Later that night, I stretch out on one of the wooden benches near my new fire in front of the cabin Jared built. I soak in the warmth letting it sink into my skin. The air is crisp, carrying the scent of burning wood and fresh pine. The quiet hum of conversation drifts from nearby cabins.
Mischief is nowhere to be seen.
I’m not worried. He has a habit of exploring on his own when things are quiet.
It’s sotis nice actually. Our new friends still aren’t quite used to him being around. It’s hard to bla them.
With Mischief gone people are more confident and several people join around the fire pit. Alex has beco a constant presence to my ti relaxing.
Along with Alex, Nick and Damon are also lounging with us. Damon chose the blacksmithing class during the tutorial. He’s a bit older, maybe pushing thirty but he has a calm nature and easy smile. He’s a nice contrast to Alex’s supercharged enthusiasm.
“Alex, did you grow so more?” Nick has his hands cupped together and is shaking a small piece of ember in his hands while he talks.
Alex looks up as if to check. “I don’t know. Probably. I leveled up during that fight. It’s great, the system apparently understands what I’ve known all along. I’m a unit!”
We all laugh. It’s true though Alex has grown too much. Since no one has extra clothes he is still wearing what he ca in. A pair of sweatpants, that now look like leggings, a red zip hoodie, and he used to have a shirt but it ripped a while ago.
“What are you going to do if you never stop growing?” Damon sizes Alex up with an inquisitive look.
“What do you an? That would be aweso right?”
“I don’t know, maybe it would be aweso up to like 20 feet. But then it would start getting a little inconvenient. We’d probably have to kick you out of our village.” I say sarcastically.
Alex’s face turns serious processing it.
“I’m sure I’ll stop soon.” he says, sounding not really sure.
There is another round of laughter. Nick tosses another log onto the fire. It crackles and hisses as the new log settles in. Nights like these make it almost possible to forget our situation. It’s been over a month now since the world changed and grew. Hell, earlier today we fended off a raid of hairless dog n.
My mind starts to wander while I watch the last log Nick added shift and change as the fire slowly consus it.
“Have any of you been thinking about how everything works?” I ask as I take a stick and prod at the flas adjusting the wood.
I get a few confused stares before Nick jumps in. “What do you an?”
“You know. It’s like. This FEELS like a video ga, but also it really doesn’t. And doesn’t everything seem a bit…. Convenient?”
The three exchange a look.
“I’m not sure being separated from my ho and friends in the middle of nowhere feels all that convenient.” Damon finally says.
“Yeah, I an I doubt Matt would consider it convenient either.” Alex adds. I cringe.
It's clear how they interpret my question and so I backpedal.
“No, no I don’t an it like that.” I sigh looking up to the sky. “I an. Take the dungeons for instance. If you don’t enter them you wouldn’t even have to fight anything besides the first tutorial.” I point out. “Even the raids wouldn’t have started if we didn’t clear the other dungeons.”
Damon leans back and weaves his fingers behind his head, considering. “Ok…but I am not sure why that would be any more weird than literally anything else happening.”
That is a fair point. Compared to everything else, weird had really proven to be a relative term. An owl hooted sowhere in the distance.
“Yeah for real. What is weird anymore? Look at . I’ve literally grown a foot in a month.” Alex gestures towards his body.
It’s not like am disagreeing with them at all. They are totally right. But why was every single fight so far against creatures in even worse conditions than us? Shouldn’t it be different? For so reason I had a picture in my mind of roaming monsters that could attack at any mont. Not the organized chaos so far.
“Ok just hear out. Matt sounds like an incredible man but it wasn’t a raider or monster that killed him. It was a human. If it wasn’t for Richard you would’ve completed the first raid with SEVEN people, you fought FIFTY.” I let that sink in. “Doesn’t that seem strange at all?”
“I guess I kind of see your point.” Nick says. “But we did also prepare for the fight and had fortifications built.”
"That’s true. Plus the raiders we fought had terrible equipnt and barely seed like they knew what they were doing.” Alex added
Waving my heads exasperated “See that’s just it. Shouldn’t we be flooded with crazy monsters right now? And why do the raiders seem like they know less about fighting than we do? The ones we fought today were basically hobos.”
I’m not really sure why it bothers so much. “I an seriously Alex, you went in with the most lopsided build I have ever seen and still tallied several kills.”
I feel a bit like I am rambling so I drop the point. Then I think about how everything I have fought since the tutorial has had a class. What was that about? The more I thought the more I realized I didn’t know. I let the questions drop and soon enough conversation went back to being light and casual.
We talk late into the night before everyone heads to their own cabins for a few hours of rest before the day begins anew.
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The next week flies by.
Jared and the non-combatants work tirelessly, pushing ahead with new projects every day. He’s constantly coming to with new ideas for how we can improve our little territory.
The more we talk, the more we learn. Turns out his group was at a campground in Southern California when the induction started. That ans this isn’t just an expansion—it’s a reshuffling.
“Layton, do you realize the implications?” Jared says, pacing excitedly. “That ans there could be other groups like ours nearby. If we start clearing areas, maybe we could find them and create a safe haven!”
Jared’s passion to help others—it’s contagious.
“That could be cool,” I agree. “I’m all for helping people. But let’s wrap up this raid first and see where things go.”
“Yes, of course,” Jared nods. “But in the anti, I want to start building sustainable infrastructure. We have all kinds of non-combat classes—blacksmiths, gatherers, builders—each with unique skills that could support our community.”
Jared is so animated while he speaks pointing to clusters of trees and up the sloping mountain. “I trust you’ll handle the raid, but I don’t think we need to wait to start testing how mana affects crops. Do we have permission to clear an area?”
