Before Earth was blessed, or cursed, with magic, injuries like Mathew’s would take weeks to heal up. Add in months of physical therapy and countless surgeries for his hands to make them somewhat better. However, with magic, his stats, and the power The System pestows to those who follow the path of healing magic, Mathew was out of the Hospital after another day.

Dr. Gloria, the woman overseeing his recovery, did a series of tests. More blood drawn, questions on his Vitality and Endurance stats, and a few movements to test the limitations of his motor skills.

She gave him a green bill of health. Sadly, they had nothing they could do for the scars on his hands and chest, nor the missing fingers. Minor wounds would heal up and not leave any scarring, but something about the severity of his injuries or the pills he took made it to where his once perfect skin was now ruined.

Mathew prided himself on his appearance. He always kept himself clean and well dressed. He paid money to have a mole removed from his shoulder years ago even. A few trips to the tanning beds to keep himself looking tanned didn’t hurt either.

Luckily his face was still unblemished. He can cover his chest up easily, and the scars on his hands, while noticeable, were nothing that would stop him. Gloves were in this season anyways.

“Or would they be out? Is there a new sense of style with magic?” Mathew mused to himself. His mind wandered to illusions to change how people look without the need of plastic surgery.

“I might want to check into that, my sister-in-law can finally fix her teeth.” He laughed at his own joke.

He looked down at his normal clothes. His robes were ruined and gone, and he didn’t even have a back up pair. He added that to his list of shopping for when he visited Di.

Mathew knew where he had to go first before anything else. He needed to keep Payne happy. So he rode in a golf cart with Mr. Melton across the base to his office. The ride there was tense and quiet. Mathew knew Mr. Melton probably wanted to ask several questions, each more invasive and personal than the last.

Luckily, either for respect or fear of Payne, he never did. Once they arrived at the building, Mathew was quickly ushered in and was soon in General Payne’s personal office room alone. The door closed with an audible *click*.

The office hasn’t changed much since he was last in there. His desk was void of any personal decorations, and the walls had generic pictures of planes, or basic motivational posters. A lone fake plant sat in the corner to give the room some sort of color to the bland beige walls.

Payne sat there looking at Mathew in silence for a few moments. Mathew also sat quietly, but attempted to not be smug about the situation. He knew Payne was both furious and excited. Furious because he almost died, and almost lost his ticket to absolute control over people

Excited because Mathew was stronger, and had new skills and information. He would want Mathew to talk about his newest gains so he didn’t go against the contract. Payne was many things, but patient was not one of them.

“I am glad to see you survived, Mathew. That was a very dangerous thing you did. If it was just a few wolves to clear out, that would have been fine. It was why you were there after all. But that many wolves, and then a creature way stronger than any you fought yet, was foolish. I expected you to be safer about it.” The way he spoke was like a disappointed parent.

Mathew nodded. “I won’t lie, I wish we handled that better. But we didn’t and I’m alive. I know you know what sort of rewards I received because of it.”

Payne nodded. “Yes, I want to talk about that. Primarily your title: Soloist.”

“Now now, no reason to only talk about work, General.” Mathew crossed his legs and took a relaxed posture. “I wanted to talk about the money you owe me. I slew those wolves, the money should be mine.”

Payne held himself back. “Your loss of the money is a punishment for putting yourself in unnecessary danger. You should have come right back here as soon as the quest appeared.”

“So you could have joined and gotten the rewards yourself?” Mathew said knowingly.

“No, so nobody had to die Mathew. This isn’t some game where you can toss aside lives for small wins.”

“This is absolutely a game. It’s called Life. It always existed, just the rules changed about forty five days ago.” Mathew summoned his two wisps. “This is how it works now. Lives to you are what they’ve always been. Disposable. You can’t tell me you threw away soldiers to claim a win in the eyes of the public. I know how politics work.” He waved a hand, despawning his wisps.

“I was told you weren't a politician.”

“I’m an educated American. My Mother was a politician. Before she passed due to not surviving, like you and I did, she was making a beeline to be a Senator after the next election. I learned a thing or two from her, surely you know of my family? I would be disappointed if you didn’t do any research into me before making any deals with me.”

Payne opened a drawer and pulled out a thick file. He slapped it onto the desk. “Very much so. I also know nobody cares about you. Ever since you murdered your brother, your entire family ousted you.”

Mathew put his hands up defensively. “Self defense. The jury claimed I was not guilty of murder, and the case was soon swept under the rug. Only to be remembered by my family and a few scant others.”

“Yes, being cocky runs in your family hence why you were never worried about the murder charges. I was able to read some about it. You chose to defend yourself even. Is that why you went into the wolf lair? You were confident you could make it out alive?”

