

Dinesh wouldn’t mind if they took a break here for a while

When Hank arrived before Ezekiel the man was sitting up sipping on a glass of water that the cook’s wife had left next to his bedside To his surprise there was none of the man’s usual bluster in his face just a deep bitterness

“You slept well I see ” Hank drawled crouching down next to the man They were a fair distance away from the thorny house and all of the people from Zone 32 had entered into it giving Hank some confidence that they wouldn’t be overheard Although human capability was determined largely by stats now instead of innate physical gifts there were still some predictable measures that could be used to protect the secrecy of their conversation

Ezekiel chuckled “Well enough “

Then the other man fell silent looking at Hank with very strange eyes Hank said nothing gazing back at him Of course there was a part of him that wanted to be angry that wanted to rant and complain and another larger part of him that wanted answers But it was clear that this was a strange occurrence that had influenced the mood of Ezekiel a man who in their brief period of interaction seemed completely unflappable

As Hank expected Ezekiel broke the staring contest first leaning back and looking up at the sky

“I’ve never seen a sky this blue ” Ezekiel said softly “My ex wife would have loved it She always was fascinated with the sky As if the future was above us slowly drifting down and settling over us all “

“You have a family ” Hank would permit him a short digression but ultimately he would not let the matter of that wild attack go without an explanation of some kind

Ezekiel grimaced “I did Well just by a fucked up coincidence my Father in Law was in Zone 1 when the System arrived That wily snake will be the last person in this world to breathe his last I have no idea how my ex wife could have survived the System but my son “

Ezekiel paused He closed his eyes “We barely even talked He was 21 and I hadn’t even bought him a drink He was across the country going to school at Rowlands “

“Smark kid ” Hank said shortly his expression easing somewhat

“Yea but he was a little lost Just couldn’t find it in him to commit to things or he would be something truly great Maybe maybe that’s my fault ” Ezekiel paused Then he sat back up and looked at Hank “I’m a selfish person I’ve always known that And that’s why that’s why I am what I am

“My Class ” he continued “Is very special a Named Class Which means it is a bit more powerful but I also was injected with instincts associated with the Class My Class is Beelzebub the Taker The personification of Gluttony And earlier I was hungry I hadn’t eaten in a long time “

Hank frowned “We had lunch only an hour prior How “

“Not food ” Shaking his head Ezekiel seemed extremely pained “Lives When I kill I take a single Skill from the people I Consume their highest leveled Skill Which is why the Skills I can use are so varied And while I’m hungry I lose one stat point a day as I waste away Some inner part of my withers if I don’t constantly feed “

This was more than Hank had been expecting He sat back on his heels “Why are you telling me this “

Sure this was the information that Hank had looked for although he hadn’t predicted its shape at all But there was a lot of information included in this explanation that wasn’t exactly pertinent He was being told for a reason

Chuckling Ezekiel said “So you understand why it’s necessary that I kill no matter how much I don’t want to This is just the way things are “

“Are you a fucking idiot “

Ezekiel blinked up at Hank

Hank continued “I don’t mind if you are a shitty person but at least own up to it Why is it other people’s fault your selfishness brought you here Don’t punish an innocent for where your choices brought you “

Eyes blazing Ezekiel straightened and glared at Hank “How was I supposed to know this would result “

“You weren’t what you were supposed to do is bear your own burden ” Hank said feeling extremely strange as he spoke Not because he didn’t believe what he was saying but because while he was speaking he could clearly hear his father’s voice speaking the exact same words “A man’s worth cannot be seen in the amount of weight he bears but in the percentage of his own burdens he pushes onto other people You sir are not selfish you are a coward “

Ezekiel bared his teeth His hands clenched into fists

Hank just looked at the slight man

“Ah fuck you ” Ezekiel said laying back down with an abrupt thump

Chapter 499

The air was hot here and heavy Hank very clearly felt the shape of his tongue in his mouth as he attempted to shape the words

“I won’t deny that killing may become necessary ” Hank said slowly This was a mission for his country and he had to accomplish it regardless of the misshapen tools he was given That was his burden to bear “But if I find out you killed someone just to feed your Class the next person to die will be you “

“That would be a relief ” Ezekiel breathed Before Hank could formulate a reply a loud shout cut across the rocky area with such force that the ground seemed to rumble in commiseration It was an expression that was so powerful that it was more natural force than anything else And when Hank heard the words his eyes widened

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT “

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT ” Randidly bellowed his eyes blazing He slammed his foot into the ground and everything trembled That just made Randidly more annoyed even the land here in the borderlands was annoyingly resilient “THAT FUCKING OGRE “

“Limp dick limp dick ” Neveah sang in a soft voice skipping next to him imitating the Ogre after it realized that Randidly even when utilizing Inspiration could only slay one of its three heads at once The fucking thing was delighted Each head was scared that they would be the eliminated one but the loser would regenerate within 12 hours which was shorter than the cooldown for Inspiration It was an especially frustrating conclusion after an almost 20 hour slog through armies of lesser ogres only to find that for all Randidly’s gifts he didn’t have quite enough offense to burn through the Ogre’s defenses both Skill related and purely physical

He supposed that the Level 70 wasn’t just for show But that didn’t make it any easier to stomach

Randidly wanted to beat up on someone to expend some of the wild helplessness he felt He tossed Acri to the side and his living plant spear snapped out of its rigid shape to scurry away Similarly Randidly reached back and grabbed sulfur his amorphous lava plant armor that he wore underneath his bone cloak The plant already understood and flowed around Randidly into a ball to be cast off After relieving himself of his burdens his eyes were sharp as he turned to Neveah

Hurriedly she shook her bonehead side to side and dashed off “I promise to play catch with Tykes He waits for me “

The image of Tykes’ face when Neveah forced the man to play catch with her did fill Randidly with enough good cheer to chuckle When she learned of the practice of throwing a ball back and force to bond from Randidly she was delighted and immediately approached Tykes curious about the ritual Tykes was initially dismissive How could she handle his dense metal ball that he spent every night reinforcing and pounding together

He seemed to have forgotten that of them all Neveah was the true monster In terms of the physical stats she made even Randidly sweat Which was why she would have made a good sparring partner But no matter

Randidly’s eyes sharpened In his poor mood after a wasted day he hadn’t been paying attention to their surroundings He dearly wanted to capture a Fate Crystal to see what effect it would have But it appeared that they had guests

Unfamiliar ones

The Zone that had completed their Raid Boss first The Creature would have a hand there Making contact was a good thing although it would push up his timeline by quite a bit Still perhaps that was a good thing

Randidly had spent the past 6 months constantly throwing himself in the most dangerous situations that he could sharpening himself and his combat related Skills as much as he could And the results well

They spoke for themselves

Level 24 (81%)

Health(/R per hour) 3001/3033 (+730) (1447 (+165

Mana(/R per hour) 2341/3346 (684 (+9

Stam(/R per min) 2499/2894 (+60) (472 (+45

Vit 312 (+15)

End 153 (+20)

Str 307 (+52)

Agi 332 (+24)

Perception 356 (+20)

Reaction 322 (+15)

Resistance 267 (+45)

Willpower 395 (+10)

Intelligence 325

Wisdom 299 (+9)

Control 554

Focus 293 (+4)

Progenitor’s Influence 9168

Skills (Soul Skill) Seven Lands of the Spectral Tree Lvl 1122

Combat Spear Mastery Lvl 178 White Phantom’s Half Step (Un) Lvl 73 Heavy Blow Lvl 94 Dagger Mastery Lvl 10 Iron Skin Lvl 47 Dodge Lvl 98 Fighting Proficiency Lvl 137 Block Lvl 74 Phantom Onslaught Lvl 42 Sweep Lvl 54 Spear Deflect Lvl 10 Calculated Blow Lvl 89 Roundhouse Kick Lvl 65 Idiosyncratic Cut (Un) Lvl 99 Pierce the Skies Shatter the Earth Lvl 57 Body Control Freeze Lvl 37 Stalemate Breaker Lvl 29 Talon Strike Lvl 38 Counter Lvl 51

PoFE Class Skills Plant Dominance ® Lvl 106 Spray Holy Sap (Un) Lvl 9 Sharpness Lvl 69 Call Grove Defenders ® Lvl 34 Earthquake (Un) Lvl 43 Invigorating Call (Humanity)(Un) Lvl 14 Four Shaded Domain Lvl 29 Phantom’s Lantern (Un) Lvl 33 Grasp of Lava ® Lvl 67 Erode Image Lvl 6 Vengeful Bloom (Un) Lvl 19 Galant Intervention (Human) Lvl 4 Spriggit’s Tinkering ® Lvl 1 Aether Understanding Lvl 39 Summon Lava Golem (Un) Lvl 22 Aether Infusion Lvl 41

The 7 Kata of the Ashen Spear The Spear Advances Ash Trails Lvl 81 As the Sun Stills ® Lvl 1

The 6 Signs of the Spear Phantom ® The First Sign The Inevitable Phantom Arrives Lvl 101 (Un) The Fifth Sign The Wild Phantom’s Embrace Lvl 180 The Sixth Sign The Breath of the Spear Phantom ® Lvl 49

Spells Spearing Roots Lvl 85 Mana Bolt Lvl 28 Mana Shield Lvl 32 Arcane Orb Lvl 22 Fireball Lvl 30 Magic Missile Lvl 4 Healing Palm Lvl 12 Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 20 Summon Pestilence Lvl 54 Wall of Thorns Lvl 29 Yggdrasil Soul Seed ® Inspiration ® Incinerating Bolt Lvl 91 Circle of Flame Lvl 75 Plantomancy Lvl 35 Hammer of the Dawn Lvl 37 Burning Footsteps Lvl 23 Ashes to Ashes Lvl 49 Touch from Beyond ® Lvl 24 Gravity Affinity Lvl 36 Incendiary Eruption Lvl 22

Crafting Potion Making Lvl 47 Farming Lvl 32 Plant Breeding Lvl 19 Mapmaker Lvl 7 Analyze Lvl 29 Refine Lvl 39 Extract Lvl 29 Mana Engraving Lvl 99

Yggdrasil Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil Lvl 105 The Golden Roots of Yggdrasil Lvl 125 the Emerald Sap of Yggdrasil Lvl 130 the Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil Lvl 127 the Indomitable Spirit of Yggdrasil Lvl 127 the Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil Lvl 111

Auxiliary Sneak Lvl 46 Acid Resistance Lvl 22 Poison Resistance Lvl 21 Pain Resistance Lvl 61 First Aid Lvl 16 Pathfinding Lvl 18 Fire Resistance Lvl 83 Sewing Lvl 11 Cutting Vegetables Lvl 2 Manual Labor Lvl 6 Digging Lvl 5 Cooking Lvl 63 Clockwork Mastery Lvl 16 Aether Connection Lvl 15 Soul Bond Lvl 99 Chef’s Palette Lvl 24 Nether Resistance Lvl 13 Child of the Rain (Un) Lvl 16 Chosen of Fire ® Lvl 34

But completing the First Legend Path had revealed some disturbing news

When he had completed it Randidly had been given +5 stats per Level as a reward which made him very glad he had paused in his Leveling spree in preparation for going back to Shal’s world But in addition he received another more disturbing notification

Congratulations There are three great barriers every species must overcome The first is mental do you deserve this The second is a test of outlook can you dominate this The third is the very limits of the species are you more than this

The first lock on humanity preventing them from Leveling past 50 has already been unlocked by an individual who created a Runic Rarity Skill You have now unlocked the second lock by creating a Legendary Skill The final lock will be unlocked when a Skill surpassing the Legendary Rating has been created

Congratulations You have unlocked Domain Type Skills for Humanity Although Pseudo Domains were possible in the past these shall truly warp the world around you in battle Only one Domain Style Skill may be cultivated per person

That meant there was someone out there who had created a Runic Skill which wasn’t quite so impressive but also gone through the Path to unlock its reward and the general lock at the end of it In addition they likely also received a boost to growth like Randidly had although he sincerely doubted that it would be as large as his And above that a Skill with a Rarity beyond Legendary probably provided an even larger bonus

Randidly breathed in and then out letting most of his anger fall away For now he needed to interact with these new arrivals and find out what was going on in there Zone With enough information it would be possible to embed himself there and attempt to find something out about the Creature’s activity there

There was no way in hell a successful Zone like this had escaped the Creature’s reach

