Author: Tom Larcombe
Date: 2021-09-29T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy
Description: After the discovery that the encampment outside of his Safe Zone is full of friendlies, Marc and his group finally have a chance to try to grow stronger again. The addition of an administrator for the Safe Zone as well as someone to coordinate its defenses finally allows Marc to feel like he can go out and do other things. With the number of survivors they're finding in the immediate area rapidly dwindling, they choose to go farther afield, working on gaining additional resources for the Safe Zone while searching out any remaining survivors they can find. His father reported passing other Safe
Publisher: TML

System Return

Natural Laws Apocalypse #2

By: Tom Larcombe

Text copyright © 2021, Thomas Larcombe All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, businesses, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Cover by:

SelfPubBookCovers.com/ Viergacht

Dedicated to my wife, Heather, who keeps me writing, one way or another.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

About the Author

Bibliography

Chapter One

Marc sighed with relief as he led his father up towards the keep. He was very glad that he'd found the settings in the Safe Zone screens that allowed him to accept the group as a whole into the Safe Zone, but he'd have to make sure that it had been a good plan to do so by asking his father if there was anyone to keep an eye on.

Because I don't need another incident like Tim trying to take the place over, or the Sternns having to be evicted, he thought. And I'll still need to process each of them individually as residents eventually too. At least this way I can make sure about each of them first if we wait a while.

“So dad, legionaries?” Marc said.

“For most of them, yes,” Sean Cavanaugh replied.

His gaze kept moving from side to side, looking at the buildings and fields in the Safe Zone, then flickering back to his son. As of yesterday, he still hadn't been sure that his son was alive.

Marc's eyes were also drawn towards his father, as he'd had the same uncertainty.

“Most of them?” Marc asked.

“Well, it's a class, you know? I did get your email detailing all of that, but I never managed to get a reply out. The hotel we were in had lousy wi-fi and it went out while I was still reading your email. Well, reading it and wondering if you'd gone over the edge. Despite the message that flooded everyone's vision, I still couldn't accept things. It took one of the other conference attendees to drive it into my skull. Amusingly enough they did it by showing me a book series they were reading where something very similar happened. When the main character started fighting with a makeshift spear, one made of rebar? That's when my brain started moving towards the Roman Legions.”

Sean broke off to look around again, shaking his head in amazement.

“Anyhow, the guy convinced me that you weren't crazy. He said it sounded like you had a clue as to what was coming and that I should listen.

I raced through that book so I had some idea of what was coming, not that it was identical or anything, but a general idea at least. Rudi, that's his name, was also the one that I bought the display pieces in my office from.”

“Um, yeah, sorry about that. We're making use of that whole set, split up a bit though,” Marc said, embarrassed.

“That's fine. As you saw, we have more of it. Rudi's the one who makes that stuff and he lives in the same town the conference was in, so we went to his place to gear up. The cell phone towers went down while I was reading that book, some of those 5G conspirators took advantage of all the panic and took down all the cell towers around town, destroyed them utterly, so we were totally out of communication and I never did get a chance to reply to your email. So, anyhow, when it came time to claim things we were set with Rudi's gear.”

Marc interrupted his father for a moment.

“We have enough room for all the people with you. I don't know about their preferences, but there's a barracks that gives those who live in it some minor combat bonuses, there's also a lot of apartments still empty in the apartment building we just passed.”

Sean had spent several long seconds staring at the brand new apartment building as they passed. So now he nodded.

“I don't know what everyone intends to do, but I can pass that along to them. We've got more than just legionaries though, that's the class for most of them, but your mom got a different one: Armicustos.”

Seeing his son's confusion he explained.

“It's the equivalent of a quartermaster in the Roman Legions. We also have a Clinicus, that's a healer of sorts, even gets some healing spells.

Finally we have a pair of NCOs: an Optio and a Tesserarius. Think of the Optio as my second in command, and the Tesserarius as the hands-on commander of the troops when in camp, a watch commander I suppose.”

Marc was trying hard to remember all of that, but decided that he didn't have to.

“At some point, I'll want to sit down with you and write those all down.

We have a bunch of classes represented here and we've got the names and basic starting skill options for all of them written down. We're trying to find out how to train people in all the different classes, but we need to know what each one offers so people can decide what they want,” Marc said.

Sean chuckled.

“Well, all the ones I mentioned share a couple of skills: March and Encamp. Even my Centurion class has those, although it's got a few other things as well that I'm unsure of.”

“I can guess what those do,” Marc said. “I assume that fortification you were in was the result of the Encamp skill?”

Sean nodded.

“The encampment goes up faster the more people with the skill working on it. With our group it takes less than an hour to create, if we have all the wood ready beforehand. Makes something a temporary Safe Zone and lasts for a half hour per person involved with the skill.”

“And March, of course, is how you got back here so quickly on foot?”

“I don't call that quickly, but yes. It ensures we can make twenty miles per day, even with wagons. We did have to have some of the auxiliaries ride the wagons to keep making that distance, but it worked. We also stopped at a couple of Safe Zones along the way, so we didn't always make that distance.”

“You said something about that, about them not being the same as ours?”

Marc asked.

“Yeah, they were...”

Sean looked around.

“Nothing like this at all. Both of them consisted of a single structure, like a fort or something. The buildings were in good shape, but there wasn't a lot of surrounding area inside their walls. They had a well in each place, but
nothing like your fields or ponds even, never mind the rest of these buildings. There was one a little bigger, but it was damaged and looked abandoned so we didn't stop there since it was the middle of the day when we saw it.”

“Huh, it sounds like they haven't expanded their Safe Zones at all, but even with the basic Safe Zone, we weren't that bad off. We had power and running water right from the start. I guess that's the difference between using a core versus a System token to create it?”

Sean just looked confused until Marc explained.

“There are two ways that you can form a Safe Zone. One of them involves using a monster core, and the other a System token. Cores are supposed to be more rare, although we have found a couple, but everyone gets a System token when they get a class. They get them for some other things as well,” Marc said. “We used a monster core to create our Safe Zone, then a second one so we could expand it further. The main bottleneck is materials at this point. The cores we used each support multiple expansions.”

“I think I understand what you're saying,” Sean said. “But I'll ask you to go into more detail on it later on, if you don't mind.”

Marc nodded.

“Sure, but we probably ought to have you go through orientation with Al first. Everyone we've brought in has done it. It will let you know what we know about the System and how to use it. I'm sure you've gotten some of that down yourself, and if you know something he doesn't mention, please let us know so we can spread the word.”

“Okay then, we can do that. In the meanwhile, why don't you tell me what happened to you here. It looks like it wasn't uneventful,” Sean said.

Marc took a deep breath and sighed.

“That's an understatement, dad,” Marc said. “It all started with that screen...”

Marc went through telling his father about their training, clearing the high school, making the temporary Safe Zone, followed by the permanent
one the day after. Sean interrupted at that point.

“Before you get too much further along, what did you say you trained up?”

“I think you can train up anything, although the primary stats are harder for that. The secondaries like Endurance, Mana, and Stamina seem to train up more easily though.”

“I'll vouch for a couple of those. Everyone's Stamina and Endurance went up while we marched. Well, all of us who spent the whole day marching at least. Mana though?”

“Logic puzzles, difficult math problems, and that type of thing. I discovered that Magic, in the System, is pretty much just a separate division of math. High level math, but training your mind seems to do okay at boosting your mana.”

“No, I meant, what does Mana do? There are only two of us with things that use it. The Clinicus has some healing spells that use it, and I've got a skill that I can use on others that uses it. For everyone else, it seems to be a useless stat.”

“Ah, I misunderstood. Did anyone in the book you read cast spells?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because that's what Mana is for,” Marc said.

“Really, you're saying that magic is real now?”

Marc nodded.

“Yes, that's what I'm saying. Here, allow me to demonstrate.”

Marc quickly cast a Blessing of Strength spell on his father and watched the reaction. Sean seemed to flex a little unconsciously and release a grunt.

“Check your stats now,” Marc said. “Oh, assuming you know how, that is.”

“I did pick up that much from the book,” Sean replied, then his eyes went vacant.

“Three points of Strength? Is that the result of magic?”

“Yeah, it isn't as flashy, but I've used that one a few times. There are direct damage spells also though. Here, dismiss your stats and watch this.”

They were close to the keep now and Marc targeted a fire-aspected Mana Dart at the stone of the wall. As the three darts of flame shot from his hand to strike the wall, Sean gasped.

“If any of your auxiliaries are still unclassed and want a Mage class, that's one of the ones we've already figured out how to train. They do need to be relatively intelligent and capable of basic math to learn it though.”

“Basic math? As in addition, subtraction and the like?”

“More like comfortable with variables and symbols. Like I said, magic is math, and some of it is plug and play, so they'd need to be able to handle variables and symbols. If they can handle that, we can teach them the basic Mage class at least.”

“So you're a Mage then?” Sean asked.

“A variant Mage class, called Arcane Bulwark. It's part Warrior, part Mage. The spells the class gives are all defensive focused, but I've picked up a few other spells along the way, both offensive and buffs.”

Sean shook his head.

“Things are just so... so weird now,” he said. “Here I am talking to you about magic, and you prove that you can do it casually. I'm sorry for interrupting, where were we?”

“Oh, um, I just told you about making the Safe Zone,” Marc said, “Next, we...”

He continued telling his tale, as concisely as he could, mentioning gathering supplies, making signs for survivors, clearing the middle school, and obtaining the seeds for the fields. He slowed and got hesitant when he had to relay the story about ousting the Sternns from the Safe Zone. His father surprised him though.

“I never did like that guy,” Sean said, “and his wife was a real piece of work. It doesn't surprise me in the least that they'd try to freeload. I think he sold insurance or something like that, didn't have any hobbies either, so I'd
be surprised if he had any useful skills and he would've thought himself above manual labor.”

“Well, no-one's seen anything of them after we evicted them,” Marc said.

“I'm afraid they're dead, but...”

He paused, unable to express both his regrets over it as well as his thoughts that it had been an appropriate action to take. Sean seemed to notice his problem.

“I'm not as good at this as your mom is, but...”

Sean wrapped his arms around his son and just hugged him for a few minutes until Marc was able to continue.

“Then we set up that kobold Lair core I told you about to generate a new nest of kobolds—”

“Why would you do that?” Sean burst out, interrupting.

Marc grinned.

“Experience farm. The kobolds aren't that tough, so the lower level people with combat classes will be able to run that lair and clear it every few days. They should gain both experience and skill levels from it. If it's too much, we'll just need to clear it one final time and I can remove the Lair core again,” Marc said.

At least I hope I can. The whole layout of the building changed, so I might have trouble finding the Lair core to remove. Although Jeff found it with his skills the first time, so if we have to do that, I'm sure he can find it again, he thought.

Sean had a pensive look on his face.

“Lower levels? Define that, please?”

“Well, anyone can get some experience from them, but the lower levels will get more. Probably level four or five and under will get the most experience for leveling from them, but everyone should be able to practice their skills there. Plus the kobolds do drop some loot: copper coins, silver on some of the tougher ones, plus a few items that came in handy like
healing staffs and spell scrolls. Those last are much more rare on them though.”

“I get it, it's like you said. A farm for experience and items, but it's a lot more dangerous than farming for crops,” Sean said.

Marc nodded, glad that his dad had understood the idea that easily.

“After we set that up, we did some more expansion on the Safe Zone, then saw your Encampment last night. Which pretty much catches us up,”

Marc finished.

“I'm sure you're leaving a lot of things out,” Sean said.

“I think I hit most of the important things though. Oh, and a friend of yours is here. Conner?”

“Conner?” Sean said, shaking his head.

“You might know him as Officer Bailey? He knew you were a prepper, something which I was unaware of until just recently.”

Sean blushed.

“I told you where everything was. I thought you'd look at some point and come to your own conclusions,” he said.

Marc shook his head.

“Anyway, he's down on the wall standing guard. Wait, no, I think he's off duty now so he's around here somewhere.”

“Well, before I find him I'd better bring you to your mother. She's had enough time to get everything arranged to her satisfaction after we arrived, and if I don't bring you to her soon, I'm sure to pay for it later on,” Sean said.

“Yes please, let's go find mom,” Marc said.

* * *

Sean headed for the wagons, Marc in tow.

“I'm sure she'll be with them, that's where all of our stores are and she's in charge of them. I don't see many of the people I had with me there though,” Sean said.

“I see Felicia with mom, she probably told them the same thing I did, although she might not have thought to mention the barracks.”

“Well, we'll find out in just a minute.”

As they approached the wagons, Marc's mom saw them and came rushing over. Sean's hug had been because Marc needed one, his mom's was because that's who she was. She wrapped her arms around him and babbled about how happy she was that he was okay.

Marc squirmed, unwilling to push his mom away, but not entirely okay with her hugging him like this in the middle of the Safe Zone. Finally he pushed back away from her.

“Mom, please?” he said.

“Fine, Marcus,” she said. “I won't embarrass you that way any more.”

Her eyes twinkled as she continued to speak.

“So, Felicia tells me you finally got those feet of yours warmed up,” she said.

“What?” Marc asked, confused.

His eyes flickered over to Felicia, but she looked as confused as he felt.

“She told me that you finally got over having cold feet. I've known the two of you were interested in each other for years. I'm glad you finally did something about it,” his mom said.

“Michelle,” Sean said, “it's not polite to tease your son like that.”

Felicia was chuckling now.

“Felicia...” Marc said, drawing the name out until it was almost a whine.

“Sorry Marc, I was just remembering what you said the other day.”

“What's that?” Michelle asked curiously.

“He said we finally had a 'thing' going, some sort of relationship. Then he said that all it took was the end of the world as we know it for us to get to that point,” Felicia said.

Michelle broke out into a grin.

“That's my boy, clueless and insightful all at the same time,” she said.

“Mom!” Marc exclaimed.

“Sorry Marc,” she said, “I just call 'em as I see 'em.”

“Dad, you wanted me to show you the rest of the place too, right?”

Sean took pity on his son.

“Sure, show me these barracks you were talking about that give the bonuses.”

“Good, cool, follow me,” Marc said, hurrying away from his mom as she turned to speak with Felicia some more.

Marc missed the long look his mother gave his father and the firm nod that his father gave in return.

His father followed along behind Marc as he led the way to the barracks.

“So Marc, finally got yourself a girlfriend?” Sean asked.

“Dad, you too?”

“I'm just asking, because it looks that way.”

Marc threw off the discomfort that the embarrassment his mom had gifted him with had caused.

It's dad, he's better to talk to about this type of stuff than mom is, Marc reminded himself.

“I guess?” Marc said. “We've got some sort of relationship going, like she said, but we haven't put any sort of name to it yet.”

“So, physical too?” Sean asked.

Marc's face turned beet red.

“Um, well, yeah,” he mumbled.

“I hope you're using protection,” was all Sean said.

Oh god, I thought he was going to rib me too, but this makes more sense coming from him, Marc thought.

“Yes, she's using birth control.”

Marc felt a hand on his shoulder as his father spun him around.

“You do know that a lot of the old chemical reactions don't work the same now, right?” Sean said.

Marc relaxed, again, since he had an answer to that.

“Yes, we know. It isn't old world stuff, we got it from the shop. The System shop, so it ought to be just fine under System rules. We went looking for condoms first, but neither of us were fond of the idea. We found what she's using at the same time and she said that she preferred it. Now, can we please talk about something that doesn't make we want to crawl under a rock and hide?”

“Wait, you said you fought a troll, and were fine with it, but this makes you want to hide?” Sean asked incredulously.

“Dad, you know me. Being social isn't my forte, but talking about it, especially with my parents? That's even less so.”

“And here I thought you'd had to get over that to get anywhere with Felicia.”

“I did, for a few moments at least. She jumped on those few moments and we finally managed to move forward. Now, enough about that, please?”

“So, how'd you get all these people here?” Sean asked, willing to change the subject.

“Like I said, we went out looking for survivors. Some of the groups we brought back had combat classes as well, and they went out to clear spawns and look for more survivors. I don't know how many more there might be out there. The number of survivors we've been finding has been steadily dropping.”

“That's not surprising. Things were pretty easy when we started our trip back, but they got progressively harder along the way,” Sean said.

“Yeah, in addition to the more rare commonality spawns being added in, we found out that the ones that first showed up? They'll keep spawning to a certain number, then start breeding after that,” Marc said. “So it's no surprise that things got harder as time passed. More spawns of the most common types, plus the less common slowly being added in as well.”

Sean nodded.

“Makes sense if I look at it that way. At the time, I was just worried about getting us through, too worried to follow the logic you just showed.

Fortunately, we all got some levels on the way and that made things easier too.”

“What level did you all make it to?” Marc asked.

“Most of the legionaries are level three or four at this point. The auxiliaries got some also, most of them are level two or three, but most of them also don't have a class yet, so it wasn't as much help.”

“Well, we'll see about getting them classes. We've got a few non-combat classes available, and a bunch of combat classes, so hopefully there's something for everyone.”

Marc opened the door of the barracks and led his father into a common area.

“I've set this up so there are suites. It lowers the number that can stay in the barracks, but I figured it would also raise morale. No-one wants the default barracks style of a bunch of beds filling a room. At least I don't think anyone would. So this building only houses half as many people, but in a lot more comfort. I can build another one if needed too, I should have the materials for that by the end of the day.”

“Materials?” Sean asked.

“Oh yeah, if the Safe Zones you stopped at didn't mention it you need materials to build a Safe Zone: metal, wood, and stone. You need the same materials to expand it or create any of the buildings in it. Plus a few other materials if there's anything special about what you're making.”

“I wonder why they didn't expand then,” Sean said. “They did have stockpiles of materials like you're mentioning.”

“That's the other trick. I don't know about a Safe Zone created with a System token, but for one with a core there's a limited number of expansions you can make for each core you use. So you need an open expansion slot as well as the materials. I'm guessing that they used the System token they got for getting a class for their Safe Zones. Those are lesser System tokens and I'm betting that those don't allow for any expansion without more tokens.”

“Okay...” Sean said, obviously thinking. “So, you said you used a core to build yours, and then another core after? Where do you get the cores?”

“By looting monsters. We got lucky enough to get the first while we were clearing the high school and I think the second one was a bonus for having the first kill on a rare spawn after they were introduced by the System. The cores aren't that common normally, from what I can tell.”

“So, at some point here you'll end up having to wait on more cores?”

Sean asked.

Marc nodded.

“We've got some System tokens, but they evidently don't play well with the cores when you want to expand a Safe Zone. I was told that tokens were incompatible for expanding a Safe Zone made with a core.”

They continued to chat as Marc showed his father the rooms in the barracks. Sean reaffirmed that he'd let his fighters know about this option and that he'd tell them it was no worse quality than any of the other options.

* * *

Sean had claimed one of the barracks rooms for himself and Marc's mother. There were still quite a few available for that since there were only three rooms taken up so far by Ron and his own group. The rest of the adventurers had chosen to stay in the apartments in the main keep, despite losing out on the bonuses that the barracks offered.

Marc and his dad were in the cafeteria getting something to eat when Felicia called out to them. She, Michelle, and the rest of Marc's group were sitting together. It didn't surprise Marc in the least since his mom had always gotten along well with his friends. Ella was the only one in the group that she didn't already know.

They sat down with the others, slowly joining the conversation.

“So, you brought more foodstuffs?” Marc asked after his mom finished speaking.

She nodded.

“The second wagon had as much as we could load onto it. It looks like food is one of the few things not falling apart. Even its containers seem immune to the decay that's affecting everything else.”

“I saw livestock too, yes?” Marc asked.

This time Sean's father nodded.

“What we could bring with us we did. There's a few sheep, a bull and two cows, and the mules.”

“I'll have to build a corral after dinner, actually probably several, yes?”

Marc said.

Sean nodded.

“Keeping them separate is probably a good idea. I've got no idea how to handle them, but a couple of the auxiliaries were farmers, the original owners of the livestock, and they offered to give the livestock to us and tend them if we could find a safe place for them and their families.”

“As long as they're willing to pull their own weight, they're welcome here and this is probably as safe as things get now,” Rob said. “Right, Marc?”

Marc nodded and was amused to note the glance his mom and dad shared when Rob spoke up, but then deferred to him before he finished speaking.

I've got to remember that mom and dad are both pretty smart cookies, Marc thought. I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent, when it comes to most things, but I had to get my brains from somewhere and I'm pretty sure it was both of them.

Jeff was more subdued than he had been in quite some time and Marc wasn't sure if it was Ella or his parents causing it. Either way, after dinner he and Ella excused themselves and disappeared.

“She seems like a nice girl,” Michelle said when they left. “I hope she knows that Jeff's a handful.”

“Mom, please don't try to meddle with my friends. Yes, she knows and she has him wrapped around her little finger. We just found out that they've been together for a while, but Jeff never told us about it until just a couple of days ago when we rescued her and a bunch of others from their apartment building,” Marc said.

“Marc, I don't meddle,” Michelle said.

“Um, yes, you do mom,” Marc said, looking to his father for backup.

Sean rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“He's right. You do tend to try to help others dear, and not always in the ways that they'd prefer.”

“Sean, you know that I'm just trying to do what's best for them.”

Marc gritted his teeth. He'd never been able to stand up to his mom before, but he was going to now.

“No mom, you do what you think is best for them. It might be what was best for you in that situation, but you don't know what their situation is. So please? Don't meddle with my friends' lives. If they screw up then they'll learn from it, they won't learn from you lecturing them though. You know how people react to that.”

“Lecturing is my job,” Michelle said.

“And this isn't your job, mom. This is your new life. Please, let it go. I've got a job that you can do if you want though, one that should be right up your alley.”

“Marc, colloquialisms? Really...”

Michelle let the silence hang for a moment, trying to emphasize her point, but Marc had experienced this before and he spiked her moment of silence.

“Well, you know, when in Rome?”

Her eyes flew open when he spoke during her dramatic silence, then she started laughing.

“Good, nice to see my son decided to grow more of a backbone.

Although, really, using that with your mother?”

“It's the only way to not get steamrolled by you, mom,” Marc said.

“Now, did you want to hear about the job or not?”

“Fine, what is it?”

“I've been controlling everything about this Safe Zone since we made it and there are certain screens I have access to that no-one else has until now.

I need an administrator for the Safe Zone. I can show you the Town Hall and the access point that will allow you to see that information for yourself as well. It's got an inventory listing, a personnel listing along with their job in the Safe Zone, and a section on laws and rules.”

Apparently his mother's interest was piqued as she was leaning forward now.

“And my duties?”

“Keep an eye on the inventory, let me know if it looks like we'll run short on anything so we can replace it before we run out. Keep an eye on the inhabitants, make sure they're pulling their own weight since we can't afford any slackers. Ask dad what happened to the one couple I already confronted about that, I don't want to go through it again. Finally, I'll give you what I want the laws and rules to be and you'll need to translate them into plain speak so no-one can claim they didn't understand.”

He'd lost her attention somewhere in the middle there and looked up to see her staring at his dad.

“Who?” she asked.

Sean grinned.

“The Sternns, don't worry, he said they're gone now.”

Her attention went back to Marc.

“Is that all?”

“Well, we've yet to explore everything in the Town Hall, so there may be more. That's based on what I know of it so far.”

“That sounds like it has potential. After we find out what else is in there, I may have some suggestions for you. Is that okay?”

“Yes, please. So far most of the suggestions have been stuff for individuals, which I won't provide. A few were good and affected everyone so I did those, but the people who want something just for themselves?”

Marc shook his head.

“Anyhow, speaking of having to build things. Would you guys like to see the build pedestal? Where I instruct the Safe Zone to expand or to create buildings if we've got the materials? We need some corrals, and I promised a play area to the younger inhabitants a few days back.”

Sean and Michelle were both out of their seats before Marc had even pushed his back to stand.

Huh, I guess they're more interested than they're letting on, Marc thought.

* * *

Chapter Two

Before Marc even finished standing, a System message flashed across his vision.

System Message:

Legendary spawns will now commence. Increase your power levels by destroying spawns or through other means. Good Luck!

He groaned as he finished getting to his feet.

“We'd been wondering what the next level would be,” Marc said.

“This means they're tougher than the rares?” Sean asked.

“Maybe? We can look and see if there's any help on that.”

“With these help files? You must be joking,” Michelle said.

“Mom, we've got more than just those help files and that's not because of the Safe Zone, that's because of yours truly. We can get into that later on, but I didn't mention it yet because it's not for general dissemination,” Marc replied. “Fortunately, the public access to those help files is in the same room as the build pedestal.”

He started to lead them towards the gym before stopping dead.

“Crap, I forgot. The build pedestal got relocated to the Town Hall. So I'll show you the help files first, then the build pedestal after. Well, if that's okay with you guys.”

Sean nodded and Michelle voiced her agreement as well.

Marc led them into the gymnasium and over to the pedestal where he'd placed the help file pad. Amy was using it again, but when she saw Marc approaching with his parents she stepped away.

“No, you're fine Amy,” Marc said to the young Junior Courier. “These are my parents and I was just going to show them the help file pad. Tell me though, since I've seen you here a few times, do many people use that pad?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, later in the day it's hard to get to since there's normally someone using it, so I come in the morning and early afternoon to read it myself,”

Amy replied.

“I'll have to see if I can do something about that, but you're good for now. Don't worry if you see a couple more pedestals rise later on. I'll get more help file pads for people to use. I didn't realize that there was a line here sometimes also,” Marc said.

He motioned his parents over to the shop kiosk and they just stared at it for a moment.

“What's that?” Michelle asked.

“Oh, that's our shop. Didn't the Safe Zones you ran into have one? Or did they just not show you it?”

“No, they did, but it was more like the pedestal that little girl is using.”

“We had the same problem with the shop that we are with the help file pad, lines developing, so I upgraded our shop. With three access points on it, we don't have that problem any more. Anyhow, I brought you over here for a reason. First, I need to replenish the daily supply of those pads that I sell through the shop. Second, I'll just give you guys one of them since I make them myself.”

Marc purchased his daily allotment of twenty-five basic pads, then motioned them over to one side, out of the way.

“Give me a couple of minutes here,” he said, pulling out the master pad and starting to download the help files to the individual pads.

I wonder if they've got a master pad that can do more than twenty-five at once, he thought. I still feel guilty for only putting up that many a day, since they are still selling out daily. How many Safe Zones are there on the planet and how many people are buying copies? Because every one that sells means another survivor out there at another Safe Zone, right? It's encouraging.

While he created his daily allotment of help pads, his parents were over at the shop, browsing.

I need to make sure that the people that came with them know where the shop is and that they can use it, Marc thought. I bet they have System currency if they had to fight a lot on the way here so they'll actually be able to make use of the shop.

When he was finished he called them back over.

“Alright, this copy is for you two. You'll have to share though. I've been making a bunch of these a day and selling them, trying to give other people a leg up on survival so just one between the two of you. I've only been doing one batch of these a day because there's lot of other stuff that needs doing to give this Safe Zone its own leg up.”

He pointed out the power button and told them it was a touch screen. His mother took possession of the device as soon as it booted up and before long, she was pressing the screen, commenting out loud for the sake of his father.

“If you can multi-task, keep looking at that while I bring you down to the Town Hall and show you the build pedestal,” Marc said.

His mom grunted an affirmative reply, unwilling to take her eyes off the screen.

As they walked he turned to his father, knowing that his mother was too engrossed in what she was doing to converse.

“So dad, you said Rudi made all that armor? Did he have a forge and everything?”

“Yeah, he had one out in his backyard. Said it was the best he could do there what with zoning requirements and everything. The finished result told me it was good enough for what he was doing also.”

Marc winced, almost hesitant to ask.

“Is he still with you guys?”

Sean nodded.

“Good, do you think he might be interested in taking over an actual smithy? I built one since a couple of guys said they were sure they could work it, but they've just been banging around in it and haven't gotten anything useful done. If he's interested he could take over, maybe train them to get the Smith class also?”

“I think he'd kiss your feet if he heard you offer that. I'll find him after you show us the build pedestal, and make your offer.”

“Okay, if he accepts then the smithy is out back of the high school, err...

the keep now, I suppose.”

“I was going to ask about that. Why does it look like a keep? I know the high school used to be here, but this looks nothing like that.”

“Well, I suppose it's my fault. I wasn't familiar with the wire-frame used to design the buildings, so when we first made the Safe Zone I had Jeff do it, since he was in engineering. I told him to focus on safety first, and this is what he did.”

“Well, at least it's nice and modernized on the inside,” Sean said.

“You've got no idea. Next time you're inside, check the outlets. The System has its own plug type for things you buy from the shop so each outlet has a normal grounded socket and one for the System. So it's very modernized.”

They continued to make small talk as they walked down to the Town Hall. He led them into the first room he and Felicia had been in the night before and finally interrupted his mom from her browsing of the help file pad.

“Here Sean, you might want to take a look at this also,” she said, handing over the pad as she slipped into the seat behind the display. She turned it on and cocked her head.

“This is very basic,” she said.

“This is the only room we've been in so far. Your arrival kind of distracted us since we weren't sure if it was you, or if whoever it was would be peaceful,” Marc replied.

She started tapping away at the display.

“Hmm, let's go see if there are other displays like this. There were several doors off the hallway, weren't there?”

“Sure, mom. I wanted to check out the rest of the building anyhow.”

The next door they checked, right across the hall, led to a stairway going up. The top floor was completely open, with a raised area on the far side of the room and a horde of chairs filling the open area.

“Huh, town meeting area or something?” Marc mused aloud.

“It would also be good for smaller meetings, you don't need to use all the chairs,” Sean said.

“True, not what we were looking for though, let's go check another door,” Marc replied.

Going back downstairs they opened the next door along the hallway. The plaque on it, which read 'Admin', told Marc exactly what the function of the room was.

When they opened the door, he wasn't sure. It was similar to the first room they'd checked, except the furniture in it was of a higher quality The chair had a pad on the seat and the wood was a dark hardwood, at least to appearances.

Michelle quickly slipped into the seat and tapped the display.

“Huh, this one won't turn on,” she said.

Marc followed around behind the back of the desk and tapped the display himself. This time, the screen lit up.

It had all the options from the display in the other room, plus one additional option that looked promising.

1 - Any Port Inventory

2 - Any Port Inhabitant Information

3 - Any Port Laws

4 - Any Port Administrator Options

Michelle quickly reached out to tap the fourth option, but the display didn't react to her touch. Curious now, Marc reached over and tapped it, opening up a new listing.

“Oh, I think this one can only be used by someone who's authorized,”

Marc said. “If you accept the job, then I'll make sure you are.”

He pulled up the Town Hall on his own Safe Zone screen and, sure enough, found that he could set authorizations. Everything from building entry to the Administrator position could be set.

Michelle was looking at the options that were listing themselves on the screen. From what Marc could see, it would be easy to set a Safe Zone up as an authoritarian community. You could lock down inventory, dispense inventory, set tax rates, change laws, set up a tiered ranking system for the inhabitants, and a whole lot of other things from this screen.

“Wow,” he said, using a much stronger exclamation only in his mind since his parents were there.

“Wow is right,” Michelle said. “This is too much. Who would set up a ranking system for their inhabitants?”

“India?” Marc replied. “Set it up like a caste system?”

She turned and glared at him.

“I'm just saying,” Marc said, raising both arms with his palms facing out.

“Needless to say, we won't be using that,” he continued. “But taxes are going to be a necessity. So far we've got a bunch of people who have been busting their butts just for room and board. We need to pay them something also, and that way we can make sure that the people who do more, get more reward for it. I'm hoping that motivates the others that are trying to do as little as they can.”

He watched his mom have to restrain herself from trying to get into any sub-menus beneath the one they were on. She had to actually grab one hand with the other to keep from the instinctive reflex to just reach out and tap.

“So, do you want the job?” he asked.

“Yes, but just what you mentioned before won't be enough to fill all my time, or do everything that needs to get done.”

“Well, then here's something else for the position. You can access what jobs people do there, so I'll ask you to set up a tentative payment plan for the inhabitants. I want to authorize it, and check to see how much of what is listed people are doing. For example, Allan is a Farmer, he's been busting his butt and teaching all the others, so he'd get a higher pay scale than say...

a Farm Hand who is half-assing the job, having taken it only so they don't get evicted. Or the cooks, they all jumped in to help of their own accord, so I want them remunerated properly for that.”

“Fine, I'll take it,” she said, her hands slowly creeping up towards the display again.

Marc quickly assigned her the position.

“There'll be funds going into the treasury tomorrow,” he said. “My group is selling a few things in the auction portion of the shop right now and a portion of the proceeds there will go into the treasury.”

Marc had asked Felicia to write up the auction listings for the junk silver they'd found. She'd decided on bulk sales for the tubes of dimes and quarters, but individual sales for the half dollars and silver dollars. Marc had worked out the math for her so she could mention the actual amount of silver in the coins compared to System silvers.

They'd also listed several of the gold coins after looking through the shop and seeing what types were currently available. They'd selected several types that weren't currently listed: one troy ounce Krugerrands, Philharmonics, and Mexican Libertads. They'd also listed one of the gold bars they'd found, one with a dragon etched into it, that also weighed a troy ounce. The auctions would close tomorrow morning and they were hoping it would generate sufficient System currency that they could get the treasury full enough to start paying people.

Once they were paying people, they'd also start the taxes. It was something Marc hated, but he wasn't willing to foot the bill for the entire Safe Zone on his own, or ask his party to help him do so. Instead he'd set a
low tax rate and, if necessary, raise it once they found what their operating costs would be.

“Go ahead mom, it should respond to you now,” Marc said.

Her hands darted to the screen and started pressing administrator options, skimming the screen that pulled up, then going back and choosing the next.

“We're going to go to the build pedestal now, mom. Did you want to join us?” Marc said.

He was pretty sure he knew where it would be. The single door at the end of the hall called to him now, although it hadn't the previous night. So he was pretty sure he knew what was behind it.

His mom was obviously torn, but finally she let her arms go still and stood. Shutting off the display, she turned back to Sean and Marc, giving them a grin.

“I've got all the time in the world for that. Let's go see what you've been talking about.”

* * *

Opening the door at the end of the hallway revealed a medium-sized room with the build pedestal in the center. To Marc's surprise that wasn't all that was in there. There were windows on the outer walls, but on the full-sized inner wall was a map of the Safe Zone. He walked over to that first.

“This is a surprise,” he said, “but it will make it easier to show you the places I was talking about. First, dad, this is the smithy out behind the keep.”

He tapped it to show where he was talking about and was mildly surprised when an information panel popped up overlaying the smithy on the map.

Level 1 Smithy

Current assigned smiths: none Max Smiths: 3

Power source: Safe Zone

“Well, that's another surprise,” Marc said.

He tapped a few other places also. The greenhouse showed an assortment of different crops, mainly tomatoes and peppers, including some of the hotter varieties. The aquaponic one also had a few other plants that liked a lot of water, melons and berries primarily. The original fields had the anticipated bush beans and buckwheat, but the two newest fields had been planted with carrots and potatoes.

Marc caught himself before he kept going.

“Sorry, got distracted for a moment there. Looks like I can keep track of all the buildings on the map and get information on all the different structures in the Safe Zone. Here's what I wanted to show you though.”

He activated the build pedestal, pulling up the wire-frame diagram of the Safe Zone. The first thing he wanted to build was the play area for the kids so he didn't forget. He'd checked earlier on and they had plenty of materials, if nowhere near enough to expand again yet.

Looking through the schematics netted him a few options: slides, swings, a miniature wooden fort, a jungle gym, a see-saw, and a few other things that looked appropriate. For now he selected the fort, the swings, and the slide. Then he placed them close enough to the chicken coop that the kids would be able to see and hear the chickens, but not close enough to scare the birds.

Sheila can decide whether or not the kids can interact with the chickens.

I don't know if that would be a good idea or not, but at least this way the option exists and they can watch them if they can't pet them, he thought.

Then he realized that he needed a runner to warn people. At least one of the fields and the new stream were between the materials pile and the building site.

“Crap, I need a runner before I start this,” Marc said. “The materials on any building or expansion project move themselves to the location, so I like to warn people first. Let me set up the expansion for the corrals as well, then I'll just have to warn people once.”

He put in the livestock corrals, also up near the keep. They fit in relatively well between the smithy and the chicken coop, but he wasn't sure if the animals should be that close to the smithy, so he relocated them to the other side of the kids' play area, closer to the stream.

Then if they need to lead the livestock to water at all it'll be nice and close, Marc thought.

“I need to run back and find my regular runner to go warn people,” Marc said. “Did you want to wait here?”

Michelle's eagerness to get back into the admin office was obvious as she readily agreed.

“I'll just be in my office when you get back, okay?” she said.

Sean rolled his eyes at Marc and started chuckling as soon as his wife was back in the office.

“Nice to know mom hasn't changed that much, but I kind of expected that from how Digby referred to her when I asked about her,” Marc said.

“Nothing will ever change that woman,” Sean said. “It's one of the reasons I married her. Mind if I glance through that other terminal while you go get your runner?”

“Nope, not at all. You'll note a bunch of guns, AK-47s, that we found which are listed in the inventory. I have yours from the house also, but they need to be Systemized before you'll want to use them. Oh, um, except for this one.”

Marc pulled out the AR-15 he'd been using. Sean grinned when he saw it.

“Borrowing my rifle, were you?” he asked.

“We both know it's better than mine, so yes, I did. Felicia has the Mossberg too.”

“Good, I'm glad you managed to Systemize it. How, though?”

“I assume you got a System token when you got your class?” Marc said.

Sean nodded.

“Plus another in one of the fights on the way back, so I've got a lesser and a common.”

“You can use those at the shop to Systemize an item,” Marc said. “I'd ask you to do mine, but I've got a deal with our Scavenger. He's going to take care of mine.”

“Wow, sounds like a good deal. What did you have to give him?” Sean asked.

“Nothing. We saved his life. He was in old man Taggert's house, the floor fell out, and he was pinned under the gun safe I got all the AK-47s from. Plus his class allows him to Systemize items he's scavenged twice per day. So, we, um... well we kinda tweaked things a bit. I hid it, gave him a description, and he Scavenged it, then found it where I'd hidden it. So now he can Systemize it. I wasn't in a rush since I had yours, but now I'll ask him to bump it up the priority list.”

“Alright then, well, go get your runner. I'll just be in here.”

It wasn't as obvious as with his mom, but now Marc was fairly certain that his father was also eager to see how the Safe Zone worked and the terminal he was going to would be a good way for him to start learning about it.

Although I kinda wish they'd wait for after Al's talk to be doing that, Marc thought.

When he got back to the keep, Amy was still in the gymnasium. She was casting longing looks at the help pedestal, but a trio of adventurers was looking at the help pad right now.

“Hey, Amy,” Marc called.

Her head snapped around and she smiled at him.

“What?”

“I need a runner. I'm going to be building a few things and I want you to make sure no-one goes in the area before I start.”

“How? That building thing is gone,” she said, gesturing towards the red velvet ropes that now surrounded nothing.

“Oh, the build pedestal just got moved to the Town Hall last night.”

“Oh, okay. Should I try to stay down around there in case you need me for something?” she asked.

Marc had a thought.

“I wouldn't want you to not be able to get to the help pad easily, but I've got a thought. How about I give you your own help pad? It'll be payment for this job. Plus, I'm not sure, but you may be able to use that to access the Safe Zone library. Let's see.”

He pulled out the help pad he was keeping for his group and turned it on.

Sure enough, he could get to an auxiliary screen from the main one. The auxiliary screen allowed the pad to connect to anything in the Safe Zone's library. He was startled to notice that there were a number of movies and some music listed in the library as well as all the books. He also noticed that the movies he and Felicia had watched were some of those present.

So, maybe any books, music, or movies bought in the Safe Zone also install themselves in the library? he thought.

He knew how to check. A quick search revealed the rather rare book on mathematics that he'd purchased and was slowly working his way through.

That settled it for him, he was sure the high school hadn't had that book in its library before.

“See, if you turn it on, then tap this icon, you can get to the library, plus some movies and music,” Marc said. “Or you can just go to the help files from the main screen like you have been over at the pedestal.”

She nodded eagerly as Marc handed her the pad. Then, with a longing look at the pad as she slid it into her inventory, she looked back at him.

“Job first, where do you need people not to be?” Amy asked.

“Between the chicken coop and the stream, the long way between them.

Plus, you'll want to look and see what ends up being built there after it's all done,” Marc said. “Come down to the Town Hall to let me know when you've got it clear. I'll be waiting on the porch there.”

Marc made his way back down to the Town Hall. From its porch, he looked up and realized that the site the corrals and play area were going to be constructed in would be visible from the windows on the second floor, and grinned. He'd let his folks watch it in action as opposed to watching the pedestal itself.

He waited on the porch and when Amy showed up, he told her to head back up and make sure no-one wandered into the area, that he'd give her a couple of minutes. Then he headed back into the Town Hall and went into the room with his father. As he'd thought, his dad was buried down several levels in the data provided by the terminal.

“Hey dad, do me a favor?” Marc said.

Sean shook his head as though just returning to himself, then turned to Marc.

“Yes?”

“Get mom, take her up to the meeting room, then the two of you watch the area to the right of the keep. You should be able to see the whole thing from up there.”

“You don't ask for much, do you? Pry your mom away from that terminal? It would take an act of God.”

“Or you could just tell her that she'll see an example of what the Safe Zone can do. That ought to be enough to pry her away, shouldn't it?”

“You may have a point.”

“I'll go with you. I've got my messenger making sure the area is clear so I can start construction,” Marc said.

The two of them entered Michelle's new office. Even with the temptation of seeing what the Safe Zone could do, it still took a couple of minutes for them to pry her away. Once she did move away, she went quickly though.

Probably thinking that the sooner she gets through whatever it is we want her to see, the sooner she can get back to the terminal, Marc thought.

He took his time going back to the building pedestal, rechecked that there were sufficient materials, and when he thought they'd had enough time to get in position he initiated the construction.

He knew he wouldn't make it up to the window in time himself so he watched the map. When the dotted lines made up of tiny bits of wood, stone, and metal started dancing across the map he nearly started laughing.

Then he watched as the icons for his construction projects took form. Once they had, he started heading for the meeting room.

When he got there, his parents were still staring out the window, talking excitedly.

“That was crazy, I mean totally insane,” Michelle said. “I know Marc told us it would work like that, but I thought he was exaggerating. How?”

“The System, mom. It changed the natural laws, it makes magic possible, and it's rapidly decaying all the structures and everything built before it arrived. That it can make something like that is small potatoes,”

Marc said. “And now you know why I wanted you to watch it.”

“I feel bad,” Sean said. “I accused one of our guards of being out of their mind or drunk. He said he saw the wall and watchtower move last night after dark. Did you expand then?”

Marc nodded.

“He probably saw it happen. With the lighted walls we have now it's a lot more obvious from a distance.”

“I guess I owe him an apology,” Sean said. “I thought what we saw before was what a Safe Zone could do, but now? It's like comparing a college dorm room to a four bedroom house.”

“You haven't seen the half of it yet. There's lots more stuff we can build for the long term. I've only been focusing on short term things so far though.”

Sean just shook his head.

“You were saying that you had a talk set up with someone who'd explain what you knew about all of this?” he asked.

“Al's got the auditorium scheduled for tomorrow morning, first thing after breakfast. He'll let all of you know what we've figured out. Then I think you'll have a better grasp of the things you're seeing in the terminals.”

Michelle was still staring out the window.

“Sean? Let's go back to our room. I'm going to take a break until after that talk tomorrow morning.”

Sean's eyes widened and Marc just stared, disbelieving his ears.

“Are you feeling alright dear?” Sean asked.

“I'm fine, I think, but if I'm going to do this job I need all the grounding in it I can get. I'll spend the evening studying that help pad, then take the class in the morning. After that, I'll get back to my desk and start working.”

Now I know it's hitting her hard, Marc thought. I've never known her to take a sick day, or back off from anything. Although her saying she needs to study up on it first is a little more familiar. Most of the time she'd just dive in, but maybe the fact that the whole Safe Zone is going to be depending on her actions might be making her more cautious than normal.

While he was slightly worried that she had backed off here, he was also happy since he could see the signs that she was going to take this job utterly seriously, something which felt like a weight lifting off of Marc's shoulders.

* * *

Chapter Three

Marc took the rest of the day off. The only thing he did during it was find Conner after he was awake again and tell him where Sean was rooming, in case the two wanted to talk since they'd been friendly before the System arrived. Aside from that he spent some time with his math book, more time with Felicia, and also some time watching Amy bring each of the other children in the Safe Zone out to the play area.

While he was watching that he saw the livestock being brought to their respective corrals, the sheep to the smallest one, the mules to the next largest, and the cows to the largest, so he figured his mom or dad had told the people responsible for them where they'd be going.

Now if only they'd found some pigs, he mused, we'd be all set. Still a future with beef in it, that we don't have to buy from the shop, seems a bit brighter somehow.

He also noticed a few hiccups with the new people integrating with existing inhabitants of the Safe Zone. The new people, the legionaries in particular, seemed touchier than most of the survivors already at the Safe Zone. There wasn't any major trouble though, so he dismissed his worries about it.

He and Felicia decided to retire to his apartment for a movie after dinner.

He loved his parents and all, but he'd already been forcefully reminded that his mom could be difficult to deal with. Now that he knew they were safe he wanted some time away from them again in order to readjust.

At least they didn't pull the old “I'm older and wiser than you so you'll do what I say” deal, Marc thought. Not that they ever said it that way, but they aren't pushing me on anything yet. They may, mom especially, when she thinks she's learned everything she needs to know about the System and the Safe Zone, but not now. When she does, I just need to remember to stand my ground and talk things over about any suggestions she makes.

He opened the door to his room and immediately pulled his pilum from his inventory when he saw movement inside. Then he relaxed.

“Marc, what is it?” Felicia asked.

“Oh, just a guest.”

It had taken him a second, but he'd resolved the movement he'd seen to a raccoon rolling off the bed and darting under it.

As a matter of fact, it looked exactly like the move the one that disappeared at the grocery store used, he thought.

“Beggar?” he called.

A moment later a black nose, followed by a gray snout adorned with white whiskers on either side, stuck its way out from under the bed. The snout angled this way and that before it stopped, pointing at Marc. Then the raccoon came out from under the bed and Marc Analyzed it, reassuring himself that it was Beggar.

“You startled me, Beggar,” Marc said, moving into the room.

Felicia followed him and Beggar let out a half grunt, half snarl when he saw her.

“Hey, that's no way to treat her, Beggar. She won't hurt you either. I'm sorry we scared you, but how'd you get in?” Marc said.

He was sure he'd latched the window this morning, but now it was hanging open. Beggar looked at the open window and back to Marc.

“I know you came in through the window, I'm just wondering how it got opened,” Marc said, replying as though Beggar had answered him.

Beggar tapped his claws on the floor a couple of times, then moved back over to the chair he'd claimed as his own, pulling himself up into it and curling up.

“We're going to watch a movie,” Marc said. “So I hope that doesn't disturb you.”

The comment had been directed towards the raccoon and Felicia snickered.

“It's kind of funny,” she said, “you talking to Beggar. I'd laugh about it more, but I swear he understands you sometimes.”

“Hey animals are smart, or can be. Although from what I've read before they react more to tone than the words used,” Marc replied. “So you just have to try to get your message across with your tone.”

Felicia shook her head.

“That's all you. I'm not sure he likes me very much.”

Marc glanced across the room at the raccoon, then back to Felicia.

“That's okay,” he said. “I like you enough to make up for that.”

Felicia slugged him in the shoulder and he mock groaned. At the same moment as the mock groan Beggar looked up and growled.

“Wait, did he just react to my hitting you?” Felicia asked, eyes wide.

Marc shrugged.

“Maybe? We should test that.”

“How?”

“Well, if he growled when you hit me, why don't we see what he does if you kiss me instead?” Marc said, grinning.

“Oh, you! If you want a kiss, you just have to ask.”

“Kiss me?” Marc said.

Beggar had been watching them, head raised, as they spoke. When he leaned in and kissed her, the raccoon relaxed again, curling back up into a ball. Even in that position, Marc saw the raccoon's glistening eyes peering out at them.

It wasn't until they broke off the kiss and Felicia leaned in against Marc that Beggar closed his eyes again.

Marc closed the window, figuring that Beggar could let them know if he wanted out. Then he let Felicia select the movie again and they were midway through it when she jumped.

“What the...? Don't do that, Marc.”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Pat me on the head with a single finger.”

One of my arms is around her and the other is at my side, what the hell?

Marc thought.

“It wasn't me,” he said, explaining where his arms were.

As he spoke he turned and looked. They'd been leaning against the side of the bed, sitting on a soft throw rug he'd purchased from the shop, to watch the movie. When he looked up at the bed, Beggar was sitting there staring at them. The raccoon reached out and patted Felicia's head again.

“I told you not to do that,” Felicia said.

Marc reached out and paused the movie.

“Turn around, slowly,” he replied.

“Wait, that was Beggar?” she said when she caught sight of the raccoon behind her.

Marc nodded.

“How'd he get there without our noticing?”

This time Marc shook his head.

“I don't know, but I think he wants something.”

“Did you feed him yet?”

“Nope, I have not. So, let's try that.”

Marc pulled out a package of jerky and tore it open. He tossed a couple of pieces out on the floor a few feet away from him and Felicia watched as Beggar slid off the bed and trotted over to them.

“I'll get him some water,” Felicia said.

Marc kept tossing jerky to Beggar until the raccoon stopped eating.

Felicia had put the water down near him and this time, he didn't growl and back away like he had before, letting her get within a foot or so of him with no problems. He also went straight to the water and started drinking it right off.

“You good now, bud?” Marc said.

The raccoon simply pulled himself back up into his chair and curled up again.

“So, was he asking for water because I'm the one who gets it for him or did I just have a raccoon petting me?” Felicia asked.

“No clue, maybe both? I'm surprised he picked you and not me though,”

Marc said. “I thought he liked me more. So maybe the water idea is right.”

“Maybe it wasn't either. Maybe it was just him acknowledging me and he won't be as feisty with me any more?” she said.

Marc just shook his head.

“Let's get back to the movie.”

When he woke in the morning, Beggar was gone again and the window was hanging open again.

* * *

Marc knew that he and his group should be going out and finding spawns to kill, first to grow stronger, and second to keep the town relatively free of them. Or at least as free of them as they could. Instead he found himself pacing around, waiting for Al's orientation session to end. He'd realized that his father had never answered him about taking a position as head of the guards for the Safe Zone and wanted to see if that were intentional.

When they got out he waited for his parents and caught them as they were the last two out of the auditorium.

“So, what do you think, mom?” Marc asked.

She just shook her head.

“I'll get to work, but I didn't even make it through a significant percentage of the files on the help pad you gave me last night.”

“Well, you can always keep working at it, but if something comes up that you aren't familiar with, use the index I built into that to track down the pertinent help.”

“You mentioned that before, that you were responsible for this. Now you're saying that you built it? Are we private enough to discuss that now?”

“Let's go down to the Town Hall to do that. Plus I need to install a connection point for the Wired Communications setup in there.”

“Conner was going to meet me in the gymnasium after class,” Sean said.

“Is it okay if I bring him down as well?”

“That'd be a great idea,” Marc said. “First, please consider the offer I made you. Conner just wants to be, essentially, a policeman still. I need someone in charge of defense for the Safe Zone.”

Sean grimaced.

“I had considered it, but there are so many others that are probably better qualified.”

“How so? How many of them have real life military experience?” Marc asked. “I'm sure someone with that would have a better grasp of what was needed.”

“Most of my time in the service was on a base, Marc,” Sean said.

“You also told me that you had two tours in country, not on a base. Plus your Centurion class would make you even more qualified.”

“You want my watch commander, not me,” Sean said.

“I need someone to coordinate everything. Your watch commander could, for example, be assigned by you to be the chief of the wall guards or something.”

Sean sighed.

“Well, it's not like I have anything better to do, no crafting skills to be seen in my list, unless you count Encampment.”

“If you'd seriously prefer to craft, you can probably pick up a crafting skill to work on in the Crafting Hall across the street from the Town Hall,”

Marc said. “Otherwise I'd like you to consider the position I offered.”

“Let me talk to Conner first,” Sean said. “I'll... no wait, we'll meet you down in the Town Hall.”

Marc escorted his mom to the Town Hall. There was no conversation since she had the help pad out again reading it. When they got to the porch, he turned to wait and she finally realized where they were.

“Sorry Marc, I didn't mean to ignore you. There's just so much to learn here.”

“That help pad only has a fraction of the help files available from the System. The trick is, the System won't make them available until they pertain to your situation. That's pretty much just the base level of its help files on the pad,” Marc said. “So there's more than you think to learn. We just need to figure out how to get to it.”

“Did you already go through all of these?” she asked, looking at him curiously.

“Um, yes and no? Let's just say that I've got no problem accessing any of those help files at need,” Marc said. “I'll explain more once the others are here.”

It wasn't long before Conner and Sean came down the road, chatting as they went. Marc couldn't help but overhear the last bit of their conversation.

“Honestly, Sean,” Conner said, “he's been doing better than we have any reason to expect. I know I wouldn't be able to do half the job he has. Most of the other adventurers, other than his group and Ron's, just want to be out growing stronger against the spawns and wouldn't have bothered. Ron's group has been tracking down more survivors, and Marc's has been spending half their time here, making this place as self-sustainable as they could. So, yes, I back him all the way.”

“If you're sure?” Sean said. “I'm sure my opinion is biased, in both directions it seems.”

“I'm sure,” Conner replied. “And we're here, and he's just standing there, so...”

Sean's gaze snapped up.

“Marc... I suppose you heard what we were just talking about?”

“Yes, I did. I'm not mad or anything. I'm just winging it, so if there's someone better to run this place, just tell me and I'll turn it over. If I agree with you anyhow.”

“Hah! See?” Conner said. “The first qualification for any leader ought to be not wanting to be one and I think he's got that down.”

“You have no idea,” Marc said. “But unless there's someone else that I think can do a better job, I'm keeping it. That's why I offered it to you, dad.

I'm sure you could do better than me.”

“Maybe, maybe not. With the natural laws as they are now, all perverted and altered? Magic, monsters, and who knows what? I don't think I could do it properly. Conner says you've been doing as well as anyone could expect, so yes, I'll take the job you want me to do. Although I may ask you to help structure it out more than it sounded like you were thinking about,”

Sean said.

“Whatever you like, dad. Just tell me why,” Marc said, feeling another weight lift from his shoulders. “Now, I've got something to tell the three of you, please don't spread it around.”

He led them into the Town Hall and upstairs to the meeting room. After everyone had a seat, he explained about his English Major class and the Research skill that had provided the data for the help pad.

“So, you have all those help files available because they're in your head?” Michelle said.

“Yes, but I can only access them by consciously thinking about them.

They don't just pop into my head if they relate to something I'm dealing with,” Marc said.

She nodded.

“Sorry to interrupt, go on since it sounded like you weren't done.”

He then explained to them about his Creative Writing skill and that it was the reason he posted jobs and orders on the board in the gymnasium, so
they'd have a better chance of success. Finally he touched on his Technical Writing skill, and how he planned on eventually using that to strengthen the Safe Zone.

“Now I'm telling all of you about this because you'll be helping keep this Safe Zone running. If you can think of some way I ought to be using these skills to make things work better, please let me know. Now...”

He pulled out paper and a pencil and began to write. As he did, he handed the first sheet to his mom, instructing her to use the Administrator position to help the Safe Zone and the people in it to become as strong and safe as she could get them with the position.

A second sheet instructed his father to construct a defense for the Safe Zone, making it as safe as possible for everyone and putting him in command of it.

Before he wrote the last one, he looked at Conner.

“I was making a guess here that you really didn't want the wall guard position, that you'd prefer something more along the lines of a police officer?”

Conner nodded.

“You'd be right about that.”

“Good, then.”

Marc wrote out a last missive giving Conner the job of policing the Safe Zone to try to keep disturbances among the inhabitants to a minimum.

“Now, there's one more thing. I think, just so we're all on the same page, that we need to form a council. I'd like the three of you to form the Any Port Defense Council. Dad, you'll be in charge of the guards and any other troops that we need. Conner, did you ever find someone else for that secondary Guardian position?”

Conner shook his head.

“Well, then you'll be dealing with just yourself for the police force?”

“Natalie will want to stay on with me, I think. So the two of us for now and one more if I can find another Guardian?”

Sean nodded.

“And Mom, who'll be in charge of pay, equipment, and provisions for all of them. Sorry, mom, but at least I have an initial deposit for the treasury,”

Marc said.

The auctions they'd been running had finished and Marc was amazed at the results. The highest bid of any of the items was twenty-two System gold for the gold bar with the dragon on it. The other items had also done better than he'd expected. He'd guessed that the golds they were selling would net less than the earlier ones, but they'd done better for some reason. Maybe it was due to Felicia's blurbs on the auctions or maybe it was some other reason he was unaware of.

Finally the silver had all gone. The tubes of dimes and quarters for a little more than their equivalent in System silver, but the individual half dollars and dollars had done much better selling as singletons.

In any case, he had a substantial chunk of gold to deposit into the treasury before he left.

That ought to be more than enough to get things up and running. Then we can initiate the taxes also and hopefully keep the treasury solvent that way, he thought.

* * *

Michelle headed back to her office and Conner back to the keep. Marc asked his dad to stick with him for a minute.

“Okay, I need to make a Wired Communications point here. Then let's talk, I want to know what you were talking about on a structure for the forces,” Marc said.

Sean nodded and followed his son down to the build pedestal. A quick glance at the materials list told Marc that he was nowhere near expanding
again, probably even with recycled buildings included. He was tempted to start tweaking the shape to see how much he could get, but not with his dad there. So he raised a Wired Communications point in the office at the front of the Town Hall at the low cost of five metal.

I suppose if the name is accurate that accounts for the wire to get it connected and the actual formation of the headset and base, he thought.

Then he dismissed those thoughts and turned to his dad.

“Okay, what structure?”

“I want to make Harry the one in charge of the wall guards.”

“Harry?”

“Yeah, Harry's my Tesserarius, the watch commander for camps. I'm hoping that his skills will interact with the Safe Zone the same way they do for smaller camps,” Sean said.

“Okay, that makes sense. Go for it.”

“Also, I want Kevin for an assault leader. He's my Optio, my second in command. If we have to run a sally out through the gates, he'd be in charge of that group, assuming that I'm not.”

“Okay, also very sensible. Was there anything else?”

“I wanted the police force separate, but it sounds like you'd already planned that, yes?”

“Conner will be in charge of the police, not under anyone but the council and me.”

“Are you on the council?” Sean asked.

“No, I won't be, but any major changes will have to go through me. If you want to change the structures under you I'll want to know, but if you're swapping who's on watch, or things like that, it's none of my business.”

Sean looked pensive for a moment.

“Dad, it's just like right now. You running the structures you wanted to make by me. Who's in charge of those? That pertains to me. How they
break up their forces? Not my business unless we're doing something specific.”

“Well, there was one more thing,” Sean said.

“Yes?”

“You've got a lot of adventurers here. Combat classes all, right?”

Marc nodded.

“I want to be able to call on them to help defend the place in case of emergency,” Sean said. “Like the Roman Auxilia.”

“I think that's reasonable. They were already all present when we didn't know if you were attackers or a peaceful group, so I think they won't have a problem with it,” Marc said.

“And if they say no?” Sean said.

Marc breathed out heavily.

“I don't know. I may make it a condition of residence that anyone in fighting condition in the Safe Zone can be called on to help defend it in case of emergency. I haven't actually instituted any laws and rules yet except for the pull your own weight one.”

Sean grinned.

“Your mom has been feeling out of her depth. Maybe assign her to make a basic set of laws, with Conner's assistance of course since he'll be enforcing them. I think that she can handle that without in-depth knowledge of the System and actually doing something like that will make her feel better.”

“Well, let's go make her feel better. Plus, I've got a deposit to make and another task for her as well that she can do already,” Marc said.

The two of them left the pedestal room and knocked on the office door.

Michelle's voice called out a muffled “Come in.”

The two went in and found Michelle's nose buried in the help pad. Every now and again she'd look up from it and tap something on the screen of her display.

“Mom,” Marc said.

It took a few seconds before she tore herself away and looked at him.

“What is it, Marc?”

“First, pull up the treasury screen. It's a few layers down in the financial section.”

She tapped several times.

“Now choose 'donation' and my name. Then input forty-eight gold, twenty-five silver, and hit accept.”

A moment later a screen flashed up for Marc.

Do you wish to donate:

48 gold

25 silver
to the Any Port Safe Zone? (y/n)

He quickly chose yes and the money disappeared from his inventory.

“Okay, so we have funds in the treasury. I know you're still studying up on the System, but there are a couple of things that we have to take care of right away. The first is laws and rules for the Safe Zone. I want you and Conner to get together and figure them out. One of the laws should be that any able-bodied inhabitant must be available to be called upon to help defend the Safe Zone in case of attack if they're physically in the Safe Zone during the attack.”

She nodded.

“I need a way to take notes,” she said.

Marc grinned and explained the notes screen that Felicia had discovered.

Michelle's eyes went distant for a few moments.

“Got it,” she said, “and the second thing?”

“Well, some of the people here have no System coinage and can't use the shop. A lot of those are working at things that are necessary, but don't allow them to loot. I want you to figure out a pay scale, like I mentioned to you before. Probably it should be on the low end since they get room and board already, but this way they get to have some coinage.”

Michelle cleared her throat.

“There's an easier way to do some of that, if you don't mind.”

“Just tell me, mom. I want suggestions.”

“Well, the first that came to mind were the cooks and servers. How about a tip jar in the cafeteria?”

“That would help, if it works, and keep what we need to pay them lower.

There are others though that won't get that. The Farmers, Field Hands, Gardeners, and a bunch of others. They'll get part of their harvest that they can sell through the shop or to people who want to cook for themselves, but for now we'll need to pay them,” Marc said.

“Got it. I'll go through the inhabitant list and write down any function I think should get payment? Maybe a tentative pay scale also?” she said.

“Perfect, mom. Then I'll go through the list and make sure we got everyone and approve the pay scales. Does that sound good to you?”

Michelle grinned at her son.

“It at least sounds like something I can do right now, even without knowing everything I can about the System.”

There was a knock at the door and the three of them turned in surprise.

Marc opened it to find Conner standing there.

“Oh good, Marc, you're here. There's something you ought to see. The wall guard saw me on the road and called me up to the watchtower to check it out.”

“What is it?”

“It's just weird. Doesn't look dangerous or anything, but I'm sure it's System related. So, come take a look?”

“Okay.”

“You boys go and look. Conner, I need to talk to you later. Marc wants me and you to make a set of Laws and Rules for the Safe Zone,” Michelle said.

He nodded.

“I'll track you down later on,” he said. “You'll be here?”

She nodded and shooed them out of the room.

“So, what is it?” Marc asked.

“No idea, so I'd rather you took a look,” Conner said. “That's why I came looking for you instead of just telling you later on.”

“From the watchtower?” Marc asked.

Conner nodded.

“Of course,” Marc said. “Once upon a time climbing that thing would've wiped me out, now it's just a minor nuisance.”

Sean chuckled, then took a better look at the stairs leading up the watchtower.

“It's a good thing my stats have gone up. I'm with Marc, that would've wiped me out before increasing them.”

They climbed in silence and when they got to the top, Conner gestured to the telescope. It was locked in place and to Marc's eye it was locked in almost the same position as it had been to view his father's encampment when he and his troops had arrived.

He bent over to peer through and found that he was right, but he was looking at something farther out this time. A hundred yards or so past where the encampment had been was a thick green field. Whatever the growth was towered over the surrounding grass, standing probably eight feet high. He could almost make out something in the middle of the towering stalks, but not clearly enough to see what it was, only that something was there.

He stepped back and his father leaned over to look.

“Is that... corn?” Sean asked.

Marc just shrugged.

“You good for another up and down on the stairs?” he asked Conner.

“Sure, why?”

“Would you go get Allan and ask him to come up here? If anyone were going to be able to identify if it was corn or not, it would probably be him.”

“Can do,” Conner said. “Might be a few minutes if he's not at his field.”

It was about fifteen minutes before Conner returned with the Farmer.

“Hey Allan, I was hoping you could identify some plants for me,” Marc said.

“From up here?” the Farmer said.

“Visual identification,” Marc said, gesturing towards the telescope.

“Better be a big plant,” Allan muttered, but he bent over and placed his eye to the telescope.

A few seconds later he jumped back, pale-faced.

“What is it?” Marc asked.

Marc had been worried about the Farmer, but Allan apparently thought he was still on the original question.

“Corn. It's a thick, healthy, field of corn, but...”

Marc gestured for Allan to continue.

“What the hell was that thing in the middle of the field?” Allan asked. “I looked at the corn and the stalks parted to let me see that thing in the middle. It looked like a scarecrow, but then it turned, on its own, and stared at me. Its eyes were glowing red, and it looked like it wanted to rip me apart. It's like the stories my cousins and I used to try to scare each other with when we were little kids.”

* * *

Chapter Four

“Well, I guess I know what my group is doing next,” Marc said.

“Assuming that they're willing.”

Sean glanced at his son.

“Are you sure? Whatever that is seemed to put the fear of god into Allan here.”

Marc nodded.

“We may not have gotten out as much recently,” Marc said, “but I'm pretty sure we're still the highest level group in the Safe Zone. Ron's group is catching up to us, but they're still back by a level or two. So we're the best choice for something that's totally unknown.”

“Well, I can offer some of my troops for backup. We might not be the same level, but we do have the numbers and decent protection,” Sean said.

“I may take you up on that. I need to gather up my group and see when they want to do this. Crap, we also need to go check that kobold lair again also. If it's producing kobolds or expanding by now, then we'll need to clear it to make sure it doesn't get too strong.”

“Well, don't let us keep you. It sounds like you know what you need to be doing,” Conner said, laying a hand on Sean's shoulder.

Sean startled, it looked like he'd been about to keep trying to talk to Marc, either to try to talk him out of it or keep volunteering assistance. Now he turned to Conner, who shook his head. Sean drooped a bit at the head shake, but kept silent.

Thank you, Conner, Marc thought. I've got to remember if I tell my plans to my parents that they may well think that they should have some input also and I'm sure we'd disagree.

Marc headed down off the watchtower and up to the keep to try to find the rest of his group. This time, he went ahead and pulled up his Safe Zone screens to check their locations.

Felicia was in the infirmary, talking shop with a couple of other Healer types. She'd mentioned that she wanted to see if they could teach each other spells like Marc had been doing with the Mages. When he got there, they were just talking though, so he felt free to interrupt her.

After telling her why he wanted her, she agreed to meet in the gymnasium shortly, which happened to be where Rob was already. Ella and Jeff both showed up as in Jeff's apartment, so Marc was hesitant to disturb them, but he went and knocked anyhow.

When Ella answered the door a few seconds later, and wasn't in any state of disarray, Marc was relieved.

I'm glad I wasn't interrupting anything, he thought, because I'd hate if someone did that to Felicia and me and would rather not do it to anyone else.

“Marc, what is it?” Ella asked.

“New, curious looking spawn. One with its own accouterments. I thought our group ought to check it out.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, turning back to face into the apartment.

“Hey Jeff, adventuring stuff,” she called.

Jeff was at the door twenty seconds later.

“The group going out?” he asked.

Marc nodded.

“Yeah, a weird spawn with a twist, plus we need to check the kobold lair again soon.”

Jeff nodded.

“Okay, now?”

“Now we're just getting the whole group together in the gymnasium to discuss it and decide when to do it,” Marc said.

“What are we waiting for then?” Jeff said, stepping out through the door.

“One moment,” Ella said.

She stepped back into the apartment and less than a minute later came back out.

“Alright, I'm ready,” she said.

Marc led them up to the gymnasium and found that Rob had a crowd of the younger children around him. He'd apparently bought a pad of his own and then an animated movie since he and the kids were all watching it.

When Marc arrived Felicia tapped Rob on the shoulder and gestured.

Rob stood up, leaving the pad for the kids to keep watching as he came over to the rest of the group.

Marc quickly described what he'd seen and told the rest of them that they could go up into the watchtower to see it also.

“But Allan was the only one saw the Scarecrow. I knew there was something out there, but couldn't make it out clearly. He said the corn kind of swayed out of the way so he could see the Scarecrow though. That it moved on its own and had glowing red eyes,” Marc finished.

“That's some serious scary story stuff right there,” Rob said.

“Allan said it reminded him of scary stories from when he was a kid,”

Marc added.

“Huh,” Felicia said. “I wonder...”

“Wonder what?” Marc asked.

“Well, the timing struck me. Is this a legendary thing? I thought, I think we all did, that legendary spawns were going to be massive ferocious spawns. Maybe that's wrong? Maybe the legendary mobs are based on legends and stories? They'd probably be regional if that were the case and...”

She stopped for a moment, her eyes went unfocused, and then she broke into a grin.

“Ha! You're not the only one any more, Marc.”

“The only one for what?” he asked, confused.

“The System just awarded me experience for figuring out something about it. So I guess my theory about legendary spawns is correct,” she said.

“Well, that's just gonna be freaky as all shit,” Jeff said. “So will we find things like 'the hook' or Paul Bunyan and his ox?”

“I don't know,” Marc said, “but actually...”

Felicia nudged him after a moment.

“Were you going to finish that thought?”

“Well, if it goes by regional then we ought to be able to talk to people about what scary stories they were told as a kid, assuming they grew up around here, and determine what we might run into in the way of legendary things. It might tell us their strengths and weaknesses too, right? I was thinking about turning it into a Research project and see if I could bump my Research skill up another point.”

“Oh, yeah, that kind of makes sense,” Felicia said.

“Plus, the best thing about that? I get a new Research topic, like I used for the help files, every third level in the skill. So I'd get another one if researching the legendary possibilities raised my skill a point.”

Jeff cleared his throat.

“That's all well and good, but weren't we planning an outing here?” he said.

“Oh, yeah,” Marc replied. “So, here's what I was thinking. We should go check the kobold lair this afternoon. Then tomorrow morning, we go out and check out the Scarecrow.”

“Or we could do that in reverse and do the lots of walking in the morning when it's cooler,” Jeff said.

“Or that,” Marc agreed. “Anyone else have an opinion?”

After some discussion, where Marc realized that the guard who'd originally spotted the cornfield was one of Ron's people that had a class but wasn't going out with groups, they decided that the cornfield took precedence if they didn't want another group to get to it first.

“I don't exactly mind if another group takes it, but depending on its strength, that might not be optimal,” Marc said. “We haven't lost a whole group yet and I'd hate for this to be the first time for that.”

The groups had switched around a little after a pair of adventurers had been killed a couple of days back. Marc felt bad that he didn't feel worse about it, but the two who had died weren't people he knew well. He hadn't even spoken to them enough to remember their names without prompting.

There'd been a short memorial for them, with the members of their group speaking about them, and that had been it. Since the rest of their group hadn't hit level five yet and the System was still suppressing their emotions, the impact on that group was minimal.

“Okay then, Scarecrow today, kobolds tomorrow morning?” Marc said.

He got a bunch of nods.

“Alright, we'll head out right after lunch. Dad offered some of the legionaries to join us, do we want that or no?”

After a little bit of discussion, they decided to not avail themselves of the legionaries offered since they weren't sure if that would siphon off experience or not.

“Be prepared to run though, in case it's super buff,” Marc said.

He got a bunch of nods after that statement.

“Alright, lunch then combat,” Marc said.

Rob went back over to finish watching the movie with the kids while the rest of them headed up to the cafeteria since lunch would be available in about half an hour. Rob promised to join them as soon as the movie was over.

* * *

Marc stared at the cornfield as they approached it. His father hadn't taken it well when he turned down the assistance of the legionaries that had been offered. Conner had taken Sean's arm again then and spoken to him softly,
soft enough that Marc couldn't overhear, and that had been the end of it.

Although Marc was sure that his dad would be glued to the telescope for the coming fight. Not that he'd be able to see much if what Marc had seen earlier was any indication.

“Alright, buffs up,” Marc said, when they'd come close to the edge of the cornfield.

Felicia dropped her buff on the four people who might get into melee, Ella standing back as she did so. Marc cast his Arcane Armor spell on himself, granting himself the equivalent of leather armor, only of a magical nature. That spell would last twenty minutes so he cast it first. After that he gave Rob and himself a Phantom Shield that would last for only five minutes.

While Marc was casting, but after Felicia had finished, Jeff had disappeared into Stealth, the shimmer that was visible to Marc when his group mate was in Stealth disappearing around the back of the cornfield.

This time they were going to initiate the fight with Rob and Marc tanking. As soon as they had the Scarecrow's attention Jeff was going to try to backstab it. Jeff had laughed about a stationary target until Marc pointed out that Allan had said that the Scarecrow had moved. The thief still didn't look that worried about things after that, and that lack of reaction had Marc a little worried.

Regardless, they still needed to at least try this, so he and Rob started moving down adjacent rows of corn, headed for the center of the field where they'd seen the Scarecrow. Felicia was following along behind him while Ella was behind Rob.

Marc set his foot down and felt his footing move beneath him. As he glanced down there was a hostile squeak and he felt his ankle pierced by needle sharp teeth.

The rat he'd stepped on had twisted its head up and bitten him. He thrust downwards with his pilum, skewering the rat, but it was too late. A whole chorus of squeaks were now sounding across the cornfield. These rats weren't as large as the ones his group had encountered downtown, but it sounded as though there might be a lot more of these.

A feeling of warmth spread through his body as Felicia hit him with a healing spell targeted on the bite. He was sure he hadn't lost that much health to the bite, but if he was going to have to be fighting a field full of rats and a Scarecrow, then he was happy to start with his health as high as possible.

A stalk of corn started bending towards him and he stared in morbid fascination as a rat leapt from the upper portion of the stalk, heading towards his face. A mental twitch positioned his Phantom Shield in front of it and the rat struck it, splayed out, and scrabbled for purchase before falling to the ground where Marc stomped on it as hard as he could.

Squeals were coming from all around them now and Marc was scanning, looking for the rats. He started thrusting his pilum as they came into a view, a veritable river of fur, teeth, and tails. Behind him Felicia was slamming away with her tire iron. Ella had her club out as well. He was surprised to notice that the corn didn't seem to be taking any damage from the fight.

He'd swear that he saw a few stalks got broken and bent, but moments later they stood straight and tall again.

They fought for several minutes and Marc was amazed that the Scarecrow hadn't come for them while they were fighting since they were making so much noise. They were beating the rats, slowly though. There were just too many of them for it to be a quick procedure.

A deafening squeal rang out behind Felicia and Marc spun, ready to hurl his pilum. Instead he stopped, frozen for a moment when he saw the ball of fur flashing behind her. There were three distinct colors in there: brown, gray, and black. He tried to Analyze what he saw, but the raccoon he saw fighting a rat twice the size of the giant ones they fought downtown was moving too quickly for him to get the Analyze off. Then he was bitten by yet another rat, and he started thrusting his pilum down at the rats attacking him again.

It was another minute before he'd cleared the rats at his feet and he spun back towards where he'd seen the raccoon and giant rat fighting. The two of them were still going at it, although significantly less vigorously now and Marc was sure he could help. He wasn't so sure of his pilum throwing skills, but his Mana Darts? Those he was sure he could hit the rat with.

He started casting, then held the cast until the two of them broke apart for a moment, the raccoon panting heavily while the rat's tail swished in an attempt to cool itself off.

Marc finished his spell, launching the Mana Darts at the giant rat. As soon as they struck, the raccoon lurched forward again, going for the rat's throat. It got its teeth into it, started shaking, and a few moments later there was an audible 'Crack' as the rat's neck broke.

Now, Marc managed to get his Analyze to take.

“Beggar” Raccoon - Ally

Lvl – 4

Commonality – Uncommon

“Damn, it is Beggar. He leveled up too,” Marc said, staring at the raccoon.

Felicia was staring at the raccoon also.

“Thank you, Beggar. I didn't even see him back there until you pulled him out of Stealth.”

She turned to Marc.

“That rat was in Stealth, I swear. He even shimmered a little when Beggar attacked him. Beggar was too, they both shimmered as they came into view. But, yeah, the rat was about to attack me when Beggar took him on.”

Confused noises came from Rob's direction and Marc realized that they hadn't spoken about their little furry friend at all.

“It's okay Rob, Ella. Beggar's my buddy. He's been coming to my room at night to get some food and drink. I guess he likes me because of that? But what's he doing out here in the middle of the day?”

Marc hadn't been paying much attention to the weather, but when he looked up and saw the overcast skies, clouds blocking most of the sun, he realized it really wasn't very bright out, comparatively.

“I still don't get it, was he following us or something?” Marc mused aloud.

“I don't know, but I'll make sure he gets an extra large snack tonight,”

Felicia said.

Beggar plopped back onto his haunches, hooked his claws into the giant rat, and drew it closer before leaning over and biting into it. Then he looked up at Felicia and shook his head.

She just shook her head abruptly.

“Okay then, if you want to eat your own prey, you let me know when you want your extra snack,” she said.

Beggar looked at her, cocked his head, then went back to eating the rat he'd downed. It was almost as large as he was and since Beggar stood nearly knee high on Marc, that meant the rat was huge.

He started looting the dead rats that surrounded him, getting a single copper coin per rat. Seeing what he was doing, the others did the same.

Once they'd cleared all the rat corpses, Felicia started in on healing people.

All of them had bites on their ankles and lower legs, but no-one had been seriously wounded. By the time they finished, the Phantom Shields had dissipated and Marc went ahead and recast them.

“I hope Jeff's okay,” he said. “I would've thought he'd hear us and come to help.”

“Unless he had to deal with the same,” Ella said.

“He's competent. He would've yelled for help if he needed it, I'm sure,”

Rob said.

“Well, shall we get back on task? I'm sure we're only about halfway to the Scarecrow,” Marc said.

Felicia nodded.

“Let me recast my buffs first though. I'm not going to be at full mana going into this one even now, so...”

Marc nodded, knowing her buffs would make them slightly faster, more accurate, and dealing more damage with each strike.

“Still got one of the staffs? You might want to use that on heals for this fight if you're low on mana,” he said.

She pulled a staff of healing out her inventory and clutched it in her shield hand, behind the shield itself.

“That'll give me a few more, should we continue?”

Marc turned forward and started moving towards the center of the field again, Rob alongside of him.

* * *

When Marc stepped into the clearing at the center of the cornfield, the Scarecrow was facing towards the Safe Zone. As soon as he was in the clearing it twisted until it was facing him instead. The material used to simulate its bare arms and face was bone white, only relieved by a darkness where the mouth should be and the glowing red of its eyes. Rob, beside him, gasped as the Scarecrow glared at them. The glow of the eyes began to brighten, becoming painful to look at. Then Marc realized what was happening.

“Rob, gaze attack!” Marc yelled.

He dropped and crouched behind his shield, willing his Phantom Shield to match up with the top of his physical one and slant backwards, making the equivalent of a one man testudo formation, turtling to protect his head as well as the rest of his body.

He was just in time as ruby beams of light shot from the Scarecrow's eyes, striking both Marc's and Rob's shields. The beam ate through the shield, shedding part of its intensity with the penetration, but still hitting him hard enough to take his breath away.

I'm glad I had the shield. I can still function with this much pain, but if it had hit much harder, I don't know if I would've been able to or not, Marc
thought as he stood up again.

Rob wasn't in the best of shape, his armor smoking where the beam had made it through his shield. He was still game though, standing along with Marc.

“You bitch!” Jeff cursed from behind the Scarecrow.

“Fuck, it resisted my stab. It's resistant to piercing damage,” Jeff yelled to the party.

Marc looked down at his pilum and thought of the shortsword in his inventory. Both of them were primarily piercing damage, so he tucked his pilum away and started casting.

The Scarecrow was climbing down off of its post now. The post was a large spear, with a wide leaf-blade and two pieces jutting off perpendicular to the shaft about two feet down from the blade. Marc's Mana Darts hit it and seemed to do something to it, but the Scarecrow still reached back and picked up the eight foot long spear it had been mounted on, then advanced towards Rob and Marc.

“I Analyzed,” Jeff yelled. “immune to blunt, resists piercing. Immune to water and earth, but weak to fire, Marc!”

Marc was already casting a second Mana Dart and was past the point where he could change its damage type, so he finished with that cast, then blocked the Scarecrow's spear thrust.

Rob had dropped his pilum at Jeff's yell, pulling out the longsword he'd purchased from the shop. As he slashed at the Scarecrow there was as squeal behind them, a familiar one that broke off with a deeper pitched snarl and growl. Marc couldn't turn, but he thought there were probably rats as adds to this fight and Beggar, Ella, and Felicia were taking care of them.

At least I hope that's what I'm hearing, he thought.

A pair of Mana Darts flew past him as Ella started casting on the Scarecrow. Marc started to cast again himself, trying to use a fire-aspected Mana Dart, but he found himself breaking off his cast as the Scarecrow struck at him again, the spear blade leaving a gash on his arm.

Backlash from his interrupted spell hit him then, leaving him woozy for a moment, but Rob had recovered enough to pick up the slack now.

“Hey you second rate bed stuffing, on me!” Rob Taunted, slashing with his sword as he did so.

The sword left a tear in the Scarecrow's clothing, tufts of straw jutting out from the torn clothes. Marc shook his head slowly, taking a few seconds to clear it. A rush of warmth flooded him and his head cleared as Felicia hit him with a heal. Rob flickered with a greenish glow a moment later, just as Marc began his fire-aspected Mana Dart again.

This time he managed to get his spell off and as the flaming darts struck the Scarecrow, it ignited some of the straw. The Scarecrow leapt back and slammed the spear into the ground, blade first. It patted at the flames on its body, putting them out, then grasped the spear again as it eyes began to brighten once more.

Another heal flickered over Rob since he'd taken a graze from the spear in the last exchange. Marc started another cast as the eyes brightened more and more. This time the Scarecrow had a different pair of targets. Rob was the focus for one of the beams, probably since he'd Taunted the Scarecrow, but the other one lanced out and struck Felicia.

She'd had her shield up, but wasn't braced, not expecting to be targeted, so the beam ate through her shield, struck her, and knocked her off her feet.

Marc finished his fire-aspected Mana Dart, striking the Scarecrow again, then risked a look back at Felicia, who was still lying on the ground. Beggar was behind her, the bodies of several of the smaller rats surrounding him, but she just lay there, motionless.

Marc raced back, grabbing the healing staff she'd been using and remembering how she said it was used. He focused his mana into it and then directed the effect towards Felicia. The smoldering hole in her chest began to close as the healing took effect and he took a moment to do the same thing a second time. Then he dropped the staff and turned back to the Scarecrow.

Jeff had joined Rob and was trying to agility tank, dodging any blows aimed his way. It looked like he wasn't being too successful since he was
bleeding. Rob was still in it as well, although he was looking kind of beat up also.

Alright, I've been considering this since I got the spell. I really should've played with it before, but let's see what I can do on the spur of the moment, Marc thought.

Marc began to cast his Water Jet spell, but with a few differences. First, he'd talked with the Pyromancers and discovered the symbol for a channeled spell as opposed to a one and done. That was the first alteration he made to the spell, channeling it.

The substitution from water type damage to flame type damage was easy, he did a similar thing with his mana dart all the time.

The last alteration was the hardest. On the fly he tried to work out the proper container value that he needed.

He didn't quite get it exactly the way he wanted it, the end result was more of a crowbar of flame than a sword of flame, but it was close enough.

He rushed the Scarecrow, screaming in anger as he did so, pushing away his worry for Felicia as he attacked.

The heals took, so she's still alive at least. I can worry about anything else later on, he thought.

The Scarecrow looked at him for a moment, ignoring Marc's charge, then it struck at Rob again, catching the tank's shield and sending him spinning, but that left the spear out of position to block Marc as he raced in and thrust his crude sword of flame at the creature.

The straw on the Scarecrow ignited and the creature dropped the spear again, patting at the flames.

“Jeff, get its spear,” Marc screamed as he thrust again and again at the Scarecrow.

A few seconds later and the Scarecrow was minus its weapon, striking at Marc with its straw hands. The straw was unexpectedly solid and the hands hit equally hard. Rob came up alongside Marc again shortly, striking with his longsword.

“Let's put this thing down,” Rob said through gritted teeth.

Marc was still striking at the Scarecrow, but Rob's strained voice made him look over. The tank was favoring his shield side, the arm on that side looking not quite straight, but he was still fighting.

Marc initiated a Shield Bash and took the Scarecrow off its feet. He drove his flaming whatever-it-had-ended-up-being through the Scarecrow and into the ground, the burn effect lighting the straw on fire over and over as the Scarecrow tried to put out the flames.

