No one approaches perfection except by stealth.

Pre-fall quote

Johanna was contemplating the sunrise. The weather had held – there was nothing worse than going about salvaging under rainfall or worse, unexpected snowfall when the temperature plummeted overnight in late fall. Instead, the sky was brightening, the silhouette of the ruins was crowned by the rising sun behind the distant horizon. And, well, that meant it was soon going to be time to light a small fire for a breakfast. In their hideout, they could afford to take a warm breakfast rather than cold rations, just like yesterday’s dinner.

She shivered slightly, trying to shake her worries. She’d slept badly until she was woken up abruptly by Peter. She had nightmares of having fire spouting all over her and burning all of her clothes, of having weird lines show up and tie her until she fell down, or, worse, of people not recognizing her. The manifestation of that strange fire made her dread more unseen and unspotted changes. In her own being. That she – and maybe all of them – had been changed by the mana surge. No, not just changed, but truly Changed.

She turned back to the campsite and was startled.

Both Tom and Laura were sleeping soundly, curled in their sleeping bags. But it wasn’t just her bag that lay empty. Peter’s was, as well.

She snapped her head back over the small parapet, looking across the ruins for any sign of the missing person. Nothing.

Fuck, what happened to Peter?

She stretched out, eyes panning to see anything hinting at what had happened. There were lots of small ruins, places where anything could stay hidden. That was partially why they’d set camp there. But despite all her efforts, she could gather no clue about what had happened behind her back while she was keeping watch.

“Fuck.”

A small laugh answered her, and she turned. Peter was crouched next to the entrance to the camp, maybe four feet away from her. She blinked in surprise.

“You were right,” he said.

“Right about what?”

“You looked straight at where I was. Twice.”

“Wait, what? I did not see you!”

She toned down her voice, unwilling to wake up the other two yet. Let them sleep. Laura, in particular, would be very, very cranky if she was woken up too early for nothing.

“I guess not. I was trying not to be seen by you,” Peter said.

She stopped, remembering yesterday’s conversation about unknown sorceries and other stuff.

“And it worked,” she concluded.

“This time, I was hiding from you, not the Canids,” he replied.

“Like when we used to play hide and seek in Anasta. Like when you were one of those legendary spies escaping the hunters.”

“They exist only in those trashy novels you get at Valetta’s bookstore,” he shrugged, before adding, “but yes. I think if you had known where exactly I was, you might have been able to spot me. But otherwise?”

He looked toward the slumbering forms.

“And I’m guessing here, but Tom’s combat prowess might really be… more of the same.”

“You’re sure?”

“That’s our first fight ever, sure, but he was a real beast. He ran fast, he hit fast. It was… impressive. I sure couldn’t do that, even considering I’m a small guy and he’s a hunk.”

“Maybe. How does it feel?” she asked.

“I do not know how it feels. I mean, I’m just trying to hide, to flatten myself against the sides, to… not be seen. You?”

“I call… the heat. I remember the sensation of fire, the flame. And it comes out.”

They both stayed silent, meditating on the sudden changes wrought upon their lives. Like yesterday, Johanna’s gaze was irresistibly drawn to the distant but still visible large ruins, where the skeleton sat on its throne-like chair. Where magic came into her – their – lives.

“Okay. Breakfast time. It’s better after eating. It’s always better after breakfast,” she decided.

She gathered a bunch of small planks and other useless wood pieces from the side of the ruin and reflexively reached for her lighter before stopping herself. She looked at her hand, then called the fire.

The flame answered, and the campfire started in seconds before she pulled back her hand. Then, Peter handed her a tin and water from their canteen, and she started the familiar process of making a scavenger’s breakfast.

She briefly wondered if she should simply put the tin on her hand and skip the campfire.

No. That’s how I’ll get cramps in my arm holding it for too long.

Moore startled. He was pretty sure he had left them with zero XP yesterday, after increasing their level, save for Donnall who still had XP leftover. Yet, this morning, they all had some experience.

