Serenity’s bed reminded him of his college days. Just like the bed in his dorm room, it didn’t fit two people well. Also like the bed in his dorm room, he was willing, even happy, to have company anyway.

Serenity was sitting on the bed strapping on his armor when Rissa stepped out of the bathroom. “I never asked. What’s the first thing we’ll face? I heard a lot from Echo, but I don’t think she ever mentioned that.”

That was what she’d been thinking about in the restroom?

“Uh, other than the invasions - she did mention the invasions?”

Rissa nodded.

“Then, other than the invasions … I think the first problem was that the people returning from the tutorial no longer fit neatly into their old spots. You’re only gone for a few seconds, but you’ve been through a lot. People who’ve been through the tutorial and people who hadn’t - “ Serenity wasn’t sure how to say it. “They clashed. Well, some did. Some places were fine, no issues, but others just didn’t have a way to deal with magic or skills or people strong enough to lift a car, especially early on, before many had been to the Tutorial. Theft, destruction, murder … it happened. We got to hear all about it on the news. I’m not sure how much of it there was, it doesn’t really take that much to hit the news if it’s interesting.”

Rissa wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure how to fix that.”

Serenity pulled on a boot. “I don’t intend to. It’s a problem, sure, but anywhere that’s going to survive will need to figure it out. It’ll get better on its own as more people go through the Tutorial, too. The only thing that might be worth worrying about is getting people into the Tutorial, it discouraged some people from entering. That doesn’t matter too much, though. It’s the other stuff we should worry about.”

“Other stuff?”

Serenity didn’t respond immediately. He hadn’t really thought about the other effects recently. He’d been too worried about the invasions and the Great Forces. The invasions had killed a lot, but they hadn’t been the only reason people died.

“Three things. Monsters, dungeons, and population. Probably in the other order. Planets - integrated planets - grow or shrink with their population. Both quality and number. It’s - there’s a complex formula for it, I never cared exactly what it was. The problem with growth is that it’s not gentle. Earth is a reasonable size for a tier 0 planet with a few billion people, but we won’t be a tier 0 population for long. So the next - well, it depends on what tier people get to and how much the population shrinks. I’d expect years of earthquakes, and they may not be where you’d expect them. They’ll be worse if we save more people, and people get stronger, but that’s also what will help people survive.”

Rissa held the door for Serenity as they left the room. “That’s nuts. Planets don’t grow or shrink based on population. That doesn’t make sense.”

Serenity led the way to the breakroom. “Don’t ask me to explain it. There’s probably someone here who can, but all I know is that it happens.”

Rissa started picking out breakfast. “Monsters and dungeons?”

Serenity had already loaded up a plate, but there was no way he could reasonably eat and talk at the same time. “Monsters come from several different places. The first one we’ll see will probably be animals. As the mana levels increase, some will start to get cores and become monsters. That’s bad enough when it’s a housepet who likes you and isn’t trying to rip your hand off, just playing, but when it isn’t so gentle, it’s a problem.”

“Monsters come from other places, too. Increased mana levels mean inanimate objects can come to life, plus we’ll see things that were always there become more common. Mostly elementals of one sort or another, undead, and other legends.” Serenity looked away from Rissa. “I’m really hoping Godzilla isn’t one of them, or at least that it doesn’t wake soon. There are a lot of things I hope continue sleeping. We were never really sure where everything came from, there were too many that seemed to come out of nowhere. That won’t be soon, or at least it wasn’t last time. Dungeons will be a problem earlier.”

“What makes dungeons a problem? Don’t we need them to get stronger?”

Serenity chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “We do, that’s one of the problems. They’re not safe, at all, so a lot of places will close them. They won’t realize how important they are. That’s not the only problem, though. If no one goes into a dungeon, it will eventually start to slowly spit out monsters - or maybe animals are just more likely to become monsters around a dungeon that isn’t cleared out, since that raises the local mana level. I’m not sure which. Both, maybe?”

“More powerful people will mean more dungeons and more powerful ones, but that’s not an immediate concern. Most of it’s local issues, really, other than the invasions.” Serenity started eating. He only had so much time before class.

Serenity hoped dungeons wouldn’t be a problem. They hadn’t been last time - too many invaders meant that dungeons were handled more by the invaders than the locals - but things could change. That was the point, to change things.

He didn’t want Earth to end up like Tzintkra, whose surface was overrun by monsters and much of the depths consumed by dungeons. The only permanent settlements he knew of on Tzintkra were the Necropolis and the Shining Caverns. He - no, the Final Reaper - had been to Tzintkra more than once. It was a training world, now, but the transition hadn’t been good for the original population.

He didn’t want that to happen to Earth, but it would still be a better outcome than the original one.

“What else will get taken from us? Cell phones? Computers? Cars?”