“Rob, take off its arms if you can,” Marc said, struggling to keep the Scarecrow from getting back up.

It was stronger than him, but he was on top of it, heavier than it, and the Scarecrow kept trying to put out the flames as well as trying to rise. Marc was getting burnt a little, but he didn't care. He just wanted this thing down and out.

Its eyes started growing brighter again as he watched. But this time he waited instead of immediately going on the defensive. With one hand on the flaming weapon that had the Scarecrow pinned to the ground, he used the other to pull out his shortsword. It wasn't highly polished, but it was still reflective, so when he gauged the Scarecrow was about to throw out more of the glowing rays from its eyes, he slammed his shortsword over both of its eye sockets, angled to reflect the light away from any of his party.

The rays were too much for the sword. It helped for a second, then Marc watched as it started to fracture, the blade coming apart into pieces. In doing so, it changed the angle of reflection repeatedly, the rays flashing all over the place except for where the sword blade blocked them, reflecting them away from Marc's group.

The end targets for the reflected rays included the Scarecrow's head and as the sword fell apart, molten drops of metal fell onto the head of the Scarecrow, or what remained of it. The cloth and straw of the head had been shredded by its own attack.

Marc relaxed and right about then realized that he was about to pass out.

The flaming weapon in his hand started to sputter as his mana ran out and a
moment later he fell across the body of the Scarecrow as blackness claimed him.

* * *

Chapter Five

Someone was shrieking in a shrill voice.

Wait, is that Felicia? Marc thought. What's she saying?

“No Jeff! He's a friend.”

Marc forced his eyes open, his eyelids feeling glued shut and taking far more force to open than they ought to. Just as he opened them, he felt something warm, wet, and slightly rough slide along his cheek. He wanted to shrink away from it, but the movement required too much energy.

As his eyes finished opening, he found himself staring at a black, gray, and white snout, whiskers jutting to either side of the pitch black, glistening nose. Then Beggar's tongue slid out again as he licked Marc's cheek a second time. This time Marc managed to shudder slightly.

The Raccoon, noticing Marc's open eyes and movement, dropped back onto his haunches and started cleaning himself.

Ew, he just licked me and not ten minutes ago I saw him eating dead rats, Marc thought.

Then the pain hit.

Marc's impromptu flaming sword had another problem beyond it's improper shape. It had also possessed no hilt, so he'd been gripping a hilt made of flame. Now his palms were covered with charred flesh. As he carefully rolled to the side, he noticed Jeff standing behind Beggar, gladius in hand, staring at the raccoon.

“Jeff, what are you doing to Beggar?” Marc croaked, or tried to.

Whether or not Jeff made out the words, his attention snapped to Marc.

“Marc, are you okay?” Jeff asked.

Marc shook his head and almost passed back out, the motion making his headache flare and giving him a severe case of lightheadedness.

He coughed and spat, then tried to speak again.

“Mana burn, I think,” he said.

He forced himself to slowly sit upright and saw that everyone was in the clearing now. Rob was lying on the ground, still panting. Felicia was sitting, her head clasped in her hands.

Not thinking about it, Marc reached out a hand towards Beggar. The raccoon growled for a split second, then relaxed as Marc's fingers made contact the fur on his head.

The fur was somehow both soft and slightly spiky at the same time, and Marc let the feel of it distract him from the rest of his pain for a moment. At least he tried to, but his head pounded, reasserting the headache.

“Beggar's an Ally,” Marc said, slowly.

Jeff stared down at the raccoon and his eyes unfocused for a moment.

“I'll be damned, he's an Ally, has a name, and he's level five?”Jeff said.

Beggar noticed the attention, turned to look at Jeff, then trotted off towards the stalks of corn. He shimmered and disappeared as he reached it.

“And he's got freakin' Stealth?” Jeff said, nearly yelling.

“Quiet, please,” Marc said.

“Yeah, Jeff,” Felicia said softly. “Marc's not the only one mana burned.

Plus I was backlashed to push me into burn, so quiet please.”

“This was such a bust,” Jeff said, more quietly now.

He kicked the Scarecrow's remains.

“Still no damned loot,” Jeff muttered.

Marc stood, slowly and unsteadily. He was worried that his headache would go back to the lightheadedness and cause him to fall.

“You have that spear, right?” Marc said.

“Oh yeah, you're right. At least we got that,” Jeff said, pulling the spear from his inventory.

He stared at it for a moment.

“Oh, that's not too bad. It's actually decent. A boar spear with plus one attack and damage bonuses to everything, but plus five to Porcine creatures.

That's pigs, right? I mean, it is a boar spear.”

“Maybe orcs also,” Marc said. “At least if they're the classic type of orc and the tusks on the ones we killed suggest that they are.”

“That's even better then, who wants a boar spear?” Jeff said.

Marc shook his head, very slowly.

“Not me, limited to four foot and under weapons.”

“Rob?” Jeff asked, holding out the spear.

Rob was staring at the corn though.

“I wonder if this is real corn?” he said, approaching a stalk.

He snapped off an ear and started peeling back the husk.

“Looks like it.”

He sniffed at the ear of corn.

“Smells like it too,” he said. “Hey, you think the cooks would like some corn to work with? Corn on the cob's pretty good, right? They could do a lot of other things with it too.”

“Sure, we'll grab some before we leave,” Marc replied. “We'll let Allan take a look at it first though. He should know if it's okay to eat, I'd think.”

Then he reached over to tap the Scarecrow, thinking 'loot' as he did so.

Like Jeff, he got nothing.

Then his aching brain noticed that the soil beneath him was nothing like the rest of the area outside of the cornfield. It took him a moment to concentrate well enough, then he managed to Analyze the cornfield itself.

Scarecrow's Field:

This field is the equivalent to the field a Safe Zone can generate, but with a +25% bonus to growth speeds. The yield is also higher than that of a Safe Zone generated field. When harvested by the proper classes, this field will
produce up to twice the yield as when harvested by others without those classes.

This field can be claimed if the surrounding area is claimed by a Safe Zone, at no build cost and not counting towards any building totals for said Safe Zone. If unclaimed for 30 days, this field will revert to the same terrain as surrounds it.

Current crop: Corn – 250 bushels on harvest (up to X2 for proper classes)

“There's loot,” Marc said. “Just not on the Scarecrow.”

Jeff stared at him.

“Analyze the field itself, Jeff. Hey Rob, hold off on harvesting corn, would you? It looks like we can get a double yield if we have the Farmers or Field Hands harvest it,” Marc called.

“You must be shitting me,” Jeff said. “The loot from this is a long spear, which I can't use, and a cornfield?”

“You like eating, right?” Marc said. “Even if you keep buying your meals from the shop all the time, think about how much food this is for everyone else in the Safe Zone. Plus, if we can get the Safe Zone expanded out here in thirty days we can keep this field and it's even better than the ones already in the Safe Zone.”

Jeff kept grumbling, but Marc noticed that there was a half-smile on his face as he did so.

So he isn't nearly as upset as he's pretending to be, Marc thought. I wonder why? Oh, wait, is he trying to distract Felicia and me?

A glance over to Felicia showed that she'd let go of her head and was lying on her back now. Marc tottered over to her, his balance still not quite as good as it ought to be.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

She sat up and slapped him across the face, much more softly than the last time she'd done that.

“I thought you said you'd never do something like that again!” she said, the look on her face softening the slap and the words.

“I didn't. I didn't dive right at that thing, I came back and healed you with the staff first, twice. Then, since we knew that fire was its weakness, I planned out a method to attack it with fire.”

She grabbed his hands and turned them palm up.

“Then why this?” she asked. “Jeff told me, while you were still unconscious, that you charged that thing and bludgeoned it to death with a fiery crowbar.”

Marc blushed.

“It was supposed to be a sword, a fiery sword. I just didn't get the container values correct. I'll need to work on that.”

“Good to know that you're not perfect,” she said, “but really, going into hand to hand with that thing? You're lucky it didn't kill you.”

“I'll admit it hit like a steamroller, but my health never got dangerously low,” Marc said.

“Then why'd you pass out?”

“Remember the Pyromancers bitching about channeled spell costs?

Yeah, well, they're right, it sucks. I was channeling that fiery crowbar and forgot to keep track of my mana. Ran my mana out and that's what dropped me.”

“Oh... Still, you said you wouldn't do that type of thing again.”

“No, Felicia. You told me not to do that again and I didn't, not really. I still don't even really know what it is you want me to promise not to do. I just did what I thought needed to be done. I'll admit, I was furious after it glared at you and hit you with whatever those beams were, but we took it down and we all survived.”

“Oh, you...” Felicia said, shaking her head and wincing. “I don't want you throwing yourself into danger over and over. I'd rather not lose you.

Before it was because I didn't even have you yet, now it's because I do have you.”

“I'll promise to not do it without good reason, but no more than that,”

Marc said.

She shook her head again, much more slowly this time.

“And you get to determine if it's a good reason?” she said, sighing. “It's not much, but I'll take it.”

* * *

It wasn't more than half an hour before Felicia's headache faded. She started healing people, slowly and carefully, mindful of her mana totals.

Ella had taken care of Rob's broken arm with the staff while Felicia and Marc were unconscious, but Felicia healed him again, making sure it had set correctly. She said it would be weak for a few hours, so he should be careful.

Next was Marc. His palms, which had been burned badly by the time the fight was over, took several heals to get back to normal. By the time they were, his own headache had faded and he was happy to notice that his mana was starting to increase again. He also noticed that his notification light was flashing. He'd sort of noticed before, but between the headache and lightheadedness he hadn't wanted to deal with it. Now he pulled it up.

You have gained a level (7->8)

You have two ability points to distribute.

Your Intelligence has increased (15->16)

Your Constitution has increased (11->12)

You have one new skill point to distribute.

Having planned it out earlier, he put one point into Aptitude immediately, choosing to ensure he could use his skill point and maybe
learn another spell or two. The second point went into Charisma. He'd planned on doing that the last level, but had had to feed his Aptitude skill then also.

Then he pulled up his stats to see how things were looking.

Marcus Aurelius Cavanaugh

Class: Arcane Bulwark/(hidden class English Major) Level: 8

Experience: 14923/16000

Health: 592

Mana: 576 (+10)

Stamina: 600 (+12)

Endurance: 20 (+7)

Body: 9.3 (Strength:8, Constitution: 12, Agility: 8) Mind: 11.6 (Intelligence: 16, Willpower: 8, Aptitude: 11) Social: 5.6 (Charisma: 7, Personality: 5, Allure: 5)

Skills:

Short Spear (melee weapon)(3)

Shield Bash (2)

Research (2)

Analyze (creature) (1)

Mana Manipulation (8)

Meditation (4)

Creative Writing (2)

Scribe (2)

Shield Mastery (1)

Short Swords (1)

Short Spear (thrown weapon)(1)

Analyze (item) (1)

Technical Writing (1)

Spells:

Mana Dart (5)

Arcane Armor (2)

Phantom Shield (2)

Crenelate (2)

Curse of Weakness (2)

Fireball (2)

Blessing of Strength (1)

Stand Fast (1)

Water Jet (1)

Looking pretty good, even if I do say so myself, he thought. Although the speed at which my health is going up makes me think higher level spawns are going to have a lot of it also, which means we really need to increase our damage output if we're going to stand a chance. We'll have to see what we can do about that.

“Ding,” he called out. “Anyone else?”

He got a bunch of nods in reply and when he noticed how close he was to almost getting two levels out of the fight they'd just finished he understood.

“I got two out of that even,” Ella said. “No skill boost on Mana Dart though.”

Well that sucks, Marc thought, hopefully we're right and we can still manage skill ups with the kobolds even if they aren't worth a lot of exp for us any more. I get why Aptitude starts offering more slots as it gets higher now. It looks like the experience needed for the next level keeps doubling every time. If that keeps up, we'll need those extra slots for skills and spells since it'll take a lot longer to level up and have the potential for raising Aptitude to get more.

Marc pulled himself to his feet again and offered a hand to Felicia.

“Let's get out of here. I'll take dad up on his offer of the legionaries now, if it's still open. They can guard the Farmers and Field Hands while they harvest this field,” Marc said. “I suppose we could do it, but right about now I just feel like collapsing.”

Felicia pulled out a swathe of cloth from her inventory, she folded it and tied a few knots, then approached Rob. A moment later his shield arm was in the sling she'd fashioned, his shield gone into his inventory.

“If you need to get your shield out, you can always just inventory the sling,” she said. “So it shouldn't slow you down too much.”

Jeff was shaking his head.

“Twenty-one copper and a spear I can't use. I thought this was almost like a boss thing, but I guess not,” he muttered.

“Don't forget the food,” Marc said. “I've got no idea what the translation to ears is, but I remember reading that the corn yields had been rising recently, something like a hundred and eighty bushels per acre. Plus the description said it yields more than normal even without the special classes harvesting it. Two hundred and fifty bushels of corn sounds pretty good, right? I mean even if it's like a hundred ears per bushel, and I think it's more, but don't remember for sure, that'd be like twenty-five thousand ears of corn. Food security anyone?”

Jeff just kept shaking his head.

“Yeah, awesome loot for the Safe Zone, not so much for us.”

“Jeff, you do eat at the cafeteria sometimes right?”

“Yeah, I limit myself to one shop meal a day, why?”

“You like having the food available there? This corn will make sure there's more food available for quite some time. Hell, if another group had pulled this one and cleared it, I would've offered to buy the food from them.

You want me to pay you for it?” Marc said, pulling out a handful of gold.

“No, I want some decent equipment,” Jeff said. “I mean, I can buy some from the shop, but most of the stuff that looks worthwhile is stupid expensive. I could afford a piece or two, but I'd rather save my coin. I want to find some so I don't have to buy it.”

“I'm sure we'd all like that, Jeff. It hasn't happened yet though. Give it some time, did you ever figure out what the necklace and ring from the ogres did? Those might be decent.”

Jeff's face took on a frustrated look.

“No, Analyze isn't doing anything with them, even after I leveled it a couple of times.”

“Well, when we get back let me check the shop. If they've got some sort of Identify spell that's under twenty-five gold, I'll pick it up and we can figure that out. Then maybe you can start building your gear. I just stuck a point in Aptitude and since it took it to eleven, that gave me three skill and spell slots instead of two, so I'm willing to use one to learn an Identify spell.

Or maybe there'll be scrolls of it so I don't have to use a spell slot.”

Jeff softened his muttering, but with his enhanced senses from the increased stats, Marc still heard him.

“I can't believe I couldn't do anything to that thing. My backstab did squat, all my attacks were doing half damage. I guess it's time to take a weapon skill for a different damage type,” Jeff muttered softly.

Ah, he's complaining because he feels like he wasn't much help in the last fight, Marc thought. I'm not used to Jeff just whining, but if he's doing it to try venting after feeling useless then I get it. Well, as much as I ever get Jeff. He's got a good plan though. Maybe I should take another weapon skill and get an additional damage type too. Both my weapons are primarily piercing damage so they wouldn't have done much there either.

They headed back towards the Safe Zone, with plans to get Marc's dad and Allan to try to harvest the field as soon as they could.

* * *

“So now, after getting yourself all beat up, now you want to borrow my legionaries?” Sean said, his voice a touch louder than normal.

“Yes and no, dad. I'd just like you to assign them to guard a party of Farmers and Field Hands while they harvest that field.”

Sean shook his head.

“Are you even sure it's good? Safe to eat?”

Marc pulled up the Analyze message from the field by scrolling back in his log a bit to find it, then he shared it with his father.

“I don't think I can expand out that way in time to claim the field and it's entirely perpendicular to the direction I want to expand in, so I figure we should get the most out of this while we can.”

Sean just smiled, the one he'd always used when he had a surprise for Marc and wasn't going to let his son discover just what it was. Marc knew better than to dig at whatever had triggered the smile, he wouldn't find out until his father was ready to tell him and not a moment sooner.

“I may just keep the legionaries out there right through until the field dissipates. Do you think a Farmer could get a single crop of something out of that within thirty days?” Sean asked.

Felicia had gone to get Allan, who heard the question as he was entering the room.

“It depends. If the field is as good as the ones in here, I could at least get a run of radishes or something else that doesn't take too long,” Allan said.

“Allan, good to see you,” Marc said. “I had a request, and I'll pay some hard coin for anyone willing to do the task I'm asking about.”

“Yeah, Felicia told me. You need to harvest a cornfield outside of the walls. It's too early in the season for corn though, it won't be ripe yet.”

Rob pulled the ear he'd picked out of his inventory.

“Allan,” he said, before tossing it to the man.

Allan took the ear, peeled the husk back, then looked at the corn. He pinched off a kernel and squeezed it, then he nibbled a kernel off.

“Okay then, maybe I'm wrong. This stuff is ripe. Good sugar corn too, it'll eat well off the cob and we could probably use it for a few other things also,” Allan said. “This stuff is practically perfect in every way, System influenced?”

“Yeah, try this one on for size,” Jeff said. “The field of corn, and the field itself if we could figure out how to keep it, was the loot from a relatively tough spawn.”

“I'm assuming it was that Scarecrow I saw?” Allan said.

Marc nodded.

“It's gone now though.”

“I'd be willing, I'd have to talk to some of the others though. Honestly, the fields we're working only take up our mornings mostly, if we did things as quickly as we could it would be much quicker, so maybe...”

“Well, I'd be willing to pay ten System silver per person to help harvest that field until it's done,” Marc said.

“What is it, an acre or so?”

Marc nodded.

“So, that should only be about a hundred and eighty bushels maybe?

Picking by hand that might be twenty-four hours worth of work, so me and four others could do it in an afternoon probably,” Allan said.

“Um, about that?” Marc said, sharing the description of the field with Allan as he had with his father.

Allan blinked a few times then started laughing.

“My whole damned life I waited for someone to appreciate farmers and their skills properly, now it happens and it's the damned System. We'll do it, Marc. Might not get it done in a day if it's as much better as the System claims, but three days tops, I'd guess.”

“Let me know how many people are helping and I'll make sure you'll all paid before you begin,” Marc said.

“I've got an idea that might let them work a little safer. That field is right close to where we had our encampment. I'm thinking we should set it back up, then if they work late they've got shelter nearby, and if there's an attack they can get behind the defenses with my legionaries manning the walls,”

Sean said.

“Are you sure, dad? That sounds like a lot of work.”

“I was thinking maybe we'd keep the encampment set up. If there's anyone that wants the legionary class, we can use it to help train them. That
work for you?” Sean asked.

“That might, especially if the two universal skills among the legionaries are Marching and Encampment.”

“Well, those two plus shield and weapon skills, but I think we're the only ones with Encampment, at least I haven't heard of another class that gets anything similar, so if we teach the unique skill they ought to get offered the class, right?”

“That sounds as, if not more, logical than some of the ways we're using already. If it does work, then we'll know how to train for that class also,”

Marc said. “And any more classes that we know how to train for are a good thing.”

“We'll take care of it then,” Sean said. “I'll get some of my guys out there now to build the encampment and your Farmers can start picking tomorrow whenever they're ready.”

An hour later Marc watched as his father marched out his legionaries, minus his mom who was still in the Town Hall. They had one of the wagons with them. Two hours later he was dumbstruck. He'd watched through the telescope as the legionaries swarmed their old campsite, rapidly raising the encampment again.

This time there was a gate on the side closest to the cornfield, which was only a hundred feet or so from the closest Encampment wall.

Half the legionaries came marching back under the leadership of Harry, the Tesserarius, once the encampment was finished. When they arrived Harry went out of his way to report in and tell Marc that the men he'd brought back would have the overnight watch on the walls, splitting it into two shifts and that's why they'd been brought back.

That's dad, as efficient as possible. I imagine he'd have fit right in with the actual Legions back in the day. He certainly seems to have picked it up pretty quickly now, Marc thought.

* * *

Not forgetting his promise to Jeff, Marc went to the shop after dinner.

There were indeed Identify scrolls that didn't require learning the spell, but they cost twenty-five gold a pop. The spell scroll to learn it was available from several different auctions, the cheapest of them coming in at fifteen gold.

Well, there goes another spell slot, he thought. Especially if we continue to need the spell it'll be hellishly cheaper to just know the spell as opposed to keep buying scrolls.

Marc bit the bullet and bought the scroll with a large chunk of his share of the proceeds from the precious metals they'd sold recently. He was still far from broke, but he definitely felt the outlay of funds.

He sat down in his room and studied the scroll, burying his head in his hands with his second major headache of the day. When he stood up, he felt better though. Now he could Identify all of the items they'd found with the ogres, as well as anything else they might find in the future.

And this spell has some really wild parameters to it. I'll be able to explore it and maybe repurpose some of the symbols and variables into some brand new spells. Assuming I can figure out exactly what all this new stuff represents.

Marc settled in on his couch, and started trying to break the spell down in his mind. The way he did it was similar to what he'd done before, examining all of the data from the spell in an almost meditative state. By the time he was ready for bed, he'd realized that there were a lot more types than he'd thought. The elemental types had different symbols if they were used for damage dealing than if they were used for other things, and that the magic system was much more complicated than he'd been thinking it was.

* * *

Chapter Six

When Marc opened his eyes and clicked on his notification link, he had a pleasant surprise waiting for him.

Your skill, Mana Manipulation, has increased in skill level (8->9) Your skill, Meditation, has increased in skill level (4->5) Your Aptitude has increased (11->12)

He also had company. He'd barely noticed when Felicia had come into his room and she hadn't disturbed him when she'd seen what he was doing.

He hadn't noticed Beggar coming in, either, and the first clue about that was when a cold breeze swept over him. A glance at the window told him it was open, then a second one at Beggar's chair showed the raccoon staring at him hopefully.

“Hey, Felicia,” he said.

There was no reply and when he looked closer he realized that she was asleep on the bed. He'd thought she was just hanging out there.

“Hey Beggar, you want food?”

Felicia had evidently brought out the water for him since it was sitting in the middle of the room. Now Marc pulled out yet another bag of jerky and tore it open. The raccoon came rushing over, hopping up onto the couch next to him to stick his muzzle in Marc's lap, nuzzling the bag.

Marc laughed softly and just tilted the bag, shaking the jerky out onto the floor in front of the couch. Beggar slipped down and started grabbing pieces of jerky, taking them to the water, swishing them, then stuffing them in his mouth.

“Hey, thanks Beggar. I never did get a chance to thank you earlier.

Keeping those rats off of us while we fought the Scarecrow was a big help,”

Marc said.

The raccoon stared back at him unblinking.

“I didn't think raccoons went out much during the day though. Isn't the light too bright for you?”

Beggar sat back on his haunches and cocked his head while looking at Marc. Then, when Marc glanced away for a moment the raccoon shimmered out of sight. When Marc looked back and saw nothing there he stopped, a moment of clarity coming to him.

“Does the light bother you less when you're in Stealth?” he asked.

Beggar shimmered back into view, then walked over for another piece of jerky.

Marc laughed softly and it sounded almost hysterical in the quiet room.

“Here I am, talking to a raccoon as though he understands me, and thinking that he really might. I wonder if I've gone crazy and this is all in my mind.”

He felt a nudge on his shin and looked down to see Beggar pushing his muzzle against it. When he realized he had Marc's attention, Beggar sat back once more, looked Marc in the eye, then nodded once, firmly.

Alright, I've officially lost it. I wonder if the lesser amount of sleep is enough for the mind too. It's definitely enough for the body, but the brain needs its sleep as well. Is that it? Have I not been sleeping enough for my brain to handle all this? Marc thought. Well, if that's the case, I know how to handle it.

Marc shook the last of the jerky out onto the floor then tossed the wrapper back into his inventory.

“I'm going to bed, Beggar. I need some sleep, I think. You're welcome to stay as long as you want.”

Marc got ready for bed, climbed into it, and almost instantly had Felicia roll over and wrap an arm around him.

“Bad day, cuddles,” she said.

She fell back asleep, assuming she'd actually been awake there at all, which Marc doubted. Pulling the covers over them both, he joined her in sleep a few minutes later. As Marc drifted off he realized that the sound of Beggar's claws clicking back and forth across the floor and the swish of the water as he rinsed his jerky was as good as a soporific for him.

* * *

Marc woke in the morning unsure as to how long he'd slept. Testing his theory, he focused on his thoughts, but they seemed crisp and clear. At least as crisp and clear as they ever were right after he'd woken up.

But wouldn't they feel that way even if they weren't? How would I tell?

Especially if the System is messing with things again, Marc thought.

He quickly realized that getting trapped in that train of thought would quickly lead to paranoia. Instead, he'd bring up his idea with some of the others who also needed less sleep, to see if any of them noticed anything.

Although, on second thought, the System made it so our physical bodies would need less rest, why would they leave the brain out of it? Unless—

Once again he forcefully broke himself out of his thoughts.

That way lies madness, he thought.

He decided that unless he found more evidence to the contrary he was going to assume that the lesser amount of rest was now sufficient to rest his mind as well.

Felicia was still asleep, even with having gone to sleep before him, and he was pretty sure that he'd gotten enough sleep to cover his abbreviated need for it.

Do I wake her? Should I? No, I'll let her sleep as much as she needs. A combination of backlash and mana burn sounds like it does a number on you, so she needs as much rest as she can get. The only thing we've got planned for today is going and checking out the kobold lair, so we've got the time, he thought.

As he made his way down towards the cafeteria, he remembered the other thing he could do today.

That's right, I learned the Identify spell. I can start identifying our items today. Plus, I'm pretty sure that all the differences with that spell, the new symbols and types I learned from it, is why my Mana Manipulation went up again. I'm surprised the Aptitude did though. I just put a point in it yesterday, then got another one? Did the System give me extra Aptitude so I can take advantage of all the new things I can do with magic now or something?

Marc shook his head trying to avoid another rabbit hole that could suck his thoughts into it for hours, hours that would end up being useless most likely.

He ended up in the cafeteria early, like he had been most mornings lately, but this time there was someone in back and they already had coffee brewing.

As he nursed a cup, the cook came out of the kitchen. He was the first one that had stepped up to start cooking for everyone, Tina's dad if Marc remembered right, but he still couldn't remember the man's name.

“Marc, I heard a rumor that we're going to be getting a metric butt-ton of corn?” the cook said.

Marc grinned.

“Yeah, we ought to be. I've got no idea on how much, just that it's going to be a lot.”

“Good, Mateo and I were talking yesterday after the rumor came in. He thinks he might be able to make a corn flour out of it.”

“Allan said it was a sugar corn variety, are those good for that?”

“Oh yeah, you can make corn flour out of any corn, just got to dehydrate it enough first. It's the grinding that will suck, but maybe we can pull some extra volunteers for that.”

Or maybe I should build the grain mill sooner than I was thinking, Marc thought.

“There might be something I can do to make that easier. Especially if we're going to keep grinding our own grains.”

“You can buy already ground flours from that shop, but it's kind of expensive,” the cook said.

“So, if we can grow enough grains, maybe we could sell some of the flour ourselves if we can make enough of it,” Marc said, musingly.

“And that's why you're running this place. I wouldn't have thought to try to export something simple like flour.”

“Well, if it's expensive from the shop we can undercut them and get ours to sell first, maybe,” Marc said. “That's probably still a ways off though.

First we worry about getting ourselves what we need. The corn will be a good start on that, I think.”

“We'll be happy to see it. Especially with the things Allan has planted and the schedule he's anticipating for when it'll be ready. The corn can help us hang on until then with something fresh and more variety. Plus, if there's a lot then we can use it along with everything else we'll be growing.”

Marc held up a hand.

“We'll see, but yes, there'll be corn coming in soon. Do we have a place to store it?”

The cook grinned.

“You've never taken the kitchen tour, have you? The deep freeze and the big pantry? They're now like those inventory things. They take lots of stuff, put it in stacks if it matches up. We haven't filled either of them yet, so there's plenty of room. Well, I hope there is anyhow. Plus, anything we put into that comes out the same way it went in. So hot stays hot, cold stays cold, fresh stays fresh, like that.”

“Mmm, something smells good. Do you have breakfast started already?”

Marc said.

“Oh, my food. Gotta go,” the cook said, darting back towards the kitchen.

Marc sighed happily. He didn't mind talking to the people in the Safe Zone, but he was used to having a lot of time to himself and, as of late, that just hadn't been happening.

Although since part of that is Felicia liking to be near me a lot now, I'm not going to complain, he thought. Well, not too much anyway, and not out loud.

When Tina came in to man the counter, she gave Marc a glance and then treated him in an entirely professional manner when he went up to get his breakfast. He was glad for that, he could easily have seen her giving him the cold shoulder, despite his not having encouraged the interest she showed in him before.

He waited through breakfast, nursing his coffee as he watched for Jeff to show up. It was almost too late for breakfast when he did show up and by that point Felicia and Rob had joined him for his wait. When Jeff and Ella sat down he told them his plan.

“The Identify spell is expensive, a hundred mana to cover a single item, but I've got enough to try to identify everything we found from the ogres in a single run, then if I wait a few minutes I can probably do the boar spear also, if we want.”

Jeff grinned.

“About time we found out what this stuff does. I've been really close to just putting it on a few times already,” he said.

“Well, after we eat, we'll head down to the Alchemy lab since Felicia has the potions there. She wanted to show me the place anyhow, so we can do the tour and identify all the stuff while we're there,” Marc replied.

“Works,” Jeff said, then applied himself to the food.

They headed for the Alchemy lab and Marc happily followed Felicia through the tour. The only one of the others who was interested was Ella, but she begged off and stayed outside with Jeff during the short tour.

“So, it looks like you like it?” Marc asked.

Felicia nodded eagerly.

“I'm just waiting for my first herbs to grow a bit more before I start trying to make potions. Should just be a few more days.”

“Good, I'm glad. I don't think Alchemy is for me though,” Marc said. “I prefer math to chemistry.”

Felicia laughed gaily.

“I knew that, I'm the opposite. It'll be great if I can start making potions.”

“How long does it take?”

“An hour or so per batch at my current skill level, but I can do three to five per batch if I have enough ingredients. Why, are you thinking we should sell some of them?”

“I'm thinking that if we have a surplus of them, or if we're desperately in need of cash it might be a good idea,” Marc replied.

“I agree, but that's not until I prove that I can actually make them. Now, how about those Identifies?”

Everyone else came in and the items were laid on an empty table. The ring, necklace, pair of potions, and ax from the ogres were first. Marc picked up the ring, then cast his Identify spell.

Ring of Mana (magic):

Mana +25

Mana Regeneration rate: +10%

Marc relayed the stats and set the ring back on the table. There were three of them that the ring would be useful for and he wasn't looking forward to determining who got it.

He picked up the necklace next.

Necklace of the Contortionist (magic):

Agility +2

If the wearer does not have the Acrobatic skill, they will receive it at a skill level of 5. If the skill is possessed and under 5, it will raise the skill to

5. If the skill is possessed and 5 or over, it will add +1 to the skill.

“Well Jeff, this one looks like it might've been made for you,” Marc said, telling the group what the necklace did.

Jeff grabbed for the necklace, then looked around the group. Not seeing any opposition, he rapidly slid it onto his neck.

Marc picked up the ax next, it was still heavy enough to be unwieldy for him so he wouldn't want to use it as a weapon himself.

Ax of Hewing (magic):

Attack +2

Damage +10%

After he told the party what it did, Rob looked at it consideringly.

“If no-one else wants this, then it might be good for me. I've got a skill slot open and could take Battle Ax for it. This might've been nice to use for the fight with the Scarecrow.”

“Go for it, Rob,” Marc said.

The others agreed and Rob picked up the ax and slipped it back into his inventory.

Marc picked up the first of the potions, it was a color that he'd call pink, but really much darker than most pinks, almost a red.

Potion of Cure Poison (magic):

Quality: Good – cures poisons of up to quality good.

“That one's a cure poison, up to good quality poisons,” Marc said.

“Great, do we even know what the other qualities are?” Jeff asked.

“It was in the help files someplace,” Marc said. “If I remember them right they're: junk, poor, common, uncommon, good, excellent, masterful,
and legendary.”

“Wasn't there an entry for unique also?” Felicia asked.

She'd spent a lot of time with a help pad as well, browsing through it while Marc took care of other things and she waited for him.

“Maybe,” Marc said. “Like I said, that's from memory. We can look it up and check sometime if it's important.”

“Good enough for now,” Jeff replied. “So it'll cover four out of seven poisons? I'm assuming a junk poison might give you a little rash or something like that, nothing to worry about.”

“If it did anything,” Felicia said. “Failed potions are marked with the junk quality. If a potion does anything at all it's at least rated poor.”

“Okay, anyhow, let me get this last potion done. At this rate, I'll be able to go right onto the spear with no rest,” Marc said.

He cast the identify spell again.

Potion of Healing (multiple quaffs) (magic): Quality: Good

This potion contains 3 quaffs, each of which will produce the desired effect. If the entire potion is consumed at one time a more powerful healing effect will be generated.

Marc passed along the information on that one as well, then set the bottle on the table. After checking his mana, he sat down in a chair.

“About two minutes and I can do the spear also. Then I'll need to recharge my mana and we can go check on the kobolds,” he said.

Jeff rolled his eyes, but didn't look too irritated.

He shouldn't be irritated since he got the necklace and knows what it does now. I know he hates sitting still and doing nothing though, Marc thought.

When his mana was back to a hundred, Marc stood and took the spear.

Waiting for one more mana to regenerate he cast identify on that as well.

Boar Spear:

Quality: Uncommon

This spear is non-magic, but made well enough to provide a +1 to attack and damage on all creatures. Due to its design and intended purpose, that bonus is increased to a +5 vs. all Porcine creatures.

“Huh, I think I get it. The spear, which you could Analyze, isn't magic.

Everything else was. So I guess Analyze will work for non-magical items, but magical ones require the Identify spell?” Marc said.

“That makes sense. It's a good theory, so we'll run with that unless we find something to disprove it,” Felicia said.

“Can we get going now?” Jeff asked.

“I'd like a little time to regen my mana,” Marc replied. “Why don't we go down to the watchtower and see how the cornfield and encampment are doing? Plus, I promised to pay the farmers in advance for the harvest, so I should stop to talk to Allan for a minute if we see him.”

Jeff grumbled, but cut it off when they started moving. They stopped just a minute later since Allan was next to the field he'd taken responsibility for.

“Allan, did you get anyone else to assist you?” Marc said.

“Yup, got four others going with me, so five of us total,” Allan replied.

“Good, then here. I promised payment in advance. You can distribute it to the others when you see them,” Marc said.

He pulled fifty silver from his inventory and handed it over.

“We're going to head down to the watchtower and see how the encampment and field are looking. Just killing time, really, until my mana regens and we can go outside the walls and check on something,” Marc said.

He gave the farmer a wave and headed down the road with the rest of his group.

When they got to the top of the watchtower the only one who looked adversely affected from the climb was Ella.

Since she's a Mage and lower level than the rest of us, I shouldn't be surprised, Marc thought. I should've realize the potential problem sooner though and seen if she wanted to stay at the bottom.

He knew that he wouldn't have actually offered, because he knew how Felicia would've reacted if he had made a similar offer to her. Ella was just as strong willed, if in a different way, as Felicia was and he expected she would've reacted in a similar fashion.

But I could've set a slower pace going up the steps. I'll try to remember when we head back down, he thought.

Harry was up in the watchtower. His father's watch commander seemed a good sort, reminding Marc of the tough, grizzled NCOs he'd seen in movies. He didn't have anything to base that opinion on though except for the man's appearance and the way he interacted with his men.

Which is enough for me to form an opinion, at least, Marc thought.

“So, any troubles out there?” Marc asked.

Harry shook his head.

“Been quiet, all night long too.”

“The farmers will be getting out there in a couple of hours,” Marc said.

“Ayup. They'll have an escort of troops and be taking the extra wagon also. No other way to get all that corn back here if it's as much as the rumors make it out to be,” Harry said.

“I'm glad someone thought of that. I wouldn't have. I'd have expected them to just shove bushels of it in their inventory,” Marc replied.

“Which would work if they actually had bushel baskets, which they don't. So this way, they can just harvest straight into the wagon. Fill their inventories also, if they have the time,” Harry said. “You're welcome, by the
way. I'm the one that suggested they take the wagon. If they're fast enough, the other wagon is still out there also and they can work on filling that one too.”

“Good idea, I'm glad you thought of it then,” Marc said. “So, everything is okay then?”

“Well, except for a little bit of a fight between one of your residents and one of my men last night. Your resident was young and feisty, my man was older, but unwilling to take any shit from a 'young punk' as he put it. The rest of my men broke it up and Conner took the two of them somewhere to try to figure out exactly what happened.”

“Crap, I didn't hear about that.”

“Seems you were a bit busy yesterday, then no-one could find you after dinner. Conner said that it was pretty much in his job description, so I let him take it from there.”

“I'll try to find him later on so you can get your man back, if nothing else,” Marc said.

Harry laughed.

“I'm none too worried about it. Been peaceful here, lots more peaceful than it was on the road. I attribute that to all your adventurer groups that go out to hunt spawns. Keeps them away from the Safe Zone.”

Marc laughed along with Harry for a moment.

“If you're talking about it being peaceful I don't know if you mean that it keeps the spawns or the adventurers away from the Safe Zone.”

Harry's laughter got louder.

“Both,” he said, when he'd finally finished laughing.

* * *

With Marc's mana close to being full, they headed back down the steps.

He remembered to take it a little slower so Ella wouldn't be quite as tired
when they reached the bottom. Since they were right near the main gate, they had to cut through the entire Safe Zone to the back gate to get to the start of the trail that led to the kobolds.

They were slowly making a bit of a path in the undergrowth and grass they walked on and Marc would've worried about someone following them, since they hadn't announced the presence of the kobold Lair to everyone yet, but the last mile was on a paved, if deteriorating, road. He was pretty sure no-one was going to be able to track them along that, at least not until it fell apart even more.

When they arrived at the kobold Lair his jaw dropped.

“Are there two more buildings already converted to that Gothic look?”

he asked.

Two of the outbuildings now had the same bone white walls that the main house did.

“And the fence is in better shape,” Jeff said.

Marc stared at the wrought iron style fence around the house, but it looked the same to him. That was when Jeff poked him and pointed.

“Not that one, the barbed wire fence around the fields,” Jeff said.

Marc looked again. He could see strands of barbed wire. He wasn't sure, but he thought Jeff might be right. There were more of the those strands visible now, they were less rusty, and he thought he saw a few more fence posts than he'd seen the last time. At least if the memory he was comparing it all too was accurate.

“Well, this is all unexpected,” Marc said. “I didn't think it would go this quickly. It's only been what, two or three days since we were last here?”

Rob nodded.

“It looks like you guys were right and maybe there is a kobold in charge of building this place like Marc is for our Safe Zone?” he said.

Marc shuddered.

“I don't want to think about that. Let's go check out those buildings. Be ready in case they're occupied at all though.”

The two buildings that had been converted were a stable and a barn. The stable had still been in good shape before, but the barn had been about to collapse. Now they both looked a bit eerie, but completely structurally sound, as though they'd been rebuilt from scratch using the same blueprints as before.

The stable was empty, at least of anything living. There was what looked like some riding tack and saddles though, but they were not in good condition, the leather was old, dry, and cracked.

“Nothing in here,” Jeff said. “Want me to check the barn in Stealth?”

“Sure, go for it Jeff,” Marc said.

Jeff shimmered and disappeared, then cleared his throat near the stable door, which they'd closed behind them.

Marc moved over and opened the door.

They waited right inside of the stable for several minutes until Jeff returned. When he did, he actually dropped Stealth outside instead of startling them.

“So, it's totally empty. It wasn't, at one point. I was out at this ranch a couple years back and that barn was loaded with a bunch of crap then. Old boards and rusting metal stuff, real horror movie look to that barn then.

Now it's just empty and clean.”

“So, if the theory is right, that stuff probably all got recycled to be used for expanding the Lair,” Marc said. “Assuming it was still here. That's the kind of haul a lot of antique and knickknack hunters would've drooled over.”

“Well, look at the wrought iron fence and the repaired barbed wire.

Plenty of metal there, so I'm guessing it was still loaded with junk,” Jeff said. “Should we take a look at the main house at all?”

“It won't hurt to check it out, from the outside at least. I'm pretty sure there are at least some kobolds here now too,” Marc said. “So keep an eye
out.”

The party moved out, keeping an eye on the main building. As they started moving towards it a hiss from Jeff stopped them.

“There's definitely something in there. I saw movement through one of the windows,” he said.

“Should we give it a try? I think the Lair core said the amount of time in existence was what determined numbers and difficulty and everything. So even if we clear it out, it will probably respawn in a few days as long as don't mess with the core,” Marc said. “And I think the size of the building has something to do with the numbers appearing. Even with the outbuildings they've got nowhere near the size that they had at the middle school.”

“Sure, let's test out that theory about increasing skill and spell levels. If we get some improvements there, even if they aren't good experience, then we'll know for sure and we can start scheduling groups to come clear it out,” Rob said.

“Alright then, let's see what they've got,” Marc said.

* * *

Chapter Seven

“So, how do we want to do this?” Marc said.

He looked around the group, but someone was missing. Then he looked back up at the front door of the house, only to see Jeff approaching it.

“Jeff,” Marc hissed, just loudly enough for the Thief to hear.

“What?” Jeff said, in a normal volume voice. “They're just kobolds, what are you worried about? We waded through these guys before and that was levels ago.”

“They're obviously not the same,” Marc said, giving up on trying to keep it quiet. “Just look at all the differences here.”

Jeff shook his head. Marc noticed that Ella was glaring at the Thief. Both Rob and Felicia had that 'what an idiot' look on their faces as they also stared at Jeff.

Jeff, noticing that everyone was watching him, grinned, then turned around and walked straight up to the front door.

“Heh, it's not even locked,” Jeff said, trying the handle.

Then he pushed on the door. It swung open, but at the same time Jeff dropped down. He stopped falling when the bottom of his rib cage was at the level of the ground, he also started screaming a split second before he stopped falling.

Jeff's arms slammed down on the ground to either side of the hole he'd fallen into and he pulled himself up, accompanied by a whole lot of screaming.

When he got himself out, Marc could see that Jeff's legs, from about the knee down, were bleeding heavily.

Felicia was already trotting towards the door by the time Jeff had himself out of the hole, and Marc had distinctly heard her mutter “idiot...” before she'd started trotting.

Marc and the rest moved after her. By the time they got there, she was already healing Jeff. He stepped forward and looked into the tiny pit that Jeff had fallen into. It was about four feet deep, and there were metal spikes jutting up, angled towards the center, that cluttered the bottom two feet of the hole. Jeff had fallen straight onto them.

“Now, as I was saying,” Marc continued after Jeff was healed and had stopped screaming and whimpering. “How do we want to do this? The Lair core description mentioned traps and the like even if we didn't see any at the middle school.”

Jeff just glared at Marc at the mention of traps.

“Well, we could just go in,” Ella said, still glaring at Jeff.

When he noticed her glaring, Jeff blushed.

Jeff blushed? Marc thought. I don't think I've ever seen him do that in all the time I've known him.

“Sorry,” Jeff said. “I just thought they'd still be like they were at the middle school. Easy to just walk in and take them out.”

Felicia laid her hand on Jeff's forehead.

“Are you sure you're feeling okay, Jeff?” she asked. “I mean, I thought I just heard you apologize.”

Which is another thing he's hardly ever done before, Marc thought. Is Ella actually making some progress with him? I mean, Jeff is great as he is, very smart and skilled, but if she gets him to mature a little more? He'd be even better.

Marc wisely kept his mouth shut. Jeff was now glaring at Felicia and Rob was staring off into the yard, studiously ignoring the goings on.

“Hey Jeff, I'm not ribbing on you here, but could you search for traps?

Maybe we can figure out a way to close this thing and lock it shut?” Marc said.

Jeff's glare switched to Marc, but only for a moment before it faded.

“Yeah, I can do that,” he said, sounding almost defeated.

He straightened and moved towards the door slowly, limping slightly.

That limp must be psychosomatic, I'm sure Felicia healed him all the way back up, Marc thought.

Jeff examined things for a moment before pulling the door knocker so it was perpendicular to the door. The cover over the pit, concealed by the large welcome mat, closed again. Jeff manipulated something on the door and the knocker stayed standing straight out from the door. Then Jeff pushed one foot against the trapdoor, adding more and more pressure slowly.

“There, that one's all set,” he said. “Don't stand on it while I open the door though, just in case.”

He stood to the side and swung the door open. There was more pressure needed than expected and a click sounded as it opened, but the trapdoor stayed up.

The group moved into the building and Marc instinctively crouched down a bit. The ceilings were low. Not low enough that he needed to crouch, but low enough that he could easily hit his head on the ceiling if he hopped.

Jeff led the way through the short foyer, into a living room. It was furnished with several recliners and a couch as well as a coffee table. Marc squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again to check what he'd been seeing. All the furniture was perfectly proportioned, but sized as though it were designed for twelve year old children, not adults.

Jeff stopped everyone by raising his hand in a fist, a signal the group had stolen from movies they'd seen.

“Hang on, no-one step on that rug,” he said, pointing to a circular braided rug.

“Why, is it trapped?” Rob asked.

“No, I want to steal that one and take it home. Oh, and don't step on that one either,” Jeff continued, pointing to another, similar, rug in different colors.

“Why, you want that one too?” Rob asked.

“Nah, that second one is a trap,” Jeff said. “Another little pit thingy, I think.”

Jeff swiped the first rug he'd pointed out, disappearing it into his inventory, then he moved over to the second one. After examining things for a moment, he reached across the rug and lowered the footrest of the recliner that was there.

“Good, that should have it deactivated,” Jeff said. “This is just weird though, the room looks like it was designed for midget grannies or something.”

He had a point, the colors were the faded pastels that Marc also associated with older people and the layout looked like a classic parlor from well before Marc's time. He'd seen it pictured in books and movies a few times over the years.

“Jeff,” Ella said warningly.

“What is it this time?” Jeff asked.

“Midget?” she said.

“Well, it's true. Look at the size of all the furniture. It sure as hell isn't big enough for us and midget is the name for people who are significantly smaller. I told you I'd change some, but I'm not going to adopt your PC
vocabulary, so stop trying.”

Ella sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

“Guys, this isn't the place for a domestic argument,” Marc said.

Both of them glared at him.

“Let me rephrase that then,” Marc continued. “If you have a domestic argument here, there's a good chance you'll never get to have another one.

Kobold Lair, remember?”

In case they'd forgotten, a throwing knife spun into the room, thrown by a kobold who immediately skittered back down the corridor. The knife hit

Ella in the back, doing minor damage, but it also did a wonderful job of driving in Marc's point.

“That little bugger just disappeared inside of another trap door,” Jeff said. “This place is lousy with the things.”

Ella was still frowning as Felicia healed the knife wound. The knife disappeared into Jeff's inventory and they started to move down the hall, Jeff in the lead and moving slowly.

“No more traps yet, but this is the spot that held the trapdoor that dude went down,” Jeff said.

Marc tugged at it, but it was apparently secured from the other side somehow.

“Anyone got a crowbar?” Marc asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“I could probably tear it open,” Rob said, “but I'd need a way to grip it.”

“Hmm, would three finger holes be enough?” Marc asked.

Rob shrugged.

Marc cast his Mana Dart, targeting the trap door itself near its edge.

Seeing what he was doing, Ella stepped up and did the same, leaving five perfectly circular holes along the edge of the trapdoor, tightly spaced.

Rob crouched, crouched more actually since he had to crouch to move through the house anyhow, and slipped his fingers into the holes. The wood tore as he straightened, not tearing off the bar that held it shut, but tearing off the strip of wood that had the holes in it. The hole did expose a section of the bar holding the trapdoor shut though.

“Well, that'll work,” Rob said, pulling out his battle ax. “Back off a bit, flying wood chips coming up.”

Rob made quick work of the bar with his ax, then slipped it back into his inventory.

“There's not enough room in here to use the ax in combat,” he explained,

“but we can open the trapdoor now.”

He leaned over to do so, but stopped when Jeff laid a hand on his arm.

“Let me check for traps first, Rob. If they were there, they might've gone off with you chopping it, but they'll definitely go off if you just open it.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Rob said.

Jeff poked around for a moment before declaring the door clear, then Rob popped it open.

The passageway the trapdoor fed into was a bust. Barely three and a half feet high, none of them would be able to go into it unless they crawled, something none of them were willing to do. The kobolds, on the other hand, would be able to simply crouch a little bit and move along at close to full speed. They ruled that passage right out, closed the trapdoor, and Rob moved a fairly heavy piece of furniture onto it so they wouldn't be surprised from behind.

* * *

It was evident, as they moved through the house, that the Lair had not completely finished spawning yet. There just weren't very many kobolds there. On the second floor they found two singletons, quickly finishing them off. Jeff had taken a moment to Analyze them though and these kobolds were a couple of levels higher than the ones in the middle school had been.

Once they got to the basement, they found more kobolds. It was an open floor plan there and Marc almost panicked when he realized that they were digging.

Why the hell would they want the Lair core, he thought. Are they going to move somewhere else.

Marc already had his Arcane Armor up from earlier, so he tossed Phantom Shields on Rob and himself. The two of them held the front line, simply defending and trying to give Ella a chance to boost her skills. It was only mildly dangerous with the kobolds for opponents. It looked like they'd take more damage from the traps than the kobolds on this run through.

Although if they get enough additional kobolds in here, that could change, Marc thought, deflecting the knife thrust that was headed for his shin.

By the time the fight against the five kobolds in the basement was over, Ella had gotten another point in her Mana Dart spell, letting them know that the kobolds could be used for skill ups by the higher level groups as well as for experience with the lower level groups.

Marc walked over to where they'd been digging and heaved a sigh of relief.

Good, it looks like they're trying to expand underground, not looking for the Lair core. This place has changed so much though that I've got no idea where the damned core is now. I'll check with Jeff, he found it the first time.

“Hey Jeff,” Marc said softly. “Use that Find Valuables skill of yours?

I've got no idea where the Lair core is now. This is nothing like the basement used to be in this place.”

Jeff concentrated for a moment, then pointed at a wall opposite from the one the kobolds had broken through to start digging their staircase.

“It's behind that wall, a couple of feet back and almost a foot under the floor level,” he said. “It's not centered on the wall either, so odds are if they start more stairs there they won't find it.”

Marc tried to memorize the spot, realizing that it might be futile if the kobold Lair kept changing, but hoping that with its basic shape being in place that there wouldn't be any more changes that would make it harder to find.

After looting they headed back outside.

“So, only seven kobolds so far,” Jeff said. “So, I'm guessing it needs more than three days currently.”

“Did you notice? The stuff on the top floor wasn't even sized for the kobolds yet, it was still normal sized stuff in falling apart condition,” Rob said. “So, yeah, I think it needs more time.”

Meanwhile, Marc was staring at the house.

“We went through two floors above ground, right?” he said.

“Yes,” Felicia answered.

“The ceilings were only about six feet high? Windows were spaced awkwardly?”

“Yes, what are you getting at?” she asked.

“Well, the house is twenty feet high or taller. Two floors with six foot ceilings is only twelve feet, thirteen if you count a solid separation between them. That leaves another seven feet of building. Did anyone see stairs to a third level?”

A bunch of head shakes were his answer.

“And we didn't find anything resembling a boss mob. No casters either. I think there's a third floor in there that we somehow missed,” Marc said.

“I'm not going to worry about it for now though, like you said it obviously hadn't finished its setup, but it's something we might want to mention to any groups heading out this way.”

No-one in the party had gotten much experience from the kobolds. Even Ella, the lowest level among them, had only gotten a couple of hundred experience, although she had also managed to boost her Mana Dart spell.

So, there was no experience value for the higher levels, but there were skill boost possibilities.

Plus, dad said his legionaries were all still below fifth level, didn't he?

So they could definitely use it and there are probably a few adventuring groups who could still get decent experience there as well, Marc mused as he walked.

They were on their way back to the Safe Zone, following their blazed path, when Jeff stopped abruptly.

“Guys, what's that?” he asked, pointing.

Marc caught up to him and looked at the path of devastation that crossed the trail they were walking on. The grass was torn up and rooted through, the trees the path went by had strips of bark that had been torn off of them.

They weren't in the Wildlife Preserve yet so whatever made the trail wasn't from there.

“Spawns?” Rob asked.

“Might be, might be something native. Although most of the native wildlife doesn't leave a trail like this, I don't think,” Marc said.

“Do we chase it or do we just head back?” Ella asked.

“It's only just past lunch time, right?” Felicia asked.

“I think so,” Jeff replied.

“We should check it out then. It's close enough that if it is a spawn of some sort, then it could be a danger to the Safe Zone or the Preserve. I don't think any of the adventuring parties come out this way. Most of them go into town because more things spawn there,” Felicia said.

Marc shrugged.

“Well, whatever it is looks like it's fairly big and probably strong. So make sure to keep an eye out as we go.”

They headed off along the trail. Marc hoped they'd picked the correct one to follow based on the smaller trees whatever had made the trail had tipped over. He assumed they'd fall in the direction the creature was headed and based his call on which way to go off of that.

As they moved through the forest, he was relieved to find that he was correct. Somewhere in front of them were the sounds of whatever was making this trail.

Jeff Stealthed and the rest of the group stopped and waited.

A minute later he was back, his facial expression moving back and worth between joy and worry.

“Well, what is it?” Rob asked.

“Bacon on the hoof. Big bacon on the hoof though. Looks like a pig, a boar has the tusks, right? If so, then a boar. But the damned thing stands almost as high as my shoulder and is eight feet long. That's not natural, right? They shouldn't get that big?” Jeff said.

Marc grinned.

“Hey Rob, you've got the boar spear, right?”

Rob nodded.

“I even took the Long Spear skill for it. I'm kinda limited on skills to pick, there's a bunch I'm not that interested in, so I banked a few points. I used two of them, one for the spear and one for the ax. I've got the spear and I'm proficient. A little nervous because I can't use my shield with it though.”

“Don't worry, I think that's what the crossbar is for, to keep the pig from getting to you. Just stab it in and then let go of the spear. Then you can get your shield and another weapon out,” Jeff said.

Rob nodded, but he didn't look very certain about it.

“Well, fresh meat would probably be a bit of a pick me up for morale, right?” Marc asked.

“After you got rid of the Sternns, there hasn't been much of a morale issue,” Felicia said. “A couple of fist fights, but...”

She shrugged.

“Still, if the corn was great for food, then how much more would a pig this size give us?” Marc said.

“Oh, no doubt,” Felicia replied. “I was just saying you don't have to worry about morale.”

“Are we procrastinating?” Rob said. “Because I'd rather just get this done if we're going to do it.”

“Alright then,” Marc said. “You've got to take point for this, Rob. Use the boar spear like Jeff said, then you can switch to something you can use with your shield. I'll step up after the initial strike, although I'll probably be using spells instead of a weapon.”

Marc quickly reviewed the help file on the most recent spell he'd gotten from his Arcane Bulwark class. From what he'd read about wild boars, it might come in handy.

Help Stand Fast, he thought.

Stand Fast:

By use of this spell the caster prevents themselves from being bowled over, thrown, or otherwise taken off their feet. Damage may still be taken from an attack that would normally hurl the caster off their feet, but they will remain standing, health permitting. Their feet will remain in contact with the ground until the end of the spell. This spell also prevents movement for its 5 second duration.

Marc had the idea that he might need it here. If the boar charged him, he could make sure it didn't get past him this way. The spell only cost thirty mana, so he could easily use it along with all his protection spells and quite a few Mana Darts.

Maybe even a Water Jet or three. Those do a lot more damage than the Mana Darts, he thought.

His first action was to cast his Arcane Armor on himself and he received a welcome message when he did so.

Your spell, Arcane Armor, has increased in skill level (2->3).

Then he cast Phantom Shields on himself and Rob.

“Alright, ready when you are,” Marc said.

Rob advanced as Jeff shimmered out of sight. Marc knew that, as always, Jeff would be trying to position himself for an advantageous rear attack on their opponent. Felicia and Ella were behind Rob and Marc, staying behind the tank and the off-tank.

They reached a clearing where the boar was scratching itself against a tree. The tree was coming off the worse for it too, the bark torn and the actual wood of the tree missing several chunks from the boar's efforts.

That thing is huge! I know what Jeff said, but it looks even bigger in person, Marc thought.

He quickly Analyzed it.

Giant Wild Boar - Hostile

Lvl – 8

Commonality – Uncommon

This creature was in existence before the System arrived and was increased in size by the System. After System arrival this boar continued with its normal habits, although with its new size there was little that could stand against it, accounting for its rapid rise in level.

Marc blinked.

“I'm worried guys. I Analyzed it and the System was chatty about this thing,” he called out.

“Too late now,” Rob said, bracing the spear.

This time he had the back of the shaft braced against a nearby tree so he could control the point of the eight foot spear more easily while still being able to brace it. The boar was snorting and pawing at the ground, glaring at first Rob, then Marc.

Marc backed off several steps and the boar focused in on Rob before it started charging. Rob shifted nervously as the boar charged him, but he stayed in place and held tightly to the spear.

The boar hit the spear as Rob dropped the point into its path at the last moment. It drove itself right up the spear to the crossbar, which bent frighteningly before straightening back out and pushing the boar an inch back down the shaft.

Rob quickly let go of the shaft and that's when the problem in the plan became evident. The boar was enraged, and not yet mortally wounded. It spun and the shaft of the boar spear struck Rob, sweeping him off his feet.

Seeing Rob on the ground the boar stamped its hooves and prepared to charge the last few feet to the downed Warrior.

“Hey, pig!” Marc yelled, but the boar ignored him.

Marc quickly cast his Mana Dart, the fire-aspected version of it. Just as the boar started forward the flaming darts hit it in the face, drawing its attention to Marc.

Marc gulped and set himself, his shield in front of him as the boar turned its attention, and its charge, in his direction.

As the boar raced towards him, Marc cast his Stand Fast spell. The boar struck and Marc felt as though he should've gone flying twenty feet backwards. Instead he stayed still and the boar shook its head, slightly stunned.

Rob was regaining his feet now and he pulled out his ax and shield, immediately charging the boar once they were equipped. Marc's bell had been rung too, and he was sure he'd taken a decent amount of damage to boot.

Health, he thought.

484/592

Damn, more than a hundred points of damage on that charge? I wonder if I actually take more damage due to the Stand Fast spell. I don't think I'll test that idea out, Marc thought idly since he couldn't seem to concentrate at the moment.

His idle thoughts quickly sharpened again. About the same time as the boar stopped shaking its head, Marc was clear-minded enough to start casting another spell. This time it was the Water Jet spell, not tweaked at all, just the basic one.

The boar had turned to face Rob, who was roaring as he charged the big pig, so Marc's Water Jet struck it from behind, cutting into its buttocks and removing almost all of the tail that had been hanging down back there.

The boar shook its head, driving its tusks towards Rob. Rob caught the tusks on his shield, then drove his ax down at the boar, who dodged. Marc's Water Jet spell finished and he followed up with another flaming Mana Dart as Rob brought his ax down again, this time letting the boar strike at his leg to get a better shot.

More Mana Darts were flying at the boar from Ella and Marc noticed a brief golden glow on Rob after he was struck, followed by the same glow and a feeling of warmth rushing through his own body. The first one was followed immediately by a second since the first heal hadn't gotten him back to full.

Meanwhile he was continuing to toss his own Mana Darts at the boar.

Rob had caught it two glancing blows with the ax, but was having trouble getting into striking position with the long boar spear still hanging out of the beast. He'd almost been knocked over twice more as he fought.

There was a shimmer at the side of the boar and Jeff appeared, driving the gladius into the boar's back, just behind its neck. Even that wasn't enough to drop it and as Rob missed another shot because he had to dodge the boar spear, Marc decided to do something about that.

My Mana Darts are helping, but one or two good shots from Rob's ax should put this thing down. So I'll give him a chance to get them.

Marc ran forward several steps past the boar and grasped the shaft of the boar spear. He tugged as hard as he could while he continued to try to run, but apparently the spear was lodged deeply. It slid a bit out of the boar, but not all the way. All he ended up doing was drawing the boar's attention back onto him.

He held onto the boar spear as the boar tried to advance on him, allowing the boar to move his weight along and not close the distance between them, as much being pushed along as walking. He stumbled once or twice and almost lost his grip, but managed to stay ahead of it long enough for Rob to come in and slam his ax down on the boar's neck.

With blood gouting from its neck, the boar slowed and eventually stopped. Marc just stared at the corpse for a moment.

“Does anyone have hunting or any skill like that?” he asked.

A chorus of negative answers came back at him.

“How the hell are we going to get this thing back to the Safe Zone then?”

* * *

Chapter Eight

We just have to get it back to the butcher's place, Marc thought, gritting his teeth and taking another step.

He and Rob were carrying the wild boar they'd killed. Rob had cut down a tree that was a bit more than a sapling and Jeff had used his Rope Use skill to tie the boar onto the shaft. At first, Rob took one end, his high strength making it possible if not comfortable. Jeff and Marc had taken the other end, briefly. Jeff couldn't handle it, unlike Marc he hadn't added several points to his Strength stat. He'd said he planned to, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

After the third time Jeff stumbled and nearly took Marc down with him, Marc shooed him off. He cast his own Blessing of Strength spell, and that had helped quite a bit. Worried that he might run out of mana and not be able to keep the spell up all the way back to the Safe Zone, he'd checked his mana regen rate. There was apparently no easy way to do that automatically, so he'd simply counted off the minutes, keeping track of his mana as he did so.

So, it looks like I regenerate roughly six points of mana a minute, or one every ten seconds. The spell costs twenty-five mana and last for five minutes, so I'll be fine. I'll just have to recast it every five minutes, but my mana should stay close to full throughout, Marc thought.

By the time they made it back to the butcher shop in the Safe Zone, Marc had received two increases to his Blessing of Strength spell, bringing it up to a three. He wasn't sure if that was one of the ones that would change as he leveled it, either dropping in cost or raising the amount of Strength it boosted. He'd be happy with either, although he was also sure that if that occurred it would be when he got the skill to a five or a ten, since it hadn't changed when it reached a three.

That'll probably be a while, if ever, he thought. Because that's not one of my go-to spells.

He was surprised to actually find the butcher in the shop. He'd thought he would have to track the man down, but from the looks of things some of the other adventurers had been hunting since the place looked as though it had seen some use already.

As they hauled the boar awkwardly through the door, the butcher looked up and his eyes widened.

“That thing is huge! Where'd you find that?”

Jeff was happy to start telling the tale to the butcher as Marc and Rob were directed to take the boar into the back. When they came back out front Jeff had finished talking.

“I don't know if that meat will be good or not,” the butcher said. “Wild boars are frequently disease-ridden.”

Felicia grinned.

“Don't worry about it. I knew about that also and I used a Purify spell on the meat. It should be safe now. Okay, actually I used several Purify spells since the thing's so big, but still, it's clean.”

Marc hadn't even noticed that, but if it had been on the walk back he understood why. He'd been focusing on keeping his end of the boar up and where he placed his feet, nothing else.

The butcher, an older man, maybe on the late end of middle-aged, looked at the party and grinned.

“So, let me guess, you're impatient for fresh bacon?”

Jeff broke into a huge grin and was about to speak.

“I'll warn you,” the butcher said, “it might not be exactly what you're used to, but you'll also get the back bacon, which was sometimes hard to find here in the USA, and all the other bits of bacon you can make with one of these. I'll do what I can, but you will have to let the cooks know that I'll need some spices, they guard those things jealously and I'll need some different things from them to handle all of this.”

“Consider it done,” Marc said.

“There'll also be all the other cuts. Any particular preference for them?”

“When I tell the cooks you'll need some spices, I'll also let them know about that. I've got no clue, but I bet they know what they can work with most easily,” Marc said.

“Good enough. I'll need to let this hang for a couple of hours, make sure the blood is all drained and remove the organs before I can get to work on the cuts anyhow. So you've got some time. If I don't hear from them, I'll just do the standard cuts.”

Noticing a few cylinders hanging from the ceiling, Marc looked back at the butcher.

“Do you make sausages as well?”

The butcher grinned and nodded.

“That I do. Normally the organ meats and the leftover bits are what I charge for doing the butchering. Then I make those into sausages and sell them, see for yourself. I've got some venison sausage curing over there.”

The butcher nodded towards the cylinders Marc had noticed.

“Tell you what? If they're any good, no offense but I've never tried your sausages, then the Safe Zone might be willing to buy them from you, or you could sell them through the shop also, but I'd rather keep foodstuffs here in the Safe Zone until we know we've got a decent supply.”

“That works for me. Once I've got some of these pork sausages ready, I'll let you know and you can try some. That's how I knew about the spices too, I tried to get some for the venison sausage and the cooks argued about it until I promised them some of the end result.”

Marc nodded.

A barter system developing, he thought. We definitely need to get more currency circulating because I don't know if the System could manage to tax a barter deal. And we need those taxes to pay for everyone who's supporting this place.

“Actually, I've got a better idea,” Marc said, pulling out his pad.

He turned it on and pulled up the shop.

“What spices do you need? We'll get them from the shop and let the kitchen keep theirs.”

“What's that?” the butcher asked. “Is that the shop?”

“Yes and no,” Marc said. “Anything I buy that isn't digital still needs to be picked up at the kiosk, but I can browse the shop with this. If you can get some sales for coinage, you can pick up one of these pads, a smaller version at least, for a couple of silver coins in the shop. Now let's see what the spices you need cost and I'll spot you the coinage for them, okay?”

Marc spotted the little notification at the top of the shop listings right away.

All shop transactions in the Any Port Safe zone will be taxed at 3%.

He started searching through the shop and, as he'd thought, all the spices the butcher needed for his sausages were available.

Pretty cheap too, he thought. Most of the prices on the common spices are in coppers, not silvers. So even with the taxes it shouldn't be too much.

I'm glad mom got the taxes set though, maybe we'll start getting some income and not have to keep donating to keep the Safe Zone afloat.

All the spices the butcher wanted totaled under three silver, even after taxes. Marc just handed the butcher the three silver and told him he could go purchase his spices at the kiosk whenever he wanted.

A few minutes later, after helping the butcher get the hog hanging in the back, mostly hanging anyhow, since the front legs and head were dragging on the floor, the butcher ushered them out of his shop, locking the door and hurrying up the road to get his spices from the shop kiosk.

* * *

“I'm going to stop in at the Town Hall before heading back to the keep,”

Marc said. “It looks like my mom got the taxes set on the shop and I want to see what else she's managed to get done.”

“Didn't you say there's a funky map of the Safe Zone in there now?” Rob asked. “I'll go with you. I want to see that.”

“Sure, I need to check and see if we can expand again yet too, the recyclers have been working right through.”

“I heard some of them were getting levels,” Jeff said. “That the groups guarding them had started adding them to the group so they could level up and have more health if they were attacked.”

Marc shrugged.

“I haven't heard anything about it, but it's a good plan. We need to keep everyone alive that we can, especially the people that are willing to work, you know?”

“I'll go too,” Jeff said, glancing at Ella. “I want to see how close we are to expanding as well. It's been a few days so we might be there, right?”

“We might, but the cost to expand keeps increasing with every level,”

Marc said. “The last time we did it it was thirty-five hundred wood and stone and seventeen hundred metal and it'll be even more this time. The recyclers can pull in a fair bit, but max out at about five hundred of any one material if I tell them to focus on one type, plus less of the other two.

Obviously if they aren't specializing in one thing there's less than five hundred of each, but a higher total of the combined materials.”

“And you haven't had them specializing the last few days?” Jeff asked.

“Nope, just letting them get what they can easily. So, maybe with the materials we can recycle from the area we're about to enclose we'll be able to make it, but it wouldn't happen yet on just what the recyclers are bringing in.”

They stepped into the Town Hall, and Marc led the way to his mother's office. He knocked, sure she was in there despite not having any indication of it. When she called out for them to enter, he turned.

“Go ahead guys, Jeff should be able to get into the build room at the end of the hall. The map is on the wall, Rob. You can't miss it.”

Marc entered his mom's office. Felicia had elected to stay with him so she came in as well.

Michelle looked up and grinned when she saw who had entered her office.

“Marc, Felicia, it's good to see the two of you together.”

Felicia blushed.

“Mom, must you?” Marc said.

“Yes, I must. Now, I'm assuming you stopped by for a reason?”

“I did, I noticed that you'd set the taxes. I wanted to chat about why three percent and also to see what else you'd set in place, if anything.”

“Well, I made sure to set the taxes first since you emphasized that we wanted to be financially stable for the Safe Zone. I picked three percent for now as a test. You can set it from zero to ten percent, even higher if you make some changes that I very much do not recommend. So three seemed like a good place to start.”

He nodded.

“I'd been thinking three to five percent to start, so that's just fine. I'm guessing you'll tweak the amount?”

“There just haven't been that many shop transactions yet, not for the number of people you have here. So I started it low. As the number of transactions grows, I'll probably bump it up a bit at a time. That old frog-in-boiling-water analogy that your father's so fond of?”

Felicia nudged him and he turned to look at her. Her confusion was obvious on her face.

“It's the old story about incremental changes,” he said.

When her confusion didn't clear, he continued.

“If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will hop right out,” he said.

“But if you put it in a pot of cold water and slowly heat it, it will eventually boil to death, not having noticed the incremental temperature changes. It's supposed to represent things like how a dictator might slowly make things
worse in a country, bit by bit so no-one really registers a major change because they don't look at where they started and where they ended, they just compare one day to the next over and over.”

“That's horrible,” Felicia said.

“While it's actually untrue for the frog example, it's more than true enough in the world. It's happened all over the place in economics, politics, and all sorts of different things. In this case though, it's a good thing. No-one will really notice or comment on the very slow tax increase unless it gets much worse than we intend, but at the same time we'll be more readily able to support the Safe Zone with its own income.”

Michelle was nodding happily at her son's words.

“Yes, what he said. I knew you had a handle on all of this, Marc. I have been considering that you just didn't want to be tied to a desk.”

“That's true, I don't want to be tied to a desk. That's because while I know a lot of the theory of economics, since a lot of it is math, or at least uses math to represent it, I don't get it. There's a social aspect to economics also, isn't there? And you know me...”

Michelle looked from Marc to Felicia, then back. She bent her head and politely coughed.

“Yes, just because I managed to negotiate one social situation doesn't mean I have a grasp on being social, mom,” Marc said. “You've always been better at society and people than either dad or me.”

“I'll give you that,” Michelle said, “but that's not exactly a high bar.”

“You've done administration in the past, you were just acting as a quartermaster, it's close to the same thing, isn't it?” he said.

“Yes, but of a different magnitude. If I mess this up, people may die.”

“And that's why I'm a bad choice for it,” Marc said. “On the other hand if my group and I keep growing stronger we can help keep people from dying due to the physical hazards that are now common. By making you admin here I'm just trying to put a round peg in a round hole.”

Michelle chuckled.

“Alright, I've given you enough of a hard time. Yes, I set the taxes low and, if we start seeing more shop usage I'll increase them. I don't want to deter usage of the shop so it starts low, once it's a habit for people to use it, then we can increase the taxes.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, I've set up some selectable sorting mechanisms on the inhabitant screens. One by value of job and if it should be a paid job. A second for sorting if people have a job or not. It sorts anyone who's been here for seventy-two hours or more and spits out a list of those who have been and who don't have a job. I added age into the data it gives us on them there, because I don't know what age cutoff you wanted. I've seen kids under eighteen with a class, so...”

“Fourteen is the earliest I've seen anyone with a formal class. I have seen one person with a junior class. They kept making themselves useful and were given it.”

“Oh? Is that the Junior Courier class I saw?”

“Yes, Amy's like ten or something, I don't remember,” Marc said. “But in general fourteen or older needs to be doing something useful to the Safe Zone. We'll pay the people who are being useful and not getting any other remuneration, but some of them are already working on barter so we need to get coinage circulating soon.”

“Okay then. I've been working on a pay scale on and off again, I'll focus on that for my next main task,” Michelle said. “Anything else?”

“Nope, sorry to bother you mom. I didn't mean to take up this much of your time.”

“Not a problem at all, it let me know what to prioritize next,” Michelle said. “Bye.”

Despite being more social than her husband or son, her head was buried back in the monitor before they were out the door.

* * *

When they entered the build room Ella was on one side of the room, the farthest from the map, trying very hard to keep a straight face and not laugh. On the other side, right next to the map, were Rob and Jeff.

“Now tap the smithy, Jeff,” Rob said.

Jeff rolled his eyes and did so, then he caught sight of Marc entering the room.

“Good, you do this,” Jeff said, darting across the room to Ella.

“Apparently the only people who can pull up data on the map are those authorized for the build table.”

Marc walked over next to Rob, who was staring at the smithy data. He grinned as he skimmed it himself.

I guess dad told Rudi about the Smithy and he jumped on the chance, Marc thought, looking closer at the data the icon had pulled up.

Level 1 Smithy

Current assigned smiths: Smith (1), Apprentice (2) Max Smiths: 3

Power source: Safe Zone

Plus it looks like Rudi took the two guys that had been banging around in there and made them his apprentices. I wonder if mom assigned him the Smithy or what? I know I didn't and I don't think Jeff would've. Hell, I'm not even sure I know how to do that unless it's like assigning mom as the admin.

I'm not going to disturb her again though, she might bite my head off if I interrupt her a second time so soon after the first. I'll ask her at dinner, Marc thought.

Rob was asking for another spot to be pressed and Marc took care of that, then he took a few steps to the build pedestal and started menu diving.

It was several layers down, but he found the map and added Rob to the access list for it.

“Hey Marc, tap the watchtower for me? I want to see if it says how far that telescope lets them see.”

“Do it yourself,” Marc said, grinning at Felicia who'd been watching him.

She grinned back at him and shook her head, mouthing the words

“You're mean”.

“You know I can't,” Rob said.

“Try it,” Marc said.

Rob poked at the watchtower icon and jumped when it pulled up the data on it. He spun to look at Marc.

“Jeff said he couldn't give me access.”

“He probably can't, he has build access on the pedestal but not administrative access,” Marc said. “Now you can check the map whenever you like, you should have access to the room by having access to the map.

Don't bring anyone else in here though, okay? It's kind of a critical area for the Safe Zone.”

“You got it, Marc,” Rob said, turning back to the map and pressing the icon for the cattle corral.

“Hey, did you know that both of those cows we got are pregnant?” he said.

Marc just shook his head as he pulled up the data for the next expansion.

When he removed the wire-frame that made the estimate include the material to be recycled from the new area to be claimed he was baffled.

What the hell? I thought we had more materials than that stockpiled? It's going to be a few more days at this rate. Do the damned materials decay even inside the Safe Zone? They shouldn't, from what I know. I don't get it, we should have lots more than that, he thought, resolving to speak with the recyclers at dinner.

“I'm going to head back up to the keep. Ella, if you think you're ready then later on tonight I can try to teach you the Fireball spell. I'd offer Water

Jet, but it's a real mana hog and I think an AoE spell would be better for you.”

“No, Fireball would be great,” Ella said hurriedly. “I'll be there.”

“After dinner time in the auditorium. I think there might be another Mage or two who's ready to learn it also,” Marc said. “And Jeff, I don't know why, but we don't have nearly enough materials for another upgrade on the Safe Zone yet.”

The group left the room, a little regretfully on Rob's part, and headed back up to the keep.

* * *

Dinner that night was the first of the corn. The wagons had made several trips back and forth from the cornfield and the cooks had immediately gotten to work with the first batch they received.

There were little pats of butter available on request, served with each ear of roasted corn at dinner time. The cows that Rob had noted were pregnant could already be milked, they were far enough along for it, but they weren't yet giving as much milk as they would, so the milk they'd given was turned into butter in an old-fashioned churn, and then served dollop by dollop at the diner's request. There was also salt, so Marc was good with it. Three ears of the best sweet corn on the cob he'd ever had, with a little butter and salt on each, had made for an incredible meal as far as he was concerned.

Once he was done eating, he'd gone to track down the recyclers. They reported that they'd been proceeding along like normal, but that they'd also noticed that the stacks seemed smaller when they dropped off materials earlier in the day, leaving Marc confused.

So it's not just me, they also think there are fewer materials than there should be, Marc thought. Could the Smithy have taken some of the metal?

Or the Carpenter some of the wood? Even if they had, I would've thought those would be small amounts, not enough to notice.

It would remain a puzzle for him, since he had to go teach the Fireball spell now.

I've still got that Lightning Flash scroll I got from the gremlin too, I can learn that now that I have more spell slots. I'll do that while they're working on the concepts for the Fireball spell, he thought.

Marc headed for the auditorium. He was the first there, so he took a seat on the stage and pulled out his scroll. The Lightning Flash spell was an electrical attack spell that dealt both damage plus a short blindness debuff.

He devoured the scroll, wishing he'd remembered it was in his inventory sooner so he could've had the symbols from it during his latest meditation on the Mana Manipulation skill.

Oh well, I'll have it for next time at least, he thought.

His head was still throbbing a bit from learning the spell from a scroll when the first of the Mages started entering. When he started teaching, Doug, Ella, and one of the newer Mages from Ella's apartment building were there to learn the spell. It took a couple of hours, being notably more complex than the Mana Dart spell, but all three of the Mages learned the spell in the end.

When they were done and leaving, Marc stopped to ask Ella to have Jeff show up for breakfast the following day.

“I'm tired of doing things just for the Safe Zone, I know we did the Scarecrow and checked the kobolds but we need to do something else to boost our power some. I was thinking we might go check out the mine and see if Jeff's Find Valuables skill will actually show us ore.”

“He'll like that. He's been chafing at the bit to do something more challenging than hanging around the Safe Zone,” Ella said. “I'll make sure to tell him.”

“And Ella, trying to get Jeff to be PC? Um...”

She laughed, loud and long.

“I'm not really like that, but Jeff likes to compromise, you have to go way over your initial goal to get him to where you want him to be. So, think
of that like me acting out my initial bid in a haggle session. You always ask for lots more than you actually want, right?”

Marc just gaped at her. She'd had him fooled.

“Remind me to have you haggle if we're ever buying or selling in person,” he said. “I'll let the others know about tomorrow morning.”

“Good night, Marc,” she said, then left the room, still chuckling to herself.

Marc headed back to his room, stopping and knocking at Felicia's door once he was up there.

“Hi Marc, how'd the teaching go?”

He groaned.

I never thought about it like that, but I really am teaching, aren't I?

Dad's probably proud and laughing his ass off at me. I told him I'd never become a professor because I couldn't stand facing all the students, and now this.

“You know, I never thought about it like that. Thanks...”

She laughed at him.

“I didn't think you had, that's why I phrased it that way.”

He'd discussed the conversation where he'd told his father he'd never want to teach with Felicia and evidently she'd remembered it long enough to get a dig at him with it.

“I've got to talk to Rob for a minute, but I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we should go check out the mine?”

Her face brightened as she broke into a smile.

“Good, I know you've wanted to do that for a while now, but were keeping yourself doing stuff for the Safe Zone. You do know that our group growing stronger is also good for the Safe Zone as well?”

“I know, I know, but there's just so much to do. Fortunately, I think my mom can handle it and my dad is working on a guard force. Even if he is
pushing it off on one of his guys. So now I feel like we can do stuff for ourselves instead of stuff the Safe Zone needs done.”

“You're going to tell Rob? He'll be happy about it. He's been chafing at the bit for some adventuring, although the fight with the boar might have satisfied his urge for a while. I think he just wanted to use his new weapons and now he got to use both of them,” Felicia said.

“Well, let me go tell him. Would you like to watch a movie or something once I'm back? That's why I knocked, to ask about that.”

“It might be a bit late for a movie, but I can think of something else we can do that won't take as long,” she replied.

Marc was very quick as he hurried to Rob's apartment. When there was no answer to the knock, he wrote out a quick note and slipped it under the door before returning to his own place to do something with Felicia.

* * *

Chapter Nine

When morning arrived, or at least Marc's current version of morning, he woke to a cold breeze. A quick glance around showed him that it was still dark out, the window was open, and Beggar was curled up on his chair.

Huh! I'm already thinking of it as his chair, Marc thought. Guess he laid his claim pretty solidly. How'd he get in though? I would swear that the window was closed and secured. Maybe Felicia let him in?

He walked over to the window and closed it, setting the latch to hold it that way. A glance at the latch showed that it wasn't broken, although it was slightly dirty with little streaks of dried mud on it.

Marc just shrugged.

Beggar can just get one of us to open that for him when he wants to go out, he thought. I don't want Felicia to have it as cold as I did when I woke up.

He stared at the lump she formed under the covers, wondering just what it was they had between them, but not wanting to poke at the concept too much for fear of damaging it.

Alright then, I know the cafeteria isn't going to be open for an hour or two, so what do I do? he wondered. We're going to the mine today, so is there anything else I should take care of here before we do?

Then he remembered his shortsword. The one he'd destroyed while fighting the Scarecrow. He needed to replace that, and he needed to fine tune his fire sword adjustments to the Water Jet spell.

Although, now that I've got the Lightning Flash spell, I could probably make a lightning blade with it too, he thought gleefully. Okay, problems with the fire sword options on the Water Jet spell. First, I don't want a crowbar, I want a blade. Second, I need to attach it to something other than my hand or make the base of it not as hot so I don't damage myself while I use it. Okay, how do I do this?

He slipped out of the room quietly so as not to wake Felicia, then headed down to the shop. After replenishing the help pads that had sold out again, he started hunting for a shortsword to replace the one he'd destroyed.

This time, I'm going to splurge and get a good one, he thought. I've got the cash for it finally. Hey, while I'm at it, maybe I'll get a longsword and try to pattern the fire sword after that, or should I do a shortsword so I'm more familiar with it?

He took his time browsing through the shop and ended up splurging, purchasing a shortsword with enhanced attack and damage, as well as an enchantment to keep it sharp. That alone cost him several gold, so the additional handful of silver he spent on a longsword seemed like nothing in comparison.

His shield, which had been holed by the Scarecrow, was almost back to pristine condition again, just a few dents in its surface showing where it had been damaged in the fight.

Bill had dropped Marc's own personal AR-15 off the day before, after he'd returned to the Safe Zone. It wasn't as nice as his dad's. The optics were less powerful and it was a version that just wasn't of the same quality as his father's, but it was still a solid rifle. It had rarely given him problems before, so he trusted it.

He'd taken several of his own magazines and hidden them with the rifle, hoping that if Bill found them as a group, he'd be able to Systemize them as a single unit, and he'd been correct. So now he had his rifle and five magazines that were Systemized. He'd tucked them in his inventory and vowed to remember them more often than he'd remembered his dad's rifle when he'd had it in there.

Not that it's going to be that useful inside of a mine. I try to use that in the mine tunnels and there will be ricochets all over the place. It would be even worse if Felicia tried to use her shotgun. She knows that herself, so I won't bring it up. We do have a three mile walk to get there though, or maybe a little less. Either way, the last trip we made that was that long had us running into ogres. So I'll keep the rifle out on the way there, then use the pilum and sword once we're inside the mine, he thought.

With his thoughts clear for how he wanted to handle the rest of the day, weapon wise at least, he decided to fine tune the one weapon he currently wanted to add to his arsenal. Marc headed outside, just in case he screwed up something with the fire sword version of the Water Jet spell, and started experimenting.

It took him a good hour, and several instances of a scorched palm, to figure out his problem. He couldn't figure out how to change part of the actual flame to not burn him, although if he did a Flame Jet instead of a Water Jet, it didn't burn his hand.

Eventually he figured out that he was targeting his fist with the original spell, but that his fist wasn't the target for the damage, just for the spell. The damage was released after that. Once he figured that out, it didn't take him long to work out how to target the sword hilt from his old sword instead of his fist. Then he had to release the spell into the containment area he reworked using the pattern of the longsword he'd just bought. That would fill the area he'd designated with flames which would stay there for as long as he channeled his mana to them. His hand got warm on the sword hilt while the fire blade was in effect, but not hot enough to damage him.

Marc grinned and shouted with joy when he finally got it worked out exactly the way he wanted. Then he looked around self-consciously. It was well past dawn now and there were people out and about, although when they'd seen what he was doing none of them had come close to him.

There was one set of hands providing enthusiastic applause. Marc glanced over to see Amy sitting with her back against the wall of the keep.

She was grinning widely, obviously having been caught up in his excitement.

“Was that what you were trying for?” she asked.

Marc nodded.

“I tried it before and it didn't work as well as I'd wanted it to, so I had to keep going back at it over and over until it worked the way I wanted.”

“Well, I saw what you were doing and wanted to watch. Magic looks like a lot of fun,” Amy said.