Several unfamiliar figures were rushing over towards Randidly likely drawn by his swearing earlier Randidly could almost blush He didn’t want to be a stern leader of a Zone but also a furious youth that had trouble controlling his temper was another image he didn’t really want to possess

A figure from the other party a figure who must have been in Zone 1 froze as well

Rand Ezekiel Ghosthound said softly his eyes wide

Dad

Chapter 500

Ezekiel Ghosthound was a man who was haunted by the choices he didn’t make in his life He made the decision to accept a modest financial aid package to a middle tier school and graduated with honors Although he likely could have pushed for higher honors or a place in his University’s executive board or done a more ambitious thesis project he didn’t

In his mind that phrase hung heavy and dense

He didn’t

At the time he didn’t realize that his golden years were slipping past Very soon conversation and advancement wouldn’t come fun and easy to him Out in the real world he received a job at a mid tier firm and did an alright job Although there were opportunities for promotion Ezekiel watched them go to other people usually people from more prestigious schools people who were willing to put in ridiculous hours

Ezekiel couldn’t do that He had married his college sweetheart and she was now pregnant In the beginning she was a bright and free spirit that invigorated him Very quickly with the stresses of life piling up Ezekiel found himself frustrated with a wife who cared very little for the necessities of modern life Even when mortgage payments and phone bills and insurance premiums siphoned away their money she remained unflappable happy and bright

To her it was enough that they were together They would make a family together and if they were only barely above the poverty line Ezekiel’s wife didn’t mind it She had made her peace with it

For the first time in his life Ezekiel found himself driven forward with a vicious need to succeed His bitterness became sharp claws to tear down his competition and slowly drag himself up the corporate ladder Perhaps his underhanded and cold methods were noticed but so were his increased sales numbers He received his first promotion on the day his son was born

Ezekiel’s wife knew how important this was for them and didn’t mind that Ezekiel couldn’t make it She knew that he was doing this only because he cared She also believed that naming the child Randidly was a good idea

They never explicitly fought about it but Ezekiel couldn’t help but notice how wounded she was in the wake of surprising him with the name and watching his expression Ezekiel wasn’t even sure what emotions were clear on his face But they were true and they were honest They never spoke of it after

When their fight eventually exploded and they were divorced Ezekiel could have maintained a better relationship with his son who he called Rand

When he saw his son struggling with his own strangeness which Ezekiel privately thought was due to the boy being on the autism spectrum perhaps he could have intervened But rather than that Ezekiel believed that the world was a much better teacher than he could ever be In the sharp wounds left by bullies Rand would find armor or he wouldn’t very little Ezekiel could have done would have likely changed that

A part of him suggested that Ezekiel should feel bad for treating his son so callously

As Ezekiel rose to prominence at his company he was oddly dissatisfied with his current lot in life The positions above him were occupied by competent people who rose ahead of him and wouldn’t leave anytime soon Again he seemed stuck No matter how hard he worked he couldn’t force out anyone above him

That is he one day realized he couldn’t force anyone out by playing by the rules

He didn’t think twice about any of the hard decisions that he had to make after that

It was serendipitous in a way that the System would come right after he was named CEO of his company Because at that time he had accomplished his goals in 7 short years and now was left empty Finally his dream was realized the company was his But this wasn’t what he wanted What he wanted was to ride that high of the bitter hunger that let him slaughter his way to the top

Those bitter claws that had seemed so fragile and ugly had become masterful tools to dismantle another person His teeth had grown sharp In terms of empathy he ranked even lower than his autistic son

Normal people would have enjoyed being at the top

He didn’t It stunk of sloth and pride and those were not Ezekiel’s sins No he was gluttony and he wanted more

Was he surprised at his Class Obviously not And originally he had been very happy with it But eventually as time passed Ezekiel came to realize the astronomical price he had to pay in order to not have his stats regress One life a week was required Sure every time he killed someone he took their greatest Skill But he didn’t get any stats and he didn’t receive the PP that those people had He could only grind up his Skills the old fashioned way His stat gains were some of the highest Ghost had ever seen but it wasn’t enough

Ezekiel wanted more

And he would fight to take it

As Ezekiel followed Hank towards the source of the sound he winced feeling that strange otherness of the Class inside of him still complaining of hunger Truly Ezekiel feared Hank in a straight up fight and he didn’t think that Ghost would accept if Ezekiel arranged for an accident to befall the man he was too useful a tool to let go

No for now Ezekiel would need to find other ways to

He froze his jaw dropping A young man stood there kicking the ground and swearing to himself He was tall and athletic lean and powerful His black hair was cropped short only a few curls making it down to his forehead and around his ears But most noticeable were his eyes piercing and emerald and seemingly luminous even in the afternoon light

They were his mother’s eyes This was his son

Rand Ezekiel’s mouth moved without him even thinking about the action or what might come next All normal intelligence was smashed to the side by raw shock coursing through Ezekiel’s veins He was alive He was alive

They both moved appearing before each other like apparitions stopping about 1 meter apart both searching the other’s face and body for hints of how they survived To have reached this point both had gone through almost unimaginable situations Ezekiel had even felt he had lucked out in a lot of ways a friend hadn’t told him explicitly that the System would occur but was hosting a party and inviting over a lot of contemporary business leader Ezekiel was lucky enough to be chosen

For the first several hours the man’s personal guard protected them and they were informed about the System what little was known Afterall the forewarning had been exceedingly vague but it was enough to prepare some things Unfortunately they underestimated the power of the monsters that appeared and after the first few hours Ezekiel had to fend for himself It was a hard thing

To Ezekiel’s surprise his son seemed none the worse for wear even though his fitness made it clear that he was a fighter now and a strong one if he was a member of this party from Zone 32 If anything the kid was thriving

When Ezekiel realized that the silence was stretching he forced himself to raise his hand half meaning to wave half meaning to shake his son’s hand Neither gesture was sufficient to convey the raw relief coursing through his body but what else could he do You you look good

Instead of reaching out to take his hand Rand did something that completely floored Ezekiel literally Rand opened his arms and tackled him hugging him to the ground There was no malice in the movement so Ezekiel just let it happen But as soon as they touched Ezekiel wondered if he COULD have resisted The boy’s grip

it was sorta hard to breathe

There were only two one for each eye but there were tears on Randidly’s face I can’t believe I never thought I’d see you again

Ezekiel’s shock softened into warmth Although they weren’t particularly close they were blood He should have known that would be enough to keep their bond healthy Reaching out a hand Ezekiel planned to pat his son’s head even though he was probably 22 or 23 by now but he didn’t see his hand but the monster’s hand

He saw the hand of a man who framed or blackmailed coworkers to rise to the top He saw the hand of a man who had taken one life a week for a year His fingers were gnarled and blackened his nails were sharp and bloody His hand twitched and stop midair Deep in his chest Ezekiel felt a deep stab of fear

Ever since the divorce Ezekiel had pushed his son towards excellence hiding his feelings of pride for his son’s accomplishments for fear of making the boy complacent like he had been Could he truly let that all fall away and just connect with his son They had been so distant for so long

You are a coward Hank’s voice repeated and something in Ezekiel snapped

He didn’t want that stuck up cowboy to be right not about this not about his son

Hesitantly Ezekiel put his hand on Randidly’s head I’m sorry

Randidly looked up blinking then grinned Well it’s not like I was a great son Things were hard after you left But compared to all we are fighting against now that stuff feels a little small doesn’t it

Yea Ezekiel said feeling strangely overwhelmed and touched by the sudden intimacy between them now It would likely pass but this moment was a warm moment and Ezekiel wanted to stay here for as long as possible

For the moment even his hungry was quelled as though simply being in Rand’s presence was enough to sate him It was a relief

Chapter 501

As the two figures approached each other Hank eyed them both carefully Ezekiel because of the information he had just revealed to him and the young man because he was the obvious answer of who had yelled with such concussive force Perhaps his Skills related to sound or air pressure

When the two stopped and regarded each other for several seconds Hank could see the resemblance between them Strangely they were a demonstration of opposites even while sharing many features The young man was tanned and athletic while Ezekiel was thin and pale like a scholar The son seemed to burn with health and vigor while the father had pale skin and always had bags under his eyes hidden by his glasses The sun’s face was full of warmth and joy and the father hesitated fear clear in his frantic eyes

But both of them shared dark hair prominent noses and sharp eyes that made them striking even if neither was handsome in a traditional sense

Although Ezekiel had only shared a bit of that emotional scar inside of him Hank felt a thin threat of empathy for the man Which made Hank wonder how he would feel to be reunited with his own father had he not died prior to the System Honestly the old man would have thrived in this environment that bastard His lectures would be absolutely insufferable

With his arms wide the son tackled Ezekiel and for a few minutes they lay there exchanging quiet words After 5 minutes passed the two stood quickly brushing themselves off and Hank noticed that the boy wasn’t wearing any shoes

But the closer he looked the easier it was to see how calloused and worn the kid’s feet were Did he always walk around like that

The individuals from both Zones had gathered to witness the reunion between father and son They stood apart Zone 32 near the cottage while the Zone 1 group stayed near the spot where the cooking fire was made But both groups seemed to have small smiles on their faces enjoying the pleasant ambiance

Everyone but the man Tykes who glowered at the two

How how did you survive Ezekiel asked giving his son a once over with his eyes

The young man shrugged Probably the same way that you did I uh I became a potion brewer That’s why I came along with this group they sell my wares

Hank’s eyes narrowed at the hitch in the young man’s voice It smelled like a lie Really I’d love to see the work of a master potion brewer

Belatedly he saw Laurel’s glare and felt her pinch but Hank pressed his lips together stubbornly Sure maybe it was rude of him to call the young man out so directly but Hank wasn’t a man that took being lied to well Besides why would he lie to his father about how he survived

Maybe because he needs to kill a person to keep living a dark part of Hank’s mind whispered He shoved that voice back

The young man turned and regarded Hank a small smile on his face The punk looked fucking amused at Hank’s interruption like he saw through the challenge for what it was and had something prepared to deal with it

We haven’t formally met the young man said extending a hand towards Hank My name is Randidly Ghosthound A pleasure

The pleasure’s mine Hank said reaching out and taking the extended hand while doing his best to ignore the glares from Laurel Ezekiel and Tykes that were burning six holes in his back The handshake was firm and quick

After pulling his hand back the man tipped his hat towards Randidly The name’s Hank Howard You weren’t here for our earlier discussions with your party but I’m the leader of this political expedition I don’t suppose you would be willing to send a message to someone you know back in a Village so we may make contact

Randidly smiled helplessly Of course he could but he believed things were better done in person Besides based on the information that Dinesh was feeding him via message the people from Zone 1 were woefully under equipped against the high level threats they would face Walking into Donnyton would do a lot to help correct their perspective on the System

At least that was what Randidly believed Beyond finding the Creature’s involvement in Zone 1 he couldn’t find it in him to be too concerned with what the individuals from this other Zone did In the end Randidly had supreme confidence in the people of Donnyton regardless of whether he was there or not they weren’t so weak as to be overwhelmed by the petty tricks utilized by politically minded forces

I suspected as much Hank said with a sigh shaking his head

Randidly considered the man Based on his intuition this man was the strongest here but the girl with the cane was a close second He wore a cowboy hat and a pistol at each hip Nathan had already sent him several excited messages about the man’s Class expressing his deep interest in it At the time Randidly was too busy fighting against the ogre to pay much attention but now Randidly couldn’t deny his curiosity was aroused

Randidly’s eyes scanned back and forth taking the rest of them in He tried not to be too obvious about it because he was still feeling warm and jittery after finding his dad here and having the man be almost kind to him

Perhaps it was the emotional baggage but Randidly couldn’t guess much about what his father’s role was The woman standing near Hank he judged to be a support type As for the human looking robot thing A tank of some sort

But then his eyes sharpened He met the gaze of the robot woman Refocusing its cameras the thing began to brazenly scan him Inwardly Randidly snorted It was held together with a thin tether of Mana that was clearly extending off from it back towards its home Zone It was interesting that this was possible but it also confused Randidly

The skill of the tether was childish even though it followed some of the principles of Aether Suddenly it occurred to Randidly that this was similar to Mana Engraving that it created something like an Aether Connection done with Mana as the medium