That actually sounds really cool.
“Absolutely,” I say. “I’m all for eating at, but it’d be nice to have so variety. Go for it. In fact, you don’t need to ask before doing stuff like this. It’s not my wheelhouse—you handle all that, okay?”
Jared brightens. “I’ll get to work on so of my ideas right away. Thank you, Layton.”
With nothing much to do, I help clear out a section of trees for the garden. It takes Alex and just a day to clear a full acre. Skills and mana really speed things up. The others work the soil while we stack logs for later use.
By the end of the week, our little walled camp has transford. It’s no longer just a camp—it’s a settlent. A fortified wall encloses everything. A dozen buildings line a central road of packed dirt.
I speak with a girl in camp nad Jessie, a “Gemcrafter,” she is experinting with minor chaos shards—trying to create mana-infused utilities, like lights and running water. Unfortunately the results are less than optimal. I’m reminded of my own experience using shards when I created the shock knife.
Progress feels real. But without fighting, I start feeling kind of useless.
Then one day as I’m strolling through our village admiring the new buildings…when my ears perk up. I overhear a very interesting conversation.
“Well, that’s easy for you. All you have to do is plant shit. I don’t even know what a Beast Tar is supposed to do.”
I freeze. A Beast Tar?
My brain explodes with ideas. Not for Mischief—he’s off-limits. But… what about that pack of wolves near my lake?
What if we could train them? What if they leveled up the way Mischief has? What if we had an army of wolf riders?
I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. We obviously need an army of wolf riders.
I spin around and zero in on the guy who spoke—a younger man with shaggy brown hair, looking bored and mildly annoyed. I make a beeline right to him.
He jumps when I stand a little close before saying a little too loud.
“Hello there, sir,” I’m all smiles. “My na is Layton. Did I just hear you say sothing about being a Beast Tar?”
The man in question is nad Ben. And ten minutes later, Ben strapped to Mischief’s back, screaming for dear life as we tore through the forest hunting wolves.
Convincing Mischief was NOT easy. But when I promised he could solo the next dungeon faction leader, he reluctantly agreed.
With Mischief tracking, finding the wolves is almost too easy. They’re still near my lake, living in a small cave less than a mile away.
I decide that before barging in, I should unstrap Ben from Mischief.
“Okay,” I say seriously. “Are you ready for this Ben?”
He stares straight in the face, dry tear streaks line his cheeks “NO!” Ben flails his arms. “I have no idea what I’m doing! That’s a huge pack of wolves! I’ve never used my skills before!”
“It should co naturally,” I reassure him, placing my hand on his shoulder. He jerks away. “Look–it’ll be easy just like healing was for . Trust your instincts.”
Ben does not look convinced.
“You’ll be fine,” I add, casting Barrier on him. “Besides, even if you ss up, they can’t touch you. You have nothing to worry about.”
He absolutely does not believe .
Ben approaches the cave slowly, throwing unsure glances back at us every few steps. I grin encouragingly. Mischief looks indifferent.
The wolves are already aware of him—several stand at the entrance, growling.
Ben hesitates, then tries his first strategy.
“Uhh… follow ?”
The wolves do not follow. Ben clears his throat. “Good boys?”
Nothing.
Finally, in desperation: “H-here wolfie, wolfie?” To add to the effect he whistle and snaps his fingers.
I bury my face in my hands. Yeah, okay. This might take so work.
The wolves are done waiting. With a chorus of snarls, they charge. Ben screams.
The wolves hit Ben like a battering ram, barreling him to the ground. They bite and scratch at his barrier, confused as to why they can’t break through.
I sigh.
“Alright, let’s help before he has a breakdown,” I say. Mischief gives a lazy nod, and we move in.
The second we approach, the wolves panic. Apparently they still rember , scattering in a flurry of movent.
But I have an idea.
I sprint after the closest wolf—easily catching up—and grab it by the scruff of the neck. It thrashes and bites, but I ignore it and hoist it over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
Then, I walk over to where Ben is still curled up in a ball on the ground.
He cracks an eye open. “Am I dead?”
“Not yet,” I say cheerfully, bouncing the angry, struggling wolf on my shoulder. “Look! I got you a present.”
Ben is not on board.
Ben sits up and stares in horror. “ARE YOU CRAZY? They didn’t listen to at ALL! That’s NOT how this works!”
“Ben,” I say seriously. “You listen, and you listen good.”
I crouch down, eting his eyes.
“I will have my wolf riders. And you are going to help .”
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Looks at the wolf. Looks back at .
I stand, patting the wolf’s still-snapping jaws. “Now hop back on that mountain lion and let’s ride.”
Ben looks so unbelievably done. But he sighs, climbs back onto Mischief, and resigns himself to his fate.
Back at camp, Jared helps pick a spot for our new “wolf kennel.” It’s a small reinforced bunker, near the fields that haven’t been used yet.
I drop the furious wolf inside and latch the door.
“Alright, Ben,” I say, turning to him. “The raid is in two days. I want this wolf ready to fight.”
Ben blinks. “IN TWO DAYS?!”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing!”
“Think of our whole territory. the growing fields, the settlent, the fortifications. No one knows what they’re doing, Ben.”
He hesitates. I see the mont the realization hits.
I press forward. “Look at everything we’ve built. We’re all figuring it out. But if you learn your class, you could be one of the most important people here. What do you think?”
Ben takes a breath. Then—slowly—nods.
“Okay. I’ll do my best.”
I grin. “That’s all I ask.” We leave off and I run with a huge smile on my face. WOLF RIDERS.
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