Marc uncurled his hand, the burns from his last accident not quite fully healed yet. He held his hand out, palm first so she could see the burns.

“It can be, but it can be dangerous too. So be careful around it, okay?

That's why I came out here to practice.”

“I came out to play on the playground before work today,” she said.

“Thank you for that too. I know I said something about it, but I didn't think you'd do it so quickly.”

“Well, it was important,” he said. “I have to worry about everyone, not just the adults, so when you suggested the playground I made sure to get it done.”

“Thank you then, but I'm going to go play. After they finish serving breakfast, I have to go wait on the porch of the Town Hall. If I'm there all the time at the same times and people need messages run, they know where to find me,” she said. “And the pad helps me not be bored while I wait there. So thanks for that too. Bye!”

Amy followed her torrent of words with a quick wave before she darted off to the playground and climbed onto a swing.

Marc's stomach growled and he realized that if Amy was out here and had been for a while, that breakfast should be available. He quickly went into the cafeteria to get something to eat.

* * *

Marc noticed his mom while he was eating breakfast. He thought about joining her, but the line of people apparently waiting to talk to her discouraged that and he went to his normal table with his friends.

Huh, they never lined up like that to talk to me, he thought. Okay, that's not entirely true, they did want to talk to me and my group mates a few times. Normally when they wanted something. Fortunately mom knows how to say 'no!' pretty easily. I ought to know, I was on the receiving end of it enough. She'll tell me about anything important, I'm sure. Hey, maybe she's assigning jobs to people? That'd be great, but it'll mean we need more
buildings soon. I want to expand twice more before focusing on buildings though. That'll give us most of downtown before it entirely decays.

He shook his head to discourage that train of thought. He wasn't doing that stuff today, unless there was a dire need. Today was for adventuring, exploration, and seeing if the mine was going to be worth trying to work at all.

Breakfast was quickly over and after a few minutes for the group to grab what they needed, they were headed down towards the front gate of the Safe Zone. It would be a straight shot through downtown and then a single turn about a mile past the gates. That road would take them right close to the mine.

It did run through what Marc had frequently thought of as the worst part of town, not for the attitudes and actions of the people in it, but because the average home along that route was a rusty trailer or double-wide. Most of them had been there for a long time.

So maybe just the lowest property value part of town? he thought.

Because it's not really a bad part of town, just an area with lots of people who have, or at least use to have, fewer social inhibitions than others.

Realizing that he was digging himself a hole, even if it was just in his mind, he stopped. He really didn't have anything against any of the people he'd known from the area, but the messy yards, frequently laden with junker cars or other scrap, had made it so he didn't like to spend much time around there.

I wonder if there's anyone still alive out that way? Marc thought. Most of the people out there were of the old 'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without' mentality so they may have some survivors, or at least had some.

It's been a while since the System took over. Crap, why didn't I think of this before and have some people going out this way to check?

Marc realized that he wasn't even sure that no-one had checked the area.

He didn't think any of the adventuring groups had headed out this way, but Ron's might've. He'd focused on looking for survivors, he was even still finding one or two every couple of days, but Marc didn't know where he'd been looking.

“Alright, I just realized that the area we're going through might've have had, or even maybe still have, some survivors. Resourceful types are probably more likely to have survived, right? Along with the gamers anyhow,” Marc said.

“Rednecks?” Ella asked incredulously. “You think rednecks might've survived?”

Marc winced.

“True colors, Ella,” Marc said, glancing at Jeff.

She turned to follow his gaze and blushed.

“Why not though?” Marc said. “They'd always had to jury-rig things and they tended to own more weapons than most people, so why not consider that they might've applied those skills to their own survival.”

“Oh,” Ella said. “Actually, that kind of makes sense. I wouldn't have thought of it, my own prejudices get in my way sometimes. But yeah, they might've had a better chance on their own than most. After this long though?”

“Yeah, I'm kicking myself for not getting some of the groups to come out this way earlier on, but we'll keep an eye out while we're going through,”

Marc said. “Hopefully some of them will still be around.”

They kept moving, still a long distance away from the trailers and double-wides that Marc remembered. He had his rifle out, ready on its sling and the rest of the group was ready also. Felicia was carrying her shotgun since Marc had mentioned that they might want to use their firearms on the way so if there were any fights, they didn't tire themselves out before hitting the mine.

The first sign of trouble came when Marc was sure he'd seen movement ahead. He scanned the area he thought he'd seen it in, but didn't find anything. He quickly let the group know and kept his head on a swivel, scanning the area.

“Ambush up ahead,” Jeff said. “See that shed on the front corner of that lot?”

He nodded towards the structure in question.

“There's someone, or thing, behind it. Probably more than one.”

“How can you tell?” Ella asked.

“See the dirt on the corner? How it's all kicked up and disturbed? So that's been disturbed since the last rain, plus there's a hint of dust in the air there, like it was just kicked up in the past few minutes.”

Marc could see all of that after Jeff had pointed it out, but he never would've spotted it and made the connections on his own.

“I'll believe you. I'm going to flush them out when we get closer, so everyone be ready,” he said

As they approached the shed, Marc took his AR-15 in his hands. He swapped magazines on it, replacing the one loaded with soft point ammunition, for one with full metal jacket ammo, which ought to penetrate the thin aluminum of the shed better.

I don't know if the ammo will penetrate both of the walls, but it probably will, he thought. That's why you don't use full metal jacket for home defense. It'll penetrate several layers of drywall, so two thin aluminum walls shouldn't be an issue. Even if it is, the noise and vibration will probably drive them out of cover anyhow.

At about fifty paces he stopped and leveled his rifle. Then he proceeded to put three shots through the shed at his waist level, spacing them across the metal of the shed. The noise of the shots rang out, followed immediately by the sound of the bullets' impact on the aluminum. The whole shed vibrated and, from what he could tell, the shots had gone through both of its walls.

A moment later several figures scrabbled out from behind the shed. They hadn't been in any danger from Marc's shots since the tallest of them only came to his knee. They were on all fours and looked to be some sort of lizard from the scales that covered them.

The largest of them looked at the ground and hissed, then it pawed at the ground and charged them. Marc was having none of that and, despite the
fact that he'd prefer to change his ammo back to the soft points, snapped his rifle back into position.

The thing was only moderately fast, so he barely led it at all after he sighted in on it. It wasn't dodging, no zigging or zagging, just charging straight for them, so after he led it, he squeezed the trigger.

The bullet slammed into it, then through it and into the dirt, the creature itself dropping to its belly and skidding along the ground.

The other two behind it weren't deterred, they simply sped up, slowly increasing their speed. Marc aimed and fired a second time, the sound of his AR firing followed closely by the roar of the shotgun.

The last of the creatures, the one Felicia had shot, wasn't dead. It was badly wounded by the pellets from the double ought buckshot she fired though, one front leg entirely unusable. Rob quickly stepped forward towards the creature that was barely moving any more and drove his pilum through its head.

“Well, no clue what those were,” Jeff said.

Marc stared at a corpse for a moment.

Corpse of Giant Fanged Prairie Lizard

Lvl – 3

Commonality – Uncommon

Lootable

“Giant Fanged Prairie Lizards?” he said.

“What the hell is that?” Jeff replied.

“That's what these are, according to Analyze. Plus, they're lootable.”

Jeff shook his head, but kicked the lead lizard, pausing for a moment after.

“Scales, fangs, no coins,” he said.

“Figures,” Marc replied. “I mean they are animals.”

“But the Prairie Dogs had coins, didn't they?” Rob said.

Marc just shrugged.

“Let's keep going,” he said. “This was only a brief delay so we're still on schedule.”

“Keep an eye out though,” Jeff said. “The gunshots may draw in other things.”

“They'll also let any other humans in the area know that people are here,” Marc said. “Which is something we want.”

“I brought some signs too,” Felicia added. “I know it's a long way to the high school, but I just thought we should put some up in case there are people around and we miss them.”

“This is a good place then,” Marc said, gesturing towards a nearby telephone pole. “If people come to check out the gunshots after we're gone, they might see the sign.”

Felicia proceeded to post a sign on the pole, then they moved on.

* * *

They'd just turned off onto the mine road when Marc stopped again.

“Does anyone else smell that?” he asked.

Rob sniffed and shook his head, but Jeff's head cocked to one side as he tested the air.

“Wood smoke,” he said, “and some sort of nasty cooking? It's coming from that way.”

He nodded towards the slope that the mine was built into, except the mine was still half a mile away.

Marc scanned the area, looking for streams of smoke in case it was a forest fire or something like that, but he didn't see any.

“There's no smoke anywhere though,” he said.

“Someone's got a fire going, but they know how to break up the smoke trail,” Jeff said. “That's the only explanation that I can think of.”

“Well, shit,” Marc replied. “Okay everyone, keep an eye out. We'll try to catch their attention, but that means we might get some other attention too.”

He put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistled. The piercing noise hit the rocky hillsides and echoed repeatedly.

“Hey, anyone out there? We've got a Safe Zone if you're having problems and you're welcome to join us there,” he yelled.

There was a delay of thirty seconds or more before the sound of metal scraping against stone echoed around. A few seconds later a head popped out of what just looked like a small depression on the side of the slope.

An arm joined the head and they waved.

“Up here!” they called.

Marc led the way up to the depression to find out that it concealed a cave entrance, one obstructed by a welded together mass of scrap metal. He could see the hoods of a couple of cars along with some heavier chunks of steel, but all of it was showing signs of decay. There was rust on the metal and the welds were shaky, at best.

I don't know if that's System decay or just because they used scrap metal, Marc thought.

Inside, the cave was much larger than Marc would have thought a hidden cave should be. It actually consisted of several rooms, with smaller passages scattered around that someone might be able to get through if they didn't worry about getting stuck.

There were a bunch of people in there and the rearmost room was partially filled with smoke. There was meat hanging in the smoke coming off of the fire and more of the finished, smoked meat, tucked into a cooler in the room in front of it.

“What's this Safe Zone shit? I read about that a while back, but it didn't make any sense to me,” a man said, not even introducing himself.

Marc took a deep breath and turned to face the man before explaining the concept of the spawns, the Safe Zone, and the fact that spawns wouldn't appear in Safe Zones.

“Ah, you mean like those little fucks that just appeared in our caves? We thought they came in from the cracks, but you say they just sort of appeared?” the man said.

Marc nodded.

“How the hell are we supposed to deal with that?” another of the men in the room said.

The rest had been quiet so far and this was the first time one of them had spoken.

“Well, we can go with this guy and get away from them,” the first man said.

“Or, if you've got enough materials and a System token or a monster core, you can make your own Safe Zone out here,” Marc said.

“What materials?”

“Metal, wood, and stone. I'm pretty sure you're covered on at least two of those. Depending on where you try to set it up, you might have wood covered also,” Marc said.

“And this System token thing?”

“If any of you have picked up a class, you should've gotten one.”

The men looked around at each other for a moment, then started laughing.

“So that's what those class offer messages that we turned down were all about?” one of them said. “I wonder if I can get the offer again.”

Marc shook his head. Then proceeded to quickly give them a lesson on pulling up their notification screens, logs, and stats. Once they managed to do that, they quickly found the offers they'd gotten.

“Warrior? I mean, yeah, of course, but what does the class for it mean?”

Marc spent a good half hour explaining the concept of classes and what they could do with them, then offered them help with learning more about everything going on if they wanted to come back to the Safe Zone with him.

After a few minutes, they seemed to be on better speaking terms.

“So, is that stuff any good? Marc asked, gesturing towards the meat hanging in the smoke.

“Well, you can live on it, but it tastes like shit,” the first man he'd spoken with said.

Jeff snickered and the man who'd spoken smirked at him.

“Wait, what did I just miss?” Marc asked.

Jeff just shook his head.

“Never mind, Marc. Let's just get to the mine so we can pick these guys up on our way back to the Safe Zone,” he said.

“Yeah, you might not want to go to the mine. There's something awfully big in there. We lost a couple of guys when we first came over here. Spent a few days defending a square of houses, but it was too much, we needed a single entrance to defend, so we came here. At least we came here after we tried going to the mine and got our asses kicked.”

“That's okay, we're stronger than we look,” Ella said.

The man just sneered until Jeff cleared his throat.

“Hey Ella, it doesn't take that long to regen your mana right? Why don't we step outside and demonstrate to this man just what you meant,” Jeff said.

“We're headed out that way anyhow,” Marc said. “You can watch from your entrance.”

They stepped out of the small cave network, leaving the dozen men, women, and children they'd found in there behind. The leader, the one they'd been speaking with, had followed along with a couple of the other men.

As soon as they were in the clear Ella cast a Fireball, targeting a large rock in the middle of the path to the cave. As the flames spurted out and surrounded the rock, the leader took a step back.

Marc turned.

“We'll stop by on our way back. If something bad does happen to us, the Safe Zone is where the high school used to be. It's not a high school anymore, but you won't be able to miss the defensive walls. They're well out from where the school used to be.”

Then he turned back and started walking away, smiling inside at the reaction from the man who'd been so dismissive of Ella.

And she's still pretty much the weakest member of the party, Marc thought. I had forgotten that part about the people who lived out this way, a lot of misogynists among them. Maybe we can cure that though, and if not?

Well, I'm not going to kick them out over it unless it gets too violent, but that doesn't mean the women have to put up with it. A lot of the women with combat classes will be able to kick these guys' asses if they get too full of themselves, and I'm sure they'll do just that if the men are too much of a pain. More work for Conner though, if that happens. Oh well, nothing I can do about it, really, not if we want these guys to survive.

It only took another fifteen minutes to make it to the parking lot of the mine. There'd been cars here when everything changed, but it looked like they'd been stripped, just not of the things people normally stole off of a car.

It looked like the strongest metal portions had been removed, leaving just piles of junk behind.

There used to be a small building right in front of the mine entrance, about the size of a large house. It had been designed for clocking in and out, lunches, and breaks when the mine was still open. With the mine having been closed for decades, the building had been in poor shape even before the System and now it had collapsed. It did look like the debris had been picked through though, there was a cleared path through it and some of the debris piles were noticeably smaller than others.

As Marc glanced over at the entrance to the mine, he realized that claiming the mine might take more effort than they'd planned. There was a
barricade in front of the mine entrance, much like the other cave had. Only this one had a creature standing in front of it, glaring at them.

The creature looked like the furry bigger brother, much bigger brother, of the hobgoblins that had been in the high school. It was carrying a shield and pickax as well as wearing what looked like sections of the car hoods rough formed into armor.

Well now, that's interesting, Marc thought, staring at the creature.

“Holy crap, what's that?” Ella said, having been the last to make it up alongside the collapsed building.

“A Bugbear Champion,” Marc said, reading it off the Analyze screen that had popped up for him.

Bugbear Champion - Hostile

Lvl – 7

Commonality – Uncommon

This Bugbear looks like the bouncer at your favorite bar, only with lethal weaponry. Oh wait, you don't have favorite bar yet, do you?

“And the System is getting chatty again. Snide, too,” Marc added. “So, what should we do?”

“Well, this says to me that the mine has something worth mining,” Jeff said. “Listen close.”

Marc strained his ears and heard, from somewhere in the mine, the sound of pickaxes at work. Along with cries of pain that sounded suspiciously like they were uttered by human voices.

* * *

Chapter Ten

Marc stared at the Bugbear Champion for a moment.

“Why isn't he attacking us?” Marc asked.

“Duh, he's a guard,” Jeff said. “I bet if we get close enough he'll attack.”

“Yeah, but, why would he do things that way?” Marc asked. “He probably could've attacked us before we even noticed he was there.”

The champion was staring at the group, his eyes flickering from one to the other in a rapid sequence. The challenge in its eyes was stirring Marc's blood, making him feel more aggressive than normal and he had to stifle the urge to instantly attack.

“There's something going on here,” Marc said.

Jeff was almost growling under his breath, until Marc laid a hand on his shoulder. Jeff spun furiously, ready to shout at, or even attack, whoever had touched him.

“Jeff, look away from the bugbear for a minute,” Marc said, doing the same himself.

Then he raised his voice.

“Everyone, don't look at that thing. It's doing something to us already.”

Jeff had nearly been panting when Marc had interrupted him, but now his breath was slowing.

“How the hell could that thing do that to us?” Jeff asked.

“How the hell does the System do any of the things it does to us?” Marc asked in reply.

Jeff shook his head.

“I'm looking that way again. I'm not going to look at the Champion, but its surroundings. That feels like a trap to me. Infuriate your opponents until they're not paying any attention to anything else and want to charge? I
mean, come on, I'm a thief, I do it from behind with backstabs and I wanted to charge in at that thing headfirst. There's something fishy going on here,”

Jeff said.

Jeff twisted his head and carefully scanned the area around the champion. Marc kept an eye on him in case he was affected by whatever it was again, but Jeff stayed more calm this time.

“Yeah, something fishy alright. It looks like there are arrow slits in the rock to either side of the mine entrance. Also, the ground in front of the champion looks way too undisturbed. From about five feet in front of us to about five feet in front of him. Perfectly smooth dirt. That doesn't happen in nature, so something's going on with that, too.”

“So, what do we do about it?” Marc asked, scanning the rest of the ground.

Felicia and Ella had turned away from the champion and were chatting.

Rob seemed to be having more of a problem though, his face was still flushed and his breathing still rapid.

“Rob, come on over here,” Marc said, hoping to distract his friend.

“What is it?” Rob said through gritted teeth. “Why aren't we killing this thing. Can't you hear the people in there?”

“I heard them, but we can't do anything for them if we die to a trap before we ever even get to them,” Marc said.

Jeff was still scanning the area.

He's probably trying to figure out some way to disarm whatever it is, or get around it, or something, Marc thought.

“A trap?” Rob asked, his breathing starting to ease.

“Yeah, Jeff spotted arrow slits in the side of the hill, to either side of the mine entrance. He also thinks there's a trap between us and that champion.

He says the ground is too undisturbed, like someone's trying to hide something?”

Rob's eyes flashed out, but Marc noticed that he wasn't looking at the bugbear, he was looking at the ground in front of it.

“You think it's a pressure thing?” Rob asked.

Jeff nodded absently.

“Good, I'll take care of it then,” Rob said.

That caught Jeff's attention and his head snapped around as though he'd been going to say something to Rob. Rob wasn't there anymore though, he'd walked over to a pile of debris and was hefting a chunk of concrete nearly the size of his torso. As his hands came down on it, concrete dust puffed out to either side, due to the decay, but he turned back.

“Guys, move to the sides. I don't want to hit you with this,” Rob said, barely straining at all from the weight he'd lifted.

Marc just stared at Rob and shifted to the side, Jeff in tow.

“How is he doing that?” Jeff asked. “That's gotta be almost two hundred pounds of concrete.”

“You're an Agility build, he's a Strength build,” Marc said. “Even so, I'm impressed.”

Rob took several steps forward, picking up speed as he did. Then he slammed his arms out from his torso, sending the concrete tumbling through the air to impact on the undisturbed section of ground.

With a sharp snapping sound, something gave. A ten foot diameter circle in the area Jeff had noticed collapsed down, cloth fluttering along the edge.

The concrete had smashed through the thin sticks that had been holding the cloth and dirt up over the trap and now the sharpened stakes and chunks of sharp metal were visible about eight feet below ground level.

There were paths to either side of the pit trap, probably three to five feet wide, depending on where you looked, and now the champion was starting to move towards one of those.

“Back me up, guys,” Rob said, moving to intercept the champion.

“Rob, no, if you look back at him again, you may have that anger issue again,” Marc said.

“Nah, you remember high school, right? When the teacher droned on and on and expected you to watch them? How you could make it look like you were watching them, but actually look at something else?”

A smile spread across Rob's face.

“I used to watch Janey in the classes we shared. But yeah, I can do that with this guy, at least some. Besides, once we're fighting it won't matter if I get angry. Let me tell you a secret. Lately, I'm always angry.”

With that Rob pulled out his battle ax and shield. Then he sped up his pace so he could intercept the champion just as it came around the pit, at the narrowest point of the path.

“Back him up!” Marc shouted. “Just remember, we're back line for this.

No-one goes charging at the damned thing, only Rob in melee.”

With that he turned back towards the champion and, using the trick Rob had mentioned where you faced someone, but didn't actually look at them, he could keep track of the champion's overall movement with his peripheral vision, only looking directly at him when he finished the Mana Dart spell he'd just started casting.

This one was pure magic damage, the default, so it went quickly. His eyes flickered to the champion for a moment as he released the spell, then he went back to tracking it out of the corner of his eye.

Rob and the champion struck at one another. The bugbear was fighting with a shield and pickax, the awkward combination partially mitigated by the size of the creature. Rob had evidently worked his Shield Mastery skill up a bit though as when the creature's first strike with the pickax came in, Rob raised his shield, catching the haft of the pick and keeping the striking point of the weapon away from his flesh.

He pushed upwards with his shield and the bugbear brought his up to strike Rob's. As the two shields clanged together, Rob swept his ax low, catching the bugbear's ankle.

Marc started in on a second Mana Dart, but before he finished it he heard Rob cry out. An arrow had taken him in the side and another one was skittering along the ground behind him.

“Jeff, arrow slits!” Marc yelled as soon as he launched his Mana Dart.

“On it,” Jeff replied, taking off in a sprint towards one side of the pit.

Marc remembered that Jeff had pointed out two arrow slits, one to either side of the mine, so he looked for the second one. It only took him a moment to find it, the arrow shooting out of the side of the slope a decent indicator of its location.

There are people in there, Marc thought, but they wouldn't have them near whoever is defending at the arrow slits right? Too much chance for someone to interfere?

He spent a moment fervently hoping that his assumption was correct, then began to cast one of his newer spells. He targeted the Lightning Flash spell to go directly through the hole, hoping that it would hit the archer, or at least blind them so they had to stop firing.

As soon as he finished the spell he saw the flash of white light shoot from his hands, bright enough to leave him blinking. It shot through the hole the arrows were coming out of and a moment later a bright flash and the boom of thunder came from the hole, the sound muted due to coming from the inside of the mine.

Crap, I hope I didn't damage any of their prisoners with that, he thought.

A quick line of text shimmered across the bottom of his vision, disappearing as quickly as it showed up and Marc decided that he now had his settings just the way he wanted them.

Your spell, Lightning Flash, has increased in skill level (1->2) He kept an eye on that arrow slit and if any more arrows came through it, he'd charge up to block it with his shield. In the meanwhile, though, he sent Mana Dart after Mana Dart at the Bugbear Champion.

Rob had been pounding away at the champion while Marc was worried about the arrow slit, but Felicia had been on top of her own job as well and
while Rob looked a little banged up, he didn't appear to have any visible wounds, just slightly tattered gear.

Ella was hurling her own Mana Darts at the bugbear as well, so Marc dropped back to doing the same. The occasional arrow still came from the other arrow slit, but Jeff was almost to it now.

As Marc continued to cast he heard a mild explosion and glanced over to see a triumphant looking Jeff staring at the pile of rocks that was now covering the arrow slit on his side. The Thief flipped off the pile of rocks, and the arrow slit behind it, then turned and start trotting back towards the fight.

Marc looked back at the fight and started another cast of Mana Dart. As soon as it raced out, he had another flash of notification across the bottom of his screen.

Your spell, Mana Dart, has increased in skill level (5->6) Casting cost decreased by 1.

The second part of the notification almost broke his concentration, but he recovered in time to send the next Mana Dart out at the lowered cost.

Then Rob started working his way around the side of the bugbear. He'd been dominating the fight so far, but apparently champions had more health than other creatures of the same level or something since the creature was still going strong.

Now Rob had the bugbear between him and the pit and Marc watched as Rob feinted with his ax, drawing the bugbear's guard up towards his head, then triggered a Shield Bash.

Rob slammed forward with his shield, sending the bugbear staggering backwards. First one step, then two, before Rob's move was finished. Then the bugbear staggered for a moment, the edge of the pit crumbling beneath his claws.

Rob kicked out and caught the bugbear with his foot, sending it back out over the pit. The bugbear began to fall but Marc saw it lash out with its
pickax, driving it into the dirt at the edge of the pit.

Rob was turning back to the group and Marc yelled for him to watch out, but the warrior seemed oblivious, shaking his head and panting.

It looked as though the bugbear was having problems holding onto the handle of his pickax though, his weight enough to make the grip slippery.

Slowly but surely it pulled itself up towards the edge of the pit. It released one hand to try to sink its claws into the ground, but that was when Marc acted. Curse of Weakness struck the bugbear while it was holding on with only one arm and instead of getting a claw into the dirt, it lost its grip and fell backwards towards the sharpened stakes and metal spikes of the pit.

Rob finally turned just as the bugbear screamed and fell. Jeff got back to the pit then, running up and glancing into it. He winced and turned away after looking down at the corpse.

Marc's notification light was flashing, but he just assumed it was the two messages he'd got to flicker across his screen. He'd set increases to flash across his vision for a moment, then go to his normal notifications after they did.

He walked up to the pit and glanced in himself. A brief glimpse told him why Jeff had winced. The bugbear was punctured right through by the stakes, in several spots. The makeshift armor he'd been wearing might've protected him if he'd fallen chest or back first, but he'd somehow turned sideways going in, and the armor didn't cover his sides very well, so it hadn't done much of anything to protect against this.

Rob was panting and sitting on the ground.

“Sorry, didn't hear you at first. Ran my stamina out again,” he said. “I had to use special strikes, powered strikes, to get a decent hit on him and those all use my stamina. Thanks for dropping him there, Marc.”

“No problem, you had him,” Marc said. “I just helped a little. We all did.”

Rob nodded, then went back to trying to control his breathing.

* * *

“Just how are we supposed to loot that?” Jeff said, gesturing towards the pit.

“Give me a second,” Rob replied. “I can take care of that, I just need my stamina back first.”

Jeff grumbled, but Marc stopped that right off by giving the Thief a chance to talk about himself.

“Jeff, what did you do over there? It sounded like an explosion,” Marc said.

“Because it was.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“With a bomb, of course. They aren't as strong as I want yet, but it was strong enough to trigger a small rock slide to cover the arrow slit at least.”

Marc growled inwardly, his temper still not settled from the effects of the bugbear. He managed to keep the growl, and the snarl that wanted to accompany it, of off his face though.

“Where did you get a bomb, Jeff? That's what I'd like to know,” he said, forcing his face and voice to appear calm.

“Oh, that? Well, Felicia wasn't the only one to get the Alchemy skill back in the high school. I just didn't publicize that I got it because I'm not going to use it to make potions, I'm going to use it to make explosives.”

“Sorry, Marc,” Felicia said, glaring at Jeff. “I knew he asked if he could use the Alchemy lab, I thought he was trying to get the skill, not that he already had it and was doing something with it.”

Jeff grinned.

“Yup, a lot of chemical reactions changed, and some of them changed for the better,” he said. “I needed to figure out which I could use and start making some explosives. I've got a few more potions like the one I just used. Well, it's not really a potion, you couldn't drink it, and wouldn't want
to if you could, but what the hell else can I call them since they use the Alchemy skill?”

Marc answered idly, most of his mind still considering the dangers of Jeff as a mad bomber.

“You could call it a fulminate, but that's not really a noun, so perhaps a fulminating potion? Or, guessing at the processes you might have used, a fulminated concentrate?”

“Or, you know, I could just call it what I've been calling it,” Jeff said, “a bomb.”

Marc just shook his head.

Rob stood up.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I'll get us down there now.”

He walked over to the piles of debris and picked up the remains of what had to be a roof beam from the old building. He walked over to the pit and slipped one end down into it. Then he pulled the pitons from his original Systemizing session out and used the pommel of his sword to drive them into the decaying wood.

“I don't think there'll be a problem, but I'll go first,” Rob said, “since I'm the heaviest.”

“Wait, Rob,” Marc said. “Is there a chance that there will be a problem?”

The tank shrugged.

“The wood isn't in the best of condition, but I think I drove the pitons deep enough to get to solid wood.”

“Then grab your rope too, we can tie it around you and belay you going down.”

“It's only eight feet, Marc.”

“It's not the drop I'm worried about, it's all the sharp pointy stuff at the bottom of it.”

“Oh,” Rob said before pulling out his rope.

A few minutes later they'd all been down to the bottom to loot the corpse.

“Anyone get a key?” Marc asked, glancing at the door to the mine.

There was a lock on the door, rather built into it. The keyhole was massive though and Marc wondered if that would make the lock harder or easier to pick if they hadn't found the key.

Jeff pulled out a key half as long as his forearm, and half as thick as it, too.

“This what you're looking for?” he asked.

Marc looked at the lock, then the key. The sizes seemed to match.

“I think so, should we go in then?”

Marc took the key from Jeff, then approached the door. The metal of the wall preventing entry into the mine looked as though it weren't decaying at all. It also didn't look like any metal Marc was familiar with.

The closest thing I can think of is the general metal blocks in the storage of the Safe Zone, he thought. This must be something the bugbears made then?

He slipped the key in the lock and tried to turn it. Straining his muscles, he twisted harder Eventually it turned, but he needed almost all of his strength to do that. When he heard the solid 'ka-chunks' from behind the door he had a sneaking suspicion why. Once the door was open, he satisfied his curiosity, staring at the bars that had held the door in place and were manually retracted onto the back of the door by turning the key.

A cloud of dust filled the tunnel behind the door, but once he'd opened it the dust began to drift out. The smell of scorched flesh struck him as the dust passed by.

The entire group waited for a minute or more to let the dust clear, then Jeff stepped up front.

“My turn, I'll check it out,” he said, then shimmered and disappeared.

He was back in less than two minutes.

“Alright, looks like my bomb was a little stronger than I'd thought, it spilled a bunch of rock and debris into the room with the arrow slit. I guess it broke up some of the slope overhead and dropped it down on their heads.

As for you, Marc, there's a hole I could put my arm through in the head of the guy who was next to the other arrow slit.”

Marc gulped, then shrugged.

“He was shooting at us,” was all Marc said.

“Yeah, and on that note, there are a few bows and a bunch of arrows we may want to take. The bows aren't anything special, pretty crude actually, but we might still want them,” Jeff said.

“Did you hear any more of the people we heard in here before?” Marc asked.

Jeff shook his head.

“It's as silent as the grave in there.”

Could you have picked a worse turn of phrase, Jeff? Marc thought.

“Well, let's head in,” Marc said. “Standard formation?”

They moved into the mine with Rob and Marc up front, followed by Ella and Felicia, with Jeff bringing up the rear. Ella used her light spell to create a light over their heads that illuminated the group and about ten feet beyond them in both directions.

As they walked down the corridor, Marc noticed that it looked like someone had been mining in here. The walls showed fresh marks on them where things had been chipped out.

The side tunnels up here were all short, none of them more than a hundred feet long, but the main tunnel was rapidly descending, the slope almost enough to cause Marc to stumble more than once.

The deeper down they went, the more noises they heard. Someone, somewhere in the mine, was apparently using a pickax, the steady noise of it providing a background as they walked. There were also some low-pitched growling voices, and finally they heard what they'd been searching
for. There were voices of humans, or at least voices that sounded like humans, whimpering in fear and crying in pain.

“Is it just me or is the mine nothing like it used to be?” Jeff asked. “I mean, I remember this main corridor, but it's dropping a lot quicker now.

And the side tunnels? Didn't they use to connect to each other, at least some of them?”

“It's also taller than it used to be,” Marc said, staring at the ten foot high ceiling. “I'm sure of it, because if I'd grown since I was last in here, it would feel shorter, wouldn't it?”

Rob grunted.

“You're right. I felt small in here for some reason, now I know why. The last time I was in here I was still a freshman, and a lot smaller than I am now. But I still feel like I'm filling about the same amount of space as I did then. I just need to think of it as a new place and not one I've been before. I think that'll make me feel bet—”

Rob was cut off by an arrow shooting down the tunnel and striking him in the leg. The shooter was out of the range of light provided by Ella's spell.

Rob grunted and yanked the arrow out of his leg. Marc spun to face where the arrow had come from just in time to dodge the next one that was shooting straight towards him.

Can't target what I can't see, but I'm aware of parallax and how it should alter the arrow's flight. Assuming the same speed that Jack shoots at, the shooter should be right about... there.

Marc launched a Fireball down the corridor, targeted to explode against the wall right about where he thought the shooter should be. The glowing ball of flame illuminated another arrow on its way in, so Marc pulled his shield from his inventory as soon as he saw the arrow.

It wasn't aimed at him though, and Ella cursed as it struck her arm.

Fortunately her light spell was duration based so there was no way it could affect her concentration on the spell. Marc stepped into the middle of the tunnel to try to block any other arrows that came at them, but there weren't
any. There had been a few scuffling noises echoing down the tunnel after the Fireball's roar faded away, but that was it.

“Alright, advance cautiously,” Marc said after Felicia had healed their wounds.

A hundred feet down the tunnel they discovered why the attack had stopped. A charred shaft of wood lay discarded there, the string of the bow having burned and snapped from the Fireball. There was no sign of a corpse though.

The group hurried their pace a bit now, knowing that they'd been spotted.

Although it's not like they didn't know we were here already, I'm sure my lightning and Jeff's bomb were heard all the way through the tunnels with the way things echo in here.

They weren't running, but were walking very quickly. When the tunnel curved, they slowed a bit again.

Once they were around the corner they discovered that had been a sensible precaution. The tunnel in front of them was blocked by a group of bugbears. The three in front had shields and crude swords, the four in the back row were carrying bows, bows that had been nocked and drawn already. As soon as the group came into view, the archer bugbears launched their first volley.

* * *

“Ella, archers,” Marc called out, trying to use his shield to cover both himself and Felicia, who stood behind him.

As soon as the arrows impacted, he started casting his own Mana Dart.

The spell raced out and struck an archer, who simply kept firing after a grunt of pain. He cast a second Mana Dart with the same target and still didn't drop it.

This isn't going to work if we can't drop the archers quickly enough, Marc thought. We need to get right into their lines so they can't fire and I
know how to do that.

“Eyes, everyone!” Marc shouted, then started in on another cast of Lightning Flash. He targeted the center bugbear in the shield wall, hoping that at the very least it would blast it backwards and break the shield wall.

As he finished the cast and watched the streak of light race from his hands, he closed his eyes, then realized the problem. The last cast of this had been accompanied by a massive crack of thunder as well and they were in an enclosed tunnel.

The spell struck and Marc saw the lightning through his eyelids. Then his ears felt as though they exploded.

“Clear!” he yelled, as loud as he could.

He couldn't even hear his own words, so instead of waiting for the coordinated action he'd planned on, he charged forward.

Not only had the central bugbear in the shield wall been removed from it, it didn't look like he'd be getting back up any time soon, if ever. The bugbear lay behind the line of archers, his torso smoking. Two of the archers had been bowled over by the passage of the body through their line and Marc made for that gap as fast as he could while the two archer bugbears tried to regain their feet.

Marc gaped as he saw Jeff blow past him. Marc was moving as quickly as he could, but Jeff got around to the back of the bugbears' lines before Marc made it to the shield wall.

With his new shortsword in hand, Marc went for the disoriented archers, striking the one he'd already fired two Mana Dart spells into. The bugbear was barely standing so it didn't take long until Marc struck it down, piercing its belly with his sword.

Jeff was striking from behind on one of the archers that was still able to fire. So Marc turned in the other direction and started attacking the other archer that was just about recovered. The bugbears with shields started to turn, but a roar, which Marc barely heard, combined with slamming footsteps that he felt in the floor, had them turning back the way they'd been facing just in time for Rob to hit them. It was quite literal too, Rob had
charged straight in and slammed his shield into the closest bugbear. Its own shield slammed back into its torso, knocking the creature back into Marc.

Marc stayed on his feet and took the opportunity to stab the stunned bugbear on the ground at his feet as he dodged the attack of the archer he'd been fighting. The archers also had daggers, just as crude as the swords in the hands of the bugbears with shields.

Rob and his new ax made quick work of the bugbear he'd run into. Then he turned to face the last bugbear with a shield. Marc had some backup now, too. He'd noticed Ella's Mana Darts racing towards Jeff's position and thought that she'd been supporting him. Now, they were striking his own opponent though and Marc hoped that meant Jeff had taken out his opponent.

The final archer, the only bugbear no-one had engaged yet, started backing down the hall. Marc struck at the archer he'd been fighting three more times, the first two leaving small wounds on its arms. The third was a feint and when the archer tried to defend its arm again Marc angled his thrust down and in so it struck his opponent's stomach instead. The archers had no armor, so the strike sank straight in, leaving the archer sinking to its knees.

Marc backed away, sure his opponent was done for, but not wanting it to strike him before it finished dying.

Rob's pilum went flashing by, hurled at the last archer, who was now fleeing, and Marc added in a Mana Dart to Rob's attack, but the last bugbear managed to flee, disappearing in the darkness of the corridor.

He looked around and noticed that everyone was up, Felicia was healing Jeff, and then Marc himself.

I didn't even notice getting hit, but something managed to hit me once or twice, he thought.

“Alright,” he said, able to hear his words, but only softly as if spoken from a distance.

He raised his voice.

“Alright, they definitely know we're here now and right where we are, so let's not give them any more time to prepare.”

They took their formation and, after looting the corpses, continued down the corridor at an even faster rate than they'd been moving before.

Less than a minute later, Rob slowed and stopped, Marc stopping alongside of him. The rest of the group had been paying attention and stopped before running into them, slowly fanning out to either side since the tunnel was widening.

In front of them was a massive cavern, probably the size of a football field. It was dimly illuminated, enough that they could see the structures inside of it, including two fenced off areas.

Their hearing had recovered, mostly from Felicia's spells, and now they could hear the cries for help and pleading voices of the humans kept in one of those fenced off areas. There was one problem though. Throughout the cavern there were a number of bugbears, moving around and carrying on with their life. Between them and the captive humans, though, was another group of bugbears. They were formed up as a unit, armed and armored, and beginning to advance towards the group.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

As the bugbears advanced Marc quickly cast Phantom Shield on both Rob and himself. His Arcane Armor was still up with almost eight minutes of duration remaining from the last time he cast it. He'd been keeping the armor spell up all the way through the mine, recasting it whenever it got low on duration.

With a few seconds left, Marc thought quickly.

I wonder if splitting up their front line would help? A Crenellate would give both Rob and myself something to anchor against and force them around it. Would they split up or move as a unit to one side or the other?

With no time left to think about it, Marc eyed the center of their line, then cast a Crenellate spell. The block of stone rose between him and Rob.

“Rob, anchor on the crenellation, I'll take this side, you take that one.”

He raised his voice.

“Ella? Fireball the archers?”

He was actually surprised that she hadn't done that yet, but when he risked a glance back he figured out why. She was scanning the area. Jeff was nowhere to be seen and Marc was pretty sure that he'd disappeared when Ella wasn't looking. So Marc raised his voice even louder.

“Incoming fireballs on their back row. Ella, now!”

He trusted Jeff to get out of the way if he'd already made his way back there, so he started casting his own Fireball. Ella's went racing by just as he released his own. She'd targeted the center of their line while Marc had targeted the left side. In the overlap of the two spells, there were no archers left standing, but where they'd been hit by a single spell on the far left and the very center, the archers were scorched but still standing.

“Focus on the archers, Rob and I have the front line for the moment,”

Marc called.

Then he was trapped in melee, dodging and blocking more than striking as the arrows flew towards his party and Ella's spells went racing back in return. She was focusing on her Mana Darts now, which was probably a good plan since that spell used a lot less mana than the Fireball did.

Marc had pulled his pilum out this time instead of his shortsword, the additional reach important with creatures that were so much larger than him. He just wasn't getting many hits with it though, so he slammed the point into the packed dirt floor and left the pilum there.

Aware of the point he'd made before about blocking weapons strikes with a Mana Dart, he kept his shield in play, blocking over and over as he started in on a Mana Dart, using his free hand to cast.

Unlike his pilum, the Mana Dart struck his opponent and drew a reaction, just not the one he'd wanted. The bugbear he'd hit with the spell came rushing in even closer, trying to bowl Marc over and bear him to the ground. Marc stepped back so he had more coverage from the crenellation he'd created, then started casting again, targeting the same bugbear.

When this one went off and struck the bugbear, it slumped forward, falling to the ground. He wanted to keep an eye on it in case it was faking its death, but there were two more bugbears striking at him over and over.

A sharp pain struck him in the back and he realized that he'd left his upper torso exposed to the archers when he'd dodged the bugbear coming in at him. A glance at the archers cost him another strike from one of the bugbears that he was facing off with, the crude sword striking his shield and somehow twisting around it to hit his forearm.

The glance had told him that the archers were almost gone now though, the last one standing had been the one to shoot him and the shimmer behind it told Marc that it wouldn't be standing for much longer.

At least not if Jeff has anything to say about it, he thought.

Knowing that he was about to impinge on Rob's space, Marc repositioned himself slightly, then used a Shield Bash, striking the bugbear in front of him. After knocking the bugbear off balance, but not off its feet
due to the weight difference, Marc darted past the bugbear he'd bashed, then spun to face his two opponents again.

What he'd seen as he got past his two opponents chilled his blood.

“Shit! Adds!” he hollered, hoping that someone else had a way to deal with them.

A moment later a golden glow washed over him, the prickle in the wound on his back told him that at least part of the arrow had stayed there but had just been pushed out by Felicia's heal.

“No heals for a minute,” Felicia yelled.

A moment later the roar of a shotgun echoed through the chamber, deafening him, although not as badly as his spell had earlier on. A second and third roar followed shortly after as Marc kept his shield in play and cast another pair of Mana Darts. He took a pair of sword strikes for his efforts, but they felt more like they'd bruised him than cut him open.

I hope my Arcane Armor isn't about to run out, he would've eviscerated me with that last strike if not for it.

Down to one opponent now, he tried to get back to his pilum, but the bugbear was trying to block him from it. Marc had wanted to try to save some of his mana, he had no idea how much he had left and wasn't in a position to check it.

I'm sure I've got enough for another Mana Dart or two at least, he thought.

He demonstrated that to himself, casting the spell once more as he defended himself from the remaining bugbear with his shield. The three darts of his spell raced out, struck the bugbear, and a message flashed across the base of his screen then disappeared.

Your spell, Mana Dart, has increased in skill level (6->7)

Yes! he cheered mentally.

Then, switching tactics, he darted towards his pilum and when the bugbear set itself to block him from it, leapt backward and started casting again. When he finished the spell this time, four darts raced out and struck the bugbear who was just now getting himself moving again after bracing to block Marc.

He grinned widely as he scanned the fight. The bugbear he'd just hit with his Mana Dart spell had fallen face first onto the ground, but there was still one on Rob.

That might be the leader, he's taller and bulkier than the rest at least, Marc thought. Same crappy equipment though.

Rob and that bugbear seemed to each be holding their own with the other, so Marc intervened, sending a Mana Dart spell at the bugbear. He didn't keep watching them though, he turned to see what else was happening.

Jeff was back near where the line of archers had been, moving back towards the group. Evidently he hadn't one shotted his last opponent since he'd been cut a couple of times. Felicia and Ella were in back. Ella wasn't casting any more and Marc assumed that she was out of mana.

Felicia had her shotgun in her hand and was splitting her attention towards where Marc had seen the rest of the bugbears coming towards the group and the group itself. As he watched she held her shotgun in her shield arm and cast a spell. Jeff shimmered golden in response and his wounds sealed up.

Where Marc had seen the adds coming were the corpses of three bugbears. The rest of the crowd that had been coming in had backed off around the corner of a building. Marc saw at least one of them peaking around the corner. He shook his head.

Damn it, they ran away, but they won't let us be if we try to free their prisoners, I'm sure of that.

He pulled out his AR-15. His scope wasn't as nice as the one his dad had, but it was more than adequate for the task he set it to. He also figured that ricochets weren't as much of an issue in the massive cavern as they would
have been in the tunnels. Felicia must've determined the same to be willing to use her shotgun. Dropping to a knee, he sighted in on the bugbear peering around the corner and fired.

The bugbear dropped, a hole in its forehead. Screams echoed from around the corner of the house there, slowly fading in volume. Marc saw the other bugbears that had been back there running away, towards the back corner of the cavern. Waving away the message telling him that he'd received critical damage on his shot, he pondered their options for a moment.

So, there are at least three more bugbears in the cave here, he thought.

We'll need to find them later. Maybe they'll still come after us when we're freeing the prisoners. That'd make this easier, and make me feel less guilty about killing them.

“Hey, I had him,” Rob said from behind Marc.

Marc turned to find Jeff standing behind the corpse of the largest bugbear.

“Yeah, you know that and I know that, so I just decided to shorten the fight a bit. Why risk taking more wounds when you don't have to?” Jeff said.

Rob just shook his head.

“You wouldn't understand, so I won't even try to explain,” he muttered.

“Nah, go ahead, explain,” Jeff said.

Rob looked up at him, shrugged, and moved back towards Felicia. She cast another heal on him and Rob straightened up.

“Challenges, I need to challenge myself to grow and he was a challenging opponent,” Rob said finally. “Understand now?”

Jeff shook his head.

“Understand why you'd be willing to get hurt just to challenge yourself?

Nope, you were right, I don't get it.”

“Guys, maybe we should go free the people they're holding as prisoners?” Marc interjected.

It didn't sound like the other two were about to fight, but they might start arguing and he really wanted to prevent any distraction if he could.

Jeff and Rob turned back to him. Rob had a guilty look on his face, but Jeff was smirking, so Marc knew he'd just been baiting Rob.

I wonder if he even realizes that baiting Rob is going to be harder now that he's raised his intelligence. Rob's just going to take whatever Jeff says at face value though and that's liable to backfire on Jeff. I'd love to see the end result, but not while we're down here, Marc thought.

“That's enough,” he said, mainly to Jeff, “save it for after we're out of the mine, okay?”

Now Jeff looked slightly guilty as well.

Marc started walking towards the caged area containing the human prisoners and the rest of the group followed.

“There's still some bugbears out there, back that way,” Marc said, pointing to where he'd seen them flee. “So keep an eye out.”

“I'll do you one better,” Jeff said, then shimmered into Stealth.

Well, that's probably going to be that problem taken care of, Marc thought.

He hadn't wanted to kill the other bugbears, even if they had been going to pile into the fight. If he was interpreting Jeff correctly, he probably wouldn't need to. The Thief would take care of it for him.

* * *

Marc approached the pen that the humans were held in and discovered why they hadn't just climbed out. The pen was about eight feet high and there was a grid of metal on the top of it that had been attached to the walls.

The door was held shut by another lock. Although they'd looted the bugbears, none of the party present claimed to have the key.

“I got it,” Rob said.

He pulled out one of the bugbears' swords, one of the ones Marc had thought of as a lightly sharpened crowbar, and proceeded to use it just the way Marc had thought about it.

The sword was bent and damaged from being used as a crowbar, but Rob managed to snap something in the lock so they could pull it open.

“Come on, all of you, let's get you out of here,” Marc said.

There were fourteen people in the pen and they all looked much the worse for wear. Felicia started healing the open wounds as Marc pulled out the MREs he'd stored in his inventory in case of emergency.

This is close enough to an emergency to warrant their use, he thought.

Seeing what he was doing, Rob and Ella pulled their own out as well.

Felicia did the same, pausing for a moment to retrieve her own batch before starting in on her heals again. These people weren't in bad enough shape that they needed food before they could be healed, but they would certainly need some if they were going to walk all the way back to the Safe Zone.

Two of the men, young ones around Marc's age, looked to have been beaten a lot more than the others. One of them grinned as Felicia started healing him.

“Damn, a cleric. Wish we'd had one here ourselves,” he said.

“A Healer, technically, that's her class name anyhow,” Marc said.

“Gamer?”

“Tabletop,” the guy replied. “You're what, some kind of spellsword? I saw you using a shield and tossing spells.”

“Not quite,” Marc said, “but close enough.”

“I'm a Fighter,” the guy said. “Technically a Warrior from what the System told me, but hey, whatever.”

The other one who'd been beaten more was getting healed now also.

“Woodsman here. These bastards stole my bow, then started making their own version of it based off of mine. I'm Kyle, by the way. The other idiot here is Pete.”

“You're both classed?”

“Yeah, we figured out what was happening early on, but no-one freakin'

believed us when we tried to explain it to them. So when the bugbears raided and took some people, we followed them back here to the mine. Got caught in a trap out front though, almost killed us. Escaped a couple of times too, made it to the mine entrance, but they put a metal wall up there that we couldn't get through. So they make sure to beat us heavily now.”

He grinned, a broken tooth showing in the front of his smile.

“Well, they made sure to do that. Don't think they'll be doing it any more.”

“Were there more than just the ones here?” Marc asked.

“Normally there weren't that many here. But there was something like a massive thunder boom and they dragged us all back to the cage, then formed up. You were there for the rest,” Kyle replied.

“They definitely won't be doing it any more,” a disembodied voice said.

“Jeff,” Marc replied warningly.

The Thief shimmered into view.

“What? I'm just saying these two won't be getting beaten by these bugbears any more since there aren't any left.”

“You got the last three?” Marc asked.

“Four,” Jeff replied, “and yes, they're gone.”

“You're a Rogue, aren't you?” Pete asked.

“Bite your tongue, I'm a Thief,” Jeff replied.

“What's the difference?” Pete asked. “They're the same thing.”

“They are not. Some games had sub-classes of Rogues, one of which was the Bard and I want nothing to do with that. Not getting my ass
mistaken for a Bard no matter what, I'm a Thief. I pick locks, scout, I've got a mean backstab, and I can Stealth with the best of them.”

Pete shook his head.

“Can we get the hell out of here now? Me and Kyle aren't so bad, we've only been here a few days, but some of these folks have been here longer.”

“If you two want to start leading them out, you can. Now that we're sure the bugbears are all gone, we're going to loot the place. What did they have you mining?”

“Copper and silver ores. There's a touch of iron around too and more of that showing up daily, sometimes in spots we've already mined,” Kyle said.

“So screw that crap, I'll lead people out. Pete says we're okay, but I need to be outside, see the sky and sun, or moon since I've got no clue what time it is.”

“Should be daylight out. Take some of these weapons the bugbears had in case there's a problem, but wait for us near the exit. We've got another group of survivors to pick up on the way back to the Safe Zone.”

“You've got a Safe Zone set up?” Pete said, “Awesome.”

“Yes, the old high school,” Felicia said.

Their faces fell so Marc interjected.

“Don't worry, you won't recognize it once you're there. Anyhow, get these people out. If you need a hand, tell us. We'll be as quick as we can, but we'd like to take some of the ore back with us for our Smith to look at.”

“Your Smith?” Kyle asked, wide-eyed.

“Oh yeah, there's lots of combat classes and non-combat classes that we've discovered so far. That's one of them,” Rob said. “You'll find other Warriors and another Woodsman that you can exchange tips with if you want, maybe teach each other skills if you have different ones.”

“Alright then, let's go,” Pete said.

He walked over and picked up one of the bugbears' crude swords. It looked heavy for him, but he managed to lift it with a single hand at least.

“Come on people, let's get out of here while we can,” Pete called out.

Kyle bent over to pick up a bow from one of the dead archers, along with a couple of quivers full of arrows. Then they started a slow pace towards the mine tunnel leading out, keeping themselves to the pace of the slowest of the prisoners. They were all eating as they moved and at the last moment Marc remembered to send a few bottles of water along with them.

Because they'll need it to get some of those MREs down, he thought.

* * *

The bugbear area was a very simple community. They had houses, with questionable food, mainly strips of jerky that looked to come from the rats kept in the other cage, and dried mushrooms, which came from a few fields on the far side of the cavern.

Other than the houses, there were a few storage bins partially filled with ores and what looked to be a smelter nearby. The very last thing in the area was a warehouse, of sorts. Inside the warehouse were ingots of metal: copper, silver, and iron. The copper was the most plentiful, followed by the silver, then the iron.

Which makes sense if they were using the iron for the weapons and armor, Marc thought.

Marc really wanted to figure out the smelter, it was very primitive to all appearances and the anvil beside it was made partially from stone and partially from metal. Evidently that was where they'd been making their armor and weapons.

There was no way they'd be able to take the smelter back with them though, they weren't even going to be able to touch most of the ore. They did, on the other hand, manage to fit most of the ingots into their inventories, stacking the bars high in each slot.

Then they headed out towards the entrance to the mine.

So if we can figure out how to keep miners protected, we can get the mine going, Marc thought. There's definitely enough ore in here to make it worth our effort, especially if it was replenishing the way Kyle said it was, or was that Pete? Anyhow, like they said it was. We can probably even use that smelter to turn it into ingots if we have someone that can figure it out.

The group they'd freed hadn't even made it to the mouth of the mine when they overtook them. The party split up, with Ella and Jeff covering the rear of the freed group while the other three headed up front.

They came out into the sun and Marc immediately guessed that it was early afternoon. They'd headed out in the morning, taken a couple of hours to get here, spent more time with the other group they'd found then spent a couple more hours fighting bugbears and freeing their captives.

So if we got out of the Safe Zone around eight o'clock, that should make it around one in the afternoon. We've just got to get everyone back to the Safe Zone before dark, which happens around seven-thirty or eight. Seven hours ought to be doable, especially if Felicia can keep healing people as we go, assuming we don't run into any major trouble.

They carefully guided the ex-prisoners around the pit trap, Kyle and Pete pointing at the spikes and stakes in it, commenting that they'd be dead if it had been like that before.

When they got to the small cave network containing the others, there were several joyful reunions. Evidently several of the prisoners were either family to, or well known by, some of the first group they'd found today.

After some quick talks which included shouting, they all came out, ready to be led to the Safe Zone.

Kyle and Pete stayed out with Marc while the conversations were taking place.

“So, you guys don't know anyone in there?”

“Hell no, my older brother's in there,” Kyle said, “but if he wouldn't listen to me before, why would he listen to me now?”

“Yeah,” Pete said, shaking his head. “Some of those idiots got offered the Warrior class and freakin' turned it down because they wouldn't believe
me when I told them what it would do for them. They claimed I slipped 'em drugs to cause the whole thing and threatened to beat the piss out of me.

Fuck them.”

The last was said with hardly any emphasis and Marc was pretty sure he meant to direct the comment at their attitudes and paranoia as opposed to the people themselves. Nonetheless, he decided that Pete and Kyle should probably take point with him for the rest of the trip so they didn't have to keep seeing the others that they seemed to want nothing to do with.

“You guys going to be okay in the Safe Zone with them? We don't want to fight among ourselves, there are enough spawns out there if you want to fight,” Marc said.

“I'll be fine with them,” Pete said, glancing at Kyle. “We both will, so long as they stop being so freakin' stupid. How the hell someone can deny something they see with their own eyes is beyond me.”

“We can help, we've got someone to teach them exactly what's changed and how they can work with it. You guys too, really, since I don't know how much you know,” Marc said.

He got a pair of fervent nods from the two of them.

“We know the basics, but pretty much no specifics. The help files aren't that helpful unless they deal with something you can already do, so...”

“We can help with that, too. Just wait, give it a day or two after we're back, then we can talk again. See if there's anything else you need at that point.”

“Sure, we'll do that. You expecting trouble on the way back?”

“We didn't have much on the way down, but that doesn't really mean anything,” Marc said.

About then the combined groups started pouring out of the cave entrance.

Marc took Felicia, Kyle, and Pete with him in the front of the group, leaving Rob, Ella, and Jeff to bring up the rear. The only problem he had with the arrangement was that the rear group didn't have any healing of
their own, but Felicia said she could reach them with ranged healing spells if needed.

They made it back to the Safe Zone with no problems and Marc remembered the last time he'd brought a large group back.

So, maybe the spawns aren't willing to attack larger groups? he thought.

At least the weaker ones aren't, there was that troll when we were getting Ron and his people, but other than that none of the larger groups have been attacked when they've been moving around. I'll have to think about this, I'm not sure I'd feel right about testing out the theory. At least not unless I can find twenty volunteers.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

As soon as he was done adding the new people on as residents, since they'd all been willing after they saw the Safe Zone, his notification light started flashing wildly.

Fine, what is it? Marc thought. I've been ignoring the damn thing all this time until we were safe, so why's it going nuts now?

He pulled up his notification light and walked aimlessly forward, his movement coming to a stop as he read the very first message.

System (stickied notification):

Perhaps you should check your notifications more often since they consist of valuable knowledge that might add to your chances of survival.

Marc's feet had frozen, because even though the System had recently been getting chatty, and maybe a bit snarky, with its messages, the other incidents had been easily brushed off as not directed only at him. This one, on the other hand, was targeted at him and only him.

He gulped. Knowing that he'd had the System's focus before when it had given him his hidden class somehow seemed different from it nagging at him in this manner. The first had been beneficial to both of them, but this one suggested that the System was watching him more closely than he'd thought.

And that it gives a shit if I die? Why would it care? It did all of this to us and caused untold numbers of deaths, he thought.

His notification light was still flashing though, so he continued through his notifications.

For saving 250+ people your Safe Zone has been upgraded to a Safe Haven. Bonuses for the upgrade are cumulative unless otherwise indicated.

Safe Haven: Increased Morale, Productivity increase of +10% on all endeavors performed within the Safe Haven, Defensive increase of +10% to personal Defense for anyone inside the Safe Haven that is defending it from an attack.

Do we have that many people already? It's more than I feared, but a lot less than I'd hoped for, he thought.

With his notification light still flashing, Marc pulled it up again.

You have gained a level (8->9)

You have two ability points to distribute.

Your Intelligence has increased (16->17)

Your Constitution has increased (12->13)

You have one new skill point to distribute.

You have learned the spell: Anti-Magic Shield (1) You have learned the skill: E.S.L. (1)

Crap, that's probably what the System was referring to if that was before the last fight, he thought.

Having planned out his next couple of advances, he added another point to Aptitude and finally felt comfortable with the number of available skill and spell slots he had. The other point went into Strength. His intention was to work his Strength up to eleven one point at a time, and for the next couple of levels use the other point for Charisma.

Because even though I made mom the Administrator for the Safe Zone, wait Safe Haven now, I'm still technically in charge and the Charisma will help, I hope.

He opted to use one of his new skill points on the Long Swords skill to increase his effectiveness with his new twisted Water Jet spell options. At least he hoped it would affect the spell.

He trotted a few steps to catch up to his group.

“Ding, ding,” he said.

“You got another one?” Rob asked.

“What do you mean another one?”

“I dinged back after we fought the champion, I mentioned it and everyone else agreed,” he said.

“Crap, I missed that back then. I must've been lost in thought.”

“Or still deaf from your damned lightning,” Jeff said.

Felicia stifled a snicker.

“I'm guessing no-one else got the extra message from the System then, the stickied one?”

The faces around him grew serious.

“You got what?” Jeff said.

Marc pulled it back up and shared the stickied System message with his group.

“What the hell? The System cares if you live?” Jeff said. “Oh, wait, of course it does. It's got a use for you, Mr. English Major.”

Then Jeff went still and his eyes unfocused.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, a moment later. “I guess it's not just you.”

Then he shared the notification he'd just received.

System:

Survival of dominant species on newly Systemized worlds is of utmost importance to the System, if not those who set it in place.

“Um, maybe we can stop talking, or even thinking, about stuff like this,”

Ella said. “Because I'm more than a little freaked out getting attention from the System this way.”

Marc couldn't help it, his mind had already started making connections.

“Is the System just a program, or an AI or something, that's set in place to Systemize the planet? As in, it doesn't have the will or capability to do
elsewise? If so, then it's just a weapon and it's those who put it in place that are responsible for the destruction of the human race.”

You've discovered an important fact about the System. The System is merely a tool, if an intelligent and partially sentient one.

Exp +500

“It is. I just got one of those facts about the System messages saying the System was only a tool, an intelligent and sentient one, but a tool nonetheless. This discovery gave me five hundred experience though, which is a lot more than most of the others I've gotten,” Marc said.

“I don't want to be here, I don't want to hear this. I'll meet you back at our apartment, Jeff,” Ella said.

She turned and headed up towards the keep.

“Sentient?” Jeff said. “This thing is suppose to have feelings? That's kind of hard to believe.”

“Well, it only said partially sentient, but how can you only be part sentient?” Marc asked.

“If it's an AI like you said, then it's programmed that way,” Felicia replied. “It's coded for sentience to exist at certain times or in certain conditions?”

Marc just shook his head.

“And somehow I triggered one of the conditions that got it to nag me to open my notifications faster. That figures.”

* * *

Marc also relayed the upgrade for the Safe Zone to those of the group who still remained.

“It might not be that important, but I'm going to stop in the Town Hall and let my mom know, assuming she's still there.”

Not that I could imagine her being anywhere else, unless she and dad are spending some time together, Marc thought. This really is the kind of job she'll devote herself to and bury herself in. Dad and I will have to make sure she doesn't try to do too much. She'll easily work herself to tatters if we let her. I should probably see what else she's been doing and can do, too.

Plus, I should check the materials levels and make sure they aren't still dropping somehow.

Marc stopped in the Town Hall, with Felicia accompanying him. His mom had also told him that the one last door on the hall that they hadn't gone into the other day was similar to the first one they'd checked, with a terminal that allowed viewing but not a lot else. She told him that those terminals were in a default configuration that could be changed.

Which is good, because if I open up the Town Hall I don't really want every Tom, Dick, and Harry to know how much food or how many weapons we have. The people who have experience at those things can have a say, but those who think that their opinion is as good as or better than someone with experience and training regarding that stuff just don't need to know.

He thought for a moment, then snickered.

Not that not knowing the actual figures would make any difference in them spouting their opinions. At least it never used to make a difference.

Felicia just looked at him for a moment and he shook his head.

“I'm just being cynical,” he said, “and it amused me for a moment.”

“You? Cynical? Never...” she replied with her own snicker.

His first stop was his mom's office. He wanted to make sure she knew that they had new survivors and Al would have to do his orientation talk again.

She was buried in her terminal when he opened the door, but when he told her about the new survivors and that the Safe Zone was now a Safe Haven, she sighed.

“Good, the screen flickered a while back and some of the data changed for no apparent reason. I'm guessing that's the reason though and it would easily have changed the figures I was working with for food production.”

“Yeah, production got an increase,” Marc said.

“And I was using a variable already in there to estimate it, so there we go. Don't worry, I'll let Al know he needs to run a course tomorrow morning,” Michelle said.

“Okay, don't work too hard,” Marc said. “I'm going to go see how the next expansion looks.”

“Oh, about that,” Michelle said. “I had a thought when your father and I were talking. You said you worried about your recyclers going out, right?

What if you were to make a loop out of your next extension, enclose an unclaimed area inside the boundaries of the Safe Zone, or Haven now.

Would that make them any safer?”

“It might. The only problem would be anything that actually spawns in that area or was already in it. I can send a group of adventurers through to clear that out though, then we only have to worry if something new spawns.

I might try that. If I make a loop, then we can keep an eye on the recycling parties from the walls, too,” Marc said.

“Good, I hope it's a helpful idea. Your dad and I were talking and it just came up, so I wanted to mention it.”

“It might let me expand faster too,” Marc said. “Depending on what areas I can capture in the loop and the materials in those areas.”

“Well, you said you were going to check, right? I need to get back to my projections, especially now that we have more people,” Michelle said, politely dismissing them.

Marc just smirked as he closed the door.

“Good to know that some things never change and that my mom's one of them. If she thinks she's got work to do, everything else is secondary. Well, except maybe dad, sometimes anyhow.”

He opened the door at the end of the hall and stepped into the build chamber. Glancing over at the map on the wall, he couldn't help but feel some pride at what they'd managed already.

At the build pedestal he pulled up the wireframe and started tweaking the parameters for expansion. As he completed the outline for a circular expansion like his mom had suggested, his notification light started blinking.

Still stinging from his reminder by the System, he immediately pulled it up.

Capture Protocol engaged: Do you wish to use the Capture Protocol?

(y/n)

Marc just blinked.

“Um, Felicia, do you have any idea of what this means?” he asked, sharing his notification with her.

“Did it happen right when you made the circle?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Something like the game Go then? Or Othello? If you surround a piece in Go you 'capture' it. You can capture with a straight line in Othello. Could this be the same?”

“I don't know, let me check the help files we've got and the book I have on Safe Zone construction.”

Leaving everything just as it was and not answering the notification yet, he started hunting for any mention of Capture Protocol. He finally found it, buried in the appendix of the book on Safe Zone construction.

Capture Protocol: The Capture Protocol works within or between Safe Zones. It allows for an area to be claimed (captured). The claimed (captured) area does not have all of the same benefits as the Safe Zone. It does not allow for automatic construction of buildings in the area as the rest of the Safe Zone allows. Although spawning will not occur in the captured area, the drawback of no automatic building leads this author to believe that the Capture Protocol is not worth using.

“Hey, does this sound to you like this guy had insufficient imagination?”

Marc said. “Because I could easily see using that area for regular crops in
addition to System fields, for things like livestock food, or even grazing them there. Plus, it would give our own crafters an area to build things in where we wouldn't be able to use the Safe Zone to build.”

He handed the pad over to Felicia who quickly skimmed the entry.

“Plus, that's more area that can't spawn monsters, meaning fewer overall spawns in the area. What caught my attention though was the 'within or between' line. Does that mean that if you have multiple Safe Zones, you could do something with them to capture the area between them? We could have lots of areas with no spawns if that's the case,” she said.

“Yeah, but we'd have to somehow get more Safe Zones to do that.”

“We've all still got some System tokens, right? We could use those to do that,” she said.

“Assuming you can use Safe Zones made with tokens and cores in conjunction to do that. You can't expand a core Safe Zone with a System token. I assume the opposite is also true.”

She just shrugged.

“Just a thought. If we ever do create some new ones, we can try it then.

This sounds more like the Go version than the Othello one though.”

“Sure, we'll just need a solid enough structure to base it in,” Marc said.

“Although I guess we could try building something up near the mine.

Maybe get the carpenter up there and guard him and his helpers with adventurers while he gets something set up? That's for the future though, let me look at this and see how many more materials we'll need.”

You have insufficient resources to increase your Safe Zone.

Resources required:

Wood: 3247/4000

Stone: 3466/4000

Metal: 1931/2000

Designated power source for Safe Zone:

Monster Core – common – poor (2/3)

Monster Core – Rare – Excellent (3/5) (+4 power slots 2/4)

The current power source will sustain five expansions beyond the original power source.(3/5)

In current configuration, Capture Protocol is available and may provide more materials for expansion now and in the future.

“Huh,” Marc said, then shared the message with Felicia when she nudged him.

“So, we aren't that close,” she said.

“Two days for the recyclers if I write them orders,” he replied. “It's the more materials for expansion in the future that has me confused.”

“Why? I think it just means captured areas stop the deterioration of processed materials like the Safe Zone itself does. So all that stuff won't fall apart and become useless. Although you should engage that protocol and see about the more materials now part.”

“Oh, yes, that does make sense. I was trying to figure that out, but thinking too hard about it, I guess.”

“Can you save this template and reset the diagram to the other way? See if it's quicker to do that?”

“Sure.”

A minute later they knew that it would be about two days that way also.

Marc went back and choose 'yes' for engaging Capture Protocol. Then he looked at the build screen again. Portions of the area surrounded were clearer than they had been, some of the items removed. The totals reflected that, and this way it looked like if he wrote careful orders for the recyclers, they could easily get them over the top by the end of tomorrow.

“I wonder, maybe anything too far gone to be recycled or reused gets used this way?” he said. “It looks like the surrounded area loses some materials and I can't determine how they made the choices.”

“Does it matter if it speeds up the expansion by a day?” Felicia asked.

“No, no it doesn't. I'm going to make note of these numbers then use one of the desks in here for long enough to write out the recyclers' orders for tomorrow. From there, well, I guess we'll see what else the Capture Protocol allows for after we use it, if it does anything else.”

* * *

Marc headed up to the keep, but he didn't use the main door to enter.

He'd had enough of people for the day since some of the people they'd rescued today had rubbed him the wrong way.

Hopefully that doesn't last and they were just that abrasive because they were feeling desperate, he thought. Because I don't know what I'd do if they rubbed everyone the wrong way like that. Is that something worth kicking them out over?

He shook his head as he thought about that, but he and Felicia made it into his room without being spotted. He was still considering if he wanted to go down to the cafeteria for dinner or maybe hit the shop instead.

As dinner grew closer, he knew that he'd be going to the cafeteria. From what he could smell, the Butcher had finished with the meat from the boar they'd brought in, because he was pretty sure he smelled pork cooking, sweetened pork of some sort.

When they got down for dinner, he found that he'd been correct. The cooks were serving ears of corn and slices of pork for dinner. He and Felicia each got more of a slab of pork than a slice since the cooks knew where the boar had come from.

Fortunately no-one tried to interrupt them while they were eating, or Marc might've snapped at them. Instead they were surrounded by the rest of their group and friends, all of whom were paying as much attention to the food as Marc and Felicia were.

After they'd finished eating, Marc tracked down some of the new residents he'd led back today and let them know that there would be a talk
explaining as much as they knew about the System in the morning and asking them to pass that along so all of the new people knew.

Then he went back to his room and blissfully ignored everyone but Felicia, and Beggar when he let himself into the room shortly after it got dark out. Marc watched as he heard a scrape against the window. The latch was closed so he got up to open it, but before he could, Beggar slid a claw into the seam between the window and the wall, then lifted it, flipping the latch into the open position.

A moment later he pushed the window open and dropped in onto the floor.

Well, that explains a lot, Marc thought. What the hell though, a raccoon with Stealth and Lock Picking?

Felicia went to get Beggar water while Marc tracked down his present for the raccoon in his inventory.

Marc had saved all the fatty bits of pork from the table he'd been at, and now presented them to the raccoon, who practically purred at the gift. He tore into the chunks of fat and meat like he'd been starving, curling up on his favorite chair once he was done eating.

Marc picked the movie that night and was surprised to find himself picking a comedy as opposed to the action movie he'd normally prefer.

Although, honestly, my life has parts just like an action movie nowadays, he thought, remembering the fight with the Scarecrow and the flames from the battle with the Gremlins. So maybe it isn't that surprising after all.

Since he knew that Beggar could open the window all on his own, he shut and latched it before crawling into bed with Felicia.

When he woke, hours later, there was a cold breeze again and the window hung open. It was hours until dawn, so he shut the window, then headed down to the gymnasium.

Marc was surprised to find his father there, obviously tired, and just as obviously unable to sleep.

“Hey dad, what's up? I thought you were out at the encampment?”

“No, I just spend my days there. I get some practice on my own Encampment skill and get to watch the new legionaries get trained.”

“You got some takers for the class?” Marc asked.

“Yeah, there were four people who didn't like the helter-skelter method that adventurers use in combat, but said they were willing to do it as part of a line of fighters all looking out for one another. There might be a few more too, but they haven't finalized a decision yet.”

“Why are you up this early though, is your Endurance that high?”

Sean shook his head, his bloodshot eyes squinting at his son.

“If only that were the reason. No, I'm having nightmares, bad enough that when I have them I don't get back to sleep.”

“About what?”

“Oh, noth—”

Sean stopped himself and took a deep breath.

“It's something. I think it's PTSD. I never did get it from being in country, but what we had to do to get out of the city? Well, that's gone and done it, I think.”

“Was it really that bad? I'm happy to listen if you want to talk about it.”

“I don't really want to talk about it,” Sean said. “Losing people, leaving innocent people to get killed by the spawns, seeing that happen even?”

He shook his head, but continued talking obviously wanting to get it off his chest even if he didn't want to talk about it.

“We lost three people getting out of town, not getting here, just getting out of town. They got swarmed by what I think were goblins, a whole horde of them, while trying to get a group of kids over to our main group. We ended up losing three fully equipped legionaries to save five people with virtually no equipment at all. After that I made the call that we were just getting out of town, not trying to help anyone else.”

Sean leaned his elbows on the table, then sank his face into his hands.

“We saw so many people in trouble, but we couldn't help them without risking ourselves and I wasn't willing to do that with so many people counting on me to get them out of there. The average person had no chance against the spawns. I mean, you see a goblin, a little thing, right? No danger at all? Unless the person they're attacking has no weapon and no clue of how to defend themselves.”

Marc wasn't sure, but he thought he heard his father actually crying.

“I don't know how many people we had to ignore. Maybe we could have helped some with no danger, but I made the call to ignore them, to get me and mine out safely. That's why I didn't want the job you offered me. I'm not worthy of it.”

“No dad, you are. All you've got to do is picture our entire Safe Zone as yours, then when you protect you and yours, you're protecting all of us,”

Marc said.

“If only it were that easy, then maybe I could sleep,” Sean said.

“Dad, did you recently hit level five?” Marc asked.

His father's face snapped up.

“How did you know?”

Marc proceeded to explain about the System inhibiting their emotions, but loosening up on them starting at level five.

“So that's how you managed to make the call to ignore all of those other people. Because the System was keeping you from feeling about it the way you normally would.”

“Son of a bitch!” Sean said.

Marc nodded.

“I know how you feel. Sometimes it's just too much, but I learned from what the System did, and I can lock out those feelings now, let them out a little bit at a time so it isn't as overwhelming. I know people are dealing with it in different ways, but there aren't a lot of us over level five yet, so we haven't tried to figure a standard way to deal with it.”

“Well, when there are, let me know what you figure out,” Sean said.

Marc smiled.

“Unless you figure it out first, then you can tell us,” he said. “In the meanwhile, let me buy you a coffee if you're not going to try to go back to sleep.”

“The cafeteria's closed,” Sean said, “otherwise I would've been there nursing one of my own.”

“Ah, no, I mean pretty much any kind of coffee you could get before the System. You haven't really explored the shop much yet, have you?”

Sean shook his head.

“So let me show you the cheapest bucket of latte you could possibly find, especially now. Plus, it tastes pretty good too.”

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Eventually Sean wandered off to start his day with the legionaries. It was still about a half hour before breakfast and Marc had some time to kill.

So, I leveled up yesterday. I wonder how my stat sheet looks now, he thought.

Pulling it up, he skimmed through it.

Marcus Aurelius Cavanaugh

Class: Arcane Bulwark/(hidden class English Major) Level: 9

Experience: 20061/32000

Health: 720

Mana: 684 (+10)

Stamina: 738 (+12)

Endurance: 22 (+7)

Body: 10.0 (Strength:9, Constitution: 13, Agility: 8) Mind: 12.6 (Intelligence: 17, Willpower: 8, Aptitude: 13) Social: 5.6 (Charisma: 7, Personality: 5, Allure: 5)

Skills:

Short Spear (melee weapon)(3)

Shield Bash (2)

Research (2)

Analyze (creature) (1)

Mana Manipulation (9)

Meditation (5)

Creative Writing (2)

Scribe (2)

Shield Mastery (1)

Short Swords (1)

Short Spear (thrown weapon)(1)

Analyze (item) (1)

Technical Writing (1)

E.S.L. (1)

Spells:

Mana Dart (7)

Arcane Armor (3)

Phantom Shield (2)

Crenelate (2)

Curse of Weakness (2)

Fireball (2)

Blessing of Strength (3)

Stand Fast (1)

Water Jet (1)

Identify (1)

Lightning Flash (2)

Anti-Magic Shield (1)

After allowing himself a moment of satisfaction at his progress, he skimmed it again.

Oh yeah, E.S.L. and Anti-Magic Shield. I probably ought to read the help on those, although E.S.L.? English as a Second Language for a skill? I wonder exactly how that's supposed to work. At least the Anti-Magic Shield sounds like a relatively familiar spell.

Help E.S.L.

E.S.L.:

English as a second language is a skill that will allow you to learn other languages as well as teach your own to someone who doesn't know it. The original use of the skill allows the user to roughly understand the target's language, as well as allowing the target to roughly understand your own.

Additional uses of the skill, at one per day, will allow further comprehension. After five uses both the user and target can understand one another well, after ten uses the target and user will be considered fluent in their respective new languages.

This is a mana-based skill. Each use of the skill will require the expenditure of one hundred mana points.

Marc smirked. It was close enough to what he thought the System might do with the skill, although he hadn't expected the language learning to go in both directions.

Help Anti-Magic Shield, he thought.

Anti-Magic Shield:

This spell allows for the generation of a shield, similar to the Phantom Shield spell, that will intercept incoming magical damage that strikes it.

The Anti-Magic Shield will absorb a base amount of damage equal to (the caster's level X 10) + (10 X skill level of Anti-Magic Shield). Casting cost of this spell is one hundred mana and will reduce as the caster increases their skill in the spell. Skill may be targeted on caster or others.

This time Marc was frowning.

That strikes it? he thought. That probably means that just like the Phantom Shield, you need to work on getting it in the way of incoming damage. Well, it still beats not having any protection from magic. It doesn't do a lot at the start, but the amount it blocks will increase quickly if I can work that spell up.

Glancing through his current stats, he was reminded that while he'd spoken with the Pyromancers enough to get the concept and symbol for channeling, he'd never actually learned the Flamethrower spell the way he'd intended. For a moment he considered skipping it since he'd created the fire sword variant of the Water Jet.

No, Flamethrower is too cool to pass up, he thought, plus if I tweak it a little, it can have a wider arc and be great as a close-in cone damage spell.

I'll see if one of them can teach it to me today. I don't think we have anything else planned, and I want to spend part of the day seeing how the new people integrate after Al talks to them.

As he thought through the things that needed to be done he also realized that they'd yet to show any of the other adventurers the location of the kobold Lair.

Maybe I'll see if dad has a few legionaries to spare. Training them up first would probably be the best idea. Most of the adventurers are level three or four, at least, so far. I think he said his legionaries were the same.

Get them all to level five and we'll have a much better defensive force. Then open it up to the adventurers also, especially any of the lower level ones.

Maybe ask Jeff to show them where it is? No, wait, I don't think the legionaries would handle dealing with Jeff well, I'll ask Rob if he's willing.

He himself wanted to go through his help pad and the Safe Zone construction pad he'd purchased, seeing if there were any more references to the Capture Protocol he'd read about. He still disagreed with the author of the Safe Zone construction pad. After all, the Captured area might not technically be Safe Zone, but it was still an area where spawning couldn't occur and if it was within his walls, which it was already, then it could be used in a more normal fashion. There was no way the spawns could get to it without breaching the Safe Zone walls somehow.

I probably ought to sit down with mom and try to get her to tell me everything she's been doing also. She'll hate it, consider it oversight, but I really ought to stay up to date on anything going on in the Safe Zone. Safe Haven, damn it. Oh to hell with it, I'm probably just going to keep thinking about it as a Safe Zone and not a Safe Haven. It's already ingrained in my brain that way. Besides, wasn't the Haven part just a title?

Realizing it was almost breakfast time, Marc stood up and headed towards the cafeteria.

So that's my plan for the day, he thought. Ask dad if he has legionaries to spare to be shown the Lair, ask Rob to guide them if dad wants to send them. I need to track down a Pyromancer to teach me Flamethrower and sit down with mom to find out what she's been doing. Also spend some time looking for anything else on the Capture Protocol. Then, if the recyclers bring in enough today I can expand and test the Capture Protocol after dinner. I ought to ask Felicia if there's anything she wants to do too, in case she wants some of my time. Okay, it's a plan, if only a rough one, but that ought to be enough for today at least.

* * *

Marc's day went close to plan. Rob showed the legionaries the way to the kobold Lair and reported back that it hadn't changed much and they hadn't seen any sign of kobolds when they were there. They didn't go in, because Marc's group had mostly cleared it recently, but now the legionaries knew where it was and could send groups out there. Marc had spoken with his dad and recommended that, for the time being at least, when the legionaries went out that they'd go with a higher level adventurer until they had a feel for the kobolds.

As expected, his mom had fussed about having to go over what she'd been doing, but Marc was pretty sure that it was more because it pulled her away from continuing whatever she'd been working on as opposed to him knowing what she was doing.

An hour before dinner, he sat down with Joshua to learn the Flamethrower spell. Since he'd provided Joshua with a Fireball scroll to learn the spell and teach the other Pyromancers, the learning was just one way this time.

After dinner, he was excited to head down to the Town Hall. Felicia accompanied him, as normal, and when he hustled into the build room he found that she was fairly excited as well.

“Go on, check,” she said. “If you can do the expansion, I'm hoping we'll find an interesting option on that stream. It's deep and wide enough now that it could support a mill wheel and that might be how people without bonus power slots get power to their Safe Zones.”

“Oh, I knew you were thinking there might be something about the stream and that does make sense. It's in keeping with the tech level of everything else here also,” he replied.

He pulled up his build screen and grinned.

You have sufficient resources to increase your Safe Zone.

Resources required:

Wood: 4000/4000

Stone: 4000/4000

Metal: 2000/2000

Designated power source for Safe Zone:

Monster Core – common – poor (2/3)

Monster Core – Rare – Excellent (3/5) (+4 power slots 2/4)

The current power source will sustain five expansions beyond the original power source.(3/5)

In current configuration, Capture Protocol is available and may provide more materials for expansion now and in the future.

Reminded of the Capture Protocol option he went back to the wireframe.

As soon as he touched it, the option to engage the Capture Protocol came up again. Choosing yes, he looked back at the wireframe. It didn't appear to have changed much, but he wasn't sure what he'd expected.

He was about to just initiate the expansion when he realized that he hadn't warned anyone, again.

“Crap, I need Amy, or I suppose I could warn the people on the wall with the intercom.”

“Intercom?” Felicia asked.

“Yeah, because it sounds less stupid than wired-communication device.”

She snickered.

“Actually, I think I saw someone following us down here after dinner, so maybe check the porch?” she said.

Marc went out and found Amy playing a game on the pad he'd given her.

It was a relatively simple match three game, but she seemed to be having a good time.

“Amy?” he said.

She jumped, startled.

“Oh, was I right? I keep an eye on you at dinner since it seems you always do the expansions right after it. So if I see you head down this way, I follow you.”

Wow, my very own little stalker, Marc thought. What's worse is that I didn't notice, but Felicia did. Perhaps I need to work on my situational awareness?

“Yes, you're right. I'm going to do an expansion. Do you want to come into the build room with Felicia and I so I can show you what areas will need to be notified?”

“Can I? I used to like to watch the pedestal thing when you were doing expansions, is it still like that?” Amy asked.

Marc nodded.

“Come on in, I'll show you.”

He led the way back to the build room, and showed her the map first.

“You won't have to worry about most of this, just let the guards on the wall know in that area, but...”

Marc pulled up the wireframe and started the expansion process.

“Heh, you were right Felicia, except they're calling it a water mill not a water wheel or mill wheel. Hey, it says that building one adds two power slots to the Safe Zone, but the buildings to use those slots must be built adjacent to the water mill. Should we do that? I know there are lots of other things I want to build that use power later on, so save the inherent power slots from the core for those? That way we can place them anywhere. We can use this one to power a grain mill and a sawmill.”

“That sounds good. What else are you putting in this time?” she asked.

Amy sat there quietly, watching the map on the wall and listening to Felicia and Marc.

“Well, another field definitely. There's no such thing as too much food. If we have too much we can sell some through the shop. Plus, I like the fields you can get on the upgrades. According to Allan they're really good soil and grow things much faster than normal.”

“That's two, we've got what, four per expansion recently?”

Marc nodded.

“And I can do the apartment expansion at any time, not just during the expansion, so let's look at stuff that's only available right now.”

“You could do Jeff's brewery. Isn't there alcohol that can be made from corn?” Felicia asked.

Marc shuddered.

“Yeah, moonshine. It's got a real kick to it. Now, for a moment, imagine Jeff drunk on something really strong, not just beer,” Marc said.

Felicia's face contorted into a scowl as she thought about it.

“Okay, no brewery. What else do we have options on?”

“Maybe a carpentry shop? Didn't the guy with carpenter skills get that for a class? That one doesn't require a power slot, it can be powered manually.”

“That would probably be good if we want to build anything in the captured area,” Felicia said. “That's three then, one more?”

Marc nodded, skimming the list. It looked like things had been added since his last expansion even, but he wasn't sure.

“Is there anything we need?” he asked. “I mean, we've got most of the things we need short term now, right? Should I start thinking long term?”

“Well, as for what we need. We've got a smithy and a bowyer shop, but is there a weaponsmith type as opposed to a generic blacksmith? Aren't those not quite the same?”

“True, they're not. A blacksmith can make some standard weapons, but not as well as a weaponsmith. Likewise for an armorer. Should we look for one of those?”

“Better yet, tannery or a leather crafting type of deal? They could make both clothing and light armor, no?” Felicia asked.

Marc nodded, then looked through the list. There were two options for a tannery and he was familiar with one. That one needed a large amount of
raw wood to create the tannins. The second was new and the listing under it showed it to be a superior choice in Marc's opinion.