Randidly didn’t think that the Creature would bother to use such methods as a disguise to gain information on him but wasn’t willing to risk it A wave of Erode Image slid outwards passed the people around him hitting that fragile Mana Tether It twitched and then dissipated

His father began to speak So what were you saying about potions

But all eyes turned as the robot woman collapsed

There was some hubbub as everyone hurried over It quickly became clear to Randidly that no one in the Zone 1 party knew that this was not a true human and they seemed shocked and suspicious towards Randidly’s group when they realized that her body was turning cold Luckily Dinesh knew some healing arts so he went forward and attempted to cast a spell on her

When it failed he frowned This This woman is not alive

You think that fuckin’ helps Hank said his eyes flinty but Dinesh simply made a placating gesture

No you misunderstand She was never alive She is a robot Do you have such cyborgs in your Zone 1

Hank opened his mouth and then closed it Then he closed his eyes Randidly wondered how he would check if a woman were a robot The simplest way would of course just be to cut into her body But desecrating a corpse was never an easy thing for humans and her abrupt death had set everyone on edge Inwardly Randidly sighed wishing he had thought of a more subtle way to handle it

Still he couldn’t risk it And in his mind it simply reaffirmed that he needed to move as quickly as possible towards Zone 1 and begin to search for the Creature or its tendrils It would be difficult especially when Randidly wanted to do his best to keep a low profile but hopefully his father would be helpful in that regard

Knowing that Dinesh would handle this situation far better than Randidly himself could Randidly walked over to his father and pulled him a bit away and began to ask him quietly about what the other Zone was like were there robots there like this what did Ezekiel do there etc

Perhaps Randidly shouldn’t have been surprised but his dad just blinked and then shrugged in a very dismissive way that was very familiar to him Well I don’t think so But I likely wouldn’t know I spent most of my time in jail so

Sighing Randidly just looked helplessly at his father Only this man could seem proud of being placed in jail after the greatest trial humanity had ever faced arrived

Seeing Randidly’s expression Ezekiel said No not for a crime you understand It was more of a holding cell It was for my own protecting I’m an important government asset

Sure dad

Chapter 502

Randidly was a bit troubled by Ezekiel’s explanation of the goings on in Zone 1 but not too much Based on what he said Randidly would require Citizenship in order to proceed into any place with powerful people and gaining that was not easy not without getting a Class from one of the approved villages That made Randidly wonder whether there were “unapproved” Villages out there in Zone 1 but he figured that was an ancillary discussion

Still Randidly had never minded being anonymous before He would just need to find a way to make enough of a splash to be chosen as a citizen but not enough that the Ghost that ran everything was interested in him

It would be a hard thing to balance Randidly reflected

The other reason that the conversation with his father became strained was that neither of them really knew what to say to the other FOr so long they had barely talked The only contact they had was generally forced or coincidental It seemed both of them were extremely reassured when Randidly had turned 18 and had been old enough that Ezekiel didn’t need to be a constant part of his life

Not that he had prior anyway

There was a heady relief that they both shared upon seeing each other at a place where neither had expected but as that faded away the emotion they now shared was uncertainty

What were they to one another How should they behave

Once Hank had begrudgingly checked Katie and discovered that he was in fact a woman he came back over to Randidly and Ezekiel For a split second Randidly was worried that the other man had somehow sensed what he was doing and knew that Randidly was the cause of this but that wasn’t the case Hank had come over for Ezekiel

“Did you know ” Hank demanded his eyes bright

Ezekiel hesitated then said ” yes but it is not how you think My Class gives me some insight into the location of people I had no such sense of humanity from her “

After giving Ezekiel a long look Hank departed muttering something about hunting Dinesh offered to accompany him but was denied The woman named Laurel came over and thanked Dinesh but assured him that Hank was not the type to get angry and throw himself in harm’s way If anything he would hole up somewhere and train furiously to work off his energy and our best bet was to leave him to it

IT was Affina that remembered Randidly’s previous statement ” Randidly correct You said you brewed potions “

“Oh yea ” Randidly said his expression brightening The discussion with Ezekiel had stalled out again because both men had secrets and neither had any idea what to ask that wouldn’t touch on those secrets “Follow me “

Mostly out of curiosity the group from Zone 1 followed him Everyone who was a part of Randidly’s Squad left them to it focused on their own training

Around the side of the thorn cottage there was a strange little cart that Randidly led the group to If he was being honest he was quite proud of himself because creating the cart was no easy feat But when he wasn’t fighting he needed something to fill his time that wasn’t just spamming a spell over and over again SO he had used his PLant Dominance to control wood in unique ways eventually learning to create a kind of furniture with it

It was however a balancing act because Randidly could only control the plant while it was alive and it was only truly useful once it had died If it died prior to him finishing there would be left an incomplete product If it died after there was a high chance that the plant would absorb some of Randidly’s ambient energy and produce strange growths Some of the growths were useful and turned into peculiar blooms filled with energy These Randidly harvested Most were just wart looking bumps on the surface of his furniture

This took him a week but it was a flawless mahogany cart lacquered and polished It was only so large that it had to be pulled around by hand like one of those tiny kiosks that sometimes had at malls but it was more than enough to hold Randidly’s new potions

“Voila ” Randidly said feeling very self conscious There were 12 shelves each with about 10 tiny bottles on them Picking up the Strength Elixir he handed it to Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s eyes immediately widened “This “

“They take quite a bit of work to make as they require the blood of a powerful monster I found ” Randidly said not really willing to admit that it was his own blood that made the effects so spectacular “I expect as I acquire more of that blood I can refine the process and make something even more impressive “

Elixir of Strength (Un) 100% Success Rate Consumption permanently increases Strength by 10 Every Time one is consumed the success rate of the next consumption is cut in half

“Amazing ” Affina breathed her fingers tracing the tiny bottles Apparently lack of sight didn’t prevent her from being able to sense the System’s messages Not unsurprising perhaps but curious How would it communicate with her

“How much are you charging for them ” Laurel asked eyeing both the Intelligence and Wisdom bottles The fact that the Elixir basically guaranteed that you would gain 10 stats instantly was impressive enough but even after that there were a lot of people who would want enough to try for the 50 25 and 12 5 percent chances to gain up to 40 free stats If such an elixir were infinitely available no doubt people would continue to attempt it gaining power without limit

But of course creating the Ezliirs wasn’t easy Besides his own Blood Randidly had to grind up and Refine the hearts of monsters above Level 55 and the success rate of the Ezilir was still pretty low unless the monster was above 60 Besides that it was a long process that required careful observation It was difficult to practice any other Skills while the potions were being made which was why he only made about 100 or so in the past 6 months

Of course most of that work was done when he was bored experimenting with the effect of his own blood But still the result was very satisfying In a world without the Creature maybe Randidly would just stay somewhere and research different potion recipes

The world however was not so kind as that

“Well honestly it’s hard to say ” Randidly said slowly “I’ve only tried one the Control one and it worked perfectly I suspect the rest are the same But the problem is I don’t think there are any real prices for stuff like these Money means very little in the post System World More than money I’m looking to batter for precious treasures or the bodies of monsters over the Level 55 which are most of the ingredients for the Elixirs “

Affina nodded and promptly curtsied “Then I will be off I would not like to miss this chance to improve myself “

“Let me come with you ” Ezekiel said his gaze passionate He gave Randidly a long glance But ultimately he said nothing and departed with Affina to wander in the borderlands

With most of the Zone 1 ers gone or otherwise occupied Randidly went back over to his own dwelling which was over the rocky hill in an area that he hadn’t cleared to be safe But that mattered little as he demonstrated when a rock crab leaped out at him

Within half a second dozens of roots and vines shot upward twining around the monster’s limbs and binding it Effortlessly Randidly put a dozen Incinerating Bolts through it and it collapsed in a heap

Randidly wrinkled his nose Level 53 not worth his time at all for harvesting ingredients For those he didn’t use himself he dismantled and packed up giving the metallic bits to Tykes and keeping the rest in a ring he vaguely planned to take back to Donnyton to sell By this point the ring was filled to bursting and Randidly was forced to start removing weaker monsters so there was more room He was almost helpless before the sheer volume of monsters that he had killed in the past 6 months and yet more were constantly appearing in front of him

The 5 minute walk from the spot of his first kill to his little hut involved killing seven more monsters one that was Lvl 61 This 6 legged goat was in fact a pretty good piece of material and Randidly happily cut out its heart and stored its body away

Randidly fervently believed that the ambient energy of the uncontrolled Fate Crystals was the cause of all fo the spawns in the borderlands even if he didn’t have any proof Which was why he had exhausted himself here trying to capture a Fate Cyrstal as quickly as possible But even with his Skills it was just beyond him And that was the surface Level The Level 70 Ogre undoubtedly had hidden Skills that it would release if it was truly threatened

And it was not like he was worried about anyone else beating him to it so

Chapter 503

When Randidly arrived finally at his cabin there were three “people” waiting for him The first was Neveah who was snoring quietly in the corner The other two were his two new Soul Seed Investments after the previous two turned out so well

The first was Acri which was his spear In its normal form it was like a stick bug with long wooden limbs When Randidly arrived it crawled happily towards him When Randidly called Acri would straighten his body completely out connect its two antennae and then spray a strange sticky substance between the antenna This substance hardened quickly and transformed into an almost impossibly sharp spearhead Acri was formed with Spear Mastery Phantom’s Embrace Sharpness Combat Proficiency and Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil

Meanwhile Sulfur oozed towards Randidly coo ing happily While Acri was a stick bug Sulfur was more confusing The living part of sulfur was in its middle a red flesh that burned with an unnatural heat However one of the great benefits of Sulfur was that its body constantly produced carbon discharge that Sulfur could focus and manipulate somewhat forming plates of carbon Once the ooze part of Sulfur was wrapped around Randidly he would produce carbon plates to form a light armor Although it couldn’t be done instantly the formation of the plates was relatively quick allowing for on the fly armor changes and recovery

Sulfur had been created with Iron Skin Pain Resistance Child of Flame Fire Resistance and Yyrwood Flesh of Yggdrasil

They also had the benefit of solving another of Randidly’s problems at least Acri did The sharp little stick bug fed on experience Although some minor bit flowed through to Randidly when he killed a monster most of it was gobbled up by this glutton effectively slowing his level growth to a standstill That combined with the increasing costs for Randidly to Level meant that he had no worries about reaching Level 25 in the near future

Sulfur meanwhile absorbed kinetic force When those carbon placed were smashed inwards by an attack it squeezed Sulfur’s true body in an extremely strange way Very slowly his body would expand somehow eating the pressure that had compressed it earlier In this way Sulfur would much prefer that Randidly engaged in a head to head boxing match than his usual Phantom’s Embrace so it could grow more quickly

There was a powerful rivalry between the two Soul Seeds They both had to admit inferiority in front of Thorn but towards the other there wasn’t an ounce of respect

It was a close thing this decision to remain at Level 24 for the foreseeable future Close because aside from the normal gains he would receive from Leveling he would also have access to powerful Skills that would likely aid him in his conflict with the Creature More power would give him an edge and Randidly suspected he needed it The Tellumurite had been used once against it to great effect burning through the Aether that constituted its avatar in a split second But that strategy wouldn’t be usable against the main body and also the other Avatars would be ready for it He would be forced to find other ways to fight against it in order to win

In that regards Lucretia reassured him that with the assistance of Neveah their ability to utilize Aether was increasing to the level that even if they weren’t the Creature’s equal they could hold their own for long enough for him to act

Well in theory anyway The plus side of that was that due to their SoulBond Neveah wouldn’t need to be near him in order to assist Which allowed them to act independently

Randidly’s eyes flashed and an amusing idea entered into his mind With bright eyes he looked at Neveah

Randidly had been worried about how to approach the issue of heading into Zone 1 He wasn’t sure how much information the robot was able to record but didn’t want to take the risk that the Creature saw him coming His option then was to hide but that would put him in the difficult position of having to choose between his stealth and the information that he was so desperately seeking

Randidly grinned

Ghost waited as the report from Ezekiel loaded up and as he expected he was disappointed by the content

Ezekiel stoically reported that for some reason Katie had malfunctioned and in the aftermath it became clear to Hank that she was planted by Ghost A pity that but not something that would truly endanger the effort Hank had a powerful distaste for Ghost and his games but if he knew Hank well and he certainly did based on the amount he watched the man he would be more annoyed that he hadn’t noticed