Mathew nodded. “I did. I would be a liar if I expected what happened to happen. You think I wanted my hands looking like this? It wasn’t being cocky, it was a calculated risk. Power is everything, something you know about. How’s the benefits of owning that Hearth Crystal treating you?”

Payne smiled. “Splendid, I’m surprised you knew about that.”

Mathew pulled out a book from his bag. “Amazing what you can buy these days. Amazon has nothing on what The System provides. Same day shipping and everything, granted the costs are a little steeper.” Mathew shrugged. “I guess you have to pay extra for the good stuff.”

He threw the book on the table. It was a guide book every person who became an owner of a Hearth Crystal would get access to. Di sold it to him a couple of weeks ago, after he made the contract with General Payne. It just cost him more UC than he had at the time, requiring him to come back to pay off a debt.

“Unique Title, Improved stats, you can even buy buildings and other interesting things for your safe area. Granted most of that happens after the Tutorial ends in three days.”

Payne either wasn’t impressed, or had a killer poker face. “Damn, he’s better than Leo, maybe even better than me.”

“I see you’ve done your research. So where does that leave us Mr. McGonald? You know that you won’t be stepping foot off this base anytime soon. You are going to be stuck for the next four years writing contracts for me. Along with a few other things. I am ordering you to not leave this base unless your life is in danger.”

“So I’m under house arrest? That seems a bit much.”

“It’s for your own safety. Think of it as a permanent vacation here at my base. If you behave, I’ll even let you sit on your front porch.”

Mathew nodded. “That’s fine. I want a quiet life anyways.” Mathew crossed his arms behind his head. “Set me up with a nice office like this, and I’ll spend time each week doing what you need me to do. I’m not an idiot, you hold the power. I wrote those contracts, remember? All those military members are forced to obey you or suffer a penalty. Has Holly and the others signed one yet? Is that why Samuel healed me and not Tank or Washington?”

“Samuel is a good soldier. She did what she was instructed to do, and luckily for her, she succeeded in keeping you alive.”

Mathew nodded. “Well, she has my thanks. It would have sucked if I died.”

“As for an office, it will be arranged. I wouldn’t want you to suffer after all. Everyone here will know you are getting the VIP package. Special privileges that others won’t have. The best food, your own room, even a personal guard to ensure you are kept safe.”

“Excellent, I can’t wait.” Mathew lied. “Is there anything else you wish to discuss? I have things I want to take care of. You can see I’m a little on the rich side, and I need a new robe.”

“Actually yes. I want to ask if you are okay.”

The question confused Mathew. “What?”

“You fought off several Wolves, including the giant one. You were horrifically injured and barely escaped alive. It’s typically common for someone to react negatively to such a traumatizing situation.”

Mathew couldn’t tell if he was being honest or trying to push his buttons somehow. “I’m fine. Dr. Gloria made sure of it.” He stood up and brushed his clothes down. “If that’s all, I shall take my leave.”

“For once I am being serious. If you need anything, or feeling off let me know. PTSD is a serious thing, I’ve seen good people get destroyed by it.”

“Like I said, I’ll be fine. You know my past, I’ve dealt with worse, like killing my own brother.” He walked out without another word.

Mathew left with two thoughts. Firstly, he was going to have a rough time with his luxurious life since it will be flaunted across the base. People hate it when others have more than they do. If Mathew walked around appearing better than everyone else, he wouldn’t be welcomed as openly to everyone else if he needed their help.

It’s not like he wasn’t better than everyone else, but he didn’t need to make enemies right now. Mathew knew he could easily spin it in his favor, so he wasn’t too worried about it.

Secondly he wanted to know Payne’s plan for how he ended that conversation. Out of every possibility of how it could have gone, him being nice was not something he expected, and he hated it.

Payne could be genuinely nice and actually was worried for Mathew as a person. On the other hand, he was more likely worried about Mathew due to his use. “Just going to need to push my plans up a bit it seems.” Mathew thought to himself.

Mathew walked outside and noticed the golf cart was left alone. Mr. Melton was nowhere to be seen. He did see the normal troops either walking or driving around doing the daily needs to keep the base operated.

He glanced and saw the keys were still in the cart. “Well, if I am to have the life of luxury, why should I have to walk everywhere?”

Mathew hopped into the cart and started to drive toward the Hearth Crystal. When he was halfway there he stopped. A weight in his bag was nagging at him. “Well, I guess I can stop by The Workshop first. See if someone can actually figure out what these two items are. If not, then Di can handle it.”