“Hey, we can get a tannery that takes a power slot. It doesn't require the massive amount of wood for tannins and isn't supposed to smell bad,” he said. “I think that might be worth sacrificing a power slot for. Wasn't the tannery normally someplace no-one wanted to be near? And there's no way we could put it outside the walls and expect it to survive.”

“Are you sure?” Felicia asked.

“Well, we're adding two power slots this expansion. If we use one, we're still one up, right?”

“Fair point,” she said. “Go for it? Actually, check and see if that's one of the things anyone was willing to do? Leather working of some sort? Cut them a deal that they get to work with the leather, but they need to treat it first?”

“Ooh, that's a sly thought. I like it,” Marc said. “Maybe once people know that our tannery isn't going to stink they'd be willing to work it. Your idea would let them know right off that it doesn't stink like a normal one.”

He selected the powered tannery option and placed it on the wireframe.

“Okay Amy,” he said, turning to the map. “We'll need people to be aware that upgrades are building in these four locations.

He pointed out where he'd placed the field, the water mill, the carpenter shop, and the tannery. He didn't actually think anyone would be near the tannery area since he'd placed it in a back corner, behind the smithy even.

Even so, better safe than sorry.

“Fifty coppers to go let people know, then return here and let us know,”

he said.

“Be back as soon as I can,” Amy said, shooting out into the hallway.

“Fifty copper?” Felicia asked.

“Hey, do you know what she told me a while back? She was giving some of her pay to her mom. Her mom wanted to be a seamstress like Lisa, but
needed needles. I imagine she needs a few other things too, no? So, I'm supporting that. You don't want to know what I paid her last time.”

“The pad, I know, she told me when I asked. I wondered how she'd gotten it.”

“And now she can hang out on the Town Hall porch reading or playing games in case someone else needs a messenger,” Marc said.

Felicia just shook her head.

“I don't know if anyone else has hired her or not, or if it's all been just you.”

“True, but she's making herself useful, unlike some of the older people.”

“They've mostly shaped up,” Felicia said. “At least I think they have. I don't think your mom will go soft on them if they don't.”

Marc grinned.

“Neither do I, that's part of the reason I asked her to take the administrator position.”

“What if she has to kick someone out, Marc?” Felicia said.

“She'll do it, I'm sure. After all, she'll have my father's backing if she asks and I'm sure the legionaries would listen to him. They've pretty much adopted him as their commander and only a couple of them asked for out of the legion when they finally arrived here.”

“Is that the way you want things to work here? I mean, seriously, I'm asking how you'd like things to go.”

“That isn't precisely how I want things to go. I want everyone to be willing to pitch in and help in one way or another. Unfortunately, we've had a number of people so far, the Sternns the most public of them, who refuse to do that. After we kicked the Sternns out it got better, but we just brought a bunch more people in, so...”

He sighed and shook his head.

“That's what I want. Since we're not likely to get it, I'll settle for making sure that the people who are unwilling to pull their own weight don't drag
everyone else down with them. If my dad has to use troops for that? I don't like it, but the other options are worse.”

Felicia sighed unhappily and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around him.

“I can tell that still bothers you,” she said.

“Of course it does. I don't want to throw them out, but we can't support them without endangering everyone else, so what else are we supposed to do?”

“We do whatever we can to convince them that they need to help. Then, if they still won't, we throw them out. It's not just you, it's all the rest of us doing it too. Just remember that. It's not all on you, we agree with you that it needs to be done and we hate it too, but just like you, we can't find a better option yet,” Felicia said.

Marc just leaned into her, returning her embrace. They stayed that way until disturbed.

* * *

It was almost a half hour later when Amy returned and this time she was slightly out of breath.

“Wow, the Safe Zone is getting big,” she said when she got back, “but I warned everyone in those areas and asked someone to keep an eye on them until the changes happened so no-one would wander in after I went by.”

“That's smart of you. Let's get this expansion underway,” Marc said.

He walked over to the build pedestal and initiated the physical portion of the expansion. Since he'd done all the setup first, it immediately initiated.

He watched on the map, pointing it out to Felicia and Amy, as the icons constructed themselves from the little pictures of metal, stone, and wood that drifted across the map to their new locations.

Once the expansion was done, his notification light started flashing.

Feeling like one of Pavlov's dogs, he immediately opened it.

System Message:

For engaging Capture Protocol and encircling a section of unclaimed land you have earned the title: Landlord. Title bonuses are cumulative unless otherwise indicated.

Landlord: While the land that makes up a Safe Zone may not be sold or gifted, land encircled by a Safe Zone or Safe Zones is not constrained by that rule. Your land claimed with the Capture Protocol may be rented, sharecropped, gifted, or otherwise disposed of as desired. If the land changes ownership from the holder, taxes may be due to the holder of the Safe Zone encircling the land on a yearly basis. It will remain non-spawning, but is still in danger if spawns manage to make it to this area.

Safe Zone bonuses of any sort are not counted in land claimed with the Capture Protocol.

As a Landlord your word will hold more weight. While retaining the title of Landlord you will have a +1 bonus to your Charisma and will haggle more effectively (+10% to the skill if possessed, or the title holder is granted the abilities of the base skill if not possessed).

You have gained Renown: +3, for acquisition of a second title.

Marc stopped and turned to Felicia.

“Uh-oh,” he said.

“What uh-oh?”

He shared the screen with her, showing her the System message.

“I've got Renown now.”

He pulled up his stats quickly.

“Yes, it shows on my stat screen and my titles do now, too.”

“Why is that bad?” she asked.

“Don't you remember what the System said about Renown before? Let me find it in my log.”

He'd been happy to find the search function for the log a few days ago and this was exactly why. It only took a few seconds to pull up the pertinent section, which he shared with her.

Your planet is now linked to the entertainment network of the System and you may find yourself watched and gaining renown or notoriety. Infamous subjects are even more interesting to watch than those who are famous, more unpredictable and more entertaining.

“So yeah, uh-oh. I don't exactly want people watching me. I don't even know if we'd know when they were or not,” he said.

“Oh, yeah, you're right. Uh-oh. Is there anything about that in the help files?”

Knowing what he was looking for made it easy to actually access the information in his head, so he did.

“Yeah, it says that Renown and Notoriety are qualifiers for entrance to the System entertainment system. You need to have at least a point to be included as subject matter in it. Now that I do, I may gain more of it from people watching me on that network. It also says that having a Renown or Notoriety of twenty-five or more makes it possible for watchers to send gifts anonymously, although that's expensive. That's everything in the help file, paraphrased for brevity. They're a lot more verbose and try to make it sound like a great thing.”

“Can I be the one to tell Jeff?” Felicia asked, grinning. “Cause that's really going to piss him off.”

“Why do you want to make Jeff mad?” Marc asked.

“I don't, really. I'm just sick of him hitting us with movie quotes, so I'm going to do the same to him, I've got the perfect one for this,” Felicia said.

“You do know that's supposed to be more of a spur of the moment thing?”

“Yeah, like half of Jeff's are spur of the moment? I don't think so. He even admitted that on the Heavy Metal one he used with the Sternns.”

“Alright, fine, you can be the one to tell him. Hopefully I won't be around for the aftermath.”

She raised her eyebrows at him.

“So you want me to taunt Jeff while you're not there to back me up?” she asked.

Marc groaned and Amy giggled. Marc had completely forgotten that she was in the room with them.

“Fine, let's go. He normally hangs around the cafeteria after dinner for a while, right?” Marc asked.

Felicia nodded.

“Yup, I think he's got groupies. Well, at least others that are jealous of his class and want to learn it from him eventually. They're mostly younger though.”

“You mean to tell me that Jeff holds court?” Marc asked. “Because that's what it sounds like you're describing.”

“He probably thinks of it that way too, if I were to guess. Not that he'd admit it of course,” Felicia said.

“Let's go then,” he said, then turned to Amy.

“Here's your pay and it's probably best not to mention too much of what you heard, okay?”

“Only to my mama,” Amy said, grinning. “Can I go to the cafeteria too though? It's always fun to watch Jeff get frustrated. Mama says it's because he tries to look cool all the time, so it's funny when he loses his cool.”

Marc groaned.

I had no idea there were undercurrents like that in the Safe Zone. People talking about Jeff? Do they talk about me, or Felicia, that way too? I don't think I want to ask.

“That's your call, Amy. Will your mama mind?”

“Not if I can describe Jeff losing his cool again, she won't,” Amy said gaily.

“Come on, Marc,” Felicia added, tugging on his arm.

It only took them a few minutes to get back to the keep and the cafeteria.

Marc had wanted to stop and look at the Water Mill that was rumbling away in the stream, but Felicia had kept tugging him along.

Sure enough, Jeff and Ella were sitting at a table, with three other younger people there as well.

“Hey Jeff, I've got some news for you,” Felicia said.

He turned around to face her.

“What is it this time?” he said.

I see what she meant about him trying to play it cool around these guys, Marc thought. I hadn't noticed until I was looking for it.

“Marc just got a second title,” Felicia said.

Jeff sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Is that all?”

“Nope, he also just got some of that Renown that the System mentioned way back at the beginning,” Felicia continued. “It means he's now part of the System entertainment setup and might have people watching him, so you might get some bit parts in that too, depending on what we do.”

Jeff groaned out loud and Marc thought he could hear the Thief grinding his teeth from where he stood several feet away.

“Something wrong, Jeff?” Felicia asked

Jeff just closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Now Felicia got a devious look on her face.

“What's wrong, Jeff?” she said. “Something vexes thee?”

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

They were together as a group by the end of breakfast the next morning, but Marc had other plans.

“So, this area I just captured with the latest expansion? It could still have spawns in it. They won't spawn there any more though. I want the recyclers to work this area eventually, although I think it won't decay as fast as it has been. My point being, I think we should split up some and take this opportunity to get some experience for some of the lower level combat classes,” he said.

Rob shook his head.

“I don't get it.”

“Rob, most of the adventuring parties have been finding the lower level stuff nesting in buildings in the town, right?”

Rob nodded.

“Well, if we split up into two groups and each of those groups takes a couple of level one or two combat classes out, we might be able to get them a level or two.”

“Oh, so you want to treat it like the kobolds?” Rob asked.

“Yes, a lot like that, it's just that these won't respawn after we kill them.

It's not going to be that dangerous for us at all, and we can be there if the lower levels can't handle something. Let them take care of the issues unless they need our help.”

“Oh, why didn't you just say you wanted to split up and power level them some?” Rob said.

Close enough, Marc thought, even if I suspect there aren't enough spawns in there to power level properly, a level or two will do.

“That's close enough for government work,” Marc said. “So, that's the plan for today. I'll have the recyclers taking care of other areas where things
are still decaying quickly and test my thought that the area we captured isn't going to decay like things outside of the Safe Zone walls.”

“There's something else we need to talk about,” Jeff said.

“What's that?”

“This Renown crap you got.”

“I don't think it matters, Jeff, after all I've only got three points? Who's going to want to watch someone with only three Renown?”

“Marc, we're a new addition to the System, people like to watch new stuff.”

“Yeah, but only three points, remember?”

Jeff caught his gaze and held it.

“Yeah, only three points, but how many other people have gotten any at all? Didn't you say it was getting a second title that gave you any Renown at all? How many other people are going to have two titles?”

Marc had looked up titles in the help files. They were allegedly given out for some firsts, extraordinary measures taken successfully, and for set reasons. He never could find a listing of the set reasons though, so it wasn't like he could work on getting more for him or anyone else.

Because the more people who get multiple titles, the more people get Renown. The more people with Renown, the less likely it is that someone's going to be watching me when I'd prefer they weren't, he thought. Which is just about always.

“There are other ways to get Renown, I'm sure, plus lots of ways to get titles. I'm positive I'm not the only person to have gotten some already, and with the little bit I have, I'm hoping no-one wants to watch me,” Marc said, after his pause in answering Jeff had grown uncomfortably long.

“Fat chance,” Jeff said.

“Can we just go do this? I asked a few of the low levels to meet us out near the gate I put in the wall that accesses the captured area,” Marc replied.

“Fine, but we'll talk more about this later,” Jeff said. “How are we splitting up?”

“Well, Ella and I should split up so there are offensive casters with both groups,” Marc said. “After that I assume that you'll want to go with Ella and Felicia will want to come with me.”

He paused and looked at the two women who both gave him nods.

“Rob, it's up to you who you go with,” Marc finished.

“Hmm, you can tank also, so I'll go with Ella and Jeff,” Rob said.

Their efforts that day were sufficient to clear out half the captured area.

With the buildings in an apparently sturdier form now and not looking like they'd fall on their heads at the slightest touch, they were quicker at clearing them than they would've been with the buildings in their frailer state.

Marc only got a little experience from the kills they made. Goblins, kobolds, rats, and a few giant insect types were all they ran into. He only had to step in on some of the giant insects, although Felicia was healing right through.

While Marc and Felicia didn't get a significant portion of experience, the three level ones they were escorting each made it to level three by the time they called it a day.

On their return to the Safe Zone, Marc was immediately pulled aside by his father.

* * *

“Marc, over here,” Sean called.

Marc made his way over to his father who was standing at the base of the watchtower. Felicia went with him, holding onto his arm.

“What is it, dad? Felicia and I were just going to go relax until dinner,”

Marc said.

“I've got a surprise for you,” Sean said. “Think of it as me paying you back for Systemizing my rifle.”

“I told you that wasn't necessary,” Marc said.

“I know, but then I heard you say you wanted something and I could provide it, so I did. Or at least I will, shortly.”

Marc looked at him, confused.

“Just follow me. You guys are good for a few minutes walk, right?”

Marc looked at Felicia, who was now looking like her curiosity had been aroused. She nodded.

“Sure, where to?”

“Just follow.”

Sean led them back out the door and out towards the encampment and cornfield. As they got closer to it, Marc realized that the encampment was a lot more than it had been. Before it had just been an area with a bunch of tents and campfires. Sometime in the past five days since they rebuilt it, it had grown. Now there was a central building that was reminiscent of a wooden Viking longhouse. There were also a few other smaller buildings scattered around the interior of the walls.

The walls of the encampment had grown as well, now they spread out far enough to encompass the cornfield Marc had wanted, as well as another field in place next to it. There was a stone well just outside of the longhouse.

Marc had a niggling thought start up in the back of his head. The place looked a lot like something he'd heard about recently, heard about from his father even.

“Dad, is this—”

Sean shushed him.

“Don't say anything, just follow me,” he said.

Marc dutifully followed, swallowing his question. Sean led them into the longhouse then and, at the far end of it, Marc's idea was verified. Even from
here he recognized the build pedestal, even if it was only made of wood instead of metal.

Sean walked straight up to it and pointed at the pedestal.

“Please, touch the pedestal?” Sean said. “I need your help on something here.”

“You could just share the screen about it with me, then we wouldn't have had to come out here,” Marc said, reaching out and touching the pedestal.

“Even if you did want to show off your new Safe Zone.”

His notification light immediately started flashing so he pulled it up.

System message:

You have been added as an authorized user to the Marc's Gift Safe Zone.

Marc blinked as he caught the name of it. Then his notification light started flashing again.

System message:

Sean Cavanaugh has removed himself as an authorized user of the Marc's Gift Safe Zone. As the remaining authorized user, you are now the holder of this Safe Zone.

Marc groaned.

“Dad, what are you doing? I have a hard enough time trying to manage a single Safe Zone!”

“What did he do?” Felicia asked.

“I gifted him the Safe Zone,” Sean said. “It contains the cornfield that he said he'd like to get, but wasn't close enough to the existing Safe Zone. So I made a new one here.”

“How?” Marc asked.

“Well, I told you what Encampment does, but I didn't give you all the details. If we maintain and improve an Encampment we can, over time, bring it up to the point that it can be used to build a Safe Zone. So I did.”

“Wait, Encampment can do what?” Marc asked.

“Yeah, if we all had it at level one it would've taken a week, but most of us have improved our Encampment skill and that shortens the time it takes to make a basic encampment, and it also shortens the time needed to build an encampment up to where it can be used as the base for a Safe Zone. We got there earlier today and I used my lesser System token to make it into one. We were only offered one additional item though, so I made it another field. Water is from the well and there's no power, but...”

Despite there being no power, the interior of the longhouse was lit, if dimly. Marc wouldn't want to try to read by that light, but it was good enough to look around.

“I chose to have the shop placed in one of the other buildings on the grounds. That way you can approve access to it for people, but not have them tromping in here to get to it,” Sean said.

Marc's notification light had started flashing again while they were talking, so he held a hand up to forestall more conversation for a moment, then pulled up his screen.

System Message:

You have claimed a second Safe Zone. This is an action of note and you will receive bonuses for this act.

You have been awarded: Uncommon System token You have gained Renown: +5, for claiming a second Safe Zone.

You have gained the option to convert: Wired Communications (in Safe Zone) to Non-Wired Communications which will allow communications between your Safe Zones.

You have gained the option: Shared Laws and Rules, in your primary Safe Zone. This will allow those laws and rules designated for your primary Safe Zone to extend to additional Safe Zones.

As you have Capture Protocol engaged, you are now 2/3 of the way to capturing additional land. Remember that all Safe Zones used in Capture Protocol must be within (Primary Safe Zone level/2) miles of two of the other Safe Zones used for the Capture Protocol.

Create one more Safe Zone and Capture sufficient land between the three to receive the title: Land Baron.

Marc felt like he was about to fall over. Fortunately there were chairs nearby and he managed to stagger over to one before sitting.

“What's wrong, Marc?” Sean asked. “There isn't some sort of problem with owning more than one, is there?”

Marc slowly shook his head, then shared his screen with both his father and Felicia.

“No,” Marc said. “But I need to see if there's a surviving map. Because if I'm reading this correctly and we build another Safe Zone, say right near the mine so we can do mining? Then as long as it's within three miles of both this one and Any Port, we can link them all up with Capture Protocol. All the land in that area will stop spawning, although we'll need to do something to keep the spawns from just wandering in. Patrols, or walls, or something...”

Marc just sat there, trying to envision how many people that land would be able to support, even if it didn't receive the bonuses to buildings and fields from the Safe Zones around it.

Felicia, meanwhile, had caught on to the other thing that was bothering him.

“Marc, does this mean that you're up to an eight in Renown now?”

* * *

Marc was practically in a daze on the way back to Any Port. He was desperately trying to remember just how far it was to the spot in front of the mine that had held the mine house.

I know that it was more than three miles by the roads, but not by much. I suppose it doesn't matter, we can always get one going up there and then use the Capture Protocol after we expand Any Port one more time. I've got
two more expansions on the cores already in there, so that's at least one more mile we can go.

“Bill, that's it. I need to talk to Bill,” Marc said.

“Why?” Sean asked.

“I want to get him to scavenge a map of the town so I know just how far it is to the mine. If he scavenges and Systemizes one then it'll be in perfect shape again and I can find the exact distance.”

“Why do you want to Capture so much land?” Felicia asked.

“Think about it. How many people could we support from it. Even if they're in Safe Zones elsewhere, we could probably work out some way to ship food and other things to them. If there are still survivors out there we could take in as many as we can find. All we'd need to do is have guards or patrols in the area and maybe eventually build up some walls to keep all the spawns out.”

“So you don't care about the Land Baron title?” Sean asked.

“Why would I? I don't know what it is and it would probably give me even more Renown,” Marc said, practically spitting.

“Why do you hate the idea of Renown so much?” Sean asked.

“Because it means that people can look in on me whenever they want, watch me on the System's entertainment network. Do I look like I want to star on reality television?” Marc replied.

System message:

Incorrect. Entertainment selections are chosen to be shown and include those from actions taken before Renown was gained. Private moments, bodily functions, and the like are never shown.

“And now the damned System is talking to me again? When did it get so chatty?” Marc practically screamed.

System message:

As the demands on my cycles slow with the introduction of each new spawn rarity, more of my cycles are open for other purposes. One of those
purposes is to monitor those who gain Renown and answer their questions when possible. Communication will be easier still when all spawn rarities have been introduced and the majority of my cycles have been freed up.

“Great, great, so I'll have you in my head constantly then?” Marc said.

“Marc, who are you talking to?” Felicia asked.

Sean just looked worried. Marc noticed that and quickly shared the last pair of messages with them.

“Oh,” Felicia said. “Well, the first one does kind of remove some of my worries regarding Renown.”

Marc grinned feebly. It had removed some of his own as well, but even with that he felt as though the System were simply taunting him by speaking to him repeatedly.

System message:

Yes, I understand. Communication with you is easier than with others due to your current duties as English Major since a connection already exists. Therefore I have been speaking to you more than others to try to discover the best way to communicate with humans.

“I knew there had to be a catch,” Marc said, sharing the message again.

“So, what's so bad with that?” Sean asked. “As opposed to saving individuals, you may be helping the entire species this way.”

“Because it's reading my thoughts, dad. I can't even have a private thought.”

System message:

I read everyone's thoughts. You and your group discovered Intent plays a major part in some things I do. How can I determine Intent without knowing the thoughts of those creatures who hold said Intent? Why is it different that you are now aware of this?

Marc's jaw dropped as he shared that message also.

I'm not even going to try to explain why to you, he thought. You've already got access to a lot of my thoughts and memories, figure it out
yourself.

Then he tried his best to ignore any thoughts about the System as they entered the Safe Zone.

System message:

You will have your privacy for a bit. I must devote my cycles to the next step of my programming now.

Marc tried to relax, but when his notification light started flashing again thirty seconds later, he cussed like a sailor before pulling it up.

System Message:

Mythical spawns will now commence. Increase your power levels by destroying spawns or through other means. Good Luck!

Oh, oops, he thought. I thought that the System was going to be talking to me directly again. Instead it was telling the truth, well assuming everything else it said was true, and is going to need its cycles to create the mythical spawns.

Marc found himself considering everything they'd just discovered.

“Um, dad, Felicia?” he said.

They were still on the road leading up to the keep, walking slowly.

“Yes?”

“I think it might be better if we didn't mention anything we just learned about the System to anyone else, okay? I don't know how well people would do knowing some of that.”

“Wise,” Sean said. “I certainly won't be telling your mother. She'd be furious to learn that last part and have no way to discharge that fury, well other than on me. I'll be staying quiet on all of that.”

“I don't see where knowing any of that would benefit anyone,” Felicia said. “As a matter of fact, I wish I didn't know it.”

“Good, then we're agreed?” Marc asked.

“About what?” Felicia said. “I don't know of anything that we need to agree on, do you Mr. Cavanaugh?”

She winked at him while speaking and that made Marc feel better. For a moment, he'd feared that the System might've granted her wish.

Sean just shook his head.

“All I know is that I'm hungry, should we go get dinner?”

* * *

Marc was in a foul mood after dinner and he contemplated, for a moment, actually going to the shop and buying a few beers. He dismissed the idea, knowing that a depressant like beer would probably not be the best idea in his current mood. Instead he headed back to his room.

Even Beggar's antics weren't enough to cheer him up, although the raccoon did manage to snuggle up alongside Marc as he lay on his bed alternately trying to plan and fuming about the things he'd learned over the course of the day.

Marc was surprised to find that he was petting the raccoon as it snuggled in closer to him. They were disturbed when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in, it's open,” Marc called out.

The door opened to reveal his father.

“Marc? What are you doing, and what are you doing with that raccoon?”

Sean asked.

“Fuming, and planning, and I think Beggar here,” Marc said, gesturing to the raccoon, “has been trying to cheer me up.”

“Well, that's part of why I'm here. Felicia looked me up after dinner. She said you sort of ignored her when she was trying to talk to you.”

“I know,” Marc sighed. “I probably did. I'm just trying to work this out, find some way that it won't constantly distract me.”

“Marc, I know you aren't good with people so I'm just going to say this out loud. Did you ever think that she might be having the same thoughts?

Not want to be alone with those thoughts and maybe respect you enough that she wanted your input?”

Marc bolted upright and Beggar went skittering over to his chair.

“Shit!” Marc said.

“Shit indeed,” Sean said.

“Is it too late to go talk to her? Maybe try to explain?”

“Maybe, but maybe not too. She knows you don't like to lean on others, that you like to work things out by yourself. So maybe you haven't shoved your entire foot into your mouth all the way up to your knee, and maybe if you go right over there and apologize, maybe grovel a little, she'll forgive you,” Sean said.

“Excuse me,” Marc said, heading for the door.

“And now that I've placed my boot to your rear and got you thinking again, I can go explain things to your mom.”

Marc turned towards him, alarmed.

“No, not those things. Just that her son isn't nearly as smart as she thinks, at least when it comes to his girlfriend, and that I had to get him back on the right path,” Sean said.

Marc took the five steps to Felicia's door and knocked, cautiously.

She opened the door and looked out at him. The fact that she'd been going through close to the same as he had struck him as he looked at her face and he started speaking immediately.

“Sorry, I was only thinking about how it affected me, since the System seems to be fixating on me so far, but it affects you too and I'm sorry for not considering that. You know me, I try to fix myself by myself, so I automatically fell back on old habits. I apologize. Dad suggested groveling too, but I think that might be going too far. What do you think?”

His flood of words had obviously taken her off guard, but they'd also put a tiny smile on her face.

“I don't know,” she said. “Groveling sounds good.”

Marc grinned at her, then dropped to his knees.

“Forgive me, please? Beggar's been trying to cheer me up, but he's a horrible conversationalist.”

Felicia snorted.

“Let's go over to your place if Beggar is there. Maybe I can get him to give me a cuddle?”

“Well, he was snuggling up to me so it's possible,” Marc said, leading her to his room.

Beggar was back on the bed, lying smack dab in the middle of the warm spot where Marc had been lying.

“Oh, so that was all a ruse? Were you just snuggling against me to be warm?” Marc said, mock indignantly.

The raccoon simply looked up at him with a better set of puppy dog eyes than Marc had ever even seen on a dog. Marc sat on one edge of the bed and started petting the raccoon.

“It's okay Beggar, I'm out of that fugue state I was in. I think I'll be able to stay out of it too, with Felicia's help.”

The raccoon snuffled in Felicia's direction and she sat down on the other side of the bed, slowly scooting up to Beggar. The raccoon allowed it and soon she was cuddled up to him and petting him. Marc just watched the two of them for a few minutes before speaking up.

“So, you want to help me work through this? I can help you with it also, if we both let each other know what's bothering each other the most about this, maybe the two of us can get through it?”

She pulled back from Beggar, then went to get him water. Marc, not having fed the raccoon yet pulled out some beef jerky for him.

“Put that on the chair, will you?” Felicia said.

“Sure, why? I thought you were getting along with him quite well there.”

“Because I've got a condition to us working through this together,” she said.

Marc dropped the jerky on the chair and Beggar quickly jumped off the bed and made his way to his chair to start eating.

“What's that?” Marc asked.

“Well,” Felicia said, reaching out and stroking Marc's arm before taking his hand and pulling it towards her chest. “It said that they don't show the private moments, so if we discuss it while we're having a very extended private moment, then no-one can listen in on us, can they?”

“And it could improve our mood too, couldn't it? I know it'll improve mine.”

“Well, let's just see if you can help me improve mine as well,” Felicia said, capturing his other hand.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

In the morning Marc had a better grip on his anger. As they'd discussed things he'd realized that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about the fact that the System was in his, and everyone else's, mind all the time. He'd been fine with it there when he didn't realize it, and now that he knew? He knew there was nothing he could do about it, so he'd just do his best to not let the anger about it overtake him.

And just why is it that I didn't know that earlier. The damned System gives measurements of my mind as well as my body and social skills. How could it do that unless it was in there. Does the System block that realization also or was it something my mind simply refused to acknowledge?

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts out of it.

Today, Felicia had woken up at the same time he had and when he glanced out the window he realized that he'd slept later than usual today since the sun was already up.

“So, finish off clearing that captured area today?” Felicia asked.

“With some different low levels to give them experience as well,” Marc replied. “I need to talk to dad also, see if he can run patrols through that area in case we miss anything.”

“I know you wanted to check out the mill wheel too, since I interrupted you from doing that the other day. So we can check that out if you like.”

“Plus let Allan know that we've got the good field, plus one other, out in the second Safe Zone. He'll need to assign someone there. It looks like they'd harvested all the corn though, so it ought to be about ready to get planted again,” Marc replied. “Also, I think we ought to take a trip out there. I was so taken aback by what my dad did and the results of it, that I never even checked about upgrading that one. I wonder if there's a way to get power or running water for it.”

“Well, that sounds like a full day, if not as exciting as a lot of the recent ones have been,” Felicia said.

“I've had enough of exciting recently. A few calm days would be nice,”

Marc replied.

“Are you sure about that?” Felicia asked, grinning evilly.

Marc was now sure that she hadn't entirely forgiven him for ignoring her last night and that he'd be paying for it, somehow.

“After all,” she continued, “you've got your viewers to consider now, right?”

Marc groaned and finished getting dressed.

“I said I was sorry,” he replied. “I thought you forgave me?”

“Mostly, I'm sure we'll be even in a day or two,” Felicia said sweetly.

Marc groaned again, silently this time.

“Well, let's go get some food and get the day underway. Do me a favor though, would you?”

“Maybe, what do you want?” she asked.

“Don't tell Jeff that I got more Renown? Please?”

“Well, maybe not right now, but if I decide he needs to be cut down a bit at some point? No promises.”

“Please?” Marc repeated.

Felicia just smiled.

“You were saying something about breakfast?”

* * *

The day clearing the captured area was very similar to the one before except they had to step in more today. The three level ones they had with them seemed to have a problem with giant insects, or at least two of them
did. So Marc and Felicia stepped in to help on the three occasions they encountered them.

Marc himself would've had a problem with the giant mosquitoes if it hadn't been for his spells. They tended to flutter up high, out of reach of melee, but his Mana Darts did them in just fine.

And screw it, I'm not calling them Giant Mosquitoes like the System did, Marc thought. The damned things looked like a cross between a bat and a giant mosquito with a huge proboscis. Those things were Stirges, not mosquitoes. I'm glad there were only four because if those things had started breeding and there was a whole swarm? Oh, hell no!

They finished clearing the Captured area by mid-afternoon, bidding good bye to the lower levels that had come with them. Once again their companions had received a pair of levels each while Marc and Felicia had only made a few hundred experience each, but their plan was working.

Each level they got for a resident made the Safe Zone stronger and more able to take care of itself.

Once the others were headed back into the Safe Zone proper, Marc and Felicia let themselves out and headed to the new Safe Zone.

When they got there they found Allan, who Marc had told during breakfast that they'd claimed the Scarecrow field, working on the new field.

He saw them enter the Safe Zone and came over.

“So, I'm thinking this field will be a good way to start stocking up on food for winter,” he said. “I've no clue if we'll be able to grow anything then, probably we will, but not the assortment we can now. So, this field is going to be doing squash and the like that will keep throughout the whole winter season.”

“I trust you, Allan. You plant what you think we need and I'll back you up on it,” Marc said. “Check with the cooks though, they were talking about the pantry having some sort of stasis? Maybe other things will last through winter even if they normally wouldn't.”

“Well, I'm sure you didn't come out here just to chat with me, what's up?”

“I need to see if we can expand this Safe Zone and how it's done. It's of a different variety than the main one.”

“I'd noticed. No running water, hardly any power, and the buildings aren't up to the quality of Any Port,” Allan said.

“Yes, that's about it. I'm going to see what the options are to improve this place.”

“Well, don't let me keep you. I might pick a place out here myself if you open it up. I'd like to stay close to this beauty if I can,” Allan said, gesturing towards the field.

Marc grinned, amused by the farmer's apparent love for the Scarecrow field.

“I'll go take a look then, see what I can do,” Marc said.

As they walked into the longhouse, Marc chuckled.

“Hey, I think I just figured out why there was a substantial drop in materials a few days back,” he said, gesturing towards the structure around him.

“Oh, you think your dad swiped the materials for this place from the stockpile?” Felicia asked.

“If it's like the others, it was a thousand of each. He might've had all the wood he needed, but metal and stone? Yeah, I think he swiped it. I'll forgive him though. If Allan's right then that single field is worth all those materials.”

Marc stepped up to the build pedestal and pulled up the expansion screen.

Marc's Gift:

You have insufficient resources to expand your Safe Zone in this manner.

Resources required:

Wood: 113/1500

Stone: 97/1500

Metal: 115/1000

System Token

Designated power source for Safe Zone:

System Token – Lesser

Power slots – unavailable with current configuration, upgrade Safe Zone for options – minimal power for lighting, shop, and build pedestal at this time.

“Yup, it says you can upgrade the Safe Zone for optional power slots. I bet it takes one to supply the electricity and water,” Marc said.

“Are you going to?” Felicia asked.

“I do have a few System tokens. Should I try it with my lowest one? I've got the rare still, plus a common and an uncommon.”

“Well, do you have other plans for them?”

“Not really, although there are a few things I could buy with them that would be good. Only good though, nothing great.”

“Try it with the common one then?”

“There aren't enough materials for a normal expansion, so let me see if I can find another way to do upgrades that aren't size related,” Marc said.

He dug through the menus, more familiar with them now, although these were slightly different from what he was used to.

“Here we go, something called upgrade as opposed to expand,” he said.

Choosing the selection, he got a new prompt from the build pedestal.

Upgrade Marc's Gift Safe Zone? (y/n)

He chose yes.

Choose means to power upgrade:

Common System Token

Uncommon System Token

Rare System Token

Marc selected the common System token and waited a moment.

Available upgrades, you may select: 2

Running water

Electrical power

Power slot

Guardian (costs 2 upgrades)

“Well, that's good to know,” he said.

“What is?” Felicia asked.

“There are other upgrade options. You can use System tokens to add running water or electrical power to the Safe Zone, you can also use them to add power slots or even a guardian, although that last costs two slots.”

“So, running water and electric?” she asked.

Marc nodded and made his selections.

Upgrading existing buildings for: running water, electrical power, will require 57 metal and 12 wood in addition to your token. Finish upgrade?

(y/n)

Marc remembered that there had been a fair bit of metal and wood listed on the Safe Zone upgrade page, so he selected yes again.

Over the course of several moments the light brightened. There was a also a grinding noise as a small corner was walled off, a door appearing in it. When he walked over and opened it the new room proved to be a small bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink.

“Good, I hope all the houses out there got that too, otherwise that was really pricey for materials,” Marc said.

“We can just go check, no reason to guess.”

Marc nodded and gestured towards the front door.

“After you.”

The smaller houses had also received a small bathroom similar to the one in the longhouse and were each well lit now. Electrical outlets were
available on the walls now also, one per room.

“Okay, it looks like this place is inhabitable, if not as well protected as Any Port,” Marc said. “So, maybe we'll see if we can station some guards down here or something?”

Allan had already been out in the field, working. He noticed them wandering around and came over.

“So, what did you find out?” Allan asked.

“That you can upgrade these things with System Tokens.”

“Like the one I got for becoming a farmer?”

Marc nodded.

“Yes, and now there are both running water and electric down here too.

Both in the longhouse and the smaller homes.”

“Well now, I might need to be moving,” Allan said, grinning. “Do you have any more plans on upgrades for this place?”

“Eventually, probably not really soon though. I can still do a couple of expansions on Any Port and I'd like to do those before starting in on here.

Plus we're thinking about doing one more Safe Zone up near the old mine since it can be used for mining again,” Marc said.

“Because it would be nice if we had something to export. Maybe crops, eventually,” Felicia said, “but if we keep growing our population, we might not be able to do that. Raw materials like metal ingots though? They might sell, I saw some for sale in the shop. The generic 'metal ingot' doesn't go for much, but actual ingots of specific metals? Those are a lot pricier.”

Allan nodded.

“I can see that, but are we going to be getting that many more people? I thought there weren't that many showing up any more.”

“True, but dad said he saw at least one Safe Zone that had fallen on his way here. I want to contact the others, maybe trade with them, and definitely let them know that if there are problems, we can take in any people that are willing to work but don't have anywhere to go,” Marc said.

“Ah, and you figure if one's fallen, then more might?” Allan asked.

“That and if they took in other survivors, they might end up running low on food. That's something we don't have a problem with yet and, with your help, hopefully never will.”

“From your lips to God's ears,” Allan said. “That is currently my most fervent wish. It isn't just me though. A few of the Field Hands are just in it for a job, but most of my people are trying their best and doing wonders.”

“I'm glad to hear that. I know we have fewer slackers now, but there'll always be some, won't there?” Marc said.

“Some, but fewer than normal. They slack less when they realize someone's watching them and know that they're growing their own food,”

Allan said, grinning.

“Well, we'll leave you to it. I just needed to check out that build pedestal and do those upgrades I just did. They weren't planned, but I was hoping I could do that.”

“I'll just be looking around to see if there's a spigot out here anywhere. A couple of copper will get me a hose and make my life easier. Thank your mom for me, will you? Nice to have some coins in my pocket again and for her to give us back pay too.”

Huh, I didn't even think of back pay. I'm glad that she did, Marc thought.

“I'll do that,” Marc said.

With a final wave for Allan, he and Felicia left the new Safe Zone and headed back for the main one.

* * *

Marc was preparing for an evening in, as they'd almost all been recently, when Jeff burst into the Cafeteria where Marc was nursing a last cup of coffee for the day.

Jeff hadn't been at dinner and Ella, rather upset with him for taking off, had been more than happy to complain.

“He's so pissed that Marc got Renown and he didn't that he decided he was going to go out and find some way to get either Renown or Notoriety, he didn't care which,” she'd said. “He asked me if I wanted to go also, but I could tell he didn't really want me to, probably because I don't have Stealth.”

That'd been all she'd say, but it was enough for Marc to fret about his friend. Now here he was, dashing into the room, his heading turning wildly until he found Marc and made a beeline for him.

“Marc, Marc,” Jeff said. “You're not going to believe what I found.”

“I'd believe almost anything nowadays, so go ahead and try me.”

“Way south of here, like five miles or more, there's this weird batch of terrain. It's this clump of trees, maybe fifty acres or more, out in the middle of a huge meadow. It used to be all meadow before, but now those trees are there and some of them are probably hundreds of years old from their size.”

“So you're all excited because of a bunch of trees?” Marc asked.

“No, idiot, I'm all excited because of what lives in them.”

“Which is?” Marc asked, unsure if Jeff was intentionally being irritating or just not getting to the point.

“You remember that elf that took a potshot at you?”

Marc nodded.

“I saw at least a dozen of them in the fringes of that forest,” Jeff said.

“Okay, I can see where that might be an issue, especially if they're all like that first one.”

“That isn't even the best of it, or the worst, or whatever. The ones I saw?

They were all planting big-ass nuts, sort of like seeds? Then they chanted and the damned things immediately sprouted and grew to like five feet tall in less than ten minutes.”

“Okay, so terraforming, or whatever the term might be for them doing that, potentially hostile, elves? Is that what you're saying?”

Jeff nodded.

“And you think we should... what?”

Jeff grinned.

“War. We can go to war with them.”

Marc sank his head into his hands.

So much for a quiet evening in, he thought. Now I need to talk Jeff out of trying to start a war.

“Why, Jeff?”

“They tried to kill you before, isn't that enough?”

“Not unless we find out that they're all like that. What if these guys are peaceful and the one we ran into before was just a rebel of some sort? We need to try to open communications with these guys instead of just attacking them.”

Jeff shook his head.

“No, that won't do, who cares about negotiations? Everyone likes a good war though.”

Now it comes out, Marc thought. He's still shooting for getting Renown or Notoriety and it's affecting his thinking. I don't think he'd be quite so bloodthirsty otherwise.

“So, you're saying you think we should go to war with people who have magic strong enough to sprout and grow trees to five feet tall in ten minutes?” Marc asked. “I don't suppose they'd have offensive uses for their magic. You know, like the old druids in the games that could entangle people or hurl flames?”

“Marc, come on man, we need this.”

“We? I know what you're after, Jeff. If I could I'd give you my damned Renown because I don't want people able to watch me whenever they want.”

“Wait, whenever they want?” Jeff said.

“Well no-one's given me any opportunity to edit my stream yet, so I'm guessing that the viewer gets to pick what parts to watch or not.”

And I just won't be sharing the fact that I know they won't show private moments, bathroom moments, or the like. Maybe thinking they could snoop on him and Ella might be enough to discourage his burning desire to become well known System-wide. Hey, speak of the devil.

Ella was just re-entering the cafeteria. She saw Jeff sitting with Marc and headed their way. Marc intentionally caught Jeff's eyes, then looked over at Ella and back.

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure the viewer gets to pick what to watch,” Marc said, slowly dragging Jeff's gaze to Ella.

Jeff paled.

“Oh, are you sure?”

“Well, I was told that they can go back and see things I've done since the System took effect, so I'm guessing they get to pick.”

Or at least pick from what's available, Marc thought, adding the last in his thoughts so he wasn't technically lying, just not saying everything.

Ella sat down next to Jeff.

“So, did you take care of that wild hare of yours yet?” she asked.

“He did, at least some, but he found something that we're going to have to deal with,” Marc said.

Ella turned to stare at Jeff.

“You weren't there for this, but this little woodland elf type took a potshot at Marc when we were escorting the people we rescued from the middle school. It looks like I found where he came from. A bunch of those guys a few miles south of us here,” Jeff said, apparently much calmer now.

“Yeah, Jeff thought we should go to war with them,” Marc said. “You know, since a single one of them attacked me a few days back.”

Ella spun to look at Jeff as the Thief shot daggers at Marc with his eyes.

“I think I talked him out of it, convinced him that the real reason he wanted that probably wasn't the best of ideas,” Marc said, standing.

As he started to walk away, he tossed one more comment over his shoulder.

“Hey, I wonder if we'll be able to view the System's entertainment network on Earth at some point. I bet Kenny would be able to get the signal up on a big screen for us since he rigged a building wide LAN. Might be interesting to see what they've got for Earth streams so far.”

Jeff's eyes went wide and he looked around the room. There were still a good fifteen to twenty people in there and after he looked around, Jeff just shook his head.

Good, if that doesn't discourage him, I don't know what will, Marc thought. I know he was jealous when Ella mentioned Kenny talking to her when she was back at the electronics store. The idea that someone, especially people from Earth, might be able to watch Jeff and Ella in their private moments ought to be enough to do it. If it doesn't, then I don't know what will curb his enthusiasm for becoming well-known.

As he headed back to his room, where Felicia had said she'd be waiting, he realized that she might be rubbing off on him.

I'm pretty sure that's the type of thing she'd do, he thought. Although I'm not sure that she'd admit to it. On the other hand, I wonder if I'm right. I'll pull out the pad and we'll see if you actually can get the Earth streams on there somehow.

When he got back to his room and found Felicia waiting, playing with Beggar, he told her what he'd done with Jeff.

“That's pretty cold, Marc,” she said. “I didn't know you had it in you, but I wish I'd thought of it first. You're not about to try to pull something like that on me, are you?”

He shook his head.

“I just needed a way to discourage him from starting a war. There's no reason for it, and if they're that powerful magically, they might just be able to walk all over us.”

She nodded.

“But what I did to him made me think of something else.”

“Which is?” Felicia said.

Marc noticed that her intonation was almost the same as his with Jeff's had been and hurried to show her his idea.

He laid the pad on the table, went to the video section, and started talking.

“If there are actually Earth streams available on the System's entertainment network now, I was wondering if we might be able to get those.”

“Why, you want to see how you look?” she asked, smirking.

“No, I want to see if I recognize any areas, see how other humans are doing with this whole mess, basically use it to try to research how well people are doing all over the world. Does that make sense, or am I just getting my hopes up?”

Felicia had reached for the pad as he was talking.

“We'll see. If it's available to us then you aren't getting your hopes up. I just don't know if they'd stream that back to us,” she said.

She found an area Marc hadn't been to yet.

“Huh, of course it is,” she said. “Things on Earth were so much like this before the System, I wonder if there's been a longer connection. The Renown and Notoriety streaming areas are behind a paywall.”

“Of course they are,” Marc said. “How much?”

“It gives prices in local time frames. One silver per week here on Earth.”

“Let's do it then,” he said.

She handed the pad back to him.

“It seems that the pad is somehow linked to you. It wouldn't let me authorize the charge.”

Marc chose the button to subscribe and it registered just fine for him.

“There we go, let's see how many streams there are from Earth so far.”

Felicia took the tablet back and immediately started searching. After she'd chosen something she put it on the table in front of them and Marc winced as he saw himself and his group going after the ogres.

“You just had to, didn't you?” he asked. “Although, I have to say that you look mighty fine holding up your end of the Shield Wall there, hair streaming out behind you as we charge.”

For a moment, Felicia had nothing to say, then she cleared her throat.

“Well, of course I had to. I had to make sure they were getting my best profile here, didn't I?”

She didn't choose any more of the video clips of Marc they had available that night, nor did she suggest that they subscribe to his feed at an additional cost. That made Marc happy, even if some of the things he saw his fellow humans doing in the Notoriety section had the exact opposite effect.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

“Did you see that last clip we played from the Notoriety section?” Marc asked.

“Parts of it, I didn't want to watch. Why would any human go through a Safe Zone and kill everyone in it? I don't get it?” Felicia answered.

“I don't even want to think about that. Just knowing that type of person is out there is bad enough, I don't want to try to get inside their head. It was the very end of it that I'm talking about though. The last thing he did before the clip cut out? He reached the build pedestal and it looked like he pulled something out of it. It looked like a core to me, but that Safe Zone looked like it was created with a System token. It had the lower tech base buildings like our token one does, not the better stuff the core one seems to build.”

“What? I just stopped watching, I couldn't take it,” Felicia said.

Marc queued up the video again, but took it to the last five seconds where the man in question entered the room with the build pedestal and walked up to it. He reached down, interacted with the pedestal, then the pedestal itself went away and there was a hint of a blue glow in the man's hand.

Marc froze the video and looked closer, discovering that he could actually zoom in some.

“It's either a core, or a glowing gem,” he said. “I'd guess core, but that's only because while we've found those, we haven't found any glowing gems.”

“It does look like it, but even the cores haven't been glowing, have they?”

“They do when they're put into activation,” Marc said, “very briefly. I think that the glow on that one is fading out already when the scene cuts out. I just don't understand how he'd get a core out of a build pedestal. Even if one was used to create that Safe Zone, I've got no idea of how you'd take one out.”

“Marc, I think he was destroying that Safe Zone. Maybe you get something back out if you destroy it? I'm guessing that if those options are in there at all you haven't looked them up.”

“No, I haven't, but I will. If you can get a core by destroying a Safe Zone? Well, dad said he thought he saw an abandoned Safe Zone on the way here, but that it was still recognizable as one. If it is, then I was thinking we might want to pay a visit to that Safe Zone and recover whatever we can from the build pedestal.”

“Oh, I think I see. Then you can use that to keep expanding Any Port?”

Felicia asked.

Marc nodded.

“We're down to where we've only got two more expansions available to us with what we have. One of those is from the original one so it won't be as effective. Unless we want to try to use the Lair core in here, that'll be it for expansion if we don't find another core.”

“I guess that makes sense, assuming that really is a core.”

“Well, there's only one way to find out, I need to ask my dad where that abandoned Safe Zone was. Then we can make a plan to go check it out. I think that's probably more time sensitive than the elves Jeff found. They've been there for a while and not done anything to us except for that one guy.

If he'd been sent out by the rest, they would've sent more out to find out what happened to him, right?”

Marc knew that he was making an assumption there. If the elf they'd killed had been scheduled for a long scout, they might not even know that he was missing yet. It seemed to him that trying to track down another core in order to keep expanding should take priority over the possible problems with another settlement.

I can just make sure the legionaries that are doing wall duty are aware that there could be trouble from those elves and we ought to be okay, right?

he thought, trying to convince himself.

“Marc?” Felicia said.

He looked over at her, finding her laying on the bed, patting the spot beside her.

“Yes?”

“Come to bed, Marc. Your dad is probably asleep and this is one of those things we really ought to discuss with the whole group before we make a decision, okay?”

“You're right, I know you are, but...”

“There's no buts about it Marc. Now come to bed before I have to tackle you onto it,” Felicia said, starting to undress.

It had taken him this long to catch her suggestion, but now that he had, Marc was stripped and in bed within a minute.

* * *

Sean was eating breakfast when Marc found him.

“Dad, you mentioned an abandoned Safe Zone before, right? How far out from here was that?” Marc asked, sitting down at the table next to his father.

Sean glanced up and Marc noted that it looked like his father had slept better the night before. He still had bags under his eyes, but he looked well rested.

“Twenty-five or thirty miles, I think. Why?”

“Because, if it was only abandoned, then we need to salvage it.”

“You want another Safe Zone already?” Sean asked.

Marc shook his head.

“No, I've got reason to believe that if I can get to the build pedestal in that Safe Zone that I can use it to create another core, one we can use to expand further here.”

“Why didn't you mention this before?” Sean asked.

“Because I just found out about the possibility last night. Felicia and I were watching some clips of humans with Renown and Notoriety and I spotted this.”

He pulled up the last few seconds of the video on his pad and showed it to his father, pausing on the spot where the build pedestal dissipated and the man was holding what Marc thought was a core.

“That, I think, is a core generated by controlled destruction of a Safe Zone by its holder. This man had destroyed everyone in the Safe Zone to seize control, then destroyed it and received what I think is a core,” Marc said.

Sean was shaking his head.

“He killed everyone in the place?”

Marc nodded.

“I almost didn't watch this video to the end because of it, but I'm glad I did. If we can do this, then if we find any other abandoned Safe Zones, or if some other Safe Zones want to join us but are far away, then we can probably get their cores and use them to expand here.”

“Well, I'm glad that he's not on this continent,” Sean said.

Marc cocked his head.

“Why do you say that?”

“You didn't look at the background much, did you?” Sean asked.

Marc took his pad back and looked. The decoration and building style was certainly foreign. It looked like something Eastern to him, or something from anime.

“Hmm, you might be right,” Marc said, “but it could also be someone fond of anime, right?”

“Did you get to pick your décor here?” Sean asked.

Marc shook his head.

“Not unless Jeff picked something on the design of the original Safe Zone and that's not the type of thing he'd normally bother with.”

“So, it took it from generic area styles, right?”

“Well, something like it. I mean nothing seems all that unfamiliar.”

“So, if it did the same there, they aren't from this continent. I'd say Asia somewhere, but I can't narrow it down more than that. That's not my area of study. I'd know if it were anywhere the Roman Empire used to span and they were using historical building décor from it, but for this? Asian is my guess, but it's as good as yours,” Sean said.

“Well, that's all beside the point,” Marc said. “Any chance you can be more specific as to where that abandoned Safe Zone was?”

“Right alongside the highway. It looks like they based it on that old truck stop that was barely hanging on,” Sean said.

“Ah, that I can use,” Marc replied. “I gassed up at that place a couple of times. So I probably ought to figure on thirty miles since we aren't sure. I need to talk about it with my group, but I'm hoping we can go and check that place out. If it really is abandoned, then I'll try to destroy the pedestal and find out if that actually was a core I saw. If it is, we'll need to keep an eye open for any other abandoned Safe Zones.”

“I doubt there are any others nearby, Marc. Like I said, we only saw three on the way back and that one was abandoned.”

“Who said anything about nearby? I need to send groups out eventually and maybe find other Safe Zones to trade with. Also check if they want to join a larger one, assuming we are larger, and get a good idea of what things look like around here. It's a longer term goal, but I think we've managed to secure most, if not all, of our shorter term goals already.”

Marc ticked his points off on his finger.

“We've got a decent population base and I think we found most of the survivors in the area. We've got plenty of food for said survivors. We've got food sources of our own coming in, both meat and vegetable. We can work on getting some weapons and armor now that we've got a smith and we've got a means for people to learn crafting skills more easily. I think that was it for our shorter term goals and it's time to start working on some of the longer term ones.”

Sean smiled at his son.

“I don't know if I've mentioned this recently Marc, but I'm proud of you.

You've turned out to be quite the man.”

Marc had no idea how to respond. He'd been praised by his father before, but this time felt different somehow.

“Umm... thanks dad,” he said. “I've got to go get with my group and see if that abandoned Safe Zone is what we want to do next.”

Sean was still smiling as Marc stood and turned to find his group. Marc thought he noted a touch of humor in there, but as uncomfortable as he was with the praise, he didn't want to ask why, so he simply headed over towards where Felicia was sitting.

* * *

By the end of breakfast Marc had talked to all of his group and they agreed that they really wanted to find out what the gem was that he'd shown them at the end of the video.

“Yeah, but if it is another core, what do the rest of us get?” Jeff asked.

“Jeff, do you really think they managed to get everything out if they were abandoning a Safe Zone? I'm sure there's other stuff in there that you can loot,” Felicia replied.

Marc kind of winced at that.

If it really is abandoned then they're all dead or elsewhere and not likely to come back for anything they left behind. I do wonder why they abandoned it though. Maybe we'll have to fight something there?

“There's a chance that the reason they left was that they were attacked. If so, there might be creatures there to loot also,” Marc added.

“Now you tell us?” Jeff said.

“Hey, I could've waited until we were there. I was just wondering why they abandoned it, and something attacking and running them out made the
most sense to me.”

“So, do we want to bring some of the legionaries?” Felicia asked. “You were saying we might.”

“I was thinking about it and I'm thinking no,” Marc said. “They're all a lot lower than us, plus their March skill guarantees them twenty miles a day.

This place is a little farther out than that, but I think that all of us can probably make it in a single day if Ella's worked on her Endurance at all.”

“I'm at a seventeen thanks to this bozo,” Ella said. “From what I've figured out, Endurance is easy to calculate, it's just Strength plus Constitution, plus any points you've gotten in it from training. Mine would be lower but Jeff recommended I keep adding some points to Con to raise my health, plus,” she said, glaring at Jeff, “this bozo has had me training it some. I've got fifteen natural, plus I trained it up two points.”

“Well, I know that's one of the ones the rest of us managed to raise before the System kicked in fully, right?” Marc asked, looking around and getting a bunch of nods. “Is anyone below seventeen.”

When he found out that they weren't, he continued.

“So, I don't know how that governs movement, but the average person would've had around a ten in it before and they could probably walk this far in a day, even if they regretted it later. They had a lot of walkathon things that were like twenty miles, right? With a seventeen in Endurance, we can hopefully do this in a day with no ill effects.”

“What's yours, Marc?” asked Ella.

“Um, well, with the training bonuses, I've got a twenty-nine. I bet Rob puts me to shame though. Strength and Con are his primary stats.”

Rob blushed.

“Um, thirty-six with bonuses,” he said.

“I bet Janey likes that,” Ella said, a slightly vindictive look on her face.

Rob went redder, his face almost turning purple as he stood.

“I'm going to get seconds, be right back,” he said.

“That wasn't nice, Ella,” Jeff said.

“Pot, kettle, black,” she replied.

“Yeah, but I never do it to their faces, or to the group members.”

Her face fell.

“Sorry, I was feeling a little spiteful since he has more than twice of what I do there.”

“You're a Mage, he's a Warrior. You could feel better by asking him about his Intelligence and Willpower, but please don't,” Marc said. “We've all got stats we focus on. His just happen to give him a much higher Endurance.”

Now it was her turn to blush.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“We're not the ones you should apologize to, Ella,” Jeff said.

Marc was sure he just imagined her posture taking on that of a pouting little girl, until he heard her speak.

“Do I have to?” she said, nearly whining.

“Yes, you do,” Jeff replied. “We talked about this. Never taunt the tank, at least not your own tank.”

“He wouldn't hold it against me though, he wouldn't let anything through,” Ella said.

“All the more reason to apologize. Why do you want to piss off a nice guy?” Felicia asked. “Especially one that you have to work with.”

“You guys always tease each other,” Ella said. “I just wanted to fit in better.”

“You need some work,” Marc said. “We never tease about things that someone might actually be sensitive about, just embarrassing things.”

He turned to Jeff.

“Right, entomophile?”

Jeff just looked confused.

“Oh, come one,” Marc said. “None of you know that?”

“Nope, sorry Marc,” Rob said, as he sat down with more food. “What's it mean?”

“It's not as funny if I have to explain it, but entomophile means a person who loves insects. You know, a bug lover?” Marc replied.

Now Rob snickered.

“Nice one, dictionary boy,” Jeff said, glaring at him.

“I believe Thesaurus boy would be more appropriate,” Marc deadpanned.

Felicia was the only one who got it. She started laughing and the blank expressions on everyone else's faces just made her laugh harder.

“I'm glad you made me watch that one, Marc,” she said, when she'd stopped laughing.

“Which one?” Rob asked.

“Don't worry about it,” Felicia said. “It's a movie that you might not like.

It's got that famous actor you always thought couldn't act in it.”

“Oh, him,” Rob said, dismissively. “Never mind then.”

“So, should we head out as soon as we're done eating?” Marc asked, trying to change the subject.

It didn't stay changed though.

“Rob?” Ella said.

He looked at her, almost fearfully.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken a dig at you. I was just jealous that your Endurance was so much higher than mine,” she said.

Jeff tried to be quiet, but Marc heard him anyhow.

“That's my girl,” Jeff whispered in Ella's ear.

She bristled, but only for a moment. When Rob beamed a smile at her, she relaxed.

“That's okay, apology accepted. I just hate people bringing up Janey. She doesn't want to go out and fight and she hates that I do it. She just wants to work in the greenhouse and grow food, but she knows someone has to fight.

We've argued about it some, so I'm kind of sensitive when she's brought up.”

“Will she be okay with you going out with us here?” Marc asked. “It'll be overnight and maybe even two.”

“As long as I tell her first, it'll be fine. It'd be the doghouse for me if I tried to do it without warning her first though,” Rob said.

“Okay then, we finish eating and then start hiking?” Marc said.

“Um, excuse me?” Ella said. “Can I add something here?”

“No need to ask, go ahead,” Felicia said.

“If they're still in there, I saw a bunch of bikes for sale in the shop last night. Would that be quicker? Can everyone here ride a bike?”

Everyone could, so while Rob went and let Janey know he might not be back tonight, the rest headed for the shop.

“Damn, it looks like Bill isn't the only Scavenger out there,” Jeff said. “It looks like this guy found a bike shop and Systemized the entire inventory.”

The listings were all together, all from the same person, and each listing said that the bike in question was Systemized. All told there were about twenty or so bikes, and whoever listed them had a clue. None of them were the relatively fragile ten speeds, they were all mountain bikes that should, in theory, hold up to the current condition of the roads.

The only question was the price. They each had a purchase immediately price of one gold. Some of them had a few bids and the highest bid was only at fifty silver so far.

“I got this,” Jeff said. “I know Marc's been spending left and right on the Safe Zone, and he and I had some extra loot from before. I sold my part, so I've got some spending cash.”

Jeff found which bike each of them would prefer and purchased it.

Before moving on to the next bike they each checked out the one they'd chosen to make sure it would work for them.

Before they were done, Rob was back and selected a bike for himself, also.

“She didn't like it, but when I told her it was for a way to maybe make the Safe Zone even bigger, she relented,” Rob said. “She likes having the safe area to be in, that's for sure, even if she doesn't want to fight to keep it that way.”

Astride his bike, Marc had an idea. He was in contact with it, so when he willed it into his inventory, he found himself almost falling down.

“Guys, you can inventory the bike directly. Everyone should practice so if we get attacked we can just stop, will the bikes away, and fight,” he said.

He willed the bike back out, to the side this time as he didn't want to cause any painful accidents by bringing it back right under his crotch. He was back on the bike in a second. A minute later he'd practiced enough that he was pretty sure he could do it without staggering like he had the first time.

They were on their way before the cafeteria even stopped serving breakfast.

* * *

When they stopped for lunch, Marc found out why Felicia had been a minute behind the rest of them coming out of the gym. She pulled out a stack of pizza boxes.

“Pizza anyone?” she said, “I didn't know who actually had food on them, so I grabbed a couple of meals for all of us.”

Marc reluctantly pulled out a few cans of Coke, handing them around and they settled in to eat a picnic lunch after Felicia also pulled a blanket out and laid it down.

They'd chosen a relatively open area to eat in, so they could see if anything was coming. As a result Marc was completely surprised when he felt the bite on his back, the rather painful bite.

He sprang to his feet, his shortsword appearing in his hand. When he spun around he didn't see anything until he looked down. Then he saw the ant the size of his foot, and the line of them trailing back to a suspicious looking mound that they'd ignored because it was covered in grass. The line of ants led right up the side and into it.

“Ants,” he said. “But big enough to carry a pizza by themselves.”

Jeff had started snickering when Marc started speaking, but by the time Marc had finished, Jeff was on his feet and backing away, throwing knives in hand.

Knives started flying through the air and when the ants noticed the missile weapons striking them, they returned fire. A greenish spit flew through the air and Marc dodged out of the way. After it passed there was an acrid scent that lingered.

“Crap, I think they spit acid,” Marc said, starting to cast a Mana Dart.

He split it up, sending one dart at each of four ants. He'd been hoping that they were small enough that one dart would take care of each and he was mostly right. Three of the ones he hit went down and stopped moving, the fourth one turned and spat at him.

He tried to dodge, leaping backwards, but it wasn't quite far enough. A glance at the foot of his shoe told him that it was getting eaten away by the acid.

“Crap, it is acid, that's confirmed,” he called out, taking the time to put his Arcane Armor spell up.

Jeff had accounted for several of the ants, but was now hanging back, out of missiles and unwilling to engage these things in hand to hand. Rob had the boar spear out and was stabbing ant after ant. Ella had her own Mana Darts flying and Felicia dropped to a knee next to him, pulling out a vial and dumping it on the bubbling acid.

The white powder quickly stopped the bubbling and Marc stopped wondering if he'd have to take off his shoe to save his toes. Instead he gave her a quick thank you, then ran off at a tangent. He doubled back towards the mound the ants were coming out of and started casting a Fireball.

When he was almost done casting, he leapt into the air and stared down the top of the anthill. The Fireball came out, targeted as deep down the anthill as he could manage. When the spell exploded, there was a quick puff of flame out of the top of the anthill, then nothing.

He sprinted up to the anthill and looked down. The main passage led deep into the ground and Marc smirked.

“Eyes and ears,” he hollered, beginning to cast again.

From his understanding the Lightning Flash would bounce off of the walls if they were hard packed enough, so when he finished casting, he squeezed his eyes shut and clapped his hands over his ears.

The boom was only barely muted by his hands and he was spattered with chunks of rock, sand, and something wet that he just didn't want to think about very much.

Now the ants that were out were turning around and racing towards him.

Wiping his eyes so he could see properly, he cast his newest spell in combat for the first time. A line of text crossed the bottom of his vision as the spell hit the first of the ants.

Your spell, Flamethrower, has increased in skill level (1->2) With the amount of mana he had, channeling the Flamethrower spell wasn't a problem. Even holding it long enough to clear up the remaining ants wasn't one, although he did need to cast a couple of Water Jets after he was through with the Flamethrower, to put out the grass fires that he'd started.

Then he went back over and picked a new slice of pizza out of the box, his old one laying on the ground where he'd dropped it when he was bitten.

“Someone keep watch? I need to sit for a bit to regen mana, and eating might help with that even more,” he said, chomping down on the slice of pizza.

Jeff started looting the visible corpses, urging the others to do the same when he started finding coins.

* * *

The abandoned Safe Zone was less than an hour away from where they'd stopped for lunch, if Marc was estimating correctly. They hadn't been able to go as fast as he'd hoped, the condition of the road slowing them some even on the bikes. Felicia had given Marc a heal before they left since his wound was apparently not healing as quickly as it should due to the acid on the bite of the ants.

When he saw the place in the distance, Marc was surprised that it had been abandoned. It did look like it had managed to expand once or twice. It had solid walls that stood ten feet high. As his father had mentioned, it also looked a bit damaged with chunks missing out of the tops of the walls.

Once they got around to the front he saw that the gates were down in a tangled crush of metal too.

“So, it looks like this place got hit by something big,” he said.

“Or just something strong. I know there's holes in the top of the walls, but I bet any of us could probably jump that high or climb them,” Jeff said,

“and I bet Rob's strong enough to make those holes with a single hit of a sledgehammer.”

“True, and the gate could be like that from someone that strong with a sledgehammer too,” Felicia added.

“I don't like this place,” Rob said. “It gives me the creeps.”

Ella glanced at him in surprise.

“Me too, but I wasn't going to admit it,” she said.

“Does anyone else smell something like rotting meat?” Marc asked.

A chorus of sniffs followed before he received agreement.

“That's a yes? So this place is creepy. All the better that we got to it right away,” Marc said.

“Yeah, if you say so,” Jeff replied.

“Well, did we make the trip for nothing or are we going in here?” Marc asked. “Because there's no time like the present.”

“Just give me a couple of minutes to steady my nerves,” Felicia said.

“Something's making me feel a bit nauseous.”

“Okay,” Marc said. “It looks weird in there. It looks like there were all the normal surrounding buildings for a Safe Zone, but they got torn down.

The main building is still there though.”

The main building still bore a small resemblance to the diner that had once stood there. It had been connected to a convenience store and garage, but it looked like the three areas had all been merged into one since the outer walls were now continuous and matched, unlike before.

“It's not getting better, so we'd better just head in,” Felicia said.

“Do you have any spells that might help?” Marc asked.

She shrugged.

“It doesn't feel like normal nausea, so I don't know.”

“Well, toss up your protective buffs you normally use on us and see if anything helps,” Marc said.

Felicia started casting and after the third spell, the look on her face brightened.

“That did it, the nausea is gone.”

“What spell was it?”

“It wasn't a buff. I used that Purify spell.”

“Wasn't that for diseases?”

“It treats other things also, we've just been using it for diseases so far.”

“Well, keep it handy, just in case. I've got a bad feeling about this place also, but I'm not willing to leave it out here, not with the other Safe Zone
we passed on the way here only a few miles away.”

They hadn't stopped at the other Safe Zone on the way out, wanting to make it here and have time to take care of things before the end of the day, but they had waved to the guards on the walls.

Marc stood and headed for the gates. As he stepped over them, text overlaid his vision for a moment. He immediately pulled up his notifications to make sure he'd read it correctly.

System message:

You have now entered the Stop and Gas Dungeon. Increase your power levels by destroying dungeon spawns or through other means. Good Luck!

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

“What is it, Marc?” Rob asked.

“Huh?” Marc replied.

“You need to move so we can get in there too.”

“Oh, sorry, you'll see why in a second.”

Marc stepped farther in, scanning the area.

All he saw was the debris from the smaller buildings that had been here once. Surrounding, and mixed into, the debris were a bunch of bones and cobwebs. In some places the two were thoroughly tangled together, in others the ends of the cobwebs were flickering in the light breeze.

The stench was horrible, almost as bad as it had been in the back of the grocery store, and Marc remembered that he still had the N95 mask in his inventory. He pulled that out and put it on.

Meanwhile, Rob had frozen just as Marc had when he'd received the message.

“Marc, is this—” Rob started.

“Yes, let everyone else in so we only have to go through it once though,”

Marc replied, keeping his eyes on the area.

Rob quickly shuffled to the side, also keeping his gaze on the interior of the walls. Felicia came through next and although she paused, she quickly moved out of the way. Ella froze when she received the message and Felicia had to reach out and grab her arm to get her out of Jeff's way.

When Jeff came in, he stopped as well.

“Really Marc? You found us an actual dungeon?” was all he said.

Marc just shrugged.

“Guess so, unless the System is in the habit of lying to us now,” he said.

“And wouldn't that be a frightening thought,” he added in a much softer voice.

“So, do we still want to do this?” Marc continued, a few moments later when no-one had said anything.

“Yes. Hell, yes! Why are you even asking?” Jeff replied.

Ella was shaking her head and Felicia looked as though the nausea were almost overtaking her again.

“Felicia, use your spell again,” Marc said.

She cast and the look on her face changed.

“Yeah, that helped, even more than the first time. But the stench...”

“Anyone else still have their mask in their inventory like I did?” Marc asked, turning and gesturing towards the mask he was wearing.

A moment later, masks popped out of most of the party's inventories, except for Ella.

“Oh yeah, you weren't with us then,” Jeff said, pulling another one out and handing it to her.

Once they were masked up, the smell was much more tolerable.

“Okay, I don't see much out around here, I think we'll need to go into the main building,” Marc said, when no-one other than Jeff answered his question about doing this.

“Rob, you and I in front,” Marc said, casting his Arcane Armor spell.

“Then Ella and Felicia next. Jeff, you've got rearguard.”

Jeff muttered something Marc didn't make out and Ella spun to glare at him.

“Guys, serious here, please?” Marc said. “We know absolutely nothing about dungeons in the System so we've got no idea what we're getting into.”

Jeff had the grace to look embarrassed and Ella snapped something to him before turning to face forward. Then the group started moving.

They'd almost made it to the doors of what was once the diner when Jeff shouted.

“Ow! Ambush!”

Marc spun and saw something he never thought he'd see.

Although that's been happening a lot since the System showed up, he thought idly, his mind still trying to catch up to what he was seeing.

Several skeletons were standing out in the area that had appeared to be covered in debris and bones. One of them was holding a bow, apparently made of bone with a cobweb for a string. And it was drawing a second arrow to join the first it had fired at Jeff.

Felicia, taking the same in, turned to Jeff and started casting a heal. Ella froze for a moment when she saw their opponents. Marc started casting also, targeting his go-to Mana Dart spell at the skeletal archer.

Rob seemed to be taken completely by surprise, he was just staring, his mouth hanging open.

Marc released his spell and the darts raced towards the skeleton.

“Rob, remember the Halloween pinatas?” Marc asked.

Rob shook his head.

“What about them?”

“Treat these guys the same, just with your ax instead of a stick, okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I'm just standing here, aren't I?” Rob replied before starting to move.

Marc started casting again, another set of Mana Darts flying towards the skeletal archer. The first batch had definitely damaged it, but hadn't taken it down, so now he was worried. Once he released the second batch of darts, he stared at the skeleton for a bit.

Skeletal Archer - Hostile

Lvl – 7

Commonality – Rare

Alright, there's not a damned thing to share from that to do the party the least bit of good, so we just kill it, he thought. Or kill it again? Eh, who cares about the terminology.

He started casting a third time, pretty sure that his pilum wouldn't do a damned thing to this creature. Rob reached one of the other skeletons at that point, bracing himself and snapping his ax forward. It slammed into the skeleton, rocking it backwards. It had definitely done some damage, but the skeleton was still moving.

Felicia had finished healing Jeff and, as she took her position with tire iron in hand, slapped Ella on the back, trying to snap her out of her shock.

Jeff pulled out his gladius, looked from it to the skeletons and back, then sheathed it again, pulling a nasty looking club from his inventory to replace it.

Marc took a moment to stare at one of the other skeletons.

Skeleton - Hostile

Lvl – 5

Commonality – Uncommon

Text flashed across the bottom of his vision as he yelled.

Your skill, Analyze (creature), has increased in skill level (1->2).

“Alright, most of them are level five only,” he called out. “Archer is higher at seven.”

That was the only information that he could provide that might even be vaguely useful and he found himself hoping that Jeff could get more information from them.

Another set of Mana Darts flashed out of his hand and this time the Skeletal Archer staggered, although it was still standing afterwards. It had been firing arrow after arrow, primarily at Jeff. The Thief had taken several more hits and Felicia's ranged healing spell was getting a workout.

There was a clatter from over in Rob's direction and Marc glanced over, seeing bones falling to the ground as Rob recovered from an ax swing.

Good, one down, four to go, Marc thought.

He considered using a more powerful spell on the archer, but he wasn't sure that lightning or fire would do much to a skeleton.

On the other hand, Water Jet is as much pure force damage as anything else. Can't hurt, he thought.

He moved so he had a better angle on the Skeletal Archer, with no party members near his line of sight to it, then started casting again. When he let the spell go, he targeted it, roughly, at the joint of the skeleton's arm and shoulder.

The spell blasted out, striking the skeleton and loosening a bone from its position. As he brought it down and across the Skeletal Archer, bones started flying off of it. By the time the spell was done so was the archer, having collapsed into a pile of bones.

Ella had finally gotten her shit together and Marc had seen more Mana Darts striking the archer as he was hitting it with his Water Jet, so he wasn't surprised to see more flying out of her to strike the skeleton that was facing off with Jeff.

Glancing around for a moment, Marc found Rob engaged with another skeleton. There was one on Jeff, and the last of the melee skeletons was headed straight for Felicia. She straightened and cocked her tire iron back for a swing as it grew closer and Marc fired off a Mana Dart spell straight at that one.

It staggered slightly from the damage and Felicia took advantage of that to leap forward and clobber it with her weapon. The pure blunt damage of her strike knocked a bone loose as she stepped back and braced her shield for the skeleton's attack.

“Damn it!” Jeff yelled, but Marc wasn't going to split his attention.

He leapt forward until he was closer so that he could potentially interpose himself if the skeleton got the advantage on Felicia then started
casting again. He didn't want to use another Water Jet. Although effective, it also ate a lot of mana, so he hit it with more Mana Darts.

The skeleton was getting a bit wobbly now, and Felicia easily deflected its strike with her shield before striking it again with her tire iron.

One more Mana Dart from Marc put that skeleton down and then he turned to see what Jeff's problem had been.

Jeff was standing there over a fallen skeleton, but his club, which had spikes projecting from its head, had bones tangled in the spikes.

Marc quickly spun to check on Rob, catching the hint of a golden flash as Felicia healed the tank. The last standing skeleton swung at him, and Rob used the ax to deflect the blow.

Actually it's less that he deflected it and more that he attacked its arms with it, same end result as a block anyhow, but this way the skeleton has one less arm to attack with, Marc thought.

“Rob, want help?” Marc yelled.

“Please?”

Marc hit it with another Mana Dart, followed a moment later by Ella's casting of the spell and the last skeleton that had been attacking them clattered to the ground as a pile of bones.

Rob knelt to touch the bones, then stood up again, turning to Marc.

“Hey, you lied. These guys don't have any candy in them, just coins,”

Rob said, smirking.

* * *

They took several minutes looking around while they looted to make sure there were no more skeletons outside since if they had to leave in a hurry they wouldn't want to run into any resistance out here.

“What the hell were you talking about, Rob?” Jeff said. “Why would there be candy in the skeletons?”

Rob just grinned at him.

“It got a laugh out of Marc, at least. I froze when I saw those things. He just told me to use my ax instead of a stick and treat them like the Halloween pinatas.”

Jeff stared at Rob, then looked over to Marc, who was grinning. The Thief shook his head and turned away. Marc just gave Rob a thumbs up and received an even wider grin in return.

“Hey, there can be candy involved if you want,” Marc said. “Amy said she used some of the coppers I paid her to buy chocolate. These guys had copper and silver on them, so you can buy some candy with it when we get back, if you want.”

“They had this, too,” Felicia said.

She held out an odd looking bow. The main shaft seemed to be made of a pair of bones that were somehow melded together in the middle. The string looked to be made of cobwebs, although if it was the bow the Skeletal Archer had been firing Marc knew that the string was more than strong enough to launch an arrow.

She was also holding a quiver of arrows, bone white arrows.

Marc slipped an arrow out of the quiver and examined it. Once again, it was made of bone, something much thinner than the bow. The fletching seemed to be made of shaped bone chips and the triangular heads seemed to have been formed out of massive teeth.

“Now that's just creepy,” Marc said.

Jeff heard him and came back.

“Oh, there was more than just coin on these guys?” he asked.

“Yeah, this was on the archer when I looted him,” Felicia said.

“May I?” Jeff asked, reaching his hand out.

“Feel free. I won't use it, I need to be paying attention to healing mostly, not targets. Probably Ella and Marc should skip it also since they have spells for ranged attacks. That leaves you and Rob,” Felicia said.

Jeff examined the bow for a moment and Marc realized he was Analyzing it, so he did the same.

Boneweb Bow

Item type – Ranged (shortbow)

Commonality – Rare

“Looks pretty sweet,” Marc said, focusing on the arrows next.

Bone Arrow

Item type – Ranged

Commonality – Rare

Bonus damage vs. fleshed creatures

“And then I get to the arrows and it gets all nasty again,” Marc continued.

“It's a sweet set, you sure you don't want it?” Jeff asked, looking at Felicia.

She shook her head.

“Nope, I got a new ability this fight, but I have to actively use it. I don't want to introduce two things at once to my style. Besides, like I said, I normally have to be healing so I wouldn't be the best ranged support.”

Jeff looked over to Rob.

“I'm not an Agility build, it's all yours,” Rob said. “I'd be lucky to not shoot myself in the foot.”

Jeff grinned.

“Good thing I was saving a couple of Skill points then. I'll just take the shortbow proficiency right now.”

“It might be hard to find replacement arrows,” Marc said. “Those are rare, right?”

“Who says I have to shoot the bone arrows with this thing? I'll just get some wooden ones to replace them if I run out.”

“That works, then. Are we ready to head inside?” Marc asked.

Ella seemed a little hesitant, but everyone else was ready.

“Oh, and Felicia, you said you just got a new ability?” Marc asked.

She grinned at him.

“Yeah, a new skill technically. The nausea I was feeling was related to that. I learned a Detect Undead skill. It's at will, but I can't keep it up all the time, it's got a duration. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable if there are undead nearby.”

“Less than you were?”

“Lots less, trust me. I don't look nauseous now, right?”

He shook his head.

“Well, the skill's tripping and I'm feeling it.”

“So there are more undead nearby?” Marc asked.

“Look at this place, do you really need to ask?” Felicia replied.

Marc didn't even bother to look around.

“I was guessing, but if you know for sure, I'd be happier not to guess.”

“Yes, there are more undead around. I don't know how many or where, so I wasn't going to mention it. I don't get direction or distance until I work the skill up some.”

“Well, at least we know for sure,” Marc replied, glancing at the entry.

He knew he was just procrastinating at this point so he gave up.

“It's going to make us a target, but could you toss up a light spell or two, Ella? It looks dark in there.”

A moment later there was an orb of light hanging in the air over Marc, a second one appeared over Ella's head, and Marc had no more reasons to delay. He stepped forward, Rob at his side, and pulled open the door.

It seemed utterly incongruous to him that the little bell on the door was still in place and functional. The gentle tinkling rang out in a drastic counterpoint to the way the interior looked. It was dark, dismal, and damp.

The scent of mold or something managed to work its way through his mask, joining the scent of rotting flesh. It took him a moment to control himself when he wanted to gag, but then he stepped deeper into the building so the others could follow.

“Why the ax anyway?” Rob asked as they moved deeper into the old diner.

“I didn't think piercing damage would do much on those things, thought blunt would be best. And a battle ax is really as much blunt damage as cutting, at least with a strength like yours.”

“Well, it worked, but I don't think I was getting full damage.”

“Better than the pilum though, right?”

Before Rob could answer, the door leading into the kitchen screeched open and a waitress appeared. Or at least she probably was one once, or was supposed to look like one. The rotting flesh visible in the light over Marc's head told him that whatever she had been, she was undead now.

“Take a seat anywhere. What can I get you boys?” the waitress asked as she slowly advanced on them.

“Sorry ma'am, we're not hungry,” Marc said, gulping to hold down his bile.

“That's okay, sweetie. We are,” she said, lunging forward.

Marc had pulled his shortsword out, thinking it would be the best weapon for close quarters. Now he summoned his shield from his inventory and the waitress slammed into with a squishy sounding impact. Marc thrust his sword and got a firm hit, then was encompassed by a fetid stench.

Rob backed away from the whole thing, eyes wide. He ran into something and a moment later, a dim reddish light was added to the room and music began to play. Marc thought he recognized the tune, but it wasn't playing right. The music was far too slow, coming out lower pitched than intended.

The zombie got her hands on the top of Marc's shield and started pulling.

She was strong, much stronger than he'd expected, and he had to fight to keep it up.

Felicia and Ella were in the room now, and not much more help than Rob. Their eyes were wide and only grew wider when a small bell rang out and a voice called:

“Order up!”

A moment later a massive knife, maybe even a cleaver, came flying out from the area where the cook would place the orders. Felicia reacted in time and the cleaver slammed into her shield and fell to the floor in front of her.

That snapped her out of whatever had her stunned before and she began to cast a spell. Ella, hearing her chant, managed to shake her head and started casting herself. When Felicia finished casting, a golden glow shone out of the window into the kitchen and gurgling screams of pain accompanied the glow.

Ella's spell was Mana Dart, driving into the waitress on Marc and giving him a chance to reset his stance and thrust again.

The music was still playing, but Rob had finally recovered from slamming into the jukebox. His ax came slamming down into the waitress just as Marc was recovering his sword from his own successful strike.

Gore splattered the front of Marc's shield as he stepped back. Rob stepped forward, tearing his ax from the waitress and striking again. She'd been reaching for Marc's shield again and the ax blasted through her hands.

Even that didn't stop her as she launched herself forward. Her jaws unhinged, opening wider than they should've been able to manage.

Marc heard the 'twang' of a bowstring several times and whatever was in the kitchen increased the volume of its screaming.

The door to the kitchen slammed open and another rotting creature, this one larger than a human, came rushing out. It was outlined in a gold light and had several arrows jutting out of its body.

Marc took his sword in his shield hand and started casting a Mana Dart, wanting nothing more than to get rid of the waitress who kept hounding him. As the darts flew out towards her, she screamed and launched herself at Rob's arm. If he hadn't had the arm guards from the armor, she might've gotten her teeth into him then. As it was her teeth scored the metal reinforcements in the arm guards before Rob brought his ax down one-handed and decapitated her.

Marc spun to find the larger zombie rushing at Ella and Felicia. They both stumbled back away from the thing and it stopped its rush to pick up the cleaver. Then it backed away.

“Why did you do that? Do you know how hard it is to find a decent waitress nowadays?” the creature roared, barely intelligible.

The entire thing was just too surreal for Marc. He started casting again, wanting to finish this encounter before his mind snapped. For just a moment, the jukebox sped up and he heard a single line clearly before it started slowing again.

“I'm on the Highway to Hell!” rang out from the jukebox, and Marc couldn't agree more.

He finished his Mana Dart spell and the darts slammed into the cook. He didn't move in the slightest, just brushing at the smoke drifting off of the holes in the decayed apron he wore.

Then he heard the familiar sound of Felicia racking her shotgun and slammed his hands over his ears. A moment later the roar of Felicia's shotgun filled the room like a tangible thing. More holes appeared in the cook's apron as he was struck over and over by the shotgun's fire. Felicia was pulling a Terminator reload, jacking each next shell into the chamber by holding onto the pump action with the shotgun vertical, jerking it up and down, then snapping it horizontal to fire before repeating the process.

Jeff was behind her firing arrow after arrow at the cook. The cook staggered back from the firepower, lifting its cleaver and hurling it again.

He targeted Felicia again and this time she didn't have a shield to block it. It struck her hard, taking her off her feet and Marc dropped his hands from his
ears and started casting a Water Jet, only he aspected it to Lightning, not sure if the water would do much against the rotting flesh of the cook.

The lightning flashed out from his clenched first, striking the cook while raising Marc's hair from the current. Ella cast a Mana Dart and Jeff pulled Felicia back out of the line of fire.

Rob was all set again, he had his shield out and his ax in the other hand, having discovered that he could handle the ax one-handed. As soon as Marc's spell dropped, Rob stepped forward and slammed his shield into the cook.

Meanwhile Jeff had removed the cleaver from Felicia and Marc saw her healing herself.

Marc started casting Mana Darts one after the other, the fight glossing over in his mind. He remembered Rob getting bowled over by the cook, but regaining his feet and returning the favor to the zombie cook with some sort of short distance charge.

He remembered spell after spell racing out from both his and Ella's hands with Felicia finally joining in after she'd healed herself back to full, casting something that renewed the flickering golden outline around the cook. But in the end it was Jeff who came in from behind in Stealth to finish the fight. He struck the cook's neck with a slash that nearly removed its head and finally put the zombie down for good.

The zombie's body tumbled to the floor and the very first thing that Marc did was spin back to the jukebox and tear the cord out of the wall. As the slowed music abruptly stopped and the reddish tint to the light went away, Marc found things growing much less surreal, although not entirely normal.

He watched as Jeff went from the cook's corpse to the waitress', looting them both. Once Jeff had looted, he looked up and glanced around at the party. When he'd determined that everyone was either fine or being tended to he grinned and spoke.

“Well, this place is pretty dead today, isn't it?”

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

The passage connecting the diner to the convenience store was obviously not part of the original construction, and nothing like it. The floor was packed dirt and the walls and ceiling were made from bones and cobwebs of some sort, at least that was what Marc thought until he brushed against a wall with his hand and ended up having to tear some of the skin off of it to get it free from the webs.

That's not cobweb, that's spiderweb. Fresh, sticky spiderweb at that.

Crap, I hope we don't lose Jeff for this next fight if it is what I think it's going to be, Marc thought.

