Tomas and Jane left to find their teams and report for wall guard duty. Neither Ruby nor Steve were in their tents, so I sent them a message, asking how they were doing.

  Then I headed into town. Even though the sun had dipped behind the tall western peaks, it wouldn’t be truly night for hours. Still, it looked like everyone had returned to town already. No one wanted to get caught out when the werewolves started prowling.

  Quite a few people waved and called out greetings when I passed. I waved in return, although I didn’t recognize most of them. Scanning their names and classes got some interesting results.

  “Dwight Smith, baby human level 28. Team Lord of the Rings. Class: Triage Joiner.”

  “Rose Campion, baby human level 29. Team Lord of the Rings. Class: Conscientious Bombardier.”

  “Jerry Alexander, baby human level 27. Team Seinfeld. Class: Flicker Brute.”

  “Robin Wallace, baby human level 26. Team Princess Bride. Class: Fiery Skyrider.”

  The classes fascinated me, but I didn’t have time to stop and chat with each person I met. So I started asking Cyrus about them. He eagerly explained, happy to share details. I guess not many people were asking because it was like he’d been just waiting for me to ask. Didn’t give me a loot box, though.

  Dwight Smith on Team Lord of the Rings was among the first to enter Stepstone. He got a spell for rapidly making small structures out of available materials, then added a healing spell at level 25. The Triage Joiner class tripled the strength of his buildings, as long as a wounded person was inside.

  Rose Campion, the Conscientious Bombardier, on the other hand, was making siege weapons for the town defenses. They delivered outstanding destruction, but included options to make their payloads harmless to the environment. Jerry Alexander’s Flicker Brute class could give him massive strength or density boosts for short periods of time, paired with a short-ranged teleport ability.

  “Mobile tank. I like it.”

  “Indeed. I have yet to see him push his class limits, but he has a lot of potential.”

  Of course, I paused at Sam’s tavern. He rushed over to greet me as soon as I entered. It was early enough in the evening that the place wasn’t packed, but I doubted there was a moment day or night when it wasn’t at least half full. If I had to pick the heart of town, that would be it.

  “Lucas, my friend! How are you doing tonight?”

  “I’m still alive, so it’s a good day.”

  Sam laughed, then turned serious. “Got any more of the hard stuff?”

  “I sold you 200 bottles.”

  “Burned through that in a matter of hours.”

  “How?” Did people have high-leveled binge-drinking abilities?

  “Think about it, my friend. My ale is good, and although Steve is starting to pump out some pretty impressive margaritas and some other types of alcohol, it’s not the same. There’s a lot of nostalgia for Earth bottles, and you’re the only supplier.”

  “What are you offering?”

  “A tier-4 mana crystal per bottle, and I’ll take as many as you’ve got.”

  Wow. 10,000 mana crystals per bottle. With how tight a lot of people were on crystals, that was steep, especially since Sam had to make a profit.

  “Deal.”

  Cheering exploded across the room and I looked around in surprise. I hadn’t realized people were listening in, but they obviously had been. Many raised tankards in salute, and a line instantly formed at the bar with people ready to place orders as soon as Sam got the goods.

  One middle-aged guy with a bushy black beard shouted from the far side of the room, “How did you get your hands on so much hard liquor when no one else has seen any?”

  The cheering subsided and a hush fell over the tavern as all eyes turned to me. I shrugged. “I explore a lot, and got a lucky loot box.”

  “Just like you’re the only person to get a castle house,” a woman several tables from the burly dude said.

  “How good is your Luck stat?” I asked, trying to keep things light.

  “And you’ve got a Luck stat,” the first burly guy added. “Only person I’ve heard to unlock that one.” More voices rose in agreement and the mood was turning ugly for some reason.

  “You should get out more,” I said, still smiling, but my patience was fading.

  “What else is the AI paying you for spying on all of us?” the woman shouted to a swell in angry muttering.

  Again with that. How many people had fallen for the stupid rumors? I opened my mouth to reply, but Cyrus chose that moment to intervene.

  His booming laughter made everyone cringe down in fear. “You humans are delightful! As if I need a lowly human to spy on you. Do you really think that I could administer this game without knowing everything that happens everywhere in every second?”

  “You’re killing us all!” the burly fellow roared, jumping to his feet and actually raising a fist toward the ceiling.

  “No, you are dying because you aren’t progressing fast enough,” Cyrus responded calmly. “You should work harder. Like Lucas.”

  “I knew he was in league with the machine!” the woman shouted.

  I sighed. Cyrus had to have known he would just stir them up. Had he wanted a confrontation for his viewers, or was he bored just then? I didn’t care. I was sick and tired of idiots misinterpreting all I did to help everyone.