Such was the prerogative of prideful men Ghost supposed

Meanwhile Ghost wanted to know about his enemies and use data to formulate a reaction Which is why Ghost’s attention was fixed on the younger Ghosthound It was blurry but the final image that the cyborg sent to him was of the young man It was about to initiate a scan on him when it went offline A coincidence Or

The father had an extremely unique Class the only named Class that Ghost had seen Its ability to steal a high Level Skill had a lot of interesting applications and it had led to any criminals that were troublesome enough to necessitate execution be slain by Ezekiel He hid his strength well but Ghost was confident that the diversity and power of the Skills he possessed made him a threat to anyone in the borderlands Plus he was loyal to Ghost

Would his son change that

From Ghost’s investigations Ezekiel was a divorced father and one that did not spend much time in his son’s life But there was something about family that made human’s extremely queer and it was worth watching out for

Even though Ghost had no observable proof yet that the Ghosthound boy was a threat there was the matter of his Elixirs With the information given by Ezekiel Ghost had run some very vague simulations in regards to the Elixirs He was not able to determine how they were created of course but based on his information he could guess at the recipe In addition to the heart of a powerful monster there needed to be a powerful reagent included as well as human blood to aid the transition To create such a powerful potion in such a small form was a testament to the young Ghosthound’s Skill

Perhaps some people would be disgusted by the thought of human blood in potions but it was a fascinating idea to Ghost He made a note to perform some experiments in the future The only problem

Ghost grimaced looking at the projection of his hands It was the same problem he always encountered he needed an agent to perform them to learn the Skills related to the experiments Ghost could do the same remotely with robots but he would earn no Skill Levels for doing it remotely And due to the nature of his true body

He looked down at the six inert bodies lying beneath the room frowning It was a great accomplishment that Dr Karman had made but he hadn’t truly understood the System none of them had Sure it recognized him as a being that could gain Levels and Classes but

That was only in a 10 meter radius around his body

Which was the whole reason that the drone initiative was necessary Ghost could create and design drones but as his designing was largely theoretical the Skill growth was slow His physical body couldn’t move so he couldn’t actually work with the materials Very soon his ability plateaued His plans for a drone army owned and made solely by him were put to rest

Perhaps this was best Ghost reflected It was very common in American history that certain powers be divided out of fear of a dictator Although it was likely inadvertent this kept Ghost from gaining enough power to make the human government superfluous

Ghost composed his reply instantly and sent his orders Watch the younger Ghosthound Don’t let him out of your sight Have the rest of the group proceed to the political center of Zone 32 They must locate their leaders and determine how much of a threat they post to Zone 1 Only take action if you are 100% you can kill without any knowing

To Ghost’s surprise a reply came back immediately

He already left He’s heading towards Zone 1

Ghost instantly activated his observation craft scanning the borderlands near Zone 1 and then when he found nothing he sent them farther afield

But then a ping came from a completely unexpected place Aldersburg which was the Northeast most border town There as bold as brass the younger Ghosthound was walking into town with a long stride There was a wide almost creepy grin on his face Shocked by how quickly the Ghosthound was able to move Ghost sent his observation drones closer

Definitely this one needed to be watched

The younger Ghosthound was speaking to himself

Is fun Is so fun Teehee Let’s make friend

Chapter 504

Randidly wasn’t able to learn the Illusion Skill that Simon provided for the Zone as he originally pledged to a different Champion to receive the Soul Bond Skill But he was determined and he had a lot of Mana to work with Although he had a lot of negative emotions towards Lyra he did learn from her how one could learn Skills the hard way

Unfortunately Randidly was not Lyra Fortunately Bruya’s skill with illusions had progressed to the point that her illusions would persist some time after she cast them As long as he didn’t move too quickly or use too many Mana based Skills that would interfere with the projection it would likely last for a month or two

Honestly they weren’t sure how long it would last The test they had conducted had only been a month and a half ago However it was more than enough for Randidly’s purposes Besides if there was an emergency heading back for it to be recharged would not be difficult

What was annoying was that Neveah had taken to Illusions like a fish to water In her broken but improving English she mocked him relentlessly

So two days after he had left the rest of his group Randidly was at a mid sized Village on the Western side of Zone 1 He had watched for the past two days and believed that this was a place that they wouldn’t look too closely at citizenship Or rather they needed labor so badly that the Tier of the citizen who did it didn’t matter

Besides who would want to work smelting steel for the new drone initiative If they didn’t pull from the populous without citizenship they probably wouldn’t be able to fill the factories

His face was nondescript and his hair was brown and to his ears His eyes were also brown He kept his body largely the same but added a bit of a belly to give him a more approachable vibe

It was a dingy smoky area about a mile out of the town proper and there was a steady flow of grubby looking people walking towards the door to the factory There was a gate there and a man standing on a small platform It had only opened a few days ago the day before Randidly came to observe and only now was it gaining momentum it seemed

There was a whole complex of freshly constructed factories next to the smoky factory they were entering but they required at least preliminary citizenship in order to enter into those areas The men and women around Randidly whispered that those factories are where they started to produce drones Within those buildings the designers and builders were quickly learning their art

But as it had only been open for a few days they couldn’t have earned many Skill Levels If a person received enough money to buy a preliminary citizenship then they began producing drones

It might seem like a lot now but 10 000 00 will come more quickly than you think The man on the platform was saying We will buy the steel ingot from you for 1 more if you smelt a rarer metal There are a few related Skills I can let you in on for a fee

There was grumbling from the crowd but several people went over to the attendant standing next to the platform willing to pay for information about the Skills The more quickly they raised those Skills the more money they could make

Randidly walked past this area into the factory proper He had done a lot of listening to figure out how he wanted to do this and the faster it could be done the better The factory operated 24/7 but a lot of the workers went home at night basically near the limit of even their System enhanced strength More than that they wanted to take the time to take some deep breaths

Steelmaking was simple if labor intensive Iron ore was taken first to be melted heat applied until only the raw metal remained Afterward the molten metal was taken to a blast furnace where a great deal of the impurities in the metal were removed in a highly pressurized environment Then to make steel a small amount of carbon was added to the iron giving it its increased strength

As the process was done in a pressurized environment and controlling the amount of oxygen was very important this made the labor exhausting even when an individual had a high Endurance Pre System people wouldn’t be forced to do this all manually but now there was no reason not to make these people do it especially when they were very cheap labor

10 000 ingots of steel huh Randidly said softly walking up to the trading station There he traded 5 of Zone 1’s dollars in order to purchase enough iron ore and compressed carbon to make 20 ingots worth of steel In addition he rented one of the smelting stations for 1 a day The man outside made it seem like it was a simple thing to make the steel but the owners of the factory made you pay for it every step of the way

Randidly also wondered where all this iron ore was coming from It was true that the System injected a lot of minerals into the environment but was there truly this much And who was mining it

Questions for another time For now it was best to focus on working up enough money to get the preliminary citizenship There it was said that it was possible to obtain Tier 1 citizenship if one became a successful drone maker Randidly’s eyes flashed as well as they could with his fake brown eyes

His rented work area was cramped but it had everything he needed furnace crucible blast furnace and workman’s gloves and apron Randidly didn’t bother with these He might regret it but it would just raise his resistances higher as well as Chosen of Fire

To start Randidly followed the instructions he had heard to forge the steel It was long hot work Very quickly he was sweating profusely no matter how high his resistances were He did gain a point in each of Fire Resistance and Chosen of Fire which was rewarding although it wasn’t the reward he wanted

The entire time of melting moving the molten iron to the blast furnace and then blowing away the impurities with pressurized air Randidly kept a very close watch on what was occurring However very quickly he was helpless Sure his Perception made seeing through the thin metal walls of the furnace rather easy but he had no real experience working with metal He couldn’t figure out what was going on within

At the end he poured his molten metal into the mold and let it cool All told 4 hours had passed There was no doubt in Randidly’s mind that he could definitely shorten this down to 2 hours with practice and perhaps 1 or 1 and a half with proficiency in Skills but it was still far far too slow Randidly’s high Stats made working through this level of exertion a sinch but it didn’t mean that he could easily speed up the time it took for the metal to melt

But Randidly had another plan entirely He had never really considered the typical methods of forging it to be worth his time Still it was definitely worth the experience of producing steel the hard way in order to understand the process

After the steel had cooled Randidly looked at it

It was about 1 meter long and was about as thick and wide as a brick But it was pure metal if a little speckled

Randidly frowned at his first ingot It seemed that it had not gone quite perfect Randidly could tell that the addition of carbon to the molten iron had not been done uniformly and there were clearly patches of different density Randidly pressed his thumb into it It was clearly hard not hard enough to stop his finger at full power but likely at the power that it truly was steel

The problem was that there were likely numerous flaws and Randidly couldn’t even see them He simply didn’t know enough about the metal Curious he brought the steel ingot he had created to the foreman a man named Davey

He eyed it as if it was the suspect in a murder well to be fair my first bit of steel wasn’t much better He grunted glaring at the metal

Randidly’s face twitched it had been a long time since he had felt so bad at something Since the System arrived he had been worse than other people in some areas sure but that was still just differences in mastery Here it seemed he was Insufficient

Well I can give you the dollar for it but only because it’s your first Davey finally announced taking the steel ingot I would however recommend purchasing the information regarding the Smelting Skills that’s really the area that you struggled

He gave Randidly the dollar and then was gone following the call of a tall grey haired woman Randidly considered this for a bit

Over the next two days Randidly continued to smelt the metal the old fashioned way without bothering to learn about the Smelting Skill There was even a point that he was prompted to learn the Skill but he denied it He had already used 5 of his 8 free Skills since obtaining a Class He would also likely need one in order to learn to make drones down the line he didn’t want to waste one now

During that time it was only by his 13th attempt that he produced a steel ingot that Foreman Davey accepted The rest he just snorted at and turned away

5 in materials two days at 1 apiece and 9 in revenue from selling the steel a 2 profit from 3 days Randidly said looking up at the sky He had learned a lot about the temperament of iron in the meantime and his powerful Perception and Control finally settled into use allowing him to minutely control the temperature in the furnace Unsurprisingly he had gained 2 Levels in Fire Resistance from brief burns and 7 Levels in Chosen of Fire

Randidly smiled at the overcast sky above him Then he turned and walked back into the factory He swore to himself he wouldn’t leave until he had enough money for preliminary citizenship

Chapter 505

The first thing Randidly did was to rent a larger work area This new area was on the west side of the factory which was largely unused Working with so much iron ore at once made it difficult to properly melt it all so most people preferred to use the smaller workstations It cost 5 a day but you would work with 20x as much ore Not that Randidly planned on using it for much he basically only needed the blast furnace to add the carbon

Aside from renting the room Randidly also spent all 92 of his remaining money in order to buy 368 units of iron ore Foreman Davey gave Randidly a strange look when he did it but said nothing

Randidly went to his first unit of iron ore smiling down at it

Extract He said focusing on the iron within the ore It quivered and Randidly’s smiled turned more serious

Ex tract Randidly emphasized his eyes blazing His Willpower bore down on the ore forcing the issue There was a crack and the outer layer of the ore disintegrate into dust What was left was a misshapen lump

Refine Randidly said

This time the metal obeyed immediately Randidly smiled

Hank knew something was wrong about this idyllic cabin next to a Danger Zone but he couldn’t figure out what exactly was going on

Problem 1 The group was never attacked The kid Nathan was skipping about working on tending the small garden around the thorny cabin The cook and his wife were tending to about a dozen different types of animals that they had domesticated and kept in a corral The highest of those was a Level 32 Hog which trundled back and forth snorting in derision whenever Hank walked past

Why were there no monsters attack this place Was it really so easy to start a farm out here in the borderlands

Problem 2 Every morning there was a pile of dead bodies waiting on the South side of the “safe area” Very quickly Hank and his crew grew familiar with the safe area because immediately upon walking past it there would be powerful monsters lying in wait In fact it seemed that whatever was acting to push the monsters away was known to them and they seemed to be waiting there surly

It was dangerous hunting because the monsters in the area were strong and vicious but they wouldn’t pursue Hank’s group back into the safe zone This added an element of unpredictable security that helped a lot with the hunting

