“This place is…” Rose looked up at the cobbled streets and the stone buildings with their ornate stained glass windows and pointed arches. “It’s very Gothic, isn’t it?”

It was. The Dungeon looked like a crooked version of a Gothic city, its buildings seemingly looming over the single, narrow street they stood on. In the ‘sky’ above them, there were no stars, only a red moon that hung in the sky like a fat drop of blood. Lanterns that glowed with a purple flame swayed from the face of buildings, and loud snarls and roars ripped through the city, the occasional hoarse scream breaking through it all.

They numbered four. Wells had elected to stay behind, leaving Grey with Kamaru, Lazarus, and Rose. This was a true Gold Dungeon, the first he had encountered, and he knew what it had in store for them: death. Someone had to scout it, however, so Grey had volunteered his own group.

A door to the building on their left exploded open, and a group of monstrosities poured out, yelling and snarling indecipherable words. Their faces were deformed, looking as though they had been smashed together and left like lumpy clay, and they crawled and loped like animals, long claws extending from their hands.

Of particular interest was their clothing. Though four of them wore standard clothes, the fourth wore a tabard over his armor like a knight of old, a black and gold piece of cloth that hung about the shoulders and pictured a crude Spartan helmet. The sigildry of the Delvers’ Guild, a group who had left their Tutorial together. The rumors about a Guild team entering this Dungeon had been right. Good. This Dungeon was beyond Grey's team, but his mission was already halfway accomplished.

“I’ve got the one on the left,” Grey called, and he stepped forward, sweeping the back end of his spear into the monster’s legs. It fell. His spear went into its left eye, leaving it spasming in the warm embrace of the reaper.

When the others were looking away in fights of their own, he touched a hand to the tabard, storing it away in his Inventory. They moved on after, the street taking them up a hill. A grand cathedral sat at the top, the red moon behind it, but reaching it would not be simple.

The crack of a gun shattered the sound of snarling. Grey turned, wrenching the bullet from the air with a grunt. Pain lanced into his head. On a rooftop beside them, a wolfman held a rifle that seemed pulled from colonial times.

Kamaru’s arrow took it in the throat, and it slid from the roof, smacking the ground with a wet noise. Then they flooded from the buildings on either side of them, some holding wickedly curving sickles and scythes. They seemed different from the monsters from before, beastmen in truth.

Battle plan started.

Gun fire roared, and Grey stepped out of the Dungeon and into a small office. He ran forward, leaping back into the Dungeon and into the beastmen’s midst. Chi Breathing wailed in his head. His spear took one in the back, beginning a slaughter that painted the streets a dark red.

Battle plan complete.

“What was that Evolution?” Kamaru asked, leaning on his bow. Sweat coated his brow, and he huffed out a heavy breath.

Corpses decorated the ground around them, twisted and broken this way and that. Grey looked over them with a warm feeling. Toy soldiers at best. His use of Dungeon Walker still needed improvement, but all in due time, he supposed.

“Yeah.” Rose sat against a stone tower, her features bathed in the shifting purple light of the lantern above. “It looked like a teleport.”

Lazarus only grunted, cleaning his blade with a dirty cloth. The silent man wore body armor over red clothes, and Grey had determined that his Primary was some sort of intuitive combat sense. The specifics would require more observation. As for the other two, Kamaru had an Evolution that boosted his physical ability and another that made the area around him like a sort of microwave, frying those in his vicinity. Rose had a powerful one that made her nearly unnoticeable. She was still visible, only unremarkable. She could also control electricity to a minor extent.

They were decently impressive, but it made him realize how powerful Single Player was. It was the ultimate utility Evolution, one that added new capabilities at every Rank. The ability to choose his own Evolutions alone put it head and shoulders above the others. Which made him wonder, was it his Evolution’s strength that had landed him in the Desert on his own? His mind had drifted to that often of late.

“It’s a close range teleport ability. It’s pretty draining, but…” Grey shrugged. “But the benefits outweigh the costs.” Previously, he had hidden Dungeon Walker, and even now he wouldn't be truthful about its abilities.

“Yeah, well-”

“I sense something,” Lazarus said.

Grey looked around as though he had not spotted the monster on the roof above them. Kamaru searched around before falling still. He pointed up.

“There!”

It was too late. A blur smashed into Rose’s head, bursting it in a spray of gore. The headless corpse stood for another moment and toppled to the ground. A feminine laugh bounced between the stone buildings, and Grey’s eyes landed on a figure crouched on the balcony of a home like a gargoyle.

She had skin that was a pale gray, and white hair fell around her shoulders. In place of her mouth were mandibles like that of a spider, and she had two sets of arms below her human-like ones, the insect limbs ending in blades shaped like scalpels.