  So I shouted over the din, “You think I’m some kind of traitor? Think my loot is tainted? Fine. I won’t sell any more bottles to Sam.”

  That got them. Half a hundred voices rose in anguish at the thought and they quickly turned on the two idiots who had just been riling them up against me. For a second, I feared they’d lynch the dummies right there.

  The entire ceiling flashed with white light so bright, it blinded most people, then Sam’s voice boomed through the tavern. “Enough! This is my place, and I make the rules. If anyone attempts any violence against anyone, you’ll be banned for life. Calm yourselves down, or not a one of you will get another drink today.”

  That silenced the crowd. Sam turned to me and shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Half-drunk warriors get rowdy sometimes.”

  I honestly didn’t want to fight a bunch of idiots, and I wouldn’t waste more time on them. So I sold Sam 200 more bottles and collected a total of two tier-5 crystals. A collective sigh of relief washed through the crowd. Even the two dummies who had been accusing me of being a traitor looked eager to buy a drink.

  Sam leaned closer as we finalized the sale. “I heard there’s another chap wanting to talk with you. Wants to buy more of that liquor for Elizabeth Maberly’s club. She’s calling it The Expanse.”

  “Like after that sci-fi show?”

  Sam shrugged. “Dunno.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t sell him product I might want to buy?”

  “I have enough to keep you stocked for a little while. Even if I do sell him some, he won’t get the discounted rates you do.”

  “I knew I liked you for a reason,” Sam laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Oh, yeah, I got an order from the mayor.”

  He turned and waved to Susan, who was working the deli counter again. She rushed out, looking happier than ever. Now that she had a boyfriend, she bubbled with good cheer. She started handing over items from her inventory. A lot of items.

  I ended up with 20 barrels of ale, 100 sandwiches, 20 buckets of assorted fries, and 10 dozen assorted desserts, cookies, and pastries. When she finished, Susan wished me luck in my next hunt and returned to work. Not a single person asked about that huge order I’d just gotten, although dozens of eyes watched the exchange.

  “That’s a lot of food,” Sam commented. “Working deals with the council now? Planning to open your own shop?”

  “That would be fun, actually, but I can’t level that way. I got some equipment for crafters. They paid in trade.”

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  “So that was you. Good work, lad. Many of the crafters are more excited about their new projects than I’ve ever seen. That influx of high-quality material was the perfect shot in the arm to give some of them the hope they need to keep going after the system store arrived.”

  Ripples of murmurs spread through the watching crowd as people passed the explanation across the room. Sam had talked loud enough for many to hear. Good idea. Maybe knowing I’d helped so many of the crafters would help counter the negative rumors about me.

  “Glad to hear it. Take care, my friend.”

  “You are always welcome.”

  When I returned to the street, I resumed scanning people and asking about their classes. After the twentieth one, even Cyrus’s enthusiasm waned.

  Finally he said in a long-suffering tone, “Congratulations, Lucas. For showing limitless enthusiasm for class evolutions, you receive a gold Adrian Monk loot box.”

  It gave me a single scroll.

  “Upgrade scroll. Upgrade Linguasight to level 6. It now share more details about classes, class evolution history, and class spells.”

  I blinked in surprise. I got a utility spell upgrade just for annoying Cyrus long enough? I hadn’t expected anything like that. Could I use the same technique again? Definitely a trick to keep in mind.

  “Thanks, Cyrus.”

  “Don’t mention it. Really.”

  I started to reply with a joke about his limited attention span, but froze. A softly glowing girl was walking down the street toward me, but I could see people and buildings behind her. She was some kind of ghost.

  I lacked Soulrend to easily attack ghosts, but I couldn’t leave another wraith running loose in town to attack people. She didn’t look like one of the Lifebane Phantoms, but she had to be some kind of monster.

  She was walking slowly, looking at everything and everyone, but avoided making any contact. No one else seemed to realize a ghost wandered among us.

  I kept my pace casual as I steadily closed on the apparition. She wasn’t acting like most monsters, but when I got within range, I’d hit her with Sapper Charge. It dealt massive amounts of spiritual damage. I’d use up all my remaining uses if I had to.

  Three paces from the ghost, she turned toward me and I prepared to spring. Just then, Identify triggered.

  “Brianna Frawley, baby human level 26. Team Outlander. Class: Imaginary Friend.”

  “Imaginary Friend?” I blurted.

  The ghostly girl froze, then spun and fled.

  “Wait!” I gave chase, easily keeping up with the frantic woman. She darted between a couple of shops, but a wooden fence blocked the path. Without slowing, she phased to ethereal and rushed through the fence. When I tried jumping the fence to follow, I smacked facefirst into an invisible barrier.

