“Aren’t we supposed to be headed away from the giant fire portal with demons coming out of it?” Tony asked.

Aaron held a finger up to his lips as he crouched behind a corner. On the other side of the wall, a hallway led directly to the cafeteria - the place that held all the bad things that Tony had described.

Like he had expected, the prison was devoid of life around the cafeteria. All that was left were reminders of what once was: cracked concrete, human bodies, and the smell of burnt meat. It was obvious why no one in their right mind wanted to get close to this place.

However, he knew something everyone else did not: the alien invaders did not want to leave the cafeteria. Or, more optimistically, they could not. Whatever the case, as long as they remained stuck, passing by the room was relatively safe.

“If they followed us out of the cafeteria, we would all be dead. I think they’re stuck in there,” Aaron whispered to Tony.

Tony peaked his head around the corner. “That makes sense; we haven’t seen them anywhere else. But what if you are wrong? Do you want to risk it?”

Aaron nodded. “It’s not a risk. I know I’m right. Besides, we escaped from them once; we can do it again.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Aaron activated Stealth and quietly crept along the far side of the hallway. As they got closer, the temperature drastically increased. It felt like he was standing in a sauna. The gentle cold embrace of Stealth was his only comfort against the heat. Undeterred, he continued forward. They didn’t encounter any problems till they reached the entrance.

Congratulations! Stealth Lvl 4→5. 1 Skill Point Awarded.

Red rock spilled out of the opening like the foaming mouth of a beast. Inside the cafeteria, ranks of monsters hurried about, building basic fortifications. Through magic, sections of the ground had been raised, and steel pillars proudly stuck out of the red rock, warding off anyone dumb enough to approach their base. From this distance, he could hear them communicating with animal-like noises.

Congratulations! Stealth Lvl 5→6. 1 Skill Point Awarded.

Aaron increased his pace, just ten more feet, and they would be out of view of the cafeteria. He took one last glance into the room. He rubbed his eyes, it may have just been his imagination, but the flaming portal had increased in size. That wasn’t good. To the side of the portal, the Cervom Warrior that so easily destroyed the guards stood a quiet vigil. Time seemed to slow down as he met eyes with the half-deer half-demon creature. A lopsided grin spanned its face as it waved at Aaron. That really wasn’t good.

He tugged on Tony’s arm and broke out into a sprint. He didn’t have any desire to test whether the monsters were actually stuck in the room. Filled by a desire to live, he pumped his legs and ran faster than ever before. The ground practically disappeared beneath his feet. He only stopped running once he had reached his destination.

Tony caught up to him a couple seconds later. His face was red with exertion. “Why are we running? I thought you said they couldn’t follow us.” He wiped some sweat off his face. “My body isn’t built for running anymore.”

“I felt like getting some exercise.” He pointed to an open door to their left. Someone had gotten to the kitchen before them. He raised his arm, ready to use what little mana he had regenerated, and entered the kitchen. Pots and pans littered the floor, along with half-cooked meals. It looked like the chiefs had left in a hurry.

He examined the room, walking among the rows of stovetops. Everything in the kitchen looked like it was made 50 years ago. The cooking utensils had lost their initial luster and were all in a state of disrepair. He stopped as he found a door in the middle of the kitchen. He hesitantly opened it. Luckily, no monsters jumped out at him. However, what he found was more dangerous than any monster could ever be.

Propane tanks lined the wall, providing fuel to the kitchen. Improvised Weapon Mastery practically screamed at him. He scratched his head. No modern safety inspector would approve of this setup, but the prison was built a hundred years ago. They must have had lower standards back then. If he was thinking from the perspective of people 100 years ago, it kind of made sense. Alcatraz wasn’t connected to the power grid. They had to have a way to independently run the prison. Propane was one of the easiest options.

He smiled; he could use this to his advantage. He searched the room. Alongside the tanks of propane were various maintenance items. He grabbed a roll of duct tape, a plan aided by Improvised Weapon Mastery began to form in his mind.

Tony laughed as he entered the room, carrying two cast iron frying pans. “Is that what I think it is? The Warden is lazier than I thought.” Tony noticed the tape in Aaron’s hand. “Should I start running now? That stuff expands to 270 times its initial size when it explodes.”

Aaron wistfully glanced at the tank. “Does it? That doesn’t sound right.”

Tony waved his frying pan. “Trust me, I know.”

Aaron nodded; he trusted Tony’s judgment. “Well, that changes the plan.” He walked to a stovetop and pressed the ignition, releasing gas into the air. He taped it down, then repeated the process five more times. Then, he stuffed a wad of wet paper into the toaster. He had seen this maneuver once before in a movie; he hoped it would work.

Congratulations! Improvised Weapon Mastery Lvl 5→7. 2 Skill Points Awarded.

“We should have a couple minutes before the paper catches on fire and the room explodes.”

“Plenty of time.” They quickly scoured the room for food but found that most of it had already been taken. The only edible item that he found was an unopened box of raisin bran cereal. Which was quite odd, there was no reason for cereal to be in the kitchen, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe one of the cooks really liked to eat cereal while working? For his actions, Surviviliasm increased a level.

He gave one last glance to the red rock wall that the kitchen and cafeteria shared. Hopefully, this attack would do some damage to the invaders. As things stood, they would be hard-pressed to beat them. They needed something to even the odds a bit.

He grabbed a kitchen knife, then they fled the room. The seconds ticked by as they raced through the gray prison hallways. Within thirty seconds, they had left the unoccupied part of the prison. Now, they occasionally passed other prisoners and monsters, but they paid them no mind and continued running.

Earlier than he had expected, a shockwave ran through the building. A fraction of a second later, he heard a gigantic boom. An insane amount of blue screens popped into his view. At the same time, his body locked up, and he collapsed to the ground.