Laura Anna Vogel

Female human, 18 years, 9 months

Fixer

Level: 3 (3000 XP needed)

56/56 mana (+14 per hour)

1 unallocated skill point

XP: 8 + 510

STR: 14

AUT: 15

AGI: 15

PER: 14

DEX: 16

First Aid (19)

EMP: 17 (959 XP needed)

Close Wounds (37)

He then realized that Vogel had probably obtained some of that experience when she’d demonstrated her ability on the shallow cut last evening. The small additional Empathy XP definitively pointed out that way. Although it seemed to have yielded only… five experience points in the stat. So where did those eight general points of XP come from?

Even Welter had six general XP this morning, despite not having used any of his skills at all. And none of those points had added anything to the team’s pool…

Tom Virgil Welter

Male human, 19 years, 7 months

Battler

Level: 3 (3000 XP needed)

74/74 stamina (+17 per hour)

1 unallocated skill point

XP: 6 + 510

STR: 17 (964 XP needed)

Slam (37)

AUT: 14

AGI: 17 (964 XP needed)

Intercept (37)

PER: 14

DEX: 14

EMP: 15

If Douglas Moore still had a face, he’d have scrunched it.

Then, it hit him in that metaphorical non-existent face. Of course, they did not get all of their experience from combat. In a classic game, there would be side quests and other various easy missions granting free XP here and there. So, if there was a logic behind that weird System, there should be a way for people to get XP without being battle maniacs. And that would be why they didn’t have round numbers and otherwise when he became aware of them. Well, the daily XP looked to be pitiful compared to other sources, but that’s how they got to their 2k points or so they had prior to the fight yesterday.

At least… that was a hypothesis. It did not entirely explain why Welter got six free points whereas Vogel got only three to add to her skill gain.

Did standing watch count somehow? Despite no real skill being used?

Even Milton had gotten a lot of points in both the stat and general from the skill use when lighting the breakfast, and five extra. But if he was correct, then they might get a couple of free points every day. That was not much, but over years, it would add up.

“Time for salvage? Or what?” Johanna finally asked as everyone slurped the last part of the gruel.

“Don’t feel very safe. Not with all what happened,” Tom replied.

“Laura? Peter?”

“I think we need to… think about it. It’s obviously not normal,” Laura Vogel replied.

Johanna knew when not to push it.

“Okay. Let’s pack it. We still got some stuff, so it’s not entirely negative. Besides… those abilities might be useful for us.”

“At least they saved us. Not sure we wouldn’t have been severely wounded in that fight. Maybe killed,” Tom said.

“A trio of Canids is very bad news,” Johanna agreed.

She quickly looked around, orienting herself.

“That way,” she pointed toward the small forested ridge far in the distance.

They all lifted their bags and started making their way across the flattened ruins. Tom took point, his eyes darting around, watching for more Canids, while they followed the slightly winding trail between the rectangular shapes of the old structures. They would take only a few hours to make it out.

“Let’s avoid the old road,” Johanna reminded them. “Don’t want to give any wrong ideas to the competition.”

Once in the forest, they all relaxed. Being out of the Ancient city was a huge relief, even if slightly irrational. Whatever happened had already left its mark. Johanna doubted leaving the mana-rich area would change anything.

Fuck this. That’s why no one except us fools wants to go into salvaging.

Johanna walked briskly under the fir canopy, heading more or less parallel to the road she guessed was probably half a mile north of them. She wanted to cover as much as they could before checking it, to be safe from both city and men.

She still tried to make as little sound she could, so she had no difficulty hearing a branch crackling to the side of her team of scavengers. She turned her head, trying to figure out what was there, and froze when she spotted it.

The creature looked more or less like a common housecat, save for the fact that it was probably five feet long, over two in height. It was massing probably two hundred and fifty pounds if not three hundred, she guessed.

For a moment, they all stood immobile, watching each other.

“Go away, kitty,” she said.

Then, in an afterthought, she raised her hand and sparked the flame.

The feline hissed loudly then abruptly turned and ran away.

“Could get used to that one, you know,” Tom said, laughing lightly.

“It wouldn’t have attacked anyway. Against four? Cats are smart.”

Moore looked at the descriptor numbers.

Okay, the easiest 20XP ever made, and for everyone in the group. For a level 1 enemy you didn’t even kill.