“Jeffrey, why didn’t you tell us that there were other Races here?” Alex asked grimly.

Jeffrey, who wasn’t actually human, but a part of the very System that brought them here, looked down at his desk, his usual calm smile fallen into…discomfort?

“I have told you before, Sir.” Jeffrey said solemnly. “I am unable to tell you about the City Zone until you have experienced it for yourself.”

Alex looked at the man closely. It could be an act but Jeffrey seemed torn about his inability to help them more.

“Can you tell me about the Races now?” Alex asked.

“I can only speak of the Tahloh, since you have come into contact with them.”

Alex sighed. It was something at least. “Please tell me about the Golden Douchebags.”

Jeffrey composed himself into his proper customer service personality.

“The Tahloh come from a world far different from your own. While humanity has used science to move forward, the Tahloh never had need of it. They are, what you would call, a magical people, able to create from the energy they store within themselves.”

“Wait.” Alex interrupted. “The explosion that they used to ambush us, that was magic?”

“It was made from the energy within the Tahloh’s body, Sir. An ingenious, if primitive, example of their ability.”

“Can they create weapons from this energy as well?” Alex asked.

Jeffrey nodded. “Indeed, Sir. Armor as well, though they must be advanced enough to use it. Also, weapons such as your handguns would be too complex for them to understand how to create, but they can create projectiles much like Mr. Tyler’s bow and arrows and they can infuse enough of their stored energy to make their weapons far more dangerous.”

Great. Magical Golden Douchebags.

“How is it that they don’t have the wristbands we have?” Alex asked.

“They are not connected to the System as Humans are. They are far more capable of surviving the ‘testing grounds’ as they call it. They will grow in power such as you do but they do not have access to the Interface.

“Humans have been given the Interface, as well as the System Shop, because of their unique ability to adapt. Your Race is far weaker than the Tahloh but you are also adaptable, creative and have a propensity to use those talents to kill effectively.”

Alex sighed. “So, you are saying that we are dangerous, killing machines?”

Jeffrey paused for a moment. “You are, Sir, but that is not all. Your history of Earth is violent but it is the brief moments when humanity stands together for a common cause that makes your Race extraordinary.

“Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are popular examples of humanity striving to stand against that which is inhumane. The drive that Humans have to fight for that which is immaterial, yet priceless, is what gives the Human Race the possibility to Ascend.”

Alex, as well as most people from Earth, knew that mankind was not the friendliest people. How many wars were fought, not for freedom or to stave off oppression, but for profit or power? But there were always a few diamonds in the ruff who ended up doing the right thing, despite the cost. To stand against the masses and protest what which was thought to be an acceptable evil. Michael probably would have done that. He had that way about him, to make people push past their ignorance.

Alex’s thoughts had kept him quiet for a moment but Jeffrey waited patiently, letting the man alone with his thoughts.

“Sorry.” Alex muttered when he realized Jeffrey was still waiting. “Please continue about the Tahloh.”

Jeffrey nodded. “The Tahloh came to the System just under nine of your Earth’s years ago. While there is no time period for a Race to complete the System’s test, the longer you remain, the more likely it is that other Races will be brought here.”

“I know this is going to sound childish, but how is that fair?” Alex asked. “If only one Race can win this ‘test’ then how is it okay that you bring other Races in so late into the game?”

“The System is in fact, very fair, Sir.” Jeffrey said. “The System would not have brought you here if you had no chance at completing your goal. Some would even say that humans coming in after the Tahloh, who seem far more powerful and capable, would make you a greater threat.”

Alex eyebrows rose. “Are you saying that I am more dangerous than an eight-foot-tall magic wielding giant?”

“I merely stated that you could assume that, given your situation.” Jeffrey said casually. “Telling you that you were or were not more capable than another Race would be breaking the rules set in place by the very System itself.”

Alex made sure his jaw didn’t drop onto the counter. Their conversation was interrupted when a beautiful and slightly annoyed looking red head came down the stairs.

“You know,” Danny stated. “leaving a naked woman in your own bed without letting her know you are leaving is very rude. Some would even say that a good ‘ass kicking’ would be warranted.”

Alex winced. “I’m sorry Danny. I woke up and realized that maybe Jeffrey here could give us some answers about the Tahloh. You know, just like he couldn’t tell us about the Monster Stampede until we almost got killed by it?”

Danny’s annoyed look went straight to surprise, then suspicious.