  Some kind of phase ability in addition to invisibility, plus telekinesis powers? I was more intrigued than ever. The girl had rounded the building into the next street, so I turned and rushed up the street to keep parallel, nearly bowling over a couple women walking the other way. When I reached the next open alley, I raced through, thankfully not colliding with another wall.

  When I skidded to a stop in the next street, I saw no sign of the ghostly girl. Frowning, I activated Spellseer’s Gaze. Color flooded into the world, making everything deeper and richer. All sorts of mana flowed through town.

  Interesting. I hadn’t realized people affected the types of mana around them. I would have thought since everyone auto-downgraded attuned mana to basic mana, the town would be flooded with just basic mana. It didn’t seem to work that way.

  Then I spotted a young woman browsing a storefront’s open window. She stood very stiff and looked straight ahead, even though the only thing directly in front of her was a folded piece of monster hide. The shop made custom clothing and basic armor.

  The girl looked totally normal, no invisibility or special powers on display. More importantly, she was the same size as that ghostly young woman I’d been chasing.

  I slowly approached, not looking at her. She tensed, visibly shaking. Her face looked pale and she was clenching her fists so tight, it was a wonder she wasn’t bleeding. I passed without changing pace and she sighed.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

  She gasped and spun to face me, flinging out both hands. I figured she would try her telekinesis on me again, so I activated Phantom Step. Her spell rattled me as her power rushed past, but did not send me flying.

  Her eyes widened as I returned to the physical plane. She took a fearful step back, voice quivering. “Are you a ghost? Is that how you saw me?”

  I chuckled. “Not yet. I’m Lucas. Those abilities of your combine into a really cool build.”

  “Brianna,” she said, looking down and blushing furiously.

  The clues clicked into place and my higher Intelligence stat paid off for once. “Imaginary Friend. Perfect class choice. You’ve been helping Catelyn Smith and her team, right?”

  She stared for a second before blurting, “How could you possibly know that? And how do you know Catelyn?”

  “I gave her a hand once. She said they’ve been having strange things happen. Monsters tripping, attacks getting mysteriously deflected. That was you, right?”

  She seemed to shrink in on herself, visibly shaking, her voice barely squeaking out. “Please don’t get mad.”

  I laughed. “How could I get mad? Have you told Catelyn it was you?”

  “Oh, no!” She shook her head violently, setting her mousy brown hair shaking all around her head. Her gear was pretty basic and she didn’t look like she was eating enough.

  “Do you have a team?”

  “They all died.”

  “Do you have a Base Camp utility spell?”

  She shook her head again.

  “Would you like a shower and a good meal?”

  She retreated another step and I held up a hand. “No strings attached. I just want to help.”

  “Why?” She actually dared look up to meet my gaze, although she looked back down instantly and backed up another step. I wasn’t that ugly, was I?

  “Consider it a thank you for helping Catelyn and her team. I’d like to introduce you to the rest of my team too.”

  She hesitated, but finally nodded. “All right, I guess.”

  “Great. Come on.” I headed back toward my castle and amazingly, Brianna followed several steps behind. On the way, I sent a message to Ruby.

  Ruby: “I’m doing some trading right now. What’s up?”

  Lucas: “It’s kind of a unique story. Can you meet me back at my castle in about half an hour. I think I need your help.”

  Ruby: “Are you in danger?”

  Lucas: “No. Nothing like that. There’s a girl who needs help.”

  Ruby: “I’ll be there.”

  When we approached my castle, Brianna scooted forward to walk beside me, staring at awe at the two-story mini castle. “You own this?”

  “I do. I like to have friends over.”

  She faded back, worry returning full force. “I don’t like crowds.”

  “Not now. It’ll just be us and Jeeves, my butler. One of my other teammates will probably drop by later.”

  “You have a butler?”

  “It’s kind of a long story. Come on. You’ll love him.”

  Jeeves opened the door for us and bowed. “Welcome home, sir, my lady.”

  Brianna giggled and I led her inside. She turned a slow circle, gaping at the finery. It really was a pretty awe-inspiring sight.

  “So, meal first, or shower?”

  “What have you got?”

  “Pretty much anything you could want.”

  “Hamburger?”

  “Good choice.” I glanced at Jeeves. He bowed and gestured toward the dining room. “If you will be seated, miss, I will bring your repast momentarily.”

  And he did. Somehow Jeeves whipped up a perfect double bacon cheeseburger with waffle-cut fries. Well, the fries were easy. I had buckets of them still in my inventory.

  Brianna wolfed down the food like she hadn’t eaten much in a week. Maybe she hadn’t. Jeeves offered a variety of desserts and she chose triple chocolate cake and 5 scoops of vanilla ice cream.

  “Hey, I never got ice cream,” I laughed.