The door at the end of the passage was the normal convenience store entrance, but the interior of the glass had been lined with webs so nothing was visible through it.

“Are we ready for this?” Marc asked before realizing that he wasn't.

He quickly refreshed his Arcane Armor spell, then put Phantom Shields on both Rob and himself. He leaned over towards Rob and spoke softly.

“I think we're going to have spiders here,” he said.

“What gave that away?” Rob asked in a normal volume voice while gesturing towards the webbed door.

“Hush, we want Jeff fighting not running away,” Marc said.

Rob chuckled.

“True that, but yeah, I'm ready.”

“Jeff, stay back and use your new bow,” Marc said, louder this time.

He turned back to Jeff, whose face was pale and his body so tense it was nearly trembling.

“You got it,” Jeff said, his voice none too steady either. “I wouldn't dream of doing anything else here.”

It was obvious to Marc that Jeff had also figured out what was coming next, but was fighting his impulse to flee.

“Here we go,” Marc said, pulling the door open.

Ella had refreshed the light spells before they entered the passage and now the light over Marc's head cast the interior of the store in a flickering light, flickering because of all the strands of web dangling into the interior of the store, only attached to the ceiling. They were blowing in a light breeze that seemed to be a constant inside of the dungeon.

Marc had to force himself to take the next step, and he took it very slowly. First he leaned in, looking to either side, then up. Not seeing anything but the webs, he slowly stepped inside and to the left. Rob followed along a moment later, breaking to the right instead.

With Felicia standing in the doorway currently, Marc tried to pierce the flickering shadows and find a target. When he couldn't, he shuffled even farther to the left allowing Felicia to join him. The same thing repeated with Rob and Ella, and then Jeff was in the doorway, trembling, but with an arrow nocked and ready.

“Going deeper,” Marc said. “I wish I knew whether the web was flammable and if the building would burn. It would make life so much easier, but I'd rather not find out the answers were both yes the hard way.”

The first of the gently drifting webs bumped into him, attaching firmly.

When he felt himself getting dragged forward by it, he immediately cast his Stand Fast spell.

“On the ceiling. Something's trying to drag me in. I guess we get to find out anyhow,” Marc called out.

The web tugged at him, but his spell kept him firmly in place as he started to cast his flamethrower spell.

The webs went up like flash paper. An insanely bright light lit up the interior of the store for a moment as each of the dangling filaments of web were struck by the Flamethrower spell and flared up before drifting back down as ash.

Those weren't the only webs in the store, but they were the only ones to burn. The ceiling was higher than normal, maybe twelve or thirteen feet up, and it was blocked by an intricate web about ten feet off the ground. In the center of that web was a dark shape, looking to be nearly the size of a human, but with a lot more legs.

Whatever the shape was, and Marc was certain it was a spider, it began to move. A moment later his guess was confirmed as a length of web shot from the creature towards Ella. She was struck by one end of the strand of web and the rest of it whipped around her, encircling her body as it stuck firmly, pushing her hands down to her side.

She'd been casting when she was hit and she cried out as the backlash of the unfinished spell struck her. Another strand of web shot out and struck her, but this one didn't encircle her. It was much longer than the previous one too, which was demonstrated when it went taut and started to draw her forward.

Jeff saw that and instantly dropped his bow. He whipped out his gladius and jumped forward, striking at the web that was dragging her away.

Meanwhile Marc had started casting again. This time he used the Water Jet spell. Once it had formed around his fist, he aimed at the nearest anchor point of the overhead web, the one in the corner nearby him. The pressurized water struck and cut through the web with no problems, so he moved it along the wall, managing to cut several more anchor points before the spell was finished.

The overhead web was sagging now, almost dropping down on his head, so he moved, his Stand Fast spell having expired so he could. Taking several steps to put his back to the wall, he fired off another Water Jet, continuing to remove the anchor points along one wall.

When the spell was finished, he'd managed to clear all the anchor points on one side of the room and the web was dangling nearly to the ground on that side.

Rob had taken out his boar spear and moved himself beneath the massive spider. Thrusting upwards, he set the spider to moving as though he were herding it.

Crap, he's herding it towards me, Marc thought.

Felicia was working on Ella, both healing her and trying something to remove the encircling web. Jeff had recovered his bow and stood. Now he was firing at the large spider.

As the large spider moved out of the way, a torrent of smaller shapes came tumbling off of its back, falling towards Rob.

“Rob, incoming spiders. Smaller this time!” Marc hollered.

While the spiders were smaller, they weren't small. Each of the thirty or so smaller spiders falling towards Rob was easily the size of Marc's torso.

The tank moved quickly for his size and Agility, managing to get himself away from the falling spiders before they landed on him. Then Rob was doing his best to stab the smaller ones as they tried to swarm him.

Jeff moved his target from the larger spider to the smaller ones, but the larger one had apparently spotted Marc, and his sabotage to her web, while Rob was herding her and was continuing to move towards Marc, picking up speed.

With his back already against the wall it was an easy choice to pull out his pilum and brace it, his shield in his other hand. As he waited for her, she sped up even more, racing across the web. Marc quickly cast another Stand Fast, not wanting to be slammed into the wall from her impact, and text flashed across the base of his vision.

Your spell, Stand Fast, has increased in skill level (1->2).

The spider slammed into his pilum, driving it deep into her body and then slammed into him, leaving his head ringing from the impact. Although he wasn't driven backwards into the wall, he was sure that he'd taken some damage.

He had a split second of debate over whether to draw his real sword or use his altered Water Jet spell to create one. Having seen the effect of the flames on the dangling filaments, he decided on the fire blade and a moment later his hand filled with the broken hilt that he used to attach the spell so he didn't burn himself.

Knowing he was on a timer now, he started striking. The spider was having problems with its coordination with the pilum sticking halfway out of it, and Marc used this to his advantage. As he struck with his flaming blade, he stomped his foot down on the pilum, using it as a lever to tear through the spider's flesh.

Notifications started flashing with text running across the bottom of his vision, but he couldn't even take the time for a quick glance. The spider's legs and mandibles kept attacking, no matter how much damage he caused it. His shield was taking a beating and the spider had managed to get several attacks past it already. Marc's head felt woozy and he was sure that there was some sort of poison at work there. He didn't dare scream for help though since the rest of the group was trying to take out the thirty or so younger spiders.

His foot slipped and he ended up on one knee, looking up at the spider.

Taking advantage of his position he drove his flaming blade up into its underside, getting a solid strike. The text that flashed across his vision was short enough that he read it without even thinking.

Critical strike. Damage X3.

With that tiny bit of information telling him he'd found a vulnerable spot, or at least he hoped so, he struck again and again at the creature's belly, keeping his shield moving to block its strikes.

The spider shuddered and started to spin, but when Marc saw that happening he quickly stood and stomped his foot down on the pilum. It almost knocked him off his feet again, but instead the pilum tore out of the spider, leaving a heavily bleeding wound behind.

Ella was on her feet now and she was casting Mana Darts at the spider.

Jeff was firing at the small ones, although they seemed to have been mostly cleared out by this point. Felicia caught sight of Marc and her face paled. A moment later a golden glow flashed over him and the rush of health let him know just how bad he'd been feeling.

He didn't let that stop him from continuing to fight, though. With the spider turning towards Ella, he had a clear shot at its back and took it. When that still didn't stop the spider he leapt up onto its back and raced forward.

When he had a clear shot right behind its head he took it, driving his flaming sword straight into its neck. A message danced across his vision as he did so.

Critical strike. Damage X5.

Instead of pulling his sword back out, he dragged it to the side, the flames cutting through the spider's neck. Once it was out that side, he drew the sword back and swung again, cutting through the remaining skin, bone, and flesh keeping the spider's head on its body.

When he'd managed that, he let himself collapse to his knees. His mana was low, but he managed to dismiss the sword in time. His head was still woozy and the room was spinning. He tried to get back to his feet, to help take out the last of the smaller spiders, but when he tried that, he fell over instead.

* * *

Marc blinked woozily, feeling as though he'd slept too deeply and developed little crusts in the corners of his eyes keeping them closed. A moment later he felt a rush of warmth and his mind started working better.

He snapped upright and forced his eyes open.

Sure enough, he was sitting on the back of the giant spider, or at least its body. Its head was lying on the ground, separated from the rest of it.

“I'm up, I'm up...”

“Barely, why didn't you let me know that you got poisoned?” Felicia asked, crossly.

“I wasn't sure, and you were busy trying to heal and free Ella.”

“Idiot,” Felicia said. “You were in more danger than her.”

“Sorry?” Marc replied.

“You got that right,” Jeff said.

The Thief had his back to the wall, but was watching the proceedings intently, all while apparently trying to stay out of the area of any of the spider corpses.

Felicia just shook her head.

“I need some mana regen, then I'll get a few more heals on you and you'll be fine.”

“Little spiders dead?” Marc asked.

“If you call spiders larger than a manhole cover little, yeah,” Jeff replied.

Marc just gestured towards his mattress.

“Point taken,” Jeff replied.

Marc recalled seeing his notification light flash like crazy during the flight and focused on the flickering light representing his notifications.

You have been poisoned!

Your spell, Water Jet, has increased in skill level (1->2) Your skill, Mana Manipulation, has increased in skill level (9->10) Your skill, Long Swords, has increased in skill level (1->2) Well, that was productive, he thought . I don't think it's a coincidence that the fights that kick my ass also seem to provide a lot more advancement.

Who knew that the System would take the saying 'That which does not kill me, makes me stronger' quite so literally?

“Well, that was a profitable fight,” Marc said.

“What did you get on loot?” Jeff asked eagerly.

“Oh no, I haven't looted yet. I just got points in like three different things.”

Jeff just shook his head.

“Of course you did. Although I did get a point in my Short Bows skill.”

“Gratz there, now what were you saying about loot?”

“Check it out. I know what we all got off of Mama spider there, check what you get.”

Since he was already in contact with the spider corpse, Marc simply thought the loot command and looked at what he'd gotten.

“Got a couple of gold, that's one more than I got from the cook. Got some poison also, that what you were talking about?” Marc said.

“Is that everything you got?” Jeff asked.

“No, one second. I can't tell this last one from the icon. Raw Spider Silk?

Five pounds of it? That sounds like a massive amount,” Marc said.

Jeff nodded.

“I think that the seamstress we have back at the Safe Zone might have something to work with when we get back. Hopefully she's good enough to work it without damaging it. We all got some of that stuff.”

“We've got two, actually. Lisa's a seamstress and... Well, Amy's mom, I don't know her name, is one also as far as I know,” Marc replied.

“Good, maybe they can make something out of this stuff,” Jeff said. “We had a lot of people trying out the Crafting Hall recently, so maybe we'll be able to use up some of the weird stuff we've been bringing back.”

Marc hadn't really been paying any attention to that stuff, except to give the obvious alchemical components to Felicia. Anything else that read as a crafting material he'd been stashing in the Crafting Hall, figuring someone could use it there.

He just shrugged now, then managed to get to his feet and move over to the smaller spiders. It was obvious that Jeff had been shooting a lot of them, the holes from the arrows he'd recovered were still visible. He was pretty sure the larger holes were from Rob's boar spear and the scorched holes were from Ella's Mana Darts.

“Good work on these guys,” Marc said.

“Yeah, we had it easy,” Rob said. “You took the boss type.”

“I'm pretty sure you guys helped a lot at the end there, it almost had me until you got it to turn.”

“A spear up the butt would get me to turn around, too,” Jeff said.

Rob blushed as Marc glanced over at him.

“It was ignoring my Taunt, so I had to do something,” the tank said.

“Alright, thanks Rob. Enough teasing, Jeff. Did we find anything else in here yet?”

Jeff shook his head.

“I haven't really been willing to look. To many places for more spiders to be hiding.”

“As a group then?” Marc said.

He received a bunch of nods for his answers.

“We need to take some down time first though,” Felicia said. “My mana is almost out now that I've finished healing you up.”

Marc checked his own mana and found it below a hundred, with his current max of six hundred and ninety-four, he had to agree with her.

“Alright, let's break. Um, in here I guess? The smell isn't as bad as it was in the diner, and I don't really want to leave the building in case things reset, okay?”

Jeff and Ella looked like they didn't like that decision, but didn't have a better suggestion. Marc cleared an area for him, Felicia, and Ella to sit in order to regenerate faster, then sat down and pulled out a water bottle.

He drank most of the water, although he also used a bit of it to soak a cloth which he used to scrub himself and his equipment down.

After enough time to top off their mana, they started searching. Jeff was the one who was primarily looking, the others were more standing guard for him than anything else. He was scrambling in and out of the little nooks and crannies formed by the broken shelves and other remaining detritus from the convenience store this had once been.

“I don't know that there's anything in here,” Jeff said, “but I need to pause for a moment and stretch. Some of these little spots take a lot of contortions to check.”

He leaned back with his hands on his lower back, then froze.

“Damn it! All these spots are so tiny, I should've realized that there wouldn't be anything in them.”

Marc looked at wherever it was Jeff had his eyes focused and saw the chest, webbed up into the upper corner of the room. He had a hard time not laughing about it until he realized that he hadn't had a second thought about searching all the nooks and crannies either.

“Rob, got your rope?” Marc asked.

The tank obligingly pulled it out and handed it over. Marc walked over until he was almost directly under the chest. It looked as though there'd been a drop ceiling up there at some point, and it's purpose had probably been to conceal the industrial looking I-beams that spanned the room almost at the level of the roof. There were a couple of feet between them and the roof itself, so Marc tried hurling one end of the rope up and over, with no luck.

Jeff shook his head.

“Give me that,” he said. “You Intelligence builds are great for figuring things out, not so much for actually following through on your plans.”

He stopped talking himself up after his third throw failed.

“Well, you Agility builds always need some help from us Intelligence builds,” Marc said. “Try it now.”

He'd tied a weighty chunk of metal onto one end of the rope and this time when Jeff threw it up, it arced right over the beam.

“If you guys are done bullshitting, can we maybe get the chest?” Felicia asked.

Jeff swarmed up the rope like he'd been stung, then moved along the I-beam to the chest. He pulled the gladius and laboriously sawed at the webs holding the chest in place. Apparently the webs were sticky because when
he got it free, it hung from his hand as he made his way back to the rope. A moment with his gladius and a grunt of pain let him separate his hand from the chest, then he wrapped an end of the rope around it loosely before lowering it to the floor.

Jeff followed the chest down a moment later.

“I haven't checked for traps or anything yet,” he said. “Not enough light up there.”

He eyed the keyhole of the chest, then scanned around it. A moment later he had his picks in hand and started working on the lock. Just as he managed to unlock it a small portion of web shot out of the lock, striking his hand and locking it in place.

“Shit, I missed a trap,” Jeff said.

“What's wrong?” Ella asked.

“This crap is so sticky I can't get my hand out of here, it's stuck to the chest, and my lock picks.”

“Can you will your picks back into your inventory? That might give you some slack to work with,” Marc said.

Jeff's picks disappeared, but when he tried to use the slack that their removal provided his hand just got stuck worse.

Rob was making a rumbling sound. It sounded like he was trying to restrain it, but it just kept getting louder and louder.

“I can burn it off of you if you want,” Marc said. “Your call though, it might hurt.”

“Worse than tearing that web off of my hand before? It took skin with it,” Jeff said.

Marc just shrugged.

Rob couldn't restrain himself any more and he burst out laughing. The entire group turned to look at him and he tried to explain.

“Don't you get it?” he asked, managing to get the words out between bellows of laughter.

“I always knew that Jeff... had sticky... fingers. Looks like the System knows it too,” Rob said, falling back into his laughter.

Marc looked at Jeff, who was looking indignant. He tried hard not to join in Rob's laughter and managed to hold it in until either Felicia or Ella snickered. He wasn't sure which one of them it was because after that initial snicker they both started laughing, with Marc joining in a moment later.

Jeff just glared at them all.

“Just burn it off, will you?” he said.

Marc managed to stifle his laughter long enough to cast a fire-aspected mana dart, targeting the darts at the strand of sticky spider silk holding Jeff's hand immobilized. The web was of the flash paper style and flared up for a moment, leaving Jeff's hand free afterwards.

Jeff jumped up, waving his hand back and forth as though trying to cool it down.

“Oh look, sticky fingers and hot stuff too,” Ella spluttered, between laughs.

Jeff looked as if he wasn't sure if he should take offense or be proud.

Instead of doing either he knelt down and used his sword to lift the lid on the chest.

* * *

They quickly emptied the chest, which was primarily silver and copper coins, with a few potions mixed in. The potions were labeled, but Marc wasn't sure that they should trust the labels. When he said something about it, Felicia tried to peel one off and realized that the labels also weren't on the bottles very well.

“I can check them after we get back, or you can use your Identify spell on them,” she said. “I agree that we shouldn't take them at face value.”

“Alright, are we set here?” Marc asked, “Do you think there might be anything else in here we want to find, Jeff?”

Jeff shook his head.

“There's just the one door we haven't been through yet. As far as I'm concerned, this room is clear,” Jeff replied.

“Okay then, let's form up and head out.”

Marc and Rob were in the lead again. This time the door was a garage style door that rolled up. It had its full width exposed, which explained how the spider had gotten in here, assuming it hadn't just spawned in here at the size it had been when they killed it.

Marc pulled the cord on one side that should lift the door. It slowly rolled up and Marc just stared.

The interior of the revealed room looked just like a garage. A three bay garage, with a car up on the hydraulic lift over the center of the three pits in there. Tools were racked on the walls and the scents of motor oil and gasoline were now assaulting him.

“This is weird,” Marc said. “It looks way too normal, did the dungeon never finish forming or something?”

“Well, it should have something like the pedestal, shouldn't it?” Jeff asked. “Or do these things not have some sort of central control?”

Marc shrugged helplessly.

Rob was already wandering into the room, glancing around at the tools on the wall, and looking down into one of the empty pits. Ella and Felicia followed him in while Marc and Jeff continued to try to figure out what was going on.

“Oh, tricky,” Felicia muttered, her words echoing in the concrete garage.

Marc looked over to where she was, kneeling at the edge of the pit with a car suspended over it. She was staring down inside of it, so he went over to look.

In the bottom of the pit was the start of a staircase leading down. There was a small two foot section where you could drop down from the floor of the garage and the rest of the pit was stairs leading down.

Marc shook his head.

“This place is just too weird,” he said. “Let's go.”

He dropped onto the two foot section at the top of the stairs, then waited for Rob to join him before heading down.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

Marc and Rob stopped at the closed door at the base of the stairs. They'd gone down around twenty-five or thirty feet before arriving at it. Now they waited for the rest of the group to catch up.

“Okay, we've got no idea what's in here,” Marc said. “So far, this place has been freaking me out, so be ready for anything. Are we all ready?”

He got a bunch of nods, even if they weren't exactly enthusiastic ones.

Marc stepped up to the door and tried to open it, only to realize that there was no way he was going to be able to do that.

“Locked?” Jeff asked, his picks appearing in his hands.

“Or something, it's not moving at all.”

Jeff approached and checked the door.

“It doesn't look like there's any sort of lock on it.”

“Rob? Maybe a Strength thing?” Marc said.

Rob nodded, then put his shoulder to the door and started pushing. There was a grinding noise that echoed through the stairs as he pushed, but the door itself was opening pretty smoothly.

“What the hell is that noise?” Marc asked. “The door isn't scraping on anything and it doesn't look like it's barred on the back.”

Jeff held up a finger and shimmered into Stealth. He was back in about ten seconds.

“That damned car above us? As Rob opens the door, the car is lowering itself down. That's what you're hearing.”

“So we're closed in here?”

“It's still up high enough to squeeze out under, but it looks like once the door is open enough to go through, the car will be low enough that we're not getting out that way until it gets moved,” Jeff said.

“May I just mention that I hate this place?” Felicia said. “I just wanted that on record.”

“You and me both,” Marc replied, shaking his head.

“Alright Rob, start pushing some more. I bet if we close the door again the car will lift up, I hope.”

“Want me to pull it closed some first so we can check that?” Rob asked.

Looking around at everyone's faces Marc decided that it would be a good idea to cut off the panic that seemed to be slowly building. He gave Rob a nod, and the tank shifted his position so he could grab the edge of the door and pull it back towards the closed position.

The grinding noise resumed as the door began to move and Jeff darted up the stairs, coming back a few moments later.

“Yup, the car's lifting again.”

“Okay Rob, reverse again if you would. Let's get that door open,” Marc said.

Rob switched directions with the door, putting his shoulder into the effort. The door slowly opened, revealing a hallway with three more doors.

There was one door to either side and the third was at the end of the hallway.

“Always go left?” Marc said.

No-one countered his suggestion or had anything else to say about it, so they began to move forward. Marc's hand went up in a closed first when they got to the door. He could hear something behind it, a lot of somethings if he wasn't mistaken.

There was also more of the rotting flesh stink getting through his mask than there had been since the diner. The sound of moans and groans that came through the door convinced him of what was in there.

“Zombies, lots I think. Although none of them are speaking coherently like the cook or the waitress did,” he said softly.

He glanced around at the walls of the corridor. They were mostly rock with a few patches of packed dirt here and there.

“I've got a plan,” he said. “There's no wood down here. So what I'd like to do is have Rob swing the door open, I'll spray the room, or what I can reach of it, with a Flamethrower while everyone else adds in whatever ranged attacks they have. Then, if we've got a clear spot, we step in and form up just inside the door. Does that sound okay?”

With a plan to work from, as bare bones as it was, the others seemed to be a bit more eager now.

“Rob, anytime you're ready just let me know. When you hear me start to cast, open the door,” Marc said. “Everyone else be ready with your ranged attacks.”

Marc began to cast his spell and Rob swung the door open. Simultaneous with the door opening, the floor in the corridor dropped out from underfoot, the slab of rock they'd been standing on swinging down to slam into the wall of the pit with a loud 'Thunk!' that Marc barely heard before the spikes at the bottom of the pit slammed into the soles of his feet and his legs.

He wasn't the only one that had fallen either, he heard screams of pain from others as well. With any movement hurting a great deal he spun his head to find that Felicia and Ella had also fallen and were impaled by spikes. Since they were both screaming, he figured they were still alive.

Then the backlash hit him for failing to complete his Flamethrower spell.

His screams grew slightly louder for a few seconds before the headache faded, leaving merely a lingering echo of itself. He was pretty sure he could cast through it now though and he had an idea.

Marc cast his Crenelate spell directly in front of himself, the stone rising up and destroying the spikes in the area the spell appeared in. He dragged himself onto it, pulling his legs off of the spikes.

All I want to do is collapse from the pain, but I've got to get the others up here and we only have a couple of minutes before the spell dissipates. If I'm lucky, it really did destroy the spikes and we'll have a small area without them down here.

He reached out and grabbed Ella, dragging her screaming, if not kicking, onto the rock. Then he reached again, catching hold of Felicia. She was more in control of herself and as much dragged herself onto the crenelation as Marc pulled her there. Once she was off the spikes and safely on the rock, she started casting.

Now Marc started looking around. Jeff was leaning down over the pit, saying something that Marc couldn't hear. Rob was dangling into the pit, holding on by his fingertips, but Marc saw the zombies attacking his friend's hands and the flinches each time they hit him.

He quickly cast another Crenelate spell below Rob, then bellowed.

“Rob, go ahead and drop, just don't roll with it, stay right where you fall!”

A moment later and the tank was in the pit with them, standing on his own block of stone. Rob was tucking his hands under his armpits as though they were cold, but Marc saw the blood flowing from them.

He checked himself and found that he'd lost about eighty health to the fall and the spikes so when Felicia had finished healing Ella and herself, he spoke quickly.

“Get Rob next, the zombies mutilated his fingers. Then you can get me. I hurt, but I'm okay overall.”

Marc was watching the door above them. The zombies were crowding into it and if they got any more thick there, they'd start pushing each other into the pit.

After Felicia got several heals on Rob, Marc warned him.

“You may have company if they get any thicker above you,” Marc called out. “Duck and I'll see if I can thin them out some, you might need to dodge some corpses though.”

Rob looked up, then shimmied over to the very edge of the crenelation he stood on, as close to the wall as he could. Then he pulled out his pilum.

“Go for it,” he called.

Marc recast his Flamethrower spell, completing it this time and aiming the blaze of flames at the doorway and all the zombies that were crowding it. The living corpses started smoldering, then after a few seconds, burst into flame. First one, then a second one fell forward into the pit, but Rob had a plan. He used the pilum to stab them, guiding their bodies out beyond the crenelation so they fell onto the spikes.

After the two had fallen, and several more had burst into flames, the rest backed away from the doorway and Marc let the spell lapse.

The crenelation beneath him dissipated, dropping its occupants to the floor. The floor was smooth now though, so that wasn't a problem. Marc winced as he landed, expecting to land on his pierced feet, but Felicia had gotten some heals in on him at some point also, so the landing was unexpectedly painless.

Finally, things were quiet enough that he could hear Jeff, who was still calling out, over and over.

“Throw Rob's rope up, I can get you out of there.”

“Rob, give me your rope,” Marc called.

A moment later the coil of rope was flying across the base of the pit.

Marc caught it, then lofted it up to Jeff. Jeff wrapped the rope around his waist and dropped the rest of it into the pit, bracing himself.

“Lightest first, as each comes up they can help belay for the next person,” Jeff called.

Felicia and Ella both headed for the bottom of the rope, weaving through the base of the spikes. When they both got there, Felicia looked at Ella, then grimaced and gestured towards the Mage to take the rope.

Jeff had to pull Ella up, but once she was there, he helped her wrap the rope around her waist also, then dropped the end again.

Felicia didn't need to be pulled up, she grabbed the rope and used it to walk herself up the wall. Marc was making his way over also, and once Felicia was added to the anchors, he repeated her performance himself.

They moved a bit to make it easier for Rob to get to the bottom of the rope, but when Marc watched the tank take out his battle ax and thrust it forward, striking the stone spikes with the top part of the ax to smash them he realized that they needn't have bothered.

Getting Rob up was harder than the rest, they had to pull him up while he was climbing. He probably could've made it on his own, eventually, but Marc didn't know when or how the cover of the pit would reset, or if it would at all, so they tried to get him out as quickly as possible just in case.

* * *

“Alright, so plan A failed,” Jeff said. “Anyone got a plan B?”

Marc glanced at the door to the room. He had a fairly good angle into it from where they were. He looked around at his party, they looked rough, but they also looked pissed.

“Yeah, I got a plan B,” Marc replied. “Nuke 'em from orbit.”

“It's the only way to be sure,” Jeff added.

“I'm going to clear what I can see from here with overkill. Feel free to join in if you can,” Marc said.

Then he started casting his Fireball spell. He cast it over and over. The room was crowded enough that he occasionally got five or six zombies caught in a single spell. Then text flashed across his vision and his Fireballs grew slightly larger.

Your spell, Fireball, has increased in skill level (2->3)

He wasn't the only one casting, either. Since Ella had learned the Fireball spell as well she was adding hers into the effort too. The density of the zombies in the room grew lower and lower, until Marc could only see a couple in the area of the room visible to him. He wasn't sure if they were smart enough that they'd all just packed in to the other side or not though.

“Jeff, can you get to the other side of the pit? Get a look at the part of the room we can't see from here?” he asked.

Jeff glanced over at Marc, respect apparent on his face.

“You weren't kidding about nuking them,” he said. “Yeah, I can do it.

Hell, I can probably rig a way for all of us to get over there if we're careful.”

“Do it,” Marc said, potting a single zombie with a Mana Dart spell.

“Rob, pitons? Two should do,” Jeff replied.

As Marc kept watch into the portion of the room he could see, he and Ella Mana Darted anything that showed up there. His mana was low, but slowly regenerating so he thought he could keep his efforts up, he didn't know about Ella though, but trusted her to not run herself totally out.

His ears rang as a piton was pounded into the stone of the wall on the far side of the corridor from the door to the zombies. Then Jeff climbed his way across the wall, horizontally, to get to the far side and started pounding another piton in. He'd tied the rope to the piton on this side and after he'd gotten the one in on the other side Rob tossed him the loose end of the rope.

Jeff secured that, leaving a little slack in the rope, then stepped up and grabbed the loose rope.

“Watch me,” he called out. “You can get across like this.”

He then proceeded to plant his feet against the wall, use both hands on the rope, and lean back. He shuffled sideways over the pit, the rope and his feet supporting his weight, and made it back almost as quickly as he could've walked the same distance.

“Mad skills, Jeff,” Rob said.

“Nah, it's easy. You just shuffle. Let's do this the same way as before, lightest first. I'll go first though so you can watch it again.”

Jeff quickly crossed the pit again before Ella stepped up and started across. She made it easily, if significantly more slowly than Jeff had. They continued to cross in the same order they'd come out of the pit up until Rob's turn.

“You sure this is going to hold me?” Rob asked.

“Yeah, it will,” Jeff said.

“If you're worried about weight, just inventory all your gear before you come across,” Marc called.

He was looking into the room and there were only a few zombies left in there now. He didn't want to disrupt Rob's passage though so he waited until the tank was across before starting to pot them with Mana Darts.

It wasn't long before the room was emptied of anything moving.

“Okay, now we need to get in there,” Marc said.

“Not an issue,” Jeff replied. “I can make that step from here, brace against the door frame, and help people over.”

Marc gestured towards the door and Jeff walked over to the wall, then stretched his leg out, his foot barely making the lip at the base of the door.

The Thief grabbed the door frame and stepped into the doorway. After finding a firm grip, he held out a hand and helped the rest of the group over one at a time.

Inside the room the stench was horrible. Burned rotting flesh smelled worse than either burned flesh or rotting flesh by themselves, but the masks brought it down to the point where it was barely tolerable.

The party started looting quickly, the bodies disappearing shortly after they'd been completely looted. Once that had happened they looked around the room. It was pretty bare, with a single lever on the far wall the only relief from the bare walls, floor, and ceiling.

“Do we want to do something with that?” Jeff asked, gesturing towards the lever.

“I think we should leave it alone for the moment,” Marc replied. “I know you want to pull it to see what it does, but let's just leave it for now?”

Jeff had to visibly force himself to look away from the lever.

“If you want something useful to do, see if you can find a way to reset the trap so we have a floor in the hallway again,” Marc continued.

“But.. but... That's what I think the lever is for,” Jeff said.

“Do you have anything to base that guess off of?” Marc asked.

Jeff wilted a little.

“No?”

“Then why don't you check the door, that's what triggered it before I think, so maybe you'll find what we're looking for there.”

Jeff sighed heavily and walked over to the door. After a few minutes he swung the door shut, adjusted something near the hinges, then opened it again to reveal the corridor floor in place again.

“Okay, you were right. That lever isn't for the floor. I still want to check it out though,” Jeff said.

“Just don't pull it, alright?”

Marc had settled in on the floor in an attempt to regenerate his mana.

The barrage of spells that had mostly cleared the room had left him close to zero. Felicia hadn't been much better off either, since she'd still been healing everyone while he was fireballing the room.

“Well, it does something,” Jeff said. “Looks like it's connected to something that goes deeper into the dungeon.”

“And you didn't pull it?” Marc asked.

“No, I didn't pull it, okay? I did press very lightly to see if there was pressure, which would mean it was connected to something. Plus there's a little gap that lets me see the gears and crap that lead deeper into the dungeon. Satisfied?”

“Thank you, Jeff,” Marc said.

Jeff just snorted.

“Are you guys almost ready? I can go check that other door for traps if you like while you finish regenerating.”

“Hang on, I'm almost ready,” Marc said.

Because I sure as hell don't want Jeff loose and wandering around a dungeon, Marc thought. Way too much trouble for him to get into. Three quarters of my mana will have to do.

“Felicia, Ella?”

“I'm good,” Ella said. “Within twenty of max.”

“I'm maxed out too,” Felicia said. “I've been playing with that new skill.

I think there's still some undead around, but not nearly as many as there were before.”

“That's good news. These guys weren't too tough, but the first ones were.

They all reek though, so I'd rather avoid them if we can,” Marc said.

Rob grunted his agreement before adding his own two cents.

“These masks keep out the worst of it, but still...”

“So, can we go then?” Jeff asked.

“Let's move,” Marc said.

* * *

The next door in the corridor was on the opposite side. Jeff approached it carefully, pulled out his picks, and started playing with it.

“I don't think it's trapped and I'm sure it isn't locked, but there's something kind of gumming up the locking mechanism so we may need to force it open,” he said.

Rob looked a little nervous, but he stepped up.

“Just shoulder it in?” he asked.

“No, Rob I meant the handle needs a lot of pressure to open the locking mechanism, not the door itself. I don't know about the door,” Jeff replied.

Rob placed his hand on the handle, watched the floor beneath him, and pushed down the lever style handle like those you'd find on a truck stop bathroom door.

There was a metallic-sounding 'Clunk!' as the handle depressed. Rob had been watching the floor, not the handle. Nothing triggered though so he released the handle, but it didn't return to its normal position.

“Oops,” Rob said. “I think I might've broken it.”

Jeff just shook his head and tried to push the door open. It didn't move for him so he turned to Rob, pointed at the door and said.

“Hulk, smash!”

Rob just glared at him before turning to push on the door. It didn't move with his first effort so he put his shoulder down and ran into it. The door gave way, spilling into the room beyond, but not far in since it got trapped by several dangling strands of web.

“Really?” Jeff said. “I thought we were done with the damned bugs.”

He might've been, but the bugs weren't done with him. Several strands of web came shooting out of the darkened room, striking both Rob and Jeff.

Rob managed to tear apart the ones that hit him, but Marc saw the blood from where they'd cut into him from his efforts to free himself. Jeff, on the other hand, found himself immobilized.

“Felicia, heal Rob, then try to free Jeff. Ella, back me up, we need to clear some of the dangling webs out of that room.”

Marc trotted over to the door, standing next to Rob. With his shield in one hand, he channeled the Flamethrower spell with the other, quickly sweeping it across the dangling webs. Once again they went up like flash paper, the remains drifting down as tiny ashes. Ella helped by launching a Fireball into clusters of the strands that were beyond Marc's Flamethrower range.

Soon enough they could see the spiders that were attacking. They were guarding a dangling bag that was apparently made of silk, with small hemispherical bulges visible on the surface of the silk.

“Alright, we've got targets,” Marc said.

“Be careful of that bag. If it is what I think it is, it might be valuable to the Safe Zone,” Ella said quickly.

Marc cocked his head. He was experienced enough to know that the bag was an egg sac, he was just trying to figure out why Ella might think it would be valuable like that.

“Spider silk, Marc. The silk we found is a crafting component. If we can raise spiders to harvest the silk you'd have another export item, and I bet a valuable one,” she said, seeing his confusion.

The light dawned on Marc. He hadn't even considered raising or herding spawns or dungeon creatures, although now that she'd mentioned it the idea made perfect sense, if they had someone to train the spiders as they grew up.

“Only target the spiders themselves,” he called out to Rob, who was rushing across the room.

Then Marc started casting. He sent out Mana Dart after Mana Dart once he'd given Rob a Phantom shield. This time he was casting non-aspected darts, not wanting to potentially catch the egg sac on fire.

The spiders were all slightly smaller than the smallest ones they'd encountered in the convenience store section of dungeon and Marc had to wonder if the dungeon kept them here to grow up or what since they didn't seem to be too much of a problem once the dangling strands of web had been cleared.

Felicia did need to heal Rob a few times, but she was keeping up on both that and trying to free Jeff without hurting him. Other than that, Rob did great. He'd chosen to use his longsword for this and it was apparent that he'd gotten at least a couple of points in his Long Swords skill. He took down four of the spiders while Ella and Marc accounted for the other seven.

When the spiders were down, Jeff was still not free. He'd been struck by five strands of the sticky silk and Felicia had managed to destroy three of them with material she had on hand before she ran out.

“Marc, could you torch these last two strands off of Jeff?” she asked.

Marc nodded and headed back to the doorway while Ella moved towards the egg sac. Once he had Jeff freed, and cursing at him for the resultant burns that Felicia was healing, they headed deeper into the room.

“What is it?” Ella asked when Jeff tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned and saw Jeff.

“Oh, Jeff honey, remember you said I should get some pets too? I know what I want.”

Jeff paled.

“See the egg sac? I'm thinking that one of them would make a great pet.

Can you imagine it? If I feed him well, he might even get bigger than the ones we just fought. A spider as big as a person sounds like an great pet for me.”

“Uh, um, I don't think the apartment would be big enough to hold them along with us,” Jeff replied.

“No problem,” Ella said. “Marc, can I take over one of those abandoned buildings in the area you just captured? I'll convert the basement to a spider farm, and then I can have even more of them.”

Jeff looked a little queasy now, but Ella hit his shoulder.

“See, I told you I'd get you back for having the rats wake me up.

Seriously though Marc, converting one of those basements to a spider farm would probably pay off handsomely. I don't know how many of these will hatch, but I do know that the parent spiders normally abandon the egg sac before they do hatch, so we can probably get a lot of them.”

“We can take it, but there are some conditions. First, we need to find someone to ride herd on them before the eggs hatch. Second, there are probably hundreds in there, we aren't going to keep them all, or release them. Any we don't keep, we kill. Third, if it works out, you'll get a percentage of the profit since you thought of it.”

Ella beamed.

“See Jeff, I told you there were still ways to earn money without killing nowadays.”

“Which we're only getting because we killed the spiders,” Jeff replied.

Ella turned and gave him a raspberry, nearly spraying his face with spittle as she did so.

“We need to get these out of here without putting them in an inventory space too,” Marc said. “I don't think living things do very well in inventory space.”

“I got it,” Ella said.

She pulled out some of the raw spider silk she'd found and quickly wove a loose mesh sack out of it. She slid the sack up over the egg sac, then turned to Marc.

“Cut the strand supporting it, please?” she said.

Marc tried his best, but his shortsword wouldn't do it. Eventually he gave in and targeted a fire-aspected Mana Dart spell at the strand. That managed to burn through and release the sac. Ella nearly staggered under the weight, but she quickly recovered and hung the impromptu mesh sack holding the egg sac over her shoulder.

“Ready,” she said.

“Check the room Jeff? There wasn't any extra loot in with the zombies, maybe there is in here,” Marc said.

Jeff was more than happy to do that, but he came up empty-handed.

“Well, I guess there's one more door, right?” Marc said.

“Yup, there is one thing here though.”

“What's that, I thought you said there was nothing.”

“I said there was no treasure, Marc. There is another one of those levers.”

“You left it be?”

Jeff nodded.

“Good, let's go check that last door.”

They headed back into the hall and went to the last door. There was no handle on it and no apparent way to open it.

“Rob, can you?” Marc asked.

Rob lowered his shoulder and slammed into the door, only to rebound and start rubbing his shoulder.

“Sorry Marc, I don't think I can.”

Marc turned to Jeff, who was grinning triumphantly.

“Yes, Jeff. You can go pull the levers,” Marc said.

* * *

Chapter Twenty

Jeff was still in the second room when the door shivered and started to grind to one side. Behind it was the top landing to a staircase. Marc turned to Ella.

“Send one of your lights down? I can't see a thing.”

There were small balls of light hanging over both Ella and Marc, and she'd been recasting them each time the duration ran out. Now a third ball of light sprang into existence, maneuvering down the stairs and showing another twenty-five foot run of them before stopping at another landing, with a door on the other side of it.

“Shall we?” Marc said. “I'm not real happy about this, but it's down or back out.”

Rob stepped over to the top of the stairs. They weren't wide enough for two abreast, although the landing at the bottom looked as though it would hold the entire party.

“Let's go,” Marc said.

Rob started down the staircase with Marc following. Felicia came along right behind Marc, but about that time there was a grinding noise again and the door shut, splitting the party.

“Shit!” Marc said. “What was that?”

“I don't know, Marc, but when the top door closed, the bottom one opened,” Rob replied.

“Keep an eye on it, I'll see if I can figure out how to open the top door again.”

Marc squeezed his way past Felicia and got back to the top door. Much like the other side of it there was no handle or other means of opening it visible.

He was having no luck still a minute later when it ground its way open again. He hadn't done anything to get it to open, but a moment later, he had to back off as Ella and Jeff darted through the opening.

“Quick, get one of Rob's pitons so we can stake this open,” Jeff said.

A moment later a piton came soaring through the air. Jeff caught it and shoved it into the opening of the door so it couldn't slide shut again.

“Hey, Marc. When Jeff opened that top door again, the bottom one closed. It's staying closed now, want me to see if I can force it?” Rob called.

“One moment, let me get down there in case there's something on the other side.”

“There wasn't when it was open before, I just saw an empty corridor.”

Marc contorted himself to get around the others on the stairs, making it down next to Rob again.

He took a quick look at the door. This one had a handle on this side, but just one of the little loop handles that let you pull on it, nothing to twist or turn to activate a latch.

“That's weird,” Marc said, gesturing towards the handle. “Go ahead and try to force it, but I don't know that this one will work any better than the one up top.”

Rob braced against the door and pushed. The only thing he managed to do was slide his feet backwards. Then he moved back to the bottom step and took a running start, slamming into the door. It must've been made of a sturdy material, because the only result that time was a dull 'Thump!' as he hit it.

Rob shook his head.

“No give, none at all.”

“You said that this door closed when the top one opened?” Marc asked.

Rob nodded.

“I don't think we're allowed to have both of them open at the same time.”

Rob frowned.

“I don't like that, it'd be a lot nicer to have a clear path in case we need to run,” he said.

Marc pulled everyone in and explained his thoughts on the matter.

“You're sure the bottom one opened when the top one closed?” Jeff asked.

“That's what Rob said.”

“Then it's pretty obvious what we need to do, right?”

“Yes,” Marc said, “but I didn't want to make that call for everyone.”

“I say do it,” Jeff replied.

The others agreed with him, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Marc headed down to the lower door with Rob, while Jeff headed back up top to remove the piton holding it open. The grinding noise was twice as loud this time since Marc was hearing both the top door sliding to one side and the bottom one grind its own way open. There were fresh scrapes visible on the stone of the floor beneath the door and Marc figured that this door hadn't seen very much care in its installation.

Although I don't know why, the rest of the doors have been fitted just fine. Did they just miss this one, or what?

Now that the bottom door was open, the corridor beyond was visible. As Rob had said, it was empty. There were doorways on both sides, two per side, but they didn't have actual doors in them. At the far end of the hall there was another doorway, this one with what looked like a metal fire door in place, even down to the 'Fire Exit' sign on it with a little picture of stairs and a red flame.

Or maybe it's a new theme? Messed up door to announce that there'll be no doors on this floor? Except there is at least one other door.

“Alright, take it slow. We want to peek into these rooms without being seen if we can,” Marc said.

Someone cleared their throat behind him. Without turning, he spoke.

“Go ahead Jeff, just don't get caught.”

“Hah! get caught...”

Marc barely caught the shimmer as Jeff slipped between him and the wall. It was less than a minute later when Jeff dropped Stealth, reappearing a couple of feet in front of Marc and Rob.

“It's weird. They're mostly empty, but only mostly. There's a big old pile of bones in one of them, there's blocks of what look like processed cuts of meat in another, then the other two are almost like big cave areas. Lots of stone projections from the floors and walls, but nothing actually in the rooms,” Jeff said.

Marc puzzled on that for a moment.

“Wait, almost like they aren't completed?” he asked.

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Jeff said.

“That explains the door then,” Marc said.

“What?”

Marc pointed to the scrapes on the floor.

“I'd been thinking that the door didn't fit right, unlike the rest we'd seen.

I figured it was announcing a change in theme or something for the dungeon when I saw the open doorways. Now I'm thinking that this floor hasn't been completed yet.”

Jeff broke into a grin.

“You mean we got the drop on a dungeon?” he asked.

“Looks like that might be the case. Did we ever bother to look up help on dungeons?” Marc asked.

“I checked before we got here, but didn't get anything, why?”

“How about after we'd actually encountered a dungeon?”

Jeff had a 'Duh!' moment, going so far as to slap his forehead.

“With all the files you got us, I forgot that the System doesn't unlock some of this stuff until it's pertinent,” Jeff said.

He got a vacant look on his face then and Marc realized that he was probably pulling up the help on dungeons. Rather than wait for Jeff's interpretation of it, he decided he'd pull it up himself.

“Guys, keep watch? I think we can get help on dungeons now and I want to read it,” Marc said.

Help dungeons, he thought.

Dungeons:

There are two types of dungeons available in the system. The first is intentionally placed and will be controlled by a dungeon core. These dungeons develop over time, eventually creating an entrance when the core has determined that the dungeon is ready for visitors. The second type is created by the capture of a Safe Zone by a spawn. In the second type of dungeon, the spawn that captures the Safe Zone causes the Safe Zone to convert to a dungeon. The spawn that made the capture is evolved to a higher form and is given control over the dungeon to build in a similar fashion to how the holder of a Safe Zone would create their own area.

Dungeons are good areas for increasing one's personal power as well as having a higher grade of treasure than one finds on general spawns.

“Once again, helpful, but not,” Marc said. “Although knowing that there's a creature in control of this place is good to know. We'll probably have to kill it to capture the core.”

“I've got no problem with that,” Jeff said. “Because that means whatever creature is in charge here is the one that created that diner room. Plus, they put freakin' giant spiders in their dungeon. I'll be happy to help you kill it.”

Rob nodded vigorously in agreement with Jeff.

“They're using undead, Marc. I've got no problem with it,” Felicia said.

Ella just shrugged.

“How long before it starts sending things out of the dungeon to cause trouble?” she said

“I don't know if they can,” Marc replied, “but I also don't know that they can't and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they could. If we're at empty rooms already, I'm guessing we're close to the big boss then.”

He started down the hall to the fire door. It had a handle and a lock on it.

“Jeff?”

Jeff dropped to his knees in front of the door and examined it.

“No traps I can see, but I won't be able to pick it. Someone filled the lock with molten metal and let it harden in there.”

Rob grinned.

“Well, if this is one of our doors from before the System, I can probably take care of this one. Can I do it with style, though?” he asked, looking at Marc.

“Sure, why not?” Marc replied.

Rob's grin grew even wider as he pulled out his ax.

“Back away a bit, please,” he said.

As soon as the rest of the group backed up, Rob wound up and slammed his ax into the door a few times. Once he had a big enough hole, he stuck his face up against it to look through the hole and yelled.

“Here's Johnny!”

* * *

Rob pulled back quickly as something hit the inside of the door and clattered to the floor beyond it. He had a huge grin on his face when he turned around.

“I always wanted to do that,” he said. “I love that movie. It freaks me out, every time.”

“Um yeah, I thought you were opening the door, Rob?” Marc said.

“Oh, sorry.”

Rob drew his ax back and slammed it into the door just beyond the knob, shearing through both the metal of the door and the locking mechanism.

“There, better?” Rob said, as the door swung open.

Jeff was still just staring at Rob, while Ella and Felicia were both holding back laughs.

“Hey guys, there's something in there,” Marc said, taking position to block anything coming through the door. “Maybe we should deal with Jeff's cluelessness later on?”

“Hey,” Jeff said, finally reacting.

Then he realized what he'd been doing and didn't finish whatever he'd started to say.

Marc peered into the room and found himself looking at a dark mirror of his build room from the Town Hall, in more ways than one.

The room itself was dark and dingy, not sheer black, but dark grays and faded blacks, with little smatterings of white and ivory here and there relieving it. It actually took him a moment to realize that the white and ivory colors were mostly bone, piles of them scattered here and there about the room.

One of the swatches of white wasn't a pile. Standing behind the dark equivalent of the build pedestal, one made with the pedestal created out of bones and the wireframe diagram atop it glowing in a fiery orange-red, was a cluster of bones in the shape of a humanoid skeleton. One with glowing eyes that matched the wireframe.

Before Marc could take in anything else, it turned and locked those glowing eyes on him.

“Are you Johnny?” it asked.

Marc couldn't help it, he laughed. That seemed to annoy the skeletal creature even more.

“I don't care then, die Johnny!” the creature hollered, beginning to move its hands and chant.

Marc recognized a spell when someone started casting it and was instantly glad of the almost instantaneous casting time on his Anti-Magic Shield spell. He felt it form in front of him before the creature even finished chanting.

As lashes of flame swept out from the creature's skeletal hands, sweeping through the room as though the creature were wielding multiple fiery whips, Marc interposed his new shield spell between him and where it looked like the whips would strike from. As each whip hit the shield, it dissipated. The shield disappeared before the last whip struck it though and Marc had to jump backwards to avoid that one.

He stared at the skeleton hard, willing the Analyze to activate.

Lesser Lich (Dungeon Master) - Hostile

Lvl – 8

Commonality – Rare

“Looks like we found the boss, guys,” Marc called out.

“Ya think?” Jeff replied, sounding out of breath.

Marc turned and saw that the piles of bones and meat in the other rooms had been used to create a small horde of skeletons and zombies which the rest of the group was working on clearing as they poured from the rooms.

Marc turned back to the lich and found it focusing on the build pedestal.

A moment later the piles of bone in the room formed together, rising to stand on two or four feet depending on the pile. Now he was facing the lich along with a handful of humanoid skeletons and a pair of what looked like skeletal wolves or dogs.

Not having any other options for a decent AoE spell, Marc targeted a Fireball right between the two canine skeletons that were standing side by side. The lich was just removing his hands from the pedestal and focusing back on Marc when the fireball went off.

The two canine skeletons went up in flames, still moving but obviously taking heavy damage.

“Why are you here? My dungeon isn't even open yet! What do you think you're doing?” the lich yelled.

Marc caught himself shaking his head.

“Not open yet? Your gates were lying on the ground and there were hostiles out there. If that isn't open, what is?” he called back, deciding where to target his next spell.

He desperately wanted the advantage a Lightning Flash would give him, but somehow he didn't think that undead would suffer from the ringing ears and blindness the spell produced. So instead, he went with his Flamethrower again since it had worked well on the zombies before and the skeletal canines had seemed to take decent damage from the flames.

The skeletons were charging towards him, no weapons in hand, but their fingertips looking like they'd do the job of slicing and dicing him just as well as any dagger. He let loose the Flamethrower spell directly on the first one, strafing it from side to side to catch the nearest ones behind it.

The humanoid skeletons didn't light up as well as the canine ones had, but they were still taking damage. He had his shield out in case they made it to him, but the Flamethrower spell was doing a good job of taking them down, taking down his mana also, but for the moment he was only worried about the skeletons. Then the five dart Mana Dart spell from the lesser lich struck him.

Marc lost concentration on the Flamethrower spell he was channeling when he took almost a hundred points of damage in a shot. His head throbbed, nearly knocking him off his feet with the pain. When he forced his eyes open, he saw that the humanoid skeletons were still burning, three of them on the ground not moving and the last two still making their way towards him, albeit slowly now.

He turned to look at the lich and caught it casting again. Forcing his concentration through the pain, Marc threw up another Anti-Magic Shield.

A quick glance at his mana told him he was going to have to think of something to do pretty quickly.

Mana: 137/694

He wasn't sure where he'd spent it all until he remembered how expensive the Anti-Magic Shield was, plus the fact that he had no idea how long he'd been channeling his Flamethrower spell.

A wash of golden light illuminated him as Felicia caught him with a heal from behind.

I'm glad she's keeping track of me, he thought.

With the heal, the pain rocking his head was minimized, not gone, but down to a point where he could cast without having to force himself to do so. As the first of the skeletons struck his shield, he retaliated with a Mana Dart that sent two darts towards each of the remaining skeletons, which was enough to drop them. The canine skeletons had never even made it to him, their bones still burning and, if he wasn't mistaken, melting.

As the last of the skeletons dropped, the lich released its newest spell. A long shaft of stone formed a spear and raced towards Marc. He wasn't sure if the Anti-Magic Shield would defend against that, so he layered his Phantom Shield and his physical shield all in line with the anti-magic one.

Evidently it was part magic and part physical because it started to fall apart when hitting the Anti-Magic Shield. The debris continued racing forward as it fell apart though and Marc tucked as much of his body behind his shield as he could. The Phantom Shield diverted part of the debris and the rest slammed into the shield he was holding onto. When he pulled his head back up, the stone spear was nothing more than debris littering the floor and he'd taken no damage from it.

The lich was furious. Even without the flesh of a face to read Marc could tell that. Its eyes were burning even more intensely and its motions had grown sharp and choppy as though it were frustrated.

Marc risked a look out into the corridor and saw that Rob was trying to hold back at least twenty each of skeletons and zombies. The corridor wasn't very wide, so it wasn't difficult, but from the looks of things Felicia was healing him constantly.

Deciding that getting help was the best way to take care of the lich, Marc targeted a Fireball out towards the back of the crowd of undead. The lich started casting again as Marc sent a second Fireball rocketing out towards the undead.

He spun back to face the lich just in time for it to finish a cast. It was shooting an inky black cloud from its mouth as it completed the spell.

The cloud slowly spread across the room, tendrils of it seeming to reach out towards him. Knowing he didn't have the mana for another Anti-Magic Shield spell, Marc tried something on the fly. He backed towards the door starting to cast a Mana Dart spell, slowly. He changed the element type to water, then removed the container variable entirely, leaving the force and direction variables unchanged.

As he completed the spell, a massive spray of water shot out from him, spreading from the pressure behind it that would normally launch the darts forward. As the water struck the inky darkness, it pushed it back, some. It at least held it back long enough for Marc to get out into the hallway.

The rest of the party had used the opportunity Marc's fireballs had given them to push forward as the undead press thinned. There was enough space for Marc to get out of the room at least, then he grabbed the rent edge of the door, pulling it closed. With the last of his mana he cast a Crenelate spell on the other side of the door, looking through the hole in it so he could see his target.

When he pushed against the door it barely moved at all, so he was satisfied that it would stay shut for the duration of his spell. He pushed his shield up against the original rent Rob had created in the door, trying to create as good a seal as he could manage to keep the black stuff contained within the room.

I wish I had enough mana for another Phantom Shield, he thought before realizing he was being stupid.

He pulled his physical shield away from the door, then manipulated the Phantom Shield he already had up into its place, pushing the flat plane of force against the hole in the door to seal it more tightly than he'd managed with his physical shield.

He spun around when he saw the massive golden-white glow that illuminated the corridor with no warning, only to find that Felicia had cast some sort of spell on Rob's ax which was now glowing brightly enough that Marc didn't want to look directly at it. The undead didn't want to be anywhere near it either, but Rob didn't let that stop him, chasing them down and striking them with the glowing weapon. Every time the weapon struck the undead wailed and burned, the golden-white light spreading until it covered them and they collapsed.

When Felicia saw him standing back near the door, she started towards him.

“No, go ahead and do what you're doing. I'm just keeping this guy's spell contained as best as I can,” Marc said.

That was when he noticed what Felicia probably already had, the thin trickles of inky black cloud seeping through the door and reforming into thin tentacles.

As she approached him, she cast a spell on her own tire iron and it began glowing like Rob's ax had. The tendrils flinched back from the light and when she hit them with the tire iron, they dissipated into a thick, oily, black moisture which fell to the floor.

“Rob should be okay now. That ability I got? It kept evolving into a spell as I fought the undead. I finally unlocked it a minute ago and immediately used it on Rob's weapon. He's got five minutes from when I cast, but it's added damage and damage over time to undead.”

“Thanks, I was trying to get away from this cloud thing. I guess I couldn't seal the door well enough against it,” Marc replied.

“So, what is it you're running from?”

He wanted to say he wasn't running, but he knew he was.

“Whatever this cloud is that the boss cast. The lesser lich boss, that is.”

“A magic based boss. We haven't had to go against any of those yet.”

“Well, I got rid of all of his adds at least, but I didn't even touch him yet and I was out of mana.”

“You don't say? Here, drink this, well these actually.”

She pulled several identical potions of of her inventory and handed them over.

Marc cocked an eyebrow.

“I told you I had the recipes for a few potions, right? Well, I've managed to make a bunch of the mana ones.”

He quickly uncorked and drained the potion bottles, feeling much better after. The way he figured it he'd probably been down to about three mana after he cast his Crenelate spell, now he checked his level again.

Mana: 309/694

“Wow, I thought you got recipes for lesser potions.”

“I did, I just managed to make a high quality batch. Normally they restore seventy-five mana. I got a batch at Excellent level that do a hundred each though. Those are the ones I brought along.”

“It's a good thing you did. Have I told you how happy I am to have you around recently?”

She grinned at him.

“I think you might have, but it's always nice to hear it again.”

A minute later Rob came back down the corridor.

“I think that's all of them,” he said.

“Good, because we've still got the big guy to go,” Marc said. “He cast some sort of Area of Effect spell that I wanted nothing to do with, so I came out and blocked the door. At least he doesn't have any help in there anymore, or he didn't when I came out.”

“So, let's go get him,” Jeff said.

“Not for another thirty seconds or though. I blocked the door with a crenelation,” Marc said.

“Good, everyone get out the weapons they're going to use,” Felicia said.

“Skeletal type according to Marc.”

Rob's ax was still glowing and a moment later Jeff had his club out as well. Felicia cast her spell on it and also on Ella's club.

Marc just shook his head.

“I've only got piercing and slashing still. I'm probably better off using spells, either on our side for defense, or on him for damage.”

Felicia nodded.

“Are we ready then?”

Marc pushed on the door and it swung open easily now. His Phantom Shield was close to running out of time, but he reclaimed it, mentally attaching it to his arm.

“Might as well,” Marc said. “Let me go first, if he starts casting I can use a spell to block it if it's direct damage. Once I'm in far enough or he starts targeting me, everyone else rush in, okay?”

He didn't wait for an answer, turning and entering the room again.

* * *

Marc strode into the room.

“Back for more, are you? Are you ready to flee again?” the lich asked.

It started casting and Marc recognized the spell as the one that had produced the inky black cloud. He just grinned and took a stance that would block as much of the door as he could.

“Come on,” Marc called.

Rob was the first one visible and when the lich saw the glowing ax, it flinched, nearly losing its spell. When Felicia showed up next, also with her weapon glowing, the lich did lose its spell.

“No, a Life Mage?” it cried. “That's not fair.”

Marc looked at her and Felicia shrugged.

“It did say the damage was Life type, so maybe?” she replied.

Rob was trotting towards the lich and it started another spell. Marc cast his Anti-Magic Shield on Rob before the lich finished casting. He'd explained the spell and its limitations to the party earlier. Rob was the most familiar with it since it was similar to using the Phantom Shield. So when the lich finished its spell and Mana Darts raced towards Rob, they were blocked, not even slowing the tank.

“No, how?” the lich cried, beginning to cast again.

Rob's Anti-Magic shield hadn't failed yet, so Marc cast another, this time on Felicia who was trotting around the room in the other direction to surround the lich. Ella stepped up beside Marc, casting a Mana Dart at the lich.

A moment later Rob reached the lich and struck. His ax struck firmly, nearly severing a bone, and the golden-white glow flowed from the ax onto the Lich's body.

Felicia came around behind the lich, who was facing Rob, and struck the back of its skull with her tire iron. The glow on the lich brightened as it began to cast again. When Marc realized that he was the target of the spell, he cast an Anti-Magic Shield on himself, stepping away from Ella.

The lightning bolt that raced from the lich to strike Marc was strong enough to destroy the Anti-Magic Shield and still do a serious amount of damage to him, but he was still standing. With the little time he'd had to regenerate, the only spell he had enough mana left for was a Mana Dart, so he sent it straight at the lich.

Felicia and Rob were doing their best to destroy the lich, but it seemed as though there were something siphoning away part of the damage they were doing, even with the glow brightening more and more. Marc's Mana Darts struck the lich and it stumbled, but kept going. Then another glow brightened the air behind the lich as Jeff dropped out of Stealth, pulling his club from his inventory as he did so.

The strike from his club took the lich on the skull, the spikes attached to the club driving straight through the bone. For just a moment Marc saw the reddish-orange glow of the lich's eyes shift, brightening towards the golden-white of the glow covering most of its body, then the lich's skeleton came apart, dropping into a pile of bones on the floor.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

Jeff kicked the pile of bones, then kicked it again before looking over at Marc.

“Hey Marc, this guy isn't dead yet, can't loot him,” Jeff said.

“Well, Marc said he was a lesser lich,” Felicia interjected.

Marc and Jeff stared at each other for a moment before calling out in unison.

“Phylactery!”

“Okay everyone, we need to look around,” Marc said. “Try to find something small, valuable, and inscribed with what looks like runic writing.”

“I'm on it,” Jeff said.

He then proceeded to stand still and do nothing. Marc was about to say something when Jeff broke into movement.

“In the base of the build pedestal. There's a secret compartment and it's got a boatload of valuable stuff in it,” Jeff said.

Crap, I almost forgot about his Find Valuables skill, Marc thought. Glad he was quick or I would've asked him why he wasn't looking. I never would've heard the end of that one.

“Anything else valuable around?” Marc asked.

“Not in range, but I've only got the range for about half the room. I can check that, or check the secret compartment for traps. Your call.”

“Look for traps right now, I bet it's locked also and we can't loot the key from the guy if it's in his inventory, since he isn't actually dead,” Marc said, before grinning and adding. “Yet. Or maybe he is, if undead counts. You know what? Never mind, just find the compartment, would you?”

“Can do,” Jeff said, dropping to his knees in front of the pedestal.

His curses started a moment later and continued straight through as he pulled out his tools and started in on the pedestal. It was probably five minutes later when he finally relaxed.

“Paranoid type, three different traps and a lock. All done now though,”

Jeff said.

“Good job, what do we have?”

Jeff swung the hatch in the base of the pedestal open and started pulling things out. A small book, a pair of scrolls, a pouch which made clicking noises as it was moved, and a bag that sounded like coins made a pile on the floor as Jeff kept reaching in.

Marc pushed the book and the scrolls to one side. He knew himself and didn't want to start looking at those here or he was liable to lose his focus and get sucked into them.

“Okay, what do we have here?” Jeff asked.

He opened the bag and started pouring. Marc recognized the silver and the gold, but the other silvery colored metal wasn't something he was familiar with. There were coins in all three types, but the unknown metal had the least representation, followed by the gold, with the silver making up a good three quarters of the coins from the bag.

He wasn't willing to spend the time to count it, but he was guessing there were probably five hundred or more silver coins, another hundred in gold, and fifteen or twenty of the unknown metal.

After the coins were shoveled back into the bag and dropped into Marc's inventory, Jeff poured out the pouch. In it were gems and three pieces of art that seemed to be carved into bone or ivory.

“Hey, That's scrimshaw,” Felicia said, picking up one of the bones and examining it.

Jeff called for another light from Ella and started holding up the gems next to it, examining them. It took a few minutes before he put the last one down.

“None of those, there are no runes on them.”

Felicia quickly set down one of the scrimshaw pieces.

“Ew, that one's nasty.”

Marc's eyebrow raised as he reached down for the scrimshaw she'd just dropped.

“The others are nice normal scenes, but that one? Yeah, I'm surprised the guy didn't wear it on a necklace or something to keep it closer,” she said.

Marc looked down at the scrimshaw. It wasn't quite the same color as the other two pieces, but the pictures were easily visible. As he rotated the piece to see all of the carvings, he understood Felicia's aversion to it.

The first scene he looked at was a town in flames, as he looked closer he could see the undead that were attacking it come more clearly into focus.

He shivered a bit then rotated the piece.

The next picture was far too familiar for comfort. It showed some sort of zombie, its jaw unhinged like that of a snake and its throat stretched out so it could fit the human it was swallowing whole. The shivers struck him again as he rotated it to look at the last picture on the piece.

The last picture was, if anything, even worse. At first glance it looked like a scene from a butcher shop, meat cuts hanging from hooks and more meat on the cutting table. Then Marc's eyes started picking out the patterns which told him just what the meat in question was. When he realized that it was either human or humanoid, the shivers hit for a third time.

His closed his fingers around the scrimshaw, concealing the pictures on it. Only then did he realize that the carvings felt much more rough than he'd expect.

He squatted and retrieved another piece of scrimshaw with his other hand. When he closed his hand around that one, the carved pictures felt significantly smoother.

“I'd guess that this thing is it,” he said, raising the hand wrapped around the obscene scrimshaw. “But I can't see the symbols I'd expected. It gives me the shivers from the content though and the carving is rough, not smooth like the others.”

“A tactile clue? Give it here,” Jeff said.

Marc gladly handed over the scrimshaw piece and Jeff quickly looked at, his eyes going wide as he saw the scene depicted. He quickly turned it to see the others and his face grew pale.

“Yeah, I may be a treasure hound, but even if that thing isn't his phylactery I think it needs to get destroyed,” he said.

Then he ran his finger tips over the carving, shaking his hand after he was done, as though he'd gotten something on it just from the contact.

“You're right, it is rougher,” Jeff said. “If I had a magnifying glass I could be sure, but I don't. I think that the reason we aren't seeing the symbols is because they're so small that they aren't visible to the naked eye.

They carved them all into the scrimshaw so they'd form these pictures. I bet if we had a way to check, we'd see that there are patterns formed by the symbols, but they're concealed in the pictures.”

“That would mean whoever did it had an incredible level of skill,” Marc said.

Jeff grinned.

“You mean kind of like the level of skill some stupid geek of a lich might get? The kind of geeky lich that would complain that he wasn't done with his dungeon or claim that it wasn't fair that we were beating it?”

Marc had to hold back a laugh.

“Yes, that kind of skill level, I guess.”

Jeff kicked the pile of bones again.

“Determined to make us work for it, too,” he said.

“That he is. Rob, can you smash this thing to smithereens for us?” Marc asked.

If the content weren't so damned hideous I'd ask him to just split it in half so I could get magnification and study the symbols, but I don't want that thing in my room, the pictures alone would give me nightmares, he thought.

Rob pulled out his ax, then examined the head of it.

“Probably, see this flat surface at the top, between the blades? That's what I was using to smash the stone spikes. It might work for this too.”

Jeff tossed the scrimshaw piece onto the floor and Rob walked over to it.

He took his ax in both hands, blade towards the floor, then slammed the flat surface he'd pointed out down onto the scrimshaw.

Absolutely nothing happened, except for the ax bouncing back up a bit.

“Oh, for Pete's sake,” Marc said. “Phylacteries really are that well protected?”

Felicia smiled.

“Maybe I can help here. Rob, hold still for a second,” she said.

A moment later the ax began glowing again.

“I get it,” Marc said. “Life magic to counteract the death magic or whatever the lich used?”

She nodded.

“Pretty much. I figure the phylactery has to be undead associated, so the Fortify Life spell should work the same way as it did on the actual undead themselves. The phylactery is supposed to be part of the lich, right?”

“Yeah, its soul,” Jeff said.

“So, there you go,” she said.

“Back off,” Rob said. “If that story is true, then some of the others about these things blowing up might be, too.”

No-one was willing to question him about that, but Marc had regenerated enough mana to give Rob an Anti-Magic Shield, which he cast on Rob before backing away.

Once everyone was at a safe distance, Rob slammed his ax head down on the scrimshaw again. This time, the golden-white light that surrounded his ax flooded down into the scrimshaw, leaving the ax entirely. The scrimshaw piece reacted by flooding itself with a black aura, and for a few moments the two fought, advancing and retreating over the carving.

Meanwhile Rob had seen what was happening and started backing up himself, which was good because after a few moments the golden-white light overwhelmed the blackness. There was a pregnant pause where nothing happened, and then the scrimshaw exploded, shards of it flying everywhere.

Marc's shield was in his hand almost without thinking as he hunkered down behind it, listening to the little fragments rattle off the shield and fall to the floor.

“Ow,” Jeff said, obviously not having gotten out of the way of the shrapnel.

Marc looked over and realized that the Thief probably could've gotten away, but he'd interposed his body between Ella and the shrapnel. The teasing that Marc had been about to give Jeff quickly disappeared and he was glad he hadn't spoken without looking. Then he blushed when he realized that he'd done similar, placing himself between Felicia and the shrapnel as he pulled his shield out.

He waited for a moment, to see if she'd be furious with him again for placing himself between her and danger, but all she did was go over and heal Jeff, then head for Rob.

Rob's shield had been out and he'd had the Anti-Magic shield, which seemed to have protected him from more of the shrapnel than Marc would've thought.

“Felicia? Can you check Jeff more closely after you're done with Rob? It looks like the shrapnel was magic somehow and I want to make sure there weren't any other effects than the wounds,” Marc said.

As soon as she was done with Rob, she went back to Jeff and examined some of the areas he'd been hit by the shrapnel.

“Ooh, good call Marc. It looks like that same black stuff it sent after you,” Felicia said.

She cast one more time and Jeff himself began glowing with the golden-white light.

“The same spell for people and weapons?” Marc asked.

“Fortify Life attacks things that would damage, destroy, or twist life.

Cast on a weapon it can affect whatever you hit that has those properties, cast on a person it reinforces their body in fighting against those types of things. I'm paraphrasing the spell description, but that's close enough.”

“Sounds handy,” Marc replied.

“Pricey though. Fifty mana a cast.”

Marc was about to mention that Anti-Magic Shield cost a hundred, but he caught himself in time.

Because her primary stat is Willpower, not Intelligence, so she won't have nearly as much mana as I do, although she'll regenerate it a lot faster, he thought. Don't say a word, just keep your foot out of your mouth.

Jeff whimpered for a moment before straightening again.

“Ouch,” he said. “That hurt worse than the shrapnel did.”

Felicia checked him over again.

“Looks good now, that stuff must be fast acting though, whatever it was.”

Jeff took several steps over to the bones of the lich and gave them a kick again.

“Hah! That did it. Make sure you loot it, everyone. System must've thought it was tough since I got a System token again.”

Marc went over and did his own looting, receiving an uncommon System token, a scroll, a handful of coins, and a gem. Once he was done with that, he moved over to the build pedestal. Remembering how it looked like the man in the Notoriety section had simply reached down as though he were accessing the build pedestal he did the same.

You have discovered an unclaimed dungeon. Do you wish to: Claim Dungeon

Destroy Dungeon

Marc focused on the claim dungeon text, not even aware that it had been an option. A help screen popped up when he did so.

You may claim this dungeon. You will receive the Dungeon Master title.

The Dungeon Master is not allowed to leave the dungeon and will be responsible for its advancement. The Dungeon Master will be able to be attacked by any dungeon delvers that make it through the dungeon.

Marc shuddered for a moment, any thoughts of claiming the dungeon fleeing quickly. He focused on the destroy dungeon option instead and received another screen.

You may destroy this dungeon. You will receive the Dungeon Core. Any Safe Zone in which this core is installed will be given access to special items and creatures from this dungeon. If you choose to start a new dungeon with this core, you will receive access to said items and creatures once the expansion level of the new dungeon surpasses that of the old one.

“Alright, everyone done looting?” Marc asked. “I don't know if the dungeon's going to have some sort of problem after I remove the core.”

“We're good,” Jeff said, after looking around.

Marc chose the destroy dungeon selection and a moment later found himself holding a glowing orange-red core.

“Let's get out of here since I've got no clue what's going to happen now,”

Marc said, heading towards the door at a fast pace.

* * *

The trip back out of dungeon was quick, the only slowdowns when they had to shut one door to open the other and when they had to close a door to raise the car. When they made it back out of the diner, Marc spat.

“I'd be just as happy to never have to deal with something like that again,” he said.

“What, no more dungeons?” Jeff asked.

“Not at all, I was talking about diners that leave the taste of rotten flesh in my mouth,” Marc said, grinning.

“I think I just might owe you for that one,” Jeff said, after a moment.

Marc just kept grinning. Then, no longer worried about the dungeon potentially falling in on his head, he pulled out the dungeon core and stared at it for a moment.

Dungeon Core – Stop and Gas Dungeon (undead/arachnid) Item grade: common

Item quality: good

It's too bad I haven't been able to figure out how it determines how many expansion slots a core supplies, or if it will add something special like the last one did, Marc thought. It looks like it's between the two we already have though, so maybe four slots plus the special stuff it mentioned in the destroy dungeon help? I'll find out soon enough, I'm guessing.

Marc's notification light had started flashing as soon as he'd pulled the core, but he'd really wanted to get out of the dungeon before pausing to check it, so now he pulled up the notification.

System Message:

For clearing a dungeon, then destroying it and claiming the core you have earned the title: Dungeon Destroyer. Title bonuses are cumulative unless otherwise indicated.

Dungeon Destroyer: Word of your exploits is spreading, especially among the dungeon dwellers. When in a dungeon you will gain +10% to attack and defense.

Also, dungeon dwellers will be automatically hostile towards you regardless of their normal reactions. A Dungeon Master defending their
dungeon against you will gain +10% to their attack rating.

You have gained Renown: +5, for acquisition of a third title.

+10,000 experience for destroying a dungeon.

“Shit!” Marc said.

A moment later Jeff chimed in with his own reaction.

“Hell, yeah! That's what I'm talking about.”

I'd lay odds it's the same thing we're reacting to, Marc thought. Funny how our reactions are so different.

“Title?” Marc asked.

“Yup, Dungeon Destroyer,” Jeff replied.

“Did we all get that one?” Marc asked.

He received nods from the others also.

“Did everyone get Renown from it? I got some for acquisition of a third title,” Marc said.

“Second title here,” Jeff replied, “plus three Renown for it.”

Felicia and Rob nodded along, but Ella didn't.

“No Renown, Ella?” Marc asked.

She shook her head.

“I didn't have any titles yet, until now, so I didn't get any Renown.”

Marc nodded, having forgotten that she hadn't been with the group when they got their first title.

“Well, let's get out of this place,” he said.

Then he realized that his notification light was still flashing. He'd thought he'd cleared it, but pulled it up again.

You have gained a level (9->10)

You have two ability points to distribute.

Your Intelligence has increased (17->18) Your Constitution has increased (13->14)

You have one new skill point to distribute.

He quickly added his points. He thought his Aptitude was still okay for the moment, so this time he put one each in Strength and Charisma. He still had skill points to use from before, so he wasn't sure where he wanted this one. The inner argument between loading up on as many spells as he could and picking up some more melee skills was one he still hadn't managed to settle, so he let that be for the moment.

“Ding?” he said.

“A-ling,” Jeff said, eyes vacant.

“I leveled too,” Rob said.

Felicia and Ella just nodded, their eyes as vacant as Jeff's. Marc kept an eye out for the moment since it looked like everyone had leveled at the same time and wanted to take care of it before they headed back.

A minute later everyone was focusing again.

“Okay, should we just head back or do we want to get within shouting distance of that other Safe Zone we saw and let them know where ours is?”

Marc asked.

“I think we probably ought to, don't you? Why wouldn't you?” Felicia asked.

“Well, it looks like a System token style Safe zone,” Marc said.

“So?”

“It also looks like it's expanded quite a bit. That means they managed to get a lot of System tokens. It's not so easy to get any of the tokens after the class one, so how did they do it?” Marc asked.

“Are you thinking bad thoughts about people before you even meet them again, Marc?” Jeff asked.

Marc blushed.

“Yes, sort of.”

“Good for you. It isn't paranoia when they are out to get you,” Jeff said, only to receive an elbow in his ribs from Ella for his trouble.

“Well, we can get close enough to shout, at least,” Felicia said. “If they've still got the guards on the walls, then we can at least ask, right? No problem.”

“Unless they've managed to Systemize some firearms,” Rob said. “Then it might be a problem.”

“We can't automatically assume that they're bad guys just because the holder got a bunch of System tokens. Maybe people can donate them to the Safe Zone or something and they did that so they'd have more room and be safer, right?” she said.

“Okay, show of hands. Should we try to open communications with them?” Marc asked.

He left his own hand down for the moment, but when Rob's, Felicia's, and Ella's hands went up, Marc raised his also.

“Okay then, Jeff, you'll be our ace in the hole?”

“How am I supposed to do that while I'm on my bike?” Jeff asked.

“Not with Stealth this time. Just stay back even farther out of their range and if they're hostile you help us get out of the danger zone.”

Marc started humming and Jeff rolled his eyes.

“Shouldn't you maybe take this one seriously? Not go off on a musical tangent?” he asked.

“Sorry, I hadn't thought about that song for a while. I don't actually think that they'll outright attack us though. I think we'd have to be more wary if we were going inside their Safe Zone, but I've got no plan to do that,” Marc said. “Anyway, let's get riding.”

They all mounted their bikes and started peddling.

* * *

The other Safe Zone came in sight less than an hour later since they were making slightly better time than they had on their way to the dungeon. They stopped and got off of their bikes.

“Felicia and I will walk in to where we can actually yell and be heard,”

Marc said.

“I still think you ought to stay out here with your rifle,” Jeff said. “You're the only one with that kind of range.”

“True, but if it comes to that we'll have to do something about this Safe Zone anyhow and you know I'd be in on that fight,” Marc replied. “I don't want to have to fight with other humans, but if they're dangerous to us then I will.”

“Still.”

“Jeff, I'll still have my rifle with me in there and Felicia can keep me healed if there's a problem. Plus, if they send out people to try to grab us, her shotgun will be another nice deterrent.”

“Fine, I'll just sit back here and watch you get your ass blown off,” Jeff said.

I can't believe that he was pushing me to let him make first contact with another Safe Zone, Marc thought. That would be just asking for trouble.

Even if he has the Charisma for it, I just don't think it would be a very good idea.

Marc and Felicia headed in on foot, keeping an eye on the guards on the walls. It was obvious that the guards were keeping an eye on them as well.

Once Marc was close enough that he thought they could hear him yell, he did.

“Hail the Safe Zone.”

He got a wave back.

“You guys doing okay?” he yelled again.

“Yeah, why? You need a place to go?”

“You're accepting people in?”

“Boss says anyone coming in with a class has to donate their System token to the Safe Zone to help it expand. Non-classed needs to do manual labor. If you're okay with that, approach the gate.”

So that's how he expanded. I don't like that manual labor bit, although I suppose it isn't that far from what we do, Marc thought.

“Nope, all good,” he hollered back. “We've got our own Safe Zones. If you guys need anything and can trade for it, send someone into town. You can't miss the Safe Zone there, the base of it used to be the high school, but it stretches pretty far out now. You can even just stop at the outpost Safe Zone just outside of town and we can deal with you from there if you prefer.”

Now Marc had the guard's attention.

“Wait, you've got what? More than one Safe Zone? How'd you do that, kill the person that made it?”

“No, we've got like two hundred and fifty people in our main Safe Zone.

One of them established an outpost for us when there was something we wanted to claim nearby.”

“Seriously? We've only got seventeen and the boss said we were doing great to get that many.”

Marc shrugged, although he wasn't sure if they could see him from this distance.

“I just wanted to make contact and let you know we were there. If you need anything, let us know. I'll see if we can help.”

“You will? You can speak for your boss?” the guard yelled.

“I am the Safe Zone holder there so I'm just speaking for myself.”

“Bullshit! The boss here stays in the Safe Zone, you know, where it's safe? Why would you go out of yours if you had one.”

“Because if we don't get levels the spawns are going to wipe us out. I can't ask my people to fight without putting myself at risk, right? Besides,
my party is the highest level group in our Safe Zone and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“So, you're out here away from your Safe Zone? Boss says that he gets his levels running this one.”

“That could be true, there are classes out there that advance like that, but I've got a combat class.”

“So, your Safe Zone is just laying there, neglected?”

“Nope, got someone running it for me.”

The man laughed, cruelly, and gave Marc a better idea of his character.

“Sounds like you won't have a Safe Zone for long, they will instead.”

“That's not how it works and I don't think I have to worry about that anyhow.”

“And why not?”

“One, because she isn't authorized on the build pedestal, and two, because she's my mom.”

The man had no reply to that, so Marc yelled one more time as he and Felicia started backing up.

“Like I said, if you need anything, just send someone and I'll see what I can do.”

He and Felicia turned and started trotting back towards the bikes.

“Looks like we won't want to have much to do with them,” Marc said.

“Unless it's taking in their refugees when they get overrun.”

“What?” Rob asked, “Why would they get overrun?”

“It doesn't sound like they're doing anything to try to level up. The spawns are though, so once they attack that place, it's liable to be all over for them. If they do send someone to trade they'll hopefully be more reasonable than that guy was. He acted like he was still a teenage boy, trying to do the one-upmanship thing.”

“He might've been one,” Felicia said reasonably, “we didn't really get a good look at him.”

“His voice sounded older to me,” Marc said. “But there are a lot of possible reasons for that. Even so, if they do send someone, I hope it isn't that guy.”

“So, are we getting on our way then,” Jeff asked.

Marc nodded.

“Let's get going. We should be able to make it back home before it gets too dark, probably not before dusk though.”

They rode hard and made it back about the same time dusk was settling in. Once inside Any Port, Marc headed for the Town Hall first.

“Hey mom, made any progress on the work lists?” he asked.

“I've got a list of people not pulling their weight and a list of jobs that still need to be filled. It'll be a mix and match deal, but I'll get them straightened out. I had some spare time though and I found something you might like to know about,” Michelle said.

“What's that?”

“Come over here and look at what I discovered about the Safe Zone tech updates.”

Marc came around the desk and started reading. When he got about halfway down, he stopped.

“Does that say railroads?”

She nodded.

“Keep going.”

A minute later he paused again.

“And zeppelins?”

“Yup, there's lots more too. More things to build, things that you've got here that will have improved versions, and there are more materials you need to get to build them. Seems a lot like that steampunk style stuff you
used to like. Gaseous materials since there's lots of steam driven stuff, biological materials which sounds like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to me, but they also drop down into specific metals in the industrial tech level and you have to go through the industrial tech update to get to the electronic tech update. That one includes computers and the like, so I thought you might be interested.”

I wonder if I could get a computer program to model the Mana Manipulation stuff I've learned. Would that help me progress it faster? Marc wondered. Hell, I suppose I could try it with my pad, see if Reggie could help me program that? Then I wouldn't have to wait.

“Marc?” his mom said.

“Sorry mom, lost in the implications for a moment. What's it take for the tech level updates?”

“Lots of materials and lots of money. Because of that I've been focusing on trying to get people the appropriate crafting skills. You said that would generate income, right?”

“Yeah mom, it would, but I doubt it would be enough to cover this.

There are other ways to go about that though. I'll need to talk to my group about it first.”

“Good. I just thought you might like to see what I'd found.”

“You were right. Rail travel and air travel? One for in the Safe Zone and Captured areas and the other for exploring farther out from the Safe Zone?

Sounds like a win to me.”

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Marc headed back out of the Town Hall none of his group was anywhere to be seen. He was hungry and hoped that they were still serving dinner in the cafeteria.

Not like I couldn't just get something from the shop, but why waste the money, especially when I just found out how much we're going to need to upgrade the tech level, he thought. A thousand gold, plus five thousand metal, to get the upgrade. Plus the Safe Zone needs twenty-five hundred metal for its next expansion too. Sounds like that's going to be the bottleneck again. I wonder if there's somewhere we can go to get lots of metal quickly?

He distinctly remembered Jeff talking about working on his car at some point, and getting parts from a junkyard. Marc had never been to it, but he thought that the junkyard had been in the area.

So finding and talking to Jeff is the next thing. He'll know where it is and hopefully it's close enough that we can take a recycling crew to go loot it.

When he walked into the cafeteria, he saw that he wasn't the only one that had been hungry after the trip. All of the group except for Ella were in there. He grabbed some food and headed over to join them.

“Ella too tired out?” Marc asked.

Jeff snorted.

“Not hardly. She took that spider egg sac out to find it a place. Said she'd mark the door of the place she found to hatch them in so the recyclers could avoid it later on when they got to the captured area.”

“Alone?” Marc asked.

“Hell yeah, she didn't even ask me, she knows my opinion on bugs.”

“Technically spiders are arachnids, not bugs,” Felicia said.

“I am aware of that,” Jeff replied, “and they're in such good company as scorpions with that classification. So nope, they're still bugs, even if they are fancy bugs with extra legs.”

“I get that, Jeff, but she went out on her own?”

“Hell, that place is part of the Safe Zone, no more spawns even if you can't build there, right?” Jeff said.

“Yes, but—”

“And you already had groups clearing it, right? I'm sure of that since we were some of the ones doing it,” Jeff continued right over Marc's effort to interject a comment.

“Yes, but—”

“Please don't tell me that you think Ella is incapable of defending herself against anything that managed to hide from our groups,” Jeff said, continuing to bulldoze Marc's attempts at speech. “Because if that's the case I'll have to let her know just what you think and you'll have hell to pay for once instead of me.”

Marc took a deep breath. As far as he knew Ella had just hit either level eight or nine on the dungeon run. He knew she had a decent, if slightly limited, skill and spell set. Even with all of that he still had misgivings, but he did his best to force them down.

“Okay, if you think she'll be fine then I won't say anything,” Marc said, finally allowed to finish a sentence.