Problem 3 The people of Zone 32 didn’t seem interested in the Elixirs at all They allowed Hank’s group to bring back the bodies of monsters above Level 55 trading each for an Elixir Even Hank participated getting himself a Focus Reaction and Agility Elixir All increased the Stat in question by 10 as predicted Now he was struck with the dilemma of whether to trade bodies for some of his less used stats or go with the risk of spending an Elixir and receiving nothing in return

In the wake of Randidly’s departure Ezekiel at first seemed relieved sinking back into his old snarky ways But he also was driven to extremes by the offer of the Elixirs and would spend most of his days out seeking monsters to trade for them Unlike Affina who gradually attempted higher and higher Leveled monsters Ezekiel always brought ones back at Level 55 57 but his hunting speed improved immensely over the days By this point he had used one of each of the Elixirs and was now asking for more in Intelligence and Endurance

Based on Ezekiel’s expression it seemed his second attempt went well and now he seemed intent on getting at least 20 for each Stat Hank understood the desire after all that would be an increase of 240 stats across the board Already the man had a taste of that and due to the drawbacks of his Class was especially drawn by the possibility of stats

But they had a mission And this place was starting to weird Hank out

The people were nice enough but the longer they stayed here the more he could sense the heartbeat of a secret One that all of the people here were protecting Hank was curious but these seemed like upstanding folk and he had no need to step on toes to satisfy his curiosity

Although Ezekiel didn’t like it he followed Hank and the rest of the group away as they continued on towards Zone 32 It was a short break but a timely one as all of them grew a noticeable amount in strength for staying there

As they were departing the cook and his wife joined Nathan at the edge of their area to wave them off Laurel spoke quietly as they walked away voicing Hank’s worried thoughts We grew strong just staying there for three days how strong do they have to be for this to be so While I was there I had no dreams only oppressive silence from the spirits Although we didn’t sense it we were in the grip of something there

We would know if we were strong enough Affina said her expression thoughtful

Ezekiel nodded Hank said nothing He simply turned and began to walk forward One step at a time

The purified and Refined iron ore was the easy part The only other task he required was to mix the carbon into the metal After all steel was the most commonly produced and bought by the factory Still there were other metals trades based on strange formulas which could be bought at a premium depending on how they fared in the tensile strength test

Humming to himself Randidly began melting 10 units of his purified iron ore in the crucible The blast furnace smoked and spat heat radiating off of it It seemed to be some portal to hell then a giant entrance to an unearthly tomb Very quickly the heat had reduced the metal to a liquid form It calmly bubbled in the superheated crucible

With a flick of the wrist Randidly produced Acri who was hiding up against the flesh of his right arm lurking under the illusion around him Randidly pointed to a giant monster femur laying on the work table in his station

Chop that up Finely please

Acri chirped its glee and began to slice and dice the bone with his head Such was his sharpness that even this bone of a Level 50 monster was easily dismembered by it Randidly turned his attention back to the molten iron before him regarding it carefully

Zone 1 was highly advanced and could no doubt produce steel of a very high caliber without the use of manual labor to get it They were prepared for the System after all and had set up specialty factories long before now Still they choosing to push for this now accepting a inferior grade steel now for the superior stuff that would likely come along later

Why Because they finally realized how weak that left him in the higher end when other people had been successfully using the System for so long

Well it wasn’t like Randidly couldn’t make use of his own knowledge to help them along a bit

Acri arrived at his side having swept all the thinly sliced shavings into a bowl Calmly Randidly stretched out his hand and dumped the shaving into the crucible Then he began to use small spurts of Gravity Affinity to mix the superheated metal and monster bone together He withdrew his hand The flesh was burnt and the bowl was charred but it was a small thing in the grand scheme of things

Within a second his flesh had healed He hadn’t received a Skill Level for it but Randidly knew it was only a matter of time This was just the beginning

What he hadn’t expected was that was the bone mixed with the metal the volume of the molten liquid would actually shrink Randidly frowned but would reserve judgment for now But it did have the side effect of only producing 9 ingots instead of the 10 he should have received based on the raw materials They were slightly darker than the steel typically was with something like a matte finish that didn’t reflect light

Randidly picked up one of the ingots and squeezed He smiled

When he showed 8 of his finished ingots to Foreman Davey The man seemed surprised He took a long look at the metal muttered something and tried to bend it with his hands Inwardly Randidly was impressed because he very slowly bent the ingot then bent it back into shape Then he flicked the metal with a fingernail

A clear ding sounded out Foreman Davey nodded vaguely

We’ll take all 8 of course although I’m not sure this one will hold its shape long term But I wanted to test it You pay for better recipes and mix them This isn’t a metal I recognize

Randidly shrugged I was a cook before I came here I know a little bit about using the System to help mixtures along

mm well it’s good metal I’ll buy as much as you can make What’s your name kid

Randidly froze He hadn’t thought about this and had to force out the first name that came to mind Baloo Erickson

Well Baloo pleasure doing business with you I’ll buy this for 2 50 an ingot The two men shook hands

Chapter 506

It was well within Randidly’s power to make a metal that was better than this Erickson Steel as Foreman Davey called it He explained to Randidly privately that once you had obtained preliminary citizenship you had access to an electronic market of sorts and could put metals you created up directly for sale

Currently he was sending the test piece of Erickson Steel off to a lab for some testing but had already sold the other 7 ingots to a friend of his Based on the pleased face that Foreman Davey was making he made a bit of a tidy profit too

Randidly perhaps could have kept up his word that he would not leave the factory until he had enough money to buy the preliminary citizenship but ultimately caution won out Rising so fast so quickly would likely get him noticed Aside from that he likely would still use this part of the factory to make his own metal for his drones unless there was a large number of high quality materials available for cheap Besides Foreman Davey was establishing his steel as a product already there was no need to rush The money would come

So after another two days of work and selling 40 more ingots to Foreman Davey Randidly left the factory and wandered into a nearby mining town that had sprung up near the factory Zone 1 took construction much more seriously that Zone 32 and there were already condos springs up with prices of hundreds of dollars a month in rent

Randidly eyed them dutifully Sure they were rather nice but

Walking past the condos Randidly reached the part of town where most of the normal steel workers lived and spent time Here the rent was somewhere between 40 and 70 which was still a large expense but it was much more in line with the money they were making right now Each and every bit of steel they made was a struggle especially in the beginning while their Skill Levels were rising

Considering that the money they spent on learning information about metal recipes and Skills Randidly wondered how they would ever make enough money to afford preliminary citizenship They probably wouldn’t for a long time that was likely the point

Randidly walked into a bar following the smell of half decent food He could have made his own of course but he had been seen talking with Foreman Davey while the other man had a pleased expression The workers would likely be curious That curiosity might turn into something more sinister if he allowed it to fester Although it went against his nature it was in his best interest to approach other people

Randidly grimaced

There was another big positive about coming out to socialize a bit of course His entire purpose here was to gather information For all that his perfectionist tendencies drove him to improve himself and his metal making process that was no reason to lose sight of that goal If he did not look he would not find the Creature

Not that the Creature would be lurking around a steel town but it was probably best to put his ear to the ground as soon as possible

No sooner had he sat down than a man walked over toward Randidly and joined him at the bar

Heya youngin I’ll be brief The man said carefully eyeing Randidly The man was balding with a thick patch of stubble on his face but his hands were active and strong There are other ways to access the markets than Foreman Davey I’ve seen the steel you made its good stuff But we can never get out of the factory if we don’t help each other If you need help or want to get a fairer price for your steel come ask for Ricky Stain at the high rises We will get you situated right

The man clapped Randidly on the shoulder using more force than was necessary When Randidly didn’t budge in the slightest the man’s eyes widened and he walked away a hint of fear in his face Randidly called the bartender over and ordered a beer

One drink and he grimaced again Jesus Christ even in liquor Donnyton was an order of magnitude above this Zone Or perhaps their strengths were just in different areas Some of these luxury items weren’t considered necessary by the AI that ran this place and therefore wasn’t emphasized Either way it was something of a disappointment and made his stay in this social setting all the more disappointing

Still he had come and been approached so that was probably enough right But Randidly was slightly curious as to how this Ricky Stain made money if he offered a better price than Foreman Davey It was something worth paying attention to if nothing else Perhaps all was not as peaceful as expected within the factory And in a post System world disgruntled workers were a hell of a lot more dangerous

Just as Randidly was about to rise the door opened revealing a young woman with a shock of orange hair Her cheeks were smudged with soot outting the fact that she had been working in the factory and long hours by the look of her With a sigh she collapsed into a seat three down from Randidly

Without even being asked the bartender brought the woman over a drink

A regular then ’ Randidly thought regarding the girl curiously Eventually Randidly thought enough time had passed for him to leave without it seeming to have been caused by the girl’s arrival Randidly made to stand but was stopped at the door slammed open again A man in a military uniform walked through the doors and looked around Spotting the woman he strode confidently over

I submitted the report as we agreed We should have word from Ghost within a few weeks The man said speaking overly loudly to the woman Randidly sighed and settled back down sipping his bitter drink This was the type that liked the attention he received from exposing his connection with Ghost it seemed

The young woman straightened her eyes bright A few weeks Isn’t Ghost a computer Why is it taking so long

Blinking the man seemed to falter Randidly readjusted his assessment A coward too then

There are there are channels The man said stubbornly This is an official process I was able to

Just leave The woman said dismissively dropping her head to the bar Trusting you was a mistake You probably lied about even seeing my brother

The military man’s hands clenched into fists Again Randidly moved his needle on the man he had temper problems

Don’t you dare sully my good name The man announced to the unamused tavern puffing out his chest I risked my career to help you and I’ll not have

Pah The woman spat at the man’s feet His face went red

Being only three seats over from the woman Randidly was very close to the yelling and was becoming annoyed They were only about a meter away from him Aside from Randidly and the bartender there was also a group of three men farther along the bar They looked at the military man as he entered then went straight to ignoring them

On the opposite side of the room two men in cloaks were sitting at a low table talking quietly Since the young woman came in the shorter of the two seemed transfixed staring at her

You’ll regret that The man hissed and he raised his hands above his head producing a long taser baton The man leaned back and put it over his head preparing to bring it down in a crushing blow towards the young woman

Which of course threw the end of the taser back in Randidly’s direction The fucking thing was about to hit Randidly’s head as the man performed a ridiculous windup for the blow Over some spit

Shaking his head Randidly reached up and grabbed the taser so he wasn’t poked with it The electricity discharged harmlessly through his body not even causing the twitch The military man tugged Randidly couldn’t see his face but assumed it was at this point that the man realized that something was going wrong with his strange burst of anger

And at that moment the shorter hooded figure appeared before the military man kicking the guy in the chest smashing him towards Randidly

A vein in Randidly’s temple throbbed

His hand blurred as he pressed his palm against the military man’s back The powerful force of the kick was slowly bled of as Randidly’s hand slowed his rapid speed and then Randidly pressed him to the side so he skidded off to the side diagonally not slamming into Randidly And based upon the speed the man was flying backward he would likely have been gravely injured if he had just smashed into the bar with that force

Rushing over and kicking had knocked back the hood of the cloak revealing a handsome man with curling golden hair His eyes widened in shock as saw the military man twist in some profound way skidding to the side out of his kick

The golden haired man’s eyes narrowed Who who are you There are not many men who can dodge my kick like that

The military man snorted and then turned and confidently walked out of the bar with his chest held high

Randidly sighed Yup just a coward

Chapter 507

The orange haired woman stood to thank her benefactor shock in her eyes She was a good 4 inches taller than him The two flirted for quite some time so much so that Randidly gave up on learning more about the creature and walked back to the factory early shaking his head Besides he had no interest in being pointlessly tangled up in more nonsense than he had to be

He spent another week working Extracting Refining and then mixing monster bones into the metals It was relaxing in a way and his Skills slowly ticked upwards as he continued to work However his most recent batch had a slight problem he had used a different type of monster bone so the metal was slightly different

This metal was more rigid harder and cracked rather than bent Almost helpless Randidly could only take it to Foreman Davey to be tested

Formula go awry The man asked curiously regarding the metal Randidly could do nothing but shrug

Finally after snapping two ingots Foreman Davey seemed satisfied I can still give you the 2 50 for this It’s more rigid but it has good strength I’ll take it all

So Randidly sold all 300 ingots that he had made netting himself 750 Including the money he had from his previous sales he had just below 1000 It was still quite a bit short of the amount required to buy preliminary citizenship but it would close that distance fast if he dedicated himself to it