“While that might be a very, very good reason, you will make it up to me.”

Alex smiled wide and Danny accepted the kiss he offered.

“Are you going to share what Jeffrey told you with everyone else?” She asked.

“Yeah. Just a few more questions. First, Jeffrey, can you tell me how many Tahloh are in the City Zone?”

“I am afraid I can’t, Sir.”

“Damn, I knew that one was probably a bust. Okay, is their anyway to get a map in the Interface?”

Jeffrey smiled. “There is indeed, Sir. I suggest you look at the Modifiers list in the System Shop.”

Alex looked confused. “I didn’t see anything about a map.”

Jeffrey sighed. “I believe more than a passing glance would be required, Sir. ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is an apt phrase.”

Alex nodded. “Okay, thank you, Jeffrey.”

“You are most welcome.” Jeffrey said with a bow.

Alex and Danny left for the dining room which was still empty considering how early it was. Danny helped him comb through the Modifiers for the map ability. It wasn’t long before Ty came down and was informed what they were searching for. By the time the rest of the players came to breakfast, they had finally found what they were looking for.

Sextant Nauticalier

4000xp

Sextant Nauticalier: Divine your surroundings by the sun, stars and moon! Your surroundings will be displayed on your Interface and can be shared with fellow Sextant Nauticaliers! Go out and explore! Information is key after all!

Alex shared everything he had discussed with Jeffrey along with the Sextant Nauticalier Modifier. There was a collective facepalm as the gamers in the room realized that they had missed something so important.

Alex laughed because he had felt the same way. “Just remember everyone, that’s what we are here for. There is a reason we got the bonus 10,000xp. We are basically beta testers right now. The people coming in behind us will need this information.”

The fact that they were in a race against several other sentient and most likely hostile beings did not go over well. Many people wanted to start leveling as quickly as possible but Danny had been the voice of reason to quell disaster.

“If you go running off to level, you will be technically behind enemy lines, alone. We have a better chance of survival if we consolidate our resources and our best resource is each other. Let’s grind as many Modifiers and Upgrades as we can before heading up to the next level.”

“Those of us that have the experience should buy the Sextant Nauticalier Modifier now.” Toby added. “Try to get at least one person in each group to get one so that we can share info during dinner. I just bought it, so my group and Alex’s group, who will be going out together, are set. Anyone else who has it can trade info with us.”

Several other people were already buying the Modifier. Since Alex had just bought the Soul Adept upgrade, he only had 600xp left in the bank. They needed to start grinding xp as soon as possible.

Alex and Toby agreed that heading south east and circling to the west and back was their best option. Most of the other teams would head farther west, east and north. They weren’t only searching for higher tier doors but keeping a lookout for any other Races that could be nearby. Alex and Toby’s team were more geared than most, so they took the option of heading towards the known threat. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be caught unawares again.

One hour and fifteen blocks later and they came across another event. This one was an abandoned parking lot with an old chain link fence surrounding it and several burnt out cars still in the lot.

“Well, the cars are new but I don’t recognize any of them.” Alex stated.

“The cars will be the only cover we will have.” Toby said thoughtfully. “If the Boss requires Line of Sight to target us, we will use those for cover.”

“Oh!” Ty added. “What if the Boss uses the cars to throw at us and we got to ninja dodge them?”

The group stared at Ty and Ty thought he saw several eyes start to twitch.

“Yeah, my bad.” He said glumly.

“Panzer, you’re first.” Silvia said with a smile.

“Panzer?” Alex asked.

Toby rolled his eyes. “Because I’m German and a Tank.

Snickering ensued to which Toby ignored, stepping into the lot with Alex and Silvia close behind.

As soon as all six entered the parking lot, the chain link gate rolled closed.

“That’s not worrying at all.” Rishi said, looking behind them.

Danny’s nose scrunched up. “Yeah, don’t think I will ever like that.”

A faint rumbling noise had the group looking down at the broken asphalt beneath them.

“Can someone remind me what burrows underground?” Alex asked.

“Please not graboids! Please not graboids!” Ty whispered.

“Ty!” Alex yelled. “I shit you not, if you just jinxed us-!”

The asphalt exploded around the team, sending the black detritus flying. The group was suddenly surrounded by hairless and eyeless looking rats with sharp oversized teeth and large claws that could shear a limb or two from a person’s body.