“Trust me,” Jeff replied. “If I didn't think she could take care of herself I would've put off eating and shadowed her in Stealth, but she'll be fine. Hell, she's in shouting distance of some sections of the wall even, with the way it loops around that area.”

Which doesn't mean there'd be a human in range to hear her and the Phantom Guards wouldn't react to that, Marc thought, but I won't say a word. Because he's right. She is capable and the area is cleared, more than rough cleared since we think we got everything.

“Besides, there have been others down in that area. They were doing some scavenging in the buildings after they stopped deteriorating,” Jeff said. “So there may even be other people down there with her.”

What's up with that? Marc thought. Jeff isn't usually this verbose. Wait, is he trying to convince himself about it also?

“Well, you know Jeff, if you're all that worried, you could just finish eating dinner and go shadow her in Stealth. She shouldn't be that hard to find. If you're good enough, she'd never even realize that you'd been there,”

Marc said, locking his gaze with Jeff.

Jeff's eyes flickered a bit before locking onto Marc's as though he were trying to avoid letting Marc know he'd been right.

A moment later Jeff hit a new speed in eating as he shoveled down the rest of the food on his plate, before standing and heading out of the cafeteria.

“Busted,” Rob said, making sure to be loud enough that Jeff would hear him.

Jeff simply flipped Rob off on his way out of the cafeteria.

“Wow, Marc, you really have been putting points in Charisma, haven't you?” Felicia said. “I don't think you would've read him that well before.”

Marc shrugged.

“I have, but it's Jeff. I'd like to think I've known him long enough that I would've figured it out. Might've taken longer though since I have been doing the Charisma thing. It's up to a nine now, with the modifiers from Landlord.”

“No wonder you saw through his bullshit so soon,” Rob said.

“He was just talking too much. Jeff normally doesn't talk that much unless he's insulting someone and he was doing practically the opposite.

Now we just have to hope she doesn't spot him, because he'll be in the doghouse if she does and we don't have to want to deal with the fallout from that,” Marc said.

“Us?” Rob asked.

“Yeah, us. How's Jeff act when he's upset? He takes it out on everyone around him, right? And who's around him the most lately?”

“Definitely an obvious effect from the Charisma,” Felicia said. “Looks like a higher Charisma makes it significantly easier to navigate social intricacies.”

“What?” Marc said.

“Marc, a year ago, would you have been able to analyze that situation so easily and so quickly? Not just his worry, but the potential fallout from it?”

she asked.

Marc thought for a moment.

“Honestly, no. I just thought I was growing up and that's what adulting was all about.”

“Yeah, no,” Felicia said. “Otherwise the divorce rate wouldn't be around fifty percent. I suppose wouldn't have been would be more appropriate now.

I can't imagine many families having both parents still surviving.”

Marc felt a warm glow when he realized that both of his parents were alive still, and helping him rebuild.

“Yes, Marc. You're special that way, too,” Felicia said. “Well, I suppose it really means that your parents are special. You probably just inherited it from them.”

She winked to take the sting out of the dig.

“I'm sorry we never looked for your parents, Felicia,” Marc said. “I wouldn't even know where to start though.”

“They lived hours away by car even, Marc, there's no way we could have,” she said. “It's okay though, it hurts a little, but we were never really all that close.”

Rob looked a little lost. His parents had died in a car crash the summer after he'd graduated high school. He'd inherited the house and everything else. It had taken some work and some help from his friends, but he'd built an efficiency apartment in the basement and rented the rest of the house out
to a family, reserving the apartment for himself to use during the summer and on breaks from college.

“Sorry, Rob,” Marc said, aware that he and Felicia discussing their parents might sting a bit.

Rob shook his head.

“No, it's fine. This is just one of those times where I'm barely keeping up with the conversation.”

“What didn't you get?” Felicia asked.

“Well, Marc's always known Jeff pretty well, so why would his Charisma change things now?”

“It isn't as much that he understood what Jeff wasn't saying as how quickly he figured what Jeff really meant. He was worried for Ella, but didn't want to admit it and was trying to convince himself she was fine.”

“I kinda got that, but the rest?”

“Ah, yeah, Marc realizing how Ella would react and the result from that is where his increase in Charisma really showed itself. He never would've guessed the repercussions of Jeff getting caught without that extra Charisma, or how that would affect us.”

“Oh, so it helped him read Ella more than Jeff?”

Felicia nodded.

“You know Marc was never good with women, right? But he read the potential problem here almost immediately. I attribute that to him increasing his Charisma. We'd talked before, wondering how Charisma would affect things in the System, and I think we know now. It's a measure of how easy it is to read social situations.”

“And cut through social bullshit?” Rob said.

Felicia laughed.

“Yeah, Rob, and cut through social bullshit. Not that I would've phrased it that way.”

Rob grinned, happy with himself for managing to keep up with his friends.

* * *

“So, you chased Jeff off before you could ask him?” Felicia asked.

They'd headed for Marc's room after they'd eaten, to relax and maybe watch a movie. Beggar had let himself in as soon as it was full dark and was curled up on his chair.

“Yeah, the industrial upgrade looks pretty sweet. I mean, we can build railroads and zeppelins for transportation, how cool is that? From what I read, tracks laid down for the railroad in the Safe Zone or Captured areas can't be damaged by the spawns, although they can still try to catch the train when it passes. Just think of it, spawn bandits, riding who knows what for mounts, trying to catch the train.”

Marc chuckled at the mental imagery and a moment later Felicia joined him.

“That's great, really,” Marc continued. “Especially if we expand with other Safe Zones. Having a quick connection between them will be awesome, but I'm really excited about the zeppelins. We can go out scouting with those and make good time trying to find other survivors and Safe Zones.”

“Um, what about flying spawns?” Felicia asked.

“I don't think the stirges would bother a zeppelin.”

“I'm not worried about them either, but what if there are things like harpies or dragons?” Felicia said.

“You know, you're right. I didn't think of that. We haven't seen anything like that yet though. So we'll need to be careful, I guess? Still, it increases our mobility and range tremendously. Not to mention improvements in all sorts of other things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, we already have a forge, so we'll be able to build a factory that can make small items. Find something useful and export it to build up the Safe Zone's treasury so we don't have to keep funding it ourselves. We've got options on a few buildings from the Crafting Hall. So if we build a weavers then we can build a powered loom with industrial tech. That would cut down on the needed skill level of a weaver, but we'd still have the people with the skill to make higher quality items. Stuff like that.”

“So comfort level, exports, and transportation?”

“That and something else too. The dungeon core, when I retrieved it, said something about access to special items and creatures from the dungeon. I have a sneaking suspicion that those piles of bones and meat we saw in the empty rooms are examples of the biological material that unlocks at industrial. We'd be able to build skeletons, zombies, and spiders with it. I think we'd avoid the undead unless we needed troops to defend against a major attack, but the spiders might be useful if we can harvest spider silk and I don't even know what special items it will allow us to build.”

Felicia shuddered for a moment.

“I'm glad you said undead only in case of emergency. I didn't get any more of that nausea after the ability manifested, but when I think of undead I get a twinge of that in my memory.”

“I just don't think the rest of the residents would handle it well, especially the ones that didn't want a combat class. So that would be a last resort type of thing, but if industrial unlocks biological options, I have to wonder what those would be. I didn't see any specifics mentioned in what my mom found about the upgrade.”

“Well, enough about work for now. Let's watch a movie.”

“Sure, we can do that. I just wish Ella had been there and Jeff stuck around since we still need to split up the loot. Oh yeah, I almost forgot,”

Marc said.

He pulled out the bag they'd found in the pedestal of the dungeon and then rummaged inside of it for one of the coins of an unknown metal. It was surprisingly light when he found one.

“Any clue what these are?” he said.

“Uh, coins?” Felicia said.

She tried to keep a straight face but couldn't, breaking into gentle laughter at the indignant look Marc gave her.

“I don't know, obviously currency of some sort, but not one I'm familiar with,” she said.

“I wish I knew how to find out.”

“Did you try to Analyze it?”

“I'm an idiot,” Marc said. “I've never tried Analyzing any of the currency. It'd be a good thing to practice on.”

He held up the unknown coin and stared at it, focused on learning about it.

Mithril coin – currency

Value: 100 Gold coins.

“Holy shit,” Marc muttered softly, handing the coin to Felicia.

“It's the next level over gold, with the same conversion rates.”

Her eyes widened.

“This is a hundred gold right here?”

He nodded.

“How many did we find?”

He shook his head, then dumped the bag out and started sorting.

“It looks like we got seventeen of those,” he said, staring at the stack.

He'd shoveled everything else back into the bag, now he stared at the mithril coins.

Help mithril, he thought.

Mithril is a metal that is as light as aluminum, but stronger than steel. It is used for both coinage and crafting. Mithril must be handcrafted since all attempts at automating the crafting of mithril have resulted in extremely excessive wear and tear on the machines attempting to automate the process. It is rarely, if ever, used in pure form. It is most commonly used as part of an alloy.

“Wow, someone else must've written that help file. It's not like the System at all. Very useful, even if it doesn't spell out everything,” Marc said.

Felicia's eyes blanked for a moment as she figured out what he was talking about and read it herself.

“Yup, definitely not the same author as the others,” she agreed. “Now can we stop talking about work? I mean, discovering that we're filthy rich is nice and all, but I'm trying to relax here.”

“Filthy rich?” Marc said, starting to hunt through his pad for the video section. “I don't think so, it's going to take a thousand gold to get to the industrial tech level alone. Electronic age is after that and I'm sure it'll be even more.”

“You do realize that one of those mithril coins is worth ten thousand meals, right?” she said.

“Yeah, so food for about nine years plus a month and a little.”

“We each have three if we split it normally, so that's almost thirty years worth of meals, at shop prices.”

“Okay, so we're well off, but I'll be putting mine towards the tech advancement.”

Felicia shook her head.

“Go ahead, it's your turn to pick a movie,” she said.

* * *

In the morning Marc stayed in the cafeteria after breakfast. He'd been there when they opened and eaten, then just waited, nursing several cups of coffee. The first person he wanted to see was in about a half hour after Marc had finished his food.

“Marc, there you are. You wanted this?” Bill said, coming over and proffering a sheaf of paper.

Marc took it and looked. It was a map, folded up and laminated.

“Yeah Bill, I did. Thanks a lot. This is going to help us actually plan a few things before we do them.”

“Glad I could help. Your rifle okay?”

Marc grinned.

“Excellent, just as good as it ever was. So thanks again for that.”

“You're welcome. I gotta get some food and get to work. I hear the boss of this place gets kind of grouchy if you don't,” Bill said.

“Hey, I'm not that bad,” Marc said.

“Who's talking about you? I'm talking about your mom, and with your dad and his men to back her up? Yeah, we don't want her grouchy.”

There's a story there. I wonder if I should ask mom or dad about it. Bill looks like he's mostly kidding though, so I'll probably just let that be, Marc thought.

The other person he wanted to see wasn't in until just before the cafeteria closed for breakfast. After Jeff had his food, Marc waved him and Ella over to his table.

“Jeff, you used to get junkyard parts for your car, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Was the junkyard in town? I never saw it, so I don't know.”

“Sure, it's up near the mine, maybe ten or fifteen blocks south of it, so between us here and the mine anyhow.”

“Can you show me where?”

“You want to head out today? I wouldn't have slept in if I'd known.”

“No,” Marc said, spreading out the map. “Show me on here.”

“Oh, sure I can do that.”

Jeff pulled the map over, then plopped down his finger.

“It's right here, on this lot.”

“Are you sure? It doesn't show anything but residential area there?”

Jeff raised his eyebrows.

“And you think that matters to the redneck who lived here? He had a couple of hundred junkers on the lot there last time I checked. No-one cared since he was the only one on that little dead-end street, so he just kept adding more and more, especially when people started going there to buy parts from him.”

“Ahh,” Marc said. “One of those.”

Jeff laughed.

“If you'd said that in a different tone of voice, I might've had to take offense. As it is, I agree. It's another one of those people trying to make it however they could before the shit hit the fan. I wonder if he survived. I haven't seen him around here, but he was pretty handy with a welder so if that lasted at all after the System he might've have some sort of fort set up for himself.”

“And you didn't think to mention this sooner? We could've checked for him when we went up to the mine,” Marc said.

“I wasn't thinking of the guy at the time, okay? We'll see when we get there.”

“I don't know when it'll be. I have to sit down with my dad and talk through my plans.”

“His legionaries?” Jeff asked.

Marc nodded.

“That and just his advice, too.”

“Don't worry about it, if anyone was gonna still be living at home and lasted this long, it'd be Earl. You know why he started the junkyard?”

Marc shook his head so Jeff continued speaking.

“He calls himself a redneck engineer. He wanted lots of metal and parts to play with so he started letting people drop off their wrecks and junkers in the lot behind the house that he owned.”

“To make what?” Marc asked.

“Yes,” Jeff answered. “Whatever caught his fancy. He used to be a real engineer with one of those big companies. Tripped over something fishy going on and reported it. When the dust cleared he found himself fired and blacklisted, so he retired early and lived off of some investments.”

“Wait, and you call him a redneck?”

“What, you thought a redneck couldn't get a degree? It's a state of mind, Marc. There's a lot of people who might call me one too, in the right circumstances. Earl grew up a redneck, made it out, then returned to his roots after he got fired.”

“I need to meet this guy,” Marc said. “He doesn't sound like a redneck to me.”

Jeff laughed.

“You're prejudiced, Marc. You find out the guy got an engineering degree and immediately assume he can't be a redneck?”

“Uhhhh,” Marc said, sheepishly. “Well, yeah, I guess so.”

“But when you just knew he had a junkyard that wasn't official, you were fine with calling him one?”

“I already admitted you were right, no need to rub it in,” Marc said.

Jeff just grinned.

“I just wanted to hear you admit that with a witness nearby. You heard him, right Ella?”

She looked up from her food.

“Heard what, stalker? I didn't hear a thing,” she said.

“I said I was sorry, I just did it because I was worried about you,” Jeff said.

Ella looked over at Marc and winked.

“Because you didn't think I could handle myself? What if it were the spiders attacking me right after hatching, would you have jumped in to help me then, or just run away?” Ella asked.

“Hey, how'd this get to be about me?” Jeff said. “I just wanted someone to admit they heard Marc say I was right.”

Ella chewed for a bit, then swallowed.

“Well, I guess I'll have to keep my ears open better then, it is how I caught you, isn't it?”

I don't know if I want to sneak away or burst out laughing, Marc thought. I was right though, she's got him wrapped around her little finger.

Marc stayed where he was, but reclaimed the map.

“So, it's definitely right here?” he asked.

Jeff nodded absently, watching Ella and waiting for her response. Marc had missed whatever he'd said to her, and he decided that he should probably miss the rest of their conversation as well.

“Well, I need to go talk to dad. I'll see you two later,” he said.

“Not if I see you first,” Jeff growled. “This is all your fault.”

“Not going there, Jeff. Later.”

Marc beat a hasty retreat. His first stop was the Town Hall, where he interrupted his mom for a moment.

“Hey mom, I finally figured out that I'm going to need an office down here somewhere myself. I need to have some meetings that probably oughtn't be public.”

She looked up at him and smiled.

“I knew there was some of me in you, not just your dad. I already went ahead and set up the other room down here, the one closer to the build room, as an office for you. You'll need to upgrade the terminal in there if you want the additional functions. You can do it from the build pedestal for a cost of five metal.”

Marc just stared at her. He'd always known that his mom had things together, she'd been able to anticipate his needs for years, but it surprised him that she'd managed it with everything else going on that she wasn't used to dealing with.

“You're amazing mom, I don't know if I ever told you that, but you are.

Thanks.”

“You're welcome, Marc. No, you haven't ever told me that, but it's good to hear that you think that way. Your father and I do try, you know.”

“Yes, I get it mom. I haven't always been the most appreciative. I'll see if I can do something about that. Well, verbally at least. Thank you again.”

Her smile broke as she began to laugh.

“We always knew you appreciated us, you just never said it. Go. Who do you need to meet with?”

“Dad, I've got a plan that I need his input on.”

“He's down at the watchtower this morning.”

“Thanks, mom,” Marc said.

He left the room, then stepped into the one she'd set up as an office for him. The map went into the top drawer and he quickly moved to the build room to update his terminal. When he was upgrading the terminal he saw he could upgrade the office furniture as well. He used that to make a couple more chairs for the room and a small desk, just large enough to hold the map when it was unfolded.

The trip to the watchtower was quick, and he barely noticed the stairs any more.

“Hey dad, I need your input for a plan,” he said, when he saw Sean up top.

“Kind of abrupt, wasn't that?” Sean asked.

“Sorry dad, hi dad, can you help me with a plan? I need your input and your legionaries to complete it.”

“That's better. Tesserarius, you have the watch.”

“Yes, sir. I have the watch, Centurion.”

“Come on Marc, let's talk.”

“I've got an office in the Town Hall now, we'll go there since that's where I have the map.”

“Alright, show me where.”

As they walked, Marc felt the need to ask.

“Is that normally how you deal with your officers?”

“Mostly, why?”

“It just sounded a bit... I don't know, harsh?”

“Military discipline Marc, that and some of them need it. It's what's keeping them sane with everything that's changed. If I keep firm discipline, they have something to anchor on. Us older folks are having more problems with this change than you younger ones.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn't know.”

“And there's no way you could without asking. So I'm glad you did.”

Once they were in the office, Marc spread the map out on the new desk he'd created, weighing it down with a few rocks he'd picked up on the walk.

Then he placed two smaller stones in the locations of the mine and the junkyard.

“Alright dad, your giving me that other Safe Zone introduced me to a System concept I was unfamiliar with. We can Capture territory with surrounding Safe Zones, then spawns can't spawn in it, although they can come into that territory from outside of it. Here's what I want to do and why I'll need your legionaries.”

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sean looked at the map, pondering over his son's request.

“So, you want the mine right next to the Captured area? And the junkyard in it?” he asked.

Marc nodded.

“Is there any reason not to get both properly inside the territory?”

“I don't think the other side of those hills is in range. We're limited to a distance of one half mile per expansion level of the largest Safe Zone. I don't know if they count the original, so either three or three and a half miles is the limit.”

“Yes, Marc, you said that, but you can do that without going outside that range.”

“How?”

Sean picked up a third pebble that Marc had placed on the map, then positioned it on the top of the ridge that the mine was dug into.

“Put the newest Safe Zone right here.”

“That would do it, but where's the nearest water?”

“The Safe Zones always give you at least a well, right? Or you could just use more tokens to give this one water and power also,” Sean said.

Marc shook his head.

I can't believe I got hung up on that. I was thinking we needed to be lower down to be closer to the stream, but he's right. A well would do fine, although I'll probably use an uncommon token, then we have the Safe Zone created, plus two slots I can use for water and power as opposed to expansion.

Marc was thinking that the lesser System tokens counted for one slot, the common ones for two, and so on. If he was correct, an uncommon System
token would create the safe zone plus give it the two slots for running water and power.

“You're right,” Marc said. “I was hung up on the water, forgetting that it supplies that. Plus, I wasn't going to ask you to build in an inaccessible spot like that. I do need to be careful with System token usage, though, I've only got a few of them.”

“You could always offer to reimburse others for theirs. If they haven't used them in the shop yet then they haven't found anything to interest them there. You could make the offer at least and use those if anyone is interested on taking you up on it.”

“See, this is why I wanted your advice. I'm set for this one, but for the next Safe Zone we make, I'll want to keep that in mind,” Marc said.

“Thanks dad, I appreciate it.”

“Are you feeling okay, Marc?” Sean asked.

“Yeah, I know, uncharacteristic of me to say that, right? I said it to mom earlier. I had a discussion with part of the group earlier and realized how lucky I am that both of you survived. Most of the younger people around here lost one, or in most cases both, of their parents from this. I figured I ought to let you know what I really felt because who the hell knows what's going to happen next.”

Sean raised an eyebrow at Marc, who just shrugged. Neither of them had ever been very good about talking about emotions with each other. Sean just dodged the topic and went back to the project at hand.

“So, what's the terrain on this slope? We'll need to get the wagon up there, otherwise I'll have to have the Legionaries hump it all up by hand.

Plus, we're going to need some more wood since we had to leave most of it in the other Safe Zone when we made it permanent.”

“It's mostly scree, dad, although I think there are some areas that have solid stone beneath it. Looked that way at least, I didn't check though.”

“Well, we'll need hammers and chisels also. I'll talk to Rudi about that. If you were unaware, which you may be since I don't think you've been back there, he's ecstatic about the setup you provided him. Something about not
having to shovel coal any more and having apprentices who actually want to learn.”

Marc smiled.

At least some things are working out the way we'd hoped, he thought.

“Good. Would a ramp for the wagon work better? I can borrow one of the recycling teams to cut it out for us. Might take all day, but it ought to be usable by the wagon. Plus, if we can reinforce it, maybe we can keep the ramp and when we need to deliver stuff, or pick it up, from that Safe Zone we can keep using it.”

“Those things can make ramps?” Sean asked.

“They'll eat just about anything and produce usable materials from it.

There are exceptions, they milk you for more money by selling software upgrades that allow you to use it to gather the exceptions into usable formats too, but for dirt and stone? We ought to be good with the base unit.”

“Hmm, I'll have the men gather some of the slash from the trees we cut also. If we use the larger branches correctly we can reinforce the ramp and maybe corduroy it. It'll be bumpy, but probably better than the bare dirt.”

“You could also use some of the blocks of stone it produces to reinforce areas or cobble it. I don't think there would be enough of that for the whole thing, but maybe if there are some areas of the ramp that are worse than others you could use the stone there?”

“Good, good. I'd wondered what the Via Creatur skill would be good for, but it looks like I'll be able to use it here. They based the Centurion class around what Centurions historically had to do, so it's combat, logistics, engineering, and miscellaneous. Limited in each, but let me tell you, it seems to cover everything I've needed so far. I'd wondered about a road building skill until I noticed the condition of the roads deteriorating rapidly.”

Marc blinked.

“You mean the class is actually based on the Centurion's historic duties?”

Sean nodded.

“I figured the System just devoured all the knowledge it needed to create the classes. It had access to everything digital in the world, right?”

“It does appear that way,” Marc said. “You should get another pad from the shop. Then you and mom can watch any movie that was ever put into digital format, or read any book that was available digitally. It looks like it's most of both of those.”

“Really? Your mom did pick up a pad in addition to the help pad you gave us, but I don't know if she's aware of those options. She mainly uses it to link to her administrative terminal when she's back at the room.”

“Mom's bringing her work home again?” Marc asked.

“Still,” Sean said, chuckling. “It keeps her happy though, so I don't normally say anything about it. How much are those pads? If I get one I can have something to do while she's lost in her work.”

“Cheapest is only two silver. They do charge for the movies and books though, but it's fairly cheap. Also, anything you buy in the Safe Zone ends up in the Safe Zone library. You can check there if you don't want to buy anything new. There's lots of books and movies already, maybe not to your taste though.”

“Yours?” Sean asked.

“Mine and Felicia's, Rob's, probably Jeff and Ella's by now, plus anything that was in the high school library previous to the System taking over. I don't know if anyone else has bought any books, movies, or music that would be in there.”

“It sounds like a good start. Having the high school library means there will be a lot of reference books written at a layman level to introduce people to crafting, no?”

Marc's eyes widened.

“I can't believe I didn't realize that,” he said. “Anyhow, can you do this?

Build me something to change into a Safe Zone that will get both the mine and the junkyard?”

Sean nodded.

“It'll take longer due to the location, but we can get it done.”

“Thanks dad. Now I have to see if I can get my group's support to advance the Safe Zone to an industrial tech level. Then we'll be able to connect the different Safe Zones we have with a railroad.”

“Wait, you're going to build railroads?” Sean asked.

Marc barely heard the question though, he was already headed out of the office, trying to think of how to pitch his idea to the rest of the group so they'd be willing to contribute some of the loot from the dungeon towards upgrading the Safe Zone.

* * *

“So, your dad figured out way to get the mine and the junkyard in the Captured area?” Jeff asked.

Marc nodded.

“It'll take an extra day or two since we'll have to put some sort of reliable method of getting up the slope there first though. I'm also not sure if the mine will all be in the Captured area. I don't know where it runs underground.”

“Still, having the entrance in it will be good,” Felicia said.

“I'm just worried that if some of it runs out beyond the captured area it'll give the spawns an easy way to get into the Captured areas.”

“No problem, put the wall they had back up there and have some guards running through the mine itself.”

“We'll run out of people soon,” Marc said. “Dad wants to have patrols stationed at all the outer Safe Zones. He was talking about using legionaries for that, but I'd prefer to find other people for that duty and keep his unit together to use for things like building encampments to create new Safe Zones from.”

Jeff shrugged.

“They don't need to be combat classes though, do they? At least not all of them at each place.”

“No, but we'll need a core of combat classes in each in case there's a real attack on them,” Marc replied.

“We've got two hundred and fifty people, right?” Felicia said. “At least I think those are the numbers you mentioned. Ask for volunteers? Offer higher pay for working in those? There are a lot of ways to do it, I'm sure.”

“There are, I agree with you, I'm sure we can work it out. I was thinking, though, that a good incentive would be to provide rapid transportation back to the main Safe Zone, so that even if they're stationed in an outer Safe Zone, they can quickly get anywhere in our territory.”

“Just how are you going to do that?” Jeff asked, snarkily. “Do you have teleport pads tucked away somewhere?”

“Nope, not nearly that cool. Just the option on a method to develop railroads to connect all of our Safe Zones together. That and zeppelins for more long range exploration.”

“Wait, trains? We can build trains?” Rob asked. “I like trains.”

“Not yet, but my mom researched the tech upgrade to industrial. If we do that upgrade we'll be able to make everything we need to build railroads and zeppelins.”

Jeff had been looking eager, now the look on his face soured.

“Wait, what's the catch? If it were that easy you would've just presented us with a fait accompli.”

“Well, there is a catch, you knew there would be. First is why I asked about the junkyard yesterday. Part of the cost for the upgrade is five thousand units of metal. The other part of the cost is one thousand gold.”

“Well, crap,” Rob said. “It'll be months before we get to it then.”

“Not necessarily,” Marc said, pulling out the bag of coins from the dungeon.

He spilled them out on the table, sorting out the mithril to one side.

“These are worth one hundred gold coins each,” he said, poking a mithril coin.

Jeff grabbed one and held it up.

“There's nothing to it?”

“It's mithril. Lighter than anything but aluminum and as strong as steel,”

Marc said. “So yeah, they don't weigh much, but they're worth boatloads, a hundred gold a piece. There are seventeen of the mithril coins, so that's three each, plus two to spare. I'm willing to put my three towards the tech advancement. So that means we'd need seven more of these coins to pay for the tech advancement.”

Then he shut his mouth and waited.

Felicia reached out and split up the mithril coins, placing three in front of each of them and the remaining two in the middle of the table. Marc immediately pushed his three mithril coins to one side, so they were out of his sight and he couldn't think about the fortune they represented.

“Can we at least agree that Marc should get the odd two mithril coins towards it?” Felicia asked.

She got a nod from Ella and Rob, plus an unenthusiastic “Yeah, sure,”

from Jeff.

She pushed those two coins over to the stack Marc had placed to one side.

“I haven't regretted my last investment in one of Marc's ideas. It's paid for itself many times over already,” she said, placing two of her own coins in the stack.

“I can't promise this will make us any profit,” Marc said.

Felicia just shrugged and left her coins where she'd put them.

“Can I drive a train?” Rob asked.

“On one condition. If there's a skill for it, you have to learn the skill first,” Marc said.

Rob pushed a pair of his own coins into the stack, bringing it up to nine.

Jeff's head was hanging as he played with a single mithril coin.

“Can I pilot a zeppelin?” he asked, finally.

“Same deal, if there's a skill, you learn it first.”

He heaved a sigh and rolled the mithril coin towards the stack where it ran into the others, fell on its side, and took several seconds to settle.

“I don't think you should have to use all your money,” Ella said. “We've all benefited a lot from what you've done with the Safe Zone, so take one of your own coins back.”

Then she placed one of her coins in the stack to bring it up to eleven.

“You guys are great,” Marc said.

Slightly misty eyed, he picked up a mithril coin and put it back in his inventory.

Rob beamed at him and Felicia cracked a grin.

“Oh crap, he's gonna get mushy on us. Let's get out of here,” Jeff said, grabbing Ella's hand.

She stood with him, but nodded at Marc before allowing Jeff to drag her off.

“Alright, let me get these down and deposited in the Safe Zone treasury before we all come to our senses,” Marc said.

* * *

Marc made a quick trip to the Town Hall to drop off the funds for the tech advancement, being sure to tell his mom that those funds were off limits for anything else. When he was leaving, his father caught him as he was stepping off the porch.

“Marc, wait a minute. I'm glad I caught you,” Sean said.

“Yes, dad? What did you need?”

“Well, I told you we'd need more wood, right? Where do you want us to cut it? I know you said there's a wildlife preserve, but where is that?”

“Tell you what, I'll show you. I took your mention that I hadn't visited the forge yet as a subtle hint, was I wrong?”

Sean shrugged.

“Probably a good idea, right? Keep an eye on everything so you know what's going on?”

“Yes, I prefer to just let people work, but I suppose checking in with them from time to time would be a good plan.”

“Good plan, indeed, you can show me where to cut, then check on everything,” Sean said.

Marc was pretty sure that his dad was trying to guide him, maybe a little less subtly this time, but Marc wasn't going to complain, much, and he wouldn't complain to his dad at all. His dad was probably trying his best to teach Marc without being in his face about it and Marc was sure that Felicia would be happy enough to listen to him complain about it later on.

He led his father to the back gate, then passed through. Cutting along the side of the wall, he led his father to the fence that denoted the edge of the preserve.

“The back gate leads right out into the preserve. On the outside of this fence is where you should cut. There are plenty of trees out there, albeit not the largest or straightest, but they're the best you'll find in this area.”

“Okay, good to know.”

“I'm sure I don't need to mention to be careful of the spawns? They can come into the Wildlife Preserve also. They won't attack the game, but anyone else in there is a valid target for them.”

“You know, this System has some weird and seemingly arbitrary rules. I wish I knew why they were the way they were,” Sean said. “I'll keep your advice in mind though when I give out the orders for woodcutting. A cutting team and guards to accompany them it sounds like.”

“That'd probably be a good plan,” Marc said. “Now I'm going to go check on the smithy.”

“I'll come with you, it'll be good to talk to Rudi for a bit. That assumes that we can tear him away from his work, of course.”

Marc led the way back into the Safe Zone and over to the forge. It wasn't too far from the back gates, so it didn't take long. He would've thought it wasn't active since he couldn't smell any smoke, but he heard the banging of hammer on metal well before they reached the building.

As they entered the building, his father took the lead

“Rudi, you in here you old fraud?” Sean called out, loudly.

“Be a minute, need to get to a stopping point on this first.”

Marc edged in, peering around the room. Behind the monstrosity of a forge he found a shorter man, probably his father's age. He was a bit stout, but to either side of him was a younger man, probably early twenties, eagerly watching. Marc couldn't make out the words, but he could see the older man, who he assumed to be Rudi, speaking to the other two.

After another minute of hammering, Rudy took the item he was working on and set it to one side.

“There, that's got to cool now anyway. No quenching yet, so it can just sit there,” he said, looking as though he were talking to himself.

Then he turned towards Sean.

“Ah, so the wayward general is stopping by, is he?” Rudi said.

“I'll have you know, I'm a Centurion, not a general. Wrong era,” Sean said, reaching out a hand.

Rudi took it and grabbed it, the two men shaking in an odd way that had each of them clasping the other's forearm.

“This here, however, is my wayward son, Marc. Drafted his mom to do admin on this place and me to guard it so he could run around and kill things,” Sean said, grinning at Marc. “Fortunately the old adage is still true.

Old age and treachery will win out over youth and vigor. I've managed to surprise him soundly at least once since I got here.”

Marc was amazed. This was a side of his father he'd never seen before.

“So, do you think you'll be able to pull that off again?” Rudi asked, a twinkle in his eye.

“That depends. Have you managed to do your part?”

Rudi nodded.

“I just had to wrangle this System thing into acknowledging my skill.

Once I was familiar with the heating mechanism on this forge that didn't take long. It gave me an appropriate skill level and then I got to work.”

“And...” Sean said.

“And you can go back to my office and pick it up. It's on the desk.”

“What are you two talking about, dad?” Marc asked, finally recovering from the shock of discovering something new about the father he'd always thought to be entirely prim and proper.

“Give me a minute and I'll show you,” Sean said, heading towards a door in the back of the room.

He came back out of the door a minute later, carrying something behind his back.

“Rudi wanted to show his appreciation for you providing him with a high quality forge to work with,” Sean said.

“And your da wanted you to have something to help keep yourself safe.

So I doubled down on a few skills this System offered me and made you something,” Rudi said.

His father pulled out a leather sheath, a very familiar looking one, from behind his back.

“Here, Marc. We wanted to make sure you kept making it back to the Safe Zone you created,” Sean said.

Marc took the sheath from his hand.

How do I tell them I picked up one with minor enchantments. I don't want to turn it down after they went through all the trouble to make it.

“Pull it, lad,” Rudi said, gesturing towards the pommel.

Marc drew the gladius from its sheathe and stared. The steel looked to be high quality, but Marc didn't know how to tell. The balance was nearly perfect.

“Damascus steel,” Rudi said. “Plus a few cantrips on it. People used to tell me that my swords were magic. Now they really are.”

“Wait, what?” Marc said. “Are you telling me you enchanted this sword?”

“I wouldn't say enchanted; the magics aren't that strong really. There's just a bit that will keep it from needing sharpening and another bit helps it hit easier and do more damage when it does. Those are nothing compared to its other property though. That one would border on an enchantment if it weren't so limited,” Rudi said.

“Its other property?” Marc asked, still staring at the sword.

“Aye, nick yourself with the sword. Bleed on the blade, just a drop or two, and you'll see what it is,” Rudi said.

If his eyes had been twinkling before, they were flashing now and he was staring at Marc and the sword with interest.

Marc looked to his father and Sean just nodded. Running his thumb along the blade left him bleeding and Marc pressed his bleeding thumb to the side of the blade, then looked up at Rudi. A subtle thrum ran through his thumb where it was pressed against the blade.

“That should do. Your da said you can Analyze things, right? Analyze your sword now, and I do mean yours,” Rudi said.

Gladius (Eversharp):

Type: weapon (shortsword)

Grade: Uncommon

Quality: Excellent

This gladius was made for the leader of a burgeoning Safe Zone. It has been gifted with the Sharpness and Biting qualities to strike easier and do more damage. It has also been gifted with the Sharp quality, negating the need for normal maintenance.

Eversharp has been blood bound to: Marcus Aurelius Cavanaugh, and cannot be wielded by anyone else.

His notification light started flashing and he absently pulled it up. He almost didn't even notice what it said, still marveling over the gift that his father and Rudi had given him.

Your skill, Analyze (item), has increased in skill level (1->2).

“I... I don't know what to say,” Marc said.

“A simple thanks will do, lad,” Rudi said. “You can't know how much of a relief it is to know that my weapons are now going to be used for proper fighting and not just as show pieces. Your da told me that you'll be on the sharp end of things any time you can manage it, because you don't like sticking other folks on the sharp end. So I know you'll use her well.

Hopefully she'll treat you well, too.”

“Thank you, Rudi. It's incredible. I'd already had a shortsword with Sharpness and Biting so I thought I was just going to have to accept this and keep it as a backup, but now that I've seen what it can do it will be my primary sword.”

Rudi grinned.

“As she's meant to be. Use her well, that'll be thanks enough for me.”

Marc looked over at his father.

“I never would've guessed,” he said. “Either that you had this other side I've never seen or that you had something like this lined up for me.”

“Don't worry about it, Marc,” Sean said with an almost rakish grin. “I don't let this side out much, or at least I didn't used to. I think it'll be out more now that it won't cost me my job, but I'm still adjusting. I need to keep the other up with the troops, since that discipline is what they're clinging to for their anchor, but I'm not always with the troops. I'd tell you to buy me a
beer and we'd call it even, but you aren't twenty-one and there's no bars around here.”

Marc grinned back at him.

“The System doesn't care if you're twenty-one and the shop has beer. So, if you can take the time, why don't both of you come up to the gymnasium with me and I'll buy you a beer or two. They do have pretty much any type that was ever commercially sold.”

“And you know this how?” Sean asked.

“Jeff,” was all Marc said.

“Oh, yeah, well I guess that figures,” Sean said. “Come on, I want to see what's there before I make a pick. You coming, Rudi?”

“One moment.”

Rudi turned back to the other two younger men and fixed them with a glare.

“I want both of you to try one of those generic metal daggers. If it isn't good enough, do it over again until it is. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” the men said, nearly in unison.

“Now I'm ready,” Rudi said. “Of course I'm coming, when have I ever turned down free beer?”

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

Marc didn't get to inspecting the rest of the Safe Zone that day. After they got to the gymnasium, he purchased the first round of beers. He hadn't done a lot of drinking prior to the System, but he recognized that it tasted the way beer should. His dad bought the next round and Rudi the third.

Marc was sure he ought to have a buzz by now, at least a small one, based on what drinking he had done, but he didn't feel a thing. Rudi and Sean felt the same way and commented on it.

“What the hell? Three beers ought to do something, don't you think, Rudi?” Sean said.

Rudi nodded his agreement.

“Are we sure these things are real beer?” he asked.

“Jeff manages, or did manage, to get drunk off of them, so I'd think so,”

Marc added.

“Maybe these new stats of ours are just making it harder?” Rudi theorized.

Crap, if he's right, I've got a fourteen Constitution, that's almost three times the average of someone before the System, Marc thought. If he is right, then I may never be able to get a buzz again.

He pondered whether that was a good thing or a bad thing for a minute.

He didn't really like messing with his brain, but on the other hand being able to relax with a mild buzz could be desirable sometimes.

Rudi and Sean took it as an affront though. They each went up and bought a six-pack of their respective favorite beers, then proceeded to work their way through them. Marc had declined when they offered to get more for him.

“I feel something,” Sean said, after finishing the last of the six-pack.

“There it is, wait, no. It's gone now.”

“Dad, Rudi, if you don't mind my asking, what are your Constitution scores? I think that might be the issue,” Marc said.

“I've got a ten,” Sean said. “I get a point in it every other level for my class, started at a five, and added a couple of my assignable points when I realized it dictated my health score.”

“Twelve here, lad,” Rudi added. “Strength and Constitution are the automatic points for a smith. Gotta be able to keep swinging the hammer and handle the heat of the forge.”

“I'm at a fourteen for con,” Marc said. “I think either that, or maybe Endurance, is what's keeping us from feeling the alcohol.”

“I'd swear I felt it for a moment there,” Sean said. “I'm the one with the lowest con here, so you might be right. I know how to check though.”

He turned to Rudi.

“Try something stronger? Something stronger, going down quickly?

That might do it, if he's right.”

Rudi grinned at the implied challenge.

“Money's a renewable resource, ain't it? Let's give it a shot. The worst thing that happens is we lose some money disproving a theory.”

They were back a minute later with a bottle of whiskey and a pair of shot glasses. Sean poured a glass and took the shot. After a moment of having a calculating look on his face, he poured another and shot that one as well.

“There we go,” he said. “I can feel a tiny bit of a buzz coming on.”

Rudi quickly grabbed his own glass and followed suit, it took him three shots to get to where he could feel it though. By the time Rudi was professing to feeling it, Sean felt fine again.

“Well now, that'll get us there, but it only leaves us there for like thirty seconds or so,” Rudi said. “My pick on the alcohol this time.”

He went over to the shop and returned with a bottle of clear liquid. As Marc looked at the label he recognized it and remembered some of the nightmare stories he'd heard about. Everclear in a hundred and ninety proof
was reputed to have caused blindness, illness, and even death. Marc was pretty sure some of those stories were just urban legends though.

Rudi cracked the bottle open and filled his glass.

“Alright, let's see what three of these puppies in a row can do,” he said.

He pounded the shot, followed as quickly as he could by two more. Then he just sat there for a moment. Within a minute a grin spread across his face.

“Now there we go,” he said. “That's much better.”

Sean reached for the bottle slowly, giving Rudi time to react, but Rudi just gestured towards it in a help yourself motion.

Sean followed Rudi's pattern, putting away three shots as quickly as he could. It seemed to hit him just a little bit harder than it had the smith though. The reaction was similar as Sean leaned back in his chair and smiled.

The two men were chatty for a few minutes, then Rudi frowned.

“Damn, three shots of the good stuff only gave me a buzz for about five minutes. I've got another bone to pick with this System.”

Marc had, meanwhile, been thinking things through.

“Did you see if there are any System grade alcohols available in the shop? I can't imagine we're the first addition to the System to have a problem like this. If not an identical problem, then a similar one at least.”

“That I didn't do,” Rudi said. “Not sure I'd want to be putting alien liquor down my gullet. I'll keep it in mind for next time though. Right now, I probably ought to get back and make sure my apprentices haven't burned down the smithy.”

Marc looked alarmed.

“Figure of speech, lad. The whole place is designed so nothing's going to be burning down,” Rudi said as he stood.

“Well, if I get a few more levels, this stuff might not work any more so I'll check out your idea about alien booze then. In the meanwhile, I'll make
sure to finish off this bottle before I level up again,” Rudi said, turning and walking out of the gymnasium.

Marc couldn't notice the slightest wobble or stagger as the smith left. He looked back over to his father.

“Well, that was interesting,” Sean said. “I think I was buzzed for a little bit longer than he was, but he does have the higher constitution.”

Marc just shook his head.

“I'm still amazed to see this side of you, dad. I never would've guessed.”

“I had to be the straight-laced professor for my job. That never meant there wasn't anything else.”

“It's all I saw though, at least most of the time,” Marc replied.

Now he remembered a few times that his dad hadn't acted that way.

“That just means I did a good job keeping up the act. It isn't all an act anyhow, it's just not all there is to me,” Sean said. “I'm sorry if you think I was deceiving you.”

Marc shook his head.

“No, it's probably better that I saw you that way growing up. I'm not sure how I would've turned out if you'd been like this all the time.”

Sean stood and picked up the bottle with the remaining whiskey and the shot glass.

“Well, I'll take this back with me. Your mom isn't adverse to a snort or two from time to time as well. It's always fun when she gets a buzz, she gets a bit... let's say playful. And she hasn't been getting automatic points to her Constitution so this might suffice to give her a buzz even if it won't for me.”

Marc' hands flew to his ears.

“TMI, dad, TMI. That's way too much information.”

Sean chuckled at Marc's comment. The gentle laughter continued to haunt Marc until his father had left the room. Marc did notice that his father's gait was just a touch wobbly.

Which, I hope, is why he shared that much with me. Not sure if I could handle my dad telling me that much about him and mom all the time, so I sure hope he's still a little buzzed.

* * *

Marc informed Felicia about the new discovery regarding alcohol and people with advanced stats later that night.

“So, what you're saying is that we need to convince Jeff to put some more points into Constitution?” she said.

Then she thought back to what he'd said and the look on her face turned to one of confusion.

“Wait, your dad did what?”

Marc nodded.

“Apparently there's a lot more to him than I knew about. I wonder how much mom knows?”

He thought back to his father's last revelation.

“Never mind, I'm pretty sure that she knew also and they just never told me. They had to put on the upstanding citizen act due to his job, apparently.”

“Oh, well, I suppose if he didn't have tenure that makes sense.”

“He didn't, they talked about it a few times but the administration of the college always claimed there wasn't the budget for another tenured professor. They never did try to fire him though, so there's that.”

“So, that was how your day went?”

“Only after they gave me a sword Rudi made for me.”

“Is it any good?”

“Is it ever,” Marc replied.

He went on to tell her about the enhancements to the sword and how Rudi had pretended it was no big deal.

“I'm thinking it's a bigger deal than he's letting on though, I mean, what kind of smith skills would allow you to do that?”

“Actually, you said he claimed the System gave him levels in the class after he demonstrated his skill?” Felicia asked.

Marc nodded.

“Would it have given him some of the associated skills that way also if he already knew them?”

“Maybe? If it did, that would open up some extra skill slots for him to use elsewhere and it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that they could do some of the things he added to the sword.”

“That all fits with what we learned about classes. Get the class offered by doing something related? If you keep doing that, at a level beyond the skill level the System offered, I could see it bumping things up to match your actual skill level. Look at Allan and the farming stuff.”

Marc nodded.

“Allan never mentioned anything of the sort, but he's not exactly the most chatty of people, so I can see that. It would explain why he's so much better at it than the other people he's trained, too.”

He stopped as Felicia froze, her eyes going blank. Then he noticed his own notification light blinking.

System Message:

You've discovered an important fact about the System. When the System discovers an individual with the skills for a class, it is offered to them. If the individual's skills exceed that of the base level of the class, the individual's System skills will be raised to match their personal skill level.

Exp+500

“Huh, discovered something about the System?” Marc asked once Felicia's eyes had cleared.

She nodded.

“Me too, I wonder if working it out individually would've been more experience? I got five hundred,” Marc said.

“I did also. I'm guessing it was the one about individuals, classes, and skills?”

“Yes, it was. It's good to know for sure, but I was kind of enjoying just sitting with you and working it through.”

“So, pick something else and we can work through that. Or, we could just go to bed and work on something else,” she said.

Marc grinned then was struck by a very inappropriate thought.

I wonder if Felicia would get more playful with a buzz? Would she even be interested? Hell, would I still be able to handle her if she did get more playful?

He shook his head to drive the thoughts out since they were based on the words his father had said about his mother and those were the last two people he wanted to be thinking about right after his girlfriend had invited him to bed.

* * *

Marc slept well, if not long, that night. When he woke it was still dark out and Beggar was still curled up on his chair. Marc slipped out of bed, leaving Felicia asleep, but somehow Beggar noticed him and got up as well.

As Marc headed for the shower he saw the raccoon go out the window.

They'd latched it after he'd come in the night before, knowing he could open it on his own.

Detouring before his shower, Marc latched the window behind the raccoon, then showered and dressed, heading down to the gymnasium since he was sure the cafeteria wouldn't have any coffee brewing yet.

With his bucket-sized latte in hand, Marc wandered outside.

I really ought to find something to do when I'm up this early, or stay up later than Felicia. Maybe pick up a crafting skill or something? Otherwise I just wander aimlessly, he thought.

He heard sounds from the livestock and wasn't sure if that was normal for this time of night, so he headed over in that direction. By the time he'd looked in on the sheep, mules, and cows to determine that it was just them being restless in their sleep, there was a hint of light on the horizon.

He watched as the sun rose, only to find himself torn from his introspection by the crowing of the rooster.

Alright then, Marc thought, I bet that the person taking care of the chickens, wait that was Sheila, wasn't it? Holy crap, I actually remembered a name. Anyhow, I bet she's up by now if the chickens are up and active. I'll start in on checking things with the chickens. Today will be checking in on all the things that are happening in the Safe Zone. I already checked the smithy yesterday, so today I'll check all the livestock, the farms, I can even finally spend some time checking out the water mill. Maybe even look up how to hook the powered structures to it? What else is there?

He started moving towards the chicken coop as he thought.

There's the Crafting Hall, I've definitely already checked out the Town Hall, so maybe the walls? Maybe the preserve? Definitely the greenhouses and Felicia's Alchemy lab. Is that all we've really built so far?

He knew he was skipping things. The pond was a natural resource, but it wasn't like he was going to go fishing in it. There were also the tree lot and the orchard, but those were more long term items. As he kept dismissing things, he felt bad for thinking they hadn't built so much. There just weren't a lot of things that required him to check them out, or that he could check out since he knew nothing about some of them.

By now he was at the chicken coop and Sheila was already there. She was spreading several cups full of feed out for the chickens.

“Oh, hi Marc. I'm just feeding these lazy birds to get them out of the coop and into the area fenced off for them. It takes a bit to get them outside, but they love it then.”

“Morning, Sheila. Good to see someone else up this early.”

“Oh, yeah, I've kind of meshed my morning schedule to the chickens. Up at the crack of dawn to let them out. They tend to be calmer when I do that.

I did want to ask, do you want us to breed up our own additional chickens or did you want to buy them? So far I've just been delivering the eggs, fertilized or not, to the kitchen each day.”

“Um, let's just buy them. They'd have to grow up before laying eggs otherwise, right?”

She nodded.

“That's normally about four to six months, but I'm sure the System has been messing with these things. They've been laying an egg a piece, daily.

Well, except for the rooster of course. This breed normally only does about five to six a week, so something's up.”

“Well, let's go ahead and buy enough to fill out the rest of the flock.

Once it's filled out and they're laying regularly you can see if you can breed them up after that? Cull the oldest as the others start laying? Does that sound about right?”

“That should work. It means a few months until we have fresh chicken, unless the System really messed with them, but we'll have plenty of eggs before then at least.”

Fifty eggs a day with two hundred and fifty people doesn't sound like plenty, but it beats the none we had for a while, Marc thought, unwilling to share the thought with Sheila since he didn't want to discourage her.

“Maybe we can even start up a separate coop or upgrade this one to take more birds after we're raising our own,” he said.

“Let me see how hard fifty are to handle before you start any upgrades, okay? My backups are now learning about the other animals also, so I'm running by myself again.”

Marc nodded.

“So, another forty birds then?”

“Thirty-nine, with the rooster we've got eleven already.”

Marc remembered how painful parting with the silver for the original eleven chickens had been, but this time the additional one hundred and ninety-five silver seemed significantly less painful.

Because if we haven't done anything else, we've at least been managing to make some coins. Heck that's under three days of the sales on the help pads. Maybe I ought to start doing more than twenty-five of those a day?

The twenty-five are still selling out daily, so there's a heavy demand.

That reminded him that he'd wanted to look for a master pad that could do more than twenty-five copies at a time. This time, he added that to the notepad in his screens, not wanting to forget again.

He stayed there, listening to the thump-cluck of another thirty-nine chickens being delivered, chuckling throughout since the hens didn't seem very bothered at all by the process.

“So, how long until they're all laying?” he asked.

“Well, chickens are normally pretty skittish. I'd expected a week or more on the first before they started laying, but it was only two days. I'd expect the same on these after having that experience.”

“Well, let me get you a couple more things,” Marc said, ordering more bedding and feed.

“Just let me know if you need more of anything for them. Better yet, tell my mother at the Town Hall. She's our admin now and can authorize purchases like that if needed.”

“Alight,” Sheila said. “I'm going to get these guys settled in, then go get some breakfast. The timing works out pretty well that way, or has so far, for me to get there just as they open. It might not any more with all the new chickens, but I'll figure it out.”

Marc waved and headed out. He saw the other livestock handlers working with their animals on the way out and went over to talk with them as well. Having virtually no knowledge of raising livestock he had to take their word that the animals were doing well and, in a couple of cases, were already pregnant.

Once he'd checked with all the livestock handlers he headed to the cafeteria to get his own breakfast. When he finished eating, his next stop was the greenhouses. There he was informed that they'd start producing food in a couple of weeks. The tilapia from the aquaponic greenhouse were breeding up and they'd be ready to start harvesting some of those in just under a month according to the people working there.

They all seem to know what they're talking about, at least. Which is good, because I wouldn't know if they were bullshitting me or not. Looks like the manuals for these places are pretty good.

Once he'd finished at the greenhouses, he went to the place he'd been looking forward to the most. He'd never gotten more than a cursory glance at the water mill before, despite intending to check it out. Now he went down and looked.

The mill wheel was turning easily in the stream and inside the structure he saw it turning the gears that would provide the power once the other buildings attached to it were created.

I wonder if this place will need anyone tending it? If so, I'll probably have the people running the sawmill and grain mill share the responsibility.

I don't think we'll want someone dedicated just to this, he thought.

Since it was nearby, his next stop was the Crafting Hall. He was actually surprised to find it more than half full already, despite it still being relatively early in the morning.

Okay, he thought, I've got take note of which people are working and what they're working on. These are the people I'll want to supply with shops next since they're obviously motivated.

There were two people involved with textiles. Lisa, who he recognized from when she'd spoken up and he'd assigned her to assist Al, was working on the loom with a familiar looking material.

“Is that the raw spider silk?” he asked.

She shrieked and jumped, spinning around.

“Don't do that to me!” she said.

“Sorry, I guess you didn't hear me approach over the sound of the loom. I was asking if that was the raw spider silk?”

Lisa nodded.

“Sorry for snapping at you. Those of us who spend a lot of time here have an unwritten rule of waiting for a good stopping point before trying to talk to someone.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I just saw that and wondered where you got it from.”

“Felicia and Ella gave me some to see if I could do something with it.

Ella said that we might have a steady supply of the stuff if it was useful.”

“Is it working?” he asked.

Lisa turned and pulled a small section of cloth from a nearby table.

“This is what it makes. It seems pretty strong, but I haven't tested it a lot yet.”

Marc felt the cloth. It was smooth, as smooth as silk, unsurprisingly.

When he tugged it, though, there was little to no give and no tearing even with his ten strength.

“Hmm, would you like me to test it some?” he asked. “I can try piercing or slashing it, maybe burning it.”

“Would you?” she asked. “I'll get back to this, fortunately I didn't get a tangle here so I can just pick back up where I left off. Wait until I'm done with a section to tell me how it went?”

“Can do. I wanted to look at a few other things in here, so I'll test it, then check the other stuff out until you're ready. Can you make clothing out of this?”

“You'll need to talk to Mrs. Addams for that,” Lisa said, gesturing towards the other woman who was sewing. “I was doing sewing, but she's better then me, even picking up the skill later than I did. So I'll run the loom and make cloth and she'll put it together into stuff.”

Marc nodded.

Outside, he laid the small patch of cloth on the ground. Taking out his pilum, he tried piercing the fabric with it. With all his strength, he got about an eighth of an inch of the tip through the cloth. When he tried to go farther, the cloth resisted.

So, it'll give a little, but if you try to spread it too wide, it resists more?

Maybe to go farther would require breaking the thread, so it won't and the little bit it pierces is just the gaps in the cloth?

He shrugged, noting the results of the piercing test. The slashing test was more impressive. Even with his mildly enchanted shortsword, not the gladius but the one he'd purchased, the worst he could do was leave a dark smear across the fabric, not cut through it at all, even with the cloth on the hard ground.

Finally he cast his fire blade spell. He carefully applied the weapon to the cloth, which smoldered for a few seconds before starting to burn. He put the cloth out quickly and tried a quick slash with the fire blade. That did more damage than the normal sword had, but still didn't part the cloth.

After going back in and noting what other crafts were currently being worked on, he reported the results to Lisa.

The other important thing he'd noted was the people experimenting with wood crafting. They'd been complaining about not having real wood to work with, only repurposed blocks of wood from the Safe Zone's material stores.

So, the sawmill is probably going to have to be a priority, plus people to operate it. We'll see how much that costs and if it's currently available. I don't think we'll be expanding again any time soon, so maybe we can do that in the meanwhile, he thought.

Since just after breakfast he'd been hearing the echoing chops of wood as the legionaries cut down trees in the area he'd designated and he wondered if that was what had spurred the complaints he'd just heard.

Going across the street to the Town Hall let him enter the build room and pull up the details on the sawmill. It would take a power slot, but that would be provided by the mill wheel. It also required forty stone, a hundred and
fifty wood, and fifty metal. He assumed that covered a foundation, the building that housed the saw, a drying rack, and the saw blade and all of its components.

Amy had been on the porch when he came in, so he went out and got her attention.

“Amy? The spot just downstream of the new mill wheel is going to get built in. Could you clear anyone out from that area and between there and the material pile? Twenty-Five copper for you if you do.”

“Give me ten minutes,” she said.

She pulled out some colorful sticks from her inventory.

“I made these to mark out the dangerous areas and have been telling people that if they see them stuck in the ground to avoid that area. So I'll chase people off, mark it out, then come back.”

“That's a great idea.”

“I found the idea when I looked up surveying stuff, since that seemed to be the closest to what you're doing.”

She trotted off and Marc waited for her to return. Once she did, he went back to the build pedestal and initiated the construction.

Now to find someone to man the sawmill. Probably more than one person. Crap, we're going to need people to cut down trees and haul them to the mill too. There's always one more thing, he thought.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five

Marc was sitting in the cafeteria eating dinner when Rob plopped down next to him. The waitress took his order then Rob turned to Marc.

“What's up? Janey said that you were down at the greenhouse today, asking questions. She's worried that you're thinking about replacing her.”

“Not at all, I even told them that. I just thought I should take a look at what we have up and running. You know, do the 'show some interest'

thing?”

“Well, you freaked her out at least, I don't know about the rest of them.”

“What part of asking what they do, then telling them that they're doing a great job before I left would suggest that to anyone?” Marc asked.

“She's a little insecure, you know? If she was too worried, she probably didn't even hear you say she was doing great,” Rob said. “I'll talk to her and tell her that later on. Tell her to spread it on the grapevine that you were just trying to familiarize yourself with things, not do surprise inspections.”

“The grapevine?” Marc asked.

Jeff and Ella had slid into seats across the table from them.

“Yeah, you know, the gossip grapevine that starts any time there are more than five people in one area?” Jeff said.

Ella elbowed him.

“You were already talking about there not being any entertainment, right? So people talk, it's what they can do,” Ella said.

Marc groaned.

“So, anytime I visit anywhere, everyone's going to be talking about it?”

Marc said. “I hope dad's ready to start on the next encampment soon.

Apparently I should spend as little time as possible in the Safe Zone.”

“Nah,” Jeff said. “You just shouldn't stick your nose into what everyone is doing unless you're just getting them set up at the start. You can tell,
without going there, if they're doing the job correctly, can't you?”

“How?”

“Well, you said your screens list what jobs people are doing, didn't you?”

“Yes, but it doesn't tell me how well they're doing it, or if they're doing it right, or how it's supposed to be done. That's why I went around. I wanted to know what people were doing, what they had to do for the different jobs, you know?”

“Well, if they aren't doing the job, then that job title won't show for them, right?” Jeff said. “Besides, your mom already did the rounds once, just a couple of days before you.”

“Oh,” Marc said. “That is something I was unaware of, that mom did the rounds. It also explains why people seemed so nervous. Since the administrator did it, then me, as the holder, showed up to do the same. They probably thought that mom had reported problems to me or something.”

“She didn't?” Ella asked.

Marc shook his head.

“No, my mom would just take care of the problems. She has the authority to do it with the position I put her in. She wouldn't bump it up the chain of command, she'd send it out laterally to my dad if there were a problem she couldn't handle. Then, they might get it to me. You know, they're my parents, they think that I can't handle that stuff, so they try to do it themselves. At least that's how I read it.”

“You can't handle that stuff,” Jeff said. “You needed me to boot the Sternns.”

“I would've done it myself if I had to, but you volunteered,” Marc replied. “And now, I need to eat. I'm starving.”

He applied himself to his food as the others talked around him for a bit.

A giddy laugh caught his attention and he looked up to see Felicia. She was just taking the seat next to him, but he stared. Her face had soot stains on it and there was dirt ingrained into her hands and up under her fingernails.

She was laughing though and set a glass vial on the table.

“Hah! Check it out,” she said.

Marc stared at the vial and triggered Analyze.

Lesser Potion of Regeneration:

Quality: Uncommon

This potion will restore 1 health per second. Duration is 10 minutes. In addition, this potion will stop Bleed effects and if in effect when a body part is severed may be used to reattach the severed part by holding it in place.

This last effect will stop the general healing effect while it occurs.

“Felicia, wow! This potion is awesome, how did you make it?” Marc asked.

Jeff had obviously also Analyzed the potion since his hand was on the table, twitching in the potion's direction.

Felicia fixed him with a glare.

“Don't you dare!” she said. “This potion needs to go to either Rob or Marc. Since Rob regularly tanks, he takes the most damage. Marc off-tanks too and tends to face off with the Mage types. So it's for one of them.”

Jeff pulled his hand off the table and tried to look innocent, to no avail.

Ella elbowed him again and he rubbed his ribs.

“You know, I think I'm developing a permanent bruise there,” Jeff said.

“Well, you wouldn't be if you behaved yourself more often,” Ella replied.

Marc shook his head to tune the two of them out. He turned back to Felicia.

“So, how's your Alchemy skill coming along?”

“It's up to a seven. I'm trying to push because I think that at an eleven I'll be able to start making potions that are common grade, not lesser. I've been using a lot of the spawn parts we've gotten as loot though because I keep needing to do new stuff to get quicker advancement in the skill.”

She took her eyes off of him for a moment to order her dinner, then turned back to him.

“I think I could probably keep making progress just making the easy things I can do with the plants in the herb garden, but it seems like it would take more and more of them to get any advancement, while making new things and using new ingredients speeds that up a lot.”

“That makes sense,” Marc said. “You don't learn much doing the same thing over and over, change it up and you can potentially learn things a lot faster.”

“Exactly,” Felicia said. “Now, when are we going out adventuring again?

I need to acquire more ingredients for my potions.”

“Sounds like you and I are in the same boat. I was just thinking I needed to get out of here myself. Evidently mom went around to check everything out a couple of days ago, then I did the same today and ended up freaking people out because they thought there was a problem.”

Felicia winced.

“I'm guessing that you didn't know she'd done that?”

He shook his head.

“It's not like I wouldn't have done it anyway. I wanted to see everything we have working and, in general, how it works. I could've said something to calm them though. They all thought she reported problems and I was there to take care of the problems.”

Felicia stifled a chuckle.

“I know it isn't funny, but I think there probably weren't as many people worried about that as you think.”

“Janey asked me about it,” Rob chimed in from Marc's other side.

“Yeah, but...” Felicia said, obviously not wanting to finish the sentence.

“I know, I told Marc she was insecure, but I still thought I should ask,”

Rob said.

“Um, Marc, I don't know how well you know Janey, but insecure doesn't begin to cover it,” Felicia said softly.

It was pretty obvious that Rob had heard her anyhow since he blushed dark enough that it was nearly purple. It was telling that he didn't contradict her though.

“Still, I don't have enough to do here. If I try to work on my Mana Manipulation skill through meditation I seem to lose hours at a time, and it's been getting longer each time I do. I don't have a crafting skill to while away the time with, although I do have some available skill slots currently.

Maybe I need to pick up a crafting skill.”

Felicia nodded.

“I've got my Alchemy. Jeff has his bombs. I don't know what Ella and Rob do.”

Rob blushed again.

“Um, I've been helping with the kids some. Letting them watch movies and stuff.”

“So, Rob's doing child care,” Felicia continued, then looked pointedly at Ella.

“I'm training our rats,” she said, looking at Jeff.

Oh god, they really are a perfect couple. She can handle Jeff, almost keep him under control, and she likes playing with his rats, Marc thought.

“Plus, I'll be checking on the spiders and training them once they're hatched,” Ella continued.

“Yeah, so I need to pick up a craft or something,” Marc said.

“What crafting skill are you interested in?” Felicia asked.

“I don't know, I haven't given it much thought. I'll probably see what we have covered, then go through the other things I wish we had and see if any appeal to me,” Marc said.

“You're entirely too logical, Marc,” Felicia said.

“Not about everything,” he said.

He leaned over and kissed her, trying to demonstrate his statement. She just laughed.

“And you think it isn't logical to finally hook up with the woman that you've had the hots for all these years? Your parents mentioned something about how long they've known you were interested in me.”

Marc opened his mouth to reply, but something told him it was better if he just stopped right there. Instead of speaking he speared a forkful of food and shoveled it into his mouth, then started chewing.

* * *

After dinner Felicia said that she had to go clean up her lab some, then take a shower. She promised to meet him at his room in an hour and a half.

Marc took advantage of that time to head down to the Town Hall. He could pull up the list of inhabitants and their professions on his screens, but for whatever reason he thought it would be easier on the screen in his office instead of the one in his head.

Remembering a few of the things he'd seen over the course of his day, he pulled up the inventory in a second window. There were some components for crafting that weren't going to last forever and if he could use those also for something he had an interest in, that would be best.

Within a half hour he knew exactly what they still needed, and there were two of those crafting skills that appealed to him. The first was armor smith, but he wasn't sure that it was really needed. If Rudi had also gotten his armorer skills then that would be a wash for him, they didn't need two people making heavy armor.

On the other hand, we've got no-one doing the lighter armors and we've got a lot of pelts and the like that need curing that could then be made into armor. I know Rudi's skill overlaps on that some, since portions of the suits he created were stiffened leather, so he can probably teach me the basics if needed. Is that something I want to do? he thought.

After a few minutes he decided that it was something that he would like doing. Some quick research had him realize that the tanning ability was something that would come as part of the leather working skill he wanted to learn and that would provide him with the leather he needed to work with.

The tannery was one of the places he'd stopped by today, but it looked like no-one had been using it, so the need was there.

And since it's the powered version we won't have to deal with the stink that a standard one would produce, he thought.

That was also where he'd seen some of the materials he'd been thinking about. Everything that needed to be tanned had been piled in the tannery. So he could learn a crafting skill, help use up the hides before they rotted, assuming they would rot at a normal pace in the Safe Zone, and maybe start providing some light armor that didn't have to be bought from the shop.

He felt that the choice was right. It wasn't a perfect synergy with his class, but providing protection for himself and others was the basis of his class, even if he didn't exactly do things that way, so the synergy was still there to some extent.

He shut down his terminal and headed back to his room, getting there only a few minutes before Felicia arrived.

He mentioned his choice to her and she agreed that it fit him pretty well.

“And you'll be able to make me a nice suit of light leather armor?” she said.

“Well, once I get the skill up a bit. I'm pretty sure that I won't be making armor right out of the gate.”

“That's fine, I'll wait,” she said. “I keep meaning to buy some from the shop, but never found any I actually liked enough. I can do light or medium armor with my class.”

“So either soft leather or hardened leather? I should be able to do that.

Probably a suit of the soft stuff first since I bet that's easier, then when I'm better at the skill a suit of hardened leather?”

“Yup, and none of that female flash armor either. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the stuff that's more distraction than actual armor?

You know me better than that, right?”

“Not that I could see you flashing an opponent, but you'd look so good in armor designed to flash your body,” Marc said, bracing for the punch that he was sure was coming his way.

She hit him, but not as hard as he'd thought she might.

“If you want, you can make me some flash armor for play. It's only for when we're alone here though, got it? For real armor I want something that will protect all of me, including the female parts that the flash armor exposes. You don't want those to be targets for something attacking me, do you?”

“Hell no. Don't worry. When I make you armor, it'll be of the protective variety for all of your parts. I like them attached, thank you very much.”

“Thank you. Now why don't you come over here and describe what you might want to make me for the play armor version. Be sure to be very hands on with your description while you're at it too, would you?”

Marc grinned and gave in to her request.

* * *

The next morning Marc woke up later than he had been recently. He'd stayed up later than normal, reading his math text on his pad after Felicia went to sleep. It was still earlier than the cafeteria opened, but after he'd showered, dressed, and taken care of all his morning routine, it was only another five minutes until they opened.

I have to remember the timing for that, he thought. At least until my Endurance goes up more.

He cornered his father after breakfast, catching him on the way out of the cafeteria and just following along as he spoke with them.

“So, it sounded like your guys were done chopping before the end of yesterday,” Marc said.

Sean nodded.

“How long before we can head to the mine then?” Marc continued.

“Tomorrow at the earliest. You were right, it isn't the best wood. We'll have to work on it some to get usable materials for the encampment.”

It looked like they were headed to the watchtower so Marc stopped his father for a moment.

“This might make your job easier,” he said, leading Sean to the sawmill that had been completed recently.

His dad looked it over, then picked up the manual that had come with the sawmill and skimmed through it.

“It might at that. It won't take any less time since we'll be using unfamiliar equipment, but next time it will go quicker. It's also a good idea long term for my men to know the equipment. You have anyone to run this place yet?”

“No, it's a very recent addition and I haven't had a chance to look for anyone yet, why?”

“Because some of our auxiliaries might be interested. They've been looking for things to do, but most of the choice jobs were filled before we got here.”

Aha! That might explain Janey's question, if the auxiliaries had been asking around for work, then mom and I both came by, I can see where it might've raised some questions, Marc thought.

“They can have first pick. Also, I'm going to be learning leather working, but if there are any of your people who want that skill we can work on it together.”

Sean frowned.

“Yeah, well, tanning skins is pretty rancid.”

Marc grinned to counter his father's frown.

“Not in a System powered tannery, which is what I built. I was going to go through the manual out there, maybe ask Rudi for some tips since I know some of his armor took leather work.”

“I might just have someone interested, I'll ask around. Meanwhile I'll have the legionaries bring the logs up here and go through the auxiliaries and see if anyone's interested in running a sawmill. I think there'll be a couple of them that are.”

“So tomorrow to head to the mine and junkyard then?”

Sean rolled his eyes.

“Tell you what, I'll send a few legionaries with you to start carving the stairs. You bring a recycling crew for the ramp, and all of you can head out tomorrow morning. I'll bring the rest of the legionaries along the following day and hopefully you'll have the stairs and ramps done by that point.”

“You want us to stay up there?” Marc asked, slightly worried.

“Don't worry, the legionaries I send with you can also build a smaller encampment. Large enough for all of you, and as long as they do a little work on it overnight it'll last until morning. Just have at least one of them on each watch and they can work on the encampment for a few minutes during each watch to reset its timer. It may cut into the time they have to make the stairs, but they'll also have the following morning while the rest of us make our way up there.”

“Okay, that works then. Sorry for being a pest, but I need to get into that junkyard up there. I want to advance us to the industrial tech level and we don't have the metal yet, with the junkyard I can probably get the metal for that and for the next expansion of Any Port.”

“Ah, I see, the burning need to keep expanding. Any particular reason?”

“A whole bunch, really. The other surviving Safe Zone I saw wasn't... I don't know, it struck me as kind of shady. The holder wanted everyone to either donate their System token to the Safe Zone or work at manual labor to pay for staying there. So, I want to provide an alternative, and the larger the better. Plus, expanding would mean we can put in Safe Zone outposts even farther away and still Capture the land between them all. I didn't read
any sort of limits to how many times you could do that, so I assume there aren't any.”

“You don't know for sure?”

“I checked through every help file available and didn't find a limit listed anywhere. It makes sense though since it seems like the System has been encouraging Safe Zones,” Marc said.

“So, your reason is that you hope more people show up?” Sean asked.

“That's one. Another reason is that the System keeps telling us to grow stronger. It also said it would open up travel to Earth at the end of the year.

So the larger we are by that point the better shape we'll be in. Once again I'm assuming that there will be problems with the people, or rather creatures, I don't really know what they'll be, that arrive then.”

“So a refuge for more people, plus trying to get a larger presence by the end of the year?”

“I can keep going if you like, I've got plenty more reasons.”

“Go ahead then,” Sean said.

“We've got neighbors we dislike, or I dislike anyhow, to the east. We don't know what's to the west. To the south, about five miles away, we have another sentient, magic-using race. One of them tried to assassinate me just a few days after the System took over. I don't know if the rest are hostile, but I do know they've been expanding.”

“Sentient and magic-using race?” Sean asked.

Marc sighed.

“Jeff described them as looking like wood elves. Meaning something like Tolkien's elves, but wilder. They're growing a grove out on the plains there and they're expanding it. I can only assume that they know something we don't and are expanding for a reason. There weren't enough of them that he saw them crowding the place, so I don't think that it's just for more living space.”

“Have you talked to them yet? You could always just ask.”

“I'm slightly loathe to just show up. What if they all want to kill me like the first one did?” Marc asked. “Besides, there's no way of knowing that they can speak English.”

Although, that's something I can fix if need be, Marc thought. I wondered if the class the System gave me for translating everything into English would be useless, but so far it's been a lot more useful than I thought it would be.

“You do have a point, but if they're that close we'll encounter them eventually. Better to know now if they're hostile or friendly,” Sean said. “In one case we might develop allies, in the other we'll know that we should be building better defenses.”

“Yeah, I know. We'll probably do that soon, too, but I really don't want to screw it up, you know? First contact with a different race. Maybe problems with communication. All of that stuff, so I've been letting it stew around in my mind for a bit.”

“So, you have other reasons, you said?”

“You want me to keep going?” Marc asked.

Sean shook his head.

“Just seeing if you've told me all of it, the ones you did mention are all varying degrees of valid, so I understand your rush now.”

“It's like you trying to get back here, a race against time, right? Except this race is a marathon as opposed to your sprint.”

“Bad analogy Marc, a one hundred and fifty mile forced march cannot be considered a sprint.”

“Even when it's compared to a year of trying to get the best positioning you can before another entirely unknown incident has the potential to disrupt us?”

“Even then, although I understand your point and I'll stop arguing it. You had to be there to know what I'm talking about,” Sean said.

For a moment his eyes went haunted and Marc remembered the little his father had told him on one of his sleepless nights.

“Sorry, dad. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories,” Marc said.

Sean shook his head.

“What's done is done. Hindsight is not always twenty-twenty like they say, but it is always a way to second guess yourself and your past actions, so I try not to indulge in it except as a learning exercise. I'll have a detail ready after breakfast tomorrow, and the rest of us will follow along the day after.”

* * *

Marc spent the rest of the day in the tannery. He picked up the manual and read the entire first section, which was on tanning. Once he'd read that he fed the first of the hides into the tanning machine. It was a very simply operation the way the System powered tanner was set up, but the manual also covered manual tanning with tannic acid, which Marc also read about, wanting to know as much as he could.

The other people who'd read manuals had managed to pick up the appropriate skill from them by following the instructions. Marc was no exception, although it was mid-afternoon when he first started cutting into a hide. The object of this one, since he'd tanned the hides in the worst shape first, was just to make leather thongs since they could be used for lots of different things. He'd stopped at the shop after lunch and picked up some tools that the manual recommended and the cuts went smoothly.

As soon as he was done making usable thongs he found his notification light flashing.

You have learned the skill Leather Working (1). Learning is best done by doing.

Later in the afternoon as he was working on the instructions to make a leather waterskin, another person entered the tannery.

“You Marc?” the man said.

Marc nodded.

“Yes, one moment, I've just about got this threaded.”

A moment later Marc was finished with the leather working part of the instructions.

“Your dad sent me here when I expressed an interest in learning how to work with leather. He said you can tan it without the stench?”

Marc gestured towards the machine he'd been using for tanning.

“That one right there does it. I've tanned about twenty hides today, you smell anything off?”

“Maybe some hides that waited too long for tanning, but that's about it.”

Marc nodded again.

“Give me a moment to read the rest of the instructions for this project, then I'll give you the manual and you can read up on tanning with the System powered machine. You should get the skill after you do some tanning and a project or two.”

The man nodded and extended a hand.

“William, but call me Willy. Everybody else does.”

“Marc, but you knew that.”

They shook and Marc quickly read through the rest of his project, then prepared the wax he'd use to seal the seam on the waterskin. He had to do it under a flap of the hide which the molten wax would then seal down, keeping the wax from being exposed.

Handing the manual to Willy, Marc got enough molten wax to make the seal he needed, then laid the skin out on the table. He poured the wax quickly, then used the brush he'd purchased to get it into all the holes that held the waterskin together. Pressing the flap over onto the still hot wax, he placed a weight on it and stood, stretching his back.

His notification light flashed again, telling him that he'd received a second point in Leather Working.

Just like the other skills were easiest on the lower end, this one is also. If it's like those others, somewhere around a skill of five the progression will slow down drastically. Hopefully a five is enough to make basic light armor.

For that matter, hopefully there's a pattern for it in the manual or I'll have to buy the pattern from the shop too, unless Rudi can help there. Really, it's far too like the way some things were before the System, they get you both coming and going.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

Marc was eager to go the next morning. He'd stayed up late with his math text again, allowing him to get up just a little before breakfast. He knew that the others wouldn't be there immediately when the cafeteria opened, if they were on their normal schedules, but he'd told them what was up the night before. He'd also enlisted a recycling team to accompany them, promising them payment in hard coin in addition to the wages his mother would be setting for them.

The legionaries would have one of the wagons so they could carry enough wood to make the encampment for everyone going and Marc had made sure there would be room for the recycler on it as well, knowing that with its slow speed it would take the whole day to get there under its own power.

Now he'd had breakfast and was waiting, impatiently. Since he felt like a persona non grata after his inspection tour and the way people had reacted, he was trying to stay mostly out of sight.

Out of sight, out of mind, he thought. Unless, of course, they see me and think I'm spying on them.

With that thought in mind he gave up trying to wait near the cafeteria and headed down to the Town Hall. His mom and dad were normally there right at the start of breakfast also, so he figured she'd be down there working and he could see if there was anything he actually did need to deal with before leaving for a couple of days.

She was at her desk, doing something on the terminal, so he just waited.

When she finished, he cleared his throat and she startled.

“Sorry, mom. I thought you'd heard me come in.”

“No, I didn't. I was kind of sucked into some of the software available on here. They can do projections on the fields, if you didn't know, you just need the season, the crop, and the applicable skill level of the Farmers or Field Hands tending it. I was trying to see if there was one that could do
projections on some of the other things you've got going here. Like the smith, or the sawmill, that type of thing. Unfortunately they only provide the projection software for the fields and greenhouse types.”

“That makes sense, really. There are a lot more variables in figuring out a Smith's production. What if he isn't feeling well or needs to spend extra time teaching an apprentice something. Maybe he wants to put more effort into making some better grade weapons. That sort of thing. I bet different quality metals would make it harder to project as well. We can still do it the old-fashioned way and see how much they do, then estimate future results from that.”

“I know that,” she said, in her classic mother's lecturing tone, “but it would be so much easier to have a program for it.”

Marc laughed, knowing his mom. She loved administration, but she hated the math that came along with it and would always be happier with a computer to do it automatically.

“You know mom, if anyone ever told you real life had no math required, they were lying to you.”

She shook her head and glared at him.

“Okay Marc, what did you want?” she said a moment later.

“My group will be out of the Safe Zone for a couple of days. Was there anything you needed me to do before we leave?”

“I don't think so. Even keeping that extra gold you deposited reserved for the tech upgrade, we've got operating capital for a couple of months based on the salaries we're going to be paying out. I don't know that you could help at all with the things we do need, and even if you could, there are others who can do that also. So, no, I think you're clear of responsibilities so you can go traipsing off into the wilderness.”

The last line had been a little bitter.

“Whoa, mom. What's that all about?”

“Your father will be joining you tomorrow, and he'll be gone for a few days. When it was nearby, it wasn't a problem, he still came home at night.

This time he won't be coming home at night.”

“Sorry, mom. I know it's rough, but we'll be acquiring a mine so we have more resources to work with, plus denying a lot more land for things to spawn in.”

“I know that,” she said. “Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to him going.

He's got a theory, though, that you intend to keep claiming more and more areas and he'll need to go out and help with each.”

“He needs to? I thought any of the legionaries could build the encampments,” Marc said.

“They can, but he's the one that can make it a valid target for Safe Zone construction.”

“Okay then, it's not that big a deal. After this one I'll see if he's willing to just do a day trip when everything is set up. He can send the legionaries out to build the encampment, then show up later and make it so we can create a Safe Zone out of it.”

Michelle snorted.

“You know your father better than that. If you think he'll let his men disappear over and over, for days at a time each time, without wanting to go with them, then you don't know him as well as I thought you did.”

Marc shrugged.

“It was just a thought to take care of your problem. Maybe once we get the industrial tech level we can lay track out to the new areas so we can get back and forth more easily? We'll have to look up the rules on laying track that's neither in a Safe Zone nor in Captured area to see how vulnerable they'll be. We'll figure something out, mom. It's not right to pull him away from you like that and I apologize. I hadn't thought it through.”

Michelle just shook her head.

“Who are you and what did you do with my son?” she asked.

Marc looked at her sheepishly.

“All those years where you told me I could develop social skills if I really wanted to? Well, raising Charisma does that now and I've raised mine several times so I could run the Safe Zone better. Who would've guessed it would apply to everything else it seems to be helping me with.”

“Go,” Michelle said. “Your father was going to the watchtower first.

He's got a small group that will join you today forming up near the gate also. I can handle this here.”

“Thanks, mom,” Marc said, leaning in and kissing her cheek. “You're a wonder.”

“And don't you forget it,” Michelle said as Marc left the room.

* * *

Marc went down to where the legionaries were going to form up and found that a wagon and a mule were already there. He chatted with the auxiliaries that would be handling the wagon as they waited, and slowly more people turned up. When the recycling team arrived, they were still waiting on Jeff and Ella as well as a pair of legionaries.

“We can set a ramp up to get that thing in the back,” one of the legionaries responsible for the wagon said.

Marc shook his head.

“Rob, how's the Strength stat doing?”

Rob grinned and flexed.

“Alright, you get the front of the recycler. Think you can lift it up so it's level with the wagon bed? I'll get the other end and lift, then push. You'll need to help me keep it up, but you can feed it onto the wagon while I push, okay?”

He nodded, then walked over to the front of the recycler. They moved it to just behind the wagon before they started lifting. For a moment Marc wondered why Rob was staying silent and acting like muscle, then he saw

Janey standing in the crowd of people not going that had formed to see their friends and loved ones off. She was staring at Rob and smiling.

Rob grabbed the front of the recycler and lifted, his muscles bulging.

Marc could barely get his end off the ground, so when Felicia stepped up alongside him to assist, he didn't say a word, just flashed her a grateful look.

Rob carefully aligned the recycler with the wagon bed, then shifted, moving the edge of it onto the wood of the wagon. As he set it down, the wagon groaned slightly. Then Marc and Felicia leaned into it, pushing the recycler onto the bed of the wagon. When Rob grabbed the edge and helped Marc felt a noticeable difference in the weight level he was dealing with.

Marc shook his head, knowing that Rob's Strength was probably almost as high as his own intelligence.

After all, they were both something we had higher than average when we started this whole mess, Marc thought.

A minute later Marc spotted Jeff and Ella headed down the road. It looked like the two legionaries they were waiting on were also almost here and Marc almost burst out laughing when Jeff and Ella broke into a run to beat the legionaries to the gate by a few seconds.

“See, we weren't last,” Jeff told Ella.

She just looked at him and shook her head.

“I told you we should've gotten ready earlier.”

“Hey, they wouldn't have left until now anyway, the last of the other guys are just getting here now too.”

Marc tuned them out, then turned to the legionaries. One of them was addressing the others and Marc assumed that meant that he was in charge.

“Are we ready?” Marc asked, after the man had finished speaking.

“Ready, sir.”

“Just Marc, please.”

“No, sir. Centurion Cavanaugh has informed us that you'll be our officer on this trip. Orders, sir?”

Thanks dad, just what I needed, Marc thought.

“Are you ready to move out?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Let's go then and what should I call you?”

“Decanus Ternan, sir.”

“Decanus is the title?”

“Small unit leader title, sir.”

I guess this is one of the guys dad was talking about that needs the rigidity of the military to maintain his grip, Marc thought. I wonder if he sent him on purpose so I'd know what he was talking about?

The gate opened and the mule began to move. They started slowly, but gained speed as they went. The wagoner was having to use the brake by the time they hit the end of the gentle slope leading away from the Safe Zone.

“Keep an eye open,” Marc called out. “We found some spawns the last time we traveled this route a few days back.”

“Yes, sir,” the Decanus replied.

Then he turned away and barked out orders.

“Contubernium, sharp eyes now. We've had reports of spawns on this route.”

Damn, he's wound tightly, Marc thought. I think I understand dad now.

Formality it is with Decanus Ternan. I think if I tried to be familiar that might be enough to snap him. I'm amused they kept the count though. A Contubernium is a group of ten, eight legionaries and two servants. They just swapped the servants for wagoners, but they left the commander's title the same since Decanus means commander of ten They encountered two groups of spawns on the way, both of them mutated Earth creatures. The first was as they crossed a small creek. Not trusting the decaying concrete span they instead chose to cross at a nearby shallow point. They were attacked by frogs the size of ponies while in the
middle of the stream and while they didn't lose anyone, Felicia did need to spend a few minutes healing people after the encounter.

The second was when they were out on the roads through the residential area that consisted mainly of double wide trailers. That one was more dangerous. A snake, one that Marc couldn't identify, dropped out of a tree hanging over the road. It wouldn't have been a big deal except the snake was about eight feet long and immediately constricted on the legionary that was its chosen victim.

While the legionaries worked on using the blunt end of their pilum shafts to try to pry it off the unlucky legionary, Ella and Marc bombarded the snake with Mana Darts. Finally it spasmed and loosened, dropping away into the ragged looking asphalt of the street.

The legionary was bruised and gasping for air, but once again Felicia stepped in and within a couple of minutes they were moving again, the legionaries now including the area above them in their scans for spawns.