Increasing the quantity would be easy Randidly had no doubt that he could do almost 1000 ingots a day But that might draw too much attention Best to keep the quantity constant while pushing the quality enough to make more money

Four hours later Randidly looked down at a metal ingot with chagrin It was a dull red but there were thin lines of emerald running through it which seemed to pulse with a strange light Randidly shook his head dourly He had spent the last hour trying to do ANYTHING to it but even with his prodigious strength he wasn’t able to bend or warp it

Acri could cut it but barely His blade got stuck into it after about a centimeter and it would pull itself out and complain to Randidly He shrugged helplessly It was gratifying that the mixture of a Level 65 spine and a bit of his own blood would result in such a powerful metal but it was too powerful Randidly stored it away and began to think about how he could pull back somewhat on the formula strength

Instead of the potion brewing portion of the process Randidly decided to focus his efforts on increasing the efficacy of the Extract and Refine portions If he could strengthen the base materials he wouldn’t need to work more ingredients into the formula yet

Plus the past two weeks of working with the metal further deepened his understanding of it The more he saw examples of pure iron and steel the stronger his image would be So Randidly took two days to just extract and refine working on forcing more out of his raw materials

When his progress was frustratingly slow with just the iron ore Randidly also began refining the bones he had Acri slice up This avenue bore fruit Not only did he gain quite a few Skill Levels in Refine for it but it also seemed to condense the strengths of the prior two metals into one

He was quite pleased when after only 8 days he returned to Foreman Davey with 100 ingots of the improved metal

You aren’t a lad that takes many breaks are ya Still this is good Better than good I’d like to buy this for myself 5 an ingot Foreman Davey said with a warm smile on his face Make sure you come to me with any more experiments eh

Foreman Davey walked off whistling in the smoggy and hot steel smelting factory Randidly shook his head filled with wonder

He sensed the other approaching but felt no real need to do anything about it It was only when a hand gripped his arm that he looked up finding himself face to face with a shaggy looking man with deep bags under his eyes

Even his smile felt tired and overused Congratulations brother It seems like you’ve been doing a lot of business lately It gives men who are down on their luck like myself some hope for the future Say since you’ve come into such a windfall how about a night on the town A friend of mine is throwing a party tomorrow and I’m sure I could get you an invite What do you say

Randidly’s immediate response was to open his mouth to say no but he thought better of it Although it would likely be a waste of time low profile is key From the way this situation was developing he might be muscled more directly into cooperating with these seedy elements if he didn’t seem willing to play ball

Beating the shit out of these people would draw attention to him if nothing else If they continued to push however Randidly intended to make them regret bothering him so insistently It had been a while and several hundred Intelligence since he had last exposed someone to the Pollen of the Rafflesia Randidly wondered if it would be too much at this point and just kill someone at this level

The greasy man nodded and then gave Randidly a few more details before leaving He barely heard the man just glad to be away After he was sure no one was watching him he looked up at the sky

Almost dusk Perfect Randidly walked out of town and into the growing darkness

The soft grass felt natural on Randidly’s feet One thing he profoundly disliked about Zone 1 was the constant presence of roads It made sense in an annoying way as the infrastructure here hadn’t been destroyed Therefore it was easy for truck and cars to continue to operate although the people here had been forced to get creative with their fuels But the more Randidly continued to not wear shoes the more he felt intimately connected to the world beneath him Through his toes he could feel the Earth breathing albeit very slowly

Now there were a few annoying instances where he dropped molten metal on his toes which made him curse viciously but that was worth a Skill Level in Fire Resistance so Randidly didn’t feel particularly compelled to change his ways But he had twisted and crushed that ingot into a useless bit of torn metal out of principle

Randidly came tonight out to the nearby forest in order to get in touch with his main goal for coming here locating the Creature

The factory complex was Southwest of the main Tier 2 city it was ostensibly a part of and the forest was a bit further west of the factory complex Far enough that a normal person without a vehicle would take about half a day to get there but to Randidly he could sprint that in an almost irrelevant amount of time Besides the main rail line that ran East and West was a few miles North This area was considered a dead zone population wise It was common to encounter monsters here so the average person avoided it Although they had the tools to deal with monsters at this level who would take the risk to deal with them They could get injured or worse killed

The people of Zone 1 preferred to leave these sort of things to the military police

Meanwhile Randidly allowed Acri and Sulfur to happily clobber the monsters here as they were between Level 5 and Level 20 Even Sulfur who had no offensive weapons to speak of could use his dense body to weigh down opponents and suffocate them with his carbon plates

Randidly almost felt bad releasing these two troublemakers among the monster populations here But it wasn’t really something he seriously worried about The only directive he gave to his Soul Seeds were to refrain from killing too many lest they attract the attention of either GHost or the Creature Or both if they were related

This area was also free of the cameras and sensors that Ghost maintained inside the city limits and the flyovers happened infrequently Based on his observations he had an 8 hour window from 11 PM to 7 AM with which to work By that time he would be back to the factory complex slaving away in the heat with the AI none the wiser Ghost would know he left the area of course But there were smaller hamlets dotting the countryside It wouldn’t be unreasonable for Randidly to be one of the refugees staying in the camps scattered for the population of Zone 1 without any citizenship

Not that there were rights given solely to those with citizenship but the way society was structured here your label was very clear

It was dark around Randidly and he stopped looking at the nearby trees Then he closed his eyes

Plant Dominance began to hum softly inside of himself as he spread his tendrils of will out to the plants in the area Very soon the whole forest was covered Every plant seemed to be invigorated by Randidly’s touch growing at an almost visible pace as his Mana flowed through them

To his surprise his ‘secret forest’ wasn’t as empty as he thought There were multiple farms in the deepest parts of it likely set up by people looking to escape the notice of the authorities Hopefully they realized that the ominous AI Ghost was able to spot the farms with its flyovers but it was likely too small of an issue for the machine to intervene directly They were safe although Randidly was more curious as to why they chose to set up here than anything else A quick questioning pulse revealed that the plants were of a grade higher than he had seen anywhere but Donnyton

“Interesting ” Randidly said aloud his eyes still closed Perhaps at some point he would need to go introduce himself to his new neighbors There seemed to be about two dozen of them but they stayed near their corner of the forest

The other surprise guest was a Tier II Raid Boss a Black Faced Monkey which seemed to detect the fluctuations of Randidly’s Skills The monster trembled gathering its young into the cave that was their main base This gave Randidly some pause Obviously they wouldn’t be a threat to him but they would be something that would catch the attention of the military should they become known That might lead to an investigation which would be unfortunate

It was too bad he hadn’t brought Nathan along with him here he would be interesting to see how the kid’s Class would interact with monsters He made a mental note to send a message to Dinesh to have them look into it

Chapter 508

Satisfied with his knowledge within the forest Randidly expanded his Plant Dominance to double its previous size Then he doubled it again and doubled it again Finally Randidly pushed with all he had and for a brief moment every plant in the Zone stood a little straighter channeling his energy

Letting out a long breath Randidly felt the throbbing in his head that indicated that he had run out of Mana Even with his enormous pool it wasn’t enough to fuel a connection with so many plants at once More than that it was a strain on his mental strength even with high Control and Focus There were simply too many variables But this was the best way that Randidly had discovered to ferret out information

It was only a general thing but Randidly could easily combine it with Aether Detection scanning a wide area if just briefly The results were confusing but they would give him a lead if there was one And after checking

Randidly’s expression turned grim It was just a general feeling a vague thing that he couldn’t put a finger on But the flood of information given to him by all those plants confirmed one thing the Creature had touched this Zone

Even with his prodigious Control it took Randidly several hours to sift through the information he had received there was simply too much of it to handle with any efficiency Even when he found traces of the foreign Aether that revealed the Creature they were only wisps only small echoes The Creature here was covering its tracks well

With a sigh Randidly opened his eyes Simply too much ground and his initial scan was too large and general There was simply too much ground to cover and he couldn’t uncover anything specific without a more focused search And as there wasn’t enough evidence to point to an area Randidly would have to manually spread his Skills over a smaller area in the future in order to find something

Just as he was about to leave he noticed that one of the people on the secret farm complex was wandering in the woods Curious he drank a Mana potion and activated Plant Dominance again using their queer senses to feel this body

As it turned out it was a small girl sitting and crying Ostensibly she was lost

Sighing again Randidly reached out and arranged roots to appear before her creating an arrow that pointed back towards her camp She gazed at it solemnly for several seconds before getting up and following the direction it pointed tottering through the dark night Although he couldn’t actually hear the vibrations produced by her sniffles were clearly transferred through Randidly’s plants He set up more arrows and then left the girl hoping she couldn’t get herself lost again

For the morning he could probably get another 50 or so ingots done and then for the evening Randidly supposed he would be going to a party

After selling another batch of ingots to Foreman Davey Randidly abruptly realized that he wasn’t sure what the man did with the ingots Was he one of the oft discussed drone creators If he was he didn’t spend much time actually making drones as most of it was spent here gathering materials from the workers

These past two weeks had seen an increase in the number of workers at the factory and almost ? of the workrooms were now full Luckily most people stayed in the smaller workrooms but there were others that had moved up to the larger volume ones as Randidly had He was keeping careful tabs of their production and used that to determine how many bars he could release without causing undue note

It honestly rankled Besides giving Randidly a more personal way to gather information this party would also stop him from producing more ingots that he would inevitably need to save for another day before he gave to Inspector Davey Holding himself back like this was tiresome Hopefully the oversight would be less when he had Probationary Citizenship

There was also a growing black market for metals and also different men who whispered of cheaper raw materials from unofficial sources It was almost fascinating enough to pay very close attention to the shift in culture because the changes were so strange

Because right now there were a lot of desperate talented determined people who wanted something and there were unscrupulous people willing to profit off of them As it became increasingly clear that they were getting exploited there was a growing surliness to the workers Their Skills were increasing and as they were doing that their sense of entitlement also grew

Not that it mattered much to Randidly There were several ringleaders emerging amongst the steelworkers who would take a reduced payment to give the same benefits of Skill and recipe knowledge from the factory This was explicitly banned but it was almost impossible to enforce so it happened quite frequently

The new batch of young ish metalworkers looked to these ringleaders and these ringleaders were some of the first people there who recognized Randidly as one of the more successful of them When the ring leaders passed Randidly and nodded a curt greeting they learned to do the same

Several had come to Randidly asking to be his apprentice and learn from him but the whole thing felt unnecessary considering his goals But at the same time there was another part of him that remembered his role in Donnyton as a guiding force and missed that experience But again there was only so much he could feasibly do without at least hinting that he was more than just an average guy with a knack for steel working

There was no harm in waiting so wait he did Opportunities would continue to come he had no doubt

Right as Randidly was walking back to the meeting spot the greasy man had indicated he froze Should he have worn something different

He looked down at himself leather shorts bare feet and a scuffed and burned t shirt Randidly scratched the back of his head It wasn’t like he didn’t have better clothes but This was a very serviceable outfit He had three pairs of the same thing and took it to the washers every couple days to be washed for a few dollars It made him look like a working man

After a bit of thought Randidly produced a pair of darker leather pants that he had received from some nice old man in Donnyton and a forest green shirt It wasn’t so fancy that it was uncomfortable but it also wasn’t just a workman’s shirt All in all Randidly was quite proud of himself

It wasn’t the finery that he had seen Donny strutting around in but he also didn’t seem like he was an Alana type that spent all his time working without a thought to aesthetics Even though he knew in his heart that Alana learned those habits because she was so furiously chasing his Level of strength

Randidly shook his head and then slapped his cheeks No point in dwelling on that now

Now was time to be charming

There was a squirming feeling in his gut

Ricky Stain smiled pleased with his small kingdom

Although he had struggled for a year just to obtain his Tier 1 Citizenship in this small steel working community it was like a king’s crown Everyone treated him with respect and those who didn’t were thoroughly taught a lesson by those who did and wanted to earn a few extra points with him

Because of his citizenship he had access to raw materials and areas that the others didn’t and with the information he had he began leveraging his already respectable savings Within a month Ricky had become a local Hegemon and was now spreading his fingers more actively into the darker side of the business boom

The truth was that Ghost wanted drones and he wanted people working to make them and improve their own Skills Because the directive came from Ghost a lot of the military was very hands off in their handling of the metalworking community Ricky dubbed Stein In fact aside from the wandering sheriff or ranger there were only two police officers who were regularly within Stein’s limits

