Laurence was in a bit of a tight spot.

Not officially, not technically. Everything had been going off without a hitch. He’d negotiated with a dozen players across the country, collected ludicrous amounts of crafting supplies from Levi’s list - and a few that weren’t on the list, but he knew would be appreciated - and spent an equally ludicrous amount of money from Levi’s family savings account.

No, the trading wasn’t the problem.

His level was the problem.

He’d barely reached level eleven before Levi’s minions abandoned him, and he knew that eleven wouldn’t be anywhere near enough.

And that was going to be a serious problem.

Laurence knew he’d been progressing near the maximum possible speed, but he’d reset his level once and had spent days not in dungeons.

Knowing Charles, the treacherous guild leader had probably taken his defeat very personally and spent the next weeks grinding obsessively.

If there was one point on which Laurence and Charles had always agreed, it was that they should be using their dungeons as often as possible. The others had cited ‘real life obligations’ as excuses to get out of running their dungeon every single day, but though Laurence and Charles disagreed on nearly everything else - from distribution of loot to designated builds to the design on their website - the one thing that had drawn him to the guild in the first place had always remained. Charles was as passionate about leveling as Laurence himself.

Now that Laurence didn’t have anyone to back him up, this began to feel like a lot more of a problem. With Cen to tank, Maggie to run interference, and Laurence himself to cast devastating magic while the enemy was unable to retaliate, this would be a difficult challenge but well within his capabilities.

As a lone mage... he suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable, a lot less invincible.

It would be far too easy for Charles and Doug to take him out in these circumstances, even if they were on even footing. He couldn't even rely on Charles being held back by his insistence on ignoring Levi's training lesson in the dungeon that first glorious day, because Doug had been lurking to report on everything he'd learned.

Charles may be arrogant, and petty, and incredibly full of himself, but he certainly wasn't stupid. He may have based his actions in the initial conflict against Skarm on faulty information, but he would have recalculated in the time since then and without the rest of the guild to hold him back Laurence would be damn surprised if he was a bit under level 15, if not twenty. Levi was distracted by family drama and trying to maintain relationships, so even his head start didn't mean much.

Not to say Laurence would look down on him - certainly not! Levi was like a prophet or herald of the system and the coming apocalypse, chosen to bring the warning. But for all his drive, Levi wasn't going to outlevel anyone at his current rate. Sure, he'd beat out the casuals, but he'd never be a true forerunner. People like Charles would take that crown. And the longer they waited before acting, the bigger that gap would grow.

No, Laurence had to do something about Charles, and he had to do it fast.

The only problem was, without a team, he'd be far too squishy. He was a mage, with all that entailed. He could summon fire, he could control the wind, but he couldn't stop a blade from cutting him in two.

And from all his calculations based on everything he'd seen and experienced - plus Levi's information even if that was less reliable - the conclusion was inescapable. Higher level mana integrated weapons would cut through matter without resistance. Without equally powerful armor, Laurence's body was barely stable enough to put up a fight.

A manablade could cut through a tree like a chef knife through a mushroom. Outside of a dungeon, manablades were an incalculably powerful weapon. Unrealistically so. It made his mind churn with ideas; if there were a way to allow machines to activate and run manablades, the potential for manufacturing was incredible.

But those ideas would have to wait until another time. Once the demon wave was dealt with.

Before that, Laurence had to redeem his guild's honor.

He could afford to make a brief detour. Especially now that he was running solo. He could follow highways now without worry of causing damage to anyone driving, and didn't need to wait for Cen's pace. He could push himself to a full sprint the whole way and not worry about getting turned around or lost in the open lands between towns.

He'd put perhaps too many of his points into Spirit lately, his other regens were suffering as a result, but his class levels gave him a nice bonus to mana and he didn't plan on getting in situations requiring high health. Specialists beat generalists, in his experience. Better to have a team of specialists.

He shifted his route, turning onto an off-ramp to pause and recalculate.

To accomplish his quest, he needed help.

And he knew just where to get it.

Levi ran beside Peter, asking him about his life and thoughts and dreams as they circled the area searching for undiscovered dungeons. Some pieces of his son's life he already knew by heart, but others had slipped through the cracks and been forgotten over the years. His love of racing and dinosaurs was hardly unique, but his enthusiasm for exercise and the depth of his interest in video games Levi had long forgotten came as something of a shock.

How much had he mentally regressed Peter in his mind over the years? How much of the boy he thought he remembered actually remained in the young man Peter was in the process of rapidly becoming?

One thing was abundantly clear - Peter couldn't wait to share the new 'real life dungeon game' with his friends. From the amount he talked about anticipating their reactions, it clearly mattered a lot to him. Levi mentally moved that trip up his priority list.

At the same time, while he wanted to bring in as many people as possible to help prepare them for what was coming, Levi began to worry about the sheer quantity of people they'd end up collecting if they weren't careful.

They couldn't have a hundred families following them around - Levi wasn't going to be able to keep track of everyone, let alone ensure their safety if so many people ended up gathering.

Most likely they wouldn't, but they kept adding more and more people, either joining or potentially joining, and it could easily snowball out of control if they didn't do something to curb the accumulation.

But... Levi also didn't want to leave them to their own devices. More than anything else, he felt the almost compulsive need to protect as many people as possible. Everyone he had failed to save the first time. And if that meant gathering them from all across the country and building their own traveling circus to house everyone, then so be it.

He could tell himself it was a problem as much as he wanted, and it wouldn't change anything. When it came down to it... faced with the choice, he'd throw himself into battle again and again, even to protect the people who didn't know they needed saving. Even if that battle was one of words and persuasion.

Every person he convinced to Awaken and train for the coming war was one more person whose chances of survival would be that much better than they were before.

Once they reached the dungeon where they’d left their minions, the rest of the day was mostly spent traveling, searching out local dungeons and assessing their strength. They did clear one, but didn't have time to do more than that before the time came to head back to the meeting place to join up with those Cassandra and Irene would be bringing.

Levi was impressed with how many people were waiting already as he neared the meeting point.

He'd assumed that the people saying 'sure I'll come' would have all forgotten or chosen to do something else with their evening, leaving only the occasional Laurence-type who was so obsessed with magic and power that they'd do anything to seize the chance.

Instead... there were enough people to form a sub-squad easily. This group alone could handle a decent number of imps if they were trained up to the right level. They wouldn't be enough to deal with a demon warrior or elite, but they could suffice to guard a town against the weaker enemies.

There is a certain power in a group of people, gathered together, united with common purpose. However ineffectual they may be individually, in aggregate they are something more. So though he’d been skeptical at first, now as Levi observed the crowd making their way steadily toward the dungeon, he didn’t see them as a collection of weirdos playing dress up.

He saw the nucleus of an army.

And, finally, he felt the stirrings of true hope. This time, things would be different.