Serenity was the last one to enter the cave. When he walked in the cave, he didn’t even read the plaque. The crystal drew his attention and all he could feel was desire for it.

For a moment, his mind was filled with hunger.

The pull was stronger than he remembered anything being, other than when he was literally starving. It was much stronger than any monster core he’d seen. Especially recently.

Serenity turned and walked out of the cave. He fell to his knees a short ways outside the hut’s door. For a moment, all he could think was how much he hated this.

He didn’t hate his new body. There was too much to like.

He hated the way his body tried to control him.

“It’s fine … I just have to …” Serenity mumbled as he started to pick himself up.

Moira helped Serenity to his feet. He felt Moira’s concern and reassurance. He decided to accept the reassurance and not worry about how he could feel her emotions. That was one more thing than he could handle right now, and her presence was comforting.

Everyone else watched him from the doorway.

Echo was the first to speak up. “Serenity?”

“The crystal.” He answered her implied question. “I want it. If you’re not going to give it to me, please put it somewhere I can’t see it.”

Serenity walked over to a nearby tree and leaned against it. He could see the entrance, but at this angle he couldn’t see far enough into the hut/cave to actually see the crystal. It would do.

Doyle looked over his shoulder - probably at the crystal - then back at Serenity. “What will you do with it?”

There wasn’t any point in hiding this part, now. Not after that reaction. If he could have hidden it better - but if he hadn’t walked out, he knew he would have taken the crystal and eaten it in front of everyone. That wouldn’t have been better.

At least this way he wasn’t stealing loot.

“Something no one else here should do. I’ll absorb it.” Serenity realized his eyes were closed and opened them. He wanted to see the reactions.

There wasn’t much of a reaction. That surprised him until he realized that - even though they’d all been told about the dangers of monster cores - they hadn’t really internalized what it meant. It was all new to everyone.

“Will it help with your C-” Lancaster broke off for a moment and seemed to be searching for a different word. “- Ah, Path problem?”

Serenity was glad he hadn’t finished the word Core. “It should. It won’t fix it - it won’t be enough - but it’ll help.”

Lancaster nodded. “Then I say we should give it to Serenity, treat it like any other gear.”

When no one objected, Lancaster stepped into the cave and grabbed the crystal from above the pedestal. A message appeared.

[Tutorial Great Dungeon Level 1 Complete]

[50 XP awarded]

[50 Ev awarded]

[Ev diverted to Core progression]

[Exit Dungeon]

[Proceed to Level 2]

[Wait]

Serenity selected Wait, then took the crystal Lancaster held out to him. He decided he might as well make a show of it. He’d already made it far more obvious than he wanted, there was no point in hiding now and every point in not looking like he was hiding something.

Or maybe he just didn’t want to obey his body’s desire to eat the thing. That could be it. This would work just as well.

He held his hand out, palm up, with the crystal in it. Unlike a monster core, it didn’t leak essence. He reached for the essence and pulled.

A fractal pattern of black lines appeared on his hand. He knew it followed the essence as it traveled up his arm, across his shoulder, up his neck, and into his head. He could feel the comforting energy travel from his hand to his head.

He suspected that the lines would be visible on his neck and face, but there wasn’t anything he would do about that. Most of his body was covered by his armor, so maybe they wouldn’t realize where the energy went - other than Echo and Lancaster.

He felt a spike of concern from Moira, and realized she’d also made the connection - but then, she had reason to think of it. She didn’t say anything.

As the last of the crystal vanished, so did the black lines.

[Compatible Crystal Core material detected]

[Reinforce Core?]

Yes.

A soothing heat spread from the core in his brain to the rest of his body. Serenity felt … he felt refreshed. That was the best word for it.

Serenity shook himself. “Speaking of gear, we should split up everything we’ve found. What did we end up with?”

Level 1 Loot

Shoddy boar-hide bracers (Doyle)

Shoddy boar-hide boots (wrong size, sell)

Shoddy boar-hide leggings (Echo)

Shoddy boar-hide chest armor (Liuyedao)

Stone of Loud Noises (used)

6 monster cores (4 goblin, 2 boar, tiny - about the size of a grain of rice)

Goblin Shaman’s Wand (+2 Max mana) (Moira)

Tiny (pea-sized) crystal (Serenity, absorbed)

There were still a few hours left in the day when they left the Dungeon. Serenity decided it was a good time to do something he’d been meaning to do: unlock the rest of his Concepts. He knew which ones he’d had as the Final Reaper, and it seemed like he should have the same ones. He had all the tools he’d need in the small building at the graveyard, so he headed there.

Nightwitch followed him.

Serenity had thought his friends had stopped guarding him now that the people doing it had been dealt with. “Nightwitch? Are you still being a guard?”

Nightwitch laughed and shook her head. “No, not at all. I wanted to talk to you, preferably without Rissa present. You are back with her, aren’t you?”