“Those will work, for a while. Not sure how long. It’s not the tech that stops working, it’s the infrastructure. There are some highly advanced societies out there. None near here, fortunately.” Serenity thought for a moment. “Not sure how long GPS will work. If the planet changes too much, I wouldn’t expect that to be good for satellites.”

Rissa ate for a few minutes. “What about weapons? Guns, tanks - nukes?”

Serenity shrugged. “They work, it’s just - anything without a skill behind it and a person of high enough Tier … people and things become harder to hurt. People with Tiers, things mostly with mana concentration.” He tilted his head. “Hmh. I was nuked, once. It was a small one, and not a direct hit, but even so I doubt I’d survive, now. Back then, I mostly remember being annoyed. I really shouldn’t have been there, the mana was too low for me, I didn’t like the world. Don’t really remember why I was there.”

Serenity shook himself. “There are Paths for that sort of thing, I think. Not here, not in this Tutorial, but - there have to be Paths for it, or there wouldn’t be some of the things that are out there.”

Rissa put her emptied plate on the table, walked behind Serenity, and hugged him. “Thanks and I’m still sorry.”

Rissa’s touch brought Serenity's thoughts back to the present. He patted Rissa’s hand.

[Dungeon Party]

Serenity - (No Current Path) - Melee Tank, Self Healing

~~~~~~Moira (Follower) - Mage - Ranged Damage (Magic)

Echo - The Sound of Silence - Ranged Damage (Magic), Scout

Lancaster - Shielding Sword - Melee Damage, Agility Tank

Rissa - Time Heals All - Healing, Melee Damage

[All party members meet entry requirements for early Dungeon entry]

[Select level: 1 or 2]

When they entered the dungeon, they stood on what looked like an old, damaged asphalt road through a subdivision. The road was lined with dilapidated houses, and the yards held weeds and grass that had gone unmowed for long enough that it was over two feet high. There were cars in some of the driveways and in a few places on the street, but most were clearly rusting and derelict.

After one look at the houses, no one wanted to explore them, so they set off down the road.

A chittering noise was all the warning they had before they were confronted with a wave of large brown rats coming from one of the yards they were walking past. They were only a little over a foot long, slightly larger than ordinary rats.

When the wave was over, there were seventeen rat bodies and the only person without bite marks was Serenity - who had been bitten, but had already healed. Rissa got her slow heal started on everyone, then the group moved on.

Over the next few hours, they saw all sorts of beasts that were larger versions of things that might have been found near human habitation. Everyone agreed that the group of giant skunks was the least pleasant, and the raccoons were definitely the most annoying (and also the only animals to escape alive).

The squirrels threw exploding acorns. They didn’t really hurt (at least not as far as Serenity was concerned), but they stung, and no one liked being hit. It was good for a laugh when one of the ambush squirrels showed up.

Birds weren’t a big problem, surprisingly. They were fragile enough that unless they were in very large numbers - or were very large themselves - they simply didn’t make it to the group.

Rabbits were apparently all nature-oriented spellcasters. They really liked to use spells to tangle the group up in the grass, but both Serenity and Lancaster were strong enough to force their way through the spell and deal with the rabbits. Fortunately, the rabbits had to see what they were entangling for the spell to work, which made them much easier to find.

There weren’t any cross streets. The pavement led directly to a larger, more imposing deserted house set at the end of the road. The road widened into a circular turn-around area, but other than that it didn’t look different from anything they’d seen.

Nothing looked out of place, so they followed the driveway up to the walkway leading to the front door. Everything was calm until Serenity stepped onto the walkway.

BOOM

BOOM

Everyone recognized the noise as ambush squirrels, but none of them were being hit.

Serenity backed up onto the driveway and looked around. The small explosions were landing in all of the nearby yards.

BOOM

BOOM

A flood of animals came running at them. Serenity used his shield to bat away some grass that was headed for Rissa, then lifted her between Echo and Moira. They knew what to do; Echo and Moira would keep the squirrels and birds away and kill the rabbits, while Serenity and Lancaster took care of the rats, cats, dogs, moles, snakes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, possums, and anything else that decided to come close enough.

It was mostly rats.

There weren’t any notable moments in the fight, it was just wave after wave of small animals. They were overrun by each of the three waves of rats. The cats tried to entice Serenity and Lancaster to follow them, but there were so many other enemies they could just ignore the scratches and let Echo and Moira handle them when they had time.

The skunks were unpleasant not only to the group but to all of the other animals. When they showed up and sprayed the group, all of the other animals backed off. It would have been a nice breather, if the air hadn’t been so unpleasant to breathe.

Both Echo and Moira ran out of mana before the fight was over, and Rissa’s spear was soaked in blood. Lancaster was almost out as well when the final enemy - a very large black dog with two tails - appeared. No one saw it walk in, it was just there one moment.