And those visits were weekly at best

As such a rough sort of hierarchy was already starting to form Ricky intended to be on top of it Which was why he was throwing this party hoping to rope some of the influential workers in more fully and to pry others away from the influence of the staff at the factory

Because aside from Ricky and the military there was a third faction here the so called Analytics Team This was headed by an annoyingly present man Foreman Davey Ricky had some thoughts about striking against the man teaching him a lesson but the rumor was that he was above Level 30

Ricky shivered He didn’t mind offending some citizenshipless individuals but a Tier 1 citizen that was Level 30 Ricky wasn’t so far gone to think his influence could intimidate that man And who knows what forces Ghost had put at his disposal

No better to attempt the soft method and go for the workers

There were 5 that he was interested in specifically Tooya and Diego a pair of tan skinned brothers who had been particularly recalcitrant to his advances but were both known to be womanizers A tall grey haired woman named Sonya who had a dozen or so female assistants offering them shelter from the harassment of the male dominated factory

There was a suspicious old man named Gregory who would only smile in the presence of money And finally there was the intense pudgy man Baloo Erickson Each individual had their own benefits associated with them being pulled into Ricky’s sphere of influence but Baloo’s was the most compelling The man had been selling his unique Erickson Steel for a few days and already some outside sources queried whether they could get it for cheaper than the exorbitant 20 an ingot that Foreman Davey was selling it for

Around Ricky were tables of food some musicians a few of his preferred cronies who looked the right mixture of intimidating and enjoyable for a party and several women hired from an escort service run out of West Providence The guests would be arriving soon so Ricky snapped his fingers and the girls moved out talking with some of the men while others began dancing to the music

It had to be fun it had to be enjoyable

It had to be alluring

Smiling dreamily Ricky imagined that tonight would be a night he wouldn’t forget The night that Ricky became the Steel Baron of Stein and everything finally fell into place for him He couldn’t imagine what could go wrong

Chapter 509

Alan Howard believed in this remnant country and also believed that he was the man most fit to lead it Although it hadn’t been a close election he still felt some lingering shreds of worry over the outlook for his second election That of course wouldn’t be for two and a half years but Alan was never a man to let go of the small details He planned for problems well in advance

Which was part of the reason why the System was such a great frustration to Alan The threats it threw his way were unpredictable Those strange beings that descended and warned the countries of Earth before the System’s arrival did not stay they gave their warning some hints for how to proceed and then departed

There was no guidance here And Alan desperately needed some

Sighing he leaned back in his faux leather chair He wasn’t actually situated in the White House unfortunately which also irked him That part of D C hadn’t become a part of Zone 1 They mostly received a lot of the research complexes and military bases around the South of D C As such this was simply a replica

Alan’s intercom buzzed Father Foster is here to see you Mr President

Send her in Alan grunted puzzling over the figure of Father Foster Although she was a woman she led a rather large and growing religious group that insisted on calling her Father Foster They were an offshoot of Christianity and a strangely extreme one But the only way that religious groups survived the Systems arrival was by doubling down and this group was no exception

They believed that the System was a construct of the devil and that as much as possible people should avoid being tainted by it They at least recognized the necessity of some members being cursed by Skills and Classes to defend them but the religion preached willful ignorance of the System’s ways The people did their best to ignore the woes facing the wider area of Zone 1 and isolated themselves

Normally this group would likely have just been wiped out by a Raid Boss But this Father Foster was particularly shrewd and she gathered some very powerful Classers to her side They bore the weight of humanities sins to protect all she said Theirs was a grand sacrifice

Alan couldn’t help but notice that it kept all power focused solely in a few influential pairs of hands But it was too late to do anything about that An unfortunate coincidence of being one of the only surviving Christian churches and having land to spare for refugees meant that Congress had thought it a good idea to use them as a resource to ease people into the life in the System

What it ended up doing was giving the cultist group a steady stream of scared and alone people to recruit from The UHF took the cream of the crop for their own purposes of course but a lot of talented people went under the sway of Father Foster The UHF crew was talented but they didn’t know how to spot integrity or fighting skill That wasn’t what they were trained to do

Six months out from the relocation efforts Alan realized what a mistake it was to let this petty character control the fates of so many But like all things this knowledge came far too late for Alan to do anything about it

Serenely Father Foster walked into Alan’s office She was a woman in her early 40s with long blonde hair and purple bags under her eyes At first Alan had assumed that the bags were a holdout from drug addiction but higher Vitality generally cleared up those symptoms in all people The longer they persisted the more perplexed Alan became but he was ever the politician he would take his unseemly questions to his grave

Father Foster smiled at Alan Ah Mr President how wonderful to see you well

The bags under her eyes were larger and more glaring if anything The feeling is mutual Alan said smoothly indicating a chair She sat

After several long seconds while the two people sized each other up Alan spoke with a careful tone If I’ve been informed correctly you have some complaints about the most recent batch of refugees that we have sent to your area

An easy expression on her face Father Foster nodded Yes I do not mean to criticize your methods but you go to great lengths to inform the people you liberate about the devil’s System Commendable and in a vacuum valuable but I feel that it is more harmful than helpful considering they will come into the loving embrace of God’s chosen

Not even Father Foster’s bland statements were enough to cause Alan to roll his eyes You are requesting them sent over more quickly

In a sense Father Foster seemed to think about it In her mind she was undoubtedly trying to grapple with the ungainly reality of dealing with someone who was effectively a heathen in her eyes If that is the optimal way to accomplish it that is fine There have been several incidents recently where new arrivals talked overmuch of the outside world and the horrors that befall the unenlightened Ah Mr President don’t think we don’t respect the sacrifices you make to protect us we are eternally grateful and venerate you for the sacrifices you have made But I think your crash course in our modern world makes them feel that endangering their own souls is a necessary evil when it is not

Alan’s eyes flashed Even though he was growing increasingly annoyed Alan kept his language as neutral as he could manage After all Father Foster was ahead of a growing congregation Almost 200 000 people attended one of her affiliated churches on a daily basis She was not a constituent to take lightly You mean to say you wish we would not provide to them the benefits of our accumulated knowledge of the System

The room became silent for almost a minute Alan mulling the information over And from the expression on Father Foster’s face she knew she had already won

Alan wouldn’t go so far as to label the group as a dangerous element but they were becoming something much more unpalatable in recent months Their distaste for the System was shared by many people and those accumulated emotions created a bond between displaced people Feeling unsafe finding solace in god was a historic pastime But with the looming threat of this new Zone that appeared eminently capable Alan was losing his patience

Finally he said I understand your religious motivations but from a secular point of you can you understand why I think that might be shortsighted If some new facet of the System causes unexpected danger your people might be exposed to something they have no knowledge of

We appreciate your concern Father Foster interrupted a small smile on her face Below her eyes the bags were like rotting plums But I assure you that if not in details we cover the general idea in our sermons Besides what adult does not know the evil of this world As children we are born pure closest to God Every new vision is another miracle with God’s hand clear and his grace delightful But as more and more information is revealed we learn about jealousy selfishness limitations and rules we hear about murder and rape about monsters and demons Do the details really matter

Alan mulled that over for a bit and was about to respond when Father Foster continued

Besides if the scenario you speak of comes to pass and a calamity befalls our little enclave would that small amount of information make any difference

To that Alan could think of nothing to say Father Foster’s smile was smug

Randidly idly sipped his drink unsure what he was doing at this party

Well there was no need to think about it as a party in quotes This was an actual party It reminded Randidly of the parties that you would see in Romantic Comedy movies before the System arrived The venue was the penthouse apartment in those expensive condos near the factory There was a DJ playing out by a pool and it seemed like three or four attractive people were on every couch and in front of each painting laughing uproariously at a recent joke

Overall Randidly found the whole thing incredibly insufferable In addition he had spent several of his first 10 minutes here sneezing repeatedly Some of the women and men in attendance had easy smiles and soft hands that revealed them as trucked in help and not steelworkers and the cologne was thick in the air

Finally Randidly discovered a buffet table and helped himself to some ribs and mac and cheese Although the ingredients were somewhat different than his childhood the whole experience was remarkably nostalgic It tasted like cafeterias and childhood and was a far cry from the current world of monsters and Skills For a few minutes Randidly was at peace shoveling the food into his mouth careful to not spill on his nice forest green shirt

The outdoor pool area was connected to a long hallway that led to a kitchen and a bar as well as the bathrooms There were two in this apartment Randidly was currently in a sunroom that was the nearest room to the pool side of the hallway with windows to look out at the pool area and the developing town below

With his extremely high Perception it was easy to listen in on the conversation Aside from the absolutely obnoxious flirting from the Tooya and Diego most of the talk was on the latest rumor that the Zone was slowly expanding the time freezing barrier creeping backward Apparently in the North a whole suburb was revealed Just like that 10 000 new souls were added to Zone 1

Randidly was making plans to check on whether this was true when someone walked into the room

Ah Randidly said standing Hello Sonya

Chapter 510

The grey haired woman nodded at his words after she had schooled her face from the shock that was there previously Apparently she hadn’t considered that someone else was bold enough to open a random door and squirrel themselves away

Mr Erickson I’m surprised you let the factory long enough to attend this Sonya said a touch of irony in her words

Randidly’s lip curled but he said nothing Truly she was right

She joined him on the couch with her own plate of food and drink and for a long time they simply sat there After a few minutes of tension something eased between them as both of their unconscious acknowledged each other as fellow introverts Both preferred this silence vastly to the frantic energy of the party

It was only after Sonya produced a bottle of wine from her interspatial watch and offered some to Randidly that they spoke again Mostly they spoke of steel prices and whether they were being skimped on it They were both aware that stirring up negative emotions in regards to Foreman Davey was the point of the party and while Randidly was satisfied from the straightforward impression that Foreman Davey gave him it seemed Sonya was waivering more

They shared several drinks Catching Sonya’s eyes wandering in a strange way Randidly abruptly realized that this woman probably had a Vitality total that might not even be ? his Drinking a whole bottle of wine probably wouldn’t knock her unconscious but some of her reasoning would be inhibited Perhaps that was the reason for providing so much free alcohol

Randidly was about to suggest they switch to water when Gregory Muldane another influential steelworker surreptitiously opened the door and snuck in He froze briefly when he spotted Randidly and Sonya but his wizened and twisted face quickly bloomed into a smile

So you guys too eh He said throwing himself down between Randidly and Sonya Randidly saw with a sinking feeling he carried his own bottle of wine But very quickly he forgot about that as talk turned from the politics of the steel factory to the particulars

They talked about shifts in purity in the ore and the optimum temperature for the blast furnace and the time the carbon splicing could occur before impurities would emerge in the metal To his surprise Randidly found himself so taken with the frank and open the way these two people were talking that he revealed the general idea behind his Erickson Steel the fact that he used a method to mix in the bones of monsters into the metal

Both considered that for a long time slowing sipping their drinks Outside the party was going full swing The two idiots Tooya and Diego were dead drunk their arms draped around petite women heedless of the calculating looks in the eyes of the waitstaff and bartenders

Still within the safety of the small sunroom Randidly finally felt like he felt a place to relax Although Randidly didn’t intend to dedicate himself to this fully he still found the process of making the metal to be incredibly fulfilling Hard work is sometimes its own reward and comparing knowledge Randidly felt like he was among peers in metalworking at least

These two would likely have even more exaggerated results if they possessed Randidly’s stats and Skills

The next thing that took Randidly by surprise was words out of Sonya’s mouth very soon after a small burp That woman is really pretty She’s been looking at me

Both Randidly and Gregory looked up curiously Sure enough a curvaceous woman in a turquoise dress was leaning up against the side table by the pool She had wide set eyes and soft looking lips As Sonya indicated her eyes had wandered away from the party and locked on their figures through the window

When Gregory and Randidly looked at her she smiled as if she had a secret that she was only willing to share if they came over Instantly Randidly was put on guard

Gregory giggled Ohoho what a pretty young thing

Shut up you old pervert Sonya said slapping Gregory good naturedly Both of them stunk of alcohol There were four empty wine bottles on the floor She was looking at me Let’s go talk to her

Uh Randidly began but they were both standing

They cast impatient glances his way and then walked off arm in arm

Uh Randidly said again slowly standing Then he sighed Gathering information was the point He had already learned a bit about the profit margin that Foreman Davey was making on him and the situation with the expanding Zones He would likely learn more if he went out there So he followed them