  “You have not asked.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  Jeeves led Brianna up to one of the spare suites and purchased her an array of clothing, along with a decent set of leather armor that was worlds better than what she’d been wearing. Dipped into my funds again, but I didn’t complain.

  Ruby arrived just after Brianna descended back to the living room. The girl looked like a changed person, smiling and clean and more at ease. She loved her new clothes and looked the part of a ghostly protective angel.

  She and Ruby hit it off instantly, and within moments, Brianna’s tale was pouring forth as the two sat close together, sipping milkshakes. Jeeves was pulling out all the stops. I’d have to try harder to challenge him.

  Brianna’s entire team died on the first day. She’d been in one of the tourist groups. Obviously very shy and timid, she’d gotten the life-saving invisibility and telekinesis starter spells. Through some lucky breaks, she reached level 10 and made invisibility permanent.

  She kept it active almost all the time, so it had leveled up quite a bit. I hadn’t realized that was possible. Cyrus hadn’t given me many spell upgrades on stage 1. Then again, I hadn’t hit level 10 until I defeated Bristleback.

  The spell upgrades had really improved her invisibility. More than just not being seen, she could turn incorporeal, as I’d seen, becoming invisible to all normal senses. Then she’d stumbled on Catelyn’s group and formed an imaginary friend attachment, so to speak, assigning herself as their guardian angel.

  Just as she wrapped up her tale, Catelyn arrived. I hadn’t warned anyone I had texted her. When Jeeves ushered her into the room, Brianna leaped to her feet, suddenly looking terrified.

  Catelyn flashed her warmest smile as she swept across the room and caught Brianna in a bear hug. That stunned the girl, who started weeping.

  “You’re the one who’s been keeping us safe?” Catelyn exclaimed.

  Brianna laughed and smiled and nodded through her tears. She was having an emotional day. The two of them settled back onto the soft chairs, chatting so fast I could barely keep up. Jeeves provided them with a tray of assorted chocolates, pastries, and fruit juices.

  Ruby and I moved to my trophy pool room. “How did you find her?” Ruby whispered, her eyes bright with emotion.

  I told her the story. When I finished, she gave me a long look, then flashed one of the brightest smiles I’d ever seen. “That’s one of the most heroic things you’ve done yet.”

  No kiss, and surprisingly I was okay with that. The invisible tension that had surrounded us when we stood close together recently was gone. It was weird, but nice. Agreeing to take it easy and take our time had broken the awkwardness. We could interact as good friends without drama, and with the potential to become more when we were ready.

  “Guess I’m not so inhuman after all.”

  “Keep it up, Lucas, and I won’t worry for you any more.”

  “Well, a little worry keeps me from getting boring, right?”

  She smiled and I added, “Do you have time to hang out for a bit until they wrap things up? I’ve got a couple more things to do before heading out to hunt tonight.”

  “I can. You be careful, Lucas.”

  “Always. Speaking of careful.” I extracted the Faberge egg case and handed it to her.

  Ruby’s eyes went wide. Then she opened the egg and froze. Looking up slowly from the egg to me, she asked in a strangled sort of voice, “Lucas, you’re giving me a ring? I thought we agreed—“

  “Oh, Schumann! Sorry. No, I didn’t. I mean, it is, but it’s not . . .” I slapped myself in the forehead hard enough to crack a level-1 baby human’s skull. Wow, I was a legendary level idiot. Maybe divine level.

  “Well, that makes it clear,” she said, thankfully giving me a teasing smile instead of flinging the egg back in my face and calling me a brute.

  I took a deep breath. “The item is the gift. It came as a ring. I didn’t even think . . .”

  Her smiled widened. “That’s a relief. Usually when someone gives that kind of ring, there’s a bit more formality behind the gesture. Wrapping it in a Faberge egg was a nice touch, though.”

  She didn’t have Identify, so I shared the description with her. She gasped. “Lucas! This must have cost a fortune.”

  “Only a small fortune.”

  “An engagement band would have been cheaper.”

  “And yet, so much more expensive.”

  She laughed and that broke the tension again. “How can I accept this?”

  “Easy. We’re a team, and if I know you’re safe, I’ll be less distracted and better able to deal with whatever monster is trying to kill me.”

  “In that case, how could I say no?”

  “I can’t imagine.”

  She slid it onto the ring finger of her right hand and I asked “Where are you going to set your safety point?”

  Ruby gave me another bright smile, but a twinkle of mischievousness sparkled in her eye. She tapped me in the chest and said, “I’ll have it bring me to you.”

  Whoa. I could take that more than one way. I started to grin and flush at the same time, but managed to say, “Just don’t trigger it while I’m in the shower.”

  She laughed, and I left the castle smiling.