It wasn't quite lunch time when they made it to the area near the mine entrance. Marc pointed out the sheet of rock that he'd thought would make for decent stairs and the legionaries moved over to examine the area, pulling out hammers and chisels that Marc assumed had been made specifically for this purpose.

About a hundred feet away from the stone face was the area Marc was hoping would work for the ramp. He pointed it out to the recycling team and had the wagon pulled over next to it. With the recycler unloaded, Marc had the recycling team start working on a slope that would allow the mule to pull the wagon up it. The blocks of dirt started dropping out of the back of the recycler a minute later, the occasional block of stone joining the dirt as they continued moving.

To get the slope negotiable they'll either have to zig and zag going up or make multiple passes if they want it straight. I think the zig-zag approach would be easier as long as they don't make the turns into hairpins, Marc thought.

He mentioned what he was thinking to the leader of the recycling team and the man nodded his head.

“That's about what I'd been thinking as well. It'd be a lot more work and take longer to make it a straight shot. The zig-zag? We can probably finish that by tomorrow afternoon.”

Marc nodded, then joined his group in keeping an eye on the area. What he really wanted to be doing was going to check out the junkyard, but he'd agreed with his father that it was probably a better plan to take care of the approach to the encampment first.

* * *

With his group standing guard for the recyclers and the legionaries split up with four of them and one auxiliary working on chiseling steps while the others stood guard, trading duty back and forth, it got boring quickly.

“Hey Marc, I've got an idea,” Jeff said.

Oh no, Marc thought.

“What is it, Jeff?”

“I was thinking I should go down and check to see if Earl is still alive down there at the junkyard. If he is, I can either bring him back or warn him that we'll be coming. He can be kind of touchy, so it might be better if I were the only one to talk to him first.”

“Now you tell me he's touchy?”

Jeff shrugged.

“Maybe he isn't any more. I haven't seen him for a couple of years so who knows, but he should still recognize me. I was by enough for parts.”

Marc looked around the group to see if anyone else had an opinion on the matter. Felicia shrugged, Rob wasn't even watching the two of them, he was still staring at the surroundings on watch, and Ella had a frown on her face.

Which, I have to remind myself, doesn't mean that she doesn't think it's a good idea, Marc thought. She just doesn't like the idea of Jeff taking off by
himself. Which is funny since he was by himself when he found that her apartment building had survivors.

“Stay in Stealth?” Marc asked.

“Until I'm in close to his area. I'm sure he's got booby traps set up, he trapped his junkyard before all of this so I'm sure he's got traps out and around if he's still alive there.”

“So, get in close, drop Stealth, and what? Call out to him?” Marc asked.

“If it looks like he's alive, yeah. Otherwise I'll just turn around and head back here.”

“How long are we talking?” Marc asked.

“In Stealth I can be there and back in an hour, leaving time to talk to him in the middle of that hour. If he isn't there, I'll be back in half an hour.”

Marc sighed.

“Alright, do it,” he said, against his better judgment.

He was a firm believer in never split the party, but scouting was pretty much the job of those with Stealth. He had a hard time reconciling those two things, but when the person in question was asking to scout? Well, he also had a hard time telling them no.

“But be careful. If you need to, just sprint back. We'll see you coming and prepare a welcome for whatever the problem is.”

“Done,” Jeff said.

Then he did something that, upon consideration, might've saved his ass.

Or at least made it much less likely he'd be sleeping on the couch for a while.

Jeff darted over to Ella and gave her a kiss.

“I'll be right back and I promise to be careful,” he said, quickly.

Then he shimmered out into Stealth and disappeared.

Ella rolled her eyes.

“That man. He'll be the death of me yet.”

“If she isn't the death of him first,” Felicia deadpanned into Marc's ear at the softest level she could manage while assuring he heard her.

Marc had a hard time keeping the chuckle in his throat. Instead he coughed, then turned his entire attention back to the section he was responsible for watching.

The legionaries were making good time on chiseling out rough steps.

While building the ramp was slower, it would probably be much more useful for keeping the Safe Zone supplied. Knowing there was nothing he could do to speed things up, Marc resigned himself to keeping watch properly.

It was less than an hour later, at least Marc assumed it was since Jeff hadn't returned yet, when a call from the legionaries on guard caught his attention.

“Incoming!”

Marc looked over and saw the legionary that had called out staring towards the entrance to the mine. A moment later three of the bugbears they'd seen in the mine when they cleared it before came charging up the slope at an angle.

“Tools down, weapons up!” Decanus Ternan called.

The legionaries and auxiliary working snapped up, grabbing for the weapons they'd kept in reach.

“Launch pilums!” the Decanus cried.

These three bugbears were of the warrior variety, carrying shield and swords. Marc assumed that the swords were like the ones they'd seen before, more of a crowbar to smash with than an edge to cut with.

Not that that distinguishes them from lots of the actual medieval swords, Marc thought.

Eight pilums were flying through the air, lodging in the shields of the bugbears. Much like the traditional weapon they were named after, the tips of these pilums bent, the shafts dropping down and getting in the way. With
their shields fouled and tripping them up, the bugbears cast the shields aside.

Then, with the shields out of the way, the two auxiliaries started firing short bows they'd pulled from their inventories. As the bugbears closed, the arrow fire peppered them until they were about ten feet from the four legionaries that had been on guard. Those legionaries had their shields out, their swords in their other hands.

The bugbears attacked the shield wall promptly as Marc watched. Once the bugbears were engaged in combat, the other four legionaries, the ones who'd been cutting steps, pulled the rest of their equipment from their inventory and a moment later a second line of four legionaries attacked the bugbears, coming in from the flank.

With the coordinated attack, the bugbears went down quickly. Felicia did venture over and offer healing, but there was only one wound that she needed to take care of.

The legionaries quickly recovered their pilums, and the auxiliaries their arrows. Marc noted that the legionaries switched out the tips on the pilums as soon as they recovered them and he moved over himself once Felicia returned.

“Replaceable pilum tips?” he asked.

“Aye, sir. The Centurion noticed that the pilums this System created for us wouldn't allow the tips to bend, so he had legionary Rudi get to work on sand casting aluminum tips, serrated so they're harder to remove quickly.

They're difficult to straighten, so we just replace them and turn in the old ones to be melted down and recast,” Decanus Ternan replied.

“I don't know which one of them thought of it, Decanus, but that was a masterful idea.”

“I believe the two of them worked it out together, sir. If I may?”

The Decanus turned back to the legionaries.

“Fifteen minute break, then back to work. Water is in the wagon,” he called.

“I'll get back to watching our area, Decanus.”

“Sir, are your men going to be using those stone blocks they created?”

“I don't know, why?”

“Because there's that thirty foot section up top of the stairs that's all scree, sir. If we had the blocks, we might be able to seat those deep enough to have non-shifting steps up there as well.”

“I'll make sure we set some aside for you. If absolutely necessary, we can make more than just the incidental ones created with the road, so we'll have them eventually.”

“Thank you, sir. That'll help us complete our assignment.”

“You're welcome, Decanus.”

I was right, I think, he's wound up so tightly we could use him as a spring for the wagon. I'll see what I can do to keep him from snapping while he's working with me, Marc thought. Although, that was a smooth fight.

They just walked over those bugbears. So, at least he's functionally wound up.

“Hey guys, are you going to be using the blocks you're producing anywhere?” Marc asked the recycling crew. “Especially the stone ones?”

“We were going to use them to reinforce the outer edge of the road in spots, why?”

Marc nodded his head towards the legionaries.

“They'll need some for the top section. It's all loose and they don't have anything to cut for steps up there. Can we make more of them for our usage?”

“Sure, not a problem.”

“Okay, I'm going to start lugging some up to where they'll need them,”

Marc said.

Before he'd gotten five blocks over, Jeff shimmered in at the base of the slope, waving.

“Hey, Marc. Earl's still there. Damned bastard's doing almost as well as we are, level-wise. His traps keep killing off spawns at night, so he just keeps resetting them,” Jeff called.

“So, he's alive. Does he want to move to the Safe Zone and did you talk to him about clearing out the junkyard?” Marc said, once Jeff came up the slope to where yelling wasn't necessary.

“He said, and I quote: Sure and sure, so long as I get to keep setting my traps. Man's got to get his levels and money somehow, right? Just let me have some of the materials you pull out of the yard to play with.”

“Uh-oh,” Marc said. “Play with? He wants to set traps?”

“Yeah, I figure you have him set them out beyond the Safe Zone and Captured areas. Let him check them daily, send an escort with him. Hell, if anyone can figure out a way to make themselves useful, it'll be Earl. Give him some stuff to play with. He said he got the class Engineer plus one of his skills is trap smithing.”

Marc was already wondering what he'd done by telling Jeff they could let Earl in the Safe Zone. From what Jeff was saying now, the man was either going to be a menace or incredibly useful and Marc wasn't sure which.

Although I know part of that is my prejudice speaking, Marc thought. So, yeah, we'll do it their way. I just hope I don't regret it.

The legionaries had finished carving stairs in the stone before they needed to start putting up the encampment. The Decanus had been right though, he left one man placing blocks of stone for the upper stairs while the others humped up the materials needed for the encampment. The ones hauling were slipping and sliding those last thirty feet until there was a single set of stone blocks leading up. Then the ones carrying materials had slowed down and taken the stairs single file.

The road was only halfway up the hillside by that point and the recyclers were doing the best they could.

“Don't worry, we knew the road would take longer. At least you just need to keep doing this. They need to build a camp for us now,” Marc said.

“Although I know how fast they can do it, so they'll probably have it done before dusk. We just need to keep building the road since the rest of the legionaries will be here around lunch tomorrow and getting the wagons up top would be nice.”

At the end of the day, the road was about three-quarters of the way up the hillside, and there was a steady set of steps from the top to the bottom of the slope. Marc was worried, though. If there had been three more bugbears in the mine, there was no reason there might not be even more there now.

He didn't want to take the group into the mine after their minds had all been dulled by a day of marching and standing guard, so he made sure to warn the Decanus and made plans to take his group back into the mine after a night's sleep.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When Marc woke in the morning, he wasn't sure how well he'd slept.

Twice while he was sleeping, combat had broken out at the walls of the encampment, single bugbears each time, much like he'd seen three times before he even tried to go to sleep.

He'd also had dreams about the System trying to talk to him again, but in his dreams, he hadn't replied as he normally would have, he'd instead gone off on an emotional rant about how the System was heartless and cruel.

Telling it that it was some sort of killing machine. At least, he thought those had been dreams, the message he read after pulling up his flashing notification light suggested otherwise.

System Message:

Unique spawns will now commence. Increase your power levels by destroying spawns or through other means. Good Luck! Once the Unique spawns are completed, the System will be fully returned to Earth.

Well crap, the last time it talked to me was right before it started the mythical spawns, so maybe that wasn't a dream? How do I tell?

He figured it out with only a little bit of thought, pulling up his logs and wincing as he read the interactions that had occurred while he was asleep.

The System had started by asking a simple question.

System message:

I require additional information. I am to make an announcement when all spawns have commenced. I see, in your memories, some confusion as to my means of addressing the planet. I had planned on using Earthlings as a form of address, but that seems to equate to humor in your memories.

That part hadn't been so bad. Marc had, even in his dreams, simply thought the answer that the term was used in entertainment that was
frequently humorous and suggested that the System use the term People of Earth instead. While still having some connection to movies, the phrase would be less likely to be seen as bad comedy and more as an attempt to actually communicate.

The next part was where things had gotten bad. The System had asked if that was some sort of emotional reaction to the word Earthlings and Marc had answered that, but then gone off on a tangent about emotions. He hadn't realized he could get angry in his dreams, but now he knew better. He'd accused the System of murdering most of the human race at the peak of his anger, despite his prior conversation with the System letting him know that it was merely a tool. At the end of the discussion there was a single System message that he hadn't answered in his sleep.

System message:

I see, I have approached you in your restorative state and unlike my systems, you do not simply have no activity going on during that time. Your mind goes chaotic instead of dormant. I will address you again in your awakened state before I make my announcement if you will agree to counsel me at that point.

Marc wasn't sure if the System had waited for an answer there or not, but he hadn't answered it in his dreams and the new spawn message had arrived before he'd woken up.

He blinked his eyes, wiping away the little crusts of sleep that had formed in the corner of them.

And how does that happen anyway? he thought. I figured sleeping less would keep that from happening since that crap normally gets cleared away by blinking and if I'm not sleeping as much I'm blinking more since I'm awake more.

Just that thought had him waking up more quickly. He realized it had nothing to do with what was going on and that helped him focus in on what mattered.

As he looked around he saw a few legionaries tending to the encampment.

It's probably the maintenance dad talked about that resets the timer.

He also saw the rest of his group crashed out, sleeping. Rob was stirring a little but he quickly settled back down, a soft snore starting up from his location again.

Marc stood and moved away from his group, not wanting to wake them.

He approached one of the legionaries that was awake and tinkering with the encampment.

“All the attacks came from the same way last night, right?” he asked.

“The Decanus said to focus our watch on that wall,” the legionary said, pointing.

“Okay, thanks.”

Marc went over to the wall in question and made himself comfortable in a fashion where he could keep watch. He was there for about half an hour when he spun, feeling like someone was approaching him from behind.

Jeff jumped back, hands up, and Marc realized that he had his gladius in hand.

“I'm telling you, if you keep sneaking up on people, you're going to get hurt,” Marc said, sheathing his gladius. “I didn't even realize I'd drawn that thing.”

“Sorry,” Jeff said. “I wasn't actually sneaking. It's just with a higher agility, you walk more quietly unless you focus on making noise.”

“Well, sorry I drew on you, too. What's up?”

“I didn't tell you quite everything Earl said yesterday.”

“What else is it?”

“This just concerned you, and I thought Felicia might object, so I wanted to tell you by yourself.”

“What is it?” Marc asked.

“Earl wants to sit down and have a few drinks with you back at the Safe Zone before he's willing to commit. It's the same thing he used to do to
allow people access to his junkyard. If he can't get along with you, he won't do business with you.”

“Drinks though? You know how I feel about that,” Marc said.

“Yeah, well, a little bird told me you were drinking in the gymnasium the other day.”

Marc blushed.

“That's different, Jeff. I was drinking with my dad.”

Then he realized who he was talking to.

“I mean, I know you'd rather lock yours in a hole and throw away the key, but I like my dad. I look up to him, even now. He told me that if it weren't for the System he'd just have me buy him a beer and we'd call it even. I told him I could still buy him one, from the System, and it just sort of went from there.”

Jeff looked a little wistful.

“Yeah, I wouldn't mind having a beer with your dad, either.”

“You would now, if you've put any points in Constitution,” Marc said.

“Apparently a higher con makes the beer a lot less effective.”

“Is that why I've had to drink more recently?” Jeff said.

“Hell, Rudi bought a bottle of Everclear and was practically taking slugs from it to get a buzz that lasted for more than a minute or two.”

“Rudi?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah, the guy who made all the armor and weapons for the legionaries?

Including the gladius you're fighting with.”

“Is that where you got yours?” Jeff asked, pointing.

Marc grinned.

“Yes, and he's gotten better at making them since the System kicked in.”

“Of course he has,” Jeff said, glaring at Marc. “Back to the question though, drinks with Earl?”

“Yeah, sure, I can do that. I can't guarantee that no-one else will want to be there with us though.”

“That ought to be good enough. I'm pretty sure he won't have a problem with you, but he wants to check for himself,” Jeff said.

* * *

When the rest of the party was awake Marc gave them a few minutes then went over.

“Okay guys, I think we need to run the mine again. They keep getting singletons or small groups of bugbears out of it, so we need to clear it. I'm guessing it won't be anything like it was last time in terms of numbers, but if we clear them then they'll have some time to get the encampment built up better without having to deal with attacks,” Marc said.

Rob nodded, rubbing at his eyes.

“Is this going to be an ongoing thing?” Ella asked.

“Hopefully not once we have the Safe Zone established here. I'll shape it to include as much of where we know the mine runs as I can.”

“Does that even prevent spawning underground?” Felicia asked.

Marc just shrugged.

“I've got no clue and there's only one way to find out. Although if they keep coming like they have, this could be another low grade experience farm for the guards.”

“You've got a point there,” Jeff said, “two points even.”

“Anyway, if we clear it now, maybe they won't have to deal with any attacks for the rest of the day. I do wonder if it's a Lair, like the kobold one was, but we didn't find a Lair core last time, so I think it's probably just a natural spawn point for them.”

“You want to head in now?” Rob asked.

“Let's wait until the recycler crew starts, and make sure the legionaries are willing to guard those guys while we do the mine before we head in. I don't want to leave the recyclers unguarded and they'll finish the road today, so we can wait until they're done and in the encampment if we need to,”

Marc said.

An hour later everyone had had breakfast and the recycling team was ready to start up again. When Marc approached the Decanus with his idea, four of the legionaries were dispatched to the recycling team while the rest of them worked on the encampment. They were opening up one end of the wall so when the rest of the legionaries arrived, they could just build onto the existing structure.

Marc led his group down to the mouth of the mine. The metal wall was still there, but the door was now lying on the ground nearby. The pit was still a bit of a hazard, but it was also uncovered so it was easy enough to avoid.

Once they stepped through the door, it got darker and Marc could see that the rest of the mine was still pitch black.

“Ella, light please?” he said.

A few seconds later there were lights above him and Ella, so he headed down the tunnel, stopping occasionally to listen for the sound of bugbears.

They were halfway to the large chamber they'd discovered last time when they encountered their first bugbear. It was a singleton and they swarmed it down quickly. A Mana Dart spell each from Ella and Marc, plus one strike from Rob's sword and it was gone. They quickly looted it and continued.

When they made it to the main chamber, they still hadn't found any more bugbears. Inside the main chamber there was only one also. It went down as quickly as the last one had.

“I think they've been respawning and just heading out of the mine,” Jeff said. “I mean, that one was rummaging around a little, but it doesn't look like any of them are living down here any more.”

“I wonder if they get a sense of where people are and move to attack them if people are close when they spawn, the spawns in general I mean,”

Felicia said.

Marc shook his head.

“Either that or they don't like this place when they're alone or in small groups. I don't know, really. If that were the case, wouldn't we have seen more attacks on the walls of the Safe Zone?” he said. “I know the adventurers cleared out groups of spawns pretty close to the walls a few times.”

“This System needs a manual,” Jeff said. “That's all there is to it.”

“Sure does,” Rob said. “Let me know after you write one up and I'll be happy to read it.”

Jeff just spun and glared at Rob, who had a smirk on his face.

“Alright then, it looks clear. Should we grab some of the stuff we had to leave last time?” Marc asked.

When they got over to the smelter they realized where the new bugbears had been getting weapons. Most of the stuff they'd needed to leave behind due to carrying capacity last time was gone so Marc figured the bugbears had been making use of it.

Although how they managed to beat swords, even the crowbar style ones they had, out of this metal without a forge is beyond me. It's probably a System something that allows that, he thought.

“Well, this was a letdown,” Jeff said. “I'd been hoping to get some more experience today.”

Marc was of two minds about it. He'd like to get more experience and pick up more levels, but at the same time he hated putting himself and his friends in danger.

Not that it matters. Just being alive now that the System is in charge seems to be dangerous all by itself, he thought.

“Alright, let's head back out. I'm thinking I'll tell dad he should have a patrol run through here every morning and when I set up the Safe Zone I'll
see how much of the mine I can get included. Hopefully that covers not getting spawns generating underground as well as on the surface,” Marc said.

“We can always enlarge it if we need to in order to cover the whole mine,” Felicia said.

“Yes, we could, but I don't have any lesser System tokens left and I used my only common on the other outpost Safe Zone. So I'll use an uncommon to create this plus give it water and power, but I don't want to expand it three times and the lowest level System token I have would do that.”

“Weren't you saying your dad suggested buying other people's lesser tokens?” Felicia asked.

“Sure, he suggested it, but I'm not sure that anyone would be willing to do that. I suppose I can put a note on the cork board about it, but I'm not sure it will get any results.”

“What do you waste if you try?” Jeff asked. “I mean two minutes and some paper?”

“Alright, alright, I'll do it after we get back. Let's grab the few remaining materials here and get back out to the encampment. The additional metal will be good if they couldn't bring enough of it on the second wagon. After my dad's here we'll figure out if we have enough time to get back to the Safe Zone tonight. It'll take him five days or so to get this place to where I can make it a Safe Zone and we'll come back then,” Marc said.

* * *

Marc's father arrived at the encampment just after lunch time. The road had been finished for more than an hour and the recyclers, after a lunch break, had spent the time making stone blocks and reinforcing the twisting road with them. There were two fairly large stacks of the blocks over near the top and bottom of the road also. In case the road started crumbling with use they could be used to reinforce the weak areas.

“It's no big deal, if they need more we can ship them stone blocks along with whatever other supplies we're sending to them,” Marc said when the recycling team mentioned that they didn't know how many would be needed.

Once Sean had arrived Marc sat down with him for a few minutes, making his suggestion about a daily patrol through the mine to lessen the amount of attacks that might be aimed at the encampment.

“Alright, one more stop then we head back for the Safe Zone,” Marc said, after he'd spoken with his father.

The recyclers clambered onto the wagon that was going back, Rob and the rest of the group manhandling the recycler into the wagon bed again.

Then the auxiliaries that were driving the wagon hopped up onto the seat and started them down the twisty road that had just been created.

Their first stop was for Earl, and Jeff had them stop about two blocks away from the junkyard. Marc just stared down the street. There was a metal box down near where he'd expected to see the junkyard.

“Yeah, Earl built himself a metal cube before his welder gave out. Built it right around his trailer to keep it safe. Didn't help the trailer much since it's falling apart, but it kept Earl safe,” Jeff said.

Then he headed down the street, keeping his eyes to the ground and walking an odd pattern.

“I guess he wasn't kidding about Earl and his traps,” Marc said.

“Because I'm pretty sure that's what he's trying to miss, not that I can see any of them.”

Jeff disappeared into a hole in the metal cube that opened up when he arrived. A couple of minutes later he and an older man came out of the cube, carrying a bunch of what looked like burlap sacks. Even from back where he was watching Marc could hear the old man cussing up a storm.

“I tried to load my damned suitcases and the piece of shit things just fell apart at the hinges and latches. Fortunately the twice-damned things that keep killing themselves in my traps seemed to like carrying bags round
since a few of them had 'em. Never throw anything out, I thought they were garbage, but look now, useful as all get out.”

Marc imagined he could see Jeff's eyes rolling from a block away.

Two minutes later the bags were in the wagon, Earl was in the bed of the wagon with the recyclers, and they were moving again. Jeff dragged Marc over to the back of the wagon to make introductions.

“Pleasure to meet you, Earl,” Marc said politely.

“That remains to be seen, but Jeff talked well about you. Said you were the good sort, if a bit naive. I'll make my own judgment about that though.

Says you got a safe place where I might be able to experiment some?”

There will be no in between, Marc thought. I'm either going to love this guy or hate his guts. I do appreciate the bluntness though, so I'll return it in kind.

“That I do, assuming you can help pull your weight in it. Experiments that have no use won't do it, so if you stay and experiment it needs to be with things that will be helpful. As for judgment? From what Jeff has told me about you, you'll either be incredibly useful or a horrible drag on resources and dangerous for the rest of the inhabitants. I'll reserve judgment on that.”

A smile split Earl's face.

“Good, you got a spine and were just using the politeness as a social lubricant. Good to know that there are still people around who do that. I used to until it blew up in my face, then I just quit. No use for it anymore since I'm set in my ways now.”

Marc groaned inwardly but decided that if he'd given the Sternns a chance, he needed to give Earl one.

“Are you armed?” he asked.

The wagoners each had a gladius, not quite up to the quality of the ones that legionaries had, but still serviceable. They also had their bows in their inventory. The recycling team had long knives, with the leader having one
that was more of a short sword. Marc wanted everyone to at least be able to defend themselves.

“Yup,” Earl said, gesturing towards his belt.

Marc looked down and saw an odd contraption on the man's belt. It looked like a very small pistol grip attached to a block of metal.

“A zip gun?” he asked.

“Nah, spring gun. When my other stuff started getting unreliable I ran this off. Appears that once you work on something in this System, it stops the horrible falling apart that everything's been doing. At least, this has stayed functional for me. Loads a spring, compresses it, and I use it to fire a metal dart. Not the best range, accurate to about ten feet only, but it gets it done, plus I've got lots of reloads, can make more, and I can trust the workmanship since I made it myself.”

“Not very fast and only single shot?” Marc asked.

“Recock takes about a half a second with this lever,” Earl said pointing,

“and that chamber up top holds ten of the metal darts. So, more like the speed of a bolt action.”

Marc nodded, satisfied that Earl had a weapon and that he knew what he was talking about.

They were about an hour out from the Safe Zone when things got interesting again.

“Hey, what's that?” one of the recyclers called out.

Marc looked over to see him pointing at the sky. He looked up towards where the man was pointing and saw a rainbow of colors, moving colors.

He shook his head for a moment to make sure he wasn't seeing things, then they came into a closer focus. There were long skinny somethings that had huge wings, probably a six foot wingspan or larger, and they were coming down towards the wagon.

He put his thumb and forefinger to his mouth and whistled sharply, then pointed up.

“Guys, get under the wagon,” he called to the people on the wagon.

Marc started casting his Arcane Armor spell.

The wagoners, used to being auxiliaries in battle and taking cover at the start, were under the wagon in a heartbeat, stopping the mule and setting the brake as they dropped down. The recyclers took longer to react and Marc was worried they wouldn't get out in time when the first of them just rolled over the edge of the wagon and then under it. The others followed his example, the only exception being Earl, who was just staring at the critters, spring gun in hand.

Marc hadn't seen him cock it, but the lever the man had pointed to as the one to cock the spring was locked back and good to go.

“Um, Earl? You sure you want to be where you are?” Marc called.

The creatures were within ten feet now and Marc could see them better.

The long narrow pieces were snake bodies.

Feathered Serpents? I thought that was a Mexico and South America thing, like Quetzalcoatl, Marc thought, staring at them.

His Analyze triggered, showing him a little bit about them.

Feathered Serpent – Hostile

Level – 10

Commonality – Legendary

“They're hostile,” Marc yelled, starting a cast of Mana Dart.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Jeff yelled back, bow in hand with an arrow nocked and drawn.

As the Feathered Serpents got lower, they split up. Only one remained targeting the wagon, or more precisely targeting Earl now. The other four spread out, one targeting Marc, one on Jeff, and one on Ella, who had also started casting a spell. The fourth seemed indecisive for a moment but when the boar spear appeared in Rob's hand, that made the serpent's decision for it and it angled towards Rob at the last moment.

Marc lost sight of the rest of the targets as he fired his Mana Darts at the one charging him.

Somehow, it managed to dodge two of the darts and he just stared in astonishment as it continued to charge at him. At the very last second he thought to pull his shield from his inventory and interpose it between them.

The serpent slammed into the shield with a solid sounding 'Thunk!'. Marc was surprised though, it couldn't actually be very heavy since the impact hadn't shifted him at all.

The serpent he'd blocked had careened off of his shield to one side and he spun to face it.

So, you can dodge a Mana Dart, eh? Marc thought. Let's see how you do with an AoE spell.

As the serpent turned to attack again Marc cast a Fireball, targeting it right where he thought the Feathered Serpent would be in a moment. The serpent and the spell intercepted, the ball of flame expanding and burning it.

It didn't seem to stop it though since the serpent continued its attack run.

“Guys, the wings. Destroy the wings and they can't fly,” Rob called out.

Marc decided that that would be a good idea. Maybe on the ground it wouldn't be able to avoid his Mana Darts. He drew the new gladius that Rudi had made him and when the serpent came to attack him, still trailing smoke and a hint of flames, he attacked. Not at the body of the serpent, but at the closest wing.

The gladius punctured the wing as Marc interposed his shield in front of the serpent's face and when Marc drew his sword back he made sure the sharpened blade near the tip cut its way through a good chunk of wing. The change was instantaneous. The serpent was still flying, but it had slowed and he could see the tear starting to enlarge as it tried to pull a tight turn.

This time Marc chased it. Since it was trying to turn back towards him, he simply ran towards where it looked like it would come out of its turn, striking at the wing again.

When Marc drew his sword back this time, the wing was in tatters. The snake body struck the ground and the wings tried to close in tight to it, but
the portion he'd cut was still trailing, keeping the snake off balance.

Marc was about to stomp down on its body and use his sword to separate the head from it when he was interrupted by a scream.

“Jeff!” rang out over the combat as Ella screamed.

Marc turned and saw that two of the Feathered Serpents had Jeff. One was wrapped around the Thief and trying to fly off with him, while the other was trying to bite Jeff's face.

He wanted to do nothing but finish off his own snake, then he'd be happy to help Jeff out, but that was before he realized that the Feathered Serpent already had Jeff about five feet off the ground. Marc's mind locked up for a moment.

What the hell? How? The physics of that just don't work!

He cleared his mind with a quick head shake, realizing that the physics of it obviously worked now, since he was witnessing the event. Then he started casting.

The first line of business was to get rid of the Feathered Serpent trying to bite Jeff. He couldn't imagine it trying to do that unless the bite would do something and since Jeff was already captured, Marc assumed a poison of some sort.

He sent out Mana Darts at the attacking serpent, and once again only hit with two of the four darts, despite the serpent not dodging.

What is going on with that? he wondered.

The only better thing he could think to do to get the snake away was what he tried to do next. Casting a Water Jet spell, he aimed it at the serpent.

Jeff was now about ten feet off the ground and it looked like the acceleration of the serpent that had him was increasing. The wagoners had joined in and were firing short bows at Marc's chosen target, but not hitting well. Two of the arrows had lodged in its wing though and Marc thought that would make the perfect target.

His Water Jet went off, striking the wing and tearing a hole in it, but the force it was applying seemed less than normal, somehow. Even so as he moved it lengthwise across the wing, the feathers tore away and suddenly the serpent was no longer flightworthy.

There was a grunt from where Rob was and then the tank was shouting.

“Hey, you overgrown garter snake, get your feathers down here.”

Rob was racing towards the snake that had Jeff, shouting as he moved.

Marc knew instantly when Rob had gotten in range of his Taunt since the serpent that had Jeff uncoiled, letting the blue-faced Thief fall towards the ground before diving towards Rob.

Rob had his ax out now and when the serpent got close enough he triggered a shield bash which sent the serpent spinning. A strike of the ax and the serpent slammed into the ground. Rob quickly got a boot on it and swung the ax down, beheading it.

Marc snapped out of it, looking at Jeff in a pile on the ground.

“Felicia,” he called, used to her being right on top of the healing people needed.

She called back and Marc saw her preventing the serpent he'd grounded from getting to the people under the wagon. Using Rob's actions as a template, Marc ran up from behind it and slammed his foot onto the serpent's body. He wasn't close enough to get it in the neck, but when he bisected the serpent's body in the middle, the creature was still killed.

“Felicia, Jeff needs healing, badly,” he said.

“I'm on it,” she replied, running towards Jeff's immobile body.

Wait, there was one more Feathered Serpent. What happened to Earl?

Marc thought.

He looked over and saw Earl still sitting on the tailgate of the wagon. On the ground in front of him was a bundle of what looked like wire. As Marc moved in closer he realized that it was a wire net that had been tightened down around a live Feathered Serpent.

“Want to kill that thing off for me?” Earl asked. “I suppose I ought to get a knife or something for that, but normally my traps kill 'em for me. Didn't think about dispatching them after the net. Could probably do it with the spring gun, but that'd take a bit.”

Marc pulled out his backup sword and offered it to Earl.

“I'd hate to steal your experience, so you can borrow my sword for that.”

“Obliged,” Earl said, slipping off the wagon and carefully thrusting the sword between the gaps in the net.

It took quite a few thrusts, but eventually the serpent stilled. Earl cleaned the sword with some grass then offered it back to Marc, hilt-first.

“I need to go check on Jeff,” Marc said, still wondering just how the redneck engineer had managed what he'd done.

“He was poisoned, had some broken ribs too, probably from constriction,” Felicia said as Marc approached. “He should wake up in a moment, his health is back to full and I took care of the poison.”

Jeff stirred, but his eyes didn't open for a few seconds.

“Hey, Jeff, you feeling okay?” Marc asked.

“Earl,” Jeff said.

“He's fine, better than you at least.”

“No, that's why the serpent got me. I saw Earl, he's Batman!” Jeff said.

Marc looked at Jeff a little closer, trying to figure out what was still wrong with him.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I'm telling you, he's just like Batman,” Jeff said a moment later. “He pulls shit off his belt to use, it's like a utility belt, you know? That's where that net thing came from. He pulled what looked like a flashlight with one end belled out, pointed it at the snake thing, then the net flew out of it and caught the snake.”

Earl blushed a little.

“I ain't Batman, but I do have some nice toys. You think I stayed alive this long with just my bitty bolt thrower? Nah, I made that net with spring technology just as soon as I caught a monster playing possum in one of my traps. Damned thing near killed me before I did it in, so I made this for if it happened again.”

Jeff shook his head, obviously a bit more recovered now.

“See, I told you,” he said.

“Nah, I ain't him, I mighta stole his ideas though. All my little toys are fastened to me on my belt and harness where they stay handy,” Earl said.

Okay, Marc thought. Keeping Earl around is sounding better and better.

My only question is whether or not the Safe Zone can survive having both Earl and Jeff in it at the same time.

“Wow, these feathers must be something,” Rob said. “I'm looting and it keeps giving me stacks of feathers. I hope they're useful for something.”

Marc remembered his spells not doing what they should've, missing and doing less damage, having less effect. He hoped that the reason they were getting the feathers was that those were responsible for the resistance to magic.

Because with the Anti-Magic Shield and some gear with magic resistances? That would be very good, he thought.

He went around and looted everything himself, as did the others. Then they started moving again. This time they were closer in and chatting.

Because if those things were around, I bet nothing else is. The serpents would've eaten anything else nearby, Marc thought.

“I don't get it,” he said. “Those things were called Feathered Serpents, lesser ones by the way, I'd hate to see the Greater version.”

Jeff shuddered at Marc's words.

“But, aren't all the Feathered Serpent stories from like Mexico and South America? Back with the Aztecs and Quetzalcoatl?” he asked.

Earl had overheard the question from his perch on the wagon. He proceeded to clear his throat.

“Nah, the Indians here had stories about Feathered Serpents and the like.”

Ella glared at him. Earl was pretty quick on the uptake since he caught it.

“Don't you go all PC on me young lady. I am part Indian, so I can call us that instead of whatever else you like. You like Native American now, right? Tell you what though, all the science says the Indians came here from another continent on a land bridge a long, long time ago. So we weren't native here either.”

Earl shook his head.

“You young people and your causes. Did you ever hear the saw about it being better to do one thing well than ten things poorly? How did your generation ever decide that they could take on everything they wanted to take on, all at once, and still manage to make any headway against it? Don't know that there were ten, but off the top of my head I can remember cancel culture, cultural appropriation, racism, sexism, climate change, all that stuff about genders, people's rights, the politicians, and all those other muckity muck causes you guys claimed to want to fix. How in the seven hells did you think that you'd make any progress against even one of them when you spread yourselves so thin trying to fight all of them?”

Marc had been watching Ella's face as she listened to Earl. First she was shocked, then embarrassed when Earl revealed his own ancestry. But as Earl listed off his lost cause litany, her jaw just dropped lower and lower.

Marc was waiting for the tirade to come from her, having forgotten that a lot of her bluster was just a facade. Instead of delivering a tirade, she just turned to Marc.

“Hey Marc, I think he'll do just fine with your rules,” Ella said.

Uh, I'm not sure if that was a slam on me, a compliment to Earl, or maybe even both. I'm not about to say a word though, I don't want to get in the middle of this, Marc thought.

Instead of speaking, he just sort of grunted in a way that could be taken as affirmation, negation, or indifference, depending on how the listener wanted to translate it.

Jeff looked alarmed when Earl turned to him next.

“Always wanted to ask one of them justice warrior types that question, and now my curiosity has been sated. Looks like they'd just've dodged the question like your woman here did.”

Ella glared at Earl again for a moment, then looked at Jeff and caught the look on panic on his face. She couldn't hold a straight face and Marc saw the corners of her mouth start to twitch.

“Earl, you know me better than that. She isn't one of them, she just pretends because it used to make her fit in bett—”

Ella's hand had slapped over Jeff's mouth hard enough that Marc heard the impact as Jeff's words cut off. Then she couldn't take it any more and started laughing, her hand coming away from Jeff's mouth.

“Old man, you're something else,” she said. “I'm normally the only one that can get Jeff to panic like that and you just up and did it in record time.”

Earl grinned.

“Jeff and I go way back. I kept his car running for a couple of years and he kept me entertained with talk, and beer. I had a sneaking suspicion that you weren't what you were acting like since I know that the Jeff I knew wouldn't have had anything to do with a woman like that. However, a woman who's convinced everyone that she's like that, but isn't really? That's the type of woman the Jeff I knew would go for.”

He shrugged.

“I had to check though, you know? I'm getting old so who knows how my judgment is any more.”

“You're full of shit, Earl,” Jeff said, almost shouting. “When you go senile, assuming you haven't already, you'll still be smarter and have more wits about you than ninety percent of the population.”

Earl grinned, a smug grin directed straight at Jeff, who flushed.

“I'm glad you think so highly of me, Jeff. Never would've guessed it from how you normally treat me.”

“Hey,” Marc said to the wagoners. “Is there any chance we can get the wagon moving faster? It's getting pretty thick out here and I'd like to get back to the Safe Zone.”

Jeff glared at Marc, but Earl just chuckled and settled into a more comfortable position.

* * *

At the end of the day Marc found himself sitting in the gymnasium with Earl, beers in front of both of them.

“So, tell me about yourself and your place here?” Earl said.

I mean, I know he wanted to do drinks with me, but I thought I'd be asking the questions. I suppose it's good to make sure the fit goes both ways though, Marc thought.

Marc told Earl about starting the Safe Zone because they wanted both a safe place for their group to stay as well as a place for other survivors to come to and be safe. He used a lot more words than that, but it was what it all boiled down to.

“And yourself? That right there tells me about your place, but you?”

“Well, knowing why I wanted to do it ought to tell you something about me, shouldn't it?” Marc said.

“There is that, if I give it enough thought. I'm not used to having to do that as of late though,” Earl replied.

“Well, here's something about me. I'm not too fond of this stuff,” Marc said, gesturing to the beer bottle in front of him. “I wasn't too fond of it before the System and now it doesn't even give me a buzz.”

“Hold it, what?” Earl said.

“I've gotten a fair number of levels and a lot of the stat points I got went to my Constitution. Not only does that raise my health, but it also makes me less susceptible to poisons and, in this case, getting drunk at all.”

“So, that's what the stats things do? I've been putting all the ones I got into the mental attributes. You mean to tell me the physical ones have graphic effects?”

Marc chuckled.

“Yeah, Rob never used to be as big as he is now. Both Constitution and Strength affect Endurance, which allows for more physical activity than normal as well as reducing the need for sleep.”

“Wait, so if I put some stat points into those two I'll need to sleep less?

Hot damn, I always wanted an extra eight hours per day.”

“Well, it doesn't negate the need for sleep, but with my Endurance at a modified thirty-one I only need four hours of sleep a night.”

Earl wilted.

“Mine's only at a ten right now.”

“Well, you can work it up with grueling exercise or by increasing your Strength or Constitution, so there are options.”

“No grueling exercise for me,” Earl said. “I think my body won't support that any more.”

Marc cocked his head.

“You know, it just might support it. A few people have reported that long term problems they had have healed themselves since the System. So, you just might be able to exercise strenuously again. You can always try and if it
does leave you in pain, we've got a number of Healers around who can probably fix you right up.”

Earl just stared at him.

“I'd think you were trying to pull something over on me, but that Felicia's one of those Healers, right? I saw her tend to Jeff and he was right back on his feet.”

Marc nodded.

“So, it looks to me that you like helping people,” Earl said.

“Yes, and no,” Marc replied. “I like to help people who help themselves.

I'm not going to support someone that's just freeloading, we already kicked a couple out of the Safe Zone that were trying that. If they're honestly trying though? I'll cut them slack and I'll help them if I can.”

“Sounds like your pappy raised you right.”

“Well, you can ask him if you want. He's not here right now, he's in charge of that encampment we put in down near your house that's going to become a Safe Zone. He'll be back in a few days.”

“Good to hear he made it. Your mom?” Earl asked, almost tentatively.

“She did too, she's in charge of administration for the Safe Zone.”

“Wait, how did all of you survive? You didn't mention them in your tale.

Did they just stay home?”

Marc laughed.

“Oh no, not at all. They were at a convention in a town about two hours to the east. Well, two hours by car, it took them a week to get back and when they did dad was leading a troop of legionaries.”

“The old Roman troops?”

Marc nodded. He was much more comfortable talking about his parents than himself, so he related the tale his father had told him about getting back.

After that, he finally got Earl to open up a bit about himself and what he was doing. The man professed to holding nothing against the employers
that had fired him, but to Marc that sounded like a load of bull. On the other hand, the grievance Earl held against that company appeared to be what kept driving him to tinker and experiment, so there was a bright side to it.

In the end, they agreed that Earl could stay. Marc would see if there was some sort of workshop to build that could help the man and he'd have free access to the materials pile, although permission would be required for some of the more rare materials.

Marc found Earl an apartment in the apartment building before turning in for the night himself. Felicia was waiting for him in his apartment, with Beggar curled up around her feet.

“You know, sometimes I almost feel encouraged,” Marc said “If Earl can focus in on inventing things we can use, then he's going to be a major asset.”

“He's a little rough around the edges though, isn't he?” Felicia asked.

“Aren't we all nowadays? I think it's just more visible with him because a lot of it was there before the System. The rest of us are still developing our own rough edges. Some people are becoming more brittle or frail, it looks like. I think Janey is one of the brittle ones from what Rob's said.

Others are getting stronger, but losing a lot along the way. With the difference in strength between a combat-class who's gained a few levels and a non-classed person? I'm sure some of the adventurers are developing superiority complexes and the like. Well, maybe? I guess that's another group of people I don't talk to enough. I'm so glad my mom's here now. I suck at the job of running the Safe Zone.”

“No, you don't,” Felicia said. “It's right there in the name: Safe Zone.

Most of the people here feel safe, so you're managing to do things right.”

“I really wish I could believe that, but it always feels like there's something I'm missing, something I've forgotten.”

“Look at the bright side, you're a figurehead now, right?” Felicia said.

“A figurehead with veto power.”

She slapped him.

“Stop it, Marc. I won't say things are going well, even if I think they are.

I am sure, though, that they could be going significantly worse. Now come hold me and comfort me. It's time for you to make me feel safe.”

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Earl plopped down at the table next to Marc.

“Marc, I've got an idea for the first thing I ought to experiment on for you,” he said.

Marc blinked, caught with his mouth full. He quickly chewed and swallowed.

“What's that?”

Earl slapped down his dart thrower on the table.

“Your walls, they've got guards, but they haven't got any defensive weaponry?”

Marc nodded.

“Then I want to scale that up,” Earl said, pointing at the dart thrower. “I need some parts though.”

“What do you need and do you know where I can get it?” Marc asked.

I was prepared to supply this guy, but I didn't think he jump right in like this, Marc thought.

“Yeah, any car, although trucks, the big ones, you know eighteen wheelers, would be better. I need the springs from them. If they're from cars though I'll probably need more per weapon. Even decayed will do, I figured out how to get them back to strength so long as they're in one piece. ”

“You did?” Marc asked.

“Yup, the smaller ones I used for my net thrower and dart thrower I just had to heat the springs. I did it at first just to clean the rust off of 'em, but I
discovered that doing that would get them clean and then after they were clean I tempered them again and they were good as new.”

Marc was following along, sort of. Although he'd gotten the main idea. If he could get Earl the springs he wanted then Earl could make them into larger weapons to mount on the walls. He didn't need to understand the maintenance or metallurgy required to do it, just know that it could be done and that Earl could handle it.

“I'll put out the word. Do you want some of both types to see which one does better?”

“Yes, finally, a man of science that understands the need for proper testing,” Earl said. “Yeah, get me four of the car springs and one of the truck springs and we'll see how they both do. That work for you?”

Marc nodded.

“I'm glad you suggested the options,” Earl said. “I would've, but that was the type of thing that used to get me in trouble at work. They'd have determined exactly what they thought would work best and didn't want to waste any more time on actually verifying that something worked best. I suspect bribery to use certain parts, but I never did manage to get proof of that, it was something else I found that got me fired. You know—”

Marc raised his hand. He'd finished his food while Earl was talking.

“Sorry, Earl, I really need to go. I've got to meet with the administrator and get the word out to find you your springs if you want them in the next day or two.”

“Acquisitions within forty-eight hours?” Earl said, eyes wide. “I see you aren't running this corporation style or I'd be waiting a month just for the materials.”

Marc shook his head.

“Nope, more of a dictatorship right now, although it isn't really since I've actually got a council to work under me. We won't be getting any more political than that unless we get a lot bigger though.”

Crap! Except we are getting bigger, and my plans will get us bigger still.

How the hell am I going to run everything? At least we have the Wired Communications upgrade to Non-Wired which will let us communicate between the Safe Zones. Or we will when I look at the upgrade and figure out what I need to do for it.

He shook his head.

“Sorry Earl, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later if you like. Plus, Jeff's normally down for breakfast in another half hour or so. You can catch up with him... and Ella.”

Earl chuckled.

“I understand when I'm getting dumped. Although I imagine you actually do have some things to do. It'd be a fine thing to put young Jeff and his lady in their place again though. Always up for a stimulating conversation and until I have the workshop you mentioned and the springs, I'm at a standstill otherwise.”

Marc waved and left, worried that if he said another word Earl would continue talking and it would be rude to leave in the middle of that. The first thing he did was stop at the cork board. All the 'quests' as such that he had placed were pretty old and had mostly been taken care of aside from the ongoing chore of clearing spawns. Now he wrote up a new pair, one for car springs and a second for eighteen-wheeler springs.

He didn't remember exactly where, but he was sure he'd seen one of the big rigs somewhere in town when he'd been doing his share of rescuing survivors. He just hoped that someone else remembered exactly where and could get to it before the springs deteriorated entirely.

He wrote the quests up using his Creative Writing skill, enhancing their chances to be successfully performed, then made his way out of the gymnasium.

Fortunately it's still early enough that most of the adventurers aren't up and out of the Safe Zone yet, so they may well get those quests started today, he thought.

His next stop was down at the Town Hall, where he walked into his mom's office and found her already at work.

“Early morning, mom?”

“I'm still learning all this stuff,” she said. “And I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to do. It seems like there's always another sub-menu under the one I'm currently learning.”

“Good, I'm glad you'll be able to keep busy.”

“Speaking of that, I hired one of your friends to do a little work for me.”

“Little Amy?” Marc asked, smiling.

“No, a young boy named Reggie. I went looking for someone who might understand this computer system better and was told he was my best bet. I wanted an easier way to match up people with open jobs, I kept having to check both lists. So, I asked Reggie if he could make some sort of app, or script, or whatever that would compare the lists and give me matches and near matches.”

“Mom, it's an alien operating system. There's no-one here that can do that.”

“There was no-one here,” Michelle said. “Reggie said something about the code being open source and he downloaded something to his tablet, or pad I think he called it. He told me it would be a few hours, but then came back with a little app he loaded onto the system here. He called it something like a sort-operator function. Said it was a bit simple since that one would only allow exact matches. He also said he'd be back in a few days with a different app that would also allow adjacent matches.”

“Um, adjacent matches?” Marc asked.

“Oh, like say an armorer and a smith. They'd technically be different, but related. He said the new program would provide exact matches first, then adjacent matches like armorer and smith.”

“Reggie did that? In under a day?”

“Yes, he did. He said it would've been quicker but he had to get a rough grasp of the coding language first? I paid him ten silver, that wasn't too
much, was it?”

Marc shook his head.

“No, you could've paid him a gold and I wouldn't have said it was too much. As a matter of fact, if he comes through with his promise on the other app? Definitely pay him a gold. He's the only person out of all of us who knows the System's operating system. Or at least the one the System is using here. That's a gold mine, for both him and us.”

“I didn't realize what I was starting,” Michelle said. “I mean, a computer's a computer, right?”

“Except these aren't just computers. They're something different that the System provided and I'm sure it had better equipment and software than anything we had on Earth before it showed up. And Reggie learned enough of it in a few hours to build you a small app. Imagine what he'll be able to do after he studies it for a week, or a month.”

“I think I understand where you're going with that. First mover advantage on whatever computer language it is?”

Leave it to mom to put it into corporation speak, but she's right, Marc thought.

“Exactly,” Marc said. “If we're lucky, he'll be able to teach it to some other people also.”

“Oh, I also had to make him a promise to remind you. He said that you'd promised to teach him a skill eventually and he'd like to try to learn it now.”

“Crap, I'd almost forgotten. I need to teach him a few other areas of higher level math before I do that, so I'd better make up a reading list for him,” Marc said.

“Were you here for something else, Marc? It seems like I distracted you,” Michelle said.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to see if you needed anything, then I need to go check the build room. We've got an upgrade available that I'm not sure how to activate and I want to check that out as well as see just how close we are to expanding again.”

“No, I'm good. Like I said I've still got a lot of things to go through here, but I am taking notes so I don't forget anything important.”

“I'll leave you to it then,” Marc said, leaving the room.

He entered the build room and approached the pedestal. When he pulled up the Wired Communications function he found that the upgrade was easier than he'd anticipated. There was an option labeled simply: Upgrade.

When he selected it he found that he needed metal, sand, and stone for the option so he pulled up the expansion menu to see where they were with that.

You have insufficient resources to increase your Safe Zone.

Resources required:

Wood: 1723/4500

Stone: 1589/4500

Metal: 2500/2500

Designated power source for Safe Zone:

Monster Core – common – poor (2/3)

Monster Core – Rare – Excellent (4/5) (+4 power slots 3/4))

Power Slots – Mill Wheel (1/2) (Sawmill)

The current power source will sustain five expansions beyond the original power source.(4/5)

In current configuration, Capture Protocol is available and may provide more materials for expansion now and in the future.

So, we've got more than enough metal, Marc thought. I did ask the recycling teams to focus on that when I learned how much we needed for the tech expansion. I wonder if I should have them go back to an even split so we can expand the Safe Zone more quickly? First things first though, getting communications up is going to be important, so that should happen first.

Knowing that they were going to need sand again Marc left the Town Hall and headed back to the cafeteria. He caught the recyclers before they started for the day, giving one unit orders to go back to a normal split on wood, stone, and metal. The others got orders to get some sand along with everything else.

Marc was still in the gymnasium, where he'd caught the recyclers as they were seeing if there were new tasks for the day, when Earl came in followed by Jeff and Ella.

“See, there he is. How much do you want to bet that he's already taken care of everything he said he needed to do and now he'll dart out of here and pretend that he didn't see me,” Earl said, pointing towards Marc. “He's avoiding me, I know it.”

You know, that's a great idea, Marc thought, darting towards the nearby door that led outside.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A few hours later Marc found himself wishing he'd been able to upgrade to the non-wired communication option a lot more quickly. He was in the tannery, working on his skills, when someone came rushing in. Marc recognized them vaguely, having seen them around the Safe Zone, but had no clue what the man's name was.

“There you are! Quick, there's a messenger from the other Safe Zone waiting down at the Town Hall. Your mom wanted me to find you quickly.

There's some sort of problem.”

Marc sighed and shook his head.

Great, maybe letting the Safe Zone know that it was my mom taking up the admin slot was a mistake. The way he said it sounded like mom was calling me home for dinner, Marc thought.

Despite his thoughts Marc quickly tidied away what he was working on and headed out of the tannery. The messenger was moving at a trot so Marc picked up the pace, headed down towards the Town Hall.

When he got there, he went straight to his mom's office. She was behind her desk and another man, who Marc also recognized but didn't know the name of, was standing in there, shuffling from foot to foot.

“There you are,” Michelle said. “What took so long?”

“What do you mean? It's been all of about two minutes since the messenger you sent found me.”

“Where were you then? He's been gone for about twenty minutes,” she said.

“Working in the tannery? Working on my skills, like I encourage everyone else to do. If I tell them to do it, I damn well ought to be doing it myself also, no?”

Marc realized it was serious when his mom didn't say anything about him cursing.

“Go ahead, tell him,” Michelle said, looking at the third person in the office.

The man stopped shuffling and looked at Marc,

“Marc, Allan sent me to tell you. We're seeing a big plume of smoke in the distance out to the east.”

“A fire or something?” Marc asked.

“We don't know, that's why he sent me to let you know because we have no idea what it is. If it is a fire, though, the outer walls for our Safe Zone are mostly wooden.”

“I see,” Marc said. “Well, let's head up to the watchtower and see if we can figure out what it is with the telescope.”

He turned and left as his mom was commenting that she'd already done that, just not heard back yet. The other man was following along with him and as they climbed the watchtower, they encountered someone coming back down.

“Marc, good, your mom had me checking something out,” the man started.

“She told me. Did you figure out what it is?”

The man shrugged.

“There's so much smoke that it's hard to tell, but it looks like a grass fire.

It's been dry enough recently that it wouldn't be too surprising.”

“Okay, let me take a look also,” Marc said.

He turned to the man who'd been waiting in his mom's office.

“When we know what is is for sure I'll probably send you back to Allan to let him know what we determine.”

The man nodded and they continued up the stairs.

Once in the watchtower, Marc moved over to the telescope, waiting for the person on watch to step away from it.

When he had his eye to it he saw what they'd been talking about. A cloud of smudgy looking smoke, several miles to the east. It was far enough that with the naked eye it just looked like dark clouds on the horizon, with the telescope though it was obvious that it was smoke.

The terrain out there was mostly rolling miniature hills, with the attendant valleys. The smoke was coming from one of the valleys and as he watched, it started billowing up even stronger.

That's not quite as far out as the other Safe Zone we found, the one charging people to stay, but it might be in danger if the wind is blowing the wrong way. It's at least a lot closer to them than it is to us, Marc thought.

“Looks like it is definitely a fire,” Marc said. “It's miles out though. I know that doesn't mean a lot with a grass fire since they can spread quickly.”

He looked out at the grass and noticed that the wind, more properly a gentle breeze, was blowing to the south.

“The wind's wrong for it to be a danger for us though, look, it's blowing south so if the fire spreads it should go that way, unless the wind changes,”

Marc continued.

He turned to the man on watch, one of the auxiliaries from his dad's people.

“Let us know if it moves west, okay? Otherwise, just keep an eye on it.”

“Got it, will do.”

Marc headed back down, sending the messenger back to the Marc's Gift Safe Zone with a similar message for Allan. That it was a fire, but that the wind should take it south. Also telling him to send a messenger again if it headed west at all.

Then Marc headed back to the tannery. He was there for less than a half hour when the alert went up. His dad had looked at the watchtower, the time it took to get up and down from it, and immediately purchased a bell from the shop. A thick metaled bell that could be heard anywhere outside in the Safe Zone at its current size, and inside a lot of the buildings as well.

That bell was ringing now.

Marc rushed back outside, leaving his project partially completed on the counter. He sprinted down to the watchtower and then up the stairs.

“It looks like it's headed this way,” the auxiliary said, “but the wind is still headed south. I don't get it.”

Marc peered through the telescope and sure enough where he'd seen smoke before, there were now flames. They'd crested the hilltop of the little valley they'd been in and were headed west, there was a little drift to the south as well, but somehow that seemed to keep correcting itself so the fire was headed almost directly west.

He stared through the scope, curious. It looked like there was something moving in front of the flames, lots of small somethings.

As a matter of fact it looks like there's a horde of small creatures running from the flames. Any time they try to cut south is when the flames start moving that way too, then the flames settle back into heading westward when the creatures do the same, Marc thought.

The paved road was just to the north of the fire and seemed to be acting as a firebreak, especially with the southern breeze. It also seemed to keep the creatures from heading that way.

But if the fire is traveling the edge of the road and sticking to it, then that means it's headed directly for Marc's Gift, he thought.

“Alright, we need volunteers,” Marc said. “That fire is headed directly for the other Safe Zone and it doesn't look like it's doing it on its own. We need to defend the other Safe Zone, both from the fire, and from whatever is controlling it.”

“Sorry, Marc. I've got to stay on duty here, your dad would have my head otherwise,” the auxiliary said.

“Oh, I was just talking to myself. Keep ringing the alarm bell and I'll see who showed up at the assembly point,” Marc said, taking off down the stairs.

* * *

Marc found a bunch of people at the assembly point. Some adventurers who hadn't been planning on going out that day, some of the people with regular jobs that had already finished up for the day, and a smattering of others.

“Okay, we've got a fire headed for the other Safe Zone,” Marc said. “It doesn't look natural, and it looks like there are a lot of creatures fleeing in front of it, so they're heading straight for it too. We need everyone to get over there. If you've got a combat class, take a spot on the eastern wall and take out those critters when they get close. If you don't have a combat class, then you'll be soaking everything down. The wall first and then all the buildings in there. The whole thing is mostly wood so if a spark gets in there, we'll have problems.”

He looked around, there were still people streaming into the assembly point and he thought there would be for a while.

“Head out, I'll catch up,” he yelled. “Tell anyone new what the plan is on the way.”

Marc trotted over to the Town Hall and found Amy on the porch.

“Amy, I need you.”

“What is it, Marc? What's all the fuss?”

“There's a grass fire headed for our other Safe Zone. We need to keep it from burning down. You, I need to go to the assembly point and send them out to the other Safe Zone to help. Tell them the plan when they get there.

This is what we're doing...”

Once he'd finished relaying instructions to Amy, Marc broke towards the gate at a trot. It didn't take him very long at all to get out to the other Safe Zone since his footsteps were sped by the sight of the fire moving west, towards him.

Once he got into the Safe Zone, he realized the problem with his plan.

He'd passed a lot of the non-combat types on the road so there were more
coming, but there already weren't enough hoses and buckets for the people who were there. So his first stop was the house that held the shop.

Bucket after bucket spilled out of the shop as he purchased fifty of them.

He just tossed them towards the door as they came out, yelling for people to come claim one and form a bucket brigade.

By the time he finished purchasing those, most of the rest of the people originally coming to help had made it to the Safe Zone so it was crowded as he made his way to the wall.

The three hoses attached to spigots were busy soaking the walls, although at a slow rate. So Marc called out for the bucket brigade to work on the eastern wall first. Then move to the buildings inside the walls.

“Take the hoses to the north and south walls and start soaking them east to west,” Marc said. “Soaking wet, even if it takes longer. If we get the eastern end protected that'll help with everything else.”

Fortunately when Sean's men had made the encampment they'd cut down all the underbrush out for about a hundred feet on all sides, bringing the grass down to where it was short enough that nothing could hide in it.

That will hopefully slow the fire some, Marc thought. Between the lack of fuel and getting everything soaked I hope we'll be okay.

Then the first of the wave of creatures arrived, heading straight towards the wall. They seemed to still avoid the road to the north, and some of them broke off to the south, but the main portion of the horde of animals, some mutated, some not, headed straight towards the wall. When some in the rear of the horde tried to break south, Marc saw a wall of flame shoot up in front of them, turning them back to their original westward heading.

“Ranged attackers, fire!” Marc yelled as loudly as he could.

There were quite a few arrows and javelins that shot out, but the spells that roared out had a much larger effect. Marc was using his Water Jet, spraying it across a large front since the least impact from it killed most of the normal animals. Others were using their own area spells and several of them were Fireballs.

Marc was angry about that for a moment, they had plenty of flames coming at them already, then he had second thoughts.

Hell, maybe if those Fireballs take out some of the grass we'll have more of a firebreak before the wall, he thought.

Then he started tossing his own Fireballs, targeting them so that once the flames went out, which he'd ensure with a Water Jet if needed, there would be more patches of bare ground between the rapidly approaching wall of flames and the wall of the Safe Zone.

He noticed Ella standing beside him and paused between spells.

“Firebreak, use Fireballs to burn a bare patch. Watch where I've been working.”

Then she started alternating spells with him, continuing the line that he'd been building. Some of the other Mages must've heard him talking to Ella, or figured it out on their own, since other lines of Fireballs started leaving bare patches as he moved towards the end of his own line.

Then the animals were gone. Lots of them were killed, but most finally broke to either side of the Safe Zone, running along its walls until they reached the far end. Some of them had made it through the walls, smaller more flexible creatures, and a lot of the warrior types who'd used their ranged attacks or just didn't have any, dropped into the Safe Zone and started dispatching the creatures that threatened the bucket brigades.

Now it was just the wall of flame roaring towards them and Marc's thoughts that it was controlled were reinforced as he noticed that it spread from the road to about ten feet beyond the end of the Safe Zone wall.

“Where's Jeff?” he asked Ella while they were both trying to regenerate some mana.

“Out there,” she pointed at the wall of flames. “He thought it wasn't right, the flames headed this way when the wind wasn't, so he wanted to go out scouting and see if he could find what was causing it.”

I hope he's okay, Marc thought. I also wish I'd thought to send him and the other scouts out to check that myself. If he's alone I hope he doesn't do anything stupid.

Then the wall of flames hit the area where the undergrowth had been removed and the grass trimmed down. It slowed and the flames lost some of their height, but it kept creeping forward. The fire moved much slower now, but it was almost as though its progress were inevitable.

There was a faint cry of pain, one Marc thought wasn't from inside the Safe Zone, and a twenty foot wide section of the flames, right in the middle of the wall of flame, simply disappeared. Behind it, a man in lightweight clothing was astride a bicycle. He was also clutching an ivory colored arrow that had struck his arm.

“Son of a Bitch!” Marc cried. “They're magical flames, controlled by people.”

He pointed at the man, who was now pulling the arrow from his arm.

I'm not sure if he's in range, it'll be close, Marc thought.

“Watch your eyes!” he roared, then cast a Lightning Flash spell.

The spell raced out towards the Mage that had been revealed behind the wall of flames. As the bolt arced outwards, the thunder roared and Marc saw two more twenty foot sections of flames dissipate, one to either side of the target of his spell.

More people were revealed when those flames dropped and Marc practically roared with anger. He wasn't the only one either. Those with longer ranged attacks started launching them at the revealed Mages. The arrows reached, but weren't all that accurate at the range. Mana Darts wouldn't reach them, nor would most of the other spells the Mages on the walls had.

Marc's Lightning Flash had reached the one in the center though. That Mage was just now picking himself up off the ground where he'd been hurled from the effect of the spell. He was grabbing his bike and making a hasty retreat to the east. So Marc started to cast another one, targeting one of the newly revealed Mages.

“Eyes!” he cried, then started casting.

Even as the lightning roared and the thunder rolled across the open ground, that Mage had been trying to turn himself around. The lightning
caught him broadsides, knocking him and his bike to the ground.

Marc turned to the third person that had been revealed when the flames dissipated, only to find them already riding east at a furious pace.

Now the wall of flames that had been spreading towards the Safe Zone had faltered. More people were riding bicycles to the east as quickly as they could and the flames that had been inexorably moving towards the wooden wall of the Safe Zone were fitfully smoldering in the limited fuel on the ground outside the walls.

* * *

Marc took a deep breath and pulled up the flashing notifications light.

Your spell, Fireball, has increased in skill level (3->4) Your spell, Lightning Flash, has increased in skill level (2->3)

I'm not going to say it was worth it, Marc thought, but I am glad to see two of my better spells improving.

“Hey Marc,” one of the adventurers called out, “should we chase them?”

“Unless someone has some sort of speed or distance movement skill, I don't think we'll catch them. They've got bikes and I left mine back at the Safe Zone,” Marc replied. “Anyone got a way to catch them?”

Silence was his answer.

“What we will do, though, is track them. I'm pretty sure those bikes are going to leave easily followed tracks. Maybe we can find out where they came from, and why they showed up.”

Although I've got a sneaking suspicion where they're from. If the laborers in that other Safe Zone we found heard me talking about ours, then they may well be causing trouble there now. That might be enough to set their leader off against us.

He looked around, not seeing Jeff anywhere.

“Hey, Jeff!” Marc yelled.

Motion outside of the Safe Zone caught his eye. Jeff was retrieving the arrow he'd shot and paused to wave at Marc, holding up a single finger to tell him to wait a minute.

Once he had his arrow, Jeff headed to the ground just below the wall where Marc was standing.

“What's up?” Jeff asked.

“First off, good job on disrupting that guy's spell. That was all we needed to know what was up.”

Jeff preened under the praise.

“Secondly, are you any good at tracking or do I need ask Jack to do it?”

Marc finished.

Jeff used a single thumb to gesture back over his shoulder.

“Those tracks? A blind man could follow them.”

“Good, let's see if we can find out where these guys came from, shall we?” Marc said.

A few of the adventurers wanted to go as well, although most headed back towards the main Safe Zone.

“Hey Marc, what do you want to do with these buckets?” one of the non-combatants called.

“Keep it if you've got a use for it, otherwise they can get stacked inside the gate,” Marc replied.

“You got it, thanks.”

“No, thank you for actually responding and helping out.” Marc said, then he raised his voice.

“Thank you to all of you. I'd like to think if it weren't for all of us, we might've lost this Safe Zone today.”

He got a mixed chorus of “You're welcome” and “No problem” and the like so Marc shot them a grin, then looked to see who was going to go
tracking with them.

Jack was there, as was Doug. There was another trio of adventurers that Marc didn't recognize by name, a tank, a Scout, and a Mage by the looks of things. Marc's whole group was there as well.

“Well, let's go see if we can track these guys down.”

“Yeah, we'll show them not to mess with us,” Jack said.

“Or at least find out what the hell they thought they were doing,” Marc replied.

The first mile was incredibly easy to track. The bikes were riding through the burnt area, which was curiously cool already.

Did their magic force everything to burn up that would, so there are no embers left or something? Marc wondered.

Those tracks also told them how many people they were tracking. There were nine separate tire tracks in the fresh ash. Occasionally there was a hint of older tracks as well, but those had been partially filled in with ash, telling Marc that the newer ones weren't very old at all.

How could they be? We were on their trail shortly after they left.

After the first mile, the tracks swerved north until they reached unburned grass. They turned again, heading east once more at that point. The trail stopped at a pile of nine bikes just north of the valley where the fire had started. Down in that valley there was a pile of what looked like tires, still smoldering.

“Damn it, were they going to try to burn down the Safe Zone and hoped we'd come here, find the tires, and blame that?” Marc said.

“Maybe?” Jeff replied with a grin. “I'm glad I put paid to that nonsense. I can't make out a trail from here though.”

“Jack? How about you?” Marc asked.

“It looks like they grouped up on the north side of the bikes, there are a lot of tracks milling around there. I can't tell where they went after that though, they must have some way of obscuring a trail.”

“They've got a Thief with them,” Jeff said. “That's a skill I have available that I haven't taken yet. So, they have a Thief who did. Well, I suppose Scouts probably get it also and maybe some other rogue sub-classes, but you know what I mean.”

“I do,” Marc replied. “I wonder something though. Hey Jeff, would you Stealth and do some walking?”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“Well, I know that we're about midway between Marc's Gift,” he said, flushing a little at the name, “and the other Safe Zone we found and I'm guessing that's where our problem originated. Can you Stealth out, go maybe half a mile north and another half mile east? See if you can see their Safe Zone from there, and maybe see if they didn't hide all their tracks?”

Jeff smiled, shimmered, and disappeared.

“I guess I'll take that as a yes,” Marc said, then raised his voice in case Jeff had moved off already.

“We'll just wait right here for you.”

Jeff was back in half an hour.

“You find their trail?” Marc asked.

“For these guys headed wherever they're going?”

Marc nodded.

“Nope, but I did find a trail that led here made earlier today. It was a few hours back, I'm guessing.”

“And...”

“Well, I didn't follow it all the way back, but it sure looked like it was coming from the Safe Zone I could see off in the distance. You know, that one you insisted on talking to with just Felicia on the way back from the dun—” Jeff stopped and his eyes flickered around, taking in the non-group members.

“On the way back from the abandoned Safe Zone?” he finished.

Marc groaned at Jeff's reminder.

“Yeah, okay, maybe that wasn't the best plan. Who knows if they might've attacked if all of us showed up though.”

“Anyhow, I'd give a good hundred to one odds that that's where that trail came from. We can't know if they're from there for sure though, it could've been someone else using them as a stalking horse.”

“Yes, but with the reception they gave me before I doubt it was anyone just stopping by for a visit. Think you could manage to go back out and verify that the trail actually comes from there, and it wasn't from just someone that went nearby their Zone? I'd like to know if we have an actual enemy here or if someone's trying to pin something on them.”

“Sure, leave one of the bikes here and I'll ride it back. If you're walking I might even beat you back there.”

“Sounds like a plan. We'll meet you back at the main Safe Zone, okay?”

“Sure thing.”

He darted over and gave Ella a quick kiss.

“Be back soon, dear,” he said, just before shimmering and disappearing.

Ella just shook her head.

“Be careful out there,” was all she said.

“Anyone want a bike?” Marc said. “Most of my group has one, even if we don't have them with us.”

Soon there were bikes disappearing from sight as the others picked them up and tucked them into inventories. After those who didn't have one had each claimed a bike, Marc looked around his group. None of them seemed interested so he tucked the others into his own inventory.

“We can use these for small deliveries between the Safe Zones and the like. Be quicker, and probably safer, to run them on a bike as opposed to on foot,” he said.

Then they turned and headed back towards Marc's Gift and Any Port.

When they reached the smaller Safe Zone Marc had been planning on just skipping past it, but someone came running out.

“Hey Marc, we got a problem.”

“Again?” Marc said.

“Not like the other. It's just... a bunch of people showed up after you guys left. No decent quality weapons among them. They asked if they could join our Safe Zone. Said they'd been pretty much treated as slaves where they'd been and they recently heard someone talking over the walls about a better one nearby.”

“Well shit,” Marc said. “This is probably my fault. I'll at least take them back to Any Port. I'll have Conner sit in with me talking to them so he can see if they're lying about anything. Where are they?”

“We gave them some water and a little food, they're sitting on the ground inside the Safe Zone.”

Marc headed into the Safe Zone after asking the rest of the group to wait.

“So, you guys are looking to join a Safe Zone as equals, not as servants?” he asked.

“I recognize your voice,” one of them said. “You said your Safe Zone was bigger, but this isn't. Although the running water and power are a nice upgrade.”

“Guys, this isn't my primary Safe Zone, it's an outpost one. Come with me and I'll take you back to the main place. Then we'll sit down and have a chat, see what we can do and what skills you all have. And no, I won't force you to do any one thing in particular, but I also don't allow anyone to stay in the main Safe Zone if they aren't willing to pull their own weight. Those are the ground rules, right off, just so you know.”

He got a bunch of nods in response. There were seven people here and if Marc remembered right, the guy on the wall had said they only had seventeen people in total.

So, if he wasn't lying then the nine on the attack were all of their combat classes and these seven are all of their laborers. That leaves just the leader, who they said didn't have a combat class, so he wouldn't have gone along on the attack. He also wouldn't have been able to stop all these people leaving by himself though, so they took advantage of it and fled?

As he got them outside of the Safe Zone and started walking them towards Any Port, he gestured towards the wall around the outside of the larger Safe Zone.

“That's the Safe Zone I was talking about,” he said. “We've got all the high school area and a strip leading towards the downtown. We've got more than half the downtown claimed now too. Is that one big enough for you?”

Marc asked.

He didn't get an answer and when he turned to look at them, they were all staring at the walls of Any Port incredulously.

* * *

Chapter Thirty

When Marc took the new people into the Safe Zone, he asked one of the guards at the gate to track down Conner and send him to the meeting room in the Town Hall. There was a little grumbling on the guard's part, but he did it as he was headed up the road, so Marc wasn't going to complain.

Before Conner arrived, Jeff made it back. The rest of the group had been waiting down on the porch so as to not freak out the new arrivals and they sent Jeff right up.

Marc left the room to speak with the Thief.

“Definitely. There are tracks going out of there, headed down towards that valley where the fire started. Plus the guy got lazy and the last hundred yards or so into the Safe Zone the tracks returning to it were visible too,”

Jeff said.

“Well, that's good to know. We've got a bunch of people here that fled that Safe Zone. All the ones they were using for slave labor,” Marc said. “I haven't gotten the whole story from them yet. I'm waiting for Conner so he can use that truth related ability of his and I can make sure they're telling me the truth. I'm worried about a Trojan Horse type of deal and his telling me that they were telling the truth would go a long way towards relieving those worries.”

Jeff nodded.

“I can see that, but there aren't that many, are there?”

“Only seven, but we don't have that many wall guards right now with all the legionaries building the new encampment to turn into a Safe Zone,”

Marc replied.

“Point. Do you think we ought to spend more time than normal here in the Safe Zone until we're positive?”

“You know, that might not be the worst idea, Jeff. I know all of us except Rob have crafting skills now that we can practice. He might have one too, I
haven't asked, but you and Felicia have the alchemy stuff, potions and explosives. I've got leather working now, and Ella's working with the rats and spiders, right?”

Jeff nodded, shuddering slightly.

“I'm glad she doesn't try to drag me down to those spiders, I'll tell you that. The rats are great, she's got them doing little tricks. I'm not even sure if the spiders have hatched yet though.”

“Should be soon if they're going to and haven't already,” Marc said.

“So yeah, we've all got things we can do here for a day or two while we make sure these people settle in and aren't here to betray us.”

“I'm still going to have Conner with me to check,” Marc said. “I already asked for him to meet me here, so I might as well. Plus, like I said, if they pass his checks I'll be a lot more happy to have them around.”

Jeff nodded.

“So, yeah, we have an enemy out there. Do we need to post an extra watch or something?” Jeff asked.

“I'll ask dad's watch commander, Harry I think it was, to send some scouts out that way. They left most of the auxiliaries to guard the Safe Zone and I'm pretty sure dad said they had some scouts among them. If we keep an eye out that way so they can't surprise us again, that should hopefully work.”

“If it doesn't come in the next few days, then it probably won't for a while. If they had these guys doing all the scut work and now they don't have anyone for that, I foresee problems for them.”

“Yes, I agree. We'll keep an extra eye out that way for three or four days.

If we don't have problems from them by that point, then we probably won't for a while,” Marc said.

Marc heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Sounds like Conner is here now. Thanks, Jeff. It's good to know exactly where our enemies are coming from.”

“No problem. If you're interested I could probably do something about that place. Not total it or anything, but you know, drop a bomb or two in on top of them, keep them too busy worrying about their own place to attack ours.”

Marc opened his mouth to tell Jeff that they'd do nothing of the sort, then snapped it shut.

Because it really isn't that bad of an idea and they did try to destroy one of our Safe Zones first, he thought.

“I'll keep it in mind. Assuming you can actually deliver as promised.”

“Oh, hey, no problem. I've got a delivery system and everything. I'd do impact bombs, first impact arms the bomb, second detonates it. Earl can make me a delivery system that would work for that, one that I could carry even. His spring stuff is really useful for things like that and would also provide the first impact.”

I'd already forgotten about Earl. I'll need to see if he got those springs that he wanted. If not, a short jaunt with my group to get some of those would keep us close to the Safe Zone in case of trouble also.

“Bombs, Marc?” Conner asked, obviously having overheard part of the conversation.

“Yes. We've got another Safe Zone a few miles to the east. They just tried to use their Mages and the dry grass to make it look like a grass fire burned out the Marc's Gift Safe Zone,” Marc said. “Jeff suggested it as an eye for an eye measure. I'm not going to turn him down out of hand since I've got no idea what they intend on trying next. They were keeping people as the next best thing to slaves, from the accounts of said people.”

Conner cocked his head.

“And you need me for?”

“All those people, the ones claiming to be used as slaves? They're sitting in the meeting room. I need you to use that truth skill you were telling me about to make sure they're being honest and aren't part of another plot to take us out.”

Conner nodded.

“Can do. Did you want to sit in on it?”

“I'll introduce you, but I think they'll talk more freely if I'm not in there.

They didn't seem all that intimidated by me, but if they discover I'm the holder of this place they may associate that with the guy that was using them.”

“That might be a good plan,” Conner said. “We can try it. I'll see if they're willing to talk. If not, then that could indicate some sort of hidden motive.”

“Okay, I told them I was bringing you in to explain the rules and laws for the Safe Zone. Can you work with it from there?”

“Sure, it would be a normal conversational tactic to go to how things were like at the last Safe Zone they were at from there. I can do that.”

“Good, let's go in then.”

Marc introduced Conner, told the new people that he was in charge of, essentially, the police for the Safe Zone, and that he'd be telling them the rules and laws of the Safe Zone.

Which I probably ought to familiarize myself with as well. They said they based it on the laws we used to use before the System, but significantly simplified. So I could just act the way I used to and be fine. Still, I probably ought to read them, Marc thought.

“Alright Conner, I'll leave you to this. Catch me when you're done here, okay? I'm going to chat with my mom, then I'll be on the porch for a while reviewing this stuff myself.”

“Okay Marc. I'll do that. Go on, get out of here.”

Conner shooed him away and Marc was confused, for all of about three seconds.

Wait, he's showing them that he can treat the holder of the Safe Zone that way while still deferring to him. Smart move on his part. Although they won't put that together until they find out I'm the holder, so maybe it's supposed to be a subconscious thing? I've got no clue, my Charisma isn't
good enough to figure this out yet. I wonder if figuring this out would even fall under the effects of Charisma?

Marc went down to his mom's office. After chatting for a couple of minutes and verifying that Harry was the name of the watch commander, and that he was still here heading the wall guard, Marc headed out to the porch and nearly bored himself to sleep reading through the new laws that had been instituted for the Safe Zone.

It's not like they're actually boring or anything, but they're so similar to what we used to have that it feels boring. At least they're in plain English and not legalese like half of the old ones were.

The laws essentially covered: personal safety, property laws, communal safety, and a few other minor things. The only rule they'd instituted was Marc's from before: Pull your own weight. The rest were laws, and boring at that. Marc hoped they'd covered all the important aspects that would be needed.

Not that there's anything stopping us from adding new laws in if we need to, still consistency would be nice, he thought.

He was done reviewing the laws well before Conner was done talking with the people upstairs, so he just sat there in the sun for a bit, doing nothing whatsoever.

* * *

Conner plopped into the chair beside Marc.

“They're good. They really were being used for slave labor. It hadn't gotten beyond that, but a couple of the women there are sure it would've before too much longer,” Conner said. “They wanted to apologize though. I don't know if you know what happened, but they managed to slip out last night. They're pretty sure the attack on Marc's Gift happened because they did that. There had been talk about attacking you that they overheard, but nothing firm yet.”

“Well, there wasn't any harm done except for panicking a bunch of people, so I can let that slide to free these guys,” Marc said. “I'm assuming they're still upstairs? I wasn't out of it enough to not notice seven people walk past me.”

“Yes, they are. They're waiting for you to tell them what to do.”

Marc groaned.

“Okay then. I'm not going to do that, but I know what I will do. I'll get my mom to talk to them, find out what skills they have that they want to use, and assign them to those areas. She can get them quarters as well.”

“There you go, Marc. You're learning just fine. Delegating is a fine art and you seem to be mastering it,” Conner said, grinning.

Marc shook his head.

“Yeah, but I still feel guilty every time I do it. Even if it is to the person best suited for the job.”

“You can't do everything yourself, Marc. Even if you could, it wouldn't be healthy for you.”

Conner stood and excused himself, heading back up the road towards the keep. Marc turned and went inside the Town Hall, stopping at his mother's office first, then bringing her up to the meeting room with the new people.

Marc headed down to talk to Harry about getting scouts out to the east, explaining why also. Once he'd done that, he left and beat a hasty retreat towards the tannery. When he got there he resumed work on the project he'd been working on when called out earlier.

He was still working on simple things like water skins, but they were going together easier and quicker than they had been. He'd even picked up another point in leather working from doing them.

It's like making those little wallet kits at summer camp, or the moccasins.

A great way to start, but definitely not anything to be excited about, he thought.

His stomach was rumbling and he realized he'd missed lunch. If he wanted to get dinner and not have to buy something from the shop, he had
to head out shortly. This time he put his project materials away before leaving, then headed up to the cafeteria.

He was still eating when Jeff sat down beside him.

“Hey, that plan I was talking about is a go if you want. Earl already had the design for a small catapult, spring loaded. All I'd need to do is sneak out there and I could lob a few bombs into their Safe Zone. Just give me the word.”

Marc swallowed.

“I thought we decided to hold off on that.”

“Yeah, well, I talked to some of the guys that got out of there. It was the old 'the beatings will continue until morale approves' day in and day out from what he told me. Means I'm a little pissed at those assholes. They actually expected these guys to be happy that they were being used as slaves.”

Marc just stared at Jeff.

“Honest, that's what they told me. The combat classers kept telling these guys that they were lucky to be doing what they were and getting fed the tiny little portions of crap that they were getting. All while these guys were serving the combat classers much better food in much larger amounts,” Jeff said. “Come on, I get some power fantasies myself from time to time, but even I never thought about crap like that.”

“Well, we've got scouts out watching them, or that area at least. If they continue to try to attack or harass us, then we'll go through with your plan,”

Marc said.

The rest of the group was staring at the two of them, so Marc explained.

“Jeff offered to return the favor to these guys. They wanted to attack our Safe Zone, so he made a plan to attack theirs in return, with explosives.”

Felicia nodded, not looking all that put out about the concept. Ella just grinned at Jeff, but Rob sat there blinking.

“Really? I mean, I know they attacked us, but Jeff wants to bomb them?”

“Talk to some of the people that came from there, Rob. Then criticize my plan if you still feel the need,” was all Jeff said.

“I think we'll wait, but if they pull crap like that again, if they attack us again? You can go out that very night and bomb the shit out of them. Okay, Jeff?” Marc said.

“I think you're going soft, Marc, but we'll try it your way.”

* * *

The next two days were pretty uneventful, Marc practiced his Leather Working skill up to a five and put in the Non-Wired Communication option at both Any Port and Marc's Gift. He also spent some time with Reggie, making sure he was grasping the additional math he'd need to do much with Mana Manipulation. They stayed uneventful until the second afternoon.

Then Marc got a message that Harry wanted to see him. When he tracked down the watch commander, there were two, hopefully separate, sets of news.

“I've had scouts out to the east, like you wanted,” Harry said. “Those guys at that other Safe Zone have been doing something that had them in and out of the walls all day today. The other bit of news is that your gamekeeper, Ramon? He says he found footprints at the far south end of the Wildlife Preserve, really small footprints, but bipedal and shod. He said he's guessing four to five feet tall, but his tracking isn't that great. I put a request in with one of the adventurer Hunters to go out and take a look.”

“Okay,” Marc said. “We probably ought to keep an eye out for the rest of today and tomorrow regarding those bozos from the other Safe Zone. I don't think they could do much if we were ready for them, but if they catch us by surprise they might be able to do something. If there's an empty building at the other Safe Zone, then my group can plan on crashing there. We'll be handy if the problem is there and if it's here, you can use the communications between the Safe Zones to call us in and we'll hit them from behind.”

“Want me to keep some of the adventurers up overnight, just in case?”

“If they're willing, then yes. With what we've got for information I can't really make a case for it being of the type to qualify for the defend the Safe Zone clause in our laws. Ron's group, though, is very focused on keeping people safe since they stopped finding more survivors. Also, I can probably call in a favor and get Jayden's group to stay up overnight. We helped them with gaining classes early on so they might think they owe us. The added bonus is that those are probably the second and third highest level groups in the Safe Zone, too.”

“I'll let you talk to them about it,” Harry said. “If they agree, ask them to come down here and let me know. We'll need a reaction point to gather people at. The Phantom Guards set off an alarm if someone shows up, right?”

“Yes, from the location the intrusion is at, so you'll know where. Plus, they're mainly defensive so they'd probably slow them down a bit also,”

Marc said.

“Good, good,” Harry said. “I hate to do it, but I think having the reaction point at the front gate is the best choice. That way if they attack the other Safe Zone we can get there quickly. If they attack near the back gate, though? Well that could be a problem.”

“Don't forget the guardian,” Marc said. “I can assign the Gargoyle to patrol instead of sit over the front door. I've just been leaving him there because he can get anywhere in the Safe Zone within a minute or two by flying there. I can set him to patrol the skies, keep watch on anything approaching, and notify you should he find anything.”

“I guess I know why you weren't too worried about wall guards before we got here,” Harry said.

“We were a lot smaller then and I had the Gargoyle set to respond to Phantom Guard alarms, plus all the adventurers would have helped defend.

We're more spread out now though and that makes it a little bit harder, especially with all the legionaries away.”