Ah our main guest arrived

Griffith smiled coolly at Ricky Stain as he hurried over to greet him at the door

Griffith knew why Ricky wanted him here Ricky was only a Tier 1 Citizen and wanted the legitimacy that Griffith provided As a Tier 2 Citizen who had gone with the initial exploration party into the borderlands Griffith’s influence was not small His presence at this party would likely give weight to the appeals that Ricky was making Besides Griffith’s appreciated the significant upfront money Ricky was willing to pay as well as the portion of his business that he would give to Griffith in exchange for his appearance

It wasn’t fear that drove Griffith away from the expedition after the initial disasters but rather a seemingly impassable wall Although Griffith was almost Level 40 he had felt helpless before those Level 60 monsters in the borderlands They were too quick to hit with a plasma rifle and even when you did they often could survive the shot long enough to kill five men under constant fire

It was a bitter realization But Griffith accepted it So he returned to the relative safety of patrols and made some money where he could on the side to make up from the decrease in pay from his change in employment This one night would do a lot to relieve the financial burdens in which Griffith currently found himself

Come in come in Ricky was saying his eyes slightly glassy The party is going very well The steelworkers are taking the bait hook line and sinker hahah

Ricky handed him a drink but Griffith was relatively unamused As he was going to be owning a part of Ricky’s business he would like to see some proof before he relaxed Where are they

After leading him out to the pool deck Ricky pointed to two Hispanic men who were taking shots off of an Asian woman’s stomach There are two And the others Uh Oh there they are

Griffith followed Ricky’s upraised arm to a group of three that was strolling towards a beautiful

Griffith almost dropped his drink When he looked at the group of three one of them was gazing back at him with sharp brown eyes That gaze cut right through him left him feeling just as bare as if he was being hunted by a Level 60 monster But just as soon as their gazes met the other man looked away turning towards the beautiful woman Griffith instantly became serious

One thing he learned in the borderlands was to trust his instincts And instantly his instincts warned him against letting his guard down around this man

Ignoring the throbbing beat of the music Griffith turned to Ricky All those three are steelworkers

Ricky nodded an empty smile plastered on his face After a deep breath Griffith breathed back Then let’s go and introduce ourselves

Tatiana looked up a with a smile as the three approached her as if she had only just now noticed their approach As if she hadn’t tagged them gently out into the party with a smile a minute ago Do you three believe in magic

The three of them stopped The tall woman who led them seemed to be the drunkest of them all and was completely flummoxed by the statement The lean old man next to her seemed strangely gleeful but she appreciated how his gaze flickered over her body but he had the presence to not linger overmuch on any of her

The final man was tall but was somewhat pudgy But his eyes were sharp and direct gazing with an innocent curiosity at her

She laughed in a self deprecating way as she spread her hands wide in invitation I mean it’s silly to say now isn’t it But I’m not talking about that boring magic I’m talking about the future Would you like me to tell your fortunes

Chapter 511

Randidly paused considering what a fortune of his might reveal If it was an actual Skill she was using it might be troublesome But then again it might also give him some warning of what was to come Perhaps the Creature had a trap ready and was waiting for him this whole time Wouldn’t knowing be better Could this woman really tell his fortune

Yes Sonya blurted out the desperation clear in her eyes The beautiful woman smiled sweetly then looked over their shoulders to scan the party Randidly noticed how her eyes changed then as she looked around Before she was out to charm them and draw them in But when she looked around the party there was only iron in her gaze Was she here in some supervisory role then

The woman’s hair was up in an intricate braid that oozed class and sophistication Curious Randidly attuned his senses a little more directly to her felt her heartbeat and the soft sound her skin made as it brushed up against the fabric of her dress It honestly made Randidly feel somewhat guilty that he was scanning her so closely But it did confirm that she carried multiple weapons on her person she was not as simple as she seemed

Her eyes refocused and the beautiful dark haired woman offered her hands to Sonya I’m a palm reader so all I’ll need is your name lovely and your hand

The word lovely left Sonya as gushy and melted as butter on a cast iron skillet With obvious excitement she spoke in a whisper trying her best to mirror the other woman’s flirty manner Mm uh it’s Sonya

With gentle fingers the woman took Sonya’s fingers in her own The woman’s gaze was careful going over the entirety of the skin and joints of the hand There was no haste in her movements and at that moment her focus was entirely concentrated on Sonya Waiting silently Sonya’s face slowly became increasingly red

There is a sharp branch in your future The woman said gazing down at Sonya’s palm Randidly remained silent Perhaps initially it will not seem like much of a difference but this decision will tie your destiny to another’s And it is not the individual that you think As time goes on you will either regret the decision or grow to realize it was one of the most important in your life

And tonight Sonya said swaying slightly Sudden boldness seemed to suffuse her and she took a step forward What do you see in my future tonight

Randidly looked over at Gregory and then winced The man’s eyes were sparkling with obvious interest This was slightly disgusting Randidly glanced around No one else seemed to notice their group isolated on the opposite side of the pool from the main part of the party But then Randidly forced his gaze back trying his best not to withdraw into himself

With careful hands the woman folded Sonya’s fingers back into her palm Then she spoke in a breathy voice Warmth

Then after Sonya had taken a second to take it in the mysterious fortune teller turned to Gregory How about you sir would you like your fortune told

Gregory waved his hand No no I’m much too afraid someone will tell me I’m about to die I prefer to ignore the future as much as possible I’d much prefer to watch

Nodding the woman turned and looked Randidly directly in the eye It was so sudden that he almost blinked Although he didn’t notice it at the time it had been quite some time since someone had met his gaze so directly and held it during a conversation And you sir Do you have a bright future you’d wish to share with me Tell me your name and let’s find it together

Inwardly Randidly was taking notes to try some of these techniques later in his own conversations But he still couldn’t pull away from the conversation itself So he cleared his throat and said How about a trade A name for a name Mine is Baloo Erickson

Tatiana She said with a smile Her lips were soft and sensual drawing across the air like brushstrokes to create her words Immediately she scanned over his shoulder again looking at the party and then reached for his hand But before she could take it two people broke into their circle

Inwardly Randidly was slightly disappointed Maybe it was the small trace of alcohol in his system but he decided to let her read his fortune What was the worst that could happen And he was very curious about this strange social creature in front of him that seemed so different than himself

I hope you are enjoying the party Ricky Stain said with a wide smile I see you’ve met Tatiana Such a charmer right She came highly ah she’s one of my favorite friends

Ricky Stain clearly was going to say something offensive so he changed his language at the last second Still he felt Tatiana’s stance shift slightly a wall coming up Her body language changed slightly

Randidly didn’t like Ricky The man was clearly willing to cut Randidly in on a larger share of the profits of selling steel but that was a small thing that would only affect him for a few weeks Stain’s integrity was not a small thing

It was bad enough to have a name like Stain but did he really have to live up to it

Tatiana Sonya growled raw hunger in her voice Only now did it seem that the name had drifted through the smog of intoxication to land upon her brain

And this Ricky Stain said pointing to the muscular man next to him Is Griffith Lipschitz a business associate He is a Tier II citizen so he helps arrange for all of my raw material ties

In this Zone there was a large emphasis on what citizenship tier a person was Randidly only had seen a small portion of it like being required to have probationary citizenship to work on the drones and scaled pricing for the train tickets based on your Tier In addition there were clearly caste elements emerging as the few Tier 1 individuals who came into the steelworkers part of town had smirks on their faces

Both Gregory and Sonya seemed to lose some of their tipsiness by the reminder of their lower station with wide eyes To a person without citizenship a Tier 2 Citizen was far above them Randidly supposed This was certainly the highest Tiered person that Randidly had run into He supposed most of the important people were exploring the borderlands

To everyone’s Griffith stepped towards Randidly and offered his hand My name’s Griffith it’s a pleasure to meet you Sir I couldn’t help but notice your bearing Did you serve previously I’d love to know how you ended up here

My bearing ’ Randidly wondered He suppressed an impulse to awkwardly scratch his head

Inwardly he could sense Lucretia’s amusement She spent most of her time handling the affairs of his inner world so it took him somewhat by surprise What was worse Neveah also sent a mental message

Bearing important Strong jaw firm resolve hmm hmm Inspiration

Then her consciousness went off Exasperated Randidly wondered what she had gotten up to in Zone 1 She was supposed to be acting as a distraction but he supposed it was good that he hadn’t heard any news of her doing anything catastrophic After all she was using his face while she was here At least he thought she was

Randidly refocused on Griffith Well the fact that he could recognize Randidly’s strength through the illusion was impressive Still Randidly had to admit that he usually was constantly utilizing most of his Yggdrasil Skills At that Skill rarity they tended to show through Yea I suppose you could say that I came here to learn more about the world There are some things you can’t discover from fighting

Randidly spoke slowly carefully checking his story mentally Then he turned to regard Tatiana My name’s Baloo Erickson This fortune teller was about to give me my fortune perhaps if you stay to watch we can both learn something

She does palm reading Gregory supplied his expression tight and unreadable

Then everyone was looking at Tatiana expectantly Randidly offered her his hand Ricky Stain kept giving him but Randidly ignored it as best he could There was a moment of indecision and confusion in Tatiana’s eyes a small thing Her face didn’t even mood But Randidly could clearly feel that she was torn

Then she laughed her nose wrinkling up I’m really nothing so glamorous as a fortune teller but I do have some gypsy blood Can you tell Come give me your hand

Their hands touched As soon as it happened Tatiana’s eyes once again twitched She felt something then Randidly leaned forward curious If her Skill was powerful enough if he could obtain a clue here

You fucking bitch

Violent words ripped across the night There was a sound of impact of flesh on flesh Almost as one the group turned looking over toward the source of the sound Tooya stood tall above an Asian woman his eyes red and furious His brother was next to him his face surly as he joined his brother in glaring

Before he even realized what was happening Randidly felt the vegetation around him explode into motion Grass elongated and stretched up the side of the building running along the support pillars But then he hesitated forcing that impulse down His toes flexed It was discomforting to not be touching the ground although the threads of energy could still climb up through the rock and metal to reach him

And considering the cause of the commotion using a Skill wasn’t even necessary

Besides it seemed he didn’t even need to act Beside him the air around Tatiana became frosty

Chapter 512

Tatiana’s eyes shot open then they narrowed This was a yell she recognized one she had heard far too many times in the past to mistake The man Tooya was standing above Kari glaring down at the fallen women There was a fresh red mark on the side of her face where he had struck her

Then things began to happen very quickly

Her hands clenched into fists There was a hand in hers but it had slipped from her mind in the heat of the moment Abruptly she felt a flash of concern Her Strength wasn’t something normal people could take and she released the man’s hand Hopefully he would forgive her later

Then everything was lost in a flood of red as Tooya raised his hand for another blow

Ricky Stain was talking next to her Hey now none of that at my party

Launching herself forward Tatiana ripped through the 10 meters of space across the pool in a single step When she landed she leaped again and found herself next to the infuriated man and his grinning brother

It was that grin that did it It reminded Tatiana of grins she would rather forget

Her Sinister Presence smashed outward with all of the fury she could muster Intimidating Figure kicked on as well as Ambitious Strength The brother stumbled backward away from Kari while Tatiana’s hand casually rose and stopped Tooya’s next blow

For several seconds Tooya struggled as the brother regained his feet Almost at the same time they realized what had happened Their eyes narrowed in just the same ways they were truly related and the traits they shared were not ones that Tatiana would consider desirable She suppressed the urge to strike to man and kept her voice even Around them the party was slowly grinding to a halt

Take a step back

Tooya seemed to finally realize what was happening and why And there was only incredulity in his eyes All this for a fucking slut She was

Tatiana flexed her hands and her power gauntlets came out of her spatial watch and formed around her hands Back the fuck off you prick

Across the pool Ricky Stain was shouting The brother drew a plasma pistol but before he could get a bead on her a hand grabbed his wrist and forced the pistol down Griffith stood there towering over the brother

No need to escalate this He said calmly His gaze slid to Tatiana There was a warning in his eyes He would stand with her as long as she didn’t seek any retribution His gaze traced her gauntlet then flicked back to Tooya

Then as one Tatiana and Griffith realized that neither had paid close enough attention to Tooya