Serenity shook his head. “No. She hasn’t-” Serenity wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. Rissa’s rejection had hurt, and then she’d avoided him for weeks. Maybe he should have gone after her, or not accepted so easily-

“She’s slow, then.” Nightwitch sounded disapproving. “She should quit constantly looking at you and say something before someone else does.”

Wait, was Nightwitch saying she was interested in him? She was a pretty lady, but she had never flirted with him (except possibly for the day she took him outside the camp), so he’d assumed she wasn’t interested. He couldn’t think what else she would need to ask with Rissa specifically not around.

“Your plan sounds simple. Send you through a bunch of Tutorials, get you a reputation. At the same time, since Tutorials don’t take much time, go on talk shows because people have heard of you. Publicize what the Tutorial means and how the new world works. Build a few teams that can handle some of the tough stuff. Bootstrap that into defeating the invasions, starting with the lesser ones. Do I have that about right?”

By the time Nightwitch finished talking, they’d reached the bottom of the hill. Serenity wasn’t sure what Nightwitch was leading up to, especially since Rissa knew everything Nightwitch had just listed. “Yes, that’s the plan. It should work, but there’s a lot that will have to be decided as we get there.”

“There always is, but there’s one thing you need to decide now, and you need to think about it before you talk to anyone, especially Rissa if you want to date her. Are you trying to set yourself up as a Presidential candidate?”

“Uh.” Serenity wasn’t sure if there would be a next Presidential election or not, and he certainly hadn’t thought about running for President.

Serenity had considered picking up a Lordship - he wasn’t really sure he wanted to, but he’d rather work for himself or someone he trusted. Vengeance had worked for several Lords over the years, and it had been a mixed experience.

Serenity hadn’t even thought about using the current power structure that way. Obviously the President would need to be a Lord, but that should be possible. It might even be better than being an ordinary Lord in some ways. It was simply a different position. “I hadn’t considered it. That’s an interesting thought, but I’m not sure I should. A President would have to always be around, and I’m not sure I can. Plus, it’s only a single nation. Maybe it would be better to be separate, but work with other leaders? Whoever manages to survive?”

“Do you even want to be a leader? Or would being strong and famous be enough?” Nightwitch didn’t seem to want to leave the question alone.

“Strong and famous sounds better, but I’m not sure it will be enough. It all needs to serve saving as many people as we can.” Serenity was confident in that.

Either way, it wouldn’t matter for Serenity himself. He was confident he could grow strong enough fast enough to be safe against anyone else likely to rise from Humanity on Earth. What he wasn’t sure he could do was protect all of his friends. It was more than Rissa and his parents now - it was Echo and Lancaster, even Nightwitch and Doyle. Moira wasn’t a friend, but he felt responsible for her situation, so she counted as well.

He’d probably even include Liuyedao, though he didn’t know Liuyedao well.

Serenity also counted Kerr and Sillon, as strange as that seemed when they were stronger than Serenity. He would have included Margrethe, until she tried to kill him. He wasn’t sure about her anymore. None of the instructors should be in danger any time soon, at least.

“Well, think on it. We may have to make some different choices if you want to let someone else take point on eventual leadership.” Nightwitch stopped walking and looked him from top to bottom. “You have my number. Remember to call me when you get out of the Tutorial, or I’ll call you.”

They’d reached the building and Serenity went in. Nightwitch followed him in, but didn’t say anything.

Serenity pulled out his chalk and one of the boards. This would take a while, but once he had the Concepts unlocked, he wouldn’t have to worry about them any more. Arcane would be the hardest, since it would be generating mana as it unlocked and could potentially warp the runes. It was the best one to start with.

Name: Serenity

Species: Human Chimera (Altered Template)

Core: Connecting

Progression: 84.1%

Features: 2/10

True

Crystal

Path: Paths Available

Level: 96 (880/970)

Tier: 0, 0/96 Spent

Path History: None

Condition: Healthy

Healing Available: Full

Mana: 750/750

Stamina: 800/800

Might: 70

Agility: 65

Phys: 70

Understanding: 67

Will: 65

Mind: 66

Perception: 65

Luck: 65 - 165%

Ev: 38

Resistances

Curse: 263

Pain: 1033 (33 active)

Pleasure: 23

Sleep: 1

Unknown

Affinities

Death: 101.83%

Life: 14%

Mind: 30%

Arcane: 50%

Plasma: 42%

Liquid: 6%

Vapor: 14%

Solid: 17%

Energy: 40%

Void: 60%

Time: 15%

Space: 5%

Concepts

Death

Mind: 15%

Arcane: 78%

Plasma: 26%

Energy: 52%

Void: 25%

Time: 5%

Space: 20%

Aspects: Unknown

Titles

Previous Supreme Existence

Altered Template

Named

Ghost in the System