“Big ass mutant moles!” Toby yelled as he jumped forward and slammed his shield into the eyeless face before him.

The group followed his lead with Silvia and Alex attacking the next two while Danny created a wall of vines at their backs. Ty was already shooting his arrows when a sudden shout of excitement came from Rishi.

Everyone took a glance at the Indian man to see that he had two, four-foot-tall stone golems next to him.

“My Class just upgraded and my Baby Maker procced!” He shouted.

“First off, congrats.” Danny yelled back. “Second, EW! Never say that again!”

Undeterred, Rishi sent his two, brand-spanking-new golems to take out the moles to their rear. His staff, which was once made of hardened clay, now looked to be a made of solid grey stone. Grunting with effort, he lifted the staff high and swung the it down, slamming the end of it into the head of an approaching mole. The skull broke under the force of the swing and Rishi almost toppled over.

“Bro!” Ty yelled. “If you’re gonna be swinging that staff, you gotta put more points into Strength!”

“I concur.” Rishi said as he hefted the staff up. “It looks like my skills will have to be more evenly split than I first thought.”

“Less talking, more wack-a-mole!” Alex shouted over the roar of his guns.

If Alex thought the upgrade to his Soul bullets was impressive after condensing his core, then he was dumbfounded at the power he had after upgrading to Soul Adept. He hadn’t even bothered with his Onomatopoeia since the first two bullets crushed the skull of the first mole.

“Their skin is super tough but even my bullets are doing blunt damage!” Alex yelled.

He moved past the corpse and shot at the next nearest mole when pain stabbed through his leg. Looking down, there was a six-inch claw sticking through his calf. Looking back, he saw another mole had popped out of the hole where he had just killed the first one.

He jumped, using the assistance of his Leather Boots of Hopping to escape the mole. The tearing pain of the claw suddenly being ripped out of his calf muscle almost caused him to black out.

Popping a Minor Health Pill, he shot at the mob from a distance, filling it’s hairless, wrinkly chest full of glowing blue bullets. The glowing green pulse of Danny’s Nature’s Boon spell helped in his healing and he turned around to flash a smile to the red head.

Toby might have been better armored than everyone else but he had no way to deal with the moles at range. His shield blocked most of the incoming claws but every now and again, the sharp claws would slip through and cut into his leather pants.

“Fuck!” Toby hissed. “I need to upgrade my armor as soon as possible!”

“That and your Class.” Silvia said, as she stabbed the offending mole in the throat. “Both will offer you upgraded defense. Fuck! My spear can barely pierce their skin!”

Alex peaked over and noticed the shallow cut along the throat of the mole Silvia had just stabbed before it disappeared.

A healing wave hit Toby and he sighed, thanking Danny before jumping back into the scrum.

It took a while to thin down the swarm. Thankfully, the moles never burrowed directly under their feet. It would have been a clever and altogether, deadly mechanic but he wasn’t about to give the System any new ideas. They killed over thirty moles before the telltale rumble of the incoming Boss started shaking the ground.

“This might be bigger than we would like it to be.” Alex said, keeping his feet under him while some of those with less Agility fell to the ground.

In the middle of the parking lots, claws the size of their torso broke through the asphalt. The group stared in utter shock as the Boss Mole lifted itself halfway out of the hole, towering above them.

“It looks like a giant nut sack with teeth!” Ty exclaimed.

The Mole lifted its giant head into the air, its large nose sniffing around. Suddenly, its huge claws picked up one of the burnt-out cars and lifted it above its head.

“Spread out!” Toby shouted.

“Goddammit, Ty!” Danny yelled as she sprinted to the right.

“It’s not my fault!” Ty yelled as he sprinted around to the back of the Boss.

The Boss Mole roared as it launched the car where the group originally was. The car smashed into the ground leaving a large crater behind.

Rishi sent his two Golems towards the Boss and their large club like arms beat on the mole while he started casting his spell that would make them explode. The golems started flashing with bright light and the others stood back, waiting for the explosion.

When the huge mole lifted one of the golems and cranked back its arm, Rishi visibly paled.

“Run, Rishi!” Silvia shouted.

The man dumbly nodded and started to run to the nearest burnt-out car.

The mole seemed to follow Rishi’s movements and hurled the flashing golem straight at the man.

The Golems exploded in a flash of fire and light and the mole screamed as a small hole was left in its gut. Rishi had dived behind the car but the golem that was thrown was still in the air when it exploded and rocks flew every which way, causing several shouts of pain.