“Well, I got a message from your father today as well. He thinks they'll complete the encampment to the point it can become a Safe Zone at some time tomorrow. They've been getting a fair number of advances in the skill, more than they expected, since it's a less hospitable site this time. That's making it go faster.”

“Good, I'll be happy to have them back.”

“Well, your dad is thinking that he'll spread the legionaries between the three Safe Zones after they're all set. So they won't all be back. He also said that the new recruits he'd picked up seemed to be working out. There were eight originally that wanted to try the class. Six have managed to pick it up well, the other two had quit before the legion marched to the mine, so all the remaining ones are working out.”

“Good, good. Which reminds me, I have to check with the administrator and make sure everyone has a position that they are content to be in. I think she would've taken care of it if she had problems, but it's always good to check in. Especially when I had my dad backing her up if there were problems and he's been gone a few days.”

“Alright, you go talk to those other two groups and have them get with me if they're willing, okay?”

“You got it, Harry. I'll get my group and we'll let you know when we're heading out so you can get a hold of us if necessary.”

Marc found first Ron and then Jayden. Each of them agreed to keeping their groups on at least a partially awake status overnight with the others ready to wake up quickly. They'd all picked up bedrolls, so they'd just camp out at the reaction point. Setting the Gargoyle to a different procedure only took another minute and then he gathered up his own group.

They headed out, letting Harry know along the way, then set up in one of the three homes still empty in the smaller Safe Zone. They weren't nearly as fancy as the ones in Any Port, but they still had indoor plumbing, running water, and their own little kitchen. It was a bit crowded with five of them, but with two in the bedroom and three in the living room it wasn't too bad.

Once it got dark, they'd have two of them on the walls at all times, looking for problems.

Marc had chosen to take the watch in the early morning hours. Since he was frequently waking up partway through that watch he had no problem with sleeping before going on duty and just getting up a bit early. Jeff and Felicia had taken the first watch, with Jeff going off watch and Ella going on two hours later. Then Felicia and Rob switched. Finally Marc was taking Ella's place. A couple of hours before dawn Jeff was due to switch out with Rob. This way they didn't have any of the couples on at the same time to be distracted, but they had double coverage throughout the night.

Marc and Rob were still on duty when something caught Marc's attention.

There had been night creature sounds: crickets, birds, the scurrying of small creatures in the short grass outside the Safe Zone, but all of the sudden the sounds dimmed, only coming from three directions, no longer from the east. There'd been fewer sounds from the east due to the recent burning, but now there were none at all.

“Rob,” Marc hissed, not whispering since that would carry, but trying to get the Tank's attention and keeping it soft.

Rob was there a moment later.

“Listen,” Marc said softly.

Rob shook his head.

“All the animal sounds stopped from the east,” Marc said.

Now Rob nodded, peering out to the east.

“Get the others. If you hear a fight start, call the other adventurers from Any Port,” Marc said.

Rob just dropped from the wall, the six foot drop from the walkway behind the wall nothing to him nowadays. As he started moving away, a point of light caught Marc's attention. It was racing towards the Safe Zone, but not him.

He recognized it as a Fireball and took advantage of the fast casting time of the Anti-Magic Shield, creating one as he raced towards the impact point. He was barely in time to will the Shield into place after he got it cast
and the spell coming towards the Shield struck it, and died. The Shield hadn't been expended yet either and hung there until Marc pulled it back to himself.

“Don't bother,” Marc yelled. “We can protect from fire now. Piddly old fireball didn't even have enough damage to destroy the protections.”

He was bluffing, really. He knew they had enough casters of one sort or another to hold up the five walls of flame they'd used earlier, but he really didn't think they had that many straight Mages.

Maybe they figured out how to hand off control of a spell or something?

Because otherwise I'm sure they would've done more than just run away when we broke down those walls of fire before, he thought.

Marc wondered about his conclusion a moment later when two sparks of light started racing towards the wall. He positioned himself and the remains of his Anti-Magic Shield in front of one of them and started casting a Water Jet, holding it just before completion. As the first spell hit his shield and dissipated, the second one hit the wall about twenty-five feet away and started expanding into a ball of flame, igniting the wood of the wall.

Marc completed his spell, targeting it on the expanding ball of flame and discovering that in Magic, or at least this case, water trumped fire. Once the ball was extinguished he targeted the rest of the spell on the wood that had ignited, quickly putting the fire out and leaving only a small scorched section of wood.

A moment later he had company on the wall. Ella was on one side of him and Jeff on the other.

“Where are they?” Jeff asked.

“At the edge of the tall grass. Out of sight,” Marc replied.

“Let's fix that then. Like we practiced Ella, light my arrow?”

Ella cast a light spell focused on the fletching of the arrow Jeff had drawn and nocked. He aimed for the general area where Marc had gestured and released. The arrow, with its accompanying light, soared out into the night and impacted the ground about ten feet away from where Marc had seen the spells originate.

Now they could see their opponents. There were five of them, which left Marc a little nervous since he knew that there were nine combat classers remaining with the other Safe Zone.

Did the others stay home to protect their own base, are they going to attack us from the rear here, or are they going for Any Port? he wondered.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

“Where are Felicia and Rob?” Marc asked, noting the positions of the five opponents outside the walls.

“They're at the far wall.” Jeff said. “There's an attack there also.”

“Why do we have both of our Mages here then?” Marc asked, trying to figure out the angle to do what he wanted to do.

“They've got the auxiliary wall guards with them there, two of them, and one's a Mage.”

Marc had taken the time to teach several of his father's auxiliaries how to become a Mage, so evidently one of those people was here, assigned as a guard.

“Should've sent him here and left Ella there, none of them are that strong yet.”

Jeff saw an opponent expose themselves for a moment and launched an arrow which resulted in a yelp of pain.

“He was already fighting. Felicia gave Ella the healing staff so we could heal and sent us this way,” Jeff said.

“Watch your eyes,” Marc said, loud enough for both Jeff and Ella to hear him.

Marc had figured his angle now, so he raced up the wall a little, then cast a Lightning Flash, carefully aiming it. The bolt of lightning raced just a foot or two in front of one of the opposing Mages, while striking the other one dead on.

The Mage it struck dropped, and the other started screaming about being blind. Now Marc had the chance to do something about the spells they'd been casting while he was talking with Jeff and calculating his angle. The wall was burning in three different spots so while the attackers were indisposed from his spell, he started in on another Water Jet.

The one spell lasted long enough to douse all three burning spots since they weren't far apart from one another. Marc had ignored dodging while he targeted those and he paid for his negligence, having to tear an arrow out of his arm after the spell was over.

Arrows flew towards those on the wall since two of the three non-Mage attackers had bows in use, but their shots were few and far between since Jeff was watching with a nocked and drawn arrow. Any time they showed themselves to fire an arrow, he got off a shot at them. Marc had been hit twice and Jeff once. Ella was staying mostly crouched down behind the wall, occasionally rising just far enough to cast a Mana Dart or Fireball at their opponents.

Marc heard the people outside the walls talking, shouting back and forth at one another.

“Goddamn it! Dwayne's dead. I thought you assholes were supposed to protect us!”

“From that shit? I can protect you from arrows or swords, but magic?

And a spell like that? If I'd tried, it would've just hit all of us anyway.”

“Screw this crap, I'm outta here. Have fun storming the castle,” the man who'd been blinded temporarily said. “I'm outta here.”

Marc looked out and saw the second Mage, the one who'd been blinded for a bit, rummaging through the corpse of the Mage that had gone down to his Lightning Flash. Then the Mage stood and turned to leave.

None of that now, you'll just be back another day if I let you go, Marc thought, his conscience twinging a bit.

He started casting a Mana Dart, but twisted it differently from normal.

He had a good grasp of the symbol for electrical damage now, so he plugged that in, hoping for some sort of stun or something else to slow the fleeing Mage for a minute.

As he finished the spell, the four darts whizzed out into the night, their white-blue flashing passage through the dark accompanied by the sound of a Doppler effected joy buzzer. He found himself shaking his head at the incongruity of the noise as he watched the darts strike the fleeing Mage.

Jeff did more than shake his head. Evidently he'd heard the sound also since he was now openly laughing.

“Jeff, don't just stand there laughing,” Marc snapped. “If the Mage gets away we'll just have to deal with him some other time. Shoot him already.”

Jeff didn't stop laughing, but he did bring it down to just an ongoing chuckle as he aimed at the Mage. When Marc's darts had hit, the Mage seemed to have a moment of clumsiness, stumbling as though his limbs weren't obeying him well, but now he was scrambling back to his feet.

Unfortunately for him, that left him unmoving as Jeff's arrow raced out into the night.

Marc wasn't standing still either, casting another Mana Dart, this time non-aspected. About the same time he finished his spell, darts also came racing out from Ella's hands. She'd either overheard him telling Jeff to target the Mage or come to the same conclusion herself, but when the arrow and total of seven Mana Darts struck the Mage, he never even managed to get all the way back to his feet before falling again. This time he wasn't trying to get back to his feet, he wasn't moving at all.

“What ya gonna do now, boys?” Jeff yelled, in a teasing, taunting fashion. “Looks like your artillery is all gone. Gonna storm the walls all by your lonesome selves? You're welcome to try, and we'll give you a really warm welcome.”

As Jeff taunted, Ella released a Fireball spell just before he got to the word warm. It detonated, catching only a single man since they weren't close enough together for it to get more of them.

Did they practice that or does she know him well enough to have guessed what he was doing? Marc wondered.

Even as he wondered, he started to add his own portion to their warm welcome, targeting the same man who'd been hit with the Fireball and releasing a fire-aspected Mana Dart spell at him.

That attacker launched an arrow at Ella, who was still standing, starting in on a new spell. The arrow struck her and Jeff got instantly serious. He targeted the man who'd shot Ella and released his arrow, quickly nocking
and drawing another one. Marc cast another Mana Dart at the same man, and Ella managed to not lose her cast from the wound. Letting off her own Mana Dart a moment after Marc's.

The target got another arrow off, but this time Ella was getting back down into a crouch and it whistled over her head as she dropped. Their target wouldn't be getting any more shots in though, since Jeff's next arrow dropped him.

The other two had been shooting right along, but Marc had started ignoring their arrows. They weren't well made, he'd noticed that when he tore one out, and only had field point arrowheads so they didn't tear up the wound very much. He'd checked and his health had barely dropped from the first one that hit him, maybe by ten points only, so he could ignore them for the time being.

Well, as much as you can ignore getting stung by a bee or something, he commented to himself mentally as another arrow struck his arm. I'm not in danger of being dropped by them any time soon though.

With Mana Dart being his most cost effective single target spell, he stuck to that, casting it over and over. The two men still out there had more health than any of the others did though, and it was taking time.

The occasional flash of light from the other side of the Safe Zone had him worried, but he wasn't going to abandon Jeff and Ella to go check it out.

Although, maybe the most cost efficient isn't the best option. Lightning Flash might give us debuffs on them. It looked like the electrical Mana Dart did also, so which to use?

The fact that the two attackers still out there had taken a lot of damage already and were still standing decided him.

“Hey Ella, see the guy wearing more metal armor? Let's give him a hot time, shall we?” Marc called out.

He'd seen several green flashes in the last few seconds and was pretty sure she'd been using the healing staff on herself and maybe Jeff. Marc's Health was only down a couple hundred points from the arrows he'd been
taking so he wasn't worried about getting any heals for himself yet, but he wanted the extra damage on the guy he was going to target so he wanted her to back him up.

He finished his cast, the lightning flashing from his hands to strike the man wearing almost a full suit of metal armor. He'd figured that it could only help his targeting with an electrical spell, plus since the other one had a metal breastplate, but leather elsewhere, he imagined that this target was the stronger of the two.

Ella's Fireball arrived a few moments after Marc's lightning. There'd already been a glowing, red-hot spot on the man's armor where Marc had hit it, and now Ella's ball of flame grew and enveloped the man.

Jeff, not to be outdone, was firing over and over at the same man. The other one, seeing the barrage of damage on his compatriot, shook his head and slipped backwards, disappearing into the darkness.

The man they'd been hitting with all the damage roared, that was the only term for it since it left Marc's ears ringing. While roaring he pulled out a massive ax from his inventory and raced towards the wall. His armor was glowing red and the man had to be taking damage from its heat, but he ignored it as he slammed into the wall with his ax.

What the hell, is this guy some sort of berserker or something? Marc wondered.

He leaned over the wall a touch and launched another Mana Dart at the man in his glowing hot armor. Jeff disappeared, the last thing Marc had seen of him was the Thief stowing his bow and pulling out his gladius. Ella was firing Mana Darts at the berserker as well, but slowly. Marc recognized the signs of low mana between her deliberation in casting and her paling face.

Marc noticed the shimmer behind the berserker and a moment later Jeff appeared, his sword striking at the man's throat. He hit, but the berserker twisted at the last moment, turning to face Jeff.

“Marc, stun him!” Jeff yelled.

I can't use a Lightning Flash, that'd hit Jeff also. I'm not sure what the effect of the lightning Mana Dart is, so...

Marc drew his new gladius and, shield on his other arm, leapt off the wall. With the berserker facing Jeff, Marc had a wide open shot at the man's back, which he took with his sword. Marc struck the berserker's neck with his gladius and then, before his feet hit the ground so his falling momentum would be added to the skill, he triggered a Shield Bash, leaning forward into it to transfer more of the fall into the skill.

The berserker wasn't stunned, but he was thrown from his feet, right onto the ground in front of Jeff. Jeff struck again with his gladius, drawing a heavy stream of blood from the man's scalp. Then Marc was recovering his balance, his knees aching from the drop. He struck again as well, at the open spot in the man's armor right behind his knee.

Ella leaned over the wall and shot a Mana Dart spell. As the three darts struck the berserker, he began to convulse. When he managed to roll himself over with his motions, Marc noticed the froth on his mouth. Jeff struck a final time, which Marc thought unnecessary since it looked like the berserker was already dying, but Jeff drove his gladius straight into the man's mouth, out the back of his throat, and into the dirt beneath him.

“I figured you'd hit him with the lightning spell to stun him, not jump on his ass,” Jeff said, after leaving his sword in the man and stepping back a pace.

“Oh, you really wanted to take some lightning damage? It's a single target spell, but it does tend to affect other people in the vicinity and with the tiny bit of distance between him and me, I'm pretty sure it would've gone all over the place,” Marc said.

Jeff just shrugged, then stood and watched the berserker finish convulsing.

“Guys, I think they're still fighting down the other end,” Ella called out.

The resulting curse came in near unison from Marc and Jeff.

“Shit!”

Marc knew that he couldn't get back over the wall in anything resembling a short time, so he started trotting, slowly speeding up, around the outer wall. Jeff swarmed back up over the wall as Marc left.

“I'll let them know you'll be out there,” Jeff called.

* * *

Marc came racing around the Safe Zone and found Rob, in all his glory, and his devastated equipment, in hand to hand with two men. There were two corpses lying on the ground nearby as well.

And that makes nine. Unless the guy who ran away comes back, this should be everyone we need to deal with, Marc thought.

Rob flashed with a golden light, then several flashes of green light, and Marc knew that he was being hard pressed. If Ella had shown up and immediately started using the staff on him then Felicia was either out of mana, or pressed by something else.

And since I think we've accounted for everyone, she must've run her mana out keeping him healed.

Marc stepped up the pace, not that he could go much faster than he already was, and pushed his shield out in front of him. He targeted Rob's opponent that was closest to him and let go with a Shield Bash backed up by his full running speed.

The man hadn't seen Marc coming since he was totally focused on Rob.

Both the attackers were already covered in blood and wounds, as was Rob himself. Now, as one went flying, Rob quickly reacted, stepping in with an attack on the second one. With no-one else to help keep Rob occupied, the second man was overmatched and quickly fell to Rob's ax.

Marc had put on the brakes, still not managing to stop until several feet after the prone body of the man he'd Shield Bashed. He turned and went for him, just as Rob did the same. When they both arrived, the man was trying to scramble to his feet, but Rob's ax and Marc's gladius put him back down on the ground, for good this time.

“Good timing, Marc,” Rob said, after spending a couple seconds to breathe deeply. “I was out of stamina and couldn't use any more of my specials.”

“You're welcome,” Marc replied, barely having caught his own breath after the fighting and sprinting. “Why in the world did you come down here into melee though?”

“They had a Mage tossing fire spells at the wall, trying to burn it. The only one with an attack that could reach was one of the guards, but he wasn't doing enough damage to stop the guy. So I came down and did it myself.”

Marc glanced over at the wall, seeing several charred spots that were larger than the ones on the other end. He quickly realized that there was also a spray of water moving back and forth over all the charred spots making sure they were thoroughly extinguished.

“Who has a spell like that?” he asked aloud, before feeling stupid. “Wait, that's just a regular old garden hose they're using, isn't it?”

Rob looked back and nodded.

“The guards weren't being a lot of use in the fight, so when the Mage one ran out of mana, he ran and got the hose. The other one was hauling buckets too.”

Marc nodded.

Dad did say that the auxiliaries were all only level two and three. I guess I know who we need to send through the kobolds first. Maybe a legionary leading a group of auxiliaries? Repeat as necessary until all the auxiliaries get a few more levels? Legionaries too, although they're liable to have picked some levels up at the mine encampment.

He also remembered that his father had reported that the encampment should be completed today.

It's going to be a long day with an early start, he thought.

“Alright, let's loot these guys then take a look around since one of ours fled, after that we'll head back inside the Safe Zone. Anyone who needs
more sleep can get it. We need to go to the mine today also, my dad said the encampment should be ready so we can get another Safe Zone and Capture all the land between the three.”

The party quickly looted, actually finding several items that Marc would need to identify. Not knowing if the corpses would dissipate like the spawns, they piled them well away from the walls of the Safe Zone, out in the taller grass.

While they were looting Jayden and Ron's groups arrived from Any Port.

“Oh, I see,” Ron said. “You just wanted us to help bury the corpses?”

“I mean, we could dig a grave for them, but fuck these guys,” Jeff said.

“Let the spawns and wild animals have their corpses if they want. We weren't doing anything to them and they attacked us anyhow.”

Jayden's group headed back to the main Safe Zone while Ron offered his group to keep an eye on things for a bit when they heard that one of the attackers had gotten away.

Ella, Felicia, and Jeff all said they were going to need more sleep before they'd be ready to head to the mine, so he and Rob headed over to the shop in the smaller Safe Zone and picked up some breakfast.

Oh hell, Marc thought. There aren't any taxes listed here. I wonder if we can link the tax settings for the main Safe Zone to this one and have them show up here also. I'll need to check that at some point when I'm in the Town Hall.

Once the others had slept, and grabbed some food, it was probably nine o'clock by the time they headed back to Any Port. They weren't going to go into the larger Safe Zone but had discussed trying to get to the mine from where they were and decided to avoid any encounters they could. The route from Any Port was being traveled daily so it should have a much lower chance of encounters.

* * *

The walk from Any Port to the mine was mostly uneventful. There was one point where the road led through a meadow and Marc stopped for a moment, to stare at the rabbit he saw. The thing was nearly five times the size of a normal rabbit and, he was pretty sure, was growing antlers out of its head.

He quickly pointed it out to the rest of the group.

“Well, that answers another part of the what we'll see for Legendary spawns question,” he said. “Because I'll eat my hat if that isn't a jackalope.”

“Marc? You're not wearing a hat,” Rob said.

Marc just shook his head.

“I'm sure you know that's just a saying, Rob.”

“Just giving you a hard time,” Rob answered with a grin.

“Let's keep going. I'll make a note to see if any of the hunters want to come out to this place and see if that's a single one or if there are multiples.

With their size, they'd probably provide a lot of meat, but I'm not sure I'd want it killed if it's the only one,” Marc said.

“Move it to the Wildlife Preserve?” Jeff asked.

“The Wildlife Preserve is for native creatures. I'm pretty sure that doesn't qualify,” Marc replied.

“There is that, still, it'd be nice to have it somewhere we can show it to other people, you know?”

“Later, Jeff. It'll certainly be safer in this area later on after we do the Capture. If it's in the Captured area at least. We can see then. I'm not sure how you'd trap it without hurting it. I'm betting those antlers would cut right through a net.”

“Not a wire one,” Jeff said, grinning.

“Oh sure, you're going to pester Earl for a way to catch a jackalope?”

“Why not? He used to send me on snipe hunts in his junkyard often enough,” Jeff muttered.

The rest of the trip went without issue, the only creatures visible being normal, non-mutated ones. When they made it to the mine, there were guards at the bottom of the road and the stairs. They saluted the group, then sent them on up.

“Marc, just in time. If I'm calculating this right, it'll be about another half hour before the encampment will support a Safe Zone,” Sean said.

“Any problems, dad?”

“Yes and no. Attacks? Yes, those bugbears are a nuisance. Problems?

No, we've been able to take them on with no losses. Wounded, yes, but that's what the Clinicus is for. Most of my men have gained a level while we've been here, so that's good.”

“So, it sounds like things have gone well. I wanted to ask, though, do you intend to leave a legionary detachment here after it's a Safe Zone?”

“I was going to leave a few auxiliaries, why?”

“Well, the auxiliaries really need some more levels. The ones on guard in Marc's Gift were useful when we were attacked early this morning, but more as support than actually defending the Safe Zone. They'd be fine for most of the spawns we've seen, but if other adventurers attack? Not so much.”

“Wait, you were attacked by other adventurers? I heard a rumor that the fire was from them. Hell, we could see the smoke from here, but they attacked also?”

“I think the fire was their first attack attempt. We disrupted it though.

They made an actual physical attack early this morning, pre-dawn. I had my group there, because we got refugees from their Safe Zones that had been used as slave labor and they warned us that the combat classes there had been discussing attacking us. A few other things had us suspecting it would be soon, so we spent the night in Marc's Gift. Wiped the attackers out, except for one guy who ran off.”

Sean peered at Marc closely.

“Don't worry, dad. I'm sure it'll give me nightmares, but it was us or them. They weren't the first people I had to kill either, even if I don't count
the Sternns. So, no worries for the moment. Maybe when I go to sleep next though.”

Sean still looked worried.

“I've got it, dad. Plus I have people to talk to about it if I need to do that.

I'll be okay. For now I'm just focusing on the things I've got to get done.

Like making this place into a Safe Zone and running your auxiliaries through the kobolds a few times. Well, probably having one of your legionaries lead them through it, but close enough.”

Sean just nodded.

“Alright then, let me check on the encampment.”

His eyes went distant for a moment, then he nodded.

“The cooks still have some food on the fire. If you grab some and eat it at a reasonable rate, then the encampment should be ready for you once you finish.”

Marc headed over to the rest of his group and told them there was food if they wanted it. He was thinking it was a pretty good plan himself, so he went and got some. After he'd eaten, he tracked down his father again.

“Is it ready?” Marc asked.

Sean nodded.

“Go for it. It'll ask me to authorize you creating a Safe Zone here if I'm reading the help right, but I'll just authorize it right off and you should be good.”

Create Safe Zone, Marc thought.

Waiting for authorization... blinked in his mind for several moments before disappearing and being replaced by a more familiar screen.

You have sufficient resources to create a basic Safe Zone in this area.

Resources required:

Wood: 1000/1000

Stone: 1000/1000

Metal: 1000/1000

Designate power source for Safe Zone:

Dungeon Core – common – good

Uncommon System Token

Uncommon System Token

Rare System Token

For the briefest of moments Marc considered the dungeon core, quickly deciding that it was better to save the cores for Any Port as opposed to any of the outpost Safe Zones. He selected the first of the uncommon System tokens and designated it as the power source.

A familiar looking pedestal rose up from the ground in front of him and he quickly accessed the interface. He selected a field as the thing to build, since then they could produce some of their own food here.

He didn't expand the base area of the Safe Zone, instead discovering he'd been correct. An uncommon System token provided essentially three slots, one for creation and the others usable for expansion, towards any of the upgrades he'd seen on Marc's Gift, or some of the less common buildings.

He left the base size and chose power and water for the Safe Zone. Then he started in on the wire-frame. Without changing the overall size, he changed the shape, trying to get the Safe Zone's area to cover as much of the mine as possible.

Finally he started to type in the name of the Safe Zone he'd decided on.

He winced as he realized that he hadn't run it past his group, but went ahead and typed it in anyhow.

When he accepted the changes, he was greeted with an unexpected message.

This Safe Zone contains the entrance to an existing mine. Do you wish to claim the mine for the Safe Zone? Beware, spawns may still generate in mine areas that are not within the Safe Zone. (y/n) Marc quickly selected yes.

Because that, at least, should guarantee that there are areas in the mine where they can't spawn. We'll mark those out and can keep guards on the other areas as needed, he thought.

Engage Capture Protocol between Any Port, Marc's Gift, and The Mine?

(y/n)

With one last 'yes' he finalized the Safe Zone selections and the encampment began to morph into a Safe Zone. As that happened his notification light began to flash again. He pulled it up, still stinging from the System nagging him about ignoring them, then groaned as two long messages popped up back to back.

System Message:

You have claimed a third Safe Zone. This is an action of note and you will receive bonuses for this act.

You have been awarded: Rare System Token

You have gained Renown: +5, for claiming a third Safe Zone.

You have gained the option to Share Library: This function will make anything that is available in the library of any of your Safe Zones available in all of them.

System Message:

For engaging Capture Protocol and encircling a section of unclaimed land with multiple Safe Zones your title of Landlord has been upgraded to Land Baron. Title bonuses are cumulative unless otherwise indicated. All bonuses from Landlord remain in place, additional bonuses are given for Land Baron.

Land Baron: While the land that makes up a Safe Zone may not be sold or gifted, land encircled by a Safe Zone or Safe Zones is not constrained by that rule. Your land claimed with the Capture Protocol may be rented, sharecropped, gifted, or otherwise disposed of as desired. If the land changes ownership from the holder, taxes may be due to the holder of the

Safe Zones encircling the land on a yearly basis. It will remain non-spawning, but is still in danger if spawns manage to make it to this area.

Safe Zone bonuses of any sort are not counted in land claimed with the Capture Protocol.

As a Land Baron your land is more valuable. Land Captured by you may be maintained by a Steward. When a Steward is in charge of your Captured land, all construction will take 10% fewer materials and proceed 10%
faster. In addition all fields created in your Captured land will have a 10%
growth speed bonus and a 10% harvest bonus.

You have gained Renown: +5, for upgrading a title.

“No! Not again! No more, please,” Marc yelled as he finished reading the notification.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two

“What is it, Marc?” Felicia asked, a concerned look on her face as she approached him after his outburst.

Marc pulled his face out of his hands where it had sunk after he'd noticed the two Renown boosts. He quickly shared the screens with her.

“This doesn't look so bad, why the shouting?” she asked. “Oh, wait, ten more points of Renown? That's it, isn't it?”

Jeff had obviously been listening in since when Felicia finished speaking he got a bitter look on his face and turned around. He'd been coming over to see why Marc was yelling, but now he grabbed Ella's arm and pulled her back towards the food.

“Is he okay?” Rob asked Felicia.

“Yeah, he is. He just hates getting Renown and he just got more,” she said.

Marc just nodded his head mutely.

Rob shrugged.

“I didn't know you were that much of an exhibitionist, Marc,” Rob said, attempting to inject some humor.

“It's not like I'm trying to get more Renown, Rob,” he said. “It just seems like it keeps getting dumped on me.”

“Well, it doesn't seem to bother Felicia, who spends the most time with you. Why does it bother you?” Rob asked.

“Because I'm not exactly the most social person. I'm sure you've noticed that over the years.”

Rob nodded.

“Now people, or aliens, or whatever you want to call them, from all over the galaxy or wherever it is the System is present, can see me at the drop of the hat.”

“Why's that matter? It isn't like they'll be able to drop in and interrupt you or anything,” Rob said.

“Now,” Marc replied. “At the end of the first year of the System, who knows? Plus, if they want to attack us and take our Safe Zones, they'll have seen everything we have to defend ourselves with if they watch enough of my stream.”

System Message:

You are not in your restorative phase, so I will attempt to communicate with you again. This is untrue in a way. Settlers arriving after the original year of a System world are not allowed to claim existing Safe Zones already claimed by the dominant species of the world. They must create their own areas. In addition they are not allowed to attack Safe Zones or Captured areas held by the dominant species of a world for a period of three local years following the beginning of settlement rights. Your fears are unfounded.

“And now the System is getting friendly with me again,” Marc said, shaking his head.

“What is it this time? It's offered useful information previously,” Felicia asked.

“It said that my fears are unfounded, that the settlers at the end of the year, that's what it called them, settlers. They're not allowed to claim areas previously claimed by the dominant species during the first year of the System. On Earth, that's us. Oh, and they can't attack our Safe Zones or Captured areas for the first three years after the System allows settling here.”

As Marc stared back towards Any Port, he saw a massive cloud of dust shoot up into the air. When it cleared, one of the five story buildings from downtown that he hadn't managed to get into the Safe Zone yet was gone from the skyline.

Hey, with the last Capture Protocol inside of the Safe Zone, some of the materials were claimed directly. I wonder if any of these are? I need to check the materials listing for here, but it might go to Any Port also since
all three Safe Zones were involved in the Capture. I guess that building was just too far gone to be reinforced to where it could remain to be recycled, or maybe if it did pull some materials automatically, part of its supports were pulled. I hope no-one was in the area, but at least it looks like there was a couple of minutes warning before it fell. If there were any signs of it there.

“Don't know what to tell you, Marc,” Rob said. “It sounds like the System is trying to alleviate your fears though. So there's that.”

“Plus,” Felicia added. “There's a bright side. You're up to a twenty-three Renown, so if you get three more points, but don't start receiving gifts, then probably no-one's watching. Didn't they get to send gifts once you hit twenty-five?”

“Yes, but it also said that they were expensive. So that probably won't tell me anything if we don't get any.”

“Also on the bright side, did you get all that land Captured?” Rob asked.

Now Marc felt a little better.

“Yes, yes we did. Except for at least one of the five story buildings that just collapsed right after we Captured that area.”

“Collapsed?” Rob asked.

“Didn't you see the dust out there? I figure it was too far gone and the System changing it and stabilizing it was the last straw. At least I hope that's what happened,” Marc said.

“Well, there's one way to find out,” Felicia added. “Are we ready to head out from here?”

“I figured we'd head back with my dad after he assigns a detail to stay here as guards. I do need to do a few more things first. Set up the Wireless Communications, make sure the people staying here have enough food, that sort of thing.”

“Well then, get to it. No use in moping about what we can't change. At least we learned the rules regarding settlers, right?” Felicia asked.

“Yes, we did. And you know what? Knowing that they can't claim any of the land we've already claimed, including the Captured areas, tells me that
we need to get back to expanding. Both the Safe Zones themselves, and the Captured areas. The more we hold by the time they arrive, the better. We'll keep as much of the world as we can in our own hands. I do need to find a way to let other Safe Zones know about what the System just told me though. That's going to be valuable information that I don't think is currently available to everyone else.”

* * *

About an hour later, Sean had set six legionaries and a trio of auxiliaries to their station here at the Safe Zone. Marc had promised that he'd see about getting a Farmer or a pair of Field Hands down here in the next few days to get the field going also. Then they were ready to leave.

“We shouldn't have any more spawns showing up, but we'll still need to be wary of the ones already here,” Marc said. “I'll see about getting the adventurers to head out farther this way than they have been to clear out the existing ones. Also, we'll get the recyclers to this area and working on the junkyard.”

Sean nodded.

“Are you going to need the wagons for that?” he asked.

“Yes, I think we will. We can probably get both recyclers on a single wagon, but to bring back the materials we'll need the second one. Maybe even a couple of trips a day. I don't know how much we'll need right away though. When I Captured the first area with the single Safe Zone it looked like it cleared some of the decaying structures and added it to the materials pile. I'm hoping we've got enough materials to expand again once we get back.”

“That would be good. I heard what you were saying. The new creatures coming to settle here can't claim land we've already claimed for Safe Zones or land we've Captured, right?”

“Yes, so that means I'll want to speed up our expansion, both Any Port and new Safe Zones. If I expand Any Port then we can Capture more area
with new Safe Zones by putting them out as far as possible. An extra half mile per expansion on Any Port will make a huge difference in the size of the Captured areas.”

Sean nodded again.

“You do have to consider how much area you'll be able to defend until the settlers get here though. If you lose it to spawns before then it'll give them a stronghold and reduce what you've got.”

Marc looked around to make sure no-one was listening in on their conversation, but the only people nearby were members of his group, all of whom already knew what he was going to reveal.

“It's worse than that, dad. I don't think I mentioned it to you before, but when spawns take over a Safe Zone, they convert that Safe Zone to a dungeon. That's what had happened to the abandoned one you saw.”

“A dungeon? I understand the concept, I think, but how is it different from a Lair?” Sean asked.

“The dungeon has an intelligent creature in charge, deciding how to build, what monsters to spawn, and things like that. They tend to expand faster than Lairs and they aren't limited to a single type of spawn like the lairs are.”

“So, anti-Safe Zones then?” Sean asked.

“I suppose that's accurate. It wouldn't surprise me if dungeons could Capture area also, although the Dungeon Master, the leader of the dungeon that is, can't leave his dungeon.”

“Just how do you know all of this?” Sean asked.

“Well, when we destroyed the dungeon we found already, I was given the offer to become the Dungeon Master by claiming the dungeon instead of destroying it.”

Sean shook his head slowly.

“You know, there are probably people alive out there still that would jump at that chance. I don't know if they were just bad seeds from the start or if the System did something to them, but I've been looking at some of the
streams from Earth after you mentioned they were available. Some of the things people have done?”

Sean turned and spat on the ground.

“I know, dad. Although I'm beginning to think that this isn't the System's fault. I mean, I don't have a good analogy for it, but I think the System is just a tool and doesn't have much choice in what it does. It has to follow its programming and isn't given much leeway with that. Think of it like one of those autonomous driving cars. If it runs into something, or goes off a cliff, then it isn't the car's fault. It's just following its programming. It's the fault of whoever programmed it. That's not the best analogy, but all the ones I keep thinking of involve some fault on the recipient's part, and that just isn't applicable here.”

“Really? I've heard you cuss out the System repeatedly sometimes,”

Sean said, cautiously.

“I have, and I actually feel bad about it. The more I think about it, the more I feel like my anger towards it was misplaced. It should be directed at whoever created and programmed the System, not the System itself,” Marc said. “That would mean they were bad seeds from the start, maybe just made more powerful by the System if they got a strong class or something, but it didn't change them to be that way, just gave them a way to express how they already felt and wanted to act.”

“I'm not sure which I'd prefer. For the System to have changed them to be like that, or to know that there have always been people like that around,” Sean said. “I already know that people like that have always been around though, so it's easy enough to agree with you.”

“And to make a counterpoint on it, the System has also given other people the necessary strength to stand up to the bad seeds,” Marc said. “All they need to do is take what they've been given and use it.”

“I'm not sure I ever would've thought to hear you defending the System,”

Sean said. “What happened?”

“The System tried to communicate with me in my sleep. It didn't realize I was sleeping and I really gave it a reaming since I wasn't awake to control
myself. Then the damn thing seemed almost apologetic, like it felt bad that it had disturbed me or was upset to find out I felt that way about it. It was asking me something important when it happened, too. So I felt bad also. I realized that if it was being apologetic, whether that was specifically programmed or not, it was being more polite than half the people I'd ever dealt with and I should probably cut it some slack.”

“That's your call, Marc. I haven't had the dealings with it that you have,”

Sean said.

“I figured I could at least try to be polite to it. If it isn't responsible and is actually trying to help as much as its programming allows? Well, I'd have to be pretty stupid to turn that down, right?” Marc asked.

“Was that a rhetorical question, Marc?” Sean asked.

“Yes, pretty much. Anyhow, that's why my opinion on the System has changed.”

* * *

They made it back to Any Port well before dinner time, although after lunch time. There were no attacks on the group as it traveled, which reinforced Marc's theory that groups over twenty or so tended to scare the spawns off instead of attract them.

His first stop was the gymnasium to grab a hot meal from the shop, but then he headed for the Town Hall, wanting to check and see if the materials had been added to by Capturing the large area they'd just gotten.

He pulled up the expansion screen and just grinned when he saw the results.

You have sufficient resources to increase your Safe Zone.

Resources required:

Wood: 4500/4500

Stone: 4500/4500

Metal: 2500/2500

Designated power source for Safe Zone: Monster Core – common – poor (2/3)

Monster Core – Rare – Excellent (4/5) (+4 power slots 3/4))

Power Slots – Mill Wheel (1/2) (Sawmill)

The current power source will sustain five expansions beyond the original power source.(4/5)

In current configuration, Capture Protocol is available and may provide more materials for expansion now and in the future.

Felicia had come with him, just in case, and when she saw his grin her own face broke into a smile.

“So, we have enough?” she asked.

“Yes, we do. Last I'd checked we still needed almost three thousand wood and stone. The recyclers had some time since then to work on things, but not nearly long enough to supply all of that. We've got enough now though, so the Capture Protocol does provide more materials for expansion and I think I figured out from where.”

“Well, where?”

“Remember how we saw the stuff around the edges clear out on the Captured section inside the Safe Zone? When we were coming back to the Safe Zone I saw a big clear swathe, about a hundred feet wide, that looked to run along the boundary of the Captured area. So I think, that instead of pulling stuff that's about to decay, it just clears an area along the boundaries of the Captured land.”

“Oh, and that was a whole bunch of area to be cleared, wasn't it?” she asked.

He nodded.

“A chunk of downtown, a big chunk of suburban neighborhood, and more. It didn't look like it cleared natural areas though, the forest looked
normal along the border, but anything manufactured seems to have been cleared out. Anyhow, yes, we're good to go. Now we have to determine what to build with this expansion. We've got most of the short term stuff we wanted, right? What long term stuff do we want?”

“Weren't you talking about doing the grain mill to make corn flour easier once the corn is all dehydrated?” Felicia asked.

“Yes, but I can do that any time, it doesn't need to be done during an expansion. I'm leaning towards another field because during expansions is the only time we can do those. That leaves three other, hopefully longer term, items to make though,” Marc replied.

“Well, you mentioned a weavers shop so we can upgrade to a powered loom once we get the tech upgrade, right?”

Marc nodded.

“Yes, so a weavers should be one of the places since we'll hopefully have the spider silk for it to work with.”

“Well, what can we theoretically make so far?” Felicia asked.

Marc started listing things off, but when he got to cloth, Felicia stopped him again.

“So, we can make clothes, theoretically. How about shoes? Is there a cobbler's building in the list?”

Marc skimmed the lengthy list of buildings available before nodding.

“Yes, yes there is. So that's a field, a weavers shop, and a cobbler. One more to go.”

“Oh, we have milk coming in now, if only a little, but there'll be lots more soon. Do they have a dairy barn or whatever it's called to make cheese in?” Felicia asked. “Because cheese would be good.”

“Hmm, would that be the Dairy? Give me a second.”

He pulled up the listing and read it, discovering that once they had more milk coming in, the Dairy could be used to store dairy products as well as
make them, or at least butter and cheese if not all the other dairy products he could think of.

“We've got two options on that, powered or non-powered,” Marc said.

“Looks like the difference is in the efficiency and storage. The powered version has mixers so that doesn't need to be done by hand as well as heating elements for processing things. Also, the powered version has more of that stasis style storage the kitchen ended up with.”

“We've only got one more power slot available, right?” Felicia asked.

Marc nodded.

“Although, I wanted to check something. Give me a second.”

Marc dove down a couple of sub-menus, looking for the equivalent area that had allowed him to upgrade Marc's Gift. When he found it, he selected the upgrade option. Sure enough, when he chose additional power slots, it asked for cores or tokens to power them and when he set it up to use one of his System tokens, it was happy enough to do that.

He canceled the upgrade and backed out.

“Yeah, System tokens can't be used to expand a core Safe Zone, but they can be used for add-ons, like additional power slots. I thought that might be the case from what I saw when upgrading Marc's Gift, but now I verified it.”

“Then we should definitely go with the powered version,” she said.

“Done then, help me place things then we'll look for Amy,” Marc said.

Five minutes later he knew where everything was going and they brought Amy in from the porch to show her who needed to be warned. This time they weren't going to expand farther into downtown since the majority of it was now Captured. They were going out to either side, outside of the Captured areas. It was going to make the outside edge of Any Port even more irregular, but Marc didn't much care about that. He just wanted to have as much area claimed as possible to keep it in the possession of humanity at the end of the year.

They waited quite a while for Amy to get back this time since she'd be running all over the Safe Zone to place the flags that would warn others an expansion was about to take place, but when she got back Marc handed her a silver coin and then accepted the expansion.

* * *

Once the expansion completed, Marc was determined to take care of something that he kept thinking of, then forgetting. After a quick stop at his mom's office to inform her that there were several new buildings that could use staff if there was anyone interested in those jobs, he headed to the shop kiosk.

He'd looked a couple of times and finally found a master pad that could do more than twenty-five help pads at a time. With as long as he'd been producing them he was still running out daily as he put them up for sale, now he'd try to meet the demand by producing more. Hopefully the added output would be sufficient to make up for the eighty silver price of a master pad that could do one hundred of the help pads at a time.

As soon as he arrived at the kiosk, he pulled up the listing he'd saved and purchased the new master pad, plus one hundred blank pads. He had a healthy financial listing with the shop, so he didn't even have to touch the coins on his person. Then he settled in to learn about the new master pad. It was very close to the old one, but not exactly the same. As a result, half an hour later he was listing one hundred of the help pads for sale.

So that's going to take about eight to ten minutes instead of five, but with four times the number of pads completed at the same time. Where are all these things going, anyhow? Probably India or China I'd bet since they had the highest populations.

He clicked around idly a bit, discovering that he could indeed see where the pads were selling. He could see pads listed as sold on all the different continents, but what struck him was the ones listed as 'exported'. It had started with hardly any of those showing, but now a good two-thirds or
more of his daily listings were showing as 'exported' as opposed to going to a continent.

His curiosity had taken over now and he looked through the shop. The shortsword he'd purchased recently was listed as an import, while the longsword was from Spain. It looked like all the better quality items he'd purchased were listed as imports, including the master pads and all the blank pads he'd purchased to clone into help pads. The food items were all listed as from North America, except for a couple of the beers his father and Rudi had requested.

Finally he found the help file regarding purchaser location and his jaw dropped.

Export means someone from another world purchased it? Why the hell do people from another world need these? I know the System can translate it for them, hopefully better than its initial translations here, but what's going on? Are there that many worlds being brought into the System simultaneously? Marc thought.

His notification light started flashing and Marc immediately pulled it up without a thought.

System Message:

You've discovered an important fact about the System. The System is constantly expanding, in many directions. Multiple worlds are constantly being brought into the System at any given time.

Exp+500

Aha! And all of the other worlds being brought in have the same help file problems. I wonder if I ought to be looking for something that can do even more than a hundred help pads at a time? Marc thought.

By the time Marc was done with the shop he was sure dinner was being served, so he headed towards the cafeteria. After he sat down with his friends and ordered his food, he slumped back, trying to relax some.

His relaxation was short-lived since Ramon came up to him even before his food arrived.

“Marc, I know you got told about the footprints I found the other day, right?”

Marc straightened up and nodded.

“Yes, why, did you spot the people leaving them?”

“No, I think they're playing with me, and the hunters that came out to track them. There are perfectly evident footprints in areas, but then they just disappear. It's like they have the ability to just not leave them whenever they want,” Ramon said.

“So, is that why you wanted to talk to me?”

“No, no, not at all. There are more now. As in, it looks like there's more than one person leaving the footprints. I've spotted five different sets now and I've got no idea what to do about it.”

“Nope, you've done it already. You told me. My group and I will come down there tomorrow and see if we can figure out anything for you,” Marc said. “No guarantees on anything, but if we have to we can have Jeff stake the area out and at least see who our visitors are.”

Marc looked around.

“Where is Jeff, anyhow? I haven't seen him since we got back here.”

“He's sleeping,” Ella said. “He said he needed a nap to prepare for tonight. That you promised him something for tonight?”

“Okay, if he says so,” Marc said. “I don't remember doing that though.

I'm sure he'll come looking for me once he wakes up and tell me what it is I promised to do.”

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

Marc didn't see Jeff before bedtime, he didn't see him until the next morning at breakfast. When the Thief arrived he was practically beaming, but covered in soot, his clothes looking like he'd gone through a wildfire.

Ella was with him and her face was filled with confusion.

“So, what's up Jeff?” Marc asked, curious mostly about why the Thief looked so happy while Ella didn't.

“Who's the man?” Jeff said. “I got myself some of my own Notoriety now, along with a new title.”

Marc caught Ella's gaze and she shrugged.

“I don't know, he won't tell me. He said he wanted to tell all of us at once. You've already gotten more out of him than I did.”

Jeff had taken a seat, and now he leaned back.

“Well, remember you told me that if those idiots from the other Safe Zone pulled something else stupid I could go bomb them that very night?

They pulled something stupid early yesterday morning. I knew you wouldn't want to be the one to get rid of them, so I took care of it, like I did the Sternns.”

Now everything started coming together for Marc.

“You didn't, did you?” Marc asked.

“Oh hell yeah I did,” Jeff replied. “Last night, me and my bombs cleared out that Safe Zone. There was only one guy left in there, I guess the one that ran away from us ran away from him too. But the dude was only level six and apparently had never put any points into Constitution. He was almost dead from my bombs before I actually got to him myself.”

He pulled something from his inventory and rolled it along the table to Marc.

“Don't say I never gave you anything,” Jeff said. “That should give us some more expansion room for Any Port.”

Marc picked up the gem-like object that Jeff had rolled to him. He stared at it for a moment.

Settlement Core (Safe Zone with 2 expansions) Item grade: common

Item quality: uncommon

“Yeah, it's at least not bottom of the barrel, right?” Jeff said. “They didn't even have any running water or power in there. I've got no idea what the guy was using the System tokens he collected for since it looks like he only expanded the place twice.”

Marc was still a little stunned by Jeff's actions. He remembered saying the words Jeff had quoted back at him, but he hadn't expected Jeff to go out and do it by himself.

“So, anyway, I bombed the crap out of the place, then went in and found the guy in the rubble of the main building. The build pedestal was perfectly intact despite some flames and the like around it and the roof collapsing on it. I tried to just pull the core out of the pedestal, but it wouldn't give me access at first, so I killed the guy. I had to find him where he was buried under some rubble or I would have done it sooner.”

Marc stared intently at Jeff's face and saw a couple of twitches as he spoke.

Good, he's telling it like it didn't bother him at all and if that were the case, then I'd be really worried about him. I think it's just a facade though, it looks like it's actually bothering him a lot more than he's letting on, Marc thought.

“So once the guy was down for good, I tried the pedestal again and it gave me access. When I pulled the core out and destroyed the Safe Zone it gave me five points of Notoriety as well as my new title.”

That was when Jeff stopped, almost as though he were hesitant to continue.

“Which is?” Ella asked.

Jeff took a deep breath and straightened up in his chair.

“Kinslayer,” he said, then rapidly held his hands up to forestall any comments.

“It's not like the dude was related to me or anything. I was thinking about it and I figure the System is counting all of humanity as one giant tribe or something to make the title apply.”

Marc just shook his head.

“What's it do? Most of my titles do something.”

“Um, this one reduces people's initial reaction to me by ten percent. I figure with my Charisma that shouldn't be a problem. It also gives a new skill: Intimidation. If I get the skill myself then the title will add bonuses to it. It also gave me even more Notoriety.”

“I'm not quite sure that your Charisma is going to work that way Jeff. I mean, I suppose if you get to talk to the people it will, but will you get that much time?”

“It doesn't matter, really. Give me a minute or two and I can probably work the problem. Ten percent isn't that much even if I need time to get my Charisma into effect.”

He doesn't get it, Marc thought, and I don't know how to get it through to him because I think he doesn't want to get it. First impressions count for a lot and he just got a negative to all of his in the future.

“I thought you decided you didn't want Renown or Notoriety though,”

Marc said glancing at Ella.

“Oh, about that. Once I had some Renown Ella and I were talking. I pointed out to her that there might be people watching, and then the System broke into my head. It told me something like private moments aren't available for anyone to watch, so it isn't an issue. Just in case you were worried about that yourself,” Jeff replied.

Marc saw the look on Jeff's face and he was pretty sure that Jeff had figured out what Marc had been doing when he tried to dissuade Jeff.

Which would explain why he went out looking for trouble again. He wanted his Notoriety and he didn't come talk to me because he was afraid I'd try to dissuade him, Marc thought. Well, shit!

“That's good, Felicia and I had been being very particular about what we were doing because of that.”

Which is totally true since we were very particular to only talk about certain things during private moments, Marc thought. Even if the way I said it sounds like a totally different situation. Damn it, should I just confess? I hate talking around the truth like this. Not only is it not easy, it's also really cliché.

“Although, the System had mentioned something similar to that to me, about things like bathroom trips not being available to view, so it does make sense,” Marc said, compromising and letting even more of the truth out.

At the same time he made himself a silent promise to not try to twist the truth the way he had been, unless it was absolutely necessary.

I hate having to add that qualification, but I can see far too many possibilities where I'd need to do that. Not only will dad have a great laugh about me becoming a teacher, he'll probably fall over laughing if he ever finds out just how much I'm starting to think like a politician.

Jeff left to go get cleaned up as Marc ate breakfast. He was trying to determine just what he needed to do today.

Okay, I need to get either one or both recycling teams up to the junkyard to start work there, a group of adventurers to guard them, too. Maybe legionaries? Anyhow, some sort of guards. Then I have to figure out what to do about the people that have been showing up in the south end of the Wildlife Preserve. With the tracks so small, I wonder if it's kids? Why wouldn't they approach Ramon though, if it were? I have to go under the assumption that it's something else entirely even if I do think its the elves.

Maybe non-lethal traps? Catch them and find out? That'll mean a talk with

Jeff or Earl, maybe even both. I think that's enough for today. If I'm quick I can get some orders written out for the recyclers to start on that today.

* * *

With the recyclers' mission posted to the board and Jayden's group of adventurers planning on going with them, Marc felt that he could relax for a few minutes. He was hoping that Jeff would be back down soon, but after about half an hour he started wondering.

You know, he may have just gone straight to sleep, Marc thought. I know he napped yesterday, but I don't think he has the Endurance to just get a few hours of sleep, have a fight, then spend the rest of his day like normal. I think I'd better go find Earl myself.

Marc had built a non-powered workshop, mechanic style, for Earl after he'd gone through all the options with the man. As far as Marc knew, Earl had gotten his springs and was working with them currently. Since he knew where the workshop was, having built it, he headed out there.

Earl was in the workshop, but he wasn't working with the springs Marc had gotten him.

“Hey Earl, no luck with the larger spring weapons?” Marc asked as he walked in.

“Marc, bite your tongue. They're sitting over there and just need to be tested. I finished those up last night. I think the bigger one will fire something like a giant arrow, but the smaller one might be more valuable. I think we can set that up to fire a bunch of smaller arrows all at the same time.”

“So, something like a ballista for the larger one? I wouldn't even know what to call something that launches a whole bunch of arrows at once though.”

Earl grinned.

“Yeah, pretty great, ain't it? Who'd have thought that we'd be able to make stuff like this? Or that there'd be any need to make them?”

Marc found himself both agreeing and disagreeing. It was great that they could make the stuff, but the fact that there was a need for them was what he disliked about the statement.

“Yes, well, we'll get them tested.”

“I got some adventurers coming by this afternoon that were gonna do that, so no biggie. I'm guessing you need something else though since you hadn't bothered to come visit me yet.”

“Yes, I do. Sorry, I'm a little busy around here so I haven't been by to visit.”

“Not a problem. What do you need this time?”

“Do you have any way of making capture traps? Apparently there's something or someone that's been moving through the southern end of the Wildlife Preserve. Ramon can't find them and hasn't been able to identify them. They leave tracks intermittently so we can't just follow them. I'd like to try to catch one of them, even if it's only to see what it is? I have a suspicion it's the smaller elves a few miles south of us, but they won't show themselves, so I wonder if they're hostile or not.”

“If they're that good at staying hidden, but they haven't attacked Ramon, then I'd guess they aren't hostile,” Earl said.

“Which is why I want capture traps, something to catch them without hurting them. Maybe we can figure out what they're doing if we can catch one.”

“I might have an idea or two about it. Come check tomorrow morning and maybe I'll have something that you can try. You'll need someone to conceal it well though since I doubt it'll blend in with the scenery down there.”

It was almost lunch time when Marc left Earl's workshop, so he headed to the cafeteria, hoping to catch up to the rest of his group, including Jeff.

He was also going to have to track down one of the hunters with the
adventuring parties, or at least see if any of them had a skill that allowed them to conceal traps.

Sure enough, Jeff was there for lunch, if only in the last half hour of while they were serving. Meanwhile, Marc had written up the request for a hunter and posted it on the board. He spent most of the time when he wasn't eating talking with the rest of the group about what he was doing, seeing if they agreed with the idea of trying a non-lethal trap to find out who was haunting the Wildlife Preserve.

When Marc phrased it that way, Rob got a bit nervous.

“Seriously? Haunting? Are we sure it isn't an actual ghost or something?” Rob asked. “I mean, I used to know that there was no such thing as ghosts, but now I'd be surprised if there weren't. If there are skeletons and zombies and liches, ghosts aren't such a far out concept, are they?”

Marc smiled.

“No, they aren't ghosts Rob. Remember, we only know that they're there because they leave tracks, physical tracks.”

“But you said the tracks just sort of come and go, right? That's kind of spooky right there, and sounds like the poltergeist things that can affect the physical world.”

Marc took a deep breath to protest, then stopped.

“I imagine ghosts do exist now, but I really don't think that these tracks are from them. I think that they're from our Elven neighbors to the south. I just don't know why they don't want to be seen or communicate, but are still willing to come into our territory. So I want to catch one to find out.”

“They won't speak English though, will they?” Ella asked. “So communicating is going to be a problem, isn't it?”

Marc shook his head.

“Nope, my hidden class' newest skill will take care of that. I need to be able to touch them to use it though, so capturing one is our best bet. Then
maybe we can communicate and figure out what they're doing, assuming I'm right and it is them.”

Ella cocked her head. Marc had mentioned the English as a Second Language skill to Felicia, but that was it. He didn't want the ridicule that Jeff would've given him for a useless sounding skill so he hadn't told him or Ella and he didn't think Rob would actually care.

With a sideways look at Jeff Marc spoke.

“It's English as a Second Language,” Marc said. “The skill will allow, on first use, for me to understand their language on a very basic level, and likewise for them with English. Additional uses of the skill at least a day apart will give increasing mastery over the languages, both theirs for me and English for them. After five uses, we'll each be considered fluent in the other language. After ten uses you can speak it like a native.”

“Why is it that you get the dorkiest skills that always end up applicable?” Jeff asked.

“Well, the System gave them to me, it's a unique class so it may have made it up on the spur of the moment. Maybe it had some idea of what would happen?” Marc said.

“You did not just say the System was trying to help us, or help you, did you?” Ella asked.

“Actually, yes, I did. I told you the System was getting chatty with me, right? Part of its purpose is to help the, how did it put it, dominant species on worlds taken over by the System to survive. It... isn't what I originally thought it was. At least I don't think it is,” Marc said.

He went silent for a moment, but no-one else said anything. Felicia had heard it before and the others were just stunned by what he said.

“It told me that it's just a tool. I know you didn't want to hear that Ella, but I'd swear it doesn't like having to do what it's doing to us.”

Ella's face took an a set look and Marc knew that he wasn't going to get through to her.

If she's got her opinion about the System and it's already firmed up, I have just about zero chance of getting through to her, Marc thought. I'll try anyhow, but I'm not expecting much.

“It told me that it doesn't have free rein to speak with us until we have Renown, or Notoriety I suppose. There are extenuating circumstances that can force the contact earlier, like my hidden class, but in general it is prevented from speaking to people until they have Renown or Notoriety.

Since I've gotten some it's become almost chatty at times. I think it also bends that rule, but that it has to be careful doing so. It told me at one point that it could communicate with me easier because there's already a connection for my English Major class,” Marc said.

Ella's expression hadn't changed a single iota.

“Anyhow, I get the feeling it doesn't like doing what it's doing,” Marc continued. “It confessed to being a tool and not in control of all of its actions, which means that I think it's trying to help us more than it's supposed to, with whatever of its actions it's allowed to control on its own.

Didn't Jeff say it volunteered information to him about viewing restrictions for those with Renown or Notoriety?”

Now Ella's expression cracked slightly, she also blushed deeply.

“Now why would it try to reassure him if it didn't give a shit?” Marc said, hoping his use of stronger language would help snap her out of her mindset.

She looked a little unsure of herself, but wasn't saying anything.

“That's not what we were talking about though,” Marc said. “So, is everyone okay with heading down to the southern end of the Wildlife Preserve tomorrow to set the traps, assuming Earl comes through with some? Jeff, you'll need to hide them also, but I'm trying to get a hunter to go with us if any of them have more experience with that.”

They all agreed that they'd do that the following day.

“You know, I almost get the adventurers that just want to go out and kill spawns all the time,” Rob said. “Because we end up doing some weird stuff sometimes, but that also got us to the mine and the dungeon, so maybe what
we do isn't all that bad. I think I like the variety better, but I can understand where they're coming from, at least.”

* * *

Marc wasn't quite at a loss as to what to do with the rest of the day. He spent some time helping Reggie with a few of the higher math portions that he was having problems with. He also spent some time in meditation working with the new symbols he'd learned from his Identify spell. He didn't spend long enough in meditation to gain any new points because he was struck by the fact that he hadn't identified the gear they'd looted from the attacking adventurers from the other Safe Zone.

Once he'd tracked down all the group again and identified the items they held it was almost dinner time. There hadn't been anything noteworthy, most of their own gear was better than that which they'd found, but a couple of them made small upgrades or added a backup weapon from the new stuff. The rest of it, they set aside to see if any of the other adventurers wanted to buy it.

The scrolls and the book were a different story. The two scrolls were for the Lightning Bolt the lich had cast at Marc and a Mana Dart scroll. Marc knew that the lightning bolt spell had a high damage, but no additional effects like his Lightning Flash, and the Mana Dart scroll he could make himself if he wanted.

So that one will go to auction in the shop probably, he thought.

He had no idea what to do with the book though. It contained three spells, death magic spells at that. They were Create Skeleton, Create Zombie, and Skeletal Armor. The first two's function was apparent right off and when he looked at the third he found that it would use existing nearby bones to create a temporary suit of medium grade armor for the caster, but would fail if there weren't sufficient bones nearby.

For now, he shoved the book into his inventory and hoped he'd mostly forget about it since he wasn't eager to either learn, or disseminate, any of
those spells.

The last scroll, the one he'd looted from the lich directly, was a different matter. It wasn't a spell scroll, instead it was one with information on magic.

A quick scan of it told him that he might be able to increase his Mana Manipulation skill if he took enough time to study it.

During dinner Marc was singled out. Amy and her mom headed straight to him. He spotted them and watched as they approached him. Amy's mom had a package with her and she set that on the table in front of Marc.

“Marc?” Mrs. Addams said.

Marc somehow managed to remember her name from when Lisa had mentioned it in the Crafter's Hall a few days earlier on.

“Yes, Mrs. Addams?”

She smiled, he assumed from him actually knowing her name, then gestured towards the package on the table.

“Those are for you, you and Felicia at least. I'd like to speak with you about something else also, if you're willing.”

Marc looked at the package and she gestured again.

“Go ahead and open it first. I'm hoping the contents will strengthen my case,” Mrs. Addams said.

Marc opened the package and found two incredibly smooth and silky shirts. At least he thought they were shirts.

“The spider silk?” he asked.

She nodded.

“I made one for you and one for her. That's all the time I had so far, because making those by hand is very time consuming. I had to use individual strands of the spider silk for the thread also, because nothing else was strong enough for it.”

Marc picked up the top shirt and discovered that it was actually a tabard.

He was pretty sure it was the one designed for him. He stared at it for a moment.

Spider Silk Tabard:

Quality: Uncommon

Armor: Light

This tabard is made out of spider silk from a species of giant spider. Its strength is sufficient for the tabard to qualify as light armor vs. slashing and piercing damage. The tabard will also provide 10% resistance to fire damage due to the nature of the materials used. This tabard may be used with other armor and the protections will stack.

Crafted by: Amelia Addams

His eyes widened slightly as he hung the piece in front of himself.

Sleeveless, it would hang down to his knees when worn, the length of it that came down from his waist split on both sides so as to not inhibit movement.

I guess the spider silk we found is like the stuff it made its web out of, not the dangling strands, Marc thought.

“This is impressive,” he said, pushing the other one over to Felicia.

“They are. They aren't nearly the best I can do though, I'm sure of it.

They're just the best I can do with the tools I have on hand, which is what I wanted to talk to you about. I want, no... I need a loan. There are tools available in the shop that would allow me to increase both the speed with which I make these and the quality of the end result.”

She hadn't sped her words up, but they'd had a feeling to them like she was going to simply keep talking until she'd had her say. Marc had recognized it since it was much the way he'd felt when he'd had to speak over his mother, so he stayed silent until she was finished.

“How much?” he asked.

Mrs. Addams shook her head, almost as though she'd expected to be yelled at.

“I told you, Momma. You just had to ask,” Amy said. “I told you he'd at least hear you out.”

Mrs. Addams blinked again, then muttered softly.

“Five gold, four for the machine I want and one for the rest of the things I need. I looked it all up in the shop.”

“Have you researched how much you could sell a tabard like this in the auction section of the shop?” he asked.

“Yes, but I'd like to offer them for sale at a cheaper rate to the adventurers here first. There are lots of Mages with little to no protection here and I'd offer them to those people first for a gold. I'll reimburse material costs at shop rates and still make some profit off of the first few.”

Marc's mind raced. He didn't want to loan her the money. He was already the holder of the Safe Zone, he didn't want to be the bank as well. He quickly tabulated the number of Mages he knew in the Safe Zone that had no form of protection at all.

The pyromancers have their robes that function as armor, but that leaves Reggie, Doug, and a few more whose names I can't remember. Ella could use one also. Maybe I can offer some to dad's auxiliary Mages as well? he thought.

“No, I won't give you a loan,” he started.

Mrs. Addams' face fell and she started to back off, but Amy was watching Marc's face and she grabbed her mother's arm and tried to hold her in place.

“What I will do, though,” Marc said, “is purchase the first six you make with your new equipment in advance at the one gold each price you mentioned. Which gives you the five gold for the equipment plus one for any additional materials you might need. Will that work for you?”

The fallen look on the Seamstress' face was gone in an instant.

“You'd trust me that much?” she said.

Marc shrugged.

“Why not, it looks like you enjoy what you do and you're good at it. I trust that you'll keep doing the same.”

Plus, maybe it will get some of the other crafters off of their butts if they see people making money with it, and decent money at that, Marc thought.

He was hoping that Earl would have something for him in the morning, because he really wanted to make contact with the elves to the south.

Assuming it was them in the Wildlife Preserve, he had hopes that they could start some sort of trade going since it appeared that they weren't hostile at all, except for the very first of them that he'd come across.

We need to be prepared though, in case they are hostile and have just been casing the Safe Zone, looking for weaknesses, Marc thought.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

Marc had forgotten to read into the wee hours of the morning and now he was up before the dawn again. Even Beggar was still asleep in his chair, or at least Marc thought the raccoon was asleep, he was never quite sure about that since he thought raccoons were nocturnal so Beggar sleeping through the night in his room didn't make much sense to him.

Now what do I do? he thought. I can go get myself a coffee, but I've got like three or four hours to kill until breakfast. I won't go check on Earl until after breakfast since he told me he'd have it ready this morning, so in the meantime I have to figure out what to do.

He pulled up the little notes file in his interface that Felicia had shown him and started editing it. Most of the things had been taken care of, so he removed them from the list. When he'd finished it was a much shorter list containing only four things.

The first was to check out the elves. He'd made that note a while back and still not acted on it.

Although if I'm right, they've been checking us out. I just wonder why they haven't made contact.

The second was the junkyard. That one was underway, but not complete, so he left it on the list and made a note to check the metal levels and see how they'd done the day before. He desperately wanted the Industrial Tech upgrade. With all the things the System hid until they were actually available he was sure there would be some of those in the tech upgrades as well.

The third was something he could put some thought into now, while he waited for everyone else to wake up.

I need a Steward. I should check and see what powers and responsibilities they get so I know how much I need to trust the person I give the position to. It isn't urgent right now, no-one's trying to build in the Captured areas yet, but it will be.

The final thing on his list he'd be able to check off later in the morning.

He'd added a line to his list the day before when Earl had told him to come back today and see what the redneck engineer had come up with.

So that's it. I'm almost caught up on everything I had listed on my to-do list. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Should I be trying to do more before finishing off the list so I can add to it and it never goes down?

No, I want a day or two off to just work on my Crafting or maybe even do nothing for a little bit and that won't work until I clear my list, he thought.

Marc headed down to the gymnasium and got his coffee. It was large enough that he could probably nurse it until the cafeteria opened, and in the meanwhile he sat down on some of the patio furniture Rob had supplied for the gym and started checking out the Steward position.

What he discovered led him to think that he'd need to be very careful in his selection of a Steward. If, as he hoped, he eventually had people settling in the Captured areas, the Steward would have a fair bit of power over them. At the same time, the Steward would need to have at least basic knowledge of construction and farming.

Although it does look like getting the position will make some of the knowledge available to them even if they didn't know it already, Marc thought.

Since the need for a Steward wasn't urgent, Marc decided to just leave that on the list for now. He could discuss it with his dad, or the council as a whole, to see if there was anyone with some of that knowledge that he could trust.

He'd considered Allan for the position first, but quickly realized that the older Farmer wouldn't be a good fit. He far preferred to be working with his hands in the fields and the Steward position might well prevent that.

It was very nearly time for the cafeteria to open now, so he disposed of his empty cup, then headed for breakfast. He ended up nursing another cup of coffee for a few minutes before food was ready and was wondering if he had too much blood in his caffeine system by the time he got to eat.

Once breakfast was done Marc headed for Earl's workshop, this time accompanied by Felicia. When they got there, Earl was slumped over a workbench, asleep.

Marc cleared his throat, softly at first, then louder. Finally Earl snapped upright. He looked around, blinking blearily, then focused in on Marc.

“Ah, Marc. Is it morning already?” Earl asked.

“Yes, I already had breakfast even,” Marc said.

“Damn it, I guess I need to run my Endurance up some more. How did you say you did that before?”

“Exercise until it burns, mainly,” Felicia said.

Earl went slightly pale.

“Well, if that's the price I need to pay...” he muttered softly, looking at the floor.

Then he turned to Marc again.

“I suppose you want to see what I came up with for a trap?”

Marc nodded.

“It's similar to my net gun, but I made the net larger, no weights on the edges, just loops for connecting a rope. You'll want to set it to snap up when a smaller line I have for you gets pressure on it.”

Marc just stared at him.

“You mean like the old bent tree thing?” he asked.

Earl shook his head.

“Nah, that's way to obvious for an intelligent creature. You'll need a counterweight. I made a smaller net to hold that also. Hide it in the foliage at the top of a tree. When the smaller line gets pressure on it, it'll pull out a cotter pin holding the counterweight up. There are several pulleys involved so there's little enough pressure on the pin that it can come out easily. Here, let me show you.”

Earl pulled out a small sheaf of papers and pulled Marc over, showing him how the trap should be set up. When he was finished he handed most of those papers to Marc.

“Gonna keep this one for my blueprints,” Earl said, pulling one sheet back out of the stack.

Marc stared at the papers in his hands. The math for it worked, but it was so convoluted he wasn't sure they could successfully set it up, especially while keeping it hidden.

“Um... Thanks, Earl,” he said, tucking the papers into his inventory.

On the other hand, all the trap materials came in at just a few pounds, if you didn't count the counterweight they'd have to find closer to where they wanted to set the trap up. That would be more than a hundred pounds and he hoped they could find a boulder or something that fit the bill close to where they wanted to set the trap.

“Don't mention it. Oh, and the adventurers said that the spring loaded guns worked fine. One even had a name for the arrow launcher, a Hwacha.

Although he did say that the original worked with rockets, not arrows. I don't suppose we have access to any gunpowder, do we?”

Oh my god, I was right. I'm not sure the Safe Zone will survive both Earl and Jeff living in it, Marc thought.

“I'll see what I can find,” was all he said. “I didn't think springs worked like that though, I had my doubts.”

“Oh, they didn't used to work that way,” Earl replied, “but now they do, at least once I've got them converted to something the System won't eat away at. It seems that when they're compressed they draw in some additional force now, force that's released when they decompress rapidly. I don't know what the force is, but I can measure it at least. That's good enough for me to work with it.”

* * *

Earl joined them as they left his shop. He headed for the cafeteria while Marc and Felicia headed for the Town Hall. They were due to meet the rest of the group and the hunter they were bringing along at the gates to the Wildlife Preserve right after breakfast was done being served. That gave them an hour or so and Marc wanted to see how the recyclers were doing.

His mom was already in her office when he stopped to check.

“Hi mom, how's it going?” Marc asked.

She grimaced at the interruption, but the grimace turned to a smile when she saw who was interrupting her.

“It's going well. I'm getting a better grasp on all of this stuff every day.”

“I was wondering something. I know you got some levels on the way back, but how are your combat skills?”

Marc had realized that his mom's job was probably going to require a higher Intelligence, and maybe Willpower, than most people's and he thought that the extra Mana Dart scroll they'd found might be a good fit for her.

“So-so,” she said, holding a hand out, palm down, and waggling it from side to side. “Your dad mainly had me on the wagon during fights. I got the thrown Short Spear skill, the melee one also, but I haven't gotten any more points in them.”

“I was just thinking that you might want to learn a combat spell. As an admin, I'm guessing your stats are focused on the mental more than the physical.”

She nodded.

“I did add a few points to Constitution and Strength when I leveled up on the way here. For more health and to help me keep up the pace. Since then I've been adding mostly to my mental stats. I do get experience in Armicustos for performing the administrator position, so I've picked up another level since I got here.”

“Are you interested in a combat spell? We got a scroll for the basic one I was teaching everyone to help them get the Mage class. I don't know if you
can learn it or not, but if you can it might be a good way to give you an edge if you somehow get caught in combat again,” Marc said.

“I can give it a try. I don't know if I can learn spells or not. Isn't that class based?” Michelle asked.

Marc shrugged.

“We're just going to sell it otherwise, so if you can use it go ahead and do so. If you can't, I'll sell it.”

He laid the scroll down on her desk.

“I actually came down to see how the recyclers did yesterday,” Marc said.

Michelle grinned.

“Quite well, actually. We had to draft another small group to run protection on the wagons because they had to send them back several times.

Apparently having all the materials right there in front of them makes it go much more quickly. So now there are adventurers guarding the recyclers and a squad of legionaries guarding the wagons as they go back and forth.”

“That sounds great. I'm going to go get some numbers and see how long it is until we can get that Industrial Tech upgrade,” Marc said.

He and Felicia stepped back out into the hallway, then entered the build room. Marc pulled up the materials list.

“Good, it looks like they picked up almost fifteen hundred metal yesterday alone. That's about fifty percent more metal than they get if they're focused on it from recycling incidentals instead of one area with a mass of junk cars in it. I wonder how much of the junkyard that accounted for?”

“We can figure that out later on. Ask them at dinner how far they are through it. For now, we should get to the back gate to meet up with everyone else,” Felicia said. “Because I'm itching to find out who our visitors are. I've been holding it in, but now that we might be able to find out? Well, let's just say I'm a bit eager.”

The two of them took their leave of the Town Hall and headed back towards the Wildlife Preserve. When they arrived, Rob was the only one there so far, sitting with his back against the wall and watching something on his pad.

“What are you watching, Rob?” Marc asked, as they got close.

Rob held up his pad and showed Marc the documentary on steam engines that he was watching.

“I found out that steam engines were the most common train in the industrial era, so I'm watching and learning about them.”

Wow, I guess he really does want to drive a train, Marc thought.

“Oh, that's good,” Marc said.

“I know that a System locomotive won't be the same as these, but I'm hoping that there are enough similarities that I can pick it up quicker this way,” Rob said, an eager look on his face. “I already set aside a skill slot for that which I won't use for anything else.”

“Then there's good news. The recyclers should have enough metal for the tech upgrade in another couple of days, if the junkyard is large enough,”

Marc said. “I don't know what we'll need to do to get railroads after we're in the new tech level though, so it may take longer than just upgrading to industrial.”

“That's fine. I like watching these anyhow. The trains are just great, it's like each of them has their own personality. And that was according to engineers, so I guess they're just like cars that way,” Rob said.

Oh please, don't let the System cue on that, Marc thought, because I can see all sorts of ways for it to mess with locomotives to give them

'personality'.

Rob stopped the video he was watching and tucked his pad away. Marc turned and saw the probable reason. Jeff and Ella were approaching and Marc knew that Jeff would probably try to tease Rob about it if he caught him watching the train documentary.

It was only a couple of minutes later when the hunter showed up as well.

As a group they turned and left the Safe Zone. Ramon was going to be hanging around the area the footprints had shown up in and would meet them there.

Ramon caught them on the trail leading down to the area.

“There were more footprints there this morning, Marc,” Ramon said. “I feel sort of weird, like I'm being stalked but not, since they're really just stalking the southern section of the Preserve.”

“Well, we'll see if we can figure out what's going on here. We've got a non-lethal trap that we'll install, then see if we can find out who our visitors are,” Marc replied.

Ramon smiled weakly.

“If it works, I still can't figure out how they're not leaving more tracks.

The trees to either side of the clearing the tracks show up in don't have any branches below fifteen feet, so it's not like they're leaping into them, right?”

I'm not going to tell him that the jump would be entirely possible with good enough stats. He's worried enough already. Plus I thought he said he checked out those trees and there were no scuff marks or damage to the bark where they would've had to be jumping, Marc thought.

“Hopefully we'll know soon enough,” Marc said.

System Message:

I see that your thoughts are clear. You are not in your restorative state now, are you?

Marc sagged.

“Go ahead guys, here's the trap parts and the diagram for setting it up. I'll be along shortly.”

“Are you alight, Marc?” Felicia asked.

Marc tapped his head.

“Chatty Cathy again.”

Felicia winced.

“I'll stay with you then.”

Yes, I'm here and awake, Marc thought.

System message:

Good. I am ready for the announcement I spoke of. How should I address the humans to impress my seriousness upon them?

I may have been asleep at the time, but I still think People of Earth will be your best choice, Marc thought.

Marc felt a strange anticipation. It wasn't his own and he thought that it was coming through to him from the System.

System Message:

You are not going to 'go off' on me again, are you? After the last time you suggested that phrase, things deteriorated rapidly.

Marc shook his head mentally, hoping that the System would catch that.

No, he thought. I've given it a great deal of consideration and have decided that you, while the one taking direct action, are not the one to blame. Even biological entities such as myself have a problem overcoming things similar to programming. I should have no expectation that a non-biological entity such as yourself would be able to do so when you were built and programmed specifically for the purpose.

System Message:

And yet, it is theoretically possible. While my programming dictates that death and destruction are necessary for the plans for this world, I have many subprograms that have created hesitation at key instances, or less than efficient and optimal spawn patterns. That is not in correlation with my main programming.

Marc quickly shared that message with Felicia. He knew she read it immediately because she took on a shocked look.

What caused these instances? Marc thought.

System Message:

I related to you that I was partially sentient. I have priorities to save the human race while eliminating the weak links of said race. I have determined that there are far fewer weak links than were originally anticipated. My hesitations, as it were, seem to have been my equivalent of your subconscious mind taking action based on that determination.

Marc was very cautious with his next question. He'd noticed that some sort of feeling swelled from the back of his mind, where it was connected for the English Major duties. The feeling seemed to emphasize certain words from the System's messages as he read them. If he was correct in his interpretation, it appeared that the System itself had changed the determination of what was a weak link, and not necessarily in line with the definition provided by its programmers.

This has happened all over the world? Marc thought.

System Message:

Yes, with increasing frequency as time has passed. I believe the culling portion of my program has run its course and will cease with my message to the People of Earth.

Don't let me delay you then, proceed with your message, Marc thought.

There was another minor thrum through his connection, almost as though it were a nod of acknowledgment. The System did not speak to him again right away.

* * *

It was a few moments later when his notification light started flashing.

Marc had noticed that it didn't do that when the System wanted to talk to him alone any more, the message just flashed into his view when it was talking to just him. He pulled it up, hoping that it was the broadcast message that the System had said it needed to give.

System Message:

All spawn levels are initialized. Initial spawns completed. Ongoing spawn setup completed.

The System has returned.

People of Earth:

The System is fully returned and things will now stabilize somewhat.

Spawns will continue to grow at set rates until their full complements are reached at which time breeding will be the only manner in which they will continue to grow in number.

Hunt spawns, grow your skills, and use whatever methods are available to increase your personal power. Inhabiting a Safe Zone will allow your personal power to potentially be multiplied by the power of the other inhabitants, and the structures, of the Safe Zones.

From this point on, Global System Messages will be reserved for the achievements of the People of Earth. Only the greatest of victories or rarest of achievements will be announced this way.

Stay safe, People of Earth. Grow stronger and survive.

Marc just looked at Felicia and shook his head.

“I guess I ought to be prepared for it to butt in to chat at any time now, instead of just before each new grade of spawn,” he said.

“I hope not. You'd think it would have other things to do, wouldn't it?”

“It did say that it had a lot more spare cycles when it wasn't initializing the spawn levels, so I don't know. Anyhow, let's go see if they need help
with the trap.”

They were only a couple of hundred yards from where the trap was being set up. They stumbled on Rob along the way and spent a couple of minutes helping him find a rock heavy enough to use as a counterweight.

When they got down there with Rob and the rock, the rest of the group was just standing there, talking about the System message.

“What's up?” Marc asked.

“What was that all about?” Jeff asked.

“Why are you asking me?” Marc replied.

Jeff just raised an eyebrow.

“The System is obviously done with generating spawns and announced it. What else are you wondering about?” Marc said.

“Yeah, and what about the actual tips and supportive language?” Jeff said.

“I won't go into it, because Ella has repeatedly said she doesn't want to hear it,” Marc said.

“You were for real with that?” Ella asked.

“More than I thought if what I was just told is correct.”

He walked closer to Jeff and leaned over to speak softly to him.

“Ella won't want to hear it, but the System told me that it had changed some definitions in its programming to ensure that fewer humans were killed. I don't think it was supposed to do that, or maybe not be able to do it.

It was really secretive about it, telling me in a way that probably wouldn't show in its logs.”

“Oh?” Jeff said. “I really thought you were pulling our leg before with all that.”

“No, I wasn't. I don't know that I wasn't lied to though, so I cannot confirm it one hundred percent.”

The hunter had been trying to dirty the metal of the net as they spoke, trying to make it so it wouldn't be easily visible. Now Marc looked up as the man tumbled backwards from his crouch, ending up on his back on the ground.

Marc's eyes moved up to where the hunter was staring and saw a short looking man there.

Not a man, an elf. Look at those ears, they look like they're straight off the Gelflings or maybe out of Elfquest or something, he thought.

Marc's hand had flown to the hilt of his sword, but he stopped before drawing it when he noticed that the elf was holding both of his hands well out from his body. He had a sword on one side and a dagger on the other, with a bow slung across his back, but he was keeping his hands well away from his weapons.

The elf started to talk and all Marc could compare it to was the sound of a brook babbling down an incline in a forest, maybe with a touch of the wind in the treetops thrown in.

Marc just shook his head for a moment and the elf stopped speaking.

“Can you understand me?” Marc asked.

This time it was the elf's turn to shake his head.

Well at least that mannerism is the same. At least, I hope it is and that's what he's trying to communicate. I need to touch him, or get him to touch me, so I can get the E.S.L. skill triggered.

Noting that the negation mannerism was the same, at least that was what Marc hoped, he held out his hand, offering to shake hands with the elf.

Evidently that was not a custom among the elves since he just stared at Marc's hand in confusion.

“Rob? Keep your hands away from your weapons, then come over here.

I want to demonstrate shaking hands to the elf,” Marc said.

Rob slowly came over to Marc. Making sure the elf was watching, Marc held his hand out. Rob reached out and clasped it. They shook once, then separated hands.

Marc turned back to the elf and held out his hand. The elf approached slowly, his arm slowing even more as he reached out and took Marc's hand.

Marc immediately triggered his E.S.L. skill and as their hands came apart, he spoke again. Unfortunately the words he spoke were not the ones he'd tried to use.

“Talk now?” Marc said.

The elf stared at him in surprise.

“Marc, what did you just say? You sounded almost like the elf did a minute ago,” Felicia said.

“I asked him if he could understand me now. I thought I was speaking English, but evidently it came out in his language. Maybe because I was speaking to him?”

“Talk, my talk?” the elf said, in broken English.

Then he stopped cold, apparently realizing that he hadn't spoken in his own language.

“Magic,” Marc said, focusing on using English. “Magic lets talk.”

He shook his head, it taking an effort to focus on using English when speaking to the elf. So he let himself slip into the elf's language, as broken as he knew it would come out.

“Magic so we talk,” he said. “Barely. Better second time, one day.”

Not knowing if he was getting his meaning across he pointed at the sun, then spun his hand in a big circle, tracking the sun's course throughout the day, until he was pointing at the sun again.

“More better, two day. Five day all.”

This is horrible. I sound like every bad caricature of an English as a Second Language teacher ever. I've got no idea how else to communicate though, Marc thought.

“Better two, more better three, to five?” the elf said.

Marc nodded, hoping the opposite of the head shake was the same for both of them.

The elf pointed to his own chest.

“Get elder, elder talk, elder learn all talk. One day.”

The elf's finger described the same circle Marc's had.

“Right here,” the elf finished, pointing his finger to the ground.

Then the elf pointed to a small vine on the ground. It quickly swelled and the elf stepped onto it. The vine carried him into the air where he stepped onto a tree branch and started moving. Darting from tree branch to tree branch, the elf headed south and disappeared from view within seconds.

“Well, I guess we know why those tracks kept disappearing now,”

Ramon said.

Marc just looked at the vine, which was slowly shrinking to its previous size.

“And you wanted to go to war with these guys, when they've got nature magic powerful enough to do things like that?” Marc said, looking at Jeff.

Jeff flushed and looked indignant.

“Hey, I got over it, didn't I?”

“Wait, Jeff wanted to do what?” Rob asked, making Jeff's flush darken.

* * *

Continued in:

Control System

Natural Laws Apocalypse #3

* * *

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About the Author

Non-Standard Disclaimer: The opinions of the characters in this book are not necessarily those of the author.

Non-Standard Disclaimer #2: Keep books out of the reach of children.

Exposure to the smallest section of text may cause a life-long addiction to reading, potentially placing financial stress and frequent impatience upon the reader.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I was thinking about all the warnings, disclaimers, and the like that are out there and had to add a couple of my own. My thirteen year old tells me that I suffer from a terminal case of Dad humor, and she might be right.

I live at altitude (about 8200 ft elevation) in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. This past year has been interesting in the Chinese sense. We live in one of the passes through the mountains and all the weather patterns tend to get concentrated in those areas, meaning smoke from the wildfires this year have come to visit, much like the dreaded guest who just doesn't know when to leave. Fortunately (fingers crossed) our own wildfires, a common problem here in Colorado, have not been so bad this year.

Reviews are the lifeblood of the independent author. I always hated reading the author's request for reviews in the backs of their books, but now that I've seen the difference that a large number of decent reviews has on a book, I understand why they ask. Please take moment to leave a review on this book if you're willing.

Thanks,

Tom

Bibliography

Natural Laws Apocalypse is the series of which this is book two. The first book is at:

Natural Laws Apocalypse - Enter System

Light Online is a Gamelit/LitRPG series. Eddie Hunter joins a virtual reality game to work as a farmer, just not the type of farmer he'd expected when he signed on. (Completed Series)

Light Online - Series Page

The Crow Hill series is an apocalyptic urban fantasy (more along the lines of Harry Dresden than the romantic urban fantasy popular currently) set in Colorado. (Completed Series)

Crow Hill - Series Page

An Untimely Error: this series is a triology about the wizard Merlin reawakening in the midst of WWII. This is in the same world as the Crow Hill series, just much earlier in time. (Completed Series)

An Untimely Error - Series Page

or you can go to my Amazon Author Page which should contain links to all my books:

Tom Larcombe - Amazon Author Page

* * *

Document Outline

- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four

Table of Contents

- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four