“Move! Retreat, go!” He wasn’t sure that any of the Returnees in the city could conquer a Dungeon like this, which made him certain they were taking the slow way, combining Silvers and Bronzes to make Golds.

He spared a last glance at the cathedral on the hill. He would be back, that he knew, and when he returned, it would be him alone that brought this place to its knees. The game would not be won this way. He smirked as they fled. Both of his goals had been accomplished. His timetable moved up once more.

They exited the Dungeon at the bottom of the office building. Kamaru stumbled and dropped to his knees, his body wracked with hiccuping cries. Lazarus watched without a blink. Grey felt much the same, but he dropped to his knees, mustering tears and grasping Kamaru’s shoulder. It was a wonder what a bit of observation and a month spent around people could do for a man’s acting skills.

“W-w… I can’t do this,” Kamaru said. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Yes, you can.” Grey pulled him up. “Giving up? How does that honor Rose, man? We can’t let more people die.”

Kamaru was openly weeping now. Grey pulled him close, patting the man lightly on the back. Trust. It was almost like currency. Earn enough of it, and you could spend it to cover up your lies. Once he had figured that out, things slid into place.

They stood a moment later, and he shook his head. “I can’t go back right now,” Grey said. “Too much on my mind. I think I’m going to go blow off steam in a Bronze or something.”

“Me too,” Kamaru said woodenly.

“Hey Laz, are you going back?” Nod. “Tell Wells about… About Rose.” Grey stared at the ground.

The pale man wandered off after a moment, leaving Kamaru and Grey alone. He patted the man on the back and told him to be safe. Then he walked west. When he was far enough away, he turned north, pulling the tabard of the Delvers’ Guild from his storage with a small smile. Then he checked his status screen.

Grey Shor

Evolution Points: 51

Rank: E

Evolutions (4/7)

Single Player: E (10/200)- Diamond

Chi Breathing: E (20/165)- Gold

Minor Telekinesis: F (19/21)- Bronze

Dungeon Walker: F (0/48)- Silver

With the next phase of his plan soon to start, it was time to spend his Evolution Points. He pulled up the Shop and searched up a specific Evolution, one named Metal Sense. It was a cheap Bronze, and he bought it for fifteen Evolution Points, leaving him with thirty-five. He put two more into Minor Telekinesis, raising it to its natural limit. Then he spent another twenty to do the same to Metal Sense. He was left with fourteen EP, which he poured into Single Player. Then he mentally willed Minor Telekinesis and Metal Sense to combine.

Combine Metal Sense and Minor Telekinesis? Y/N

He selected yes.

Combining...

New Evolution- Metallurgy: E (0/78)- Silver

He had found the Evolution on the ARA’s private network the week previously. It stood out for three reasons. The first was that it solved his bullet problem. While guns were becoming less and less effective on the growing monsters, they could still end an unsuspecting human quite quickly. Metallurgy would allow him to redirect them with a fraction of the strain as before.

Still, that was perhaps the least important reason. He withdrew an item from his Inventory. It was a shiny, four-foot long lump of gray steel recovered from a potent Silver Dungeon. Holding an image in his mind, he activated Metallurgy. The lump lengthened, developing a razor tip on one end and a spike on the other. It was a spear, one that was easily wieldable with Chi Breathing active.

This was the second reason he had chosen Metallurgy. While it would take another Rank up for the transformation to be quick enough for mid-combat, it still provided him with versatility in its current state. He could have a weapon or tool for any situation, and more importantly, the strong telekinetic abilities it provided with metal would allow him to add mental weight to his enhanced blows. As for the third, well that would come soon.

There was no min-maxing in real life, no cheat codes, no ultimate way to power, but Grey would attempt to find it anyways. After all, what else could the Ultimate Player be but the man who broke the game?

With his EP’s spent, he continued his way northeast. He traded his chitin armor for a rather subdued set of body armor with a helmet that obscured his features. The spear in his hand became a two-handed sledgehammer.

As he walked, he practiced different roles. His usual placid expression became a smile that said ‘I’m the dumb bastard who smiles all the time.’ He practiced his laugh and his voice, adding an edge of gravel and hint of boisterous energy. In truth, he was more like the lump of metal in his hand than he might want to believe. He was formless, shapeless, malleable.

The north and east sectors of District Twenty-four bordered on war. It was a subtle tension, one that hung in the frustrated slump of its inhabitants’ shoulders. One could hear it in the harsh words they spoke to one another, could see it in the armed bands roaming the streets, smell it in the heavy copper scent of blood that hung in the air. Three volatile elements caused this tension: the Hunters, the Delvers’ Guild, and the roaming Silver and Gold Rank monsters whose Dungeons had yet to be conquered. They were like chemicals thrown into a mixing vat and stirred with strong emotion; it was only a matter of time before the whole thing blew up.

Today, Grey would be the spark thrown into the vat.