His muscles spasmed wildly, and his vision went in and out of focus. The world spun uncontrollably. He clenched his fist, feeling the texture of his skin with a new level of detail, unsure of whether or not he was dying. He tried to get up but failed. Every one of his senses rebelled against him, feeding him a stream of new information. The added load on his brain gave him a migraine. It was as if a determined group of dwarves were digging through his brain, relentlessly searching for gold. Each swing of their pickaxes brought him great pain.

Finally, the pain stopped. He forced himself back to his feet. His veins itched from blood flowing through them faster than ever before, but other than that, he felt great. He felt like he had a new lease on life. Aches and pains that had previously slowed him down faded away.

“Kid, are you alright?”

Aaron punched the air, relishing the new power his body contained. “I feel good like I could run a marathon in my sleep.”

“What happened?”

"I'm not sure." He read through the list of System notifications to get a better idea of what had happened.

Congratulations! Improvised Weapon Mastery Lvl 7→22. 15 Skill Points Awarded. Level 9 Imp Mage Slain! 225 Exp Gained.

Level 9 Imp Mage Slain! 225 Exp Gained.

Level 8 Imp Mage Slain! 200 Exp Gained.

Level 9 Imp Mage Slain! 225 Exp Gained.

… Congratulations! Class: [Mage] has reached level 9. +5 Strength, +5 Endurance, +5 Recovery, +5 Defense, +10 Dexterity, +5 Agility, +10 Perception, +15 Mind, +15 Magic, +5 Spirit.

The previous events certainly made more sense now. All of Aaron's stats almost doubled in an instant; his body simply wasn’t able to keep up with the rate it was improving. Now that he had reached a more advanced level, he doubted he would advance at a similar rate ever again. Which was a relief. Migraines were no fun!

Additionally, he was shocked by the amount Improvised Weapon Mastery improved. He relayed the information he had learned to Tony, then investigated the remaining notifications. Somehow, he hadn’t reached the end of them.

Threshold Reached… Two skills were added based on achievements. One skill was added because of skill synergy. Explosive Mark (Uncommon - Tier 1): The spark of all creation was an explosion. Place a mark on a flat surface that lasts for ten seconds. At any point during the mark's duration, you may decide to detonate it. Mark duration, damage, and fidelity increase with skill level and stats. Costs 50 mana per use. Water Breathing (Uncommon - Tier 1): Swim with the fishes without dying! Replace the need for air with mana consumption. Skill cost based on exertion. Skill cost lowers with skill level and stats. Mana Shield (Common – Tier 1): Creates a small shield of mana attached to your hand. Costs 10 mana on creation; additional mana is required to sustain the shield. Damage blocked is based on skill level and stats. Muffle Sound (Common - Tier 1): Nothing is more shocking than losing your voice. Cast this spell on an ally or foe to significantly reduce the amount of sound their actions create. Costs 10 Mana on cast. Effects last for one minute. Duration, spell resilience, and dampening increase with skill level and stats. Mana Sense (Common - Tier 1): Passively sense the mana that surrounds you. Distance and clarity increase with skill level and stats.

Aaron had a lot of Class Skills to choose from. First, he examined the two skills he assumed he gained from achievements. Explosive Mark, which he presumably unlocked by blowing up the kitchen, was a promising skill. Its rarity was Uncommon, something he had never seen before, which led him to believe it would be powerful. In addition, the spell cost 50 mana, ten times the amount Mana Bolt cost. With that much juice behind it, it was guaranteed to be strong. The only concern he had with the skill was its stationary nature.

The next skill, Water Breathing, which he presumably unlocked for almost drowning while fighting the Bonemaw Octopus was also Uncommon. The skill was interesting; the way it was worded led him to believe that it could also be used outside of the water. He took a moment to think of potential uses for the skill. In the end, he didn’t find any that he could use. Water Breathing could be powerful while paired with a poison cloud type skill, but he had nothing of the sort. Additionally, its utility for underwater combat was high, but he had no intention of fighting anything underwater at the moment. He took note of the increased rarity that skills gained from achievements possessed.

The next skill on the list was Mana Shield. It had been available the last time he had been offered Class Skills, but that didn’t make him look down on the skill. There had been many situations where having a way to keep someone away from him would have been valuable. A shield would have put a quick stop to the warrior's charge ability. He strongly considered taking the skill.

Muffle Sound was interesting in that it could be used on others. He imagined; at higher levels, it would be able to completely take away someone's ability to speak. While that could be useful, it certainly wouldn’t provide him any immediate benefit. Stealth pretty much gave him all the useful parts of this skill already.

The last skill on the list was Mana Sense. It was only Common Rarity, but it sounded useful. With it, he would finally be able to see what the heck was happening inside him while he casted a spell. He pondered the skill for a moment. In the end, he decided not to take it. He could already faintly sense mana; he reckoned he could develop the ability on his own. If not, Mana Sense would be there the next time he was offered Class Skills.

Based on the limit of class skills: 6, and the number of Class Skills he had already, he guessed that the next time he would be able to gain a Class Skill was level 10. Maybe. The math makes sense, but it would be weird for the max level to only be 25. Who knows?

He returned his focus to making a selection. He was left to choose between Mana Shield and Explosive Mark. He was leaning towards Explosive Mark. If he had to choose between offense and defense, he would choose offense every time. The reason why was simple, it was impossible to win a fight without doing any damage. Additionally, Explosive Mark had a higher rarity than Mana Shield. He went back and forth with himself for a moment. In the end, Aaron selected Explosive Mark. With his decision made, he climbed to his feet.

Tony looked at him like he was an idiot for taking so long to make a decision. Rude. “Are you done poking around the air?”

“No.” Aaron randomly poked the air just to spite the old man.