The airborne rock claymore hit Alex and he was thrown to the side as pieces of rock were lodged into his right arm and leg. Tumbling to a stop, he searched for Rishi but didn’t see any sign of the man. Popping another pill, his wounds started closing and he dragged himself up to check on the Indian man.

When he came around the car, he found Rishi laying wide eyed on the ground, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry!” Rishi said. “I didn’t know it would do that.”

“It’s okay, Rishi.” Alex said quickly, helping the man up. “No one died and you took a good piece out of that sucker.”

Danny was already running to them and casting heals as she went. Ty had peppered the back of the head of the mole and Silvia dodged in and out, stabbing with her spear. The Boss’s claws were sharp but its swings were slow enough for her to avoid it.

Alex rushed forwards towards the beast. His Agility was higher than anyone else’s so he found no trouble in jumping onto the passing claw with ease and running up to the Boss’s shoulder. Aiming both guns at the beast’s ear canal, Alex let loose with everything he had.

“Zing! Snap! Buzz! Boom! Pop!”

Surprisingly, two of his shots procced and his Modifier added on to his extra bullets as well. The Mole’s ear canal turned into a fountain of blood and it flailed to the side, its large eyeless head smashing into the ground. Alex was thrown off but landed in a role. He was up on his feet in moments, still shooting at its Boss’ head.

Acting quickly, Danny modified her root spell and vines burst from the ground, grabbing hold of the moles head and keeping it grounded, so to speak. The others dived into the fight and stabbed, smashed and shot the Boss in the face.

When the mole finally died, the body vanished and a large golden orb took its place. There were shouts of joy as everyone celebrated their win. Danny was congratulated over and over for her quick thinking of rooting the Boss’s head to the ground.

Experience: 2,000 (12,000xp per Molly /6)

Soul: 2,000 (6,000 Souls per Molly /6(x2))

Loot (Event): Legendary Moleskin

Alex looked at the Soul Points he had received. Even though loot was always divided evenly, because of his Soul Survivor Class, he received a full even split while the others only received a small portion. But now, he was getting an even split times two because of his Soul Adept Modifier.

“How many Souls did you get from Molly?” Alex asked.

“Four Hundred.” Answered Danny, to which the others nodded.

Alex nodded. “I don’t know if it will be feasible for you to get Soul Disciple. I have the Soul Adept Modifier now and got two thousand Soul Points. That means even at Soul Adept, you each would only receive eight hundred from this Boss.”

“Did you all notice that the Mole Boss had extremely durable skin, like, really durable?” Rishi asked.

Silvia frowned. “But your golem put a hole into it easily.”

“Not as big as it should have been.” Rishi answered. “A dent, and a small one at that considering what the explosive power should be capable of. This Legendary item should go on our armor.”

“I will try first.” Toby said, holding out the pinkish glowing orb. “If it’s that good, we should all use it.”

He pressed the orb to his steel chest plate and a bright flash almost blinded the group. Toby was staring at the description with his jaw hanging around his knees.

“Well?” Alex asked. “Is it good?”

Toby just nodded quietly. The others pulled out the orb and pressed it to their chest armor. The combined flashes were brilliant but everyone was too excited to complain. Alex was the next one to pull up his cuirass’ description.

Boulder Holder (Upgraded to Legendary): This chest piece has become a shield of indestructibility! While blunt force trauma can still damage your sensitive squishy insides, piecing and cutting weapons will have trouble finding purchase! +5 to Vitality and Strength!

Pulling up his stats, Alex eyes widened at the impressiveness of the Moleskin.

Name: Alex Donner

Age: 24

Race: Human

Level: 8

EXP: 2,600/10,000

Class: Soul Survivor

Soul Tier 1: 11,600

HP: 330

MP: 165

Vitality: 24

Strength: 18

Agility: 23(46)

Dexterity: 23(46)

Wisdom: 13

Intelligence: 10

His health had shot up 105 points, almost twice what he had previously. He closed his Interface to see the rest of his friends shocked faces as they still stared at their Stats.

“Lunch time!” Alex said happily, as he slapped Toby on the shoulder.

Alex’s improved stats changing his body to be sturdier and denser caused his stomach to growl loudly. It was still early but everyone already looked famished, the side effect of growing so much, so quickly. They raced back to the Bellevue, ready to share the news about the new Legendary orbs they discovered.